Lost and Found (Masters and Mercenaries: The Forgotten Book 2)

by Lexi Blake

  Her first impulse was to stand in front of Paul and let him know exactly how she felt. But Levi Green was speaking to him in hushed tones, and that meant he wasn’t paying attention to her. She moved to Owen.

  The massive man who’d spoken not a word stepped in her way.

  “Please let me talk to him. I want to make sure he’s okay. I’m a doctor.” Maybe they would buy it. He didn’t move an inch. She decided on a different tactic. “What do you think I’m going to do? You’re right here. I don’t have any weapons on me. I want to talk to him.”

  “Donnie, she’s harmless,” Green said. “And she likely has a few words to say to our friend. Why don’t you stand by the door and make sure Mo Chou doesn’t decide to take more than she’s been offered? I can handle this.”

  She dropped to her knees in front of Owen, looking him over as best she could. She felt stronger now. At least her limbs moved. “Are you okay?”

  He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I need you to listen to me, Becca. You do whatever he wants, do you understand me?”

  His eyes were clear, though there was a cut on his forehead. Someone had cleaned him up and dressed the small wound. “What are they going to do to you?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” He stared at her as though he could force his will on her. “You do whatever he asks of you and you wait for the right time. Someone will find you and they’ll come for you.”

  “Which is why we should kill them both and let me take over the project,” Paul argued.

  Green ignored him. “They won’t come after either of you. I intend to give them something else to run after. I’ll give them just enough of whatever I find to satisfy them. I have no intention of playing Hook. Yes, I know Tag calls you the Lost Boys. Hook was an idiot. By the time I’m done, we’ll all be friends. They’ll forget about you because you were never truly one of them.”

  “I assure you my team won’t forget,” Owen said.

  Levi chuckled slightly as he started to approach Owen. “Your team? You know you’re only a part of them because Knight didn’t know what else to do with you, right? Your old partner, Nick Markovic, is the reason you didn’t get kicked to the curb. The way I heard it, he fought to keep you with the team when Big Tag wanted to get rid of you.”

  She looked at Owen, her heart breaking because he was so strong and they were trying to bring him low. She’d been angry all day and she’d had a right to be, but somehow looking at him now, she couldn’t work up the will to hate him. Maybe she’d never hated him. Raged at him. Been hurt by him. But under all of it there lay a deep and never-ending longing she’d never felt before.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Owen said, forcing his head up to look at his enemy. “Doesn’t matter what happens to me. They won’t leave her behind. They’ll come for her. You can kill me here and they’ll still move heaven and earth to find her.”

  Green seemed to consider it for a moment. “Because they all want a cure? It doesn’t seem like poor Tucker did. My source tells me he cries a lot when he thinks about who he used to be. That must have been something. That little ray of sunshine as a psycho. Makes me think of Mengele with a movie-star face. I don’t know that he’s going to fight for the doc here.”

  Now Owen shifted his focus. She knew the words he spoke were meant for Green, but his will was all directed at her. “He will. Tucker will come for her not because he wants a cure but because we’re brothers and I love her. He’ll save her because I would do the same for him. Because I would risk my life to save River and Ariel and Erin, even though she might not thank me for it. That’s what I didn’t understand before. We are a family no matter what, and we protect what each brother loves.”

  Levi stood in front of him and for a moment, Becca was terrified he would lash out. Then he sighed and stared down at Owen. “It must be nice to have a brother who cares about you, who acknowledges you. I suppose I’ll have to be ready for it when they come for her then.” He turned around, facing Becca again. “Now, Doctor Walsh, or should I call you Rebecca? After all, we’re going to get close, you and I.”

  “I swear if you touch her, I’ll kill you,” Owen said.

  “In a few hours you’ll be on your way to Beijing. I don’t think you’ll do anything to me.” Green dismissed him utterly. “Now we need to talk about where that package is because I might have something McDonald called the cure, but I’m going to need the rest of her research. I think you have it. If we’re going to restart Project Tabula Rasa, I need the background materials.”

  Something tightened in Owen’s eyes, like he was trying to tell her something. Like he was desperate for her to do something. Or not do something.

  “I don’t know where it is.” She breathed a sigh of relief as that tightness eased. “We were talking about it when you decided to nearly murder us all.”

  “Again, apologies.” Green gave her a courtly bow and offered her a hand up.

  She stared at him like he was a snake ready to strike.

  “Let him help you,” Owen said. “He won’t hurt you as long as you do what he wants. That’s the deal we’re making, Levi.”

  “You’re not in any position to make a deal,” Green replied. “But I’ll take it because I was already planning on doing that. Dr. Walsh will find me a perfectly pleasant companion as long as she behaves. And as long as she behaves, you’ll be fine in my custody as well.”

  He would hurt Owen. Of course he would. He would use Owen to force her to comply. She put her hand in Green’s and allowed him to help her up. She was unsteady on her feet for a moment.

  This was really happening. She wasn’t going to wake up and turn over in bed and tell Owen about the crazy dream she’d had. This was happening, and she was going to be taken and Owen was going to be taken.

  “It’s going to be okay, Rebecca,” Owen said. “I want you to know that I love you. Survive. They’ll come for you.”

  “You can believe that all you like.” Green dropped her hand. “But I think after you realize what you can do, the difference you can make in the world, you won’t want anyone to come for you. I’ll take care of everything else and all you’ll have to do is your research. Nothing will touch you. You can spend days and days in your lab, your every need met. You’ll thank me one day, but I do need that package. It wasn’t in your office or apartment. I need to know where you put it so we can begin again.”

  “You’re not going to restart anything at all without me,” Paul declared, his shoulders squaring.

  He’d started all of this. There was one thing she was absolutely certain of. “I’m not working with him.”

  Paul’s eyes narrowed. “I think I have some leverage here. I want her dead. I want you to kill her right now.”

  Levi Green turned. “You want her dead? Not a problem.”

  Becca’s heart seized as Green pulled his gun.

  * * * *

  Owen tugged at the ties that held his hands. They’d bound his hands to the chair, pulling each behind him and zip-tying him to either side. They’d left his feet free, but his bloody feet weren’t going to do him any good if Levi Green shot Becca.

  Why? Why would he do that?

  A heavy hand hit his shoulder and held him there. “Don’t move.”

  Donnie Lennox stood over him. The CIA agent was a hulking mass of muscle, and Owen was trying to figure out how to take him out. He would have to if Green was going to hurt her.

  Green flipped the gun around and offered it to Huisman.

  “Becca, get behind me.” That hand on his shoulder tightened, but Owen couldn’t leave her out in the open like that. He couldn’t watch her die. He’d been calm because he’d known Green wouldn’t physically hurt her as long as she complied. He’d been willing to go with MSS calmly if it meant Becca lived and remained unhurt, but he would fight like hell now.

  Nothing mattered. Nothing except her. She had to stay alive because his brothers would come for her. They wouldn’t leave her behind, and Green was wrong about Big Tag. Big T
ag might hate what he’d done, but MSS better get everything they wanted quickly because Big Tag wouldn’t leave even a man he didn’t like behind.

  He did have a family. And he wasn’t about to lose the newest member now.

  Becca stood there, seemingly frozen in place.

  “Get behind me.” He would take that bullet first.

  Becca looked to him, her eyes round with fear.

  A hole opened inside him because he couldn’t protect her. He couldn’t fix this. She was about to die and he couldn’t fix it.

  “You want her dead?” Levi stalked to where Huisman stood, his skin having gone pale. “You do it. You want to work for me? Prove to me you can handle it.”

  Huisman reached out and took the gun with shaking hands.

  A nasty smile spread across Levi’s face. “Do it. All you have to do is pull the trigger and your enemy is dead. You’re the man, right? You’re better than she is. You deserve this. Think about it. You’re her god right now. You decide if she lives or dies.”

  “Levi!” Owen shouted, his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel it. Pain ripped through him as he twisted his wrists, trying to get his hands free. “Don’t do this.”

  Huisman shook his head. “I can’t.”

  Becca took a visible breath of relief, her shoulders coming back down as she relaxed.

  Levi nodded and took the gun back. “It’s okay. The safety was on, Rebecca. I wasn’t going to let him kill you, but I did want to see if he would try.”

  Levi stepped back and in one easy motion lifted the gun and fired one shot into Huisman’s forehead.

  A gasp went through the room as Huisman fell forward.

  Becca rushed to Owen, avoiding Donnie’s big hands as she threw herself into his lap and wrapped her arms around him.

  “It’s all right, love,” he whispered.

  “I’m sorry you had to see that, Rebecca,” Levi was saying. “But he was going to be a problem, and I don’t want anything to interrupt our work. This way the ties are neatly cut. Mo Chou didn’t want to lose her position with his father anyway. Sometimes side deals are far more important than the main deal. You have nothing at all to fear from me. Nothing has changed.” He glanced down at his watch. “Donnie, go and see what’s taking Mo Chou so damn long. We need to move out. Rebecca’s not going to give me any trouble.”

  Donnie nodded and strode to the hallway, stepping over the body.

  Becca was shaking, her mouth against his ear. “These chairs are surprisingly delicate. If you can break it, would your hands come free?”

  Shit. She was likely terrified, but she wasn’t letting it hold her back. “You stay safe. You let me go, love.”

  She took a deep breath and slid off his lap, standing in front of Levi Green. “I’ll do what you ask if you’ll take Owen with us. I don’t even understand why they want…” It seemed to hit her suddenly. “They want to experiment on him. They want to see if they can figure out what she did to erase his memory.”

  “Yes, I believe that’s what they’ll try to do,” Levi replied evenly.

  “But the only way they can do that is to study his brain,” she replied.

  A single brow rose over Levi’s eyes. “Yes. Did I misjudge the situation? I thought once you figured out how he used you, you wouldn’t be so emotional about him. He set you up every bit as much as Huisman did and I don’t see you crying over him.”

  He had in so many ways. He didn’t blame her if she saw it that way.

  “I’ll go quietly and I’ll do all the work you want me to do if you let me keep Owen,” she offered.

  Relief flooded his system because she didn’t hate him. There had to be something still between them if she was willing to fight to keep him alive. It wouldn’t work. She was going to get herself in trouble. How long would Donnie be gone? MSS would be here soon and she would be on her way to god only knew where.

  She’d said the chair was delicate. If he could get his hands free…

  He needed enough force to break the chair and then enough time to get on his feet or he’d be the one taking the bullet this time.

  Donnie strode in, turning under the balcony. “We should move out now. I can’t find her, but there’s a strange car in the driveway. I didn’t get close enough to check it out, but I know it wasn’t here before.”

  Levi frowned. “She’s got to be here. It’s a big house. It’s probably her contact.”

  “Doesn’t feel right,” Donnie said.

  Levi nodded, making his decision in seconds. “Then we move. I’ll take Rebecca out to the car. You prepare our friend for transfer. Looks like you get your wish, Doc.”

  Oh, he was lying. Donnie’s shoulders had gone tight and he’d nodded, his face cold as ice. They couldn’t risk taking him along. He was trained. He was a variable Levi wouldn’t want to deal with.

  But he would want Becca compliant, and that meant not killing him until they were out of earshot.

  Of course, he could always create a little chaos and see where things fell. He didn’t have a thing to lose.

  “You’ll bring him with us?” Becca asked.

  “He’ll come along behind us. I’ll have my team pick him up,” Levi lied smoothly. “We’ll talk about it on the plane.”

  She looked over at him and he could see the uncertainty there.

  He gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. “I love you, Becca. Stay safe.”

  He would have said more but there was the crack of a gun going off and then blood bloomed across Donnie’s chest. It took him a second to realize what had happened.

  A sniper. There was a sniper inside the house. On the balcony above them.

  “Stand down, Levi. Send Dr. Walsh and Owen out right now or I take you out, too.”

  That had not been the voice he’d expected to hear. For a mere second he’d thought somehow Ezra had found his way here. Or Dante and Sasha and Tucker. But they were radio silent for hours yet. Only two people knew they’d been taken.

  That commanding voice had a crisp English accent and an unmistakably feminine tone.

  Ariel was pissed.

  Levi had Becca in his grasp, his gun lodged firmly in her side. “Dr. Adisa, I didn’t think you had it in you. And you would have taken the shot if you had it. I salute you. You’re willing to do what the boys aren’t. You play hardball, sister. How about we make a deal? I leave Owen for you and you let me head out of here with Rebecca?”

  Levi had shrunk back against the wall. He’d moved them under the balcony where Ari would have no shot. Levi looked to the hallway under the balcony as though trying to decide if it was a path that wouldn’t get him killed.

  Owen took the opportunity to stand up. It was awkward and he felt ungainly, but if there was even half a chance, he had to take it.

  “After what you did to Robert, I think I’ll pass,” Ari yelled. “And we’re done playing your games, Levi.”

  Levi’s eyes turned to Owen. “Well, then I guess I can do what I like.”

  He was out of time. Levi raised the gun his way, and that was the moment Becca made her move. Her elbow came up and back. Owen threw his body to the ground, holding his head up. He felt heat graze his shoulder and then pain flared as he hit the ground and the chair came apart. Owen spread his arms and they came loose. He was still bound to the arms of the chair, but a few painful tugs and he was free. He rolled toward Donnie Lennox’s body. He needed that gun.

  Becca struggled as Levi fired again, throwing his aim off.

  Owen cursed those bloody zip ties but managed to get that gun in his hand.

  He forced his body to move and brought the gun straight up, and he found himself staring right at Becca.

  “Your move, Owen,” Levi said, his voice showing no sign of tremor. “I’ve got this to the back of her head. You might be able to make the shot, or you might hit that big gorgeous brain of hers.”

  Levi wasn’t much taller than Becca. He was right. Taking the shot would be risky, and he wasn’t as
steady as he should be.

  “Becca, do not move,” he commanded. “Don’t hurt her.”

  “We’re at a standoff, you and I,” Levi said. “I’m going to back out. I don’t trust that Ariel is still in that perch of hers, so I need to get out of here now or she’ll come in behind me. We can do this the nice way or I can go down in a blaze of glory. It’s your choice.”

  There was no choice at all. “Just let her go.” He struggled to get to his feet. “I’ll take her place. I’ll go with you and we can work something out.”

  He wouldn’t. He would kill the fucker the first chance he got, but he would lie through his teeth if it meant Becca was standing at the end of this. And Levi was right. Ari was out there. Ari was coming down those stairs, and not for a therapy session.

  “I think I’ll skip the hostage-taking portion of the day, but I need a head start. Sorry about this.” Levi pulled the trigger and Becca screamed.

  Owen’s shoulder lit up like it was on fire, but he stayed on his feet. Levi shoved Becca his way and she stumbled into him. He looked her over.

  She shook her head. “I’m fine. Go. Get that asshole.”

  It was all he needed. Despite the fact that his left arm didn’t seem to work anymore, he took off after Levi Green.

  He caught a glimpse of the man running down the hall before he turned and disappeared. Owen slowed, not wanting to get caught in a trap. He eased around and saw the door closing.

  He raced to the end of the hall and flung it open just in time to see Levi Green hit the street. Levi had dropped his weapon and he started down the street, seeming to revel in how many people were walking along the front of the house.

  “Damn it,” Ariel said, running up behind him. “You can’t shoot him here and he knows it. Bastard.”

  Levi turned and tipped his head as though to say they were welcome to try again another day.

  “We have to move out. He’ll call the police in again.” Owen forced himself to shut the door. “We have to call them in ourselves. Apparently there’s a kid in this place somewhere.”