Until Milo’s gaze fell on me. “Silver,” he drew out the sound of each letter as he held out his hand.
Fuck. I mentally pleaded for the team to hurry up and get to the twelfth floor. I wondered what was taking them so long, why no one had noticed yet. And worst of all, I feared what would happen once they reached us.
Kirk lifted me to my feet, his silent encouragement to help buy us time, but I was afraid either my heart or brain would explode as soon as Milo touched me. Despite the waves of fear and discomfort, I had to paste an easy smile to my face as I dropped my hand into his warm palm.
As the chorus of groans rose around us, a man rushed into the room and blew past us to the back end of the table.
I heard Ross mutter a curse and my gut tightened again. Something flew across the room and smashed against a window, and I ducked next to the table, afraid the next flying object would be aimed at me.
“Raid,” was all Ross could say before the men jumped from their seats, cursing and shouting.
It had begun. All I wanted to do was curl up against Kirk, or in a corner somewhere. Kirk jumped up, pulling me to my feet, and pushing me toward Alley, who was gathering all of the girls on one side of the room.
“Someone must have tipped them off,” Ross said and my feet slowed.
I couldn’t look back, I’d give too much away, but a hand grabbed the back of my dress and threw me onto the table, I slid across it and fell to the other side. My back burned, and my body uselessly refused to move.
“We don’t have time for this,” Milo hissed, grabbing one of the men and whispering in his ear, before shoving him to the door.
Ross ignored them all and stepped around the table, pointing a gun at me. “Looks like we should have listened to Kat.”
“It was me,” Kirk yelled. “She’s innocent.”
A chorus of gasps and murmurs moved through the room then someone yelled for the rest of the girls to get out of the room.
No. Fucking idiot, I silently screamed.
“Why?” Miles asked his voice barely more than a gasp of air.
“They offered me a deal. I wanted out.”
Ross raised the gun, pointing it over the table at Kirk. I lurched, slamming into his gut as the gun went off. When I spun, I saw Kirk on the floor, a puddle of red growing around him. I dove under the table, putting my body over his. Holding my hands over the gaping hole as warm sticky liquid flowed out. I didn’t care about anything but stopping the blood. I felt the people moving around me, murmuring, cursing. Someone in the corner crying.
“Don’t…Silver—” Kirk whispered.
I looked up to see Miles pointing a gun at us, and I assumed there were others doing the same.
“Let her watch him,” Milo chuckled. “A slow death is what he deserves. Knowing he can’t do a damn thing to protect her now.”
Milo took off out of the room, with a few members of the security team on his tail. No wonder the rat bastard had managed to survive so long, he didn’t care about anyone except himself.
“You should go, Ross,” Miles said. “Follow him to the chopper and get out of here.”
The room went silent. Please listen. I hoped I could at least reason with Miles, beg for his understanding.
“No,” Ross said and my heart dropped out of my chest. “They’ve cost me everything, I’m making sure they’re both dead.”
A gun went off and I jerked, waiting for the pain, for more blood. Something thudded against the floor, and I finally dared to open my eyes.
Ross lay next to us, in a puddle of blood that poured out of his head. I raised my head and stared at Miles. Even he looked like he didn’t know what had happened. His eyes were glazed over, his mouth flat.
When his gaze settled on me, he shook his head. He dropped the gun onto the floor and rubbed his hands over his face. “It’s on you now.”
He ran toward the door, leaving me with the two bleeding bodies on the floor. The copper scent burned at my nostrils, but I pressed against Kirk’s wound. “Please, don’t die, Kirk. Don’t die.”
Chanting the words over and over, I just wanted him to wake up.
“James, please.”
His eyes fluttered for a second then his face went slack.
I could still feel his shallow breaths, the faint pulse as blood seeped around my hand.
Then, I heard more noises, voices. Feet charged into the room. I kept my head down, terrified that it was only more members of Ross’s crew. Hands pulled at my shoulders and I yelled out.
“Leave me alone. He’s bleeding.”
I fought them off, until I heard my name.
“Rose?” I looked up, a blond man stood above me in a SWAT uniform. “We’re going to help him.”
The blond gently pulled me away from Kirk as two of the others knelt around him, keeping pressure on the wound. I watched, suddenly finding myself seated at the table with no recollection of sitting down. “Please, don’t let him die.”
“We’re going to do everything we can—”
“No,” I yelled. “Do more.”
“Davis,” a man from across the room yelled and the blond next to me nodded in acknowledgment.
Outsiders. I felt them watching me. They saw the girl dressed up like a slut and used as a toy. I wanted to curl up and hide under the table.
“Rose,” the blond next to me patted my cheek. “Do you know where they went?”
“Helicopter,” I pointed in the direction they’d gone when they left. “That way.”
“Do you know how to get to the roof?”
I shook my head, why would anyone let a slave on the roof?
“James is going to be okay,” he whispered. “He’s tough shit; you don’t get rid of that so easily.”
I pulled my eyes away from the mess on the floor, they’d packed his wound, but he still hadn’t moved again. Hadn’t made a sound.
“You were his contact?” I whispered. “Trent?”
“Yeah, he wanted to get you out long before now.”
“I know.” I felt void of all emotion, of all feeling. People shuffled around me. Footsteps. Radios crackling.
The world moved impossibly slow and yet so fast that my mind couldn’t keep up.
I was about to lose everything I’d known for the past few weeks. Good or bad. I was about to be thrust into yet another new life. I couldn’t go back to who I was before. I’d never see that girl again, no matter how long I looked.
His radio crackled and beeped then I heard the popping of gunfire overhead. They’d found the roof.
My insides twisted and I threw up. Miles was up there, and I had no idea where Alley was.
“The girls?” I asked, choking on the taste of my vomit.
“We found them downstairs. They’re all safe.”
All? How did they know it was all? I wanted to run away from him, to run down the hall and find Alley.
“There was also a man with them, and he’s been taken into custody.”
“Miles?” I asked grasping on to the hope.
Davis squinted at me and shook his head. “They didn’t give a name or description.”
A stretcher came in, and I followed the crew as they loaded up Kirk and carried him to the elevator.
Rude Awakening
The officers kept me separated and away from the eyes of the rest of the group, leaving me to watch through a window as they loaded everyone up into large vans. It was like a morbid parade, they had men sprawled out, lying face down on the ground, girls screaming or curled up sobbing. As soon as one van was full, it went on its way and they filled another. I couldn’t imagine where they were taking them all. The women alone would fill a couple of floors in a hotel. The men would surely take up more space than offered at the local jail.
Ambulances lined up next to the transport vans. Kirk didn’t even get a damn ambulance; they had to life flight him out.
I marched over to the group of men who seemed to be in charge. The ones who had ordered Trent to keep m
e here. “I want to go to the hospital.”
“We’ll get everyone checked out,” some old man said. I scowled back at him, and another young paramedic tried to grab my arm. I jumped away.
“I’m leaving for the hospital,” Trent said, “she can ride with me.”
“That’s against procedure.”
“In these circumstances…” he trailed off and shook his head. “ Bluntly, Sir, fuck procedure. I’m going to the hospital, and she’s coming with me; you can have my gun and badge if you want.”
Davis draped his SWAT jacket over my body and pulled a key from his pocket—Kirk’s key.
My gut clenched. He held the link to my final claim of freedom, but as he reached for the collar around my neck, I wanted to pull away.
I wanted my freedom to come from Kirk… James… I wasn’t even sure what I was supposed to call him anymore. After removing the collar and cuffs, Trent kept me close to his side as he led me down toward the street where the cars were parked.
“You and K—” Time to stop calling him that. “James, you were close?”
“We trained together. They tried to pass this off to someone with more experience, but we knew each other and I fought to be his contact.” He opened his car door, but instead of climbing in, he leaned over the roof. “You weren’t supposed to get caught up in all of this—”
“I know.” I slid into the car hoping to avoid future conversation.
As the car pulled away from the retreat, I licked my dry lips and picked at my nails. I was still covered with blood; anyone else who saw me would think I was the one doing all of the killing.
My body clenched as soon as we hit city limits and I recognized where we were. Civilization. The real world. People going about their everyday lives.
Not a one of them had any idea what was going on twenty minutes outside of the city.
“Rose,” Trent whispered.
I recognized my name, but it felt foreign. I still hadn’t let go. I wondered if my name would ever feel like my own again. “I’m fine.”
Fine, right. I couldn’t even sit still and I knew Trent saw it. I squeezed my fingers, rubbed them against my leg. Scratched my feet against the carpet. I wanted out of the city so badly I couldn’t even see straight.
At the hospital, we waited in the car for a few minutes while Trent checked his phone, and I tried to get myself under control.
“Are you ready for this? There’s a private waiting room, so we won’t have to be around anyone more than necessary.”
I blew out a long breath and nodded. As he led me in, I had to keep reminding myself to keep it together. On some level, it felt like a trick. One of Ross’ employees was bound to pop out at any second and throw me into lockup. Luckily, no one else boarded the elevator and as soon as we stepped off, we went straight to the nurse’s desk.
“They took him into surgery when he got here,” he said, waving at one of the nurses and calling her over. “Can you find an extra pair of scrubs?”
The woman looked me over, raised her eyebrows, and walked away, returning a few minutes later with a stack of gaudy green clothes. Trent grabbed them and led me around and through a small private waiting room. I guessed that his business brought him here often. He opened the door to a tiny bathroom and laid the clothes down next to the sink. “I’ll let you get washed up.”
I handed back his jacket and dropped the straps to my dress.
He cleared his throat and closed the door. In my own little world, I’d forgotten about real world etiquette. Not that his presence really registered anyway. I was on autopilot.
I threw my dress into the trash then pulled a long section of paper towel out of the dispenser and began scrubbing at the blood on my hands and arms. Some had even transferred to my legs when I’d sat down. I tried to clean under my fingernails and wipe up the excess blood, but it seemed like there was no end to the stains.
Finally, I rinsed off and splashed some water over my face before slipping into the oversized scrubs. I looked in the mirror, taking in my rudely disheveled appearance, but the blood was gone. I didn’t care about the rest.
Trent was leaned against a chair arm when I opened the door; he stood, but waited for me to approach.
“Sorry about that,” I waved at the door. “I didn’t think.”
“It’s okay.” He kept his distance but didn’t look away.
For fuck’s sake, I was back to being looked at like a caged animal. I collapsed into a chair, hoping that if he knew I was staying put he’d stop watching my every movement.
“I talked to a nurse,” he said, “James is still in surgery so, we can wait in here. I’d like to get you checked out though.”
Just saw the doctor this morning, I thought, but no one here would recognize Clarence’s opinion on anything. “I’m fine.”
“I can have a doctor come in here.”
I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “Whatever you want, if you need me to get cleared then do it. Get it over with so I can just be free of all this.”
Trent nodded and stepped outside. I almost regretted what I’d said because now I was alone with no one to protect me—even though I wasn’t sure what I needed protection from.
I didn’t want anyone else touching me, even if it was a doctor. However, it wasn’t just a doctor; it was a doctor, a nurse, and a phlebotomist. My leg bounced off the floor and I stared across the room as they did their work, only giving monosyllabic answers when absolutely necessary. I didn’t want to be examined; I wanted to know that Kirk was okay.
That James was okay.
As much as I kept telling myself I needed to use his real name now. I was still more connected to life as Silver than life as Rose. After the past few weeks, that was my reality. Just like I couldn’t make an overnight change when they had abducted me and tried to turn me into a slave, I couldn’t flip the switch and go back to normal now.
Normal was life before Kirk.
Whatever this was, this was life after Kirk.
It was another two hours before they took James to a regular room and okayed us to visit him. The doctor assured us that although he was still unconscious, he was stable, and should make a complete recovery, but I wasn’t ready for what I saw when we entered the room.
He was barely the man I knew, so pale and frail looking with all of the tubes and wires. I stopped just inside the door, running my fingers through my tangled hair. I felt the beginning of tears well up and forced myself forward; at least while he was asleep, Kirk wouldn’t be able to see my tears.
I slid my hand under his cool fingers.
I heard someone else enter the room, and hushed voices behind me, but I tuned them out, pulling up a stool and leaning over the side of the bed. I was so exhausted, my vision was blurry, but I fought to keep my eyes open, unable to take my gaze off of him.
James’ hand twitched and I sat up so quickly I almost fell off the stool. I saw a hint of his grey-blue eyes and squeezed his hand, probably to the point of pain for him.
“You don’t give up, do you?” he whispered.
“You know better.”
Trent leaned over the other side of the bed. “Quite the stubborn girl you found.”
The corner of James’ mouth quirked up, but his eyelids fluttered closed again.
“They’re giving us another fifteen minutes or so,” Trent said. “Then, they want to give him time to rest.”
I leaned my elbow against the bed railing, using my free hand to rub away the pounding headache in my forehead. “I can’t leave. Where would I go, anyway?”
“Home,” James whispered.
“Your rent and bills are all taken care of,” Trent explained. “We made sure you didn’t lose everything.”
I glared across the bed at Trent as he spoke. James hadn’t only used my driver’s license to check my background; he’d at least tried to make sure I could have a halfway normal life when he finally managed to get me out. I couldn’t believe it, but part of me drew back at the news, at th
e thought of going back there. I was afraid of my old life, afraid of facing it again.
“The friends I was supposed to meet for dinner,” I said. James hadn’t brought it up again since I’d asked about Charlene, and I’d been afraid to mention it myself.
“You only mentioned one,” James said, his voice growing fainter every time he spoke.
“Well, I was supposed to meet two, but I only remember being with one. Charlene?” I glanced at James then back at Trent.
“She’s fine,” Trent said. “She doesn’t remember anything happening.”
“Why’d they take me and not her?”
Trent shook his head. “She was assaulted and left in her car, but she doesn’t know anything. She came into the police station day after day demanding that we find you. Not an easy woman to calm down, I hear.”
Feeling lightheaded, I leaned back. It was unfair not to tell her that I was fine, but I wasn’t ready to deal with the conversation or the company.
“I heard she went back to Nebraska to stay with her cousin for a while.”
I exhaled slowly. “So I just go home and go back to normal?”
“I’ll take you to a safe house tonight,” Trent said. “We’ll give you as many resources as we can to help you get back on your feet.”
Resources. The last I checked they didn’t make resources that erased the mental images I couldn’t escape.
I rubbed my hand over my face. “I’m not leaving.” I couldn’t. Even for a night, the thought of being alone terrified me. The thought of being away from James terrified me.
My chest tightened and I leaned over the bed railing trying to compose myself as James squeezed my fingers.
“Rose,” Trent began, but before he could say anything else, James cleared his throat. Trent sighed and shrugged, “I’ll be right outside.”
“You’ll be fine,” James whispered.
Arguing with him was an unfair scenario—I felt guilty trying to argue with a bedridden man who had just taken a bullet for me. I had my stubbornness and I knew I’d last longer in the argument, but he had the advantage since I didn’t want to push him.
Irrevocable: A Sins of Ashville Abduction Dark Romance (Irrevocable Duet Book 1) Page 26
