"Ellis wake up!"
Ellis jerked awake to Adam's voice. She tried to move but couldn't and started to panic, but she could still hear Adam speaking and she forced the panic down. If he was here, then she would be fine. She might be telling herself that, still she knew that something had gone horribly wrong.
Ellis opened her bleary eyes, and Adam was standing at some distance from her. He looked taller than usual. She blinked several times, and then let out a cry. Adam was hanging by his wrists, his feet at least a foot off the floor and tied together by more rope. His jacket was gone, and she could see the deep red of his blood staining the blue cuffs of his shirt from where the ropes had sliced through his skin.
"Adam! Oh my God! I'll..." Ellis tried to rush to him only to realize that her hands and feet were bound to the steel chair she had woken up in. She could not even move the chair since it was bolted to the floor.
"It's fine baby. Just take deep breaths." Adam said gently, his face showing none of the pain he must be feeling.
Ellis looked at him with eyes filled with tears, and he knew that all those tears were for him. He gave her a wry grin, but before he could say anything, they heard the sound of boots coming closer. Adam's eyes met hers, trying to communicate everything he could not with words at that moment.
Adam counted four masked men in his line of vision and he was sure that at least two more were behind him. He could see Ellis's fear escalating and he concentrated on her. She met his eyes, and tried to match her breathing with his. She was barely stopping herself from hyperventilating.
"I told you the man would prove to be useful. Already he is keeping his woman from being hysterical." One of the men said casually in a heavily accented voice. Adam felt himself stiffen. He was sure the accent was South American, but he could not identify it beyond that.
"Now that you have calmed down some, I need you to concentrate little girl." The same man drawled, coming to stand in front of Ellis.
Ellis nodded.
"Good. We are going to make a video in which you will convince your uncle to give us a weapon that he has made. Will you do that?" he asked calmly.
Ellis nodded again.
"Perfect. Now, your uncle is pretty stubborn, so you'll have to be real convincing or he won't get it, yes? For that, you have to be convinced real well, yes?" the man said rationally, logically.
Ellis nodded, but she could feel dread coiling in the pit of her stomach.
He stepped aside, and Ellis saw that while he had been blocking her view of Adam, another man had stepped close to him. He held a long leather whip in his hand. Ellis had seen such a whip only once before in her life. She knew how it felt when it connected with the flesh on one's body.
"No please, don't. Please, I beg of you. I'll convince Uncle. Just don't hurt Adam." Ellis pleaded.
Ellis begged, she pleaded, she said anything she could think of, just to get them to stop, but they didn't. Adam did not make a single sound, even as the blood dripped down his body., soaking his jeans. His face was pale, and his lips set in a grimace, but he gave no other reaction. His back was away from Ellis after all, and if he could monitor his reactions, maybe, just maybe, he could fool her into thinking that it was not as bad as she thought.
After an hour, they finally stopped.
"You seem pretty convinced. We'll make the video now. You should tell your uncle that your boyfriend is still alive. You will tell him that right?" the man asked with a menacing smile, that came through loud and clear even through the mask.
"Yes." Ellis whispered hoarsely.
"Get her some water. How is she to make a video when she can't talk?" The man snapped at one of his men.
"Will you please give Adam water too?" she asked the man imploringly.
He looked at her in surprise and then laughed abruptly. "Tell you what girly, you make this video to my satisfaction, and I will even have his back taken care of."
...
"Play it again." Ash said coldly. They had received the video at noon, the morning after they had found four dead bodies of the bodyguards in Adam's house, and both Adam and Ellis missing. He was hoping with every fibre of his being that there was some clue here, but he had found nothing. Adam might have gotten him a message, but he was not in the video, and Ellis was obviously too traumatized to even try anything.
"Nothing. No clue as to where they might be." Ash said, hating himself at that moment. His friend needed him, and there was nothing he could do.
"Those chopsticks in her hair, could Adam have given her those?" Petri asked Ash in a speculative voice.
"Your niece has been kidnapped, you just saw a video of her pleading with you to give the kidnappers whatever the hell they want, and you are asking me if Adam gave her some goddamn jewellery?" Ash was screaming in his face. Ellis's terror was clear as day, and it was obvious who that terror was for. She had said Adam was alive; she had not said that he was unharmed. Ash understood the difference just fine.
"If Adam gave her those then there is a chance that they may be equipped with a locator." Petri said, refusing to step back from Ash. Ash looked at him in surprise and then turned to the other tech member of his team in the room.
"Already on it." Vince Duane, said as he started typing furiously on the keyboard.
Ash's phone rang. "Anything from the sniper yet?" he snapped into it.
"Goddamnit! Get him to talk. I need something, anything." He said angrily, and hung up.
"Adam placed a locator in those, but it's one of his personal babies." Vince said after a few minutes. He sounded disgusted.
Ash groaned.
"What does that mean?" Petri asked, from the other side of the room. He was trying to get the bio-weaponry the terrorists wanted ready, but he was also keeping an eye on what was going on here.
"It means that you were right, there is a locator hidden in that piece of silver your niece is wearing, but it's out of Adam's personal stash. It's deactivated, and it can be activated either manually, and considering Adam has not done it yet, it's not likely he will be doing it any time soon; or with an access code, and only Adam knows the damn code." Ash sounded bitter.
"Break the code." Petri said briskly.
"We can't. If we even try, the locator will not just not activate, it will fry." Vince sounded bitter too. Adam was a friend, not just his boss.
"We can wait for him to somehow manually activate it." Ash said, but he did not sound convinced himself.
"What if we exchange him for the sniper?" Petri asked quietly.
"Are you out of your mind?" Ash snapped.
"As soon as we have Adam, we will know where Ellis is." Petri said in that same reasonable voice.
"Ellis's sanity might not survive such an ordeal even if they don't do anything to her. They probably tortured Adam in front of her. What if they start torturing her once he's not there for them to play with? What then?" Ash asked.
"Do you think I don't know that?" Petri yelled. "You have till tonight. If you don't come up with anything else, I am telling those bastards, that I will give them their sniper if they will give me Adam. That way, I will know that they intend to return me my niece. It all sounds so goddamn reasonable that they might even believe me." Petri said coldly before he stalked out of the room.
Vince scowled. "This would have been so much easier if they had known that they had Adam White. He has one hell of a reputation in mercenary circles."
"You sure about that?" Ash asked with a sigh. "They might kill him just for the reputation, or to stop him from coming after them afterwards. I think the most effective thing would have been if we had been using our own team as bodyguards outside Adam and Ellis's house, instead of Petri's men. They killed all four without breaking a sweat."
"You're right on that I guess. Anyways, I am going to Adam's house. Maybe he kept his codes on his computer somewhere." Vince said getting up.
Ash nodded. "I am going to the freaking sniper. I have another idea to try on him. Keep checking though, just in case Adam turns the locator on manually."
"Of course." Vince said before heading out.
They both knew that Petri's plan was the best, but unlike him, they also knew the depth of Adam's feelings for Ellis. God help them if anything happened to her.
...
"It seems your uncle wants us to return your boyfriend to them, girly." The Man, as Ellis thought of him now, said to her in a soft tone. It made Ellis shiver in fear. Adam's back had been bandaged, but he was still hanging from his wrists in front of her. She looked at him, but he had suddenly gone expressionless.
"He says he will give us our sniper, in return for this boy. He wants to make sure that we will eventually return you." The man went on, oblivious to the fact that Ellis was now literally shaking. Adam had been her anchor, and the thought of him gone was breaking her apart.
"Ell it will be alright sweetie. If they're returning me, then they will give you back too. I will make Petri hurry up and do everything they want even faster. I promise you will be home as soon as possible, baby." Adam said solemnly.
Ellis knew only the last part was true, but his words made her relax slightly.
The Man turned to Adam. "You put an "If" in that sentence. That was good. You do not assume that we took the deal; you only calm your woman. You do everything for her, don't you boy?"
Adam considered defiance but one glance at Ellis's fearful face, made him throw that idea out. "Yes." he answered quietly.
"Yes. That is how a man should behave. Time for you to go, boy." The man motioned, and two others started to lower the hook from where Adam was hanging.
Adam looked into Ellis's eyes. "Do you remember the promise I made you?"
Ellis nodded.
"I keep my promises." Adam said.
Neither Ellis nor Adam said another word as he was half led and half dragged from the room. Adam was blindfolded and drugged. When he woke up next, he was lying on his stomach on white sheets, somewhere that smelled vaguely of disinfectant.
Adam tried to move, and immediately, Ash was peering at him.
"Oh good, you're finally awake. Now, what's the freaking code for the locator in the chopsticks Ellis is wearing?" he asked.
"5XC908HGJK76OP all caps" Adam rattled off after one moment.
"Thank You." Ash said straightening. He was not the only one doing so. Adam was getting up as well.
"Are you out of your mind?" Ash asked even as he sent the code to Vince.
"I am going with you." Adam said as he pulled out the IV from his wrist. He ignored the pain in his back, as well as the residual grogginess from the drugs in his system.
"Your back was whipped until there was no skin left. There's even some flesh missing." Ash snapped. "You need to stay in the hospital for at least a week."
"I know. But she is there. Alone." Adam said, meeting his gaze. Ash looked away first.
"Fine, do whatever you want. Your clothes are in the bag below the bed. I'll wait outside while you dress." Ash said angrily before stalking out.
...
"Your boyfriend must be with your uncle by now little girl. Aren't you happy for him?" The Man asked Ellis. She nodded. She had not said a single word ever since they had taken Adam away.
"While he was here, all we had to do was hurt him to hurt you. Now, we'll actually have to hurt you to hurt you." The Man said, his tone appropriately apologetic. "Blame your Uncle, if you wish to blame anyone. He is the one who took your buffer away."
The Man extended a hand and one of his men handed him a knife. Ellis paled but she did not make a sound. "Oh don't worry; the knife is for the ropes. I won't give you any scars." The Man smiled and it was visible even through his mask. He sliced through the ropes that bound one of her hands, and gave the knife back.
"Scream for me girly." He said softly as he broke her wrist. Ellis screamed.
...
Adam was mostly silent through the planning of the operation, only speaking when spoken to.
"You're fine with my lead?" Ash asked him after the meeting. They were leaving in an hour.
"I won't slow you down, but I know that I am in no condition to lead. My priority is getting her out of there ASAP. That's it." Adam said quietly.
Ash nodded.
...
"Wake up girly! I came to say goodbye to you." The Man said, and he pressed on Ellis's broken arm. She screamed in pain.
"Ah, you're finally awake. We have located the place where your uncle is placing the weapons we asked him for. We're going to steal those now. No weapons, no deal; so you won't be going home after all, I'm afraid." He said, fondly patting her cheek.
Ellis bit her lip but stayed silent.
"Kill her after we have safely shipped the weapons out of the country." He ordered the men posted in the room and stalked out.
Suddenly one of the other men yanked the chopsticks that had been in her hair all this time as he moved past. "You won't need these anymore." He said waving them, and then he stuck them in his pocket as he too left.
Ellis looked away, whispering Adam's name under her breath again and again, until she lost consciousness from the pain in her arm.