All she could do was say a prayer.

And when she tried to, she couldn't because she was too jumpy to. Blindfolded, gaged and cuffed hands and feet, all she could think of was how soon she was going to die. Every single sound and movement made her start. Her heart would jump and skip several beats, making her blood pump furiously, then they would slowly decrease to it's normal seventy-two beats per minutes.

She was presently blindfolded and had been that way since the blindfold was placed over her face shortly after Marcel had been ready to take her away. She hadn't bothered to plead with him or to promise that God will send fire and brimstone on him for torturing an innocent person, not because she hadn't wanted to, but because she'd been gagged.

The drive had stretched her nerves to breaking points. Her emotions were heightened and she'd been too keyed to relax. She hadn't even been blessed with the temporary comfort of sleeping. She'd stayed wide awake through out the journey and had counted the seconds it took for them to drive and arrive. Since she had nothing else to do, she thought it would come in handy. It'd been somewhere around seven thousand seconds. She'd taken note of the times the car had stopped moving too. Whenever the car stopped, she stopped counting and resumed whenever it did.

When they stopped finally, she knew because of the slapping of car doors and she being led on foot. Since she couldn't see anything, she focused her olfactory lobes to heighten her sense of smell. It smelt of wood and mud and grass.

A door creaked open, sounding like it was barely hanging onto it's hinges and she was shoved in, pushed to a chair and tied to it. The ropes bit painfully into her skin, bruising her. There was no use fighting and so there she sat, hopeless and distraught. She didn't even know if she could hope for a miracle like the last time.

Her ears perked when she heard voices talking in hushed tones but she made out nothing. Tried as much as she could, she couldn't make out a word. Unexpectedly, the gag and the blindfold was yanked off and she squinted against the sudden brightness of light.

"Give her water." The voice commanded.

A bottle was pushed into her mouth and despite the fact that she wanted to refuse, she was thirsty so she greedily gulped the water. The bottle was raised above her mouth and she angled her head so the water would enter her mouth. The person raised the bottle higher, pouring it carelessly over her nose. It created a painful sensation in her chest. She spluttered and coughed.

She heard his laughter and watched the stocky, heavily bearded man bend to her level.

"Hi."

Pamela was relieved that she didn't know the person. She honestly couldn't take a heartbreak.

"I'm Drew. Drew Scott. I'll cut to the chase. I have a few questions for you and it will be in your best interest to answer with complete honesty. That way, you'll live."

Pamela doubted it but she nodded slowly.

"Are you aware of the trust fund your dad stashed away for you?"

She nodded.

"Where are the codes to unlock it?"

"I don't –" She started but her voice was hoarse. She cleared it. "I don't know."

He gave her a malicious stare for several seconds. "Remember what I told you. You have to be honest."

"I am."

"No you're not."

Her throat tightened. "I swear I am."

He stood and paced. "I really like you, you know. That's why I don't want to use torturing methods." He swiveled to face her. "You see, you're fragile. As fragile as a flower. But when a flower is plucked from its roots, it shrinks. You don't want to shrink do you?"

Pamela tried to bat away the tears filing her eyes. Her dad had dumped her into a mess.

"I swear to you –" She swallowed to keep her voice from trembling. "I don't know anything about it. Nor do I want anything to do with it."

He reached behind a table and lifted a plyer then turned to look at her, a venomous smile on his lips. "I will pluck your fingers out, slowly, painfully, one by one. And trust me I'll take my time."

Pamela forced herself not to recoil or burst out in tears. She was hanging on by a thread. But she kept her composure and gave him a cool look. "That would be a total waste of time because I know nothing."

He nodded grimly. "Seems she knows nothing about it."

He had been talking to someone else in the room.

"Bullshit." The person came into view. He was an older man. Short, soft at the middle, greying hair and a thinning hair line, but the malicious stare in his eyes showed animosity that even time couldn't abate.

"King had said that she was the key to unlocking it. She has to know something."

Drew Scott shrugged. "She looks sincere enough. I say we stop wasting our time with her and look elsewhere before the trail goes colder."

"The trail has had years to grow cold." the greying man snarled. "It can't grow any colder."

"I say we explore other alternatives, Garrett."

"There is none!" Garnett said maliciously, then his eyes narrowed to slits. "Or maybe you're being intentionally evasive. Tell me, how much did King pay you?"

Drew took several threatening steps forward. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"Yes. Of accepting bribes."

Pamela watched Drew Scott take deep breaths and knew it was about to get dirty. But it was none of her business. All she needed to think of was how to escape.

"Say that one more time and I'll –"

"You'll what?"

"Please, sirs."

Marcel. Even with her eyes on the floor, Pamela would recognize his voice, anytime. She hated the voice. Hated him with passion.

"This is what Rob wanted. To pitch us against each other."

At the mention of her dad on Marcel's lip, Pamela gritted her teeth in anger. How dare he? She wished she could rush at him and stab him repeatedly with a knife.

As if sensing Pamela's hostile stare, he looked straight at her. "She might not really know the codes, doesn't mean she doesn't have it."

The two men looked at him in askance. She was also surprised.

"Pamela's the key. It could be her name's the code."

"We tried that already." Drew supplied.

"That's not the point." Said Garret. "She might have the code unknowingly."

"Then how the hell is she going to access it if she doesn't know how to?"

"It could be that an event would trigger it. Or maybe her name, rearranged in different ways."

Drew scoffed. "Back to her name again?"

"I actually agree," Marcel said thoughtfully. "In how many was can the word "Pamela" be rearranged?"

"If you're asking me to solve Permutation and Combination, you have the wrong guy."

"We'll figure it out, Garret." He gave Pamela another quick glace then turned to the men. "If we're splitting hairs, how do you think Rob would have encrypted the codes?"

"How about where?"

Pamela didn't know how invested in the conversation she was until Drew Scott said the words.

"Where?"

He nodded at Marcel. "King could have hidden clues in a place that only his daughter knows."

"So you agree she does know something?"

"Don't rub it in our faces that you were right for once in your piteous life, Garret."

Garret gave him a hard look. Marcel quickly interfered. "Well it might not be a place that only she knows. It could be a place that's her favorite. Or one that holds happy memories for her."

The three men looked at her in unison. The weight of their stares felt like lead. The urgency and desperation in them was almost palpable. It made her skin crawl.

"If you want me to start talking about the hundreds of amusement parks and trips we've taken, be my guest. Or wait, it could be Disney land. I made the best memories with my dad there."

Marcel waked up to her with controlling calmness. He bent down before her and gave her a reptilian smile. "What are you trying to do? You think if you stall help will come for you? You think it's that easy? You think your husband's going to look for you at a place marked with a big x? That's one time too many. This time, there is no hope for you." He stood and slid his hands into his pockets, his smile gone, his face as hard as a rock. "Now you better start talking while I ask nicely or I will make you suffer."

~

"Let's make a deal."

Devlin was grimy and annoyed as hell. The sun was already up and they hadn't gotten to where his wife was held captive. He was starting to think the crazy bitch was playing him. Now, as she spoke, he spared her a dark scowl.

"No deal. Keep driving."

"No. Listen. Please."

He turned and pressed his gun against her gut. "Say one more word and the next thing you'll be cleaning up is your intestine."

To his chagrin she smiled. It made him sick. To be honest, he was frightened of her. Not because she could overpower him, but because of how nonchalant she seemed in the face of danger. It was crazy.

"You can't shoot me."

"Don't be so sure."

"How will you get to your wife?" She swiveled all of a sudden to a road side and screeched to a halt. She shifted gears into Park. "We could continue going in circles like we have been or –"

"Son of a bitch!" Devlin exploded.

"Or we could make a deal." She concluded calmly.

He took several deep breaths to calm him. "Go ahead."

"If you get your wife out –"

"When I get my wife out. And I will."

"When you get your wife out, I go scot free. The cops cannot arrest me."

"That's entirely up to them."

"Not if I was never at the scene."

He looked through the windshield. "Deal, now drive."

Instead of starting he ignition, she pushed the door open and said cheerfully. "We're here!"

He looked around. "What?" There was no way. It was either they went forward or backwards. No left or right. "What are you talking about?" Was she under one of her spells?

He hadn't complained when they had left the interstate and had been bumping on a dirt track that, with each mile, was becoming progressively filled with marsh. Right now, they were on a dead end with a seemingly impenetrable think forest on each side. How could this be their destination? He wished he hadn't followed her as she could be leading him into a trap, but she was his only lead. It was either this or nothing.

He followed her to the trunk of the car and watched her bring out two pairs of rain boots. She handed one to him. "You're gonna need this."

He eyed it warily. "I'll pass."

"Trust me."

"That's very funny." He didn't trust her. At all. That went without saying. But she was his only way out, especially now that he didn't take any of his boys along. He couldn't endanger them. Not even Cody. The last time he'd gone on a similar rescue mission, many had died and he remembered mourning each of them like he would a brother. He couldn't do that to anyone of them. It was risky but he would survive.

She sighed. "Look, I know you have your doubts about me."

"No shit."

She cocked her head to one side. "That stuffed mutt?"

"What about it?"

"It has a device that makes it bark to signify an unwanted presence."

He had assumed that. Deaton was one smart bastard. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't know, so maybe you can trust me, even for a little bit?"

"Fat chance."

Her nostrils flared angrily. "Look, I love my freedom more than anything else. I don't want to be stuck in an institution where I'll be fed drugs like some crack head. I have a feeling you will give me that, so I'll take you to your wife. You have my word on that."

He nodded. He would trade anything to be taken to Pamela. He hoped it was not too late.

"But you'll need these." She pointed at the boots.

"No thank you."

She shrugged and brought out two cutlasses and handed one to him. He took it warily.

"There are some grasses that'll be in our way. We'll have to cut them."

He balanced it in his hands and followed her as she entered the midst of the forest. Five minutes into their cruise, he was beginning to regret not taking the boots. Another five minutes, he was full blown regretting. Stubborn twines and shrubs were biting into his skin. The grass that carpeted the floor were actually ferns. They grew on a salt marsh and the water reached up to his ankles.

He struggled though areas of thick cord grass and thicket of palmetto palms, with their leaves that were shaped like knife blades and which were just as sharp. The insects were macho and merciless. They attacked his ears with an angry buzz that said they were mad he had disturbed their nap. And his leather boots were making it worse for him to move. They were slippery. How would he run for his life should they encounter reptiles?

Fortunately, the ground started to become firmer and less brackish. They began to move along a narrow path of dense thick forest with tree branches that formed a tangled canopy overhead, keeping the forest floor shady. An excellent camouflage for a person holding another hostage.

When they came upon the small shack, Devlin had almost missed it. It was when Delaney motioned for him to stop that he realized it. With the way it was built low in a small clearing surrounded by twisted vines and ferns and canopies of trees, tall grass and wild shrubbery, it was almost invisible to an outsider. Or someone without keenness. It was good for cover.

She told him to be quiet and walked confidently towards the shack, while Devlin crouched behind a thicket of palmetto. But she stopped dead in her tracks when the door creaked open and two men walked out, then Marcel, holding Pamela.

His heart wrenched. His poor girl. She looked starved and malnourished. It took all he had in him to stay still. In due time they will get what was coming to them. The four stopped in shock when they saw Delaney.

"What are you doing here?" Marcel asked angrily.

"Who is she?" The shorter of the men asked. He raised his gun slowly at her. Delaney raised her hands.

"I'm unharmed."

"She's an ally. Please drop your weapons." Deaton said to the man and he obeyed, then he directed a furious gaze at Delaney. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Devlin was glad that Pamela was blindfolded. He didn't want to see her heartbroken. She had more than enough to deal with.

"I'm in trouble."

Devlin's heart stopped for one, soul wrenching second.

"What do you mean?"

"I was forced to bring him here."

"Shit." Devlin cursed bitterly and corked his guns. One in each hand, he walked out of his hiding place and pointed at Marcel and the men. In unison, they bought out their guns and pointed at Devlin. Marcel wasn't able to hold a gun, he was hands full with Pamela, so it was equal.

To his chagrin, Delaney brought out her gun and pointed at Devlin. He was outnumbered. His heart dropped.

"You are outnumbered. Drop you weapons fast." Deaton said cockily.

"Yes," Said Delaney. "Drop your weapon," Then she swiveled and pointed at Marcel while Devlin quickly shifted his aim to the two men. "Sorry, Mr. Deaton."

He didn't understand what just happened but damn him if he wasn't going to jump on the opportunity.

"What are you doing?"

"I know that I'm a liability to you, Marcel. The moment you're done with me, you'll kill me."

"That's not true. Remember what they did to your parents."

"Don't listen to him." Devlin said, his angry gaze on the two strange men. "Deaton doesn't give a hoot about your parents. He'll just as soon as kill you the moment he's done. But I can compensate you well for the pain you went through."

"Money won't bring back your parents, Del. But I can help you with your revenge." He lowered his voice down a notch. "And I have loads of lose buttons I want you help me tack on, and clothes I want you to help me fold. You're so orderly and I love you for that. Your parents should be here, witnessing how orderly you are."

Delaney shifted uncomfortably on her feet and her hand that was once sharply aimed started to shake. It was as if she was waging war inside of her. Tears seeped down her eyes and slowly, she switched her aim and pointed the gun at Devlin.

Devlin cursed. He should have known that Deaton would know Delaney's little secret and use it against him. He searched frantically for what to say. He needed to think, fast.

"Money can make your living better, Del. Money can make you happy. With that, your parents will be proud of you from up there."

"My parents left me because of her!" Delaney yelled, spilling spittle and tears. Her lips wobbled and her nose started to run.

"Shoot him girl! Let's get this over with!"

Devlin glared at the heavily bearded man that shouted those instructions and turned to look at Delaney. "I am very sorry for what Rob put you through. Please forgive us and let go. This is not the right way to get revenge. Is this what your mom and dad would want you to do? No. They would want you to chose the right path. The good part, because there is good in you."

"Don't listen to him! He's manipulating you. I have been the only real person in your life. I have loved and taken care of you and have groomed you in the path of revenge. Trust me and kill him now."

"Please, don't do this. I'll give you everything you want. Name your price."

"Don't tell me what to do!" She shouted. "At least I was able to keep myself happy by seeking revenge. Monetarily compensation can never be enough! Nothing can be enough to bring my parents back!"

"Shoot him!"

"Please!"

"Shoot him now!"

"No, don't!"

"Shut up!!!" She screamed on the top of her lungs and fired twice.

~

I hate cliff hangers! I'm shivering! Who do you think she shot?

Thank you so, so, so much for reading. Don't forget to vote, comment your thoughts, add to you library and reading lists and share. Thank you. Have a great day/night.

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