Six: The Cabin In The Woods

He drove them into the woods of Bluebridge away from the town's community. They arrived in front of a small cabin made of woods hidden behind the trees.

"What is this place?" she looked around and all she saw were trees.

He grabbed her arm and dragged her up the stairs to the cabin. "Home sweet home." He pushed her in.

"We're staying here? For how long?"

He stared into her eyes, he wasn't over with her stunt earlier. He didn't answer, just an annoyed look on his face.

"Aren't you going to tell me something? Anything? You've been dragging me God knows where for the past 24 hours ... I have the right to know where you're taking me."

He dropped the paper bag on the dining table and sat her down. "Eat ... you haven't eaten since yesterday."

He locked the door and closed all the curtains, he searched the place and checked every room for windows and all possible exit.

She stared at the paper bag, her stomach growled. "Can you take this off? I can't eat with this thing." He lifted her hands with the handcuff still tight around them.

He took the key from his back pocket and took it off. He sat on the chair in front of her. "We'll be staying here for a few days ... we are miles away from the main road and there are no other cabins around if you decide to run away ... chances are, you'll get lost in the woods with nothing to eat or ... you'll get lost in the woods with nothing to eat ... so ..." he raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe I'll take my chances ..." she smirked at him. She took out the burger and fries from the paper bag and stuffed her face with it. She had lost her appetite completely and didn't realize how hungry she was.

He sat and watched her eat. "You're lucky, you know?"

She scoffed, "Heh ..." she mocked him.

"You're lucky to be alive ... you would've been dead if I wasn't there."

"You actually think I should be grateful for being kidnapped like this? Watched my parents being shot in front of me? Not knowing what's gonna happen to me?"

He paused for a moment, "At least you don't have a bullet in your head ... you would've had the same fate with your parents."

She looked at him intensely, "Who sent the order to kill my parents? Is it the Messinas?"

The Messinas were the business rival of The Lombardo family, which made them the enemy of her family too. The wedding was the biggest union between two very powerful families in the business and the Messinas would never want that to happen.

He shrugged.

"I don't get it ... they were sent to kill everybody but you kidnapped me instead? Who are you working for?"

He leaned closer, "I don't work for anybody ... I take my orders, do my job, get my money and disappear ... but you ... you're an exception to the rule ... and I don't like exceptions ..." his face was getting closer to her, he stopped when they could feel each other's breath on their faces.

"Exceptions messes things up ... and I've never messed things up for the past 10 years of my job ... so if you decide to do something stupid again and mess things up for me ... I won't hesitate to get things over with ... do you understand?"

She swallowed her food slowly, she knew this man was a killer and he meant every word he said.

"You're a hitman ... I saw your weapons ... I don't understand why you haven't killed me already?"

He pressed his gun to her lower jaw, "Exactly ... I don't understand it either, so let's not find out ... shall we?"

He sat back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair. He let out a long exhale. He was as frustrated as she was. He didn't want to be there either, this was not the deal he had agreed on but he couldn't get out of it now.

He was not a kidnapper. His job never required him to meet anyone. Not the client, not the target. He usually gets the order through disposable phone, anonymous drops of packages, money transfer to a Swiss bank account, show up, get the job done and that was it.

His clients are usually high profile figures in society, the government, billionaires, business moguls, or their wives. Anyone who can afford to pay him $500 thousand to 1 million dollars a kill depending on the complexity of the job. He was the best in his field. He didn't go by any name and nobody had ever seen his face. Until now.

He was offered 20 million dollars to kidnap Ariana Montenero on her wedding day. It was not his line of work, but the money was too great. He was looking at early retirement, he thought. Killing people every day is not exactly a common job, he didn't enjoy it, he did it heartlessly. After 10 years of shooting people in the head, he wanted out and Ariana Montenero was his ticket to do it. He was promised a clean getaway on top of the 20 million dollars after the job is done.

Kidnap was much more complicated than a kill. He had to study the target, the location, and plan his getaway more meticulously than a kill. He had received the 50% down payment before the job, and the rest will be transferred as soon as the delivery was made. But the delivery was stalled.

Anonymous didn't provide him with an explanation of why the client had postponed the delivery. He assumed it was too risky after the greatest ambush of the century. The police, federal agents, secret agents, and other law enforcement were on the case, and everyone who knew the two families were under close watch. He didn't really know who had hired him to do the job, it was safer in his line of work not to know anything about his client.

He kept quiet most of the time, just sat and stared into the wall like he was figuring something out.

She secretly watched his every move. She was going to be stuck with this man for a few more days, and then what? She had to find a way to escape, or steal his gun, she can kill him and then be free. It's amazing what silence can do to the brain. Hours and hours of not talking and just thinking, she had calculated hundreds of scenarios of how she will get out of her situation.

And then he fell asleep.