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“Sergei,” I reply and start to put the phone away, but then I notice there’s a video attached. “What the hell is this?” I hit play and wait a few seconds as if buffers.
The screen fills with the image of a woman’s bare legs her ankles are shackled to a bed, her long toned legs are the color of smooth caramel…just like Madison. The camera pans up her body as she squirms, it hovers around her crotch, she’s wearing the red silk panties she dressed in this morning.
My heart is pounding through my chest and there’s a loud ringing in my ears and my vision filters through a red haze.
“Bash, what’s…what the hell are you looking at?”
The camera slowly crawls up her flat taut belly, her breathing is erratic. Her breasts rise and fall rapidly under the matching red bra. Her arms are stretched out to either side of her, her wrists are cuffed to the bedposts.
“No, no, no,” I groan. It finally reaches her terrified face. She’s gagged and her eyes are wide with fear and pleading. The camera pans to the left where two men stand by grinning lasciviously at her. The cameraman finally turns it on himself. Sergei’s large face fills the screen.
My hands shake uncontrollably like I’m a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
“Give me back the $5 million and maybe you can have your hot little, half-breed whore back.” They all laugh. “Be here with my money by 7 p.m. sharp, or the fuck fest begins,” he says making a choo-choo train sound as he pumps his arm. One of the fat bastards climbs onto the bed and simulates mouth-fucking Madison as the others howl with laughter.
I shoot up from my chair and dash out of the restaurant. It’s only when I reach the damn car I remember that Stieg has the goddamn keys. I look back to see Stieg burst through the doors searching for me.
“Bash, what the fuck is wrong with you?” he says frantically. “You gone nuts?”
“Give me the fucking keys!” I yell at him. I dial Yuri as we peel out of the parking lot. He answers on the second ring. “Get the money and meet me at my place in fifteen minutes. Bring Vinny. Damn it, you heard me. Pick up Vinny.” I check the time it’s 6:20pm. A hard knot forms in my gut. They must have grabbed her in the parking deck and taken her to a backroom at Stieg’s club.
If they’ve started in on her…I pound the dashboard of Stieg’s Mercedes.
“For God’s sake, Bash, tell me what the fuck is going on?”
“He has her,” I exclaim. “The miserable fat fuck has Mads—” my voice breaks.
“Mad…Madison, your doctor friend?”
“Wants the money for her,” I manage to say as we fly like a bat out of hell down the road.
“Jesus, ok, ok,” Stieg says. “What exactly are his terms?”
“I have to be there by 7pm with the cash or they’ll…” I yell my frustration. “I’m going to kill every last one of them!”
“Will you calm down, Bash. You’re doing over 100, you can’t save her if we can’t get there in one piece.”
“I shouldn’t have waited for Yuri’s wedding, I should have killed the motherfucker the moment you told me he killed my father.”
“Where’s he holding her?”
“It looks like Last Call.”
“The son of a bitch took her to my place?” he checks his watch. “Ok, we’ll be there in fifteen minutes. More like ten the way you’re driving. We’ll give him the money and get the girl, but you’ve got to keep your head.”
“I know, I’m just...I should’ve had someone watching her, keeping her safe.”
He stares at me. “Wait, what’s she to you exactly?”
I grit my teeth.
“Jesus, Bash. You love this girl?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Holy fuck,” he says. “And Sergei knows. Jesus Christ.”
Now Stieg understands. Even if I give Sergei the money, he’s going to damage her in every possible way, maybe even kill her when he’s done. My vision turns to red again and my heart’s beating out of my chest.
