“But what are you going to do? We’ve no idea where the hell he is.”
“I don’t fucking know!” I shouted, slamming my fist onto the desk. Getting up to pace around the room, I felt like a caged tiger.
The phone rang and I glared at Kellin as he picked it up. The last thing I needed right now was for him to have more work to pull his attention away from getting this situation sorted. He had enough men to cover the work that they had on at the moment, but their workforce was already being stretched thin. They were going to have to take more people on soon, which was a good thing. It meant business was booming. It just wasn’t great for me at the moment when I wanted every man on finding Matt and keeping the girls safe.
I didn’t take any notice of what Kellin was saying on the phone until he slammed the handset down on the desk. He looked over at me with wary eyes.
“What is it?”
“We’ve found him.”
“What? Where is he?” I was ready to storm out of the building and go and find his sorry ass.
“At Lauren’s place.”
“What the fuck? What do you mean he’s at Lauren’s place?”
Kellin shook his head, moving around to gather up everything he’d need to take with him.
“Kellin, fucking talk to me.”
“He took out Chester and Maze.”
“Where’s Fallon and Lauren?” My anger rose as I was met with silence. “Where the fuck is Fallon?”
“We need to get there.” Grabbing his car keys, Kellin looked at me pointedly. “Keep your shit together. This is bigger than any of us could have anticipated.”
“And what the hell does that mean.” I stormed after him. At least he wasn’t wasting any time hanging around at the office. We were striding out towards his car that was parked outside, getting in and setting off quickly.
“It means that Ethan got back to me with his background check. Matt’s real name is Russell Eastman. He’s wanted by three different police forces for sexual assault, rape and attempted murder.”
I stared at him. Kellin was busy keeping his features neutral as he concentrated on navigating around the busy morning traffic. I could see by the twitch in his eye that this was getting to him, but he had moved into a professional mode.
There was no way I could do that. Kellin and Austen encountered messed up shit like this every day in their line of business, but I sure as hell didn’t and this was personal for me.
“What else did Ethan say?”
“He’s got men on their way to Lauren’s.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “And how did you find out that Matt, or whatever his name is, is at Lauren’s and had taken out our boys?” When Kellin stayed quiet, my temper spiked. “How did he know, Kel?”
He slammed a fist on the steering wheel. “Dammit, Dominic!”
“Just tell me!”
“Ethan is there. He’s outside.”
“He’s there and he’s not doing anything about it? What the fuck?”
Kellin glared at me. “He’s doing us a fucking favour. He’s managed to check on Maze and Chester and they’re still breathing. Backup and medical assistance are on the way.”
“And what about Fallon and Lauren?”
He was quiet for a moment. “Lauren seems unhurt from what Ethan can tell.”
“And Fallon?” I was about ready to strangle the motherfucker if he didn’t start talking. “What about Fallon?”
“Ethan hasn’t been able to… he doesn’t know.”
I wanted to kill something, to rip it apart. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Ethan was there and not doing anything to stop that maniac? What kind of cop was he?
“Are you listening to me?” Kellin snapped.
Swinging my eyes to him, if looks could kill, my brother would have been six foot under. “When you stop talking shit, maybe I’ll listen.”
Kellin rolled his eyes. “Stop being such a stubborn son of a bitch. You’re not the only one involved in this you know. Lauren is in danger. Two of our men are down, luckily not dead. Ethan is there, but he’s waiting for backup before they storm in.”
“Why wait?”
“Because this asshole has already taken out Maze and Chester and they’re big motherfuckers. Ethan wouldn’t stand a chance against him. If he decided to play hero and run in there all guns blazing, he could end up getting the girls killed.” He glanced over at me to make sure I was listening. “We need clear heads on this, brother.”
I shook my head at him. This was a goddamn mess. We thought that we were doing more than enough posting two men to watch over Lauren while we gathered more information on her ex, evidently it was not enough.
It seemed to take forever to get to Lauren’s neighbourhood. We rode the rest of the way in silence. What else was there to say? He had one up on us and we now had to rally to take back control of the situation.
I couldn’t think about what could be happening to Fallon. To do that, I would lose my mind. We weren’t even involved, but she already meant something to me and I wasn’t ready to let go of that.
Fallon was a special woman and it made my blood boil that he had already laid his hands on her, let alone to think what could be happening to her right now.
It was also a concern as to how Lauren would deal with this. I knew what kind of girl she was and she was going to lay all the guilt for this situation on her own shoulders. That was going to be a lot for her to bear, but it would take some work for her to understand that this wasn’t on her. This was all on him. And he was going to pay. God, was he going to pay.
Pulling the car to a stop at the end of the street, I glanced over at Kellin. “What are you doing?”
He frowned at me, “What were you planning on? Storming in there?”
“Well, I’m not just going to sit here twiddling my thumbs.” I scowled at him.
“We need to wait for word from Ethan.”
“Why?”
“Back-up is on the way.”
Staring at him in surprise, I had to rein in my temper. “You’re just going to sit there and wait? Do nothing while anything could be happening in there?”
“Well, have you got another plan?” Kellin sneered.
“Fuck yeah I do.” I wrenched open the door and slammed it shut behind me. Kellin was behind me in two seconds flat, grabbing hold of my arm and trying to drag me back. “I’m not waiting!”
Kellin all but growled. “You’re not going in there alone.”
“I will if I have to.”
He rose his eyes to the sky. “Fuck.” He mumbled before nodding me on. “What’s the plan?”
“Tell Ethan I’m going around the back. You go in the front.”
I didn’t wait for Kellin to say anything. Nothing was going to stop me from going in there.
It wasn’t that I was playing hero. I just wasn’t prepared to wait around any longer. He could be doing anything to them in there while we were sat around waiting for backup to arrive.
Scooting down the side of the house, I couldn’t see anything as I peeked through the windows. I knew that Kellin would be ready to go at a moment’s notice and I didn’t plan on going in quietly. He would know I was coming.
Matt wasn’t going to know what had hit him once I got my hands on him. I didn’t give a flying fuck what his real name was. It didn’t matter to me. All that mattered was that I got the girls away from him and then we could do this man to man.
As I rounded the corner, I saw Chester lying on the floor. He was still unconscious. Even though it concerned me, I had to keep moving. Help would be on the way for him. They should be here any minute. I had to concentrate on getting the girls safe.
Crouching by the patio door, I couldn’t see anything. The curtains were drawn, but they didn’t block out the sound. I could quite clearly hear pleading from Lauren mingled with her pitiful cries.
There was no way I was holding off any longer. I wasn’t going to put her through any more of this.
Moving
around to the side of the house, I tried the back door. I couldn’t believe my luck when the door handle moved and the door opened without any resistance. I was beyond grateful that I didn’t have to waste precious time trying to kick it in or having to smash a window, although the thought was at the back of my mind that the boys had done a shitty job of securing the place.
Opening up the door, all plans for going in all guns blazing went out the window. Hearing all that noise, Matt could do something rash, something that we would all regret. I had to proceed slowly and quietly and hopefully I’d catch him unawares.
In doing that, I would be on my own. Kellin would be waiting for some noise or some kind of sign that I was in. In a way, this would be better. In taking the girls, and in particular Fallon, this was now personal. This would be my fight.
“No, Matt, please no, please, please, please.”
I could hear Lauren sobbing from in the other room, but there was no other noise. Moving towards the sound of her voice, I kept my eyes wide open, taking everything in.
There were signs of a struggle. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. From all I had heard about Fallon from Lauren, and what I knew of her myself, she wouldn’t go down without a fight. She was a loyal friend and would have done everything in her power to protect Lauren from Matt. I just wondered how far she would have gone and how bad the outcome would have been.
“Lauren, pick up the bag. We’re leaving.”
My ears spiked at Matt’s voice and I wanted to bundle in there and beat the ever loving crap out of him, but I held back. He clearly didn’t realise he had company just yet.
“No, Matt. I can’t leave Fallon.”
“She’ll be fine.”
“Look at her! Look what you’ve done to her!” Lauren wailed.
If I was a cat, my hackles would have been rising at those words. I couldn’t hear Fallon and if Lauren’s distress was anything to go by, it wasn’t going to be a pretty sight. My fingers clenched into fists.
“I didn’t do anything to her. She brought it on herself. She shouldn’t have meddled in our relationship.”
“We don’t have a relationship.” Lauren cried.
“Don’t say that!” Matt roared and his words were followed by the sound of a slap, the crack of flesh on skin audible in the silent house.
That was my cue. I couldn’t let this go on a moment. I was already pissed enough at Ethan for sitting outside and waiting for backup, there was no way I was going to hide in the house like a pussy and let him beat up on the women.
Kicking the door open, Lauren screamed. My eyes were trained on Matt, who had whirled around to face me. Surprise flitted across his face before a smirk settled into place.
“Well, if it isn’t Prince Charming.” He sneered.
I glared at him. There was no way I was going to take my eyes off of him for a second to look around the room. He was the only threat, and one that I was about to eliminate.
“Don’t you realise yet? Lauren doesn’t need rescuing.”
Without looking at her, I asked, “Lauren, are you hurt?”
She gasped, “Fallon…”
“I didn’t ask about Fallon.” It took all my strength not to jump on that, wanting to know how Fallon was. If I heard that she was hurt or worse, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from pulling him limb from limb and I didn’t want to do that in front of Lauren. “I asked if you were hurt.”
“She’s fine.” Matt waved a hand at me, dismissing the question.
“Lauren.” I snapped. This was a bad situation, I understood that, but if I was going to be able to get her out of it in one piece, she was going to have to pull herself together.
“I can walk.” She finally confirmed in a small voice.
“Then get up and walk to the front door. Kellin is there waiting for you.”
“She’s not going anywhere.” Matt stepped in front of her when she got up to leave, pushing her back down on the sofa.
Fury took over every part of me. He had the audacity to man-handle her in front of me? He was going to pay.
Striding forward, I didn’t hesitate to wrap my hands around his neck, wrenching him up off the ground and throwing him to the floor. Shouting to Lauren over my shoulder, I didn’t stop to check that she was following my instructions. My fists flew as if they had a mind of their own, wanting to incapacitate, wanting to maim, wanting to kill this sick son of a bitch.
“Dominic!”
I didn’t register that there was anyone else in the room until I was pulled backwards.
“Fucking get off me!” I roared, throwing my elbow back and connecting with flesh. As soon as their hold let up on me, I lunged for Matt again who was lying motionless on the floor.
Hands reached for me yet again. As much as I struggled, they weren’t letting up on me this time.
“Fucking pack it in, Dominic. You’re going to kill him.”
Kellin. As I turned my eyes to him, blood was pouring from his nose and I narrowed my eyes in question.
He chuckled and shook his head. “You did this, dumbass.” Kellin put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me back against the wall. “Let them do their job.”
As soon as those words were out of his mouth, the room filled with police, shouting instructions for everyone to put their hands up. Kellin and I stayed against the wall, only relaxing when Ethan walked into the room.
Ethan walked over to where Matt lay on the floor and shook his head. “How the fuck am I supposed to explain this?”
Kellin stepped forward, “It was self-defence.”
Ethan shook his head but refused to say anything else while the rest of the officers were within ear shot. From the look exchange between him and Kellin, they already had a story worked out. Not that I gave a shit. That asshole would be worth getting a criminal record over.
Paramedics swarmed the room and I bent over, taking in a deep breath. The adrenaline was running through my body but I knew that it was going to only last so long and then I’d be in for a hell of a crash.
Shouts could be heard and I glanced over to where the medical assistance were working. I didn’t let myself look around before now, concentrating only on getting Lauren out of there. I couldn’t think about Fallon.
Now I could see her. Shoving everyone out of the way, I stood over her with a look of complete horror on my face.
She was lying in a pool of her own blood, breathing but not conscious. He had really gone to town on her, worse than the beating I’d given him.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to move.” One of the paramedics asked firmly. It didn’t register at first, but Kellin pulled on my arm again, allowing the medics room to move.
“Dominic?” Kellin moved to stand in front of me, blocking my view of Fallon. “Look at me. She needs help. You need to move.”
I nodded dumbly and moved to the side to allow more help to get to her. It made me sick to the stomach to see her looking like that.
“Come on, man. We need to get to the hospital.” Kellin urged me out of the house. I didn’t want to leave her, but she was in the most capable hands and he assured me that we’d meet the ambulance at the hospital. “Come on, man. You can’t do anything for her here.”
Chapter Seventeen
Fallon
Blurred voices. Bright lights.
I tried to open my eyes but everything seemed like too much effort. It hurt too much to try.
Feeling the soothing touch of someone brushing the hair back from my face, it lulled me back to sleep, back where I didn’t hurt so much.
Blinking several times, the stark lighting burnt my eyes. At first, I couldn’t understand why everything was so bright, but then the pain in my body brought back the memories of what had happened.
Matt.
Where was Lauren? Was she okay? Had he taken her? The thoughts whirled around in my mind, a jumbled mess I couldn’t get straight.
“I think she’s awake.”
Who was that? Wh
y were they shouting? My head was feeling fragile, like the worst hangover none to mankind.
“Fallon? Can you hear me?”
I felt someone gently take hold of my hand, but my eyes wouldn’t open again.
“Is she okay?”
“Can you all please leave the room? I need a moment with the patient.”
Voices. Words. People. It was much more peaceful when I was asleep.
“Fallon?”
I could have sighed if I’d had the energy. It hurt to open my eyes. The lights in the room were too bright, but I had the feeling that they wouldn’t give up until I’d opened my eyes.
Blinking slowly, my eyes felt dry and scratchy. It took several moments for my vision to focus. Everything seemed too sterile and white.
“Fallon?”
I turned towards the voice. An older gentleman, possibly in his late fifties, was standing at the side of the bed patiently waiting for me to come around. He was clearly a doctor, if his white coat and smart suit were anything to go by. He was smiling down at me with kindly eyes.
I didn’t recognise him. In a way, I was glad that it wasn’t one of my colleagues in here treating me. They wouldn’t be able to do it with an impartial eye and the last thing I needed right now was someone looking at me with sympathy.
“Do you know where you are?”
“Hospital?” My voice was raspy and my throat felt like I hadn’t had a drink in about a month. Everything hurt like a bitch, talking was like torture.
“You’re at St Thomas’. My name is Doctor Jenner. Do you know why you’re here?”
I closed my eyes for a moment. The pain wasn’t anywhere near as bad now but as the memories started to flood back to me, agony spiked along my body.
Matt. He’d done this.
I still couldn’t believe how quickly and how badly it had all gone down. One minute, we thought we were safe with our man-mountain bodyguards outside Lauren’s place, and then the next?
Glancing down at my hands, I noticed one was in a cast while the other was looking bruised. I knew just by looking at them that the rest of me would look so much worse and that I must be on quite heavy painkillers for me to still be feeling like I was floating on a cloud.
Dominic (Saint Brothers #1) Page 18