Chapter Twenty-Seven
ELIAS SURFACED FROM the darkness into a world of pain. If he was back in the hospital again, someone had screwed up the medication schedule because every inch of his body hurt, especially his shoulder.
He frowned. Had the surgeons worked on that shoulder again? He searched his memory and came up with a bunch of nothing.
That puzzled him. His memory was usually pretty sharp unless someone drugged him. Elias stilled. Is that what happened? Had someone drugged him?
He searched his foggy memory and dredged up a vague recollection of a pinprick in the side of his neck, then nothing. Okay, then. Definitely drugged. The question now was why?
Slowly, more and more of his memories resurfaced. Thank God. At least he didn’t have to worry about permanent mental damage, which would limit his effectiveness as an operative in the field. There were other things he could do at Fortress, but he loved his job as a field operative.
And none of that helped him figure out where he was and who had taken him. He might learn a few more clues if he opened his eyes, but was he alone?
Elias remained motionless and listened. He heard nothing except his racing heart. That was odd. Most places weren’t truly silent. His heart skipped a beat. Unless he was in a soundproof room.
Nothing like a soundproof room when you torture information from a prisoner. Is that what this was? A torture room to force information from him?
If so, his captors were in for a disappointment.
His trainers at Personal Security International had surpassed the military’s training by an enormous margin.
Fortress operatives were privy to many types of classified information, and Maddox didn’t want any of it leaking from his people.
Looked as though Elias would put PSI training to the test soon.
He waited another minute and still heard zip.
He was probably alone for now. Elias opened his eyes to slits and saw darkness.
He held perfectly still as his heart raced at breakneck speed.
Was he blind? He tried to swallow and found he couldn’t, not with his mouth as dry as the desert sand back in the Sand Box.
Elias turned his head from one side to the other, scanning for anything, especially light. Finally, across the room, he saw a sliver of light at the bottom of a closed door. His muscles relaxed slightly, and his heart rate slowed.
He shuddered. All right. He could see and hear. He forced his mind to work, sluggish as it was. Where was he, and who had him? And, oh yeah, who handcuffed his hands to two chains hanging from the ceiling?
Elias stood, taking his body weight off his wrists. Immediately, the excruciating pain eased to a dull throb. His legs might be weak, but at least they held him up. He’d take the minor victory.
He flexed his wrists, testing the shackles that held him. Solid. Felt like handcuffs. The corners of his mouth curved upward. Good. He knew how to deal with those.
Before he could work up the energy to ease the handcuff key from his watchband, a key rattled in the lock and, seconds later, the door flew open and light flooded the room. Elias closed his eyes against the glare, waited a few seconds, then slowly opened them to slits.
So bright. Holy smoke. Pure white paint over concrete blocks. He stood on a concrete floor with a drain beneath his feet. Nice. Left no doubt as to the purpose of this room.
In the doorway stood two men, both large enough to play center for the Dallas Cowboys. Their muscles had muscles. He held their gazes. Blondie looked over his shoulder. “He’s awake, sir.”
Whoever was calling the shots said something that Elias couldn’t hear, but the men took positions on both sides of the door. A moment later, two more bruisers stalked into the room, their eyes expressionless.
Oh, goody. Guys who liked to hurt others. He hoped his teammates knew his location because the next hours would be painful if they didn’t intervene.
At that moment, he noticed heat near his shoulder blade and breathed easier. Fortress had locked onto his location. It was only a matter of time before his teammates arrived. And Iona.
Man, he hoped she had escaped his captor’s clutches. Beating him was one thing. Beating the woman who was his reason for living was something else entirely.
The two bruisers stood aside and allowed someone else into the room.
Elias stared. Well, look at that. Turned out his woman had an excellent read on this situation after all.
Eddie Knight smirked as he studied Elias. His lips curled as he folded his arms across his massive chest. Wearing the Reckoners’ cuts made his arms appear even bigger.
Elias looked at the man who had single-handedly made his childhood miserable.
Although the temptation was there to spout question after question, demanding answers to them, he kept his mouth closed.
From this moment on, every decision must be made with the end goal in mind.
Survival. Soon, his father would instruct his cronies to teach Elias what it meant to refuse Eddie Knight’s commands.
“You say nothing?” Eddie stalked toward Elias. “It’s been a long time, Elias. Maybe you’ve forgotten that I expect respect from people, especially my family.”
He held his father’s gaze, pushing his buttons. Anything to keep him off balance, even though doing so was akin to taunting a starving lion. There was a price to pay for telling his father no.
Eddie Knight kept coming toward Elias, fury burning in his dark eyes.
So, he was angry, huh? Dad could join the party. Elias was so far past angry that he’d slipped into a vat of fiery rage. Did his father believe him to be so weak that he would give up his hard-built life without so much as a whimper? Not happening.
His father reached Elias a second later and punched him in the gut.
Well, crap. That hurt. Sucking in air took a minute. While he struggled to breathe, Eddie watched with a sneer on his face. His goon squad showed no emotion as they looked on. Real neighborly of them.
“Would you like to reconsider, Elias?” Eddie’s voice had a harsh quality that warned of big trouble ahead if you weren’t careful, and was almost as intimidating as Brent Maddox’s version. Eddie had nothing on Maddox, though. His boss could make grown men shake in their shoes when he was angry.
Maddox was lethal, the kind of lethal that would end with you on a metal slab if you came after him, his family, or any of his people.
Eddie was a bully who thrived when other people cowered in his presence. His father believed leadership meant forcing his members and their families into submission.
A genuine leader like Brent Maddox knew that to be effective, you must lead by example.
He’d lost count of the number of missions Maddox had joined to keep his skills sharp, but his boss hadn’t lost a step since he left the Navy.
No, his real purpose was to shift the odds in their favor.
He put his life on the line to help his operatives. That was the mark of a true leader.
Instead of giving his father the respectful greeting he demanded, Elias remained silent. He was asking for repercussions with this tactic. However, he knew something his father didn’t. Echo and Artemis were coming for him. What Elias didn’t know was how far away the teams were.
The goal was to survive, and survive he would.
No way had he come this far only to die now that he was on the verge of having everything, including the perfect job and woman.
One day, perhaps he’d feel comfortable enough about the safety of children to discuss having a family with Iona.
Yes, he was looking a long way into the future.
They needed time together as a couple before considering expanding their family.
First, he had to make sure his father couldn’t touch their children.
After a perfunctory knock on the door, Dutch walked into the room with one of his cronies. Great. Just great. What was his cousin doing here?
Dutch smiled at Eddie. “Hey, Prez. Good to see you.” He paused, clearly expecting a similar response from Eddie.
Elias rolled his eyes. If Dutch was expecting to be greeted with his uncle’s arms wide open, he was in for a shock. Eddie was more likely to greet you with a punch to the face or gut than offer a hug.
“What are you doing here?” Eddie snapped. “We have a plan in place. You should execute that plan.”
The smile morphed into a frown. Dutch inclined his head toward Elias. “His friends have disappeared. I thought you’d want to know as soon as possible.”
“A simple phone call would have done the job. While you’re here, who is fulfilling your duties since your second-in-command is also here?”
Color stained Dutch’s cheeks. “Trish has a handle on things. I’ve trained her well.”
“She’s not you. You had a job to do, and you left it to your Old Lady. Maybe I should use her instead of you.”
Ouch. Low blow. Then again, his father wasn’t known for playing fair.
His current circumstances were a perfect example.
Here Elias stood with his wrists encircled by cuffs at the end of two parallel chains hanging from a sturdy beam in the tall ceiling instead of recovering in his cozy home or on his honeymoon.
Oh, yeah. He had to plan a honeymoon. Iona deserved the best.
He needed to get out of here so he could marry Iona Byrne before some other operative moved in on her and stole her away from him. His jaw clenched. Not going to happen while he was still breathing.
“Isn’t that right, Elias?”
He stared. Oh, man. His concentration was terrible. He needed to focus. “Sorry. I can’t focus because of the drug your men gave me.”
Eddie’s hand fisted again. “Is that right? Maybe I should have my men work on you a bit. Pain may help you concentrate.”
“You know he’s always been sensitive to drugs,” Dutch said. “Even as a kid.”
Elias stared at his cousin. What was he doing? If he continued down this path, he might be the one on a steel slab soon.
Eddie’s eyes narrowed. “Are you questioning my judgment?”
“I’m pointing out the facts, like you asked me to do years ago.”
Eddie’s gaze flicked to Elias, then back to Dutch.
He gave a slight nod. “Fair enough. Thank you for the reminder. I’ll give you a bit more time to recover, Elias.
I’ll return in two hours. We’ll discuss your new role in the Reckoners as my heir in training.
Dutch, with me.” Elias’ father motioned for one of his enforcers to stay in the room with Elias.
Not what Elias had wanted to happen. He couldn’t use the handcuff key to free himself if one of his dad’s cronies was in the room on babysitting duty.
More importantly, he wouldn’t be able to talk to Fortress and his teammates with the enforcer in the room.
The last thing he wanted was to lose his only lifeline if his father moved him before his team arrived.
Thankfully, the tracking tag near his shoulder blade was still warm. That heat source gave him hope.
Eddie paused in the doorway. “I believe Elias is reluctant to join our organization, Sarge. Remind him what happens when you don’t fall in line with my wishes.”
Oh, joy. For a minute there, Elias thought he might get a reprieve. Nope. He should have known his father couldn’t resist flaunting his power over those in no position to protest.
Eddie and his entourage left the room and locked the door behind them.
Elias braced himself for what would be a painful wait for his teammates. Although he’d aced SERE training with Fortress, he dreaded the toll it would take on his mind and body.
The enforcer studied Elias for a moment, then reached for a dial on the wall. The chains retracted into the ceiling, increasing the pressure on Elias’ shoulders.
He clenched his teeth, riding the pain that rolled through his body.
Nope. The next few hours wouldn’t be fun, but he’d survive.
He had plans with Iona as soon as this op was over.
A wedding ceremony as fast as he could arrange it, then a month-long honeymoon.
He wanted a place that was beautiful but quiet. Definitely no crowds.
He yanked himself back on track. He had to focus. If he didn’t, he was dead. It was that simple.
As Sarge slowly approached, Elias considered the man’s name. Was he ex-military? If so, he might make a connection through their military service.
Sarge stopped a short distance away, tugged on thin leather gloves, and flexed his hands.
“Why are you called Sarge?”
The enforcer stopped flexing his hands. “I served in the military when I was young and stupid.”
“What branch?”
“Army. What about you? I heard you were in the military.”
“Ten years in the Army. My buddies and I left together and joined law enforcement for the next decade.”
The other man snorted. “So we were both young and stupid.”
“Not me, man. Serving was the best decision I ever made.”
“That’s a sorry endorsement for a man who is supposed to lead the Reckoners.”
“That’s my father’s dream, not mine.”
“You know how our world works. Once you’re in, you don’t get out unless you’re in a body bag.”
“I don’t belong in an MC. I hate this life. Why do you think I left the day I turned eighteen years old?”
Sarge shrugged. “Ain’t none of my business. I just do what I’m told by the prez. He’s my leader, and I’m smart enough not to argue with him. You should have learned that lesson a long time ago.” He flexed his hands again. “Remember when you take over that I was only following your father’s orders.”
Pain exploded in Elias’ gut.