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Her wrists had long grown raw from the battle against the handcuffs, the metal clinking stubbornly as she ran her right hand up and down the hollow pipe, the motion giving her some freedom but painfully too little to reach anything that would help her get out of the current predicament.
In a bout of frustration, Kate Beckett cursed under her breath.
She tried to ignore her raw gums from a punch to the jaw, the force so hard it caused her back teeth to cut into her cheek, rattling her brain along with it.
The air in the large room was cool and damp, like it belonged to some long-forgotten storage building. It was devoid of any windows, the sole light source coming from a bulb dangling off the low ceiling.
Where exactly the building was located was another mystery at the moment, the information having gotten lost between the violent fight in the elegant bedroom and her getting jerked awake down here, strapped to a damn metal chair.
They'd been left to their own devices again after the picture session, undoubtedly some sort of ransom demand or power play. Given the circumstances, probably the latter.
And yet, no words had been said, not since their capture.
She couldn't be sure if these men belonged to Steward's security detail or were some third-party thugs, hired out to keep the Senator-to-be comfortably far away from the criminal element and any chance of indictment.
One thing was for certain though, they weren't putting on kitten gloves around them. Everything these guys had done, each time they manhandled them, it was with an unnecessary degree of violence, as though their actions served as threats left unsaid.
"Esposito. Wake up…", Kate tried again, her voice growing hoarse against the damp environment, the chair creaking slightly as she leaned forward.
"Esposito."
Enough time had gone by since the fight that the gash on the detective's forehead had stopped bleeding, leaving him lying in a crimson puddle, unmoving for as long as she'd been awake. His hands were bound tightly, the rope fed through an O-ring in the floor.
"Espo. Come on!"
She'd seen the blood from his nose and split lip, compliments of the fight he'd put up when they both saw a chance of escape; a fraction of a second during which the taller of the two men holding them at gunpoint was distracted.
Esposito had initiated the attack, taking down the man next to him with a backhanded blow to the nose followed by an impressive roundhouse kick, giving her time to go after Shorty with the .45. The thing they hadn't counted on was round two of support coming to the rescue, four additional guys who stormed the room and quickly fanned out to go after them.
In the end, Kate had found herself getting yanked backwards, nearly off her feet, a strong set of arms wrapped around her midsection, a second one jerking her head back by her hair.
Similarly, Esposito was losing the battle with two thugs behind his back, one holding onto his arms, the other one applying a choke, a third one striking him in the face. Eventually he disappeared out of her sight altogether, getting buried under bodies, violent punches and swear words.
Now, the very man who had fearlessly taken on several opponents was reduced to an unmoving body, so still it scared her to death.
From her distance she couldn't even be sure that he was still breathing, but refused to believe otherwise.
"Esposito."
A depressing silence ensued, enough to make her jerk on the handcuffs again, growing angrier by the minute.
By now, the guys would know that something was up, perhaps putting teams in place to find them. But where to start? And how could she aid in that search if she didn't know where she was either, much less having any clue how to get out of here?
Kate sighed, clenching her jaws again, anger and frustration compromising her mind for a precious few minutes, while she forced herself to remain vigilant, use her training to find a way out, get help, go after Steward.
But right now, everything just felt cold.
And lonely