Page 18 of Unspoken Passions

Unfortunately, Ella didn’t have a chance to process those new questions before she was hauled into the warehouse. Two more men were guarding the door and, as soon as she and the other three people around her were inside, they pulled the iron door closed. She watched over her shoulder, peering through her hair. With a mental groan, she realized that it took two large men to open the door.

Okay, so that’s not an option for escape. She’d have to find another way.

Abruptly, she was shoved onto a hard, wooden chair. She actually rocked backwards, almost tumbling to the concrete floor before she regained her balance. Looking around, she noted that the two men from the door and another two men that hauled her around were now standing behind…a woman?

“You were at the coffee shop!” Ella gasped. “You just bought coffee from me!”

The woman’s appearance was quite startling. She had reddish brown hair and pale skin, but her lips were colored with a garish red lipstick. She also wore heavy eye makeup, the black liner going all the way around her eyes. Ella suspected that the woman was going for a smokey look, but she’d failed miserably. She looked more like a raccoon.

“You remember me! That’s excellent, darlin’” the woman replied with a smirk. She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted on her booted feet. Leather boots? In this heat? Was the woman nuts?

“Why did you kidnap me?” she demanded, trying to channel Mick’s authoritative tone. Normally, she tried hard to be open and friendly. But this wasn’t an “open and friendly” kind of crowd.

“Because you’re the sheriff’s lady love,” the woman replied, her Irish accent more obvious now. “And we need to send that man a message.” She moved over to one of the men. “Give her a dress, then we’ll take a picture.”

One of the men turned, rummaging through a cardboard box. A second later, he pulled something red and shiny out of the box and tossed it toward her.

Ella barely caught the item before it hit the ground. Clutching it to her chest for a moment, she stared at the others. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Put it on.”

She stared at the five people, all of whom stared right back at her. “Why?” She was stalling for time because she had no idea how to escape. It wasn’t like she could just wiggle her nose and disappear.

The woman rolled her eyes and huffed a bit. “Because ye’re gonna be our insurance, luvey!”

“Insurance? How am I anyone’s insurance?”

The woman smiled, but because of the red lipstick, the expression was straight out of a horror movie. “Ye’re gonna ensure tha’ we get out of this dinkey town.” The other men grunted, then nodded as they stood there staring at Ella.

“I don’t see how I could get you safely out of town,” Ella replied, trying to appear confident. “I’m just a coffee shop owner. I don’t have the power to get anyone out of town.”

The woman stepped forward, leaning in to Ella until their noses were less than an inch apart. Ella leaned back, but the bitch only moved closer. “Ye’re not only going to get us safely out o’ this town, ye’re goin’ te get Liam out o’ jail and help us get all of our product out as well.” She grinned, then licked the tip of Ella’s nose. “Now put on the damn dress!”

Ella cringed and wiped the disgusting saliva away, wishing that she had some bleach. Yuck! The woman probably had rabies!

“How in the world do you think I’m going to get Liam out of jail? He was arrested and charged with sex trafficking, kidnapping, and a slew of other charges.”

The woman grunted, crossing her arms just under her breasts. “Liam is mine! He and I have been together for years. He’s going to inherit the earldom from his dad as soon as the old man dies. And then I’m going to become a countess,” she said, then snorted, laughing. The other men chuckled and the red-lipsticked woman glared at them.

When she turned her attention back to Ella, the woman sneered at her. “The town’s sheriff is in love with you. We saw the way he watched ye in the coffee shop. And then he walked over to kiss ye.” She grinned, and that was a predatory smile if Ella had ever seen one. “He is head over heels in love with ye and if ye try to deny it, then I’ll just drug you so that ye canna speak.”

The woman snapped her fingers and one of the men pulled a syringe out of an inside pocket of his leather jacket.

Why did criminals all wear leather jackets? It was more than ninety degrees outside with a humidity index that probably pushed the feel of the temperature into the triple digit region.

However, Ella stopped focusing on the leather when that evil syringe came out. An injection of whatever mystery drug the syringe contained wasn’t something she wanted to experience. So instead of arguing further, she slipped her shoes off and pulled the tiny, stretchy red material over her head. No way was she undressing in front of these people. She could use the dress as a cover up and pull her jeans and tee-shirt off afterwards.

The men grunted in disappointment, obviously hoping to see her naked. But nope, that wasn’t going to happen!

Once she had the dress over her clothes, Ella tugged her jeans down and kicked them to the side, leaving her socks on. She couldn’t get her jeans off over her sneakers, but she kept them close by. She didn’t want to lose her shoes. Escape would still happen even if she didn’t have her sneakers, but she wanted the ability to run as fast as possible once she saw an opportunity.

Once she had the red dress on, she stood up and waited. Her hand itched to slap the horrible woman. Maybe a good thwack would wipe away that smug expression!

“Now what?” Ella demanded, glaring right back. She wasn’t going to cower! Ella suspected that this bitch was a woman who loved seeing other people’s terror.

“Take off your bra,” the woman ordered.

Ella stared at the bitch without moving.

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