Discovering Me (Breakneck #4) (10 page)

More sniffles. I remind myself to stay calm because if we both are a sniffling mess, it won’t do us any good.

“Jinxie. Look at me, girl.”

All I can see is her silhouette from a little bit of light that streams down through the cracks in the ceiling above us.

“The more noise you make, the more they’ll come and check on us. And when I say check on us, it isn’t in a friendly way, okay?”

She says nothing and I suspect she won’t for a long time to come. If I had time to analyze myself over my calmness, I would, but I don’t have time to freak out. If we are able to figure out how to get out of the situation we are in, at least one of us must stay sane.

“I’m not going to lie to you and say things are gonna be okay. Because I don’t know if they will be, but I can do my best at gettin’ us through this the best I can,” I choke out. “I’ve been through something similar before. First rule, we can talk, but it has to be quiet. Please don’t be loud. If you have to cry, muffle it with your arm.”

Jinx shakes her head back and forth in disbelief as the tears still garble from her throat. I hear voices above us. My head tilts on its own accord, and I strain to listen. Spanish. They are speaking Spanish. So the men who kidnapped us are Hispanic like they looked. I should have learned Spanish, but the people who trafficked me were Russians.

“Jinx,” I whisper yell, and my hand flies to my mouth to quiet myself. When I have my heartbeat back to normal and I am sure I can quiet myself down, I remove my shaky hand. “This situation will not be any better if you draw their attention to us more than it has to be.”

As quiet as I can manage, I stretch as far as the chain on my ankle will allow and wave my hand for Jinx to follow my movement. We meet in the middle of the wet, damp concrete floor with the leaky pipe above us, which continues to drip water.

“Jinx…,” I say quietly as I grab one of her hands in mine and squeeze. “If they feed us, don’t scarf it down, okay? They will starve us. We need to prep our bodies the best we can. Follow my lead with the food, if we get any, okay?”

She says not one word, but the white peaks of her eyes show me she heard me. “If they rape us—”

Jinx cuts me off with a gasp, and I use my free hand to cover her mouth. “Shh…”

When her sobs quiet, I remove my hand.

“They most likely will, and I need you to remember the best memory you’ve ever had and put it on repeat in your mind, okay? It’s important. You can cry about it later, but the more you struggle and the more noise you make… the worse it makes it on you, okay?”

My stomach twists into knots as I recall the past I have done so well at forgetting. I know deep down in my heart that I have people looking for me this time around. Sniper won’t stop until he finds me, no matter if we left things with unresolved issues. He won’t stop. I have to believe with everything in me that he won’t stop until he finds me.

“They’ll come for us. You have to believe that. Sniper won’t stop until he has me back safe, and you, too. When they come in here, don’t struggle. Go with it. It sounds idiotic, but people like the ones that have us chained at the ankle, they feed off of the struggle.”

Her blue eyes are bloodshot red, and the tears continue to stream down her face. “They’re gonna rape us,” she squeaks.

This poor woman should never have had to be in this situation. I shouldn’t either, but you don’t always get what you want.

“Quiet down, Jinx.” I shush her.

She is going to bring them down here faster than I am prepared to deal with them. They want something from the Club, so they’ll keep us alive as long as they can and then kill us when they get what they want. I pray that Sniper and the guys find us before that point comes.

“My ankle hurts,” she whispers as one of her hands pulls at the metal band. “It’s cold, and we’re going to end up sick with infection.”

Infection is the least of our worries, but I do not have the heart to tell her so. Life is unfair. It is positively unfair.

“Jinx, listen to me. Infection is the last thing that should be on your mind. Within the next twenty-four hours, we’ll most likely be drugged and raped. You need to promise me you’ll stay calm. I can’t bear to watch what will happen if you don’t.” I grab both of her arms to shake some sense of reality into her. “Take all your happy moments and use those to survive. Whatever happens to me, close your eyes, and remember I am strong enough to get past it, and I will do the same for you. If we don’t anger them further, it’ll be easier on us. Do you understand?”

Her arms shake and her body starts to convulse underneath my fingertips. “That right there needs to stop,” I screech way too loud and scold myself mentally afterwards. “Calm is your best friend. You need to remember that.”

The situation is going to be tough enough, and her spazzing out is going to worsen our ordeal if she can’t get a grip. I understand she has no idea how to handle this situation. If this was my first time being kidnapped, I’d be freaking out as well, but it isn’t. I know from experience that the key to survival is to stay calm. Calm is and will be your savior if you want to make it out alive.

The tremble from my own fear is invisible, buried deep down underneath my exterior, waiting until the right moment to unleash.

“You’re too calm. It’s messing with my head. Why the hell aren’t you screaming and shouting to be released,” she exclaims.

Has she not listened to a word I have said?

“You’re not gonna make this easier on us,” I whisper as I let go of her arms. “Stay in your corner and don’t say a word if they come down here. Just follow my lead. If one comes down to touch you, don’t scream. Hold your tongue, and think of a happy moment.”

That is all I can say, and I am not going to repeat myself again.

“Sit in the corner and pray,” I order under my breath as I scoot back against the cold cement wall and listen to the trickle of water hit the concrete floor. The chain around my ankle chafes the skin under the metal ring.

***

Chapter Thirteen

Sniper

“What do you mean, she’s fucking gone!” I grit through my teeth and kick the chair nearest to me across the room. This can’t be happening. I can’t have this shit. I won’t. I can’t. Goddamn, what the fuck were they thinking?

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
is on repeat in my head.

“They fuckin’ shot Frank dead and kidnapped Piper and Jinx,” Braxx says in a calm voice.

How the fuck can he be so chill about this? Those motherfuckers have Piper! My chest heaves in and out, and before I can stop myself, my fist flies through the frame of the clubhouse door. Wood splinters in the air all around me. My blood boils beneath my skin, and I let out a roar like an angry lion. They let those motherfuckers take my best friend.

“Why the fuck were Piper and Jinx on gate duty in the first place?” I roar as I whirl around and slam my fist into the wall. Plaster scatters all over the room, and my knuckles bleed.

Words. There are no words to describe the anger raging inside of me.

“They were bored,” Rap says from beside me.

“Son of a bitch! They were bored? They were fucking bored, so you fucktards let them watch over the gate? How could you be so goddamn stupid?” I grit, and by accident, I bite my tongue in anger, and it bleeds inside my mouth. All this blood dripping from my mouth and roaring through my veins should be oozing from these fucking idiots.

Oh god. Nothing better happen to her. I can’t handle anything happening to Piper. I just can’t. It’s not an option.

“Winter isn’t to hear about this,” my brother says in a whisper as he dials a number on his phone.

“Winter better not hear about this?” I question him in shock.

He can’t be fucking serious. Why are they all so goddamn idiotic?

We should not even have to be dealing with this, but no, they let Piper and Jinx watch the fucking gate like the idiots they are. We are on fucking lockdown. As if that word alone doesn’t describe the threat that looms.

“You guys will get her back,” Storm says in a soft, broken voice beside me.

I try not to lash out on her. I do, but fuck, she, of all people, knows the severity of the situation.

“Get her back? Get her back,” I scream an animalistic growl. “What if she’s already fuckin’ dead?”

Piper can’t be dead. She fucking can’t be. I grab at my chest and recall her last words to me.

“I thought we were real, our friendship was real, and it wasn’t.”

What if she is lying somewhere, thinking I don’t care about her? What if she thinks we aren’t going to look for her? I can’t, fuck, I can’t do it. What if she has the same things happening to her as she did all those years before we saved her? All these what ifs are too much for me.

“Storm… tell me she can handle it until we find her. I need you to tell me she’s gonna be alive, and she’s gonna be okay, until I find her,” I plead with a hoarse voice.

Storm reaches for my arm, digs her fingertips into my skin, and answers me. “She’s alive. I feel it, and I know that Piper is one of the strongest people I have ever met. She got through this once before, and she’ll get through it again. You guys need to be fast. Be deadly and fast, you hear me. Feel that blood rage throughout your veins and use that, use that to fuel you!”

I close my eyes. My body shakes at the thought of what Piper is dealing with at this moment.

“Storm, stop. You don’t need to be filling his head with promises you can’t keep,” ZZ chastises.

“It isn’t false hope. If they are going to traffic them, you don’t have much fuckin’ time,” she screeches, her hands dancing in frantic movement in the air around her. “You don’t have fuckin’ time!”

Oh god!

“You don’t know if they will sell them! You’re only fuckin’ makin’ matters worse for him!” ZZ yells.

I run all the accounts with the Mexican Cartel through my head. They took them to make a point because of the threat we issued against them. They mean business. They don’t want us getting the women back because that proves them weak and us strong. They will get rid of them. It is the smart thing to do in their position.

“They’re tryin’ to make a point,” I choke out. “They took them, and they’re gonna make Piper and Jinx disappear to prove it.”

All of this is because Petra was killed, and now his bosses are here to stay. This is fucked up!

“Storm, you keep your cool around Winter. If she gets wind of this, she’ll go into premature labor,” Berry says as she walks up to us. God! Everyone is worried about my pregnant sister-in-law, but not my best friend who means the world to me or some innocent girl that was thrown into this because of a ten-minute association?

What the fuck is wrong with them?

“If I hear one more person worried about just Winer, I’m gonna start fuckin’ tearin’ heads off. That is a motherfuckin’ promise!” I rage with an anger unlike any I have ever felt before in my entire life.

I understand Winter is in a delicate situation and I care about my niece or nephew, but that is not what is important at this very moment.

“It’s the truth,” Berry replies.

“Ma! That’s enough! Go back to the live-in,” ZZ orders.

Berry says not another word as she turns around and stomps out of the clubhouse with a fitful attitude. She has no reason to be in a shit mood. It’s my best friend, a woman I love, that is fucking gone!

“Brother,” I seethe. “If anything happens to her…”

He puts his phone up to his ear. “Juan, Piper and a redhead named Jinx were fuckin’ taken by the Mexicans. Do what you can, no cost spared,” he orders and then hangs up the phone.

“Brother, it’s Piper. As long as she can keep her smart mouth in check, she’ll make it through this.” ZZ tries to reassure me.

Yeah, if she can keep her mouth shut. My entire body has not stopped shaking since I got the news that a woman I cherish was taken. She was supposed to be safe here, on the compound, and she wasn’t. I walk out of the clubhouse to the office building and flop down in the chair that sits next to the desk where Piper’s gun rests. Why wasn’t it strapped to her? She knows better. God, if one hair on her is harmed, there is no telling what I will do.

And for the first time in my entire life, I’m scared. I am downright fucking petrified. That girl means everything to me. She is my ALL.

“Sniper…”

I tilt my head to the side as Storm walks in and sits in the other chair. “I’m sorry. But if they want to make sure we know they mean business, the window to find Piper and Jinx is very short,” she chokes. “The window is short. Do you understand?”

Do I? Of course I fucking do! My beautiful, snarky best friend will disappear, and I will never see her again if we do not hurry and find her.

“Forty eight hours. That’s pushing it, Sniper. She’s been gone for six hours…”

Is that all we have? Jamaica isn’t that big of a town, but it is big enough to hide two people for two days and even longer.

“Storm, transport. How will they do it?”

Any other time I would hate asking questions that would bring up her past, but we have two women’s lives on the line here.

“The cameras showed the chloroform that made them pass out. She’s probably just now waking up, if, and that’s a big if, they dosed her with enough.”