Her heart accelerated. She stepped around the bed and snatched it up. Probably a stupid motion, as there could have been a booby trap or toxin. Did she open it? What if it held a contaminant inside? “Guys…”
Bryce and Myers ran in and glanced at her shaking hand. Deshawn entered right behind them. Teddy came in last and peeked through. “What is that?”
“A message from Willow’s captors, I presume.” Laura stretched her hand out so they could see it better.
“Addressed to you?” Bryce reached for it, but Laura pulled back.
“We don’t know if it is safe. I probably shouldn’t have grabbed it myself.”
Worry showed on Bryce’s face.
“You have gloves on. Here.” Teddy handed her a dust mask he had found in the basement. “I was using it to keep the plaster out of my mouth. I have allergies. You can use it to protect yourself.”
Laura could have kissed him. He always surprised her. “Thanks.” She pulled the mask over her face and adjusted the elastic back. “Everyone move back.”
Once they had stepped into the hallway, she slid her finger through the seal on the envelope and withdrew its contents. Inside was a single lined piece of paper which read, “We’ve only just begun.”
Chapter Seven
Teddy chewed his nails, waiting anxiously until the last laser disappeared and Deshawn yelled, “Clear.” The minute it came, he ran to Willow’s side.
“Wait,” Laura yelled, but it was too late.
He dropped the cloth from Willow’s eyes and mouth. Her smile said it all. He hugged her tight, every pore melting with relief. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“My ears. I can’t hear.”
Teddy pulled the plugs from her ears and then walked around to the back to cut the ties from her hands and feet. The rest stopped packing up the claymores and met her with big grins.
Willow tried to stand, but her legs seemed to buckle. Teddy caught her and carried her out of the room to the bed in the other room.
“We should get her to a hospital,” Teddy said.
Laura shook her head. “Not safe.”
Of course, Laura would say no. Teddy frowned. Always afraid of those in the shadows.
“We will call our friend, Dr. Craig,” Laura pulled out her cell. “He still owes us for helping his sister.”
Willow tried to stand again.
“Shouldn’t you rest first?” Teddy reached out to her. “After all, trauma does more to the body than we think. It can affect our mind, body, and soul. It initiates permanent alterations in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of the brain and can cause serious emotional scars to the amygdala that will most certainly—”
Willow held up a hand and offered a closed-mouth grin. “I’m okay. I actually need to walk around and get circulation back in my legs.” She slid to the corner of the bed. “Not to mention, I’m starving.”
“Let’s get her home, and we can make her something to eat.” Laura motioned for Myers to help her walk.
The two guys wrapped her arms around their necks and lifted her up. Sweat beaded on her lip, as she was obviously working hard to walk on rubbery legs. Teddy couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. There was an empathy that always got in the way of his being any sort of good agent. He’d only been with the agency a few months when he saw the inside of their prison cell for the first time.
Skills were no problem. He could kick butt and shoot a gun better than most. It was his heart and conscience that always deterred him. The S.I.U. organization was a cold, calculated machine with absolutely no compassion, or patience for those who had any.
Teddy was all heart. In another life, he would likely have ended up a medical doctor, pastor, or social worker. S.I.U. only kidnapped him because he was living on the street due to his parental issues. Most of those on this team were ex-cons, but not him. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Once they got to the edge of stairs, Laura stopped them. “Someone get a hold of Charlie and find out where we are with finding Eri.”
“Is he still outside?” Myers asked.
“If he’s not, we can take our other van. I saw the keys on a hook in the entryway.”
The group ascended the staircase and shuffled to the door.
“I’ll call.” Bryce touched the screen of his cell phone. “Hey, man. Where are we on—? Sure. Yeah, one minute. Okay. Sounds good.”
“So?” Laura asked, opening the passenger door for Teddy to help Willow get in.
“Charlie found something, but he needs some of us to go with him,” Bryce said.
She nodded. “Teddy, why don’t you drive Willow home? The doctor should be by some time tonight. Deshawn, Myers, Bryce, and I will follow Charlie. We are still missing one of our own, so this day is not over yet.”
“Okay.” Teddy took the keys from Bryce and walked around to the driver’s seat. “How do I get a hold of the good doctor, if I need to?”
“His number is on the fridge.” Laura waved, and the rest joined Charlie and Helena at the other van.
Teddy walked around to the driver’s side. He was glad to stay with Willow. His body felt drained. Going on another mission didn’t seem physically possible. Besides, his worry was more attached with his good friend, Willow. He loved Eri, but he was more connected to Willow. The pain Charlie was feeling, Teddy had already experienced today. He started the engine and pulled out into the street. “How about we get a quick bite at that chicken and biscuit place down the street instead of eating at home?”
“You know me so well.” She squeezed his hand. “But maybe go through the drive-thru. I’m not up for going in right now.”
“Of course.”
They drove in silence until they reached the yellow and blue building. He pulled the car up to the sign and ordered a bucket of chicken and a box of biscuits. “Can I get extra strawberry jam and butter?”
“And honey,” Willow said.
“And honey.”
The cashier read back their order. “Pull around to the second window, and we’ll have your order ready for you.”
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
Willow visibly cringed.
“You okay?”
“For some reason, I hate that expression. All the fast food places say it, which makes it just seem insincere.”
“I like it.”
She smiled. “You would.”
They got their order and endured one more “My pleasure,” before they were on their way.
****
Across the room, Willow chewed her food almost methodically, staring at the blank TV.
His heart ached for her. Teddy wiped his hand on a napkin and slid over toward her on the couch. “Are you okay?”
“What?” She blinked and turned to look at him.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, offering him a soft smile. “It’s just a lot to process. I thought I would die only a few hours ago.”
“I thought so, too.” He placed his plate onto the coffee table and turned to her. “I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you.”
She set her plate next to his and bent her knee up on the couch, so she faced him. “This life of ours…” Tears formed in her eyes. “My fear is it doesn’t get much better than this, you know? That this is it for us.” She let out an anguished sigh, her voice thick with emotion, as a tear slid down her cheek. “But I can’t live like this forever. Always looking over our shoulders. Always afraid. Never happy.”
Teddy took her hand in his and offered a consoling smile. If this event proved anything, it validated that he loved her, though he expected little in return. “Are you really unhappy?”
She shrugged. “There are moments, I suppose, when I feel like if I don’t breathe, it might stay good.”
He smiled. “For me, too.”
An uncomfortable silence fell between them which rarely happened, because Teddy always had something to say. He licked his lips.
“I think this is a different enemy.”
“How so?”
Teddy shrugged. “It just seemed unlike the attacks from before.”
“I know S.I.U. is involved somehow, but I agree, something is different.” She withdrew her hand, wiped her face, and stood, pacing. “The two people with me were skilled, but not emotionless. I think this is retribution, not tactical.” She faced Teddy. “I saw one of them. I recognized him but couldn’t place him. I would guess S.I.U. is where I know him, but I don’t know.” She paced a bit more, then added, “What if it is S.I.U., but not a sanctioned hit? It felt more like someone we made very angry, and they are making us pay.” A red dot appeared on Willow’s forehead.
Teddy leapt and tackled her to the floor. Glass rained over them as shots hit the wall. Shards of glass sliced his back. He screamed in pain, but quickly, worked to block it out. No time to be a victim. He scrambled to his knees, helped Willow to do the same, and pushed her to the hall. “Move!”
The two of them shimmed on haunches as bullets rained overhead. They reached the door that opened to the cellar. It has been Laura’s plan in case they were ever attacked. Once inside, Teddy bolted the door and flipped on the light switch. The room had been reinforced with steel and supplies. They would be safe here.
“You’re bleeding,” Willow said.
“We’ll deal with that in a moment. There’s a first aid kit on the left.” He scrambled to the bottom of stairs and flipped on the laptop. “Right now, I need to let the team know we’re under attack.”
Chapter Eight
Laura’s heart dropped as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. “Our base is under attack.”
Bryce glanced at her from the driver’s seat. “What?”
“I just got the 9-1-1 alert from Teddy. Someone is shooting at them. We have to go home now.”
Myers sat forward in the van. “Hey, I just got an alert from Teddy. The house is under attack.”
Laura nodded. “Yeah, we got it too.”
“What do we do?” Bryce asked.
Charlie sat in the other van on his laptop, pouring through street videos, hoping to get a hit on their assailant’s direction. Right now, they didn’t know anything. But if their house was under attack, that may actually be a clue.
“We need to go home.” Laura jumped out of the van, walked up the passenger side door, and rapped on the window.
The glass lowered, and Charlie glanced her way. “What’s up? Did you find her? I haven’t found—”
“No, the house is under attack. We have to go back.”
His face fell. “But I can’t leave her.”
Laura folded her arms on the sill of the window. “Chances are these are the same people, Charlie. If we can capture one, they can lead us to her. You know this camera thing is not helping. They are smart. They didn’t even take our van. They had some other way of escape and covered their tracks. Right now, we have some of our people in danger.”
He peeked out through messy strands of hair, his expression unclear.
“Charlie?”
Slowly, he nodded.
Laura turned to the other van with thumbs up and then ran around to jump into the passenger’s seat. “We need to hurry.”
“The bunker should hold, right?” Bryce asked, pulling out in the street.
“Yeah, sure it will, unless they decided to blow it up.”
****
Smoke was visible from the end of the street. Laura’s stomach turned sour. Were they too late? Had the bad guys set the house on fire? Could Laura and her team just have spent the entire day saving one of their own, just to lose two of them instead? It hurt her soul to even think about it. She pointed to the curb. “Stop here.”
Charlie pulled over to the side of the road and cut the engine and lights. The other van did the same. The sun barely peeked over the horizon, but it still wasn’t dark enough to block their approach. This group, whomever they were, was good. Laura’s team had to be smarter than them.
“Let’s go join them in the other van to figure this out.” Laura bounded to the sidewalk and met him at the back. “Are there any supplies in this van?”
He shook his head. “Only my laptop.”
Likely, the bad guys had cleaned it out. It is what she would do. “Okay.” Together, they walked to the side door and joined Deshawn, Myers, Helena, and Bryce.
“Is our house on fire?” Helena asked with a stunned expression.
“I don’t know. It’s possible.” Laura prayed it wasn’t. With all that metal, the basement could be like an actual oven. “We need to hurry, just in case.”
“Laura, why don’t you and I go around on the canyon side?” Bryce pointed to the overhang that sat just below their property. It was one of the reasons they chose it. One jump with a cord and they could be in a different part of the city. “We can sneak in from the back without being detected.”
“Good idea. Charlie, you monitor from here. The rest of you take the front.” Laura opened a large case filled with various weapons and began handing them out. “I suggest masks and vests.”
Everyone prepared, and within a few minutes, they were running to their appointed destinations. Laura dropped down into a clump of bushes, just on the edge of the canyon, and maneuvered forward, hoping not to plummet to her death. Luckily, no one seemed to be outside. Were they in the house? There didn’t appear to be any sort of vehicle either. But if they were smart, they would have parked farther down the block.
The smell of smoke lingered in the air, but it didn’t smell like burning wood. It was more like a smoke grenade. Laura shimmied to the back window facing the kitchen and peered inside. Empty. Bryce tapped her shoulder and motioned with a nod and a point that he was going in the back door.
She nodded, keeping her gun pointed at the room, in case anyone appeared.
He unlocked the handle carefully and quietly, then pushed it just enough for him to squeeze through. Laura watched from behind. Inching forward, he glanced around, before waving for her to join him.
Shouts sounded from inside. The actual words were lost, but it sounded like Deshawn and Myers. Bryce ran from the kitchen in their direction. Laura ran inside to follow. All of them stood in the middle of the living room, pointing their guns at a figure with a hood. Deshawn ripped the hood off.
“Eri?”
“Did you say Eri?” Charlie said over the com.
“Yeah, Charlie, she’s here,” Bryce answered.
“What’s going on?” Laura demanded pacing. None of this made sense. Why were they taking her people and giving them back. What was their play here? What could this game possibly solve?
Eri shook her head. “I have no idea how I got here. I remember someone at the other house grabbed me, and then I passed out. When I woke up, I smelled smoke and this hood was over my head. It’s only been a few minutes.”
Bryce punched in the code on the basement door and leaned in. “Teddy and Willow? You guys down there? The coast is clear.”
A moment later, the two joined them on the landing. The back of Teddy’s shirt was covered in blood, and Willow stood behind him holding the wound with what looked like an old blanket.
“Are you shot?” Laura asked.
He shook his head and dipped his head to the living room. “Glass.”
Gazes followed his eyes to the busted living room window.
“I tried to patch it up, but they are too deep,” Willow said.
“Go sit at the counter, Charlie. I’ll get the mend kit.” Helena walked to the back of the house.
“Go with her,” Laura said to Deshawn. “We’ve had enough people disappearing on us today.”
Deshawn dipped his head in agreement and followed her out.
“You’re okay.” Charlie wrapped Eri in his arms and squeezed. The two of them cried for a moment, before he said to Laura over Eri’s shoulder, “We can’t stay here anymore. They know we’re here.”
“Agreed. Let’s get Teddy and Willow patched u
p and collect anything important. Twenty minutes top.”
Helena returned with a small white metal box.
Myers started cursing. He spun around and punched a wall. Not that anyone was a surprised. “Just once, I thought that this might be it. You know?”
“We know,” Laura sighed. If anyone knew, it was her. She had been leading this group of misfits from home to home for way too long. It was bound to wear on them all after a while. She was surprised Myers only tossed a few cuss words and fist. Right now, how she felt, she could easily do more.
Helena set the case down on the counter, then wrapped her arm around Myers’ waist and whispered in his ear. His body visibly relaxed. He then moved to the basement door. “I’ll go box up the supplies below.”
Laura laughed as he disappeared. Things never changed, but Helena was a godsend. Before her, no one could calm him down. “Sounds good. Let’s go everyone.”
“Don’t we want to figure out who did this first?” Helena asked, as she pulled thread, bandages, and ointment from the box. “Or even ask why?”
“Of course. Just not here.” Laura walked away to her bedroom. All of her being felt the same emotion Myers exhibited; she just had the ability to bottle it better. The thought of moving again not only angered her but also mentally hurt. All she wanted was to be left alone to live their lives like ordinary people. Laura had wanted to stay out of S.I.U.’s way, but her team had different ideas. They felt that, if there were kidnapped kids out there, they needed to rescue them.
That had become their mission many times over the last eight months. But mostly, it was sex-trafficked teens. Very rarely had they found pockets of S.I.U.’s kids. In her mind, if there were still agents operating, then this war was too big to fight. She had decided to no longer put her family in danger. But somehow, the danger found them anyway. They couldn’t escape it. This was their destiny.
Chapter Nine
Willow stared out the window of the van, blinking repeatedly to keep more tears from falling. This whole experience had been too much. The replaying of her father’s abuse came back full force. So many painful memories rolled around in her head. She wasn’t sure what did more damage—being kidnapped, getting shot at, or taking the trek down her painful past.
The Hidden Two Page 4