Endurance (Heart of Stone) (4 page)

I didn’t even bother with the handbrake as I screeched to
a halt above the steep incline and fell from the car in my desperation to get
to her. I could hear the guy’s shouting behind me but they wouldn’t stop me,
Satan himself wouldn’t stop me from getting to her.

My feet skidded and slid on the muddy grass as I tore
down the slope, my calves screaming as my muscles tensed and tore against the
sharp angle of the incline. I must have fallen three or four times but my
resolve and fortitude picked me up time and time again, my fear pumping the
blood through my veins at an astonishing rate as my heart tried to keep up.

The final stretch to the car seemed to drag me back, my
dread slowing me but the need to save her pushing me on. The saying one step
forward, two steps back filtered through my head somewhere and angered me. If
the roles were reversed, Ava wouldn’t let any amount of fear hold her back and
I dug my heels into the ground and surged forward, dropping to my knees and
sinking into a deep muddy area beside the driver’s side of the car as I yanked
at the door.

Everything slammed to a halt. My vision blurred as my
brain disputed what my eyes were relaying to it. My heart was frantic as the
chill in my veins cooled my blood and sent a deep shiver through my body. My head
shook as I turned around and scanned the area. “What? No. What?”

I pushed upright as Nate came hurtling towards me, his
feet sinking into the mud and trebling his strenuous efforts.

“She’s…” I stuttered. He frowned at me before his face
contorted into a mask of so much pain I had to reach out to him. “No, Nate.
She’s not here, she’s not there. I…” My head whipped from side to side as I
tried to focus against the dark of the night and communicate with Ava’s best
friend.

“Wh…What?” Nate managed before he pushed me out of the
way and looked into the car himself, wanting to verify my statement. He gagged
then turned and wretched into the mud, the sound way too vulgar in the quiet of
the night as his fear was overcome with relief.

Sam and Greg reached us and both frowned when they peered
into the car. “What the hell? Where is she?” Sam snapped as he spun in a circle
to examine the vicinity.

“I… I don’t… know” I whispered as another dread took
over.

I scrambled around the rear of the car and crouched down.
Scratches, dents and indentations decorated the bumper and my eyes narrowed on
the mess. I worked my way back around to the driver’s side, my shoes sticking
and squelching in the mud. I cursed at the stuff but then shook my head as I
realised the thick substance had probably saved Ava’s life, slowing the speed
of her descent when the wheels would have struggled to turn as easily in it.

I leaned into the car and ripped the airbag out of the
way, forbidding my eyes to look at the blood on it. Ava’s bag and phone were in
the passenger footwell, the contents thrown across the floor but it was the
sight of something else that created my wrath, the deep rooted fury that was
always simmering beneath the surface of my skin exploded into a roar of despair
as I reached out and touched my fingers to the bullet hole in the passenger
door.

My right eye wouldn’t open, I could feel blood trickling
down the side of my face from a taut spot on my temple and my body ached in a
way it never had before. I could feel the blood congealing against my thigh
from where the bullet had torn through the fleshy side of it, ripping an open
wound near to my hipbone. All down my left side, even my hair, was thick and
brittle with dried mud and my toes smarted from the exertion of trying to place
them properly on the floor to relieve the pressure in my arms.

I opened my left eye, but it was pointless, the room was
too dark to see anything beyond the two inches directly in front of my face.

I had already concluded I had been taken from the
wreckage by someone, the gunshot and pain from the bullet as I tried to escape
the car verified that much but the way my hands were clamped above my head in a
chain similar to the one that had tortured me many years ago also confirmed it.

I shook and rattled them again, the soreness in my upper
arms as they held all my weight was getting worse and I knew within the hour I
would be hung limply with no more strength to hold myself up. I wasn’t sure how
long I had been here, but by the way my stomach rumbled with hunger and my
bladder groaned in protest to its fullness, it had been a while.

I took a deep steadying breath and tried to figure out
the layout of the room without seeing anything. I coughed loudly, then whistled
low and turned my head with each tone. I figured the space around me was maybe ten
foot square. The cold and damp had to mean it was below ground or maybe a
garage. I scoffed to myself; my luck didn’t stretch to a garage, the easier of
my two conclusions for me to escape from. From the lack of any light in the
room, there were no windows either and this bothered me. I knew from Mason’s
training, there would be a single door in and out of my prison, therefore
hindering my chances of fleeing.

I jumped as much as I could, lifting my knees high to
give me better bounce and tested the sturdiness of my restraints. It gave the
slightest of groans but enough to bring a small smile across my lips and an
extra surge of energy with my next jerk of the chain.

I stilled immediately as a door opened and light blinded
me for a few brief seconds. When my vision focussed I wished I had been left
blind. The cruel cold smirk across Vickie’s face iced each separate cell in my
veins and if it wasn’t for Dane’s training on my bladder, I knew I would have
wet myself.

Never show fear, Ava. Even when you are facing death,
never divulge your weaknesses to your opponent.

Mason’s voice filled my head and I returned Vickie’s
cruel smile, “How lovely of you to call in Vic, did you bring biscuits for our
coffee?”

I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting the spit that hit my face;
luckily I’d managed to shut my remaining good eye before her toxic saliva burnt
it to the back of my skull.

“You fucking bitch. You deserve to pay, you
and
Mason for what you’ve done. And what better way to hurt Mason than by hurting
you.”

I didn’t reply, not wanting to antagonise her further but
I kept my eye on her and my senses sharp. There was nothing I could do to stop
the launch of her fist into the side of my face and I bit my lower lip as my
cheekbone splintered and sent a shockwave of piercing agony through my face as
my body pivoted with the swing of the chain. She took my breath next as her
foot met my right lung and snapped a rib, causing a high-pitched wheeze to
erupt from my mouth. My body cracked against the stone wall behind me and I
groaned as my back exploded in fits of excruciating pain.

I was now struggling to control my bladder but I forced
myself to hold on, I would rather suffer her painful beating than be humiliated
and piss myself in front of her and her lackeys.

She continued her assault for another fifteen minutes
until my body could take no more and shut down, but not before the horror of my
bladder taking offence at my pride and releasing its contents down my leg and
onto the floor below me.

The bedroom door gave way quite easily under my weight
but I refrained from stepping inside, turning my back and giving a small slice
of dignity to the couple scrambling to pull on some clothes.

My brain registered the scoff before Sam stepped up
beside me and pushed me aside to grab hold of the fist that was taking
direction at my head. I still lingered in the hallway as Sam shook his head
beside me and sighed heavily.

“You never cease to amaze me.” George hissed with disgust
and a tinge of sadness.

“I’m sorry George, but I need to do this.”

“Do what?” He barked as he sidled up beside me, his
fingers working feverishly at the buttons on his jeans. “Embarrass me? Scare
Etta half to death?”

I sighed and chose to ignore him as I turned to Etta, her
body now covered with a robe. “Where is she?”

She frowned and stared at me, her eyes flicking very
faintly to the side of my head giving me all I needed to know. “Lay!” I shouted
as I turned back to Sam, “Get him out of here.”

He closed his eyes briefly but gave me a simple nod
before he turned and took George’s arm, “Come on, son. Let’s give them a
moment.”

George struggled, bucking Sam off with a harsh shake
before turning back into the room and taking a stance in front of Etta. “You touch
her and you’ll regret it!”

The overwhelming pain was clawing at my insides. What I
was about to do would finish mine and George’s relationship completely but I
needed to do this. I would suffer the consequences for a very long time, I knew
I would, but my wife and George’s mother needed me, she would never cope with
captivity again, not after Dane. I needed to get to her before her mind
replayed the previous torture and finally shut down.

I looked at him, taking in his handsome features for
probably the last time, the mirror image of my eyes glaring at me with a
hostility I had only ever witnessed in the mirror, “Your mom is missing.”

I watched his throat bob harshly as a white sheen covered
his eyes, his jaw twitched agitatedly and his fists clenched, the white of his
knuckles taunting me as I observed my son turn into his father – into me.

My feet edged apart and my muscles tightened in
readiness, my lungs thickened helping me to deal with the rapid intake of
oxygen as I felt each bone in my body strengthen and stabilise in preparation
for the oncoming fight.

He flew for me before anyone had chance to react but I
remained upright and lifted my hand to Sam and Greg as they moved in. Their
eyes questioned me but I hardened my stance further and took the beating. He
was relentless, resolute in his fury to hurt me, to make me pay finally, for
the ruin of his mother. He rained fist after fist on me as he screamed and
howled but I closed my eyes and accepted it, let him gain the fuel he would
need for the approaching storm. Eventually his fingers started to claw at me
instead of hit and his body stooped in towards me as his devastation rose over
the hatred and he fell into me.

I hesitantly closed my arms around his already muscled
frame and held him, every one of my senses relishing in his unique scent and
vitality. Although he broke my heart I would forever be proud of the man he had
become, his morality and decency were something that separated him from my
double, and I would forever be grateful to whichever source had deemed him that
way.

He pulled away and peered up at me. “I…” He frowned at
himself and struggled with his words, “I know you have to do this, and for the
first time I understand why, but I meant what I said, hurt her and I will bring
you down.”

I gave him a simple nod before he glanced at Etta, his
eyes relaying some hidden exchange before he turned and left the room.

Layla took a step into the room and Etta’s legs wobbled.
“Sit down, I won’t hurt you” Layla disclosed as she led Etta to the edge of the
bed.

I crouched before her, letting her feel in control as she
peered down at me. “Etta, if you know where she is, you need to tell me.”

She gulped and rolled her lips but turned her head away.
Before I had a chance to request an answer again, Layla had Etta’s hair in her
fist and pulled her face to the side. “Let’s get one thing straight love, I
know you are George’s girlfriend but Ava is my friend, she gets hurt then the
repercussions for you and your mother will be beyond grim.”

Her body trembled and I fought the urge to hurt her. I
had never ever laid a hand on a female but today was a day I was fighting many
demons and I hoped I could restrain my temper for long enough. I pursed my lips
and narrowed my eyes on her, my infuriation at her silence feeding my fury.
“Etta. Imagine how George will feel if you have a helping hand in ending his
mother? He will hate you forever.”

She scoffed then spat straight at me. Layla growled and
wrenched Etta across the bed until she was dumped ceremoniously on the floor at
the base of it but she held firm and looked over at me, “You fucking grass!”

I sighed and closed my eyes for a calming second. “And do
you know what I served him up for?”

She stared at me as though I was some stupid delinquent
she had dragged off the street, “Of course I know, my dad was proud of my
involvement in the firm.”

I stared at her in confusion. For all the years I had
known Etta, she had seemed like a delicate little thing, her softness and graciousness
being one of the things George had fallen in love with. I inhaled roughly as I
struggled to dampen my wrath before I once again considered her, “And you stand
by what he has done?”

She gazed at me in bewilderment, “You’ve done much
worse.”

Layla frowned at me and I realised this small waif thin girl
before me had no idea what her father was actually capable of. Now I had the
torturous decision whether to hurt her with revelations about her parents or
struggle to find another way to find Ava.

“I need to know where she is, Etta.” I closed my eyes and
swallowed my pride, “Please.”

She smirked at me, causing my jaw to clench and my teeth
to grind together. “Finish me, Mr Fox, if you think that will help but I’m
afraid I don’t know. My parents handled much of their business off the estate
and I have no idea where that was, and to be frank, even if I did, I wouldn’t
tell you. Both you and Ava deserve everything dished up to you for what you
have done. Both me and my child will now grow up without a stable family,
without my father who was so much looking forward to his first grandchild and
to watching me flourish and take reign of his business.”