Captured Read online

  ***

  I’m sitting outside his fucking mansion. Why do all these assholes have huge houses? I’m waiting on Argos to tell me where Carmichael’s wife is. I need to nab Carmichael when I know his wife will be easy to grab too. The lights go on upstairs and I glance at the clock on the dashboard 20:08. God, I’ve been stuck outside this monstrosity of a house for almost two hours and that asshole Argos, still hasn’t gotten back to me about the wife.

  I’ve had enough waiting, “Argos, did you forget that I’m fucking waiting?”

  “I wish! You’re a demanding fucker! Get this, his wife; she’s on her way to meet him.”

  “Great, that helps me out. When is she expected to be here?”

  “She’s fifteen minutes out. You still haven’t said what you’re going to do to her?” He’s worried; he thinks that I’ve lost the plot. Ever since Lucy died I’ve been on a mission and he thinks that I’m on a suicide mission. I’m not; I’m on a kill all mission.

  I don’t answer him, he’s better off not knowing and I’m not in the mood to be listening to him talk about morals. My fucking morals went out the fucking window when St. Clair killed Lucy. I start to drum my fingers against the steering wheel as I wait for Mrs. Carmichael to arrive. This, this waiting around is what kills me. My head fills with images of Lucy, her smile, the way she looked when she contemplated things. The way her eyes flashed when she was angry, how she completely lost herself in me and let go of her inhibitions. The sound of a car driving past pulls me from my thoughts. I see a black SUV drive up the driveway to Carmichael's house.

  “Argos, is that her?” I ask, as no-one has exited the vehicle.

  “Oh, you can speak? Yes, that’s her. What are you going to do to her?” He’s like a dog with a fucking bone.

  “I didn’t tell you for a fucking reason.” I watch as Mrs. Carmichael exits the car and walks to the front door where the piece of shit is waiting for her. “Cut all CCTV and have safe house C ready for me.” I pull the com out of my ear and leave it in the car; I can’t have him distracting me.

  I pull on my balaclava and make my way up to the house. The lights are on downstairs and I know that I have to be quick. Asshole left his door unlocked, that’s just an invitation to let me in. Opening the door, I hear talking coming from my left, “Brandon, I’ve done as you’ve asked. Both the kids and I have moved back to DC.”

  “You shouldn’t have taken them away from me in the first place!” I hear the asshole scream at her.

  “Don’t, don’t you dare! This is all your fault, everything that has happened was because of you and your shitty choices. God, Brandon. You were the love of my life. I was so happy. We had a great life; beautiful kids, beautiful homes and I thought we had a happy marriage. You ruined that when you fucked that bimbo. Not to mention all the other shit you’ve done.” Wow, Mrs. Carmichael has some pent-up anger.

  “What I do is none of your business Maggie. Why the hell are you complaining? I bought you everything you ever wanted. Why the hell are you so upset? You’ve got everything you dreamed of!”

  This is getting annoying; I don’t want to listen to this shit. Pulling out my gun, I hold it up and walk toward the incessant arguing. Maggie is the first one to spot me as the asshole has his back to me. I watch as the color drains from her face; she’s frozen to the spot. “What no response? Typical Maggie, when the tough gets going, you finally shut up! What the hell are you looking like that for?” As the asshole spews his shit, I completely understand why she left his ass in the first place. I would have had his ass murdered. Maggie is rooted to the spot and this is my opportunity to take this fucker down.

  I pistol whip the fucker in the back of his head and watch as he falls harshly to the floor, landing with a severe jarring thud. His head bounces off the tiled floor making me smile as it does so. The more pain this asshole receives the better, he’s unconscious and his wife comes unstuck and screams. Why? Why the fuck do women always have to scream? She runs and the stupid woman runs directly towards me. Does she think that she’s going to take me on? I laugh at the thought, until she comes barreling towards me with her fists drawn and starts swinging.

  What in the actual fuck? Is there something wrong with this woman? There’s a man in your house with a gun and you run directly toward him? Before she gets a chance to hit me, I pistol whip her too. Just like her husband, she crumbles to the floor. It doesn’t take long for me to tie them both up, I don’t want them to wake up and escape. I make my way to the car and drive it up the driveway. I open the trunk and put them both into it; glad that I can finally get the answers I’ve been looking for.

  ***

  Argos has the safe house ready. This is the shittiest place I could think of. We don’t own it; there are no ties to us or any corporations that we own. It belongs to the city; it’s condemned and they’re waiting to get the date for it to be demolished. The place is an old book store. I wonder if Argos found any books here. I hear coughing and I know that one or both of them are coming to.

  I walk out towards the back room of the building and see Brandon is awake and struggling to get out of the shackles. Both he and his wife are tied to the pipes across the top of the room. Brandon keeps struggling. He hasn’t seen me enter the room yet, he’s too busy wasting his energy. “That’s not going to work; you’re not going to be able to escape.” I taunt the fucker.

  His head snaps around to me and I watch the fear seep into his eyes. “Who…Why…” He stutters causing me to raise an eyebrow. “Where am I?” He hasn’t once looked towards his wife. He’s a real asshole.

  “It doesn’t matter where you are; the question you should be asking is why you are here.” I tell him and watch as the fucker squirms, the sounds of the chains rattling as he does.

  His wife starts to stir. “Why am I here?” the fucker asks, still not looking at his wife.

  “Because you touched someone who doesn’t belong to you. For that, you will pay. But not before you tell me the names of everyone who was involved,” I grit out.

  Screams fill my ears and I look to Maggie, who’s staring at me as if I’m a monster. I probably am, but I don’t give a fuck. I pull out my gun and point it at her; thankfully she shuts the hell up. “You have a choice, you be quiet and let your husband here answer all of my questions, or you make a noise and I shoot you.” She begins to cry and I have no sympathy, maybe I’m dead inside again.

  “What do you want to know?” The asshole is full of bravado. He still has not looked at his wife. What a fucking bastard.

  I look at the wife. I want her to answer this question. “Do you know that your husband is a pedophile?” She goes to open her mouth to answer but I stop her, “Lie to me and I’ll kill you both.”

  She starts to shake, “What are you talking about? Pedophile?” She seems shocked and I think she’s telling the truth, only time will tell.

  I look at the asshole in question, “Do you want to tell her?” I give him the opportunity to tell her, but the asshole shakes his head and looks away. Maggie looks at her husband with sheer horror. “Your husband here is involved in the trafficking of young girls. He not only buys these young girls, he rapes them too.” I spit the last sentence out and I hear the gasp from Maggie.

  “I don’t rape them,” he spits out. “They want it.”

  “What?” Maggie shrieks.

  “These girls are all under the age of sixteen, most are barely teenagers,” I inform her and she completely comes unglued.

  “You bastard, you had better not have touched Amelia. I’ll cut your fucking balls off and shove them down your throat myself.”

  “I didn’t.” It’s not very convincing.

  “I’m going to kill you! You bastard, you touched my baby!” Maggie screeches. She’s trying to get at him.

  “Did you touch her?” I ask him and cock my gun. “Remember what I said about lying to me? I will shoot you.” I raise my eyebrow in a challenge; I want him to lie to me.

  “Yes,” he squ
eaks out and I shoot his kneecap, causing him to scream in pain. The dirty fucking prick touched his own daughter.

  “You fucking bastard!” She tries to go for him again and I can hear Argos’ cell ringing in the other room.

  “Who else is part of this ring?” I direct it to Brandon who’s squealing like a pig. “Who are his friends?” I ask an inconsolable Maggie.

  “Detective Sheridan, Judge Payne, Senator Colin and that Callahan woman.” She has disdain in her voice when she mentions Callahan’s name.

  The asshole hasn’t spoken since I shot his kneecap. “I know that Payne, Colin and Callahan were a part of this. Is Sheridan also connected to this?”

  “Yes,” he quietly admits.

  “Who else?” I grit out.I want to know this.

  “Mandelson,” the fucking vice-president of the United States.

  “Who is in charge of the trafficking ring?” I walk over to him and undo his shackles. He’s going to die and I’m going to take pleasure in killing him.

  “I don’t know. I really don’t.” He’s shaking like a leaf.

  I hear Argos getting closer to the door, and I turn and wait for him to enter. Maggie begins a tirade on Brandon, “I hope that he kills you. I hope it’s very fucking painful. If he doesn’t, I’m going to the cops and none of your fucking buddies will be able to save you. You’re dying one way or another, everyone is going to know how fucking disgusting you are.”

  “Hades, I need to talk to you.” He looks desolate and I walk out of the room behind him. What the hell has happened? “Fuck, okay. Detective Tanner just called, someone ransacked Lucy’s grave. Not only that they excavated it.”

  “What the fuck? How the hell did no one see this happening?” I shout and run my fingers through my hair.

  “Tanner thinks it happened last night. It was the Cartel.”

  “Why the fuck would the Cartel do that? What good comes from it? Lucy’s dead!” I watch as Argos squirms where he stands. The Cartel, I’m going to kill them. “Why the hell are they excavating Lucy’s grave? She’s dead, what use is a dead body to them?” I’m barely holding onto my emotions right now.

  “Um, well…”

  Why the hell is he so nervous? “Spit it out.”

  “I did it to protect you both.” He’s not making sense.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” I’m losing my patience right now.

  “Fuck… You said that Lucy was safer not being with you. When she was shot, I saw the opportunity to do what I thought was right.”

  “What the hell are you saying?” I’m so confused right now.

  “Lucy is still alive, Cash. She’s with her dad here in the US.”

  My knees go weak. She’s alive? How is this even possible? I fall to the floor and the tears come quickly and quietly. She’s alive. Oh fuck, she’s alive. Why am I having trouble breathing? I take a deep breath; my head can’t comprehend this right now. I take another deep breath, followed by another. Wait, where the hell is she if she’s not here? If she’s alive, where the hell is she? Why the hell has she been hidden from me? Argos, he set this up! Why would he do this? Knowing how much I loved… love her, knowing how much I’ve hurt. Why would he do this? I look up at him through my tears and he’s just standing there, just looking at me.

  I don’t hesitate, fuck, I don’t even think. My hand is wrapped around his neck. “What the fuck do you mean she’s still alive?” I bite out. I can’t believe this shit, and I don’t believe this shit.

  “I did what I had to do. She knows too much about us, she deserves to be loved and be safe and that would never happen if she was with you. You fucking said so yourself!” He shouts at me, well he tries to but I have my hand wrapped around his throat.

  “I could have kept her safe. I fucking love her. You made me believe she was dead! I grieved for her!” I scream at him, my hand tightening around his throat as I do so.

  He pushes me and I release his neck, “Fuck you, asshole, I did what I thought was right.” He pushes me again and I snap; drawing my hand back, I make a fist and let it fly. Smashing into his nose I hear the crack of his bones breaking, feel the warmth of his blood spray over my fist. I don’t stop with one. I keep hitting him, my fist pounding on his flesh; the sound of me connecting with his skin and bones is satisfying.

  “You. Had. No. Fucking. Right.” With every word comes a punch to his face or his torso. I’m in a red haze and nothing is penetrating it. Argos has become my target and there is no stopping me. I continue to pound on him; for the first time since Lucy was shot I feel in control.

  The sound of a gunshot echoes through the building and stops me in my tracks. I take a step back and look down at Argos who is battered; his face unrecognizable and I don’t feel an ounce of regret. He deserves it and a hell of a lot more. My feet are moving toward the room that contains the Carmichaels and as soon as I open the door all I see is carnage. Both of the Carmichaels are dead; Maggie has the chains of the shackles wrapped around her throat and the asshole has blown his fucking brains out. Fuck… I left the fucker untied when I went out to Argos. I left him with a fucking loaded gun.

  “Cash…” Argos starts.

  “I don’t fucking want to hear your shitty excuses.” I cut him off before he can even begin. I don’t even want to be in the same fucking vicinity as him. I want to kill the fucker. I hear him spitting and I know that he’s trying to get the blood out of his mouth. How the hell did I not break his jaw?

  “I had to, it had to be believable. They had to see you grieving.”

  “Grieving? Fuck you, asshole. I would have done anything to keep her safe. You had no right to make that fucking call.” I’m shaking with anger right now. I’m so close to killing him.

  “Cas..” This time he’s cut off by an alarm sounding.

  “What the fuck is that?”

  I watch as the eye that is still open widens and my stomach drops. “Lucy’s in trouble.”

  Chapter 3

  Lucy

  When Argos came up with the plan to say I was dead, I thought he was fucking with me but he said that the cartel would be after me every day until they found me. That they wouldn’t stop until they had me killed or captured. As much as I hated the idea of it, I agreed to it. I wanted to tell Cash so badly but Argos said it would be the best way, having Cash believe I was dead was the only way to make it believable. People had to see him mourn me, also it would make Cash determined to get everyone involved. If he knew I was alive, he wouldn’t be able to focus on the jobs. Thinking I was dead, would make Cash want to kill them, and quicker, as he didn’t have to worry about me. The only reason I said yes was because I want this nightmare to finish so that I can finally see him again.

  I had to stay in the hospital for a while as I had to have surgery on my jaw, because it was broken. It took six weeks to recover from that alone. Not being able to talk to Dad or Argos was worse than any pain I experienced. The shot to my stomach wasn’t as bad as they first thought, it missed all major organs.

  Argos got us a place close to Washington. He said that if anything did happen to me or my dad, they would be close enough to help. It’s been three months and I call Argos every day, just so he can tell me what is happening and he keeps me up to date with what is happening with my mom. That was the worst of it, my mother thinks that I’m dead.

  My dad said that once all this is over it will all go back to the way it was and mom will understand why this had to happen like this.

  “You still going to the hospital to see mom today?” I ask my dad. The one nice thing is that I get to see him every day now and not through a laptop screen.

  “Yes, Argos said he's done it so it looks like my flight landed in Washington today. I have no idea how he does what he does but the man is very clever.” My dad sits down at the table to have some food.

  “I know it’s not the same, but tell her that I love her,” I say. This is the first time my dad is going to see her. Argos told my dad not to go straight a
way just in case someone was watching him.

  He called last week saying that if he faked a booking for him, to come now, it won’t be so bad. He also told my dad to visit my grave, as he wasn’t there for the funeral. Dad hated the idea but he's put a lot of trust in Argos and believes he is doing all this to help us.

  “I will. Have you spoken to Argos today?”

  “No, I said I will call him once you leave so that he knows.” I tell him slightly worried as I am every time he leaves the house.

  “Well as soon as I’m finished, I’ll leave. Lock all the doors and have the gun ready.” he stops to take a sip of his coffee. “I never thought I would have to say that to my daughter.” he adds, and I start laughing at him. I never thought it either but it is what it is.

  “Argos said that Cash is determined and I know Cash, Dad, he’ll do anything he can to get the answers he’s looking for.” I say, grabbing the phone off the table to call Argos. “I will see you in the morning.” I give my dad a kiss and call Argos.

  “Is he going?” Argos asks. When he asks a question straight away, I know that Cash is close to him and wants it to be a quick call.

  “Yes.” I answer.

  “I have the alarm on,” It goes quiet which means that Cash is closer to him now. “Call you later.” And the line goes dead.

  I walk around the house. You can get so bored if you are by yourself. I mean there is only so many times you can clean the house up, and I’ve already done it once today. Argos is coming to drop off a box with some magazines and things for me.

  I sit by the window looking out at the trees, thinking back to the worst day of my life. How these disgusting men touched me like I was theirs to touch. How they were bidding for me like it was a normal thing to do.

  There are nights that I still wake up screaming, as if I still feel them touching me. I still remember feeling happy when I heard Cash’s voice thinking I had survived it, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. The look in his eyes when he said he loved me, that was the best part of the worst night ever. The man that I was in love with, loved me back, and I thought I was going to walk away with him, and live the perfect life.