by J. L. Drake
My father stands and holds up his hands. “Savi, just do as you’re told, please.”
I shake my head in utter disbelief. “Really, Douglas, you want to play the concerned father now? Save it.” I turn to Lynn. “So help me God, I hope this all comes crashing down on top of you both. I hope you burn in hell, you evil pieces of shit.” I turn on my heel and exit the room with the muscle coming up behind me.
“Ms. Miller,” he calls. I stop, knowing there’s no point. I’ve been bought and paid for. The American comes up to me, gripping a firm hand around the back of my neck.
“You will never turn your back to me again,” he whispers for only the three of us to hear. “Now, I have some work to do. Tim will make sure you get home safely, where you will wait for me in our room, with nothing on. Oh, and, love, I like you to be smooth down south.” His eyes drop to my crotch. He leans in, grips my head, and kisses me hard. I try to fight it, but he digs his thumb into my shoulder, making me cry and go limp. Once he’s finished, he pushes me into Tim’s grip. “I’ll be home tonight. Make sure she’s ready for me.”
“Yes, sir.” Tim nods and wraps his huge hand around my wrist.
I spit on the ground once he’s gone. Tim says nothing as he pushes me into the elevator, and we go down to the parking level. He opens the door of a black town car and helps me in. I notice once the door is closed, it locks. Tim slips into the driver’s seat, starts the car, and pulls into traffic.
That’s when I shatter into a million pieces. A horrible sob bursts from my throat, and I start to shut down. Mark, John, Paul, Keith, Abigail, June, Sue, Daniel, Scoot, Mike, Frank, Derek, Cole…but it doesn’t work. I can feel myself slipping away.
I barely feel the car stop. I only blink a few times when Tim climbs into the back seat with me. He holds up his hands, showing me he won’t hurt me.
“Here.” He opens a little black bag and shows me the label Extra Strength Tylenol. I look at him, confused. There has to be a catch. “Take three, miss, you’ll need it. Are your ribs all right?” I shake my head because honestly, they aren’t. He nods then hands me a bottle of water, removing the lid.
“Why do you work for him?” I’m not really sure why I ask, but I want to know, and I feel like I need to say something.
He tucks the Tylenol away, avoiding eye contact. “It wasn’t a choice.”
Chapter Nine
Cole
Cole raises his gloved hand up into the air, waiting for Mario to get into position. Paul and John are sprawled out on the couches, beyond beat from sparring with him earlier.
“Logan, you’ve been at this for over three hours.” Mario shakes his head. “Your body needs a break, and god knows we do too.”
“Again,” Cole grunts, still reeling with the decision to come home. It was the hardest decision, but they need to regroup and find what resources they can use.
Mario sighs and they continue to box for the next fifty minutes until he finally calls it quits. Cole, still with energy to burn, hits the free weights until he’s physically exhausted.
After a cold shower, he finally heads to his office and pours himself a double. He tries hard to pretend Savannah is in his bedroom waiting for him to join her, her eyes wild with excitement as she peels off his clothes like it’s the first time. The thought nearly brings him to his knees. God, he loves her…and now…he lets his mind slip back to the very start…
The tension is thick as they lift off into the air and watch the lights of Shadows become smaller. The cars look like Hot Wheels on a track as they weave down the mountain. Blackstone is well prepared for this case, mainly because Cole is obsessed. The men never question him. They understand what it’s like to get wrapped up in the evidence and know an innocent life is slowly disappearing into the wind.
The trip to TJ is long, but it gives them time to rehash the plan at least several times with every possible scenario that could happen.
The moment they touch down, their weapons are raised, and they race across the desert. The laser beams cut through the dust and help guide their way to the three SUVs that await them.
Frank’s Eagle Eye team is in front and behind, while they travel in the middle. Once the engine turns over and they take off down the road, so does the safety of their helicopter, leaving them to once again do the impossible.
“Locked and loaded, boys.” Cole holds his gun up to flip the safety off. “Shoot first, ask questions later.”
“Copy that.” Mark rubs his hands together, excited by the protocol Frank gave them.
They barely park before the doors shoot open and the madness starts.
“Go!”
The team exits the vehicle like the mission is put on mute. They hurry up the stairs, and within a half a second, they blow the doors open to start the journey inside.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
“Two down, left room, clear!” Mark shouts, and they scatter like rats to clear the bottom half of the house.
“Move! Move!” One member from Eagle Eye grabs a woman by the arm and moves her out of our way as Cole zips by.
More men shout as they clear the rooms, and Mark joins Cole’s side as they climb the rickety stairs.
Shots are fired as Blackstone covers his back and hurries down to the room where his informant said Savannah was held.
The doorknob won’t turn, so Cole backs up and drives the sole of his boot right below the lock, blasting it inward as if he had blown if off with an explosive. Three lasers skim over his shoulder and around the room before he spots her.
Everything stops as he moves closer. Her tiny body is wrapped in a huge sweater, her hair sprawled around the dirty mattress.
Please be alive!
Somehow, she manages to acknowledge his presence by turning her head. Once her gaze locks on to his goggles, he feels a tug right in the center of his gut.
It doesn’t matter how long she’s been in captivity. Her beauty is still there like a dull star trying to shine as brightly as the rest.
“I got you,” he whispers, forgetting for a split second that they don’t know one another.
Without another thought, he scoops her up, holds her to his chest, and orders the men to clear their way back downstairs.
As they meet the cold, heavy air, she flinches in his arms.
“Just hold on for me, Savannah,” he whispers behind his gear, needing to grant her some sense of comfort.
Blackstone quickly scans the perimeter before Cole draws closer to the road.
Mark opens the back passenger door, and Cole eases his body into the armored SUV with her still in his arms. It takes all his willpower to let go and buckle her in. Mark hands him a blanket, and he carefully makes sure she is covered and warm. Her nose gently presses into the fabric before her eyes shut momentarily.
Cole taps John on the shoulder, and they take off, leaving hell behind them.
Once they know it is safe, Cole removes his helmet and runs a hand through his hair. Savannah gives him a look, one that tells him she is curious about what is going on but still too weak to care.
“Savannah? You’re okay now. You’re safe,” Cole murmurs in a steady voice.
Her dark eyes hold his, and he sees a cut to her head. Without thinking, he reaches out, but she pulls back like she’s afraid of him.
His stomach twists into a knot, angry that he forgot his training.
He points to her forehead. “Looks like that hurt. Are you all right? Do you hurt anywhere else?”
He fights his anger and the urge to go back and blow the house to nothing but dust and bones. How could someone do this? Why is the world laced with monsters and villains? Cole loves his job, but some days are harder than others.
He sneaks a glance at Savannah before John speaks up.
“The jet is standing by, sir.”
He nods once. “Good. Tell them we’re ten minutes out.”
“Yes, sir.”
Cole watches as her head flops toward the window. No doubt this trip exhausted
her.
The private plane Frank ordered is ready to go the moment they arrive.
Mark goes to move Savannah, but Cole shoots him a look that says he has her, and Mark moves aside and joins the others who are rushing toward the steps of the airplane.
They need to get out of here.
Hot air blasts as he ducks inside the private jet. The couch is heated, so he places her fragile body on the leather sofa and makes sure she is fully covered. Her deep, dark eyes follow him around the cabin. He tries not to notice, but just like her photo, she is captivating.
“Colonel.” John hands him an iPad and shows him photos of her room and house that Eagle Eye took after they left.
Savages.
Cole glances over and sees her eyes roll back. In two strides, he kneels and whispers, “Stay with me, Savannah.”
Her eyes flutter open, and he feels that warmth spread throughout his stomach.
“Crosscheck,” the captain says over the speaker, and Savannah loses her strength and gives in to sleep. Cole moves to sit next to her but keeps a careful distance. He catches Mark’s smirk before he settles into the warm leather while the team is making calls and filling out paperwork. He should be doing the same, but for whatever reason, he doesn’t want to leave her side. He knows he needs to be the one who protects her.
He shakes his head, trying to clear it. Then he lets out a long breath and makes a call.
“I wondered when I was going to hear from you.” Frank’s voice is quieter than normal.
Cole sips his brandy. “Anything?”
“Luka Donavan didn’t return with the mayor or Lynn.” He sighs. “We had a tail on them, but he only caught up with them at the airport. The mayor told the press that he and Lynn were on a much-needed vacation from the media. They were at the TJ airport.”
“So, you have nothing?”
There’s a pause.
“She’s been handed over, Logan. She was bought and paid for and, we believe, delivered to The American.” Frank clears his throat. “Whatever you need.”
“Blackstone will be shipping out at twenty hundred. I want your team, Frank. I want Eagle Eye.”
“Consider it done.”
“I need to make a trip to Texas too.”
“Cindy?”
“Yeah, she knows a lot. I’ll do what I have to.”
“I agree.”
Cole slams back the rest of his drink and sends out a text telling Blackstone they’re leaving in sixty minutes. He closes his eyes and shifts into survival mode.
The house is quiet; everyone seems to be busy. He finds his mother in the kitchen stirring her tea and staring out the window. She turns when she hears his footsteps, and tears leak out of the corners of her eyes. Batting them away, she tries to be strong.
“She’s a fighter, Cole.”
“That she is.” He slumps onto the stool, feeling the weight of the world falling all around him.
His mother slides a comforting hand over his shoulder. “She thought she was doing the right thing. You can’t blame her for loving you too much.”
“I don’t.”
“It’s easy to walk into the lion’s den when you don’t know the lion is there.”
“Trust me, Mother, she’s well aware he’s home now.”
“Logan.” Mark’s voice makes his head snap up. Mark’s puffy eyes give more away than he’d probably like to let on. “Umm, can I get you to look over the map with me?”
Cole nods and stands as he forces a smile at his mom and goes to walk by Mark.
Mark grabs his arm and wraps him in a hug, throwing Cole off. “I’m sorry,” Mark whispers in a sob, holding him tightly, “I’m so sorry, Cole.” Cole clings to his best friend, his brother, and finally lets out a little cry of his own.
Savannah
I keep my eyes closed, trying to hold the panic at bay. I start with Cole’s shaggy, silky hair just long enough that I can get the perfect grip to haul him to my mouth. His dark eyes, his perfect nose, his lips, his smile that…I jolt forward as the car comes to a stop. I peer out the window and see we’re in the middle of nowhere, sitting in front of two huge wrought-iron gates. I memorize the make of the security system and carefully watch Tim punch 55725 into the keypad. The gates swing open, and we start to roll forward down a long, dusty driveway.
The house strikes me as odd, though, as it looks like a home straight out of Louisiana. It has two stories and is painted white with green shutters. There are six pillars in the front, and two wrap-around balconies, one on top and one on the bottom. Lord, this place is massive.
Then it dawns on me this is my new prison. Sure, it’s a step up from the last one, but nonetheless, it’s still a prison.
There are men with rifles scattered across the yard, and security cameras pointing in every direction. German shepherds on leads are sniffing the ground. One catches my scent and starts to growl as Tim holds the door open, watching me crumble, falling apart all over again. He moves to help me out carefully. He’s oddly gentle for such a big man.
He opens the door for me and nods at the butler and waitstaff. They quickly scurry out of sight. Tim leads me upstairs to a bedroom immediately to the left. He tells me it’s my room and that anything I need will be in the bathroom. I think back to what The American said. Make sure she’s ready for me. I freeze, stuck mid-step.
“I can’t do this, Tim.” I start to shake. “Please, please get me out of here!” I turn to him with pleading eyes. “I don’t belong here. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want that man touching me…” Tim reaches for my elbow, pulling me across the room and into the bathroom. He closes the door and holds a finger up to his mouth, urging me to be quiet.
He leans in close, making me stiffen. “Cry,” he whispers, pulling back to look into my eyes with a strange expression. “When he goes to touch you, cry and say no. He won’t be able to do it. Denton is one evil fucker, but the one thing he won’t do is touch a woman against her will.”
I blink a few times and try to absorb what he just said. Denton? The American’s name is Denton. “Why?” I struggle to get my thoughts in order. “Why in the hell would he bring me here? Does he really think I would let him sleep with me?”
Tim shakes his head slowly then checks his watch. “Denton’s smart.” He taps his head. “Very, very smart. That’s why all these years no one’s been able to touch him. He’ll use mind games to control you, and before you know it, he’ll get you into his bed. Denton can convince a priest to kill, he’s that good at manipulation.”
“Why does it sound like I’m not the first woman he’s had here?”
“You’re the sixth.”
“Sixth!” I hiss, only to have Tim’s huge hand wrap around my mouth.
He closes his eyes like he’s regretting telling me anything. “Yes, so you won’t be alone here in this house.” Wait! The girls are here? “You can’t trust them, Savannah. They’re all brainwashed, and whatever you say to them they will tell Denton, and you’ll be punished.” He drops his hand. “Punished in worse ways than when you were with Rodrigo.”
My eyes flicker with fear as I scan the bathroom. “Tim, please tell me how to get out of here. I won’t last. I’ll end it now.”
Stepping away from me and turning on the shower, letting hot steam fill the room, he motions for me to move away from the door and into a walk-in closet at the back of the bathroom. He closes the doors behind us and turns on the tiny light. I don’t know why, but I don’t feel nervous with Tim, maybe because he reminds of the guys back at the house. Big, but kind.
“Look, Savannah, I’m not a bad person. I never asked to work for the Cartel. I was just born into this life. My father was a runner for cocaine when he met my mother and got her pregnant. Trouble was, when she found out who my father really was, she tried to leave him. They only let her live until I was born.” His eyes shift downward for a moment. “I found out later my father was the one who killed my mother. I’ll spare you the details.” Thanks. “A
fter that, my father gained the trust of the higher-ups and soon ran a few groups smuggling weapons and people in and out. If I wanted to live, I had to keep my head down and my mouth shut. They started me out small, but once they realized I could slip through the border with no problem, I was transferred to work with my father, and from there to here. Denton has known me for a few years, and a year ago told me I was going to be working for him. You don’t say no to Denton. I hate it here. I hate those women. Two of them I’m convinced played Denton because they were evil from day one, and the other three are way past trying to live.”
“I’m really sorry about your mother, Tim.”
“Thank you, as I am about your mother.”
This throws me. “You know my mother is dead?”
“I know all about you, Savannah, down to your shoe size.”
“Well, that’s not incredibly creepy,” I mutter sarcastically.
“It’s my job, just like it is for Logan’s company.”
My breath gets caught in my throat. Cole’s name being uttered from Tim’s lips is unnerving. “You know about Logan?”
“I know he’s Special Forces. I know what he specializes in. I know that as soon as he slips back into the States, he drops off the radar just like Denton does. Denton has been trying to track Logan’s group for years, but he hasn’t succeeded. When Denton found out Logan had you, well, let’s just say my job’s been pretty miserable.”
I sink into a small chair, as my legs can no longer hold my weight. I’m just going to say it. “Tim, you must know, Logan is a good man.”
“I do,” he interrupts, making me pause and stare for a moment.
“Okay.” I nod. “Well, you say you can slip across the border without being seen. Can you help me get out of here and back home?” I’m careful not to say where home is.
“You want to go home?” His eyebrow rises. “Back to your father? Back to that bitch Lynn?”