Malia's head swam. She was very dizzy, very disoriented. She groaned in pain of the headache she could feel growing in strength. Everything was dark. Something was over her eyes, she couldn't open them. She also had some kind of gag in her mouth.
"Well, well, look who's awake." A menacing voice taunted. She suddenly remembered just how much danger she was in. Vincent Dutari had kidnapped her. She tried to move away from his voice. She realized her arms were tied behind her back, making her movements difficult and clumsy. The fear made her pulse race.
"Ah, ah, ah," Vincent mocked. "You just got here. You don't want to leave now. The party hasn't even begun yet." He laughed coldly. Malia had absolutely no control over the trembling of her bound muscles. She'd been taken again, except this time it wasn't Cain who had control over her, it was much worse. She needed to get out of here. She needed to get back home, before Vincent could do any of the horrible things he had planned for her.
"Who would've thought," Vincent was closer now, "That such a pretty little bitch," He ran his hand across her face, causing her to flinch away from him in disgust. He grabbed her jaw, holding her in place harshly. "Would turn out to be such a big fucking problem. I lost my job because of you, you little cunt!" His large fingers bit into the skin of her cheeks. "My wife left me. She took my son!" He let go only to slap her hard across her face, splitting her lip. The force of the blow caused her to fall back against the wall. She heard ringing in her ears and tasted blood.
"Durtari." A masculine voice from across the room said. "That's enough." He said it casually, but Vincent backed up. As Malia was trying to recover, the piece of cloth that covered her eyes was lifted. The room she was in was dim and small. It looked like a prison cell with a heavy wooden door instead of metal bars. A strong sense of deja vu hit her. This wasn't Milan manor though, this was where she would experience very real nightmares. She was sitting on a hard cot, the only piece of furniture in the room other than a disgusting bucket in the far corner that she didn't want to think about. She looked up and saw the second speaker. It was Mr. Denizen from the unit.
She was confused momentarily, then she remembered the way Cain had argued with the man. She'd thought it was a benign rivalry, apparently not.
"I have it on good authority that General Malcolm seems to have taken a liking to you, my sweet." Denizen said, confirming her suspicions. "That's unfortunate for you. Please don't take it personally. I have been waiting to even the score with Cain for a long time. I finally have the opportunity." He was gloating. Speaking to himself more than to her. Malia tried to shake her head in denial. Cain didn't want her, he wouldn't care. Unfortunately Denizen was too far gone to do anything but give her a pleased smile. "It seems your lover has made several enemies over the years, most recently Mr. Dutari here. You were simply caught in the crossfire my sweet. We're going to have to hurt you." Malia shook her head vehemently and felt tears run down her face. "I know, I know." He patted her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her and she viciously flinched away from him. He shrugged. "Now we're going to start off slow. We're going to give Cain a buildup until the grand finale." He walked away from Malia and turned to Dutari. "Start off with the bullwhip. It'll give us some nice dramatic pictures. Nothing else Dutari, not yet, I mean it." Vincent raised his hands in mock surrender, giving an exaggerated innocent expression. "And Dutari," Vincent looked at the man who was clearly in charge of this horrific nightmare. "Make sure to break the skin." He said coldly before he left the room.
------------------------
Cain felt like he was standing on that icy cliff again, looking down at the water with fear paralyzing him. Unfortunately he wasn't drunk like he had been that night, having expelled the alcohol he'd drank into his trash can. Now he could feel everything. Tristan was in the room. Cain couldn't remember him getting there. He was talking into his phone aggressively. Cain simply stood in shock. He heard Tristan calling his name, but it sounded like it was coming through a fog.
"Cain!" He shook him out of his trance. "Clint Jepson is dead."
"What?" Cain was unable to take everything in.
"Clint!" He repeated angrily. "He was in the main security room tonight with Evan Lutz. Jepson is dead and Lutz is missing. The guard at the gate was killed as well. The surveillance was disabled."
Cain didn't know Lutz well, but he could picture him and had a dossier on him as he did for all of his staff. He was one of the younger men on his team, twenty-four. Five foot eleven and bulkily muscled. He was working with Jepson because Cain could trust Jepson. He didn't have it in him to mourn the man right now.
"This was an inside job?" Cain finally spoke incredulously.
"It looks that way." Tristan confirmed. Cain needed to work quickly. He needed to be the general now instead of the much too vulnerable man. He knew that time was the enemy. He needed to do something and do it quickly.
"I want everything locked down. All staff is to be accounted for immediately."
Tristan nodded and quickly began dialing on his phone. Cain called Finn at the cabin. He sounded groggy, but answered on the third ring.
"Yeah?"
"There's a situation here. I need your help." There must have been something in Cain's voice that conveyed the urgency he was feeling.
"I'll be there as soon as I can." Finn said soberly and hung up. Jack and Kristen walked into Malia's room clad in terry-cloth robes and looking how Cain felt.
"What's going on?" Jack asked.
"Where's Malia?" Kristen added simultaneously.
Cain was at a loss for words. He was still operating under a sense of shock.
