“Of course she is. She fits the description.” At his words, my gaze shifts to the younger guy. With a scar running through his eyebrow, separating it into two uneven strips, he looks more menacing than his companion. “Come on.”
“Where?” I take a step back.
“To heaven!” The older man shakes his head, eliciting a rough cackle out of the young guy. “Where do you think we’ll take you?”
“I’m not going anywhere. You don’t know whose house this is.” I continue taking small steps backward and curse inwardly when I notice my phone tucked under the couch cushion.
“We know all about your father. He has caused enough troubles for us and now it’s time for him to learn his lesson.” My retreating steps halt.
God! They’re talking about Keith. They think I’m Mere.
My gaze skids to the clock. She’ll be home soon.
“What? Is this not a good time for Daddy’s girl?” The older goon takes out a gun from the inner pocket of his dirty jacket and points it at me. “No games. We’re not here to hurt you.”
I know he’s lying. I’ve been trained by my mom’s staff on how to act in such situations. But none of those lessons would work now.
There isn’t a secret panic button in this house that I can press.
“Bring her. I’m starting the car,” the older man, who I now think is the boss, commands his companion and leaves. My heart races painfully in my chest, and I have a hard time trying to figure out how to escape this situation.
As soon as the door closes, the younger guy jumps on me. “Come on.” He grabs my arm and pulls me closer. I try to push away, but crap, he is strong. His other hand grabs my waist, making my whole body stiffen.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe. For now.” I feel his hot, dirty breath on my ear as he breaks into lewd laughter. “We have clear instructions not to touch you, but it’s gonna be real hard.”
When he splays his hand on my ass, black spots appear before my eyes, and crippling fear grips me. I feel like I’m about to fall or faint when our head of security, Tony Walker’s words ring in my ear.
Fear is your worst enemy, Miss Hawthorne. Think. Think, how can you escape the situation. There is much more than running. You can do a lot more than you know and help the people who are looking for you. Just think.
I look around for anything as the guy drags me toward the door. Suddenly, his hand on my arm loosens as he notices the wine bottle on top of the dresser in the foyer. I’d intentionally kept it there earlier because Snowy was jumping on the coffee table.
He picks it up and tilts his head gulping it directly from the bottle. My gaze lands on one of Mere’s key chains before me, hanging from the golden hinge of the wooden key chain holder.
Didn’t she tell me once there are trackers inside her key chains that Keith tracks? She’s supposed to carry both of them.
I grab it quietly. Just as I slide it inside my bra, the thug turns his head to me. His gaze rivets to my hand splayed over my chest. With an obscene smile on his lips, he pulls me out of the door.
It’s not quite dark and I look around, hoping for someone to see me. But the streets are deserted, and I’m quickly pushed inside a delivery van with black windows.
My brain screams, this cannot be real. I’m being kidnapped. Who the hell are these people?
From behind the wheel, the older man points his gun at me once again. “No games.”
The younger man sitting next to me in the rear seat scans me head to toe. His indecent gaze again halts for too long on my chest, making me feel exposed.
He says something to the older man in a language which sounds like Russian, and they end up laughing.
“I was telling my friend what a shame it is that we don’t get to taste you. But he said maybe we’ll get a chance after the boss is done with you.”
My brain freezes hearing his words. Tears gather in my eyes as I watch the young guy cutting a big piece of duct tape and sticking it across my mouth.
“No screaming on the way.” He smiles. His dirty fingers linger on my neck before hovering over my breast.
I’m paralyzed on the spot when he briefly glances toward the driver before grabbing my right breast and crushing it too hard, so painfully that I’m certain it’ll leave a bruise.
My stomach roils as bile rises in my throat. My heartbeat races to a point that it starts to hurt my chest.
His hand leaves my body and he whispers in my ear, “I like them young.”