by Imogen Wells
We spend the next hour going over the plan. Dean came up empty-handed on the suspect list, and he and Drew have driven out to the site with the drone. While we wait for them to return, Tobias shows us to our wing of the house.
I’m admiring the view from my room when there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in.” I turn enough to see Ryder enter the room before joining me at the window.
“Some view, huh? Dean and Drew are back, and a military truck just pulled up outside. Something you know about or not?” I side-eye him. “I’ll take that as a no then.”
I rub a hand over my face, letting out a tired sigh. “Let’s go and find out what the fuck’s going on.”
We find Tobias and the others outside, along with a man I’ve not seen for a little under 6 years. I feel Ryder tense beside me when he realises who Tobias is talking with. I can’t say I don’t understand. In fact, I understand even more so. As we near the two men, I see Seb to my left, who has a firm grip of Jamie’s hand. He has his head held high, back ramrod straight, with his free arm behind his back and feet apart.
Tobias looks up, immediately drawing attention to us. The other man turns just as we reach them, and Ryder and I stop dead, standing to attention and saluting the man in front of us.
“At ease gentlemen,” he commands.
“Major, good to see you again.” The words sound sincere, but they hide the bitter taste of grief and guilt seeing Major Cole again brings forth. “Although, I’m surprised to see you here. I had no idea you were involved, sir,” I state, turning to Tobias, who looks away under my gaze.
“Good to see some things never change,” he says, slapping Tobias on the back. “However, I’m no longer a major any more than you are a lieutenant, so how about we do away with the formalities.”
“I asked Dickie to help out his oldest friend. I thought it was a good idea as it was him that recommended your company,” Tobias declares, returning the slap on the back. Richard throws a stern glare at him, to which he just laughs.
I almost baulk at Tobias calling Richard Dickie, but I maintain my military stoicism. I had no idea Richard and Tobias knew each other, and well it seems, but now is not the time for stories of old friends.
“Perhaps a heads up would have been an idea, Mr Harris.” My use of his full name cluing him into the fact I’m not impressed with my mission being hijacked. And by none other than my commanding officer and someone that brings back memories I don’t wish to think about.
Clearly noting my agitation at the intrusion, Richard suggests we move this inside. Offering a nod as he passes me, he enters the house with Tobias following behind.
Seb steps forward with Jamie, cursing under his breath.
“Who is that guy?” Jamie asks.
For several minutes nobody speaks.
“That is Major Richard Cole, and not somebody any of us thought we’d see again,” Ryder says.
Jamie accepts this without further question, even though I can see she knows there’s a story there. That girl is too perceptive. It’s one of the reasons I wanted her to join us, but I never imagined that it would be my own story she’d get a whiff of.
Ryder’s assessment on the situation is correct, but what he failed to say was that none of us wished to see Richard again. Don’t get me wrong, I have huge respect for the man, but his reappearance reminds me of a time I don’t care to revisit in this lifetime. The quicker we get this job done and Richard vanishes from my life again, the better for everyone.
We join Richard and Tobias in the war room with the others and spend another hour refining our plans. Despite not being happy that Richard is here, I can’t deny that having the extra help isn’t a benefit.
Three
Rick
“On my signal, we move in,” I say down the earpiece.
Ryder, Seb, Dean, Drew, Scott, Jamie and I are positioned in a copse of trees facing the front entrance to the building. Richard and his five men are positioned behind another building at the rear of the target site.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins as the clock ticks down, and as with any time we do one of these ops, memories try to infiltrate my mind. Pushing them back, I focus on the task in front of me. 5…4…3…2…
“Move, move,” I command. The rustling of clothing and feet on gravel echoes back down the earpiece as we all move forward.
A menacing silence descends as I reach the door, stepping to the side, back to the wall, I give Ryder a nod. Raising a hand, I signal a count of three.
As I lower my last finger, Ryder pulls the door open, and I dispatch a flashbang grenade before we move in.
The old rec room is dimly lit with debris scattered across the floor. Moving in line formation, we make our way to the door at the other end, but before we can reach it, it opens.
“What the—” His words are cut off as Ryder’s shot hits its target, and the guy drops to the ground. I hear a small gasp from the left, that I know came from Jamie, but I ignore it as we move through to the next room.
A small wooden table littered with takeaway boxes, wrappers and beer bottles and several seats around it occupies the small kitchen space. The smell of rotting food and stale beer permeates my nose, causing it to turn up in disgust.
The door directly opposite leads to the rear entrance, where I can hear Richard and his guys making their way towards us. Of the other two doors leading from the kitchen, one is a toilet, but not hearing any noise in that direction, we turn our focus to the remaining door on the left.
Signalling to Ryder, we move into position as a cry of pain and shouting echoes from somewhere below. I watch as Seb positions Jamie away from the door to the rear of our group before giving the signal to move in.
As silence envelopes the building, I open the door to a set of stairs leading to a long, dark corridor. We pass several more rooms, each with a metal door and a bolt, but all empty.
The door to the final room at the far end is slightly ajar and sounds of a struggle can be heard from inside. As we reach the door, shouting and loud footsteps can be heard from upstairs, and it seems as though there are more men here than we thought. Confident that Richard and his men can deal with it, I move to push the door open.
Richard’s voice in my ear, halts my movements.
“Rick, I need another man up here.”
Scott catches my eye, and I nod, holding two fingers up, and he taps Drew on the shoulder before they both head upstairs to help Richard. Turning back to the door in front of me, I push it open with the palm of my right hand.
The body of a young woman lies on the floor, clothing torn and covered in blood. Charlotte Harris. As the door opens further, the full scene is revealed.
Another body on the floor, that of a man who has blood pouring from a large gash to his head but appears to still be alive, and behind him is a man standing over a woman, Jessica Fisher.
Pointing a hand over my head, I signal Ryder to the guy on the floor and Seb and Jamie to Charlotte, and I move toward the remaining target. He still hasn’t noticed us, too busy attempting to undo his trousers and with no other thoughts but raping the woman lain at his feet, who is barely conscious.
I hear him mumbling curse words in what sounds like Spanish as Jessica begins to stir, and he finally gets his jeans undone, a groan leaving his lips.
That’s it. Lights out time. I raise my glock ready to drop this fucker when voices behind me have the guy turning my way. His eyes widen in surprise when he sees us all there. He reaches behind his back but doesn’t find what he was looking for. The reason for that becomes obvious as Jessica lurches forward, slashing the backs of his ankles with his own blade.
Blood spurts from the wounds to his Achilles, and he drops to his knees, screaming and cursing, and promising death to us all.
She dives forward again, hoping to finish the job, but I stop her, gripping her wrist before she reaches him.
Her head snaps round to me, piercing blue eyes, wild with anger and fear, pin me to th
e spot. For several seconds, there is just the two of us. Everything else fades into the background. I see the exact moment she realises we are not a threat, immediately dropping the knife to the floor.
I release her wrist and drop to my knees in front of her. “Jessica, I’m Rick. Are you hurt?” I ask.
She watches me for a few seconds before shaking her head. “No,” she whispers as her eyes return to the man still writhing in agony on the floor behind me. Something catches her attention over to the left, and the blank look in her eyes slowly dissolves to become hard and dark.
Before I can stop her, she’s up on her feet, though a little unsteady, and trying to walk towards where Jamie and Seb are with Charlotte. She’s halted by the chains still at her wrists, and a growl rumbles up her throat as she yanks at them.
“Hold on,” I tell her, and pull a set of lock picks from my belt. Quickly releasing her restraints, she looks up at me thankfully, and I offer her a nod before she stumbles to Lottie.
“Lottie. Lottie, it’s Jess,” she says, dropping down beside her and stroking a hand over her head. “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now.” I watch as tears well in her eyes, but she holds them in, taking a deep breath as if reinforcing her resolve and refusing to let them drop.
Charlotte stirs at the sound of Jessica’s voice, groaning and gripping her stomach as she curls herself into a ball.
I’m no doctor, but I don’t need to be to know the hell this girl has endured.
Jamie has her medical kit bag, which we put together for her, open on the floor beside her. The look on her face tells me there isn’t a thing in there that’s going to help Charlotte.
As if she heard my thoughts, she looks up at me. “We need to get her to hospital now, Rick.” Her eyes widen, brows rising in emphasis.
Richard, obviously having heard Jamie, tells me the nearest hospital is an hour’s drive away. Jamie gives a small shake of her head telling me Charlotte won’t make it that long.
Turning away from them, I pull my earpiece out, yanking my cell from my pocket and dialling Tobias.
Tobias is in his helicopter before I’ve even finished speaking, and to be honest, had it not been for Richard, Tobias would have been here whether I wanted him to be or not.
I’m brought back to what’s happening in the room by the soft whisperings of Jessica in Charlotte’s ear.
“I’m here, Lottie. Just listen to my voice, it will be okay.” I hear the desperation, the want in her voice to believe her own words, but I know she knows that it’s going to be far from okay for Charlotte.
Jamie manages to get an IV set up and give Charlotte some pain relief before she begins to clean the wounds on Charlotte’s face and legs. Once she’s satisfied Charlotte is at least mildly comfortable, she rises to her feet and comes over.
“We’re going to need something to carry her on. There’s no way we can move her any other way, Rick. I’m certain she has internal bleeding and carrying her might cause further damage.”
“Okay, I’ll see what we can find. We’re in an old hospital, right? So, there’s got to be a stretcher here somewhere.” Jamie nods before walking back to Charlotte, and I send Dean off to see what he can find.
A groan and a cry of pain comes from behind me, and I turn to see Seb, not so gently, wrapping bandages round the ankles of the arsehole on the floor.
“Seb, get him out of here before Tobias arrives. Whilst it would give me great pleasure to let him do what he wants with him, that’s not how we work. Besides, he might prove useful.” Seb acknowledges me with a nod before lifting the guy off the floor, who curses and swears like a damn sailor.
I rub a hand over my face and let out a deep sigh just as Dean returns with a stretcher. It’s not in the best condition, but it will have to do.
We lift Charlotte onto the stretcher, and carefully carry it up the stairs before wheeling her outside to wait for Tobias. Jessica refuses to leave her side, even when her legs almost give out from beneath her.
We don’t have to wait long before the familiar thwack, thwack of the helicopter can be heard coming closer. Tobias is out and running towards us before the chopper even touches the ground. A myriad of emotions can be read in his face; fear, anguish and relief that Charlotte is alive.
Jamie stops him from diving on his daughter, and the look he gives her is nothing short of murderous. She holds her own, professionally, as I knew she would.
“Mr Harris, let her do her job,” Jessica tells him with a hand on his forearm. Her touch is like the antidote to a trance, and he immediately turns to her.
“Maybe you should have done yours. What the fuck happened?” he spits at her. The venom in his words is like the sharpest point of a blade and aimed straight for the jugular.
I watch as his words do what was intended and cut deeply, but she masks it quickly.
“I think you need to go with your daughter, and we will continue this conversation later.” Her words are polite, but I hear the hint of anger and no doubt guilt she’s feeling.
“There is no need for further conversation,” Tobias snaps, taking a step forward. “You’re fired, and I hope you have a good fucking lawyer, Ms Fisher, because you’re going to need one.” He turns away, following Jamie as she, Scott and Dean load Charlotte into the chopper.
I watch Jessica’s hands clench into fists as she blows out a resigned breath. “Fuck you, Mr Harris,” she mutters as she turns around. A look of shock splays across her face when she sees me standing there.
.
Four
Jess
Fuck! I didn’t realise he was standing there. My head is throbbing, and my scalp is screaming in quiet protest at the harsh treatment it recently received. Also, my mouth feels like it’s been filled with cotton wool balls that have sucked every ounce of moisture from it.
I lick my parched lips and unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth gearing up to issue an apology I don’t mean when the guy in front of me, Rick, I think he said his name was, speaks first.
“Come on, you can ride with me to the hospital. I just need to speak with the guys first, so give me two minutes, yeah?” I give him a nod before he turns and walks to the two guys who helped get Charlotte into the helicopter.
They talk for a few minutes, and then Rick walks back towards me, pushing something into his ear as the other two head in the opposite direction. I can see Rick’s mouth moving, but I can’t hear what he’s saying.
Just as he reaches me, another guy runs over. He’s tall with black hair, beautiful caramel-coloured eyes and tattoos that peak out from beneath the sleeve of his t-shirt. He’s all kinds of hot, but not my kind. If I was in the market for a man, Rick is more my type. His hair is dark, and I can see the sides are peppered with grey. I haven’t been able to get a good look at his eyes or his face, but that’s not what I’m attracted to. It’s his confident stride, authoritative tone and clear alpha male demeanour that would normally have my body coming alive. Unfortunately, now is not the time or place.
“Richard has agreed for one of his men to watch the arsehole while he’s getting treated at the hospital—”
“The arsehole’s name is Raul. But I think arsehole suits him better,” I offer.
The new guy snorts his amusement while Rick’s gaze swings to me, and I give him a shrug of indifference.
“Okay. Raul, the arsehole, will get treated along with the unconscious guy while Richard takes the other two men still breathing to the local police station.”
Now it’s my turn to snort at the idea of the cops being of any use to what the fuck happened here. Mind you, I’m sure Tobias will throw enough money at them to actually do something. Other than a quick glance my way, neither of the guys comment on my reaction.
I leave them to talk, zoning out. The eye candy has been a great distraction from the fact I was kidnapped and held captive for the last three days, but my reality is slowly working its way back in.
Not to mention, I’m now out of a job. Most
people would be glad for the break given what I’ve just been through. Me? Not so much. Too much time to think, too much time for my mind to conjure thoughts and images a woman like me should never have.
The touch of a hand on my back, startles me out of my thoughts.
“You ready?” Rick asks, a look of concern on his face.
I slap a fake as fuck smile on my face and ignore the bite of pain in my cheek, and the even bigger, stabbing pain in my head as I begin to walk towards the car I can now see parked just off to the right.
Rick catches up to me in a couple of strides, reaching the car before me and opening the door. I give him a nod of thanks, which was a bad move considering the pain the jarring movement causes me, and I climb into the car.
The light from inside the car causes me to wince slightly, but it does allow me to get a better glimpse of Rick as he climbs in beside me.
He turns to look at me, and I get a clearer look at his face. He’s gorgeous, with an angular jawline covered in a dark scruff that frames full lips with a prominent cupid’s bow. But those eyes? They are beautiful. The colour of etched glass with the barest hint of a green hue in them. They captivate me, and I turn away quickly not wanting him to catch me looking. I realise he reminds me of someone, but I brush the errant thought aside, not wanting to think about that someone.
Rick begins to drive, and I rest my head back, closing my eyes to try and get some relief from this insistent head pounding.
I keep my eyes closed until we hit the main road and light streams in intermittently from the streetlights. There’s a small tug of resistance as I raise my head, and I lift a hand to the back of my head to feel matted hair and stickiness, obviously blood.
