by Lora Ann
“I’m right here, Clark.” He leaned into his face, ignoring the godawful smell and sight.
“Lisa is,” he gasped for air, “the one who had you taken.”
Chase backed away. “No. That isn’t true.”
“Lea…der,” he muttered and slurred his last word before taking his last breath.
Chase was on his knees putting the words together. Lisa had him kidnapped and tortured. Carla was in on this. Clark tried to kill him. Lisa was the leader of a sex slave ring. “NOOOOOOOO,” he howled. He was married to the devil. God, his son! Chase found the strength to run. Cole was in danger. He had to save his little boy from the grips of a monster.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Where did Alex and Sofie go?” Keeley asked Mitch as they wandered into a part of the compound that looked more like a medical clinic, except the cell down the far hall. They stood there dumbfounded. Why would a cage with a hospital bed be in that location? Further investigation told them someone—a patient, maybe—was there not too long ago.
“They never came with us according to Lexi.” He picked up some clothing folded neatly on a chair. “Who do you think this belongs to?”
She shrugged. “Investigations aren’t really my thing. And when did you get a chance to talk to Lexi without Zak?”
His gaze was troubled when it met hers. “When he was…”
“God, don’t finish. That’s something I can’t unsee.”
He swallowed the bile rising. “Or unhear. Fuck. Those screams will haunt me the rest of my life.”
She placed a hand on his shoulder. “We can’t save them all, Mitch. And that one begged for what he did.”
“Still torture, no matter how you justify it,” he grit out.
“Hey, I’m not saying it was right,” she contested.
“I know. But I swore to protect others, Kee. Witnessing something like that goes against everything I believe to be right and true.”
She hugged him hard. “I’m honored to call you friend. And stepping in the middle of that would’ve put us in the same scenario. Only we would’ve been there unwillingly. Please remember as gruesome as it was, the participant asked him to do that to her.”
“You never went that far.”
Her laugh more of a bark. “To your knowledge.”
“Jesus. Keeley, no, you were really that far gone?” His voice and demeanor gave away his genuine concern for her.
“Not something I’m proud of. I only wanted the high it provided.”
“Adrenaline dump. For fuck’s sake, how’d I miss that?”
“Her or me?”
“Both,” he replied, scrubbing his face.
“Mitch,” her hands on his upper arms, “I’m okay. Don’t you see what happened? I was appalled and sickened too. Nothing from what happened in there,” pointing to the part of the building they’d left, “makes me crave any of that life.”
“You’ve really come a long way, Kee,” he praised.
“Only because of Tar,” she admitted. “He saved me. Love and forgiveness reached into the darkest depths of my soul, refusing to let me hide from the light. A beacon when nothing else could be seen in the dense fog, luring me into the shelter of his trust. My lighthouse. No matter how distant the shore may seem, he will always shine—just for me.”
“Wow, girl, that was pure poetry. I hope those words are spoken on your wedding day.”
Her grin lit up her entire face. “God, I can’t wait to be Mrs. Tarius McNeil.”
“Then let’s get you back to your man. Just wait until he learns what a badass you are.” He chuckled.
“Whatever.” She shook her head when something caught her eye. “Mitch is that?”
“Yes, it’s a wedding ring.” He picked it up with the inside of his shirt and held it up. “Would you look at that…Chase and Lisa are engraved inside.”
“Shut up!” she gasped.
“Take a look. No need to worry about touching it now that we know whose it is.”
She was flabbergasted. They still didn’t know where Chase was, but they knew he’d been there, recently. “Is it possible he’s still here somewhere?”
“Worth checking out,” Mitch was pulling out his cell phone when Zak surprised them.
“You’re into playing doctor. Nice. But I do think Lexi may need the real thing.” Fake concern etched his brow.
Mitch’s gaze locked on to the bloody mess being carried in to one of the rooms. “I can help,” he announced.
Keeley kept up the role. “Yes, go.”
Zak’s grin made her feel like something slimy was crawling on her skin. “I’ll keep your mistress company, dog, don’t worry.”
She heard the barely contained threat in his words. The clink of the cage as it closed brought with it corpses from her past. Decaying fingers latched on to her ankles and wrists as Zak held her jaw in a bone breaking grip. “Finally alone,” he hissed.
*****
He’d been a medic in a warzone, meaning nothing should surprise him. Yet, the once beautiful super model, lying in chunks, unnerved him. A mystery that she was still breathing. But as he began to repair what he could, the conundrum was solved. Her body was deliberately mutilated but her organs were left untouched. A mastermind at full-blown torture had done this. “I’m so sorry, Lexi,” he whispered as he stitched along her hairline.
“I should have stayed silent,” she whispered.
“Um…I thought you were out. God, let me get you pain killers.” Mitch scrambled to find anything to help ease her agony. He heard it in her voice, saw it in her expression.
“No. I don’t feel anything.”
His head cocked at those words. She should feel something. “Were you on drugs when this happened?”
“Not by choice.”
He went back to work, hoping she would keep talking. “You know who did this?”
Her lips attempted to smile but they’d been severely slashed. “Zak used me to teach his new pet a lesson.”
“But I thought she wanted what he did.”
“Oh, not her. You’re right, she did. I meant the other one.”
He couldn’t help but be amazed she could think and speak so clearly. Then it clicked. “You like to be tortured.”
“He’d never left marks before.”
“He used ways to hurt you inside but not outside.” Made sense. She couldn’t do her job otherwise.
“He’ll make sure I die from this.” Her confidence in that statement brought his radar up.
“Lexi, are you bleeding internally?”
Her eyelids fluttered. “Won’t be long.”
He laid the needle down. “Let me operate.”
“I don’t want to live as a freak.”
“Lexi. I’m sorry but…”
“Mistress is in danger,” she warned.
“Mine?” His gaze flying to the door. What was Zak doing to Keeley?
“Yes.” Her S making an odd gurgling sound. “He…wants…you.”
Her breathing stopped. Mitch tried in vain to bring her back, but it was no use. He pulled the sheet over her head as her last three words rattled around in his. Zak wants him? That just didn’t make— “FUCK!” He raced down the hall praying he wasn’t too late.
The scene playing out in that cage gave Mitch chills. Keeley was wrestling a hunting blade out of Zak’s hand as he held it against her throat. She held her own by placing her hands strategically along the blade to stop it. Her palms and fingers were sliced to hell but that wasn’t what caught Mitch’s attention from the corner of his eye. Dr. Thompson was tying Zak’s shoelaces together. Mitch couldn’t tell if Keeley was aware of that. He held still, knowing any movement on his behalf could spell doom for either woman.
A swift jerk of her head gave Keeley the window of opportunity. Carla clued her in by tapping her toes. Zak was ready to go down. She did a mental count down: three…two…one. And repeated her action with force. The back of her head hit its target with a loud crack. “My nose,” he roared, �
�You fucking bitch!”
Keeley did not delay. He was off balance and injured. She shoved hard, and he couldn’t see Carla behind him. Down he went. But at the last second Keeley saw that vicious knife angle. Carla’s screech confirmed it made contact. She scrambled over to Carla as Mitch dove toward the cage. “Keys, Keeley.”
Her horrorstricken gaze met his. “Where are they?”
“Check his pockets,” he commanded.
A quick peek over her shoulder told her Zak was out cold. For how long she didn’t know. Her fingers searched until she found the key. Carla moaned. Keeley didn’t want to leave her, tossing the key Mitch’s direction as she leaned over the fatally injured woman. Carla’s hand was on the knife protruding from her heart. Keeley moved hers there too. “Let me pull it out for you.”
Mitch and Carla answered with a resounding, “No.”
He was still reaching for the key that lay just beyond his fingertips. “Kee, I need you to push it closer.”
But she was staring into Carla’s eyes. No, not Dr. Thompson. “Viv,” she whispered.
“Yes, Keeley. But I think you’ve known that for quite some time now.”
“You saved my life,” she replied, dumbfounded.
“I don’t have much time left, Keeley.” She winced from the pain lancing through her heart. “I’m sorry for what I did to you. I know it’s too little too late, but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Tears slid down her cheeks as she held Viv’s hand. “I do.”
“Keeley,” Mitch called out.
But Viv held on to her and squeezed her fingers. “The evidence to my crime is on a thumb drive. It proves your innocence.”
“What?” shaking her head, “Where?”
“Safety,” she fought for breath, “deposit box. Number on me. Key…” her voice trailing off as her eyes began to glaze over.
Mitch finally got a hold of the key. He rushed over to check on Carla, Viv, whatever the hell her name was. “She only has a few more minutes, Keeley,” he affirmed, trying to keep her as comfortable as possible.
Her hand slid under Viv’s head as she lifted, leaning face-to-face. “Where is the key?”
“In. His. Hand.”
“Whose hand?” Keeley pleaded. “Mitch, do something.”
“I’m sorry, Kee. There’s nothing I can do.”
“No,” she cried out, “Noooooooooo.” Her head buried on Viv’s shoulder.
A commotion brought her tear-filled gaze up. She blinked several times. “Chase?”
He hobbled toward them. “Carla,” he gasped, “Is she…gone?”
“Not yet,” Mitch answered.
She kissed Viv’s cheek and moved so Chase could have her spot.
“Carla,” he croaked out. “I shouldn’t have left you.”
She turned toward him. “Chase, I always knew you were a good man.”
“No. If I had been a good man, you wouldn’t be like this.”
“Not true.” Her hand searching for his.
He clutched hers tight and kissed her knuckles. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Her breath more ragged. “Thank you for making me remember who I once was.”
“Stay, Carla, please,” his voice breaking.
“Go home to your family, Chase.”
He gave her a little shake. “Carla!”
Mitch shook his head. “She’s gone.”
His hands on his knees, he fell forward onto her. “Why her?”
Mitch and Keeley gave him some privacy, dragging Zak’s worthless ass out of the cage and handcuffing him to a chair.
Chase called for her. “Keeley.”
She knelt beside him. “Yes.”
“Is this what you need?” He pulled back her shirt and revealed a heart tattoo with numbers under her right breast.
“I think so. But there’s still some key.”
Mitch chimed in. “She said he has it. Chase, do you?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” His hands searched but came up empty.
Mitch studied the key in his hand. “Could it be this one?”
“Unless Zak is hiding another,” Keeley pointed out.
Mitch did a thorough hunt, still nothing. “This is the only key around here on any male.”
Keeley’s eyes lit up. “Cole has it!”
“My son?”
“Yes, I’m sure of it. So like Vivian.”
“Who?” Chase asked, bewildered.
“I’ve gotta go!” She bolted up.
“Chase needs to come with me,” Mitch declared. “There’s still some things we need to handle before the public knows he’s been found.”
But Keeley was already racing out the door. If she was right about her hunch, she had to get to Cole before his mother did.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“You know the rules, Fallen One,” Kian hissed.
“Yeah, yeah, Angel, I got the four-one-one.” Lars rolled his eyes before settling them on Lisa. What was his little darling up to?
Kian’s interest was in the child. Could Cole figure out her lies? They watched the proverbial curtain rise.
Her movements still limited from the pain coursing through her as she held her son close. Despite everything she’d done and was planning to do, she did love him. “I think foster care is good until I can come home, baby.”
He cried, “You want me to live with strangers? I can go with Auntie Lacey and Uncle E.”
“They aren’t family!” Her voice raised as she hid her disgust and held his gaze. “What I mean is, they don’t have children of their own to know how to take care of you.” The lie slid off her tongue with ease.
“I’m not a baby,” he protested.
“Of course not. But it’s my decision to make as your mother.”
He glared at her. “You’re going to jail.”
Her hands shot out and he fell to the floor. “I will not,” she growled, moving off the bed.
He crab walked out of her reach. “You’re the bad one. Why should I be in trouble too?”
A sadistic grin altered her features. “You just sealed your fate,” she declared.
But before she got a hold of him, the door opened wide. Cole knew their faces, Jim and Dr. Barnes. “Mrs. McNeil,” Jim announced, “you’re being moved.”
The pout on her lips was for both men. “Why?”
“You’ll see,” Dr. Barnes said with a smile.
She was loaded into the wheelchair before they rolled her out. Cole hid, waiting for his opportunity to bolt. But he needed to know where they were taking his mother. He followed at a safe distance as they moved into a part of the hospital he knew all too well.
His gasp of shock gave him away as Dr. Barnes turned with a finger on his mouth. The universal sign for “shhhhhh.” His mind trying to figure out why they would want his mom next door to his uncle. She hurt him! They must know that, right? His heart was galloping when E startled him. “Hey, little man.”
He had to talk to someone he trusted. “Mommy can’t be by Uncle Tar.”
“We’re going to work this all out, Cole. Do you trust me?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, but still apprehensive.
“You want to help?” E inquired.
“Will you hurt her?”
“No.” His hand on his heart. “I promise you, we want to help your mother.”
His chest puffed out. “Okay.”
E held out his fist for a bump. “That’s my man.”
Lisa held back her elation. This would make seducing Tar much easier. And if that didn’t work, well, he was expendable. She learned long ago nothing and no one was permanent. Her smile was coy as she whispered, “Thank you,” to both men she knew on a carnal level.
They walked out and met E. “You sure about this?” Dr. Barnes inquired.
“Got it all under control, gentlemen,” E replied.
Jim hesitated. “She’s sly.”
E wanted to say—I would never let her near my
dick—but bit his tongue. “Time to catch a vixen,” he assured.
Dr. Barnes responded, “Make sure I’m around for that.”
E nodded, not wanting to say anything more in front of Cole. No matter their personal feelings toward Lisa, she was still his mom. He noticed the child was no longer standing there. Instead of pulling him from her room, he decided to let it all play out. One way or another, she was going to jail.
“Mommy,” Cole slid beside her. “Can’t you tell Uncle Tar you’re sorry?”
She half-smiled. “I could try, yes,” Her fingers lightly stroking his back.
He lay there waiting until she fell asleep. Not wanting to leave with strangers, he would have to hide somewhere good. Her gentle snore told him this was his chance, and he quickly left the room.
Lisa awoke with an abrupt, “Mrs. McNeil, I’m from social services. Where is your son?”
“What?” She sat up with a grimace. “You lost him?”
She sighed. “I had hoped he was with you.”
“He was. Surely he didn’t go far.”
“The entire hospital is searching, ma’am. We will find him,” the lady assured.
But this was her son. If he didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be. Damn brat! She should’ve kept him in the psych ward, drugged.
*****
Braxton watched the object of his fixation enter the hospital. She’d haunted him in and out of jail. And he’d been biding his time, patiently waiting for the right moment. She thought he didn’t recognize her at the underground club, but nothing was further from the truth. Even with her new look, he’d know her anywhere. But her guard needed to be down before he could pounce. His keen eye noting she had her hands wrapped. Would that be the reason she was here? He eased out of the car, careful not to be recognized, as he found a side door unlocked. Security was never as it should be.
Someone bumped into him. “Hey, newbies are in orientation. Grab your scrubs and go! Head nurse is a real bitch. Don’t wanna get on her bad side your first day.” He tossed a wave at Braxton on his way out.
Definitely was a great disguise, he thought, entering the locker room. And sitting through a lame meeting would give him coverage. He picked several locks to find an ID that resembled him enough to pass, then sauntered into the room, hanging toward the back.
