The Meet
1075 Words
"Mommy...,” Madison whimpered.
Summer scooted her way over to Madison, snatching her daughter up in her arms and hugging her tight.
Madison clung to Summer and buried her face in her hair. “I'm so scared…”
Summer looked around at the men in the van as she stroked the back of her daughter's head.
“It's OK, Baby. Daddy will find us,” she told her loud enough for the masked men to hear her.
She had no doubts that he wouldn't stop until he did.
The man who had grabbed Summer's legs chuckled condescendingly. “Maddox will find us. I am counting on it,” he said to her, taking hold of her chin, his eyes menacing.
Summer narrowed her eyes at him and jerked her head away. “Don't touch me,” she spat. “What do you want from us?” she asked him, clinging onto her daughter, who was still crying into her neck. “Why would you kidnap a little girl?”
The man's mask twisted where his mouth would be. He was obviously grinning, but the expression didn't touch his eyes. “I can't think of any better leverage, Sweetheart. If Maddox doesn't do anything stupid and gives us what we want, we won't hurt you. Either of you,” he added, looking at Madison.
Summer stared her captor down, his menacing dark eyes, the only thing she could see. She knew deep down that Maddox would save them and it gave her an odd boost of confidence. She narrowed her eyes and scowled at him.
“You realize that this is not going to work out well for you, right? Maddox isn't just going to give you what you want, take us and leave. You kidnapped his girlfriend and daughter. He won't let you walk away from it.”
The van came to a stop and the door flew open again. The man Summer had been talking to and another one of his friends, pried Summer and Madison apart and dragged them into a cold, dank building.
The man pushed Summer into a chair while the other captor sat Madison down in one beside her. “Keep shooting your mouth off and I am going to gag you.”
A moment later they were both tied in place.
****
Maddox sat across from his captive, taking off the mask and revealing an angular-faced man, no older than 25 with blood streaking down his neck from a wound at the back of his head.
“Who do you work for?” Maddox asked as he backhanded the man across the jaw, splitting his lip.
The captive grimaced and his eyes were like daggers as he looked at Maddox. He spat blood at him and sneered.
Maddox went to strike him again, but the man stopped him with words that froze his heart.
“If you want to see those pretty girls again with their heads still attached, shut up and listen.”
Maddox glared at the man, it took all he had not to tear his head off, but he lowered his hand instead. “I'm listening.”
The captive smirked. “You got soft, Maddox, and now you're going to give my employer everything he wants or your pretty little family is going to find itself at the bottom of the canal.”
Maddox twitched, his fists clenching. The guy was baiting him. “What does your employer want?”
“Your business interests. The ones you are trying to turn into legal ventures. Did you really think everyone would sit back and let you wipe billions in assets and resources off the table?”
Maddox looked at the man, considering. He didn't have many options, his past had come back to hurt the people he loved. This was the one thing that scared him the most, the reason he had kept Summer out of his life, to protect her from harm, from being used as a pawn against him. It took less than two days for his enemies to put her in danger.
“Where's the meet?”
The man shook his head. “I am not an i***t. I tell you that and I stop breathing. Pull over. I'm driving.”
****
Summer looked at her daughter tied to a chair and frowned, tears welled up in her eyes.
“Do you have to tie her up? She's just a little girl and she's scared,” Summer pleaded with the man who had put Madison in her seat.
Madison was crying softly to herself, but she didn't dare say a word for fear the bad men would harm her.
The man ignored Summer's pleas as he finished securing the rope and gave her a depraved look, sadistic enjoyment reflecting in his eyes. Despite the fact that Summer and Madison were both secured, he continued to watch them as the other two watched the doors and windows.
It wasn't long before the sound of an engine caught their attention.
The man at the door, opened it slightly, then looked over his shoulder at the other two. “They're here. Let the boss know it's time.”
The captor by the window pulled a cell phone from his pocket and began dialing, walking to the other end of the warehouse.
Summer heard the car and got excited that Maddox could be there already, but then, as she watched the men around her respond, panic settled in her chest.
Moving to Summer, the man who had tied her up crouched to look at her. He traced a finger along her cheek and down her arm. “Almost time for the main event.”
Summer spat in his face. “I said, don't f*****g touch me.”
Wiping the spit from his cheek, the man glared at Summer, then swiftly backhanded her across the face just as Maddox came through the door following their guide.
Summer gasped as she felt the stinging pain of his hand smacking her face, causing her lip to split and bleed. Tears welled up in her eyes instantly, but she blinked them back.
“I am going to kill you…,” Maddox growled when he saw the man strike her.
He started moving toward them, but froze when the man pulled out his gun and pointed it at Summer's head.
“I wouldn't, not unless you want your daughter wearing Mommy's brains.”
- Writer
