Chapter Ten – Ground & Pound

Ground and pound consists of taking a fighter to the ground, placing them in an inferior position and striking them until they are knocked out, tap out, can be submitted, or the match is stopped.

It was a struggle to try and keep track of their direction and the time they spent in transit. The drugs from the tranq dart made his head foggy and whenever his eyes fell on Jo's body, covered only by a lacy, silver bra and matching underwear, Casey lost count. To make matters worse, Smythe's question about Jo hating him was very distracting.

Eventually Casey gave up all thoughts and just rested his eyes on Jo.

Eventually Smythe parked the van and got out. He opened the sliding door, and waved Casey out with the pistol. Casey was surprised at how difficult it was to move. When he set his bare feet down on the gravel parking lot, he lurched forward and almost fell on his face. That put a damper on his thoughts of turning the tables on Smythe any time soon.

As Smythe prodded him toward a nondescript warehouse, Casey looked around trying to find anything he recognized. But there was nothing. Just another abandoned waterfront warehouse district. No other vehicles in sight. Not even any distinctive sounds outside of the water slapping against the pier.

They paused at the door as Smythe entered a code in a makeshift security lock. "Thought you weren't a planner," Casey snarked.

"Did it just for you, big guy," Smythe said with a smug smile and opened the door.

They wove through some broken down crates to a far corner where three metal chairs were set up under a dim overhead light. "Take a seat, Casey," Smythe said, putting the gun in his lower back and pushing him toward a chair.

Casey's knees buckled halfway to the chair and he fell down, taking the chair with him. Smythe laughed. "Get up, cupcake."

Casey struggled to get to his knees and turned the chair upright. Two sets of handcuffs clanged against the metal supports under the seat. Casey pulled himself into the chair.

"Here," Smythe said throwing something at him. Casey's reaction time was slow and it took all his concentration to catch the item. Handcuff keys. "Unlock and then relock one on the chair."

Casey gritted his teeth. "I didn't realize you were so into playing games, Smythe."

Smythe gave him another smug smile. "Maybe you should have been asking Josie more about me rather than trying to figure out how to get in her bed."

Casey lifted his lip in snarl, but after a few moments of angry staring, he unlocked the cuffs and relocked them so his left wrist was attached to the chair support.

"Good man," Smythe said, holstering the weapon and walking towards him. Smythe kept a wary eye on him as he grabbed Casey's right wrist and attached it to the chair with a pair of cuffs that was already there.

Smythe stood and headed back through the maze of crates. "Don't go anywhere, Casey."

Casey took the time alone to berate himself. He should have asked more questions about Smythe. He shouldn't have gotten involved with Jo. He should have taken Smythe down when he had a chance and they would be back at his place watching over Angel right now.

Casey heard the door slam shut and after a few moments Smythe came into view carrying Jo over his shoulder. He caught Casey's eye. "She's got a great ass, right?" he said with a lascivious smile as he slapped her butt. Jo didn't stir.

Smythe eased her down in the chair and she nearly slid off. Her eyes jerked open and then abruptly closed again; her head dropped backwards until it hit the back of the chair. Two sets of handcuffs were attached that chair as well and Smythe locked them around her wrists.

He stared at her for a moment and then reached down to pat her cheek. "Josie… time to wake up..." He paused for a moment and then gave her a good slap. She didn't move.

Casey watched as Smythe retrieved a bucket from the corner. Smythe looked at him. "Always be prepared," he said with a nod.

"If that's what I think it is, I wouldn't…"

Smythe didn't wait for him to finish. He tossed the bucket of water at Jo. She woke up sputtering and cursing weakly. She pulled at the cuffs as she looked around the room and then down at herself. Her eyes glazed over him and then went to Smythe.

"Peter, you prick!" She brought her leg up between his, but she was moving slowly and Smythe merely stepped aside and knocked her leg down with the bucket.

Smythe gave a low, sexual growl. "You know I love it when you fight me, baby."

Jo threw a sloppy kick at his knee. He dropped the bucket and grabbed her ankle. "Just like old times."

Smythe leaned down over her, put his free hand behind her head and held her still while he kissed her. She struggled uselessly under his attention.

Casey's stomach churned violently. "Let her go!" he yelled.

Smythe pulled away and looked at Jo. "Aw, isn't that sweet? He's trying to save you." Smythe stepped away from her, out of the range of her kick, and locked his eyes on Casey. Casey wasn't sure if it was the drugs or something Smythe had done, but Smythe looked totally different. Older and more severe.

Smythe smiled at him in a way that made Casey's skin crawl, then he turned his eyes back to Jo. "Why are you wasting your time with this guy, Josie? You knew I would come for you."

A look of confusion spread over her face, and she blinked her eyes several times. "What is wrong with you?" she asked.

"What's wrong with me?" he roared, startling Jo and making her pull back in her chair. "What's wrong with you? What were you thinking taking up with this guy?"

"W-what?" Jo spoke softly. Her body was starting to tremble and Casey didn't know if it was from the drugs, being cold, or fear.

Smythe started pacing in front of her. "Here I am working for our future, just one big job payout away from our happily ever after and you let this guy into your bed! With our daughter in the next room!" Smythe lunged at her and wrapped his hands around her arms. "What kind of mother are you?"

Jo's trembling increased, but her voice was stronger this time. "You have totally lost it, Peter."

Smythe's entire body went rigid. "You see what you've done to me, Josie? For years I've watched silently while you parade men in and out of your bedroom… while you flirt with boys half your age in that class you teach…! And I'm telling you it ends now!"

Smythe jerked into a standing position and pulled the pistol from under his left arm and pointed it at Casey.

Casey couldn't have been more surprised if it was Chuck that turned on him. How did this guy go from swapping stories about Joelle in the van to intent to kill? Smythe stared at him with cold, dark eyes, and a sneer on his lips.

"Stop, Peter!" Jo yelled, pulling Smythe's eyes back to her.

"Why, Josie?" Smythe took a step closer to Casey. "Do you love him?"

"I hardly know him," she replied.

If Casey hadn't been so focused on the pistol pointed at him, her response might have bothered him.

"Then you won't miss him when he's gone," Smythe said, putting his eyes back on Casey, and centering the gun over his heart. Casey grabbed the chair with his cuffed hands and prepared to rush him.

"If you hurt him, I will never willingly go with you," Jo said.

Smythe turned his eyes back to her. "And if I don't kill him?"

Casey came to his feet, wobbled a little, and then launched himself at Smythe. He missed Smythe only because of the drugs. Smythe stepped to the side, planted his boot in Casey's face and pushed him sideways. Casey landed on the cement on his left side, and felt a fuzzy pain-like sensation over his torso.

Smythe came down on one knee beside him and put the pistol near his temple. "That was entirely unnecessary, cupcake."

"Don't hurt him," Jo said.

Smythe glanced over his shoulder at her, and growled loudly, "Answer my question, Josie!"

"If you let him go, I'll do whatever you want."

"Like hell!" Casey protested.

Smythe came to his feet. "What I want is for you and Evangeline to come live with me," he said.

"Don't do it, Joelle… don't agree to anything…!" Casey barked.

She cut Casey off with a firm, "Okay, Peter."

Smythe started walking toward her. "I want you to marry me, Josie."

Casey clenched his jaw to keep from yelling.

She hesitated, keeping her eyes on Smythe. "Okay."

It felt like every organ in Casey's body turned to stone.

"I want to legally adopt Evangaline," Smythe continued. Smythe stopped in front of her, making her look up at him.

"Of course," Jo said softly.

Smythe holstered the weapon and then slowly came to one knee in front of her. "I want you to kiss me, Josie." Casey saw her shivering in earnest now. "Seal the deal."

Casey never saw or heard her agree, but this time when Smythe kissed her, she didn't struggle. Smythe drew the kiss out, slowly moving his hands over her body. Watching it was some of the most painful torture Casey had endured. His stomach bucked and Casey swallowed against the bile rising in his throat.

The torture was interrupted by music.

He never stopped to worry what the next day would bring
Because the girls would sing:
Rock me Amadeus…

Smythe pulled away from Joelle, but kept his hand on her face as he pulled the phone from his pocket and answered it. Casey stared intently at her, but she wouldn't look at him. Smythe was speaking in some kind of Chinese dialect in short sentences, absent-mindedly caressing Jo's face with his hand.

"Joelle!" Casey spoke in a loud whisper. Finally she looked at him, shivering, her eyes large and looking totally lost. "Don't give in to this guy!"

She looked at him for a long moment and then shook her head slightly. Smythe pulled her head up so she was looking at him.

Smythe ended the call. "It's almost over now, Josie," Smythe said, looking down at her. "This time tomorrow, you, me, and Evangeline will be on our way to Rio."

"Rio," Joelle repeated, her voice not quite connected to her body.

Smythe leaned over and kissed her again and Casey's stomach cramped up again. "But now I have to go make some final arrangements. You'll wait here for me, right?"

"No!" she exclaimed, looking up at him with wide eyes, "Take me with you!"

Casey felt a sharp pain in his torso and wasn't sure if he was getting stabbed in the back or in the heart.

"Oh, baby, it's too dangerous," he said and gave her a quick kiss. "You stay here and I promise I'll come back for you when the deal is done." He kissed her one last time, then took a few moments to whisper something in her ear. He stood up, stared at her for a long moment , smiled and gave her a small nod. At that moment he looked more like the guy from the van.

Smythe turned away and headed toward the maze of crates. Smythe addressed him without looking at him, "Casey, if you could just curl up and die before I get back that would save me some time."

xOxOxOx

Casey stared at Jo as she shivered in her chair. She lowered her head, brought her legs up and did her best to curl up into a ball.

Casey ran the events and conversations through his mind. "That was all just one big game, wasn't it?" he said finally.

"I'm not sure what that was," she said without looking up. "That was not the Peter I knew." Her voice sounded different, but that could be because she was shivering.

"You're not seriously going with him," Casey said.

She lifted her head and frowned at him. "If you believe that, you're as crazy as he is."

"Then why beg to go with him?" Casey asked, his suspicion manifesting in his voice.

She gave him a hard stare and then shook her head a little. "So he drugged you too?" she asked. "Because you're not thinking this through, Colonel."

Casey waited for a moment, but she remained silent. "Talk me through it then."

She exhaled sharply. "I need to keep him away from Angel. It would be much easier to do that if I'm not cuffed to this chair." She paused. "Also I'm less likely to die from hypothermia if I could get into some dry clothes. And, oh yeah," she started raising her voice, "it looks like he's going to deliver whatever it is he stole, and I thought we were trying to stop that!"

Casey felt heat over his face. "So that was all an act?"

She exhaled angrily. "It doesn't matter what I do, you're never going to trust me, are you, John?"

He was quiet for a moment, thinking about it. The drugs were starting to wear off and he could feel the left side of his body getting chilled from the concrete floor. He watched the way Jo's shivering was becoming more violent and took note that her skin was becoming more pale.

"You weren't exaggerating about the hypothermia…"

"It's not exactly sunny California in here right now," she replied.

"SITREP?" he asked.

She smiled slightly at the use of the military abbreviation for situational report. "60 – 75 minutes before I start acting like Daffy Duck," she said with a smirk. He smiled. "Options?" she asked.

"We could lay here and wait for your ex-whack job to return," Casey said.

She shook her head. "Not viable. I don't think Peter is going to make it out of that meet alive. And even if he did, we might both die from hypothermia before he gets back here." After a few moments she said, "We could sit here and hope that your team finds us."

He shook his head. "Not viable. Smythe left all our stuff in a parking lot. Anybody could have picked it up. The team has probably gone looking for us and may have found my watch by now, but if it's away from the area where Smythe grabbed us it's going to make it difficult for them to track us."

Jo nodded. "And Peter isn't your average criminal. He probably avoided every camera in the county."

They were quiet for a moment. Casey was the one to break it. "So, it's up to us then."

She nodded. "We are the best option."

xOxOxOx

Author's request for feedback: Okay, my few but faithful readers… are you interested in Peter's comment about how he met Joelle? Would you like me to take time to explore that or would you rather I just keep the story moving forward? Leave me a comment and I'll go with the majority. Thanks for your support!