A/N: Thank you for the awesome reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese!

Disclaimer: Don't own OTH


Chapter Fourteen

As Nathan walked down to his father's office, he started to get nervous. He had to say his words carefully. He knew that if he got his father too upset, Brooke and Haley would get be hurt more than they already were or perhaps even killed. He felt guilty enough for being stupid and leaving them alone after the strange phone calls. He didn't need their deaths on his conscience too.

He didn't even knock as he barged in. He then cringed as he saw a redhead who didn't look much older than him all over his dad. The two immediately stopped what they were doing as the young woman turned to him, embarrassed. Dan didn't even flinch. "Rachel, I'd like you to meet Nathan, my son. Nathan, this is Rachel Gatina, my new secretary."

Rachel gave Nathan a flirty smile. "So you're the favorite son? It's nice to meet you. And I wouldn't exactly call me new. I've been working here for six months."

Nathan raised his eyebrows at Dan as he said, "Boy, you don't waste any time in trying to find replacements, do you?"

There was an awkward silence as Rachel crawled off Dan's lap. "I'll let you two talk alone."

Nathan watched her as she walked out of the office and closed the door. He then turned back to Dan. He wasn't surprised to see that his father was smirking at him. Nathan didn't get a chance to speak as Dan spoke up first. "Don't even ask if I will let Ms. Roe go because I think you already know the answer to that." There was a short pause before his smirk grew as he added, "Now Haley is a different story, considering she's carrying my grandchild."

Nathan frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded. "Haley's not pregnant."

"I don't know why you are getting so upset. You should be happy that you're going to be a father," Dan replied. He got a strange thrill as he realized Nathan knew nothing about the baby. "And I would never want to harm my grandchild. So I'm going to let Haley go, but I'm afraid you are going to have to wait a few days."

"Let me take Haley's place then. After all, I'm the one who didn't do what you asked," Nathan protested.

Lucas suddenly burst in the room. He glared angrily at his brother. "Nathan, are you out of your fucking mind?" he exclaimed. "You knew it would be wrong to give Brooke to Dan. After all, she is your friend. And you would never betray a friend like that."

"Beth," Dan said quietly. Nathan gave him a warning look. However, Dan ignored him as he turned to Lucas. "I'm sure you mean Beth, right?" he asked as he leaned back in his chair. He had a sly smirk on his face as he did. "At least, that's the name she was using when she was working for me."

Lucas glared at him with hatred written all over his face. "What the fuck are you talking about? Brooke would never work for a sick son of a bitch like you!"

Dan just chuckled. "Well, I'm sure Brooke wouldn't. But her counterpart Beth did before she left and moved to Tree Hill."

"You're a fucking liar!" Lucas exclaimed angrily.

"You want proof?" Dan asked him.

Nathan suddenly interrupted him. He knew that he had to stop his father from going any further. "He doesn't need proof. He knows the truth. Brooke would never work for you. And I wish that I never did."

He was about to leave the office when Dan spoke up again. "You now have two days to find them. So I suggest that you get started. Because by Sunday night, your little friend will be dead." Lucas glared angrily at Dan. He was about to say something when Nathan stopped him. Dan also gave him a warning look. "All I have to do is make the call and you won't get a chance to say good-bye to Brooke."

"Why do you want Brooke? What the hell has she ever done to you?" Lucas exclaimed.

Dan just smirked. "Let's just say that she wasn't a great spy."

Nathan knew that the conversation would just get worse if he didn't step in now. "Come on, Luke. We're wasting our time here." Lucas knew that he was right. Dan wouldn't help them. He just continued to glare at Dan as he followed his brother out of the office. Nathan was relieved when they finally were out of there.

As they headed down the hall, Nathan suddenly grabbed Lucas and pulled him into an empty bathroom. He glared angrily at him. "What the hell were you thinking? I thought I told you that I would handle it," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.

Lucas gave him a look. "Did you really think I would sit there and wait for you to come back when my girlfriend and your wife are in trouble?"

Nathan knew he had a point. He would have followed Lucas to Dan if it had been vice versa. However, he still was mad at him. "I had everything under control until you burst in the room."

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "You call Dan speeding up Brooke's death sentence under control?" he exclaimed.

Nathan ignored the question. "If you would have let me give myself up, I could have been sent to wherever Dan is holding Haley and Brooke. I could have gotten us both out somehow."

"What makes you so sure that he wouldn't have tricked you and kept all three of you?" Lucas asked.

Nathan sighed before answering. "Because Dan doesn't want to harm his grandchild."

Lucas looked at him shocked. "Haley's pregnant?"

Nathan was surprised. "You didn't know?"

Lucas shook his head. "No, of course not. I thought that she would have told you before she told me." He quickly changed the subject. "We've got to get back to Tree Hill as soon as possible." Nathan agreed and they headed out of the bathroom.


Brooke didn't know how much more of the taunting she could take. It seemed like days since they had first started. She tried to ignore their words, but they made her listen to them. She then realized that she had to be grateful that this was all what they were doing to her. It could be a lot worse. She knew it would be a lot worse tomorrow. She was dreading it. Yet, she still wished that something would interrupt the fun. Her prayers were answered when a cell-phone started to ring.

The men suddenly became quiet as Cooper got his cell-phone from the table and checked who it was. From his smirk, Brooke knew that it had to be Dan. She couldn't do anything but listen as Cooper put Dan on speaker. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, you're fine. We're just having a little chat with our old friend Ms. Roe here," Cooper replied.

"Really? Then go get Haley. I like to talk to both of them."

Brooke had a feeling that wasn't a good sign. She hoped that she was wrong. She tried not to think about it too much as Cooper left to get Haley. A few seconds later, he returned with her. He gently pushed her into a chair that was next to Brooke. "Ok, we're all here. Go ahead Dan," Cooper said into the phone as Julian pulled the tape off Brooke's mouth. He grinned as she winced.

"Well, I first want to say 'Happy Birthday' to Beth. Did you get my flowers?"

Brooke and Haley exchanged looks before Brooke turned back to the phone. "Those were from you?" she asked horrified. She should have known that the flowers weren't from Lucas. He would have been more obvious than secretive.

She could hear Dan chuckling on the other end. "You haven't changed a bit. I'll miss that sense of humor of yours." There was then a short pause. "By the way, you now have three days instead of four." Brooke gasped in horror as Cooper and the guys smiled happily. "So it's technically two if you don't count today. You can thank Nathan for that. Speaking of him, I didn't realize that he didn't know about the baby." Haley could only glare at the phone as Dan continued. "But he didn't believe me, just like Lucas didn't believe me when I told him that you used to work for me, Beth."

"I'm not surprised considering how much you have lied to him over the years," Haley said, suddenly speaking up. "Why would he believe you now even if it's true?"

Dan laughed. "I knew there was a reason why I liked you. You're so smart. And don't worry. I'll let Cooper release you in a couple days." He then got serious. "Ok, take Beth and Haley to Haley's new room. I'm sure they want to spend as much time together as they can before Sunday night. We have business to discuss."

Brooke and Haley exchanged worried looks as Julian undid the tape from Brooke's chair. She winced a few more times as the tape was roughly pulled from her skin. He and Cooper then forced them out of the chairs. They made them walk across the room and around the corner to a small room. In the room was an old mattress with a blanket and a pillow lying on top of it. Julian and Cooper pushed them in before closing the door and locking it.

Haley and Brooke embraced each other in a tight hug. They then pulled away as Haley spoke. She looked at her friend concerned. "Are you ok? They didn't hurt you or anything? Cooper promised me that they wouldn't." Even though she didn't trust Cooper anymore, she hoped that he kept his word.

Brooke shook her head as Haley sighed relieved. "I'm fine for now. All they did was taunt me about my relationship with Lucas. I hate to think what they have planned for me for tomorrow or even Sunday," she said as she sat down on the mattress. She then became quiet as she realized that she wouldn't live past Sunday night. Or possibly sooner if Dan became any more upset.

Haley knew what she was thinking. However, she didn't want to think the worst. She gave her friend a comforting smile as she joined her. "Don't worry. We're going to get out of here before that happens. Lucas and Nathan are going to find us and everything will be ok."

"I hope so," Brooke replied quietly. She was trying to stay positive, but she couldn't help it. She then let out a sigh as she said, "This is not exactly the way I wanted to spend my birthday." She just hoped that it wouldn't be her last. Haley gave her a comforting hug. Brooke smiled gratefully. "But I'm glad that I'm not going through this alone." Haley nodded in agreement.

It seemed like only minutes had passed when the door opened up again. Cooper and Julian walked in and pulled the two to their feet. Cooper then turned to Haley as Julian started to tie up Brooke again. "Sorry Haley, but Dan gave us permission to have some more fun with Beth."

"And this time, it's our type of fun," Julian added with a grin.

Haley was ready to hit him, but Cooper held her back. "So Dan doesn't want to kill me because I'm having his grandchild? But yet, he will kill Brooke even though she's carrying his second grandchild?" she lied.

Cooper and Julian exchanged looks before turning to Brooke. "You're pregnant too?" Julian asked her skeptically.

Brooke knew that she had to play along to be possibly spared of the torture and even her life. She nodded. However, Cooper wasn't falling for it. "Nice try, Haley. But that's not going to work."

"If you hurt her, I will kill you," Haley exclaimed angrily.

"I like to see you try," Julian replied before he pushed Brooke out the door. Cooper only stayed behind for a few seconds to make sure Haley was secured in the room.

They pushed her back into the room she had previously been in. When she stepped into it, rough hands grabbed her and pinned her petite frame against the wall. She found herself looking into the sneering face of the guy they had called Ian. His hands ran up her arms and over her shoulders and to her neck. His hands closed around her delicate neck as he pulled her away from the wall. Brooke stumbled as he dragged her towards the chair she had been secured in before. Julian secured her legs to the chair legs with the tape before he did the same with her arms. Ian then finally let his grip go on her neck. It was clear to see the finger marks that spoiled the delicate skin of her neck.

"Do you want me to put some over her mouth too?" Julian asked Cooper. "Or do you want to hear her scream?"

"I'm in the mood for some audio entertainment," Cooper replied with a grin. Julian chuckled as he put the tape back down on the table. Brooke watched them warily as fear began to overwhelm her. Cooper gripped her chin in his hand and raised her head. He studied her before he said, "You know it's such a shame that we have to spoil such beauty."

"It does," Julian agreed. He then laughed as he added, "But it will be fun doing so."

Cooper stepped out of the way and Ian came into Brooke's sight. The grin on his face unnerved her further. It was only a matter of moments before the blows started to rain down on her face. She couldn't help but cry out as Ian's fists connected with different parts of her face. She felt her nose shatter under his fist and then the warm trickle of blood as it made it's way down her face and dripped off her chin. Julian then gripped her upper arms that tightly, it felt like the bruises were there instantly. Ian moved his hits lower as he did. Her abdomen and chest now suffered the cruel, hard punches he gave out. When Brooke opened her mouth to scream in agony, she got the metallic taste of blood as it trickled over her lips. Cooper chuckled to himself as he watched and listened, as Ian continued to hit Brooke.

In the other room, Haley wept softly as she heard the agonized screams coming from her friend, helpless to stop them.