Norse Security: The Complete Series

by North, Leslie

  “Yep.” Hunter grabbed two plates from the cupboard while Alex buttered up two pieces of toast and shoved two more fresh slices of bread in the toaster. While he dished up their food, she finished the toast, then put silverware and napkins on the table. By the time they sat down to eat, it was like they were an old married couple. It felt way nicer and more perfect than Alex expected.

  She swallowed her yearning along with a bite of eggs. He’d added cheese and small chunks of sausage to them, making them gooey and salty and damned near the best eggs she’d ever had. “Wow, this is terrific!”

  “Thanks.” He looked away, though a tiny smile formed on his full, soft lips. “It’s nice to cook for more than just me.”

  “You cook too?” She chuckled. “And just when I thought you couldn’t get more perfect.”

  “You think I’m perfect?” He did meet her gaze then—astonishment, mixed with admiration, lit his handsome face. “Well, I think you’re kind of perfect too.”

  “Really?” All she wanted to do at that moment was crawl into his lap and kiss him senseless. Alex would have too, except a knock on the front door interrupted her. Her gaze darted from the front door to Hunter then back again, her heart skipping in her chest. “Expecting someone?”

  He scowled, whispering. “No.”

  Holding up a finger for silence, he got up and walked into the living room, sticking close to the walls as he made his way over to the windows beside the door. When he lifted the curtains and peeked out, his frown only increased. He looked back at Alex and shook his head.

  “What?” she mouthed. “No one’s there?”

  Hunter shook his head, giving her a look that screamed stay-where-you-are. He quickly skirted his way back toward the kitchen then on toward the hallway, whispering as he passed her, “I need to get my gun. It’s in the master bedroom. Stay put and don’t let anyone in until I get back. Understand?”

  Alex nodded fast. She grabbed her table knife like a weapon, her gaze locked on the front door. If the sex boss or his thugs tried to break in, she’d jab them in the eye with her knife, dammit. The thing wasn’t sharp, but it could do some damage to soft tissue if landed the right way. She wasn’t exactly an expert in self-defense, but she’d had training in martial arts for some of her roles and she’d paid attention. She could take care of herself, if she needed to. At least she hoped she could. Those skills had never been put to the test in reality.

  She could hear Hunter chamber a round in his gun in the bedroom and relaxed slightly. At least until she heard the knob on the back door in the kitchen jiggle. Oh shit! Whoever had knocked was trying to get in a different way. Definitely not a salesman then, or anyone else reputable.

  Heart thudding loud in her ears, Alex slid from her seat and inched toward the living room, doing her best not to panic, yet unable to stop shaking. “Hunter?” she called, hoping he heard her weak voice. “Hunter, get out here. Someone’s trying to get in the back.”

  “What?” he said, moving back toward her down the hall, gun in hand just as all hell broke loose. The front door shattered as it was kicked in. At the same time, the back door crashed open and one of the huge thug bodyguards from Club Excite stepped into the kitchen.

  Hunter fired at the thug in the living room, but his shot went wide, pinging off the wall. The guard lunged at him and they slammed to the floor in a flurry of punches and curses. Meanwhile, Alex had swiveled to face the new arrival in the kitchen, table knife in her shaky hand as she backed slowly away. “Don’t even think about touching me, you asshole. I swear to God I’ll shove this fucking thing through your temple and straight into your sorry excuse for brains.”

  Yeah, it was a line from one of her old movies, but it seemed appropriate.

  The thug stared at her then shook his head. “Ain’t nobody touching you but the boss. We got orders.”

  “The boss?” Alex turned fast as a hand closed painfully on her shoulder. “Don’t touch me!”

  “Alex?” Hunter yelled. “Get away from her, you filthy piece of shit!”

  He landed a nasty right hook into the thug’s left kidney and the sickening sound of cracking bone filled the air. Alex swallowed hard against the rising bile in her throat and fixed the sex boss with her best fearsome glare.

  “Take your hands off me, before I remove them for you. Permanently.”

  The boss laughed. Honest to God, he fucking laughed at her threat and Alex kicked him hard. She went for his nuts, but their height difference and his gut sticking out in front of him had her blow landing somewhere around his mid-thigh instead. He swore and stumbled slightly, but kept his tight grip on her arm. There’d definitely be bruises from that later, but it was the least of her concerns.

  “You’re coming with me, you little bitch,” the boss said, dragging her toward the door while Hunter—who’d managed to shake off his attacker and get to his feet—was jumped from behind and tackled to the floor again. “I like you a whole lot better without that godawful wig and glasses too. You’ll fetch a nice price on the black market. Blondes always sell well.”

  “Stop it!” Alex fought against him, managing to land a few hits to his head and chest, but overall she was outsized and out muscled. “Put me down!”

  The boss had now picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as he headed back out the front door. Neighbors were standing around pointing and whispering, but no one tried to help her. Jesus. This was like her worst nightmare come to life. Were these people so used to violence on their streets that it meant nothing to them anymore? As the boss opened the trunk of a black unmarked sedan and shoved Alex inside, she caught the eye of one of the women watching the whole thing unfold and she knew. It wasn’t that these people were immune to the violence. It was that they were scared. Scared the violence might turn on them too. So they did nothing.

  Alex screamed and tried to escape as the boss slammed the trunk closed on her, leaving her in utter darkness. Where was Hunter? Was he alive? Would he rescue her in time? The yells of the boss outside, telling the crowd to go home, nothing to see here, followed by the roar of the engine and jostle as they backed out of the driveway, had her heart sinking.

  The last thing Alex heard as they pulled away in a screech of tires was Hunter’s voice yelling her name from somewhere close by, then nothing as the rumble of the roadway took over everything else.

  13

  Think, Alex. Think.

  She swallowed hard against the disorientation and adrenaline-fueled fear constricting her throat and forced herself to calm. She’d been in this situation before. Not in real life, but for one of her campy, B-list movie roles. Grit, Guns, and Glory or some other idiotic name they’d given it. The film had not even had a theatrical run, going straight to DVD, but it had taught Alex some particular skills—namely how to escape from the trunk of a car. Her character in the movie, a bimbo with a heart of gold named Glory Hill, had been abducted by the bad guys and needed to escape or be killed. Alex snorted in the dark confines of the trunk, wrinkling her nose at the hint of burning rubber, motor oil, and mildew in the air. Never would’ve guessed life would imitate art quite so closely.

  Wriggling around, Alex managed to trace her sock-covered toes along the side of the trunk, feeling for the corner. In the prop vehicle they’d used for the movie, there’d been an emergency safety release lever near the rear tail light. It was a federal requirement for all vehicles made in the US after 2002. Usually they glowed in the dark, but when she squinted through the gloom, Alex didn’t see anything. Great.

  The car bumped over a pothole or curb or something and knocked her head against the trunk lid. Alex cursed and rubbed her sore scalp. “Ow!”

  Well, crap. Maybe this car was older than 2002. Or maybe the sex boss had ripped out the emergency release lever, considering Alex probably wasn’t the first person he’d locked in here. Her toes sank into a slight depression in the rough carpet she was laying on and she pressed harder with her foot. Must be the tail li
ght. If she could pull the carpet away and kick the thing out, then at least she could try and alert someone that she was in here.

  Sweat broke out on her forehead as she struggled to turn herself around in the tight space. Her breath echoed loud and her heart raced. Finally, Alex managed to get herself turned around so her head was facing where the taillight was, or where she thought it was. Fingers scrabbling, she tore at the carpet in that corner, desperate to get beneath it to where the tail light was.

  Her mind kept looping back to Hunter. Was he still at the house? Was he okay?

  At last the carpet came free and out popped the emergency lever. It must’ve gotten hidden behind the carpet somehow. Alex felt a strange urge to shout a woohoo at her good luck, but stopped herself. The last thing she needed now was to draw the sex boss’s suspicions. Surprise would be key to her getting away from him. She clutched the neon green plastic lever in her damp palm and forced her rapid breath to calm. Her best bet to get out of here without breaking something would be to wait until the car stopped at a light then make a mad dash for freedom. Except she had no idea where they were or if they’d stop anytime soon.

  Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long. The sound of the tires bumping along slowed and gradually other noises drifted in—Latin pop music, shouts in Spanish and a faint odor of spices and fried corn. El Pueblo. They must be near the old historic monument and marketplace. That made sense, since the safe house Hunter had taken her to was close by. Alex guessed they’d been driving for maybe twenty minutes, which would put it at around ten-thirty, maybe eleven at the latest. The place should be crawling with people. If she got the trunk open and climbed out, she could get lost in the crowds and hopefully get away. Get back to Hunter.

  The car’s brakes gave a grumpy squeak as the vehicle halted.

  Her chest squeezed, her pulse tripped. This was it. Now or never.

  Alex closed her eyes and pulled hard on the lever in her hand, praying she’d have enough time to get out before the light changed. Like a Jack in the Box on steroids, the trunk lid flew open and she acted on pure impulse, fumbling out of the back of the car and blindly racing away. The sun was so bright after the total darkness of the trunk that she really couldn’t see anything. Even if she could, her eyes were watering so badly it probably looked like she was crying uncontrollably. Still, Alex made her way toward the blurry, colorful shapes moving in front of her, the pavement warm on her feet through the socks. She clutched the too big sweatpants with one hand to hoist them up so she wouldn’t trip. Alex spoke minimal Spanish, enough to get by, and recognized the whispered comments of the people she passed—vieja loca, crazy lady. At least no one seemed to recognize her. She could only imagine what a mess she looked right about now, but at least she was out. Free.

  Shouts issued from behind her and Alex stumbled. Oh, God. He’d seen her. The boss was after her. Running forward, she managed to duck behind a vendor cart selling tacky souvenirs to the tourists. Her vision cleared and she spotted the sex boss about twenty-five feet away, scanning the area. He had his cell phone to his ear and looked pissed as hell.

  Hunter. She needed to get back to the safe house and see if he was all right. Warn him that the sex boss was still looking for them. And Bea? Oh, God. What would happen to Bea now? No way would those slaves be arriving tonight as planned, at least not at the safe house. Maybe at the club though. They’d have to find a place to stash them until the boss found a new place to hold them, right? And they were too valuable to send back. He wouldn’t want to risk exposure or losing his cash investment. Alex had spent more than enough time at Club Xcite to know money ruled in the seedy underbelly of LA’s human sex trafficking rings. Wealth would buy you just about anything in this town.

  Finally, the sex boss stalked away back toward the car that still idled at the curb. Alex watched from around the corner of the cart as he slammed the trunk shut and climbed back into the vehicle, still on his phone. She didn’t breathe again until he’d pulled away in a screech of tires, horns honking behind him as he cut off several cars.

  Right. Okay.

  Alex straightened and adjusted her ill-fitting clothes as best she could. She gave the cart vendor a tentative smile then asked the woman in broken Spanish if she had a cell phone Alex could use to make a call. When she’d been abducted, she and Hunter had been ready to share a nice breakfast. One he’d cooked for her after they’d spent the night making love together. It was so sweet and nice and made her heart ache with the need to see him all the more.

  She started to call for an Uber then realized she had no money. Well, guess the walk might do her good anyway. Give her time to think, as long as she didn’t run into the sex boss on the way and get taken hostage again. It wasn’t far, only a couple of miles. She usually ran five miles a day with her trainer. And yeah, she had no shoes, but as long as she kept to paved areas and side streets, she should be fine. Alex clicked the phone off and handed it back to the woman, thanking her again for her help. “Muchas gracias.”

  The woman nodded slowly, eyeballing Alex’s outfit with trepidation.

  With as much dignity as she could muster, Alex squared her shoulders and headed for the side street lining the marketplace. No way was she heading out in front again, just in case the sex boss was still cruising around trying to find her. She slinked through the crowds and disappeared down an alleyway behind a small chapel, saying a silent prayer Hunter was still at the safe house and that she wasn’t too late to salvage something from this disaster of a mission.

  14

  Hunter tested the ropes around his wrists, binding his arms to the chair the thugs had him tied to in the kitchen of the safe house. His ankles were bound too, the knots snug, but nothing he couldn’t break out of if he’d had the incentive and opportunity. For now, he stayed put—partly because he needed time to formulate a plan to find out where that asshole sex boss had taken Alex, and partly because he felt it was his penance.

  He’d been such a fucking idiot, losing his concentration like that. But when he’d seen that filthy piece of shit’s hands on Alex, hauling her out the door, Hunter had lost it. Plain and simple. A searing, uncontrollable anger had welled inside him at the thought of anyone mistreating his woman and he’d gone ballistic.

  His thoughts snagged.

  My woman?

  Yeah, okay. The sex with Alex had been pretty damned amazing. Incredible even. He’d never given up control like that to another person and fuck if it wasn’t freeing as hell. Until Alex, he’d never realized how tightly wound his need for control was during his daily work. The fact he could give that up and let someone else be in charge in the bedroom turned him on more than anything else ever had before.

  And no, he hadn’t given much thought to what would happen between him and Alex after this mission was over. He lived and worked in Virginia. Her career depended on staying in L.A. Long distance relationships were always a struggle. Then again, he wasn’t even sure Alex wanted any kind of thing with him beyond their one night of incredible sex. Maybe to her it had just been a simple hook up. Nothing more.

  His chest ached at the thought of leaving her behind once all this mess was done, walking away and never seeing her again, never smelling her sweet, lemony scent, never tasting the salt of her skin, never hearing her cry out his name as she came apart in his arms.

  He cared for her, way more than was wise at this point. Hunter wasn’t exactly ready to call it love yet, but the warmth in his gut and the tingle in his blood felt like more than mere like or want. It felt deeper, stronger. He longed to know all about her, to share all about himself with her. More than just what they’d already told each other. He wanted her to meet his parents. Wanted to meet her family too. Wanted to just relax and be together for a while to see if they were truly compatible, truly meant to be together without the adrenaline rush and distractions of this case pushing them closer. And if she was the one then…

  Dammit. Damn it all straight to hell and back.

  Fru
strated, he growled and struggled against the ropes again, loosening them a tad more. These thugs were morons. Couldn’t even tie a decent knot for fuck’s sake. If they’d been on his SEAL team, he’d have kicked their asses into shape right quick. For now though, all he could do was sit there and glower at the guard across from him, who was currently too busy texting on his phone to pay Hunter much attention. The other guard, the one he’d smashed in the face earlier, was still in the living room, sitting on the couch with a bag of frozen peas on his eye. It was the one leaning against the kitchen counters who’d struck Hunter over the head with a frying pan on the front porch as he’d stood there yelling after the car that Alex was locked inside of drove away. Yep. That had been an idiot move all around on his part.

  With a resigned sigh, Hunter rolled his stiff neck and stared out through the open kitchen to the curtained windows in the living room beyond. A shadow passed in front of them and he frowned. Was someone out there? He’d not had a chance to message Loki for backup before all hell had broken loose earlier, so it couldn’t be that.

  Pounding sounded on the front door and his heart stumbled.

  Alex?

  No. Had to be the sex boss, back again. Or maybe more of his lackey cohorts. Most likely he’d dumped Alex off somewhere then returned here to deal with Hunter himself. The thugs had not done anything more to him other than tie him up. That usually signaled some kind of interrogation to come. Hunter tested his wrists again, found the ropes loose enough to slip off without much trouble, and bit back a sinister grin. After Alex’s abduction and God knew what else once that bastard had her all to himself, Hunter was going to enjoy beating the living shit out of that guy. It was divine justice for what he’d done to Alex and every other poor soul they’d taken and sold into sexual slavery through that disgusting club of his.