Chapter Eighteen

"Oh, bloody hell."

Max's eyes jerked open at the sound of Daniel's voice. Sitting up gingerly, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest, and he glanced down to see a dart sticking out. Letting out a groan, he pulled it out and tossed it across the room. Turning his head, he saw that Daniel was doing the same thing.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but waking up beside you was not something on my agenda today," Daniel said, smirking.

"If it makes you feel any better, it wasn't on mine, either."

Rubbing at his chest, Max slowly stood up, seeing that they were still in the abandoned warehouse. Everything looked exactly the same with one glaring difference: Nancy, Wolfe, and Krieger were nowhere to be found.

Not good. Not good at all.

Peering down at his watch, he saw that a little over an hour had passed. Which meant that Nancy could pretty much be anywhere, and he had no clue as where to start.

It was fortunate that he happened to be very good at finding people. He would just have to treat this as any other job he'd been hired to do previously. And with Daniel, there was no doubt that they would find her.

The only concern was if they would find her dead or alive.

Pushing that thought aside, Max retrieved his gun from where it had been kicked aside, before making his way over to Daniel and helping him up. He was surprised his friend could even move, considering he was covered in bruises and scrapes. His blood boiled at the thought of Wolfe hurting Daniel—he wanted nothing more than to put his hands around Wolfe's throat and squeeze until there was nothing but a pulpy mess.

Gross, yes. But that was exactly what Max wanted.

"I don't suppose that Wolfe and Krieger revealed their entire plan to you, did they?" Max asked as he supported Daniel's weight as they made their way to the door and towards his rental car.

"Actually…" Daniel began.

Max stopped in his tracks, bringing the injured man to a grinding halt. "You're shitting me."

Daniel frowned. "You know, I never understood the meaning of that saying. What exactly does that mean, you're shitting me?"

Rolling his eyes, Max continued towards the car with Daniel. "I'll try to explain it to you later."

"All of you bloody Americans with your unintelligible slang."

"Right, because what you say half the time makes sense," Max grunted as he opened the passenger side door and helped Daniel inside.

"It absolutely makes sense."

"To you, anyway." Max jogged to the other side of the car and slid into the driver's side. Inserting the key into the ignition, he started the engine and pulled out onto the highway, cutting off several cars in the process. Several motorists honked their horns, but he paid them no mind.

"It won't do Nancy any good if you get us killed before we're able to ride in as her knights in shining armor."

Max ignored that. "Let's get back to Wolfe and Krieger. What did they tell you they were planning to do with her?"

Daniel instantly sobered up, his eyes focused on the road ahead of them. It was several beats before he spoke. "You're not going to like it, Max."

When Nancy opened her eyes, Randy Wolfe's face was not the first thing she wanted to see. If she had a choice, she would have envisioned herself back at Max's beach house overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, the warm breeze blowing caressing her skin with its warm embrace. She could almost feel Max's arms around her holding her tightly against his body, promising her comfort and safety.

Unfortunately, Nancy could never be lucky enough to get her wish. And by the time she realized that Randy was sitting next to her, it was too late to close her eyes and pretend that the incident at the warehouse was nothing more than a nightmare.

Ignoring Randy for the moment, she took in her surroundings. She was lying on her side in the back of a dirty van, her hands tied tightly behind her back, her ankles bound as well. She had no idea where she was heading—the only certainty being her very likely death. Randy was currently going through an assortment on blades, each one he picked up worse than the last. Nancy swallowed hard, pushing the bile back down her throat where it settled back into the pit of her stomach.

"Hello, blue eyes. Did you have a nice little nap?"

"Best sleep that I've had a in a while," Nancy said with a slight wince as the van hit a pothole, jarring her roughly into the metal wall.

Randy smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "I needed to make sure you were well-rested before the fun began."

"I'm pretty sure my well-being is the least of your concerns."

"That hurts, Nancy," Randy said, placing a hand over his heart. "Do you really think so little of me?"

"No."

"Really?"

Nancy smirked. "I think even less of you."

Anger flashed in Randy's green eyes before his hand lashed out, stopping just before he actually backhanded her. Nancy couldn't stop her flinch from the anticipated blow, which only seemed to amuse Randy as the smile reappeared on his face.

"You seem jumpy, Nancy."

Ignoring him, Nancy focused on the ropes around her wrists, working them back and forth to see if she could find any slack. Randy seemed content to watch her in silence, his eyes never leaving her face. After a couple of minutes, Nancy had to stop her efforts as her skin began chafing. Randy had been thorough this time around, she had to give him that.

"Are you finished?" he asked.

"For the time being," Nancy answered with a sigh, lying back down. Letting her eyes roam around the interior of the van, she saw that Krieger was nowhere to be seen. "Where's your little friend?"

"He drew the short end of the straw, so he gets to sit up front." Randy reached out a hand, softly running his fingertips along her jaw line. "You know he's nowhere near as much fun as I am, blue eyes."

Nancy couldn't stop the shiver of fear shuddering through her body. She pulled away from him, wanting as much distance as she could get. "Where are you taking me?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"I want to know now."

"Well, not everyone gets what they want," Randy said, bringing his knees up to his chest as he leaned his back against the side of the van. Picking up the smallest knife, he began absently digging under his nails with the tip. "Besides, I would rather see your expression when we get there."

"Meaning it's not going to be anything good."

"Not for you, anyway. But that's what makes it so much better for me."

Nancy winced as the van hit another bump before taking a sharp curve, throwing her to the side. "Is it really worth all of this trouble, Randy? I don't understand why you and Krieger don't just kill me already."

"Because that would be too simple." Randy's eyes met hers and Nancy felt her blood run cold at the hatred she saw in them. It scared her how he was able to hide it so well from her. "And you deserve anything but simple."

"All of this just because I put you in jail, exactly where you belonged?"

In a flash, Randy was practically on top her, holding the blade of the knife against her throat, nicking the delicate skin there. "You took everything from me, blue eyes. Everything. Me killing you doesn't even begin to pay you back for what you've done."

Nancy tried to move her head back from the knife, but he gripped a fistful of her hair and held her in place. She silently prayed that they didn't hit another nasty bump, or a little nick was going to be the least of her worries.

"Would you like me to tell you what's going to happen?"

"I thought you didn't want to ruin the surprise," Nancy said, glaring steadily at him.

Randy said nothing as the van started to slow down before coming to a complete stop. One of the doors opened up front, only to slam shut a few seconds later.

Nancy listened as footsteps walked around the side, stopping at the back. The double doors opened to reveal Krieger, staring at them with an amused expression. Nancy wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk off his face.

"It looks like someone was ready to get an early start on our little game," Krieger said staring directly at Nancy before his eyes moved over to Randy, who was still next to her with the knife at her throat. "Don't you think that's cheating, Wolfe?"

"No one said I had to wait for you, Krieger."

"We had an agreement."

"And there was nothing in that agreement that said I couldn't play with her," Randy argued with a slight roll of his eyes.

Anger flashed briefly in Krieger's eyes. "You made her bleed."

"Be glad that I haven't done more than that," Randy said with an impatient sigh.

Nancy jerked way from Randy, glaring at the both of them. She hated that they were talking about her as if she wasn't tied up right in front of them. They could at least have the courtesy to knock her out first if they insisted on doing it. "I'm not some shiny new toy for the two of you to play with, you know."

"I'm sure no one asked for your opinion, Miss Drew," Krieger said, his eyes trailing over her body. "And that is exactly what you are—a shiny new toy."

"Bite me."

A sinister smile pulled at Krieger's lips. "Maybe later, if you play your cards right." He turned his attention back to Randy. "You might as well get her out of there. We shouldn't keep her in suspense any longer. I'm sure Miss Drew is anxious to know what we have in store."

Nancy smirked at Randy as Krieger moved away from the doorway. "Do you always bow down and do what he says?"

With a growl, Randy moved down and cut the ropes around her ankles. Before she could even think about kicking at him, he was gripping her arm tightly and jerking her towards the open door. "You even think about kicking me and the first thing I'll do is cut your hamstring. And believe me, Nancy, you're going to need your legs."

Biting back a cry as she was jostled out of the van, Nancy stumbled to the ground. Her legs tingled from being restrained so tightly, the circulation slowly returning to her joints. Blinking rapidly against the sudden brightness of the sun, she slowly took in her surroundings, seeing that she was in the middle of a forest. No matter where she looked, she was surrounded by woods.

"What are we doing here?"

"We're going to play a little game," Randy said, keeping his grip on her arm tight. "You like to play games, don't you, blue eyes?"

"Sure, I like the occasional board game," Nancy said with a small smile.

Randy leaned down until he was right next to her ear, his breath tickling her neck. "This is going to be so much better than a board game."

Krieger stepped forward, his hands gripped behind his back. "We could have gone along the regular avenue and just killed you outright, but we wondered where the fun would be in that? It would be so easy to put a bullet in your brain, and while that would be rewarding in its own right, we decided to make a game out of it."

"What kind of game?" Nancy knew she didn't want to know what they had planned, because whatever it was, would not be good. But while she didn't want to know, she also knew that she needed to. Maybe if she had an idea of what they were going to do, she would have a chance to get away from them and save herself.

"I am so glad you asked." Krieger smiled. "You wouldn't believe the amount of people you've put away who would love to see you go down. So we thought we could kill two birds with one stone."

"What do you mean?"

"They give us a very hefty sum of money and get to watch you die, live as it happens. And the best part is that they don't have to get their hands dirty," Randy explained. "Genius, no?"

"No."

Randy ignored her as he continued on. "This is how it's going to work, blue eyes. We have constructed our very own obstacle course here for you in the middle of these woods. Manage to survive for twenty-four hours and we let you live."

"Sounds simple enough."

"Not quite," Krieger said. "We have put plenty of little traps out here for you, Miss Drew. Not to mention, Wolfe and I will be hunting you as well. Manage to elude us, and as Wolfe said, we'll let you continue to breathe the air you're taking in now."

Nancy couldn't stop the shiver trailing across her spine as their words sank in. She was going to be hunted like some kind of animal, with no idea of what lay before her. She was at a serious disadvantage, but she also wasn't about to go down without a fight. If they wanted her to play their game, she would do it.

And no way in hell was she going to make it easy for them.

"You said that you had a live audience tuning in," Nancy said, glancing around at the canopy of trees above her. "How?"

"We've been working on this for months. There are cameras everywhere, ready to take in all the action." Randy turned around and waved to his left. Nancy could have sworn she heard a sound as if a camera was zooming in.

"So, let me get this straight. If twenty-four hours from now, I'm still alive, you'll stop everything and let me live?"

"Correct."

"Fine." Nancy once again tried pulling out of Randy's strong grip. "I don't suppose you're going to let me out of these ropes."

"You're going to have to do that yourself," Randy said, flashing her a chilling smile. Pulling her closer to him, he brought his head down until his lips were brushing lightly against hers. "And to show you we're not completely heartless, we'll leave you with a weapon so you can at least try to defend yourself. And to help you out, we've decided to give you a ten minute head start."

"How considerate." Nancy watched as he tossed the small knife he'd been taunting her with earlier across the forest bed, where it landed in a stand of shrubs. "So, when does this little game start."

"Why, it begins right now."

Yep, another cliffhanger. You secretly love them, right?

I would love to thank the following people for the awesome reviews from the previous chapter: raven678, lys, Angelvie S, Lady Emily, Guest #1, guest #2, and Cupcake. I love you guys!

I apologize for any mistakes and let me know what you think!