Bet on Me (22 page)

Not giving the server a chance to question us any further, Ryder passed me the food, swung me around, and led me over to the exit.

Tears welled up in my eyes. My one chance was over even if my legs still itched to break out into a run. I doubted Ryder would slip up or let me out of his sight again. I doubted he’d even stop the car. However, I didn’t know where we were. There was hardly anyone around, and the knife still jabbed me in the side, threatening to cut me in an instant. As if all of that wasn’t enough, my legs still hadn’t totally recovered from the drug he injected me with, especially the thigh he stabbed the needle into. A dull ache radiated over that leg, almost like a bruise.

I didn’t want to, yet waiting the situation out seemed like the only option. If I could remain conscious then I had a small chance of figuring something out, but if I ran he’d catch and sedate me. If that happened it would take even longer for my body to begin working again.

“Get in,” Ryder snapped. I hadn’t noticed he’d opened the passenger’s door and stood waiting for me to move.

With one final hesitant look around, I slid into the passenger’s seat and he slammed the door behind me.

I could run now,
I thought as he rounded the car. My hand even twitched towards the handle, but I called it back.

He pulled the driver’s door open and when he slid in beside me I expected to be bound again. I already had an argument formed in case, and I wasn’t above begging, but Ryder only started the engine. His fists clenched around the steering wheel until his knuckles whitened and his lips narrowed into a thin, tight line.

The smell of salted chips filled the car. At one time they would have had my mouth watering, and it would have been hard for me to resist. Now, locked in a car with someone I deemed a madman, all of my appetite vanished.

Tension and anger rolled off of him in palpable waves as he drove, sickening me further. I kept waiting for him to pull back on to the motorway and for light to once again appear, yet he stayed on the darkened, winding roads.

For ten minutes he kept up a steady speed until he pulled over into a rest stop. He kept the engine running and swivelled to study me. Without a word he snatched the fries from my hand and began to eat. I found myself quieting my breathing, not wanting to give him any excuse to explode.

His movements were precise and deliberate. He kept one eye on me the whole time, but he had nothing to worry about. Fear had me paralysed on the seat.

“Eat,” he commanded abruptly once he finished his own box. Despite not wanting them, my hand moved of its own accord. Dipping into my own box of chips, I pulled one out and brought it to my lips. As soon as the salty, fatty taste coated my tongue I retched. Bile rose at the back of my throat and I gagged, forcing myself to swallow.

“Don’t you dare be sick in this car, bitch.”

With a shaky breath I calmed myself and Ryder snatched the second tub of fries up. He devoured them as quickly as the first container, and as soon as he finished he replaced his hands on the wheel, put the car into gear, and set off again.

“When we get to the ferry I’m going to give you your passport. You will pass through customs without a word and without raising suspicions. If you give anything away I won’t hesitate to cut that pretty little neck of yours.”

I shivered and cowered into the door.

“I may go to prison, but you won’t live so think wisely before trying to go for help.”

He was insane. While I already knew it, his words only confirmed the point. Of course he could have been bluffing, though by the twisted and sick expression gracing his face to crease the scar above his lip he looked like he meant every word. It also appeared like he’d gain immense pleasure out of it.

“I won’t try anything,” I whispered. For now I needed to play it safe. If we were heading back to England then I hoped I’d have more luck on home soil.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Cole

I was going crazy.

Having no option other than to take Levi’s advice I shut myself in my hotel room. However, with nothing to do but wait, I quickly began pacing the length of the room.

Every minute I glanced at the clock. Sometimes not even a minute had passed between glances.

I was desperate.

Desperate for answers, desperate for action, and desperate to get Alaya back in my arms where I knew she was safe. I needed to feel her soft skin against mine. Until I had her in front of me where I could kiss and caress her, nothing could calm me.

When my phone burst to life on the bed, I dived for it Superman style, almost knocking it to the floor as I overshot the mattress. Seizing it in one hand, Alaya’s name flashed at me and I couldn’t press answer fast enough. With a shaking hand, I lifted the speaker to my ear.

“Cole?” Her voice sounded fragile … broken. I’d never heard her speak so quietly and her tone held no life. My chest cracked open at the sound, guilt and responsibility for her pain seizing my body.

“I’m here, Gingernut.” I choked on the words and repressed my anger for her benefit. She had the right to lose it, but I needed to be her strength for once.

“Crowley said if you aren’t back in the UK by ten a.m. tomorrow then … then I’m …then they’re going to—” Murmurs and scraping came from the other end of the phone as if someone was taking the mobile off her. For a second it all went quiet, then another voice came on the end of the line.

“The last flight out leaves in an hour. I’ve booked you on it and a car will pick you up from Heathrow. You will get into the back, tie your wrists together with the cable tie you’ll find there, and you will be alone. Don’t contact the police or your buddy; I will know if you do. I don’t want to harm your girl, Arnold. She’s innocent in all of this, but I will.”

Crowley’s voice and the use of my old surname sent a shiver skating over my spine. It refused to leave me as floods of memories returned.

“I’ll be there.” There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind. I couldn’t keep running and allow Alaya to suffer for my mistakes.

The line went dead and the knock on my door had me shooting off the bed. I consciously calmed my shallow breaths and the thundering beats of my heart, glanced up at the clock to take note of the time, and opened the door.

Levi stood there, his bag hanging off one shoulder and his laptop under his arm. He had deep, dark circles under his eyes, tousled hair as if he’d run his hand through it too many times, and it looked like he’d aged twenty years in the space of one flight. He stepped into the room with a nod of his head, dumping his bag by the door as he moved to set up the laptop on the desk.

I didn’t buy Crowley’s threat not to go to Levi. The police maybe, since Crowley had a few contacts on the inside, yet Levi knew the good from the bad. Either way, using him was a risk I needed to take. I couldn’t pull anything off without him. He’d been researching Crowley’s organisation since he joined the force, and gathered so much intel on who worked for him that I trusted he would be able to form a team to have my back. The only problem I faced was convincing him to let me go in on my own to begin with. I couldn’t risk Alaya’s life by sending in a team without being there first no matter what Levi said.

She remained the priority, not me.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Cole

Just like Crowley instructed, a man holding my old surname waited for me at the arrivals point in Heathrow airport. The second our eyes met he turned and disappeared into the crowd. I followed him wordlessly, resisting the urge to scan the area for Levi’s buddy he swore would be watching. We decided Levi proved too recognisable and we didn’t want to spook Crowley by having him on the same flight back. It meant he left on the first train out after we locked down our plan so he would be ready in the UK when I arrived.

I hated he wasn’t next to me, talking me through everything. While I never usually admitted I needed help, I was fighting for Alaya this time which meant I needed the best guys surrounding me. Levi was the best out there.

I strode out to the waiting bays where the man climbed into a small, nondescript hatchback with tinted windows. As I approached the car, I kept my gait confident and ran through the plan once more in my head.

Everything would work out, Alaya would be safe, and Crowley would return to prison.

Finally, I’d be free of all this shit.

Yanking open the door, I slid on to the seat, put my bag on the floor, and shut the door behind me. Next to me, just like Crowley stated, lay a cable tie. I gulped at the sight. I knew I needed to, but I still didn’t like willingly giving up control. Once I put it on there was no going back.

Picking up the flimsy piece of plastic, I formed a loop with it, stuck my hands through the hole, and then pulled it closed with my mouth. I made sure the plastic wasn’t too tight, but I couldn’t leave it loose unless I wanted to provoke Crowley. Considering there was enough stacked against me, complying seemed like my best option.

I noticed the driver watching me in the rear-view mirror and I held up my wrists for him to see. Satisfied with the situation, he pulled away from the kerb.

* * *

The driver guided the car to an empty warehouse. Knowing Crowley, it would have been put up for sale recently as he liked to move his operation around and hop between on-the-market properties frequently. As soon as the car stopped, the back door was thrown open and a set of hands reached in to haul me out. They didn’t even wait for me to stand.

Wrenching hard on my wrists, they allowed me to topple from the car, and without the use of my hands my face collided with the concrete floor. Pain seared my skull, rippling outwards over my entire head from the point of impact. I gritted my teeth together, biting back any sign of weakness as I struggled to my feet.

The second I found my balance a punch to the gut forced me to double over, then a kick to my legs sent me sailing straight back to the floor. My shoulders took the brunt of the force this time and I lay on my back for a second, trying to catch the breath they’d knocked from my lungs.

“Get up,” Crowley snapped. I’d yet to see him, but I couldn’t mistake his voice for anyone else. When I paused longer than he wanted he shouted again, “Get the fuck up, Arnold.”

Another kick landed, this time to my ribs. A grunt of pain escaped my lips and I rolled on to my front and pushed myself up, trying to cover my wince.

Finally, I got my first glimpse of Giles Crowley in seven years. His skin looked pale—almost vampire pale. His hair had been shaved into a buzz cut, he’d added to the previously thick layer of muscle, and the lines on his forehead were deeper and more pronounced. Prison hadn’t been kind to him.

Drake Ryder stood at his side then behind them, huddled and blindfolded on the floor with her wrists and ankles tied, sat Alaya. The chain around my heart tightened at the sight of her. The constricting pressure in my chest made it hard to draw in any air as guilt welled inside of me. The punches hurt less than the sight of her curled up in the corner.

She shouldn’t look broken. She should be skydiving, travelling around Europe, and loving life.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Alaya

Trapped in darkness, I was surprised by how my other senses became heightened. A hint of oil and the fumes from a car exhaust lingered in the cool air. Beneath me, tiny pieces of grit rubbed and cut into my knuckles as they skimmed the floor behind my back when I shifted. The cable ties ate into my wrists once again, even more painful now they chafed against the already raw skin. My shoulders ached from being bound in the same position for too long, but the feeling had started to vanish in them altogether.

Regretfully, I heard every sickening punch, every crack of fists against flesh, and every moan or grunt from Cole. With each blow I winced, burying my head into my shoulder like that would somehow magically block everything out. I screwed my eyes shut even tighter behind the blindfold, wishing I could transport myself anywhere else.

Nausea rolled in the pit of my stomach and for the first time since I left Germany I felt glad I hadn’t eaten anything. It meant nothing remained in my stomach for me to throw up as the brutal sounds continued.

“Enough,” someone snapped—Crowley I guessed—and instantly the noises ceased. Scuffling scratched along the floor, like someone being dragged to their feet, and then a metal door clanged. I flinched at the sound, a whimper falling from my lips.

Even behind the blindfold I could feel the weight of people’s gazes settling upon me. The heat made me want to shrink back into the metal behind me even further—to curl myself up as tight as possible and blend in.

“Giles, let her go. You have me now so you don’t need her. She isn’t part of this,” Cole groaned out like it physically pained him to speak. The words were breathless, yet still he managed to sound like his confident self.

“Not a chance. She’s my insurance policy,” Crowley said, disbelieving humour lacing his voice.

Footsteps approached me and I shuffled back until I ran out of space.

“What’s he doing?” Cole’s words brought me no comfort. The barely restrained anger in them caused me to twist my head in the direction of the footsteps like I could see whoever drew nearer.

Fingers abruptly tangled in my hair.

I recoiled from the touch, a sharp sting radiating from my roots, and I bit down on my lip to stop another whimper. The rough, calloused skin grazed the back of my skull, pulling my head forward. He worked on the knot to my blindfold. When I could finally see again, what I opened my eyes to had me wanting to screw them shut. It felt like someone had brought a movie to life in front of me and I found it impossible to turn my head away as Cole homed in on me.

A cut at the corner of his eyebrow dripped crimson trails over one side of his face. His hands were bound in front of him and he hunched as he stood. It looked as if he placed more weight on his right leg and his hands shielded his chest from any more punches.