The little monkey had finally come to her one morning, and she had been thrilled, nothing else seemed to be going right, but at least she was not alone. It would be later in the week when the monkey had come into the hallway too early, the guard had just been walking down the hallway. When he saw the small thing, he had yelled and swiped it with his foot. Kasey had yelled at the man who glared at her and continued on. The poor thing had hit the wall across from her and just laid there not moving. She had been afraid he was dead, until he began to slowly move.
The little thing had crawled pathetically to her cell and looked up at her. Kasey had been pissed at the guard, and she had gathered the little thing up and nursed him back to health. In doing so, she had fallen in love with it, and named him Bo. The monkey made a nest in her covers, and stayed with her every second from then on. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending how you looked at it, Kasey had a friend, and something to talk to.
It didn’t matter that the little thing couldn’t answer her. Bo seemed to know what she was talking about and he listened. It made her feel better, and being alone for this long, could drive a person to madness. Kasey knew she would need to hold it together for a while when she was captured.
She sighed and leaned back against the wall and checked Bo, he was still sleeping, she on the other hand was wide awake. The day she was taken into custody, Kasey had just left the Russian Consulate. She had been looking through a desk with a member of the Consulate, but that hadn’t mattered. Kasey had looked out the window and saw the man they were looking for just inside the gate of the Korean Consulate that was no more than two hundred feet away. She had been thrilled to finally be able to confirm he was here. So she hadn’t thought before walking out the door, she had just moved quickly to get to her car to report it. Kasey never made it, unfortunately her car had been parked right by the back gate of the Korean Consulate. And apparently, they had been paying attention more than she realized, because they knew she was American. The hacker had seen her and they had reacted immediately.
They said she was spying, which wasn’t the case at all. The local authorities had been notified, and so had the American Consulate, although they weren’t being allowed to see her. She was being touted as a spy. The locals refused to do anything, and the US’s hands were tied; it was protocol. She knew they had tried to negotiate her release. However, it didn’t matter. They had nabbed her and pulled her into the gate, which meant she was on Korean soil; therefore, they could hold her as long as they desired, claiming she had been deliberately spying on their Ambassadors, their families, and trying to get information from their employees. It was all a lie, but one which was now under investigation. It sucked, she had to play by their rules for now, but soon, she wasn’t going to and then they could fuck right off.
Kasey thought back to when they first gave her the packet for her cover. Even she had to admit her cover had been brilliantly put into place. Mostly because at one time she had worked in security while in the Air Force, doing threat assessments, so she knew what she was talking about. Her cover showed she was the lead security expert for an agency they established years ago as a cover. Kasey knew she would use this cover again if given the opportunity, mostly because it fit her to a tee. And with everything going on around the world, with terrorist attacks practically every other day, all of the countries were on edge and making sure their consulates all over the world were protected.
When her bosses asked her to come to Kathmandu, Nepal, she had been a little confused. The country wasn’t a hub for terrorism or violence; the country was still listed as one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world. It was home to eight of the ten highest mountains in the world, including Everest, and no one could argue it was gorgeous. But she wasn’t sent here for tourism, she was sent here as a US Security Expert who was asked to come and check out several embassies who felt like they needed added security. She was sent to do a threat assessment. That had all be fine, it had worked, and most of all, she had gotten close enough to the North Korean Embassy to identify the man most of the countries in the world were looking for.
Because of how the embassies were situated in Kathmandu, everyone knew who she was. They were all situated in a fenced in guarded area, which wasn’t the best security anyway. Kasey hadn’t shown them that of course, in case she needed to use it. But when she arrived, all of the embassies were notified of her presence and why she was here. The Korean Embassy had made a note of saying they didn’t need her expertise. Now she knew why; they had been hiding the asshole.
The asshole was a hacker, and a good one. So far he had broken into five countries official databases and released material on the internet, which had been damaging to their national security. The guy had been hired to show vulnerabilities to terrorists. He was unfortunately good at his job. They had come close to finding him more than once, but he had slipped through their fingers. He asked for sanctuary from a couple of countries and was denied, so when North Korea volunteered he had jumped at it. Which was really no surprise that the leader of North Korea had offered; a lot of people would kill for the information the hacker had. However, they hadn’t taken him into the country itself, they had brought him here and she had found him. Before she could tell anyone though, they had captured her.
The jail they had her in was obviously not for the locals. So far, no other prisoner had been brought in; only her and the three guards. They refused to allow her to use the phone, and only brought her out of the cell to take her down the hall and interrogate her. They wanted to know who her contact in the country was. She refused to answer, so far that was working, but she knew sooner or later they were either going to get pissed and torture her, or they were going to kill her and be done with it. Then claim they had no idea where she disappeared to after they released her from custody. Kasey could hear it already. It wasn’t going to be nice.
Bo rolled a little and she looked down and smiled. “Hey, buddy,” she whispered. Kasey was careful not to speak too loudly, the assholes would probably kill Bo. She had developed a hate/hate relationship with her guards.
Kasey was currently being held in the North Korean Embassy albeit in some cellar or basement, possibly even an old bunker. Whatever it was, it was solid concrete and it was cold and wet.
Her little friend looked up at her and blinked, and she figured he was saying he was hungry. She nodded and whispered, “Hang on, I saved you some of the grain from the floor yesterday.”
Bo waited and when she held out her hand he picked up a small grain and chewed on it slowly. Kasey smiled and then whispered, “You know when we get out of here, I’m gonna find you a nice big grape to eat, I bet you will love that. Me? Oh, I cannot wait to have some Mexican food, a burrito smothered in green chili with guacamole. It is amazing! And my brother, wait until you meet him, he will love you. When we were growing up and our mom took us to the zoo, he would always go to the monkeys first. Heck, he will probably try to steal you from me. But I won’t let him.”
Bo picked up another grain and chomped on it, she smiled and leaned back against the wall. “Yeah, you will like Tank, you know he is in a motorcycle club and he loves it. Since he left the service he was a little lost, you know. But those guys, they gave him something we didn’t have: a family. After Mom died, you know, he was so pissed, I was too, but I’m a girl, and yeah, we deal with shit like that better you know. Guys, they don’t talk about stuff. I did to anyone who listened. It didn’t matter though, it didn’t change anything, Dad was still an asshole, and Mom was dead.”
Bo rubbed a little hand against her finger, like he knew she was talking about something she didn’t want to talk about but had to. She sighed and then looked down and ran a finger over his little head, his fur was soft. She always wanted a pet, but her father would never allow them to have one, he said they were too messy, he said they would never take care of it. Asshole, he just didn’t want to get hair on his oh so perfect uniform.
“I wonder if Ridge would be wi
lling to hang out again?” she said and Bo looked at her. “Oh, sorry, Ridge is one of Tank’s brothers at the club, well not blood brothers, but brothers by choice. You know I had a crush on him when Tank first joined the Furies, that is the name of their club, Furies MC, they are all awesome. Fling and the other guys, they treated me like a sister from the first day they met me. Well, Ridge didn’t, but that was because there was something there, you know, an attraction. We danced around it for years, and then one night, we were drinking and it kinda just went from there.”
Bo put his head down on her hand. She petted him slowly again and wondered how in the fuck everything became so fucked up.
Chapter One
Ridge looked at his brothers. They were leaving in just an hour or so, and hopefully when they came back, it would be with Kasey. Tank was tense, but then so were the other guys. This hit too close to home, one of their own was in danger, and it wasn’t acceptable. Fuck, Ridge closed his eyes, one of their own, he could kick his own ass for not claiming her before. He knew it may be awkward with Tank for a while, but dammit, since they first met, Ridge had been attracted to Kasey. Then when he had the opportunity to fuck her, he had and realized she was his perfect match in every way. But he had been a dumbass and thought too hard on it.
Boomer and Georgie had arrived back to the compound right in the middle of the drama, which was good and bad. Boomer was excellent at mapping, so he had their exit route completely done in an hour. It would have taken Ridge and one of the others a few hours to get it. Georgie didn’t freak out at all, which was cool, however, the woman wanted to be involved. Ridge finally figured out why everyone was talking about the Roarks, they were nuts.
“Okay, the plan is to get in and out in seventy-two hours,” Boomer said and pointed to the map. “Depending on the mode of transportation our contact is able to get, you will travel from Kathmandu to Motihari, India. It will be right around seven hours if you have a car, if you have to hump it out, it will take about forty-one hours, depending on stops. Either way, you are in the window to catch the plane home. You cross the border, here,” he pointed at the map, “and our contact will have IDs for you as well. Anything goes wrong, you abandon this, and use the other coordinates to get out as well.”
Ridge nodded and then Torch stepped up and said, “I’ll be cleaning up any mess you make and covering your path out of the country. We believe she is being held at the Korean Consulate. We were unable to get any aerial shots since they are very protective of their air space. So you will be going in blind unless we can get a lock on them. We have intel on the guards and where they patrol most. I have a meeting with the local authorities and will make sure it is worth their while to give you enough time to get out of there.”
Loki smiled and shook his head. “I’ll be at the border, once you get over that, we go together to the plane, if things go to shit and we need to reroute, I’ll either make sure you can get over the border, or I’ll come in with a helio and get you. Either way, you will be out of there.”
Tank nodded and said, “Coms are up and ready to go, we tapped into a few satellites. Just so you know, when Ridge accepted the job, the old man was informed and he is not happy he wasn’t read into the situation. He has already attempted to call me a few times. I didn’t answer, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a visit from one of his lackeys. He will play the concerned daddy role, which is bullshit, but still, he will use it.”
Ridge nodded and then added, “I called Fling, they are coming back. He can handle that shit for now. If he gets too much up in our shit, Fling will take care of him.”
They broke up the meeting after they had gone through everything again, when one of them had to leave the country, they needed to plan more than missions here in the states, because they were dealing with different countries and sometimes those countries didn’t want Americans there. It was a pain in the ass, but the fact was a lot of times when shit went down overseas and there was nothing they could do, they would call the Furies.
Tank followed Ridge out to his bike and he waited while Ridge put his shit into the saddlebags and then turned around and looked at his brother. “I’ll bring her home.”
Tank nodded and then put his hand behind his neck and stared at him for a second before shocking the shit out of Ridge. “You know, when I found out you and Kasey slept together the last time she was here, I almost kicked your ass. I mean, she is my sister, but Fling and Sunshine both talked me down, they had a point. If there was anyone in this club that I would ever allow to get close to my sister, it would be you. No question about it. You got issues though, I know it and so does everyone. Now, that being said, take a chance, man, even if it isn’t with Kasey, take a chance.”
Ridge took a deep breath and then looked at his friend and said, “Was gonna tell you, but there was never a good time, figured it would be an issue. That being said, there won’t be an issue, brother. Can’t tell the future.”
Tank nodded then turned and walked back toward the main house. “I can, we are all entitled to find someone, fuck, even you. See you when you get back.”
Ridge mounted his bike and then flipped the switch and it roared to life. Loki and Torch did the same thing; he was glad they were going with him. Loki was a mean fucker when he was crossed. And Torch, well let’s just say he made Loki look like a choir boy when he was riled. Either way, they were good to be watching his back going to Nepal, shit could get real messy. Tank was actually handling this fairly well, much better than he would have. But he knew them. He knew they would do whatever it took to get Kasey home. They were the last resort to call, and they knew it, it was always fifty-fifty trying to bring someone home safely. They were all at risk, and they had failed a couple of times, lost a few brothers, and a few victims. It sucked, but he wasn’t going to allow Kasey to become a statistic, she was important, not him, and Ridge knew he was laying his life on the line for her. Fuck, he thought and then rode out of the compound headed to where the plane was waiting.
“You know, when my brother first came to me and told me he was joining a motorcycle club I totally laughed at him. I mean, everyone has heard of the stories about clubs. I seriously was thinking he had gone to the dark side. But after meeting the Furies and the Ops Warriors, I seriously had to rethink shit. They were cool. I love the road names they have, you know, if I get a bike, my road name will be the same as my call sign, Sandshrew. You know why? ‘Cause when I was in the desert during the Gulf War it pissed me off when I got sand in my underwear, that chaffed like a son of a bitch!” Kasey said to Bo who was staring up at her once again while she talked quietly to him.
They had already had breakfast and lunch, the same mush. Then they had worked out a little, doing sit-ups and push-ups so she wasn’t weak when she escaped from this place. She knew she had lost weight already, her pants were loose on her, and she had to clinch the belt a little more to make sure they didn’t fall down. When she had been taken she was in her service blues, which they took from her immediately and handed her some thin material pants, a tank top, one change of clothes that looked exactly the same, a pair of weak flip-flops, and underwear. That was all she had.
“I hope they didn’t mess with my rack. I just got the damn thing set, you know? My brother was at every ceremony, even if my asshole father didn’t show. At least he was there. I really only consider him being my family. We lost my mother years ago, and my father, I refuse to acknowledge,” Kasey said, thinking about her ribbon rack on her blues. Seriously, you never knew what a pain in the ass it was to do those unless you had done one. They made it hard, each ribbon had a specific place to go.
Bo seemed to nod at her and she smiled and petted the cute little monkey. “You know, being in the service, and a woman, you have to be tough. I admit I’m a little rough around the edges, but then I can kick most of the guys’ asses who ask me out. I used to spend hours training in hand-to-hand combat. But when I went to visit my brother, it was like somehow my head knew I was safe. I didn’
t need to be on guard all the time. That’s why I think I hooked up with Ridge, he made me feel safe. Like all I had to do was just ‘be’ when I was around him. Trust me, a chick in the military, sometimes it sucked being on guard twenty-four/seven.”
Bo grabbed her finger and clung to it as if hugging her, letting her know he understood. Shit, she was totally beginning to lose it. When she had gotten Bo, Kasey didn’t think the little animal would be the only one she wanted to talk to. She knew a therapist would be very interested in why she was talking to an animal, and well, they could fuck off. Try to be isolated for months, it could drive a person nuts.
“Yeah, Ridge is a cool guy. You know, if I ever got out of the military, I think I would go to San Diego with my brother. Not for Ridge of course. I mean I just think that club, and those people are good for Tank, maybe they would be good for me as well,” Kasey said and shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t be thinking about it because of Ridge, he has his own demons. Why the fuck would he want to put up with mine?”
Bo just rubbed her finger. “I gotta get him off my mind, hell, sitting here just talking about him isn’t gonna do any good. You know, I really do think I’m going to move to San Diego when I retire from the military. It would be good to have someone take my back again. Not that the guys I work with don’t take my back, they do, but I am a woman; they sometimes just don’t respect that. It gets old you know. Yeah, I think I’ll go to San Diego, hang with Tank for a while and then who knows, I may buy my own Harley. I would love to just ride and travel the country.”
Kasey looked around the cold cement room and grimaced. First she had to get the fuck out of here. She wondered if they had contacted her brother yet. That was who she knew would come for her: the club and Tank. They wouldn’t leave her over here like her father would. She thought back to when her mother had been taken. The one thing she remembered her father saying out of the whole time life had been chaotic. ‘We don’t negotiate with terrorists.’ She still wondered if he understood she was just not anyone, she was his wife and their mother. They were not a fucking country who made decisions like that, they were a family, and the money should have been paid. Instead he had allowed their mother to be returned to them in pieces. The fucking bastard even had enough audacity to make a statement to the press that he was devastated. It was a joke, Kris and Kasey knew the facts, and he was anything but sad when their mother died. That is when their family broke apart. Both Kris and Kasey joined the military to get out of the old man’s house and neither had ever returned. They both graduated college and then entered into the service as officers, both believed in serving their country, nothing made them prouder. Their father was an unfortunate and necessary evil. Only Kasey had been the one who actually spoke to their father on occasion. And that was because she was technically required to do so for her job, other than that, he ceased to exist the day she signed her enlistment paperwork.
Shattered (Furies Book 2) Page 2
