Chapter Forty

Harley’s Point of View:

I was trying to count in my head how long it had been, but after constantly counting for an hour, I gave up. Whoever had grabbed me, clearly weren’t driving me anywhere close to home. It had been HOURS and we were still going. I had no idea what was happening and I was terrified!

I just kept saying to myself over and over that when Ron or Alex realize I’m gone they will come and find me, but then the horror of the thought that they might not know who these people are sunk in and it started to scare me more.

Who were these people?

What did they want?!

Was this ‘club’ related? But if so... why have they come after me?! I was just Ron’s daughter, I didn’t know anything!

Maybe they didn’t know that...

As soon as they pulled me into the van, They blindfolded me and gagged me, I couldn’t see or speak and I was too scared to move.

I could hear the men talking, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. It wasn’t in English, but I could tell by their tone they were clearly having a disagreement. Their voices were raised and they sounded aggressive... which was worrying. What were they having a disagreement about?!

‘You are behaving. Good, because we won’t hesitate to kill you’. Someone suddenly spoke up, They didn’t sound close to me, so maybe they were the ones driving. I couldn’t respond, but probably wouldn’t even if I could. I wouldn’t know what to say, and something tells me pleading to be let go or for my life wouldn’t mean much to these people.

I had to be smart... and being smart meant not being a troublemaker... and that meant staying alive, doing exactly what they wanted.

‘Remove her gag’. Someone, the same man possibly, ordered and within seconds, it was pulled from my mouth. My lips were dry, the cloth that was gagging me had soaked up all the moisture on them, but I ignored the sting for now. ‘Who are you?’

‘I-I-I’m Harley. My name is Harley’.

‘Harley what?!’

‘Harley Carter’. There was silence for a minute while they spoke in their own language again. Even though I didn’t understand a word, I heard them say Ron’s name.

‘Carter, you say? Is that the truth?’ Shit, what did they know?

‘Yes, it's the truth. I have my mother's last name’. There was more chatter.

‘Why are you here? You sound British’. I nodded.

‘I am. I’m visiting’.

‘Stop with the short answers. Why are you here?’ Now I understand why Jemma said that people not knowing I was Ron’s daughter was a good idea.

‘I’m visiting family, This is my first time here, I don’t know what's going and—’

‘Shut up’. I did. Instantly. ‘Who is your father?’

‘Ron. Ron Hale’.

‘Why don’t you have his last name?’ What were they going to do with me once they have all the information? Would they kill me? Is that why they have taken me? To punish Ron?!

‘He’s my biological father but I didn’t grow up knowing him. This is my first time meeting him. He... We haven’t bonded well. I won’t be seeing him again when I leave’. It was strictly true but it wasn't completely false either. I really didn't feel like we were bonding, Apart from that day in the park, we hadn’t spent any time together and he has this big grudge against me and Alex... I don’t honestly know what I’d do... If I got out of this...

‘What is going on between you and Alexander Coates?’ Shit, they knew about Alex?!

‘Nothing. We’re just having fun... We’re nothing’. One of them said something to the other but as usual, I couldn’t understand what it was.

‘Is he your boyfriend?’

‘No’.

‘Does he care about you?’ I swallowed the lump in my throat.

‘No. We just hook up. No feelings’. I lied, and it became obvious they knew I lied when the same guy started shouting and the gag was put back in my mouth.

That was the last time any of them spoke to me—or at all for that matter—for the next few hours.

Where the hell were they taking me?! and WHY!?

**

I don’t even know how long it had been, but my ass and legs hurt from sitting down for so long. When the vehicle suddenly stopped, I heard the van door slide open and suddenly a hand wrapped around my arm and pulled me from my seat.

I fell down onto the rough floor, unable to get my footing quick enough. Whoever it was lifted me up and started pushing me forward. I still couldn’t see, so I was hesitant to move.

‘Come on!' Someone yelled and another hand grabbed me.

I was forced to sit down on what felt like the hardest wooden chair and my blindfold and gagged were removed. It took me a few seconds and quite a few blinks for my eyes to adjust to the light. As soon as my gaze started to focus a bit more, an overpowering awful smell hit my nose.

What was this place?!

WHERE was this place?!?

I looked around at the men standing around the building. That’s what this place was, a large empty building—possibly an old, abandoned factory? Christ knows! There were footsteps echoing through the room and I turned to look where they were coming from. When I saw, my insides went like ice.

The guy from the bar... and Sarah’s workplace. Had he been following me? Is that why he was there?! In which case he would have seen me with Alexander Reality hit me at that moment. I HAD been taken to hurt Ron, and probably the club, which terrified me because that meant they weren’t above killing me—or worse.

There are a lot of things worse than death, and I don’t doubt these people are above that, the question is why?

Why?!