GoodKnight: A Reed Security Romance

by Giulia Lagomarsino

I pulled him up by the shirt and pulled him in close to my face. My body was shaking in rage, pulsing through me so hard that I knew I was on the verge of snapping.

  “Wrong. Answer.”

  I hurled him through the window, watching with satisfaction as he crashed through and landed outside.

  “So much for the tarp,” I heard Hunter mutter as I walked out the back door.

  I stormed up to the fucker lying on the ground and pulled his leg out and then stomped on his knee. His screams filled me up, fueling me on. I shoved him to his stomach and wrenched his arm up behind his back.

  “Stop!” he screamed, but I yanked on it harder until I felt a snap.

  “Tell me where my wife is and this all stops.”

  “I can’t!”

  I tossed him on the ground and gave him just a moment of reprieve. Relief flashed across his face for a split second before I broke his first finger.

  “Tell me what I want to know.”

  He shook his head, so I broke a second finger. He cried out, tears mingling with the blood dripping down his face. When he still didn’t answer, I continued snapping his fingers until I had finished off one hand.

  “This only ends when you tell me what I want to know. The longer it takes you to talk, the quicker I move.”

  He didn’t say anything. I rammed my boot into his ribs over and over again, unleashing the beast inside me. I was raging, filled with so much anger and fear that I couldn’t control myself anymore. He was lying in a heap on the ground, barely breathing based on the rattle in his chest.

  I hauled him up by the shirt and got in his face. “Tell me where the fuck she is!”

  A cocky grin split his lips for just a second before pain crossed his face. “She’ll die because you can’t do what’s needed,” he said slowly, laboring for every breath. “She shouldn’t have married a killer. You could never protect her, because she’s in the most danger when she’s around you.”

  A piercing pain filled my chest at his words, sending a numbness through my body, because he was right. He had nailed it right on the head. I was the reason that Kate was missing, was suffering. If I hadn’t gone digging, she would be right beside me and we would be living our lives together right now. She was better off without me.

  “Hud, don’t listen to him.”

  I vaguely heard Pappy’s voice in my ear as I replayed the senator’s words in my head. She’s in the most danger when she’s around you. As that realization really, truly sank in, I knew that I would have to walk away from her. I would get her back, and then I would move on and leave her to live her life in peace. I would have to cut all ties. There would be no sneaking into her room at night or watching her from afar. I would never see my kids again, because I would never be able to stay away if I saw them every day. It would break my fucking heart. I would go and live the miserable existence I had been living before I met her, before she changed my world and brought me into the light. Because she deserved better than what she was getting from me.

  “She should have married a guy like me. I would have taken care of her.”

  His bloody grin sent me over the edge. I moved without thinking, wrapping my arms around his neck, about to feel the jerk of his body that would still as his neck snapped and he died. Something pricked the back of my neck and my whole body went numb. The night swirled around me as I fell backwards and hit the ground. The night sky stared down at me, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t do a damn thing. Hunter appeared above me, shaking his head, but I couldn’t understand him. The last thing I remembered thinking was that I would give up everything just to hold Kate in my arms one last time.

  Chapter Six

  Kate

  It felt like it had been hours since I was shoved in this trunk. I remembered everything Hudson had taught me about situations like this. I knew what to do to stay calm, but knowing what to do wasn’t the same as actually doing it when placed in a situation where you freaked the fuck out. I had been brave in the office. I knew that Hudson would come for me. But in the heat of this trunk, all the doubts and fears started to creep in. I remembered the last time I was taken, how I was shoved in a room and left to be interrogated. Was that what this was?

  The motion of the car was nauseating, making me feel like I was pregnant all over again. The heat was so stifling that I had to take short, shallow breaths. I practiced breathing slowly, in through my nose and out through my mouth. But none of that could help the despair that I felt deep inside. I wanted my kids. I needed to hold them again and tell them I loved them. I needed to see Hudson and tell him one last time how grateful I was that he was in my life.

  Would they know how much I loved them? Raven was the oldest and she would understand what was going on, but she would also feel it deeper than the others because she had more time with me. Griffin, he was so much like his father. He had that same fighting spirit, and I knew that no matter what happened to me, he would find a way to push through. Either that or he would grow up and burn the whole world down. I didn’t want that for him. I wanted him to be the man his father had become. Hudson was a man that would fight for anyone that needed help, but he had also come to realize that he couldn’t do it at the expense of his family. But if I was gone, would Hudson go back to his old ways? I had to hope that Cole and Hunter wouldn’t allow him to do that. And then there was Cade. He was so small still. He wasn’t even a year old yet. He would forget me, never remembering all our snuggles or playing airplane. It would all be gone for him.

  God, I didn’t want to think that way, but in the darkness of the trunk, I couldn’t think of anything but what I stood to lose. It wasn’t just the childhood events, the birthdays and Christmas mornings. It was the friendship that would develop once they became adults. It was a transition I had made with my parents, and it was one of the best feelings in the world. They would always be my parents, but there was now an understanding between us that I was no longer a little kid. I still talked on the phone every day to my mom. I always thought that she would go first and that would be the thing I missed most, but now it was going to happen to my kids instead of me.

  But deep down, I knew they would all be okay. I would miss out on so much, but they would be fine because I knew everyone at Reed Security would take care of them. Cole and Alex would gladly help out in any way they could. But who would help Hudson? When he got in a mood, there was nothing and no one that could pull him out of his funk. Even Hunter, his closest friend, wouldn’t be able to stop Hudson from self-destructing. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like for him to go back to the man I first met. The man that didn’t care if he lived or died. That man didn’t have a heart or a soul, but he changed all that for me.

  I swiped the tears from my eyes as the car rolled to a stop. My eyes widened as I listened for any last thing that could tell me where we were or how many people were here. Initially, it had only been the one man that took me away, but we had stopped several times. I had heard voices and multiple car doors slamming, but I couldn’t distinguish in my haze how many had joined the group. Logically speaking, it should be at least two. One to be on watch while the other slept. That is, if they intended to keep me alive.

  The trunk popped, but it was still dark and all I could see were shadows. Someone reached in and yanked me out, not trying at all to be gentle with me. I cried out in pain as I was tossed to the ground, hitting my knees hard and scraping my hands. Just as quickly, I was picked up and dragged as I tried to keep up with his long gait. We approached a cabin and I tried to catalog all the information around me that I could, but it was too dark and I was too tired and dehydrated to keep everything straight in my mind.

  I was shoved through the doorway and into a chair. Then one of the men was in front of me, tying me to the chair tightly. I worked at the bonds once he stepped away, but it was no use. I wouldn’t escape this way. There were three men in total. The first one that tied me to the chair wasn’t the one that grabbed me from the office. That was the second one, the one that se
emed to be giving orders. The third guy just seemed like he was there because….just for no other reason.

  “He’s not answering.”

  “Try him again,” the third guy said.

  “I already fucking told you, I’ve been trying him all fucking night. He’s not answering his goddamn phone.”

  “Then what the fuck are we supposed to do with the woman?”

  The second guy sighed. “I don’t know, alright? We just sit tight.”

  “And wait for that lunatic to come after us? If you had told me that we were taking his wife, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in this.”

  “Well, you’re involved now,” the second guy shouted. “Suck it up and do what you’re told.”

  The first guy stood off to the side, not really getting involved in any way. He looked contemplative, like he was trying to figure out what his next move was. Like maybe he wasn’t sure he wanted to be part of this.

  “I say we cut our losses now,” guy three said. “We kill her and get the fuck out of here before he finds out that we took her.”

  “And how’s he going to find that out? Not even Cortez knows exactly who we are.”

  “Because he’s good,” guy one said. He leaned back slowly in his chair, running his hand over his beard. “We can’t just kill her. We need her alive, because if he finds us and she’s already dead, we’ll wish that we had killed ourselves first. Just wait it out a little longer. If we don’t hear anything, we call one of the other guys.”

  “That wasn’t the deal,” the second guy said. “The deal was that we take her and wait for the ransom. Now we’re sitting on our heels, waiting for some fuckhead in Washington to call. I swear to God, if he screws us over, she won’t be the only one dying.”

  He stormed out of the cabin, guy three following close behind. That left me alone with guy number one. He sat there on the couch, staring at me, his dark eyes boring into mine. He looked like he could see right through my soul, like no matter what I was thinking, he was already ten steps ahead of my thought process.

  “What’s your name?”

  That seemed to shock him. His eyebrows jacked up and his finger stopped moving along his upper lip. “Why do you want to know?”

  “Because,” I said with a quiver in my voice. I was trying to be strong, but he could tell I was scared. My whole body was shaking. “Because right now I’m calling you guy one, two, and three. I’m trying to stay calm here and not start yelling or crying, so I figure if I can have one solid piece of information, just a name, then I have something to focus on. It doesn’t even have to be your real name,” I rambled. “Just something other than guy one.”

  “What do you think my name is?”

  I studied him for a moment longer and thought about my observations so far. “Um…Barret.”

  “Barret? Why the fuck would you think I’m a Barret?”

  “You’re…you’re quieter than the others, but you look like you know more than them. Your expressions say that you’re ten steps ahead, thinking of things they haven’t even considered yet. Barret sounds like a strong name, but quiet.”

  “And what about them?” he smirked, jerking his head toward the door.

  I glanced that way, my body still shaking with fear. “Um…the other one, the one that’s supposed to be the leader….maybe Adam.” I chuckled slightly. “I went to school with an Adam. He was the lead jock and friends with all the most important kids, but when we graduated, he had no place to go. He wasn’t good enough at sports to play college ball, and he had no real talents other than making people like him. He didn’t even have good grades. So, I guess I would say that the leader is Adam, just another wannabe leader.”

  “And the third guy?”

  I smirked slightly. “Tristan. He’s a pretty boy, but he doesn’t have any brains going for him. That’s all you.”

  He laughed lightly. “So, you think they won’t shoot you.”

  “No, I know they’ll shoot me, without any thought or consideration. I know you’ll shoot me too, but you’ll wait until the time is right for you.”

  He leaned forward and gazed at me shrewdly. “You’re a smart woman. If I were you, I’d keep that mouth shut and go with the flow. You’ll survive longer.”

  Chapter Seven

  Hunter

  I pulled through the gates of Reed Security with one guy passed out in the front seat and another tied up in the back. Fuck, that hadn’t gone at all how I thought it would. I really thought it would end in murder, but we hadn’t gotten anything out of the senator. I couldn’t let Knight kill him before we had any useful information. I knew it would kill him to lose Kate, and I would do everything I could to help him find her. Kate brought back the man I once knew. I mean, he would never be Hudson McGuire again. That man was happy and laughed. He shook off the bad shit and moved on. But over the years, Knight had seen how bad the world could truly be, and it had changed him. Kate had been able to pull a little bit of the old Hudson out of him again, but he would never go back to who he was. But for the years he had been back with me, I had my friend back. Seeing the way he was tonight, I knew for certain that if we didn’t find Kate, there was no point in trying to save him. Not even his kids could pull him back if she was gone.

  I’d like to think that I had that same kind of love with Lucy, but I knew it wasn’t the same. Knight had been on the brink, barely wanting to be alive when I saw him for the first time when he was holding Maggie hostage. He had been a man that didn’t give a shit about anything. But Kate had been his reason to live. I had never been that low, never needed Lucy the same way Knight needed Kate. That didn’t mean that I didn’t love her as hard, but it was a different kind of need. I knew it would hurt like hell if I ever lost Lucy, but I also knew that I could move on, knowing that I had the best years of my life with her. It wasn’t like that with Knight. He would never move on from losing Kate.

  As I glanced over at my friend, I knew that if I had any chance of saving the man I considered my best friend, I needed to do whatever it took to find Kate and bring her home safely. And not just for him. Kate meant a lot to everyone at Reed Security. She was the person that was there for all of us when we were injured, more than I could ever be. She was the person that tamed Knight and kept him from killing us all. But most importantly, she was someone that had worked her way into all our hearts. It seemed like I couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t with us. That’s the way it was with all the women, because they had taken this hardened group of men and made us into who we were today and what we stood for. Losing even one wasn’t acceptable.

  I rolled down my window and shouted out to Derek and Alec as they passed. “A little help here?”

  “What’s going on?” Derek asked, strolling up to the SUV. He peeked inside and his eyes widened. “Holy shit. Did you kill him?” he asked, referring to Knight.

  “No, but I had to knock him out.”

  “Why?”

  I jerked my head to the backseat and Alec moved to open the back door. He stared for a moment and then cleared his throat. “Well, I guess that’s another cleaning bill. Is this one alive?”

  “Of course, he’s alive.” I nodded from side to side, considering that it would be better to just let them know what had happened. “Okay, he almost wasn’t alive, but I stopped Knight.”

  “Who is he?” Derek asked. “You can’t even see his fucking face.”

  “Senator Cortez.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Alec exploded. “Another senator? Is he making it his life’s mission to kill off anyone in government?”

  “Cortez is behind Kate being taken.”

  That shut both of them up. Alec reached in and grabbed the senator, throwing him over his shoulder. “I’ll take him to the basement, let him cool off.”

  “You want to help me with Knight?” I asked Derek.

  He shook his head, grumbling as he walked around the truck.

  “What’s that? I didn’t catch that.”

  “
I said I knew Knight was trouble from the moment I met him. I really hate this fucker.”

  “No you don’t.”

  “Well, I hated him when I met him,” he grumbled, hauling Knight out of the truck. It took both of us carrying him inside. Of course, we were being more gentle with him than Alec was with the senator. Once we got him upstairs, I looked him over, checking his vitals to make sure nothing was wrong. He was going to be pissed at me when he woke up.

  “Hey,” Cap said from the doorway of the medic room. “I heard that you came back with a senator. Any witnesses?”

  “No, we should be good. Not that it matters,” I sighed. “When Knight wakes up, he’s going to kill him. That guy has a death wish.”

  “The senator or Knight?”

  “Both of them.”

  “Did you at least get something out of him?”

  I shook my head. “He wouldn’t give up Kate’s location, but I’m not sure he actually knew. I had to stop Knight from killing him. We can still get some useful information out of him.”

  “If he’s able to talk,” Cap added.

  “Any word on Parker or Blake?”

  He shook his head. “I have Becky working on where Blake was taken, but Parker…he’s radio silent. I don’t have a fucking clue what’s going on. They were supposed to meet out at Knight’s place in three days. Obviously, Blake won’t be there. We just have to hope that Parker makes it.”

  “I can ask Knight to check out the safe house where he was holding Kiera when he wakes up, but I don’t think there’s much chance of him being cooperative while Kate’s missing.”

  “Did he call Cole?”

  My eyes slipped closed. Fuck, I hadn’t even thought of Cole. He was going to be pissed. “Do you want to do it or do you want me to do it?”

  “I think you should do it.”

  “You’re his friend,” I countered.

  “You’re BFF’s with Knight.”