Chapter five

Ava heard the door click and knew he was finally coming to check on her after leaving her in the darkness for hours. She was weak, hungry and her wrists and ankles aches from being tied up, the door pushed open and the man standing in front of her was shrouded in the darkness and he made no move of turning on the light. He walked straight to her like he could find his way in the darkness; she heard him place something on the cabinet and then walked to the windows to draw the curtains.

The light that sipped in blinded Ava for a while and she shut her eyes immediately and then opened it when the pain eased, from the window she could see it was sunset. So he kept to his words, he left her in the dark and starved her till evening. Remembering something, she glanced at the cabinet and seeing the plate of food, her mouth watered and her belly rumbled. She looked at the man in front of her with pleading in her eyes; he didn’t say anything and mainly approached her and untied her. Once free, Ava didn’t care what he would think, she sat up immediately and grabbed the tray of food before he changes his mind.

Never in her life had she been so hungry, never had she felt so starved and because of that she downed the food like a hungry lioness. Whether the food was delicious or not was the last thing in her mind, all she knew was that she was finally filling her empty stomach. Once done, she looked up at the man who had just stood there, watching her eat, “thank you,” she murmured.

He walked up to her and grabbed the robe again, fear clouded her heart and she looked up at him, “you-you don’t have to tie me up,” she said.

“I’m going out, I have an errand to run and the last thing I want is you pulling that stunt you did earlier,” he said.

“I won’t do it, I will be here when you get back, just don’t tie me up,” she looked at the robe.

“I’m sorry but I don’t trust you,” he said and grabbed her feet and started tying her ankles together. Ava didn’t say anything; she knew no amount of what she says would stop him from doing that so she just relaxed until something crossed her mind.

“If you are going to do that, at least let me use the bathroom, I don’t know when you will be back.”

He looked up at her and said nothing for a while, “Just so you know, I will lock the window, don’t try anything rubbish.”

“I won’t,” she agreed.

He got up and went into the bathroom, locking the window and then walked back to her, “I will stand by the door, agreed?”

Ava nodded and he untied her ankles and she got up, wobbling a little and using him to steady herself, “Sorry,” she apologized but he didn’t mind and led her to the bathroom. He stood by the door as he said and backed her.

Ava knew better than to try any rubbish so she did what she came to do and left the bathroom with him behind her. She lay on the bed on her own and he tied her up. Her eyes followed him as he left the room and she sighed, looking out the window and glad that he didn’t close the curtains. It wasn’t long, she heard the sound of a car starting and then it was gone, meaning she was alone in the house.

She searched around with her eyes, there was nothing in the room, absolutely nothing that one can use as a weapon, the man was being careful as hell, she wondered what his name was, he probably would be answering a name that match his reputation, just like El Diablo. If he is answering that and from his tone of Spanish, she guessed he must be from Colombia, he didn’t really look like them but his Spanish can’t be something he learnt, it must be his mother’s tongue.

She sighed, trying to stop thinking about her captor, but who knew what he went for now, probably to kidnap another woman? Or maybe deliver another package? Who even ordered for her, who would dare do such thing? She knew a lot of her father’s friends coverts her but she hardly gives them a chance, so who would dare to use this means to own her and offer eight million dollars for her? Or maybe it won’t be her father’s friend, then the enemy? Who wants to use her to get to her father? She have always known since she was a little girl that she was her father’s weakness, he often tells her that, especially since her mother was killed when she was ten years old.

Her father had said that she had left her at home and gone to welcome him at the airport but right as she was running to him, she was shot dead by a sniper, till today, her father couldn’t tell where the shot came from. Losing his wife right before him, he knew he had to take care of his daughter; else he would lose her too. It was why he never lets her out of his sight except if she was sleeping at night and she understood him and never made it difficult for him, even though it was affecting her living a normal life, meeting new people. Her first boyfriend had been her bodyguard but he had died one night he had gone to take care of something for her father.

Her second boyfriend had been the cook, but he was killed on a night their house was raided by unknown men, her third one had been one of her father’s men but he was killed while trying to protect her father. All of them had died in span of three months of their relationship, at first she had thought her father was the one killing them but the way he mourns with her told her he wasn’t, he loved her and would never hurt her, it was why she never had a boyfriend again, she decided to stay on her own, she was tired of crying and burying her loved ones.

Sighing, she closed her eyes, wishing that a miracle would happen, that her father would find her, it wasn’t the first time she had been kidnapped but it was the first time she was passing a night in the house of her captor. Her father always find her before the day runs out and since he hasn’t found her till now, she was a little afraid he never would. She opened her eyes immediately and rejected that, no, there was no way she would spend the rest of her life, owned by someone. Obviously the devil would deliver her to her buyer, which means, it’s either her father found her or she spends the rest of her life owned by a man. She shut her eyes immediately and prayed against it, the last thing she would want is to be owned by a man. Her respect and pride would be thrown aside as he would do with her as he pleases and she would have no say or whatsoever about her life ever again, it would be a stronger bondage than the one her father already has her in and the one she finds herself in at the moment.

***

A black BMW parked in the driveway of a bungalow, a man dressed in black suit and black shoes came out, he looked around his surroundings before touching his waist to make sure that his guns were in the holsters before shutting the car door and walking to the front door of the house. The door opened before he could knock and a man dressed in suit stood before him, “come in,” he said, walking into the house for him to follow.

“He is in here,” the man paused in front of a door and turned to his companion, “you can go in,” he pushed open the door, “he has been waiting for you.”

The black haired man nodded and his black eyes scanned the house, noting to himself that there are men hiding behind each closed door, he started calculating in his mind how to take them down if it result to fighting for survival. He entered the open door and saw six to seven men dressed in suit and with the one that opened the door joining, made them eight. The men were all standing four each beside a man sitting in a brown leathered sofa with a cigar in his mouth and a white hat on his head to compliment his white attire. He didn’t look up and just blew out rings of smoke, “El Diablo, I didn’t know you would answer to my call, please sit down.”

The black haired man sat down at the chair the men made notice to him, he was sitting directly opposite the man and he crossed his leg on the other, his eyes going to the waist of everyone in the room, each of them carries a gun and he knew it would be a tough fight but he had been in one tougher than that before. The man opposite him looked up and his piercing blue eyes looked upon him, he didn’t fail to notice that his eyes were just like his daughter’s, “I believe you have seen the news or have heard it, whichever you pay attention to, my daughter was kidnapped last night, I was told it was a one man army but the car was abandoned on the way, which means there was someone else.”

The black haired man smiled, “what have that got to do with me, Drago?” he tilted his head, “I don’t see where I come in.”

Drago sighed, “El Diablo, with our past, I had wished we would never cross path again but in this situation, you are the only one that can help. My men and I have searched every nook and cranny but there is no clue, no evidence, the man left nothing to track him with except the car he abandoned along the way and there is no camera there that captured the car he left in. I know your work is delivering not retrieving but I need you to deliver my daughter to me, I would pay you twenty million for the job, ten now, ten when I have my daughter.” One of the men placed a silver briefcase on the table and opened it, showing the wads of money to the black haired man, “if it’s not enough, you can only say so and I will pay any amount you mention, I just want my daughter. So I plead with you, put aside our past differences and let’s work together, I failed my wife, I don’t want to fail her too.”

The black haired man looked down and smiled, “I’m sorry Drago but I can’t help you, you see…”

“This is business, El Diablo, you are a businessman, you can’t let a past encounter to stop you, right?” Drago asked.

“Indeed, but the problem is that I already have something at hand to do but if by the time I am done with it and you still haven’t found your daughter, then I will help you,” he stood up.

“So when will you be done with what you are doing?” Drago asked, standing up as well. He was a tall man with sturdy body that spoke nothing about his age, his white beard added to his facial beauty and the man opposite him need not to be told that his daughter got her beauty from him.

“Hopefully by next week,” he replied.

“My daughter is already spending the night with that bastard; I wouldn’t want her to spend the rest of the weekend as well.”

“I’m sorry then but I can’t help you now,” he smiled and turned to leave.

“You know El Diablo, I was told you hardly reject a cool business, and with you doing this, it confirmed my suspicion. No man would have been able to pull that stunt last night, no man would have avoided the camera so much, no man would have kidnapped my daughter without leaving a trace, no man would have killed my men so effortlessly like that, no man would have accepted to that job knowing what I will do, no man would have been so efficient in it, no man would have perform the act so clean like that, no man except the infamous El Diablo.”