AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not sure.” She shook her head and then shuffled around as if trying to find a more comfortable position. It was cramped sitting up with your arms tied behind your back. “They blindfolded me. But I reckon by the length of the trip, and by the sounds of the size of the city, we might be in Cairns.”
He inclined his head slowly. That might make sense, if they only knew why they’d been abducted in the first place. Leaningforward, he examined the bindings around his ankles. Large, plastic zip ties. Damn. If it’d been rope, they might’ve had a chance to untie the knots. But zip ties were almost impossible to break out of. It was why a lot of police used them as a backup to their handcuffs. He wriggled his hands behind his back experimentally, but the plastic bit into his skin with every movement.
Indy, who was watching him investigate his bindings, said with a note of defeat, “Believe me, I’ve already tried to get free. Your brother seems to know what he’s doing when it comes to holding people captive,” she added bitterly.
He nodded, but wasn’t ready to give up just yet. A quick examination of the rest of the room showed it was completely bare, but tucked up high on the ceiling in one corner was a state-of-the-art security camera. They were being watched. What would happen if he moved around? Would he call attention to them? He was about to find out.
Grunting and shuffling, he inched his way up, leaning his shoulder against the wall, and pushing with his feet until he was standing, balanced precariously. Taking small, precise hops, he worked his way toward the window. He needed to see what was outside. At the least, it might give away their location, and at best, it might offer a way of escape.
He was just tall enough that the bottom of the window was at eye level. It looked as if they were in some sort of basement. The window hovered barely above the ground, and outside, he could see earth and a few patches of dead grass stretching away to peeling fence in the background. A suburban backyard, by the looks of it. A neglected backyard; nothing was growing, only a dead shrub in the back corner, a couple of overturned plastic chairs, and a small shed huddling by the bush. Which gave him no clue as to where they actually were.
“Looks like we’re in a residential house,” he whispered to Indy. “But I’m not sure—”
The door flew open, and Garrett strode in. “What do you think you’re up to, bro?”
“Garrett, you bastard. Let us go,” he snarled, turning to face his brother and nearly falling flat on his face when his tethered ankles locked together.
“Nice to see you, too.” Garrett gave a wink and settled himself on the floor next to Indy as if he didn’t have a care in the world. She glared at him and shuffled away, her lip curling in dislike. Ignoring her blatant animosity, he grinned broadly and said, “And how about you, babe? How are you fairing?”
Indy fixed him with a look that would curdle milk and refused to answer.
“I have to admit, I’m a little jealous of your girlfriend,” Garrett continued, resting his head against the wall and looking up at Finn through half-closed eyes. “She’s a feisty one. Got some guts. Pity she’s so gullible when it comes to you. She followed me through the bush like a half-starved lamb. It was so easy to fool her, it surprised even me.”
“Why, you little fucking—”
“Ah, ah, ah.” Garrett held up a hand and wagged a finger in his direction. “Losing your temper won’t get you anywhere. Apart from perhaps a bullet to the stomach.” He reached behind him and pulled out a gun from his waistband, resting it in his lap, the threat clear to both of them. Indy gasped and looked to Finn, her beautiful brown eyes wide with fear. Finn reined in his anger, keeping it under tighter control. She was already scared enough, him losing his shit would just scare her even more.
“Why don’t you come sit down, and we’ll have a chat?” Garrett patted the concrete next to him.
So, Garrett wanted to play a game, did he? Right. Finn had always been able to beat him at checkers, Monopoly, Scrabble,just about any board game you cared to mention. Maybe Garrett had forgotten how good he was at games. If only Finn could figure out the rules, then he might be in with a shot.
He hobbled over to the corner and tried to sit down, but it was almost impossible with his hands and feet tied, and he ended up in a heap on the floor. Wriggling around, he finally got his legs out straight and sat up, inserting himself between his brother and Indy, making it clear his brother was to get no closer. Ignoring the fact that he was practically naked, trying not to feel intimidated by his lack of clothing, he fixed Garrett with his stare.
Indy’s gaze flickered between the two of them, as if weighing them up. Finn was used to the scrutiny, most people stared when they first met a set of identical twins. It was human nature, as they attempted to work out who was who. Finn wondered what Indy saw. Did she see the similarities? Or did she see the differences? He hoped it was the latter. He hoped she understood just how divergent the two of them were.
“Right, let’s get on with business then, shall we?” Garrett leaned forward.
Finn wanted to smack that smug grin on his brother’s face, and he was just about to snap out some sort of derogatory comment when he saw Garrett’s gaze slide to the camera and then angle his body a little more to the side; the move so quick Finn nearly missed it. Someone else was watching what was going on in this room. And if Finn wasn’t mistaken, Garrett didn’t want whoever that was to see what he was doing. Could the other person hear what was being said? Finn couldn’t be sure, but he thought probably not.
“What the hell do you want from us?” Finn demanded. “And take these bloody restraints off.”
Garrett pursed his lips, not looking for a second like he was about to do as Finn had asked.
“It took me a long time to realize, but you always loved to be in charge, didn’t you, bro? Always had to be the one in control. Well, not anymore.” Garrett speared him with a steely, blue gaze, and it hit Finn. His brother had been jealous of him all along. When he had no need to be. They were equals, or had been, at one stage. If only Finn had become aware of this seething envy earlier, perhaps he could’ve done something about it. Was it somehow Finn’s fault that Garrett ended up the way he had? Could he have done something to change this outcome? Helped Garrett in some way get through their father’s death a little easier. But Finn had been hurting just as badly, and Garrett had shut himself off so completely, it was almost impossible to penetrate that shield; even for those who cared about him. Staring into those dead eyes, he sensed his brother was too far gone. Even if he might’ve made a difference back then, there was nothing he could do for him now.
“What’s going on here?” Indy broke in. “Is this some kind of sick, sibling rivalry? Because if it is, you can both go to—”
“Far from it,babe,” Garrett cut her off, nearly shouting the last word. “There ain’t no sibling rivalry here. This is me telling you what to do. End of story. Now shut up. I’m going to do all the talking, and you’re going to listen.” He picked up the gun and waved it threateningly. She blanched at the brutality in his tone, and the barrel of the weapon now pointed at her.
“It’s okay, Garrett. Indy didn’t mean it,” Finn cut in. He sent her a quelling look; it was one thing for him to provoke Garrett—it was his prerogative—but he didn’t want her doing it, as well. He shuffled a few inches closer in a vain attempt to protect her.
Garrett watched his little show of gallantry with narrowed eyes. Instead of commenting further, he went on as if this was all a simple business deal. “I’m not going to tell you where you are, so don’t bother asking,” he said. “As you can see, it’s getting toward sunset. You’ve been missing for nearly twenty-four hours, and needless to say, your friends are getting worried about you. But we needed to give them time to confirm that you two are missing. That way, they’ll take us seriously when we call them.”
“Call them?” Indy butted in again. “What? Are you going to let us go?”
Garrett continued, as if she hadn't spoken. “You’re…going to make a phone call, and then…” Why was Garrett hesitating?
“A phone call to whom?” Finn asked with an icy tone.
