Broken Storm Part One (7 page)

I
t had taken her a long time to calm down from her
confrontation.

But it wasn't nearly as excruciating as she’d
thought it would be. Though her hands had shaken for a while, and her back was
still slick with sweat, her mouth dry no matter how many times she swallowed,
she didn't want to run away and hide under her bed covers and never come out
again.

In a way she was proud of herself.

She hadn't backed down.

She’d gone all the way to Chase Harlow and told him
exactly what she thought of him.

She’d been brave and courageous.

Suicidal, possibly, but she had stood her ground.
Her grandmother would be proud.

Rather than heading in to work, Keiko had made a
hasty call to Jenny and had begged her roommate to fill in for her. Jenny had
agreed, possibly only because Keiko had admitted she’d gone to see Chase, and
in Jenny's mind that meant one thing.

Then Keiko had spent the rest of the day doing
nothing, walking around the city, window shopping, and trying to calm down.

She’d bought her lunch, settled down in the park,
and had stared at the trees shifting about in the breeze.

She told herself that she was never going to make a
mistake like this again. She’d been taken away by his charm, good looks, and
money, hadn’t she? Why else had she spent three days tracking down those
documents, only to be so stupid to leave them with him?

'Well it's not going to happen again,’ Keiko said
firmly to herself, really trying to make herself believe her own words.

Though she could spend the rest of the afternoon in
the park, as the afternoon drew on, the air started to chill her even through
her thick jacket. She’d pulled it from her car, along with some gloves and a
scarf, but right now they weren’t doing their job, and with a quick look up to
the fat, white, billowing clouds above, it almost looked like there was snow on
the horizon.

Like all other weather, Keiko loved snow. She loved
wind, rain, hail, everything.

Just staring up at the clouds, no matter what color
they were or whether they were bucketing down with drenching rain, made her
feel more alive. It made her forget herself and all her troubles.

But before she could kick back on the grass, bring
her hands behind her back and stare up at the wintry sky above, she forced
herself to her feet instead.

She had the afternoon off, and technically she
should make the most of it. She had an assignment due in a week, and the
apartment was a complete tip.

So grumbling, Keiko walked through the park,
heading towards the side street that would lead down to her parked car.

She never reached it though.

Because a car drew up just before her, sharp and
quick, the tires actually screeching as they mounted the curb.

It surprised her, and she shuddered, her hands
still locked firmly in her pockets.

She stared at it for a moment, then turned away and
continued to walk on.

She didn't get far. Someone jumped out of the car.

They ran up to her. She turned.

She expected him. She was wrong.

The face she looked up into belonged to a large,
heavyset man, with several scars jagged down his cheeks and eyebrows.

'Can I help you?’ she asked quickly, her heart
aflutter in her chest for some reason.

'I reckon,' the guy said in a low voice.

There was something about the tone and the peculiar
curl of his lips that got to Keiko. It also made her realize how deserted the street
around her was at that moment.

There were several entrances to the park, and it
just so happened that she was near the one that was least used. It backed out
onto a series of alleyways, and though there were buildings all around, they
were mostly restaurants that were used at night but were hardly ever open
during the day.

Keiko took a quick step back, the movement jerky.

The guy didn't say anything. But he did follow.

‘I'm sorry, but I have to go,' Keiko managed
through a shaking voice.

She was not sorry; the guy was creeping her out. But
Keiko had the kind of personality that had to excuse herself, even when she was
facing down a brute of a man with scars all over his face and a menacing look
in his eye.

That did not stop her from pushing herself into a
jerky half jog.

She’d parked her car down a little side street that
she knew well. It always had a few car spaces left, because it was practically
abandoned. A fact that Keiko now dreaded.

In an instant she realized she should not lead the
man to her car, but as she ran through the mouth of the alleyway, she could no
longer turn back.

He was behind her; she could hear him.

A strange kind of desperation that Keiko had never
felt before rang through her belly and shook through her back.

She could hardly breathe, hardly speak, hardly make
a sound. Her jerky jog picked up into a run, then a sprint.

He was still behind her.

Just before she could open her mouth and force out
a scream or reach for her phone, a car turned its way into the alley. It drove
up fast, slamming on its breaks when it was opposite her.

Someone forced the door open.

It was Chase Harlow.

She had no idea what to do.

Then the guy behind caught up to her.

Chase Harlow

He’d gone out to find her. After he'd shared his
story with Victor and Julius and the two had considered him with suspicion,
Chase had realized that he couldn't just let this slide.

After he made his secretary call the nursing home
and confirm that indeed two man had gone to visit Ami Teshi yesterday, he
couldn't ignore it any more.

Somebody else knew about Keiko, and it had to be
the sect. Or if not the Sect, maybe one of Chase’s other competitors. The point
was, it was dangerous.

He’d left Victor and Julius in his office, Victor
mumbling something about going to check through the security logs to prove that
Keiko had been snooping outside of Chase’s office.

Chase had left him to it.

Because the longer the afternoon had drawn on, the
more the guilt had surged.

He couldn't just leave Keiko alone, because he knew
if he did, the Sect wouldn't.

So he'd crammed himself into his car and driven
around to her house.

No one had answered, and swearing to himself, Chase
had gotten back in.

He knew where she worked, as his secretary had
already pulled up every snippet of information she could get on the woman, but Keiko
was not at work either.

Driving around the city, at a loss of what to do,
Chase berated himself more and more.

Because maybe Keiko was right. When she'd stormed
into his office, she’d snapped at him that just because he was rich, he
couldn't get away with everything he wanted. Maybe the possibility of finding
out information about Aiko had gone to his head, and maybe Chase had forgotten
that real people were involved in this. It wasn't just some personal game, some
personal race to victory.

Swearing again, he circled around the park. Not
because he hoped to see her there, but because the roads around that area were
the quickest route back onto the highway. She might have gone to visit her
grandmother or maybe she'd gone back to her parents. He already had the right
addresses.

At that thought, Chase winced.

He really was creepy, wasn't he? He really was
using his wealth and position to do things any decent person wouldn't.

But he was committed now, and he had to find her,
before they did.

Then providence had smiled.

He’d been behind a car when it had roughly turned
towards the curb, parking with a screech.

Shaking his head at the bad driving, he’d pulled
around them to move on.

Then he'd seen her. Keiko. As he’d driven past, he’d
seen her expression snap to white. Then she’d pushed across the street rather
hurriedly, and made her way down the nearest alley.

Chase had gone to turn in to follow, but the damn lane
was one-way, so he’d looped around, speeding as he did, heart racing, mind
ablaze.

Did he recognize that car? The one that had parked so
hastily on the curb.

Did he recognized the thick-necked man who had
piled out of it?

Chase finally pulled into the alley, speeding up it
and then slamming on his breaks when he saw her, the car jolting at the violent
move.

His heart in his throat, he flung open his door.
'Get in,’ he called to her.

She hesitated.

She did not run over to him.

And that was when the man caught up to her.

He wrapped his arms around her middle, pulling off
her feet. She let out the beginning of a screech, but he slammed one of his
massive hands over her mouth, and it was cut short.

She struggled against his grip, kicking out with
her legs, but the guy was huge.

Chase ran from his car, barely having the time to
yank up the park break, lest it roll away.

He launched himself at the guy, but whoever he was,
he was quick on his feet, and he darted back, pulling an arm out, dropping it
to his jacket, and then grabbing out a gun.

'Don't you dare,’ he said as he pointed it at
Chase.

He pulled his hand from Keiko's mouth to readjusted
his grip, and she began to scream again, but the guy rammed his gun against the
side of her head hissing at her to shut up or he would shoot.

Her face crumpled down in shock and disbelief,
tears starting to streak down her cheeks.

Chase slowly brought his hands up.

He’d been in his fair share of confrontations with
the Sect. If indeed, that was who this guy belonged to.

Usually they weren’t this desperate. Violent, yes,
but secretive. If they wanted Keiko, they could have stolen into her apartment
in the middle of the night and kidnapped her in quiet. For them to Chase her
down in the street in the middle of the day, and risk having the police called,
meant they were desperate. Unusually desperate.

Keiko kept on whimpering, softly, her arms shaking,
more tears falling down her cheeks.

'I could just shoot you, but I won't if you're a
good girl,' the guy said.

His words sickened Chase. From the particular tone
of his voice to what he'd said; it was derogatory, sharp, and sleazy.

He tried to catch Keiko’s eyes, tried to reassure
her, but she’d closed them against the tears and the onslaught.

'That's a good girl,' the guy said condescendingly,
still not moving his gun from her head.

‘Now Mister Chase Harlow is going to get out of my
way, step away from his car, and turn a blind eye,’ the guy said as he turned
Chase's way, nodding at the car behind him. ‘It looks nice, I’ll be sure not to
dent it, too much,’ the guy added with a loud laugh.

Chase, every single muscle in his body tensed,
slowly stood to the side.

Because there was nothing he could do.

He couldn't tell the guy there was no way he was
going to steal Chase's car. He couldn't rush forward, somehow pry the gun from
his grip, and stop him from hurting Keiko.

'You know, we only keep you alive because you're
dumb enough to bring us clues like this,' the guy admitted as he made it to the
car, opened the back door, and got ready to shove Keiko inside.

Then Chase watched in sickened horror as the man
pulled a syringe from his pocket as he somehow still had his arm locked around Keiko
while his gun was pointed at Chase, and then he injected her in the neck in a
swift but fumbled move.

She somehow managed to stifle a scream, and
fortunately she didn't fidget too much; the needle going in smoothly without
breaking in her neck.

Then she collapsed.

Seconds later, her body drawing limp, it was one of
the most harrowing sights Chase had ever seen.

Not nearly as harrowing as watching the guy pile
her into the back, get into the front seat of Chase’s car, offer him a low nod,
close the door, and then drive off in a screech of tires.

Chase Harlow had only met Keiko Teshi about a week
ago.

Before that, according to the information his secretary
had managed to dig up on her, she had been a normal, if awkward, university
student working for a catering company. Her grades were unremarkable, her
ambitions apparently non-existent, she had been miles and miles away from Chase’s
usual world.

Well now he had dragged her into it. And now her
life would never be the same.

She’d just been kidnapped by the Sect.

And Chase was responsible.

W
hen she woke up it was to the intrusive view of
light flickering in her eyes.

Somebody had their fingers pressed into her
eyelids, and they were shining a torch at her.

She struggled, mumbling, trying to blink against
the onslaught.

She could hardly move though.

Her body felt heavy, and it throbbed with a special
kind of fatigue she had never felt before.

'Where am I?' she asked through a croak that shook
through her neck and throat.

Nobody answered.

‘She is awake,’ somebody snapped.

As the torch was pulled back, Keiko managed to
close her eyes for a moment, the afterglow of the strong light dancing over her
retinas.

When she managed to open her eyes again, it took a
long time to adjust to the illumination in the room.

It was dim, low, and as she flicked her eyes up to
the ceiling above her, she could see it was all coming from a single dangling
light.

All the other lights in the room were broken.

‘Where am I?' she asked again, her voice stuttering
through a plea.

It was then that Keiko realized she was sitting up,
not lying down.

She tried to bring her arms around, wanting to pat
at her face, wanting to rub her eyes to get rid of the final glow from that
torch.

She couldn't move them though.

Because they were tied behind her. Tightly,
expertly, she could hardly even move her wrists, let alone get them free.

Desperation spiked through her, sending with it a
surge of adrenaline that made her heartbeat practically double. 'Who are you,
what's going on, where am I?' she pleaded, the swelling fatigue she had woken
up to being chased away by her fear.

There were two men standing in front of her. One
with a torch in his hand, the other with a gun.

It brought it back.

Keiko had been kidnapped in plain sight, in the
middle of the day.

Someone had shoved a gun to her head and injected
her in the neck.

Shaking, shivering so violently she practically
caused the chair to fall over, she wanted to bring a hand up and clutch it just
below her ear, exactly where the man had shoved the needle.

She had to be dreaming, right? This couldn’t be
happening to her. She was so ordinary, so unremarkable. She led a particularly
boring life. There would be no reason for anyone ever to go to the trouble of
kidnapping her. She wasn't worth anything, her family weren’t rich, and she had
no specialized knowledge or expertise.

And yet Keiko was still tied to the chair, still
facing off against two men before her, the two men with scarred faces, large
muscled bodies, and expressions that made her shake with fright.

'Get the camera,' one of them growled.

The other one disappeared behind Keiko, his
footsteps echoing through the large room.

There was a concrete floor below her, bare and
scratched, and around her was junk, stacked up against the walls, no furniture
to speak of, nothing but her rickety little chair.

She stared with an open mouth at the man in front
of her. 'What do you want?' she forced the words out, though her voice was
little more than a silent, desperate whisper.

He didn't answer, he did sneer though, then he
nodded at the other man as he came into view, snatching the camera from him.
'To take your picture, love,' the man finally replied.

His words and the way he’d said them made Keiko
want to throw up. In fact she twitched forward in a dry retch, squeezing her
eyes closed as she did.

'This won't hurt a bit,' he assured her as he
bought the camera up. Confusingly, it was a Polaroid. It wasn't a digital camera,
he wasn't even using his phone, and in a second he snapped his finger over the button,
the click of the camera taking the photo reverberating around the room.

Then he brought his hand around and grabbed the
photo as it was processed.

Shaking it in one hand, he grinned her way.

'Why are you doing this?’ she asked, her voice wavering
so pathetically she really did sound like a frightened mouse.

Except she had every reason to be scared.

She was in some kind of abandoned room, full of
junk, tied to a chair, facing a man with a gun who had just taken a photo of
her.

This was beyond serious. This was a level of danger
Keiko would be lucky to live through.

As the man waited for the photo to develop, he
finally brought it up, and as he did, his unkind features crumpled into an even
unkinder smile.

'We'll see what happens to this,' he said
cryptically.

Keiko started to cry. The tears, hot and fast,
dribbled down her cheeks, collected over her chin, rushed down her neck, and
soaked through her collar.

She shook forward as she did, sobbing, whimpering.
But no matter how much she cried, it didn't change the fact of what was
happening to her.

After the man took the photo, he nodded her way one
final time, said he’d be back for her, and then the two of them left.

She heard their footfall echo, then a door closed
somewhere from behind her.

As they left, they turned the light off.

Keiko screamed, and her voice echoed around the
room.

The tears continued to fall, and she shook back and
forth in her chair, overcome.

She did not know what would happen next. But they
would be back. And no doubt they would bring their guns with them.

In the dark she sat there, tied to the chair, and Keiko
fell apart.