2 - Taken
Sophie
“Sophie…” that husky voice sang out on the other side of the door. “I am going to count to three before I start shooting!”
The class begins to get noisy. Girls start crying, I can’t move.
“1”
One of the boys must have jumped up. “Mr. Garcia, sit down!” Miss Taylor scolds him. Devon Garcia is one of the star football players. Filthy rich and a certified man-whore.
“2”
“I am not going to get shot for that girl!” and I hear hurried footsteps and the locks clicking. I hear the door swing open. “S-she’s over-over th-there” I hear the jock stutter. Pussy I think, but can I talk when here I am hugging my knees under a desk, wishing the ground could swallow me up right now.
I hear a light tap tap of footfalls, several of them. I hear several girls shriek and I hold my legs tighter to my chest.
“Move aside” the voice commanded. “No. She is my responsibility.” I hear Miss Taylor’s voice. She is scared but she is trying to be brave for me. A tear escapes my eye and trickles down my cheek. I have seen the movies; if you defy the scary men with the guns, they kill you. I hear the click of a gun and my breath catches. I brace myself for the loud bang but I just hear him again. One simple “move” and it was a deadly command. There was a little scuffling before I heard those footsteps come closer.
I peeked through the slits in my eyes over my knees and saw really expensive black Italian leather dress shoes, perfectly polished maybe two feet from me. Then the owner of those shoes descended into a squat. A gun rested lazily in one of his hands. He was older, maybe early forties. He surprisingly had a little grey mixed into his auburn hair that was trimmed and tamed. He had a strong cheekbone with a light scruff beard that matched his hair. He had a nice handsome face, pointed nose, and piercing green eyes that you could swim in for days. He wore an equally fancy black three-piece suit with a gold tie. His muscles were not large but you could see definition through the fabric. He had a jeweled encrusted serpent pendant tie clip. A gold Rolex watch decorated his wrist and both hands had several gold and diamond rings.
“There you are princess” he looked at me so sweetly. His words were not harsh, but loving and calm. I whimpered and tried to scoot farther back only to be stopped by the desk. This man screamed power and no doubt used that shiny silver gun he had in his hand without mercy.
He held out his hand for me but I wouldn’t take it. I only hugged myself more and tears couldn’t stop flowing. I mean you would do the same if big scary men with guns wanted to give you attention.
He huffed in annoyance and his soft expression turned cold and hard. “Sophie, we don’t have all day. Let’s go. Now.” He demanded and I still didn’t budge.
Getting more aggravated he leaned forward and snatched my wrist in hand quickly and I squealed in surprise. He held it firmly. “Defy me again and I will pull you out and so help me I will beat your ass purple with my belt right here in front of your classmates.” The serious look on his face had me nodding and allowed him to gently pull me out of the safety of the desk. Once I stood with him, he immediately wiped my flowing tears and his sweet, loving eyes were back. He was super tall. My head met the middle of his chest. “Shh, it’s okay baby girl.” I looked down at our shoes.
He grabbed my bag that was clutched in my hand and I looked up slightly to see him hand it to a big burly man behind him and kept his hand out and a pair of silver cuffs was placed in his hand. I whimpered and tried to take a step back but he grabbed onto my arms with lightning speed. “Don’t fight it, baby, it will be over soon.” I looked down again and let him turn me around. He brought my hands gently behind my back and I felt the cool metal tighten against my wrists. He turned me back around and kissed me on the forehead. “And Happy Birthday!” He smiled brightly and kissed my salty tears away.
I wanted nothing more in that moment to be in my brother’s arms. I wanted to cry so badly at the thought of never seeing them again.
He gripped my arm firmly and we started towards the door. I noticed most of my classmates still huddled under tables and there were easily twenty big burly mountain men in black suits, earpieces, and guns in the small classroom.
The one holding me, let us call him Boss Man since he is the big man on campus right now, stopped at the door and turned to face Devon who was still standing there, shivering in fear. “Thank you for your assistance,” he said almost sarcastically and Devon just nodded. But no one expected that the boss man would whip out his gun with his free hand and shoot Devon in the leg. BANG! Devon screamed, I screamed, and the class screamed in shock.
Boss man took a step forward to the boy now clutching his bleeding leg. Another firm set of hands was on my shoulder instantly as I watched the Boss grab Devon’s hair and tug his head to look at him. “That was for being a little bitch. How quick you were to offer up my princess to save yourself. You don’t deserve to be called a man!” He spits and shoves Devon’s head roughly. Devon was crying and there was now a large wet stain in the front of his pants.
Boss man comes back to me and kisses me once again on the forehead before grabbing my arm and hauling me out of the classroom, down the main stairwell, and out of the building. The whole school was deadly silent and as we walked, more army men with guns flanked our sides. Pretty sure we were more guarded than the President right now. We stepped outside into the bright sunny day and headed to one of the luxury SUVs. A guard quickly opened the door and I was escorted inside. I pushed myself to the other end and the boss man got in after me. The inside was spacious and very sleek; the windows were super tinted and thick, probably bulletproof. We soon began to speed out of the campus grounds and onto the main street, a caravan of SUVs around us.
Finding my voice a few minutes into the ride “who-who are y-you, sir?” I ask cautiously. He looks at me with a smirk on his face. “My name is Matlock Anderson. I am the President of Fire Stone Technologies but more importantly, I am the Mafia King of the Americas. But to you my princess, you will call me Daddy.” He flashed me a million-dollar smile with pearly white teeth.
I felt my heart constrict, my eyes got heavy and I welcomed the darkness as I fainted, everything was just too much for me to take in right now.
Zach
“You have a phone conference with Mr. Satzu in 10 minutes. Your 11 am with the marketing department was moved to 2 pm because there was an issue with the projector in the Blue Conference Room, and I made reservations for a private room for you and your family at Azul Diablo for tonight at 7 pm. I know your sister loves that place. I had gifts purchased and wrapped for her from you and your brothers. They have already been put in your car. It took me about six months but I found a first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird. It was even signed. I made sure it was from you.” Said my assistant Haley with a wink.
This woman ceases to amaze me. She has worked for me for about 6 years now and is always on point. I seriously don’t know what I would do without her. She is a good friend to all of us. “Great job Hals. Thank you. You are the best” I compliment her and she leaves with a smile on her face.
The morning goes smoothly and I take a minute to look at the picture that was taken this past summer of me and my brothers with our baby girl on the cruise trip we took to Bora Bora. And yes I consider her my baby, I have been her caregiver since she was two. She is my world, the most important girl in my life. Well, now I guess a woman. She has grown up to be absolutely beautiful, inside and out. The two hooligans that share the same DNA as I walk in, all smiles.
“How did it go?” I ask them with my eyebrows raised. We share an office as we are the CEO, CFO, and COO respectively of our multi-million-dollar international logistics firm. We started the company in our home office in college and now we have over five thousand employees.
“We got the contract!” Kevin exclaimed happily. This was huge for us. It was a US government contract and it would open up so many more opportunities.
“Even more reason to celebrate tonight!” Caleb said, sitting at his desk. “I still can’t believe Sophie is 18! She’s not our sweet, shy baby anymore. We are still on track for our plans?” We all nod our heads in agreement.
Beep.
“Um Sir, the Principal from St. Andrews is on the phone. He says it’s urgent.” Haley came over the intercom. My brothers and I looked at each other worriedly and they rushed over to my desk. “Put him through, Hals” I order and wait for the connection. I placed the call on speaker so we could all hear.
Beep.
“This is Zach Deltoro, how may I help you Principal Waters?” I ask politely.
“Sir, I am so sorry sir. We couldn’t stop it. I am so so sorry,” the principal was spewing crazy talk.
“What are you talking about Henry? Spit it out!” I threw all formalities out the window.
“Um. Some men came into our school with guns… they took Sophie.”
“WHAT!?” we all shouted; our blood was boiling hotter than a volcano. Heads are about to roll.