by V. A. Dold
“I can make those arrangements. How many children should I plan for, cher?” Emma asked.
Cassidy thought for a moment, mentally counting the younger kids. “Twenty children, ranging from two to ten years old. There are fifteen boys and five girls.”
Emma’s hand flew to her throat. “That many?”
Cassidy grimaced. “Yeah.”
Emma took a deep breath. “And you said that all of the kids have special gifts?”
“Yes. But much like my gift of hearing a lie, none of the gifts are dangerous to others.” Cassidy quickly assured her.
“Interesting. I’d wager there are a few shifter mates among those children. I’ll find families within our pack who are willing to take them in. That way we can monitor their progress and needs as they arise.”
Isaac patted Emma’s knee. “Excellent idea.”
Rubbing his jaw, Thomas asked, “When you say neutralized, do you mean tranqued or dead?”
“If at all possible, tranquilize them, otherwise do what’s necessary. When offered the choice, many of them may choose to get out of the assassination business. Once they’re detained, the fate of the prisoners is up to you. The only person off-limits is Jones. That bastard is mine.”
Marcus cleared his throat. “Your plan sounds great except for one thing. I’ll be going in with you.” When she tried to argue, he clapped his hand over her mouth. “This isn’t up for discussion. I’m going in with you. Period.”
Cassidy narrowed her eyes at him. When he lifted his hand from her mouth, she bared her teeth. “You’ll stay behind me. BEHIND me. Got it? If you get in my way, I’ll use one of the tranqs on you and leave you for your brothers to haul out.”
Marcus grinned at her. “You got it, mon amour. Whatever you say.”
John, who had sat quietly the entire time, spoke up. “You’ll need getaway transportation from the Jones compound and then back here in Louisiana. A lot of transportation from the sounds of it. I’ll organize a fleet of SUVs for both locations. Julia, Anna, Rose, Sara, and I will act as your drivers. Grandma—” he paused until Emma looked at him. “You can stay at home with Abbi and Malcolm. Someone needs to watch the kids.”
Emma’s mouth opened as if to protest, but then she sighed. “All right. I’ll also organize a small gathering of the families who’ll take in the younger trainees. That way, when you bring them home, we can feed them and introduce them to the people they’ll be living with. I don’t have twenty beds to put them up in, so they’ll have to go to their new homes right away.”
“Make sure you tell the host families that the kids may not be staying. Quin will investigate each child, and if relatives are found, the kids will go to them.”
“Of course. I’ll make sure they know that.”
“Quin can look, but he won’t find any living relatives. Jones makes sure of that.” Cassidy assured.
“Quin still needs to investigate. What if one of the kids has a sibling out there? You did. We need to keep any family we find together,” Marcus gently reminded her.
Cassidy nodded. “You’re right. Some might have siblings they’re unaware of. But I don’t want them to know that Quin is checking for family. Getting their hopes up for nothing is cruel.”
“We’ll keep it on the down-low, sweetheart.” Marcus kissed her cheek before turning his attention to Cade. “I’ll be with Cassidy collecting her brother and taking out Jones. I want you to organize the rest of the team. Assign half of them to neutralize the older kids and the other half to escort the little ones into the waiting vehicles. This is going to be messy. Contact Etienne for a cleanup crew. The compound is within his Washington DC territory. He’s going to be madder than a riled hornet when he hears about what Jones has been doing under his nose. Suggest to him that he could convert the compound into something useful for the community. That might calm him down.”
Cade pulled out his phone and started texting. “I’m on it.”
Finally, Marcus focused on his father. “Dad, I want you to arrange for a plane large enough to carry all of the kids and a few adult chaperones back here. The family will use the Le Beau jet to get there and back.”
Isaac pulled his phone out and started to punch in a number. “I’m on it.”
Sixteen
After hours of planning and organizing the team, they made their way to the private airport hidden on the far side of the plantation and boarded the Le Beau corporate jet. Several hours later, they were preparing to land in Washington, DC.
Marcus reached across their seats to grasp Cassidy’s hand. “Are you worried, mon amour?”
She turned to face him and blinked. The tiny overhead reading light illuminated his features from above, making the shadows deeper and his cheekbones sharper. Stunning. Absolutely stunning. She glanced back to his eyes. Marcus’s long lashes shadowed his eyes and somehow increased their intensity. And to think he was hers. With that thought, she blinked again. “I’m not worried about Jones. He’s not a threat to me. But I am concerned about Colin and how he’s been treated.”
Yeah, she could just imagine what sick kicks Jones had gotten terrorizing her little brother. By repeatedly taking out the teams he sent after her, she’d humiliated Jones in front of his underlings—his term, not hers. It was mind-boggling, really. He trained her to be the best assassin he ever had and yet took offense when she used her training to defend herself.
But the truth of Colin’s situation was, Jones wouldn’t forgive the embarrassment she’d dealt him. He believed he was entitled to any child he wanted, and once he had them, they were his tools to wield. God forbid the tools think for themselves and go against his orders.
Without a doubt, Jones had retaliated, and Colin was hurting. It was asinine, but Jones would require retribution for her defending herself.
Marcus lifted her palm to his chest and pressed it over his heart. “We’re getting him back, and I’m sure he will be fine, mon amour. Perhaps some bruises, but I doubt Jones would have dared do more.” Marcus spoke with utter confidence.
The rock steady beat of his heart assured her more than his words. Though how he would know Jones’s mind and actions, she refused to question. She had to believe that Jamie had been true to his word, and Colin was fine.
As she gazed into his eyes, his expression morphed from calm to determined, and his eyes glowed like white-hot flames. He looked absolutely fierce. If Cassidy had had reservations and doubts before, she didn’t now. Marcus was freaking scary. She had no doubt if Colin wasn’t on-site, he’d beat the location out of Jones before turning the bastard over to her to finish him off.
She nodded because she heard the truth in his words. He meant every word.
“Earbud check,” Cade said as he drove them to the compound.
Marcus touched his ear. “Test.”
Simon followed suit. “Test.”
One by one, the team in their SUV and then those following behind repeated the process. “We’re good to go,” Cade said when the last person checked in. “Stay in contact at all times. If you get in trouble, call for help. Under no circumstances is anyone to shift. Etienne will have enough to do cleaning up the scene. He doesn’t need to wipe minds as well.”
Stefan grinned. “Dang it. I wanted to chase a few of them through the halls and bite their asses.”
Simon rolled his eyes and slapped the back of Stefan’s head.
Cade scowled at Stefan in the rearview mirror. “Thank you, Simon.”
A minute later, Cade parked along the curb, down the block from the compound. “Is this good, Cassidy?”
“Yes. Perfect.”
Cade turned in his seat to look at all of them. “All right, everyone out on the right side. The left side of the vehicle may be visible from the compound.”
Cassidy opened her door and hesitated with one foot out of the SUV, blocking Marcus and forcing him to wait. Just looking at the compound down the street made her sick to her stomach. Returning to Jones always affected her that way.
The bastard had no mercy. Even as a child, he’d pushed her hard, demanding more from her than she was capable of. Then he punished her when she collapsed from fatigue.
He hated her unwillingness to submit to his dictates. On the days she was especially unruly, he’d demand that she accomplish something impossible and deadly in an effort to kill her. Needless to say, she’d denied him that satisfaction.
The gentle grip of strong fingers on her shoulder pulled her from her memories. She turned her head as Marcus leaned in to murmur in her ear. “This has to be a lot for you. I can do this on my own, mon amour.”
She took a deep breath and exited the vehicle with Marcus on her heels. Before she could respond to what he’d said, he pulled her into his arms.
“Are you good with the original plan, or do you want me to take point?” he asked as his fingers massaged the tension from her shoulders.
“I’m good. Every time I’ve returned, it’s affected me like this. Unless you’ve lived a life of survival, you can’t begin to understand how hard it is to willingly return to your torturer.”
“I can understand that. But, sweetheart, you never returned to him willingly, did you? Jones has always held Colin’s life over your head.”
“True. When I was younger, he veiled his threats, but they were threats all the same. A few years ago, he stopped sugar-coating them. Because of that and so much more, I need to be the one to do this. If it makes you feel better, you can think of Jones’s assassination, as my closure.”
Marcus nodded, though every fiber of his being roared for him to make her stay behind where she’d be safe. “I would never deny your right of vengeance nor condemn you for it.”
He sighed when she leaned against him for a moment. Though he had spoken the truth about her right to take Jones out, he too wanted to rip the human limb from limb. Applying the title of father or parent to Jones was no less than blasphemy against that sacred role.
Marcus wanted to bite Cade when he interrupted their precious moment before going into the lion’s den.
“Let’s get this done. Marcus, Cassidy, I want you two in and out. No dilly-dallying. Cassidy, I’m sorry, but we can’t afford any lengthy farewells with any of your friends. Our return flight plan has been filed. We’re on the clock, with limited time to get back to the airplane before it’s due to take off.”
Simon stepped closer and said with all seriousness, “I wish you’d let us take care of this, cher.”
“Thank you, Simon. But I can guarantee that Jones is no more a threat to me than a child is. Yes, he once worked as an assassin, but that was decades ago, and he never came close to my level of lethal.”
Marcus grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eye. “You never told me Jones was trained.”
Cassidy shrugged. “Because it was inconsequential.”
Cade’s eyes met Simon’s before glancing at Marcus. “We’ll stay as close as possible without jeopardizing the mission.”
Cassidy rolled her eyes. “On my count, Marcus and I will run for the first door on the back of the building. We’ll have thirty seconds to have our backs flat against the wall without being seen on the security feed. Cade, you and the rest of your crew will follow us exactly one minute later. The sweeps are on one-minute intervals.”
“Roger that,” Cade said.
Cassidy checked the time. Perfect, the security switch would be taking place in two minutes. She zeroed in on the camera, the instant she saw the glint of sunshine on the lens, she counted off three seconds aloud and took off like a bullet from a gun.
Marcus swore and ran after her.
Quin stared at his computer screen. He’d set up his base of operations in the back of a van Simon had rented for him alone. With the rear doors open, he could see the building as well as the interior of it. Having hacked into the compound’s security system, he now had every camera feed displayed on his monitors. Stefan had harassed him about lugging the huge monitors from his home office onto the plane, but Stefan didn’t know hacking like he did. Quin knew he’d need that much viewing area to accommodate all of the camera feeds. He’d been tasked with the job of their eyes during the mission. It was up to him to watch for enemy movements and possible threats.
Where the heck are they? Quin touched his earpiece. “Are you in? I haven’t seen you on any of the camera feeds.”
“No,” Marcus hissed back. “We’re having trouble with the security code. Jones must have changed it.”
“Give me a minute—” Quin’s voice trailed off as the earpiece picked up the sounds of his fingers flying over the keyboard. “Gotcha. Five, one, seven, three, nine.”
Seconds later, Marcus hissed back, “We’re in.”
“This way. Stay close to me and hug the wall.” Cassidy took off down the hallway, not waiting for him to respond. Just short of a corner leading off to the right, she stopped at a door. “Move down the stairs as quietly as you can.” She yanked the door open and shot inside.
He stayed close to Cassidy as they made their way down the stairs and exited into another hallway. Silently, she slid along the wall to the edge of an open door.
A low, mocking laugh preceded a fist hitting flesh and a grunt.
Cassidy’s lips curled back in a silent snarl. Marcus’s wolf sat up, eyeing her with interest.
She pulled a tiny mirror on a telescoping handle from one of the pockets of her pants and extended it to see inside.
Marcus was impressed with her self-control, knowing she wanted to rush in there and save her brother. He glanced over her shoulder to see what the mirror reflected. A taller man was dragging another bloodied man from the floor. “Ready to die, Jamie? You cock sucking traitor.”
Jamie spit in the asshole’s face.
The big guy bellowed. “For that, we're gonna have a little fun before we let you die.”
Two men the mirror hadn’t shown laughed as Cassidy tensed to rush into the room. Marcus clamped a hand on her shoulder and hissed three men into her mind.
Cassidy nodded as she shoved the mirror into her pocket and pulled a lethal knife from its sheath.
“You should have stayed out of this,” one of the others added.
Suddenly, the shadow of a man raising what looked like a baseball bat stretched across the floor and spilled into the hallway. “Batter up,” a new voice cackled.
Before Babe Ruth could land the blow, Cassidy was there. Arterial spray pumped from the gash in his neck. Before the men could react, Cassidy was on a second man.
Marcus snatched Jamie from the third man’s grasp before the goon knew he was there. He spun as he yanked the young man against his body, covering him with his own.
The guy recovered quickly, landing two quick jabs to Marcus’s ribs before Cassidy was on him.
Sputtering and grasping at his neck, he fell to his knees.
Marcus loosened his hold on Jamie, then tightened it again when the boy’s legs went out from under him. “Damn, babe, you’re scary as hell.”
Cassidy gave him a look before rushing to Colin, who was tied to a chair in the center of the room. As she’d suspected, Jones had taken his rage out on her brother. His eyes were swollen shut. A long gash oozed infection from his cheek, and his lip was split in two places. “Colin, honey, it’s me, Cassidy. I’m going to get you out of here.”
She went to work on his bindings ignoring Marcus and Jamie.
“How many more are in the building?” Marcus asked the boy called Jamie in a whisper.
“Thirty. No, thirty-two.” Then he glanced at the bodies sprawled on the floor. “Twenty-nine now that these three are dead,” Jamie wheezed. It was apparent he had a few broken ribs that needed tending.
“How many of them are youngsters?” Marcus asked patiently.
“Twenty.”
“Good boy. I’m going to call my brothers to take you out of here. Cassidy and I have unfinished business.”
“Uh… okay.” Jamie flicked a quick look at Cassidy before
whispering, “But you’ll keep her safe, right?” Concern and fear for his friend colored his words.
“Always. Now give me a minute.” Marcus pressed his earbud and murmured, “Cade? Simon?”
“Cade here. What do you need?”
“Second basement level. Fourth door from the stairwell. It’s open. Cassidy’s friend, Jamie, and Colin need assistance and medical care.”
“On our way. Give us three minutes.”
“Roger that,” Marcus said, ending the conversation. He took a quick glance around the stark room. Colin’s chair was the only piece of furniture in the concrete prison cell.
“Can you stand?” Cassidy asked her brother once his bindings were removed.
“I don’t know. I’ve been stuck in this damn chair since they kidnapped me. They only let me up a couple of times a day to use the bathroom. My legs were already weak before that bastard”—unable to see he nodded the direction the asshole with the bat had been the last time he'd spoken—“whacked them a few times. I’m afraid he might have broken my left leg below the knee.”
“Don’t move him,” Marcus commanded before she could try to get him to his feet. “Cade and Simon are on their way. They will help Jamie and Colin out of the building.”
Cassidy loosened her grip on Colin’s arm and focused on Jamie. “Oh, hun. How bad is it?”
“I’ll live.” Then Jamie dropped his eyes. “I’m sorry, Cassidy. I tried to warn Colin and get him out of town before they could grab him.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” she scolded. “You kept my brother alive, and for that, I’ll be eternally grateful.”
“Yeah, man,” Colin added. “I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you.”
Marcus held up a hand for silence. Footsteps, too quiet for a human to hear, were moving down the hall. Then Cade spoke into his earpiece. “We’re coming in. Tell Cassidy not to stab or shoot us.” Marcus stepped to the doorjamb and waved his brothers in. “Simon, why don’t you take Colin. His leg is broken, and as you can see, his eyes are swollen shut, so he’ll need a bit of help. Cade, Jamie here was beaten to hell by those three cowards. You’ll have to carry him out.”