In His Power (Beyond Darkness, #1) (8 page)

‘What do you care? You only work for him.’

‘Here’s the thing.’ He knelt down to her level. ‘I hate spoilt bitches like you, but out of respect for Victor, I’ll hold off doing terrible things to you.’

She gulped.

‘Right now, I’m the one who will keep you in place until he gets here.’

‘Victor?’

He nodded. She didn’t like the sound of that.

‘Did you really think he’d let something like that slip past him. You must’ve forgotten who you’re dealing with.’ He stood up. ‘Now if you don’t mind, I’ll have a drink.’ He started for the kitchen. ‘But don’t worry, you can go about your business, shop, do whatever girly things you do. Just know that I’ll be there, always.’

She didn’t say a word. Nothing good could come out of any of that.

****

V
ictor had spent most of the time on the phone, and smoking cigarettes, but it wasn’t too bad for London.  There was lots of entertainment on board. When the plane finally landed, they were driven to a place that was in the middle of nowhere. Victor stepped out of the Landrover and looked around. He pulled out his phone and made a call. A few minutes later two more Landrover’s drove up the dusty road and finally stopped behind Victor’s car.

‘Are you sure this is the place?’ Victor asked Bradley as he walked towards him.

‘It is,’ said Bradley.

‘They don’t know we’re coming, do they?’

‘No they don’t.’

Victor nodded. He pulled off his black jacket and threw it in the car.

‘Victor?’ said London.

‘We’re going in, you stay here.’

‘I can’t. If my daughter is in there, I want to be there to take her home.’

He sat in the car a moment with her. It was clear she wasn’t aware of the density of the situation.

‘For now, please just stay here. There are some very bad people in there. I don’t want you to get hurt.’

She watched him, she wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but instead of arguing, she nodded.

‘Great. I promise if she’s in there, we’ll bring her out.’ He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

‘Okay.’ The door shut, and she watched as the men made their way towards the dingy looking warehouse. They moved towards the smaller building that looked like offices and stepped in. 

Her heart pumped. She was terrified. Was Paige really in there? Had they been feeding her? Was she well? Every thought made her more nervous and sicker than ever. Even though she’d promised to stay put, she just couldn’t sit there and do nothing.

She looked to the left of the car and noticed the driver smoking a cigarette. She had to get out even if she had to make a run for it. She waited for the right moment. But it never seemed to come. But the longer it took, the harder it was for her to wait. She knocked against the window and the driver walked over and opened the door.

‘I really need to get some fresh air. It’s really hot.’ She stepped out. ‘I’ll just have a look around, I won’t go far.’

He was about to hesitate.

‘I promise! I promised Victor, wouldn’t go into the warehouse. You’ll have to trust me like he trusts me. I just need to walk, to calm my nerves.’

He took a drag of the cigarette and nodded. London looked at the warehouse in front of her. She felt faint just thinking that her daughter was in there. She walked away from it, as if to the side, and she was soon out of the driver’s sight. The windows to the building were shattered, and she was certain she could hear sounds of children, either crying or screaming. Her stomach tightened. She couldn’t bear the thought that her daughter could be in there.

She walked around to the back and found a door. The handle clicked opened and she stepped in. Taking slow steps she started for the first door where she’d heard a child screaming. She tried the door, and with enough effort, it opened. In the corner of a dark room, a little girl was curled up into a ball, with no shoes and only a dirty white dress.

‘Oh my god!’ London ran towards the little girl and took her into her arms. She stroked the girls blond curls and tried as best she could to calm her down.

‘I want my mummy. When can I see my mummy?’ The little girl cried.

‘Soon, you’ll see your mummy very soon. I promise.’

The little girl stopped crying a moment, and looked up at the new fresh face.

‘Are you a policewoman?’ asked the girl.

‘No honey, I’m not. But I know people who can help you.’ She hugged her again. ‘Do you know where you are?’

The girl shook her head.

‘What’s your name?’

‘Janice.’ She whispered.

‘Where are you from Janice?’

‘California. I want to go home.’

‘Okay.’ She squeezed her tight. In the background she heard more whimpering. ‘Do you trust me, Janice?’

Janice nodded.

‘Okay. I’ll come back for you in a minute.’

‘No, don’t leave me!’

‘I’ll come back, I promise. I have to go and see if I can find my little girl, and I want to help all the others. So stay here and be very quiet. Don’t tell anyone okay.’

At first Janice wouldn’t let go of her, but finally London convinced her to stay put while she tried to find Paige. She did her best to look into the doors that were opened, some of them were locked, but she could still hear children behind the locked doors. It horrified and tore her apart. And as much as she would’ve liked to rescue all of them, she had to find Paige, and then deal with the others.

****

‘W
ho the fuck are you?!’ The man stood up as Victor and his men walked into the dingy office.

‘Your worst nightmare!’ Victor pulled a gun on him. ‘Now sit the fuck down.’

‘You got to be kidding me!’

‘I said sit the fuck down!’

The man watched him and smiled slightly. Victor pulled the trigger and shot into his leg.

‘FuuuuCK!’ The man fell back into the seat holding onto his wounded leg. ‘Shit!’

‘I told you to sit the fuck down, didn’t I?’

The man cried and two of Victor’s men grabbed his arms, wrapped them around the back of the chair and tied him up. The man spat, and swore, but it didn’t move Victor one bit.

‘You will tell me where your boss is, you fat fuck!’ He placed the gun against the man’s temple.

‘I won’t tell you shit!’

Victor nodded. One of the men removed a shoe from the man’s foot, pulled off the sock, and then pulled out a pocket knife.

‘One more chance.’

‘I’d rather die than tell you.’

‘Oh, you will not die. In fact, we will take bits of pieces off you bit by bit. We will then burn the wound to stop you from bleeding to death. You will however, have a slow and very painful death.’ He nodded at his man and he cut his little toe. He screamed to the high heavens, Victor was convinced the man was already dying.

‘I swear, I don’t know! I’m just a hired servant!’ he spluttered.

‘Not good enough.’ Victor nodded and off came another toe...

London heard the loud screams as she climbed the stairs. She didn’t want to know what was going on. All she wanted was to find Paige. She knew that even though Victor had his way of doing things, she just wanted to find her daughter. But it wasn’t that simple. Each door led to nowhere.

‘Paige!’ She shouted. ‘Paige honey!’ She walked down a corridor, but there was no response. ‘Oh god!’ She understood why Victor was doing what he was doing. It would take a lifetime to find her daughter the way she was trying to, but she wouldn’t give up.

There was a door to one of the rooms that was opened. She peaked inside, there was no one there, but she noticed the red top that was on the floor. She picked it up and immediately knew. It was the Nemo top Paige had insisted she wanted to wear the day they went to the theme park. London dropped to her knees and cried. Where was her little girl? What did this all mean? Was she dead, had she been sold?

‘Oh god no!’ She cried, and she didn’t hear the footsteps that entered the room behind her.

****

‘O
kay, I’ll talk, just don’t kill me!’ The man yelled.

‘You have five seconds.’

‘My boss is....’

Victor nodded.

‘Wait! He’s in Germany!’

‘Speak.’

The man told him the ins and outs of the business. Victor listened. He looked over at Bradley, who should’ve got this information ages ago, but Bradley was adamant that Paige was in the warehouse. But Victor knew otherwise. The minute it came out that someone was hunting them, they’d have cleared her out.

‘Go, find her!’ he said quickly to one of his men, but just as he was about to step out and man stepped in with a knife against London’s neck.

‘Not so fast.’

Victor’s heart dropped. He’d told her to stay in the car for that very reason. Now she was in the middle of a crime that could go very wrong.

‘Don’t hurt her! She has nothing to do with this.’

‘I said drop the gun! Or I’ll kill her!’

****

T
he little girl was cleared at the immigration airport in Germany as Paige Beach. She had a smile on her face because Lucia had told her she would see her mummy. She walked with a skip in her step, dressed in a pretty white dress, and two cute ponytails.

They stepped right into a waiting car and drove off. Lucia smiled. Everything had gone according to plan, and soon Lucia would be three million dollars richer. It was fifty minutes before the car finally stopped outside a posh looking building. Lucia held out her hand and Paige took it willingly, oblivious to what was really happening. All she knew was that she would see her mummy!

‘You look very pretty today,’ Lucia said just as they were about to enter the building.

Paige blushed and laughed shyly. Her mummy would really be happy to see her, and she would be happy to see her mummy!

Mister and Mrs Beach waited nervously in Dimitri’s office. He’d got the call that Lucia and Paige were on their way up. He’d told them, and they just couldn’t wait to see their daughter.

Mrs Beach held onto her husbands arm tight. She was nervous, but excited at the same time.

‘Not long now, honey.’ He rubbed her hand gently.

The door opened and in stepped Lucia and Paige. Paige looked around at the adults staring at her, but didn’t recognise a single one of them.

‘Where’s my mummy?’ she asked Lucia.

‘I’m right here honey.’ Mrs Beach couldn’t help herself. She rushed towards Paige and took her into her arms.

‘You’re not my mummy!’ she yelled. ‘I want my mummy.’

The woman retracted a moment and looked at Dimitri.

‘What is she talking about? I thought you said she was an orphan.’

‘She is. She’s been with her foster mother for months, she referred to her as mummy for a while. It’s natural for these children to bond with their carers.’ He reassured them. Mrs Beach looked at her husband and he nodded. All seemed okay.

‘It’s okay darling. I’m your new mummy now.’ The woman tried to take her into her arms, but Paige pulled away.

‘You’re not my mummy! I want my mummy!’

‘Why don’t you take her into the playroom to calm down, while we finalise the paperwork,’ he addressed Lucia.

Lucia pulled Paige away against her will. She cried about her mother, but Lucia didn’t care to know. All she thought about was the three million dollars that would soon be in her bank account.

‘Shut the fuck up!’ she said finally when they were away from prying eyes. ‘That is your new mummy, so deal with it! Your mummy no longer wants you! That’s your new mummy and she will love you very much!’

Paige broke into a fit of tears, but it did nothing to move Lucia. Instead she dragged the child down the hall towards the playroom. Nothing and no one would stop this deal from going through. Not even a screaming child! Everything would happen just the way she’d planned it!

Did you love
In His Power
? Then you should read
Broken
by Iris Deorre!

Nina and Liam meet under unusual circumstances. Liam believes that everything happens for a reason, but Nina begs to differ. Life has given her some unfriendly blows. With a nightmare husband and a family across the ocean, Nina just thinks life is unfair.

But as things develop and unfold, maybe Liam is right. Life has a way of sorting itself out. Nina discovers that she has no control how her life unfolds. She can make decisions, but when it comes to the heart, that decision is made for her.

Love doesn’t and should never hurt, but it takes pain first before Nina can realise that.

 

Read more at
Iris Deorre’s site
.