Captive to the Dark by Alaska Angelini Read Free Book Online Page A

it wasn’t to the chair. Shit. If they wanted to pick me up, I’d be at their mercy.
    A frown came to my abductor’s face and he leaned forward. “Open.” A single tear fell down my cheek. I hated weakness. Hated it so much that I opened wide for him. Surprise flashed across his face for the briefest moment. “Good girl.”
    Oh, how I’d longed for those words in the past. Not anymore. Not from him.
    “Bring me the other chair.” He kneeled again and met my glare. “I know you don’t understand, but you will soon enough. This has to happen. Just…” A chair was sat down beside mine and he didn’t continue. “Call him.” There was that cold tone. The one I’d heard before. I looked over and met the eyes of a monster. Of the devil, himself. And I couldn’t look away. It was as though I was sucked in and held hostage. And wasn’t I, for real? My captor in this form was soulless. His darkness surpassed mine and made me feel like a child trapped in his internal hell. A little girl asking to play on his playground of wicked rides. But I didn’t want to be on this roller coaster. I wanted off. Out. Away from him and what he was. If I could only break our eye contact… Somehow, I managed.
    The taller man headed behind the camera and turned, pushing and messing with things on the computer. A weird ringing I’d never heard before fill the room. It wasn’t the typical kind you’d hear while calling on a cell phone. This one had a variation of short tones. Almost like an old school internet dial-up connection.
    My father’s face was suddenly on one of the monitors and I could feel myself shaking. I wanted to yell at him to come get me. To take me away from here. I’d do anything. There’d be no more embarrassment from me. I’d be the best daughter possible.
    “Jesus! What have you done to my daughter?” Red covered his face while he stared into the screen. Where were the cops? Were they recording this? Would they trace the call?
    “This is only the beginning.” My kidnapper reached over and grabbed a folder from the smaller guy, opening it. “Illegal guns. Drugs.” Pictures fell to the floor as he flashed them at the camera and let them fall to the ground. I looked down, shocked. Crates rested in the floor of my sister’s room. In the next pictures, the wooden boxes were opened, revealing guns and packages of what I assumed were the drugs he was speaking of.
    My eyes slowly rose to my father. Was it true? Where they all involved with illegal activities?
    “But this isn’t the only thing you and the Brighton’s traffic, is it?”
    “You’ve lost your mind. Give my daughter back and we’ll walk away from this without any more trouble.”
    The kidnapper leaned further in the chair. “You fucking wish. Don’t think you’re going to get away with this. I have evidence that may not tie you directly, but I sure as hell could ruin your career.”
    I looked to my father, my mind racing, going over every sort of trafficking I could think of. There was only one more that became apparent. My blood turned cold as the realization hit. Every muscle that twitched in my father’s face, I noticed. There wasn’t a single change in expression that I didn’t catch. Mostly, I looked into his eyes. They told me everything I needed to know. My heart broke and I had to turn my head away. He was guilty of something and everything in me told me it was what I suspected. Shit. The knowledge that he could be a part of anything that touched on rape was enough for me to want to turn my back on him. Sex trafficking…please, no.
    For a good half minute Victor didn’t say anything. When I glanced back at the monitor, only then did he speak. “What are you getting at? What the hell do you want?”
    Lightheadedness made my eyes roll. Please don’t let me be sick with a ball gag in my mouth . Fuck. It was true. Victor Hagen was not my father anymore. Not after what had happened to me. How could he do such a thing?
    “Your