moan for uncle 5 (3 page)

Grant!
Despite her bindings keeping her wrists secure to the arms of the solid, heavy oak chair and her ankles to the legs of the chair, she fought to free herself. She fought to go to him. He wasn't moving and she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.

Oh God, he can't be dead! Please, he can't be dead!

As if reading her mind a familiar, accented voice sounded to her left. "He's not dead... yet.''

Nikki whipped her head over to peer at the face attached to the voice and was overcome with another bout of dizziness and a slight need to vomit.

"What did you do to him?" she managed to squeak out.

"
Nothin
'... yet," he chuckled, low and sinister.
The type of noise she'd have expected to hear coming from a television show villain.

It then occurred to her that it couldn't be real, this cellar, her and Grant bound to chairs after being abducted. No, it was a dream, a horrid, frightening nightmare that she'd awaken from at any moment and cuddle up into Grant's arms and he'd tell her to go back to sleep, that she was safe. He'd assure her that he was there and he'd protect her.

She took another deep breath in, closed her eyes and waited. Sleep never came, but footsteps did. The owner of the voice was approaching her. Gathering up every ounce of courage she had in her, she opened her eyes and looked up as he leaned over her chair. His dark eyes captured hers, as he reached out and cupped her chin in his hand.

"You're a beautiful woman. Be a good girl and maybe I'll keep you."

He leaned over to touch his lips to hers, but she managed to pull her chin from his grip and dodge his kiss which landed on her cheek instead.

With a laugh, he straightened back up. "Think about it."

She whipped her head back around and glared at him, suddenly feeling brazen. "You'll have to kill me first."

He laughed a second time and plunked himself down in a chair next to - from what she could tell - the only way in or out of the windowless cellar they were in.

"Where are we?" she demanded.

"Doesn't matter, you're not going anywhere."

She opened her mouth to protest and demand he tell her, but decided against it. He was right, she wasn't going anywhere at that moment. Besides, it wasn't as though she was going to get free of the binds holding her to the chair. The chair was solid and, she soon discovered, extremely heavy; she couldn't get it to move even a fraction of an inch, despite her best efforts.

"What do you want?" She eyed him as she asked the question. Under different circumstances she may have considered him to be a handsome man. He was well dressed in dark pants, white t-shirt and black blazer, with dark mocha skin and piercing dark brown eyes. Yes, under different circumstances she would have found him attractive. Mainly because of his eyes those dark piercing eyes, both intrigued and scared her.
Because in those eyes she didn't see an ounce of empathy, only contempt.

"We want vengeance, my love. Grant has something of ours. Something we want. You're here to ensure we get what we came for before we kill him."

Nikki's heart stopped for a portion of a second as her mind processed his words.

Anxiety and panic overtook her once more and she struggled against the binds holding her; she struggled until her wrists were rubbed raw and the pain forced her to stop.
Please Grant wake up and stop this. Please!

Chapter 3

"Grant"

Pause

"Oh God, Grant please wake up. I need you to wake up."

Her voice slowly brought him from the cloud that had taken him into deep slumber. "Nikki." His voice cracked and his throat felt dry. Fuck, what he wouldn't give for a drink of water at that moment. Other than the insane thirst and aside from the restraints that he felt around his wrists and legs, he felt fine. He doubted he'd be fine for long, however.

"Oh thank God! Grant!" the pitch of her voice went up a few octaves in her excitement.

He heard the slight rustle of clothing as he raised his head and slowly opened his eyes. Sure enough, Nikki was sitting across from him, bound to a large wooden chair, as he was, and wearing her wedding dress.
"Beautiful dress.
You're going to look stunning at the wedding wearing it." He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but didn't have quite enough energy.

She stopped moving and stared at him, not sure how to reply to that.

"Well, maybe not
that
dress
. It's a little dirty now;
gonna
need a new one." he teased hoping to lighten the mood and calm her distress state.

She smiled weakly and blinked back the tears he could see forming. "Yeah, there's a brown smudge," she looked down towards the bow. "The bow..."

"Did they hurt you?"

Nikki peered back up at him and shook her head. "No, but I've been so scared, Grant. They said they were going to kill you once they got what they wanted." Her voice shook and her bottom lip began to quiver. "What
do
they want?"

Ah, shit
.

"Nothing is going to happen to you
or
to me, alright? I'll get us out of here, I promise."

She nodded once more, but he could see the apprehension in her eyes.

"Alright.
I need you to tell me everything you know. Everything they said, describe everyone you've met.
Everything
.
Can you do that?"

She shrugged "Okay, but there's not much to tell."

He waited as she collected her thoughts, taking the opportunity to examine the room they were locked in. It was barren of any furniture, with the exception of a chair by the door and the ones they were seated in. The room itself was lit by a single light bulb on the ceiling, no windows and the ceiling had yet to be finished. No opportunity to escape except for the door to the left of them on Nikki's side of the room.

He pulled at the ropes holding his wrists and legs to the chair, but as expected they wouldn't budge. The only way he was escaping was if they decided to untie him. Depending on how they planned on getting the information they wanted from him, that may or may not happen. He snapped his full attention back to Nikki when she started speaking.

"I woke up maybe a few hours ago and there was a man here.
The man that took me from the bridal shop."

"What does he look like,
Nik
?"

"He's a tall man. Thin. He has an accent. African I think."

Grant nodded.
"Alright.
Good. What else?"

"He just left. He was here from the time I woke until a short while ago."

"What did he say to you?"

"Nothing really.
Just said that you had something he wanted and I was here to make sure you gave it to him, before he killed you. That he wanted vengeance. Why?
For What?"
Her bottom lip trembled again and she once more fought to keep herself under control. "Who are they? Why are they going to kill you Grant?"

It felt as though his heart was being torn from his chest, seeing her so distraught and all he wanted at that moment was to take her into his arms, and stroke her silky dark hair and tell her it was going to be alright, it angered and frustrated him that he couldn't at least do that.

"No honey. No. We'll be fine. I'll get us out of this, I promise, and we'll get you a new dress and we'll have that dream wedding. Okay?" he struggled in vain against the rope.

She nodded and sniffed.

"So, did he say anything else? Do you know if there is anyone else here now?"

"I don't know. I'm so sorry."

"No, no honey that's alright. You did
good
."

"I love you Grant. I can't lose you." The dam broke and tears slid down her cheeks. "I can't live without you." She fought the ropes which drew his attention to her wrists which were red and chafed from her struggling to free her hands.

"It's okay. It's going to be fine, but I need you to do something for me, alright?"

Her tear-filled blue eyes lifted to meet his grey ones and she nodded.

"No matter what happens to me. No matter what they do and I won't lie to you, it could get bad, just remember to stay calm and do what they say. It's going to be okay, and you know how much I love you."

"Alright."
She nodded her understanding.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

***

Nikki was about to tell Grant she loved him too, when the door flung open and to her surprise Diana strode into the room. The look of shock must have been evident on her face because Diana gave her a wide grin and a wink.

"Surprised to see me again, Nikki? Love the dress by the way. You would have made a beautiful bride." She shrugged and her grin widened. "Maybe you'll have better luck with the next groom to be."

"I - Diana?
But...
What's going on? Why have you done this?" She turned her attention back to Grant, her eyes pleading with him to fill in the details.
What did she mean by would have?
It dawned on her that this was
actually
happening, that they - whoever
they
were - were going to kill Grant while she watched and his ex-wife was involved. The nausea in her stomach intensified and she once again swallowed down the need to vomit.

Keeping her eyes on Nikki, Diana strutted over to Grant and perched herself on his lap, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He glared at her as she ran an index finger along his jaw. The feeling of hatred for the woman intensified within Nikki as she watched Diana touch Grant intimately. She wanted to kill the blonde-haired Barbie doll look alike, wanted to do it with all her heart.

"So Grant, have you told your precious little Nikki about what you
really
do for a living?" She turned her eyes from Grant and back to Nikki, flipping her shoulder-length blonde hair back over her shoulder. So honey, has he told you
everything
about his job. What he
really
does for his country?"

Nikki refused to give Diana the benefit of an answer.

"You don't need to do this, Diana. Leave her out of this." Grant growled, while his eyes shot daggers at the other woman, hatred etched in his features.

Diana laughed and trailed her index finger across his bare shoulders, tracing the lines of muscle which were once more straining against this binds.

"Gee. Where to start... there are so many stories to tell." She placed a French manicured fingernail between her teeth in thought. "You know, Nikki, I bet he wouldn't hesitate in putting a bullet in me."

"
I
wouldn't hesitate putting a bullet in you," Nikki countered surprising herself with her venomous outburst.

"
Mmm
, feisty.
Now I'm starting to see why our Grant likes you so much."

"Diana, for the love of God, just
do
whatever it is you're here to do and leave. Torture me, kill me, I don't care as long as I don't have to listen to you any longer," Grant groaned, making Nikki grin slightly despite the dire situation.

"So how many people is it that you've killed in your lifetime, Grant?
One hundred?
Two?
Do you even remember anymore?"

"Believe it or not, but the first kill is always the hardest," she shrugged. "After the first one, it gets easier until the point where pulling the trigger is as easy as preparing breakfast." Her index finger trailed down the center of his chest, "Isn't that so, Grant? Killing becomes
so
easy after a while."

Nikki shuddered at the thought of killing getting easy, but looking into the cold, empty ice blue eyes of Diana, she believed with all her heart that Diana could kill anyone at any time without blinking. Her focus switched to Grant who caught her gaze and pleaded to her with his eyes to remain calm, not to listen to Diana's ramblings. But there was something else in his eyes...

Guilt.

It was that look of guilt in his eyes and his expression that prompted her to find out more. "So tell me. Tell me what he did. What he does for his country."

"Well…"

The door to the basement swung open interrupting whatever it was that Diana was going to say and in came the man who had abducted her, accompanied by two other men. Both newcomers also appeared to be of African descent.

Diana leapt from Grant’s lap and made her way towards the exit, "We'll talk later, Nikki. As much as I would love to stay for the fun, I have things to do." She gave Nikki a wink and exited the room.

Psychotic bitch!
Nikki wanted to scream after the other woman, but held her tongue and turned her attention to the three men.

"
Wh
-what's going on?" Nikki looked from one man to the other, hoping for an explanation, but not expecting one.

One man - the man who had abducted her - was carrying a frightening looking whip and immediately the gashes on Grants back sprang to her mind.
Oh-my-God!
The other man carried a couple of long black rods, which resembled cattle prods. The sick feeling in her stomach started up again.

What in the hell are they doing with those?

She glanced over at Grant whose eyes were trained on the third man. The third was the largest of the three and appeared to be slightly larger than Grant, both in muscle and in height. It was the self-satisfied smirk on his face as he approached Grant that sent a chill through Nikki. Glancing back at Grant she saw him watching them with a blank expression as they went about setting up whatever it was that they were preparing for.

"Been a while," the larger of three men said to Grant as he approached.

Grant nodded his agreement, meeting the other man’s eyes.

"Want to tell me where my diamonds and guns are? Save us time."

Guns?
Diamonds?
Nikki glanced down at the pendant around her neck. The large solitaire diamond tethered to a gold chain that Grant had given her for her birthday.