Danika's Gift (9 page)

Chapter 11

Derek

              We got as far as Tennessee before we decided it was time to fly the rest of the way home.  After Danika hung up on me, I got the strangest feeling something bad was going to happen.  I warned Dan that we may be headed for trouble.  He used a pay phone to make some calls while I returned the car to the rental place at the airport.  Dan was frowning when he finally came back.

             
“They are ready to move on Sergio.  He doesn’t know the Feds are coming.  But, he knows we are coming back and he has a hostage.”

             
No. No. No.  Please don’t say it.

             
“They are holding Danika until you and I return.  Sergio left a message on my cell phone that since we didn’t finish business in LA, and we haven’t been heard from since, he is going to take matter into his own hands.  He also said, on the voicemail, to tell you that Danika is waiting for you.”

             
I slumped to the ground and finally, the tears came.  Everything was falling apart, and we were only a few hours away from home.  What would happen to Danika if the Feds got to Sergio before we did? 

             
“Did you warn your people she was there?”

             
“I couldn’t.  Everyone in the agency is on alert, near the meeting place.  This is turning into a huge mess.”  Dan put his head in his hands and rocked back and forth for a minute.  Then, he reached in his pocket, grabbed his cell phone and sent a text to his friend, Ken. 

             
“Ken is from my unit in the Marines.  He can get to someone and let them know about the hostage situation in time.”

             
“What about Sam?”  I felt a twinge of guilt.  If it hadn’t been for me, none of this would have happened.

             
“I don’t know Derek.  Sergio never said anything about her so we have to hope and pray she is somewhere safe.”

             
Just as he said that I got a text from an unknown contact.

             
It’s Sam. Dani with Sergio. I am safe. Help her pls!!!

             
I typed a quick reply,
On our way right now.

We boarded the next flight home and for the whole three hours, both Dan and I nervously watched the clock.  The attendant kept asking if there was anything she could get for us, but neither of us answered her.  At one point, a US Marshall Agent that was on board came and asked us for our ID.  We must’ve looked a mess.  Dan asked to speak to the Marshall in private and after that, everything seemed to calm down around us.  In fact, the Marshall offered to provide us with an escort to where we needed to go.  One problem was that I had no clue where that could be.

As soon as we landed, we were ushered through to an unmarked police car waiting out front of the airport.  Dan smiled as soon as he saw the men sitting inside.  I didn’t know who they were, but I was just glad to see that Dan was smiling.  That had to be a good sign.

“My name is Detective Bass and I am the head of Dan’s department.”  The older gentleman offered out his hand, and I hesitantly shook it. 

If he was here, who was busting up the whole Sergio meeting?  Our bags were tossed in the trunk and the sedan pulled away from the curb.  Detective Bass turned to talk to us while another officer drove.

“Listen, Derek, we are up to speed on everything.  We know they have 2 hostages at this time.  One is your girlfriend Danika Rodriguez.  The other is Katia Lang.  We have eyes on everything that is going on, and we are ready to move in but we need you there before we do so.”

“Katia is a hostage?  How?”

“Sergio has been keeping her family under his control for the past eight years.  Her family in Russia and her family in New York have been living under his rule.  Just like you, she’s been a pawn in his game.  We found out, through our resources, that all of you people with so-called ‘gifts’ are being recorded, documented and hired for more than you realize.”

I frowned at the air quotes he used when he said gifts, and then shuddered as Detective Bass went on to explain.

“Sergio is just one of a dozen men that are creating an army of gifted people.  These people can read thoughts, see the future, project emotions, all kinds of talents.  Once he finds genuine recruits, he then finds out everything about them so he can keep them in his clutches.  This is happening throughout their organization, around the globe.”

Holy shit.

“Tonight’s meeting is to put forward a plan to bring all the gifted together and start the training.  This training is supposed to be a form of brainwashing along with a selection process that will weed out the weak or the unnecessary.”

Dan piped in at this point, “If we can bring him down for any of the other dozens of violations like drug running, money laundering, sex trafficking and so on, we can pretend not to know about their plans and still be able to launch a global recon mission.”

My head was swimming at this point.  I didn’t understand half of what they were saying, I just knew that I wanted out, and I wanted my Danika. I didn’t come this far and go through all this crap just to lose her now.

“So what do I have to do?”

“Just walk in with Dan, as if you are getting back as expected.  We are going to drop you at your car, then follow you over.  Before we let you go, we are going to put cameras and wires on you guys.  They are tiny and can go unnoticed.  We need you to get the hostages talking so we know they are okay.  And, Dan is going to talk to you in riddles.  They are meant for us.  What he says will tell us how many, the location of the hostages, weapons, etc.”

I felt like I had just stepped into some sci-fi action movie.   I also felt useless, despite having a so-called gift.  Now I knew how Danika felt.  I wondered if I could tune into Dan as he assessed the scene at Sergio’s office.  It was in the back of a warehouse at the marina.  Too much room and not many options for hiding.  How were the Feds going to get Danika out safely?

Detective Bass dropped us off at my car.  The other officer brought out a suitcase which was full of tiny gadgets.  He stuck little circles on me and Dan.  He tested everything and had Dan and I recite sentences.  Apparently some of the circles were cameras, others were radio transmitters and microphones.  Despite my love for crime television, I still just couldn’t grasp everything.  All I knew is that in the end, people died and hopefully, it wasn’t the hostage.

Chapter 12

Danika

I rubbed at the ties around my wrists.  They itched and burnt my skin at the same time.  I looked over at Katia. She was in bad shape, but still breathing.  Her one eye was puffy and purple, her lips swollen and covered in blood and there were bruises along both of her arms.  Her head was tilted to the side and I could only hope she was sleeping.  I watched the pulse jump in her neck and as best as I could tell, the rate was normal.

I looked around the room we were in.  There was one light bulb dangling from the ceiling.  At first it was too bright, but now, my eyes had adjusted and I could see most of my surroundings.  There were dark brown stains on the floor and the wall.  The walls were made of thin metal.  Katia and I each were in wooden chairs, hands tied to the arm rests, ankles tied to the legs and thick gags in our mouths.  I could hear yelling coming from outside our little prison.  I didn’t know the language, perhaps Spanish or Italian.  I also heard horns occasionally, like that on a yacht or other large boat.  I tried to smell the air, but all I could smell was a foul metallic smell and something like dead fish.

I wondered if this was the end for me.  Only eighteen years old and still a virgin.  I chuckled at myself.  Of all the things to think of, why that?  Probably because Derek called the other night and said he’d be home soon.  As mad as I was at him, I wish I could see him just one more time.  To tell him that I was sorry and that I loved him.  Crazy as it may be, I do.  Without him, I felt dead anyway.  I decided to give up at that moment.

“Wake up you two,” Sergio yelled and banged on the metal wall.  “You two are being moved.”

One of his henchmen came in, tilted and dragged Katia’s chair out of the metal room.  Then he came back for me.  The guy dragged me clear across the warehouse, up a ramp and into a box truck.  I fell on my side, still tied to the chair.  Katia was awake now, her eyes huge as she must’ve realized what was happening.

As soon as the truck door rolled down and slammed shut, there was a huge commotion outside.  We heard loud pops, bangs, a helicopter, tires screeching and men yelling.  I didn’t know what was happening, but if the cavalry was here, we had to find a way out of the truck or something bad could happen.  I focused on Katia’s face and projected my thoughts to her.  I saw nothing around her other than small purple and blue marks, but they grew and then shrank.  I projected that to her, that she was going to be okay.  She winked with her good eye.

Next, we need to get out of these chairs.  I focused hard, picturing us kicking at one another’s chairs until they broke.  I looked at her and she nodded.  I could feel my chair had loose legs  and I hoped hers did too.  As the noises continued outside, we made our own noises, thrashing about, kicking, twisting.  Finally, my chair fell apart first.  I was able to loosen my ties enough to untie Katia and remove our gags. 

Next problem was getting out of the truck and not getting shot in the process.  I sensed Katia would be safe, but I wasn’t so sure about myself. Just as I leaned down to pull the rope that would roll up the door, Katia grabbed my hand.  Everything had gone quiet outside of the truck.  If I had pulled up the door, we would’ve been caught.  She closed her eyes and focused on something.  Katia shook her head and gave me a sad look
.  Too many
, she mouthed.

Suddenly the box truck started up.  We were being driven away.  I slid down on to my knees and held my head in my hands.  We were so close.  I felt the tears roll down my cheeks, but I didn’t care to wipe them away.  Who had us?  What would happen to us now?  Would I ever see Sam or Derek again?  Katia slid over next to me and grabbed my hand.  I think she had it worse then I did, but I still couldn’t stop the tears from falling.  I think even more gushed out at the thought of Katia’s young life being lost too.  And then, the truck stopped suddenly.

Derek

             
We drove for a few minutes until we saw Ken on the side road with his SUV.  This guy, a complete stranger, really came through for us.  Dan looked at me and I nodded.  I closed my eyes and focused on Danika.  She was in so much pain and so scared that her thoughts were blaring in my head.  I then focused on Katia and even though neither of us was telepathic, we could sense when another gifted on was reading our thoughts.  As soon as I knew she was okay and knew she felt my presence, I began to think calm, reassuring thoughts to her.  I then refocused on Danika and her thoughts were now quieter and harder to read.

             
We waited for awhile to make sure that the firefight was over and we flagged down the ambulance as it slowly rolled our way.  Without lights or sirens, the private ambulance rolled over to us.  Ken nodded to them and they started grabbing their equipment.

             
It was time to get the girls out. And, I was scared.  Scared of what had happened to Danika and scared of what she was feeling towards me, thinking about me.  I would understand if she hated me, but I couldn’t deny how she made me feel.  Even through the metal partitions of the box truck, I felt an overwhelming peace with her on the other side.  I hadn’t been that close to her in over three months.

             
I nodded and Dan knew.  He slipped out and made his way over to the back door.  With a strong tug, he pulled up the door and called to the girls.

             
“My name is Dan.  I am with the FBI and a friend of Derek’s.  You are safe now ladies.  Please come out.”

             
First out was Katia, shaken, bruised and bloodied.  Dan helped her down and she sat on a gurney one of the paramedics brought over.  As they went about assessing Katia’s injuries, I turned back to the truck.  I looked up and saw my heart and soul standing before me.  I watched her face for a look of disgust or hate, but in Danika’s eyes was nothing but pure love.  I walked over to the truck and put my arms out for her.  Danika jumped down and wrapped her arms around me.

             
There were no words.  Neither of us spoke, we just held each other until the paramedics had to put Danika in the ambulance. I sat with her and we rode to the hospital with Katia.  I couldn’t stop touching Danika. She was safe and she was here, in my arms.  There was nothing else in the world I could’ve asked for.  Katia rolled her head our way and smiled.  I must’ve been shouting in her head.

Chapter 13

Danika

             
It has been three weeks since the kidnapping.  Katia has been doing better and recovered fairly well.  She did have a couple broken ribs in addition to the cuts and bruises on her face and arms, but she is young and strong and healing very nicely.  As for me, I had no major injuries, but a slight concussion from getting knocked in the head outside of my apartment.  I guess after I refused to tell them where Derek was when he called, they hit me from behind.  I never saw it coming.

             
Sam was doing wonderfully and finishing up her courses at the college.  Of course, she quit the pizzeria, but really liked the staff at Piper’s and works there now.  Casey never called me, but that was fine.  It wouldn’t have worked anyway.  My heart belonged to Derek.  I knew it from the moment I met him.  Sam, however, liked Casey a whole lot, so that was pretty awesome.

             
Dan and Ken are two of the most amazing guys I had ever met.  I got to meet them both at the hospital and they are like brothers.  They bickered, played jokes and did other stuff to one another that made you think they’re thirteen, not thirty. But, they are hard-core marines and without them, I wouldn’t be here today.  So, I have adopted them as my two older brothers. Now, to set them up with some women their age.

             
As for me, I’ve gotten back into the routine of school and managed to catch up on all of my courses. I didn’t miss much class time, but I got really far behind on my essays, projects and assignments.  Now that is all caught up, I can’t wait for break next week.  I am tired and need a vacation.

             
But, you probably want to know about me and Derek, right?  Well, after I got out of the hospital, we went back to my apartment.  He explained everything to me.  From how he came to meet me, to how Sergio threatened him and his father and all the details of his road trip with Dan out West.  I knew, the moment I saw him outside of that box truck, that I forgave him.  But, I had to make him sweat it out, just a little bit.  Honestly, how could I ever live without the other half of my soul, my self?

My gift may not be a curse after all.  My gift saved my cousin’s life.  And, my gift brought my soul mate into my life.  My gift is still a mystery to me, but I won’t ever consider it a curse again.  I love Sam and I love Derek. And, what greater gift is there, than love?

Derek

              I knew she wasn’t going to go easy on me.  Honestly, I didn’t care.  As long as she didn’t say goodbye.  I knew what it was like to live without her and there was no way in hell I was going through that again.  When she finally said she forgave me, I picked her up in my arms and spun her around.  There are very few times in a person’s life when they feel completely happy; mind, body and soul.  That moment was one for me and I hoped for many, many more.

             
Well, there was that other moment too that I won’t ever forget.  That moment went Danika crooked her finger at me and invited me into her bedroom.  Ah yes, that one moment that was followed by hours and hours and hours of pure mind-blowing, earth-shattering love making.

             
And there are many more moments to come…