by Allie Adams
Perfect. “See you then.”
Tanya sank down on the bed and straightened out, spreading her legs. Spencer squeezed his eyes shut and turned away. Jesus Christ. These girls were trained to just go through the motions. He doubted she even knew what she was doing.
“I’m good,” she said in a weak voice. “I’m yours. I love you. I’m good. I’m yours. I love you.” She kept chanting the same things over and over. It dug at Spencer’s resolve. Goddamn the people that did this to her. She was just a kid.
He turned to face the window, giving McKoy an easy target, and braced himself. The shot tore through his bicep a half second before he heard the report. “Jesus Christ!” He spun around and purposely fell to the bed, over Tanya, to protect her from what was about to happen.
And then chaos erupted in the form of flash grenades, gun fire, and the five remaining agents of TREX Team Two crashing through the windows.
“Secure the target!” Lyons yelled and pointed at Spencer.
He hissed in a breath when Aims dug his finger into the cavern left by the bullet. “I will make you fucking pay for that one.”
“Just making it look real,” he whispered into Spencer’s ear before yelling at Cummings. “Get the girl.” Aims zip tied Spencer’s hands together and pushed him toward Lyons. Spencer went through the motions, stumbling along in mock shock, as his team made the rescue look like a kidnapping.
“Goddamn it!” Spencer yelled for the cameras. “How the hell did you find me?”
“You aren’t the first billionaire on our list,” David Snyder, another member of TREX Team Two, drawled as he settled in next to Lyons. “Are you sure the ransom said he had to be alive?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I hate leaving them alive.” Snyder then walked over, popped a few rounds into the cameras, and then went back to Lyons. “And I hate spectators.”
“Was that really necessary?” Lyons asked him.
Snyder grinned. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
Spencer coughed as he said, “Audio.”
“Paranoid son of a bitch.” Snyder gave the room a quick scan, found the bugs and destroyed them. He pulled out one of his many gadgets and held it up. “We’re clean.”
“We have two minutes, tops.” Spencer nodded at Tanya. “Get her to a hospital. Don’t call Sully until she’s there. I don’t want him seeing her like this.”
“I’m good,” she muttered, not moving anything but her lips.
“What the hell is the matter with her?” Snyder asked.
“She’s drugged, dumbass.” Lyons grabbed her and tried to help her to her feet. When she couldn’t stand under her own power, he held her up and whispered words of comfort. He had a daughter right around that same age. It could have been her instead of Tanya. “It’s okay, sweetheart. We’re friends of your father.”
“Daddy?” she whimpered as some color returned to into her cheeks. “Daddy?”
“We’re taking you to him.” Lyons kept her at his hip and gave a nod at Spencer. “Time to go. You ready?”
Spencer sighed. This was going to hurt. He nodded and braced himself for impact. Aims tackled him from the side and held him to the ground as Cumming pulled the black bag over his head.
“You’ve just been schooled,” Aims said and even flicked Spencer in the ear.
“I’ll take that out of your ass,” Spencer growled. “You can bet on it.”
“I, uh… It was Snyder’s idea.”
“The fuck it was.”
Spencer clenched his teeth together. “Can we just get on with it, please? We have a girl to reunite with her father.”
“Aims. Cummings. You’ve got Allen. I’ve got the girl. Snyder, cover us. McKoy, you make sure we aren’t followed. Okay, everyone. Let’s do this.” Lyons took the role of team lead while Spencer played the kidnapee.
The boys picked Spencer up by the shoulders. He groaned in pain. It hurt, he wouldn’t deny that, but at least the find was over. They’d found Tanya Sullivan and were about to bring her home. The team retreated back out the same way, leaving the room empty.
It had taken less than five minutes.
FIVE
“How is she?” Spencer asked as Sully walked out of his daughter’s hospital room.
“They’ve pumped her stomach to get that shit out. They called it some street drug by the name of Lust. Have you heard of it?”
Spencer shook his head. He’d check with Davis to see what he knew. “Is she going to be okay?”
Sully’s eyes swelled with tears. “They raped her, Spence. Those bastards raped my daughter. I’m not going to stop until every last one of them is in the ground.”
“The SBI is already on it.”
“I don’t fucking care!” Several people turned at his outburst. He drew in a shaky breath and lowered his voice. “I’m taking a leave of absence to go after them. I know TREX would never okay this, so I’m making it easy for them. Don’t try to stop me.”
Spencer grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. Hard. “You wouldn’t have told me if you didn’t want me to do something to stop you. I won’t let you do this, Jim. You have another daughter to protect. You go after these guys now, you’re going to get yourself killed. Who’ll protect either daughter then?”
Sully’s shoulders trembled as he broke. He collapsed against Spencer. The rest of the TREX agents stood and went to them, pulling Sully into a team bear hug. They were family and when one hurt, they all did.
“She’s home,” Snyder pointed out. “You have her back, Sully.”
Sully nodded and locked a teary-eyed gaze on Spencer. “Thank you for finding her, Spence.”
“Just doing my job.”
“Did you blow your cover?”
Spencer shook his head. “The kidnapping worked. My contact at the SBI told me they brought in two detectives to pretend to cover the kidnapping and are granting the club a get-out-of-jail-free card if they cooperate. A few days from now, after my estate pays a large ransom for my return, they’ll recover me and bring me home.”
“What about Tanya?” Sully asked.
“They’ll recover her body.” Spencer rested a hand on Sully’s shoulder. “She’ll be dead to them. They’ll never come after her.”
He let out a shuddering breath. “Jesus. We’ve been on how many finds? Solo. As a team. None of them really got to me. It only takes one to completely change your life. Now I know how all those other people feel. I’ll never ever look at them the same way.”
Neither would he. Seeing Tanya on that bed, drugged out of her mind, clawed at his insides. All of those girls were someone’s daughters. What happened to them to drive them to the point they ended up on that stage, willing or otherwise, to be auctioned off for sex? Now that he was a team lead, Spencer had a little pull. He’d find a way to work with Davis and get every last one of the clubs shut down.
Sully went back into his daughter’s room, leaving Spencer in the waiting area with the rest of his team. Lyon’s walked up and stopped next to him. They both stared at the door to the room.
“Not too bad for your first find as team lead, Special Agent Allen. And you have a nice little battle scar to show for it.”
Spencer glanced at the bandage over his arm. The wound didn’t bother him nearly as much as the tear in his suit. Even if he patched it, it would never be the same. Besides, the dirt, grime, and snags in it from scaling the wall on their escape ruined it. There went his new navigation system for his boat. He’d have to spend the money on a new suit.
He turned to face Lyons. “You’re really okay with our roles being reversed like this? You were my team lead for years.”
“I wouldn’t have given it to you if I weren’t okay with it. Quit second-guessing this. It’s the right move.”
And it felt right. “You’re the boss.”
Lyons slapped him on the back. “Not anymore. You are. Now, are you going to buy us that drink?”
Drink. Shit! He looked at his watch and spun o
n his heel to sprint out of the hospital. “I’ve got plans tonight.” And hopefully every night.
“Anyone I know?”
Spencer shook his head. He knew the shit he’d get into if TREX found out one of their team leads was personally involved with the head of a competing agency. He’d just have to keep it between him and Kathryn until they were ready to make their relationship public.
Jesus. What the hell was he doing? He’d picked her up at a bar for Christ’s sake. One night. One goddamn night wrapped in her arms, buried inside her, and he was ready to challenge his entire agency?
He had to get his head screwed on straight.
Tomorrow.
Tonight, he wanted a repeat of last night. He pushed the speed limit the whole way from Seattle to Olympia and decided, instead of having her meet him at his house again, they’d spend a little quality time at her apartment. It didn’t take long to track down everything about her. Her address. Phone number, both land and cell. She had an excellent credit score and plenty in the bank to buy a house, yet lived in a tiny apartment.
But he wanted to know more than what he could get TREX’s intel to find. He wanted to know if she had ticklish feet. Did she like lazy Sunday afternoons like he did? Would she bury her eyes against his shoulder when they watched a scary movie together?
He pulled up into the parking lot, spotted her bright yellow Xterra, and smiled. Would she be pissed that he’d just dropped in? Did he care if she was? He had to see her again. She was like a fire in his blood. He couldn’t get enough of her and didn’t want to stop until he did.
Taking the stairs two at a time, he made his way to her second-story apartment and knocked on her door before changing his mind. She opened the door and they both stood there, staring at each other.
After several seconds, she dropped her gaze to his bicep. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really.” He kicked his lips up into a grin.
She lifted her brow and gave him a sexy hint of a smile. “Do you want to come inside and have me kiss it all better?”
Tomorrow could wait. And if he still hadn’t had enough of Kathryn by then, another tomorrow would follow.
“Yes. Yes, I do.” He grinned and leaned against the doorframe. “You don’t seem surprised to see me.”
“Somehow, I knew you’d track me down. It’s what you TREX men do, right?”
“That it is.”
“Don’t forget to shut the door.” She gave him a playful wink and he nearly dropped to his knees. When she walked into her apartment, he followed, completely lost in her. “I was hoping you’d find me.”
“I couldn’t not see you again. Besides, if I recall, we had plans. Something about whipped cream?”
She turned and looked at him, heated hunger flashing in her lovely eyes. “Good thing I stocked up.”
He shut the door behind him.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Allie K. Adams is the bestselling author of several award-winning stories. An active member of the search and rescue, as well as previously served as a reserve deputy, Allie has firsthand experience in most of the dangers she writes about. Known for her highly erotic, deeply intense suspense romances, she can be found most days in front of her computer, saving the world one sizzling story at a time. She grew up in Seattle and now currently lives in southwest Montana with her husband, two kids, and two fluff ball dogs.
She loves to hear from readers and encourages them to reach out to her through her website at
www.alliekadams.com.
Also by Allie K. Adams
THE TREX ADVENTURES — Romantic Suspense
First Response (TREX Brief)
Rescue Me
No Way Out (TREX Brief)
At Any Cost (coming soon)
THE CAMPUS PLAYERS — Sassy New Adult
Grooming the Player (coming soon)
Playing the Player (coming soon)
Gaming the Player (coming soon)
MURPH & GRACE — Thriller
I Will Find You (coming soon)
Writing as Eve Adams
Riding Series 1: Riding Double
Riding Series 2: Riding Lessons [Tasty Treats, Volume 1]
Riding Series 3: Riding Cowboys
Covert Lovers 1: Under the Covers
Covert Lovers 2: Between the Covers
Gideon’s Ring 1: Trio
Gideon’s Ring 2: Temptation
Songs Remember When 1: Suspicious Minds
Brides of Bachelor Bay 3: Patience is Their Virtue
Brides of Bachelor Bay 5: The Banished Bride
Available online at all major retailers