Rage and Ruin | 2

3 | 6

D E L P H I N I U M

Jaxon unlocked the motel door with the key they'd given him in the front lobby. Jake entered before me, carrying the unconscious woman like a rag-doll. When I closed the door, the roar of trucks on the highway faded to the background.

The chair's legs scraped across the ground as Jaxon pulled it to the center of the room so that Jake could sit Hundsen's wife in it. When she was upright in the seat, I was careful to tie her arms to her sides; if she'd been married to Hundsen, who knew what fighting techniques she'd learned?

She was on the verge of waking up. On the car ride, she'd been moving a bit and we'd been worried that she would prematurely become conscious. I watched as her eyes began to move under her eyelids.

Jake turned out the lights so she wouldn't be able to gauge her surroundings. The only source of light in the room was a small lamp next to the chair that would blind her. That way, we only appeared to be shadowed beings in the dark.

As we watched, she awoke with a gasp. Her eyes went first to her bound legs and then up to the three of us.

"Where am I?" she questioned, squinting to try to see who we were.

No one answered her.

"Why am I tied up?" She unsuccessfully attempted to pull her arms from their ropes. "Untie me!"

"Only if you do something for me," Jake spoke.

"What is it?"

Jake held the motel phone out to her. "Dial your husband's phone number."

Frowning, she asked, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"It doesn't matter. Call him."

But she was insistent, wanting to protect Hundsen. "Not until you tell me why."

Jake stepped closer to her. The light from the lamp hit his sharp features, making him look even more menacing than usual. "Do you know who I am?"

"No." It came out in a smaller voice than she'd been using before.

"Exactly. Your husband takes what he wants from anyone else. If they don't give in to his demands immediately, he takes what he desires with force. He doesn't even give a second thought about what's left behind."

As the woman stared up at him, horrified, Jake continued, sneering, "I'm what's left behind. I'm living proof that Hundsen can bleed like the rest of us. Now, dial the number."

He raised a gun to her head. From her terrified reaction, it was clear that this wasn't something she was used to. With a face drained of blood, she turned to the phone and grabbed it with a stiff arm. Jake's lashes dropped as he watched her slowly type Hundsen's number in.

When the phone was dialing, Jake took it from her while I tied a gag around her head. She would not be making any noise while Jake was speaking to Hundsen.

There was a long silence in the room in which no one seemed to know what to say. Then, there was a sound on the other end of the line while the gang leader picked up. Jake put the phone on speaker so that everyone in the room could hear.

"Lucy, I'm in the middle of a meeting right now, is this important?" It was strange to hear him speaking without that ring of utter hatred and arrogance in his voice for once.

"Yeah, I'd say that it's important," Jake answered coldly, no doubt in a very different tone than Hundsen had been anticipating from his wife.

"Evans?" I could hear the hatred radiating through the phone. "What is this?"

"This is your worst nightmare."

"Where is Lucy? If you've done anything to my wife, I swear, I will rip you apart limb by limb."

"I bet you will," Jake remarked, not phased by Hundsen's death threats. "Your wife is...fine. At least, for now."

Hundsen's voice shook with suppressed fury. "What is that supposed to mean? If you so much as touch her-"

"I'm not interested in touching anything that your abominable hands have held, including your wife," Jake countered coldly. "No, I'm more interested in what you can do for me."

"You kidnapped my wife and now you're trying to get even more out of it? When I find you - and I will find you - your body will be so ruined that they'll be lucky if they can even give an identity to you. I will always-"

Jake broke in. "Let's not mince words, Hundsen. You can threaten me as much as you want, but I've got a gun to your wife's trembling head. You have no choice but to listen to my demands."

"Like what?" Hundsen spat.

"A hundred thousand dollars for your wife's life." I blinked. That was not what I'd been expecting, although, I didn't know what else Jake would ask for. He would want to get as much out of this interaction as he could. A hundred thousand dollars would certainly be a good ransom.

The line was quiet for a moment. "You're lying, Evans. I know you. You're always full of tricks."

Scoffing, Jake answered, "You think your wife is home, safe and sound?"

      He pulled the gag out of her mouth and held the phone up to her mouth. As soon as she was able to speak, she began a terrified string of sentences. "Adiago, they took me from our house. I don't know where I am now, but he's threatening to shoot me in the head. Please, what should I do? He's going to kill me."

      Jake raised the phone again and replaced the gag. "Do you still think I'm lying, Hundsen?"

      Hundsen was silent on the other end of the line. Because of that, Jake decided to up the ante. "Oh, and has she told you that she's pregnant yet?"

      My eyes widened and I stared at Jake, trying to figure out if he was lying or not. It would be very characteristic of him to withhold a piece of information so important until it benefitted him. But there was no way he could possibly know that. Right?

      "What?" The voice on the phone was but a whisper.

      "Congratulations."

      "I don't believe you." His tone was normal now, angry and accusing. "You're making that up to get me to hand the money over. It's not going to happen."

      "I've been keeping tabs on your home and your wife for weeks now, planning my attack. I've clearly seen...things in that time. It's just a shame that I found out before you did."

      "You son of a bitch, you've been stalking my wife? If that's true, and she really is pregnant, you'd better not harm a hair on her head. If my unborn child is hurt in any way, the full might of my wrath will be cast onto you."

      "I've felt your wrath," Jake returned flatly. "Your greatest mistake was underestimating me and leaving me alive."

      "I won't make that mistake again, I assure you," Hundsen said, equally as cold.

      Giving a dry laugh, Jake said, "You won't do anything as long as I've got your two most treasured things in life in my grasp. It's a shame that they'll be no more after this conversation." Hundsen's wife shook her head violently, trying to make any noise she could and failing.

      "You wouldn't dare harm a child, much less my own."

      "Again, you underestimate me. I would. And I would enjoy watching it as the life growing in your wife's stomach withers and dies as she does."

      He continued on. "So, as I said before, a hundred thousand dollars in cash. I know that you can afford it. Have your new lieutenant bring it alone to the square on Main and Cherry Street tomorrow night at dusk. Then I'll consider letting your wife go unharmed."

      "You think you can threaten me? I'll make your life a living hell. I won't rest until you're dead, Evans! No matter where you go, no matter where you try to hide, I'll find you. Don't think you can escape me. You can't-"

      Jake hung up the phone mid-sentence.