Stolen Dreams: Stolen Dreams Fortis Security Series

by Wade, Maddie

  Every time he’d stayed at the hospital with her all night–even though he had work the next day–every time he made sure she was eating enough, or he played with Noah so that she could get a cake order done. The fact that he had been so patient about sex and intimacy, not wanting her to think he only wanted her for that. That was what a true father and partner did; put the needs of his family first. She had not set out to look for a partner or father for Noah, but she had found one, anyway, and he was the absolute best. He made her heart beat faster when he walked in a room and made her feel cherished. The fact that he rocked her world in bed was the icing on the cake. She just needed to get Noah back and then tell Nate how she felt. But first, she needed to apologise for earlier. She couldn’t let him go off into a dangerous situation to rescue her son thinking she was a bitch.

  Skye was about to get up and go to him when the door opened and Zack and another man walked in. The oxygen in the room seemed to go electric. The man was tall and dark haired, handsome in a rugged rough way. He was late thirties and obviously fit if the bulge of his biceps was anything to go on.

  He wore a dark jacket, black BDU trousers, and combat boots. It was his eyes that seemed guarded and alert, that told her he was an operator. She had been around the guys on the team a lot and he definitely fit.

  He stood off to one side of Zack with his hands loose by his sides, as if ready for anything. What surprised her most was the look he gave her. It was filled with sorrow and regret, making her blanche and reach for Lizzie’s hand.

  Oh my God. This was him. This was the man that took her son. She didn’t get a chance to react much after that as she watched in fascinated horror as Nate launched himself forward, landing a solid punch to the man’s face. The man took a step back but didn’t defend himself.

  She’d never seen Nate look like he did now. He looked ready to kill, and his intent seemed to be on killing this guy. The others looked to Zack, who shook his head to stand down.

  He swung again, hitting the man in the ribs. Clearly not finished, he grabbed the man by the throat and roughly pushed him against the wall

  “You don’t get to fucking look at her, you hear me. You took her boy from his fucking bed,” Nate snarled. “You have caused pain like you couldn’t even imagine, you put Noah at risk you sorry son-of-a-bitch. He’s a child–a very sick child. You do not get to look at her and give her your forlorn, I’m sorry, look. Nod if you understand me.” Nate was cutting of the man’s oxygen and still the man did not defend himself or put up a fight.

  Meeting Nate`s eye the man nodded and Nate held him for another second then let him go, dropping him to his feet. The man bent over, hands on his knees, sucking in oxygen.

  Skye quickly got up and ran to Nate. She inserted herself under his arm, hugging him round the waist tightly. She could feel his heart hammering against her hands. She wanted to punch the man, herself, but knew she wouldn’t be allowed to get near him, so she settled for giving him ice-daggers, instead.

  Nate held her tight against his side and all around her she could feel waves of hostility coming off every man and woman in the room. Lizzie came up beside her and she’d never felt solidarity, and safety of family, more than she did right now. Her confidence that they would get Noah back grew with every second.

  “Right. Now that that is out of the way, shall we get started?” Zack asked sarcastically. They all went to the table and took their seats, Skye tucked firmly between Nate and Dane and Lizzie sat next to her brother. The man who took Noah sat beside Zack and seemed unconcerned that everyone gave him a wide berth.

  Zack looked around the table, “Where is Zin?”

  “He’s on his way. He got held up with something,” Lucy said, aware as always.

  “Fine. We can start without him. Skye, I am allowing you to be here because this is your son, but if you feel, at any time, you can’t listen to this, then feel free to use my office to wait.

  Skye nodded, “I would rather stay.” She was not about to be kicked out, now.

  “Fine,” Zack nodded. “Now, I know there is a lot of hostility towards Kanan here,” Zack said, indicating the man beside him, “And I understand that–believe me, I do. But we need to put that aside and work together to get Noah out safely.” There were some nods and grunts from the men, and a snort from Lucy, which gained a frown from Zack.

  “We can deal with the what and why after. Right now, we have a very small window to get in and get Noah out. I understand it is planned that they will be moving Noah tomorrow morning. Kanan’s intel suggests he is unwell and needs proper medical attention. K, would you like to tell them what you know?”

  Kanan stood and addressed the table calmly. He told them of the guards around the house and the location of Noah. Skye squeezed Nate’s hand when she heard how poor his health was, and she fought the urge to throw a glass, or another heavy object, at the man that had taken her son. Nate held her hand tight in his, using his other hand to stroke the back of her neck in a soothing motion. It wasn’t working. The more Kanan spoke, the more vengeful she felt.

  He finished his brief, and before she could stop herself, she had jumped out of her chair, hurling herself across the table towards Kanan. It happened so fast, Nate only had chance to grab her foot as she sprung, attacking Kanan’s face with her nails. Again, he didn’t defend himself and just let her take all her anger out on him.

  Dane caught hold of her since he was closest and gently restrained her, handing her off to Nate, who held her as her knees buckled and she started to sob.

  “Happy now?” Dane snarled at Zack, “we don’t fucking need him.”

  “I say we do,” Zack responded in a tone that brooked no argument.

  “Fine, whatever, but I want it on record that I disagree. I will do this mission with him, but don’t expect me to turn my back on him.”

  “Please, listen,” Kanan said in a quiet voice, every person in the room turned to him–even Skye.

  “I know I’m a bastard and you all hate me. I understand, and in your shoes, would feel the same. But quite frankly, I don’t give a fuck that you hate me–you won’t be the first or the last–but for some reason, Noah trusts me.”

  He turned and focused on Skye, which caused Nate to growl, “Noah is an extraordinary child. I have learnt more about myself in the last twenty-four hours than I have in the last fifteen years. You can do what you want to me after, I won’t fight you, but right now, I just want to help get him reunited with his family and safe from the evil fuckers who have him. So I will say it once, I am sorry, sincerely sorry, from the bottom of my black heart. So, either lock me up now, or let me help. Which is it going to be?”

  Everyone was quiet. Daniel and Dane stood still as a statues, arms crossed over their chests, faces filled with distrust. Drew was with them, and had adopted a similar stance to Dane and Daniel obviously in full agreement with his mentors. It was Lucy who stepped up, as usual.

  “I’ll buy what you said, but if you fuck us over, I’ll shoot you myself.” Nate stepped up next, surprising everyone. “Fine. I’m in, but only for Noah. Afterwards all bets are off.” Zack looked at Dane, Daniel, and Drew. Drew caved first and nodded at Zack, then Daniel and Dane, although, Dane was definitely belligerent about it and threw his hands up as if everyone had lost their minds. “Fine, whatever, but I`m with Lucy. If you cross us I will hunt you down.” The scorn on his face evident to everyone.

  “I wouldn`t expect anything different,” replied Kanan holding everyone`s gaze as he did.

  “Right,” said Zack as everyone sat back down. “Drew, I want you in the tech room. Will is going to run this with you via satellite. Lucy, you are with Zin on the gate. I want you to take out the two men they have at the gatehouse and then rendezvous with Dane and Daniel, who will be taking out the three men walking the perimeter. Nate, you and I will be going in through the back with Kanan. We’ll sweep the floors, I put in a call to Eidolon and their team two they will be assisting us on this. Nate, your primary o
bjective is to get Noah out. Leave any arrests or apprehension to us.”

  “What about the police?” Daniel asked.

  “They are dealing with Hugo, and that’s how I want it to stay. They are not equipped to deal with this.”

  “What about the woods? We have to assume they might have men in the woods,” Dane put in.

  “Eidolon is handling that.”

  Just as they were finishing, a very pissed off Zin walked in, followed by an oblivious looking Reg. Reg walked over to Skye and tugged her into his embrace.

  “How’s my girl doing?” he asked softly.

  “I’m okay,” she answered, realising she was feeling better, now.

  Zin looked at Kanan and pointed, “You!” he said angrily. His posture was relaxed but his face was not. His jaw clenched and his eye twitched, betraying the anger clearly he felt. “Tell me this is not about her?” Zin said angrily, flexing his fingers to keep from forming fists.

  “Not directly,” Kanan replied. The whole room was watching the back and forth conversation.

  “Look, Viper…”

  “Don’t call me that. Don’t act like you know me just because we worked for the same team once upon a time.” Zin growled furiously, every muscle in his body tensing.

  “Fine. Zin,” Kanan amended, “I just want to talk to her.”

  “Because of you I lost the opportunity to see my sister after looking for her for fifteen years.” Zin was nose to nose with Kanan. Neither man looked like they were going to back down and the tension was palpable.

  Skye was sick of this. She slipped out of Reg’s arms and walked to Kanan and Zin, who towered above her. The other men in the room went on alert and Nate stepped towards her. Skye put her hand on each man’s chest and shoved them apart as best she could. “Can we save this for later, like when my fucking son is home, please,” she said with anger and frustration evident in her voice. Both men looked down at her.

  Zin closed his eyes and then nodded, “I’m sorry, malyutka. You are correct, we will get Noah back and then I will deal with him,” he said, giving Kanan a look filled with hate. Kanan reciprocated the look, but walked away to stand by the door.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you all tonight,” Zack asked, sounding furious. “You are meant to be seasoned operators. You all know better than this. On a mission, you leave your fucking problems at the door. Now, if you all quit behaving like assholes, let’s get moving.”

  Reg went to follow them, but Nate stopped him.

  “Reg, I need you to stay with Skye and Lizzie while we do this. I need to know she is safe.” Nate looked at the older man intently.

  “No problem, son,” replied Reg. “I got my boys coming to help watch the area while you’re gone,” he said proudly.

  “What do you mean?” Nate asked, rubbing his face with his hand in exasperation.

  “My MC boys. That’s where I’ve been. I told them what’s up and they are going to cruise the area and keep a look out. Funny thing, Zin being a part of the same MC. He didn’t look none too pleased when I told them we was working together now, though. I think I gone and broke his cover.”

  Well, that explained Zin’s mood, thought Skye.

  “Fine. I’ll talk to Zin about this. You just stay inside no matter what, you hear me?”

  “Yep, yep, will do. Tilly says you need to watch for the boxes. Not sure what she means, but if you see boxes, watch out for them.”

  “Fine, Reg. I have to go.” Reg nodded and Nate walked out after giving Skye a small smile.

  “I’ll come see you before we leave,” he said, obviously eager to get moving.

  Left with Reg and Lizzie in the conference room, Skye felt disjointed and twitchy. She hoped Drew would let her wait in the tech room after everyone left. She paced the room for a few minutes before Lizzie stopped her.

  “Come and sit, Skye.”

  “I can’t. I have to do something. I’m going to go see if I can sit in the tech room. At least that way I will hear what’s going on.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Skye,” Lizzie said softly. “You might hear things you wish you hadn’t.”

  “I know, but I have to. I can’t just sit here, not knowing anything.”

  “Fine, but I’m coming with you.”

  “Yep, me too,” said Reg.

  As they left the room, they saw Dane and Daniel disappear through a door near the back wall. The door had a retina scan ID and code panel next to it. It must be where they kept weapons, Skye surmised. They were about to go into the tech room when Lucy walked out from the back door.

  It was a Lucy none of them had ever seen before. Skye felt Lizzie go stiff beside her and let out a little gasp. Lucy had pulled her hair back into a ponytail and was dressed head to foot in black. She had a shoulder holster on, a leg holster with a small gun, and one on the other leg with a wicked looking knife. But it wasn’t that she was carrying a small armoury on her body, it was her whole demeanour.

  Lucy was the fun one, the one who was everyone’s little sister. The one who brought cakes and always gave Zack shit about her car. This Lucy looked ready to kick ass and take names. Even her face looked different. Gone was the smile, it had been replaced with a severe focus that made her look as much of an operator as the others. She was Lara Croft come to life. God help Sly, thought Skye, absentmindedly.

  As if sensing her sister’s sudden apprehension, Lucy walked straight up to Lizzie and hugged her. Skye was worried Lizzie was going to pass out if she held her breath much longer. Lizzie finally let out a whoosh of air and Skye relaxed.

  “I hardly recognised you, Luce. You look so different,” said Lizzie. Her voice only betraying her anxiety a little. In every other way, Lizzie was poised and elegant as always. Her hair was even tucked into its neat chignon, despite it being the middle of the night.

  “No, still me. Still annoying,” Lucy teased her sister.

  “I had no idea you did this. I thought you just ran the office and did computer stuff.”

  “Don’t panic, Liz, I can handle this. This isn’t my first mission. Anyway, do you think Dane would let me go if he thought I couldn’t handle it? Truth be told, I am totally better than him at this.”

  “I heard that, Bratfink,” shouted Dane, coming up behind her, tugging her ponytail.

  “Don’t worry, Liz,” Dane said, wrapping an arm around Lizzie’s shoulder, “she’s good at what she does. Not as good as me, obviously, but good enough.” He laughed when Lucy went to punch him in the ribs, “Hey! Stop or I’ll tell Lauren you hurt me. She likes all this just like it is,” he said, referring to himself.

  “Eww. Please spare me the gross before I vomit on myself,” joked Lucy.

  “Children. I think your boss is waiting,” said Lizzie in her best mum voice, indicating a glaring Zack with his arm on the door to weapons room.

  “Zack, can we wait in the tech room while this goes down? Please?” Skye called. Zack nodded, “Yes, but under no circumstance do you interfere.” Skye nodded and pushed through the door before he could change his mind.

  ~~~

  Nate could feel the hostility in the room as they all geared up. The men were all silent, each locked in their own private thoughts. Zack was next to Kanan, making sure he was kitted out like the rest of them.

  Each had their own locker with their favoured tactical clothing, provided by Fortis, including bulletproof vests, as well as all the other normal things like lightweight under armour vests and BDU trousers.

  He put his two p226 sigs in his shoulder holster, in his thigh holster on his left leg held two flash bangs. Around his waist was a belt with extra ammo, and on his right thigh was a deadly sharp tactical knife. He was taking his C8 carbine instead of his beloved L96A1 sniper rifle. Eidolon was providing long-range cover and the C8 would be more effective in this situation. Slipping a small dagger into his ankle holster he grabbed his tac vest. He felt ready for anything.

  He just needed to see Skye before he left. He wan
ted to reassure her that Noah would be okay. He’d been a bit miffed by her outburst earlier and wondered if maybe she regretted what had happened between them. He hoped not. It had been the single best experience of his life and he thought they had shared something that was once in a lifetime.

  It wouldn’t be the first time he had been wrong, though. But he didn’t think so–it was probably the stress of the situation. He would just carry on as if it hadn’t happened and hope that was the right thing to do.

  He left the room and headed to find Skye. He’d been so deep in thought, he hadn’t realised the guys had all left already. He found them in the tech room, including Skye. He walked up behind her and slipped his hand under her hair at the back of her neck.

  She was seated at a terminal next to Drew, watching as he and Zack talked with Will. She raised her head to him and smiled. Lifting her hand, she gripped his arm and squeezed. Nate felt the knot in his stomach ease. He hadn’t realised he was tense until she did that, and his shoulders relaxed.

  He could handle most missions as if they were a trip to the park, but this was personal, and he needed to be fully compos mentis. Now he would be. He felt everything settle again. He smiled back and dropped a light kiss on her forehead as he did. She leaned into him and he dropped to his haunches so that he could look at her.

  “How you doing, mi cielo?”

  “I’m holding up. I just want it done, now. I need my boy and my man back safe where they belong.”

  Nate palmed her face with his large hand. “I’ll bring him home, Skye, if it’s the last thing I do.” His voice held all the sincerity that he felt. He would do it, too. He saw her eyes go wide with understanding.

  “I said my boy and my man, Nate. I want you home safe as much as Noah. So don’t go getting hurt, okay?” her voice wobbled, but she shut it down quickly.

  “Okay, mi amor, I won’t.” He kissed her gently, then, but with no less passion. He felt her open for him and knew that she was scared and trying to tell him everything she felt in that kiss. Pulling away slowly, he stood, still cupping her cheek.