Page 128 of Corrupt Game

I gagged.

“We’ll see if he’ll pay to have you back after that. If not, they won’t recognize your dead body, so no one will be able to do anything about it.” Edmond stared into my eyes. It was like meeting the gaze of a shark. “Think about what I’ve said.”

He turned to leave the room. “Sergi, set up a call so she can talk to her boyfriend, and if she doesn’t do what I’ve asked, then you may exert a little more pressure.”

The door closed on his words.

“Where exactly is here? I don’t want to be nosy or anything, but a location would be wonderful.” I held no illusions that Sergi would give me the location, but it couldn’t hurt to try.

Sergi kicked the cage. It tipped on its side, s;lamming me against the wires since I had no way to brace.

“Looking forward to hearing you scream.” Sergi walked closer to me and held the phone up near me. He showed me he was sending the video he’s taken, everything they’d done to Kathy, up to the end.

It took a while to send.

“Remember what we talked about. Do exactly what he told you, and you might get to see them again one day.” Sergi reminded me, petting the black dog. It panted, tongue lolling out..

“Ian?” I whispered. My body wouldn’t stop shaking.

“Collette. Where are you? Are you ok?” Ian sounded cold and bored. Good.

“Sergi Petrov Ivanov and Edmond Kelly are graciously hosting me. They’ve said that I may not make it home if you and Rossi contact their rival. You need to cut all ties and go home. I’ll be there as soon as possible. We’ll have to give up on finding Andrew’s killer. I’m sure they’ve fled the country.” I wanted them to get the message and leave things behind if they could.

“I see. You should inform them if they want a fee for returning you it would be helpful if they contacted me.” Ian sounded like this was annoying, like getting stopped in traffic. “And I will not be happy if you’re injured. I like your skin in one piece.”

“I’ll let them know.” I grimaced at Sergi’s amused smirk. “They'll be contacting you.”

Sergi hung up the phone.

“Well, it seems that you can listen to reason and follow directions. It’s bought you a couple hours in a bigger cage. We’ll see how you like life on the lower end of things. I’ve heard it’s pretty comfortable compared to death, that is.” Sergi burst out laughing at his own humor.

He grunted as he dragged my cage through the dark underground halls. He dropped it in a room with a teeth rattling thump, and walked out, slamming the door.

I reached out and felt the edges of the small cage. My legs were curled up, and I was going to be unable to stretch or move more than an inch or two.

Determination filled me. I would survive and they would pay.

“They let you live. For Sergi, that’s a pretty big deal. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re going to sell you off.” I heard someone from the next cage speak in the darkness. “I really thought they would torture you more than they did.”

“Oh, I’m sure they will. They’re just weighing how much money they can get.” I was under no illusions that I was going to make it through this in one piece.

“Here, I saved a bit of water from yesterday. You’re going to need it.” A bottle was held through the cage and I took it, drinking greedily.

“Thank you.” I had no idea why the person next to me was being nice, but I knew that I needed to find out as much information as possible.

“What are you in here for?” I handed the empty bottle back.

There wasn’t anything in my cage, but I supposed they’d bring something to feed us with, eventually.

“I went against the boss’s orders. He wasn’t happy about it, but he can’t kill me. So I’m taken out and tortured for a while every couple of days. One day he’ll forget about it, but until then, I’m stuck here.”

I could hear the shrug in the darkness.

“There are many things that Edmond Kelly could do instead of letting me sit in the dark.”

“I’m really sorry.” I apologized because I knew how bad things could get. Darkness and loneliness was its own torment.

“It’s not your fault.” Her voice was resigned to her situation.

---