Defending Bridget - P.J. Fiala Page 0,31

her rope and memorized it. The rope wasn't all that thick, but it was abrasive, likely on purpose to keep them from struggling against it. It bit into her skin with each rough movement. The sticky wetness of blood could be felt on her wrist now. More new cuts.

Igor issued the same command to Jennie Lee. "Be good."

Jennie Lee nodded, and he turned to exit but not before stopping to look at her. She kept her head and eyes averted and he must have been satisfied because he moved on to bring Sydney back.

Just as suspected, Sydney yelped when she was roughly grabbed and whimpered most of the way back to their room. Igor roughly shoved Sydney into the room and she stumbled and fell emitting a sob which only made Igor laugh. In his broken gruff English, he hissed, "Baby."

Sydney scooted across the floor to sit in the corner to her right and Jennie Lee's left. Igor grabbed her hand roughly and tied it to the ring and Bridget began counting the loops. Two, only two. If they could talk Sydney into untying herself, she could help them escape.

Igor left the room and closed the door. Bridget heard the key turn in the lock and let out a long breath. She listened to hear how soundproof the room actually was and how easily it would be to hear them talking outside. She noted that the logs in the cabin offered a fair amount of soundproofing, but not completely. They'd still need to be careful.

Sydney broke the silence first. "Do you think they shot someone?"

Bridget looked over at her, though there was virtually no light in the room, she could see her outline and the whites of her eyes but that was about it.

"Probably shot at someone who tried to run. If we're their merchandise, they won't kill us."

"Fuckers."

That got a smile from Bridget. Sydney was beginning to get more mad than scared. Perfect.

More scuffling could be heard and uneven footsteps and they each looked down at the floor as the door was unlocked. The door opened and in stumbled another woman, shoved just like the rest of them, but she didn't fall. The light that shone in the door allowed her to see the woman had blonde hair, about shoulder length. She was wearing jeans, ankle boots and a dirty white t-shirt. Just like the rest of them, whatever they'd been wearing when they were taken is how they were dressed. Luckily she had been down at her shooting range, so she wore jeans, range boots which were similar to the boots she wore in the Army, and a dark blue t-shirt. Jennie Lee and Sydney were dressed similarly because they'd just been shooting before going out.

Igor tied up the new girl, told her to behave and left the room, locking the door behind him.

Bridget softly said, "I'm Bridget."

"Jennie Lee."

"Sydney."

"I'm Riah."

Wracking her brain, she remembered Sophie telling her about a Riah. It was an unusual name, so it stuck.

"You're Skye Montgomery's friend."

"Yes." She shifted her position. "You know Skye? Oh my God, she's not here is she?"

"Shh. No, she's not here, and yes, I've met her. I'm Sophie's friend."

"What are the odds of that happening?"

"No odds. Deliberate."

"No. Fucking. Way."

"Yeah, but we're going to get out of here."

22

Getting into the rental vehicle once again, Axel let out a heavy sigh. Right now, his focus had to be on finding Bridget. Then, once she was back at the compound, he'd ring her neck for not telling him he had a son.

Grabbing his phone first, he dialed Sophie's number. He set his phone in the drink holder between the seats and waited while Josh buckled in.

Driving away from the plane, he glanced in his rearview mirror to see the body of the plane as he drove away. One of the hardest moments in his life right now was finding a son, only to have to put his son on a plane to go away from him. All he really wanted to do was sit and watch his son play and jump and be a little boy.

"Hi, Axel." Sophie's voice broke into his thoughts.

"I just had to put Aidyn and Vivian on the GHOST plane, which is likely the hardest thing I've ever done. You need to have someone meet them at the airport and then I'm tasking you with taking care of them until I return with Bridget."

"I'll take good care of them. I've already told Jax, Skye, Yvette, Megan and Roxanne.