by Aliyah Burke
Hang on, Lexy. She’d put up one hell of a fight and had even managed to take down one of their men. Not that they knew who it was, for the explosion had pretty much taken all of it away. The body was charred and it would take a while for them to identify the remains.
News crews were everywhere as were the local LEOs. It had taken a call from Masters for him to be released and allowed to leave. Valentino knew this wouldn’t be easy for Hector, but he didn’t have time to talk to the man about it. Every second he wasted doing something else was another not spent finding Lexy.
Fury pumped through him with each beat of his heart. It filled his veins and soul until all he could think of was killing those responsible. In his hand, the phone vibrated and he moved the headset to the side and answered it.
“What do you have?”
“Her phone is in the Great Dismal Swamp.”
Cold gripped him and he swallowed. “Location?” Valentino relayed the numbers he received to the pilot and hung up as the bird banked left.
There was a small patch of level ground and as they flew over, he saw a white panel van with its back doors open.
“Looks like they had a chopper,” the pilot called out. “You can see the depression from the wash before it took off.”
“Land.”
“You got it.”
Squeezing his eyes shut again, he ignored the pounding and ringing in his head and checked the magazine of his Glock. “Stay alert,” he ordered prior to jumping out and running to the van. There was no reason to be silent, there wasn’t any way to hide the noise of the chopper and as no one had come out to shoot them down, it most likely wasn’t occupied.
Still, he held up a second before skirting the door and aiming his gun into the interior of the back. Empty. Bile rose as he realized that his first assessment wasn’t entirely true. The dinged, white metal inside was smeared with blood.
“Lexy,” he muttered.
He swiftly pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
“What do you have?”
“I need a team to my location. There’s a van with blood in the back and on the ground.” He took a deep breath. “Pilot recognized another chopper had been here so they’ve gone airborne. As of yet, I have no sign of Lexy or her phone.”
“It says you’re right on it.”
He looked around, crouching to search under the van. There. He spied it. Lying flat, he reached for it and pulled it out. Also soiled with blood. Blood he knew was hers. Not fresh—it had dried. Wherever they were, these people had a good head start on them.
“Found her phone. It was under the van.” He got back to his feet and scanned the area.
The helicopter could have been a decoy, or it could have been for the men to escape on after they had killed Lexy. “Have them bring out a cadaver dog and search as well.”
“Shit,” Masters muttered. “It will be done. Where are you going next?”
“I don’t know. This is a fucking dead end.”
“Get to a hospital then and get checked out. Don’t argue with me, I’ve already told the pilot to get you to one. You need to have a doc look you over.”
“No way.”
“Not a request, Cassano. I need you at your best and so does she. You said yourself that there was no lead to go further at the moment. So you can’t do anything. Get checked and be ready when the lead shows up.” Masters hung up.
“Fuck!” Hastening back to the chopper Valentino strapped himself back in once he was inside. “Do a low sweep over the area, I want to make sure her body isn’t there.”
“You got it. Then I take you to the hospital.”
Valentino didn’t answer, he was too busy looking and praying he didn’t find a body. They searched for a while, crying off when others arrived. He thanked the pilot as he hopped out at the hospital. A doctor met him and stuck out his hand.
“Valentino Cassano?”
Valentino nodded.
“I’m Dr Alder. I got a call you were coming in and had just been in some kind of explosion.” The man looked him over. “Let me get you checked out.”
They went to the man’s office and Valentino sat there while the doc did his thing. Impatience nipped at his heels like a hunting dog on the trail.
“I’ll be right back,” the doc said before slipping out.
Valentino touched his head where new stitches had been put in. He pulled Lexy’s phone out of his pocket and canted his head to the side once he realized there was a recording on it.
With a fortifying breath, he hit playback.
The sound of something hitting something else.
“Fucking bitch, I’m going to kill you for that.” An unknown male issued that statement.
“Go fuck yourself!” Lexy screamed. “Get the hell off me, you perverted bastard.” More sounds of a struggle.
“Hold still. Shit, she’s bleeding, badly. He’s going to kill us if she’s injured before he gets a hold of her. Secure her again then let’s get her on the chopper and out of here before we’re spotted.”
“Damn it!” A different male spoke. “Christ, woman, hold still.”
“Come closer and I’ll kick you so hard your balls will never be seen again.”
“I can’t possibly see what John wants her for. Much less Trevor. Foul-mouthed bitch.” Thug one.
“Foul-mouthed? You want foul-mouthed? I’ll give you—”
Valentino knew she’d been gagged for her muffled voice still fell from around whatever it was they put in her mouth. But who was John?
“Thank you for shutting her up. I was about to knock her ass out.” Thug one.
“You talk big when Trevor isn’t around. Let’s get her to The Farm and give her to Trevor so we can wash our hands of her,” Two offered his opinion.
“She’s a looker. Won’t be if she keeps this mouth running.”
“Do you think he’ll finally get back to what we’re supposed to be doing? Planning that attack on the memorial—”
“Shut it, man. We don’t talk about business in front of outsiders.”
“Whatever. Like this woman will ever be free again. Shit, I have a phone of hers.”
“Toss it under the van. Let’s get going. I’m dying for a bit of pussy and seeing her trussed up as she is is mighty tempting.”
“I wouldn’t even look if I were you. Not since Trevor sent us after her.”
It scratched a bit then the sounds of a helicopter started.
Valentino narrowed his eyes. Target. Calling Masters back he played it for him as well.
“What the hell is The Farm?” Masters asked. “And what memorial are they thinking of attacking?”
“Never heard of it. You know wherever it is, however, it will be tightly guarded. As for the other, I have no clue. You find it. I’m looking for The Farm and my wife.”
“You’re going to need a damn good pilot who’s not afraid of a bit of hostile fire.”
“I know just the man.” He paused. “Or woman.”
“Make it happen, Valentino.”
He licked his lips and cracked his neck. The doc entered as he placed another call. Holding up a hand, he waited for the other end to be picked up.
“Hello?” the man said.
“I need your help,” Valentino said.
* * * *
She was dragged from the van by her hair and dropped hard to the ground. Lexy didn’t move. Honestly, she didn’t believe she could. She hadn’t a clue where she was. There’d been the helicopter, a truck, a car then the van. In each she’d been shoved into the back—or trunk—and kept in extremely uncomfortable places. Her limbs tingled from the blood rushing back into them.
She lay partially on her back and blinked up at the sky. The sun wasn’t directly overhead but it was still early afternoon, were she to hazard a guess. Tall trees dotted her view as well.
Great, a forest. Now I’ll never be found.
Trying to listen to the men talk, she found herself dozing. She was exhausted and being boun
ced around and moved didn’t allow for much rest. Now that she wasn’t moving, her exhaustion had taken over.
She came to with a start when someone grabbed her by the upper arm and hauled her to her feet. Another crouched in front of her, whipped out a large knife and sliced through the bindings at her ankles.
Lexy longed to kick him in the mouth for the lewd look he bestowed upon her, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to lift her foot to accomplish it. Her shoulders ached from how they’d had her hands restrained and her arm still throbbed from being cut with the metal the first time she’d tried to escape.
“Take her to Hut One,” a woman she couldn’t see said.
The man holding her set off at a bruising pace. Well, it was for her given her situation—full bladder and legs weak from all they’d been through. She stumbled along with him, tears springing to her eyes from the grip he had on her arm.
Still, she tried to look around and take in what she could. Numerous shacks, or huts, dotted the area. It was like a little commune. A bit of knowledge that worried her. Fanatics. The setting reminded her of the Appalachians and she wondered if that was where they were.
Men in camouflage walked around holding automatic rifles. Skin color and age wasn’t an issue and she found herself breathing a bit easier after seeing some people who weren’t white.
The man escorting her opened the door of a small building and shoved her in. She stumbled over her feet and went down. Unable to brace herself, Lexy hit the dirt floor hard and a spiking pain shot out from her shoulder.
She was hauled up again—this time by her hair—and he placed her in a chair and withdrew a knife. All these men carry knives like this? She made a mental note of that. As he tapped the tip of her nose with his blade, she knew he wanted to see some fear. She refused to give him what he longed for. Instead, she stared defiantly at him. Daringly, in fact. All the while hoping that what those other two had said was true and this Trevor wanted her alive.
At least for now.
He slipped the cold metal along her skin and turned it up. The ropes holding her parted as if he’d been slicing through butter. He did the other side and pulled the restraints from her body.
Tears pricked her eyes as the blood began flowing again. Hell, her legs had just barely stopped hurting. This time it was worse. The man undid her gag and leveled a look at her she took to mean ‘keep quiet’.
She didn’t have any moisture in her mouth to argue anyway. Lexy focused on getting the feeling back in her fingers. There wasn’t anything to look at in this place anyway. Spartan. There was the chair she sat in and a single bed against the wall and a small table along the other wall. One window offered some light.
She wasn’t sure she was in America any more. Not from the look of this place. Seemed more like some hut she’d find in a Third World country. But she held onto the belief she was in the Appalachians. If she wasn’t, she wasn’t sure how that knowledge would go over with her current state of mind.
“You will stay here. Set one foot out of this room and you’ll be shot.”
Lexy stared at the large man and gave a small nod of understanding. He strode to the door and she shifted in the chair. “What about a bathroom?” she asked before he could leave.
He stopped, one hand gripping the frame before he slowly turned back. “You need a bathroom?”
“I’ve been a prisoner since last night. What do you think?” Her question had attitude but damn it all, she wasn’t going to beg for a basic human function.
He moved toward her. “I think you’d best learn to control your tongue. He’s not going to be happy with this smart mouth.” He jerked her to her feet. “Let’s go.”
Back outside and through some of the other buildings they went, until he stopped her before a wooden shack. “Two minutes.” He opened the door and shoved her in.
Gag. An outhouse. Still, she didn’t tarry, full of the belief he’d open the door in two minutes and drag her back out. She took care of her needs and had just finished buttoning her jeans when, sure enough, the door was yanked open. She held her head high and stepped through.
“Place to wash my hands?”
He dug in his pocket and pulled out some antibacterial cleaner. “Here.”
Better than nothing. She used it then put it in her pocket as they went back to the hut. He didn’t shove her this time but allowed her to enter on her own.
“Don’t forget. You leave, you die.” He slammed the door behind him.
“Just fuckin’ great.” She went to the bed and pulled back the blankets. All appeared clean. She lay on top and closed her eyes. There wasn’t any doubt in her mind that man had meant what he’d said. So, if she couldn’t get out, right now, she might as well catch up on some of the sleep her body desperately needed. Try to conserve some strength for her next confrontation, with whoever this ‘he’ was they kept mentioning. Most likely it was Trevor, who they’d talked about when they’d assumed she was unconscious.
Chapter Twenty
“Anything?” Valentino asked as he prowled across the parking lot toward the waiting chopper.
“Not a thing yet, but they’re running a few more leads.” Masters didn’t sound happy.
“I have my own leads being checked out as well. I’ll let you know if anything comes from them.”
“Good.” Masters ended the call.
Valentino shoved his phone in his pocket and stared at the man who’d stepped down from the helicopter with concern and confusion on his face.
“What the fuck is going on here, Valentino?”
“Thanks for coming, Gio. I need a pilot I know and trust.”
The brothers shared a brief hug.
“You know I’ll do anything for you, but I’m not normally a chopper pilot.”
“I know, but you can fly them and you’re fearless.”
“Of course I can fly them. I can fly anything.” Pilot’s arrogance tinged Gio’s words. “What is this about?”
“Lexy’s been kidnapped.”
“What?” Gio grabbed his arm. “When did this happen and who the fuck did it?”
“That group I told you about, and it was last night. A bit before her house was converted into a fireball.”
“Shit, Jaydee isn’t going to like this.”
“I don’t much care for it myself,” Valentino snapped. “She was put in a chopper in the Great Dismal Swamp, but I don’t know where she went from there. We’ve got alerts out everywhere but so far nothing.”
“So why not hire a local who knows the area?”
“Because I can’t trust anyone outside my few and you, Giovanni. One of my group is missing as well, and the other two are in other places. It doesn’t look good any way I slice it. One of the nurses overseeing her brother’s care was part of this group. I need those I have no doubt about because right now…” He sighed heavily. “I’m about to lose it,” he said in Italian.
“Can we go somewhere that I can look at some maps of the area?”
Valentino moved the bag he had over his shoulder. “I have them in here. We can use one of the hangars.”
“Let’s do it then.”
The brothers made their way into one of the smaller buildings and found a table to use. Valentino spread out the maps of the area and pointed out where they’d found the exchange point.
“A good average to figure for flight on a full tank is six hundred miles. Unless it was fitted with more or was a larger one.” Gio made notations on the map and looked again.
Valentino wanted to hurry him along, but he knew his brother was doing what he could. Even so, he wasn’t all that shocked when the man pulled out his cell phone and called his wife.
“Hey, hon. Question for you. If you were trying to kidnap someone and knew people would be looking for you, would you risk refueling or would you go to another mode of transpo?” Gio put the phone on speaker.
“Departing from?”
“Great Dismal Swamp.”
“I would head into th
e Appalachians and switch to a car or truck. Lots of small towns scattered deep in the mountains and people wouldn’t necessarily talk to the law. There are a few executive airports that surround the swamp so I may have filled up there. But that’s what I would have done.”
They shared a look. “Thanks, hon. Oh, where in the Appalachians would you go?”
“Am I from there? If so, I’d go home. Plenty of places to hide in the mountains, especially if you’re hiding from people who don’t know the area.”
Great, an entire mountain chain to search. He stared back at the map and rubbed his temple. The area had just gotten bigger and his time was dwindling.
“Thanks, Jaydee.”
“No problem. Gio?”
“Yeah?”
“Make sure you find Lexy and bring her home safely.”
Valentino glared at his brother who held up his hands and shook his head.
“What are you talking about?”
“You left home with your sidearm. I’m not stupid. Love you.” She hung up.
“I don’t know how she does it,” Gio said. “I really don’t. I swear I didn’t say anything to her.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have a feeling Jaydee knows a lot of things we think she doesn’t.” Valentino pulled out another map that showed the mountains and swore. “This is crazy. We have to narrow this down somehow. I don’t even know how long that van was there before we got there. I don’t know when she was taken from the house since I was the fool who left her there alone.”
“Lexy’s strong, Valentino. She’s a survivor. Hell, you called her a pit bull the first time you met her.”
“She’s also mouthy and that isn’t always a good thing, Giovanni.”
“She’s also not stupid. She will stay alive.”
She’d better. He had some things to say to her. Valentino leaned on the table, palms down, and blew out a sharp breath. “So, all I have to do is find her amongst these hills.”
“Can you call in and get a satellite image of them? See if anything jumps out at you. I mean, do you know what you’re looking for?”
Valentino’s phone was in hand. “Masters. I need a hit of the Appalachians, showing me buildings.”
