Shadow's Pen [Rescue for Hire 10] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

by Bellann Summer

  “We’ve all been working on the Gregslist kidnapping case for a long time, boss,” Gabriel spoke up. “So it has been confirmed there is more than one kidnapper?”

  Cade glanced at Shadow. “The information Shadow found helped Tony, Boone, and Synn from the sheriff’s office figure out that there was a leak in the district attorney’s office at the courthouse.” Cade’s expression hardened. “The clerk was an expert at using the courthouse computer system and monitoring the radio calls going through dispatch. This woman managed to get information to the kidnappers so they were always one step ahead of us and law enforcement. She also enjoyed the company of several deputies and was very good at getting information out of them. One of the deputies suspected she was seeing others, and went to confront her. When he saw she was watching a live conversation from dispatch, he went to the sheriff. Once we had that lead, all the puzzle pieces fell into place pretty quickly.”

  “But the kidnappings occurred all over the Midwest,” Rock pointed out. For once, Shadow didn’t see the tattooed, pierced tracker’s dog, Lily, next to him.

  “Clerks in the DA’s office work long hours, and the pay isn’t that great,” Cade explained. “The turnover is high. Beth Dole found it easy to get into the DA’s office wherever she wanted to be.”

  “What’s her connection to the kidnappers?” Damian asked. As usual, Treb was plastered to his side.

  “Beth Dole grew up in Upper Michigan. She had an ordinary family life, which included a mother, father and a brother,” Tony spoke up as he walked up to Cade’s desk and placed a police mug shot of the woman Shadow saw outside the newspaper the day of the fire “Except she had an uncle who embraced a life that shunned the government. He worked for cash, didn’t pay taxes, and home schooled his identical triplet sons.” The handsome Italian wrinkled his nose. “They grew up off the grid. That’s why we couldn’t find any information on them.”

  “John, Jack, and Jake Dole learned to hate the government from their father,” Boone stated, as Tony placed a grainy picture on the desk. The image depicted a man walking down what looked to be the hallway of a hospital. Shadow recalled one of the brothers had tried to kidnap Cade’s friend Toliver out of the hospital. “Their father also liked to beat and torture them just to pass the time. They learned those lessons well and continued them with men who answered their Gregslist advertisements.”

  Cade cleared his throat gaining everyone’s attention. “In the last raid, Jake Dole was killed. We have information that John and Jack Dole are currently holed up in an abandoned farmhouse two hours away by car. There’s been a report filed with the local sheriff’s department of a twenty-year-old man missing in the area. You do the math on what’s happening in that farmhouse.”

  “Now it makes sense,” Rock said. “The kidnapper told the victim his name was John Doe, but the victims got it wrong. His last name was Dole.”

  “Does this lady have anything to do with why we are guarding a certain person who is near and dear to Shadow?” Treb asked.

  Shane stood and went to stand by Cade. “Beth Dole has been a busy beaver before she was arrested. Not only is she doing everything she can to keep her cousins from getting caught by the authorities but she also hired a druggie to mug Pen and smoke out the newspaper. When the man was later arrested for distribution of a controlled substance, he thought singing like a bird would get him out of the charges. According to his statement, Beth apparently thought if the newspaper was dispatched, Pen would leave and quit digging into the Gregslist case. We’ve also learned she has some powerful underground contacts.”

  “What’s she into, commander?” Treb asked.

  “The triplets don’t play with every man they kidnap,” Shane replied. “Most are held until Beth can arrange for them to be shipped off to be sold.”

  “You’re talking human trafficking,” Damian said.

  “There’s a warehouse on the edge of the Twin Cities that, for the last month, Beth has been stockpiling men in.” The look on Cade’s face was pure disgust. “After an extensive interrogation, she confessed that tomorrow night her contacts are going to pick them up for auction.”

  “So, you want us to go in and rescue the good guys while we take out the bad guys.” Trebs dark eyes sparkled with anticipation.

  “No,” Shane said. “We, and Rescue for Hire West, will go in and rescue those poor saps before anything more happens to them. We have to time it so the perps picking the victims up don’t get tipped off. The authorities and SWAT will swoop down and arrest them when they arrive.” Shane shrugged. “If the people holding the victims get roughed up a little during our rescue, so be it.”

  “The plane is waiting,” Cade said. “Get going.”

  * * * *

  The hotel door opened, and Pen was astounded to see Jack Woods from Rescue for Hire walk in. His heart plunged to the floor. Something had happened to Shadow. Jack shook hands with the other men in the room while making small talk before standing in front of Pen.

  “Some stuff is going on, and Cade has asked me to come and get you.” Jack’s grass-green eyes were solemn.

  Pen’s throat closed up, and he could barely breathe. It took a few seconds, but he managed to ask, “Is Shadow okay?”

  A slight smile graced Jack’s lips. It didn’t reach his eyes. “He’s fine. Could you come with me?”

  “Is this stuff you mentioned something that the good citizens of Granite City might want to know?” Grant asked. The owner had a good nose for potential news.

  “All in due time, Grant. All in due time.” The smile Jack turned on Grant was friendly, but Pen could tell something was troubling the man.

  After shutting down his computer and grabbing his notebook, Pen followed Jack out of the hotel and got into his big 4x4 truck.

  “What’s going on?” Pen asked. His fingers started to cramp from holding the notebook and laptop so tightly.

  Jack’s gaze settled on Pen for a moment before looking back out the front windshield. When he cleared his throat, Pen knew the man was stalling and decided to wait him out.

  He was rewarded when Jack said, “Recent information has helped the computer techs working on the Gregslist kidnapping case break it wide open. The team is infiltrating an abandoned farmhouse where they feel the kidnappers are holding a victim.”

  “So there is more than one kidnapper,” Pen stated. He had always thought there had to be with all the discrepancies about scars and tattoos. From his investigating, he had gathered a lot of information he hadn’t put together yet. He figured if he wrote it all down in his notebook, eventually the pieces would come together.

  “There were three,” Jack admitted. “They are identical triplets. After the one brother was killed, the other two carried on with their tortures.”

  “You haven’t told me why I’m here,” Pen reminded the man. They had left the city, and now Jack had turned the truck down a private driveway.

  “Things are winding down, and Cade feels it’s time for you to visit my houseguest,” Jack replied.

  Pen didn’t understand. Who would he need to be visiting? It didn’t make sense.

  The truck stopped with a jerk on the carport of a huge modern looking house. The front door opened, and a tiny blond man stood in the doorway. Jack left the truck, and not knowing what else to do, Pen followed.

  “Pen, this is my partner, Brian,” Jack introduced when they reached the front door.

  “Hi.” Pen searched the small man’s face. He was biting his bottom lip, and there was a pinched look around his big blue eyes. The man was worried about something.

  “Hi, Pen, most people call me Pip.” The man tried to smile but wasn’t successful.

  Jack put his arm around Pip’s shoulders. “Pen, go on in. Our guest would like you to visit him in the living room.”

  Pen tried to read each of the men who stood in front of him but saw only worry. Nodding, he walked through the front door into a beautiful home right out of Pen’s dreams.

  Bef
ore he could take a good look and memorize every detail of the décor, he heard a small, weak voice say, “Pen.”

  Pen’s startled gaze landed on a withered figure huddled in a wheelchair across the huge room. As he walked forward, he took in the skeletal man with wavy, dull, brown hair and wide light gray eyes that matched his own.

  The man was wearing a thick green robe that completely swamped him. A small yet grotesquely swollen hand stuck out from between the folds. As he shortened the distance between them, Pen took in the pale, thin, face he never thought he’d see again, and his heart, which had stuttered to a stop, started to pound out of control.

  Dropping to his knees, Pen laid his head on the man’s lap and whispered, “Daniel,” before bursting into tears.

  Chapter Twelve

  Shadow slipped through the opening between the old boards half covering the window. He was surprised the dirty hardwood floor didn’t squeak under his weight, but he would accept the small favors of quiet when he could.

  Behind him, Treb glided through as if he were a whisper of smoke. Shadow was pleased his teammate had picked up his suggestions and training so well.

  A high, hysterical scream pierced through the house, sending a shiver up Shadow’s spine. “No more. Please no more.”

  Shadow gritted his teeth together as the dull thumps of wood hitting flesh accompanied by hoarse howls of pain began. Both Shadow and Treb stepped into dim corners when there was movement in the empty room adjacent to the one they were in.

  A medium-built man with brown hair walked past the doorway. The blue T-shirt the man wore revealed a green tattoo of a ship’s steering wheel on the top of his right forearm. An anchor tattoo sat in the center of the wheel.

  Keeping next to the wall, in silence, Treb entered the room behind the brown-haired man. Shadow moved forward and watched Treb grasp the side of the man’s neck with his strong fingers. The man dropped, but at the last second, Treb grabbed him, and the man slid into a soundless heap.

  Shadow went toward the sound of a man being tortured. Through a doorway, he saw a black baton rise before coming down on a bloody, swollen, unrecognizable face. A gut-wrenching, wet scream pierced the air, and blood spattered. The baton rose again, ready to come down on the vulnerable, pulverized body of the man tied to a bed.

  Keeping his emotions at bay, on silent feet, Shadow moved up behind the psychopath. Flicking the knife from its holder at his wrist, Shadow pressed the sharp blade against the thick artery on the side of the madman’s throat. “Give me a reason to slice you open.”

  The man froze, but Shadow wasn’t satisfied. This man had helped kill Pen’s brother. A tiny twist of the blade and a trickle of blood dribbled down the man’s throat.

  “That’s too easy, Shadow,” Shane said from behind him. “Let the sheriff get more answers out of him and then put him away for life.”

  While keeping the knife pressed against the vulnerable artery, Shadow reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of zip ties. Seconds later the man was immobilized and Shane was letting the authorities know the house was secure. Shadow didn’t look back as he walked out the door.

  * * * *

  The nightlight in the adjoining bathroom helped Pen take in the features of the beautiful large bedroom. The furniture was sleek and black, just the way Pen’s tastes ran. Dark hardwood covered the floor right up to the tiled base of the fireplace that adorned one wall.

  Somewhere in the house, Pen was sure there was a large bed that matched the dressers. But for now that had been replaced with the hospital bed his brother was lying on. The rollout Pen lay on might not be the most comfortable, but it was enough for him to be able to stay next to his brother. He would have lain on the floor if he’d had to.

  “Pen.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Me, too.” Pen waited. His brother needed to talk, even if he could barely sit up straight.

  “I’m scared.” Daniel’s voice trembled, breaking Pen’s heart.

  “I’m here now, and I won’t let anything happen to you,” he vowed.

  “I’m not afraid of that,” Daniel stated. “Jack and Alex have been keeping me safe.”

  Pen tried not to be hurt that he hadn’t been included in his brother’s care. He pushed his feelings aside. His brother’s needs came first.

  “What are you afraid of?” Pen asked. He braced himself because the white elephant in the room was about to be brought out.

  “What if I never walk again?” Daniel’s voice broke.

  Pen left his bed and crawled in next to his brother. “Jack told me that, once the swelling from your injured spine goes down, there’s a good chance you will walk again.”

  “But what if I can’t?” Daniel persisted.

  Pen took a deep, calming breath before saying, “You told me you can feel your legs, that they aren’t numb.”

  “Well, yeah, I can,” Daniel admitted.

  “So hold on to that,” Pen urged. “Do what you have to do and get well.”

  Pen could hear the smile in Daniel’s voice when he said, “How’d you get to be so smart?”

  “I’ve always been smart.” Pen chuckled. “You’ve just never noticed.”

  The room grew quiet. Pen knew he should let Daniel rest, but he had a question and couldn’t hold back anymore.

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me you were alive?” Pen kept his tone calm. Daniel didn’t need to know Pen was furious inside.

  “It was too dangerous. Jack said everyone was sworn to secrecy,” Daniel answered.

  Pen could understand that, but the one who preached honesty should have told him. “I wonder why Cade thought it was okay now.”

  “Jack said you’re a hero.” Daniel was starting to lose his voice.

  “What are you talking about?” He hadn’t done anything.

  “I heard Jack and Pip talking. They said the information from your notebook broke open the case and that the monsters are going down,” Daniel answered.

  Pen began putting the pieces of the puzzle together, and his anger built. Only one man had any kind of access to his notebook. And that would have been while he slept.

  “Get some rest, Daniel,” Pen said, keeping his voice soft. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  * * * *

  Shadow was starting to feel the strain. He found out quickly that the team didn’t swoop in and rescue the innocent and swoop back out again. They had to wait for the authorities to do their thing. He had to make a statement of the events and repeat it twenty times.

  By the time they got back to Granite County, it was the middle of the night. The whole team ended up crashing at Cade’s. Sometime during the three hours of sleep they were allowed, Shadow woke up to a baby’s cry.

  Minutes later he stood in the doorway of a baby’s nursery and watched Cade’s partner, Bret, rocking a tiny being dressed in pink. The little one was enjoying the bottle Bret held for her.

  Bret looked up and smiled. Shadow could see why the small man held Cade’s heart. He was adorable, and Shadow could admire that. But Shadow’s own ball of fire was the one who held his heart.

  “She’s struggling, but she’s going to come out of this just fine,” Bret whispered.

  Shadow recognized the signs. The baby was underweight, colicky, and her hands jerked and trembled. Her cries had been full of pain and confusion. He could be wrong, but he didn’t think so.

  “Did she have a drug-addicted momma?” Shadow asked.

  Bret nodded and looked down at the tiny mite. “They had to give her drugs to combat the withdrawal’s effects. I’ve been praying that she will grow up healthy and strong.”

  Shadow watched the loving picture in front of him. A small piece of his heart wished that picture had been him twenty-seven years ago.

  “I was her when I was born. Most of my time in foster care sucked. If you decide you’re sick of her, you let me know.”

  Shadow wouldn’t welcome a comment and didn’t want
an answer in return. He turned and left the pair behind.

  * * * *

  The warehouse was a cavern of metal and concrete. While waiting for the signal to go in, Shadow surveyed the exterior.

  That morning the team from Rescue for Hire West had arrived in a shiny new airplane. Shadow hadn’t had much contact with the team members but had an instant respect for Roman Marshall.

  It was decided that Roman would lead his team in separately, and Shane would lead his. The place was so big it was going to take all their skills to get the kidnapped men out of there alive.

  The mic attached to Shadow’s ear clicked. “Intelligence has just reported the cargo vans are a half-hour out,” Shane’s voice stated. “Let’s get in there, subdue their captors, and rescue those people.”

  During this morning’s meeting, Cade had shown them a map of the interior of the building. He had gone through each member’s potential entry point. Cade had also divulged that the FBI was involved and they had men ready to work undercover as kidnapped victims. The plan was to let the first van in and fill it with agents so it would lead the FBI to the secret auction facility. The rest of the vans would be taken out, and the drivers interrogated.

  Shadow slipped on night vision glasses and used a knife to pry open a lower level window. Like the shadow he was known as, he slipped into the building. Putrid standing water and the odor of years of filth assaulted his senses. Breathing through his mouth, Shadow spotted the old wooden box elevator car he was looking for. Quick, efficient movements had him on the top of it in seconds.

  Looking up, he saw that the shaft had been boarded up. But a couple of the rotting boards were broken. He could work with that.