by KL Donn
Walking up along side her, he sat down. Reaching towards her hand he linked their fingers together, not taking offense when he felt her flinch. Knowing she was still sensitive to touch had him fighting back his anger at the injustice of her torture again. Not wanting her to think it was directed at anything she’d done he fought it back, taking deep breaths and rubbing his thumb along the inside of her wrist. Feeling her pulse helped soothe the beast within.
Hearing a noise behind them, Creed looked back to see his brother angrier than he’d ever seen before. His face was set in stone and his usually dark brown eyes were blacker than night. Raising his eyebrow in question, Linc shook his head no and mouthed later before settling in behind Kenny so she was cradled between his legs. She nearly jumped right into the ocean, though.
“Deep thoughts?” he asked her.
Letting out a small sigh, she told them, “No, I just tend to get lost when I’m out here. Drawing, relaxing, listening to the waves, it shuts my mind off in ways I’ve never known before. Even before… well before.”
“You come out here every night?” Linc asked her.
Nodding her head, she shared her thoughts. “I love it most when it storms. I’ll bring an umbrella, not that it really helps,” she laughed lightly and it was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. “But watching how the sea swells and crashes, it’s soothing because sometimes it reflects the turmoil in my mind. Watching it play out in technicolor eases the ache.”
·٠•● ●•٠·
“Christ, Kennedy.” Linc was bowled over with emotion as she compared hers with a stormy sea because he could see it. How she would feel that way; how she could relate. And why the sunset soothes her so much. Surprisingly, for the first time since they arrived he felt true fear. Fear that she was too broken to really heal. Her mind was a mystery and she only told them what she wanted to, not what she needed to.
As she cuddled in closer to him wrapping him around her like her favorite blanket, he tried to broach what he wanted to without making her shut down. “Sunshine, have you… Shit, I mean… Since coming here have you spoken to anyone about what had happened, I mean?”
The change was slow, he felt her pulling away physically and emotionally. It disappointed him but he understood. As she turned in his arms so she was facing them, she kept her head down, her features tight, and her shoulders tense. Slowly she started, “I do now. I didn’t at first, but it’s helped. When I started going, I would shake just walking into the office. And to find out the doctor was a man…” A full body shiver took her over so hard he could hear her teeth clatter together, but she continued, “Well, it was terrifying at the beginning but his assistant would sit in the room with us wearing her head phones. I never actually spoke to him for weeks.
At one of our sessions he said that he’d done some research on alternative ways to help me communicate without having to say a word. He bought me a journal, a sketch pad, and some shading pencils and told me to write what I felt, anything at all. He’d never read it unless I asked him to. I haven’t yet. It’s been six weeks and I’m terrified to let anyone see it.
One day he had asked to see a sketch because I sit in his office and draw for the entire session, and I nearly broke down. I don’t know why, I just did. It felt more personal somehow. More invasive. He’s never pushed me again until a few days ago. I’d had an exceptionally bad night and he could tell so I told him about you guys, how your voices were my salvation. How your abandonment was my undoing.” A tear rolled down her cheek at that confession.
“Oh, Sunshine, I wish I fucking knew how much you needed us, how much we’d helped. I swear to fucking God we do. When we left it was like a piece of us was left in that hospital room with you. It was never something we imagined doing. But I swear to you we are done. Nothing will make us leave you again,” Creed vowed vehemently.
“I know. I know you didn’t abandon me, and it was selfish of me to blame you guys for my destruction. I don’t though, not really. I mean your leaving hurt, but I get it. It really wasn’t your fault at all.” She was trying to soothe them? He almost couldn’t breathe at her words, at her acceptance and incredible kindness.
He didn’t know what to say to her. For the first time in his life, Linc felt like he was teetering on some ledge and one wrong step would send him spinning out of control. A vibration in his pocket had him thinking back on the phone call he’d just received and how they were going to get out of it, and how she was going to handle the news.
“You’re leaving again, aren’t you?” she asked suddenly.
At a loss for words because that was basically what the phone call had been about, he looked at Creed to see a very dark thundercloud brewing behind his eyes.
“’Bout time we talked about that phone call now there, Linc; don’t ya think?” Creed demanded in a voice so low he knew he was either going to get his own ass tossed off a cliff or handed to him.
“We have to go to London,” was all he said. Watching Kenny closely, he saw her entire body tense and a blankness creep into her eyes that scared him more than any ass-kicking he’d get from his brother.
“What the fuck for?” Creed snapped.
“There’s a job.” he started, keeping his eyes level with Kennedy. Watching her shut down hurt but he knew she’d understand, even when he didn’t. “A little girl was taken and they only have hours to find her.” Her eyes crashed with his and the fire was back. He had known before she said anything that she would kick their asses if they didn’t go.
“They can find someone else, Linc. We’re out. Fucking done.” Creed was getting more pissed with each word he spoke; he could hear it. He could also hear him wavering. Children were always the exception to their rule. Always had been, always would be.
“No one’s as good as us, Creed, and we both know it. They send someone else and she’ll be dead.”
“Please, go, Creed. What if…” They knew what she was going to say before she said it, and it killed him to have her think of it. “What if they’re as bad as mine?”
“Fuck! C’mere, Sunshine,” Creed demanded of her. As soon as she was close enough, Linc watched as his brother wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and hauled her lips to his before owning her.
·٠•● ●•٠·
They were leaving again. Her whole world shattered in just a few words, but then Linc broke her heart telling them about the missing girl. She immediately felt shame for wanting them to stay so she said what she knew she needed to say or they’d regret it. All of them. She told them to go, would have begged if she had to.
As Creed’s lips claimed hers, she felt free like she was where she was meant to be and she’d do anything to hold onto that feeling. He brought forth so many emotions in her with just a simple kiss. He owned her in that moment— body, mind, and soul, and he was demanding her heart as well. She wasn’t ready for that yet so she enjoyed the sensations flowing through her veins.
The way he took care not to push her, to hurt her when he gripped her neck, but his hand was an imprint she hoped to never let go of. His mouth on hers was like heaven. The way he swept his tongue inside her mouth was like a touch on her soul.
Peace. She felt so peaceful in his arms… In Linc’s arms.
Gasping when he nipped her bottom lip, a shiver ran up her spine and an arrow of heat zipped straight to her nipples bringing her body to life in ways she’d never imagined feeling.
“Creed,” she sighed against his lips when he started to pull away.
“You’ll wait, Sunshine,” he told her softly, eyes closed like he was trying to remember the moment.
Feeling hands on her back, she looked sideways when Linc pressed his cheek to hers, begging, “Please wait?”
The sting of tears in her eyes had her nodding her head. She couldn’t imagine not having them around but knew they had to go. A little girl needed them more than she did right now. It may break her heart and send her spiraling out of control but for their piece of mind, she
wouldn’t say how devastated she was.
Saying goodbye was never easy. Especially when she was afraid it would be her last.
·٠•● ●•٠·
Leaving Kenny when she was in such a fragile state was fucking gutting his soul. Creed was pissed. Pissed they had to leave. Pissed someone would take a little girl. Even more pissed at himself for being so angry they had to leave.
As they arrived back at the airport in Rome, he had a niggling sense in his gut that something was off. It was eating him alive. The hairs on the back of his neck were tingling and dancing, practically screaming something was wrong. He just didn’t know what.
“You feel it, too?” Linc asked quietly as they waited in line at Customs.
“Yeah, but I don’t know what.”
As their luggage was inspected he stayed alert, eyes scanning the room for anyone looking suspicious or purposely avoiding looking in their direction. Nothing seemed out of order, but in his experience that’s when the shit usually hit the fan.
Once they were through the inspections, they went and found a quiet corner to sit in before he pulled out his laptop, booting it up and connecting to Wi-Fi. He looked at Linc once the internet browser was open and asked, “What’s the girl’s name?”
“Vanessa Wight, age seven, from London, England. She went missing from her bedroom last night sometime.”
Typing it all in the search bar, he had a few pop-ups but nothing showing this girl. Feeling suspicious, he googled her name and age. When still nothing showed, his suspicions turned to concern. What if it was a setup to eliminate them? It was no secret they would do anything to help a child, so getting them somewhere isolated wouldn’t be hard. But getting information would be.
Everyone who knew them knew they researched like crazy before going on an op. They wouldn’t just jump in guns blazing. Ever. Except for Kennedy.
“Who called you?” Creed asked his brother with a note of worry in his voice that even he could hear.
“Jeffries. He’s always been our UK contact. I wouldn’t take anyone else seriously.” Puzzled, he asked, “What are you thinking, bro?”
“I’m thinking this could be a setup. Everyone knew that after that Argentina job we were done. There is only one thing that would bring us back— kids. But there’s literally nothing on this girl, so what if this is one of our enemy’s ways of getting us out in the open to eliminate us? Or get to Kennedy? Everyone we have worked with knows we would do the research, find out as much as we could about the job. Children may have always been the exception to the rule for us, but we’d still research, right.”
“Yeah, but even with that, why now? And who could know about Ken? She’s a well-guarded fucking secret.” The wheels were turning in his brother’s head. “…Because they know we would do damn near anything to get her back. Fuck.”
Pulling out his phone, he was going to call her when he realized she didn’t have a phone. “Call Jeffries, use the safe word,” he growled out.
·٠•● ●•٠·
Ringing in his ear, Linc waited for their London contact to answer. Thinking about Kenny only got him angrier, so when Jeffries finally picked up his blood was boiling. “This is Jeffries.”
“I need fucking proof,” was all he could get out between gritted teeth.
“What? Black is that you?”
“You fucking know it is. We can’t find shit on this little girl and that tells us one thing… This is a fucking setup. In which case you’re dead. By my hand or someone else’s, I don’t give a fuck. But you can believe if it’s by mine, it will be without mercy. Are we fucking clear?”
“Yyyes,” he stuttered out, fear evident in the simple word.
“You have one chance, Jeffries, to tell me the truth. Is this a fucking setup?”
“No. The girl is real,” he insisted but Linc could still hear the fear.
“Our last mission for you we gave you a safe word in case of this exact scenario. You remember it?” Linc growled.
“Yes.”
“Do you need to use it now?”
“No. This girl is real. She is in deep trouble. I wouldn’t have called otherwise.” His voice was stronger now.
“You’re positive?” he asked one last time, looking for any hesitancy in his answer.
“Completely.”
“Then I need proof she’s missing. We will not board this fucking plane until we’ve got it,” he told the man calmly.
“How do you expect me to get that? The family was warned against going to the police. It would get her killed.”
“Then I want the fucking parent’s names because Jeffries, we can’t find jack shit on this girl in any database we’ve looked through. And Jeffries? If you screw us over, we will take everything you love away from you and make you suffer in ways you’ve never imagined; you got it?” he demanded, feeling no remorse at who he just threatened.
“Yes. Yes, I understand. I swear to you this is no hoax, no trick, this girl is in grave danger. I will text you their names.”
Hanging up without responding, he could still feel the anger in his veins. A pulse thundered in his temples signaling his state of mind. He couldn’t stand the thought of anything bad happening to Kennedy again. If it happened because of them, he knew it would destroy them all.
Ten
As the dark clouds rolled in and the thunder beat down on the earth, Kennedy could feel her mind taking over. It was like a rush of drugs running through her with no way of stopping it. She couldn’t break free; the shadows looked like him, the wind sounded like her. In an instant she was brought back to her worst nightmare. “Help me,” she whispered before being taken under in a sea of darkness best left behind.
“Thought you could get away from me, did you?” She could hear his voice, the menace and pain he would inflict.
“Open your eyes, Red.” The woman purred in her ear.
Shaking her head no. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter. This can’t be happening again, she thought. I don’t want to be here.
The laughter got worse. They thought it was fun to strip away her humanity, make her suffer because she was friends with Emily. Taking a peek from under her lashes, she gasped in surprise when she realized she wasn’t back in that shitty little cabin. They’d followed her to Italy. They were in her home.
“This isn’t real. You’re not here.” She tried to convince herself. The mixed laughter told her they were there. “Please just leave, I won’t tell anybody,” she begged still not seeing them but she could feel them. They were there, watching, waiting for her to screw up.
“Creed!” she screamed. “Linc!” She tried again hoping one of them would save her, but they weren’t coming. They were in another country saving someone else this time. She was alone, and she didn’t think she’d be saved.
“They’re not coming.” Whipping around at the woman’s voice, she was shaking with fear when she saw the gleam of a knife in the lightening’s glow. Letting out a scream she ran upstairs only to trip on something before falling back down, crashing into the wall and banister on her way to the bottom.
“Please don’t do this,” she begged again, laying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.
Feeling a sharp pain in her side, she let out a scream loud enough to wake the dead and didn’t stop until black spots crowded her vision and she lost the fight to stay conscious.
·٠•● ●•٠·
Watching storms were one of Deidre O’Connor’s favorite things. No matter where she was or what she was doing, storms were reliable. They were there when nothing and no one else was. They were strong, solid, a piece of earth that not many people could appreciate.
Watching as the lightening hit the water fascinated her; it electrified it. Made everything clearer. The boom of thunder as the waves crashed in the surf was oddly cathartic. She’d waited so long to have a view like this that some days she took it for granted.
Hearing a scream in the distance had a shiver go up her spine. Stepping out fr
om the overhang of her small villa, she tried to look around for where it was coming from. Hearing it again she knew immediately that it was Kenny.
Taking off in the direction of her villa, she ran through the torrential rain, sticky sand, and sharp rocks as flashes of lightening lit her way. Slowing to a stop at Kenny’s back door, she pressed her ear to it and listened for any sound of an intruder.
She knew that Kenny had some horrible demons on her side, but she didn’t know if she was in danger from those demons. So she waited. When silence was her only greeting she tried the knob, relieved to find it unlocked.
Walking inside, she whispered, “Kenny? Where are you? It’s Deedee.”
Making her way through the back door, she felt a shadow of doubt at entering. Slowly walking through and keeping her eyes roving every surface, a flash of lightening lit up the room and she spotted Kenny lying at the bottom of the stairs unconscious and at an awkward angle.
Rushing over she knelt beside her, gently feeling her neck for a pulse. Slow but steady; thank my stars, she told herself. Gently shaking her, she whispered roughly, “Kenny, honey, wake up. Kenny!”
With no response she realized she’d have to run back to her villa for a phone. “Fuck a duck.”
“I’ll be back,” she whispered in her ear before making a mad dash back to her house.
·٠•● ●•٠·
Too easy. The job was simple. Literally, your average joe could have figured it out. They still didn’t understand why they’d been called in. The danger to the girl had been real, but any SWAT or tactical team with half a brain cell could have figured it out and gotten the child extracted before her kidnappers even knew they’d been there. Hell, they did do that.