“Because of the size of their bodies?” I asked. All the women turned to me and I suddenly understood what they were talking about. “Oh, sorry. It’s…uh, been a while since I was with Chris.”
“But from what you remember?” Lucy asked. I blushed bright red and remembered our first time together. It had hurt a lot, but so had every time after that, only in a good way. He was definitely larger than Slasher and part of me always wondered if Slasher was just trying to compensate for his lack of size.
“Oh, man. Do you see how she’s blushing? He’s definitely hung like a horse,” Lucy said. The women continued to banter around me about the men and I found for the first time ever that I was actually enjoying myself with other people. I had friends at work, but I was never allowed to hang out with them outside of work. I always went straight home when my shift was done. The closest I came was when Adam gave me self defense lessons on my lunch break.
Claire leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. “I have this fantasy-” Lucy groaned and sank back into the couch. “Shut up,” Claire elbowed Lucy. “I have this fantasy that I’m surrounded by several of them while Derek is…you know?”
“Fucking you?” Lucy added.
Claire nodded vigorously. “Ever since you told me about Gabe walking in on you and Hunter, I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to have someone watching us. I think it could be exciting.”
“I don’t think Derek would like that too much,” Cara pondered. “None of these guys seem like that type that want to share.”
“Yeah, I’m with Cara on this one,” Lucy agreed. “When Gabe stood there watching, Hunter got pissed that he was staring.”
“That’s because he thinks Gabe is gay,” Claire laughed. “Derek told me all about how he planted that little seed of doubt in his head.”
“Why would he do that?” I asked.
“Because Gabe was just standing there staring, and I was mostly covered, but Hunter’s ass was hanging out.”
“So, is he? Gay, I mean,” Lillian asked. “Oh dear. You know, it’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have asked.”
Lucy shrugged. “I have no idea, but now Hunter doesn’t want to be too close to Gabe because he always thinks he’s trying to hit on him. You should see the looks of confusion Gabe gives him.”
A loud explosion sounded outside and all of us stood quickly, rushing to the window to see flames dancing in the sky in the direction of the front gate. A loud alarm sounded in the house and we all looked around nervously at one another. Chance came running into the room, gun up, scanning for any threats.
“Grab the kids. We need to leave now!”
We didn’t hesitate in running up the stairs. I ran to my room and flung the door open, seeing Axel still asleep. I shook him violently and shouted at him to wake up. When he finally looked up at me and heard the alarm, he flung off the covers and threw on his jeans.
“Let’s go,” I yelled, running to the door. Lillian and Cara were each carrying a child and Claire had Caitlin in her arms. We ran down the stairs where Chance was barking orders at Becky and Rob, who were the tech specialists.
“Back door!” he shouted at us. We headed for the back and were met by Jackson and Gabe.
“We need to run!” Jackson said urgently. We followed him out the back door and ran to the back of the property to the tree line. We ran for a few minutes deeper into the woods before he started flinging back branches and leaves that covered the ground. There was what appeared to be an underground cellar. He lifted the doors and ushered us all down there with Gabe in the lead. Gabe flicked on a flashlight and quickly started leading us through the cellar, which was connected to a long underground tunnel. It was much bigger than it appeared from the outside.
The tunnel let out into a large space that echoed as we entered. Gabe flipped on a light and the space was illuminated in an instant. We were in a garage. There were two large SUVs that Gabe ushered us over to.
“We don’t have car seats, but we should be able to get away easily. As soon as we’re a safe distance away, we’ll stop and pick up a few. For now, strap them in as best you can.”
We quickly started piling into the SUVs and were joined by Chance, Jackson, Becky, and Rob a few minutes later. When we were all in, Gabe took off down another long underground drive that led us a few miles further away from where we had been. He pressed a button on the visor and a large door opened ahead of us. My eyes widened in shock.
“What the hell is this place? It’s like Batman’s cave,” I said in amazement.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Claire said.
“Shit,” Gabe swore from up front. “I can’t get ahold of Cap.”
“Call Derek,” Becky said from the front seat. He dialed another number and started talking quickly about alarms and getaways and whole bunch of other things that I didn’t understand.
“What?…Shit. Alright. Where do you want us to go?…That’s not much of a plan…Yeah, get back to us soon.”
“What’s going on?” Becky asked.
“They’re trying to find a safe house for us. They’re going to get back to us.”
“Where is everyone else?” I asked. Where was Chris? I needed to know.
“At the hospital. Kate’s okay, but Vanessa and Maggie aren’t doing so good.” Gabe said harshly. I didn’t know if that was directed at me or if he was just angry at the whole situation. I couldn’t think about that now. We drove in tense silence for the better part of an hour. We seemed to be going back and forth through the area and I was really confused what our destination was. Finally, Gabe turned down a road and we headed away from Pittsburgh.
“Where are we headed?” I finally asked. I couldn’t hold back any longer. I needed to know what the plan was.
“You don’t need to know that,” Gabe sneered.
“Will we be seeing everyone again? Will they be meeting us?”
“Listen, I get that you’re Chris’s woman, but I don’t trust you, so there’s not a damn thing I’m going to tell you until I’m sure that you can be trusted.”
I felt my cheeks flame, but when Claire reached over and gripped my hand, it eased some of my embarrassment.
“Why would you assume that she can’t be trusted?” Claire asked.
“How about you tell me how someone found out the location of our safe house?” he asked. “That location has never been compromised and she comes into our lives and suddenly we’re all at war and our safe house is given up within a day. Tell me why I should trust her?”
Claire started to say something, but I stopped her. “It’s okay. I understand why everyone’s so suspicious. I don’t blame them.”
Gabe’s phone rang and he hit the speaker button. “Yeah?”
“We’re in the clear. There’s a twenty-four hour Walmart ahead. We should stop for supplies. We need to get the kids car seats. If anything happens to Caitlin, Sebastian will have us both gutted,” Chance said.
“Who’s going in? I don’t know jack shit about car seats,” Gabe questioned.
“Lillian?” There was muffled talk on the other end and then Chance came back on. “Uh, we have a bit of an issue here. Cara’s having an anxiety attack and we don’t have her meds. Lillian doesn’t want to leave her.”
“That leaves Lucy and Claire,” Gabe surmised.
“I don’t know anything about car seats,” Claire said. “If you give me exact information, I’ll do my best.”
“No good,” Chance said. “We need to be in and out in five minutes.”
“I’ll go,” I said quickly. “It’s been a while, but I know what we need.”
Gabe looked at me suspiciously in the rearview mirror, but conceded. “Fine. I’ll take Alison inside. Have Jackson come over and watch over everyone in here.”
We drove for another fifteen minutes before pulling into the parking lot. Gabe stepped out and grabbed my arm. I looked back at Axel in concern. I didn’t like the idea of leaving Axel, especially considerin
g that Gabe didn’t trust me. I didn’t really know anything about these people and with Chris not being here, it made me even more paranoid. What if Gabe decided to get rid of me and say it was an accident?
I swallowed hard and gave Axel a tentative smile. We needed those car seats and they were all relying on me to get them. I wouldn’t let them down. Gabe and I walked through the darkened parking lot, his body too close for comfort. I kept glancing around in the shadows, sure that at any moment someone would jump out at me.
“Looking for your friends?”
“What?” I asked, startled.
“I don’t know what the fuck your game is, but Chris is like a brother to me and there’s no way I’m going to let you do anything to hurt him or anyone else at Reed Security.”
“I’m not going to hurt him.”
He snorted in derision. “Sure. Before you came into our lives, we were just a regular security company with mostly normal lives. Now, we have two gangs after us and Maggie and Vanessa are in the hospital fighting for their lives.” The anger in his voice scared me and I never wished more than now that I had just run anywhere else with Axel. If these people didn’t trust me, what was stopping them from killing me or handing me back to Slasher? “Give me one good reason I should trust you.”
We walked through the doors of Walmart and grabbed a cart, then headed for the baby department. I walked by him silently, sure that he didn’t really want an answer to the question, especially when there were other people around that could hear our conversation. I quickly found three car seats that would fit the kids and put them in the shopping cart.
“Is there anything else we need?” I asked.
“That’s it for now. When we have a better idea where we’re headed, we’ll stop for anything else we need.”
I nodded and followed him to the registers, noting that several people were watching us. I was starting to panic. They looked like regular people, but what did I know?
“Relax. You’re going to make us look suspicious.”
“It doesn’t look suspicious that we’re getting three car seats in the middle of the night?” I asked.
“We were just in a car accident. The car seats were totaled and we needed new ones.”
That made sense. We quickly paid and headed for the exit. Just as we stepped through the doors, a large man rushed us, grabbing me from behind. I swung my fist down and low, feeling my fist connect with his balls. He bent toward me, grunting in pain and I whipped my head back, connecting with his nose. I stumbled away as he released me and Gabe instantly had him down on the ground with his arm wrenched behind his back.
“Who the fuck do you work for?” he sneered.
“No one. I just wanted some fucking money.”
“So, you thought you’d rob us? Wrong choice.” Gabe punched the guy several times and then tossed his body to the darkened side of the building. I was shaking by the time Gabe got back and he looked over me quickly before pushing the cart toward the SUVs.
“You want to tell me where you learned that? You just took that guy down before I had a chance to intervene.”
I didn’t say anything and Gabe stopped me with a tight fist wrapped around my arm. “You aren’t what you seem. Chris thinks you’re some damsel in distress, but if you could do that, you would have left the Blood Devils a long time ago.”
“I have a son. I might be able to get away, but what about him? Was I supposed to leave him behind with those monsters?” He shook his head in disgust. “Besides, being able to take down one man doesn’t mean I could have taken on a whole group of them. I would have been dead in five seconds. They wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot me.”
“Yet you still managed to get away,” he sneered.
“Look, I get that you don’t trust me, but I’m not some traitor. I never wanted the life I was dealt and I tried to escape sooner. Until you have a child to look after and make sure that he doesn’t get hurt, you don’t get to judge me.”
Gabe glared and me and started pushing the cart away again. There was nothing I could say to make him believe me. I quickly followed and tried not to stumble over my feet as I practically ran behind him. My nerves were shot and I didn’t know how much longer I could take this. I needed Chris. I needed someone that didn’t treat me like a criminal.
When we got to the vehicles, Gabe and Jackson immediately got to work getting the car seats out. I did my part to help and get them strapped into the car, and then climbed back in. Gabe, Jackson, and Chance stood outside discussing something for a minute and then Gabe climbed back in, slamming the door and starting the vehicle.
“Everything okay?” Claire whispered.
I couldn’t speak, so I nodded and closed my eyes. Taking deep breaths, I looked in the back seat to see Axel already sleeping. Lucy was sitting on the other side of Caitlin’s car seat looking off into the night and Claire was doing something on her phone. I finally calmed down enough to drift off to sleep. When I woke again, we were stopped at a gas station and I had to use the bathroom.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Reed Security
CAZZO
I paced the waiting room for what felt like hours. This was just like the last time. The last time I had almost lost Vanessa, it nearly tore my world apart. I couldn’t let the darkness creep in. I had to hold it together for her and for our child. I promised her I would never go down that road again and I planned to hold true to my word.
I glanced over at Kate and Knight. Kate had been released after being looked over. She was basically fine, just some minor bruising around her wrists. The way she gripped onto Knight made it obvious that she was just barely holding it together. Was Vanessa feeling the same thing right now? I needed to see her. I needed to touch her and know that she was okay.
The doors swung open and a doctor stepped through. I rushed over, hoping to God that he would give me some insight into how Vanessa was.
“Vanessa Adams?”
“That’s me. I’m her fiancé.”
The rest of my teammates crowded around me and the doctor quirked an eyebrow at me, but I just motioned for him to continue. I didn’t have time to waste. His next words hit me like a sledgehammer.
“Vanessa suffered a miscarriage. She’s doing fine other than that-”
“Was it because of trauma?” I asked before he could finish. If she miscarried because of those assholes, there wasn’t a damn thing that could keep me from going and destroying their world. Hell, they were gonna pay no matter what.
“We can’t be sure. She has marks on her that are consistent with a taser, but we have no way of knowing if that was the cause. There’s not a lot of research on the effects of a stun gun being used on a pregnant woman. However, about one in every four pregnancies end in miscarriage. Usually it’s because of a chromosomal abnormality and there’s nothing that can be done to prevent that.”
“So, what you’re saying is that you really don’t have any answers for me.”
“Unfortunately, no. There’s just no way to know this early in a pregnancy. She’s resting comfortably and you can go see her now.”
“So, other than the miscarriage, she’s fine?”
“Yes. She can be released in another few hours after she’s rested for a little bit. I’ll send in a nurse to go over care instructions with you.”
I nodded and headed for the door. I didn’t bother to look back at everyone else. I had one goal and that was to see Vanessa. When I opened her door, it took everything in me to hold back the tears. This was all my fault. I hadn’t protected her. Again. That was my responsibility and I failed again.
“Don’t,” she said sharply.
I wiped at my eyes, not even realizing that she had been staring at me too. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“Me too, but this isn’t your fault. Don’t start blaming yourself for what someone else did.”
“I was supposed to protect you,” I said as I sat down next to her, taking her hand in mine.
“Listen,
the doctor said that there was no way to know why I miscarried.” She shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I wanted that baby, too, but playing the blame game and trying to figure out why the baby was taken won’t do us any good right now. We need to focus on us. I don’t ever want to see that look in your eyes again. Don’t even think of leaving me.”
“I won’t,” I said, shaking my head. “I promised you that I would never consider that ever again and I meant it.” I blew out a breath and ducked my head. I had to be honest with her. She deserved that much. “I could feel those thoughts creeping in when I was waiting to hear what was going on with you, but it was a different kind of darkness. It was more…like I would go kill anyone that hurt you and damned the consequences.”
She squeezed my hand and shook her head slightly.
“I know. You don’t want me to do anything that could get me taken away, but I’ll tell you this right now, Vanessa. You’re my world and they won’t get away with hurting you. I can’t let them and neither will anyone else at Reed Security. When they went after all of you, they declared war on us. I’ll make sure you’re safe, but I’m sorry. I can’t walk away.”
“Just promise me that you’ll come home to me.”
“I swear, Vanessa. When this is over, we’re going to have the life that we planned. We’re going to get married right away and we’re going to have a whole house full of kids.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she said quietly.
“I never do.”
Cap
“Cap,” Sinner said, sitting next to me in the waiting room. “It’s going to be okay. Maggie’s a fighter.”
I didn’t say anything. I could see her lying on that floor with blood dripping off her back. Her fingers laying next to her on the ground. I really thought she was dead as soon as I saw her. The first thing that ran through my mind was that she had gotten into something really dangerous this time and I hadn’t been there to protect her. Only, it wasn’t something that she did. It was because of someone coming after me and my men. Then Caitlin flashed in my mind and I wondered how the hell I would break it to my daughter that her mother was dead.
Whiskey: A Reed Security Romance (Reed Security Series Book 7) Page 12