Alveus (ABC's Inc. Romance #1)

by Lara Earlman

  “I’m not so sure you could go so far as to call me a member…” He caught a slight grin on the face of the big guy seated next to him. “Bloody hell…”

  »ɞ»ɞ«ɞ«

  The heavy gates opened, allowing the powder- blue corvette to enter the familiar factory complex. Lexi hadn’t been able to sleep, even with the assist of a bottle of wine she’d picked up on her way to the hotel. The room was an impulsive extravagance that she couldn’t afford. The pre-dawn light brought with it Lexi’s regret for all of her impulses of last evening. Dane is a good man. She carried that certainty in her heart. So, why did she treat him so unfairly – was it fear? And if so, what was she really afraid of? How can she ever take back all of the scathing words she’d written in the note left behind for him? Her chest wrenched in remorse, she shook her head as if to dislodge the thoughts. She’d already been over this all night long! It was time to put her mind to something else, and the perfect deterrent was work.

  Parking next to the front entrance, Lexi slid out of her car and swiped her key card to unlock the door. The new security system she’d installed was state of the art. At the sound of the door opening, the night watchman startled, pushing himself upright in the chair. Perhaps he’d been dozing? Lexi filed that information for later, and greeted him in her usual friendly manner. Stepping into the elevator, she pressed the button for the top floor and waited for the doors to close. Just as the lift kicked in, she thought she heard a voice. “We have company.” Goosebumps gathered on her arms. Had she heard correctly, or was it just paranoia?

  There was one thing that had come out of Lexi’s determinations of last night, and that was a resolution to never allow fear to control her, ever again. The elevator let her off on the top floor and she determinedly marched to the small kitchen, leading to the back stairway. If the guard was untrustworthy, he would think she was making coffee. There were no security cameras in the executive kitchenette or in the stairway, which could only be accessed from the top floor.

  Wishing to covertly check on the watchman, Lexi left behind the satchel she carried and slipped her phone into the inside pocket of her light jacket, beside her keycard. Remembering how the stairwells echoed, she quietly opened the door and slowly guided it shut behind her. She was grateful that she had chosen to wear soft-soled shoes, as she silently tip-toed down to the ground floor. Unease had her softly giggling – sneaking in my sneakers! Slowly she opened the door leading to the lobby. Crap! It would lock behind her and she had nothing to prop it open with! She tried holding it with her foot, while she stretched to look out beyond the small alcove the door was framed in. Nope, can’t see the reception desk. Lexi took a deep breath for courage and allowed the door to close behind her. It did so with a low, but audible, click. She held her breath and took a quick glance around the wall. The desk was unmanned.

  Lexi stepped out and surveyed the lobby – no guard. Well, he just lost his job! Walking behind the desk, she checked the monitors he’d supposedly been watching. Yep, one was honed in on the executive floor hallway. He had watched her go into the kitchenette! The other three showed different angles of the back parking lot… and there was movement! The watchman was leaning against the opening of a supply trailer, looking in. Maybe he was doing his job. But, shouldn’t he have stayed at his post and called the police? Looking up, she noticed that the door leading to the back of the building was held open with a rolled newspaper! Curious-er and curious-er. She felt her pocket to make sure the keycard was still there, yanked the newspaper from the door and slipped outside before it closed.

  There were three storage trailers situated in a row, at an angle from the bay doors of the warehouse. Hugging the wall, Lexi made her way to the corner and peered around it. She could see all three of the containers. The one furthest from the building had its door open, but it blocked any view of the inside. She crept closer, sticking inside the shadow of the building. She could now make out that her employee was speaking to someone. His voice rose and he angrily slapped his hand on the metal door. Realizing that something was going down and she was at risk, Lexi backed up to retrace her steps.

  “Well, what have we got here?”

  Lexi screamed for all she was worth, kicked with her feet, and jabbed with her elbows, as the heavyweight lifted her off her feet and carried her toward the open trailer.

  “Put me down this instant!” She bit the thug’s hand as he tried to shut her up.

  “Yee-ouch!” He screamed in pain, throwing her the rest of the way.

  Lexi landed hard at the feet of her night watchman. He looked scared. She glared at him and turned her head toward the rest of his company – and gasped.

  The female villain of her nightmares grinned triumphantly back at her.

  “Help the princess to her feet, boys,” Cass ordered. “Well, well, well, it seems our paths are destined to keep intercepting. I would take it as a bother and get rid of you once and for all, but you keep bringing in the money. I really don’t see the draw, do you?” she asked her cohorts. “Maybe this time I’ll let them have some playtime with you. How would you like that, boys? You remember my boys, don’t ya princess?”

  Lexi was standing, with one of Cass’s boys holding each arm. “You mean Bert and Ernie, here?” she ad-libbed. “Then, who does that make you – Miss Piggy?” she asked the ample bodied blonde. The woman grabbed her under the chin and squeezed. Bringing her face close, Cass stared into Lexi’s unflinching eyes.

  “Yeeeeess,” she drew out the word like a purr, “I can see the firecracker Ricky warned me about, now. Aren’t you the gift that just keeps on giving?”

  Ricky? Uncle Richard? Lexi’s answer was to raise her knee and jab it to her gut. Unfortunately, Ernie countermanded that move by blocking it, although she did have the satisfaction of it landing in his groin.

  “My uncle is a coward, slithering away to hide under a rock. He’s nothing but a leech that will bleed you dry, just like he does everyone else he comes in contact with. You are a fool if you think you mean anything to him. He cares for no one but himself!” Lexi was silenced by a hard slap across the face.

  “You are the fool, little princess,” she growled. “Ricky is a very wealthy, extremely powerful man. He rules over a huge empire, and one day I will rule by his side. It is you who will be crawling under a rock to hide! Gag her disrespectful tongue and lock her in the trailer! Maybe that will cool her temper by the time we return with the other girls.”

  “Cass, you don’t realize what you’re doing,” the night watchman warned. “She has a lot of big shot friends. Look, I didn’t sign up for this – a few foreign girls nobody cares about…” Cass pulled out a small pistol and shot him between the eyes.

  “Useless… Throw him in there with her,” she ordered. “We can deal with his body later.”

  »ɞ»ɞ«ɞ«

  A friendly punch to the arm woke Dane from a deep dreamless sleep. He must have really been exhausted – with good reason. How did the other guys do it? How many hours had it been? How many days? Crossing back and forth across time zones within… what, twenty-four hours? Shit, it could be yesterday, for all he knew. He’d flown a lot with his business and crossed time zones, but never the Atlantic twice in so short a time. It didn’t help that he’d been through an emotional crash just before this whole adventure began. But, now the unexpected diversion was ending and he could get back to healing his relationship with Lexi.

  The exchange had gone smoothly. They’d taxied into an open slot at Heathrow’s private sector, next to a small opulent jet with a royal insignia from some foreign country. Dane’s first thought was that the Queen must be entertaining company, and then realized it was to be the transportation for their passengers. The surprise registered on his face, but the only communication he received from Dice was a barely perceivable nod of his head. Without a word, the quiet giant opened the cabin door and began descending the steep stairway to the tarmac. The other member of the team – introduced to Dane as Parley, a take-off f
rom his last name, Parmalee – took up a defensive position to the left of the open door. He motioned for Dane to keep out of sight from the opening.

  What happened next reminded Dane of a duel from an old Mexican Western. Another man debarked from the “royal” jet, and cautiously approached Dice. Both men kept their hands ready to grab what was assuredly a concealed weapon. Both sets of eyes darted in continued surveillance of the vicinity. They met somewhere in the middle and spoke. The other chap smiled, turned to his plane and motioned for someone to join them. The three men then headed to his plane.

  Dane was introduced to the first bloke as Gray, the second as Sue, and then handed a revolver.

  “Do you know how to use this?” Gray asked, his voice laced with a mid-European accent. He nodded, assent. “Good, just keep your eyes out for anything suspicious, but don’t fire unless one of us shoots first – got it?” Again, Dane answered with a nod.

  Parley spoke softly to the girls in their own tongue, gathering them at the door. They seemed to trust him and followed as he led them down the metal stairs. Dane was told to stay with the plane, as the rest of the men formed a circle around the young women, escorting them to the neighboring transport. One of the girls broke free from the formation and ran back to give Dane a hug. She was probably about ten or twelve years old. She looked up at him, smiling with silent gratitude. His emotions rose to the surface. Brushing a lock of hair from her face, he grinned in return and gave her a gentle nudge back toward the others. He watched the perimeter vigilantly as the little one rejoined the rest. Parley went with the girls, while Sue joined Dice and Dane for the return trip to the states.

  Dane had taken the first shift at the helm, and even though the Citation cut traveling time in half, exhaustion set in leading Dice to take over. Sue sat in the co-pilot seat. The guy was friendly and open, explaining that his name was Suzanovich and the nickname came from his time spent in the military. “I guess it just stuck,” he shrugged. Dane surmised that the underlying theme of nicknames was a way to maintain anonymity in the NRF.

  Was he really a member, now? Would he receive a call in the middle of the night, asking him to join a clandestine rescue team? He rejected the thought as crazy. Get real – they only do that in movies! The image of that sweet little girl’s face, as she hugged him, set off a tsunami of anger towards the evil that could perpetrate such an act. What kind of psychological scaring would remain in that child for the rest of her life? His thoughts then turned to Lexi – oh, God. The picture of her naked, plastered across the internet! Had she felt frightened and alone? He remembered her eyes… they looked hollow, like she had simply vacated her body.

  “Dice is preparing to land,” Sue announced, after waking him. “Need to put your seatbelt on.” Dane straightened up in the seat and snapped on the belt, while Sue returned to the cockpit. The Potomac River came into view as the plane maneuvered into position and slowly made its descent.

  Dane grabbed his satchel, eager to return home and straighten things out with Lexi. He met the men at the cabin door as they shouldered their duffle bags, and held the revolver out to Dice.

  “You might be needing this,” he reminded them. His eyes narrowed with suspicion as he watched the two men share a look. “What?” he asked with caution.

  “Think you could hold onto it for a bit longer?” Sue answered with a question. “It seems we might have a situation,” he edified, casting a side glance at Dice. “It wouldn’t hurt to have some backup.”

  Dane pulled himself up to his full height, striking what he’d been told was an imposing stance. “A situation,” he repeated, gruffly.

  “My contact here has asked me to check out some suspicious activity at the back of the strip,” Dice answered. “The pilot ignored instructions and parked his Cessna out of sight behind a private bay. They communicated that they wanted to be out of the way of traffic in order to do some repairs. He could send airport security, but they’re in the midst of a shift change and the main terminal is crowded with commuter traffic. Since we’re here…” he shrugged his expansive shoulders. “We’ve seen similar behavior from human smugglers. It could get tricky.” His last sentence held out a challenge to Dane.

  Trafficking in broad daylight? That certainly takes balls, he thought. The little girl’s face and Lexi’s emotionless eyes, flashed through his mind, again. He nodded and slid the weapon into his jacket pocket.

  They left the rented hangar where Dane housed the company Citation, and circled the perimeter of the air field, inching toward the Cessna. He kept low, following the others while keeping an eye out behind him. The threesome passed several open bays where mechanics were busy performing maintenance on planes, until finally coming to a hault at the rear of the last housing. Dane could hear voices – maybe they were working on repairs, although the two men accompanying him did not relax. Dice held out a hand, signaling for the other two to stay, as he made his way to the corner and cautiously looked around the other side. Pulling back, he gathered them close to quietly speak.

  “Call for back-up,” he told Sue. “Something’s definitely going down and they seem antsy. I spotted three males and can hear sounds coming from their cargo bay. I don’t want to voice what I think is going on in there, but heard a muted scream.”

  Oh, my God, Dane thought. Was he talking rape? He turned his head toward a serene wooded area on the other side of the chain link perimeter fence, as if hoping to dislodge the image. And saw movement! Probably a squirrel, right? But, then he noticed something peculiar about the fence. Catching Dice’s attention, he pointed out the barely perceivable irregularities, just as the sound of a car engine penetrated the air. Voices grew louder and there was a rush of movement toward the barrier. Dane and the others had seconds to duck out of sight!

  “We have to do something,” he whispered, as he saw two men and a woman push through the opening in the enclosure.

  “You’re late!” one of the men complained to the newcomers. An argument ensued and Dice motioned for them to follow, as he crawled to the front end of the small hangar.

  “We’re outnumbered by at least two to one,” he said. “We’ll have to sit tight until help arrives or risk the chance of harming the victims. Airport security has been notified and hopefully their arrival will keep the perpetrators occupied until our team gets here. If need be, we can create a diversion, but we cannot allow the enemy to escape through the gap in the fence – understood?” Dane and Sue nodded compliance.

  About that time, an airport security van pulled up and two guards stepped out to speak with the plane’s flight crew. Immediately, Dane’s group hastened to secure the opening in the fence. That’s when all hell broke loose.

  Like rats in a sinking ship, the first to flee were the last to arrive. As the leader of the Cessna team boldly explained about his long suffering engine problems to the two security men, the woman got cold feet. She quickly ducked out of sight behind the corner of the hanger, and her men followed. A fellow from the Cessna group joined them. While his boss kept the guards occupied, he made a run for the opening in the fence. So much for confidence in his leader! He got a shocker when he discovered Sue blocking the exit with a weapon pointed at him. The fool decided to wrestle him for it, and of course the gun went off! Okay, well, that’s when all hell broke loose!

  While the idiot kept Sue occupied, the woman’s team made a run for it. The first guy made it out and Dane jumped forward, shooting him in the hip. It only succeeded in slowing the big man down. Dane took aim again, but before he could pull the trigger he felt a bullet rip his flesh, knocking his feet out from under him. His head hit the ground hard – blackness closed in and he lost consciousness.

  »ɞ»ɞ«ɞ«

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  How do I wind up in these messes? Maybe her parents were insightful to have sequestered her in the house for a decade – no telling what kind of trouble she’d have landed in! Lexi giggled behind her restraint. Like, worse than the trouble I’m in right now? Sh
e had the urge to burst into hysterical laughter, but made an effort to get herself under control. This was no worse than the hell pit she’d landed in at Sheikh Saleh’s compound. Except for the dead body! She stifled another panic-stricken chuckle. It transformed into a hot coal in the center of her heart when she realized that Dane would not be coming to her rescue, this time. She had destroyed her chances for reconciling, with the horrible letter she’d written to him. A tear slid down her cheek.

  Lexi lost track of how long she’d been locked inside the steel storage container, but she could see sunlight pushing its way through the cracks in the door. At one point she’d even heard a delivery truck backing up to the warehouse bay, but even with kicking and banging on the walls she could barely make a sound. It would have taken a lot to be heard over the idling engine, anyway.

  Apparently, Cass and company were great proponents of duck tape; they’d used enough of it to bind her hands, palms together, behind her back. Her boys had also stuffed a disgusting looking rag into her mouth, before securing it with another generous portion of the miracle invention. As she renewed her effort to free her hands, Lexi noted wryly that someone should inform Fort Knox of its unrelenting properties.

  When she first heard the lock click tight on her prison, Lexi had taken inventory of her surroundings – still in the dark of predawn. The steel storage container was cooled inside from the night air, although stuffy from lack of ventilation. There was a foul odor which became stronger as she shuffled to the back corner. Her heart twisted with pity when she surmised that the previous occupants had used that corner to relieve themselves. A quick image flashed through her mind of Cass strung up naked in that corner, giving satisfaction to the revenge wishing to work its way to the surface. Scooting her feet along the wooden floor had rewarded nothing of use in the empty trailer, and Lexi hadn’t had the courage to search the dead guard’s pockets in the dark, with her bound hands.