The Ocean On Their Shoulders

Chapter 37

Ryan had gone too far. Losing his patience, losing his trust; he needed answers, whether they would come easily or not. And while he knew the consequences of his plan were heading straight for him with a violent means to an end, that didn't keep him from making threats of his own. It was their downfall or his demise, and he'd fight tooth and nail to get back on top alive.

~*~

The pounding in her head stirred her awake, an annoying pain stabbing along her temple as bleary eyes struggled to open. Everything ached from her neck to her legs, and moving just an inch seemed arduous enough. She also noticed a light coming from somewhere as well; after one eye barely managed to open, it was somewhere off to the left in front of her. It took her a second to realize it was a desk lamp, but one she didn't entirely recognize. Using the minimal light, she craned her neck from left to right, scanning the room as her bearings slowly returned.

Familiar details started popping up around the space as she squinted into the darker corners, seeing pieces of furniture and unique decorations that had her blood running cold. Panic caused her to jump in the wooden chair, the creaking echoing throughout the space and mixing with metal jingling along her wrists. Her heart started racing as she tugged at her wrists to find she couldn't move them. The metal of the handcuffs dug into her skin and stung the more she tried to free herself of them as an aching dread settled like a dead weight on her chest.

She was in Ryan's office.

Jane squeezed her eyes shut again, wracking her memory, trying to remember how she even got here. She remembers leaving the Fisheries' office with an armful of paperwork ready to send off to the Bounty's head of inventory. She had only made it a few steps from her office when she recalled feeling a slight and sudden twinge along the junction of her neck and shoulder. It happened so fast, too, hands reaching around to catch her when her vision was quick to blur as she fell. Already confused as to what was happening, Jane didn't even give it a second thought as to who caught her. She assumed she had only fainted, and Peach was there to see her at the last minute and catch her as she fell.

Still, that didn't even make sense, considering she was waking up in Ryan's office handcuffed to a chair.

The sudden creaking of a floorboard just to her right caught her attention as someone approached her from the dark corner. Immediately on the defensive, all thoughts soured at the sight of the very last person she wished to see.

Sullivan.

"You." Jane spat, voice a bit hoarse and scratchy as he paced quickly towards her with a relatively blank expression. "You son of a -"

"Quiet." Sullivan hushed, quick to circle the chair and work at the handcuffs. "Hang onto the cuffs after I undo 'em; don't make Ryan aware they're loose."

The clinking of the handcuff's keys rattled her thoughts, and her brows furrowed. "What? You're the one who probably did this; just let me go."

Her ears perked at the shaky inhale behind her. "I can't; Ryan needs to see you here. But, he's on his way, probably armed." Jane tried to keep up with the words whispered against the collar of her shirt, everything a whirlwind as her heart pounded in her chest.

"Who's on his way?" The loosening pressure against her wrists alleviated some anxiety as Sullivan positioned them to where she could hold them instead.

The cop hushed her again. "I asked Ryan's guy up front to not disarm him. Just be ready to bolt when he gets here."

"Sullivan, what's happening?" Jane tried to keep her voice low and steady, but her nerves betrayed her as her words slightly shook. "Why are you helping me when you just kidnapped me?"