Olcan (Boston Bear Brothers 2)

“I’m calling the police.”

“You do that. You tell them that Olcan McNally came in here and took your money box. They know where I live. Oh, and make sure you tell them that I threatened to kill you, because that is exactly what I will do after you send them to my house and I give them part of your own money to pretend they never heard your complaint.”

Olcan walked out the door and sat the box in the passenger seat. He sat there for a moment, contemplating where she might have gone to, and then he headed toward the bus station.CHAPTER SEVENTEENNiamh

NIAMH WOKE UP IN THE dark. She tried to look around but couldn’t see anything but blackness around her. Instead, she tried to feel her way around. It was a small space, and there were bars. He’d apparently stunned her and put her in another cage, this one much smaller than the one in the van. It smelled musty and dirty. There was no sign of her pack anywhere, but she could feel the phone still in her bra. At least there was that, though she dared not touch it just yet.

“Hello?” she called out. There was no answer. She tried again. “Are you out there? I need something to drink. Please?”

There was the sound of a bolt scraping across a nearby door and it slowly opened, a bright beam of light coming with it. It looked like some sort of animal control building, but apparently abandoned if he was able to use it to put her up in a cage. She glanced around the room once her eyes adjusted to the light.

It was just a small block space with a large animal cage built into one side. To one side was an old trough apparently used for whatever had stayed here before her, and though it had vacated, its smell was still lingering, as was the must from the stale water in the drinking tub. He tossed a bottle of water in and started to close the door, but she stopped him.

“Wait. Please. What if I have to go to the bathroom? What about food? Who are you, and what are you going to do with me?” she asked.

“It’s your cage. You can piss wherever you want,” the man said in what sounded like a Brooklyn accent to her, though she’d only ever heard it on movies and TV. “I’ll bring you food in a couple of hours when my partner gets here. As for the rest, I can’t help you with that. I was told to pick you up and keep you caged until your party arrives to retrieve you.”

“My party?”

“That’s all I know,” he told her, shutting the door and leaving her in the darkness again.

Niamh picked up the bottle of water and drank half of it, saving the rest in case she couldn’t get more for a while and so she wouldn’t have to relief herself in this tiny cage that she could be in for days or even weeks. She had no idea how long this would last, but she did know one thing. If this guy had taken her on behalf of a third party, then that third party could only be Sorley Maguire.

He was coming for her.

She squinted toward the door, looking at it closely. She couldn’t see a hint of light around it. Whatever they had once kept in here had been dangerous was her guess. It had been deprived of everything but water and kept in the pitch blackness to keep it calm. Fortunately, in keeping the light out, they were also keeping it in. She slipped the phone resting beneath her breast from the underwire that had helped hold it there and held her breath as she waited to see if it powered up.

She was afraid he might hear her, but within a few minutes, he had cranked up the same loud heavy metal he’d had on in the van. It would help mask the sound of the phone starting. She was so grateful that she’d let the guy in the store talk her into going ahead and setting it up for her rather than trying to do so in the darkness. Still, she didn’t want to take any more chances than necessary. She immediately muted the sound.

The phone had a full battery, so that was a relief, but showed only two bars of signal. Wherever she had been taken was likely remote and the thick walls could be blocking it. Hopefully, it would be enough. She looked at the screen for a moment, realizing that she didn’t even know who to call. She could try emergency services, but what were the chances of them finding her before Sorley did, especially when she had no idea where she was and this phone had a Pensacola number.