by Misty Evans
It hadn’t always been that way. Before Nico had found out she was an MI6 agent, she’d practically had the run of the castle. He’d valued her as an asset because she brought him solid intel. He liked her because she was aloof and flirty but would never let him cross the line sexually. She was a challenge.
The second time around here, she’d been his slave.
The room was a typical medieval torture chamber. Chains, knives, punishment. One wall held implements, a long steel table under them with more assorted tools for inflicting pain.
The brutality she’d endured, and watched Madeena endure as well, infuriated her. It would be priceless to see Nico given a dose of his own medicine, but, right now she had to save the girl and stop Norris.
“How much farther?” Miles asked from behind her.
He’d been right at her side the whole way, a touch here and there, steadying her. The pain pills had kicked in and allowed her a certain amount of relief, enough to let her focus on finding the right tunnel and getting down to the torture chamber. She saw the familiar T in the passageway ahead. It looked like a dead end as her flashlight beam caressed the rock wall, but the illusion disappeared once you were up on it and could see the door encased by stones. “Almost there.”
Rocks crunched under their feet. Debris from the explosions that had rocked this side of the grounds earlier, most likely. She slowed, not wanting the noise to warn anyone behind that door in case Norris was still in there.
A tiny sound met her ears and she raised her hand to signal Miles and Jax to stop. Slowly easing her way up to the door, she turned her head and listened.
Stifled sobbing filtered through the wood and stone.
A girl’s sobs.
Relief stripped her of strength for a moment, her knees wobbling, her head going light. Gripping Zeb’s gun tighter, she looked back at Miles and Jax and gave a nod. “She’s alive,” she mouthed.
Quietly, they slipped up beside her. Miles signaled her to stand back. She took one side of the door, Jax the other. Gun in hand, Miles reared back and kicked the door in.
Wood splintered. Miles raised his weapon, disappeared into the room, Jax on his heels.
Charlotte raised her gun and swung in behind Jax as Miles called, “Clear!”
His voice echoed off the high ceiling, the stone walls. No Norris. None of Nico’s men hiding out. The only person inside was Madeena.
The girl was gagged and tied to a chair, wrists bound to the chair arms with wires. Her head was tipped forward, long, stringy dark hair cascading over her face as she sobbed. A thin cotton dress hung down past her knees. Her feet were bare and dirty, ankles tied to the chair legs with more wire.
She didn’t even look up.
Blood ran from both of her wrists, covering her forearms and hands, running down the chair to pool on the floor.
“Oh God” Charlotte rushed to kneel in front of Madeena, brushing the stringy hair out of the girl’s eyes and pulling the gag from her lips. “Maddy, it’s me, Sarah. You’re okay now. We’re here to save you.”
The girl’s head wobbled on her neck as she tried to bring her chin up and look at Charlotte. She couldn’t seem to get the job done. Her eyes were half-lidded as if she were drugged. Her words slurred. “Sa… Sarah?”
So much blood. “Yes, baby. It’s me.”
“I knew you…would come ba…back…for me.”
Miles brought out a knife and started sawing the wires from her wrists. Jax shrugged off his backpack and let it fall to the floor, unzipping it and hauling out first aid items.
“I’m sorry it took me so long,” Charlotte said. She accepted some gauze pads from Jax and began wiping blood and dirt from Madeena’s face. “Did the bald man do this to you?”
Madeena’s chin dropped to her collarbone as if her head were too heavy to hold up. “He said I had to tell him.” A sob wracked her thin frame. “I didn’t… I couldn’t…”
“Hey, Charlie?”
Charlotte swung her attention to Jax. He met her eyes, then dropped his gaze to Madeena’s arm.
She looked down. Jax was holding a wad of gauze to Madeena’s forearm, and he lifted it for a second. Charlotte involuntarily gasped. Norris hadn’t just sliced Maddy’s wrist. He’d ran his knife up her forearm, laying it open.
“Same here,” Miles said quietly, putting pressure on Madeena’s other arm.
No wonder there was so much blood. Maddy hadn’t been drugged. She had nearly bled out.
“Control, this is Poison,” Miles said. “Target has been acquired. As you can see, target needs medical assistance before we evac.”
Each of them had a tiny camera attached to a button on their coats, relaying information back to Zeb in the van. “Roger that,” Zeb came back over their comms. “Can she walk?”
“I’ll carry her,” Miles said.
Charlotte’s heart flooded with love. Being alone had been her modis operandi for so long, it felt uncomfortable to lean on others. To let someone like Miles—so strong and brave—into her world, even though that’s what she wanted most. Keeping people at a distance was how she’d survived since her mother’s death. She’d learned not to need anyone.
Miles didn’t need anyone either, but he chose to work on teams. He was a survivor, like her, but he didn’t shut himself off from those around him.
For the first time in a long time, Charlotte knew she needed someone in her life she could count on.
She needed Miles. Not just to help her rescue Madeena or take down Norris. She needed him to love her. “Thank you,” she whispered to him.
He gave her a nod.
Blood was seeping through the gauze. Jax handed Miles more layers, dug out more for him as well.
“I couldn’t help it,” the girl said. “It hurt so bad.”
“It’s okay,” Charlotte crooned. “We’re going to find the man who did this to you and stop him.”
“He wants…to kill my father.”
“Did you tell him where your father is?” Charlotte said.
The girl sobbed, then moaned something that sounded like an affirmative.
“You need to tell us where he is, too.” She hated asking the girl, but the only way to catch up to Norris was to know where he was headed. “We can stop him.”
The girl shook her head.
“Control?” Moe’s voice was low but strained. “Are you seeing this?”
“Roger,” Zeb responded, then paused. “Shit. Is that what I think it is?”
The three of them exchanged a look, waiting for Moe to clarify.
“Looks like it to me,” came his reply. Static filled the silence. The tunnels were difficult to receive transmissions in, but so far had been doing all right. “It’s located on the inner wall perimeter, right above the target.”
“Someone want to fill us in?” Trace, still outside with Parker, said after a tense pause filled the connection.
“Initiate evacuation,” Zeb barked. “Now.”
Jax’s face pinched. “I have to stop this bleeding. We can’t move the target yet.”
Zeb’s voice roughened with anxiety. “There’s no time. Grab the target and move your ass.”
What was going on?
Miles straightened, touching his earbud with his fingers. “We need five minutes. Can you give us that much?”
“I can disarm it,”—static danced with Moe’s voice—“…hasn’t been activated yet. We have time.”
“Disarm it?” Charlotte parroted. “Are we talking…a bomb?”
A sickeningly long silence followed.
“That’s exactly what we’re talking about,” Parker said. Charlotte could mentally see the woman with her sniper rifle up on one of the towers. “But there’s not just one. I’m looking at a minimum of four, spaced out and attached around that perimeter wall.”
The place was loaded to blow.
“Get out.” Zeb’s voice was that of a father who expected his kids to obey. “Whoever set those bombs could activate them at any m
oment.”
Charlotte gave Miles a pleading look. He cupped her shoulder with a hand and squeezed. “We’re not leaving until we secure the girl,” Miles said to Zeb.
“Four bombs, Jett?” Moe’s voice was tight. “Well, in that case, chaps, I’m gonna need some help with the disarming.”
NICO OR NORRIS? Who had wired the place to blow? Had to be Norris, Charlotte thought. He needed to destroy evidence that proved he’d been here, especially in the torture room with Madeena.
“Go help Moe,” she said to Miles. “We can’t let this place blow up even if we make it out.”
“What? And leave you?” Troubled lines appeared in his forehead and he shook his head. “No way.”
“I’ll be fine. Norris is long gone and Maddy can’t move yet. There may be DNA or other evidence here that will help us nail Norris for his crimes.”
Miles’ jaw muscle jumped as he gritted his teeth, but he didn’t argue.
“You, too,” she said, poking Jax in the arm. “The two of you help Henley. I’ll handle the bandaging and let you know when Maddy is ready to move.”
The two men exchanged a worried glance. “If we move Madeena before we get her arms bandaged,” Jax told Miles, “she could bleed out.”
Charlotte took a roll of gauze from Jax’s hands. There was still so much blood. It was all over their hands, their coats, but at least it had stopped dripping to the floor. “Four bombs, four of you. Parker stays on the tower as lookout while you guys disarm the bombs. Now go. I’ll get the wounds wrapped up and get some fluid in Maddy. She’s going to need a coat and shoes, too, or she’ll have instant frostbite when we drag her out of here. I know where to find her some clothes, but I need time.”
Jax stood. “Come on, man. She’s right. Let’s disarm those bombs.”
Miles spoke into his comm. “Are you sure there are only four, Jett?”
“Confirmed,” the woman replied. “Four.”
Moe sounded more confident now. “I can walk you guys through disarming them. They’re not complicated. Piece of cake, especially since they aren’t activated.”
Miles closed his eyes and woofed out a sigh. “God, I hate bombs.”
Jax slapped him on the back as he headed for the door. “Don’t we all.”
Miles grabbed Charlotte by her upper arms and dragged her into a fierce hug. “I’ll be back for you. Stay here. Once we’re done with the bombs, I’ll go with you to find clothes for Madeena.”
Charlotte hugged him back, burying her face in his neck and inhaling his warm Miles smell. She shut off her comm. “Don’t worry about me. Take care of yourself. I need you.”
He muted his comm as well, leaning back and staring down at her. “I love you, Charlotte. I want us to have a life together after this.”
She didn’t know what kind of life she was going to have, but she wanted Miles in it. More than anything she’d ever wanted in her life. “Are you sure? I have a lot of ugly baggage.”
He kissed her forehead and smiled. “I love your baggage too.”
“Right-o, then.” Her lips curved in a silly smile. She couldn’t help it. Giddiness made her lightheaded. “I’m going to start making all kinds of plans.”
His lips brushed hers and he stroked her hair before turning away and heading out.
Madeena moaned and Zeb barked in Charlotte’s ear about losing her over the comm. Charlotte turned her comm back on, assured Zeb it was still activated, and went to work on the girl’s wounds.
There were two rolls of gauze, bottled water, and some miscellaneous first aid items in Jax’s backpack. Charlotte added one more layer of padding on Madeena’s right arm and started wrapping, snugging the gauze as tight as she dared. She softly hummed an old Gypsy lullaby under her breath, half listening in as Henley relayed instructions to the three men joining him.
More than once, Madeena nearly lost consciousness. Charlotte had to keep coaxing her awake, repositioning her in the chair. She finally got her left arm wrapped too. With the amount of blood Madeena had lost, she might need a transfusion. How were they going to do that?
A bottle of painkillers was at the bottom of Jax’s bag. The same kind that he’d given Charlotte. Hers were already wearing off, but she was hesitant to give any to Madeena, fearing they might increase her drowsiness. Charlotte downed a couple more herself, dry, and then encouraged Madeena to drink some water.
Charlotte knelt in front of the girl and took her hands. “We’re going to get you out of here. Get you proper medical treatment. Just hang in there, okay?”
Madeena’s eyes fluttered shut, then open again. “My father…that man will kill him.”
“Not if we get there first. We can stop him, but I need your help. You have to tell me where your father is hiding out. Where you sent the bald man to find him.”
“The bald man?” A familiar voice sounded behind her.
No. It couldn’t be.
But she knew it was. Knew it in the way her hair stood up on the back of her neck. Knew it from the sound of Maddy’s fearful cry.
Charlotte popped up and whirled around to find CB Norris in the exit. He held a gun in one hand and what looked like a detonator in the other. “Come on, Carstons. Show me a little respect. The girl should know the name of the man who’s about to make history.”
Charlotte’s pulse stampeded. She reached for her gun but he had his cocked and trained on her before she could grab it. “Easy, there, kid,” he said. “You don’t want to shoot me.”
The hell she didn’t. She raised her hands, slid half a step over to shield Madeena from him. “What are you still doing here? Why aren’t you gone?”
“You interrupted my party.” He wiggled the detonator. “I wasn’t done putting my explosives around the compound.”
Suddenly, Zeb’s voice was in her ear, low and controlled. “Keep him talking, girlie. I’m getting it all recorded.”
Yes. Charlotte almost smiled. Her comm. As long as she stayed close enough for it to pick up CB’s voice, they might get a confession.
He was never getting out of there alive. She had him. All she had to do was keep him from activating those bombs, and he wouldn’t do that while he was still inside the compound.
Was Miles listening? If so, he was probably already barreling down the tunnel back to her.
But he hadn’t said anything. Had Zeb turned off his comm?
Of course he had.
Didn’t matter. She had this. Turning slightly, she made sure her hidden camera caught Norris’ face, the gun he was holding on her. “Tying up loose ends, Agent Norris?”
“I knew you’d come back looking for the girl. I thought about taking her with me, trying to draw out Blackwater with her, but he couldn’t give a crap about her.” Norris’ eyes sought out what he could see of Madeena, then came back to Charlotte. “Not much to care about, I guess.”
Bastard. “So you tortured her about her father’s hiding place and left her to bleed out. Honorable of you, hurting and killing a fifteen year old, innocent girl who’s never known kindness or love in her entire life.”
He half smiled. “I knew you’d have a weakness for her. Hits too close to home, doesn’t it?”
Play dumb. Get him to admit what he did to your family. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Your mother being killed, your father throwing you in with the crazies. No one cared about you, either, did they?”
There was nothing in her comm. No voices. No Henley still giving out instructions. She was sure Zeb had switched her comm to a different channel.
Behind her, Madeena cried softly. Charlotte wanted to tell her it would be okay, but maybe it wouldn’t.
A strange calmness came over her. Norris was dangerous, but so was she. Get the confession. “You used my mother. You had her killed.”
“I told you, it was an unfortunate turn of events. Orlo wasn’t supposed to kill her, only rough her up a little. Scare her so she’d keep her mouth shut and not tell your father. You kn
ow why he threw you in that mental institute, don’t you? He thought he could keep you safe. From me.” He chuckled, smug in his confidence. “If I’d wanted to get rid of you, I could just have easily had Orlo take you out there as anywhere else.”
Her dad had been trying to protect her? “I saw Orlo leaving the scene of the fire. I knew who he was.”
“And you told your father, who knew he had to shut you up. If everyone thought you were crazy, you weren’t a threat to Orlo or, ultimately, to me.”
All these years, she’d hated her dad for putting her in there, telling people she’d lost her marbles because of her mom’s death.
He’d been trying to keep her safe in the only way he knew how.
Charlotte glanced at the ugly, black gun pointed at her chest. “You should have left when you had the chance. I have a whole team here. You have no one. You won’t escape.”
Another chuckle. “You forget. Who told you about these tunnels and had you pass on that information to Nicolae so he’d think you were useful?”
Norris had. Back in the day when she’d been trying to get into Nico’s syndicate, Norris had shown her a map of the secret passageways above and the tunnels below the castle in case she needed a quick escape. She’d used that information to make Nico believe she was a local, someone who knew more about the history of the area, and this castle, than he or any of his men. When he’d wanted to know how she knew, she’d told him her Gypsy ancestors had built the tunnels. He’d bought it.
“I never told you all of the escape routes,” CB said. “Trust me, I didn’t come this far to let myself be captured.”
“But you’re still here. Why? You’ve already set me up to take the fall for all of this, you don’t need Madeena any longer, and you’re outnumbered by a group of highly trained individuals. Why didn’t you cut and run as soon as we showed up?”
The smugness left his face. “The exit I need is in here.” He used the gun to motion her to step aside.
Charlotte stood her ground. There was only one way in, one way out.
Or was there?