Chapter 6

Stella continued to laugh even after the man left the room, and Grace's hands were on her shoulder within seconds. "Are you okay? Are you crying?"

Stella spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor, "That's for being a fucking asshole." She rolled onto her back and laughed.

Grace looked at her worriedly for a moment longer before joining in. "I can't believe you just did that," she said.

"I know," Stella couldn't get over how funny it was seeing his reaction.

Grace helped Stella stand and they moved away from the door. "Did you know he was still alive?"

Stella had no idea. It was no coincidence that they couldn't find his body. She just assumed he was dead. She wanted to ask Grace at the hospital if she'd checked to see if he was still alive before they left, but she didn't get the chance; they got distracted by others, and later on Stella's excuse for not investigating it further was mostly denial. She didn't want to believe he was still alive. She kept telling herself that they didn't find him because it had been deeper into the bush than she'd told the police, or even the wrong direction she thought. She forced herself to believe her own lies, and she hadn't been able to muster the courage to go out there herself to look.

"I thought you shot him in the chest."

"I think it was the stomach," Stella recalled. She never looked back so she couldn't be sure. Either way, he was obviously lucky to have not died, and even luckier to not be caught. Thinking about it, she should've punched or elbowed him in that general area just before—maybe she'd have gotten lucky and aggravated his healing wound.

They sat down against the wall again. Grace let out a sigh. "Why do you think he kidnapped us again?"

"I have no idea. He probably got other people to do it for him so he wouldn't be suspected. It worked. TR aren't going to realise it's related, if they even know at all."

"They'll know by now, Stella."

Stella shot her a look, a "you don't know that" look. Judging by their location and amount of people seeming to be involved, she wondered just how big this whole thing was. They needed to come up with a better plan, something better than staging an emergency.

—

Only a few hours had passed when the leader came back. Stella briefly worried that he'd come back to take her to the other room, but figured he'd think twice about touching her again. There was no warning to go to the wall and sit down. Instead, he emerged with excessive bandaging wrapped around his forearm, followed by two masked guys behind him who stopped at the door, shielding it. Stella smirked at her handiwork.

"Let me get straight to the point," he started. "This is just the beginning. This is just one stop. I have so many plans for you both, I don't even know where to begin. I didn't get the chance to start anything when we last met, but this time... This time I will. You sent my three best men to prison — among other things. They were trained well; after all, I'm still standing here right? They didn't rat me out," the was a smirk on his face. "Say, Senior Constable Barry, do you remember Brodie Wilson?"

Stella looked at Grace expectantly, but she kept her face expressionless.

The leader looked straight at Grace, leaning in, his voice low and laced with anger, "He's dead now. Because of you."

What did Grace do that pissed off this guy so much? And why did she not seem to know who this Wilson guy was?

"And you," he turned his attention to Stella. "Well, you're just collateral. A nice trophy. Plus, you shot me," he said with a shrug. "I'm not finished with either of you yet. You have no idea what's ahead of you. You should prepare yourself." After one final glare, he gestured to the guys behind him and they all walked out, the door locking behind them.

—

"Think, Grace, think."

"I don't know!"

"You need to! Who is Brodie Wilson and what did you do to him?"

Grace was pacing and rubbing her temples. She let out a sigh and groaned. "I can't remember. Just let me think."

While Grace thought, Stella realised the leader said those three guys from last month were his "best men," meaning the rest of the idiots outside were not as capable and should be a breeze to get past. At least she hoped so. Of course, she still hoped that someone — anyone — would notice that either she or Grace were missing, instantly connect the dots, and miraculously knew where they were being held. She was constantly hoping that the door would be busted in and she'd see her team on the other side, warm smiles of relief on their faces.

"It was my second month on the job," Grace suddenly stopped in the middle of the room. "Before TR. My partner and I were called to persons acting suspiciously. I arrested Brodie Wilson for intent to sell. He said it wasn't his and he wasn't involved but he went to prison. This guy must have been watching the warehouse before taking us last month. You, Michael, and Lawson went there both times before, and he obviously waited and took his chance when I was there." Grace took a step closer to her, "I'm so sorry you got wrapped up in all of this, Stella. Things weren't exactly copacetic between us back then but I would never wish it on you, or anyone."

"No, don't apologise, it's not your fault," Stella shook her head. "Shit happens. Wrong place, wrong time."

Grace sat down next to Stella. "Maybe Brodie was his brother? Best friend? I don't know." Grace paused before shaking her head and looking down. "I was just doing my job."

"I know," Stella's voice was sympathetic as she rubbed Grace's arm. "I know."

—

"No, that's not going to work," Stella shook her head and sighed heavily. "As much as I hate to say this, I just can't hold my own right now."

"Well we have to try something."

As time went on and the remnants of adrenaline faded, everything ached more and more.

"What about the window?"

Stella looked up at it, eyeing the small handle in the middle. Was it too much to ask that it just happened to be lock free? If they were lucky, they'd be able to slide through the bars on the other side. "You really think they'd leave that escape option open when they've locked us in here like this?"

"Of course not. But we still have to see. Doesn't mean we're going to do it now."

Grace went over to the pipe work on the wall, testing the lowest one with her foot before grabbing one with her hand and lifting herself up.

"Be careful," Stella warned. The last thing they needed were two invalids.

"I will." With slow and carefully positioned placements, Grace gradually made her way up the wall. The piping held up, but Stella's nerves were still on edge as she got higher. Her heart skipped a beat when Grace's foot slipped as a bracket came loose.

"Shit." Grace caught herself quickly.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea," her voice was laced with worry.

"I'm basically there, Stella." A few more steps to the side and she was as far left as the thin pipes would allow. Grace tightened her hold as she reached towards the handle. She stretched as much as her arms would allow without relatively compromising her safety. Stella watched as she tried to open it, sparing a glance at the door behind her.

A rough click bounced off the walls, then, "Got it." Grace pulled herself back to the pipes and began to slide the window away from her. As soon as it started to open, it sent a horrible, loud, grating noise across the room. Grace stopped immediately, hastily pulling it back towards her to close it.

"Shit, shit, shit," Stella could feel the panic rising. It was only a matter of time before someone would come. "Get down," she urged. "Quickly."

But it was too late, the door to the room was already opened, someone's hands pulling at her shoulders and roughly shoving her into the wall. She let out a deep groan as the air escaped her lungs, and it felt like the person pressing into her from behind was crushing her ribs. She wasn't even resisting. She turned her head just in time to see two people pulling Grace down by the legs, her kicks doing nothing. She fell to the floor with a thud, the two masked people standing over her.

"Nice try," the leader's voice came from the door. "I did not see that one coming. I must admit, I have to admire your perseverance. But let's not go trying anything like that again, okay? It's better for all of us if you don't."

Just as suddenly as it happened, they all retreated from the room. Stella's head was spinning and she wasn't feeling confident enough to move very far, so she simply turned around and let her body slide down the wall.

Grace was slowly getting up, examining her scraped forearms with a guhh. "At least we tried."