by Wade, Maddie
He had never felt fear like this. He felt a coldness come over him and fear that he had never felt before invaded him. Skye had been taken away unconscious and bleeding by some scum Rusky and Noah was missing. His Skye and Noah were gone and someone hurt his mum. A rage started to boil in his belly. He tried to control it so he could do his job.
He cued up his phone and hit dial. The call going straight through to Will in the tech room. They only used this in dire emergency, and this was one. Will came on the line in seconds.
“Go,” he said calmly.
Nate explained what his mother had told him and Will soon had emergency services on route to his house. The team would be called in immediately, this being the new protocol Zack put in place.
His hands gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white and started to go numb. His brain stubbornly refused to think they wouldn’t get them back. He instead thought of all the ways he planned to torture the men who had taken them.
He pulled up to his house just in front of the ambulance. Abandoning his car, he ran for the door. Ambrose was just inside. He had a gunshot wound to his collarbone, but it looked like the real problem was the blood coming from a head wound.
It was likely caused when he fell and hit his head off the step, if the blood he’d seen there was any indication. Nate bent to him, checking for a pulse and found a weak one. The fact that he was still unconscious after over thirty minutes didn’t bode well. Nate ran for the stairs as the paramedics came in and started to work on Ambrose. He found his mother and Lizzie sitting at the kitchen table.
They raced to him and he enveloped his mother in his arms. He noticed a man, with his hands tied up in his front, sitting behind her. He released his mother and went to the man, he turned his head back to her his eyes asking his mother what had happened.
Nate lifted the man`s slumped head, he had a massive goose egg on his temple and blood dribbling down his face. He blinked in surprise as he stared down at Kanan. Who had opened his eyes and was now glaring up at him, the tape over his mouth stopped him from speaking.
“What happened, ma?” he asked gently as he stepped away from Kanan and towards his ma.
Mimi calmly explained what had happened, including all the bits he didn’t need, like welsh cakes, cheating ex-husbands, and woodwork.
“Ma, just the short version.”
“Okay. Yes, sorry. So after they left, this guy came in asking about Noah, looking all scary, so I hit him with the griddle pan.” Nate winced. Fuck. That was going to hurt. Kanan would be lucky to come away with all his brain cells in tact after that. He felt an immense amount of pride in his mother, though.
“Well done, ma, you did good,” he turned to Lizzie then. “And you, sweetheart.”
“Hey, it was all your mother. I’m team Mimi all the way from now on.” She grinned then before her lip started to tremble a bit. Nate was sure she was going to cry but she held it together, and for the first time, he saw a lot of Lucy in Lizzie.
The paramedics came in and swarmed around Kanan, but Nate wasn’t interested because just then, Lucy and Dane walked through the door. Seeing Lizzie, they raced for her enveloping her in their arms.
The next few hours were spent with Mimi and Lizzie answering questions from the police and Zack and Jack Granger, who had arrived just after Dane and Lucy. Will was going over all the CCTV. He’d picked up the van that took Skye and Nate’s stomach clenched and pitched when he saw her limp body thrown in the van.
He needed a minute to get himself together. Kanan needed to be sedated in the ambulance after he’d apparently thrown a hissy fit and tried to get up. He was going for a CT scan to see if Mimi had done any permanent damage.
Nate sat on his bed and idly picked up Skye’s sleep shorts. They were a pale gold colour with burgundy lace running down the sides. He could smell her everywhere and his heart ached with a physical pain as he thought of her scared and hurting.
He was deep in thought when his phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. His heart danced with hope when he saw it was Skye calling. He quickly swiped to answer,
“Skye!”
“Nnnate, is that you?” a small voice whispered.
“Noah? Oh my god, where are you, buddy?” he asked as he got up and started to pace his room.
“I’m in a secret place in your room.”
Nates eyes shot to the weapons door and dove for it. Throwing open the door, he went to the back and pushed open the panel that led to the tiny space. Opening it, he found a very frightened Noah.
Dropping his phone, he swept Noah into his arms and held him tight, tucking his head into Noah’s little neck. Noah held on just as tight, sobs shaking his little body.
“Okay, buddy. I got you, you’re safe now. Nobody is going to get you.”
“Is mummy okay?” Nate looked at the boy who’d stolen his heart and couldn’t lie.
“They took her, Noah. But we’re going to get her back.”
“Kanan–he knows!” Noah said resolutely.
“What do you mean?”
“I fell asleep and dreamed that Kanan was here and he knew where they would take us.” Nate felt his muscles go tight and had to fight to control his temper. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Noah any more than he already was. Kanan knew! He fucking knew and never said anything.
Nate walked downstairs with Noah still clinging to him like a vine, straight into a room full of shocked people. Everyone started talking at once and he held up a hand to shush everyone.
“Noah was hiding in a secret place, weren’t you buddy?”
“Yes. Mummy told me not to come out, so I didn’t and then I fell asleep.” He seemed better now that he was surrounded by people he loved.”
“You did great.” Nate said as set Noah down on a chair at the kitchen table. “He had a dream, didn’t you buddy. Tell Zack and everyone about your dream,” He said gently to Noah.
“I dreamt that Kanan was here and he knew where they were going to take mummy.”
Zack let out a foul word and punched the door, which was very un-Zack like. Nate passed Noah over to Lizzie and his ma, who were sitting at the table with his Pop and Uncle Reg, both looking ill at the thought that they hadn’t been here to keep the women safe. Although, if you asked him, his Ma did a bang-up job.
Mimi and Lizzie showered Noah with hugs and kisses. Noah turned his face to Nate, doing a typical boy eye roll and giggle. Thank God, he was okay. At least now he could concentrate on getting Skye back.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Skye could feel a blinding pain shoot through her head and wondered if she had one of her migraines. She hadn’t had one in ages. She blinked her eyes a few times and looked around. She was on the floor in what looked like a church.
She was confused for a minute, then it all came back to her. The house. Noah. Lizzie and Mimi–oh my god, were they dead? She remembered gunfire and hiding Noah. Had they found him?
She felt her nape prickle and turned to see the two men who had come into her home and taken her. She fought to push down the anger and think rationally. The men were watching her as they played cards.
The one she had bitten got up and came over to her. He crouched down and she tried scooting back, but her hands were tied behind her back and her movements were clumsy. Her head hurt like a bitch and she thought she might puke.
The man grabbed her hair and pulled her face up to him. The pain made her see stars and she fought nausea as he hissed hateful words at her in Russian. He palmed her breast and pulled hard on her hair and she lost the battle with her stomach.
Bile rushed into her mouth and she puked all over him. He threw her away from him yelling at her, as his mate laughed so hard he nearly knocked over the table. The man walked away, still yelling, and she managed to get control of her stomach.
If puking on him was the only way to keep him away, so be it. She slowly sat up and looked at the other man. He seemed to be ignoring her. Now she
was no longer entertaining.
A few minutes later, vomit man returned and glared at her before sitting down opposite the man dealing the cards out. She wondered why anyone would use a church as a place to keep hostages.
She looked around at the beautiful stained glass windows depicting Jesus on the cross. The ornate wall hangings that graced the far end of the church looked to be hundreds of years old. Brass candleholders and a brass cross were in front of her, near the font. The pews were all made of oak wood, the carvings on them beautiful.
Skye could tell by the waning light coming in through the stained glass that it was dusk, which put the time at about four-thirty in the afternoon. She wondered if Nate was coming for her and wished she had access to a phone.
Her heart sank when she cast her eyes to the end of the first pew and noticed the carving. It was the Lockwood family crest. She knew it because Hugo had a pinky ring with the same crest. He’d said it was his father`s and every Lockwood man passed it to his first born son. She remembered feeling sad that he would not do that for Noah.
As if thinking of him conjured him up, Hugo appeared at the side door. She watched as he arrogantly walked into the room and up to the two Russians.
“Why is she here? Where is my grandmother?” The two men looked at each other and seemed unsure what to do. Hugo walked over to her and roughly pulled her to a sitting position.
“Where is Noah?” he asked, seeming anxious.
“Somewhere you will never get to him,” she spat. She was sure she saw relief cross his features before he hauled her up to stand and sat her in a pew that was just behind her. He sat next to her, roughly turning her to face him.
“Don’t talk to me like that you little bitch,” he hissed, but bizarrely, he winked at her. Then he freaked her even more by slipping his hand behind her and loosening her ties. Was he…he was trying to help! He tucked something into her back waistband and she tried not to flinch as he touched her skin seemingly accidentally. It felt like a card or square of paper.
It sure as hell wasn’t back maintenance for his son that would a whole lot bigger. She wondered for a second if the bump on the head had given her an aneurysm and that was why weird shit was happening.
She sobered as Hugo squeezed her hand and she was sure he muttered I’m sorry. She had no time to think about it, though, as Felicity Lockwood walked in. With…oh my god. Why was he here? Moreover, why was he with her? The feeling of betrayal scorched her throat.
She cast him her a glare and he just looked back at her as if she wasn’t there or he didn’t know who she was. What the fuck was going on?
~~~
Fortis, 5 pm
Nate paced the room, waiting for Zack to get back. He had insisted on going to get Kanan by himself and bring him back here. Dane and Daniel were in the conference room with Zin, planning a rescue op for as soon as they got the green light and co-ordinates.
Nate had stayed in the tech room with Will, Drew, and Lucy. Noah was sleeping in one of the rest rooms with Lizzie. Reg and his parents had commandeered the reception area.
The building was in lock down. Zack had locked the front doors and activated the electromagnetic wave transformer in the reinforced glass. Will had developed a wire that ran around the edge of the glass, allowing radio waves and signals through, but at the touch of a button on Zack’s desk, could also conceal the entire building in a cone of silence.
The technology allowed sunlight through but was invisible to the naked eye. The glass was, to some degree, bombproof and after the attack on them a few weeks ago, that had proved a wise move. Nate had no clue how it worked and didn’t care to, either. He was glad Will worked for them. That technology could net him billions on the open market. But Will had no use for money and was happy to let Fortis and Eidolon spend it on things they needed. At least he was smart enough patent it, though.
Will was a geek and was happiest when he had a computer, an energy drink, and a large bag of beef monster munch. For a pale, skinny, tatted up, uber geek, he sure had his pick of women and those women were hot.
Will had picked up the Van on the A40 moving towards Symonds Yat. Nate was sure that they were headed for Lockwood Manor but Zack wanted confirmation before sending then in.
Nate left the tech room and walked to the conference room. He’d changed into his black BDU trousers and black, long-sleeve top. He’d brought all his favourite weapons from his personal stash. His Browning handgun, his best and most trusted sniper rifle, and a spare that was nearly as good but not as smooth.
He even brought some charges and Imx-101. It was used by the military and was brilliant in firefight situations since it was a lot more stable than TNT. A RPG was also brought along. Liam had proved that there was always a need for an RPG and if that sentence made him crazy then so be it.
Thinking of Liam, he wondered where he was. They had pulled him back to Eidolon and it had all been very secretive. Nate wondered why. It seemed odd that when the threat level went up, Jack had assigned him to something else.
Cleaning his gun, he watched Ava and Celeste going through paperwork at the far end of the table. Both women had refused to leave when they found out Skye was missing. Neither knew her well, but both obviously liked her. They had taken coffee out to his parents, Reg, and Lizzie and just mucked in and helped with whatever needed doing.
The two women seemed to have grown close in the few weeks they’d known each other. He watched as Celeste kept casting sideways glances at Zin, who had just walked in and was helping himself to coffee. It was funny because Zin kept looking at her, too, but he wore scowls. And Celeste? Well, he wasn’t sure really what her`s said. Mild attraction, maybe? Samson, who still growled at Zin when he got close, clearly didn’t share the feeling.
Nate’s mind went to Skye and he wondered if she was okay–if she knew in her heart he would come for her. Maybe she hated him for failing her so badly. He hoped she knew he would move heaven and earth to get to her. The thought of her hurt, or worse, dead, made him break out in a cold sweat.
He couldn’t comprehend of a world with no Skye in it. She was his heart. He thought Nikki hurt him, but that paled in comparison to the pain he would feel if anything happened to the woman he loved.
Nate rose as the door opened and Zack walked in, followed by Kanan, who pointed at Nate and said, “You keep your crazy mother away from me.”
Nate almost laughed. Kanan had an ugly bruise forming over his right eye and down his temple. “I think we should bring her in here and give her the griddle pan back,” Nate said standing, and getting in his face. Nate had called a reluctant peace with Kanan after he brought Noah back. That didn’t mean he liked him and it certainly didn’t mean he could talk shit about his Ma.
“Okay, okay. Settle down,” Zack said, waving everyone to chairs. The men eyeballed each other for another second then sat. Zack took his place at the top of the table, buzzed the tech room, and asked everyone to join them.
Nate watched Kanan as he watched Celeste. He felt a twinge of sadness when he saw grief and regret cross Kanan’s face when he looked at his sister. For her part, she watched Kanan from her place next to Ava. Her face had a look of silent question. Nate felt that that particular secret would not stay a secret if Kanan continued to be a regular at Fortis.
He concentrated on the people in the room. If he thought about Skye, he knew he would lose his shit. So he closed his thoughts down.
When everyone had come into the conference room and were settled, Zack began.
“Kanan has been tracking Hugo since we lost him after rescuing Noah. He finally caught up with him entering Lockwood Manor a few days ago. K, would you like to continue?”
Kanan sat forward, “Hugo was alone when he entered and has remained in the house for that time. I had hoped he would lead me to Felicity.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” demanded Dane.
“I don’t work in a team and I don’t owe anyone, except maybe Noah.” Kanan glanced at Nate who wa
s giving him daggers.
“I know I fucked up and I wanted to make sure he was safe. I won’t explain myself to you or anyone else.”
“Wow. How not to make friends and influence people,” Ava snorted and Zack gave her a look that would freeze hell. She put her hands up in a placating gesture, bringing her hand up, pretending as if she was zipping her lips.
Kanan continued, “Earlier this morning, Felicity and ten men arrived at Lockwood Manor and started unloading dozens of wooden crates from their vehicles. The crates were then taken to the church that is on the estate. Shortly after, three men left, and for whatever reason, I decided to follow. I was too late to save Skye from being taken.” He hung his head. “And then I was obviously attacked by the blue rinse mafia.”
“Why were you asking about Noah?” Nate asked K.
“I told you, I feel bad for what I put him through. He didn’t deserve that he’s a good kid.”
As he said that, the door pushed open and Noah ran in. He stopped when he saw everyone. His eyes landed on Kanan and he ran to him and hugged his neck. The gesture threw the big man and he froze, then very slowly put his arms around the boy and awkwardly patted his back.
“K, you’re okay! I was so worried about you. I had a dream. You need to stop looking. It’s making her sad. She’s worried about you.” Kanan seemed to go preternaturally still at Noah’s words. He pulled back and Nate fought the urge to go to Noah and drag him away from Kanan.
For whatever reason, Noah had no fear of the man and even seemed to have some weird bond. Noah let go and came round the table to Nate. He pushed his little body in beside Nate and put his scrawny arms around his thick neck. Nate hugged him and made sure he was okay.
“We need to make a plan now to get your mum home. Can you go sit with Aubela and Pop while we be prepared?