Sapphire

Chapter 45

Shay fought as hard as she could against the man that tried to restrain her. Kicking and screaming, using every fighting move she had learned over the years, she eventually broke free from his hold. She made it as far as the hallway when another man joined the party and took her down. Soon, she was tied to a chair next to Alec, her ankles restrained against the wooden legs and hands bound together behind her.

"Who the hell are you?" Shay spat as the two men stood in front of her. Both of them had tattoos on their arms, one more than the other, and jet black hair. The one who answered the door had a thick beard and an average frame while the other had a receding hairline and looked to be fifty.

"Friends of Noah." The bearded man replied.

Shay narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

"To talk to him, of course. We were hoping you could help with that."

Shay looked at Alec, who was restrained just five feet away from her. She didn't miss the slight shake of his head but his signal wasn't necessary. Whatever she could do to keep them away from Noah, she would.

"I don't think so."

The bearded man sighed. "If you don't help us, we can't help you. So please, let's do this the easy way."

Shay's heart was beating so hard it threatened to explode, but she somehow played it cool. At the very least, she expected they wouldn't kill her. If they wanted Noah, she was much better use to them alive. Although, 'alive' and 'unharmed' were two totally different concepts.

"I dunno how you expect me to get him here." Shay tried.

"You have a phone don't you?" The bearded man tilted his head impatiently. "Call him. Tell him to come over."

"One, my hands are tied and two, no way."

"They're gonna get him here regardless, Shay. Save yourself some pain." Alec chimed in. She turned to him with a glare, disappointed that he wanted her to give in so easily.

"No." Shay's voice was firm even though her hands were shaking behind her. Willingly telling Noah to come over would blindside him and most likely result in his capture. Or death, depending on what they wanted from him.

Forcing these men to hurt her and use that to get him to come over might give Noah a chance to come up with a plan.

"Have it your way." The bearded man muttered with a sigh. Pulling out a pistol from the waistband of his jeans, he struck her cheek with the butt of it. A splitting headache slashed through her skull and caused her vision to go black. She had just regained her eyesight in time to watch him windup again, hitting the other side of her face and cutting her cheek. After one more strike, her vision was blurry and all she felt was a steep throbbing in her brain. She wouldn't be surprised if she passed out.

Hands suddenly reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cellphone. The men fiddled with it for a second before the bearded man gripped her chin in his hand and leaned in close. "Tell me the password."

Shay stared at him even as shooting stars clouded her vision. "No."

Another hit, this one to her stomach. Apparently, they wanted to keep her conscious.

"It's 3762." She heard Alec's voice saying her password, and her head slowly turned to face him.

"Thank you." The bearded man let go of Shay and took a couple of steps back. Holding up the phone and pointing it at her, he snapped a photo. "That should get him over here."

The two of them started talking about something else but Shay couldn't focus. The stars were taking over, the bright glistening pebbles of light coming together and expanding until it was the only thing she could see. Then, there was nothing at all.