Page 64 of Survival

The ringing of myphone in my pantspocketstopped the wheels in my head from turning as I rushed for mypants to avoid waking Jaden up. I pulled the phone out andanswered.

“What?” I whispered angrily, stepping away inside thebathroom, still keeping my eye on Jaden.

“I’ve got Dan down here,” Scott said on the otherline.

Fuck. “I’ll beright there.”

I quickly steppedinto mycloset, threw on someblack track pants and a black t-shirt, and headed for the door. Ilooked back at Jaden, who was still fast asleep, naked and chainedto my bed. I instantly decided I wanted to come back to this imagemore often.

Gently closing thedoor behind me, I left Jaden to sleep off her exhaustion and joggedover to the security room. I walked in to find Scott holding one ofour disposable flip phones in his hand.

“Here he is,” he said and handed me thephone.

I walked over tothe desk and took the phone from Scott, putting it on speakerphone.Daniel was only twenty-eight, but I knew he could handle somethinglike this. It wasn’t his first rodeo, after all. He had only beendown in Panama a week trying to get this deal together. Shit betternot be falling through.

“What’s the problem?” I asked.

“They want to renegotiate the terms. Said they feel likethey’re getting fucked over,” Dan said.

I furrowed mybrows. The fuck?

“Yeah, I don’t have time for this shit. Tell thosecock-sucking fucks the deal stands. Maybe they should have beenbetter at negotiating before they struck a deal withme.”

“And if they back out?” he asked.

“Then that’ll be their mistake,” I repliedsternly.

“You want me to keep the shipment here if theydo?”

“Yeah, just keep it in the warehouse for now. We’ll figure outwhat to do with it later.”

“All right,” he said.

“And, Dan, you make sure you and your men are armed to the Twhen the exchange goes down.”

“Yeah, yeah, fuck off, Darren, this is isn’t my first rodeo.I’ve got this.” He shrugged me off. I couldn’t help the olderbrother shit coming out.

I scowled but letit go. I knew Dan knew what he was doing, but that didn’t make thisshit any less shady than it already was.

“Good. Check in tomorrow when it’sdone.”

“Yeah, later,” he said and hung up.

“Cocky little shit.” Scott laughed.

“He’ll be adead littleshit if he isn’t careful,” I said,getting up and heading out of the security room. I had somewherefar better to be. “Let me know when you hear back fromhim.”

“Yep,” Scott replied, and then I was gone. I was suddenlyanxious to wake someone up.

~*~

I felt cold; mybody suddenly huddled into itself for warmth as I slowly came torealize I was alone. I could no longer feel Darren’s chest againstmy back, nor did I feel a presence behind me. I didn’t hearbreathing or stirring anywhere else in the room. Fuck, I was coldand my head was pounding. Great, I probably had a hangovernow.

I reached down forthesheetsbut realized myhand couldn’t reach passed my shoulders. I opened my eyes andfocused on a small chain link perfectly fastened to my cuffs by twosmall gold heart-shaped padlocks. I sprang myself awake, ignoringthe grogginess I felt and sitting up on my knees as I examined thechain that effectively restrained me to Darren’s bed. I pulledagainst my restraints as hard as I could, testing their strength,but they would not break. Panic surged through me as I pulled andpulled, realizing I was now trappedand evenmorevulnerable thanbefore.

And then I heardthe door close. “Going somewhere?”

I turned to findDarren standing in front of the door, dressed in track pants and at-shirt, staring at me wickedly.