Free Broken Storm Part One by May C. West Page B

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.

Chapter 11
    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