Eluded (14 page)

"Take a shower. I need you clean
and dressed in an hour." When he left, the door locked behind him.
I almost preferred the cells and cots to the stark-white room and
comfortable bed. As I looked at it, I saw a white dress had been
laid across the comforter.

I undressed and turned on the
water until it steamed. I hadn't showered since I was at the hotel
and was thankful for hot running water. The soap, shampoo, and
conditioner smelled like strawberries. The smell was sweet and out
of place, and made my stomach turn because it reminded me of the
strawberries on Derrick's breath. Just for a few moments, I had to
think about something else. Something other than him. Everything
about him was death.

Henry and my mother filled my
thoughts, then Abbot. If I calculated my days by my sleeping
patterns, it would be close to when my parents would meet me at the
airport. Mom wouldn't allow her baby to stay missing. She would
call Henry, Lindsey, and the hotel. But a small piece of me knew
that she wouldn't find me, and that destroyed me the most. None of
them would know where to look. Hell, I didn't even know where I
was.

I took my time drying off and
stared at myself in the mirror. Deep red marks, which would
eventually be bruises, were wrapped around my neck. The cabinet
under the sink held no makeup, just deodorant, extra toilet paper,
and soap. With the towel wrapped snuggly around my body, I walked
from the bathroom to the bed where my clothes for the evening lay
neatly.

Everything was white, panties,
bra, and dress. Just like the walls, comforter, and carpet. I
slipped everything on then waited on the edge of the bed, not sure
what was to happen to me.

The door opened and all I saw was
black hair, a black suit, and a stark white tie with a rose in the
lapel. Derrick motioned me to him and I went, like a good little
captured girl. He grabbed my hand and interlocked my fingers with
his as he led me down the many flights of stairs. The door opened
and I saw a few stars in the night sky, but nothing else around
other than pavement and obscure buildings. The streets were empty,
not a soul in sight.

He grabbed me by the arm as I
tried to take in addresses, descriptors, and where I could escape
to or send a message from. On the building across the way was a red
spray-painted thirteen, almost like a gang tag. He shoved me inside
the back of the limo, and we zoomed through the streets. The
tinting was so dark, I couldn't see a thing.

After a few minutes, he opened a
bottle of champagne and poured two glasses. Then he opened a box of
strawberries, and my stomach went queasy when he pulled one out and
fed it to me. I swallowed it down quickly, then followed it with
champagne. The smile on his face grew as I continued to
drink.

"I want to take you out, treat you
to a nice dinner. I want to really show you how it is to be my
girl. Because you are my girl, aren't you, Lauren?"

My head went dizzy and everything
seemed to shift dimensions as I dropped the glass of champagne on
the limo floor. I focused my eyes on him several times.

"Is everything alright?" he asked,
with a devilish smile on his face. "Feeling okay?"

I opened my mouth to say
something, anything, and that was when I hit the floor.

ABBOT

Eighteen

T
he plan was simple. Find
which key opened the hideout and find Lauren, then Derrick.

We parked at the abandoned house
and trekked through the pasture with grass that came to my knee. If
they cut this field, our cover would be blown. The eight of us ran
as fast as we could, and before we came to the end of the property,
we dropped to our stomachs and waited. No vans were parked outside
of the warehouse. It was vacant from what I could see.

After a few moments, I stood and
walked to the roller door and pulled the ring of keys from my
pocket. I had at least twenty to go through, that were all the same
size and shape.

"Fuck," I whispered under my
breath. It seemed nothing would ever be easy for me.

Just as that thought made its way
through my head, I saw several sets of headlights beam down the
road. Without hesitating, I rounded the corner of the abandoned
warehouse and rested my back flat against the cold bricks. In
moments like this, people's hearts would be beating erratically;
mine, on the other hand, had nothing more than a constant, steady
rhythm.

The tires peeled the gravel from
the ground as the vehicles screeched to a halt. I slowly removed
the knife from my waistband and held it tight in my hand. If anyone
rounded that corner, they would be dead in seconds. I tilted my
head just a tad to see if I could see anyone. Nothing. By the
number of doors that slammed, I would have said there were at least
ten people, maybe more. If I took my chances and showed myself, I
could possibly be overpowered. No. I had to think logically. I
closed my eyes and focused on the sounds—crunching gravel beneath
boots, muffled chatter. Then the sound of the rolling door grabbed
my attention. Bingo.

Hoping that no one would recognize
me, I placed the hood of my jacket over my head and kept my face
looking down at the ground as I followed behind the large group of
men. Six vans lined the drive, and more men than I thought buzzed
with elation from the combination of powder they snorted and the
recent kidnappings. As much of a self-proclaimed badass as I was, I
knew my limits. I knew that I couldn't try to take them all on, so
instead I'd pretend to be one of them. Before I walked inside, I
threw my keys to the side of the door, hoping one of my men saw. I
knew them, and I knew they were watching me, thinking I was a crazy
bastard as I slipped behind the last man entering. The guy at the
door didn't even notice me as a stranger. Apparently wearing a
hoodie allowed anyone to blend in with a bunch of gangster
want-to-be’s. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't seen gangster
yet.

Some bragged about the women they
took, others about the ones they fucked, and some about the quality
of drugs Derrick gave them. It all started to make sense to me. He
hired those with habits, those who had already sold their souls to
the drugs, and took them for himself, to do his dirty bidding.
Pitiful that he used a weakness against people. Derrick was the
root of the problem, and I wouldn't be surprised if he were the one
smuggling the pure, uncut cocaine into London. When I got a hold of
him . . .

A draft flowed through the center
hallway of the building. It amazed me how well it had been gutted.
Nothing but space and emptiness surrounded us. We continued up a
flight of stairs, and when I hit the top, the smell of piss and rot
filled my nose. This was where the women were, I could tell by the
stench of neglect. No lights were on, but before we continued, one
of Derrick's minions flipped large switches of lights. It took time
for the florescent to become fully bright, but when it did, I
couldn't believe my eyes. Cages for zoo animals were constructed
among the entire floor of the building, and each one had several
women inside. I swallowed and balled my fists as the minions
discussed which ones they would fuck.

Rage. Deep, dreadful rage mingled
with disgust as the sixteen men split up and fidgeted for their
rings of keys. If one of these repulsive bastards touched any of
these women, I'd want to kill every last one of them and not think
twice about it, but I had to be smarter. I had to play smarter. I
had to find Derrick and end this once and for all.

The girls didn't take the men's
advances willingly. They fought, regardless of how weak their
bodies were. It wouldn't surprise me if Derrick threw meat to them
like animals and made them eat from the floor. Buckets were in the
corner of every cell, and I closed my eyes, trying not to think
about the humiliation this group of women had suffered.

There were people in this world
who were made to be bad and others who were born that way. Derrick
was like a poison, spreading hate and abuse everywhere he could. I
was no angel, I've said it many times before, but I knew that I was
the one to destroy the fucking devil.

A man beside me pulled his pants
below his ankles and so did most of the others. I searched around
for my options. Take them out, one by one, and risk being
overpowered, or . . .

A red lever glowed by the lights.
I walked over to it and pulled it down. High-pitched bells screamed
as the sprinklers opened up above. Water, the perfect
distraction.

The men yelled,
Fire! Fire!
Fire!
Not being one to easily walk away, as they pulled up
their wet pants, I removed the knife from it's sheath and began
doing what I should have done the second they pulled up in their
black vans. There was so much chaos. The women who were targets of
these men were trying to escape. The men who were trying to escape,
I killed. Water mixed with blood, and when everyone finally
realized what had happened and who I was, they tried to attack.
Four of them surrounded me, and I was sure they were programmed to
kill me like little automatons. But I was too fast. I was too swift
with the blade. I slashed and stabbed my way through
them.

Some weren't as brave as others
and tried to run past me, but I had the advantage in many
ways.

"Lauren," I yelled out. "Lauren
Baitey!"

No answer.

Two more men came after me, not an
ounce of fear in their eyes. They were faster than the others, and
I saw the need for my blood in their evil grins.

"Fucking finally, some of you
aren't pussies after all," I taunted them. "Damn, I thought I would
just kill you all so easily."

Two others joined in on my
personal witch hunt.

"He's fucking mine. I want to be
the one to bring his head to Derrick," one man said.

"He's mine. I called it first,"
yelled another, who was a little taller and pushed the other man.
Their nostrils flared. For a moment, they were too distracted, and
I slowly slid the other knife from my ankle. In a little leather
pouch on my belt, were three sharpened star blades. I slipped one
out, and with a flick of my wrist, fucktard number one had a star
in his eye. He yelled in agony as fucktard number two attacked. One
swift move of my blade, and his neck gushed blood. Fucktards number
three and four decided to rush me at the same time, but before they
got close, another one pulled out a handgun.

Everyone stopped
moving.

"Looks like someone brought knives
to a gun fight."

"Oh, Christ. That's so fucking
cliché," I said.

"Might be cliché, but I've got
five rounds in the chamber, and each one of them has your name on
it, Abbot."

More women snuck behind the men
who had me cornered.

"Drop the knives. Now." He shook
the gun at me, and as much as I hated setting my babies down on the
ground, I knew that I would have to obey. So begrudgingly, I
did.

"Down on your knees. Hands behind
your back. Before I kill you, I want you to suck my dick," he
said.

I put my hands behind my back and
slowly dropped down to my knees, opening the leather pouch with the
stars tucked inside. I slipped two of them out and made sure to be
careful. They were sharper than razor blades, and the last thing I
needed was to drop one into my fucking calf muscle. Dr. D would
have a pussy fit.

"Up against the wall, arseholes,"
the gunman said.

The other two backed against the
wall as he pointed the gun at them.

I smiled at the thought of what
was about to happen.

"What the fuck are you smiling at?
You like sucking dick?" he asked, pointing the gun at the men as he
came to me, undoing his belt with one hand.

3 . . .

2 . . .

1 . . .

Swiftly, I threw the throwing
stars at him, both pierced his eyes.

The gun went off, but I had moved
from his line of sight and was too quick on my toes. The two men
against the wall charged me as I struggled to pull the gun from the
guy’s hand. Once I got it free, I shot him right in the dick. I
hoped he would bleed out for the rest of the night. Then I pointed
the gun at the two men who charged me. Two clean shots in the
head.

I heard a hoard of footsteps
echoing up the stairs and hid around the corner.

Two shots left.

Not enough to cover me.

I waited with a steady heartbeat
and hand. I pointed the gun with my finger on the trigger, ready to
shoot.

Jackson rounded the corner with
Liam and the rest of my men behind them.

"Holy fuck, Abbot. Put the gun
down. Seriously, man. You about gave us a fucking heart attack,"
Jackson said.

Relief washed over me.

Liam shook his head as he searched
around. "Once we saw the girls running from the front, we took it
as our cue that you were up here wreaking havoc. Looks like we were
right," Liam said.

"Did you get the ones that
escaped?" I asked.

"You know it," Jackson
said.

"Let the rest of them free. Every
one of them. Load them in the vans and drive them wherever they
want. The fucking airport, hopefully. I need to search the rest of
the building to see what's on each floor. Gerald, Liam, Sabastian,
and Jackson, you're coming with me. The rest of you, get these
women out of here. Each one of these men has a set of master keys
in their pockets. I don't know how much time we have, so be quick,"
I demanded.