by Elle Boon
“Any problems, Larry?” Marcum asked.
The man named Larry who’d taken her to the bathroom shook his head, then climbed back into the front of the vehicle.
Felicity’s breath became trapped in her throat. Marcum stared into her eyes for a long time, long enough her lungs began to burn from lack of oxygen. She didn’t look away, hoping he would assume she wasn’t up to anything.
He shifted his weight and gestured for her to get in, following behind her into the middle of the van. His large frame taking up most of the space as he sat silently beside her.
She would not let him know she was scared, nor would she rifle in her bag and draw attention to it. If the man had found it, maybe he’d assume she was clueless. Having a brain injury could work in her favor. From what they’d shown her so far, they were extremely violent men, but would control their urges when told to by their Prophet. A man who thought he was her father. Her entire body nearly shut down when she’d heard those words, seizing in fear and panic.
She wished Hal was there to save her again. If she could only convince this Prophet she wasn’t who he thought she was, surely he’d let her go if she promised not to press charges? Felicity swore she would forget all about the men in the van if she could have a redo.
Hours later, they pulled through what looked like a ghost town with a huge pyramid standing in the center. A shiver of fear worked its way through her. They were in Felicia, California, a good four hours from Los Angeles. The town her mother had been named for. Pieces of her mom’s past came to her in a blur. She’d met Felicity’s dad while out with friends. Rand had been smitten and asked her to marry him within weeks. Had all that been a lie?
A tall man stood outside, spotlighted by the vehicle lights. She fought the urge to flip him off, and then froze, her mouth opened and then closed as he gave her a cocky grin through the windshield. The Prophet, who had to be close to her own mother’s age of sixty, looked like a predator… and she was his prey.
Marcum got out, holding open the door. She looked at his outstretched hand, then back up into his eyes, coming face-to-face with an implacable mask. His lips were drawn into a frown, the tall man was already advancing on the vehicle.
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you have a choice.” Marcum said low enough only she could hear.
“Hello, dear. It’s good to finally meet you. You are every bit the beauty your mother was.” He brushed her hair back from her face.
Felicity tried to hold still and not let his touch revolt her. One touch of his hand on her bare arm and she nearly lost it. She didn’t need to feign light headedness, stumbling away from both men’s touch.
“You must be hungry and tired from your long journey. Come, let us eat and get to know one another.” He slid his arm around her waist.
Straightening her spine, hoping to throw him off balance, she spoke in clear tones. “I’d like to call my mom. I’m sure she’s worrying about me.”
Something flashed in his cobalt blue eyes. Unlike Hal’s, his were cold and filled with malice, which he quickly masked.
“Let’s get to know one another. Your mother had you for twenty some years, I’ve had only a few months to know of your existence.”
As they walked into the center of the large pyramid structure she noticed the vehicles disappeared. More guards surrounded them, guns strapped to their sides. This was not a religious retreat. Felicia, California, population two, was not what it looked to be.
The floor beneath them began to move down. She tried not to scream, but a squeak emerged and she grabbed onto the closest thing. The man who claimed to be her real father. Muscles were hidden beneath the well-tailored suit. She was scared, but resolved to be strong.
They seemed to go down for a long time, lights illuminated the circular tunnel. Felicity was in awe at the structure and the clear technology it must have taken to get them down.
“How far down are we going?” She asked, releasing his arm. The armed men all had their legs braced apart so she mimicked their stance.
The Prophet looked at her through the dim lighting. “Down here we have everything to survive, we don’t need the outside world for anything. You will see, and meet, many people here who will be your new family.”
He sounded so sure and looked happy. Almost gleeful.
She moved a little away from him. The jarring of them stopping had her stumbling into a guard, who immediately held her in place with a firm hold.
“Easy, girl. You don’t want to get hurt.” His words were whispered.
“Thank you,” she murmured back.
The filtered lighting showed they were in an entryway of sorts, similar to what was above. The large square room had two doors on opposite walls, pictures of the Prophet through the years framed the expanse.
She had a feeling she was never going to see the light of day again. She wanted one more moment with Hal, with her parents. There was never a time she regretted, even her mistakes, yet she was regretting the time she wasn’t going to get with them. Her stomach flipped, making her glad she had nothing to really throw up, thinking whatever she had was all getting ready to land at her feet.
“Come, you will eat with me, then I’ll see that you get settled. Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to my world.”
His world, not their world. He was a dictator. Had her mother escaped from him? He pressed his hand to the wall and she watched as it was scanned before the steel doors slid open. No chance of escape.
Chapter Eight
Hal listened with complete impotence as Felicity was taken outside the boutique where she’d worked. His woman was smart and didn’t fight. He wished she could have gotten more information as to where they were going, but knew that would’ve alerted her captors. He immediately had Brax call her parents, and initiated the GPS locator on her cell. They’d told him to hang up so he wouldn’t drain her battery. He understood their concern, however, the loss of her voice nearly sent him and his berserker over the edge.
The ping from the locator on her smartphone ended in the small town of Felicia, California. When Rand had called to tell him the news, he informed him that Mrs. Evans had to be sedated.
“I suggest we rent a four wheel drive instead of chartering a helo,” Brax said.
After his call with her father, he was glad Brax was there to take charge. There was something Felicia wasn’t telling them. Fear for his woman had him nodding at Brax. “Can you do your thing and find out what Felicity’s mom is hiding without being able to see her?”
Brax’s dark eyes focused on him. “Do you think someone would give her the phone if I call?”
“Let’s give it a try. I’d rather go in knowing what we are facing than being completely blind.”
“I’m thinking that we could use Keanu’s gifts, too. One could always use a little heat.” Brax waggled his eyebrows, his cellphone in his hand.
“Make the call and I’ll see if I can get Felicia on the phone.” If Rand was sitting beside his wife, there was no way Hal was going to speak with Felicia, but he was praying they would be lucky.
“Hello,” Felicia answered on the fourth ring, making Hal’s heart race.
Making eye contact with Brax, they switched phones.
Hal hung up with Keanu after his best friend assured him he was on his way, he then faced Brax. The look on his captain’s face had him taking a deep breath. “Just spill it, man.”
“When I asked about the Prophet, Felicia’s mind became a chaotic mess. Boy, I’m not sure how to say this, except that your woman is in the hands of a mad man, who may, or may not be, her biological father. Felicia was one of his followers, and then one of his wives. Yes, plural. I need to work through all the info and process what I saw, but we need to get your girl, and get her as quickly as possible. From what I saw, this Prophet is a psycho prick who wraps his crazy in a religion that he has created. And get this, he has built an underground world below Felicia, California. Fuck, at this moment I don’t even know if that’s
really her mother’s name or not.” Brax pressed two fingers to his temples.
“Kea’s on his way,” Hal murmured. He’d never seen Brax quite so shaken.
“That’s good.” Brax nodded.
“I’ll drive while you do whatever you do.” Tapping the steering wheel, Hal tried to focus on getting to Felicity.
“I’m going to call Slater, see where he’s at. If he can be here in a few hours we could use him as well.”
The fact Brax thought they needed Slater, a wolf shifter on their team, freaked him out. Hal listened with half an ear as Slater agreed to meet them within a couple hours, just outside of their destination.
“Our vehicle has been delivered. You ready to roll?” Hal asked.
“In the words of Keanu. This is gonna be a fucknut.”
Keanu was not only a smokejumper, but he was also a fire elemental, newly married and a father-to-be. If there were a group of men Hal trusted with his life, and the woman who captured his heart, it was his teammates. They were more like his brothers than co-workers, where he was the larger, younger brother.
Brax mapped out the trail the van had taken, choosing a route that ran parallel to the road but only a four-wheel drive vehicle could take. He wondered how far out the Prophet had feelers and if they would have to ditch the vehicle miles away.
“Your woman’s mother had a lot hidden in her mind, some things I don’t know if even she is aware of.” Brax spoke in a low tone.
“Explain please.” An overriding urge to push the gas pedal to the floor rode him.
“It seems that Felicia grew up in a commune with the Prophet. He selected her as one of his wives, but when she never conceived he had to choose another and another… you get the idea. I guess his father before him was the prophet and so on. They started out something like the Mormon community, and then became their own. Somehow they believed the world was going to end so they dug their underground facility below Felicia, California. I would bet, if we dug up the ownership to the little town, it would be owned by one of the followers, or whatever the legal name of the prophet actually is. Felicia’s mind is a mess. The women there live to serve their masters, and he, the Prophet, is the ultimate master. As long as you are his wife, you are pretty safe, but if you are deemed no longer worthy of the title, for whatever reason, I guess you have very few paths. Felicia was in her early forties and had yet to give him a child, but in his way he loved her. I felt that through her bond with him.” Brax stared out the window.
“So, Felicity should be relatively safe since she’s his daughter?” Hal gladly left the busy traffic of Los Angeles behind.
“No. Felicia and he were childhood sweethearts, that’s why she lasted as long as she did. She found the notebook where he keeps all of his wives names. It seems he needs to keep track of his numerous women’s likes and dislikes and such, by cataloguing them. Not because he wants to ensure that he pleases them, but because he wants to be sure to keep them straight. On her page he had marked her out. In her place there was a new girl’s name, a young female who had just turned eighteen. Felicia’s parents were no longer alive, from what I could see in her mind, and she feared what would happen to her. She, Felicia, is one truly smart, brave, and resourceful woman. The prophet, or John, kept a safe with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. He never changed his password from when he was a teen, a decision I’m sure he came to regret. She didn’t stop to beg him to keep her, just popped the safe open, took all the cash from the safe, tucked it into her bag, and calmly walked back to her little apartment.”
Hal was amazed she made it out alive. “She just walked out?”
Brax smiled. “If she wasn’t already married I’d totally marry her.”
The reality she was also old enough to be his mother was also an issue, but Hal didn’t mention it, seeing the strain around the other man’s eyes disappear eased some of his own stress. “Okay, I’ll bite what did she do?” Hal asked.
“She taped all that money to her body, making sure she didn’t draw any attention to herself. Being one of his wives, the first wife, gave her lots of leeway. He was such a pompous ass he assumed she was too stupid to know she was on her way out. When she walked right up the tunnels without a backward glance, nobody tried to stop her. Once she hit the top, she kept right on walking. Of course, she’d never been outside of Felicia, California and hadn’t packed any water or food, but luckily she ran right into one Rand Evans. From what I saw, he took one look at her and agreed to take her to Los Angeles with him. She may not have had schooling, but she was smart, and she had money. Rand was already rich as fuck, and well, the rest they say is history.”
“Oh, I bet John wasn’t a happy camper. So does she know who Felicity’s father is?” Hal asked, looking at the GPS.
“She really doesn’t know for sure, but in her mind John is. Either way, Felicity isn’t safe with him. If he wants, he can rape her or give her to one of his most trusted men. Under his tutelage they treat the women like sex slaves. The women learn as young girls how to please their men. They are taught that is the way into heaven, by pleasing their masters. It’s all sorts of fucked up. The men, if they are higher up, can come and go, but the women are never allowed outside without an escort, and never during the day. Can you imagine going your entire life and never seeing the daylight? That is what we are going into. We are going in to save your woman, but how about the others?”
“I’m thinking that’s a job for the feds, man. Let’s just get her out, then we will deal with the rest.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy, Hal. You didn’t see what I did.” A tortured look came over Brax.
He wished they had a member of their team who could become invisible, go in, get Felicity, and get out. Of course, nothing was ever easy.
“Let’s just get there, meet up with the team, and make smart decisions.”
The several hours drug by, yet a calmness stole over him the closer they got to their destination.
When he pulled up at the rendezvous location, both Keanu and Slater were there. A sleek black helicopter and an odd looking off-road vehicle sat waiting for them. Keanu’s family owned one of the wealthiest engineering firms in the country, but you’d never guess it by looking at the tall Native American. Slater stood next to Keanu, both about six feet tall, but was the exact opposite in looks, down to his red hair and green eyes. They both looked ready for anything, dressed to blend into the sandy surroundings.
He jumped out of the truck and shook both men’s hands, filling them both in on what he knew, and letting Brax explain what he’d seen in Felicia’s mind. Slater growled, a totally wolf-like sound.
Hal pulled out a shirt Felicity had left, handing it to Slater. The other man inhaled, holding the small shirt in his fist. “We should leave your vehicles here and take just mine. When we get close enough I’ll shift and scout the area. A wild wolf wouldn’t set any alarms off.”
“What the hell is that thing, Slater?” Brax asked.
“This is my baby. Boys, meet the Sidewinder buggy. This is not a toy for little kids. She can go from 0-60 in 4.4 seconds and can travel up to a hundred miles an hour in sand.”
Hal whistled between his teeth. “Do I want to know what this baby cost?”
“Let’s just say she is worth more than a few of those pickups back there, and, no, you may not drive her, Keanu.”
Keanu raised his right hand, middle finger raised high with a small flame on the tip.
Slater slid into the driver’s seat, indicating for the others to get inside, giving Kea a look that clearly stated he was not allowed to touch his toys. Cammie, Keanu’s wife, had a big jacked up jeep she let him drive, but only after he cried like a little boy. Hal didn’t think all the whining in the world would get him behind the driver’s seat of Slater’s baby.
Brax and Keanu climbed into the back, while he took the passenger seat. The six hundred and thirty horsepower engine roared to life. As Slater took off, Hal’s head hit the back o
f the seat. “Where were you at that you got here so fast?” Hal asked Slater, watching as the man shifted gears.
“A bunch of us were in Nevada racing in the Dunes. I clearly have the far superior vehicle, they just haven’t realized this baby cost a couple hundred grand.”
“Someday you are gonna have to tell us exactly what your family does, or where you get your big money from.” Brax spoke from the back.
They bumped over some rough terrain, making talking difficult, giving him time to focus on Felicity.
“Hal, you have my permission to drive my girl. Do not let the fire-breather back there behind the wheel.”
“You know, puppy, you will need me one day, and I’m gonna be doing my hair or some shit.” Keanu flipped Slater off.
Slater looked Keanu up and down. “That wouldn’t surprise me, pretty boy.”
The red haired man climbed out of the vehicle, completely uncaring of his surroundings he took off his top, folding it carefully and then shucked his cargo shorts. Hal watched him shift from man to wolf seamlessly. A big red wolf with amber eyes stared at him, the difference was startling. His red coat had streaks of blond similar to that on his head. Slater gave a wolf-like bark, and then he raced off. Being so close to where he knew his woman was being held prisoner, yet not running in to save her, had him and his berserker going a little stir crazy.
“I see you and your big guy have come to an understanding,” Keanu said.
“Something like that.” Hal kept his eyes on the direction he last saw the wolf go.
“There is only one head, but two minds. You are not so different from Slater, you know. I don’t know if you would shift fully into another being, but I’m glad to see you’re not fighting it anymore,” Brax grunted
“I’ve seen him,” Keanu said.
“What the hell? When?” Hal asked.
“Several times. I thought you had control and were aware. What the fuck?” Keanu sat back with a look Hal couldn’t decipher.