by Cara Carnes
“We’re en route to The Arsenal. Levi will get the jet ready to go wheels up once we have a location. We’ll wait for you, Gage,” Addy said into the com.
They’d better. He looked at the three silent men at his back. “No judgment if you want to sit this one out. We aren’t going by the book on this one.”
“Yeah, we are going by the book. Our book,” Ramon said. “Someone takes one of ours, they don’t get to walk away breathing. That’s definitely in my rulebook.”
The two men beside him added their agreement with a nod. Gage gave one in return and ran toward the truck. He didn’t think beyond getting to The Arsenal.
20
Zoey woke to the sound of running water. She vaulted up from the grimy, avocado-green tiled bathroom but couldn’t sit upright. The rattle of metal striking metal echoed within the small room. Her head pounded as her distorted vision focused on the running bathtub and the sea of ice cubes drifting within the almost-filled tub’s rusted interior.
She swallowed the fear crawling up her throat as her eyes burned. Panic wasn’t an option.
WWTQED?
What would Mary do?
Never quit. Never surrender.
Fight like hell.
The cuffs secured to the pipe limited her hands from moving, which meant she had to reposition her body to accomplish her mission. She reached into her bra and extracted the small drone. The GPS signal worked even when the little beast wasn’t on, but it was time it started transmitting. Even if Gage and the others were too late, at least there’d be evidence.
Jacob and his buddies at MIT stored all the images the drones collected. Cherling would pay for taking her, one way or another. She powered the drone on and watched it rise up in the air.
This was a terrible idea.
Any second now someone would come in and see the small toy drone. She reached to grab it, but it rose out of reach. The little beast flitted about the room as if scanning its surroundings. Adrenaline flooded her system. Dare she hope someone was on the other end? She tried waving her hands, but the grind of the metal cuffs against the sink echoed within the room again. They’d cuffed her hands tightly in one pair and secured her to the sink with a second set wound around the base of the sink.
Her heart pounded in her chest. The drone moved into a small nook above the medicine cabinet.
Oh. My. God.
Tears welled in her eyes.
That brilliant little boy had told someone she’d taken his prized toy. Tears of relief swept down her cheeks. The door kicked in and banged against the back wall of the small bathroom.
“Good. You’re awake,” Cherling sneered. “I was afraid we’d have to wait to begin the party.”
“I’m not telling you anything, you sick bastard.”
“Where’s the money?”
“Go to hell.”
“I was hoping you’d be a stupid cow.” Cherling reached down and uncuffed her hands from the sink. With the second set of cuffs gone, she was free from the sink, but her wrists were still manacled together.
She aimed for Cherling’s balls, but the kick fell short and struck his upper thigh. He grunted and punched her in the face with a closed fist. Pain shot up along her face. He grabbed her hair and dragged her toward the tub.
She screamed, kicked, and backpedaled against the slippery, grimy floor. “No! No!”
“You think you can take my money. My family.” Red rose in his face as he spat on her face. “You’re gonna learn you don’t fuck with me, cunt.”
Fear spiked Zoey’s pulse as the cold water enveloped her head. She squirmed and fought, but the bastard’s grip was too firm in her hair.
Air.
Must. Have. Air.
Cherling dragged her upward. She wheezed, then coughed as ribbons of water dribbled from her open mouth.
Then she was back under. Pain burned inside her, a clawing need as she kicked and struggled. The firm grip dug into her flesh along her right arm. Nowhere to go.
No way out.
Must. Have Air.
Panic will kill you before they ever try.
She remembered the simple rule on the footage Vi and Mary had made her watch on how to handle capture. She’d taken diligent notes, but the enormity hadn’t sunk in until now.
Gulps of air made it into her lungs when he released her from the watery coffin.
“Where’s my family?”
Cold water dripped from her hair and pooled around her knees. She kicked out at him again, then leaned in and tried to bite him, much like a snapping turtle she’d seen in a zoo.
He firmed his grip until it felt as though her entire scalp was being ripped off. “Where’s my money?”
“Fuck you,” she gritted out through chattering teeth.
She willed the terror aside and studied the bastard’s face. She was going under again, but she couldn’t let him win. Mary wouldn’t. She’d survived far worse.
For days.
Zoey’s eyes burned. She wasn’t as brave and strong as Mary. Terror gripped her tight and locked down her brain.
Gage.
She needed him to come in and kick ass.
Time.
All she had to do was hold on. She closed her eyes and ignored the man screaming at her for answers she’d never give. She focused on thoughts of Gage. She willed the calm she’d seen Mary and Vi summon during ops and dragged in a deep lungful of air.
Zoey should have been better prepared for things like this. She was Arsenal now. She had to handle anything. More importantly, she had to know how to help operatives in the field handle this shit.
Had Gage ever suffered this?
He’d likely survived worse.
So had Addy.
Jesse.
The realization struck her as she was shoved under the icy water once more. She fought, but the blinding panic from before wasn’t as bad. It clawed at her in an achy burn, but the anger firmed her grip on reality.
Gage, Addy, and Jesse wouldn’t break.
The bastard wouldn’t break her.
He wouldn’t win.
Gage is coming. Just hold on. You aren’t alone.
Air. She coughed and sputtered as she gasped in fresh air. Water dribbled into her eyes as she shivered.
“Guess it’s time to make this more interesting.” He laughed. “I was hoping you’d be stubborn.”
He shoved her onto the floor and kicked her in the stomach hard enough to knock the breaths from her lungs. He reached down and plugged something into the electrical outlet beside her. The black cord wound upward in a path her gaze followed to…
“Bastard,” she spat.
The intent resonated within his malevolent, maniacal laughter as he flicked the electrical clippers on. She fought, punched, and kicked, but one of the bastards from the accident came in and held her down.
Zoey was pinned on her knees against Cherling’s bastard minion.
“I’ve been thinking about this since our first meeting,” Cherling taunted. “You’re gonna learn your place before I’m through with you.”
Anger seeped out of her eyes. Turning on the camera was a mistake. God, she should’ve been strong like Addy. Mary and Vi didn’t need to see this shit.
It’s only hair.
No. He was systematically stripping her of an identity. Freedom. Individuality. Everything the colored hair represented was what he abhorred. Zoey punched and twisted against the firm grip.
Helpless.
Her heart hammered against her chest as her brain screamed its denial. There had to be something she could do. There was always an out.
The buzzing deafened her as the deep gouge of the clippers dug into her skin. Ribbons of purple and pink tumbled around her as pain shot up her arms and down her legs as she continued fighting and flailing.
It’s only hair. It’ll grow back.
She chanted the mantra and focused on the rage rising within her. Then she focused on Gage. The Arsenal. Their reaction. Gage’s reaction. Sh
e started to laugh. The strange sound halted Cherling’s movements.
“You getting off on this, cunt?”
“Gage is going to skin you alive. I bet Jud will teach him how,” she said. “Do your worst while you’re still breathing, Cherling, but you’ll never break me. You’ll never see your daughter and granddaughter.”
The bastard laughed. “Granddaughter? The bitch didn’t tell you, did she?”
Dread stirred her stomach into a violent spasm of disgust. The missing pieces clicked into place. The sick bastard. “You’ll never get away with it. Raping your own daughter?”
“How else am I gonna carry on the Cherling name? I couldn’t let it get bred out of existence.” The man grabbed her neck and flipped the sheers back on.
Zoey punched and kicked again as the other man’s grip loosened. No doubt the money he was getting paid hadn’t covered the disgust factor of hearing what he’d just heard.
“The Arsenal’s coming for him. They’ll kill him,” she glared up at the minion holding her. “They’ll kill you. Your friend in the other room. There’re far worse things than death, though, and they know every single one of them.”
“Shut up, bitch!” Cherling slapped her face, then continued his maniacal sheering.
Zoey ignored the hum of the machine and the swaths of color coating her body. Pink. Purple. Her scalp burned.
“Testify against him and get me the fuck out of here. I’ll guarantee you leniency.”
“Shut up! You stupid cunt, you can’t promise shit,” Cherling shouted. “He’s not turning for what I’m paying him.”
“With what money? I cleaned you out. You can’t even afford a Happy Meal.” She glared up at the man holding her down. “Name your price to live. Otherwise you die.”
The grip loosened, but she couldn’t get away.
“You fucking cunt!” Cherling slammed her head against the rim of the tub. Darkness descended.
Vi and Mary had disconnected the feed. Gage suppressed the rage rising in him as he and Addy moved their teams into position around the small, abandoned motel off Interstate 35. They never would have found the location without the GPS signal, which was barely registering because of the remote area.
On the way to Laredo.
They’d landed at a small airstrip that’d once been owned by a long-abandoned crop-dusting business. Levi had barely found enough area within the overgrown brush to land. Gage had been prepared to LALO if necessary—not that low altitude jumps were smart from a jet.
The location hadn’t been on any map, but it’d been marked on Zoey’s network. Transport had proven challenging, but they’d commandeered a local’s vehicle thanks to a quick money transfer three times the small truck’s value.
It’d taken too long.
“Status?” he growled into the com.
“She stirred enough shit to halt things,” Mary said. “She’s doing well, Gage. She’s thinking smart. She’s got the two henchmen with him wondering where their money is.”
“There’s audio?”
“No, but we’ve got Kamren,” Vi answered. “She’s reading the bastard’s lips easily enough, though I suspect she’s wishing she wasn’t. Ariana is his.”
“Seriously?” Addy asked into the com.
“Z tried to turn one of the men, offered him leniency if he helped her, but Cherling knocked her out.” Cord’s voice broke.
“How are they not seeing this drone that’s in there?” Thunder asked.
“It’s small and quiet. We set it up on a shelf above the medicine cabinet,” Mary said. “Entry plan is coming your way. The structure isn’t very sound, but we should be good for a soft ordnance penetration from next door for a secondary entry.”
“Roger,” Thunder said.
Gage should’ve thought to bring a second ordnance operative, but he could handle it in a pinch. He’d knock the damn wall in if necessary.
“In position,” Johnny said.
“In position,” Pierce said.
Snipers in position. Eight well-trained operatives versus a crazy congressman and two henchmen. In terms of missions, this didn’t even rate on the difficulty scale. So why were his guts twisted as though he’d swallowed an IED?
The woman he loved was in there, and something really terrible had just happened. He’d watched the bastard hold her head underwater. Repeatedly. Then he’d plugged something into the wall and the damn feed had gotten cut.
Addy’s grim expression matched his mood. The bastard wasn’t walking away from this.
Gage was thankful he hadn’t been sidelined.
Gun drawn, he got into position.
“We’re green for boom,” Thunder said.
“Roger. Field is clear for engagement,” Vi said. “Get our girl back.”
Gage glanced over at Addy, who nodded. “On three.”
He counted down silently, then kicked the hotel room door in as a concussive boom shook the structure. Secondary penetration was unnecessary, but it delivered a message.
Fuck with The Arsenal and we come at you full force.
He entered the room to the left. Addy swept in from the right. He took the bastard on the left with a knock to the face with the butt of his gun as Addy chose a punch to the nuts for the idiot on the right.
Trusting Addy and Thunder to handle the two bastards, he surged forward and swept the small hotel room. A lone light filtered in from the half-open bathroom door.
A drone flitted by his head. Unlike the one that’d guided them to the remote location, this one was armed and ready for war. “He’s mine.”
“Tell me you have your shit reined in,” Mary ordered, her voice not as even as it normally was.
Dread settled into his stance, but he forced a deep breath and nodded, knowing the woman would see his assent from the drone. The readout that’d gone black returned. Pink and purple interspersed with green tiling. It took his mind a moment to put the splashes of vibrant color into a semblance of order.
Hair.
Flecks of blood tricked from her scalp in spots. Tears glimmered in her gaze as the bastard held her in a choke hold against his body, a gun settled against her temple.
He entered the room as the numbness crawled within his system, locking down the emotional landmines detonating within him. Gage surrendered his weapon immediately with a toss backward into the other room.
There were at last four other ways to kill the bastard still in play—and none of them included the one hundred or so far more creative ways he’d use if given half an excuse.
The gun pressed to Zoey’s head was all the incentive he needed.
“Glad you could make it to the party,” she clipped.
“Let her go, and you’ll keep breathing,” Gage said.
“My money and my girls for her. Even trade,” Cherling said.
“Not happening,” Zoey growled. “Go ahead and shoot me, you twisted fuck. You’re never touching them again. Someone please shoot this asshole.”
“I have joy,” Johnny said into the com.
Joy. Gage always found the term for having sited a target idiotic. There was nothing joyous about the situation. His woman was in there.
But the sniper had managed to lock in on a shot.
How? Gage studied the narrow patch of frosted glass above the shower. He’d heard the bastard was a good shot, almost better than Kamren, but he couldn’t even see.
HERA could.
Zoey’s lips curved into a grin as she watched his gaze sweep from the window to her. She knew he wasn’t alone, that there was a kill solution coming.
“Let her go,” Gage ordered. “Last chance, Cherling.”
“No deal is your greenlight for joy,” Vi said.
“Roger,” Johnny confirmed.
“Even trade,” the man repeated.
“No deal,” Gage said into the com.
One second. The bullet impacted in a spray of blood, but Gage’s sole focus was on Zoey. He surged forward and caught her as she sank to the floor
. Cold. He glanced in at the icy water and reached for the cabinet for a towel or something to wrap around her, but it was empty.
Ramon appeared with a warming blanket from the pack. Gage took it and wrapped it around Zoey, who trembled so hard her teeth rattled.
“You’re okay, Little Bit. I’ve got you,” he whispered as he drew her deeper into his arms. Blood seeped from wounds along her scalp and an angry gash near her eye.
“I’m having a bad hair day,” she whispered as tears poured down her face. She peered up at him with such trust and love the impact imploded him where they stood.
He should have arrived sooner. If they’d been a few minutes faster…
“Don’t. Lock it down,” Mary ordered in the com.
Gage didn’t know how the woman had sensed the guilt clawing at him, but her voice punctured its grip.
“I love you, Zoey Danson. It’s over,” he promised as he picked her up and carried her into the next room.
“Put me down. You’re loco! You can’t carry me,” she said with slurred words.
Gage sat on the bed and situated her into his lap. Shep and Doug appeared with medical kits. He ran a hand down her cheek and nodded as she curled deeper into his arms. “They need to check you out, Little Bit.”
“I’m okay, just c-c-cold.” The words were slurred as she peered up at him with a semi-droopy look.
Addy appeared with a second blanket. Gage wrapped it around Zoey and studied her face. “You took a lot of blows to the head.”
“How about you let us handle this part, Loverboy?” Doug said.
Gage growled, but Zoey’s giggle drew him short. He noted Doug’s wink and smirk as he crouched beside her.
“I see we’ll need to work on his sense of humor, Z,” Doug commented.
“His stubbornness, too,” she whispered. “Who took the shot?”
“Johnny,” Shep answered.
“Johnny B Goode,” she commented into Gage’s com as she leaned forward. “Thank you.”
Gage’s heart started beating once more. Zoey wasn’t like any woman he knew. She was strong as hell. She’d be okay because he wouldn’t accept anything less than whatever she desired.
“Sara. We’ve gotta tell Doctor Sinclair that Ariana…” She swallowed. “He was a monster.”
