Wiped Clean

25. Don't let her forget me

They had tied her to a chair. She couldn't move with her wrists and ankles now bound to it. But when the hood was removed, it wasn't the eyes of her captors she saw, but Annika's. She looked just as cold and harsh as she had appeared the first time Caia met her. There was no warmth there. No love.

"Hello, slave," Annika said with a smirk.

Slave.

Annika was smart. That one word was enough of a clue. They didn't know about their relationship, only that Caia had been Annika's slave. Common knowledge for anyone who worked with her.

Caia tore her eyes away from Annika to the man at her side. Michael.

Other than that, they were alone.

She looked down at her restraints and started shaking. Her breathing quickened, until she was hyperventilating. Panic set in and she was thrown back in time to another moment where her wrists were bound.

"What the fuck is she doing?" Michael asked.

"She's having a panic attack," Annika said, feigning disinterest. "She did the same thing when I tried to tie her up."

"Shut her up, will you."

"It doesn't work like that. We have to ride it out. We can't intimidate her into stopping. Trust me, I've tried."

There was enough clarity in Caia's mind to form a plan. She forced her breathing even further, each breath tearing in and out. She knew if she got herself worked up enough, that she would begin to gag, then vomit. It had happened before during a panic attack. All she had to do was make it worse.

The moment Caia gagged, Michael recoiled.

She gagged again, heaving repeatedly. She felt the bile rising. Her mouth filled with saliva.

It had the intended effect. Michael took a few steps back, turning his head.

After enough gagging, she vomited all over herself.

"Fuck," he yelled. "Anni, you know I don't do puke." He looked at Caia in disgust. "Get her cleaned up and calm her down for fuck's sake."

Once he was gone, Annika's demeanour shifted. She untied Caia's wrists with a gentle hand. "That was very clever," she whispered.

"Most of it was real," Caia said, the exhaustion taking over.

"I know."

"Why am I here?"

"There's a mole in Michael's network. Sebastian suggested that it could be you since you spent so much time with me."

"Shit."

"They plan to torture you. I tried to explain that you couldn't possibly know anything, but I couldn't come across as too persistent or they would have realised my feelings."

Fear filled Caia's veins. She didn't know anything. Which meant if they tortured her, they would keep going. "Will they kill me?"

Annika was silent while she untied the rope around Caia's ankles. At last she looked up, into Caia's eyes. "I don't know. Just do everything I say. I've managed to convince them that I'll still be able to control you. That I conditioned you so well while you were with me that you'll do anything I ask. So do as I say, even if I'm being horrible to you. Can you do that? Can you trust me?"

"Yes. Of course."

"When the time is right, when they ask you what you know, you tell them you haven't given any information away. Mention the confidentiality agreement. Then you're going to tell them that a man named Owen Mantle sought you out and asked you for information. He has light brown hair, medium build, clean shaven and average height. Tell them he questioned you for information and that you didn't tell him anything."