Page 36 of Unfulfilled Promises
Meticulously, I ran my hands over a wall, again looking for a switch and again finding nothing. Moving along, I bumped into things and a couple shifted against me as I kept searching for a light or a way out. Finally, I felt something metallic and cold, and when I felt a handle, I prayed as I opened the door.
The small light from inside the stinky fridge was enough to cast a glow onto the floor as I fought back vomit from the rotten food stench. Looking around the mostly dark space, I saw a string hanging close to the foot of the stairs which was attached to a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.
Pulling the string, the light turned on, casting a dirty glow across the entire room. The first thing I noticed was there was no windows down here, making escape impossible. A noise from the corner drew my attention and I cautiously walked closer tothe sound. What I saw shocked me, steeling my resolve to get out of this and make these fuckers pay.
A girl, probably eighteen or nineteen years old, poked her head out from behind a stack of boxes. Carefully, I lifted my hand and walked slowly toward her. I crouched down about ten feet away so I could speak with her.
“My name’s Regan Weston. Who are you?”
She looked to the stairs and whispered softly, “My name is Wren.”
I moved closer to her, and she slowly moved from behind the boxes until I was able to almost touch her. “Wren, that’s a beautiful name. Do you have a last name?”
She nodded and replied, “Volkovs.”
I tried to keep my expression neutral. The Volkovs were killed off years ago in a purge. Sergey told me about Adrian, Stella’s chosen, and how she killed him and disappeared. That’s what put me on his radar. Stella killed someone Sergey had a powerful deal brokered through, and he had to make an impulsive decision to kill Adrian’s father and make it look like an outside attack.
He didn’t do it to protect Stella, or her and Adrian’s daughter, Hailey.
He did it to save face and remain in power with the Syndicate. Then, when he discovered Rhys was protecting Stella, he took me as revenge. Seeing this young girl trapped down here told me there were more hidden victims of the Syndicate, and I had to get us out of here and figure out who else was in danger.
I’d fillet myself open and tell everything I knew if it meant I could save Wren and other young girls from the demented plans of wannabe gangsters and their desire to rule.
And maybe it would redeem me for the decisions I’d made in the past to save my own life.
Chapter 18
Regan
“How long have you been down here, Wren?” I asked, reaching my hand out, offering her a physical connection.
She reached out and scooted closer so she could place her hand on mine before she answered, “Six days.”
“Have you been upstairs? How often do they feed you?” Looking around, I asked, “Where do you go to the bathroom?”
“I’m allowed upstairs to use the bathroom and eat twice a day, but they make me stay down here the rest of the time.” Her eyes darted around the dank, depressing room before she asked with her voice filled with fear, “What are they going to do with us?”
I wasn’t going to tell her what their plans were because there was no need to put those ideas into her head. I needed Wren to focus, so when we could make a move to get out of here, she wasn’t petrified and unable to help me. In this instance, we were going to have to save ourselves.
“Honestly, I don’t know, but we’re not going to stay around here and find out. We need to figure out how to get out of here,” I returned, keeping my voice soft and low so John or Giovanni wouldn’t hear us.
Giovanni said he had to go back to Atlanta tonight to meet with someone first thing in the morning, but when was he going to leave? Was John going to check on us, or were we trapped down here until Giovanni returned? Leaning closer, I asked, “Where did they take you from?”
“I was in my dorm room at school in Knoxville and went to grab dinner when they threw me into a van and took off.”
She wiped the tears from her cheeks, and I tugged her into a hug, whispering, “It’s going to be okay. I need you to trust me, and when it’s time, we’re going to get out of here.” Pulling back, I brushed hair off her face and asked, “Okay?”
Wren gave me a nod and sniffled as I looked around. There wasn’t much down here, but I needed to find something I could use as a weapon. “Stay here. I’m going to look around and see what’s down here.”
Standing, I brushed off the back of my pants and walked back to the stinky fridge, closing it, and hopefully making it smell a little better down here. There were some paint supplies, boxes with dishes, some old clothes that were covered in mildew, and when I went to the side where Wren was hiding, I began to open more boxes, looking for anything useful but coming up empty.
“Damn it. There’s nothing that can be used as a weapon down here,” I mumbled. “We have to get out of here.”
“He’ll be coming down for dinner soon,” Wren remarked, and I squatted in front of her.
“Which one?” I asked.
“The younger one who takes the orders.”
