“You didn’t mention that you had a brother.” Edward said.
Daniel jerked his head over at Edward, confused by his angry tone. “I don’t. I’ve got four older sisters. No brothers.”
“Are you sure?”
Daniel looked at him like he’d lost his fucking mind. “Yes, I’m sure,” he hissed. This really wasn’t the best time for conversation. And what did it matter in the first place? Who cared if they looked alike? They were all prisoners of these lunatics.
Two more chairs were dragged over, their metal legs scraping along the concrete floor. Coarse hands grabbed them from behind and forced them down. Daniel dropped into the chair with a huff. He glared at the man who’d pushed him, but the asshole was already walking away.
Another man stepped in front of them. As he came into focus, Daniel noticed that he was wearing a white button-down shirt and slacks that looked like they were easily made by a high-priced tailor. The man didn’t strike Daniel as a pirate. This…this had to be about something else.
Leaning down, the man looked closely at Daniel’s face and then over at the stranger’s. He looked back at Daniel before shoving his hands into his pockets and straightening. “This is surprising,” he murmured. His accent wasn’t nearly as thick as his companions’. Hell, he could have grown up in America for all Daniel could tell from the man’s words. “There were not supposed to be two of you.”
“I don’t understand. Who are you?” Daniel asked.
The man smiled at him, but there was something dark and sinister behind the expression that put him ill at ease. It wasn’t meant to be a friendly smile.
“What’s your name?”
“Daniel Hendricks. I’m an American. I’m just a tourist. Here on vacation.”
The man turned to Daniel’s doppelganger and repeated his question.
“Kevin Jones. I’m an American here on vacation. A tourist.”
A chill swept through Daniel as he watched the other man. His tone and cadence seemed to match his own completely, but when he glanced over at Daniel, there was a look of warning in his eyes, as if he expected Daniel to argue with him about his identity. Daniel had never seen the man before, and he was sure they weren’t related.
Their captor made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat as if he didn’t believe them. He then looked over at Edward, a frown replacing his ugly smile. “And you’re just an unfortunate spare. In the wrong place at the wrong time.” With a snicker, the man strolled away.
Daniel looked over his shoulder, watching them all walk back toward the doorway they’d entered through a moment ago. He could only figure that they were now making plans for what to do with them. Well, he had no intention of just sitting there, waiting for them to either ransom them off or kill them.
“What should we do?” Daniel asked Edward and Kevin in a low whisper. He looked over at Kevin, but the man just kept his head lowered and his lips pressed together in a hard, unyielding line. He turned his gaze over to Edward and was met with a look of blazing anger, his eyes flicking from Daniel to Kevin and then back again. But he didn’t come forward with any suggestions. Sweat trickled down all their faces. The warehouse offered some relief from the hot morning sun, but the air was thick and stifling in the building. His swim trunks had already dried from their quick dunk in the ocean. Daniel would have killed for a drink of water, but he really doubted their captors gave a shit about their needs.
“You’ve been to Bermuda before. Do you have any idea where we are?”
“No,” Edward snapped.
Daniel wanted to snap right back at him. Edward was treating him like this was his fault. Of course getting kidnapped by…well, they didn’t seem like pirates, but he didn’t have another word for them just yet…wasn’t his idea of a great way to spend the afternoon. He’d been telling the truth in the boat. They should have just met up in his room and enjoyed more sex, then ordered room service.
Ignoring Edward’s angry tone, Daniel pushed on. “I don’t have any give in my ropes, but if I can catch a rough edge on this chair, I might be able to cut through. What about you?”
Neither man spoke. Edward had now settled on glaring at Kevin, who refused to look at either of them.
“I am not going to just sit here and let them ransom me or kill me. We’ve got to do something!”
Edward heaved what sounded like an irritated sigh and finally looked at Daniel. “When the shooting starts, I want you to keep your head down and run for cover.”
Staring at Edward, Daniel tried to pull together some rational reply, but he couldn’t think of anything. How was he going to run for cover? Was Edward planning something crazy? Edward made it sound like he knew exactly how to get free and take out their captors, but he was one guy…a guy who worked in telecommunications. He wanted to ask for more details on his insane scheme, but the men were already returning. Their shoes echoed and scraped across the concrete while their voices were a tangled murmur of a language he couldn’t understand.