A/N: I'm sorry I've been slacking guys. I've been having problems in my personal life and just haven't had the motivation to write like I usually do. Nonetheless, I am going to try to keep pushing forward and get this book finished by the end of the year!

::

"Hey, Rori, wake up." I felt a nudge at my shoulder and I slowly opened my eyes and turned towards the voice. It was pitch black out and I could barely make out Axel's face in the faint moonlight.

"Where are we?" I whispered.

"At a friend's." He answered and I looked out the window to see we were surrounded by a dense forest. A cabin with the front porch light on was the only sign of human life around us and I started to come out of my dreamlike state, remembering everything from the last few days. I bit my lower lip and then looked over at Axel. He got out of the car and came around to my side. He opened my door for me and I slipped out, trying to not let fear creep up inside me at our surroundings.

Axel walked up to the front door and knocked twice, paused, knocked three times, paused, and then knocked twice again. I walked up behind him while we waited for the door to open. When it did, a woman stood on the other side. She had a black crop top on and black denim shorts. Her long black hair was scattered down to her waist as her cold brown eyes scanned over Axel. She crossed her arms with an evident frown on her face.

"You know the drill." The woman said with a bored expression. Anxiety rose in me as I noticed the large knife that hung from her belt.

"Kayla Anne, don't you dare." Axel's voice lowered threateningly and suddenly the woman had a devious smirk on her lips. She pulled her knife from her belt and put it to Axel's throat.

"Oh, Axel, always so unprepared." She replied. I took a nervous step back but realized there was nothing there and I fell backwards into a heap on the ground. I looked up to see both of them staring at me, Axel with a small entertained smile and Kayla with a raised eyebrow. My cheeks grew red from embarrassment as I rushed to stand up and dust myself off.

"And who's the klutz you brought with you?" She asked Axel. He chuckled as I pouted.

"I'm not that bad!" I retorted. She looked at me again and then rolled her eyes.

"She's...apart of my job at the moment." He explained. I furrowed my eyebrows at him and crossed my arms.

"I'm his hostage." I told her and she let out a loud laugh.

"Now that makes sense." She bellowed as she choked her laugh down.

"Where's Max?" He asked as he ignored her laughter and focused his attention on her.

"I'm right here, watching you bumbling idiots." A voice came from the doorway and we all turned to it. A man with blue hair, green eyes and black clothes stared directly at me. Axel stepped in front of me, blocking his line of sight.

"We need a place to hideout for a while." Axel told him.

"What the hell did you get yourself into this time?" The man, Max, asked.

"It's a long story that would be better explained over some coffee." Axel replied. I didn't hear a reply but Axel moved to the side and pressed his hand on my lower back to go inside when I saw Max had walked into the house. As we made our way in, I noticed how bare the cabin was. As we entered the living room, I saw that it only had one large couch, a tv, and a desk in the corner. I followed Max until I stopped in the middle of the room as he made his way to the desk. He pulled open his laptop and started typing.

"Kayla, can you make some coffee? I'm still finishing up here." He said and I turned to see the woman roll her eyes and leave the room. Axel walked up behind max and bent over so he could look at the computer screen.

"Who are you hacking into this time?" He asked as I watched Max's fingers type quickly over the keyboard. I couldn't believe how fast he was; it was almost as if his fingers blurred together, they were going so fast.

"Mr. Forez just donated half a million to the Max foundation." Max smirked while Axel stood up and chuckled.

"How you get away with this shit is beyond me, Max." Axel said as he turned to me and smiled. I narrowed my eyes at him and put my hands on my hips.

"Years of practice and the genius IQ has helped him." Kayla said as she walked back into the room and handing each of us a cup. She sat down on the couch and crossed her legs as she took a sip.

"Yeah, why I keep you around, I'm still not sure about." Max mumbled quietly but loud enough that everyone heard. Suddenly, Kayla had her knife to Max's neck and her lips by his ear.

"Because you're a fucking pussy when it comes to fighting in person. I'm the only reason you can hide behind your stupid computer." She growled. Not sure what to do with myself, I focused on Axel, who seemed to be amused by the argument.

"I think your body is more of a weapon than that damn knife of yours, sweet cheeks." Max still had a smirk on his lips and kept typing, despite the knife that was dangerously close to slitting his throat open.

"Maxwell, I fucking swear one of these days-"

"You're gonna what? Kill me? Not a chance and we both know it." He smiled confidently as he pressed the enter key with some extra force and then pulled Kayla onto his lap, holding her around the waist. She frowned and furrowed her eyebrows with a fierceness that seemed to not affect Max in the slightest. He pulled one hand up to her cheek and kissed her softly, making me blush from watching their intimate and sudden moment. I looked towards Axel who burst into laughter. Kayla shoved herself off of Max and holstered her knife before pounding her way to the couch and tossing herself on it.

"Fucking asshole."

"You know you love me." Max crossed his arms and smiled.

"Yeah, whatever." She frowned as she turned the television on and flipped through channels. Axel made is way over to me and places his hand on my lower back, urging me toward the other couch. I sat down, still on edge, and sipped on my coffee. Axel sat down next to me and leaned back on the couch.

"So what is going on?" Max asked as he walked over to Kayla. She lifted her head up so he could sit down and then laid her cheek on his thigh as she watched the tv screen. I turned my attention to Axel in hopes that he would reveal a little more about my kidnapping and maybe get a hint as to who was really behind it.

"About a week ago, I got a call from a random number. The guy gave me the password so I assumed it was a hit job."

Hit job?

"But it wasn't?" Max questioned as he ran his fingertips along Kayla's back.

"No. He wanted me to kidnap a girl...this girl." He jabbed a thumb towards me and I swatted his hand away.

"Use my name, yah jerk." I said as I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him. He smirked with amusement and turned his attention back to Max.

"Sorry. This guy asked me to kidnap RORI. I told him no way. I don't do kidnapping and I definitely don't do harm to women or kids." I watched Axel's features change to one of slight guilt, or pain even.

"Right." Max mumbled as he focused his eyes on Axel.

"Well then he offered me one mil to do the job."

"One mil? You've gotta be fucking with me." Max seemed completely baffled by the amount.

"That's exactly what I said. I thought maybe this guy was a cop so I had his number checked and it came up clean and that it's been in service for a while."

"I'm sure you had the name checked, too, then. Who is this guy?" Max asked as he leaned forward, seeming more and more interested.

So he does know who took me?

Axel glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and sighed. I couldn't help but stay on edge, waiting for his next words.

This is it, he's going to say who ordered my kidnapping.

"It came up as a John Doe."

"A what?" I couldn't help but blurt out. Max and Axel both turned to look at me and I immediately blushed in embarrassment.

"It means the name was a fake." Max explained and then turned his attention back to Axel. "Then how do you know it isn't a cop?"

"Because if it were, it would have been in use for over two years. You know they only use burners."

"Burners?" I asked.

"Burner phones; they can't be traced and they don't usually have them for over a month." He explained. I nodded slowly and then looked down at my hands.

"Did he say why he wanted her kidnapped? Not for ransom, otherwise he wouldn't be paying you one mil. Did he ask you to kill her?" My breath caught in my throat.

Kill me?

"No, actually, the opposite. He wanted me to make sure nothing happened to her. Not a scratch, he said. And that he would call me when I was allowed to let her go."

"So obviously you took the job. Then what? Why are you here?" Max asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Some men showed up this morning with guns."

"Cops?"

"No. They were killers for sure but definitely not assassins. They definitely knew each other well. They were an organized group but not very experienced. I'm leaning towards maybe a gang of some sort." Axel sounded like he was thinking out loud.

"Were they after you or the girl?"

"My name is Rori." I interjected as I frowned. Max rolled his eyes and focused on Axel.

"They were definitely after Rori but I have no clue why."

"Is she someone important?"

"She's a congressman's daughter but other than that, no." Max seemed to be lost in thought as he stared off into space.

"Call me crazy but maybe it has something to do with her dad." Kayla spoke up for the first time in the conversation. She was still staring at the tv but obviously, she had been listening the whole time.

"Wow, I can feel the sarcasm from here, Kayla." Axel said as he rolled his eyes. I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Seriously, though, if you want my opinion, I'll bet you anything that the one who called you is her dad." The room went still and the sound of the tv seemed to fade into a low murmur.

My dad having me kidnapped?