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CHAPTER 26
BROOKE
My head was pounding, and my cheek was sore. It felt like my entire body was falling to pieces. I felt Sydney shivering next to me and I wrapped her in my arms, thankful she was still at my side. I pulled her sleeping form into my lap and cradled her next to me, feeling her cheek burrow into my chest. I ran my fingers through her hair, trying to untangle the beautiful tresses that were dirty and matted with sweat.
I had no idea how long I’d been asleep. I didn’t know how long I’d been in this basement. Dungeon more like it. I wasn't sure when Sydney had eaten last, or if the food they would give us was safe to eat. All I knew was that the plan had failed. They had taken the money and found the damn tracking device.
I tried my level best not to panic. I had to believe that Kevin and the police would find us before Gianni could do something awful. I knew Kevin would pay whatever amount Gianni demanded, but that didn’t guarantee our safety. We needed to be found.
Rocking from side to side, I tried to keep Sydney asleep as long as possible. I kissed the top of her head and prayed she would sleep as long as she could. The longer she was asleep, the less of this she would have to experience. There was nothing in the small room we were in. Just four walls, a door on the opposite end of the room, scratchy carpet underneath our legs, and walls that felt as if they would cave at the slightest pressure. Insulation was peeking through the faded pink wooden slats and there were no windows.
Wherever we were, I knew we were underground.
Which meant if I screamed, no one would hear me.
I wondered what Kevin was doing. I wondered if Daniel was all right. I imagined how scared they must be. How much Daniel must want his sister back. I wondered if Kevin missed me. If he was worried about me or somehow happy I was gone. Maybe by taking the person responsible for losing his daughter, some sort of ironic justice had been done.
Shaking the thought from my head, I tried to pull it together as Sydney began to stir. She was groaning, her legs curling further into her body. I kissed the top of her head and began to whisper to her. Soft, soothing words letting her know things were going to be okay. I watched her eyes peek open before dread set in. Her hands wrapped tightly around me and she buried herself even deeper into my body.
Tears crested my eyes when she started to shake.
Sydney was terrified, and I had no idea how to make it any better.
Because I was terrified too.
The door at the opposite end of the room opened and Sydney gasped. I scrambled to get her behind me, tucking her between my back and the dank wall behind us. She curled her legs to her knees and buried her face as I watched Gianni’s associate approach us.
He had two plates of food in his hands and a bucket hanging from his arm. I looked up at him with disgust on my face as he set everything down on the ground. His eyes danced around my body, clad in nothing but my dirty underwear and the tears Sydney had cried to get herself to sleep the night before.
I didn’t like the look in his eyes.
“Eat,” the man said.
“I’ll pass.”
“Do whatever you want, I’m not going to force you. Maybe your boyfriend is smart enough to give us what we want, and he can treat you to a nice steak when this is all over,” he said.
I made no move to touch the plates, and he simply shrugged his shoulders. “The bucket’s for the bathroom.”
“I’m not peeing in a fucking bucket,” I said.
“Suit yourself,” he said.
My nostrils flared in anger as Sydney whimpered behind me. Even though the man looked malicious, he wasn’t making a move towards us. He wasn’t moving to hit me again or to wrench Sydney away from me. He was standing there, waiting for me to take the damn bucket and scramble for the food.
Like a damn animal.
I could hear the gurgling of Sydney’s small stomach before a whimper passed through her lips. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, then slowly moved away from her. The man watched as I grabbed one of the plates and I took a deep sniff of it, trying to see if anything seemed out of place.
“It doesn’t make sense to poison you,” the man said. “You’re worth money. If you’re dead, we get nothing,” the man said.
“So, all you want is the money?”
“Yep. Sure don’t want the headache keeping the two of you holed up is giving me.”
“Then what? You get your money and you abduct the person giving it to you? Request more? When does it stop?” I asked.
The man grinned down at me as he tossed the bucket at my side. Sydney screamed as the metal crashed to the floor and I winced.
