I let out a terrified breath and took several deep breaths to try and calm my nerves. “Oh, thank God. It worked.”
“What worked?”
“When they came for us, I distracted them, hoping they would forget about Caitlin.”
“I haven’t seen her, so I’m guessing she’s safe. But I’m worried about Vanessa. She’s been groaning a lot and I think she’s bleeding.”
“Can you tell where the blood’s coming from?”
“No. I’m chained to the wall.”
I yanked on my wrists, realizing that my handcuffs were also chained to the wall. “Did you see who they were?”
“They looked like gangsters. That’s all I could make out. I didn’t really get a chance to ask them for their names.”
“Next time you’ll have to be a more friendly hostage.”
“Sure. I’ll work on that.”
We sat in silence for a while, which was fine with me because it felt like I had a jackhammer going off in my head. I must have dozed at some point because the next thing I heard was yelling in the room. I opened my eyes and saw Kate struggling with two men. They were trying to take her somewhere and she was fighting back. My heart pounded wildly. I couldn’t let anything happen to her. Knight would kill me. Hell, I was Sebastian’s wife. If they wanted anyone, it should be me.
“What are you doing?” I shouted.
“Getting information,” one of them snarled.
“She doesn’t know anything. Please. Don’t do this,” I pleaded.
Kate kicked out at them, but they continued to drag her to the door. I shook my head wildly, pulling at my restraints as hard as I could.
“Take me!” I shouted without thinking. “I’m Sebastian’s wife. She doesn’t know anything. She can’t tell you jack shit!”
“And we’re supposed to believe that the owner’s wife will just give us whatever we need?”
“Not a chance in hell, but she really doesn’t know anything. She doesn’t have anything to do with the company, if that’s what you’re after.”
One of the men threw her to the ground and stalked over to me. “So, you want us to take you instead?”
I shook in fear. My eyes flicked to Kate and I could see the terror reflecting in hers. I couldn’t let anything happen to her, but that didn’t mean that I wanted to take it myself. Rough hands jerked me forward and I felt the pressure release from my wrists. I was still cuffed, but no longer latched to the wall. The second man walked over to me with an evil smile and yanked me up by the elbow, shoving me toward the door. I glanced back one last time to see Kate’s wide eyes staring back at me. Vanessa was still passed out in the corner.
I did my absolute best to hold my head high as I was led down a dark hallway. It smelled like piss and rot throughout the building and the room they led me into was no better. I was pretty sure the dark stains on the floor were blood and there was an overwhelming smell of vomit that had me gagging as I was shoved into a metal chair. A man with tattoos all over his face stepped forward and grinned at me. He had gold caps around his teeth and his gums looked like they were rotting.
“You want a turn, puta?”
I looked at the others and then back at the man in front of me. They all had matching grins that sent chills down my spine. I swallowed hard and tried not to show my fear, but the way they started laughing at me let me know that they knew exactly what they were doing to me. One of them circled behind me, looking at me like I was something he would devour. He yanked my arms over the chair behind my back and tied a rope around my waist, holding me to the chair.
“I see why El Jefe chose you. Are you this demanding in the bedroom too?”
He squeezed my breast hard, but the slamming of the door had them all jerking around.
“We’re not here to get our dicks wet. We need information,” a dark figure said from the doorway. He didn’t have a Spanish accent like the others. He had a rough, but commanding voice and I didn’t miss how the others stood tall when he was around. “So, you’re the boss’s woman.” His eyes roamed over me in an assessing way that didn’t make me fear being raped, but what kind of torture he had in mind for me. “You’ll do just fine,” he said with a grin.
He nodded to one of the men and my left hand was jerked from the restraints and pulled forward. The man held my hand out firmly, making it impossible for me to move.
“I think maybe we should send him your wedding ring. Let him know exactly what we’re thinking.” A glint touched his eyes and I swallowed hard. “We’ll leave your finger attached.”
He nodded to another man and he pulled a pair of cutters out of his pocket. I started to squirm, too scared to even make a sound. I wanted to scream. I wanted to beg for mercy, but my throat wouldn’t make any noise. I was paralyzed with fear.
“Where’s the safe house?” the man asked.
I couldn’t answer. All I could do was stare at the cutters as they came closer and closer to my finger.
“Maybe we can convince you to answer.”
The man with the cutters grabbed my pinky finger and yanked it out straight. I started to scream as the blades surrounded my finger and sliced into my skin. I kicked out, trying to hit anything to get them to leave me alone, but it was no use. The blade cut deeper and deeper until the pain was overwhelming and my voice was hoarse from screaming. The thud of my finger falling to the floor echoed in my ears.
I glanced down through the tears and saw that my pinky finger was gone. Blood was streaming from the end of my hand sending me into a blinding panic. I swallowed over and over, trying my best not to vomit from the pain.
“Where’s the safe house?” he asked again. I vaguely heard the question over the pounding in my head. I looked up at the man, wishing I could wake up from this horrible nightmare. I couldn’t give up the location of the safe house. I had to hold out as long as I could. Once they knew where the safe house was, it could never be used again. I couldn’t betray my husband and the rest of his employees in that way. They would be attacked and killed. I had to give them as much time as possible to find me.
He nodded again to the man and this time my ring finger was held out. I looked at my wedding ring, wondering if I would ever see it again or my husband. I turned my head as the cutters closed once again around my finger. I ground my teeth together, trying my best not to scream, but when the cutters started cutting through my bone, I couldn’t hold back anymore. Sobs wracked my body as I screamed with the pain. Black spots danced in front of my eyes as he sliced all the way through my skin and then my bone cracked and I felt my finger drop to the floor with a thud. How much longer could I hold out? Would I be missing all my fingers by the time he was done?
He bent down and picked up my finger, examining my wedding band. “Maybe he could put your ring on a different finger. If you last that long. Would you like to see?”
He turned my finger so I could see the exposed bone and flesh that had blood dripping from it. I jerked my head to the side just in time to vomit all over the floor. By the time I was done, I was shaking violently. I didn’t know if I could make it through losing another finger. My body was begging me to give in, but my mind was telling me I couldn’t betray my family like that.
“Perhaps you’re not that concerned about losing a finger. Do we need to be more creative?” He looked at the man behind me. “Take off her shirt and spread her out on her stomach.”
I felt the rope loosen from around my stomach and then I was thrown on the ground as my shirt was ripped from my body. I was sure my pants were next. He was going to rape me right here on the dirty floor, just feet from my own vomit. My fingers were laying on the floor in my periphery and I focused on them instead of what was going on behind me. When I felt the first slice into my skin, I screamed until my throat felt raw.
The pain started at my left shoulder blade and jagged cuts were made over to my spine and down my left side. Hands held my arms and legs down on all sides as the blade continued to dig into my skin over and
over again. Through the blur of tears, I focused on my fingers, giving me something to anchor myself for as long as possible.
When the pain stopped, I took a deep breath, choking on the snot and tears that clogged my nose and throat. It started again on my right side, but I started to fade in and out. The pain was too much and all that was leaving my throat at this point were pathetic whimpers. I could see the spots dancing in front of me. I was about to pass out.
The man leaned down next to my ear, his hot breath skimming over my flesh. “Would you like us to continue or are you ready to talk?”
I knew I was done. I had held out for as long as I could, but I couldn’t take any more. I hoped that Sebastian wouldn’t hate me. I hoped that his teammates would forgive me. I whispered the address to the man, but when he went to leave, I grasped his hand with my three fingers I had left.
“You need the code,” I choked out. “2-6-6-6.”
The man grinned at me and motioned for his men to leave the room. They didn’t take me with them. They just left me lying on the floor, bleeding everywhere. I could feel the blood trickling out of my back and down my sides. Everything hurt too much to move, so I let the pain wash over me and I fell into the darkness.
CHAPTER TEN
Chris
“WHAT’S GOING ON?” I asked Alec as he stepped into the gun range.
“The Night Kings hit everyone back home. It’s a fucking disaster. Kate, Vanessa, and Maggie were all taken.”
“Fuck. You’ve gotta be kidding me.” I ran a hand down my face, hating that this all started with me.
“I wish I were. Everyone’s on their way here. Cazzo’s place is no longer an option as a safe house. We’re on lock down from now on. You need to bring them back into the house where we can be sure they’re completely protected.”
I nodded. “Do me a favor, don’t let anyone talk about this in front of them. It’ll just make them feel worse.”
I turned back to Axel and Ali, trying my best to hide my rage from them. I couldn’t let them see how angry I was at what the Blood Devils were doing. They didn’t need to feel worse for the situation we were all in.
“We need to head back to the house. Everyone’s on their way here. We need to formulate a plan.”
Axel looked a little disappointed to be leaving, but Ali walked over to my side and slipped her hand in mine. We made our way back into the house and I pulled Ali aside.
“I want you and Axel to go upstairs while I talk to everyone.”
“Why? Shouldn’t we be here in case we can help?”
“This is going to be us strategizing for a long time. There are so many things we need to figure out first. I promise, when we discuss going after the Blood Devils, I won’t leave you out of it.”
Ali nodded and pressed a soft kiss to my lips before motioning for Axel to follow her upstairs. It didn’t take too much longer for everyone to pull into the safe house. One by one, they all filed into the house, looking completely wiped out. Sebastian, Knight, and Cazzo looked particularly pissed and it made the guilt weigh down on me even harder. This was all coming back on them because of me. This was my mess that I hadn’t cleaned up all those years ago and now their women were paying the price. And Vanessa, she had become like a sister to me. I didn’t want to even think about what was going through Cazzo’s head right now. I just hoped that he wasn’t going down that dark path he had been down just a little over two years ago.
“Cap,” I said urgently. “I’m so fucking sorry. This should have never happened.”
He shook his head and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t fucking say you’re sorry. This isn’t your fault. You were protecting your woman and you did the right thing bringing this to us.”
“But Maggie and-”
“We’ll get them back,” he said fiercely. “Sean’s working with his contacts now. We should be hearing from him any moment now.”
“I think we need more help than that. Cap, there’s not enough of us to take on so many of them.”
“I know,” he nodded. “I’m gonna give Cash a call. If he can help us out, we should be able to wipe them all out.”
“What’s the plan?” Knight asked.
Cap turned to everyone in the room. All the men and women were staring at him, waiting for an answer, a direction. “Sean’s working his contacts now. As soon as we hear from him, we head out and get our women back. Let’s load up and bring all the fire power we need. Girls, you’ll be staying here with Ali and Axel. This is the safest place for you at the moment. Chance, you’ll stay here on their protective detail. We’ll leave two vehicles with you just in case. You know the drill if anything happens.”
“Cap, I’d like to stay,” I said insistently.
“No. I know why you want to, but we need all hands on deck right now. They’ll be protected, but I need you to do your fucking job and right now, that’s getting us loaded up and heading out with us when it’s go time.”
He was right. I owed him that much, especially since this was all because of me. I nodded and got to work with everyone else. When we were just about finished, I went up to see Ali before we left. I only had a minute to talk to her. I knocked on her door and slowly pushed it open, seeing that Axel was asleep, but Ali was staring out the window.
“Hey,” I whispered.
She turned to me, arms crossed protectively over her chest. “You’re leaving,” she said, taking in my appearance.
“I have to. I’m not allowed on your protection detail and they need all the help they can get.”
“Where are you going?”
“We’re going to pay a visit to the Night Kings.”
“But why? You can’t already have a plan in place for taking them all out. You said it would take planning.”
“Ali,” I sighed, not wanting to tell her and make her feel bad, but I had no idea what we were walking into or what would happen when we returned. She didn’t need to hear about it from someone else. “The Night Kings attacked all our homes. It was a setup to have those two guys come after us. They took three of our women. We’re going to get them back.”
Her hands flew to her mouth as the tears started to flow down her face. “Don’t beat yourself up about this.”
“But this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t come here.”
“And I would have never met my son or seen you again. You’d probably be dead by now. Is that what you want?” I asked fiercely. “I will never regret you coming here and my brothers don’t blame you either. This is what we do.”
“Just promise me that you’ll come back,” she choked out.
“Always.”
I wrapped her up in my arms and kissed her forehead. I pulled back and looked at her again, wanting her to see the promise in my eyes. “I swear to you. I’ll always come back to you. I’ll never leave you again. You and Axel have become my whole life in such a short time and I’ll never let you go.”
Her eyes dropped to my lips and I took the cue and crushed my lips to hers, pouring in all the lost years and minutes that I had missed her. It was all worth it to have her back in my arms again.
“Stay safe,” she whispered as I headed for the door. I glanced back at Axel and then headed downstairs. The guys were all gathered in the living room because it was the biggest space. Cap was talking with someone on the phone. It must have been important because everyone was focused on that call.
“Right. Thanks, Sean.” He hung up and looked at all of us, determination set in his features. “Sean coordinated with the police department and we’re clear to move in. It’s a little bit of a gray area, but we’re good to go.”
“When do we leave?” Knight asked anxiously.
“Five minutes. Chance, are you sure you’ve got enough people? You’ve got Ali, Axel, Claire, Lucy, Lillian, Cara, Alex, and three kids.”
“We’ll make it work. You guys need everyone you can to get Vanessa, Kate, and Maggie.”
“It’ll be a tight fit if you have to bug out, but
we need all the other vehicles. I’ll have coms on, but I won’t have my phone on. I haven’t heard back from Cash yet. If he calls, Becky, you take the call and explain the situation. Tell him that we could use backup if he can give it.”
“Will do.”
Cap looked back at everyone and he didn’t have to say anything more. We all knew what was at stake here. There was no way we could fail. “Alright, the most likely location is an old factory outside of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh PD says that there’s a lot of activity over there with the Night Kings and that’s most likely where they’d take our girls. We’re alone on this one. We have the okay from the department to move forward, but legally, they can’t do anything right now. As soon as we see something inside, we call the department and they’ll be on standby to come down and make arrests. As much as we want to take out a few gang members tonight, let’s play this as straight as possible.”
“Not fucking likely,” Knight muttered.
Cap ignored his comment, most likely because we were all thinking the same thing. If they even so much as looked at us wrong, not one of us would have a problem putting a bullet in their heads.
“Pittsburgh PD has been driving by over the past hour and said there aren’t a lot of vehicles there. That should make this easier for us. We’ll surround the building and enter at the same time. Knives only until absolutely necessary. We don’t want any of them getting jumpy and killing someone. The plan is to get in and out before any of them have the chance to alert any other Night Kings. If they all descend on us, we’re fucked. Do whatever you have to to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“One more thing,” Cazzo said, stepping forward. “Vanessa’s pregnant.”
A heavy silence filled the room as we all took in that bit of information. Cazzo looked at the floor, obviously having a hard time dealing with the fact that his pregnant fiancé was in danger.
“We’ll get her back,” Cap said firmly.
We nodded and headed for the doors. We all drove in silence to the location Sean had given Cap. We parked all around the building, each of us taking a different location to enter from. Cap checked in with all of us as we converged on the building. There wasn’t a lot of light, which benefited us greatly. There was a single guard posted outside the various doors. When they were all removed, Cap gave the signal to move in.
Whiskey: A Reed Security Romance (Reed Security Series Book 7) Page 10