"How do you know?"
"The front door is always unlocked," Yelena said, "but the silent alarm is on whenever we're not there. It sends a message right to our phones."
"Maybe one of your breeders did it."
"The girls know better," Mayor Sloan said.
"Maybe one your new goons did it," Notch said, contempt plain in his voice.
He could tell by their reactions they were surprised he knew about the hired hands.
"They...they were also told to stay out," Yelena managed.
Notch snorted. Walked over, dropped the machete back into place and straightened it with the toe of his boot.
"So have them handle it," Notch said.
"They will," Mayor Sloan said, "that's not the point."
"Then what is?" Notch asked. "If you haven't noticed, I'm a little tied up at the moment. Well, she's tied up, but you get the idea."
"The point is, if this kid can find us, anybody can," Yelena said.
"And what? Call the Sheriff?"
Yelena and Mayor Sloan exchanged a glance. Both pushed out long, slow breaths.
Outside, the sound of another car approaching could be heard.
Notch eyes narrowed. "Who else did you call?"
"Everybody," Yelena said. "We have a leak somewhere. It needs to be plugged."
For the first time, the intent of their visit dawned on Notch. Suddenly, he found himself rife with anticipation.
"And I get to plug it?" he asked.
Mayor Sloan cast a disgusted look to the girl lying unconscious on the table. "If it comes to that."
Chapter Fifty-Two
"Oh shit is right," one of the guys said. He stood left center of the group, took a half step forward.
Asserted himself as the leader.
Even across the open expanse of gravel between them, Drake could see the guy was maybe an inch taller than him, about fifty pounds heavier.
He shifted his eyes around the group.
Heights ranging from five-ten to six-three. Weights going from two-forty to three bills or more.
He caught the sight of his truck in his peripheral vision. Considered it for a moment. He had no doubt he could get there before they could.
Considerable doubt that he could get it started and out the drive before they caught up.
Adrenaline surged through his body. His pulse and breathing both quickened.
He'd been in a fight before. More than one.
Just never six on one. Never outweighed probably eight to one.
Drake considered throwing out one of the canned lines that people in movies use in these situations.
You don't have to do this.
We can talk this out.
Nobody has to know.
It was evident though that these guys weren't here to talk. Some of them looked like they might not even be able to talk.
Drake made a decision. There was no doubt he was about to catch a beating. If he was lucky, he'd might be able to walk away from it.
If he wasn't, he would damned sure go down swinging.
"You think you brought enough guys?" Drake asked. He rocked up onto the balls of his feet, prepared himself to spring forward.
The lead man smiled and extended his arms to either side. "I never go anywhere without my crew."
Behind him, the sky lightened. A persistent orb of light that seemed to grow with each passing second.
It was close enough to make Drake pause. There was no way this was good. Best case, somebody would call off the dogs. Worst case, they would have something worse in store for him.
The light grew larger fast. Pulled up in front of the bunkhouse and slid to a stop, throwing gravel everywhere.
The lights remained on as a trio of shadows emerged before them.
Ajax. Kade. Rink.
The lead guy turned and squinted into the headlights. "Who the hell are you?"
"They're my crew," Drake said as he launched himself at the guy. He buried his shoulder into soft stomach and pulled the legs beneath it in tight. Lifted and drove him into the ground.
Perfect form tackle.
Air rushed out from the man as Drake popped to knee and snapped two straight rights into his nose.
Around him, he could hear grunts, yells. A cacophony of pain from the goon squad. Of angry muttering and yelling from the Crew.
Drake pulled back for a third punch and felt two strong hands grab hold and jerk him backwards.
Out of pure reflex he forced his elbow back as hard as he could and felt the wind rush out of his attacker. Spun around and buried his knee into the guy's doubled-over face.
Stepped forward and swung a kick across the leader's jaw.
With crazed intensity, he tossed his gaze around the lot in search of his next target.
There was none.
Opposite him, Kade and Ajax both stood over inert bodies.
Rink was crouched over another. He threw a wicked right-left-right into the guy's face, stood and wiped the blood from his target's nose on to his jeans.
For a moment all four stood in silence. Stared down at the group of six lying sprawled out in the gravel.
Not one of them so much as moved.
Drake was the first to break the silence. No canned lines. Nothing scripted.
Just, simply, "Thanks."
Chapter Fifty-Three
The entire group filed in together.
From the opposite side, it may have looked like some sort of contrived attempt at a show of force.
To them, it was merely a strength-in-numbers kind of thing. They all knew Notch was a loose cannon. Figured, hoped, he might be less apt to try anything on them as a group.
Individually, there was no chance any of them could match him. Maybe, standing there five across, they could at least dissuade him from even trying.
In truth, they had no idea why they'd been summoned to a barn in the middle of the night. Based on what happened the previous Sunday and what was going on around them, they knew it couldn't be good.
Odds were, someone was about to be killed. They all just hoped it was somebody outside their group without actually saying as much.
Sheriff Spore went first. His hand wasn't on his weapon as he entered, but the snap on his holster was undone. It could be drawn at a moment's notice.
Dr. Schievers went next, followed by Harken in the middle. Judge Tanner and Bennett made up the rear. They filed in as a tight bunch and stood along the back wall.
All tried to keep from vomiting at the stench in the room.
Off to the side was Yelena and Mayor Sloan. Both looked just as repulsed and held their arms folded tight over their stomachs.
Across from everyone stood Notch. A canvas tarp was spread out on the ground beside him, various implements laid out in even rows atop it.
Behind him, a young woman was tied to a wooden table. She appeared to be unconscious, the source of the foul odor in the air.
None of them noticed her though. What they noticed was what Notch was holding.
A ball pein hammer in one hand. A machete in the other.
Between the tension and the stench, it was difficult for anyone to breath.
"What's this all about?" Sheriff Spore asked, cast his gaze between the ladies and Notch.
Silence met his question for several long seconds.
"I think you know," Notch replied. Smiled.
All five people fidgeted. None had any idea what he was referring to.
Yelena let them squirm for almost a full minute as she tried to determine if anyone seemed extra nervous.
Nobody stood out any more than the others.
"We've had a breach," Mayor Sloan said.
"What kind of breach?" Dr. Schievers asked.
"Someone showed up at the compound tonight," Yelena said. "Very much uninvited."
"Shouldn't have even known where it was, let alone had the gall to show up," Mayor Sloan added.
"Who?" Bennett asked. "What were they looking for?"
Yelena started to respond. Notch beat her to it.
"You tell us." He said it in a graveled voice just above a whisper. Everybody heard it anyway.
Five jaws dropped open at once.
"Is that why we're here?" Judge Tanner asked. "You think one of us tipped them off? And this is some sort of shakedown?"
Notch twisted his head to the side. Tapped the flat blade of the machete against his thigh.
Judge Tanner turned away from Notch, focused on Yelena and Mayor Sloan.
"You have got to be kidding me. Like I said on Sunday, we're all in. You've got your hooks into us."
"And do you really think if any one of us had sent someone out to the compound, we'd be standing here right now?" Dr. Schievers added and held his arms out to his side. "Look around, we're all here. Walked in under our own volition."
Yelena and Mayor Sloan exchanged a glance.
"Only one way to be sure," Notch said. He continued to dangle the weapons from either hand.
All five remained motionless. Held their breath and waited.
In one fluid motion, Notch pivoted on the ball of his foot, raised the hammer into the air and smashed it down into the lower half of the girl's left leg.
The impact made a sickening crack that filled the room. The girl's body jerked against its bindings, fell back against the table.
Yelena and Mayor Sloan both turned away.
Harken yelped.
The others all winced.
"Now," Notch said, "is there anything else you all would like to tell us? Because that was a warning shot. If I have to come after one of you, that will look like a love tap."
Yelena and Mayor Sloan both turned back to face him. Their faces were pale.
Yelena opened her mouth to speak.
Notch cut her off again. Extended the hammer in her direction. "You shut the hell up. You brought this on yourself, bringing in extra help. Didn't think I was up to the task anymore?
"I'll show you how damn up to it I am."
He took half a step towards the sisters, his weapons readied by his side.
"You brought in help?" Bennett asked from across the room.
Notch stopped and turned to face the others. All five of them were staring at Yelena and Mayor Sloan.
"Who are they? Why weren't we consulted?" Bennett pressed.
"Just some extra muscle, nobody important," Mayor Sloan snapped.
"And we don't have to consult you on a damn thing," Yelena added. "You work for us."
Bennett fell silent.
Beside him, Judge Tanner said, "So then they should have taken care of the intruders, right?"
Notch snorted.
Yelena and Mayor Sloan looked at each other. Said nothing.
"So then there isn't a problem?" Judge Tanner asked.
"The problem," Yelena said, "isn't if our guys took care of things. I'm sure they did. The problem is that there was anything to take care of."
"Nobody outside this room is supposed to know about the house," Mayor Sloan.
"We've shuffled a dozen girls or more through there," Sheriff Spore said. "It could have been anybody."
"Hell, I assume that's why she's laying over there?" Bennett added. "Or what about, I don't know, the pregnant one you guys seem to have lost?"
Again silence fell.
"There's no way any of them would talk," Yelena seethed. "They know better. They know we'd kill them and everyone they know."
“Besides, none of them are within a thousand miles of this place,” Mayor Sloan added.
"I thought right now we can't even find the missing girl?" Dr. Schievers asked. No condemnation at all in his voice. Very much a flat question. "She could be anywhere. They have to be connected, right?"
More silence.
Yelena and Mayor Sloan exchanged another glance, a mixture of uncertainty and disgust.
"Of course they are," Notch said. "That's why I have this girl here now. She knows, and she will talk."
Bennett turned his gaze to the young girl lying on the table, to her left leg distended at a grotesque angle from the rest of her body.
"How the hell is she going to do that now?"
Notch stared long and hard at the entire row for several moments. He walked back to the tarp and dropped the machete onto it.
He slid a pink cell-phone from his pocket and held it up for all to see.
"She doesn't have to."
Chapter Fifty-Four
Adrenaline.
The common street name for epinephrine. A hormone and neurotransmitter critical to regulating the body's nervous system.
Most notable, taking the normal docile self and elevating it into a fight-or-flight response.
In this instance, it had lifted Drake and the Crew into fighting.
"How'd you know?" Drake asked as he released his fists. His head continued moving, checking to make sure each of their opponents remained immobile.
"Because you didn't have a choice but to come here," Rink said.
He was right. Drake didn't have a choice. Under normal circumstances, he would never go on a fool's errand like running blind into a compound.
All things considered, these were far from normal circumstances.
Drake turned his eyes to Kade. "When'd you get back?"
"Sage called on her way to work. Said some shit was going down, I needed to be here."
"Beth?"
"She's safe," Kade said, nodded his head for emphasis.
That was good enough for Drake. He didn't need to press any further.
"Again, thanks," Drake repeated.
"Did you find her?" Rink asked.
"No."
"Then don't thank us yet."
Drake nodded. Again, he was right.
"What's next?" Ajax asked.
Drake swallowed in a deep gulp of air and felt the adrenaline ebb from his system. For the first time he noticed the cool evening breath blowing across his body.
"There are some girls in the bunkhouse over there," Drake said. "I was on my way to go ask them where they'd take her when these guys showed up."
"So go ask them," Kade said. "We'll clean this up."
Drake nodded. Resisted the urge to thank them again for fear at this point it might only offend them.
"Ajax, there's a room off to the right inside the house. Full of surveillance equipment, some other computers and stuff. Didn't seem like anything to me. Maybe you can get something from it?"
"I'll take a look," Ajax said. He walked past Drake and on into the house.
Drake took off in the opposite direction across the open gravel, walking fast. Behind him he could hear Kade and Rink start lugging the bodies around, grunting and cursing.
He approached the door to the bunkhouse and considered for just a moment how to proceed. The monitors had showed him at least a handful of girls were inside. He would like to believe they were like Beth and see him as a friend, but what if they didn’t?
What if he was walking into a Stockholm Syndrome fueled hornet's nest?
He paused outside the door and drew in another breath.
There was no time for uncertainty. Somewhere, Ava was in trouble.
Drake knocked twice with the back of his hand. There was no knob on the door, so he pushed inside and was bathed in bright light.
An empty room stared back at him.
He did a quick scan of the place. Nothing unusual. No imminent danger apparent.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said aloud. He took a few steps into the room and raised his hands by his side. "I am in no way affiliated with whoever's been keeping you here."
Again, more silence.
"I'm a friend of Beth's."
Those seemed to be the magic words. At once, six faces appeared from around the room. They peeked from beneath beds, emerging from a chest, even a closet.
Of the six, there was an even split of blonde and brunette. All looked to be younger than he was, ranging from maybe twenty to twenty-four.
<
br /> None wore makeup. All had simple ponytails.
All between four and eight months pregnant.
"So she's okay?" a blonde closest to him asked.
"She's safe," Drake replied.
A few of the girls sighed. The others remained passive, stared at him.
"I need your help," Drake said.
The blonde turned to the others. Looked back at him. "Who are you?"
"My name is Drake. I was a friend of Beth's in college, I'm now a lawyer." A small lie. He didn't feel the need to correct it. "She asked me to help her, to help all of you."
"You can't help us," a brunette in the back said.
"I can," Drake assured her. "But right now I need you to help me. Please."
"What do you need?" the blonde asked.
"They have my friend Ava. They're holding her until they get Beth back. Doing God knows what to her."
Three pairs of eyes slid shut. A tear slid down the brunette's cheek.
The girls had witnessed firsthand what they could do.
"That's awful," a brunette to his left whispered. "You don't want to know what they're capable of."
A shudder passed over Drake. "You're right. I don't. I'm trying to stop anything at all from happening to her. I just need to know where she is."
The blonde took back over. "We want to help, but we can't. If she's not here, we have no idea."
"There's no place else? No place you've heard them talk about? Seen them," he hated to even say the word, "torture in the past?"
The brunette to the left replied, "That was only once. They blindfolded us and drove us out there."
Drake cursed under his breath. He stood with his hands on his hips thinking for another second.
"Alright, grab whatever you can carry. We're getting out of here."
"Where are we going?" the blonde asked.
"Someplace safe," Drake said. Made a twirling motion with his hand. "Come on. Outside, two minutes."
He left the girls to gather their things. He stepped out of the room to find Kade and Rink had piled the thugs into a loose circle and tied them up using rappelling line from Rink's truck.
"Anything?" Rink said.
Drake shook his head. "No. Six girls, but they keep them in the dark."
Ajax stepped out from the front door and walked across the gravel to join them. "Nothing on the computer either, it was just a database for the cameras. Pulled some interesting head shots from them though."
The Zoo Crew (Zoo Crew series Book 1) Page 18
