Next to You, Then Gone

Chapter 12: Cornered

Elara’s fingers tightened around the USB drives in her pocket as Victor Kane’s voice echoed through the abandoned train station. The headlights blinded her, casting long, menacing shadows across the cracked concrete floor. She crouched lower behind the rusted shipping container, heart thundering in her ears.

“Come out, Elara,” Victor called again, his tone almost playful. “We both know how this ends. You’re brave, I’ll give you that. But bravery without power is just suicide.”

She counted six men with him, all armed. No sign of Reyes or Marcus. No help coming. The old motorcycle was hidden, but she wouldn’t get far on it now. Her only advantage was that they didn’t know exactly where she was hiding yet.

A flashback hit her hard, uninvited.

---

"One year ago."

Damien had taken her dancing at an exclusive rooftop club. The music was loud, the lights dazzling, but all she could see was him. He moved with her like they were the only two people in the world, his hands on her waist, pulling her flush against his body.

“You’re mine, Elara Voss,” he had growled into her ear, voice low and possessive. “And I’m yours. Completely.”

Later that night, back in the penthouse, he had made love to her with an intensity that left her breathless. Slow, deep thrusts. His mouth on her neck, whispering promises between every moan.

“I’d kill for you,” he said against her skin as she came apart in his arms. “I’d die for you. Never forget that.”

---

Tears stung her eyes. She couldn’t die here. Not without fighting for him.

Victor’s men started spreading out, searching the station methodically. Flashlights swept across the ground. She had maybe two minutes before they reached her.

Elara slipped one USB drive into her bra and kept the other in her hand. If they caught her, she’d destroy it. She moved quietly along the container, staying in the shadows, heading toward the old railway tracks that disappeared into the darkness.

A twig snapped under her foot.

“There!” someone shouted.

Gunfire erupted. Bullets ricocheted off metal near her head. Elara ran.

She sprinted across the open tracks, legs pumping, breath coming in ragged gasps. A bullet grazed her left arm, burning like fire. She cried out but didn’t stop.

“Alive!” Victor roared. “I want her alive!”

Elara jumped down an embankment and kept running along the old tracks. Her arm bled freely, soaking her sleeve. Pain made her vision blur, but adrenaline kept her moving.

She reached an old abandoned train car and slipped inside, pressing herself against the wall. Footsteps approached. Multiple sets.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Victor’s voice was closer now. “Damien is waiting for you. He’s been asking for you every single day. Begging us to bring you to him. Don’t you want to see your man?”

Elara bit her lip to stay silent. She could hear them circling the train car.

Her phone vibrated silently in her pocket. She risked a glance.

"Unknown Number": I’m nearby. Create a distraction and run north. — R

Reyes.

She didn’t know if she could trust him, but she had no other choice.

Elara looked around the train car desperately. She found an old metal rod and an empty glass bottle. She threw the bottle out the far window. It shattered loudly on the tracks.

The footsteps rushed toward the sound.

She bolted out the opposite side, running north as fast as her legs would carry her. Blood loss made her dizzy, but she pushed through.

A black figure appeared ahead of her; Reyes, limping but holding a gun.

“This way!” he whispered urgently.

He led her through a gap in the fence and into a waiting car hidden behind overgrown bushes. They sped off just as Victor’s men realized they’d been tricked.

Elara slumped in the passenger seat, clutching her bleeding arm.

“Why are you helping me?” she asked weakly.

Reyes kept his eyes on the road. “Because the Syndicate destroyed my family too. And Damien… he gave me a chance at revenge. Plus,” he glanced at her, “you remind me of someone I lost.”

He drove for twenty minutes, constantly checking the mirrors, before pulling into an underground parking lot beneath an old apartment complex.

Inside a small, dimly lit safe room, Reyes patched up her arm with surprising skill. “It’s just a graze. You’ll live.”

Elara winced as he cleaned the wound. “Victor said Damien has been asking for me. Is that true?”

Reyes nodded grimly. “They’re breaking him, Elara. Physically and mentally. They want him to give up every legitimate business contact he has. And they want you as leverage. Victor has plans for you… bad ones.”

She swallowed hard. “Dr. Thorne gave me another drive. Between both of them, there must be something we can use.”

Reyes looked impressed. “You’re full of surprises. Let me see.”

She handed him the second drive. While he plugged it into a laptop, Elara’s mind wandered again.

She remembered the way Damien used to hold her when she had nightmares about her family. How he’d stroke her hair and whisper, “I’ve got you. Always.” The safety she felt in his arms. The way he made her laugh even on her worst days.

She couldn’t lose him.

“s**t,” Reyes muttered. “This drive has coordinates. An exact location of the estate where they’re holding him. But it’s heavily guarded. We’d need a small army to get in.”

Elara stood up, ignoring the pain in her arm. “Then we find an army. Or we get smart. I’m not waiting anymore.”

Reyes studied her for a long moment. “You’re really willing to risk everything?”

“For him? Yes.”

A slow smile crossed Reyes’ face. “Good. Because there’s someone who might help us. Someone even the Syndicate fears. But it’ll cost you.”

Before Elara could ask who, loud banging started on the door of the safe room.

“Open up!” Marcus’s voice shouted from outside. “I know you’re in there, Elara! Reyes, you b*st*rd; she’s safer with me!”

Reyes cursed and grabbed his gun. “He must have tracked the car.”

The banging grew louder. The door started to buckle.

Elara’s pulse spiked. “What do we do?”

Reyes looked at her seriously. “We fight our way out. Or… you go with him and see if he’s telling the truth. Your call.”

The door cracked. Marcus’s voice came through again, more urgent.

“Elara, please! Victor is coming with reinforcements. You have ten minutes at most!”

Gunshots suddenly rang out from the hallway. Someone was shooting at the door.

Elara pressed her back against the wall, torn between two men who both claimed to want to save her, and both might be lying.

Her wounded arm throbbed. Her heart ached for Damien.

And outside, the sound of more cars arriving filled the night.