Hidden (Deep Ops #1)

by Rebecca Zanetti

  “Hurry up,” he hissed, his light brown eyes all but glowing through the darkness.

  Trixie bent and started snipping the fence. The process seemed to take forever, but finally, she’d made a big enough hole so she could shove her pack through and then herself. “Come on, Mary. Let’s go.”

  Mary. She’d never use that name again. Oh, she’d use a few different aliases, but when she was safe, when she could be herself, she’d be Pippa. Forever. She’d just started to move when strong arms grabbed her from behind.

  She yelped.

  “I’ve found them,” Mark yelled. Men’s voices roared through the forest.

  Damn it. Mark was one of Isaac’s top lieutenants, and he looked at Pippa like he wanted to both strangle and rape her. The guy was known to hurt the younger girls.

  Pippa started to struggle. “Let go.”

  He pinched her breast. Hard. “Oops. That was an accident.” His laugh was gleeful.

  Pain and shock ripped through Pippa. She reacted without thinking, striking back with the knife. It slid shockingly easily into Mark’s leg.

  He bellowed and released her, falling back. Like an animal, she turned, stabbing repeatedly. His stomach, his hands, his arms as he tried to protect himself.

  “Mary, come on,” Trixie yelled. “We have to go. Now.”

  Sobbing, Pippa shoved Mark and dropped the knife on the ground. Turning, she ran for the hole in the fence and wriggled her way thorough, scraping her neck and arms in the process. It didn’t matter. She was free.

  Jack started the car, and Trixie jumped into the backseat.

  “Mary.” Isaac stood on the other side of the fence. “Come back here. Now.”

  She whirled around, her breath panting, her body freezing in place.

  Mark shoved himself to his feet, hate in his gaze.

  Isaac looked over Pippa’s shoulder at the car. “If you come back, I’ll let Tulip go. She can be free. Forever.”

  “No,” Trixie shrieked from the car. “Get in here, now. We have to go.”

  Pippa hesitated.

  Isaac reached down and grasped the knife. Was he wearing leather gloves? It wasn’t that cold yet. “Mary. Obey me. Now.”

  “No,” she gasped, backing away from the fence. The opening wasn’t large enough for any of the men, but they could probably make it bigger quickly. She had to run.

  The moonlight seemed to surround Isaac in a way it didn’t the others. That was her imagination. It had to be. He watched her, those eyes seeing everything. Then he grabbed Mark and pulled him to the side. “Look what you’ve made me do.” Hard and fast, Isaac plunged the knife into Mark’s back several times.

  Mark’s eyes widened, and he gasped. Blood bubbled from his mouth and dripped down his chin. He fell to his knees and then forward, his head hitting the ground and his legs kicking up.

  Pippa gagged, her eyes wide on the dead man. “Wh-why?”

  Isaac tossed the bloody knife, and it landed on Mark’s butt. “Your prints are on the knife. You stabbed him repeatedly and then killed him. If the cops find out, they’ll be looking for you almost as hard as I will.”

  Her mouth gaped open. What should she do?

  Isaac moved toward the fence, and she started backing up. “Come back here, now, and I will take care of this problem. The cops will never know.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes. What should she do?

  Isaac almost crooned. “You have no choice, Mary. You’re not strong enough to hide from the police and me. Not to mention God. He will punish you for this.”

  Yeah, He probably would.

  Pippa stared directly into Isaac’s eyes. “We’ll meet up again someday, I know.” Her fate made that inevitable. “Next time? I’ll be the one with the knife.” She turned and ran around the car, jumping in the front seat and slamming the door shut. They peeled out.

  The sound of Isaac bellowing her name followed them down the dirt road.

  * * *

  Pippa came back to the present, her entire face hurting from crying. She hadn’t thought about that night in months. Why, she didn’t know.

  But here she was. So, the worst had happened. The absolute worst thing she could’ve imagined had just happened, and Trixie was back with the monster.

  Pippa had nothing to lose. Hiding all these years and almost becoming a shut-in hadn’t protected either one of them in the end.

  She had promised him she’d have a knife next time they met.

  Apparently, she’d lied. This time, she was taking a gun.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Angus Force kicked back in his office and listened to the conversation between Malcolm and Isaac at the mansion. Mal had placed the bug perfectly to pick up the entire room.

  Malcolm was a genius at undercover Ops. No wonder he’d been able to take down one of the most powerful mob families in the world. But it did beg the question: just what kind of a toll did this duplicity take on the detective? Had he been ready to return to work?

  Probably not.

  Roscoe lay in the corner, munching contentedly on a red high-heeled shoe. He’d worn it for a while and now seemed to think it was a snack. Angus had no clue where he’d gotten it, but chances were, it was the shrink’s.

  The woman shouldn’t leave her shoes where Roscoe could get them.

  Raider Tanaka strode into the room, glanced at the dog, then slid out a seat. “He has somebody’s shoe.”

  “Yep.” Angus held up a finger as he listened to Malcolm leave Isaac’s office. Then Angus turned down the volume but kept the tape running. “How did it go?”

  “Good. We transferred Eagle and Leroy to a real HDD dark site, and they can sit there until we figure out what the attack will be on Friday.”

  Brigid appeared at the doorway, her red hair pulled back and several pieces of paper in her hand.

  Angus motioned her in. “Have a seat. Sorry to have you working all night so soon.”

  Raider pulled out the chair next to him. “Aren’t hackers used to working into the wee hours?” Only slight sarcasm lowered his tone.

  She took the seat and rolled her eyes. “Not as much as tight-ass feds.”

  Angus bit back a smile. Watching the straight arrow Raider deal with the wildcat hacker with the lilting Irish accent might be the only good thing going on in his life right now. “What did you find, Brigid?”

  “Okay.” She handed over the papers. “On Friday, we have an antiabortion rally in Boston, a women’s rights rally in DC, and a diversity parade in New York. We also have multiple concerts in cities across the East Coast, business meetings, and international consortia. There are so many things going on, we need more information to narrow down the search parameters.”

  “What about the names and descriptions of women from the cult that Eagle and Leroy gave us?” Angus asked, pushing aside his qualms about how effective Wolfe had been in getting the information. The guy was brutal. After his interrogations, he’d headed home without speaking to anybody else.

  Brigid shook her head. “I have searches running, but without actual photographs of these women, it’s unlikely we’ll find anybody. If we could just narrow it down to one city . . .”

  Angus tried to think. “What about the photographs supplied by Orchid?” Who was now at a safe house.

  “I’m trying with facial rec and the names they used way back when, but no luck. We don’t even know if the women in the pictures are really the ones who are out in the world now,” Brigid said.

  Damn it. Angus wanted to punch something. How could they narrow it down? Prophet Isaac had been too smart to give details to anybody, which was probably why the guy was still alive. It really was up to Malcolm to get the information somehow. “All right.” Angus surveyed the bloodshot eyes of his two team members. “It’s after midnight. Why don’t you two get some sleep? None of us are any good if we can’t function.”

  Raider stood and pulled out Brigid’s chair so she could do the same. “What time do you want us back tomorrow?
” he asked.

  Angus glanced at the clock. “Seven? That should give you time to rest and time for the searches to run for Brigid.”

  “What about you?” Brigid asked quietly. “Shouldn’t you rest?”

  A nagging feeling wouldn’t leave the back of Angus’s neck, so he wasn’t moving. “I will. Just a few more minutes and I’ll head out.”

  Raider gave him the fish-eye but didn’t contradict him. “I’ll bring coffee tomorrow. Good stuff without all the sprinkles.”

  The two exited the office.

  Silence reigned for about two seconds before heels clipped in the bull pen and Nari moved into the office.

  Everything in Angus lit up. “Why are you still here? I told you to get some rest.”

  “You’re still here,” she returned, eyeing the dog in the corner. “Where did he get the shoe?”

  “It isn’t yours?” Angus asked, turning his head slightly.

  She reared up, looking . . . affronted? “That cheap leather? Of course not.”

  “Huh.” Angus was tempted to ask the dog where he’d gotten the shoe, but often Roscoe just ignored him. He was getting loopy from exhaustion, damn it. “Maybe one of the guys brought it in for him.” Who knew? “Why are you still here?”

  She leaned against the doorframe, looking young and tired. “I was working through profiles and the possible targets. There are too many. If Isaac wants to punish people who don’t agree with him, he has a multitude of targets. There has to be a way to narrow things down.” Tension and fear rode her words.

  Angus could relate. “Malcolm is the best at what he does. He’ll get the facts.”

  “Speaking of being the best, I still don’t have a personnel file on Brigid Banaghan,” Nari said. “I find it odd you let somebody out of prison to work here.”

  Angus leaned back in his chair. “I’ll get you her file and you’ll understand.”

  Nari lifted an eyebrow. “How so?”

  “She’s been in minor trouble her whole life but got caught hacking into a secured government site to expose a senator she thought was sexually harassing staffers.” Angus could understand her motive, but breaking the law did matter.

  “She thought?” Nari asked.

  “Yeah. Turns out the asshole was part of a kiddie porn ring. Brigid exposed him, but to do so, she had to reveal herself. She got caught and took a plea.” Angus tapped his fingers on the desk.

  “That wasn’t fair,” Nari burst out.

  Maybe, maybe not. “The law is the law.” Angus turned back to his recording to see what Isaac had been up to with Malcolm out of the room. “And here, I’m the boss. So get yourself some sleep, Nari. That’s an order.”

  Her lips tightened, but she didn’t argue. Her clip-clopping sounded irritated as she turned and strode away.

  Soon, Angus was the only person left in the basement. The hum of the lights kept him company as he rewound the recording and started listening again.

  The second Isaac made contact with Pippa, Angus’s heart nearly stopped. He listened for a while, and then somebody started a fire, effectively killing the bug. So much for listening in on Isaac again. But Angus had heard enough.

  He quickly dialed Mal’s number.

  “I’m in the middle of something here,” Mal snapped, his voice hushed.

  “We have a problem,” Angus said, adrenaline taking over. That was the understatement of the century.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Pippa parked her car in a turnout about a mile away from the address Isaac had given her. The road was deserted, and forest blanketed each side. She stepped out of the car and shivered. The rain had ebbed to a mist that instantly coated her face.

  The persistent wind continued its hold on the spring weather, making the trees sway and throw pine needles against her legs.

  Dark clouds covered the moon. Save for the lack of light, the night was eerily similar to the one when Pippa had fled the family.

  Maybe fate did always bring life full circle.

  Chances were slim she’d make it back to the vehicle, but she left the keys beneath the driver’s seat, just in case. Then she hid her gun in her boot and covered both with her jean pant leg. A knife went into her other sock, while her burner phone went into her back pocket. There was no reason to leave it.

  Zipping her jacket, she strode down the road, keeping to the tree line in case a car came out of nowhere.

  An owl hooted above her, and in the distance, a coyote howled.

  The sound sent chills down her back. Her hands were freezing, as was her blood. She had hoped never to see Isaac again. The memories he brought back made her feel like a helpless child. But the heavy gun in her boot said otherwise.

  The only way out of this was to kill him.

  It was early enough Thursday morning that it was still dark, so there was time to stop whatever he’d planned for the following day. If anything. Knowing Isaac, he might just be spewing bullshit.

  Or not. He was fine with killing, as she knew well.

  She walked about ten minutes until a wide stone archway showed an entrance to a long drive. Isaac had outdone himself with this one.

  She took a deep breath, steeled her shoulders, and started under the archway.

  Strong arms banded around her waist from behind, and a hand clapped over her mouth. Her body seized. It took a second for her brain to catch up with reality.

  She tried to scream, and the large male hand muffled the sound. The man lifted her right off her feet and turned, forcing her past the archway in the opposite direction from her car. Panic burst through her, and she started to struggle, fighting against him with all her strength.

  His stride didn’t shorten.

  His hold didn’t relent.

  She struck back with both hands, hitting his thighs uselessly. Her lungs hiccuped and the blood rushed through her head, roaring in her ears. He was too strong. Whoever he was, he was too powerful to fight. She’d have to wait until he set her down.

  She went limp.

  “That’s better,” he said, low in her ear. It took her a second. It really did. The moment she recognized Malcolm’s voice, she lost it all over again. Her teeth snapped at the flesh of his palm, and she kicked wildly, her right heel catching his knee. She hit back as hard as she could, wiggling like a fish on a line.

  “Stop.” His order was harsh enough, she almost obeyed.

  Then she fought harder. Stronger and fiercer than ever before, she battled him.

  To no avail. Not a bit. He carried her in perfect control, as if he’d kidnapped her a thousand times before.

  They reached a van parked in the darkness of a stand of trees. Still holding her, he yanked open the passenger side door, flipped her around, and deposited her butt on the seat. In an incredibly fast movement, he drew zip ties from his back pocket and secured her wrists together.

  “Found these in the supply closet,” he said, almost conversationally.

  She blinked. Her mouth dropped open, and she shut it quickly. The man she thought she’d loved, the one who’d broken her heart, stood in the darkness, his face all but hidden by shadow. Wait a minute. He’d released her. She opened her mouth to scream.

  He planted his hand over her lips again. “I’ll gag you.” Leaning in, he got close enough that she could see the different colors of green in his eyes, despite the darkness. “I don’t want to, but you make one peep and I’ll shove a rag in that pretty mouth until we’re out of earshot. Got me?” He kept his hand in place until she slowly nodded.

  “Good.” He secured her seat belt over her arms and then searched her, taking her gun, knife, and the phone. Then he quietly shut the door. In seconds, he stretched into the driver’s seat and started the engine, driving the van onto the road toward town.

  So many feelings bombarded Pippa that it was impossible to grasp a single thought. She tested the ties on her wrists. Like everything Malcolm seemed to do, they were perfectly secured. “I hate you.”

  “Probably,�
� he said pleasantly, the lights from the dash caressing the hard angles of his handsome face. “I’m not so happy with you right now either.” He flicked on the windshield wipers as the rain increased in strength. “But I’m going to save you, so I suggest you help me out.”

  She hated that reasonable voice of his. The bossy, arrogant, deep voice he used. “Fuck you.”

  The look he gave her shot alarming tingles through her abdomen. It wasn’t just fear either. Desire, a reaction she really didn’t appreciate, pumped through her blood.

  He turned back to the road. “I’d be more than amenable to that, blue eyes. But first, we have some talking to do. This drive will take two hours, and by the time we arrive at our destination, I need all the info you have. Believe me. You want to talk to me and not a guy named Wolfe.”

  Was he threatening her? Even after everything that had occurred, she felt, deep down, that Malcolm wouldn’t hurt her.

  Yeah, she was a complete moron.

  “I don’t think you’d hurt me.” Might as well throw it out there.

  “You’re right. And while Wolfe might scare you just by being Wolfe, I wouldn’t let him hurt you either.” Mal glanced sideways, his expression implacable. “You’re safe.”

  What the heck was she supposed to do with that? She looked down at her bound hands. “Doesn’t feel like it.”

  “Fair enough. But if you were unbound, you’d jump out of the van, and then I’d have to chase you. One of us could trip or fall, and we can’t have that.” He turned up the defrost. “Plus, my temper is very close to blowing, and you don’t want that.”

  How could he make a threat, a genuine threat, in such a reasonable tone of voice?

  She had to get free. Trixie’s life depended on it. “I’ll make you a deal. Stop the van and I’ll answer any question you want. Then you let me go.”

  The muscle visibly ticking at the base of his neck only added to his bad-boy sexy looks. “Baby, I ain’t ever letting you go.”

  * * *

  Malcolm wanted to suck those words back into his mouth, but they’d already hit air. Until that very second, he hadn’t realized his full intentions. Sure, he planned to protect Pippa from both the government and the cult, but he wanted more than that.