We’d been driving for about twenty minutes when we slowed down, turning off the paved road. We spent the next twenty minutes getting knocked around as the van navigated a crappy dirt road through the jungle. “Get ready, and play scared and cooperative. We don’t need heroes. We need them to relax because six women aren’t a threat to them.”
With one last lurch, the van pulled to a stop, and I heard the men get out of the other van. The two in front turned around, holding their weapons at ready as the others approached. The man riding shotgun leered at us. “Resist, and you will get hurt. We can have a lot of fun with you and still get paid.” I heard the door latch. “One at a time.”
The gunmen put blindfolds over our eyes before taking us out of the van; all I saw before that was trees out the front and back. I was the last one out; I tried to scent as much as I could. I sorted through the scents of the six men as best I could.
I felt the dirt change to concrete under me, and the smells got far stronger. It was hard to pick up their unique scents over the stench of cheap aftershave, tequila, sweat, and sex. I felt a knife go between my wrists and cut the zip tie away. “Take off your clothes,” the man said. I didn’t argue; I reached around and unzipped my wetsuit in the back. Peeling it down and off, I continued by taking off my bikini. “Very nice,” the man said as his hand groped my left breast. I started to move away from him, which earned me a smack on my cheek. I bit back the urge to fight back as I tasted blood in my mouth. “It’s too bad you’re worth so much money because I bet you can fuck like a porn star. That’s why I love this job; you can only sell a person you kidnap once, but you can sell a pussy like that a dozen times a night for years.”
I took a deep breath, memorizing his scent. My wolf would enjoy the taste of his blood on my teeth. “We’re all right, Vicki. They’ve got us chained up in here.” I relaxed again as he went back to pinching my nipple.
“At least we get to keep the others for a while. Your buyer is paying a lot of money to be the first to take you.” He took my arm and led me inside, sitting me down on the cold and damp floor. I felt a collar going around my neck; it was steel, not silver. They had no idea what they were dealing with, and that gave me hope.
I took inventory of the scents. “Where is Fiona?”
“I’m the oldest and probably worth the least, so I think I’m their entertainment for the night. They took me inside the house and tied me over the couch,” she replied. “Alpha Vicki, it has been my honor to serve you. If I get a chance to escape, I’m taking it.”
“Be careful, Fiona.”
“I’m closing the link. I don’t want to distract you.” I felt her shut it off, so we wouldn’t sense her pain. It didn’t matter; with our hearing, we could hear her screams as they gang-raped and beat her. She never stopped struggling against them or stopped cursing them in three different languages, not until they knocked her out. A few minutes later, three men brought her into our room and put the collar around her swollen neck.
One of the men looked at Carly. “We’ll be having your ass for breakfast. Have a good night, ladies.” They pulled the steel door closed, locking it from the outside with a padlock, and walked back to the house. The fuckers were laughing the whole time.
It had been dark for hours; I tried to sleep, but the mosquitos and tropical heat made that hard. It didn’t help that we were bare ass to concrete, either. I sat up when I heard several vehicles approaching. The men in the house came outside, and the leader sent two of his men to guard us. The rest he told to hide behind the trees and cover him while he concluded their business.
The two vehicles that pulled in sounded big and expensive, not the cheap SUVs our kidnappers had. These were the money people, I was sure. I moved over to the metal door, putting my ear against it to hear better. Doors opened, and the leader greeted the new arrivals. “Lawrence, do you have the money?”
“Of course, Carlos. Let’s see the women first.” I heard them walking our way and moved away from the door. The wind shifted, and his scent blew in through the louvers at the bottom of the door. I pushed back a snarl of rage; the betrayal cut deep. They would all die, slowly and painfully, at my hand.
“Don’t react,” I told the others. The padlock opened, and a flashlight shined in my eyes. I didn’t look away; instead, I stared at the buyer with every bit of hatred and loathing I could muster.
He looked at us, then walked back out the door. “How much for all of them?”
“We were supposed to get half a million for Vicki, and the rest of them were the rest of the payment. They will do well at auction, at least the younger ones will.”
“I didn’t ask about your business plan, Carlos. I asked for a price.”
“Three hundred thousand for Amy, two hundred fifty each for the twins, and another hundred each for the older ones. One point five million.”
“One point two million, cash, here and now.”
Carlos didn’t say anything for a few seconds, and it grated at me to hear our fates negotiated like this. “Done. Bring me the money, and your men can load them up.”
They walked away, and the first gunshot scared the hell out of me. I heard the men scream as they got cut down, cursing in Spanish before the newcomers put them out of their misery. When the shooting stopped, Lawrence came to the doorway. “Leave the clothes and the necklaces behind so the cops can find this place. Collar these bitches and put them in the transport cages.”
The men who came in carried cattle prods and silver collars, and we had no chance of fighting against them.
Our situation had just gone from bad to worse.
*****
Luna Adrienne’s POV
I hadn’t stopped working since Linda gave me that call.
I made three calls as soon as I got off the phone with her. I called Leo in Australia, letting him know his niece and her friends were in trouble. I called Alpha Steven in Oregon, letting him know three of his Betas and two of his Warriors were victims. Finally, I informed Alpha Ivan Volkov, Leo’s younger brother, at his home in Stillwater. Vicki was his biological daughter, and he was very protective of her.
While I was talking, one of the Omegas had purchased plane tickets, while another packed my bag. Just twenty minutes after finding out, five of us were heading out. All told, I had over three dozen warriors, trackers, Betas, and Alphas from three Packs on their way to Mexico.
While driving to the airport, I made my next call. I didn’t trust the man, but Vicki did, and his support was making the Australian Pack independent of the North American Council. After explaining this was an emergency, his secretary put me through to him. “Adrienne, what is going on?”
“It’s bad news, Master Pontalba,” I told him. “I was just contacted by Vicki’s producer. A gang of kidnappers in Cancun has taken Vicki, Amy, Noelani, Makani, and their two bodyguards.”
“Damn.” He yelled for some people to come in. “Are they like us?”
“I don’t think so; it sounded like locals,” I said. Mermaids didn’t have our sense of smell, but it was enough to sense a fellow supernatural if they were close.
“That’s a start. How can I help?”
“We’re sending people down there as quickly as we can, but I was hoping you have contacts in the area. I can’t use the authorities, but I need someone who can respond faster than we can. We are six hours out.”
“Master Hernando Vespucci is over Mexico City. I’m sure he has associates in Cancun.”
I just bet he did. What better place for vampires to ply their trade than a beach resort area full of drunk tourists? It was a lot like how Cyprian stayed hidden in New Orleans. “I have trackers on them, but I don’t know how long they will work before the kidnappers remove or disable them. Time is of the essence.”
“Pass that information along to Master Vespucci directly. I will call him and have him contact you.”
“Thank you, Master Cyprian.” I needed that callback, so I waited for it instead of calling others, sending text messages to those friends outside the Packs. We were passing the refinery in Rosemount when my phone rang with an overseas number. “Hello, this is Adrienne Volkov,” I said.
“Mrs. Volkov, my name is Hernando. A mutual friend asked if I could be of assistance to you.”
“Please! Bandits in Cancun captured my niece and her friends,” I said. I gave him the information I had, including the website and codes to follow the trackers. “They still show active, but who knows for how long.” I’d been watching on my laptop, and they were still together and still driving away from Cancun.
“Why not give this information to the local police?”
“The local police may be in on it. Four officers were ‘protecting’ the girls. If it’s not straight ransom, my first suspect is my own Council. I can’t drag humans into that mess.”
“I see.” He issued a few orders with the phone covered. “I will send my people to help. Is this the best way to reach you?”
“It is.” I gave him my flight number and arrival time and that I was traveling with four others. “Thank you, Mr. Vespucci. We will be in your debt for this.”
“Yes, you will be. I’ll be in touch.”
Masters Emily and Cyprian were more friendly than Hernando, who was typical of the vampires I’d met. Leo called just before we arrived at the airport; he, Nicholas, and Joseph were in travel hell. They had to fly from Melbourne to Sydney, catch the long flight to Los Angeles, then make the connection to Cancun. It was going to be two days before they would arrive.
The good news is that there were regular flights to the Mexican beach resorts from Minneapolis in December; the bad news was that they were packed full of drunken vacationers. Although the flight time was just over four hours, with security at each end and the wait for the departure, it was almost eight hours total. My secretary snagged the last first-class seat for me, and I stowed my carry-on bag above it, putting my purse under the seat. The rest of my group were not as lucky; they were seated near the restrooms in the back. Alpha Steven and three of his men would arrive in another hour. Alpha Ivan and the rest of our teams would continue to show up over the next day or so.