by Brandon, B J
“Buck’s orders, but you need to listen to me for now.” Both of them looked at each other, waiting. “I’m undercover and I can’t explain everything for now. But you need to get the other girls out of the Panhandle and out of the areas ASAP. They know where they are and no, I didn’t tell them.”
“How do we know that?” Ty growled, pacing. His right hand rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to wear a hole in front of Melissa’s desk until he came to a sudden stop. “Where’s Gayle?”
“She was gone when I got here. There was a note on her bed and none of us can figure it out.” They could tell Chip was frustrated by the teenage girl’s skipping out of the safe house but right now they had to find her.
“What does the damn note say, Chip? Stop stalling.” Melissa almost shouted the order as she waited, hearing the crinkle of paper over the phone.
“Tell Lisa the monsters are here. Follow the yellow brick road.” Ty stared at Melissa, watching her face go pale. “She signed it with a fancy G.”
“Oh gods,”
Chapter 17
Ty managed to strong-arm his lover into his arms as her body began to shake. She was unable to shield her thoughts from him now and he could feel the turmoil and anger as it raged through her slender frame. If he didn’t get her calmed down soon he was afraid she would have another bleeding episode when she tried to find Gayle and that he couldn’t allow.
With practiced moves he managed to get her out of the office and into his SUV without an argument but it was close. A quick call to Buck and the plan was put into motion as Ty headed for the hotel room where they had left hours earlier. He managed to get Melissa behind closed doors before she finally fell apart, the shaking taking her to her knees as all manner of horrors assaulted her senses and made her stomach role.
“Stop it!” Ty whispered, pulling her close. “Gayle is a survivor and we’ll find her, I promise!”
“You can’t promise something like that! We have no idea where she is being held or why she allowed them to take her again!” Melissa pushed him away, rising to pace the small sitting room area.
“You’re right, but you can find her, babe! Otherwise, Gayle wouldn’t have left a note - just for you.”
“How can you be so sure?” She shook her head, trying to understand a logic that seems misplaced.
“Because I think the two of you are more alike than you think,” he whispered. “Now, you need to rest before trying to locate her. Please, take a nap with me?”
Those puppy eyes pulled at her heartstrings and an ache began deep in her core. Now that she had gotten a taste of him there was no way she would ever be able to let him go again! God help her, but she loved this man more than life, more than the breath she took. With a desperation that bordered on frantic, Melissa pulled Ty’s face to her and latched onto those lips that made her forget her demons, at least for a while.
The kiss conveyed all of the despair and heartache she currently felt, the love she had held for this man for a third of her life, and the all-consuming need to crawl under his very skin for safety, just for a little while. Melissa McKenny may be known as a kickass Agent but right now she was just a vulnerable woman in the arms of the man she loved.
Ty felt her desperation flood his senses as she tried to almost crawl into his lap. His large hands slipped down to her hips, cupping her ass as he pulled her close and held her against his hardened cock as she straddled his lap. He knew there would be a permanent crease on his flesh as it pressed against his zipper, rubbing it in an agonizing pace so that he knew getting Melissa naked and under him was the only way to alleviate the ache. He stood and pulled her tighter against his chest as he maneuvered them into the bedroom and covered her on his way down to put her on the bed. She hadn’t let go, desperate and pleading at the same time as he took her lips, moved down her chin and latched onto the juncture of her neck just at the shoulder. He was a man starved to inhale her scent, her taste and the very essence that was his lover. It took little effort to pull the clothes she had on just a few hours earlier and strip her naked. He stood, silent in the room as their eyes locked.
“Look at me, baby!” he whispered, slowing lowering his zipper to allow his length the extra room it needed. The instant his skin hit the cool air he hissed, pushing the denim down slowly as he kicked off his work boots. “I need your eyes on me, girl. Don’t close them this time, for anything!”
Finally as naked as Melissa, he reached down and spread her legs as his broad shoulders pushed into the apex of her thighs. He blew across her clit, his eyes never leaving the wide open blue ones staring down at him in awe and need. His tongue descended and latched onto the little nub as he pulled it into his mouth, his lips gently sucking and laving as he lapped up the copious amount of juices flowing from her swollen folds and accepted that he would never again be satisfied by anyone else other than the woman now in his arms. Lapping and devouring her like a man starved, Ty DuValle proceeded to drive every thought out of his lover’s head except what they were doing here and now. He hoped to give her some sort of relief before they all descended on the plan to get this kid back, and to tire her out so she would sleep for just a little while.
Her hands gripped his hair, pulling him to her as she twisted and begged for release but each time she got close Ty would back off, just enough. When he was sure she couldn’t take another minutes of the sweet torture he rose, snugging his sex to her swollen wet folds and slammed home. Melissa screamed under him, not from pain but the power of her release as he felt her muscles clench and spasm around him. He held still, waiting for her to open her eyes once more before he allowed himself to move. When she finally looked up, his breath locked in his chest.
“Mine!” he growled, and began a punishing pace to bring both of them to the peak at the same time. He felt Melissa spasm several more times under him but she kept her eyes open until, finally, he could no longer maintain the punishing rhythm as his spine tingled and his balls drew up. The force of his release almost knocked him out as he rocked deep within the soft glove that cradled him and Ty realized then and there this woman owned him. Body and Soul!
When he looked down at her still form, she was asleep, a sweet smile on her lips and her fingers gently locked in his hair at the back of his neck. He had fucked her to unconsciousness for the first time!
* * *
It was several hours later that he finally woke Melissa to put her in a warm bath. They needed to get back to the office and finish planning the “simulations” that would get them onto the lake and into the properties within the tightly knit community of Lake Tanglewood. While she slept, Ty had burned up the phone with calls to Buck, the other Team Leads and Lonnie, ensuring everything was in place. When Buck questioned him about Melissa and her state of mind, he didn’t lie but he also didn’t divulge everything to the older man. Buck was of the old school, deeply entrenched in doing things by the book no matter what the case. Ty agreed with him for the most part but this time a child’s life was at stake and he wasn’t going to rule out using Melissa’s unique talents to find their quarry.
Ty watched as his lover came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and another drying her long, honey blonde hair. She still had a sleepy look that he silently promised himself to keep on her face as much and as long as possible. She sat on the bed and looked up at him.
“We need to get to the office,” she finally said, pulling her brush from the nightstand. Several quick strokes to slick the long tresses back and a twist of her wrist had the thick mass on the crown of her head and several long stick-looking things holding it all in place like it was done by a professional hair dresser. When Ty didn’t answer she looked back up at him and grinned. “What?”
“You have no idea just how beautiful you are, do you!” he whispered, knowing if he moved across the room toward her then they would never get out of here and back to the office.
“Pff,” she said, blowing a wayward length of bangs out of her eyes. “You just like getting
in my pants!”
“It definitely has its advantages.” He moved over to the coffee pot and poured Melissa a cup of the dark brew. Handing it to her, he couldn’t help but tease. “Get you pretty butt up from there and get dress, woman!”
The next few hours were a blur once Melissa and Ty got back to the office. The wheels had been set in motion for the undercover sting disguised as Departmental Simulations in and around Lake Tanglewood. The judge whom Buck had always worked with wasn’t real happy about being kept in the dark more so than usual but she understood the need since they had as yet plugged the leak within their own department and there was still the problem of a mole somewhere on the Task Force. It was the only answer because security was tight and Lonnie was more vigilant than ever. She was almost sick with worry knowing Gayle had skipped out of the safe house to rescue the remaining kids, but Melissa had told the girl from the beginning to use her gut instincts and stay safe. She couldn’t hold it against her. However, Gayle still should have called her.
Now they were headed to Lake Tanglewood and the ruse would begin. She could only hope it was enough to catch everyone.
“Stop chewing on your lip.” She looked over as Ty drove and realized her bottom lip was raw again. A sure sign of her high stress levels and a tell she had fought long and hard to break. She had almost gotten there until Ty came back into her life.
“She’s out there alone, Ty.” It was all Melissa could think about and it caused her stomach to cramp with worry. She could take down criminals larger than herself but the thought of that teenager out there alone, against the monsters, was more than she could deal with.
“We’ll get her.” He watched her from the corner of his eyes as they made their way back out toward Lake Tanglewood and the Task Force temporary headquarters until this was finished, aware of the terror and guilt that rolled off of her. “It’s not your fault. She’s been taking care of herself for a long time and that girl knows how to keep out of sight.”
“But how did she get back to them and why? There has to be a big reason for her to take such a chance, especially after being taken out of the last Hell Hole. Either she realized one of the kids didn’t make it out or she saw someone connected to the creeps we’re tracking. It’s the only explanation for why she went back.” Melissa turned in her seat so she could face him. “We cleaned out the nest she was in. Why go back?”
“Either she remembered something or heard something. It’s the only answer so we have to back her up and see where it goes.” As they pulled into the large entrance of the Lake, Melissa felt a shiver of fear race up her spine. “There’s evil down there, Ty.” He barely heard the whisper but it sent goose bumps down his muscled forearms.
“There’s a trail that the Scouts use to hike into the backwater areas from up near Camp Don Herington. It will also take us close to the other site. Are you sure this is what she meant?” He wasn’t sure Melissa heard him until she closed her eyes and shivered again.
“She’s here,” she whispered again. “I can hear her.”
“What!?” Ty pulled into a deserted parking area and slammed on the breaks. “What do you mean you can hear her?” Reaching across the console, he grabbed her hand and realized it was as cold as ice.
“Melissa, can you hear?” he whispered. When she didn’t answer, Ty shook her shoulders, forcing her to look directly at him. “Where is she?”
“Oh gods, Ty!” He pulled her across the console and into his arms, sliding the seat back as far as it would go. “She found them in town and made them take her. There are three more little boys we missed and she went after them. One of them is her little brother.”
“How can you hear her, Lisa? How is it possible?” Ty was shaken to the core. However, his training kicked in, forcing him to think. He didn’t doubt his partner for a second but this was totally out of the realm of normal.
“I’m not sure how but it’s coming from her. She’s reaching out, guiding us to them.” Her eyes fluttered closed again and Ty reached for his phone. As he held her close. Ty switched the phone to Bluetooth and dialed Buck. As soon as his friend was on line he briefed him on as much as he dared, leaving out the connections between Melissa and Gayle. They would have to wait on the sting and hope they were able to gather the core group when they moved in. Once the call was finished Ty turned back to Melissa.
“What else does she know that will help us?” Ty whispered, his palm firm on the back of her neck as he held her. Wet eyes looked up at him and Ty lost his heart all over again to this woman in his arms.
“They aren’t in the caves, Ty. They are in a house near an airfield. It’s one of the residents, it has to be.” The confirmation of his fears wasn’t what he wanted to hear but it made sense. She described the house Gayle was sending her images of and it was evident her captors had no intentions of Gayle ever being able to do more than be product for them again. Otherwise, they would have kept their location more secure. Someone got sloppy!
Sending a text to Buck with the updated info, Melissa moved back into her seat so they could move out to meet the rest of the team. A quick call to Lonnie and Melissa was back to her professional self. To distract her, Ty asked the question that had been on his mind since the conference room scene with Lonnie.
“So, how did you finagle Lonnie onto the team and past Buck?” he asked, brown eyes twinkling at her surprised look.
“What do you mean? He’s more than qualified for the job!” Puffing up like a mother hen defending one of her babies, Ty burst out laughing.
“You had to tell Buck he was older than he really was, woman. That boy can’t be over twenty if he’s a day.”
“His birthday was a couple of months ago, and yes, he just turned twenty.” She grinned, looking back out the window. “We were on a tricky job and our IT department was overworked, understaffed, unable to get us the information we needed. When my team caught a hacker in a separate incident who tried to get into some classified documents but was shut down, I took the case because I needed some down time. Lonnie was barely eighteen. He’d been on his own for over three years at that point, living off the grid, making his living doing cash deals and keeping low so CPS and other agencies couldn’t find him. It was just luck that he made a mistake and that was only because he had been so sick with the flu, needed the money to go to the doctor, that he made a mistake at all.
“When I found him, he was passed out on his cot in this little one room set-up, his laptop next to him. He was running 104 degree temp. I got him to the doctor and took him home with me to recover until he could actually tell us what was going on. I cleared it all through Buck,” she held up her hand before Ty could comment. “I just didn’t tell him at the time that he was one of the ones who was doing the hacking. Lonnie turned all data and bosses over to us that he had been tracking and he came to work for us. As it turned out, he was the secret hacker who had been sending me emails to help with the investigation. Once Buck learned that, I specifically asked to keep him on my team since he’s so young for now. The guys watch out for him, but he’s been bullied and had such heartbreak all his life. He needs someone there to take care of him.”
“Another lost soul,” Ty murmured, shaking his head.
“He’s not a lost soul. Just bruised a little.” Melissa grinned, but she wasn’t going to give up Lonnie as hers.
“Does he date or mingle with the Team much?” He hadn’t seen it very much and it worried him that the young man may be so introverted that he had a hard time in most situations.
“Don’t ever play video games with him,” she growled, then burst out laughing. “That boy will chop you up and spit you out in a heartbeat. He’s death in Halo, and no one will play Assassin’s Creed with him anymore because it’s just no fun. He makes it look so easy but you feel stupid when he kills you over and over!”
“I take it you’ve found this out from experience.”
“I’m not going to comment either way. At least that way my record stays unblemished
except between Lonnie and myself.” Her smirk was enough of an answer so that Ty was sure he was going to be playing at least a little bit with the younger man.
“Sit back and relax for a bit.” He turned onto the Claude highway and raced past the restaurant where they had eaten the first night he was on the Task Force. Had it been only a couple of weeks? It seemed like a lifetime had passed and now they had a future to discuss. Because a future was what he wanted with Agent Melissa McKenny, even if she wasn’t aware of it. But first, they had to take out the trash.
Chapter 18
The group of vehicles gathered at the main community center of the Lake looked like a FEMA convention had assembled and guests had crashed the party. A tent was set up as a command center, a secure area where Lonnie could do his wizardry without being hassled too much by other agencies. He sat with his earphones plugged in as if he were listening to rock music similar to the outrageous t-shirt he wore. Melissa knew he was, in fact, plugged in to all of the frequencies for the different agencies. Her boy took multi-tasking to a whole new level.
Buck stood outside the tent talking with several high ranking members of the community, assuring them it was all a simulation and they would be out everyone’s hair by noon the next day. Danny Ashton stood close by as the Public Relations Agent, looking well-groomed and professional except for the bored look on his face. Evidently, Buck was doing all of the talking, again.
With so many participants, Melissa still hadn’t seen Chip and it worried her. Buck had assured both of them that he was a good guy. Other than that, he wouldn’t go into specifics and swore them to secrecy. Whatever the other agent was involved in, it was dangerous and part of the ongoing investigation. When this was all over Melissa planned to have a very long chat with Agent Chip Nicholson.
With a hand signal from Buck and Ty, The Team Leaders were called for a meeting inside the community center where it could be secured from prying eyes. No sense giving more information to the residents than necessary. The minute the doors locked and Lonnie checked the entire room for bugs and other obscure devices, and Buck stood at the front waiting until his IT geek gave him the all clear.