by Lexi Blake
Couldn’t have beaten it out of her. Couldn’t have terrorized her until she couldn’t take it anymore.
There was a humming sound, and a set of lights came on, the secondary lights that were powered by a small generator in case of outage. Sanctum could be dangerous in the dark, and Dallas often experienced storms that could cut power. The secondary lights were low but enough to allow him to pocket his cell.
“I can’t leave her out there alone,” Kyle said. “I’ll buy us some time. If Jessica thinks the police are on their way, she’ll kill MaeBe and run. I’m certain she’s got a way out of the country, and she’s probably got plenty of money in offshore accounts. She won’t hesitate to dump MaeBe. I have to stop that.”
He wasn’t sure Kyle could stop anything. “Let me try to get in touch with Michael.”
“There’s no time.”
“She won’t kill MaeBe until she’s absolutely sure she’s got that information. I don’t know what Madison left her, but I would bet it’s at least her research. We know Jessica sold that research, and there would be a whole lot of angry pharma people if it still got out. I think Jessica believes Noelle knows more than she does.”
“I’m not going to give up Noelle. I’m not giving up anyone.” Kyle jogged down the rest of the stairs and started for the door. “Hurry and get where you need to be. I don’t want to risk them seeing you or they’ll try to get inside. I’m going to try to get her to take me to Genedyne. Contact Tag and get there as soon as possible.”
Hutch didn’t want to let Kyle go out there alone, but he knew what he would do if Noelle was the one being held. He would move heaven and earth to get to her. “I’ll get everything back online and we’ll come after you. I won’t leave you alone.”
Kyle glanced back, a sad smile on his face. “I kind of wish we could have had that beer now.”
“We will. And I’ll help you. I’ll help you get through all of it. No matter what it is,” Hutch promised.
“I almost believe you,” Kyle said quietly. “Go. Save your girl. I’ll try to save…well, the one who could have been mine if I hadn’t fucked everything up. Bye, Hutch.”
Hutch ran the rest of the way to the security office, his boots thudding along the floor. He had to get Sanctum functioning again. If he did it quickly, they might have a chance to save Kyle and MaeBe.
The backup security was working, as the keypad that locked the security room was lit. Hutch punched in his code and slammed into the office.
Adrenaline pumped hard through his body as he set the gun on the security desk and brought up the cameras. They were all outdoor cameras, pointed to the front entrance, the back courtyard where the basketball court was, the parking lot, and the rooftop terrace. Tag would never allow his member’s privacy to be compromised, so there were no cameras inside the club. But he could make sure they didn’t have anyone coming up from behind. He didn’t think Jessica would have had time to map out more than the front entrance, though he supposed she could have hurt MaeBe enough to get her to talk.
MaeBe. Guilt sat in his gut as he raced through the code to bring the power back online. He’d asked MaeBe to get Noelle some clothes. He’d sent her alone because he hadn’t thought anything of it. He’d only been thinking about Noelle.
If MaeBe died, it was on him.
The power should have been on. Everything he was seeing said the system hadn’t been breached.
Fuck. She’d physically cut it. Or had the power company cut it. Well, she loved to make deals with other corporations. She would be using a cell jammer, and he would have to physically take that out, too. She hadn’t been able to hack his system. She’d tried but his walls had held.
She couldn’t get into the building unless…
Fuck. She wanted Kyle to come out because him coming out was her only way in. MaeBe couldn’t get them inside. She wasn’t on the board of Sanctum or an employee. Hutch had a keycard because he provided the club’s IT needs. Kyle didn’t work here, so they would have to get around him.
The breath knocked out of him as he looked to the screen and he saw Kyle take a bullet to the chest and fall forward.
The man who’d shot him moved quickly to catch the door before it closed. They hadn’t even given Kyle a chance to speak, much less offer them a bargain.
Because he wasn’t offering Jessica what she wanted.
Noelle.
She was coming for Noelle and Kyle was down.
Kyle might be dead.
He prayed Noelle would stay in the bathroom, that she’d done exactly as he’d asked and she’d left the laptop in the room so she couldn’t see what had happened to Kyle, couldn’t see how MaeBe tried to get to him, didn’t know they were dragging her away like she was meaningless.
Rage lit inside him because they were treating his people like they meant nothing. Like they were fucking prey.
He was going to show them what it felt like to be prey.
He knew this club like the back of his hand. He opened the desk drawer where he happened to know the dungeon monitor kept a set of knives. He rolled the kit out. The gun might be too loud, and it would give away his position. There were five men and Layne, who was also carrying a small pistol.
He wouldn’t hesitate. She’d walked into his house and threatened his people. She was a snake, and he was going to take her out.
He grabbed two small, sharp-as-fuck knives and the gun he would use if he needed it. He shoved one of the knives into the holster he had sewn into all of his boots. There was a shoulder holster for the gun wrapped around the chair. It was slightly too big, but it would work.
“Noelle, I’ve got your friend and I’m going to kill her. I already took care of that wannabe spy of yours. So you can show yourself or I’ll have my guys blow this whore’s purple head off. No one’s coming, by the way. I’ve taken over all the systems. There’s no alarm going out.”
Jessica Layne seemed to have her own PA system. A narcissist to the bitter end, she was.
Would Noelle have heard that? The rooms upstairs were pretty well insulated. Not enough that he couldn’t hear GN’R playing every time Charlotte and Big Tag decided to have a private session.
“I mean it, Noelle,” Jessica was saying. “I already took out pretty Kyle. I’m tired of this one crying. If you come out now and give me what Madison sent you, we can talk. Madison wouldn’t play the game. She wasn’t smart. You can be smarter. You know there’s a lot of money to be made.”
Hutch glanced at the screens and saw someone jumping the ten-foot fence that closed in the basketball court. Michael moved with the ease of a man who’d worked for one of the world’s premiere security teams for almost a decade. He hit the court in a crouch and then started moving for the door. Michael had been given a keycard earlier in the evening and used it to slide inside.
So he wouldn’t be alone. Michael would be coming in, and he knew what to do. And if Michael was making his way in, that meant he’d put out a call.
Hutch moved to the door. He couldn’t see where anyone was inside the building, but he knew the club’s blind spots. Knife in hand, he started to make his way down the hall and toward the lobby. He peeked around. The lights were sporadic, placed only as backups so a person inside could make their way. They sent long shadows. He flattened against the wall and risked a look into the lobby.
One man stood at the base of the stairs, guarding it for the rest who’d gone into the dungeon. He pulled a radio from his utility belt. “We’re clear here. No sign of the girl.”
There was the sound of static, and then a deep voice came over the radio. “Keep a look out. We don’t know if the other male is here. We’re giving this thing five minutes and then we’ll torch the place. According to our friend no one’s here, but she lied about Kyle, so I suspect this is where they stashed LaVigne.”
Hutch moved quickly and quietly before the man could turn. He hadn’t been in the field in a long time, but his body remembered this dance. He eased behind his prey, securing th
e man with his free hand, and before he could even start to struggle, Hutch found the man’s jugular and sank his knife in. It took real force to slit a throat, but adrenaline gave Hutch the strength he needed. He lowered the man to the floor.
His hands were bloody. He’d hoped to never see his hands covered in a man’s blood again, but this was necessary. The stairs were steep, and he couldn’t see the landing from this vantage. He was contemplating taking the back stairs that led from the men’s locker room to the west side of the dungeon when something moved out of the corner of his eye.
He turned and Kyle was shuffling his body to the door. He was covered in blood and held a hand to his chest, but the tough motherfucker was on his feet.
“Noelle, she’s running out of time,” Layne said over her loudspeaker.
Hutch opened the door as quietly as he could and helped Kyle in.
“MaeBe’s still alive?” Kyle whispered the question.
“Yes,” he whispered back. “And Michael’s on his way. I’m stashing you here. Try not to die.”
He helped him to the security desk. It was the only cover he could easily get Kyle to.
“I’m here.” A familiar voice floated down from above.
Noelle. Damn it.
“You should spank her more,” Kyle said. “Way more.”
Oh, he would. He would slap that girl’s ass silly if they got out of this. “Stay alive, brother. You hear me?”
Kyle nodded and sagged down to the floor. “You, too.”
“She’s coming down from the third floor.” The dead man’s radio was talking again. “Everyone come back to the rally point. We’ll move out as soon as the queen is ready.”
Oh, Jessica Layne was not a freaking queen. She was a user, a parasite. She’d spent her whole adult life stepping on the people around her, dragging them down because it was the only way she could succeed. She hurt people because it was easier to take from them than to do for herself.
He wasn’t going to let Noelle be her latest victim.
He pulled the second knife out of his boot and handed it to Kyle. He couldn’t leave the man without a way to defend himself.
“Please let MaeBe go. I’ll come with you,” Noelle offered.
He was going to spank the hell out of her. Hutch couldn’t take the safe route. He was going to have to go right up the stairs and try to sneak around the edge of the dungeon. Michael would almost surely be coming from the opposite side. If they could trap Layne in the middle, they could take her down.
“What the hell kind of name is MaeBe?” Layne wasn’t using the app now. Her voice was softer, but he could easily hear her. “And this seems like an odd place to hide, but then you have hidden depths, Noelle. I honestly bought your ‘I’m a sweet country girl’ act. Who could have guessed that you would play such hardball? Too bad you’re playing against the best.”
Hutch clung to the shadows now as he moved up the stairs.
“I’m not playing at all,” Noelle replied.
“I disagree. You downloaded your research last night,” Jessica accused. “Did you make a deal with Sidirov and the others? Because they won’t pay more than ten million now. I could have gotten twenty out of them if you hadn’t fucked everything up.”
“I didn’t do anything. You’ve got another enemy.” Noelle’s voice sounded closer now.
“When you’re as good as I am, you make a few,” Jessica admitted. “But don’t even try to lie to me. Austin had an alarm on the system, and he’s the one who caught you.”
“Is he the one who nearly killed me in the locker room?” Noelle asked.
Jessica huffed. “Honey, if he’d wanted to kill you, he would have. We were being thorough. We hadn’t thought to check the lockers. You interrupted him. Then Pete almost caught him. I’m probably going to kill that little fucker, too.”
“You can’t think you’re going to get away with this. There’s a federal investigation.” Noelle’s voice trembled.
Hutch made it to the top step. He was safe in the shadows. There was less light in the dungeon than there had been downstairs. He moved toward the lounge where one day he would sit with Noelle on his lap, talking to his friends and relaxing.
Because there was no way this was the end.
Noelle was moving down the stairs from the third floor, carefully using her cane and holding the railing. Two guards were at the bottom, and a third stood behind Layne. That left one unaccounted for, but he had to take the chance.
MaeBe was on the floor, close to the guard near Layne. She was so still he worried she was already dead.
“Isn’t there always?” Jessica mused. “I’m a powerful woman. Someone always wants to take me down, but they can’t. They try and try, but I’m better than they are. I’m smarter. I understand the world.”
“You lie and cheat and steal. You make nothing.” Noelle sounded stronger now.
“I make the world,” Layne snarled back. “You think your ideas mean something? Without me you’re nothing. You’re all sad, pathetic creatures who have no idea how the world works. You see, Noelle, in this life you’re either a queen or a peasant. There’s no in between. The feds can try, but I assure you I’ll come out stronger than ever, and then I’ll make those feds pay. The key is to not give up. If someone hurts you, never let up. I’ll sue them all, and when they run out of money, I’ll keep talking. I control the narrative. The press sees what I want them to see, and then one day the little investigator will take some pills because they won’t be able to handle what I throw at them. So you’re going to give me what I want and pray I don’t decide to go after your family.”
He moved around one of the pillars. He was still fifty feet away, and Noelle had no cover. Then he saw something moving across the dungeon. A shadow, shifting past the equipment.
Michael was here.
“I could find a way to sue that father of yours,” Layne continued. “Law enforcement is easy. One little scandal and they’re done. Or that clinic your stepmom runs. I can bankrupt them in a heartbeat. You know what? That’s a much better threat. Bentley, you can kill the girl. We’ll leave her here.”
Noelle cried out and the guard next to MaeBe turned, but MaeBe twisted her body, kicking her foot up and catching the fucker in his dick. A shot rang out and Michael moved in, firing once and catching the man who’d been about to kill MaeBe.
The two guards near Noelle started to fire Michael’s way. Noelle proved she wasn’t some shrinking violet. She brought her cane up and knocked the guard to her right in the head.
Hutch stepped out and fired, hitting the guard to Noelle’s right, but not before he got a shot off. Hutch felt fire light through his left side, but he couldn’t give in to that pain. He pushed forward, firing the second guard’s way. “Take cover, Noelle.”
Noelle moved straight for MaeBe, huddling over the other woman.
They were going to have a long talk about the meaning of the word cover.
Layne started running for the stairs, panicking and proving she let other people do her dirty work.
Hutch took out the other guard. Four down, and Layne could run but she couldn’t hide because he heard the sweet sound of sirens.
Where was number five?
Then he felt his left side explode with pain again and realized that number five had been coming up behind him. He’d been somewhere in the lounge.
Hutch stumbled but made it to Noelle in time to put his body over hers.
A big figure in all black pointed a gun his way. “Guess if I’m going to jail, I should do some crime.”
Hutch heard Noelle crying but he tensed, praying Michael would at least be able to save the women.
A knife thudded into the man’s eye. Even through his pain, Hutch recognized that had been a hell of a throw. The sight was both beautiful and utterly horrific. It caused the man to drop his gun, and then his torso was peppered with shots.
Hutch managed to turn, and Kyle was standing at the top of the stairs. He started to limp ove
r, and Hutch saw his chest was wrapped in…was that duct tape?
“Where did Layne go?” Michael was the only one who wasn’t dying. He looked all whole and shit. Hadn’t even gotten blood on his clothes.
Noelle was moving under him.
“Her well-dressed corpse is at the bottom of the stairs,” Kyle managed through obvious pain. “She shouldn’t have run in those heels. Broke her neck. MaeBe?”
Hutch groaned as Noelle got out from under him and he hit the floor.
“Kyle?” MaeBe was crying. “I thought you were dead.”
From his place on the floor, he saw MaeBe struggle to her feet.
Noelle’s sweet face hovered over his. “Hutch? You’ve been shot.”
Yep, she was a smart one. “Multiple times. Tag’s going to yell at me because blood is hard on these floors.”
Tears fell from her eyes. “Don’t joke. Please. I love you so much. Please stay with me.”
He reached up with his good hand. “I’m going to be okay, baby. Ask Kyle where he put the duct tape.”
He heard the sound of the officers rushing in as Noelle cried and the world went dark.
Chapter Nineteen
The woman formerly known as Julia Ennis stood to the right of the nurses’ station. She had a clipboard in her hand and a professional-looking nametag. When the nurse had asked why she was walking the floor, she’d explained that she was with oversight and doing the first of her reports to the hospital board. This particular system was so large the nurse had simply shrugged and went about her business.
Of course if the nurse had called, she would have discovered that there really was an oversight committee and the name she was using was on it.
The hospital system was owned by a larger healthcare system, and that system was owned by a multinational conglomerate, and so on and so on, until no one could truly understand how much of the world was run by a few incredibly powerful men.
Men who were going to be deeply upset that she’d been outplayed by a naïve chemist and a dumbass, do-gooder hacker.
