GUARDIANS: Mission To Rescue Innocence (Beauty 0f Life Book 7)

by Laura Acton

  Shutting the portal, Brody addressed Patch, “You’re needed in the other room. Bring your pack.”

  Blaze scanned Brody’s face, noting mild concern. Whatever happened must not be too significant, but I can use this to my advantage. He convincingly lied through his teeth hoping to scare their captives. “Without a doubt, you don’t want to end up like our other guest. He chose to remain silent, and right about now is probably wishing we would kill him to put him out of his misery.”

  To Patch, Blaze stated blandly. “Make sure he doesn’t die just yet. Try the truth serum this time.” Inclining his head to Brody, Blaze added, “Go with Dr. Death and ensure he doesn’t overdose our guest this time. We need the cocky kid to talk, not die. Disposing of a body is tedious.”

  To hide the amused smile which lit his face from Makar and Kazimir, Brody turned away quickly. Christ, the things Blaze said. Dr. Death? Where the hell did he come up with that?

  Barely able to keep the laugh from bursting out, Patch was glad his back was to the Yurievichs when Blaze called him Dr. Death. He hurried out following Brody, needing to stop by his room to grab his pack. His mind switched into medic mode. What could’ve happened? Blondie should be sound asleep for several more hours with the sedative I gave him.

  After the door closed, Blaze turned back to the brothers. His lips morphed into a sneer. “What will it be boys? Talk. Pain and talk. Or pain, talk, and slow, torturous death by Savoy?”

  Kazimir blanched. We’re up shit creek without a paddle. He heard stories about the SAS operator’s way of extracting intel. “What you want know?”

  “Shut up!” Makar yelled as fear rose in him. It became clear to him Dominique Savoy had not come to Makhachkala alone. He needed to think. This whole thing was blowing up in his face. First Savelievich reneged on the deal, the Jackals were involved somehow, and now these men.

  In the Arms of Morpheus

  24

  May 28

  Anzhi-Qala Resort – Luxury Suite – Bedroom – 1620 Hours

  Patch stood and backed up allowing Mason to move forward. “I didn’t find any fractures, but I’m not sure what’s going on, and we need to play this safe. Brody, brace his neck and head while Mason keeps his back straight and carries him carefully to the bed.”

  Mason crouched and slipped his arms behind Blondie’s knees and back, cautiously lifting the unconscious man from the shower floor. Unable to assist until Danny was out of the enclosed area, Brody moved swiftly to protect his dignity by reaching out and stopping the towel covering Blondie’s privates from sliding off as Mason turned.

  Once extracted, Brody immediately situated himself to implement Patch’s instructions. With unity and even strides, both men transported their little brother into the bedroom. Mason hovered above the mattress to allow Brody time to position and adjust the pillow to cradle Blondie’s neck like a cervical collar and support his head.

  After he laid Blondie down, Mason straightened up to cover the kid’s wet, naked body with a sheet and stepped away joining Brody to make room for Patch to tend to the kid. As Patch reassessed Blondie’s airway, respiration, and examined his extremities for signs of poor circulation, noting all appeared normal, he said, “Anastasia, tell me what happened.”

  Tucking strands of flyaway hair behind an ear, Anastasia turned her gaze from the view outside to the men in the room. Crystal blue eyes filled with worry landed on Dan for a moment before shifting to Patch. She released a gradual breath. “Dan woke up sweating and mumbled something about needing a shower. I suggested he go back to sleep, but he got up and stumbled towards the bathroom.

  “I’m not entirely sure he was awake, his eyes appeared distant. Startling him awake is a bad thing, so I didn’t touch him. I followed him and talked to him, but he didn’t respond. When he turned on the water and started to strip, I figured maybe he was only groggy from the medication. I left when he stepped into the shower, though I lingered nearby.

  “Dan was in there for about five minutes when I heard a crashing sound. I rushed in and found him out cold on the tile. Mason came in a second later, and I went to get you.”

  Patch nodded. “I agree, I don’t think he was fully awake. With the meds I gave him, he should be in the arms of Morpheus for a few more hours.”

  Brody’s jaw dropped. “What?! You gave him morphine! You know what that does to him. Shit! We’re lucky he’s not hallucinating.”

  “Calm down. I didn’t say morphine I said Morpheus. The Roman god of sleep and dreams. Someone who is in the arms of Morpheus is asleep.” Patch checked Blondie’s pupils, relieved to find them equal and reactive. He scratched his head. “He sure metabolized the sedative faster than I expected.”

  Seeing Brody blush, Mason patted his back. “Patch confused me with that too.” Turning to the medic, a touch of unease clouding his voice, Mason said, “I didn’t see any blood, but he might’ve struck his head on the floor.”

  Gently probing Blondie’s skull, Patch found a slight knot on the back. “Think you’re right.” Cracking open an ampule of smelling salts, he waved it under Blondie’s nose.

  Dan scrunched his face, turning away from the ammonia odor. Wincing as he moved, his eyes blinked open, and four concerned faces came into focus. Will I ever stop humiliating myself? Shoving Patch’s hand away, he attempted to rise, but Patch prevented him. “Let me up. I’m okay.”

  “Stay still. Can you tell me who you are?” Patch started with the basic concussion protocol question.

  “Dan Broderick. And before you ask, today is May twenty-eighth, I’m in Makhachkala, you’re Patch.”

  “You hate playing twenty questions, don’t you? Only one more which you didn’t answer. What happened?”

  “I slipped.” Reaching to the back of his sore head, Dan discovered the knot.

  Brody grinned. “That’s it? You slipped?”

  With a roll of his eyes, Dan told a half-truth. “Yeah, smooth move. I dropped the soap and fell when I went to retrieve the damned thing.” What Dan left unsaid was as he bent over the flow of water hit him squarely in the face, and he panicked as his mind tried to pull him back to there, to memories of daily waterboarding and being sprayed in the face until he choked.

  “Well, I’m glad it was only a klutzy move and not something life-threatening. Scared me for a moment, Blondie.” Mason chuckled.

  Sitting on the edge of the bed, Patch said, “Your body sure did metabolize the sedative quickly. You should have been out for at least two more hours. How about you finish your shower and go back to sleep a bit longer.”

  Dan shook his head. “Done with showering and sleeping. We should probably strategize about tonight at the Cherry Club.”

  “Pain level?” Patch asked.

  Noting the makeshift brace, Dan truthfully said, “Feet and neck zero. Head one. Nothing I can’t handle.” Moving to sit up, happy Patch didn’t force him to lay down again, Dan turned his gaze to Brody.

  Brody’s grin increased. “Tonight’s game might’ve changed. While you were napping, we bagged Makar and Kazimir. Blaze is interrogating them now.”

  A short chuckle emitted as Patch stood. “Oh, and I’m not supposed to overdose you with truth serum and Brody is here to make sure Dr. Death doesn’t kill you.”

  Anastasia, Mason, and Dan stared at the two with confused expressions.

  “Get dressed, Danny, and then join us in the main room. We’ll tell you all about it,” Brody said. Relieved nothing serious happened to Dan, Brody strolled out. Anyone can slip in the shower. Though honestly, he wondered if it was only a simple slip. He read something in Danny’s eyes which indicated to him there might be more, but he didn’t let on to the others. Danny had been embarrassed enough.

  Brody walked a fine line in sharing information with the guys and keeping Dan’s confidences. He didn’t want to break Dan’s trust, but at times he must tell them because it was in Dan’s best interest. This time he judged he could remain quiet.

  Patch closed his pack and head
ed out to the other room with Anastasia and Mason. Glancing at Brody, his countenance left him with the impression Brody withheld something. Though, he realized Brody only did that if it was not something which had a negative impact on Blondie’s health and well-being, so he let the thought go.

  A short time later, Dan joined them in the common area of the suite. Brody and Patch enjoyed taking turns describing how they snagged the brothers and how Blaze approached the interrogation. Dan, Mason, and Anastasia laughed along with them as they told the tale.

  Studying Blondie, Mason took pleasure in the kid’s bright smile. Blondie really is just a kid. Good seeing him grinning and laughing. The kid needs to relax and enjoy himself at least a little before returning to soldier mode to deal with the dark side of humanity tonight.

  Relieved nothing terrible happened as a result of Dan’s mishap, Anastasia excused herself to shower. Strange, but her heart gathered him in close, quicker than any person ever, and a keen sense of protectiveness towards him grew.

  Anzhi-Qala Resort – Luxury Suite – Main Room – 1700 Hours

  Wearing a smile and whistling, Ripsaw strolled in forty minutes later.

  Dan glanced up from the couch. His feet in Anastasia’s lap as she gave him a much-appreciated foot massage. “Did Blaze obtain the information?”

  Winking at Anastasia, Ripsaw answered, “Yeah. I see Brody kept Dr. Death from killing Blondie and he acquired a lovely masseuse.”

  Everyone chuckled as Brody said, “Yep. Will the others be joining us soon? Have our plans for tonight changed?” Please, God, let them have changed. Let us find another way, so Dan isn’t put in a position to pretend to like little girls. Dan needs a break, and we need to rescue all those innocent children.

  “They’ll be along in a few minutes. Patch, Blaze needs you in the other room to put the Yurievichs on ice so they can’t cause trouble,” Ripsaw said.

  “Bwah-hah-hah, Dr. Death will have Morpheus shackle them for eternity.” Grabbing his pack, Patch hurried out the door as the guys snickered.

  Mason ruffled Blondie’s long hair as he passed behind the sofa to grab water. “Hopefully you can cut that mop off soon. You’re looking too pretty.”

  “Afraid I’m gonna take your modeling contracts away?” Dan joked.

  “Nah, just don’t want the rest of the units thinking you are a girl,” Mason teased back and tossed Blondie another water bottle.

  Brody snorted and listened to the teasing barbs tossed back and forth between Mason and Dan. He loved to watch those two joke around. Ever since the Humvee accident, Mason took every opportunity to mess around with Dan as he became one of his staunchest protectors. Their relationship grew closer as Mason helped Danny during his recovery.

  If I die, Mason might be the one to step into my shoes and be Dan’s confidant. A gentle giant when it comes to caring for Danny, Mason turns into a heathen if anyone dares threaten him. Those massive fists can do considerable damage … quite possibly knock down a house.

  Several minutes later, brought out of his musing when Dan and Mason stopped talking, Brody turned, noting Blaze and the others, minus Dom, entering. Blaze wore a genuine grin as he strode to a chair and dropped several sheets of paper on the table.

  Dan swiveled his feet out of Anastasia’s lap and leaned forward gazing at the hand-drawn maps. “Is this the inside of the Cherry Club?”

  “Yep!” Blaze sat as the rest of the group gathered around. His gaze captured Blondie’s. “Makar and Kazimir became quite vocal when we told them we would hand them over to Dom. Apparently, Dom has a reputation as someone who is quite effective in making people disappear.”

  “Where is Dom?” Mason asked.

  “Left a while ago. Needed to contact a few people to make arrangements.”

  Brody scooted forward and pulled one of the sheets to him, studying the layout. “Do we know exactly where Dom’s girls are?”

  “Not quite but we’ve got three potential places. One is in a concealed room in the basement. It is only accessible via a door hidden in Panin’s office. Makar became aware of it because he helped carry the girls inside when they delivered them to Panin,” Blaze explained.

  Winds pointed to the map. “Our second potential location is the third floor. Kazimir overheard some of the guards speaking, and it appears Panin takes his captives to a room on that floor to clean them up and prepare them for sale. The final place is the fifth floor. According to the brothers, it is where he holds his auctions.”

  Dan examined the locations. “The second and third locations might be easier to gain access to. Getting into Savelievich’s office without being seen or raising suspicion will be trickier.”

  “That’s where I come in. I will distract Savelievich while you go in and check it out,” Anastasia said.

  Mason shook his head. “I don’t think that will work. Mike said he was too paranoid. All locations are going to be hard to sneak into. Did they have any details on guards inside?”

  Blaze supplied the information. “Several heavily armed guards on every floor, the roof, at all entrances, and in the elevator. He also maintains three guards in an outer office and one guard is always with Panin wherever he goes including his office. From what we discovered, that puts the number of armed men in the building at close to forty.”

  “Not such good odds when our five are going in unarmed.” Brody blew out a breath.

  “If we do this right they won’t be unarmed for long. Makar said it is most likely only one of Maks’ guards will be allowed beyond the reception area.”

  “That will be me,” Mason interjected, interrupting Blaze and eyeing Ripsaw daring him to argue.

  “All you, if that pans out.” Ripsaw knew not to challenge the grizzly bear when he was in Blondie protection mode.

  As he observed the dynamic, Blaze liked the brotherhood, but also noted Blondie shifted, appearing uncomfortable. Something in the kid’s eyes worried him, but he couldn’t decipher what, so he continued the briefing. “Makar also indicated the kitchen is the least guarded area. So, here is the plan.”

  As Blaze outlined his plan, Winds contacted Dom and explained the additional items they needed. The guys and Anastasia spent the next hour discussing tactics.

  Cherry Club – Third Floor – 1730 Hours

  Frightened, Anna-Marie hung on to Nicolette as two creepy men herded them through a dark passage up four flights of stairs. Both girls squinted their eyes when they were pushed into a bright room much different from the one they recently left. The door closed behind them and locked, leaving them alone again. They turned and where they entered looked like a wall.

  This room, besides being clean and lit with more than a single bare bulb, contained a huge bed and a bathroom. Nicolette needed to pee so badly, so she rushed into the lavatory. Going in a bucket in the corner of the other room disgusted her.

  Anna rubbed her arms, warming up, glad to be out of the cold, dark room. Continuing the language game helped her feel less scared, and speaking English kept thoughts of her papa close in her mind. Her voice quaking a little, Anna asked, “Nikki, why did they bring us here?”

  Returning to the bedroom, Nicolette hugged her little sister close as they stood in the middle of the large room. “Not sure but it is better than where we were. At least it is warm here, and there is a toilet.”

  Anna smiled for the first time in days. “Papa says you are like Mama … glass half full, optimistic.”

  “And Mama says you are like Papa, strong-willed and intelligent.” Nicolette released Anna and walked back to the restroom. “Thirsty?”

  “Yes.” Anna followed Nicolette, and they both drank their fill from the sink faucet. “I guess our glass is all filled now,” Anna said with a small grin.

  Nicolette giggled as they returned to the main area. “Papa will come soon.”

  As a door on the opposite wall opened, and a woman came in, Anna-Marie clung tighter to Nikki. They noticed the woman wore a lot of makeup and not much in the way of clothes
, but she smiled at them.

  Natia entered the room and glimpsed Panin’s newest girls. The youngest one appeared to be about the same age she had been when she arrived here. Natia long ago gave up hope of being rescued and accepted this was her life. Over the past ten years, she did what was expected to survive, but she still remembered how frightened she was when she first arrived. The little girls would eventually stop being so scared and accept this life or die.

  She peered down at the card the Madam wrote out for her. Madam explained the girls conversed in French and English, neither of which she spoke. Georgian was Natia’s native language, and she learned Russian here.

  Stumbling to read the English words, she said, “I am Natia. I help you bathe. Do as told, or be punished. Come.” Natia determined she must have said the words well enough because they followed her into the bathroom. Once there, Natia turned on the water and added lavender bath salts to the tub.

  As the girls washed, Natia gathered up all their filthy and stinking clothes and gave them to the guard outside the door for disposal. After they finished, Natia handed them towels and obtained two soft robes from the cabinet for them to wear. From a drawer, she retrieved new toothbrushes and toothpaste.

  After they brushed their teeth, she positioned two stools in the room and motioned for them to sit. Natia proceeded to braid the girl’s hair into pigtails, tying cherry-red bows at the tops and ends of both plaits. Then she gestured them into the bedroom and to chairs near a Georgian style mahogany tea table. Going to the armoire, she opened it and selected the clothing Madam directed her to dress them in.

  Nicolette asked, “Why are we here? We want to go home.” No reaction. Maybe she doesn’t understand English, she is reading from a placard. I’ll try French. “Pourquoi sommes nous ici? Nous voulons rentrer chez nous.”

  Natia did not answer her and only shrugged her shoulders indicating a lack of understanding. Completing her task, she walked over to them and handed them matching white, chiffon, baby doll style dresses. On the peter pan collars, bright red cherries were embroidered. The color matched the hair bows.