by Roma, Laurie
“No worries. I thought we could go to this great Greek restaurant I always go to when I’m in Denver. Do you mind?”
Mikayla grinned at her. “Honey, I’m half Greek and you just made my day.”
* * * *
The restaurant they went to was a family-run business that sat in the middle of a very busy section of Denver. The streets were bustling, so they found a space in a parking garage about a half a block away and walked the short distance with ease.
Once inside, Mikayla and Katie were lucky enough to be seated in a corner booth away from the busy lunch crowd. The fact that Mikayla had spoken to the hostess in Greek might have had something to do with it. They quickly placed their orders and decided to split a bottle of wine to go with their meal. When their glasses were full they toasted to their girls’ day out and took a sip.
“So, tell me,” Mikayla began. “What’s going on between you and Nick?”
Katie almost spat out her wine and began to cough after she swallowed. “Nothing,” she sputtered. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Mikayla stared at her in silence with one eyebrow raised.
Katie blushed then her shoulders slumped. “Okay, so I sort of have a crush on him, but he doesn’t think of me that way. I’m just a little sister to him.”
Mikayla laughed. “Honey, he doesn’t see you as a sister at all. He eats you with his eyes every time he looks at you.”
Katie perked up. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. I figured you were just hiding it because of your brothers or something.”
“No, well…” Katie hedged. “I guess that is a factor. I mean it hasn’t exactly been easy meeting guys when my brothers and cousin are always breathing down my neck.”
“I can imagine. I’ve had the same problem with my friends.”
“Those guys are pretty intimidating,” Katie agreed. “So, what do you think I should do? I mean I want to be with Nick, but he won’t make a move.”
“It’s simple,” Mikayla said. “You should seduce him.”
“I can’t!”
“Katie, he’s interested. I bet he’s just waiting for you to give him the green light to proceed.”
“But I…” Katie lowered her voice and leaned forward. “I’ve never done something like that. I mean never.”
“Oh,” Mikayla said, finally understanding. It seemed like the young woman was exactly as innocent as she seemed. “Well, I don’t mean you have to strip naked in front of him or anything, but I bet he’d take over if you did something like kiss him.”
“Jeez, I don’t know if I can do that.”
Their conversation was put on hold as the waiter came to the table to deliver their meals. They began to eat and Katie waved her fork in the air. “So, you really think he’s interested in me?”
“I do. His eyes are fixated on you every time you’re in the room. He may look away when you look at him, but I’ve seen it.”
Katie smiled. “I guess I’m going to have to do something about this then. I’ve been in love with him since I was thirteen. Speaking of love, what’s up with you and my brother? I’m assuming you guys made up since he spent the night at your place.”
“I guess you could say that. It’s complicated, but we are trying to work through it.”
“Good, because I think you guys are great together. Sebastian is really sorry, by the way. Gage isn’t speaking to him and neither are me and Dylan really. He feels like shit.”
“I understand that he was trying to look out for Gage. I don’t blame him for that. Sure, he was a prick, but I can’t fault his protecting his family. I’m an unknown to him.”
“But Gage is falling for you and he shouldn’t have tried to get in the way of that. It’s not like Gage is a kid or something. He knows how to make up his own mind about his relationships. He deserves to be happy. You make him happy. Truthfully, I’ve never seen my brother so happy and so miserable before.”
Mikayla winced but Katie shook her head. “That’s a good thing. After his accident he went into this…funk. It was like he had given up on everything. He got better slowly, but he seemed to keep everyone at a distance. He still does. Everyone but family. And now you.”
“I care about Gage,” Mikayla said carefully. “Because you’re his sister I can tell you that I care for him more than I’ve ever cared for another man I’ve dated in the past. But my life is complicated. We both need to consider what that means and if there is a future in this for us.”
Katie chewed thoughtfully then nodded her head. “That makes sense. I guess I’m just pushing because I’ve always wanted a sister. If you marry my brother then I’ll finally get my wish.”
This time it was Mikayla’s turn to choke. Who the hell said anything about marriage?
Mikayla decided to turn the conversation to a safer subject matter and asked Katie about the town of Serenity. They enjoyed the rest of their meal while Katie asked questions about Mikayla’s time in the Army. Katie expressed her interest in starting a women’s self-defense class that could be taught at the ranch once a week. Mikayla thought it was a wonderful idea, and if she decided to stay and take over the training facility at the cabin then she would definitely want to be a part of the program.
They finished eating and much to Katie’s dismay, Mikayla picked up the tab. She had thanked Katie for introducing her to a restaurant she would be sure to visit often if she did make the move to Colorado. They walked back to the parking garage slowly since Mikayla’s leg was paining her from the overuse the night before. Walking toward Katie’s car Mikayla heard a noise behind her. Before she could turn around she felt a sharp sting on the back of her neck.
Her vision blurred then she felt herself falling to the ground as Katie let out a scream that faded into complete silence.
Chapter Thirteen
Mikayla came to slowly, becoming aware of several things at once. She was lying down on a flat surface that was most definitely not in the parking garage. She thought it was a bed. Was she home? No, that wasn’t right. Was she in the hospital again? Maybe. But she couldn’t think of why she would be in a hospital or what had happened to get her there.
This was not good.
Her memory came back slowly and she fought down her panic when she was unable to get her eyelids to move. Trapped in the dark, the rest of her limbs felt heavy and refused to move as well when she tried to shift position.
No, definitely not good.
By the cool air chilling her skin she was also naked under the thin sheet that had been placed over her.
In a word, she was fucked.
With her senses dulled from whatever drugs they had given her she heard the muffled sounds of rock music playing in the distance, someone typing on a computer close by and the steady beeping of a machine. Unable to fight back the panic any longer, it became obvious that she was hooked up to whatever machine was beeping as the steady tempo increased as her heart rate sped up. The typing halted, and the sound of footsteps approaching had terror filling Mikayla.
“Ah, you’re awake. Careful now, give yourself some time. Don’t try and move yet,” a quiet voice said softly. “My name is Dr. Ellis…Robert Ellis. Your leg was injured and I treated you with a new medication that speeds up healing at an exponential rate. In order to work properly I had to keep you knocked out while your body repaired itself.”
Mikayla heard the wheels of a chair or stool squeak as he drew it closer to the bed and sat down next to her. The machine’s beeping cut off as he pressed a button. She wanted to open her eyes to see the man speaking to her. Robert Ellis was the doctor that had gone missing in Philadelphia. It became clear that she had been targeted by the group that was behind the theft at Cryton Dynamics.
A sick feeling of dread filled her as she worried about what had happened to Katie. The last thing Mikayla remembered was hearing Katie scream as Mikayla had passed out from the tranquilizer someone had shot her with. If they had hurt Katie, Mikayla wouldn’t rest until she made every sin
gle individual involved in this bullshit pay with their lives.
But first she would have to fucking get control of her body back.
“You see, there’s a new drug that’s not yet on the market that I’ve nicknamed cryo-fix. When injected into the system around a wound it begins to repair the damaged area at the cellular level. We just started the human testing phase, but don’t worry. I assure you, it’s perfectly safe. I created it and know it works. It’ll change medical science as we know it.”
The excitement in his voice was clear. Mikayla felt an uncomfortable tingling sensation spreading through her body. It felt like thousands of needles were poking her everywhere until she wanted to scream with the pain, but her body was still paralyzed by whatever he had given her. She worked hard not to show she was getting feeling back, planning to use it to her advantage later.
“It should be another three or four hours before the drugs leave your system completely. But you should be able to start having mobility again in about two or three hours.”
Fuck, that would be too long!
Robert sighed. “You may not even be conscious now, but it’s been so long since I’ve actually had a conversation with anyone that talking to someone who is only semi-conscious is better than talking to the wall. I was actually surprised when they let me bring my laptop in here so I could monitor you. I’ve been down here in this bunker for almost a month now with no one but the guards and…”
His voice trailed off and his breath hitched. “I’m really sorry this happened to you. I never wanted to be part of any of this. I mean, sure, it was fun talking about in theory. At first what David proposed seemed totally out there. I mean, splicing animal genetics with human genomes to create a synthetic drug seemed too sci-fi even for me. It was simply a game, a puzzle to figure out…until it worked. And then it was too late to stop it. They’d taken my basic formula and altered it into something horrible.”
Mikayla went quiet inside as she listened to him. Even with her muscles twitching viciously she held herself completely still, waiting for him to continue.
“I’d never considered the ramifications of the drug they wanted to create. Who would have thought of making a drug that forced humans to imitate animals in heat? It wasn’t something I would have ever wished on anyone, especially all those poor girls…”
Son of a bitch.
They hadn’t seen it.
No one had thought that the missing inventory at Cryton Dynamics had anything to do with the missing women, but if what Robert Ellis was saying was true, then it was. It was all connected. This was turning into a nightmare of epic proportions, and she was smack dab in the middle of the clusterfuck.
A door banged open, and Mikayla heard the doctor jerk to his feet at the sound. Heavy boot treads came toward them and she could smell the cigarette smoke lingering on the newcomer.
“Is she awake yet, Doc?” a deep voice asked.
“No, Carl,” Robert replied quickly, his voice shaking slightly with intimidation. “I was just checking her vitals. I told you it would be several more hours until she was awake again.”
“She’s already been out for almost seven fucking hours. She’s hot. She’s a little older than the others, but I can see why the boss wants her so much. I can’t wait to try her out.”
Mikayla forced herself not to jump as a rough hand pulled down the sheet and pinched her nipple, hard. Another hand slapped the hand away from her and raised the sheet over her again, covering her.
“Don’t move her. I need her completely still during the healing process.”
A pain-filled cry sounded out and Mikayla guessed that Carl had struck Robert for his small kindness to her.
“Don’t push me, you little shit. Damn, if the boss didn’t need you I’d gut you like a fish,” Carl snapped.
“Hands off, Carl. The boss needs him and so do I,” another voice said. “Besides, we’ll still have plenty of time to play with our new pet before we hand her over.”
Another man entered the room. By the sound, she could tell that the newcomer wasn’t as heavy as Carl, but the authority in his voice told Mikayla that he was the more dangerous of the two. Icy fear slid down Mikayla’s spine as she fought back a shiver at those ominous words.
“I was just checking her vitals, David. The cryo-fix has done wonders to repair the damage done to her leg, but it’s still working and she shouldn’t be moved.”
“You’re too damn soft, Robert. This is why you’ll never get anywhere without me. It was stupid to let you talk me into giving her that shit before we tried her out. I don’t care about her damn leg,” David Henley said. “The only thing I care about is that she can spread them so we can fuck her.”
“Can’t you just use one of the other girls you’ve drugged for now? It’s going to be several more hours until she’s better. Days even—”
“Tomorrow.” David interrupted Robert with finality in his tone. “You have until tomorrow to record your data then she’s ours to play with. I’m leaving with George, Tim and Derrick to take the girls and the shipment of LD to the buyers. We’ll be back around noon tomorrow. Don’t try anything, Robert. I warned you after last time. Asset or not, if you try to escape again I’ll have Paul or Carl kill you. You understand?”
“Yes,” Robert whispered.
“Carl?”
“Yeah, Doc?”
“Make sure this bitch is ready to party when we get back.”
“Sure thing. Do you want her tied to the bed or strung up?”
“Hmm,” David murmured as he thought about it. “Tied up, I think. We can always move her for round two. Or three or four.”
Oh yeah, this mother fucker is going to die.
Carl laughed. “Yeah, once we have her shot up with LD she’ll be begging us to fuck her anywhere we want. I’ll have her ready.”
“The boss isn’t expecting her till Saturday night, so we’ll have time to enjoy her before we have to hand her over. We just have to make sure we don’t leave any marks on her body,” David added.
Vile, loathsome little fuckers. When Mikayla was back on her feet she was going to put a bullet in his head. She’d kill him. She’d kill them all.
That was a promise.
“Are you taking the other girl with you to sell with the others?” Carl asked, his voice growing softer as they moved away from the bed where she lay.
Oh god, they were talking about Katie. Mikayla practically held her breath while she waited for the asshole to answer and breathed out in relief when he finally did.
“No, I’m still recording the data of how she’s reacting to the LD. I have a special buyer in mind for her. We can get a higher price if we sell her as a virgin still, so no touching while we’re gone. Tell Paul too.”
“Got it,” Carl agreed.
“We’ll be back soon,” David said in warning then strode from the room.
They left Mikayla in her silent prison, trapped in her own body with nothing but her own rage and fear to keep her company as she thought about what was to come.
* * * *
Gage pounded on the cabin door.
Over the last several hours worry had turned to fear, making him almost rabid with the need to see Mikayla and Katie so he could kill them both for doing this to him.
He and Mikayla had plans that evening after she had gotten back from Denver with his sister and he was done for the day with his client on the ranch. She had said she would call as soon as she got home, but there had been no call.
At first he had been pissed that they had extended their trip without informing him. When he had gotten his head out of his own ass, he had started to worry. It wasn’t like Katie to take off without telling them where she was going. It had been hours since anyone had spoken to either of them and after repeated calling and getting both of their voice mails, that worry had turned into fear. As evening faded to the dark of night Gage couldn’t wait any longer.
“They’re not here,” Nick said from where he was standing
next to Gage on the porch. His voice rang with his own fear that he tried to hide.
“Damn it, where are they!” Gage raged as he rapped his fist against the door again.
He was about to pound on it again when the door swung open and an extremely pissed-off Slade filled the doorway.
“You,” Slade growled. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you? I just had a very long day and if you were smart you’d leave before I make you pay for waking me up and what you put Lynx through.”
“Mikayla and Katie are missing.”
Slade’s face went blank of all expression and he simply stared at Gage for a moment before turning around and walking away. Gage and Nick looked at each other. Nick shrugged then gestured impatiently for Gage to follow Slade into the house. Nick closed the door behind them as Gage walked into the kitchen.
Slade ignored them as he picked up his phone and dialed. When it went straight to Mikayla’s voice mail, he hung up and dialed another number.
“Is Lynx with you?” Slade asked as soon as Adrian answered.
“No, I haven’t seen her since she left Cryton Dynamic to go to lunch with Gage’s sister. Why?”
“They’re missing.”
“The fuck she is!” Adrian exclaimed. “Hold on, let me go get Rock in the other room.”
Gage bristled with barely restrained energy as Slade stared back at him then pressed a button on his phone set it down on the counter. “I’m putting you on speaker here. Gage and Nick are here with me. Go.”
“Okay. You’re on speaker and Rock is here with me,” Adrian said.
“Give us the goddamn sitrep,” Rock barked out.
Slade nodded to Gage. He leaned into the phone and spoke clearly, knowing that the other men would be able to hear the edge of panic that sharpened his voice. “Mikayla and I were supposed to have dinner after I finished work today. She told me that she’d call me when she got back, but she never did. No one has seen or heard from my sister either. Both of their phones go straight to voice mail and it’s not like Katie to stay out without telling one of us where she is.”