Never Enough

by Robyn Nyx

  Nat was matter-of-fact, businesslike, as if what she was talking about was the most common thing in the world. Recently deceased. Brutally murdered, more like. What did they already know? They obviously knew she’d received an identical package to the one Gillian had sent out to the FBI. At least, Gillian had said it was identical, but how could Madison trust her? Dead or alive, she’d still been a vital criminal cog in Therese’s operation. A sudden conscience didn’t wipe away the things she must’ve been responsible for. Was Elodie safe? Ash, even? Did they know who she’d spoken to about it at all? How am I supposed to play this? Madison sighed internally and tried desperately to think strategically. There was no playing. This was no game. They’d ask questions, and if they didn’t like the answers she gave, she’d suffer. Painfully and for prolonged periods. Hostile environment training could never prepare her for this. “Knowledge dispels fear” had been their tagline. It didn’t ring true. Madison knew exactly what this gang was capable of, but she still feared for her life. Not really her life, but how she was going to die.

  “Other than meeting with Powell, I haven’t done anything with it. You’ve got everything I had.” Madison met Nat’s look in the rearview mirror again, trying to appear resolute and in control. Inside, she was a mess of fear and despair.

  “Enough with the small talk. Gag her, Blake, I don’t want to spoil Therese’s fun.”

  Blake took a bandana from her pocket, tied a knot in the center, and with the help of the other woman, stuffed it in Madison’s mouth and tied it around the back of her head. Nat watched it happen in the rearview mirror as Madison struggled to stay calm. She had to quell her fears. She couldn’t let them see her absolute terror, but the anticipation of what was to come caused her to feel nauseous and wish for unconsciousness. All she wanted to show Nat was resolve. Taking her voice away removed her ability to reason or bargain with them. Now all she was left with was surviving the abuse and looking for the best time and opportunity to escape.

  Nat had mentioned an island, and Madison figured it had to be San Nicolas, the one detailed in Gillian’s package. It looked like Therese’s dummy corporation, run by some guy called Peterson, had managed to convince the Native Americans to sell their land to a criminal organization. Madison could only hope that Elodie remembered some of the detail from the documents she’d shown her, so she and Ice could rescue her. Madison couldn’t quite believe her one great hope was a movie star. A movie star who’s also a war vet.

  Unless Ash checked in on her because he was worried about this whole situation. She cursed her own stubbornness. It was that and her ego that had gotten her this deep into something she would never have wished to handle herself. Was I trying to impress Elodie? Show her what a real journalist does because I felt compromised doing her fluff piece? It’s not like I had anything to prove to anyone else.

  Maybe she was being hard on herself. “The price of truth can be high for those who dare to risk their lives on the front line.” She couldn’t recall where she’d heard that quote, but she was thinking she’d taken it too literally. She’d lost sight of the bigger picture, and though she’d considered the dangers, she’d chosen to ignore them. Gillian’s death showed the FBI was corrupt. Madison had decided it had to come out this way so someone would act. So someone could stop this evil bitch and her vile gang. Dealing in human organs was abhorrent enough, but the pleasure these women took in the vicious side of their operations made shutting them down even more imperative. So she had to risk her life. It’s what hardcore journalists do.

  The truth. Justice. It was a sacrifice worth making, and she’d always known the risks. Her incident in Russia had reminded her of those risks, up close and personal, and she’d lost close colleagues before. She’d been lucky, but that had finally run out. She had to accept that, as well as the knowledge she’d brought it on herself, when she’d had several people warning her to back off. Now she had to hope that somehow, she’d live through it.

  Madison shifted in her seat and tested the ropes around her wrists. She’d done as she was taught: kept them together while the rope was looped around, then pulled them slightly apart as the knot was secured. Blake had been too interested in groping her as she’d done it to notice. If they left her alone long enough, she could work them loose. She’d lose skin, and probably draw blood, but getting her hands free could buy her valuable time and could even be a step toward escape.

  The Escalade pulled to a stop. Madison was dragged out, pulled across the rough asphalt, and hauled into a helicopter. Nat got in beside the pilot, and the backseat pair sandwiched her again. The front seat passenger, who’d never uttered a word, waved them off from the ground before she got back in the car and drove off.

  “Nice work, Nat. The boss’ll be pleased with you.” The female pilot was of a similar build and look to Nat. They could’ve been sisters. Madison stored the detail. If she got out of this alive, she wanted to be able to identify as many of the gang as possible. She didn’t acknowledge the nagging fear that they weren’t worried about showing their faces to her because they knew she wouldn’t be leaving the island.

  “She made it easy for us, walked right up to the car and rapped on the window, all sassy-like.” Nat mocked her and turned to Madison. “Why did you do that?”

  Blake removed Madison’s gag. She rolled her tongue around her mouth to garner some saliva before responding. Blake cuffed the back of her head.

  “Answer the question.”

  “Touch her like that again and you’ll be answering to Therese,” Nat warned her. “So, why?”

  “I thought you were someone else.” Madison said no more. She didn’t want to warn them that there might already be a rescue in progress. She hoped.

  “You looked pretty pissy. Who’d you think we were?”

  “An ex.” Madison met Nat’s inquisitive gaze. Don’t break eye contact. Don’t look anywhere other than straight at her, or she’ll know you’re lying.

  “An ex whose car you don’t know?” Nat’s eyes narrowed.

  She doesn’t believe me. “SUVs all look the same to me. I’m no car expert.”

  Nat faced the front as the pilot started to take off. “Let’s get her to the island, then you can come back and wait for Therese.”

  “Okay.”

  The pilot glanced over her shoulder at Madison, who thought she could see something like sympathy in her eyes. Madison was already calculating the extra time that would give Elodie and Ice to find her before Therese could get to her. It would be at least another hour. Madison had seen Therese’s methods, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold out for any length of time.

  Once that woman is in the same room as me, it’s over.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  “See if the keys to her apartment are still here.”

  Elodie nodded and looked back at Madison’s car. She felt breathless and her legs weak. She leaned on the CR-V for support and worked her way back to the driver’s seat. The battered leather bag she’d never seen Madison without was nowhere to be found. I can’t lose you. She searched the car’s pockets and compartments for Madison’s apartment keys. Maybe there were clues there. The package, that fucking package, maybe that’s there. Madison had shown her some of the pages, but she couldn’t remember a damn thing that was on them. Just a sense of the malevolence this gang was capable of. And I’ve let them get hold of you. She felt bile rise in the back of her throat, her imagination running wild with the vile possibilities. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and tried hard to rid her mind of the visceral images that invaded.

  She found the keys in a concealed pocket below the steering wheel. “I’ve got them. Let’s go.” Her training began to kick in. She was no use to Madison as Elodie, the movie star. Madison needed Elodie, the Marine. She got into the driver’s side of the Aston and started the engine. “I’m going to call the cop Madison was working with. If she showed him the file, maybe he knows something about where they might’ve taken her.”

  Ic
e nodded. “Tell him to keep his mouth shut. We don’t want the LAPD involved. I’ll get some CIA bodies on high alert for us.”

  “Can I speak to Lieutenant Ash Coleman, please?”

  “I’ll see if he’s at his desk. Who’s speaking?”

  “Elodie Fontaine.”

  There was a derisive laugh. “Sure you are. You know I can trace this call and bust you for wasting police time?” The officer was instantly irritated.

  “Feel free. You’ll find it’s registered in the name of Elodie Fontaine. Me. I need Lieutenant Coleman.”

  The officer cleared her throat, maybe recognizing her voice. “I’m sorry, ma’am. We get a lot of crank calls. Let me get him for you.”

  *

  Getting by Madison’s reception had been as easy as Elodie had expected. As one of the most recognizable faces in the world, her fame afforded her a pass for virtually anywhere. All this trespass had taken was a signed copy of the article in M magazine. The reception guard had looked a little confused when she pressed her hand over the glossy pages, almost trying to connect with Madison through her words. It was stupid, but she couldn’t help it.

  Now she and Ice were sharing an elevator with a dad and his twenty-something-year-old son, both of whom were trying desperately hard not to stare, sure that it couldn’t be “the” Elodie Fontaine in their building.

  It was the son who finally summoned the words as they hit the thirteenth floor. “Are you—”

  “No, I’m not. I get it all the time, but no, I’m not Elodie Fontaine.”

  “I told you she wasn’t,” the dad scolded.

  She didn’t care at all for his dismissive tone. The son looked down and sighed. Elodie got the feeling he was used to his father’s derisory treatment. The elevator slowed for Madison’s twentieth floor apartment, the doors opened, and she and Ice stepped out.

  “She checked me out when we got in. That’s how I knew it wasn’t that dyke actress,” the dad half whispered as the doors began to close.

  Had it been another time, Elodie would’ve spun around and hit the dad with some withering putdown. Lucky for him, her full attention was focused elsewhere. If she ever saw them in the building again, she’d damn well say something then.

  They advanced slowly down the corridor, mindful that Madison could’ve been brought here if they wanted the package. As they drew closer, Elodie could see the door was slightly ajar, and she stopped. She wished she’d picked up the Beretta 87 she’d bought after leaving the Corps. For a while, she felt naked without a gun in her hand. Though she’d never used it, she just liked to know it was there, but in her rush to get dressed and out of the house, she’d stupidly forgotten it. On cue, Ice pulled out her Sig.

  The elevator pinged its arrival, and she spun around to see the imposing figure of Lieutenant Ash Coleman bearing down on her. Elodie put her fingers to her lips to signal something might be wrong. Coleman pulled his Glock and tried to wave Elodie and Ice aside.

  “Stay here,” he instructed quietly.

  Elodie clamped her teeth shut and tensed her jaw.

  “What do you think you are, the fucking cavalry?” Ice asked as they both blocked his path.

  “I’m a police officer. I think I have seniority over a movie star and her buddy.”

  So not everyone knows my history. “We’re ex-Marines, and she’s still CIA, so let’s not get our cocks out.”

  Ice grinned. “And she’s back.”

  She turned away, pushed the door open with her left hand, and kept her gun at the ready in her right. Elodie and Ash followed closely behind. After a quick sweep of the apartment, they found it clear, but it was obvious Therese’s gang had been there looking for Madison and the package.

  Ice leaned against the doorway of Madison’s study. “Is the paperwork still here?”

  Elodie moved the papers on Madison’s desk around but found nothing about the Hunt gang. She saw Madison’s MacBook on the floor with a broken screen. She’d only just replaced it from her last assignment, something about a Russian general smashing it up before deporting her from the country. She was right. This is the life she leads.

  “It doesn’t look like it. She was carrying it around with her most of the time. I was just hoping she might’ve made some copies or something. Anything.”

  She sank into Madison’s office chair and squeezed its arms tightly. Dread bubbled in her gut. She was glad Ice had been with her when all this happened, but if she hadn’t asked for Ice’s help in the first place, it was possible that Madison wouldn’t be in their hands right now. She would never have left the house. She would have been safe. No, they would have come for her at my place. At least this way, she had a fighting chance. When they were in the Marines, they specialized in extraction. If anyone could do this, it was her and Ice.

  “She said she was going to leave that alone and let me do some digging. What the hell happened?”

  “She said she was being followed.” Elodie stood and gestured toward Ice. “She’d been tailing her for a few days because I was worried. Madison left my house about an hour ago, and we found her car abandoned about two miles from my place.” Elodie felt like she was being interrogated, like she was the criminal. She couldn’t feel any guiltier.

  “You knew she was being followed, and you let her go alone?”

  Coleman stepped forward and reduced the space between them to an uncomfortable distance. Elodie stiffened and stood tall, more than aware of the four-inch height advantage Coleman had on her, but she wasn’t easily intimidated.

  “She was angry I’d had someone follow her. She’s headstrong; you must know that. She didn’t take kindly to me making decisions about her safety, and she ran off.” Elodie flexed her shoulders and prepared for the confrontation to get physical.

  “Why didn’t you follow her?”

  Ash leaned in, and Elodie could smell coffee on his breath. “We did. But I had to get changed, and I guess that was all the time they needed, ’cause when we got to her car, she was already gone.”

  “Get changed? Can’t be seen without makeup and designer jeans in the real world?”

  “Fuck you. It’s not like you’ve been protecting her. She’s been working with you, and you’ve already let someone else get killed.” Elodie moved into the space between them and made it nonexistent.

  “I’ve been tracking Hunt. The best way to protect Madison was to remove the threat. Maybe I should’ve removed you instead.”

  Elodie flamed, and she pushed hard at Ash’s shoulders. He stumbled back a step, and Ice took the opportunity to step between them.

  “Back off, Johnny Law. She’d wipe the floor with you, in retirement or not.”

  Ash straightened his shirt and shrugged.

  “Do you remember anything from the papers she showed you?” Elodie regained her composure, and her tone was even.

  “There was an island facility Hunt was developing for an American based operation. It was an old Navy site the Native Americans sold to a developer for a quick buck.”

  Ice was checking the iPhone Elodie had given her. “I’d guess they’re taking her there, then. Her phone’s still on, and it’s just left the old aerodrome site. The signal’s moving fast, so I’m thinking they’re in a chopper.”

  “What if she’s not with her phone?”

  “She’s a smart girl, Dee. She’ll have found some way to keep it on her. How do we get to the island?”

  “I’ve got a boat.”

  “I’ve got guns.”

  “Let’s get battle ready, Ice.”

  Ice saluted. “Hell yeah.”

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  “What the fuck is that?”

  Nat pointed at Blake, who’d tapped away on the phone she’d found on Madison for the past ten minutes on the chopper. Now that they were on the ground, she’d been caught.

  “It’s hers. I was checking to see if there were any hot photos of her or the movie star on it.” Blake began to laugh but stopped when she finally registered
the look on Nat’s face.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” She snatched the phone from Blake and smashed it onto the floor before grinding it into oblivion with her heavy boots. “Don’t you know they can be traced? Do you want to explain to Therese how the cops found our little kidnap victim?” She pulled Madison from Blake’s grasp and pushed her into the arms of the pilot. “Courts, take her down to join Dawkes while I have a chat with Blake about the consequences of fucking up kidnap etiquette.”

  Madison could see fear in Blake’s eyes as she was led away. She’d barely taken a few steps before she heard the flat mashing sound of bone on flesh and Blake’s suppressed cry of pain.

  She stole a look back as Courts opened the door to the main building with a key card. Blake was prone on the concrete floor, and Nat was repeatedly kicking her in the head. Blake’s muffled cries ceased and her body stilled before Madison was shoved through the doors.

  “Jesus Christ.” It was all Madison could manage as she struggled to keep her legs from folding beneath her.

  “Keep moving. It’s gonna be bad enough for you. You don’t need to watch that.”

  She pushed Madison into a corridor that could easily have been mistaken for a top-class medical center. The mirror-shine white floor tiles were almost blinding. French green walls proposed a calm she certainly didn’t feel and harsh disinfectant assaulted her nostrils.

  “How is that okay with you?” Madison was nauseous. Natasha’s absolute lack of humanity terrified her. It was one thing seeing it in documents and photos; it was entirely another witnessing it. I’ll be feeling it soon.

  “She was stupid. Stupid has harsh consequences around here.”

  “Death’s a pretty final consequence.”

  Courts led Madison down some stairs and through another set of double doors. “They know what they’re getting into when they secure a job with Therese. It’s how she stays on top of the competition. There’s no room for mistakes.”