Forever Found (Lost #3)

CHAPTER 1

ADDY

“Max?” I gasped.

The look on his face instantly morphed into one I had never seen on him before – a look of delight and thrill at the obvious betrayal and shock that had to be written all over my own features.

“Don’t look so betrayed, Addy. I had to find a way to stay close to you after your escape, and that way fell right into my lap when your brother contacted me, needing my services to help you.”

“It was you?” I asked in a whisper, my brain still fighting to take everything in. “You…you worked with Joseph? You were a part of…of what he did?”

I was searching through every single memory I had recovered for any clue that Max had been mixed up in my father’s ill deeds, but there was nothing there.

“I was more of a silent partner in the venture,” Max sneered. The man standing over me now was not the same man who had arrived at that police station in Vegas when I most needed him. He wasn’t the kind, gentle man who had soothed me when I was at my weakest and made me feel somewhat safe. The man before me suddenly looked cold and hard, the sneer of enjoyment on his face nothing like the gentle smile that had reassured me so much, months before. Even his tone of voice was sharper, and filled with venom. The Max I had known from my time in Vegas, and from the few phone calls we’d shared since, never existed, I quickly realized.

“Venture?” I snapped as anger filled me. I stepped forward so I was almost pressed against him, and glared up into his cold face. “Do you know what you were doing to those innocent women you took from the streets? Do you know what those monsters did to them, to me, you sick bastard?!” I yelled as my face heated and my body vibrated with rage.

“Your father was a very depraved individual, my dear. I don’t share his inclinations. I left the dirty work to him, since he enjoyed it so much. I simply handled logistics and took my share of the profits,” he explained, the ease with which he said ‘profits’ making my stomach roll.

“Do you know how many innocent girls have died, all for your damned profits? Do you realize what countless women are going through day after day just so you can line your designer fucking suit pockets?!” I shoved at his chest, my rage needing an outlet, but he barely moved, the smirk only getting wider on his face.

Of course, that was like a red flag to a bull and I started to beat at his chest with even more force. How could he stand there talking about ‘profits’ knowing what hell his and Joseph’s victims were enduring, just to make them money? He was a sick bastard, no matter what his ‘inclinations’ were or were not.

“Enough!” Max barked as he grabbed my hands in one of his and shoved me backwards so hard I lost my footing and fell to the ground beside where Eli lay, still out cold. I sat up and stared at my brother, trying to calm myself down and refocus. I was angry and I wanted answers, but Eli came first.

“Where are you taking us?” I asked as I grabbed Eli’s hand and looked back up at Max.

“Somewhere secure, where your other brother will have no chance of finding us.”

“Eli needs to see a doctor. His head…” I said as I placed my fingers over the pulse at Eli’s wrist. I could feel it beating strongly, but I was still terrified that he hadn’t yet woken up. “Just let him go. Drop him at a hospital. You don’t need him. Asher will pay money to get me back. He’ll give you whatever you want. You don’t need Eli too,” I pleaded.

“No can do, I’m afraid. I’m betting big brother will pay a lot more money if I have the both of his precious siblings,” Max threw back casually.

“Why are you even doing this?” I sighed as I sank to the side against the sofa Eli laid on. I knew I had to protect my brother, but how could I do that with this monster and his goons all around us?

“Your father. He tried to cut me out of the business we began together. He thought I wouldn’t even notice him stealing money from me month after month, but I did. You were a warning he didn’t heed. He thought he was untouchable. Now he’s dead and I’m going to make sure he pays what he owes, and then some.”

“Wh-what do you mean? How was I a warning?” I questioned, my head once again spinning.

Max bent down to his haunches before me and moved to stroke a finger down my cheek, but I turned away before he could touch me.

“You’re very attractive, my dear, but not so smart, huh?” he mocked. I closed my eyes and tried to hold back the shudder that wracked my body at having him so close to me.

“It was you,” I stated as the truth hit me. “You h-had me taken to get back at Joseph?”

“Very good,” he chuckled. “I was delighted when I saw you and realized you were the image of Joseph too. I knew he’d recognize you, and I was sure it would shake him, seeing his own child trapped in the trafficking ring he created.”

“But it didn’t.” It suddenly made sense then. That was why Joseph had been yelling at me, when he hurt me, that he was always in control. That was what he had meant. Max had put me before him hoping for some reaction, hoping it would somehow shake, or upset the old bastard. But it hadn’t. Joseph Lyle was a man who refused to show weakness, even if it meant torturing and abusing his own daughter. “He couldn’t lose. Hurting me was nothing to him if it meant he could prove he was still in control.”

“Maybe you are a little smarter than I gave you credit for,” Max told me with a smirk. “You’re right of course. You were nothing to him. I saw what he did to you that night on the cameras in the house. He was brutal and vicious, despite knowing exactly who you were. He walked away and left you with the senator without a backward glance. My warning failed, but the old bastard died anyway. Now it’s time I get what I’m owed. Lucky for me, Asher Lyle has proven to have something his father never possessed. A heart. That, I can use to my advantage.”

“You’re an idiot,” I growled. “You’ve underestimated Asher, and you’ll be really fucking sorry you did when he gets his hands on you!”

“So cute when you get all riled up. I have to admit, a huge part of me wants to have a piece of the joy I saw on your father’s face when he was taking you that night.”

“Fuck you, Max!” I yelled as I scrambled to my feet and backed up a foot, wanting to retreat but not willing to leave Eli. “You touch me and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

“Like I said, cute,” he sneered as he too stood. “We’re going to have some time together, Addy. You’ll do exactly as I tell you to in that time, or I’ll have Bull beat your precious brother to death.” Max looked down at Eli and my heart started to pound even harder as nausea threatened. He had me and he knew it. There was nothing I wouldn’t do or endure to protect Eli. I was already broken beyond repair. I would not allow them to break Eli too.

“Eli has nothing to do with this,” I uttered, my words trembling as I looked down to my brother’s too pale face.

“On the contrary. I think Eli is going to have quite a large part to play in all of this. He’s going to make sure you behave yourself, isn’t he?”

I looked at Max with a glare, but behind it I was spiraling into panic. I knew I had been backed into a corner and I had no way to get out of it, and protect Eli at the same time. I knew Asher and my guys would be looking for us, but would they find us? What if Max were really taking Eli and I somewhere we couldn’t be found? Asher would pay a ransom if it came to it, but that didn’t guarantee our safety. I wasn’t an idiot. Max had just told me way too much to ever let me live if the money he wanted was paid. No, I had a feeling Eli and I were dead either way if the guys couldn’t find us. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to find a way to escape. I had to get us both out of the grip of these monsters before it was too late. Yeah right, good luck with that! My own consciousness was mocking me, and I knew it was likely right, but I refused to give up. I couldn’t. Not this time.

I must have zoned out, which was a ridiculously stupid thing to do in the presence of men who wanted to hurt us, but it was too late to do anything about it when Bull, wrapping his hands around the tops of my arms, wrenched me back to reality.

“Get your hands off of me!” I yelled as I struggled instantly to free myself from his grip. As always, the fight was useless and in seconds I’d been dragged back to the room at the back of the plane that I had woken up in. The realization I had been ripped away from Eli lit a fire in me, and I wrapped my hands around Bull’s forearms and dug my nails into his flesh with as much force as I could. I scratched him so deeply blood poured from beneath my nails and he ground out a curse. I fought harder to get free then, but Bull kept a hold of me, and with a rage filled growl he smashed me into the door frame so hard I barely registered the pain down my back before everything just went black.

JORDAN

“He lost a lot of blood and the abdominal wall was damaged by the bullet. Several vessels within the abdomen were also damaged, but we’ve repaired what we could in the surgery. He’s been given blood and drugs to try and stabilize his blood pressure,” the doctor told me. She was a woman, not much older than me. She was wearing green scrubs and the cap on her head had care bears all over it. I couldn’t help wondering if she was even old enough to have operated on Adam as she continued to speak. I questioned if I should have asked for another surgeon, an older one maybe? That was a shitty thought though, and I knew it. She had to be well qualified to operate, didn’t she?

My mind was all over the place and I just couldn’t seem to focus on her words, or on anything other than the image that had awaited Kane, Ash, and me when we drove through the wide open gates of our house. Addy and Eli were gone. Our security guards were all dead, laid out on the snow covered ground around the front of the property and Adam. He’d been laid out on the white stone step just outside the house, only the step was no longer white. It was red, and Adam….I had been so sure he was dead. He had looked dead. My girlfriend and my best friend were gone, and my brother was dead.

“Mr. Ellis?” I looked down from the Care bears on her head, to the doctor before me.

“Is he going to live?” I asked. My throat felt so tight the words barely came out.

“He’s in the I.C.U. and he’s stable for now. We’ll be watching him closely for any signs of infection for the next forty eight hours,” she replied.

“What does that mean?” God, why couldn’t I think straight? I wished Asher were with me but he and Kane were calling in every favor they were owed, and every person they could trust, in order to find Eli and Addy. I’d told them to go. We needed to get Addy and Eli back, but now I wasn’t keeping it together like I’d promised I would, and I knew it.

“Your brother isn’t out of danger yet, but he’s holding his own. He’ll be under very close observation in the I.C.U. so we’re hopeful we will be able to act quickly if there are any further complications.”

“Can I see him?” I asked. I still didn’t understand what she was telling me. I wanted to scream at her to just tell me whether or not my brother would survive, but I held it back. I knew if I lost it the way I needed to, I’d never pull myself back together again.

“Soon. I’ll have a nurse come to get you once Adam is settled in the I.C.U.” she told me, and I nodded, feeling numb and lost. “Is there someone I can call for you? A friend or family member, maybe?”

“No.” I whispered. “Thanks.”

“The nurse will be out shortly. Let her know if you have any more questions.” With that the doctor bustled off and I fell back into the chair I had been sat in for the last two hours, unable to move, just waiting for the news that Adam had been taken from me too.

“Jordan!” I had no idea how long I had been sat with my head resting in my hands, just staring at the ugly green linoleum floor beneath me, when I heard Asher’s voice. I lifted my head and found him striding towards me. “How is he? Did you get an update?” he asked as he stopped and crouched down before me.

“Alive,” I whispered. I ran my hands through my hair as I sat up and tried to take in a deep breath. “He got through the surgery. She…the doctor…o-or maybe surgeon? I can’t remember…s-she was too young, Ash. Maybe we should have gotten someone else? She…she was so young and what if she didn’t know what she was doing? What if she fucked up?”

“Jordan, take a breath for me. I’m sure she knew what she was doing. Adam’s still with us, isn’t he?” Asher soothed. His voice was calm and his hands were steady as he laid them over my knees, but he looked like hell. He was pale and his hair was a wild mess. His suit jacket was gone and the sleeves of his shirt were unbuttoned and haphazardly pushed up his arms.

“He’s being moved to the I.C.U. She said he’s not out of danger yet. I can’t lose him, Ash,” I pushed through my tight throat as I fought not to let tears fall.

“We’re not going to lose him. He’s strong and he will fight like hell to come back to us all. He knows we all need him,” he told me determinedly. “Plus, he’s gonna be so pissed about all of this he’ll refuse to die on principal,” he added with a chuckle. The corner of my mouth lifted at that. I knew he was right. Adam was going to be seriously pissed he’d been shot, and that those fuckers got the drop on him.

“Did you find anything on Addy and Eli?” I asked. I was terrified for both of them, but especially Addy. She had already been through so much and she was only just beginning to learn to cope with her trauma. Being taken again…I was terrified we’d lose her for good this time, even if we did get her back.

“Not much. Leo took out the other guards, then disabled the security cameras and system. We didn’t even see him go into the house.”

“Why would Leo betray you? Money?” I questioned.

“Most likely,” Ash shrugged. “Which means this is likely a ransom, but I’ve had no calls yet. Kane’s gone to track down Zara.”

“Zara? You can’t think she did this? She’s not smart enough to put this together,” I pointed out.

“No, but Addy had another memory come back last night when she was with Kane. She remembered my father on the phone while he thought Addy was passed out, He was talking to Zara,” Asher explained.

“She was mixed up in all of this?”

“We don’t know, but right now it’s the only lead we have. I called Harris too. He’s still in Chicago with Evie’s family. Aleks is going to do some digging on Zara and try to get us a lead. It’s not enough, but it’s all we can do right now.” Asher ran his hand through his crazy hair and I saw how tense his entire body was. He was terrified for his siblings.

“Fuck. How did we let this happen, Ash? We told her again and again that she was safe,” I sighed.

“Leo fucked us over. We never expected that. Kane knew him from the military. They worked together several times. Kane never thought for one minute that any of his guys would betray him. Nor did I. She should have been safe at home. They all should have been.”

“We have to get them back. Addy, she can’t go through anything else. Not after everything. And Eli…”

“I know, We are going to get them back. I’ve called my guy at the FBI. Everyone is working on this. I’ll tear the whole fucking world apart if that’s what it takes. We’re getting them back,” Asher vowed.

“You should get back to the apartment. Maybe Kane got a lead by now,” I suggested.

“I don’t want you here alone,” Asher worried.

“Ash, I’m good. Adam’s hanging on. I’ll stay with him, but I can only do that if I know you’re out there getting my girl and my best bud back home safe. Find them.”

“I will.” Asher rose to his feet and pulled at his wrinkled shirt to straighten it up, not that there was much point. “Call me if there’s any update and I’ll do the same, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I agreed. Asher looked me over, then nodded once. I watched him walk away until he exited the hospital then I lowered my head into my hands again.

Everything was so fucked up and we had barely any leads to go on to un-fuck it. I wanted to be out there looking for Addy and Eli, but there was no way I could leave Adam. Asher and Kane would find them, and when they did, Addy was going to need to know Adam was alive and recovering. She would need him. She would need all of us and I was determined we would all be there.