Without Mercy Page 2

  Every part of her ached and she wanted to scream, but even if she could, that would only earn her a knock on the head and she feared he was right about his power and how it could get away from him.

  She knew they were heading east out of Vancouver. It was first thing Saturday morning, the traffic would pick up soon, but they’d be well on their way to wherever they were going. No one would know she was gone. Her purse was with her, her car in a public parking lot. The earliest her absence would be noted was 30 hours from now, when she didn’t show up for dinner at her parents. Unless her car was ticketed or towed, but she doubted that would happen. It was a new Audi, not some piece of crap car that would draw attention if left parked too long. Even if the cops ran her plates, once they knew who it belonged to, they would drop it like a hot potato. No one was going to mess with the Chief’s daughter.

  She glanced at her kidnapper in terror. He was organized, clearly had a plan. Rope in the car, a gag. He knew where she’d be, he knew how to take her without attracting attention to himself. He was a ghost. She shuddered at the thought. And now so was she.

  Think Mari. He was organized. This was planned. Her dad was Chief. There had to be a connection. Why else would anyone want her? Unless of course he was a serial killer and she was his type, but she rejected that option, mostly because it was too terrifying to comprehend. It was far easier to hang onto the idea that there was a motive behind her kidnapping and that she might actually come out alive on the other end.

  She looked at him again. Studied him. She wanted to commit him to memory so that when the time came, she would have no hesitation in identifying him. He was a big, muscular man. He had no problem tossing her around like she was a 130-lb hay bale. Grey-blue eyes, brown, longish hair swept back from his face. Tattoos peeking out of his shirt sleeves and collar. Over 30 years, maybe 35 – she couldn’t tell. Not that old, not that young. Bearded. Looked like it hadn’t been groomed recently. It seemed incongruent with his dress. Faded blue jeans, a long-sleeved grey T-shirt, leather boots. All clean and reasonably new. Like the interior of his vehicle.

  She tried to think rationally, tried to understand what was happening to her. Look at the facts, Mari. Think like a cop. Facts, what were the facts? He grabbed her in an isolated parking lot. How did he know where she’d be? He’d been watching her. He knew her patterns. Her brain froze at the implication. Dread set in.

  How long had he been watching her? At least a few weeks if he knew her pattern. Knew to grab her from the grocery store. Okay. Why hadn’t she noticed him before? She glanced at him again, his size, his tats, his menacing features. His accent – he had an accent. He would be noticeable wherever he went. He was opposite of her. She could walk into a room, a restaurant, a crowd and no one ever noticed her. No one ever paused to look at her, consider her. A sob tried to escape her throat. And now, no one ever would. How could she survive this? Whatever this was?

  Back up Mari. Stop thinking about the future, about yourself. Figure this out. Okay. He grabbed her from the parking lot. No one saw. No one was there to see. It’s why she shopped so early. There were no crowds, no line-ups, no weirdos. Her mind spun out of control, fixating on 30 hours from now, when she didn’t show up for dinner at her parents.

  It didn’t matter that her dad was the Chief Constable. It would be too late by then. It wouldn’t take long for them to get an alert out once they realized she was missing. But 30 hours! She could be anywhere by then, including the bottom of a lake. The trail would be cold. She envisioned a picture of herself on a TV screen, wondered briefly what shitty picture they’d use. Imagined her mother sobbing and her dad looking grim as he talked to reporters, asking to please bring his baby back to him.

  That helped spark her anger just a little, took her away from her fear. Of all their children, Mari was the least interesting to them. She’d bucked tradition by not following in her father’s footsteps and went to university earning a “useless” fine arts degree. Couldn’t find a job until her dad used one of his connections to get her into the ministry of environment as an admin assistant. Her mother was appalled that one of her children would have such a job. But her parents didn’t believe in her talent as an artist. They were far too practical for that. It was all she would amount to, somebody’s secretary. Good thing they had three other children to be proud of. Her brothers, both cops, her little sister, Amber, wild and crazy, the apple of her mother’s eye.

  Mari swallowed down the bitterness. It didn’t serve a purpose. The Doherty’s, such a dynamic family, except shy, dreamy Marisol. It made her crazy, but she kept it inside. No point in starting a fight she couldn’t win. All she wanted was peace to live her own life, pursue her own passions. Her condo was her retreat, where she could paint in solitude, express herself through art. Always too shy to show her creations, but not so humble that she didn’t know how great she was. But now, what now? She wished she could ask her kidnapper why? She wished she could warn him that he’d grabbed the wrong daughter. That if this was about her father, he’d have far more influence with Amber. She mentally kicked herself. What a stupid thing to think. First, he would kill her if she became useless to him, and second, he would replace her with Amber. As annoying as her younger sister was, Mari still loved her and would never want her harmed.

  The SUV slowed and her kidnapper made a right turn into what she thought was a driveway. The sound of a garage door opening and then he rolled the vehicle forward, braking to a full-stop once inside. As the garage door closed, darkness descended. Her trembling started again and a small squeak escaped her throat. He heard it too as he opened the door, lighting up the SUV’s interior. He stepped out, closing his door behind him, but immediately opening the back, passenger door. He was standing at her feet.

  “Are you afraid of the dark, little rabbit?” His low rumble grated at her senses. Her eyes started watering and she damned them for doing that. She didn’t want to cry anymore, but she couldn’t make herself stop. It’s what always happened to her when she was angry, fearful, frustrated, hurt, and even sometimes happy. He ran his hands down her legs, over her ass to her back. She tried to jerk away but had no where to go. She was thoroughly restrained.

  He rested his hands on her back, on her bare waist, a large hand cradling each side like he was measuring the diameter. Cool, rough fingers dented her skin. She jerked again and whimpered. Maybe he was measuring her waist. Did he have some sort of horrible torture device that clamped around her waist to squeeze her death?

  “Don’t worry,” his disembodied voice dropped down on her like bricks. “I’m not going to hurt you. This is just a garage where we will change vehicles before we head out.”

  Mari heard his deep breaths as he shifted one of his hands off her waist, heard the scrape of something. Then the rope tying her hands and feet together dropped away and relief flooded her as her body straightened. But it was a fleeting respite as he flipped her onto her back and pulled her into a sitting position. He held her with one of his meaty hands as he stared down at her, his expression inscrutable as he examined every inch of her face. He reached towards her with his other hand and she flinched as he ran a thumb under one her eyes, wiping at her tears. Then he moved it to his mouth and gave it a lick before grinning. “Salty.”

  Good god! What’s wrong with him? He was a predator, an animal, a psychopath! How the hell could this have happened to her? Her terror escalated as she felt the blood drain from her face.

  “What’s wrong?” He narrowed his eyes and frowned. “I said I wouldn’t hurt you.” Then as an afterthought, he added, “Unless you piss me off.”

  Did he think that was going to help her feel better? She sobbed and started shaking her head, trying to scramble back from him.

  He wrapped huge hands around her biceps, circling them like a vise, stopping her as he peered into her face. “I’d like to ungag you so you can tell me what’s wrong with you, but I can’t do that here. I’m sure you would scream, which might draw attention to us. I don
’t want to shoot my neighbours. Some of them I like.” He grinned broadly, his teeth flashing as Mari froze, too afraid to move.

  “Too bad, though.” He gave her arms a squeeze. “I would like to hear you promise not to do anything stupid like scream or run away. I’m very big on promises. If you make one to me, you have no choice but to keep it.” His eyes were solemn as he talked. “Because I don’t like broken promises.”

  Mari tried to keep her body still. Tried to promise him with her eyes, with fast nodding of her head. He chuckled at her. “I’m going to let you off the hook and not accept your promises, not let you say them, because you’re not thinking straight right now.” A beeping car somewhere outside drew his attention. “We’re wasting precious time, little rabbit, and there’s nothing I’m saying that is settling you down. We need to go.”

  He pulled her out of the SUV with his large hands on her waist and she started bucking her body, flailing as best she could, but it had little effect on the giant holding her. He tucked her under one arm and circled the vehicle, opening the back door of another SUV, this one silver. As he tossed her struggling body on the bench seat, face down, he dropped onto her with his full weight, crushing the fight and the air out of her.

  Please let me black out, let me have a respite from this nightmare, she screamed silently. But no mercy today as he tugged her head back and leaned so closely into her face that she could smell his breath. Incongruent with her idea of him, it didn’t reek of evil or decay.

  “You’re becoming tedious to me, Marisol. Why are you fighting something you cannot hope to overcome? Now I have to make you uncomfortable again. I have to hogtie you.”

  Mari shook her head, trying to plead with her eyes, but it had no effect as he reached for a coil of rope on the floor and tied her hands and her feet together again, completely immobilizing her.

  Stupid Mari!

  Why did she have to fight him? She needed to quit being so reactive and wait for the right time, wait for an opportunity to escape. He patted her ass as he moved himself off her. Some shuffling, then a blanket fell on her body, over her head. “Don’t move,” he chuckled as he closed the door behind him.

  Mari held her breath in the sudden darkness, then whooshed it out through her nose as Anto got into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind him. She shook at the finality of it. The garage door rumbled its ascent and light filtered through the blanket. They were moving again. Her tears were drying but her eyes stung and her face felt raw. She wished she had a tissue to wipe her nose. She wiped it on the blanket instead.

  Silence for a long while, no radio, just the motor and traffic around her. Then he spoke, startling her. “I am Anto. You can call me that. Nothing else though, for the sake of your good health.” He chuckled. Mari cringed. “I’m taking you to this lovely lodge in the mountains where you will stay as my guest for several weeks.”

  Mari shuddered. Several weeks! Good news and bad news. She didn’t want to be with him for several weeks. She didn’t think she could stand one more hour, but at least he wasn’t taking her out of Vancouver to kill her. Doubt crept in. Why should she trust what he was saying to her? Wouldn’t he say anything to her just to pacify her? She couldn’t trust him, shouldn’t trust a word that falls out of his mouth. But that also didn’t make sense. There was no reason for him to pacify her. He had her, trussed up, gagged, helpless. He already had her. A sob formed in her throat as she thought this.

  “It has all the comforts a kidnapped woman could possibly want. A cage, some shackles should I need them, a toilet, a mattress. Meager rations.” Anto laughed. “Can you cook? I think we can negotiate an arrangement – the number of hours you roam freely in exchange for cooking, cleaning, and other womanly duties.”

  Mari closed her eyes to his words. Negotiate an arrangement? Womanly duties? Even if she lived through this, it was going to end badly. Images of him raping her flitted through her brain and bile rose up in her throat. She took another deep breath to calm herself. It wouldn’t be good for her to vomit – she’d choke to death. He said negotiate. Sex was never going to be part of the arrangement. How many weeks would she stay as his guest? What would happen after her stay was over? She wished she could speak to him – ask him. She swallowed her fear, swallowed the sob that threatened to spill from her. Instead she focused on her body, on her chafed wrists and ankles, the ache in her shoulders. The pain centred her.

  Chapter Three

  Tony West woke up to the buzzing of his phone. He untangled himself from the blonde who was snoring softly next to him and picked up his phone from the bedside table. It was just after 8am. A little too soon for the hit – the mark was supposed to go down during her run, not at the beginning. It would look like a crime of opportunity, woman stabbed to death in the early morning hours.

  The number was blocked, not an unusual occurrence in his line of work. “Yeah?” he said, his tone a deep rumble.

  The voice on the other end of the line had a hard edge of authority to it. “Marisol has been kidnapped.”

  “Who?” Tony couldn’t keep the annoyance out of his tone. Didn’t matter that his boss was calling – why the fuck was he supposed to know who Marisol was?

  “Andrew Doherty’s daughter.” Impatience fused the words.

  Tony sat up abruptly, his back against the headboard, his hand tightening on the phone. The blonde in his bed stirred at his sudden shifting but didn’t wake up. “Fuck, they were supposed to kill her, not kidnap her.”

  “They didn’t do anything. Anto Kharzin snatched her.”

  Tony was confused. “Why the fuck would he do that?”

  “Who the hell knows why that lunatic does anything? It’s going to bring the fucking police force down on everyone’s heads.”

  “Are you sure it was Kharzin?”

  “Not entirely, but he’s conveniently missing too. I think he found out about our plans and decided to insert himself.”

  Tony took a deep, sharp breath of air. “What now?”

  “Find them and kill them both. Fast. Even if they’re not together, Kharzin’s the perfect stooge. Stage it so he takes the fall for her death. Make sure nothing leads back to me.”

  “Might take a few days. If she’s with him, the asshole will have her stashed somewhere off the grid.”

  “I know. Call me when it’s done.”

  Tony ended the call and replaced the phone on the bedside table. He was going to need more resources. Anto Kharzin wouldn’t go down without a fight. He glanced over at the sleeping blonde, her back turned from him. He’d picked her up because she reminded him of Olivia. He felt the familiar ache in his heart as he thought of his wife. Sometimes he missed her, most days he didn’t, but his heart ached anyway. Maybe regret. He didn’t know for sure.

  He sighed as he gave her a shove with his knee. “Time to go princess. Get up, get dressed, and get out. I have to leave.”

  Chapter Four

  Mari was managing her fear despite the excruciating long drive. She maintained her focus on the present; brought her mind back to her discomfort each time it wandered to her horrific situation. Her throat was dry, her lips were cracked, and she had to pee. Even if she dared, she couldn’t complain to the psychopath in the driver’s seat. And he didn’t seem at all concerned with checking on her comfort. She’d managed to dislodge the blanket from her head, so she could see again. He glanced back a few times but said nothing. The sun was high in the sky now. It was long past noon and they had been travelling for hours with no break.

  For the first couple of hours, it was all highway travel. The traffic was dense and noisy. Then it quieted down when Anto turned onto a secondary road. The elevation was increasing and despite the warmth from the sun, the air was cooling. They were in the mountains. Another hour passed and then Anto turned again, onto a gravelled road for several minutes before turning right. After more time and more turns, Mari was completely disoriented. She would be lost out here alone.

  The SUV jarred Mari around
as Anto pulled off the road onto a rutted trail. Then he braked, stopping in what seemed to be a clearing from Mari’s limited view. He turned off the motor then turned to her. “I’m telling you this so you don’t freak out. I’m a little tired and I don’t want to deal with a panicked rabbit. Don’t get hysterical. Understand?”

  Mari’s heart thudded and a rush of adrenaline made her dizzy. She stared at him not knowing what she shouldn’t get hysterical about.

  “Nod, Marisol, if you understand.”

  She gave a single nod, still watching him warily.

  “Good girl. We’re stopping here to pee and gas up. I’ll give you some water and some food if you wish to eat. That means I’ll be untying you. If you behave yourself, I won’t retie you or gag you. I’ll let you sit up front, your hands tied to the ‘holy shit’ handle.” He pointed to a grab bar above the passenger door.

  His words were a salve to Mari. She nodded several times, widening her eyes to convey her sincerity. The sides of his mouth quirked as he studied her.

  “So that you’re clear, behaving yourself means no talking. None. Doing exactly as I tell you. Don’t challenge me, Marisol; don’t try to run.”

  Mari nodded. In that moment, she forgot how vulnerable she was, forgot how remote this clearing was. All she wanted was relief from her binds, from her awkward position. Please shut up and untie me. I can’t stand another minute of this!

  He got out the driver’s door, disappeared briefly and then the door by her head opened. Fresh air and the smell of pines assaulted her nostrils. Those little things that she’d previously taken for granted, they mattered to her now. It meant she was still alive. She watched as Anto unknotted his body, rolling his shoulder’s back and forth and stretching his neck. He was monstrous, and she was afraid again. She tried to quell it, tried to talk herself down from the hysteria bubbling up in her, but he loomed over her, blocking the sun, big enough to crush her. She dropped her head, hoping that maybe if she didn’t see him, it would help slow her heart.