The Hidden Rose(Book One In The Rose Pedal Series) /✔

Chapter Twenty-Three

i watched Luke's back as he got smaller on the road. then when he got to the point where i couldn't see him anymore, i turned and sat down on the ground, leaning my back against the railing. i sat and listened to the waterfall roar and the crickets chirp. he wouldn't let me walk with him because i didn't have any shoes, but walking that far in heels would've been a worse fate than walked barefoot. i dozed off a few times but for the most part, i was restless.

i opened my eyes and looked at the empty parking lot. wait. i squinted. it wasn't empty. did Luke come back so soon?

a minivan sat across the lot from me, and on the hood sat someone. maybe another couple came out? i stood up and brushed off my skirt. maybe they'll give me a ride back to the city.

i approached and the side door opened, revealing a man crouched in the back seat. i looked at the figure on the hood and it too was a man. a big strong man. maybe they were gay? i reasoned.

i heard a twig snap and i turned to look behind me. there, in the tree line were two more men. definitely not gay.

"Rose, the faceless queen." i heard behind me. i spun to face the man who had been on the hood.

"h-how do you know I'm Rose?"

"we followed you." he chuckled. i glanced around, making it seem as though i was scared. he ran his finger tip down my cheek, his eyes following the movement.

"no so tough now, are you?" he looked in my eyes. his eyes were filled with lust. shit. my eyes flashed dangerously and i kneed him in the balls, grabbing the gun in his waistband and ran. i checked the safety on the gun and shot off up the trail to the cliff. I'm not sure why i went this way, but i did. i shot through the trees, my feet getting stabbed and poked at by sticks, twigs and rocks. i ignored it and pushed myself faster. i got to the top of the cliff and looked around.

i crouched down in the hole that connected the cliff to the waterfall's cave. i waited, evening out my breathing. not long after, they appeared.

"holey shit can that girl run." one of them gasped, putting his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. the wimp. that was hardly anything. i waited until the other two came up the path.

they stood side by side, breathing heavily and i popped the top of my body out of the hole, holding out my arms and shooting. i hit the first one in the gut, the second in the knee and the third. i didn't hit the third. instead i felt a sharp pain shoot up from my hip.

i gasped and dropped my gun. my arms fell to my sides and i stared down at the hole in my dress.

through the hole, was a bullet wound and a quickly blooming splotch of blood. i looked up to see the fourth man holding his gun. i forgot about him.

everything went black and i collapsed on the ground in a bloody, pale heap.

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i opened my eyes to feel pain in my hip. i groaned and rolled. well, i tried to anyway. my arm stopped me. my eyes flicked open and looked to find my hand was handcuffed to a hospital bed's railing. so was my other hand. i looked around the room. i wasn't in a hospital. where was i? i blinked and tugged at my handcuffs. they didn't go anywhere. not like i actually expected them to. i saw the large bandage on my hip and i was only wearing my underwear, bra and a large t shirt. definitely not a hospital.

"why did you do that?" a male voice growled. "i told you to bring her back, alive."

"I'm sorry sir, she shot Harvey and John. hell, she killed Pete!" another male voice said gruffly.

"i don't care. i told you to bring her alive. the doc didn't even know if she was going to pull through because of all the blood she lost." i heard him pause. "next time Todd will be the one to do jobs like this. it's obviously too much for you to handle."

"but sir! i-"

"enough. you're demoted to training officer." the obvious boss growled. "now get the fuck out of here."

the door opened and before i could lay my head back down and pretend to go to sleep, my mouth dropped open in shock as to who it was.

"how can you be here? how can you be involved in this?! and how the fuck do you expect me to not tell-"

"shut up." he growled. "you won't tell her because if you do, i'll kill you." he smirked.

"i couldn't care less." i replied coldly. he narrowed his eyes.

"then i'll kill Luke." he said with a clenched jaw.

"you couldn't do that he's your-"

"i can do it. and i will do it if your don't cooperate." he growled. i widened my eyes.

"what do you want then you bastard."

"i know your parents make you call them whenever anything comes up about anything." he holds out my phone. "so i need you to call them, and tell them your going shopping with some of your friends." i look at his face and he's not joking. i sigh and gesture with my fingers to my cuffs. he sighed back and dialed Noah.

"hello?" he asked.

"hey Noah, uh, I'm going to be shopping with some uh, friends. is that uh, ok?" i say. we had a special code. it's for when i get kidnapped or someone has a gun on me. see, my parents were always super paranoid about be being kidnapped so they came up with it. one "uh" or "um" means I'm ok. two means trouble. three means kidnapped. i heard Noah's intake of breath.

"sure, i'll tell your parents where you are." he said calmly. Noah hung up.

 he took the phone the other side of the room. he turned around to look at me, an evil smirk plastered on his face and a psychotic gleam in his eyes. i looked at him with a worried expression.

"what are you going to do Brandon?"

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dun dun duuuun! Brandon's kidnapped her!!

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❤ sillylovebug432