by Sam Crescent
The light was on but I knew. I just knew our fathers weren’t here.
“I guess we now know who is responsible for the three men mysteriously arriving,” I said.
“Fuck.” Caleb lashed out, kicking over a chair. I was as pissed as him, but I was able to control my rage.
“They’re out,” I said.
“I need the schedule. I need to know who was here last.”
“Let’s get out of here first.” I had a sick feeling twisting my gut and I took off upstairs, clearing through the door. As I did, a blade was embedded into my shoulder as I was stabbed from behind. I growled out at the instant hit of pain, but I was used to feeling something like it.
Spinning around, I lashed out as Caleb came through the door. I turned and kicked it closed as Caleb took over, hitting our assailant. The man was big, strong, and knew how to fight.
I couldn’t reach for the knife in my back. Instead, I grabbed the plank of wood and used it to slam across his head.
He turned toward me just as Caleb had gotten some rope. We all liked to carry certain tools. Mine was always a blade, while Caleb seemed to prefer rope. Caleb wrapped the thick knot around the man’s throat.
I grabbed my knife from my back pocket and began to use it, slicing at him until finally, he didn’t take another breath and slumped. We let him fall to the ground.
We were both panting.
My hands shook a little from the rush of adrenaline, but I brought up the schedule on my phone.
“Kyle,” I said. “He’s the one who was supposed to be here.”
I struggled to get my breath, but as I turned to the kitchen, a smell I hadn’t noticed before lingered.
Stepping inside, I walked toward the pantry and opened the door. Sure enough, there was Kyle, dead. His throat slit. A lifeless corpse.
“We need to get back to Emily,” he said.
I couldn’t agree more.
****
Gael
I was hurt. It stung like a son of a bitch, but I looked a lot more alive than my attacker. Going to the hotel rooms Drake had told us about, we’d discovered the men were indeed assassins. None I recognized, which meant they were old school, like our parents. I didn’t like not knowing my attackers.
“You could always get Emily to come and stitch me up?” I asked as Vadik began sanitizing the needle. I loved my best friends, all of them, but I didn’t want any of them coming at me with a needle, not today. I wanted to look all pretty for my woman.
Of course, the large gash on my right side would complain. The guy had nicked me with his blade as I’d strangled the life out of him. I’d taken that same blade and plunged it in his neck. I was pissed off that I’d been too distracted, and now look at me. I was a mess. I still wanted to be pretty for my woman.
“I’m not bringing Emily down here to see you like this. She’d freak out.” Just as Vadik was getting ready to sew me up, complete with a nice large bottle of vodka for company, his cell phone rang. I took a nice big swallow of the liquid, but it was nasty stuff. I’d never been much of a vodka drinker myself.
“Fuck, you’re sure?” Vadik stepped away from me. “You’re okay.” He looked at me and I raised a brow. “We’ve got a stab wound of our own. Get here soon.”
He hung up his cell phone.
“Do I want to know?” I asked.
“I don’t know what’s going to annoy you more. This”—he plunged the needle into my flesh and began his ministrations of sewing me up. What fun.
“What’s the that?” I asked, gritting my teeth.
“Or that our fathers have all escaped. Someone is helping them, and Kyle was found dead in a kitchen pantry.”
“Fuck!” I tensed up.
“You can’t do anything. River and Caleb are on their way.”
“Which one got stabbed?”
“River. He was coming out of the basement when they were attacked. He took a blade to a shoulder.”
“Fuck. Careful,” I said.
“You’re such a baby.”
“Oh, bullshit.” I took one last swallow of vodka. With our fathers now out and hiding, I didn’t want to be drinking on the job. I was going to be needed to keep Emily safe.
Vadik worked quickly, swiftly, and was putting the finishing touch, complete with a bandage, when River and Caleb came in.
River had already removed his jacket and shirt. Blood dripped from the wound, but it didn’t look nasty. Vadik swiped the vodka bottle, handing it to River, who shook his head.
“No, stitch me up,” he said.
“You don’t have to be a hero.”
“I’m not drinking. Not with them out on the loose. Fix me now.”
Caleb grabbed the bottle, took a swig, and launched it into the fire. “Fucking pieces of shit.”
“So, do you want to tell me what happened?” I asked.
“We believe when Caleb was there last, the camera was hidden and he didn’t notice it. He gave them the codes. When Kyle came for his shift, they killed him and busted out our fathers,” River said.
“Gave the codes to who, exactly?” I asked.
They all turned toward me.
“Look,” I said and took a couple of swallows of vodka, “is anyone curious as to how in the past three years no one has sprung our dads out? It has to be an inside job. There’s no way our dads could have gotten word out. Otherwise, this shit would have been a bloodbath a couple of years ago.”
River tossed his cell phone to Caleb.
“The only people who went into that fucking basement are us four, Drake, Kyle, and a nurse, Olivia,” River said. “But Olivia didn’t come for her shift which was today. She was supposed to give them the injections.”
“I’m guessing we’re going with the nurse then,” I said.
“I turn my back for two minutes and you all get injured?” Drake asked. He stood there with a cell phone in his hand.
“You need to get to Emily now!” Caleb said.
Drake turned his cell phone. “I don’t. I heard the commotion, but she’s sleeping. I admit, it took her a long time to fall asleep. She didn’t like me being in her room. I’ve locked up all of her windows, and there are even wires. I’ve got everything covered that if anyone gets near her room, I’ll know about it. What the fuck happened?”
Caleb gave him the run down. My feelings for this man were still all over the place. I wasn’t sure if I completely trusted him, even though he’d proven himself time and again.
He handed his cell phone to Caleb and took River’s phone. I watched as he typed away.
“Son of a bitch! She’s gone. Olivia suddenly had a big payoff and took off yesterday. Fuck!” He passed the phone to Caleb. “This has soon turned into a shit show, hasn’t it?”
“We’ve got to make her pay,” I said. I stood up, but I didn’t know if it was the alcohol, lack of food, or the wound that made me feel a little woozy. I quickly sat down. “I’m just going to keep my ass here for the time being.”
“We need a plan,” River said.
“We brought Emily here and we don’t have control,” Vadik said. “We need to send her back to England.”
“Not happening,” Caleb and I said, as did River.
“I’m with these guys, you send her back to England, you may as well slit her throat,” Drake said.
“I’m not talking to you.”
“I get that none of you like me. I accept it,” Drake said. “But I know what I’m doing. Emily’s life is in danger, but also yours. You’ve got four men on the loose who would gladly see you guys rotting in a basement with nowhere else to go. I’m the person who heads up your security, and I warned you guys of this when you started this plan. I’m not going to allow you to push my worries aside. I’d suspected what would play out.”
I hated that he was right.
When we’d put our fathers into the basement, Drake had been against the idea. He believed keeping loose ends made for a sloppy way of doing business. I couldn’t help but agree
with him now.
“Okay, head of security,” River said. “What do you propose we do?”
“Your dads, for the past two years have had close to no movement, right?” Drake asked. “The drugs keep them in a catatonic state. They’re going to need somewhere to keep a low profile until they can be of sound and mind.”
“The drugs don’t damage their muscles,” Caleb said. “It only numbs them.”
“Yeah, but two years of barely using them.”
“They’ve used them at intermittent stages,” River said.
I looked at my friends and for once, I actually felt like the sane one. So much so, I couldn’t contain my laughter. “You guys have been having little secret visits with our dads. What have you been doing? Training them?”
“Taunting them,” Vadik said. “I didn’t. I only fed them the drugs, and occasionally told them what our plans were for their empire.”
“Me too.” I looked at River and Caleb. “Holy shit, you guys have got a cruel streak, and I’m only realizing it now.”
“Don’t start,” Caleb said.
“Come on. They couldn’t fight back.”
“That was the point,” River said. “They needed to know what it was like to experience the kind of pain they put us through.”
“I want Earl’s number,” Caleb said, changing the topic of conversation.
“So, it’s okay to talk about my sick mind, but yours, we can’t get to it?” I asked.
“We don’t have time to point fingers. If Earl didn’t betray us, he may have a way of knowing what our fathers are up to. After all, he’s the one who made a deal with them first, remember?”
“Yeah, but they didn’t exactly give him what he wanted.” I pointed out the obvious.
“Exactly.” Caleb pointed at me. “While we delivered him a virgin on a silver platter. I have a feeling we can bring Earl to us, get Ashley here, which will put Emily’s mind at ease and solve our daddy problem.”
“Yeah, I’m going to go and keep an eye on your girl. I have a feeling, after seven years of freedom, this girl is going to go stir-crazy if I’m not careful.” Drake got the number for Caleb and then left.
“Do you really think reaching out to Valentine is the right move?” I asked.
“It’s a shot, and right now, I’ll take anything we can get.” He clicked a button on his cell phone and I listened as the call started to ring. I hoped we were making the right decision.
Chapter Eleven
Vadik
A couple of hours later
I plunged the spoon into the ice cream and took a large bite. The shock of the cold hurt my teeth, but at the moment, I needed to feel something. Between River’s and Gael’s wounds, the revelation of what River and Caleb did, our dads being on the loose, along with the attackers, I was tired. I needed ice cream.
No, I needed Emily, but right now, I didn’t want her to panic, and I didn’t know if I could keep control of all the shit swirling in my head. There was a lot to process. A lot going on, and I had to get my shit together.
“You’re still awake?” Emily asked, as if my thoughts had magically made her appear.
“You should be asleep.”
“I woke up. Needed some water, but ice cream sometimes works.”
I offered the spoon and she came close to me.
“You don’t look happy,” she said.
“I’m not.” I didn’t want to lie to her, which was another reason I wanted to avoid her.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
I looked at her, waiting for the questions to start. They didn’t. All she did was dip the spoon into the tub and start to eat. Her tongue came out, licking the bottom of the spoon.
“You’re not curious?”
“You know I am,” she said. “But I also know what it’s like to just want to be alone with my thoughts. I’m guessing something big went down, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, it did.”
“You also want to protect me.”
“Always.”
“You’ll tell me if you feel I need to know.” She cupped my face, rubbing her thumb back and forth.
“You know, the last seven years were the hardest of our lives,” I said.
“I know.”
“We only did what we had to in order to protect you.”
She licked her lips and I saw the tears shining in her eyes. I didn’t want to make her cry.
“I get it, Vadik, I do.”
I stared at her. There was no judgment, no anger, no resentment. It was like she was a different person. Whatever Drake had said to her, it had given her a new perspective.
“We fucked up.”
This made her pause in eating her ice cream. “What do you mean?”
I pressed my lips together, fighting with the decision of if I should tell her or not. It wasn’t going to do either of us any good, and finally, I decided to tell her.
“Your life is in danger.” I told her everything. I told her about the dads’ escape, the attackers, and the call to Earl Valentine. “He’s coming here. He’s bringing Ashley with him. So long as we don’t take her from him, he’s going to help us. He wants to settle an old score with them. They made promises to him that they didn’t keep.”
“Wait.” Emily held her hand up. “Ashley’s coming here?”
“Yes.”
“You’re going to let him leave with her.”
I took her hands, kissing each of her knuckles. “We’re going to do everything we can to save her. I promise.”
She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Wow, no wonder you’re eating ice cream.”
“I didn’t want to tell you.”
She chuckled. “Oops.”
“I don’t like keeping secrets from you.”
“Good. I’m glad.” This time, she kissed my hands. “I don’t like you keeping secrets from me either.” She took a deep breath. “So, Ashley is coming here and there are at least five people who want me dead.”
“No, four.”
She smiled. “If you killed an attacker, as did River and Caleb, that means there is at least one more on the loose.”
Before I had a chance to speak, one of the soldiers crashed through the door. Gunshots rang out, and I quickly dived to my woman, getting her to the floor as the man who’d just taken out at least one of our men charged forward. I didn’t recognize him, but I knew the sort of man he was. A trained killer, hired to do a job. Our dads weren’t wasting any time. I kicked the gun out of his hand, sending my fist into his gut, which made him bend, giving me the perfect shot in the face. He blocked the punch, shoving me back hard. I was off-balance as he slammed me into the counter. It would all sting in the morning.
I wasn’t one to go down lightly. Grabbing him around the neck, I took him down with me. We knocked chairs to the floor. He hit me twice in the face, and the third time I head-butted him, it was so hard I saw stars.
Emily screamed my name. There was no way I could let this bastard get to her.
The gun went off and the man grunted. He head-butted me twice until I let him go. Dazed, he climbed off me and I heard more than one gunshot ring out. Getting to my feet, I saw our attacker was on the floor. Emily pressed a hand to her shoulder, blood seeping through her fingers.
I went to her as Gael, Drake, River, and Caleb each appeared in the kitchen.
“We need a doctor!” I put my hand over her wound, hating that I’d failed her. I’d never been bested in a fight and this was a harsh reality to deal with. Drake tossed his cell phone at River, going toward the dead body.
“I’m fine,” Emily said.
She swayed a little on her feet. Picking her up in my arms, I carried her through to the sitting room, putting her down gently on the sofa. She pulled her hand away and winced. “Ugh, it hurts.”
“What the fuck happened?”
“We were attacked on our own land. One of our men is already dead, and Em’s hurt. Can
’t you see what’s going on?” I tore at Emily’s pajama shirt to expose her wound. It looked clean, it was just bleeding profusely. After removing my shirt, I wrapped it around her, tightening it as best as I could.
“Your dads are moving fast,” she said. “Do you think he was a hired killer or just a desperate man?”
“He was hired,” I said. “There’s no way anyone could be that strong without some training. The son of a bitch knew what he was doing.” I didn’t like that I wasn’t able to win that fight. If Emily didn’t know how to handle a gun, she would’ve been dead. I hated that I couldn’t protect her.
“The doctor’s on his way,” River said, coming into the room.
“You don’t have to worry,” she said. “It’s just a bullet wound.”
“You shouldn’t have been shot,” Caleb said.
I gritted my teeth, standing up. I grabbed the vase closest to me and launched it across the room.
“Vadik.” Emily went to grab my arm, but I pulled away.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Gael asked.
“I couldn’t protect her.” I yelled the words, letting them fill the room, echoing off the walls. I couldn’t stand that I was weak.
Emily wrapped her arms around me. “Stop it.”
“You need to rest.” I didn’t feel like I deserved her love. I was useless to her.
“Vadik, stop it.”
“I’m not good enough.”
She squeezed me tighter. “I said stop it, and I mean it. Do not think I won’t kick your ass, even with a gunshot wound. You did everything you could to save me. He took us by surprise. Anyone would have struggled in your position. We’re both alive. Don’t do this.”
I couldn’t help it. I still felt like I’d fucked up.
She spun me around, cupping my face and drawing me down to kiss my lips. Wrapping my arms around her, I pressed my face against her neck, breathing her in. I wouldn’t fail her again.
****
Emily
The following day
“I’m bored.”
“Then get unbored,” Drake said.
He was my company until all threats were removed. I didn’t like it. After I put one of my cards down on the pile, Drake immediately put his down.
