Submission is Not Enough Kobo

by Lexi Blake

  Chaos. He needed some chaos. Texans were damn good at putting their noses into violent situations they probably would be better off ignoring. And someone would be packing.

  He heard cursing behind him.

  “FBI! Take cover!”

  So they had come in with a plan. Smart. He had to assume they would have something that looked like proper ID. Still, someone would call the police. They had little time to bring him and Robert in.

  He watched as Robert was surrounded and he lost visual.

  Fuck. He couldn’t leave Robert behind, couldn’t allow him to be taken again, but he had to think about her. Erin. He had to think about Erin and their boy.

  Suddenly the group around Robert exploded out, like he was some real version of the Hulk. Robert was on his feet, his body moving with a grace Theo hadn’t seen before. He took out the man closest to him before pivoting and striking the one at his back.

  Robert ran toward him and Theo realized they had a shot.

  “Everyone down! Federal Bureau of Investigation!” a masculine voice called out behind him.

  All around him, people in business suits and dressed for jogging hit the ground, leaving Theo and Robert vulnerable and on the run.

  “What the hell?” Robert caught up to him and they started to run toward the other side of the park. They had a shot if they could get through the park and across to the museum. The street was packed with fast-moving traffic.

  All he needed was to get lost in the hectic downtown bustle. The Nasher Sculpture Center was across the road and then he could lose himself in the museum district and its never-ending rounds of tourists. He could circle back to the McKay-Taggart building and figure out what the hell was going on.

  If he could just keep moving.

  He glanced back and McDonald’s men had efficiently taken care of the crowd. They were all down, hands covering their heads in a way they wouldn’t have been without the authoritative presence.

  He caught a glint of metal and then felt something zing by his shoulder. Shit. “They’ve got guns.”

  “Probably tranqs,” Robert replied, not showing a single sign that sprinting was causing him strain.

  They raced down the tree-lined walking path, Theo taking one side and Robert the other. Robert leapt over a green bistro chair that someone had abandoned in their determination to get out of the line of fire. The green tables dotted the park.

  Theo turned one over on his way toward the outer edge of the park, hoping the other guys weren’t as good a hurdler as Robert.

  Up ahead he saw Robert fumble and hit his knees.

  There was a dart sticking out of his shoulder. Shit. Theo rushed to him, pulling the dart from his shoulder and tossing it aside.

  It didn’t matter. It was already doing its work. Robert’s eyes were going glassy. “Go. Leave me. You can find me later.”

  When his memory would be wiped again? When McDonald got her talons back in and tried to remake him into something he wasn’t?

  He hauled Robert up. They had to make it to the street. If they could make it across, they had a shot.

  In the distance, he heard the sound of sirens.

  Thank god.

  That was when he felt it. His left side flared with pain and then an immediate numbness set in. Theo pulled the dart out.

  Had to keep going. He wasn’t letting them take him without a damn fight.

  But then he’d fought so hard the first time and it hadn’t mattered. He’d fought McDonald. He’d fought his own weakness. He’d fought to remember her. He’d sat in bed every night staring at the white walls, telling himself to remember Erin.

  And he’d forgotten her. He’d forgotten them all.

  He couldn’t forget her again.

  Adrenaline rushed through his system and he forced himself to move, dragging Robert beside him. Water. There was a fountain up ahead and misters where kids and dogs played during the long summer heat waves. The water could wake him up.

  He felt another dart hit him, this time in the leg. He was getting nauseous and the world was starting to spin. His vision was clouding, but he kept moving.

  “Brother, there’s no reason for this. We’re taking you home. You’ll feel better once you’re home. Mother is so worried about you.” A hand on his shoulder pulled Theo back.

  He went down on one knee, pain shocking through his system as he came in contact with the concrete. He heard a thud as he lost hold of Robert.

  They were both down. Theo tried to turn, tried to punch out. He couldn’t control his arms. The world was getting dark.

  “Don’t worry, brother. We’re going to get your son,” the man standing over him said with a beneficent smile. “You’re the first of us to have a child. We wouldn’t leave him behind. Sleep well. When you wake up…”

  “If you lay a hand on him, I will pull this trigger right here and right now. Don’t think I won’t. I would love to blow your brains out, scoop them off this sidewalk, and mail them to that crazy bitch you call Mother,” a heavenly voice said.

  He looked up and Erin had a gun at the back of his would-be captor’s head. Her hair had come loose, like a curly red halo around her head. She was the prettiest thing when she was threatening to kill someone.

  His avenging, foul-mouthed angel.

  “Try to remember he’s not the real enemy, Erin,” Ian said.

  “The cops are coming.” Adam ran up behind them. “Time to lay down weapons and get our hands in the air. I already asked Alex to call Brighton to back us up.”

  He watched as Erin cursed and laid down her weapon. The two “brothers” they’d caught took off running, the police in hot pursuit, while Erin knelt beside him, her hands up in the air.

  He managed just enough movement to get his hand on her and then he let go.

  She was here and he could rest.

  * * * *

  “What do you mean they’re both dead?” Erin felt her heart squeeze as she looked up at Lieutenant Derek Brighton. Theo lay in a hospital bed, an IV in his arm and a monitor on his heart because they’d pumped him so full of drugs the doc was worried.

  She’d received a pat down from an officer who likely would enjoy a couple of nights topping subs at Sanctum as a Domme and a trip downtown in a police car that could have used some scrubbing. Naturally she’d gotten shoved in with Adam the germaphobe, who complained mightly about everything from the smell to the stickiness of the seat he was in to how tight his handcuffs were. Sometimes she understood why Ian randomly slapped him upside the head.

  It had been three hours before she’d gotten here and found out how Theo was doing. She wasn’t in the mood for shitty news.

  Brighton frowned as he looked from Theo back to her. “I’m sorry, Erin. There wasn’t anything we could do. We chased them to the edge of the park. They ran out into the street and when they got to the railing, they jumped onto the freeway.

  “Suicide?” Ian asked, his arms crossing.

  “It was definitely a deliberate act. You can’t fall off into the freeway,” Brighton explained. “They ignored the officers orders and ran straight for the railing. They climbed and jumped without hesitation.”

  “As though they were programmed to do it,” Ian said with a shake of his head. “Well, we know how she manages to not get her boys caught.”

  “They kill themselves if they’re on the verge.” It made Erin’s stomach churn for the fiftieth time that day.

  “It has to be something new because we didn’t run up against it at all when we found Theo’s group in Africa. Trust me Victor wasn’t trying to take himself out.” Case stood up from his seat by Theo’s bed. He’d been the one to come to the hospital and watch over him while Erin and Ian had been explaining themselves. Luckily a quick call from Ezra Fain’s boss had allowed Brighton to get them out of interrogation and released without further issue. DPD had given the whole case up to the feds who would deal with everything quietly.

  Though there would definitely be some news made about wh
at had happened in the park today. She prayed no one caught her face on cell phone footage.

  What a clusterfuck.

  And what a near miss. That man had his hands on Theo, ready to drag him back into hell.

  If she’d been two minutes later… If Ian hadn’t known where Theo had been going for lunch…

  The horrors of those possibilities would haunt her.

  “I would tell you that I’ll get you the results of the autopsies, but oddly enough the government has already moved the bodies. Not oddly. I should have known the Agency would work quickly.” Brighton looked over at Theo, his face softening. “I’m more surprised that they didn’t take him when they could have.”

  Ian’s jaw tightened. “We cooperated. Theo and Robert both gave blood samples and spoke to analysts. We’ll give them updates.”

  They’d done all of those things, but something about the way Ian’s voice had deepened made her wonder if he wasn’t lying. Or at least hiding something. Had he given something up so his baby brother wouldn’t get taken in by the Agency? How much did she owe Big Tag?

  “How are they?” Brighton asked, looking between the two beds.

  “Theo took two doses,” Erin explained. “Robert took one. According to the docs it was a strong sedative. They’re not worried about Robert. He’s sleeping it off. He can leave when he wakes up. They want Theo to stay overnight.”

  “So she’s coming after him again.” Brighton stepped up. “Erin, you have to know the DPD will do anything you need us to. I gave the chief a briefing and he’s spoken with the Agency. I know you’ve got bodyguards, but if you need us, we’ll watch the house or put him in protective custody if we have to.”

  Theo would hate that. “I think we should handle this in-house, Derek, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the offer.”

  Brighton nodded and took a step back. “It’s an open offer. Let me know if you need anything else, and please text me to let me know Baby Tag’s okay.”

  Erin couldn’t help but smile at that. “He insists that Baby Tag is TJ. I think we should call him Forgetful Tag from now on. They’re like the dwarves. I expect to find a set of triplets out there any day now.”

  “God, don’t even joke about that,” Ian said. “My father was a bastard, but he had sperm that worked overtime.”

  Brighton smiled and gave them a wave. “All right then. I’m off. You take care.”

  The minute the door closed Ian sighed. “A DPD tail is only going to work for so long, and you can’t live the rest of your life with a bodyguard.”

  Case stood up, his hands on his hips. “Have we considered hiring a professional? I’m not kidding. I’m saying we find the bitch and we pay someone to take her out.”

  “Are you offering to hire an assassin?” Ian asked.

  It wasn’t necessarily a bad idea. “Charlotte’s cousin knows people. I can be on a plane to Saint Petersburg tomorrow morning.”

  Ian held out a hand. “I’m not being a priss. If I thought it would work, I would call Dusan myself in a heartbeat. I’ve done wet work myself. I’m old now. I can hire that shit out, but I’m worried that even if we take out McDonald, it won’t end.”

  “She’s the one with the obsession with Theo,” Erin argued. “Even if they bring someone in to complete her work, why would that person come after Theo? He’s a hard target.”

  “He’s also the only man so far who’s actively fought the drug,” Ian replied. “They will want him and not only his records. They’ll want the anomaly so they can perfect the treatment.”

  Case groaned. “What the fuck are we going to do? We don’t even know where she is right now. I doubt she’s here in Dallas, but she’ll send men in after him.”

  “And my son.” It was horrifying. They would come after her baby, and he couldn’t fight the way Theo could. “She’s interested in having a real hold over Theo, and his son is perfect leverage in her sick brain.”

  Case’s hands fisted at his sides. “I can’t believe she called you like that. Why would she do that? Why would she tip you off? Not that I’m complaining, but it’s why we got to save him.”

  “She hates Erin,” a weak voice said.

  Erin turned and Robert was trying to keep his eyes open. “Hey, are you all right?”

  “Only because Theo is a dumb fucker.” Robert’s face twisted with emotion. “He wouldn’t leave me. Damn it. He should have left me.”

  She wanted to agree, but then he wouldn’t be Theo. Theo gave a damn about this man and she needed to get on board. When she thought about it, Robert had no one. He didn’t remember who he was, what he’d done, where he’d grown up. No one. She’d felt alone before.

  Erin moved to Robert’s bed. He had no family but Theo. Theo was hers, so that kind of made Robert hers, too. Was this how Tag felt whenever he took in another stray? She put a hand on Robert’s. “He couldn’t leave you. That’s who Theo is.”

  Robert’s eyes opened, red showing. “I would do anything for him. You have to know that. I would die for that man. And I’m going to tell you that she hates you. You can use that against her. It’s her weakness. She needs to win at all costs. You think she loves Theo, but the truth is Theo is incidental. He’s the prize. You’re the competitor.”

  “Why? I barely knew the woman.”

  “But Faith loved you. Her sister thought you were the most amazing woman. You had everything she thought she wanted. You were strong and Faith looked up to you in a way she never did with McDonald. You understood Faith. Hope didn’t approve of her sister’s lifestyle. You brought her further into it. You had the man she thought she deserved. And she knows you killed her father. She hates you.”

  “The feeling is entirely mutual,” Erin murmured. It was interesting information. She’d always thought she was an afterthought in this little war she found herself in. But if she had power, she would use it. It was a tool. She would think about how to make it work for them. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like someone hit me over the head.” He groaned, but his hand tightened around hers as if he desperately needed the contact. “I heard something before I went out. Theo dragged me along and when he finally went down, the man who followed us said he was coming after the baby. He said he wouldn’t leave without your son.”

  Yep. There was that familiar nausea. “She said something similar, though she told me she was going to wait until she could prove the baby was actually Theo’s.”

  Robert sat back, obviously exhausted. “She knows. That’s all about insulting you.” He sniffled, emotion clear on his face. “I can’t believe how many of them there were. Did the police catch them? Can we talk to them? I might be able to talk them down.”

  “I’m sorry, Robert.” She hated being the bearer of bad news.

  Robert’s eyes closed, but not before she saw the pain there. “Did they force the police to kill them or did they do it themselves?”

  “They jumped onto the freeway. Cars did the rest.” Ian joined her at Robert’s side. “Did she train you to kill yourself rather than be taken in?”

  “No, that wasn’t our highest directive,” Robert said, his voice hoarse. “We had a different motivation.”

  Erin could guess. “To save Theo.”

  Robert nodded. “We were never to leave Theo behind. He was the most important among us. We were never to allow anyone to take him. It’s why Victor fought so hard.”

  “But you didn’t.” Case glanced over. “I was there. You tried hard not to hit anyone, and most of the time you kept your head down.”

  Robert’s lips curled slightly. “I knew who you were. I figured out why you were there. I worked hard to seem completely obedient because I knew she would spend less time on me if she thought I was broken. It got easier after Hutch showed up because she was interested in seeing if she could turn him without the drugs. By that point I’d gone a whole month without a booster. I took the daily meds, but she seemed to need to give us boosted doses every couple of weeks or we started to slide.
She could be forgetful when she started in on a project, and she didn’t like bringing new people in. She was paranoid. At that point her main assistant had run away and she was counting on Tony to remember the majority of the extra duties. He couldn’t give a crap about routines, so I got through.”

  “How did that make you feel? Did you remember anything at all?” Robert seemed to process the drug differently than Theo did, but any information was good information.

  Robert’s head rolled back on the pillow as though he was too tired to hold it up any longer. “Sometimes I get flashes. I don’t understand them though. I see a woman but it’s like I’m small because she bends over to touch me. Sometimes I remember what it feels like to stand on a mountain road and breathe the air in and know I’m okay now. And sometimes I know I’ve done bad things. Dark things. And it could all be bullshit. What I do know is when the main drug cleared my system, I wasn’t so ready to obey anymore. So when that shit went down in Africa, I knew I would do anything to get out. I hoped you wouldn’t kill me, but getting away from her was worth the risk.”

  “I’m glad Tag here didn’t kill you,” Erin said with a smile she hoped was encouraging.

  “It wasn’t like I was looking to kill the other victims,” Ian huffed with a roll of his icy eyes.

  “Killing Tony was fun.” Case sat back down near Theo.

  “Yeah, I wish I’d been in on that one. Vic wasn’t exactly an awesome dude either.” Robert looked up at Erin. “I’m afraid she’s going to come after you.”

  “Bring it on.” She would love to get this over and done. “Somehow I think I can take her down if I can get in the same room with her.”

  “She won’t play fair,” Robert warned. “And I don’t think she’ll come after you physically. She knows how strong you are.”

  Erin knew she was dreaming if she thought that woman would come after her like an honorable opponent. “She’s going to come after my son. She’ll go after Theo. You remember what that man said to him?”

  Robert nodded. “He said they wouldn’t leave TJ behind.”

  She looked over at Theo’s brothers. “Is there any shot he won’t remember?”