Riley sighed and took a sip of wine. “We used to date.”
Sophie raised her brows at this.
“Yeah, I know. We were quite hot and heavy for each other for almost four years. Then I went away for the summer and when I came back, the three stooges over there had enrolled in the army.”
Sophie nodded. “Then...”
“Then he just packed up and left. He didn’t even talk to me about it, but I get it, you know. Sam is like their brother and he was in a bad place after you left, so they weren’t about to let him go running around in a war zone without being in the right state of mind, no offense.” Sophie gulped. Bob had hinted at the state Sam was in, but she never knew it was that bad. What if he had gotten himself killed? She raised a shaking hand to her throat and jumped as a hand suddenly landed softly on her shoulder.
“But everything was fine. I was fine. I am fine, baby.” She looked up at Sam and took the glass of wine he had brought over for her gratefully. He gave her a kiss on top of her head and shot Riley a glare.
“I was just filling her in, but this isn’t about you.” Understanding dawned in Sam’s eyes.
“He still loves you, Riley, he’s just a stubborn son of a bitch.” Riley gave him a sad smile before he turned around and went back to the guys.
“I wrote to him and sometimes we were lucky enough to Skype, but then he told me he can’t do the whole relationship thing anymore and he just never replied to any of my emails or letters again. When he was on leave he’d avoid me, not speaking a single word to me before he shipped off again. But I waited for him. I stayed in Ripley, hoping that we could fix everything once he was back, but we never did and now suddenly he became a walking, talking man-whore.” She scoffed and downed the rest of her wine.
“Riley, I don’t know what to say, but you can’t keep doing this. He is your friend—you are all friends. What is going to happen to you guys if you can’t spend time with him in a group like today? Are you willing to lose three friends? I imagine it must be hard, loving him the way you do, but I bet you love him enough to not want to lose him. And if he can only be your friend, won’t it be better to have that part of him than to lose him completely?”
Riley gave her an awkward sideways hug. “Thanks, Soph. I knew there was a reason why I liked you.” Sophie laughed. “Gee, thanks.”
The guys came over and each of them sat down in camping chairs and Sophie relaxed back as Sam entwined his fingers with hers and rested her hand on his lap. She could get used to this. Friends and a place to call home.
Chapter Ten
Sophie crept quietly along the corridor toward the door. Something told her to turn around and run as fast and as far away as she could, but a persistent little voice in her head told her to keep going. To see what was going on in the basement. She didn’t know how she got back into Grant’s mansion, but she has been down here enough to recognize the place immediately. She had spent many days here after Grant ‘taught her a lesson,’ either recovering out of plain sight or as part of her punishment. She heard a soft whimper behind the door, which was slightly ajar. She held her breath as she peeked into the dimly lit room and had to bite down on her bottom lip to keep from crying out. Elena was tied to a chair, her face swollen and bleeding while Hugh and Grant were circling her like vultures.
“Where is she?” Hugh asked calmly and the sound of his voice gave Sophie shivers.
“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me where she was going—I swear.” The sound of a fist connecting with skin had Sophie squeezing her eyes shut. Another whimper had her looking into the room again. Hugh and Grant were nowhere to be seen, but Elena was looking right at her.
“Sophia, you have to leave. They are coming for you.” Her voice was firm and strong, despite the obvious pain she was in.
“Elena.” Sophie’s voice cracked as she tried to hold the tears back. “I have to help you.”
Elena shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Get up and leave! He is already here.” Sophie frowned as she looked around her. She was back in her small kitchen at her apartment, but Elena was still in front of her tied to a chair.
“What is going on? Elena!” The room started shaking and Elena was calling her name, but Sophie could barely hear her above the noise of the shaking room. “Elena! Who is here?” But she disappeared and suddenly Sophie couldn’t stop the scream from bursting free. Marco was walking toward her, a sadistic smile on his face while she could hear her name being called from somewhere behind her. She couldn’t stop screaming not even as Marco reached for her and pulled her closer.
“Fuck it, Sophie! Wake up!” A splash of cold water had her gasping and sputtering for air. Sophie looked around her frantically, trying to see where Marco was.
“Sophie?” A hand on her shoulder made her shriek and move away. She didn’t realize she was still lounging on one of the sun chairs and she fell to the ground and landed with a soft thud at Daniel’s feet. Sophie realized that she was still in Sam’s back yard and the sun was just starting to set. She must have dozed off after eating, the hum of conversation and old friendship easing her into a state where she relaxed enough to fall asleep. She looked up at Sam, who was holding a hand out to her. Everyone was standing around her, looking at her with concern, but all she could focus on was the hair standing up all over her body. She jumped up and looked past them into the bushes. She would never forget the feeling of Marco’s eyes on her body and she could feel it right now.
“He’s here! He knows where I am, he is...” Sam’s hands clamped down on her shoulders and turned her firmly toward him.
“Look at me. I’m right here, you’re safe.” She shrugged his hands off of her.
“No! He’s here!”
“Who?” Luke asked softly, while Riley held onto his arm tightly.
“Marco! He’s here and he’s going to take me.” Her hands flew into her hair, gripping tightly in her panic.
“Baby, no one is going...”
“Samuel! I can feel him looking at me. Right now. He is here, and I am not fucking with you!”
He shared a look with Luke and they appeared to be having an internal conversation of some kind. Suddenly Sam’s and Daniel’s holsters were unclipped, guns out and moving stealthily away. Before she could blink, Luke ushered both women into the house and down the stairs to sit down at the bar in the basement that had been converted into a very sophisticated man cave. She heard the door lock firmly behind them before Luke made his way back over to them, pouring them all a shot of whiskey.
* * *
“There was definitely someone behind the bushes. The tracks lead to the back fence, but there must have been a car because they disappeared at the road,” Daniel told them as he came into the basement. Sophie reached for her tumbler glass again and swallowed the rest of her whiskey. He was really here. What was she supposed to do now? Pack up and run, leaving everyone in danger? Like she had left Elena in danger... she swallowed the guilt crawling up her throat, threatening to suffocate her. She could stay and, again, put everyone in danger? Or should she give up and go back to New York? Sam came striding in through the door, a grim expression on his face. “You’re moving in with me.” Sophie swallowed hard, trying to keep the word vomit from spilling. One look from Sam and she just couldn’t. “I have to go back.”
“Absolutely fucking not!” Sam thundered as he stepped into her personal space, pulling her closer. “You are not going back to that psychopath. You are going to help Daniel in every way you can to put them behind bars.”
“And what if they don’t go to prison? They have to put me in the witness protection program, and you have to stay behind. Grant will come after everyone I care about. Which means you. It means Bob and Riley and Luke—how many people have to die for me?”
“No one is leaving Ripley, and no one is going to die. I will do everything to keep you safe—that is a promise.” His eyes were shining down into her face, the vow he made clearly reflected in them.
“It’s no
t going to work, Samuel. He has an army of men—ruthless, coldhearted bastards—and you are only one person.”
“No, he’s not.” Luke stood up and Daniel nodded.
“We will keep you safe and we will get them.”
“Don’t underestimate them, Soph,” Riley chipped in. “These guys were made for combat.”
It didn’t reassure her at all but leaving was clearly not an option. Sam would have her locked up in their basement before she could say bus ticket. The only option she had left was to try to get them behind bars before they came to Ripley—guns blazing with only vengeance on their minds.
* * *
“Grant and Hugh were small time businessmen at first. They had the traveling carnival, which did fairly well, but that was only during summertime. So, they decided to expand their business a bit. They started small at first—hiring a few men to pickpocket the people at the carnival. Then they started scoping out the towns they were in for the summer, watching the people, seeing where the real money was at: big houses, small banks, that sort of thing. They would plan and watch and when the carnival left town, a few of their men would stay behind and rob houses or banks or whatever the target was for that week. Their men would bring the haul back to the carnival where they would hide it in one of the containers and when the container was full, it would be sent back to New York to sell the stolen goods. Then they started dealing with guns and drugs, they opened underground gambling rings, prostitution, money laundering—you name it. The only thing they didn’t do was human trafficking—at least, not that I knew of.
Their office is at Grant’s house; they have a hidden doorway behind a bookcase that opens into the business office from his study. Only Grant and Hugh can access it and they keep everything, all their records, jewels, and money there. The files are stored on a computer hard drive as well as in hard copies. All locked up in a safe and encrypted. If you can get those files, you can cut the head of the snake.” Sophie drew a rough map of the mansion as she spoke, more to keep her hands busy than to show them where the office was hidden. She was sitting at the end of Sam’s kitchen table while Sam, Daniel, and Luke were standing around, listening intently to everything she was saying.
“Now that he knows where I am, he’ll come for me. He’ll bring Marco and maybe two of his men with him. That would be the best time to try and get into the mansion. Hugh lives on his own estate so there won’t be anyone inside the house except the maids and four or five guards. There should be four more at the each of the two gates and four patrolling the grounds.”
“That’s about twenty men to get out of the way and then we’ll need one hell of a tech guy to get us into the safe,” Luke surmised as Daniel nodded. “Don’t worry about that—I know a guy. First thing we’ll need is a warrant to search the premises. You can get into the mansion any way you want, but if you don’t have a warrant to search it, nothing you find can be used in court.”
“Good point—do we have any contacts in New York that can help us with that?” Sam asked.
“Yeah—I’ve got everything in New York handled. You need to focus on everything in Ripley.” The words had barely left Daniel’s mouth before something came flying through the kitchen window, causing glass shards to shatter everywhere. She heard Luke’s voice shouting ‘stun grenade’ just as Sam pulled her out of the way and then a big bang resounded through the room. Sophie felt dazed, her vision was blurred, and her ears were ringing. She tried to make sense of the chaos surrounding her. Luke was lying against the wall, a small trickle of blood running down his temple. Daniel was beneath the kitchen table—or more precisely the broken pieces of wood that once was the kitchen table—and Sam was lying on top of her, protecting her even though his eyes were closed. His weight suddenly disappeared as two men in masks hefted him up by the arms. A hand gripped her by the hair, and she was pulled to her feet.
“Hello, love. Did you miss me?” She felt the wetness of a tongue licking the shell of her ear and shuddered as her confused mind registered the voice that belonged to Marco.
“Tie them up and keep watch until we get back. The boss wants the big one alive.” They nodded, and Sophie was dragged off, kicking and screaming with tears streaming down her eyes as she saw the men throwing Sam down harshly. Marco pulled her out of the house and down the driveway to where a black Mercedes was parked on the curb.
“Don’t worry, princess. He’ll live long enough to know exactly how you died.”
“Grant won’t kill me, and you know it,” Sophie managed through gritted teeth as she struggled to get loose.
“Are you sure about that?” Marco turned her around and gripped her face tightly with one hand. “You betrayed him. You humiliated him. He’s pretty pissed off.” His face came closer as he gave her an evil smile. “Come to think of it. Maybe I should have some fun with you first. You might not be able to put up much of a fight after he’s done with you—and I just love it when you fight.” His lips were only centimeters away from her before a shrill voice rang out in the night air.
“I don’t think so, asshole.” And then she heard a thud and Marco crumbled to the ground, taking Sophie with him. She struggled away from him and stared at Riley with wide eyes.
“Holy shit.” Riley was standing there with a murderous expression on her face and a baseball bat in her hand. “Yeah—that motherfucker wasn’t going anywhere with my friend.”
“I’d beg to differ.” Sophie’s entire body went cold at the sound of his voice.
“Phillip.” He was one of Grant’s best men, not very talkative, but deadly dangerous. Sophie had seen what he was capable of before. Grant once decided that her best punishment was to watch them torture and kill an innocent man who got into bad debt with them because he needed money for his wife’s cancer treatment. Phillip didn’t show a single sliver of emotion as he had carved the man up—slowly—before killing him. He was more dangerous and evoked a deeper fear than even Marco had, despite her little interaction with him. He was standing a few feet behind Riley, dressed in a black Armani suit with a gun raised and pointing straight at her head. Riley gripped the bat tighter, but Sophie shook her head slightly as she stood up. She walked over to Phillip slowly with her hands raised; one wrong move would have a bullet lodged in Riley’s head.
“It’s okay, Phillip. I’m not going anywhere.” He kept the gun focused on Riley until Sophie was standing right in front of him, the gun point almost touching her forehead. “Riley, leave.” She didn’t break eye contact with Phillip and suppressed the shiver at his dark, cold, and emotionless eyes, but she was not about to let another person be harmed because of her.
“I’m not going...”
“Yes, you are,” Sophie interrupted her, and Phillip smiled down at her, his empty eyes making the smile so much more sinister. With a soft sigh of relief, she heard Riley’s footsteps retreat.
“Always so good to your friends. Too bad that they will all die.” He pulled her closer and to her ultimate shock, he kissed her, biting her lips painfully. Sophie held still as a piece of her died inside. She was doing this for her friends, for Sam. She just had to go with Phillip and get him, Grant, and all the other men as far away from Ripley as possible.
“Get your filthy fucking hands off her.” Sophie gasped as she heard Sam’s voice. Phillip spun her around and pressed the gun against her head, holding her body tightly against his.
“If it isn’t the lover. This is going to be fun.” Sam was there, Daniel and Luke flanking him on both sides, all with guns drawn and pointed at Phillip.
“Give it up. It’s three against one—you’ll never make it out of here alive,” Daniel said and she felt Phillip lower his head slightly, his chin resting on her shoulder.
“My, my, my. NYPD police chief in Ripley—didn’t see that one coming.” He gave Sophie’s face a long, slow lick and she saw Sam grip his gun tighter. Sophie had no idea where he suddenly got the guts to touch her like that, but maybe it was Grant’s orders? No, that wouldn’t be it—he
was insanely jealous and possessive to the point of insanity. Phillip and Marco were taking chances because Grant wasn’t there. They were in charge of her extraction. There was still hope that she could save everyone she cared about. “Are you going to tell them, Sophia? You know I don’t care to die. Are they willing to let you die, just so that they can kill me? If I pull this trigger, they will shoot me but at least I will have killed you first. Do they think I’m bluffing?”
“He’s not,” Sophie managed to whisper; her tearful eyes focused on Sam. I love you, she mouthed to him and saw him give her a barely perceptible shake of his head, his eyes burning into her own. She raised her hands and grabbed onto the one arm Phillip had around her neck. “I’ll go with you, Phillip, without a fight. No one has to get shot tonight.”
“And have these three hounding me for the rest of my life? No, thank you. I think I’ll shoot the one on the left first, that way they will have something to distract them and I can just pick them off from there.” He was going to do it. He was going to shoot Luke. Sophie had to stop him, somehow. Sam had taught her some self-defense moves. She had to SING: An elbow to the solar plexus, instep on his foot, another elbow to the nose, and then a hard hit to his groin. Sam’s voice filled her head and she could hear him telling her to take a deep breath and prepare for a counterattack. She only had to get him distracted enough and then move away from his body, because then Sam would move in. She tried to send him a message with her eyes, but he didn’t seem to be catching on. She took a deep breath before ramming her elbow as hard as she could right into his guts. He loosened his grip as he grunted and she stepped on his foot. His arms fell away and she raised her elbow up and backwards, hitting him right on the nose before twirling around, lifting her knee and kicking him in the balls. He went down with a thud, his gun falling out of his hand. She quickly kicked it out of the way and then Sam was there, pulling her behind him. What he was planning on doing next, she’d never know as they were all left stunned as Riley came running up to them with a battle cry, baseball bat raised above her head.
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