Wicked Games: The Extended Edition (Steele Security #1)

by A. D. Justice

  “Almost there,” Blake replied.

  “Drunk driver in a small car just pulled out in front of an eighteen-wheeler barreling down the road. The car now looks like a crushed aluminum can. Driver and passenger are injured,” Roman responded. “I’m calling an ambulance.”

  An hour after he lost sight of her at the hotel, Noah finally arrived at the nightclub. He found Roman and Alex on the sidewalk in front of the building and Blake walked toward them from the corner.

  “We have a situation, Reaper.” Blake hated being the one to deliver the bad news to his boss.

  Noah’s hard stare bored through him, and he clenched his teeth when he spoke. “What?”

  He knew his men were professionals and whatever happened was probably beyond their control. But he wasn’t very logical where Brianna was involved. Especially when he knew exactly what she intended to do, and he knew Richard would have no problem with complying.

  Roman spoke up. “We were in place, staking out the front door while we waited for Brianna to show up. Blake put a GPS tracker on the car parked in the back lot.

  “There was a wreck between an eighteen-wheeler and a drunk driver in a small car. The people in the car were hurt bad and we helped the fire department extricate them from the car. Just as we finished, we saw a limo turning at the end of the block. She may already be inside.”

  Noah rudely pushed through a group of people who were in his direct line to the bouncer. With Bull and Rebel close on his heels, no one dared to challenge him.

  “Joe, I need to get in. One of my targets may be inside and I need eyes on the prize at all times for this one,” Noah said to the bouncer.

  “Anything for my Steele men.” Joe smiled and opened the rope to let Noah, Bull, and Rebel pass.

  “Blake, go to the back door and keep your eyes on it. Do not let them leave with her,” Roman instructed. “I’ll keep watch in the front.”

  Inside the club, Noah, Bull, and Rebel split up to look for Brianna. Noah didn’t really care where Richard was. His only focus was to find Brianna. The entire place was packed with wall-to-wall people.

  There were multiple rooms with various seating arrangements. There were high backed booths, soft cushioned chairs, actual beds, and some people were even sitting on the floor. He slowly walked through the crowd and his eyes scanned everyone as he made his way through.

  Rebel and Bull systematically made their way through the lower level of the club until the three men had covered every square inch. They walked up to the second floor mezzanine and continued their search. They continued on and performed the search again on their way back to the front of the club.

  “Damn, where can she be?” Noah asked aloud.

  He tried to keep his mind in professional mode and not let his personal feelings enter the equation. Emotions only made it worse and kept him from thinking logically. The three men stood just inside the front door of the club and watched people enter and leave for several minutes before they walked back outside. As they moved away from the crowds of people, Blake came running around the side of the building.

  “West! They’re headed west! Let’s move!”

  Both teams scattered to the SUVs. Their tires squealed as they drove in the direction Blake had last seen the car.

  Alex looked at the GPS tracking software and said, “This isn’t moving!”

  Blake shot back, “They had a second car!” He gave everyone a description of it as they pulled out of their parking area. Traffic was heavy with people going out to the late night parties. By the time they pushed their way through the blaring horns of angry drivers, they had lost sight of the car.

  Noah punched the dash of the SUV. “Fuuuuuccccckkkkkk!”

  They split up and proceeded to canvas the area, one block at a time.

  “This is fucking useless. We don’t even know if they went back to the damn mainland or somewhere else on the island.” Noah wracked his brain to figure out what to do next, where to look, but nothing came to him. Bull kept looking as he drove block by block, intent to do anything to keep busy.

  Noah raked his hand over his face and his hand stopped just over his mouth. He propped his elbow on the door and he stared out the passenger window. “Bri, where the hell are you?” he silently asked her.

  Just then, Brad yelled out, “Reaper, she’s activated the bug!”

  “Pinpoint her location. Now!”

  22

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Richard’s men surrounded Brianna and forcefully shoved her toward the chair. The chair was made of thick wood and was very sturdy. It was painted black, and had padded armrests. The legs were reinforced with two-by-fours running between each one, on each side, front and back. Once she was sitting, she understood why it was constructed that way. They used duct tape to secure her arms to the armrests and her feet were duct taped to the legs.

  Without saying a word or asking a single question, one man backhanded her across the face. Her body shifted violently to the left. She saw stars and felt a sudden burst of intense pain in her cheek, before the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Her eye immediately started to swell. Still dazed, she turned her face back to the front when another blow rocked the other side.

  Blood ran down her cheek and out of her mouth as Richard walked up to face her. “You’ve caused me a lot of fucking trouble. I want those damn documents back, or you’ll hurt a lot more than this.”

  “What documents?” Say it. Say it, she willed him.

  “Don’t play coy with me. You know damn well what documents.”

  She heard a loud “thwack!” in her ear, as something slammed in the side of her head. She knew she’d been hit, but she didn’t know with what. A fist? A baseball bat?

  Oh God, it hurts! She wanted to scream, but more than that, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

  Her vision blurred as she struggled to hold her head up. Then she felt blows to her ribs that knocked the breath out of her. She coughed and her chest convulsed angrily when she tried to suck in oxygen. It hurt to breathe and it hurt not to breathe.

  “You stupid fucking bitch. Give us back the weapons invoices,” he growled.

  She felt another blow to her head, but she was already so disoriented she didn’t feel as much pain as she had before. Or maybe her brain didn’t register it. Whatever the case, she knew she wouldn’t get out alive.

  At some point, she passed out from the beating. She awoke to one of the men slapping her in the face. “Wake up. Come on. Wake up!”

  She tried to open her eyes, but they were both almost swollen shut. Her vision was blurry and she couldn’t make out any faces, only dark figures as they moved around her. She could feel the darkness enveloping her and confusion overtook her. She lost several seconds of time as their words faded in and out.

  “Tell us now or you die, Brianna.” The male voice came from the dark figure directly in front of her. She heard the slide of the gun as he readied the bullet in the chamber. She saw the dark figure pull his arm up and straighten it in front of him. She couldn’t see it, but she knew he held the gun in his hand.

  She heard heels clicking across the floor and a female voice taunted her. “Give me the damn gun if you can’t do it, Richard. I sure as hell can.”

  Just as she thought it was over, she heard another voice in the room with them. It was a very familiar voice. But in the fog and haze of her battered body and brain, she couldn’t quite place it.

  “Put the gun down. I already told you, man. This isn’t happening.”

  “Oh, it’s happening all right. I’m putting a fucking bullet in her head and feeding her to the damn sharks.”

  That was Richard–I know that voice, she thought.

  “I’m not asking. I’m telling you. Put the damn gun down. This is your last chance.”

  Who is that?

  “Last chance? What? You think you can fucking stop me?”

  “Yep.”

  Brianna saw Richard’s dark figure turn fro
m her and face the other dark figure that had just stopped in front of her. Richard’s arm was down at his side, but she could feel the tension in the room.

  “And how the hell do you plan to do that? There’s five of us and one of you.”

  He released a menacing chuckle. “I don’t need anyone else with me to take out five men.”

  She saw the shadow of Richard’s arm lift upward and instinctively she knew he would soon kill her. The loud pops of gunfire filled the room and people scurried and shuffled all around her. She heard shouting that seemed to come from everywhere and echoed off the walls. She had lost sight of Richard’s dark form. There were so many by that time that she couldn’t distinguish one from another. Her eyes became so heavy and she was so tired.

  She was still taped to the chair and couldn’t shield herself. She heard someone scream and realized it was her. She suddenly felt a white hot, searing pain in her shoulder. Just before she passed out, she heard a calm voice that soothed her, “Hold on, Sunny. Help is coming.”

  * * *

  Noah paced back and forth in the surgical waiting room at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He hadn’t seen Brianna since the paramedics left with her in the back of the ambulance. She wasn’t awake when they loaded her on the stretcher, and they were frantically working on her in the back of the ambulance as it pulled away. He didn’t make many friends at the hospital when he arrived at the emergency room and couldn’t find her.

  A nurse finally informed him she had been taken straight to surgery upon arrival. He was more than aggravated that he had to fill out registration paperwork on her before the nurse would tell him where to wait for word of her condition. After more than two hours of jumping every time any of the medical personnel walked by, a doctor came into the waiting room and called out. “Tate family?”

  Noah, Bull, and Rebel rushed to the doctor. He motioned for them to sit down, “I’m Dr. Sullivan. She’s out of surgery and in recovery now. She had a gunshot wound to the right shoulder. The bullet went straight through with minimal damage. We cleaned it out to help avoid infection. She will need some physical therapy to restore full range of motion.”

  Noah let out a sign of relief. “Okay. We can deal with physical therapy.”

  Dr. Sullivan nodded, but the look on his face was serious. “I’m afraid that’s not all. She was badly beaten. She has a significant concussion with large hematomas on both sides of her head and there is some slight swelling around the brain. That is the most serious injury right now. We will continue to closely monitor her brain activity and swelling. I’ve asked Dr. Conley, a neurosurgeon, to oversee that part of her care. He’s one of our best.”

  Noah’s face drained of all color.

  Dr. Sullivan continued, “She also has numerous cracked ribs, along with contusions on both sides of her ribs. Contusions were also found on her arms and legs. This lady has sustained significant trauma to essentially her entire body.”

  Noah couldn’t think of a single intelligent medical question to ask. “When can I see her?”

  “She’ll be in PACU for at least an hour, more likely two, while we monitor her vital signs and her brain activity. If her vitals remain stable, she’ll be moved to the neuro-ICU until we’re sure all danger of swelling has passed. Once she’s in ICU, you can go in during visiting times, as long as you’re family.” His eyebrows rose as he silently questioned their relationship to her.

  Noah responded, “Yes, I’m her husband.” Maybe not right now, but I plan to be.

  Bull spoke up, pointing to Rebel and himself, “We’re her brothers.”

  Dr. Sullivan nodded and said, “We will inform you of any change in her condition.” He advised them to move to the neuro-ICU waiting room to wait for the updates.

  The clock seemed to stand still as Noah waited to see Brianna. He paced in the waiting room, and when he couldn’t stand the confines of those walls any longer, he paced up and down the hallway outside the neuro-ICU door. When the ICU door opened, he tried to look in, just to see her for a second. He saw the nurse’s station in the middle of a round room and the sliding glass doors all around the perimeter of the room.

  She could be in any one of those rooms. Alone. Scared. Thinking I’m not here because I don’t love her, Noah thought.

  The ICU door opened again and Dr. Sullivan walked out with another doctor.

  “This is Dr. Conley.” The two men shook hands as Noah waited for the news. Bull and Rebel walked up to stand behind Noah.

  Dr. Conley spoke. “We’ve monitored her for the last couple of hours and she is stable for now. She will stay in neuro-ICU until she wakes up. I’m afraid we won’t know if there was any permanent brain damage until then. Her vitals have been stable, and we have sedated her to help her body rest and heal.

  “You can see her for a few minutes, but I should warn you, she is badly bruised, swollen, and there are a lot of tubes. Right now, she’s breathing on her own, but she has been intubated as a precaution. If the swelling in her neck or throat suddenly worsen, as the contusions become more apparent, the ventilator may have to do the work for her.”

  “Thank you, doctor. I just really want to see her. She needs to know she’s not here alone,” Noah replied.

  “I can let you see her for five minutes.” Dr. Conley shook Noah’s hand and walked off.

  Noah stared at the ICU door for a moment. The normally calm ex-military man was scared of what he would find on the other side. He mentally chided himself for being such a pussy and walked inside in spite of his fears.

  A nurse met him just inside the door. “You’ll have to wash and sanitize your hands before going in the patient rooms.”

  “Which room is Brianna Tate in?” Noah asked as he turned on the water.

  “She’s in room eighteen,” she answered.

  As he walked up to her door, his breath caught in the back of his throat. She looked so small in that big hospital bed. Her hair had been pushed away from her face and laid spread out on the pillow under her head.

  Her face was savagely battered. Both of her eyes were blackened and swollen, her right cheek had a line of dried blood from the split skin, and her left cheek was a mixture of black and purple bruising. As he moved closer to her, he saw the swollen contusions on the sides of her head and arms. He realized the blood red bands across her wrists were where she had been bound.

  The blood pressure cuff was wrapped around her upper arm. There were tubes running in her hand and in her throat. She had wires attached to her chest, and the heart monitor above her bed beeped in time with the rhythm dancing across the screen. A nasal cannula delivered oxygen, and there was a light hiss as the oxygen flowed through the tube.

  He felt someone behind him and turned to see Bull and Rebel standing at the door. Bull’s face masked the deep need for revenge that warred inside him. Rebel couldn’t speak as he stepped into the room. Noah turned back to Brianna and gently touched her hand. He was afraid anywhere he touched her would cause her more pain.

  He spoke gently to her, “I’m here, Brianna. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

  Bull and Rebel left Noah alone with her for the last few minutes he had with her on this visit. They walked out to the hall to wait for him.

  “We didn’t fucking get there soon enough,” Bull growled.

  “I know, man. But it could have been worse. They could’ve killed her.” Rebel’s voice didn’t hold the conviction his words tried to convey.

  “They almost did. They still might have. She’s not out of the woods yet.” Bull fisted his hands. “You saw what they fucking did to her. You heard what Dr. Conley said.” Rebel nodded in agreement.

  Noah walked out into the hall and both men looked at him as they waited for any information. He was obviously upset, but he held it together for her. “Rebel. Go to my house and grab enough clothes to last a few days. I’m staying here with her until she wakes up.”

  “You got it. Call me if you think of anything else you need,” Rebel said as he walked a
way.

  Noah had to go to the police station to make an official statement. Over the years, he had built a good relationship with many of the guys on the police force. Tonight he was glad those contacts gave him time at the hospital first.

  “Bull, stay here and watch over Brianna while I’m at the police station. I can’t take a chance that someone will come in and finish what they started,” Noah said solemnly. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, Reap.”

  Bull stood at his post guarding the ICU door. He checked the picture on the hospital identification card against the person who wore it to make sure no one got past him. If anyone objected, they didn’t dare complain to the intimidating sentinel standing guard.

  Noah anguished over whether or not to call Brianna’s family in Atlanta. On one hand, their daughter was in the hospital fighting for her life. On the other hand, this is the same daughter they thought was already dead. Should he deny them the last chance they may have to see her? Or let them move on, having already somewhat accepted her death?

  If the situation had been reversed, he concluded that someone had damn well better tell him or someone’s head would roll. Having the chance to say goodbye is somehow better than the limbo they’d all felt from not seeing her one last time.

  Plus, once she was fully healed, he had plans for their future, and her family would be part of it. It wouldn’t be a good idea to start out with this kind of secret. He sighed deeply and punched the numbers on his cell phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Evan. This is Noah Steele. This will be an unbelievable shock. I’m not really sure how to even begin.”

  “What’s going on, Noah?”

  “It’s Brianna, Evan. She’s alive, and she’s in the hospital here at Jackson Memorial. You and your family need to get down here as soon as possible. She’s hurt pretty badly, sir.”

  “Wh—what did you say?” Evan sounded as if the breath had been knocked out of him.

  Noah knew the feeling. He relayed as much of the story as fast as he could, without wasting any time.