Onyx
I swear, the only reason I’m allowing Jesper Olson to put his slimy hands on me and virtually drag me to the basement is because I know Jacob is down there.
Calling it a basement doesn’t really do the space justice though.
Already the stairs going down give the impression of luxury, with deep burgundy paper in an embossed fleur-de-lis pattern lining the walls, which continues into a main room. The row of high windows on the far side ensure privacy but still provide an amazing amount of light into the space.
In the center of the room is a large seating area with a couple of semi-circular leather couches and some oversized club chairs in a rich, golden brown where the rest of the party is already seated. All are facing what looks like a stage with a glass wall on either side.
As Jesper leads me closer to the rest of the group, I notice there are several narrow cubicles behind both glass walls. Six in total.
I struggle to keep my composure when I see each one holds a person. To the right of the stage, I recognize the two boys and one girl who waited on us earlier. Those three are standing, apparently unaffected by their nudity. That’s not the case for the three individuals in the left three cubicles, however. Again, two boys and one girl, from what I can see. The girl and one of the boys are sitting on the floor, pressed against the back wall with their knees pulled up to their chest. The second boy is standing, his hands cupping his groin as he glares in our direction.
I don’t know what these perverts see, but all I’m looking at are six teens, already traumatized in a way they may not ever recover from. Oddly enough, it bolsters my determination to do whatever it takes to shut these people down once and for all.
“Welcome to my playroom,” Wheeler aka Ackers declares with a grand gesture.
“Impressive,” I comment, deadpan.
I can see my response shakes him a little. He was clearly not expecting that. Good, keeping him off-balance serves me well.
But it doesn’t last long.
“Why don’t you take Ms. Baqri into the private room. Don’t get started without me.”
I don’t resist when Jesper walks me to a barely noticeable door in the wall, across from the glass cubicles. I have to trust my team won’t allow anything to happen to those kids.
“You won’t need this anymore,” he says as he moves up behind me.
He then proceeds to peel my kimono down my arms and tosses it carelessly in a corner. I don’t even flinch.
“Much better,” he mumbles behind me as he strokes his hands over my shoulders. Revulsion coils in my stomach at the feel of his clammy hands on my skin, but for those kids I can endure.
I feel a little bereft without the microphone, I’m not sure how much it can pick up from where Jesper threw it, but at least I can still hear the team. Plus, I have a little added security hidden on my body.
Jesper reaches around me and presses on one side of the door which must’ve been closed with a pressure latch, since it swings open easily. Seeing what’s inside has me hesitate on the threshold, but only briefly.
Somewhere down here Haley is holding Jacob at gunpoint, which motivates me to step inside. I have a sneaking suspicion what Wheeler might have in mind, which would mean I’ll probably see Jacob sooner than later.
The foam chaise with different adjustable or removable segments, as well as the blackout blinds covering the other side of a window, give it away.
I’m afraid when those blinds open, I’ll see Jacob on the other side. It’s exactly the kind of sick game Wheeler would play. There is no doubt in my mind Wheeler knows not only who Jacob is, but who I am as well. I think Wheeler may well be aware Jacob set the fire at Transition House, and he intends to get his revenge by torturing Jacob.
Using me.
Our team is out there, I have faith in them, but getting the kids to safety has priority. Which is the way it should be, but it means Jacob and I will be on our own. With only the switchblade strapped to my leg between us.
Olson closes in behind me again, wrapping an arm around me and sliding his hand down to my lower belly. Then he presses in as he pushes his pelvis into my ass. His other hand cups my breast and I quickly cover it with mine.
“Didn’t your daddy want you to wait?”
“Hmmm,” he hums in my neck. “He won’t mind if we have a little sampler. Tell me you don’t want some of this.”
He grinds his erection against me, breathing heavily in my ear as his teeth clamp onto my shoulder, like some rutting animal. What keeps me in this game—playing my part—is the knowledge that at the end of it, we’ll have spared so many young kids from this trauma. I’m an adult now, I understand the power sex can have, and my ability to wield that power.
So, I push my ass against him and drop my head back, offering him my neck as I pretend to play along.
“Sure I do, but I have a feeling your daddy wouldn’t be too happy with us.”
“Nor will I.”
My head snaps up at the tinny sound of a voice and Jesper instantly lets go of me. The blinds roll up, revealing a smirking Gordon Chen on the other side.
But he’s not the reason for my involuntary cry. It’s the sight of Jacob, strapped down on a spanking bench, his eyes closed and body slack.
I barely recognize the shrieking as coming from me.
“What have you done to him?”
Chen turns around and smirks at the monster stepping into view.
“You’re right, my friend, this is much more fun.”
“And to think you went against my advice and almost had her killed,” Wheeler responds coldly, both of them ignoring me. “That would’ve really foiled my plans. The real fun will start when dear Nathaniel here wakes up.”
I can’t believe they’re talking about us like Jacob and I aren’t even here
Chen is still focused on Wheeler and appears to shrug his shoulders.
“It seemed too much of a risk to let her walk around when she could’ve easily remembered me.”
Remembered him? Was he one of the many anonymous strangers who used me? I made it a point to remember as little as possible, so I’d had no idea.
“How could she recognize you?” Wheeler asks. “Don’t you always want them blindfolded?”
I guess it was too optimistic to hope maybe I’d been the only one.
“Yes, you know I have too much to lose.”
“Your secrets are safe, my friend. I will make sure of it.”
Yeah, I didn’t think Wheeler was going to let us walk out of here. What I didn’t expect was Wheeler pulling a gun and firing.
The shot is loud and so sudden, the expression of shock stays on Gordon Chen’s face as he collapses to the ground.
“Jesus, Dad,” Jesper mumbles behind me. “A warning would’ve been nice.”
Jacob
“He was becoming too much of a liability.”
It took every ounce of strength out of me to keep playing dead when the shot went off.
I took one look in this room, saw that damn bench, and knew in an instant what he had planned for us. By then it was too late. Before I could even launch an attack, Haley jabbed me in the neck with a needle. I’m not sure what it was he injected me with but it felled me like a goddamn tree.
Next thing I know I wake up, shackled to this bench in a pose that feels all too familiar to me, and the sound of Wheeler’s voice in my ear.
Jesus Christ, the man is a lunatic. Of course, I already knew that.
I don’t need to look; I know exactly what I’ll see when I open my eyes. Gordon Chen, dead on the floor, and my beautiful Raj will be on the other side of this window. I could hear every word she and that little prick, Olson, said. But I need to stall as long as I can, giving the rest of the team a chance to get a plan of rescue together. Therefore, I keep my eyes firmly shut while I try to find a way out of the leather straps around my wrists.
Sadly, it doesn’t last long when suddenly the heavy weight of a body presses me into the bench and hot breath brushes my cheek.
“How does it feel to be back here, pretty boy? Except, you’re not so pretty anymore, are you?”
Wheeler’s voice grates on me, but I refuse to give him any kind of reaction, he feeds on that.
“Good thing your tight ass looks as firm as it always was, it’s gonna feel like coming home.”
My eyes snap open and, like a homing beacon, I lock onto Rajani’s dark, empathetic ones through the window. I need her to anchor me because, by God, I’ll do whatever it takes to get her out of here.
“You know I’d much prefer my boys younger, firmer, but I wouldn’t mind tapping you once more for old times’ sake. Tell me, has anyone been in there since my last time?”
He grabs a handful of my ass cheek and squeezes too hard.
“Don’t you touch him!” Rajani yells on the other side of the window.
“Come on, Dad. You said I was first.”
Like a petulant child, Olson whines.
“Relax.” Wheeler pushes off me. “First I want Nathaniel to watch as you play with her.”
I watch Raj closely and instead of flinching at Wheeler’s words, she sets her jaw.
Then with her eyes on me, her mouth forms the words, “I’m sorry,” and the next moment she slips the clingy black dress off her shoulders and down to her waist where it hangs precariously. Her breasts are barely contained by the black lace bra. Then she finally takes her eyes off me and turns her back to face the Olson kid, propping one hand on a hip as she takes on a sultry pose.
“Well, in that case, what do you say?”
I can’t stop the growl low in my throat when I see the lecherous smirk on that sick punk’s face. His father chuckles softly behind me. These people are depraved beyond belief, but it spurs me to work harder on my leather shackles.
“You have no idea how sweet this is going to be,” Wheeler whispers too close to my ear. “I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw you on the video feed. I thought Gordon was blowing smoke at first when he claimed he saw that bitch of yours.”
I’m not even reacting to his words; my eyes are focused on the sickening scene on the other side of the window. I’m not sure how far Raj will let this go, but it’s torture to watch this guy’s hands on her, however briefly. Rajani slips from his hold and uses the square footage of the room to tease him. Lead him by the dick, so to speak.
“…was told you were killed, that I’d missed my chance. But here we are, it looks like I’ll have my payback after all. And trust me when I say I’ll make it hurt.”
I block out his taunts, watching closely as I see Raj playfully slap the kid’s hands out of the way, before putting hers on his waistband and opening each button of his fly with great care. God, help me.
I’m willing to swear the kid’s forgetting his own damn name with the way she’s playing him. I catch her whispering close to his ear as she circles around him, putting her hands on his hips and pushing his jeans down to his knees.
My heart is starting to beat faster when I notice she has effectively hidden herself behind Olson. In the next moment the kid is on his knees in front of her, a sharp thin blade cutting into the skin at the base of his throat.
She glances at me over his shoulder, an apology in her eyes.
Rajani’s eyes are focused and intense as they find Wheeler, who is just realizing what has happened.
“Let him go,” she orders in a sharp voice.
“Like hell!” Wheeler yells back, pulling his gun and aiming it at me. “I will kill him first.”
“A sure way to end your son’s life,” she returns, as cool as a cucumber.
Hell, my hands are sweating. We’re in the middle of a standoff and I’m fucking useless, tied up like a Thanksgiving turkey.
“You won’t get the chance,” he threatens.
The little smile she sends him is chilling. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that.
“It’s more likely one of your bullets will hit your son first,” she mocks him. “But why don’t you try me?”
The next moment everything happens at once, a shot rings out, then a loud crash sounds behind me while I watch the window shatter in front of me. Then I hear another shot and a sudden commotion in the room, but I only have eyes for Jesper Olson’s crumpled form on the ground. Blood is spreading from underneath his body, but from my vantage point I can’t see Rajani.
I’m frantically yanking at the leather straps when Opal kneels in front of my face.
“You’re bleeding.”
“Get me the hell out of these things,” I snap, trying to peer around her. “I need to get to her.”
She moves to the side to undo the strap around one of my hands, giving me a view of the other room. I catch Pearl entering with Matt Driver right on her heels. They walk right over to where I can just see Olson still lying motionless on the ground.
“We need medics in here!” Pearl yells, as Driver grabs Olson’s arm and pulls him off Rajani’s prone body.
She’s covered in blood and not moving.