Arielle Immortal Struggle (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 7) (10 page)

When he hit sent, they both exploded into another round of laughter. “That was quite funny,” Vitorio muttered, still chuckling, and he went back to reading his newspaper.

Mauritsio scanned across the parking lot, but there wasn’t a single creature in sight. They both settled back in their seats as silence stretched between them and boredom slipped right through their body and soul. It would be another few hours before Arielle would be finished with her last class.

Suddenly, Mauritsio let out a hard gasp. Vitorio looked up, and his jaw dropped. Arielle was running across the last quad by the parking lot.
Alone
. The book bag was dangling from one hand and the other was stretched out toward the blue Porsche. They heard the beeping of the lock and watched dumbfounded as she reached the car and pulled the passenger door open. They were not sure as to what she was doing, but here she was, giving them the chance of a lifetime.

The parking lot was bare, not a single soul in sight. They never expected Arielle to play right into their hands in such an easy way.

They watched her vigilantly as she opened the passenger door, climbed inside the car on her hands and knees, and searched throughout the vehicle, searching frantically for something.

Quietly, they approached and stood right behind her. When she finally found what she was looking for, she straightened up and stepped back to shut the door. She never had the chance to scream. Vitorio moved fast. He wrapped one arm around her neck and yanked her firmly against his body and, with the other, he clamped a piece of cloth soaked in chloroform over her mouth and nose.

Terror surged through her body, her lungs locked as she struggled to breathe, but there was no air supply. She kicked, pushed, and tried to scream, but it came out as a stifled shriek. With all her might, she tried to escape from her attacker, but he held her hard around the neck, and soon she surrendered to a smothering sensation and finally to unconsciousness. Her body went limp and everything in her hands dropped to the ground, scattering around them. Mauritsio used his foot and shoved everything inconspicuously underneath the car, away from curious eyes.

They carried Arielle to their car and threw her in the back seat of the black Mercedes. Taking another glance around, making sure they were not detected by anyone, they spun out of the parking lot, adrenalin working overtime. At first, they were so overwhelmed that for a long while they remained in stunned silence.

“Wow!” Vitorio finally exclaimed, unable to keep his excitement from spilling over. “That was amazing!” They both glanced at the back seat and smiled wide.

“That was a piece of cake,” Mauritsio said and snorted.

“She is a real beauty, isn’t she?” Vitorio added.

“Yes, she sure is,” Mauritsio, replied with a repulsive snort. “I hope we can have a little fun with her before this is over.”

Vitorio rolled his eyes at the comment and grinned. “I think we should call Jorrit,” he said joyfully. He picked up his mobile and pressed Jorrit’s number.

“Jorrit here,” he answered gruffly.

“Jorrit! We have the girl!” Vitorio screamed through the phone.

There was complete silence on the other end. Finally Jorrit’s voice boomed from the other end. “You do?”

“Yes, she is right here in the back seat, and we are headed to the place we’ve rented.”

“That’s great news! No—no—no, what am I saying! That’s excellent news!” he screamed, unable to hold back his exuberance. “I have to call Rainer right away,” he added. There was a short silence on the other end and suddenly Jorrit’s voice roared over the phone. “Vitorio! Make sure you don’t touch a single hair on the girl’s head. Those are the directives from the higher ups. You don’t want to create any trouble for me, because I’ll make your lives miserable. Do you hear me?”

Vitorio was rattled in disbelief, utterly speechless. They never expected something like that. They thought that they were both in for a real good time.

“Do you hear me?” Jorrit’s voice boomed from the other end, flatly.

“Yessss…yes, I hear you,” Vitorio stammered.

“Good, now that we understand each other, call me when she is locked up so we can move on to the next step,” he said, coarsely. He ended the conversation without waiting for a reply.

“Son of a bitch,” Vitorio flipped the phone shut. Eyes pinched with anger, he cursed through clenched teeth.

“What is it?” Mauritsio asked.

“He never said good job or nice going. All he said was to keep our hands off the girl. We are not to even think about touching a hair on her head. He wants us to make sure that we bring her into the house, lock her up, and then call him.”

Mauritsio made a face of disbelief. “Was he joking?”

“He didn’t sound like he was joking to me.”

“How would he even know?” Mauritsio asked, holding a stunned expression on his face.

“Do you want to put a wager on this?” he asked, glancing Mauritsio’s way. “I thought you knew Jorrit by now. He doesn’t make idle threats. You are playing with your life,” he said firmly. “Jorrit isn’t easy to fool and he doesn’t take well to having his directives ignored,” he furthered with a stiff jaw. He recalled finding himself in a similar situation once before and he didn’t like the punishment. He was told that if this were to happen again, he would be sent to the morgue. He shuddered at the thought, and gazing out the window, he muttered fearfully. “I know that I myself don’t want to take that chance.” He was quiet for a short moment and, glancing back at his partner, he said through gritted teeth, “but if you want to do that, Mauritsio, then go ahead.”

Mauritsio grimaced at the tone of Vitorio’s words. “No, I suppose I don’t,” he murmured in a low voice, turning his attention on the road. They drove in silence for a long time. Arielle was going to be out for another hour or so. Mauritsio quickly glanced at the back seat and chuckled revoltingly. “This takes all the fun out of this job. She is very beautiful!” he complained in a sour tone.

Vitorio remained silent.

“Do we need to stop and tie her up?” Mauritsio asked.

“No, there is no need. She’s not going anywhere. We’ll be at the house shortly. She’ll never know where she is or how she was taken there.”

They drove through the streets of Brighton in high speed. They stopped in front of a small house surrounded by a six-foot brick wall. Vitorio pressed a button on the car visor and opened the gate. He pulled into the garage slowly, closing the gate and the garage door behind them.

Mauritsio stepped out of the car and moved quickly to open the door, while Vitorio leaned into the car and scooped Arielle’s unconscious body into his arms. The warmth of her soft body and the scent of her perfume made him shudder. His jaw muscles locked, and his teeth clenched, while trying to block his mind from accepting the appeal of this beautiful girl in his arms. Mauritsio held the door open for him and he carried her through the door and down a long, poorly lit corridor, stopping at the top of a staircase leading to the basement.

“Turn the lights on,” he yelled nervously. He needed to move away from this girl as soon as possible.

Mauritsio closed and locked the door behind him. He then flipped the corridor light switch on. Vitorio descended the stairs in a fast pace. There were three rooms in the basement. He walked toward the one in the very back and, turning to his side, he pushed the door open with his upper body.

The room was quite large with a private bath, but poorly lit. There were a few cheap furnishings and a small window with iron bars on the outside. He laid her on the bed and stared at her for long moment. Mauritsio walked right behind him and gazed down at the girl. He let a quiet whistle through his teeth.

“She’s mouthwatering, wouldn’t you say?” he muttered and sighed noisily. Vitorio nodded, but kept his thoughts to himself. They stood there for a few more minutes, and finally, they turned around, walked out, and locked the door behind them. Climbing the stairs two at a time, they reached the front of the house, and picking up the phone, they called Jorrit.

“Okay, boss, she’s locked up in the basement.”

“Good job, you guys! Rainer is extremely pleased. We are almost done with our part of the job. All we have to do is send the final extortion envelope. I need some photos of her in that room showing her unconscious on this bed. Send them to me right away via text. Sit tight, and make sure nothing goes wrong. The boys from Belarus will be there soon to take over. Are you sure you were not followed?”

“Yes, we’re sure. There was not a single soul in that parking lot.”

“Make sure she is not harmed.”

“We will,” Vitorio said stiffly.

“There will be a little more money for both of you when you come back,” Jorrit added.

“Thanks, boss, we’ll be right here if you need us.”

“Don’t forget to pick up Vasily’s boys this afternoon from the airport and don’t forget to send me those photos.”

“Mauritsio is on his way to take the photos right now,” Vitorio said. “What do you want us to do after Vasily’s guys arrive?” he asked meekly.

“They will take it from there, and you are free to come home. You have done good, real… good,” Jorrit said joyfully. But just before he hung up, he stated again in a robust voice. “Vitorio, the photos, don’t take long,” and the call ended.

Vitorio rolled his eyes once again, and glancing at Mauritsio, he made a gesture toward the camera.

“He actually said some nice things this time around,” Vitorio added thoughtfully.

“What was all that about Mauritsio is on his way?”

“Oh, I told him you were on your way to the basement to take some photos of the girl while in unconscious state. He wants to show them to Gaulle so he understands that we are not playing any games.”

“He wants them now?”

“Yes, go and take them real quick. As soon as you come back, I’ll shoot them off to him.”

Mauritsio picked up the digital camera and walked out of the room. “I’m on my way. I’ll be right back.”

“Be sure that’s all you do, and hurry back,” Vitorio said, in a meaningful voice.

“Yeah…yeah…yeah…” Mauritsio called out glumly.

Vitorio took a beer from the fridge and, walking into the next room, he took a seat at a large armchair. He took a cigarette out and lit it, blowing thick smoke toward the ceiling. Wild thoughts were invading his mind. He closed his eyes and tried to wipe them out. It seemed that a century had gone by since the last relationship he had with a nice, decent girl. Nice girls didn’t frequent the raunchy places he patronized and didn’t fall in love with murderers like him. He wanted to find love, to feel passionate about another human being. He wanted someone to love him. He shook his head in clear frustration and, standing up, he started to pace back and forth. He wondered how many guys in his line of work had the same thoughts. He was sure that he was not the only one, but that didn’t make him feel any better.

Mauritsio was back in a very short time. Taking the card out of the camera, he sat in front of the computer and transferred the images of Arielle in captivity into his file and sent them to Jorrit.

“Well, that’s done. Now we wait, right?” he said out loud, snapping Vitorio out of his troubling thoughts.

“What?” he said startled, and turned to face Mauritsio.

 “You didn’t hear me?” he asked in shocked surprise. He had come into the room whistling joyfully and kept on whistling while transferring the photos to the computer and e-mailing them to Jorrit. How could Vitorio miss all that noise? What was bothering him? “I said that I am finished with taking the photos and I already sent them to Jorrit.”

“Oh, that’s great, thank you,” he murmured absentmindedly

“Something is bothering you,” Mauritsio insisted.

Vitorio open his mouth ready to say something but he closed it again deciding against it. “No…” he said, and his voice trailed. Walking back, he sank into the chair with a deep sigh. He picked up the beer and took a large swig letting out a long sigh. The cigarette was burned into the ashtray so he lit another one and remained quiet.

“Do you want to play cards until we have to leave for the airport?” Mauritsio asked, not knowing what was eating Vitorio.

“No, we need to check on the girl and make sure she’s all right.”

“I just came back, and she was still out. We have over two hours before we have to be at the airport,” Mauritsio said.

“All right then, go bring the cards out.”

Mauritsio smiled wide and went to do what Vitorio asked. “We’re playing for money,” he called back and laughed.

“Yeah…Yeah… I have no problem taking your money,” Vitorio replied, amused.

Chapter 7

ARIELLE OPENED HER EYES
gradually. Her brain was clouded and utterly disoriented. She felt overwhelmingly fatigued and found it very difficult to keep awake. Her eyes moved sluggishly around the poorly lit room, but nothing seemed familiar. Her mind was blurry, filled with jumbled up images. She clenched her eyes shut, thinking she was dreaming, but when she opened them again, the surroundings hadn’t changed.
What is happening to me?
Her brain cells seemed to be completely stripped of oxygen, she couldn’t remember a thing, and she couldn’t think straight.
Where am I? How did I get here?
Who brought me here? Where is here?
There seemed to be no electrical impulses traveling between her brain neurons. She had all these questions but no answers. Lifting her arms, fists clenched, she rubbed her eyes back and forth, trying to amass her faculties.