Norse Security: The Complete Series

by North, Leslie

  Sure enough, the thug with the ice pack got up and opened the door to the sex boss. He stomped in—short, squat, with fury in his beady little black eyes. The guy stalked right over to Hunter and kicked him hard in the shin, sending the chair he was tied to skittering back a few inches. “Who the fuck are you, huh? Who you fucking working for? Tell me now and I might let you die without torturing you first.”

  As if to prove his point, the sex boss pulled out a wicked looking blade, slightly curved and razor-sharp—if the way the edge glinted in the overhead lights above was any indication.

  Hunter, jaw tight against the pain throbbing through his ankle, didn’t respond.

  The boss moved closer and yanked hard on Hunter’s short, buzz-cut hair, forcing his head back so his neck was exposed. The cold metal of the knife blade stung against his skin. “Ain’t so tough now are you, dumbass?” The guy snorted and glanced down at the SEAL tattoo on Hunter’s left bicep. “You’re ex-military, that much is obvious. Guess being a soldier don’t stop you from being a pussy too, huh?”

  This drew a chuckle from the thug against the counter and Hunter made a mental note to break the fucker’s nose once he got out of this shit. Hard to laugh when your sinuses were filled with blood. Still, he just stared at the sex boss, meeting his gaze head on without so much as flinching. His only response was, “Fuck you.”

  “Heh.” The boss pressed the blade tighter to Hunter’s neck and the knife bit into his skin. A warm drop of blood slowly trickled downward. “Shit for brains. Don’t have to be smart for them military guys to take you either, huh? Lucky you.”

  No. Lucky you. If he wasn’t pretending to be tied up right now, he’d end this assclown so fast he wouldn’t know what hit him. But first he needed to find out where Alex was and what had happened to her, then he needed to find out about the slave drop that night. Was it off entirely? Would they stash the women elsewhere? And if so, where?

  Apparently fed up with his lack of response, the sex boss cursed loudly then hauled off and backhanded Hunter hard across the face. The blow took the wind out of his sails for a second, but otherwise did no lasting damage. He didn’t let the boss know that though. Instead, he let his chin drop down to his chest, keeping his eyes closed, hoping that if they thought he was out cold, they might start talking.

  It took all of about a minute. Not exactly a brain trust he was dealing with here.

  “You hear from our trafficker?” the boss asked the thug in the kitchen.

  “Just got a text,” the thug said. “He’s not happy about the switch.”

  “Don’t give a shit if he likes it or not. Can’t have them sluts delivered here now. Place ain’t safe.” The boss hauled off and kicked Hunter again, this time in the opposite shin. Hunter bit back a nasty snarl of rage. When he got out of this chair he was going to kick this guy’s fucking ass into the next goddamned century.

  “You deal with the blond or you need me to do anything?” Footsteps entered from the direction of the living room and though Hunter had his eyes closed, he recognized the voice of the thug he’d beaten earlier. “She still out in the trunk?”

  “No.” There was a loud crash as glass smashed against the wall of the kitchen. The boss must’ve thrown a cup or plate or something from the sink, Hunter assumed. “She got away.”

  “What?” the thug asked, his tone reflecting Hunter’s own surprise.

  “She. Got. Away.” The boss bit off each word like a curse. “Are you deaf as well as stupid? Bitch got the trunk open and ran off while I was stopped at a light. I searched around trying to find her, but that El Pueblo place is swarming with fucking tourists today. Don’t worry about her. She’s dumber than a box of rocks and won’t get far on her own. Stupid twat doesn’t even have shoes on.”

  Hunter’s heart both soared at the knowledge that Alex was free and sank at the knowledge that she was out there on her own, without any money or protection. She was smart, far smarter than anyone ever gave her credit for, and resourceful—given her quick knack for disguises and the way she’d concocted their master-slave plan from the start. She’d be okay. She’d be fine, because the alternative was unacceptable.

  As the boss and thugs argued amongst themselves, Hunter squinted one eye open and hazarded a glance out into the living room again. Once he freed himself, he’d need to make quick work of the three men in the kitchen then bolt for the front door. Not easy, but there wasn’t another alternative that he could see. The thug had taken his phone and smashed it, along with Alex’s, after he’d tied Hunter up. He needed to get free, get out, then get to a store to buy a new burner phone and call Loki with an update. Norse Security’s intrepid leader would help him formulate a plan to take down this Club Xcite and all their illegal activities once and for all.

  But first…

  Hunter wiggled his wrists to slide the ropes off his hands while the thugs were still engrossed in their argument, now switching from the slave drop tonight to the sorry state of the strippers at the club. One thug thought the girls were being fed too much and were getting fat. The other felt they ought to brand them all in case one of the girls got free.

  Real gentlemen these schmucks were.

  As he slowly worked his way free to avoid the notice of the boss and his guards, Hunter spotted that same shadow outside the windows. His pulse tripped. Not the boss then. But who? The only other person who knew about this house was…

  Alex.

  Had to be. El Pueblo wasn’t that far from here. Given she was barefoot and likely sticking to back alleys all the way, the timing was right.

  Good girl.

  Now all Hunter had to do was get out to her in one piece and get them to someplace safe. The ropes slid free of his hands and hit the floor with a quiet clatter. All that was left were his ankles. Unfortunately, all three thugs turned at once to face him, their gazes flicking from Hunter to the ropes, then back again.

  “Well, well, well.” The sex boss stepped forward slowly, his evil grin growing with each step, the knife blade glittering in his hand. “Looks like Prince Pussy woke up. How about we carve him up like a Halloween pumpkin for his little girlfriend to find?”

  15

  Through the gauzy curtains over the front windows of the safe house, Alex was able to make out the shapes of the two thugs and the portly outline of the sex boss as he advanced on Hunter in the brightly lit kitchen. Her already jangled nerves went into overdrive and adrenaline flooded her system. Time to put all those martial arts moves she’d learned for her roles into action.

  After a deep breath for courage, she slammed open the front door and stepped into the living room, doing her best Wonder Woman pose to boost her confidence. “Touch him and you’re going to regret it.”

  Three astonished looks met hers from the kitchen—the two thugs and the sex boss. Hunter just sat there on the chair he was tied to grinning at her with pride radiating from his gorgeous blue eyes. Then, everything seemed to happen at once.

  Hunter took advantage of the momentary distraction to headbutt one of the thugs in the gut, while simultaneously grabbing the sex boss’s wrist and twisting hard, causing him to drop the knife. Alex’s gaze flicked from Hunter to the small pile of rope on the floor and realized he’d somehow gotten his hands free, though his ankles were still tied to the chair.

  The third thug advanced on Alex in the living room, menace radiating off him in waves. He stood a good foot and a half taller than her and gave even Hunter a run for his money in the muscle department. But they always said the bigger they were, the harder they fell. Whoever the hell “they” were.

  Alex snorted at her own joke and began circling the thug in the living room, careful to keep one eye on the kitchen and the other on her attacker. The sound of wood splitting echoed through the air and she glanced over to see Hunter ram backward into the second thug, shattering the back of the chair upon impact with the thug’s abdomen. Even she winced. That was going to definitely leave a mark.

  “Give up now, bi
tch, and I might use lube when I rape the fuck out of you,” thug two said, with little tact and even less intelligence. “Your choice.”

  “Really?” Alex shrugged. “I go for choice number three.”

  The thug looked confused, frowning. “Huh?”

  “Choice three.” She eyed his frame for weak points. There weren’t many. Still, no one was immune to the old SING technique—solar plexus, instep, nose, groin. The thug stopped and seemed to think about her statement for a moment and Alex seized her chance. Head lowered, she ran straight at the startled man, elbow up and aimed straight for his mid-chest. A loud OOOFFF sounded as she made contact, then fast as sin, she stomped her heel down on his foot. When he bent over in pain, she rammed her elbow into his nose, satisfaction flooding her system. Cartilage cracked and blood spurted. Alex was normally squeamish about any kind of violence, but when her life and the life of the man she cared for was at stake, she’d do whatever it took to survive.

  The thug reared back clutching his battered face, and Alex delivered her final blow. One hard slam of her knee straight between his legs. She barely had time to get out of the way as his huge body heaved forward. He dropped to his knees, his face draining of color beneath the blood as a high-pitched wheezing noise escaped from his mouth. Then he keeled over face-first into the carpet, holding his injured dick and crying like a tiny baby.

  “Jesus Christ, woman!” Hunter called from the kitchen. While his attention was diverted, the sex boss made a run for the back door. Hunter tried to catch him, but with his ankles still bound to the chair, walking fast was difficult. “Fuck!”

  Alex ran for the door too, but it was too late. Moments later an engine roared to life and the sex boss took off in a screech of tires and burning rubber. Which left only Hunter and Alex and the two thugs who were currently moaning on the floor.

  She immediately dropped to her knees and reached for Hunter’s ankles to undo the ropes. “I was so afraid they were going to kill you before I got here.”

  “I was kind of afraid of that too,” Hunter said, wiping away a drip of blood from his nose. Seemed the thugs had roughed him up a bit anyway. Alex stood and ran her fingers over his bruised, beautiful face. “I’m glad you showed up when you did though. Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?”

  “I told you. Movie roles.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his lips gently before lowering to flat feet again and looking around. “What do we do now?”

  “Now.” Hunter stepped around her and closed the back door. “We clean this shit up then we call Loki for back up.”

  “What about the thugs?” Alex began picking up pieces of broken chair from the kitchen floor. “Do we call the police on them?”

  “Not yet.” Alex headed back toward the master bedroom. “Let’s lock them in the safe room for now. That way we can have the cops pick them up in the morning. You and I have more important things to do tonight.”

  Alex shook her head and grabbed a garbage bag, her tone teasing. “Is sex all you ever think about?”

  “Yes.” Hunter returned and stuck his head around the corner of the kitchen, a wad of white Kleenex sticking out of one nostril to staunch the blood. “But I wasn’t talking about that. I heard them talking before you arrived. They thought I was knocked out. We still might have a chance to save your friend and bring the sex boss down, if I can get a plan together.”

  “What?” She looked up at him, surprised. She’d been so focused on saving Hunter, she’d forgotten all about poor Bea. Guilt and shame flooded in, along with a glimmer of hope. “How?”

  “My guess is they’ll take the slaves to Club Xcite tonight instead of here. If we can get enough reinforcements, I can take a team in there and end this shit.”

  “Okay.” Alex blinked several times, running through things in her head. “Do you know enough people out here to do that? Get a team together, I mean.”

  “No.” He waggled his fingers toward Alex. “Grab his feet while I take his shoulders.” Together they moved first one, then both, of the still out-of-it thugs into the safe room. Hunter waited until the metal door slid shut, then punched a code into the keypad on the outside of the room, smiling at Alex again. “But Loki does. He’s got friends all over the world. One phone call should take care of it.”

  “Guess we’ll be making a stop at the mini-mart again, huh?”

  “Guess so.” Hunter slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. He kissed her so thoroughly she nearly forgot her name, let alone what the hell they were doing. “Thanks again for saving my life, baby. Now, call that driver of yours to pick us up so we can get those phones then get to your place for a nice hot shower. My back is killing me.”

  16

  Two hours later, Hunter was clean and dressed in a fresh T-shirt and clean jeans. They were safely ensconced in Alex’s home, and he was planning out the best way to both put an end to the human trafficking ring at the club that evening and get Bea back safely at the same time. He took a seat on the sofa on the opposite end from Alex, the new burner phone he’d bought at the mini-mart still pressed to his ear as it had been since he’d walked out of the shower an hour prior.

  “It’s your mission, Hunter. You’ve got complete control. Run it how you see best. I trust you on this,” Loki said, his deep voice oddly distracted. “Listen, I’ve got to go. Make sure you update me once things go down so I know if I need to call in more manpower, yeah?”

  “Yeah.” Hunter nodded, still a bit shocked. This was his big chance for the promotion and Loki seemed to be willing to give him every shot of making it. They were friends outside the agency, but professionally, he’d never been sure quite where Loki stood with him. Now, there was no doubt. Loki was one-hundred-percent on-board with Hunter. It made him feel both happy and humble. He cleared his throat. “Thanks, man.”

  “Anytime.” Loki’s smile was evident through the phone line. “Call me. And be careful, dude. We’re still digging out from the aftermath of that Aeon debacle with Cam.”

  “Will do.” Hunter chuckled as he ended the call. Cam, the agency’s tech guru, had been gunning for his own mission for months and Loki had finally given in and used him to retrieve a valuable car that had been stolen from the federal government. The whole thing should’ve been a piece of cake, especially for Cam who basically ate, slept, and pissed computer code. But things had taken a turn for the complicated when a gal Cam used to know turned out to be a thief with the same objectives as Cam—get the car back at all costs. The two had ended up getting the car together, though it was more than a tad worse for the wear. They’d also ended up in love and married at the end of it all. Hunter hazarded a glance over at Alex, who was busy texting on her own phone. Marriage certainly wasn’t on his mind at the moment, but maybe he and Alex could have something lasting after all this anyway. He was willing to explore the possibility. “Loki’s called in favors from his west coast friends. We should have all the help we need tonight.”

  “Good.” She looked up from her phone screen and grinned at him. “The bartender sent me pics of the club’s interior with flash, so we can actually see where all the nooks and crannies are in the place. Lots of hiding spots, which is good. I’ve been there many times, but you saw yourself how dark it was in there. These should help you put your men where you need them to be.”

  “Cool.” They moved closer on the sofa so they sat shoulder to shoulder and Alex scrolled through the pics for him. Hunter couldn’t resist leaning over and burying his face in her long, soft hair. God, he’d missed the sweet citrusy scent of her, the taste of her soft skin. She shivered as he nuzzled the sensitive spot where her neck met collarbone. “We’ve got a few hours to kill before we need to get ready, you know.”

  “We do?” Alex giggled as Hunter pulled her back into the cushions with him, her new phone falling to the floor as she slid her arms around his neck. “And how do you suggest we spend our time?”

  “Oh, I’ve got more than a few ideas,” he said, pulling her
down for an openmouthed kiss.

  “Only a few?” She raised a brow as her hand crept between them to stroke his hard cock through his jeans.

  “Way more than a few.” Hunter rolled over, taking Alex with him until she was squarely beneath him and his hands were under her pink top, resting on smooth warm skin. “Best get started now so we get to them all, Mistress.”

  17

  Alex stood in the shadows across the street from Club Xcite, doing her best not to fidget in her new costume. With her scarlet red wig, skimpy black leather dress, and goth style makeup, she looked nothing like her normal self or even the brown haired, bespectacled Dom from a few days earlier. Then again that was the point.

  “Everything’s in place,” Hunter whispered from beside her. “My team has got every angle covered inside. No way these guys are making it out of here without handcuffs and a police escort. You remember the plan?”

  She nodded. “Stay quiet, stay submissive. Don’t react when I see Bea. Let you handle the dangerous stuff. Got it.”

  Of course, all of that was subject to change once they were inside. Bea was her best friend. Depending on the condition they found her in, Alex might have to break open a can of whoop ass on the sex boss all over again. Her blood boiled just thinking about the awful things Bea had had to witness and maybe even endure because of that asshole. If anyone deserve a kick to the face, it was that bastard.

  “Good. Let’s do it.” Hunter tugged gently on the black braided leash around Alex’s neck and led her across the street to the club. For his part, he looked different too. Purple dye in his hair, eyeliner, fake piercings in his nose and eyebrow. Still hot though. Alex bit her lip as she stared at his ass in those tight leather pants. God. The man could make a garbage bag look sexy.

  The bouncer stopped them, as usual. Alex kept her gaze lowered, even though she had in dark contacts to cover her blue eyes. Didn’t want to risk recognition at this point and blow their cover. Hunter slipped the beefy guard two hundred-dollar bills and got them in the door.