Sophia came alive then, at the worst possible moment. She started banging on the door and frantically looking behind them. “It’s over! Let me out!”
“Sophia, stop!”
Her voice was high and reedy with panic. “Just let me go with the police!”
“That isn’t the police.” Hunt made another wild turn and almost lost control of the car. They spun out and nearly wrecked into a building, but he righted the wheel with only inches to spare. Both sedans were behind them now, but only one was shooting. He considered returning fire, but there was a nearly one hundred percent chance that the windows of those cars were bulletproof. There was no point in wasting ammunition. “The police don’t shoot at cars with hostages in them and especially not at the windows.”
“Well, who is it then?” Sophia demanded, anger and fear always two sides of the same coin with her.
“You want to call up dear old dad and ask him?”
She didn’t answer and he made the mistake of glancing over at her. In that same moment, one of the cars following them managed to clip their bumper. He heard the sound of a gunshot blast through the air and then an answering pain in his shoulder where the bullet pierced his flesh.
It was a minor wound, but the flash of pain was enough for the beast to finally take control. His vision went dark as the crazed intent rose up within him. His skin darkened into burnished red as his hands curved into claws around the steering wheel. The skin of his lips twisted into a snarl, revealing teeth that had elongated into deadly points. His beast wanted to destroy them all.
The last thing he heard was Sophia’s horrified cry before he lost control completely.
Then the car was spinning in a furious spiral. The brick wall came toward them as if in slow motion, but not in enough time to stop it.
The impact deployed the airbags and gave him a knock to the head that was hard enough to send a lesser man to outer space. He didn’t lose complete consciousness, but the shock was enough for his beast to recede. For a moment the smoke from the air bag powder made him wonder if he’d died and been dropped directly in the hazy afterlife.
For a moment, everything was blissfully quiet, enough to almost make him forget where he was. And then he turned to see Sophia slumped against the dashboard, unmoving, with blood running down the side of her face.
Reality crashed into him with all its noise and chaos. His legs were stuck up under the wheel. He couldn’t get it to budge even when he pushed into it with all of his weight. He wasn’t in pain at that moment, a gift of the alterations he’d suffered, but eventually it would come. However, pain—or the future promise of it—didn’t matter to him much at the moment.
Hunt stretched to get his fingers up against Sophia’s neck, feeling for a pulse that was faint but steady. The blood oozed from a gash on the top of her hairline, but head wounds always bled in a way that was more dramatic than life-threatening.
She was going to live. The relief that moved through him was so overwhelming that it almost made him pass out.
Almost. At the moment he had more important things to deal with.
Hunt watched in the rearview mirror as a handful of men got out of the cars and started making their way slowly toward the crashed car, guns drawn. He immediately knew that he’d been right on the money thinking they weren’t cops. Cops didn’t move with flanking techniques straight out of Fallujah. These were mercenaries.
And he knew exactly who’d hired them.
Sophia’s side of the car was wedged up into a corner between the wall of the building in front of them and the side of a perpendicular building. The wall was pressed up so tightly against the door that it couldn’t be opened more than an inch or two. The mercenaries would have to come around to his side.
Ignoring the streak of pain that probably meant something in his shoulder was torn, Hunt worked his hand far enough behind him that he could just get ahold of the barrel of his gun.
The beast lurking deep inside his soul urged him to unleash it, transform into the murderously intent super-soldier that had been designed for moments exactly like this one. But his monster didn’t understand limits and everyone around it immediately became prey. And that would include Sophia.
He would have to rely on more conventional methods of defense. The gun was pulled out and cocked just as the first of the mercenaries reached his busted-out window.
“Don’t.” That one word was full of warning. The mercenary, wearing dark sunglasses and a half-mask pulled up over his mouth that completely obscured his features, froze when he saw the gun aimed directly at his face. The other man’s rifle was partly raised, but not high enough to get a shot off before Hunt could, especially with his heightened reflexes. “Tell your friends to back up or I’m putting one between your eyes.”
The mercenary made a small motion with his free hand and the other men with him fell back until they were out of Hunt’s peripheral vision. He didn’t dare to turn to look to see how far away they were. All of his attention was on the man less than a foot away with an AR-15 aimed at the vicinity of his crotch.
“How do you want to do this?” Hunt asked, voice dangerously casual.
The man didn’t rise to the bait, and the only movement he made was a minute slide of his finger closer to the trigger of his rifle. It was obvious that he was well-trained.
“We’re here for whatever you got out of that storage locker. Give it up and we’ll be on our way.”
“Who sent you? Senator Reynolds?” Hunt asked, even though he already knew the answer.
“That’s classified.”
He raised an eyebrow at that, ignoring the shooting pain that rocketed through his head. “Does he know that you almost killed his daughter?”
The mercenary gave the barest of shrugs. “Orders were to get anything you took out of that unit. Anything else is to be considered low priority.”
The man’s words stopped Hunt cold. He’d always known that the senator had ice running through his veins, but he never really thought the man would place his own daughter’s life behind keeping his secrets. Fucking monster.
“And you weren’t told to put a bullet in my head for good measure?”
“Low priority.”
“And what about the girl?”
The mercenary gave Sophia the smallest glance. “You hand that information over and the two of you get to walk away from this. You might be able to take me out, but I’ve got four men behind me.”
And there was his choice. Their lives in exchange for the information. There was a chance that he could get himself out of this. If he shot first, the others would move on him. But if he grabbed that weapon and took advantage of the small amount of cover from the car, he might be able to take them all out. With a significant amount of luck, he could make it out alive with the evidence of the senator’s crimes still in his hands. But the odds of Sophia surviving a firefight were so small that they didn’t even round up to zero.
He would essentially be trading her life for the information.
“Where did you serve?” Hunt asked. It wasn’t much of a stretch to guess this guy was also former military. Like recognized like.
The mercenary hesitated, but then surprised Hunt by answering. “One tour in Kuwait and two in Iraq before I went private. You?”
A fresh wave of pain washed over him, but Hunt pushed it away. “Iraq, Afghanistan, and then special ops in West Africa.”
“Respect.” The mercenary gave him the barest of nods. “But it doesn’t change shit.”
“Do you know who you’re working for? This worth the paycheck?”
“Everybody’s got to eat.” He shrugged again. “No more bullshit. We doing this the easy way or the hard way?”
It wasn’t really a choice at that point. Even as he wondered what he was going to tell his guys. Even though he knew that he was hurtling toward a future so dark that it was like being sucked into a black hole. Even though the decision hit him like a knife to the heart.
He woul
dn’t let Sophia become another victim of this death machine.
“Point your weapon at the ground,” Hunt commanded. “Use your other hand to reach into the car. Slowly.”
The mercenary complied because he knew that he’d won. “Where is it?”
“There are papers rolled up in my waistband.” Hunt said the words, even as a wave of guilt threatened to consume him. “I see that weapon move even a millimeter and I’m blowing you away.”
The mercenary didn’t acknowledge the threat or hesitate even a moment before retrieving the papers and taking a step back.
Hunt kept the barrel trained on him until the mercenary nodded to the men behind him and slowly started to retreat back to their vehicles.
“You’re being real smart right now.”
This wasn’t over, Hunt thought, but kept it to himself. Once he heard the screech of tires that let him know the mercenaries had gone, he turned to Sophia. The bleeding from her head wound had slowed down, but she was still unconscious. From what he could tell, she hadn’t been shot.
But she needed to go to the hospital.
And he couldn’t exactly call the fire department or EMS to come extract them. It might be hard to explain how the car ended up crashing in the first place, not to mention the dozens of bullet holes.
With a painful effort that left him a little breathless, Hunt extracted his phone from his back pocket. Savage and Chase were headed their way the last time he’d talked to them. Hopefully, they were close.
He wasn’t looking forward to explaining to Savage that he’d found the information they’d been so desperately searching for, lost it, and needed them to make a detour at the hospital before figuring out their next move.
Savage was going to be pissed.
Sophia’s breathing was so light that he could barely make out the rise and fall of her chest. He pressed his fingers up against her neck one more time, just to assure himself that her heart was still beating. There was no getting around the reality of things. He’d picked her life over getting away with those documents. He had prioritized how he felt about her over the mission.
But instead of bothering him, the thought brought with it a sort of peace. He was so sick of fighting it off, of pretending that he was somebody different on the inside than what he really was.
This girl had crawled underneath his skin, curling around his soul in a way that kept his beast at bay like nothing else could. Maybe he even loved her.
Which was why he had to let her go.
Chapter Eighteen
Sophia woke up in a hospital bed with no idea where she was. Even with what she’d been through, that might be the scariest thing that had ever happened to her.
And she woke up completely alone. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Hunt had left her.
Her head throbbed in pain. With gentle fingers, she probed the wound on her head that was wrapped in heavy bandages. It hurt a little when she touched it, but then that discomfort was replaced by a deep pain that felt like an ice pick through her skull.
But it wasn’t just the physical pain that she had to contend with. She also had to face the sick realization that her father really was the monster that Hunt made him out to be. The good senator, a bastion of conservative family values, was a criminal.
Which meant that her entire life had been a lie. Her father didn’t control her every move out of love, but because he wanted the illusion of a perfect Christian family. It was performance art.
Maybe that was why Hunt had left her here alone. Maybe he could no longer stand the sight of her once he knew the truth about where she came from.
And now she’d lost everything.
There was an emptiness inside of her, a black hole that sucked up everything that she used to be and hadn’t left anything behind.
She didn’t know who she was anymore.
Her mind still played tricks on her, memories confused as she tried to reorient herself to reality. Visions of a demon Hunt filtered over her consciousness, like a waking nightmare. She couldn’t have seen what she thought she had seen. It had to be her subconscious mind making him monstrous so she could handle the loss.
The hospital room was completely silent, save for the steady beep of a heart monitor. The walls were painted a snowy beige and all the equipment was made of white plastic and steel. And the only true spot of color in the room was a single fake daffodil sitting in a plastic cup on the bedside table.
This room had clearly been designed to provide as little stimulation as possible. She felt like she was in the waiting room of hell.
A wave of nausea washed over her when she turned her head. Sophia raised her arm and felt a painful tugging from the IV hooked up to her left hand.
Her mind felt light and fuzzy, like all of her thoughts had been wrapped up in gauze. There was something that she should be doing, some plan that she should be putting together, but it was all nebulous and only partially formed.
She had no idea what to do next.
The nurse bustled in with her arms full of medical supplies. She was dark-skinned and pretty, with tightly curled hair swept back into a neat bun.
And she seemed surprised to see Sophia awake. “Well rise and shine, sleeping beauty. It’s time for your next dose of medication.”
Sophia tried to sit up a little higher in the bed, but then was stopped by flash of pain. “What day is it?”
“Tuesday, the thirty-first.”
The nurse pointed to a little whiteboard hanging on the wall directly across from the bed. Sophia hadn’t noticed it before.
Good morning, was written on it in big, bubbly letters. Your nurse today is Cindy. Today’s date was neatly written below that.
She’d been unconscious for at least twenty-four hours, long enough for Hunt to be long gone and all the evidence with him.
He’d done exactly what he’d said he would do, use her to get what he wanted and then disappear. He had made his plans clear from the beginning, and regardless of what happened between them, it had never changed. Really, he’d done her a favor. The smart thing to do would have been to kill her. Maybe he figured leaving her alive made them even. She should be happy.
So why did she feel so empty inside?
“Where am I? How did I get here?” Sophia asked Cindy, as the nurse laid a row of syringes out on the little table over the bed.
“Oh, of course you wouldn’t remember, poor thing. You’re at Mercy Hospital in Shreveport.” Cindy got an almost dreamy look on her face as she recited the details. “It was like something out of a movie. This guy comes crashing through the ambulance bay into the ER, carrying you in his arms like he just rescued you from a burning building or something.”
Sophia’s heart beat a little faster. “Did he leave his name?”
“Nope. Said he ran a stop sign and T-boned another car. You were the other driver. When he realized you weren’t waking up, he got you here as fast as he could. I guess he was worried that the ambulance would take too long to get there.” She made a flitting motion with her hand like she was trying to cool herself off. “What a hunk, too. He felt really bad about it, kept going on and on about how it was all his fault you got hurt. He left a wad of cash to pay your bill. Then he stayed long enough to make sure you were going to be okay, and left, saying he was headed to the police station to file a report.”
Something told Sophia that Hunt didn’t follow through with that last bit. But he’d stayed long enough to make sure that she was okay. That part surprised her. “Did he say anything else?”
“That was all I heard. But if I were you, I’d be trying hard to track that one down. He seems like a real keeper.”
You have no idea, lady.
Cindy spent a few minutes fiddling with the machines and writing down the numbers on the display. “Your blood pressure has come back down, that’s good. You’re due for your next dose of medication.”
Sophia eyed the syringe in her hand with suspicion. It was full of clear liquid that co
uld be anything. “What is that?”
“Just something to help relax your muscles and ease the pain. Your neck got worked pretty hard in the crash and you’re going to be sore for a while. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt. I’m just going to push this into your IV line. Might make you a little sleepy.”
Sophia suddenly felt uneasy. Memories were slowly filtering back to her now that the shock of waking up alone in the hospital had worn off.
What was it that Hunt had said? Those men who’d chased them weren’t the police. She remembered them shooting at their car before they crashed, and she had passed out.
If those men weren’t the police, who were they and who had sent them?
She didn’t have any real reason to think it, but somehow she just knew. It wasn’t safe here.
Instinctively, she pulled her hand back when the nurse came toward her with the syringe. “I don’t want it.”
“It’s just a little Valium, honey. It won’t hurt you.”
Sophia knew for a fact that the last thing she needed to be in that moment was fuzzy-headed. She needed to be as awake and alert as possible for whatever was going to happen next.
“Maybe later,” she said, shoving her hand under the blanket to block access to the IV port. “I don’t need anything right now.”
The nurse pursed her lips. Her expression made it clear that she really didn’t want to take no for an answer. “Do I need to get the doctor in here to talk to you about this?”
Before Sophia could tell the woman that if the doctor came in, then she was just going to tell them both where they could shove that syringe, Cindy’s pager went off.
She silenced it with a grunt of frustration. “I have to respond to this, but I’ll be back in a minute. You’re getting this medicine when I get back.”
Sophia glared at her back as Cindy rushed out the door. Whatever happened to patient’s rights?
Sophia wondered if maybe that medication was something more than the nurse said it was as the paranoia fully set in. Maybe she was working with the same men who had chased down Hunt and shot up the car. Clearly, rescuing the hostage hadn’t been a part of their mission.
Hunted by the Feral Alpha Page 18
