Blondie, or whomever she worked for, had used Cooper to get to me.
And I’d make them pay for it.
****
The black bag over my head was pulled away once they’d sat me down in some uncomfortable chair. I hadn’t been able to set myself free in whatever vehicle they’d thrown me into, but by the speed they’d driven and how many turns my captors had taken, I figured we’d ended up somewhere along Rancho. Empty warehouses dotted North Las Vegas; some located further back from the road. This room looked like it belonged to one of them, but I was just guessing. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust, but my lungs inhaled the fresh air as fast as possible. The bright lights, ominous feel, and lack of furniture made me feel like I’d been put in an interrogation room. Only thing missing was a pane of one-way glass.
Across from me, Cooper sat unconscious, wrists bound behind his back, each ankle strapped to an identical chair as mine. My heart went out to him despite my brain chastising me for falling in love with an unobtainable man. Nothing in the room gave me a clue as to where we’d been taken. A bare light bulb swung back and forth above me, casting shadows across Cooper’s features. The effect darkened the dried blood on his skin and shirt, and made me shiver. We’d been dragged into something bigger than either of us suspected.
Someone moved to my right and I slowly lifted my gaze toward the man with the tattoo on his neck. The snake stood out against his mocha skin, but the handlebar mustache and long, black hair didn’t really fit his sixtyish age. Strange, I didn’t remember him being so old. Mexican, tall, and well built, the man who’d pulled me into this mess leaned against the wall to my right, his brown eyes steady with mine.
“You should have left well enough alone, chica,” he said.
His tone of voice sent a chill down my spine and I had to work to control my shaking hands. They’d been tied behind my back, but I wouldn’t allow him to see just how nervous I was and clasped them together. Scenarios launched into the front of my mind as I considered how I’d get us out of this mess. Cooper was still unconscious and despite his elderly appearance, our captor had been in the special ops with him. I had to assume his interrogation and combat skills were level if not more advanced, and definitely exceeded my own. “Believe me, I wanted to.”
He sauntered toward me slowly. I cringed away when he crouched in front of me, a lighter in one hand and an unlit cigar in the other. Up close, I saw tiny scars running down the pockmarked skin of his face. I’m sure there was a story behind each one, but I didn’t want to hear them. My nightmares were filled with too many monsters as it was.
“Do you know who I am?” His breath smelled of smoke and peanuts and I turned away before I gagged. I hadn’t eaten since before Cooper came to my apartment, over twenty-four hours ago, but my stomach didn’t care. It forced bile into my throat and I swallowed it back down with a wince.
I shook my head and dug my nails into my palms to keep control of the tremors racing down my arms and legs. Exhaustion had started to take over the second they’d put the black bag over my head, but my panic kept me going. I had to fix this. I had to get Cooper out of here.
He’d rejected me, but that didn’t change the way I felt about him. I couldn’t let him suffer for something that wasn’t his fault.
“Good. We’ll keep it that way.” My captor stood then circled behind me. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Staring into his scarred face set me on edge, but not seeing him made it worse. Silence settled over the room and all I heard was Cooper’s even breathing and the pounding behind my ears. I didn’t want to turn around or even move for fear I’d provoke whoever the hell this guy was.
Nothing in the room gave me an idea if he’d remained in the room, but my anxiety urged me to act. “Cooper,” I whispered.
No response. From Cooper or my kidnapper.
I chanced a glance behind me. He’d gone. Turning my full attention back toward Cooper, I took a deep breath. I leveraged my feet against the concrete flooring, ignoring the dark brown stains decorating it, and balanced my weight on my toes. The ropes around my ankles and the cross bar of the chair made it difficult to walk, and I simply jerked forward. The chair moved a few inches in Cooper’s direction, but the resounding noise made me halt my progress. I hadn’t considered how loud my plan would be and I couldn’t give myself away.
I didn’t have time to come up with another strategy as Blondie stepped into the room. She carried a blue plastic bin with some type of liquid in it and ambled toward Cooper with it.
“What is that?” Every nerve in my body felt exposed as I watched her lift the bin over his head. In a swift movement, she dumped the contents onto his head and Cooper bolted awake.