Chapter 33: The Searchers

Angel stirred and wiggled as she lay on the floor of the dingy motel room. Her wrists and ankles were still bound with duct tape and she urgently needed to use the bathroom. It had been hours since she had left the cabin and Jordan far behind. Her wrists and ankles burned from the duct tape that bound her and she couldn't speak because the tape also covered her mouth.

There was only one bed in the motel room and Rico had taken advantage of it. He dozed off and slept for awhile after they arrived. Finally as she lay there in misery, Rico rolled over and looked at her. He noticed the tears falling down her face and laughed wickedly. He stood up and walked over to her, ripping the duct tape from her mouth, leaving a raw red patch across her lips and mouth and grinned wickedly, "I bet you thought you'd never see me again."

Angel's mouth was dry and she had difficulty moving her mouth, "I need to use the bathroom," she whispered.

Rico looked at her pathetic form and the old feelings of resentment and anger began to return. He was tempted to let her suffer longer until she soiled herself, but he reasoned he might have to live with the stench and he didn't really want that, so he retrieved his knife from behind his back and sliced through the duct tape that bound Angel's ankles. He then held the knife to her throat, "Don't try anything stupid."

Rico yanked Angel up to her feet and shoved her toward the bathroom and laughed as she fumbled with her bound hands, attempting to undo her jeans. He laughed with amusement and then finally took pity on her and undid her pants for her, yanking them down and watching with amusement as she was forced to relieve herself as he watched.

At that moment, Angel didn't care that he was watching or treating her so horribly. She was simply happy to finally be able to relieve herself. When she was finished peeing Rico pulled her to her feet and grinned down her at her as her pants remained pooled around her knees. "I saw your boyfriend give you a spanking," he chided and then he reached around behind her and grasped her bottom, smacking her good and hard.

Angel closed her eyes and winced. This was hell. Rico enjoyed her displeasure and yanked her forward as he swatted her bare bottom a few more times. She stumbled toward the bed with her pants at half mast and her hands still bound. Rico was ready to have some fun. He took his knife out again and held it to her throat as he yanked her pants all the way off.

Angel could see the revenge in his eyes. He was out for vengeance. She winced as Rico cut the duct tape that bound her wrists and then yanked her remaining clothes from her body. Her naked form writhed before him, and he became hard as he watched her. He pushed her over onto her stomach and looked at her back where the thin scars he had left on her body years earlier were still visible. He had beaten her harshly back then, more than once, and Ethan had never forgiven him for his brutality. The scars were now very light and hardly noticeable anymore.

Rico took his knife and traced the scars, "You little cunt," he whispered.

Tears continued to rush out of Angel's eyes as Rico examined her naked body. She could remember well the beatings he had given her and she began to wish he would just stab her and get it over with. She thought of Jordan lying on the floor of the cabin bleeding and she tried to block out her pain. She didn't think there was any way she would ever see Jordan again.

"I would like to slice you with my knife and leave more scars on you bitch," Rico hissed, "But all in good time."

Angel knew he had asked Ethan for money, but she didn't think Ethan would pay it. Ethan knew when to cut his losses.

Rico spread her out across the bed on her stomach and tied her wrists with rope to either side of the headboard. Then he laughed and smacked her bottom a few times as he thought of the video he had sent to Ethan where Jordan had been spanking her, "Ethan's son sure made a big mistake when he thought he could have you for his own," Rico laughed. Rico was not disease free; he had STD's in abundance including a chronic case of genital warts and herpes. He pulled out his cock and stroked it as he looked down at her naked body and remembered her as a young teenager. He used to fuck her all the time back then and beat her for disobeying him. He closed his eyes as he remembered and stroked himself hard until he spurted all over the bedspread. If Ethan refused to deliver the money, next time he would stick his dick inside her and he didn't care how many diseases she caught from him.

Jordan was now fully awake and conscious, but very weak. The first thing he wanted to do was get out of his hospital bed and chase after Angel. Frank and Martin were there when he woke up and held him down.

"You can't go anywhere yet," Martin informed him.

"Where is she?" Frank asked in a worried voice.

Jordan looked at Martin and Frank and realized they knew nothing about his past. He wasn't sure what he should tell anyone, particularly the law enforcement men who hovered outside his hospital room door waiting to interview him. Jordan wanted Angel back, but he had a feeling that keeping his mouth shut was probably the best when it came to the cops.

Detectives Lloyd and Berger were waiting to question Jordan. Angel's rape case had evolved into a missing person's case. Jordan felt light headed as he was interviewed about what happened in the cabin. He ended up telling the detectives very little, most of his information was meant to throw them off the trail. He had to figure out a way to get Angel back without the help of the police; that much he knew.

Ethan paced back and forth for nearly forty-five minutes before turning to his son James who stood nearby, "Any news from your brothers yet?"

James was Ethan youngest son. "No, I haven't heard anything in awhile."

"If I know Joshua, he'll find that bastard," Ethan said. "Plus they have Batista with them and that man is a bloodhound."

James looked down at the floor. He understood why his brother Jordan left so many years earlier. Being the son of Ethan Parks was not easy. "Will you pay Rico the money if they can't track him down?"

Ethan twisted the cigar in his mouth, "She's a fucking hooker for Christ sakes, what makes Rico think she is worth five million dollars?"

"Maybe he's starting high to see what you'll pay," James reasoned. He knew his father would never pay five million. Angel held a special place in his father's heart, but not that special.

"If he harms her..." Ethan said almost to himself and he couldn't bring himself to finish his own sentence.

"Why not play along with him as long as you can," James suggested, "That way there is less chance of Angel being harmed."

"Don't tell me how to do business," Ethan boomed. He just hoped his sons Joshua and Joe would get to Rico soon and put an end to this. He knew how much Joe despised Rico.

James shrunk away from his father's rage and sat quietly staring out the window. It was fairly good weather in Reno, compared with the snow storms that were happening in the east.

"What about your brother Jordan, any news?" Ethan asked after awhile.

"He's conscious and he didn't tell the cops anything."

Ethan knew he wasn't supposed to care about Jordan, "So, is he going to make it?"

"Yes," James said quietly, "But if he hadn't been found when he was I guess he would have died."

The next words out of Ethan's mouth were going to be something vindictive against Jordan, but he stopped short. As much as he hated what had happened between him and Jordan all those years earlier; he didn't really blame his son for leaving. Time had a way of easing the conflict and bringing understanding. "Rico is going to pay for this," Ethan said.

"He damn well better," James agreed.

"As for Jordan," Ethan said with raised eyebrows, "I don't know what to do."

James wanted to suggest he just forget that Jordan had done anything wrong since James couldn't see that Jordan had, but he kept his mouth shut for now. They had been able to gather more information about the situation and they realized now that Jordan had cared for Angel when she had been outcast from her family and nowhere to go. Everything was coming to light as Jordan had lay unconscious in his hospital bed and Ethan's son had set out to find Rico and bring Angel back.

Detectives Lloyd and Berger left Jordan's room feeling as though talking with Jordan had yielded very little information. Both of them had no clue where to begin looking for Angel. They had very little practice with detective work.

Martin was beside himself with worry and his breathing was labored. Frank wondered if his father was going to have a heart attack. "Sit down Pops."