Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own anything. The Plum characters belong to Janet Evanovich. However, I do own Sofia.
Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I appreciate the encouragement. Also, thanks to JessicaRenae for editing this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know if you liked it.
Chapter 27 – In Darkness
Steph's POV
"How did you follow me?" I asked, linking my arm with his and attempting to keep a straight face. The smell of his cologne was strong on my hyped senses. I cringed a little.
"Every system has a loophole," he explained. "Mr. Manoso's weakness happens to be his over-protectiveness. I bought off one of his newest employees and linked his system to mine. I can see everything he sees. I know where your family members are every second. The knowledge is…" He paused as if he was searching for the proper term, "empowering."
"I hate you," was my only response, my anger untamable. I wanted to kill his man with my bare hands. I looked at my surroundings, making out the number of suspicious men, all strategically placed around the beach. Kids ran around us as we walked, completely unaware of the danger.
"Why?" I asked this time. "Why do you do all of this?"
"My mother was trafficked to the United States from Europe. She was a young woman with big dreams, lured away by a kid with enough money to make those dreams come true. He sold her out and bought a new fancy car with the reward. It happens."
I shook my head, suddenly feeling all disoriented.
"When you're born into the trafficking business," he continued. "There are little options for child. I chose to survive."
"You chose to survive by becoming one of the monsters that enslaved your mother," I spat back through gritted teeth.
"I saved my mother," he said, "and by chance my brother. I gave them an opportunity."
He turned his head to look down at me. Monsters, I thought, come in all forms. Unlike his brother, this man not only provoked fear. He invoked repulsion. The way he spoke, the matter in which he carried himself, all signaled to a great actor. The clean-cut image on the outside betrayed his real self.
"This way." He pointed towards a black car parked closest to the entrance to the beach. I slid into the back seat when he opened the door. He walked around and took the seat next to me. There was a man behind the wheel.
Alonde took a pill from his pocket and dropped it into a cup of water. I watched as he carefully swirled the liquid, mixing it, before turning to me.
"Drink."
I never felt more vulnerable than at that moment. There was no escape. My hands shook as I took the cup, my fingers numb against the cold glass.
"I told you, Ms. Plum. You should rethink your place." He smirked. "I have all the power."
The bastards grinning face was the last thing I saw before falling into a long and dangerous sleep.
-RS-
Ranger's POV
"Sofia," I said. "What can you tell me about the explosives?"
She seemed to think for a moment, her expression focused as she took the time to review the situation.
"Motion sensitive," she guessed. "However, it could be easily activated through control remote."
"How advance?"
"Advanced," she reported. "You see these cables, the explosive spreads out all around the house. I'm afraid it can blow out the compound."
"Shit."
She traced the lined up with her eyes, slowly examining the ground. "We need the experts."
-RS-
Steph's POV
The room was dark. It smelled of rust and mildew. My eyes adjusted to their new environment. I was lying on a cot in someone's basement. Instead of my jeans and shirt, I was wearing a silk teddy that barely covered my rear.
I felt disgusting, bile in my mouth. He'd touched me! He touched me, and I had no way to stop him. It disgusted me. This is what he wanted all along. He thought he could control me, take away my agency, my freedom, and humiliate me. If I showed the slightest sign of defiance, he would make sure to break me.
I sighed and sat back on the cot in my thinking position. Things did not look good for me.
-RS-
Lester's POV
"Where's Stephanie?"
Samantha looked at me with worried eyes. Our thoughts linked together and arrived at the same conclusion.
"Lester?" She growled. I grabbed my phone and dialed Haywood.
"Cal, do you have a position on Stephanie?"
"The system shows she's at the site. I'll give you the coordinates." It took about five minutes to find Steph's phone under the Samantha's car.
I cursed under my breath. "She's gone."
"We have more bad news," Samantha rushed into the computerized van and shut the door behind us. Tank walked in with Robert, Samantha's partner. He glanced my way and narrowed his eyes.
"You shouldn't be here," he said. Tank had been left to deal with the press at RangeMan. The look of resignation crossed his face as he took in my presence and the urge to do something other than host a press conference.
"Stephanie's gone," I responded instead of making excuses.
"She's not gone," he retorted. "Ranger had us placed trackers in all of her footwear for when all other resources failed."
He presented us with a thin black cellphone that I recognized as Ranger's.
"The tracker activates as she starts to walk," he explained. "The feed is transmitted to Ranger's phone. It's not connected to Haywood. There's no way that anyone can hack into it. Al and Vince are keeping an eye on the situation, but we need backup."
Samantha spoke next, "We have another problem."
She briefed us on the explosive situation. The silence inside the van was deafening. Our most significant players were in danger. Ranger, Stephanie, and Sofia could die if we made the wrong move.
-RS-
Steph's POV
"You look lovely," he said, extending a cup of champagne my way. I put the insulting drink aside and looked at him. The room he had taken me to was not unusual, but impressive. The room was definitely not the basement where he forced and tortured his victims. It was a luxurious study. We sat at a small table near the door. There were shelves of books around us, a desk near the window, and beautiful rug in the middle.
"You like humiliating women," I said. "It confuses me. After all, your mother is a victim of the same crime you lead."
"Perhaps, it's Regina's fault." He pushed the cup my way. "Drink! Maybe I'll tell you about it."
I raised the cup and placed it to my lips, not quite tasting the liquid. I had the inkling that Alonde had become a victim himself. Men are not trafficked for sexual labor as often as women, but boys are targeted. Little boys are a commodity in the heinous business of human trafficking. Alonde glanced briefly towards the desk, inspecting the back of his computer.
"Life is unfair." I started, regaining my courage. "We are given obstacles and challenges, but at the end it's the way we respond to those obstacles that matter. We have choices. Don't expect sympathy from me."
My little speech made him laugh. He tilted the cup my way for a mocking salute.
"Stephanie Plum," he said. "You have some spice. Regina was my pimp. I was only six years old. She was a monster. Now she's dead. I fear no one."
My heart skipped a beat. The knowledge that people could be capable of such monstrosity made my blood curdle. He took a strawberry from the plate on the table, leaving a spot of red on the white tablecloth as the water from the fruit dropped onto it. It was a red spot on cleaned sheets. I couldn't help thinking that this is how it started for this man. It started with one red spot marking the innocence of a child.
"Now you've become Regina," I concluded. He glared my way, his eyes angry and cold.
"I'm a little softer than Regina."
A crash came from the exterior of the house. Alonde glanced around the room, a little startled. He gave me a dirty look before taking off to investigate. I forced myself to breathe and stood up.
I took inventory of the room. It was small, not many windows. There was a stand full of memorabilia and books. The door was locked.
I needed a weapon.
My first encounter with Mr. Matta –should I say Alonde- was a disaster. There was malice in his eyes, anger, and something evil. If I was Alonde, I would keep weapons hidden around the house, especially in the office. I looked around tables and stands. There was a shelf of books near the door. There was nothing particularly interesting about the shelf, but the presence of the books made me look twice. I did a double take and a spun around.
I'd saw in a movie once, where a man had fake books in his library. When you open one of the books, the actor would find a space inside. I know it sounded cliché, but I gave it a try anyway. The volumes were thick and heavy. I shook my head in disbelieve, unable to imagine Alonde reading any of them. I pushed through books before I made out the butt of a gun. I pushed a book to the side, and bingo.
I moved the weapon to a more suitable place and took inventory of my surroundings once again. The door slammed open just in time. Alonde's eyes were narrowed and full of disgust. I gulped. Suddenly, the man seemed bigger and scarier than before.
"What's wrong?" I asked, biding my time. He cocked his head to the side, accessing his prey.
"How did they get here?" He snarled, moving closer towards me.
"Who?"
"Don't pretend to be an idiot," he said. "Is the tracker in your body? Inside your skin?"
Alonde moved to touch me. I stepped back. He grabbed my arm and twisted it to examine the skin around the inner side. The nausea took over when he started tracing my arms with his hands. I didn't want his hands anywhere near my body.
"I do not have trackers, you bastard." He slapped me. It was so sudden and fast that I barely had the time to react.
"How did they get here?" He demanded.
"I don't know," I yelled, "but if it means anything, I don't like being tracked."
Alonde grabbed a chunk of my hair and pulled toward the table. I cringed in pain. He pressed himself against me. I pushed backed, twisting long enough to take a bite of his arm. He jerked away. I dodged Alonde's first strike causing his fist to hit the table. I lunged towards the bookcase, but his hands found the neckline of the teddy before I had the chance to escape. He ripped open the dress, right through the middle.
He tossed me against the wall, my head bouncing off the hard surface. A sharp pain invaded my brain and I suddenly felt very dizzy. Alonde crouched in front of me, putting a hand under my chin, and pushing it up. The nauseous feeling in my stomach took over. I vomited.
"Disgusting," he grunted, momentarily moving away from me to clean his hands. He kicked me various times before leaving the room. I waited a few seconds before crawling towards the shelf.
The gun appeared new. I opened the cylinder to find only two bullets. Well, better make the best of it, I thought. This man was bigger and stronger than me, but I could use my weight as an advantage. I practiced enough with Tank to gain some confidence. This was the moment. This could be the day that I die.
I forced my body to a stand and moved to stand behind the door. Alonde walked in once again. This time he took slow steps, growling.
"Don't play with me, Ms. Plum," he said. "You are not in a place to gamble."
I thought about my options. If I was right, Alonde's men were trying to hold up the police and Rangeman employees waiting outside. However, this time, I was the only hostage. It was a lot to assume, but I had to put my faith on something. The idea of leaving my son alone was the only encouragement.
I slammed the door on Alonde's face as hard as possible. He grunted, pushed back by the force. He stumbled backwards, giving me the chance to walk around the door. He had a hand on his forehead, but came charging towards me any way. I pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Then, I remember the thing only had two bullets.
Alonde took the gun from my hands and pushed me against the wall. He grabbed my head and repeatedly pounded it against the wall. The throbbing headache took over my sense. I could feel the tears on my cheeks. The man ceased, pushing me to the floor. He put the gun on the table in front of me, taunting me.
"You piece of shit," he spat, walking towards his desk. He grabbed a small device. It was a laptop. He pulled a chair closer to me, opened it and showed me the screen.
"Do you know what happens if I press this button?" He asked. I studied the image on the screen. It was a video feed of the compound where Leticia was held hostage. Ranger and Sofia were still inside. On the other side of the screen was another image. It was…
"Don't," I gasped. It was the building at Haywood.
"I want you to beg," he sneered.
"Please, don't," I pleaded, moving my hand to my head, trying to stop the pain. My vision blurred. "Please, don't."
"I can't hear you," he barked."
"Please! Don't kill them." It was a rasp.
"Kneel," he ordered. I pushed my body into a kneeling position.
"Please," I begged.
"You look beautiful," he said, "kneeling semi naked in front of me, begging me."
The bastard pressed the button anyway, a smug smile on his face. I wailed as he tilted his head back and laughed. The image on the computer screen went blank.
Suddenly, the pain on my head, my bruised ribs, my aching legs, nothing mattered. I lurched up and forward with a speed I didn't think possible for a mangled body. Alonde was not expecting me, his faced hardened, one arm reaching for the gun. I punched him as hard as I could muster. He grabbed my hair, pushing my head back. I made a peace sign with my fingers and drove them into his eyes. He jerked away in pain. I grabbed the gun from the table, pulling the trigger. The thing didn't fire.
I knew it had two bullets, so I kept trying. I pushed myself up and fired. Three more tries and blood splattered his shirt. He remained still. I sunk to the floor and cried. My body felt numb, but my mind, my spirit felt broken.
I didn't register everything that happened next. Perhaps there were some doors slammed open, and some bullets were fired. I couldn't care less. He was dead. My physical pain was not enough to overshadow the pain I felt inside. I had lost my reason to live.
-RS-
Ranger: Babe, wake up... Please
Steph: Uhm
Ranger: I love you.
Steph: Uhm...No
Ranger: I'll buy you tiramisu.
Steph: *Eyes open wide* Okay, I'm fine.
Ranger: That's my girl.