Save Me (11 page)

–

Layla let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding in. Her mouth was dry and her feet felt as though they had been stapled to the ground. She couldn’t take her eyes off of Leo’s unconscious body on the floor. It had all kind of happened in slow motion.

"Please!" she gasped, stumbling backwards against a large wooden desk as all three of the men slowly closed in on her.

"Don’t do this,” she begged, flinching and letting out a high pitched scream as the largest of the three men grabbed her roughly by the hair, tossing her like a rag doll onto the floor beside Leo's limp body.

"Who is the bitch?” she heard the man who had threw her ask a taller man behind him. Layla’s heart stopped. She recognized him. There were gaps in her memory, entire blind spots really, but she knew she had seen his battered face somewhere before. The look in his eyes told her she was right.

He knew her.

Layla opened her mouth to speak, but no words came to the surface.

"I don't know," he finally said, his voice deep and confused, "This isn't right…"

Layla whimpered in pain, bringing her scrapped knees to her chest as she watched the third man pace through the cabin, sticking his head in every room.

"There's no one else here boss,” he finally said.

The larger man laughed.

"No shit,” he said, clearing his throat and spitting on the ground. He reached inside his leather jacket, pulling out a handgun and pointing it square at the man across from him, who held up his arms to defend himself with haste.

"Where's the money Richie?” he asked, his voice indicting that he was done playing games.

Layla shifted backwards against Leo's unconscious body, terrified by the scene that was unfolding in front of her. It was like a something out of one of her movies. Only, this was real life.

"Look man…there's a safe...” Richie managed, stumbling over his words, 
"there’s no need for guns. Put that thing away and I’ll go look for it."

The man, whose name Layla still didn't know, simply laughed.

"I thought I told you I make the rules?” he said sternly, keeping the gun steadily aimed at Richie’s forehead, 
"now...unless you want both of their blood on your hands...” he nodded at Layla and Leo.

Layla shuddered as her eyes made contact with Richie’s. His name wasn’t familiar to her, but his face was. He looked nervous and scared despite is rugged stature, but Layla figured that might have been because he had a gun aimed at his head.

Keeping his arms in the air, Richie walked into the bedroom where Layla and Leo had been just a few moments before, both of the men following his every movement.

"Well?” the man holding the gun bellowed after Richie had been searching for a few minutes, 
"time is up."

The sound of his fingers pulling down on the safety feature on the gun sent a shiver up Layla's spine.

"Wait!” she heard herself cry out.

The man turned around, pointing the gun at her in the process. She shut her eyes tightly, willing herself to continue speaking despite the fact that she felt physically ill.

"M – Maybe –” she stuttered, "maybe I can help. I have money. Lots of it actually"

It was then that Leo began to stir awake beside her, letting out a loud groan of pain as he came to. The man pointed the gun at him then, nodding at Layla.

"Stand up and walk towards me,” he commanded her sternly.

Layla did as she was told, slowly approaching the large burly man before her.

"Who the fuck are you!” she heard Leo's voice bellow from behind her.

A look of recognition flashed in his eyes.

"Richie?” he asked, confused, "what's going on man?"

It was then that the third man stepped forward from where had had been standing in the doorway, grabbing Leo roughly by the neck and pulling out a gun of his own, pressing it against his throbbing temple.

"If everyone just follows a few simple orders,” he began, his voice one of the most terrifying Layla had ever heard,
"no one will get hurt.”

He paused, lighting a cigarette.

"That clear?"

Leo, Layla and Richie nodded their heads.

"Now Leo," he finished, exhaling a ring of smoke.

"I need you to show me to your safe."

–

Past

Leo was in trouble. He had been attempting to narrowly avoid the situation for weeks, but based on the nature of his phone call with Richie, it appeared as though his bad decisions had finally managed to catch up with him. He had made a deal with the wrong people. Dangerous people. And now – he owed them a lot of money. More money than he had ever seen in his life. Collateral costs. Late fees. All of that adds up fast, even more so when you're dealing with hardened criminals. Long story short – these guys were out for vengeance and Leo knew that if he didn't act quickly, he would be putting more than just himself in danger.

Apparently, they had already gotten to Richie. It explained why he had been bruised and battered, and a lump of guilt surfaced in Leo’s throat.

It was his fault.

He kicked at the gravel, screaming into the sky at the top of his lungs as rage simmered through his veins. What had he done? How could he have allowed the situation to get this out of control? And more than that – why was it all coming to a head now?

As Leo climbed on the seat of his shiny black bike, starting up the ignition, he cursed himself for ever taking out to loan at all. He had told himself it was for the club. Rationalized it with the fact that the boys needed new bikes and a club house they could be proud of – not his parent’s old abandoned cabin up in Desert Shore. But the fact of the matter was, Leo had blown every last dime of the fifty thousand dollar loan he had been given all on himself. It started with booze and escalated to hookers and overpriced call girls. Simple pleasures that made Leo feel more alive. Then came the bigger things. The things that were harder, but not entirely impossible to hide. Upgrades to his bike. Cross country rides that he'd take on a whim with a different woman every time– never planning ahead in regards to the cost of food, hotel rooms or gas. The money was gone long before the club ever knew of its existence.

For over a year, Leo had been living a lie while simultaneously hiding in plain sight. The men he owed money knew exactly where to find him. The only thing that surprised Leo was that they had waited so long come.

It just wasn't supposed to happen quite like this.

Leo had went over the scene over a thousand times in his head. He had planned to defend himself. To fight off the men who would eventually knock on his front door with their hands out. Maybe even kill them – if it got to that. Hell, it was the entire reason he had bought an expensive collection of rifles, which he kept tucked away in secret in the basement of his cabin. When the time came – he wanted to be able to defend himself properly.

He looked down at his watch as the sun began to set in the horizon before him. 7:30 pm.

He now had a decision to make.

He could forgot about Layla or he could go and get her and the answers he craved at the risk of something happening to Richie if he didn't arrive at his cabin in time.

Shit,
 Leo thought.

He pulled off the shoulder of the road with a vengeance and pushed down on the throttle until he was flying up the highway entrance ramp. He was going north. His cabin was south.

He had made his decision.

OVERBOARD

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Present

"T
ie her up," the man said, tossing his second in command a thick piece of white rope. They were in the basement of Leo's cabin. It was where he had said the safe was located. In the center of the dimly lit room, a light bulb flickered above their heads. Layla swallowed hard, feeling beads of sweat forming on her forehead, trickling down near her eyebrows. She let out a soft yelp of fear, biting down on her bottom lip as the large man pushed her against a metal utility shelf in the corner, tying her wrists tightly behind her back and securing the other end of the rope to the shelf.

He was standing just a little bit too close for comfort to Layla, his breath hot against her neck. What happened next wasn't something she saw coming. The man grabbed her roughly by the neck as she choked and sputtered, her eyes wide with fear as she watched the second, larger man approach her. The man holding her neck released some of the pressure as Layla gasped for air.

"Money. Now. Or we have some fun with the girl," he bellowed in a heavy Russian accent, nodding at Leo, who held up his arms in surrender.

"Look..." he began, swallowing hard as he inched backwards towards a metal storage cabinet, 
"I don't have it right now..."

That was all the men needed to hear. Before Layla could process what was happening, one of the men was flush behind her, gyrating his pelvis against her tight fitting skinny jeans and reaching around her tense body to cup her breasts through her sweat stained tank top.

"Please–" Layla whimpered, looking over at Leo, who appeared visibly shaken by the scene unfolding in front of him.

"Here–" the man who had yet to touch Layla said to Richie, who was standing in the corner of the basement with a look of rage etched across his swollen face. He caught the gun tossed to him with shaking hands, nearly dropping it as the man snickered, a final ring of smoke escaping his lips as he tossed his cigarette to the concrete floor, stepping on it with his boot.

"Point that at him," he directed Richie sternly, nodding at the gun then at Leo.

"I can't do that!" Richie interjected.

The man laughed, pulling back on Layla's hair roughly.

"You'll do as I say," he paused, directing his intense glare from Leo back to Richie, 
"otherwise...she pays."

Richie swallowed hard.

"It's okay," Leo spoke up, "d
o as he says Rich."

A thin, sinister grin folded across the menacing man’s face as he watched Richie point the heavy gun at Leo with unsteady hands. The second guy – who had been quiet as the ordeal unfollowed – reached for Layla as she struggled in his partners arms, bringing the palm of his calloused hand roughly against her ass. She let out a cry of pain, tears brimming over the edges of her eyes. She flinched as the nameless man worked his hands over her stomach and under the hem of her tank top as the second intruder held her in place, the rope he had tied around her arms rubbing uncomfortably against her wrists. He thrusted forward from behind her and Layla could feel his cock ballooning in his pants. Bile surfaced in her mouth. She felt on the verge of throwing up, but swallowed it down, keeping her composure.

The other man pulled her forward as the larger man loosened the other end of the rope, offering just enough slack for Layla to bend over, her pert ass on full display. She cringed, unable to look Leo in the eye. This was all his fault.

"Don't do this man," Layla heard him beg, "look ill have your money. Don't do this to her. It's not her fault. Hell, I just met her."

His words were jumbled and frantic but both of the men ignored him, continuing their invasion of Layla's body. The man behind her pulled one of her hands backwards, forcing Layla into a semi-standing position as he simultaneously pushed her onto her knees – which were bloody and peeling beneath her jeans. She whimpered, placing her hands on the cold, dusty ground to steady herself as the man ran his hands down her back, pulling her tank top roughly over her head and tossing it aside.

Layla's heart stopped. She couldn't believe this was really happening to her. She had screwed dozens of men – she had even acted in rape scenes – but there was something beyond chilling about experiencing it firsthand. She glanced up at Leo, begging him to do something, but he was just as helpless as she was despite his bad ass demeanor. Both of the men moved in on Layla then, taking turns foundling her exposed breasts and uncomfortably hard nipples. It was freezing cold in the basement, making it impossible for her to fight off the reaction her body was having. The men grabbed her roughly, grinding their hard cocks against her tense frame.

Layla had never been sexually assaulted before. It was common practice in Hollywood, especially with child stars, but somehow she had managed to avoid it. Now, she felt as though she was getting a taste as to what it must have been like as the strange men roamed their hands over her exposed figure, pulling roughly at the fabric of her jeans. One began to rub at her womanhood, laughing as Layla did her best to fight him off.