Classified ☑

[ chapter 28 ]

Cole's eyes glazed over me, several feet away. There was a look on his face I couldn't decipher. He either felt guilty or he'd completely changed into a person that was emotionless. I couldn't tell which one it was, it was almost impossible to read him.

He was someone I'd confided in. Someone I trusted. Turned out Thomas was right about him all along.

Cole started to untie the rope around my shoulders, pulling me from my trance. It dropped to my waist and onto the floor as Cole pulled me up to stand. He kept the rope around my wrists on and left his hand there to stop me from moving my arms.

"What happened to Shelly and Mark?" I asked, staring him dead in the eye.

His jaw tensed as he looked down at me. Something flickered in his eyes as he traced them over my face. "Like I told my dad, I'll show you."

We left dark and musty room, walking up the stairs and out of the basement. Cole opened the door and it looked like we were in an abandoned warehouse. Dirt caked the floors and dust particles were visible in the light that filtered the through the rusted windows.

"Where are we?" I asked, not expecting an answer from him.

He didn't give one, he just kept me moving until we were outside.

Harsh light seared into my eyes and I had to blink several times to let me eyes adjust. The sun was high in the sky and my guess was it was anywhere from noon to two p.m.

I had no idea how long I'd been knocked out. A couple of hours, a day, who knew.

The abandoned warehouse we were just in seemed to be the only building for as far as I could see. The land was flat and covered in nothing but dirt.

So getting help wasn't going to be an option.

Cole continued to push me around the building until a black van came into view. He led the way as we walked around the vehicle, seeing Dante, Mark, and Shelly on their knees with two guys I didn't recognize standing in front of them. One of them had a gun pointed at the three of them.

Shelly was crying and mud caked her face, dirt covering her glasses as well. Mark beside her had dirt all over him too and he looked way skinnier then the last time I saw him. And Dante looked the worst out of the three of them. Bruises and scrapes covered his jaw and neck, along with two black eyes.

My heart twisted at seeing all of them in the states they were in. How Shelly and Mark had gotten into this mess was something I had no clue about and it also made no sense. They had nothing to do with what was going on and they had no idea about the clues I'd found.

They didn't know anything.

I tried to move towards them, but Cole jerked me backwards by the rope that kept my hands tied together. I struggled against him and tried to call out, but Cole slapped a hand over my mouth. From where we were, they couldn't see us yet.

"Are you trying to get shot at?" he whispered against my ear as he removed his hand.

"Why do you care? Your dad wants me dead anyways," I shot back. He was just as confusing as his older brother, even though Dante seemed to be the only sane one out of his entire family.

The look he gave me showed his annoyance, but also surprise. "No he doesn't."

"Then why do you think he's kidnapped them?" I nodded my head at Dante, Shelly, and Mark. "And me?"

"He wants information. That's all."

"Information he's willing to kill for, Cole. Do you see what he did to Dante, your brother?"

"Dante betrayed our family," is all Cole said, trying to justify what his dad's been doing is alright.

"Dante saved my life. If you call that betrayal, something is wrong with you. He was supposed to kill me that night we were going to go camping, but you and your dad had other plans didn't you? You two were setting Dante up to see if he would really kill me?"

"My brother was supposed to kidnap you. That was it. My dad said he failed his last mission when I drove you home that night, so we were setting him up to see how he'd handle seeing you unexpectedly."

"Funny, he told me he was ordered to kill me on sight. I also heard the guys who abducted me say the same thing. So, tell me how that makes any sense?"

He grunted, yanking me closer to him so my back was against his chest. "That night at the gas station you were supposed to be taken in for questioning by Dante. I was supposed to drug Shelly and Mark and bring them back as a way to get you to talk. Nobody is supposed to die. That's what my dad told me."

"You sure Cole? Because that looks an awful like a lineup to kill people."

Cole was about to open his mouth, but just as he did so, I kicked him in the groin. He didn't expect it and went down easy, groaning in pain as he leaned over. I took the opportunity to twist away from his grasp and put the rope that tied my hands together against his throat.

He fell down knee by knee as I jumped on his back, putting more pressure against his throat. His eyes bulged in realization as his fingers grabbed at the rope around his neck. "Nina," he croaked out. "Please-"

Everything in me fought the urge to stop what I was doing, knowing I could potentially kill him. I didn't want to do this even though Cole had betrayed me, but it was the only thing I could come up with on the spot. Hopefully Dante's words about putting enough pressure around someone's throat to make them unconscious was true.

"Nina," he tried to say it louder, but it came out more hoarse.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as we fell to the ground with me on top of him. I rolled off off of him and saw he had passed out. His carotid artery had a faint pulse underneath my fingers, but it was there.

A wave of relief hit me that it had worked and I hadn't killed him, but I didn't get much longer to think about it when I heard screaming.