Twisted Truth (Truth Vs Lie Book 1)

by Maria Macdonald

  I chuckle again hearing the chatter in my earpiece. “I know something you don’t know,” I tease darkly.

  “Oh yeah, and that would be?” he sniggers.

  “I’m not alone,” I tell him. The second it registers on his face, a collection of gunshots ring out and he falls to the ground. The rest of the men drop around us, each one with a bullet in their head.

  “Took you lot long enough,” I snap counting through my team and making sure they’re all there.

  “We fucked up. No time to discuss it now. I’ve called in clean up. We need to debrief and quick,” Darwin tells me something I already know.

  “Back to the house. Clint, Brand, check Dean. See if he needs medical attention… or not.” They know what to do, and they know what I mean. If he’s dead, then he’ll be taken to the crematorium we have a contract with, and if he’s okay, then they’ll bring him back to the house and call the doctor we keep on the books. They both nod and grab Dean as I make my way to my motorbike, ready to set up a plan to get my girl back. Before I do, there’s a visit I need to make.

  “Kane,” Doreen says, darting up from her bed and reaching for her gun.

  “Don’t bother, I’ve already taken it.”

  “Kane, whatever you’re thinking, don’t. You’ll bring a world of hurt down on yourself,” she warns.

  I smile. “You think I care? My woman, the only one I’ve ever been in love with, the reason I do what I do, the one person I’ve tried to protect, has been kidnapped. Taken to be sold into the sex trade. Ask me if I care what devastation I leave in my wake, ask me if I care who I kill. Ask me if I care whether I die.” I snarl, venom coating every word.

  She doesn’t say anything, but her worried eyes tell me everything I need to know.

  “You already know that the answer to all those questions is no. I care about nothing but saving her. That’s the only fucking thing I care about, and whatever I need to do to make that happen.” I shrug. “So be it.”

  “Why did you come here?” she asks, and for the first time in all the years I’ve known her, I can hear the fear in her voice.

  “The information you provided was shit. It wasn’t nearly close enough to what we normally have. We went in there half blind, believing there were six. We were ambushed. Dean may be dead, and they’ve taken Via and her roommate, Helena. Derry, the boss, he knew who I was, knew we were coming.” I take a breath in and out trying to calm myself, then I lean forward so we’re nose to nose. “I want to know who sold us out,” I whisper, and Doreen swallows hard.

  “It wasn’t me,” she murmurs, and instinctively I know she’s telling the truth.

  “Then you’re going to help me figure out who.” She nods. “Then, when this shit is done, if I’m not dead, you will help clean up the mess I made and let me out so I can be with my girl in peace.” She nods again. “Finally, whichever members of my team want out, you will release them, too. It’s their lives, not yours. Understand?”

  “Y-yes, Kane.”

  “Isaac,” I grind out.

  “I-Isaac.”

  “Get the fuck up. You’re coming with me,” I tell her.

  “Where have you been?” Darwin hisses.

  “Getting someone,” I snap dragging Doreen forward and into the house.

  “What the fuck is she doing here?” he asks.

  “Debrief. Now!” I shout through the house while moving to stand behind my seat at the top of the table.

  Everyone gathers, and I look to Clint. “Dean?” I ask.

  “Bullet was through and through. In the shoulder. Doc’s upstairs with him now.” I nod and some of the tension releases.

  I lay both palms flat on the table and lean forward trying to be the commander and not a man in love.

  “Status is they took Olivia McKenna and Helena Todd.” I stare around the room at everyone. They wear varying degrees of concern on their faces, from those who know my Via—and what she means to me—to those who know we lost our marks tonight and don’t want innocent girls to be harmed. “Some of you know, some of you don’t, but for those who are unaware, Olivia is my cousin.” I swallow down the lie knowing she’s far more than my cousin, she’s my everything.

  “Shit.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Oh God.”

  Everyone seems to have something to say, and I slam my hand on the table making the few cups—that all look like they’re drifting in a sea of wood—tremble under my weight. “Enough!” I shout. They all go quiet, waiting for my next order. “It doesn’t matter who she is to me. All you need to know is that they took two innocents tonight. We should have prevented that, and we didn’t. I want to know what happened.” They look at each other. “One at a time. Shelly, you first.”

  Shelly nods and looks at Victor. “We never had our argument because Liv turned up.” Her eyes move to meet mine. “We didn’t have a clear line of sight when they took her, we only knew something happened when you barrelled through the crowd, and we saw Arlo and King scrambling after you. We moved quickly. We could see Clint and Brand advancing toward the back of the hallway. A gun went off over the other side of the club, people started screaming and running for the front. As that was going on, we were tackled by two guys and had to fight them off. We came outside as soon as we could.”

  Nodding, I look to King.

  “Same man, we were after you and were tackled once the gun went off. We dispatched the men and reached the door at the same time as Shelly and Victor. Clint and Brand, too,” he adds.

  I look to Clint. “Yeah, exactly the same thing, except Dean left out of a side door following the suited guy.”

  “Derry.”

  “Yeah, he followed him, obviously into an unknown number of hostiles,” Clint explains.

  “Okay.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and think for a second. “Right, Shelly, Victor, Clint, and Brand, go get all the notes and go over everything. We need to find where they’re hiding, what their weaknesses are. Everything we can that will give us an edge.” They all get up and move out the room as one, only Shelly pauses to squeeze my shoulder as she goes.

  “Arlo, King, kindly take Doreen and find out what she knows. Doreen, I know it’s early,” I say glancing at the time telling me it’s only just five-thirty a.m. “But I need you to connect with your people, find out what you can, but don’t say why. This needs to be under the radar.” She nods and walks out with them. I look back at the clock. The time is like a beacon flashing, but all that tells me is that they’ve had Via for an hour now. I’d like to believe they won’t kill her, after all she’s a commodity to them. The truth is, if they think having her will be more trouble than it’s worth, then when I do locate them, there is a very real possibility I could walk in to find Via with a hole in her head. I twist my neck from side to side relishing the clicks as I do.

  “This is a shit storm,” Darwin complains clicking his fingers one by one. I watch him, his movements are fluid, but his body is rigid. I wonder for a moment if he’s the source.

  “We have another traitor,” Darwin tells me, and I nod. “I thought that ended when Marcus was dealt with, but tonight something happened.”

  “What?” I question.

  “First, I wasn’t outside when you needed me. For that, I’m sorry. I saw what was happening, but I chose a different path.”

  “Okay. Enlighten me,” I demand.

  “There was another team in there with us.”

  My back straightens at his words, not just because I’m surprised, but also because I didn’t clock them. “Black Ops?” I question.

  “Yeah.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes. Two of them I worked with years ago. I kept out of their sight once I saw them. Avoided being seen at all costs. There were only four, but it looked like they were there to help our targets.”

  “Fuck.” The word claws its way out of my throat, and I want to punch something.

  “I managed to follow them, and I got this...”

  Da
rwin pulls out his phone and presses play.

  “Proctor wants this to go off without a hitch. He said helping them now will set things up,” the first guy says.

  “That’s Calroe. I’ve worked with him. I’m not surprised by this, he’s a dirty bastard,” Darwin sneers before pressing play again.

  “It’s one thing to let some drugs slide, but this is too much, Calroe,” the second guy whispers, and Darwin nods at me.

  “Stop being such a pussy, Steed. It’s a few whores here and there. No one will miss them. Anyway, we’ll be set for life, and Proctor will get rid of his wife. All’s well that ends well.” Calroe chuckles.

  “That’s all I could get before they moved off, then I heard a gunshot so I came outside. You have to know, Proctor is another handler, like Doreen,” Darwin informs me.

  “Fuck. All this shit. Kidnapping women… and who knows what drugs they’ve let slide, all because he wants them to kill his wife?” I scrub my palm down my face.

  “Shall I go join King, Arlo, and Doreen and share what I know?”

  I nod. “Yeah, I’m going online to hack whatever I can, I need information, and I don’t have time to make it careful or clean. If I leave a trail, I don’t care.” I shrug. “She’s in danger.”

  “I have your back. Always,” Darwin tells me, and I feel another piece of tension break away.

  “I’ve pulled everything I can from locked-down files in the database Doreen so kindly provided us,” Darwin says with a smirk and a glance to a visibly shaken Doreen.

  “It looks like they’re holed up here,” he says pointing to a spot on a printout of a local map.

  “Where is that?” I question.

  The paper ripples as he turns it to face him. I try to memorize every little detail of what’s happening second by second. It’s the only way I can engage my brain and keep it busy, allowing me to turn off the scared, fucked-up part that wants to become a savage and destroy the fucking world.

  “That’s Trent Close.”

  “What’s there?” I ask, thinking back a few years ago and remembering the houses on that road being demolished.

  “Not a lot. There used to be seven houses, but they’ve been torn down. The only thing still there is this building,” he says tapping the map. “It’s at the end of the street which is a cul-de-sac. I think it used to be a retirement home.”

  “Clint, get me blueprints of the layout.” He turns and walks out, following his orders.

  “We’re going to get them,” I tell the others. “The new intel says we’ve halved their numbers. They’re hurting, but they do have both girls as leverage. I estimate they have around fifteen to twenty men at most. But first, I have something else to deal with. Another Black Ops team have been in on this shit. Doreen has dispatched people to pick them up from their homes so they won’t be an issue. I’m dealing with Proctor, personally.”

  “But…” Doreen splutters.

  My eyes move to meet hers, and she shrinks back in her seat. “Do not fucking test me. I found everything I needed in the files I hacked, although those recordings from the other Black Ops team were enough for me anyway. He’s been doing this for years, letting them take girls to sell as young as fucking twelve!” I shout. “He’s happy enough to do that shit, and now he’s involved me and what’s mine. I’m taking his blood. You clean up the mess I make today. You fucking owe me that much,” I boom.

  Her body trembles. “Yeah, you’re right. Of course. Do what you need to do.”

  “I was going to,” I inform her with a shrug. “Darwin, get everyone ready. I’ll meet you here in one hour,” I say pointing to the place on the map. “They’ve had the girls for four hours now, that’s four hours too long.”

  He nods, and I’m already grabbing my motorbike helmet. As I walk out the door, my phone rings. I rip it from my pocket desperately hoping it’s Via, but it’s my mum.

  “I love you, Mum, but I can’t talk now,” I tell the ringing phone before diverting it to voicemail, then switching it to silent.

  “Hello, Proctor,” I greet the slightly older man as I approach him sitting having breakfast by his swimming pool.

  He puffs up his chest and sneers at me. “You can’t come in here. Do you know who I am?” he asks, and I chuckle taking a seat next to him.

  Turning so we’re facing each other, I respond with, “Do you know who I am?”

  “No, who?”

  “I’m the man who is going to kill you,” I say calmly, grinning. I’ve never been one for chatting before the kill.

  His eyes widen, but that’s the only reaction I allow before shoving the six-inch blade of my knife into the left side of his throat. I watch as he slumps forward into his scrambled eggs and dies in front of me. Ripping the knife from his neck, I wipe it on his jeans, then return it back to my pocket.

  “Told you,” I tell the now still and silent figure.

  Now I need to get my girl. I can’t think about the possibility of her being dead. I can’t, because if she is, then I might as well make this my last battle. If she’s dead, then I’ll make sure I die today, too. Because if Via’s gone, then inside I’ll already have joined her.

  LIV

  “You know, we don’t usually take women with tattoos. Clean skin is the preference, but this time’s different, this time tattoos have been requested—lots of them. How lucky was I to find a blonde and a brunette together,” the man called Derry says. He sits in front of us, his manner comes across as though he believes he’s a king. There’s no remorse in his eyes. None. He’s a robot.

  Helena and I both remain silent. I’m not sure how long we were here before being woken when they so graciously threw ice cold water over us. After which, this small, quiet, cold man introduced himself as Derry and informed us why we were here and what we were intended for. He also went on to explain that if we tried to escape, or fight him, we would die. Fun times.

  Helena said something about him being a crazy bastard. He backhanded her, then did it a second time. Dried blood now flakes at the corner of her right nostril as well as where he tore her lip. He disappeared for a while after that.

  I have no idea where we are. It looks like the room we’re in used to be a bedroom, but it’s completely bare except for the chair which Derry currently sits on. Mouldy white and green wallpaper peels from the walls, and the light filters through closed, dark green curtains, which tells me it’s daytime at least. Both Helena and I have our wrists tied behind our backs. Taking a look at Helena’s bound hands earlier told me it’s been done with tie wraps. One thing’s for sure, they’re cutting into me, so I’ve tried to remain as still as possible.

  “Now, don’t think for a second that your precious boy is coming to get you, my dear. He’ll already be dead.”

  “Fuck you!” I retort without thinking. The pain comes a mere second later, not having time to breathe before another jolt hits my face as the next fist lands.

  “Bloody women!” Derry snaps. It’s the first time I’ve heard him raise his voice. “Now you both listen and listen well. I don’t want to hurt you, at the end of the day I need to sell you. My clients won’t want you if you’re busted up, bruised, and bleeding. What do you think will happen to you then?” He makes a slash motion across his throat. “I’ll kill you. I don’t need you if there’s no sale. Think on that.”

  I listen to his words but don’t acknowledge them as I fight to breathe, trying desperately not to cry as pain radiates through my skull.

  As he nears the door, he turns back. “One more thing. I don’t swing your way, but my men do. As long as they don’t leave any marks, I can decide, should I so wish, to let them have free rein with you both. Neither of you are virgins.” He shrugs. “It won’t be seen as ruining the merchandise.” His laughter follows him out of the room as I glance over to Helena and watch the tears falling down her face.

  “Isaac,” I whisper.

  “I don’t want to hear another fucking word about that man,” she snaps

  “
He’ll come,” I tell her, ignoring the glare she sends me through the tears. “Listen, he will.”

  “What makes you think that? Because he said so?” she returns sarcastically.

  “Hey, we’re in this together,” I reply. I’m hurt, but I know her too well. When she’s scared, she lashes out. It’s all she knows.

  “Oh God, I’m so sorry,” her words are mumbled as the sobbing starts.

  “Shhh, it’s okay,” I soothe. It feels like my face is swelling, and I have no idea if it really will be okay or if Isaac will come. But he told me he would, and I have to believe him. No matter what has happened, I know he loves me. That’s something I’m sure of.

  “He’ll come? You’re sure?”

  “Yes. I’m sure he’ll come,” I try to convince her, and myself.

  I shuffle over next to Helena, and she immediately lays her head on my shoulder. I think back over the years without Isaac and wonder where he’s been. He said he’d tell me everything. I know one thing, when he came into that alleyway, and that guy was holding me, he was different, he wasn’t my Isaac anymore. I watched him morph in front of my eyes, and now I’m starting to piece the puzzle together. If I’m right it means we really do have a chance.

  “When I was sixteen, I started dating a boy named Chris,” I tell Helena. She remains still, listening to my tale. “He was two years older than me and went to the local college. He’d gone to our school, so everyone knew him, he was Mr Popular.” I snort out a laugh. “Every week I went to the local youth group. It was mainly guys DJing and girls hanging around trying to get their attention. There were pool tables and a couple of air hockey tables. I’m not sure why my friend Tori and I started going, but after a few weeks, we bumped into Chris. He took an instant liking to me, and although I was flattered, I wasn’t interested. After all, it had always been Isaac for me, and even at sixteen, my feelings were uncontrollable.”

  Helena giggles. “You don’t say.”