He cocked his head a little to the left. “Yes, that’s her.”
The people on the other end of the cell could hear me? I’d detected no noise coming from the phone. I almost believed he was acting, trying to scare me into doing something like confessing. My hands clenched into fists. To have someone actually giving orders to kill me…
Anger engulfed every red-blooded American cell in my body.
“I have rights you know. Constitutional rights!” I slapped the chair’s arms with my open palms. “I demand a fair trail.”
“Yes, ma’am. If you’ll give me a moment.” Tobias Werner UED covered the mouth piece again and shook the cell phone at me. “You have the right to remain silent. If you lack the ability, I will gag you.”
I was sick of his threats, sick of being tied to a chair, and just plain sick thanks to his Spam dots. “I will not be quiet!”
I raised my chin and glared at him. Take that in your gag order and smoke it.
“And I will not sit quietly.” I’d had enough. I rocked from side-to-side in the chair, yanking on my tied limbs and lifting the legs off the floor in the process. The legs landed against the tile with a teeth jarring-thump. I welcomed the pain and used it to focus.
“Nor will I allow some government douche bag to decide my fate over a flippin’ cell phone.”
Take that Werner with a V
.
In two quick strides, he reached the dining room table and snatched up his triangular key fob. He aimed it at me.
I jerked to a stop. Oh snap. I’d forgotten about the keychain. Still the green light hadn’t silenced me before, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t boil my brain in its juices. “Don’t you dare!”
“I always do what I say.” A smile flickered across his lips. He pressed the opal embedded in the silver metal and a four-inch rainbow shot out of the tip pointed at me.
A rainbow? I blinked. Good heavens what was next? Flower petals? Laughter bubbled up my throat before strangling off. Son of a monkey’s butt! I’d forgotten about the light handcuffs. Hoping to dodge the thing, I tossed my weight to the right. The chair teetered on two legs.
The rainbow veered in my direction.
Oh no! I twitched and over-balanced. For a moment, my stomach fluttered up my throat then I landed. The contact played through my bones like a mad xylophone player. While the clatter ping-ponged inside my head, the band of light flit above me, before alighting on my face. Feather soft caresses tickled my lips and cheeks. I tried to open my mouth and felt a slight tug on my cheeks. He’d actually done it. He’d gagged me!
Smirking, Tobias righted me and my chair before tucking the phone between his shoulder and ear. “Okay, I’m back.”
Bastard! The gag muffled the swear word. I jerked on my ties. To heck with the swear jar. I was fighting for my life here. Tobias Werner Underwear Eating Douche bag’s wide shoulders shook under his orange shirt. So the toe-jam eating son of Satan thought it was funny, huh? Just wait until I got out of my bonds.
I tugged harder on my arms. The wood didn’t even wiggle. Dang it, why did he have to tie me to the one piece of furniture that had been made to last? Where were the made-in-China pieces when I needed them?
The amusement evaporated from his green eyes and his whole body stilled. “No, disposing of her wouldn’t be a problem.”
It would be for me. My sweaty hands slid on the arms of the chair. Heart hammering inside my chest, I rocked back and forth in my chair. The leg screeched.
He tossed me a murderous look. His wide mouth and blunt cheekbones had all the softness of chiseled marble.
I dug my damp fingers into the wooden arm and tried to hop back to the table. That’s when I felt it—a slight give in the chair’s right arm. I tossed my head, flipping it defiantly and surreptitiously looked down. Yes! A sliver of pale wood winked back from where it had worked free of the joint. But my rocking made it too slow.
If I tipped myself over, maybe the chair would break and I could slip off my light manacles. And maybe knock myself out in the process. Sweat pooled under my arms. I dug the toes of my sneakers into the grout line and pushed back. My thighs trembled as I balanced my weight.
Tobias’s eyes narrowed and he straightened. “American culture is rife with opportunities for fatal accidents.”
I shook my head. Wood creaked in protest. I took a deep breath. Just a little more and I’d be falling. I could fall, falling was easy. Landing was the hard part. If I passed out again…
“How quickly do you want the body found?”
Body. No. No. I didn’t want to die. I could do this. If I didn’t escape, I was as good as dead. My toe slipped out of the grout line and I landed hard.
“No, ma’am I don’t think it matters.” He glanced down at the silver key fob in his hand. His thumb worried the opal. “Konstantin already knows we found the body. They set up their rendezvous at the drop site.”
Calmness cloaked me. Gone were the fever and chills, the joint aches and throbbing bones. Taking a deep breath, I braced myself against the grout line and leaned back. The chair slid back without tipping. Dang it.
“Yes, ma’am, I’ll hold.” His eyes narrowed and he covered the mouthpiece with his hand. “If you don’t stop struggling, you will hurt yourself.”
I’d rather be hurt than dead. I flipped him a double bird and pushed against the floor with my toes. The chair balanced on its hind legs. I pressed my torso against the curved back and fell.
Success! My body tensed for impact.
“Son of a bitch!” Footsteps whispered against the tile as the G-douche rushed forward.
My stomach floated into my mouth then the chair back clattered to the floor. Round spindles dug into my back and air whooshed from my lungs. My head snapped back. Despite hitting the carpet, stars danced in front of my eyes.
“Are you trying to kill yourself?” He loomed over me and the shadows swallowed his features.
What? Was he afraid I was poaching on his territory? I jerked on my restraints. An eighth of an inch of unstained wood appeared in the arm joint. Excellent. A couple more falls and I should have one arm free.
Pinching his phone against his ear with his shoulder, he swept his fingers down the back of my skull. “You don’t even have the sense of an
obecht
.”
I winced when he touched the knot on the back. Maybe not, but I had the self-preservation of a Rottweiler. And if I didn’t succeed in escaping, all the bruises on my body would raise some questions that couldn’t be explained away as an accident.
Shaking his head, he clasped the back of my chair and hauled me, chair and all, upright.
I clamped down a surge of victory. Ha, he didn’t know it but he’d just helped me big time.
He swept a hand down his face before wagging an index finger at me. “Behave.”
Yeah like that was going to happen. I’d behaved all my life and look where that had gotten me.
“I’m serious.” He plucked the silver key fob off the tile and aimed it at me. “I can restrain you in other, less pleasant ways.”
What did he think this was—a walk in the sunshine? I glared at him and worked the chair’s right arm back and forth in its joint. As soon as I broke free, I would beat him with it.
“I will not warn you again.”
Still keeping eye contact with him, I found the grout line and pushed with my toes. The chair balanced on the back legs. Ha! Victory was mine!
Leaping forward, he clamped a hand on the back and pulled me forward until the front legs hit the tile. My cheek brushed his chest and he reared back. “You little fool. Don’t you understand when— What? Yes, I’m still here.”
No. No. NO! What a douche! Frustration clawed at my concentration. Well I wasn’t beaten yet. So he wouldn’t let me fall back. I’d show him by falling to the side. That arm was the loosest anyway.
“Apologies ma’am but could you repeat my orders.” Covering his ear, he turned slightly away from me.
Such an opportunity might not happen again. I pushed again with my toes while slamming my upper body to the side.
The G-douche caught the arm of the chair.
I dangled in mid-air. The hard tile so close yet so far away. Crap on a cracker! I rocked in the chair but still didn’t topple over. Scum-sucking, toilet-licking, fat head.
He slammed me back to the ground. Frown lines dug trenches around his mouth. The opal in his key fob glowed blue. With one last look, he released the chair and stepped back. “ETA?”
I could practically feel him daring me. I raised my chin. I never turned down a dare. I wasn’t genetically capable. Despite the light taping my mouth closed, I smiled at him and slammed my torso against the arm of the chair and fell.
Blue light surrounded me, tinting the room a pastel color.
Instead of hitting the ground, I continued to fall. And fall. Fudge bunnies! My hair grazed the tile then I fell up. Up? Soon gravity tugged me down. Then I swung up. Then down. Lovely, he had turned me into a fricking clock pendulum. I tried to lean forward but a pressure held me in place.
Tobias Werner UED smiled. Crows feet appeared at the corner of his eyes and white teeth appeared between his parted lips. “Yes, ma’am, I understand.”
The ground receded as I levitated higher and higher. Holy Toledo! What evil had he concocted now? Blood rushed to my head, adding percussion to the thumping inside my skull. Oh God. I was going to die. Tears stung my eyes and needled my nose. My parents. I sniffed. Would they know that I loved them? Would they understand, that I rejected their lifestyle not them?
As my eyes reached his chin level, the douche bag assassin tilted his head to the side and reached out a hand to stop my swinging. “And the subject?”
I followed the blue beam back to his hand. Would he kill me with the key fob or did he have something worse in store? I just hoped it would be quick. My stomach cramped. And whatever else he had to do was done, after I was dead.
“I’m sorry. Could you repeat—” His hand trembled and white dotted his knuckles. “No disrespect, ma’am, but she’s…”
Hope flickered to life. Was he defending me or lobbying for my death?
“No, ma’am.” He bit off each word and a muscle flexed in his jaw. “It won’t be a problem.”
Problem? Pressure built inside my head. I squeezed my eyes closed, least they popped out.
“I’m glad you feel that my history makes me the perfect choice.”
I peeked at him thought slitted lids. Oh boy. With that frown and hard glitter in his eyes, he looked like he could chew sand and spit glass.
“Is there a contingency plan?”
Over the battle of the drums inside my head, I perked up. A contingency plan? That sounded promising.
“Yes, ma’am, I’ve been trained in sanitation.” He scratched furrows in his short blond hair.
Sanitation. I’d watched enough action movies to know that wasn’t good. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I concentrated on the blood cells pulsing through the veins inside my skull.
“I won’t fail you ma’am.” Tobias snapped his cell closed and stared at me.
And stared. My heart pounded above the noise. What was he waiting for—an invitation? Time counted down with each pulse. One beat. Two. Ten. My left eye twitched. What was I a work of art?
He sighed and scrubbed his face with his palm. “Do you want down?”
Did the Pope wear a funny hat? I also wanted to live. But I would take what I could get. For the moment anyway. Since my mouth was still sealed with light, I nodded.
He scratched the stubble on his chin. “Do you swear not to pull any more stunts?”
Did I? Not a chance. But I had no problem lying. I’d heard once that a prisoner wasn’t bound by any promises made under duress. I nodded.
He narrowed his eyes. “If you fail to heed anymore of my warnings, I will simply act and you will suffer the consequences.”
I swallowed a groan.
“My next actions are completely dependent upon you.” Still aiming the key fob at me, he stepped forward and raised his hand. A feather soft touch caressed my cheek. “You should know that I’ve mastered ways to inflict pain that no one on Earth has dreamed of yet. Understand?”
Great, blame the victim, but for what I wasn’t sure. I tried to make sense of it. Unfortunately, the influx of blood seemed to have flooded any abilities I possessed. Still, I just wished he’d get on with it before my head exploded.
“You’re being very cooperative.”
I rolled my eyes and hoped they didn’t pop out from the pressure. When were we going to get to the letting down part?
“Just one more thing before we proceed.” His fingers traced the curve of my lips. “While you and Konstantin chatted, did you kiss him or vice versa?”
How did that matter? My scalp felt like it was on fire. I tried to wiggle in my chair but that blue beam held me still. And really it wasn’t any of his business who I kissed.
“Ahh, so you’re not cooperating now.”
I looked at the cat, snoozing on the dining room table.
He grasped my chin and turned my face back to his. “You should know that while hanging upside down will kill most people in about 20 minutes, the CeeBees will make sure you can survive it for much, much longer. But they won’t do anything to mitigate the pain.”
Douche bag. I glared at him as my hair seemed to catch fire.
He smirked back. “Did you kiss Konstantin or did he kiss you?”
I blinked at the tears stinging my eyes. What did it really matter? I shook my head.
“Are you sure?”
Really, did the man want me to sign an affidavit? I nodded.
“Good.” When he released the opal, the blue light faded. He slid his cool palms along my cheeks before settling his thumbs into the notches above my jaw and pressed.
I hissed through the pain and opened my mouth. Holy Toledo! I blinked. I was free. Before I could respond, he settled his lips on mine. His tongue invaded my mouth. I tried to bite down but his grip prevented me. Pervert. I held myself still.
He pulled back then ran his thumb over my damp, bruised lips.
I jerked, freeing myself from his touch. The world tilted. I dug my nails into the chair’s arms as I spun counterclockwise. “What was that about? Some kiss of death to get your jollies before, what was the word you used, terminating me?”