Vengeance (SSU Trilogy Book 1)

by Kier, Vanessa

  When she came to, she was hanging in the center of a small, dimly lit stone room. Her hands were chained above her head to an iron bar that was anchored by posts on either side of her. Her feet skimmed over a fist-sized drain in the floor.

  And she was naked.

  She struggled with a strength fueled by wild fear. But all her twisting and turning accomplished was scraped wrists and aching shoulders.

  Her head sank onto her chest and she gulped in frantic lungfuls of air. She was going to die. She’d never get to hear Kai explain why he’d betrayed her family. She was never going to see Niko again.

  Tears dripped onto the floor. For the first time in two years, she didn’t embrace her death as a reward for her hard journey.

  How was she to know she’d been fooling herself? This love she still felt for Kai had been buried so deeply under her anger and grief it had been undetectable.

  But somehow Niko had sensed the truth. He’d tried to turn her away from this path, but she wouldn’t listen.

  Now she was trapped. Unable to hurt Kai. Unable to help him thanks to this latest in a long string of impetuous moves. Niko had been right. She didn’t have the head for this dangerous shadow world. When push came to shove, her emotions drove her.

  And now her family might never be avenged.

  The depth of her failure shattered her. Destroyed the last remnants of the tough, cold-hearted Jenna. Leaving her scared and drowning in remorse. And unsure who or what she was anymore.

  She watched more tears disappear down the drain.

  Somewhere behind her a key clicked in a lock. The door opened, letting in a breeze that chilled her skin. When the door closed, it sealed the fresh air outside, leaving her alone with an oppressive silence.

  She sensed someone standing behind her, knew who it had to be, and wondered how long Alvarez intended to let the silence build.

  It took every ounce of self control not to let her breathing speed up in fear. She rolled her bottom lip in and bit down on it to keep from whimpering. With each beat of her heart her nerves stretched tauter as she waited to feel a blow.

  Yet the weapon Alvarez chose was speech.

  “You have displeased me most deeply.” Alvarez’s voice thrummed with anger. “I need your brother alive, yet you attempted to kill him. What type of sisterly love is that?”

  Jenna bit her tongue so she wouldn’t stammer out an apology.

  There was an odd whistle of air, then a sharp sting of a whip against the bare flesh of her thighs.

  Jenna’s hand convulsed on the chains overhead as her body arched away from the blow.

  “Talk to me. Explain yourself. That room was monitored, so I know you are not mute.”

  The whip sliced across her buttocks. More tears leaked out from between her tightly closed eyelids.

  No. Push them away. She would not show Alvarez any weakness.

  “You were meant to be incentive to get your brother to talk. But if there’s bad blood between you, then you are useless. Give me a reason to spare your life. Tell me why you tried to kill your brother.”

  Another whistle and the whip bit into her back with enough force that she tasted blood where her teeth had cut into her tongue. There wasn’t any reason not to tell the truth, so she gasped, “Because he was there that night. I heard him order your assassins to kill my family.”

  Silence.

  Then Alvarez laughed. Quietly at first, then with such great whoops, she imagined him slapping his knees in mirth.

  Memories of that night still had the power to cut more deeply than this man’s whip, yet he found it funny? Her eyes popped open and she stood as upright as her chains allowed. She turned her head to glare at him over her right shoulder.

  His face was alight with glee.

  “Oh,” he choked out between chuckles, “this is a gift I never expected. The divine perfection of it!”

  His mirth made her want to throttle him.

  He sucked in a breath, then exhaled gustily. When he spoke, his words were pregnant with humor and his eyes as they met hers actually twinkled. “Your brother was not in the house that night, chica.”

  She shook her head. “Yes, he was. I heard him. He said ‘Kill them.’ Then he laughed. And I saw him leave the house.” She bowed her head, barely able to swallow past the lump in her throat. Anguish sank its teeth into her heart, as sharp now as it had been two years ago.

  Kai had betrayed them, yet she’d failed to kill him. What did that make her?

  Failure. Coward.

  She closed her eyes against a wave of self-loathing.

  “No, señorita, that was a recording you heard. My men put it together from telephone conversations with your brother. I do not know who you saw sneaking away, but I assure you, he wasn’t there that night. He had already disappeared with the chip. My men hoped the recording would encourage your father to tell us where your brother was hiding. But your padre, he didn’t believe it was really your brother saying those things. He died without revealing where your brother had fled. He trusted your brother completely. Unlike you.”

  “But…the knife. The police retrieved a knife with his prints on it.”

  She heard the whip move and tensed, waiting for an attack. But the lash only tapped softly against the post to her right.

  “A plant. Insurance in case your father didn’t reveal the information we needed and it was necessary to kill him. With your brother framed for the murders, he would have no place of safety among his law enforcement friends.”

  He chuckled. “To think that you’ve hated your brother all this time. What mental anguish you’ve been through. It’s exhilarating.”

  Kai was innocent?

  I knew it, a tiny voice deep inside her rejoiced.

  But her mind couldn’t wrap itself around Alvarez’s story. She’d spent too long believing Kai’s guilt. Even if the rest of what Alvarez said was true, she knew she’d seen Kai on the back porch.

  Jenna gripped the chains, grateful for their support. Afraid that otherwise she’d fall into a jumbled heap.

  Ryker had warned her that Kai might be innocent despite the evidence. But she’d been so certain of Kai’s guilt, she refused to believe.

  And…hadn’t Kai just apologized to her? Begged for death? Why, if he was innocent?

  Maybe Alvarez was lying to her.

  Alvarez lightly traced the surgery scars on her back with the whip. She twitched, as if she could move her skin out of his reach. “As much as I’d like to stay and play with you a while, I think it better that I return you to your brother.” He slapped the whip across the welt on her buttocks. “Make sure you convince him to give me the information I want, or you will find yourself back in this room tomorrow, and you won’t leave until you’ve shed at least a pint of blood.”

  Her eyes flew to the drain beneath her. It was too easy to imagine her blood flowing away. Jenna shivered.

  Behind her, the door creaked opened. Moments later, men unchained her, carried her back to Kai’s cell and threw her clothes in after her. Minus the belt and the second knife hidden there.

  For several minutes, Jenna just lay on the dirt floor, grateful to have survived Alvarez’s questioning. Her mind still couldn’t absorb all she’d been told, but two things were clear.

  It was possible she’d almost killed an innocent man.

  And if she couldn’t find a way to get them both out of here, she was going to have to use the suicide pills after all.

  Aware that Alvarez’s men watched her every move, Jenna carefully stood up. She ran her fingers lightly over the raised welts on her back, buttocks and thighs. In a couple of places she touched a pinpoint of blood, yet overall, she was intact. She pulled on her clothes, wincing only slightly as the fabric abraded the tender spots.

  A few steps brought her closer to Kai. He’d rolled over onto his side, causing the blanket to pool on the floor. Giving Jenna her first view of his injuries.

  She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.


  The angle of Kai’s limbs was all wrong. Looking at him was like looking at one of Escher’s drawings. His body went off in directions that fooled the eye into thinking they were normal, but on second glance were clearly unnatural.

  With a sick twist of her stomach, she realized that one leg was broken and his right shoulder must be dislocated, because his arm wasn’t meant to hang at that angle. Filthy, bloody strips of cloth barely covered the blistered, shredded skin of his back and legs.

  There was a bullet hole in his left shoulder from where he’d been shot the night he’d been taken.

  She shoved her fist in her mouth, seeing new bruises from where she’d hit him earlier. Hissing in sympathy and regret, she moved to the front of him.

  Fresh tears pooled in her eyes. The front of his body had been subjected to the same treatment as the back of him. How could he suffer so much and still be alive? His face and hands were purplish, bloody distortions and his hair looked like it had been used to clean an outhouse.

  No wonder he wanted to die.

  “Oh, Kai.” She gently tucked a lock of short, matted hair back behind his ear. Underneath her fingertip, his skin was as hot as noontime sand.

  He opened his eyes. Blinked and squinted as if even the meager light from the nearly burned out torch was too much. His unfocused gaze met hers for a moment. “I’m not dead yet?” he mumbled.

  Jenna shook her head.

  Kai’s eyes closed. “Knew it was…too good…to be…true.” Then he lost consciousness.

  A sob worked its way up from deep in her belly and stuck in her throat.

  Her lips moved soundlessly. This was her big, strong, larger-than-life brother? This man, who’d been tortured to within an inch of his life, was the man she’d sworn to kill?

  Very likely an innocent man.

  She threw her head back and screamed in outrage. Two years—wasted on the wrong man.

  Kai groaned.

  She murmured reassuringly to him and lightly stroked his hair. She had to find a way to get him out of here. She ran her tongue over the cyanide pills against her teeth. They were a last resort, one she’d lost any desire to use.

  Because Alvarez had to die.

  #

  Thursday, Morning

  Zihuatanejo, Mexico

  Niko prowled around the sitting room of their bungalow, working through the pain in his leg. He’d managed to grab a few hours of restless, nightmare-filled sleep and was ready for action. Only there was nothing to do now but wait. Wait to see if Ryker could put together a team and get them here by tonight. Wait to see if Rafe’s calls to his special forces buddies brought in any additional men.

  Damn, he needed to get out of here. He knew all too well the weapons in Alvarez’s arsenal. Thinking of Jenna suffering through even the mildest of Alvarez’s tortures was enough to make Niko want to punch a hole in the wall.

  And Aunt Madalena. How much more abuse could she take before she broke?

  God, he resented the hell out of Rafe. His brother was asleep in the bedroom. Niko knew the Rangers had trained Rafe to sleep under any condition, mental or physical, but sleeping wasn’t helping them put together a rescue.

  You could do with a few more hours shut-eye, yourself.

  But he knew he was lucky to have slept at all.

  When his phone rang, he pounced on it, praying it would be Ryker.

  But it was Carlos.

  “Hey, Derecha, fine morning.”

  “Cut the small talk, amigo. What’s up?”

  “You remember Manny the Rat?”

  Manuelo Rodriguez, aka the Rat because of his pointed chin and beady eyes, was an international fence who’d hated Alvarez ever since the crime lord raped Manny’s only daughter. “Yeah. So?”

  “So one of Alvarez’s guards drops Manny a note last night. Only, the note’s for you, man. He didn’t know how to contact you, so he put the word out. I’ve got the note now and let me tell you, it’s got some sweet perfume on it. You got a sweetheart with Alvarez?”

  “Like I talk about my women? You know better than that.” Niko’s pulse kicked into overdrive. Jenna didn’t wear scent, but Aunt Madalena wore perfume. Usually something heavy that Alvarez picked out.

  “I’m in a meeting,” Niko snarled. “Read me the note.” Let Carlos think he was still in Acapulco. That info would be passed on to Alvarez and it would give the crime lord a distorted sense of how long it would take Niko to reach the fortress.

  “Ah…”

  “Carlos? What have you done?”

  “Nothing! I swear, I only tried to read the note when Manny gave it to me. Nothing bad. But see, I can’t read it. The note is nothing but weird figures that don’t look like any language I know.”

  Holy shit. After all these years, Madalena still remembered the Greek alphabet Uncle Tasi had taught her. But damn, this was a complication he didn’t need.

  He sighed. “Okay. Take the note to a business center and fax it to me. You know I’m good for the expense. Here’s the number…” He gave Carlos his e-fax number, which would deliver the fax as an e-mail attachment.

  “Oh, and Carlos? I expect the fax within half an hour, or I’m coming after you. Comprendes?”

  “Sí .”

  #

  The fax arrived in his e-mail’s inbox within twenty minutes, so Niko figured he owed Carlos a little extra cash for his speedy response.

  He quickly scanned the note written in modern Greek.

  Niko, Alvarez is waiting for you to make your rescue. He has three prisoners in the dungeon—one woman and two men. The woman and one of the men are in the third cell on the left. The other man is in the fifth cell to the right. I know you will come for your friends and nothing I say will stop you. I will do what I can to help when I hear fighting. Be careful. Do not risk your life for mine. Love, Aunt Madalena.

  Niko stared at the message. His aunt’s courage humbled him. He could only imagine what it had cost her to sneak the note out. But this was just what he needed. Not just information as to where Jenna was being held, but confirming that his aunt was still in the fortress.

  Alvarez should have evacuated Aunt Madalena as soon as he learned Niko was in town. But of course, Alvarez wouldn’t believe Niko could beat him again.

  The man’s arrogance had always been his greatest weakness.

  Niko’s mind ran through the additional measures necessary to free his aunt. The fortress was a huge place. If she was in the same suite of rooms she’d used before, rescuing her would be easy. But if he had to hunt around for her, there was a high chance he’d be discovered before he found the right room.

  Paterson and Tonelli were likely in no physical shape to walk, so they’d need to be carried. If they were still alive. Then there was Jenna. If she was determined to die, would she resist rescue? Was she even now biting down on a cyanide capsule?

  Hell. Niko rubbed his chest, trying to dull the pain squatting there.

  Jenna couldn’t die. He—

  Rafe’s cell phone blared from the bedroom. Niko headed for the door, intending to answer it, but heard his brother’s groggy voice.

  A few minutes later, Rafe emerged, rubbing a towel over his face. His steps were energized. “You, big brother, can get down on your knees and worship me. For I am the king of all miracle workers.”

  “You got us backup?”

  “Fuck yeah.” Rafe fired the towel toward the kitchen counter. “That military exercise the SSU team was participating in has now been changed to include a live ammo assault on Alvarez’s fortress. Which means we get not only SSU guys, but SEALs, Rangers, and Marines. Hoo-yah we are in business!”

  Niko had been so braced for bad news, at first Rafe’s words didn’t register. Then a disbelieving grin split his face. “The entire training contingent? No shit?”

  Rafe grinned. “They’re sitting offshore on a carrier, locked and loaded. Their commander will be here in an hour to go over our operational needs and get maps. We can send them in tonight.”<
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  “Damn.” Thank you, God.

  Niko prostrated himself before his brother. “Rafe, you are a god,” he intoned. “I worship and adore you.”

  “About goddamn time.” Rafe laughed. “Seriously though, thank Ryker for getting the Mexican government’s permission to carry the raid out.”

  Talk about miracles. Some day he hoped he’d find out who Ryker knew in the Mexican government with the power and the balls to authorize the raid on such short notice.

  Niko stood up. “Remind me to buy Ryker a drink when we get back.”

  #

  Thursday, Afternoon

  Zihuatanejo, Mexico

  Niko glanced across the room to where Rafe and the leaders of the special forces team were swapping war stories. It was clear from their body language that the men respected Rafe. Since Niko spent his time deep undercover, while Rafe’s specialties were strategy, assault, and covert rescue, he’d let Rafe take the lead in planning this assault. Niko had added a couple of alterations to the plan based on his knowledge of the layout of Alvarez’s fortress and the internal security.

  The plan was simple, but Niko believed it would work. The SEALs would launch from the water, scale the cliff, and blow open a section of the dungeon wall that had been damaged decades ago when part of the cliff had crumbled during a hurricane. Despite Alvarez’s best efforts, that section always had problems with leakage during storms.

  While the SEALs were breaching the western wall, the combined Ranger, Marine and SSU force would attack from the road.

  He shook his head, still amazed that Rafe and Ryker had come through so quickly and in such a big way. Yet when the SEAL commander had entered the bungalow, he’d acted as if Niko and Rafe were doing him a favor.

  “This will give my men a better workout than a training mission.” He grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Nighttime amphibious attack. No practice run. Live ammunition. What’s not to like?”

  Across the room, the leaders stood up. “It’s time to brief our men,” the SEAL commander said. He and the others shook hands with Rafe, then slipped out the door.