Sixth - Prequel to Oleander: One of Us Series

by Faulks, Kim

  “No, Sir. No, she’s not.”

  He gave a nod. “Then you look for the compound over on Cutting Street, Brother Bears they call themselves. You’ll find her there…or you’ll find someone who knows where she is…if you can get them to talk that is.”

  “Oh, don’t you worry, I can be quite persuasive when I need to be.”

  The old man gave a small nod, but his dark eyes said it all…careful…

  I watched him amble back into the foyer of the shelter before I turned to the others.

  I wanted to find the compound.

  Then I wanted to find this Maddox.

  And see how loud his goddamn bears roared.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Doesn’t look like much,” Tex muttered from the backseat.

  Shadow stared through the windshield from behind the wheel. “That’s if you’re not counting the razor wire and the three…wait, four guards patrolling the grounds.”

  “You see four?” The mountain of muscle smacked into the rear of the seat as he leaned close, driving me forward. “I see one.”

  “Maybe you need your eyes checked.”

  “Maybe…you don’t need those eyebrows?” Tex growled.

  A tiny yellow flame danced from his finger. He punched out his hand, hovering the fire dangerously close to Shadows face.

  “Cut it out,” I snarled as I watched the compound.

  Shadow was right, this place was rigged tight. One car and two pick-ups were parked at the back, surrounded by the eight-foot fence.

  There was something familiar about the white truck…something I couldn’t put my finger on.

  “You want to do this?” Tex urged.

  I wanted to do this so fucking bad it hurt. “Shadow, you hang behind, okay?”

  “On your six, brother,” he growled. “They won’t even know I’m there.”

  I shoved open the passenger’s door and climbed from the car.

  That was the one thing I was betting on.

  With Shadow in the background and Tex at my side, there was no way we were leaving without her…

  That’s if she’s here.

  She moved through me…my mind…my veins, until she was all I could think of—and all I could feel. The air shimmered in front of me, a glint of light…

  Just like the vision of the field.

  The flicker bled outwards, and gathered form until she stood in front of me.

  My Purple Hair.

  Damn fingers trembled as I lifted my hand. My heart raced, filling my head with the goddamn roar. The others spoke behind me…words I couldn’t grasp.

  I’d give anything just to touch her…

  To hold her…

  To whisper…I’m right here…

  Memories slipped in—memories that weren’t mine…

  I sat in the passenger’s seat of a white pickup, something heavy around my neck…and happiness, fragments slipped through.

  Gotta be careful…don’t let them hear the tick…tick…tick inside my head.

  Her energy wavered, bleeding out from the edges until she slipped from my hold.

  Wait! I surged forward, but she was gone, leaving me standing here…with an ache like a shotgun blast to my chest.

  And that white pickup was a neon fucking sign.

  I knew now—knew what she was trying to tell me…the truck was his…the sonovabitch they called Maddox. He hurt her in that truck…he fucking hurt her.

  “You ready?” Tex murmured. “Let’s go get her.”

  Shadow climbed out of the car, but instead of stepping toward the weak glow of the street light, he stepped backwards and melted into the night.

  “Nice trick,” Tex muttered.

  I swallowed the bitter taste of rage and tried to focus. Heavy steps echoed beside me as we strode across the street and stopped at the gate.

  The back door cracked open and a beast of a male stepped clear. He took one look at me, and then Tex before he yelled. “Fuck off.”

  My hands trembled, only this time in need. I wanted to drag the pistol from my back and make the piece of shit bleed. “I’m here to see Maddox.”

  The bald-headed brute stilled. He wasn’t going to let me in…panic spilled. I was out of options. It all came down to this now. Shake their cage and watch them scatter. “Curtis Pryor has her, just in case your memory’s a little vague.”

  I caught the stiffening of his shoulders and my pulse raced.

  He lifted a hand and pointed to me. “Don’t move.”

  “Oh, I’m not going anywhere,” I muttered as he disappeared into the building.

  “You think we got their attention?” Tex murmured.

  A second later the gate rattled and opened in front of us. “I think we might’ve.”

  I glanced at the white pickup and made for the open back door. Soft light spilled from inside, and the sharp bark of laughter followed.

  They were laughing…

  They were fucking laughing…

  An icy fist gripped my gut as the door behind us closed with a bang.

  I strode past rooms that’d once been offices, and then glanced left to the timber bar and the rows of half-filled amber bottles against the mirrored wall.

  Her room…the words rose to the surface of my mind.

  Her room…her things…

  The big bastard was waiting, giving a jerk of his head toward a bar. My finger trembled as I gripped the edge of the timber counter and spread my feet.

  Hands skimmed around my chest, my side and my back, finding the two pistols tucked inside my belt and removing them…it didn’t matter…it didn’t matter at all.

  As soon as I had her in my arms they’d be dead.

  All of them.

  They’d be no more laughing then.

  The big bastard stepped away and motioned through a door. “Through there.”

  That sense of other rushed to the surface, stealing my steps, my words.

  I was counting as I reached the door, five guys, three women and the big bastard at my back.

  But it was the spineless piece of shit at the head of the table I wanted first, and it was his words that rang inside my head…the sooner we get there, the sooner you find out who you really are…

  “Gentlemen.” He smiled and rose from the table. “Please come in.”

  One thug glared at me and rose as I neared, but I never saw him…I never flinched…

  Good people, right?

  Good people doing bad things…

  Or was it the other way around?

  Her need was like fire in my veins. She’d trusted them…and they betrayed her.

  “You mentioned a woman’s name…I’d like to know how you know her,” Maddox growled.

  Movement at the edges of my vision as the others closed in. The bastard was playing me. Trying to trip me up. “Name? I didn’t say a name. If I were you, I’d be a little more concerned about what I know…and who I’ve told. Now, I’m asking you, where is Oleander?”

  There was a flinch at the corner of his eye and a mouth full of fake as his smile widened. “I don’t know anyone by that name. Do you ladies, and gentlemen…you know anyone by that name?”

  The older woman was silent as the others shook their head. “Nope, not me. Never heard of her.”

  Maddox gave a shrug, and then eased back into the seat. He lifted his hand and motioned one of the women forward. She obliged, stumbling on towering heels and perched on the side of his chair.

  He gripped her ass and squeezed. “Now, I suggest a little more care when you throw around threats, soldier. You don’t know who’s Den you’re standing in.”

  The woman’s smile faded fast as his hand slipped under the hemline of her skirt and between her legs. There was an emptiness in her eyes, a dead, cold place she went to…and it was that sight that filled me with fear.

  Had he touched Oleander like that?

  Chairs scraped across the floor as I moved to stare him straight in the eye. “You think you’re tough hiding behin
d the pain of a woman? You have no idea who you’re dealing with, but you will… By the time I’m through with you, you will.”

  I turned then, meeting a towering wall of brawn. “Get the fuck out of my way.”

  He stared for a second before he stepped to the side. I wanted him not to…just once I wanted this whole scene to play out differently.

  But it wouldn’t…

  It was only this…only what I saw.

  Tex strode through the doorway and headed for the hall. Boots resounded and then the slam of the door. The bitter air was a slap across my face as I made for the Mustang on the other side of the street.

  Tex caught up to me. “You think it was enough?”

  “It was enough.” My words were savage and raw.

  I strode past the Mustang and rounded the end as my gut clenched. Acid spilled from my mouth, splashing on the asphalt. I couldn’t shake it…not the cold, empty eyes of that woman or the thought that gripped me tight.

  Please God tell me he didn’t touch her…not like that…never like that.

  “What is it?” Tex growled as panic seeped into his words. “Sixth, talk to me.”

  I gripped the car and tried to hold on…I couldn’t do this…couldn’t look him in the eyes—couldn’t say the words…couldn’t breathe…couldn’t live.

  Not without her.

  Hands gripped me.

  Shadow was there hauling my ass toward the open door.

  “Making a habit of this, Ese,” he grunted in my ear. “Next you’ll want me brushing your damn hair and singing to you.”

  “I’m good.” I shoved off, finding my feet. “No fucking singing.”

  Tex stood at the door, blue eyes blazing. “Tell us, we’ve got a fucking right to know.”

  He was right…he was so right. Her voice was in my head, whispering things that made me weak. I lifted my gaze to Tex and then to Shadow. “I think he…” The words were a fist in my mouth. “I think he hurt her…the way men like him hurt women.”

  “You think he raped her?” Shadow lifted his gaze to the building.

  Flames engulfed Tex’s hands. “I’ll fucking kill him. I’ll kill them all.”

  The roar of an engine swallowed the night.

  The white pick-up was a blur as the four-wheel drive skidded out of the parking lot and through the gate before turning left.

  And as the vision bled to black I knew Maddox was doing what men like him do—they run.

  I made for the driver’s door as they climbed into the car.

  “Don’t let him get away,” Tex snarled. “I want him, Sixth. I want him on fucking fire.”

  The engine came to life with a twist of the key, and then we were moving, whipping the ass end of the Mustang around and hunting the bastard down.

  “Is he going after her?” Tex gripped the dashboard as I punched the accelerator.

  “I don’t know…” I growled my gaze fixed on the back of the truck in the distance. “I couldn’t see past this moment.”

  And as the Mustang closed in that ache in my gut turned to fear.

  Something didn’t feel right.

  I was missing something…

  The speedometer trembled and then dropped as we lost ground.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Tex roared. He tore his gaze from the white pick-up to me as I downshifted and tapped the brakes.

  And that feeling of apprehension grew. “I’m missing something.”

  I scanned the side of the road and then swung the wheel. I worked the gears, finding a new momentum as I headed back for the compound. That fogginess crowded in, smothering me like a shroud.

  This wasn’t me…someone else…someone pushing into my head. Someone like Gready…

  “Sixth,” Shadow muttered as black Explorer pulled out to follow us.

  And from the corner of my eye came another…and then another…

  I drove my boot against the accelerator as that feeling turned to dread.

  Red and blue lights strobed in the distance as two more Explorers blocked the road outside the compound.

  “Jesus Christ,” Tex growled.

  I lifted my gaze to the rear-view mirror as Shadow gave a nod, and then melted into the dark. There was nowhere to run…

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Shadow?” Tex looked to the backseat.

  But he was already gone.

  There were no cars in the parking lot of the Brother Bear compound now, nothing but Ford Explorer’s choking the road. I scanned the roadblock and weighed up my options.

  “They’ll chase us,” Tex warned. “How the Hell can we find her then?”

  The four-wheel drive rode my ass, blocking me in.

  We’d only be going to one place with a trunk load of illegal weapons.

  To goddamn prison.

  I strangled the wheel, my anger spilling. “Fuck!”

  I tapped the brakes, slowing the Mustang and then stopped in front of the roadblock. Doors cracked open behind me, pistols were raised high. They advanced, spilling around the rear of the car toward me.

  Still I stared straight ahead as the headlights of the Mustang washed over the rear door and Gready stepped out.

  I flinched, heart slammed against the confines of my chest as he lifted his head and stepped forward.

  The driver’s door was yanked open followed with the passenger’s door.

  Tex turned to me, hope was an inferno in his blue eyes…fight…

  I shook my head and lifted my hands. There was no fighting…not without spilling innocent blood.

  “Hands in the air!” a male roared beside me.

  The driver’s door cracked open, someone grabbed my shirt. The sound of tearing cloth filled my ears as I was dragged free of the car and slammed against the side.

  “I’m not fighting.” The words were warped and strange as I stared at Gready. “I’m not fighting anyone.”

  “FBI,” a woman barked in my ear and the bite of handcuffs ground against my wrist.

  Hands swept down the outside of my clothes, searching.

  But the pistols were already gone, stolen by the sonovabitch in the compound. I stared across the roof at Tex as they worked their way along his arms, then his chest, seeing weapons he never had.

  “I want to know why we’re being detained?” I turned my head as a male leaned in and snatched the keys from the ignition.

  “In the trunk,” Gready motioned. “You’ll find the guns in the trunk.”

  Goddamn sonovabitch. The palm at my back drove me against the car as the trunk cracked open with a pop…

  “Why?” I glared at the smug asshole. “What the fuck did I ever do to you?”

  He never answered, only stared as they rummaged in the trunk.

  He had me…and he fucking knew it.

  Desperation filled my mind, and with it came Oleander.

  There’d be no saving anyone…not for the next twenty fucking years on possession of illegal weapons.

  Metal clattered against the road, and the heavy thud of the spare wheel was next. They didn’t have to go to the fucking trouble. They were all in the goddamn bag. Seconds felt like fucking hours as I stared at Tex, until finally the agent slammed the trunk closed. “There’s nothing here, they’re clean.”

  “What?” Gready flinched and cut behind Tex toward the trunk. “Check again.”

  Hope flared like a shooting star as the agent shook his head. “I just checked it, they’re clean.”

  Red flooded his cheeks as Gready barked. “Check a-fucking-gain.”

  The trunk was opened once more. For a second I thought they’d made a mistake, and we were going under for a bag of goddamn guns, until the trunk was closed once more. The male glanced to the female agent behind me. “Un-cuff them.”

  “No!” Gready roared.

  He charged toward me like a goddamn locomotive. “Where are they?”

  I gave a shrug. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Hate filled his eyes, the kind I
’d never seen before. The shit stained his soul…it stained everything. The cuffs were unsnapped behind me, and I was free once more.

  I moved, blocking the swing and stepping free. “You’re slower than you used to be,” I spat. “Must be all those desk duties.”

  He roared like a goddamn bull, lowered his head and charged. His shoulders hit my stomach, lifting my feet from the ground before we fell.

  My head smacked the asphalt, stars sparked like flashbombs behind my eyes. Boots thundered all around me, but I wasn’t ready for this to end.

  I smashed my heels against the ground. One hand found his waist, the other fisted the shirt at his shoulder, and with one massive heave I bucked throwing him off me and then underneath.

  He flew forward, face smashed into the ground. I cocked my fist and swung, landing a blow at the base of his neck. Hands grabbed me, but there was no stopping the blows that were five fucking years in the making.

  He rolled onto his back, holding his hands high, protecting his face. Black glared on pale skin. I caught the blur and grabbed his hand.

  Two nine zero zero…

  I stilled, my breath a savage rush tearing along my throat. “You?” I jerked my gaze to his face. “You’re one of us?”

  “Get off!” Gready roared. “Get him the fuck off me!”

  They yanked and pulled, and this time I didn’t fight.

  Gready scurried from the ground, eyes wide…frozen. “I’m going to fucking destroy you!”

  I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak…only kneel with the agent’s arm around my neck. “I’m done.” Fire lashed my throat with the words as I raised my hands in defeat.

  Gready climbed to his feet and slapped his trousers before he turned his back.

  The agent dropped their arm from around my neck. But I couldn't let him go—not without answers. “You fucking hunt us down like dogs, is that it?”

  He yanked open the rear door and then stilled, turning to look over his shoulder. “You should’ve stayed in Sangin, Mark. You should’ve died there.”