Absolution: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book Two)

by Morgan Kelley

  That said it all.

  The woman had grown accustomed to men staring at her without clothes. Whoever did this to her made her nothing more than an animal.

  “Shhhh, stop! We’re here to save you,” Dakota stated. “Blackhawk sent us. You’re about to get free,” he stated, glancing at his watch.

  “Time?”

  “Three minutes.”

  Zayn had to rush this party along.

  “Ethan Blackhawk?” she inquired skeptically. “He sent you?” she asked trying not to get any glimmer of hope. She’d been hurt before.

  God!

  So many times.

  “Yes, but we have to get out of here. This place is a giant trap, and we don’t want to get caught in it.”

  Oh, she wanted out.

  She’d go with them if they told her they were aliens and there was a large anal probe on the way out the door.

  Storm didn’t care.

  She wanted to be free.

  “Please don’t leave me,” she begged.

  “It’s okay, Storm. The FBI finally found you, and we’re here to get you out,” Dakota stated.

  She stared into the masks.

  Dakota knew she needed something.

  Blocking the camera, he lifted it. Beneath, he hoped she’d see someone who wouldn’t hurt her.

  That did the trick.

  She stopped trying to keep them from touching her. She knew he wouldn’t have shown his face if he was a killer.

  “We have to hurry. He’s going to be picking up his new slave,” she whispered.

  Yeah, they figured that was what was going down tomorrow at that drop. They were lucky she was still alive.

  No.

  She was damn lucky she was alive.

  The universe had been her friend.

  “When?” Zayn asked.

  She would tell them anything they wanted as long they got her out of there.

  “Tomorrow. I’m dead after that. Get me out of here! Please!”

  Zayn scooped her up, and Dakota took the point. It was likely going to be shoot-to-kill kind of situation, and Zayn really hoped the ex-Marshal didn’t take that moment to get squeamish about killing.

  That would be really bad timing.

  “HURRY!” Rogue said into their coms.

  The men lit a fire under their asses.

  Heading up the stairs, Zayn grabbed a blanket off a chair to wrap it around Storm’s naked body. He could hear the rain outside, and it was about to get even colder. There was no time to play gentleman and give her his shirt.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, as she was finally covered and warm.

  Zayn couldn’t look at her.

  Storm’s condition broke his heart.

  She had clearly been abused. She was scarred up, burnt, and rail thin. She was lighter than a bird. Carter Foley was one sick fuck, and he was going to make him pay.

  Yeah, maybe being the hero wasn’t so bad after all.

  Her body made him want to put holes in someone, or something. He couldn’t help but see the parallel between his sister and what almost happened to Stella.

  His heart broke for her.

  As they raced toward the door, there was a beeping.

  “Someone is overriding the code,” Rogue warned. “You have seconds. If that door closes, you’re locked inside!”

  Shit!

  No one wanted that.

  They were so damn close.

  Dakota reached for the heavy wooden door and yanked it open just as the steel bolts began appearing. They made a grinding sound on the tile floor as Dakota dragged them.

  Until the door was jammed and not open wide enough to get out.

  “I can’t,” he stated.

  Zayn passed off Storm and got into the position. If anyone could muscle the door, it would be him.

  “AGGGGHHHHHH,” he hissed as he destroyed tile to open the door wide enough for them get them out.

  “Yeah, Hulk smash,” Rogue teased, trying to find some humor in that or he’d freak-out. He really wanted to be there to help them in the worst way.

  “Let’s go,” Zayn said as he took the point, and they hustled back into the swampy surroundings with Storm in tow.

  Dakota carried her, keeping her above the icy marsh water. She’d been through enough, and the woman barely had any weight on her to fight the chill.

  She was crying, and it broke his heart.

  They trudged along until they got to their ride.

  “Get the car moving,” Dakota stated, putting Storm in the back. “If they reset the locks, that means they are on their way here,” he stated.

  Zayn got that, and he wasn’t up for sticking around.

  He floored it, and they disappeared down that deserted road. As he saw lights coming, he pulled the ‘borrowed’ vehicle into a grove of trees. The ride they’d seen earlier at the house flew past their hiding spot like they were on a mission.

  Yeah, one where Storm was silenced, and anyone breaking in joined her.

  “Are we safe?” she whispered from her position on the backseat.

  They both began breathing again.

  “Yeah, we’re clear,” Dakota stated, pulling off his mask as Zayn did the same thing.

  “Let’s give it a minute,” the big man stated. “In case there are more cars coming. I’d rather be cautious than have one hell of a car chase through the swamp. It’s raining now, and the roads are a mess.”

  That was good with Dakota.

  Storm whimpered from the backseat. She was curled up on her side as she tried to protectively keep one eye on the men.

  “It’s okay,” Dakota stated, reaching into his pocket to prove he was on the up and up. The woman was watching them like she was going to be raped by them too.

  Thankfully, Sarah had swiped his old badge.

  He handed it to her.

  Carefully, she took it and flipped it open. His ID was in there, but the star was gone.

  He read her mind.

  “It was made into a belt buckle.”

  She felt a little better.

  Zayn let his hair down.

  “No more prissy buns for me. This man doesn’t roll that way,” he stated.

  “Are you a cop too?” she asked.

  “Awww, don’t insult a guy like that,” he said, still unable to look at her.

  “Well, thank you for saving me.”

  “It’s okay, Agent St. Clair. It was all in a day’s work. We’ll take care of you now. We have a doctor at our place. We’re going to have her look at you.”

  “How do I know you’re who you said you are? I know you have a badge, but…”

  Zayn believed the coast was clear. He pulled back onto the road.

  “I can call Ethan Blackhawk if that makes you feel more secure. We don’t want to stress you any more than you have been,” Dakota offered.

  She looked relieved.

  “Please. Then will I be free?” she asked. “I don’t feel so well,” she stated.

  She was shaking.

  “Did he drug you?” Dakota asked, ignoring that initial question. They needed Storm. For the time being, she was their ONLY link to Rosemary Harrington. She couldn’t leave just yet. There was going to be a debriefing.

  “All of the time.”

  Well, it looked like she was going to be going through all kinds of withdrawal symptoms.

  “When was your last dose?” he asked.

  “He drugged me when he got home each day. It was always before he raped me. He tried without the drugs, and I hurt him.”

  “Good for you, peaches.”

  She looked at Zayn.

  “Peaches?”

  “You’re all pale and pink. You remind me of a peach. That’s all.”

  Dakota knew what he was doing. He was trying to get her to focus on anything but what happened to her.

  “It was terrible,” she stated.

  Neither man went there.

  What the hell did they say to that?

 
The woman had been assaulted every day for a year. She had been gang-raped and used as someone’s toy. As males, they were disgusted…and helpless.

  “We don’t know who he is,” Dakota stated. “He has no past.”

  “They.”

  “There were more than one?”

  She nodded.

  They needed to debrief her, but this wasn’t the time. They’d give her some time to come off of this, and the way she was shaking, she was going to need help.

  Doctor help.

  “I’m checking out,” Rogue said over both of their earbuds. “I have a detective issue. She’s outside my house,” he admitted.

  “Avoid her,” Dakota stated. “You know that’s going to end badly. Don’t poke the tiger!”

  Storm watched him.

  “See you tomorrow,” Dakota stated.

  “Who are you talking to?” she asked.

  He pulled his earbud out. “Our security expert. He got us into that place by hacking a code to the security.”

  “I owe him too.”

  Yeah, she owed them nothing.

  They owed her everything. The government dropped the ball on this one.

  “Can you call Ethan?” she asked. “I need to confirm it’s safe to talk to you,” Storm stated, already believing she would be safe with them.

  Zayn pulled some cookies out of the glove compartment.

  “Here. We’ll get you something healthy, but for now, these will have to do.”

  She took them with shaking fingers.

  “I will get you justice,” Zayn stated, knowing this woman reminded him too much of Adsilla. “I promise.”

  Dakota knew the big man was rattled.

  “We will.”

  “Thank you. Please call him.”

  He understood. She’d been undercover, and she wanted to check-in. A lot had changed in the last year.

  For her.

  For the FBI.

  For them.

  He made the call.

  “Ethan, we have the Storm. She’s been contained, and we’re looking at a category five outcome.”

  His face came onto the screen of Dakota’s phone.

  “Agent St. Clair, welcome back. From here on out, we have you, Storm.”

  That’s where she erupted.

  It was so sudden that Zayn actually reached for his gun at the outburst.

  “Yeah, well, fuck the FBI and fuck you. Gabe Rothschild left me in there for a year! I was a prisoner for a year! Do you know what that was like?”

  Ethan let her rage.

  She deserved it.

  This wasn’t his mess, but he’d swallow it for a woman who’d endured so much. He could tell just looking at her. She was strung out, sick, and in bad shape. It was going to take some time to get Storm St. Clair back to normal.

  IF that was even possible.

  He already knew she wasn’t going to be able to assimilate into normal life. If he let her go, she was going to be buying drugs and getting high.

  They had to clean her up.

  It was detox time.

  The only safe place for her was going to be their home in New Orleans under a watchful eye.

  “I understand,” he stated sympathetically.

  “I went under beneath Rothschild and Croft, and they let me fall! They didn’t come for me when she took me!”

  She cursed more.

  She flipped him off.

  Only then did he calmly speak.

  “Greyson Croft lost his job. He stopped being part of the FBI right after you went under. This isn’t on him. It’s on me. I’m the deputy director, and the head of FBI West dropped the ball. That makes this my issue.”

  “Great. I can hate you too.”

  “And that’s fine, Storm. Now the question is do you want to recover from this, or do you want me to let you do it your way? You’re in bad shape.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Elizabeth’s face came on the screen. It appeared that she was done listening to her husband be this woman’s verbal punching bag.

  “Yo! Bitch, back that anger up. I get it. You’re pissed, but you signed up for this mission. You knew what could happen.”

  “Fuck you, Elizabeth.”

  “Yeah, yeah. You can be mad. I accept that but point your anger at who deserves it. The FBI worked to find you. WE found you, and we had you saved. If you want to hate someone, help us find Rosemary Harrington.”

  “I want that bitch dead.”

  “Then make it happen. Get cleaned up, and tomorrow, you can brief the team. You can tell them everything you know, and in the meantime, we’ll get you some meds to combat what is coming.”

  The woman broke.

  “It was bad,” she whispered.

  Gone was the tough.

  From her.

  From Elizabeth.

  In its place, there was compassion and mercy. Elizabeth was being Elizabeth.

  “When you come back to DC, we’ll get you help. We’ll do whatever you need.”

  “Don’t let me get taken again,” she whispered. “Please. I can’t do that again.”

  The anger was gone.

  “We won’t. We promise you’ll have a twenty-four-hour guard at your disposal. You’ll have protection for as long as it takes, on our dime. Ethan and I will make sure you’re protected. You will be safe, Storm. I promise you. You know me. I am my word.”

  That seemed to help.

  “Thank you. I’m sorry I said those things. I’m just really not feeling well.”

  Ethan had warned her that men would cause her to rage. She was going to need a soft touch. With Zayn and Dakota, they saved her. She’d feel safe with them, and with Sarah and Stella, she’d be comfortable.

  That was why Elizabeth was handling this. Ethan was a man, and a man did this to her.

  “Don’t apologize, Storm. If you didn’t say those things, you wouldn’t be human. You were hurt. We’ll catch her and the man who bought you.”

  “She had help,” she whispered.

  “Who?” Dakota asked.

  She was shaking.

  “Lay off, Dak. She’s in shock, needs a meal, and some clothes. Tomorrow is soon enough,” Zayn stated, asserting his dominance on this one. He had a soft spot—like when he’d made a paper dress to cover Stella’s naked pictures from the kidnappers.

  “We need that security for her. We can’t spare anyone,” Dakota stated. Since she’d offered to pay… “Who do you have in mind?”

  She said something to her husband.

  “We have that guy on the ground. He’ll be up to the task. Ethan wants to use him.”

  Storm looked scared.

  “Zayn can take him if he even thinks about hurting you,” Elizabeth offered.

  “I can,” he promised.

  “His name is Gamble Holloway, and he will be there in the morning. He’ll be her round the clock watcher. He’s good at it.”

  “Great,” he said. “How will I know…?”

  “Think bad attitude and Native American. That about sums him up.”

  He laughed.

  “Great. That seems to be a theme in my life,” Dakota said, pointing the phone at Zayn and earning a finger.

  “Get her to Stella.”

  “On it. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “You do that.”

  She clicked off.

  “I’m cold,” she whispered, as Zayn pulled a bottle of water from beneath the car seat.

  “Hungry?” he asked as Dakota turned up the heat. “I can stop and get you anything you want.”

  She watched them hesitantly.

  “We won’t hurt you,” Dakota promised. “We will keep you safe from here on out.”

  Tears slipped down her cheeks.

  Storm didn’t know who to believe anymore. Her whole world was destroyed.

  And she would never be the same.

  Ever again.

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  Carter Foley’s

  Home

 
HE WAS NOT HAPPY.

  He’d been on his way to the house when his cell phone chimed and gave him the alert.

  Someone had broken into his domain.

  That was so very wrong.

  As he drove there, the entire time, he watched the two men heading toward her door.

  It pissed him off.

  She was worthless to him anymore, but she was his. He’d paid for her. He’d broken her. She was his toy.

  The previous night, she’d been raped so many times that she begged him to kill her. He’d told her she was going to die, and that was a lie.

  It was his way of scaring her.

  Now, she was gone.

  Even with his guards heading there, they didn’t get there in time.

  Storm, his wild plaything, was gone.

  Pulling out his phone, he made a call. When Rosemary answered her phone, he laid into her.

  “You came back here and brought trouble! I agreed to take her to get rid of your problem, and now, she’s mine!”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “They took her.”

  There was silence.

  “Oh, that’s bad.”

  “YOU FUCKING THINK? If she can identify me, you’re dead.”

  He hung up.

  If he didn’t, he’d say something they would both regret going forward.

  Taking a deep breath, he found his Zen. This was going to be okay. He would be perfectly fine. He’d worn a mask, and there was no way to trace him.

  Not the drugs.

  Not the party.

  Not anything.

  What he did need to handle was this mess. His sex playpen had been compromised, and that wasn’t good.

  Luckily, it wasn’t his real home.

  It was the house that ill-gotten gains bought, and he had more. It was time to find a new place.

  And a new girl.

  He was horny, and someone had to pay.

  Soon.

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  Four Twenty-Five

  Chartres Street

  At the house, they took her in the back way. Zayn carried her, and once inside, they were met by Sarah and Stella. Both women looked concerned.

  “Get her upstairs,” Stella stated. “I’ll do a full medical after we get her cleaned up.”

  He listened to her directives.

  Sarah went to follow, but Dakota stopped her.