The Smuggler

by Leslie Georgeson

  “Where’s the bounty posters?” His voice changed, growing harder, his words clipped, cold, as if he were speaking to a stranger. Or trying to shut me out. How did he just close himself off like that all of a sudden?

  Had I gotten too close? Was I breaking through his walls? I’ll admit I wanted to. But it was obvious he was struggling right now. He was terrified. Because he’d realized this thing between us was more than just sex.

  So, I would let him go. I would let him “process everything”.

  I slid off the bed and grabbed my robe from where it hung on the back of the door. Pulling it on, I headed for the kitchen. “The flyers are in here.”

  He followed in silence. I removed the wanted posters from the kitchen drawer and handed them to him.

  He hesitated, then looked me in the eye. “Forgive me,” he whispered, then he headed for the door.

  My eyes filled with tears. Even though I understood his fears, his need to figure everything out, his leaving still hurt. I didn’t want him to be afraid of love. I wanted him to embrace what we had.

  Was I an eejit again? Should I have refused to let him in? Should I have tossed him out before he touched me? What if he never came back?

  “I know you’re afraid,” I whispered, causing him to pause as he reached the door. “Truthfully, so am I. But don’t run from this. Don’t push me away. Please. Let me in, Tony.”

  He bowed his head, but he didn’t look at me. “I don’t know if I can,” was all he said before he pulled open the door and went out, closing it behind him.

  I don’t know if I can.

  I didn’t know if he could, either.

  And that scared me more than anything.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Tony

  My thoughts a wild, swirling turmoil, I stepped out onto Grace’s porch, the flyers smashed in my grip. Where I normally would have been cautious, my senses attuned to danger, my mind was so jumbled with thoughts of Grace that I barely noticed anything except the confusion inside me. What the hell had just happened? Grace was breaking through my carefully constructed walls. She was squeezing her way inside. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I couldn’t allow her to make me weak. Coming here had been a terrible mistake. Because she made me weak. And now that I’d had a taste of heaven in her arms, I wanted more. More. Just fucking? Right. It was already so much more than that.

  What the hell had I been thinking? Grace made me long for things I could never have. Things that would never be possible for a man like me. She was way too good for me. She was wild and free. Fierce and headstrong. She’d just destroyed the man I thought I was. I’d given in and done what I’d vowed never to do. She owned me now and that scared the hell out of me. I didn’t know who I was anymore or what was happening to me. I couldn’t seem to resist her. I couldn’t fight the push-pull that thrust me away as I fled as fast as I could, then sucked me right back into her like a boomerang.

  I just want to be with her.

  I rubbed a hand roughly over my face. I did. Being around Grace made me feel good inside. But being around her made me weak. This couldn’t happen again. The sex had been incredible. Fucking amazing. Grace had wrecked me. And I needed to get myself back again. I needed to get my head on straight. I needed to figure out who the fuck I was.

  I headed down the sidewalk toward the parking lot, expecting Amigo to dart out of his hiding place in the bushes and rub against my leg. But the dog had vanished. Strange.

  Uneasiness crept down my spine.

  Something was wrong. I sensed it in the air. A shift.

  Danger.

  My senses went on high alert. Why hadn’t I paid attention earlier? Why had I allowed thoughts of Grace to distract me?

  A small speck of blood on the sidewalk caught my eye. I glanced warily into the bushes.

  Amigo lay underneath the shrubs, a bullet hole in his chest.

  My chest squeezed. What the fuck? Why would someone shoot an innocent stray?

  The answer hit me like a punch to the gut: To keep the dog from alerting me to their presence.

  Ah fuck. What about the cop?

  I reached for my weapon, pulling it from the holster at my back.

  Glancing at the police cruiser parked in the lot, my acute vision picked up a body slumped over the steering wheel. Fuck. They’d killed him, too.

  And I’d just done something a soldier should never do. I’d let myself become distracted by a woman. If I hadn’t been thinking about Grace and how she’d just messed me up, I would have noticed the danger beforehand and prepared myself accordingly.

  Now I was likely to pay for my mistake.

  The dog was dead. The cop was dead.

  And I was likely next.

  They came around the corner of the building before I could react, immediately swarming around me. Soldiers. Too many to count. Dressed in black with Kevlar vests. All armed. I could disappear, shift into invisibility, but surrounded as I was, I wouldn’t get far. I wouldn’t be able to escape. They’d already seen me. And now I was in their sights. Guns in my face. Everywhere I looked, death stared me down.

  Shit. These weren’t ordinary thugs. They weren’t gang members.

  They were elite soldiers from The Company. I recognized them. I had once been them.

  Grace’s words came back to me: Can’t you stay awhile?

  Betrayal slammed through me. Had she set me up? Was that why she wanted me to stay awhile? To give these guys time to come in and capture me? She’d had those flyers all night. Had she called the number before I’d shown up?

  No. Grace wouldn’t do that.

  With so many guns pointing at me, I couldn’t even fight back without getting killed. I was outnumbered. Out armed. Me against all of them. I might be a dreg, but even dregs weren’t invincible.

  A man stepped forward, pausing in front of me. I recognized him instantly. Ronald Aikens. The zoo owner. I swung my gun toward him, pointing it at his chest. The soldiers all lifted their fingers to the triggers on their rifles, waiting. Daring me.

  Aikens let out a low chuckle. “Easy, boys, we don’t want to kill him. He’s too important.”

  Fiftyish, Ronald Aikens had dark, gray-streaked hair and wide sideburns. A craggy face. And steel gray eyes. Eyes like The General’s. Was this man a relation? A brother? Cousin? Another son? My stomach rebelled at the thought that there were more “living experiments” from The Company, others who could be related to me and the other dregs. This sick bastard standing before me could well be related to me. And he could very easily destroy me.

  Aikens was the same man I’d gone to execute a few weeks ago. I’d hesitated with my finger on the trigger when his son had come around the corner. This man had already had his men beat and torture me nearly to death. In fact, I had died momentarily because of what he’d done to me.

  What did he want now? If Grace had turned me in, what had he promised her in exchange? The bounty? Had Grace taken advantage of my weakness for her to get money? So she could buy a fancy car?

  “Don’t try to run, Tony. We’ve got you surrounded. If you come along quietly, we won’t hurt your pretty cop friend.”

  Even if Grace had turned me in, I didn’t want her hurt.

  I glanced down at the flyers in my hand. My original thought that she could have easily called the number and told Aikens where I was slipped in again to take hold.

  Bile threatened its way up my throat. Twice now, Grace had tricked me.

  I’d let myself be fooled. By a woman.

  But this time, I might not make it out alive.

  “Police! Hold it right there!”

  I jerked toward the voice, my pulse skyrocketing as Grace cautiously approached along the sidewalk, still wearing the pink robe, her Glock in her hands. “Drop your weapons and let him go!”

  My heart gave a wild, crazy, hopeful thump in my chest. What was she doing? She couldn’t take these guys on. They were trained killers.

  “Go back inside, Grace,” I urged quietly.
I’ll admit my suspicious brain was a little slow to react to the situation, but it finally dawned on me that if she’d turned me in, then she wouldn’t have come out to try to save me now.

  Something cracked in my chest, splitting open, breaking apart. Leaving a deep fissure behind.

  I gasped in a breath. Twice now she’d shown that she cared. About me. She was risking her life—again—for me. First, while fighting the Black Dragons, and now, she was taking on Aikens and his army. For me.

  I let go of the flyers, letting them drop to the ground. Then I bent and set my weapon on the sidewalk. I would surrender. For her. I couldn’t let her be hurt. I’d rather die than see her hurt.

  I wanted to drag her into my arms at that moment and hold on tight. Never let her go.

  Aikens smirked. “You should listen to Tony, ma’am. He was smart enough to surrender. Go back inside now. Stay out of this. We’re not letting him go, and if you insist on trying to free him, you’ll die. You have five seconds before my men shoot you.”

  Grace hesitated, her gaze darting to me, then back to Aikens.

  I counted down the seconds in my head, fear sweeping in to take hold, choking off my air.

  One…

  Two…

  Three…

  “Go, Grace.” I couldn’t watch her die.

  Her gaze latched onto mine.

  Four…

  “Go.”

  She lowered her weapon.

  I heaved out a sigh of relief.

  Aiken’s men moved in to grab me. I didn’t fight as they quickly pulled my arms behind my back and handcuffed me.

  Aikens nodded at Grace in approval. “Smart move. Now go back inside and we’ll be taking our leave.”

  She hesitated, her gaze again locking on mine.

  “Just go, Grace,” I whispered.

  The soldiers shoved me forward, marching me down the sidewalk toward the parking lot.

  I glanced back at Grace. Several of the soldiers remained where they were, their guns still pointed at Grace in warning.

  Finally, she backed up a few steps, but her gaze never left mine. The soldiers shoved me into the back of a large black SUV. Aikens got in beside me, looking smug. Bastard.

  I fought the urge to head-butt him, knowing a move like that would only earn me a severe beating. If I was going to survive whatever they had planned for me, then I would need all my strength. So I would cooperate. For now.

  But I was The Smuggler. I would use my dreg abilities as soon as the opportunity arrived.

  Except these guys knew my dreg abilities, and they would do everything in their power to prevent me from using them.

  I glanced back at Grace as the vehicle lurched forward. She stood on her porch steps, staring after us. That fissure in my chest cracked open wider, skewering deeper.

  Would this be the last time I ever saw her?

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Grace

  The moment they drove away with Tony, I ran back inside. I quickly dressed, then darted into the bathroom and snatched up my brush and a hair scrunchy, pulling my hair back into a messy ponytail.

  Then I grabbed my gun, my cellphone, my purse, and my car keys, and raced back outside.

  I was going after them.

  To save Tony.

  Whoever they were, I couldn’t let them hurt him. I couldn’t. I had fallen hard and fast for him. I loved him. And I had to get him back. I had to.

  Had those men been watching my apartment, waiting for Tony to show? Feck! He’d risked getting caught so he could come here to see me.

  I can’t stay away from you.

  Oh God. This was all my fault. Bile threatened its way up my throat.

  And now I had to save him.

  As I raced to my car, I noticed the flyers Tony had dropped onto the sidewalk. The one of Tony was lying face-up. His face had been smashed out with a sharp object. One of the soldiers must have stabbed the point of his rifle into the flyer before they’d left.

  My heart squeezed. What if they killed him?

  I spied the police cruiser and came to an abrupt halt. Officer Johnson was slumped over the wheel, a bullet hole in his forehead. I gasped, jerking away. Feck, feck, feck! Those bastards had killed one of my own! They would not get away with this! I rapid-dialed 911 and explained the situation to the dispatch operator. “I’m going after them.” I disconnected the call before she could question me further. The police chief would only make me come in to the station for questioning, but I didn’t have time for that. I had to find Tony. I had to save him.

  Reaching my car, I unlocked it and slid behind the wheel. I had no idea what direction they’d gone, but I’d seen the vehicle they’d shoved Tony into. A big, black SUV.

  I pulled out of the parking lot and headed through town, searching for a black SUV. Where could they have taken him?

  Alissa might know.

  I reached over into the passenger seat, snatching my phone out of my purse, and tapped Alissa’s icon. The phone rang and rang, then went to voicemail.

  Feck. She must not be in an area where she got cell service.

  I left her a message.

  “Alissa, call me back. It’s urgent. A bunch of armed men took Tony hostage.” My voice sounded frantic, scared. I forced myself to remain calm. “I think they were some kind of military. I’m going after them. I’m going to try to find him. Please, if you get this message, tell the other dregs.”

  I disconnected and stuffed my phone back into my purse. It could be hours before Alissa responded.

  I could call my boss, the police chief, and ask for backup. Except I already knew what he would say. Absolutely not. He would order me to stand down. Though I had no doubt he would launch a man hunt to try to find the men who’d killed one of his officers, he wouldn’t help Tony, and he wouldn’t let any of his police officers help Tony. He would think I was insane for going after Tony on my own, and maybe I was. But it was up to me to find Tony. And save him. It might be a while before the other dregs got my message. And Tony might not have a little while.

  I reached the edge of town. Glanced right. Then left.

  Then I spied a line of black SUVs up ahead at the stoplight, heading west toward Atlanta. Six black SUVs. That had to be them. Since there had been an army of soldiers, they would need several vehicles to transport them all.

  I turned down a side street so they wouldn’t know I was following them. When I came back to the intersection, the light was green and the stream of SUVs was heading onto the highway to Atlanta.

  I followed, staying back so they wouldn’t become suspicious.

  The sun rose as I followed them, slowly lighting the sky. And by the time we reached Atlanta a little over an hour later, it was full daylight.

  I was surprised to see them pulling into the zoo, then driving around back, deep into the trees. I followed at a safe distance, watching as they parked behind an industrial-looking building hidden in the trees behind the zoo. I pulled over and parked beneath a shady spot in the trees. Then I grabbed my gun and climbed out. Inching closer, I peered around a tree trunk in time to see them shoving Tony out of the SUV and toward the building. Moments later, they all went inside.

  I went back to my car. Stuffing my gun in the front of my jeans, I grabbed my phone and called Alissa again.

  Voicemail.

  Feck!

  “Alissa, it’s me again. I followed them to a place in Atlanta. It’s back behind the zoo–” I broke off and started to spin around as a shift of air alerted me to another presence. An arm slammed roughly down onto my wrist, knocking the phone from my hand. I gasped as pain zinged up my arm. Then the hard barrel of a gun pressed roughly into the back of my head. “Don’t move, bitch. You were very, very stupid to follow us. Aikens isn’t going to be happy.” The man frisked me, finding and removing my gun. Then he shoved me toward the front of the building.

  Shite, shite, shite.

  How would I help Tony if I was a prisoner, too?

  I stumbled
forward under the man’s rough hands, no other option but to do as I was instructed.

  “Found the lady cop snooping around outside,” the man said into a mic at his ear. “Want me to dispose of her?”

  My heart stopped. They could kill me now and no one would know what had happened to me. My boss, my friends, my family…they would probably never find my body.

  The man waited while someone responded, then he pulled open the door to the building and shoved me inside. “You’re lucky, bitch. He’s not going to kill you. At least, not yet.”

  We were met by more soldiers inside the building. They led me down one corridor after another, then shoved me into a small cell and locked me in.

  A jail cell.

  “Where’s Tony?” I shouted as they walked away. “I want to see him.”

  They didn’t answer. Their footsteps faded down the corridor until silence met my ears.

  I paced my cell. Back and forth. Back and forth.

  But no one came for me.

  Minutes passed.

  Hours.

  How long had I been in here? My stomach growled. My throat grew parched. I hadn’t had anything to eat since dinner the night before, right before I’d gone on my shift for work.

  Finally, footsteps sounded down the corridor. Heels. A woman?

  Darcy stopped in front of my cell. She peered in at me with a raised brow. She clucked her tongue and shook her head. “I’m disappointed in you, Grace. I thought you were smarter than to fall for a dreg.”

  I sent her the fiercest glare I could manage. “How could you do this to Tony after he rescued you? How could you?”

  She looked away for a moment, staring down the corridor. “I don’t expect you to understand, Grace. I do appreciate all you did for me, but I had to do what was best for me.”

  I let out an unladylike snarl. “What was best for you? You are a selfish, spineless coward!”

  She flinched, then she lifted her chin. “We are doing important things here. Tony may have the answer to what my father’s been looking for all along. He could hold the key to the future.”

  What the feck was she talking about? The key to what?