Since she hadn't met these people yet, Debbie wasn't sure who was behind the kidnapping. "Aunt Mia, where's the recycling center? I'll go."
"It's too dangerous. Call the police. These guys are too well-organized, and your martial arts might not help you," Mia reminded her. The older lady was so frightened that she couldn't have come up with something so rational.
It was Kasie's father, Mason, who first floated that idea. Mia was just parroting it.
Debbie contemplated the risks and decided to go. "Don't call the cops yet. I'll figure it out."
Before she set off, Debbie had a wild idea and called James. She got straight to the point. "This is your doing, isn't it?" she blurted out.
"What are you babbling about, Miss Nian?" James asked calmly, telling himself to maintain his composure. Before he got nervous, he needed to figure out what she was talking about.
Debbie also collected herself a bit. "Did you kidnap Kasie?"
The man let out a sigh of relief. "So that's why you're calling. Let me guess: they asked you to trade yourself as a hostage," he said in a weird tone.
Debbie fell into silence.
Then James announced through clenched teeth, "Hey, I'm not the only one who wants you dead. I hate you as much as someone ever could, but it's not me this time."
The too proud man would never admit he'd done anything wrong, much less take the blame for something someone else did.
He was right. Too many people wanted her dead right now. And it could be anyone. James, for one, whoever killed Megan, and whoever it was that made off with Kasie.
Now that she knew it wasn't James, she hung up on him without another word.
But none of this was helpful. She was back to square one, totally clueless who she was dealing with. But she couldn't back down. She had to go to the recycling center to face her enemy alone.
She called Mia first before making her way there. "If I don't walk out ten minutes after I walk inside, call the cops."
And this time, she wasn't pregnant. Nothing was going to slow her down. Besides, she was carrying her secret weapons. She would punish these jerks and feel good about it.
Of course, they were ready for her. A group of rather huge men stood at the entrance to the recycling center.
They led her inside the main building. The walls were fashioned from corrugated iron sheet, held up with bars of steel on the inside. There were machines and bins of various types. Even without the men around, it was a bit imposing.
Debbie looked warily around as she walked inside. She found what she was looking for fairly quickly. Kasie was suspended from a rope, her mouth taped, her limbs tied.
When Kasie saw Debbie, she shook her head violently, trying to warn her. But gagged like she was, all she could do was make muffled, incomprehensible noises.
Debbie gave her a comforting smile, then hardened her expression as she shifted her gaze to the men. "I'm the one you want. Let her go."
Just then, a man in a pink suit walked out. He'd been hanging back. He held a knife that glinted strangely in the gloom. Debbie didn't know these men. Why were they targeting her? Especially this pink guy, who looked way too slight and fine-featured to be a man.
She wondered what these guys had against her.
"Did you do this?" she demanded.
The pink guy gave her a sinister smile and replied, "Yeah. I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd have the balls to come alone."
Debbie smiled. "Thanks. Now that I'm here, let my friend go."
"What's the rush?" The man sat down in a chair. Another guy run up to him carrying a glass of water.
"I have a shit-ton of work to do. Quit with the games. What do you want?" Debbie cut to the chase. The longer she stayed, the more danger she was in.
The man placed the knife horizontally before his eyes and slid his left index finger along its edge, as if he was admiring the work of the craftsman. Then, "Leave Ivan," he said. His voice was gentle, soft like a woman's.
'Ivan?' Debbie wondered. 'Is he...'
"How?" she asked further.
Aldrich looked at her and said, "Divorce him. Leave him forever."
Debbie smiled again. "Will you let my friend go if I agree to it?"
"By all means."
"Okay, let her go. I'll leave him," Debbie promised immediately.
Something about her tone irritated Aldrich. He expected her to put up a fight. But he didn't realize he'd be doing Debbie a favor. He slapped the table hard and asked in a venomous tone, "Do I look like an idiot to you? She stays till you bring me signed divorce papers. Tell anyone else, and..."
Debbie took two more steps forward. Aldrich was alarmed. He waved his hand, and three of his men emerged from the shadows, flanking him. She might take him down, but he wasn't going to make it easier for her.
"You have my word. Let me and Kasie out of here, and I'll divorce Ivan."
"Your word? What a load of crap! Stop treating me like a halfwit! You're not going anywhere!" It was not easy to snare Debbie. That was why he abducted Kasie. She cared a lot about her friends, and didn't want to see them hurt.
"Look, this is between you and me, not Kasie. So here's the plan. Let her go, call a lawyer, I sign the papers, and we're done with all this," Debbie offered.
A thoughtful look crossed Aldrich's face. It didn't sound like a bad idea.
Just then, Ivan called Debbie. She pulled her phone from her pocket and swiped to accept.
"Hi." She answered it calmly.
"Don't promise him anything. Hang on. I'm on my way," Ivan said anxiously.
'He knows, ' she realized. 'He knows everything.' With a smile, she said, "You don't have to—"
Before she could finish, a bodyguard rudely snatched her phone away.
"Hey! That's my phone!" she shouted.
Aldrich ignored her, as if her words were vapor that had dissipated. He took the phone from the bodyguard and looked at the caller ID. Instantly, his face turned green. He got flustered. It took him a long while to compose himself. Then, shakily, he put the phone to his ear, and said, "You...you know?"
Debbie couldn't hear what Ivan said to him. Aldrich's hackles rose. He suddenly got out of the chair and yelled, "No! You don't get it! I want her gone! Then you'll come back to me!"
Without waiting for Ivan's response, he hung up angrily.
"Tie her up! Burn the place to the ground!" he ordered with smoldering eyes.
'Aw hell! This son of a bitch wants to kill me!' Debbie realized.
Before the bodyguards could get to her, she ran over to Kasie. She roundhouse kicked the man standing beside Kasie, sending him rolling painfully on the floor, covering his face.
A second man dashed towards her and went sprawling after she kicked him in the knee. Debbie pulled out her dagger and was about to cut Kasie's bonds when three more men popped up. 'More of them!' she thought.
She had to use the dagger for self-defense. Even with the threat of the blade, the bodyguards were able to hold her off. Some of them grabbed for her arm, trying for a joint lock. While they couldn't get her to drop the knife, she couldn't stop them, either.
She had to think of something else.
One of the bodyguards kicked at her but missed. Debbie rolled backward to put some distance between them. Now was her chance! She plucked a hairpin out of her hair, pressed it twice to shoot a silver needle at him. It buried itself in his body.
The man didn't feel a thing at first. In less than two seconds, he staggered and went to his knees, weak as pudding.
Aldrich saw this. A sinking feeling filled him. This would be harder than he thought.
Quickly, Debbie had tackled two bodyguards. By now, the third knew she was armed. He fought more swiftly so that she wouldn't have a chance to reach her weapon.