Chapter 29
Zane
Yates dialed as I drove like a madman to get to my woman.
“Yeah, boss, what’s up?” Roberta answered.
“Something happened at the house. Jordy called, and we lost the connection.”
“Is he okay?” she asked.
“We don’t know,” Yates said. “We need you to get eyes on what’s going on. Can you patch into that system?”
“Sure thing. Give me a second.” The rapid clacking of the keys was loud enough to come across the phone line. “My God,” she shrieked. “Jordy’s on the floor. So is another man. Jordy called him Pete.”
“Peyton,” I demanded, clutching the wheel. “What about Peyton?”
The pitch of her voice went up. “I don’t see her anywhere.”
An uncomfortable chill ran through me. I downshifted and pressed harder.
Yates stayed calm. “Find her.”
“Give me a second to back up the feed,” she said.
We couldn’t do anything but wait and drive as quickly as possible.
She let out a sigh. “She went into the backyard just before the explosion.”
“Explosion?” Yates challenged.
“Hold on, boss, I’m trying to make sense of this. Shit flew around and there’s smoke.”
I transmitted on comms. “We have Roberta on the line. There was an explosion at the house. Jordy and Pete are on the floor. Stand by for more.” I hit the brakes hard when a minivan came out of a parking lot right in front of us.
“Duke and I are on the way,” Lucas said. They were going to break the sound barrier to get to their brother.
Roberta spoke next. “Okay, here’s the deal. Peyton went into the backyard. Jordy fell down, passed out, I can’t tell. Bad guys blew a hole in a wall and entered the house, and then left, one out the back and one out the front.”
“Where’s Peyton?” I demanded. The driver flipped me off as I accelerated around the stupid minivan.
“I only have the one camera angle in the back. She ran off, and then the one guy exited the back after her. That’s all I have, except that the bad guys entered the house with gas masks.”
“They gassed them, then blew the wall,” Yates said, which matched my take on it.
“They’re both near the back door,” Roberta said. “If you go in that way, you can get them to fresh air without a mask.”
“We’re getting close,” I told her. “I need to know if Peyton got away and in which direction, or did they catch her?”
“I’m working as fast as I can,” Roberta answered.
“We think they were gassed,” I said into comms. “Peyton’s location is unknown.”
“I know that,” Roberta replied.
The house came into view ahead.
“He’s radioing the team,” Yates clarified as he unbuckled. “I’ll get Jordy and Pete. You get your girl.”
“I got more,” Roberta said as I slammed on the brakes. “She ran south.”
That was straight ahead.
I didn’t see her.
Yates leaped out and raced to the side of the house.
“The baddies followed her in a blue car,” Roberta added.
Peyton
I ran to the side yard gate, praying it was unlocked and I didn’t have to climb over. It opened, and I slammed it closed and then huddled behind it, looking through a knothole in the wood.
Hopefully they hadn’t seen where I’d gone.
No such luck. I saw them stop and then back up to the house on my left. I did everything I could to keep my breathing silent.
My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. They’d killed Jordy, and I was as good as dead if they caught me. This was a fight for my life.
I almost didn’t hear it over the noise of a car driving by.
“Where’d she go?” It was the third man’s voice.
“You check that one,” Baldy said. “And I’ll check this one.”
A big bruiser passed through my field of view and then returned, looking confused. He had a spiderweb tattoo on his neck.
“Not that one, you moron,” Baldy yelled. “This one.”
That was too close for comfort. Neck Tat turned around and went back to the left.
Closing my eyes for a second, I willed Zane to arrive in a cloud of tire smoke and take care of these guys. When I reopened my eyes, it was clear that telepathy wasn’t on my side today. Staying hunched over, I scurried to the back of the house.
The fence was even higher in the backyard. I wanted to go over the back fence to the house facing the other street, but didn’t see a way over.
There was a dilapidated doghouse up against the fence on one side. That was my key to getting out of this yard. I could pull it to the back fence and go over. Once I reached the other street, I could get to the drugstore.
As soon as I shoved the doghouse, barking started on the other side of the back fence. Mean, loud, big-dog barks made me adjust my plan. A real lioness might brave a dog, but not me.
With the wooden monstrosity still against the side fence, I climbed up. The wood of the roof seemed spongy under my feet.
“Found her.”
I turned to find Spider Tat running my way. Heaving myself up and over, my leg snagged on a nail. I landed on the other side with a gash in my calf.
“Fuck,” Spider Tat screamed as I heard the old wood of the doghouse give way under his weight. He kept screaming.
I hoped he bled to death. No, I was not in a generous mood.
Escaping via the other street was still my best option, so I got up off the ground and limped toward the back fence of this yard, where a pile of firewood would help me get over.
“Not so fast, bitch.” Baldy came around the corner.
I clambered up onto the woodpile, but it was unstable, and the logs started rolling under my feet.
When Baldy nabbed my ankle, I went to kick him with my other foot, but he was ready for me.
I missed, ending up on my back on top of the logs.
He yanked me off and threw me over his shoulder.
Wood splintered on the side fence as Spider Tat threw his weight against it. The fence held. “Hold her for me,” he called. “I’m going to teach her a lesson.”
I flailed against Baldy, but beating on him had no effect.
“Get in line,” Baldy growled.
“I saw her first,” Spider Tat yelled. He threw himself against the fence again.
“Fuck you,” Baldy said.
I reached back, and with no hair to grab, got my fingers on his ear. I pulled as hard as I could.
Baldy roared and threw me on the ground, holding the bloody side of his head.
The hard landing knocked the air out of me.
Pain shot through my leg, but I couldn’t give in to it.
This was life or death. Eyes, throat, nose, balls, and knees.
He was perpendicular to me, and I couldn’t reach his groin from here, but I kicked the side of his knee and he went down with a bloodcurdling scream.
I tried to scramble away.
Spider Tat burst through the fence on his next try. “I get her.”
I didn’t move fast enough, and Baldy launched himself on top of me. “After me, asshole. I get her first.” He grabbed my breast and pressed his face to mine. “You and me are going to have some fun.”
I closed my eyes and turned my head in time to avoid his mouth.
Suddenly, his weight lifted off me.
Zane threw a wicked punch that sounded like a thunderclap, and Baldy went sprawling in the dirt. He pointed at me. “Stay back.”
Spider Tat lunged.
“Watch out,” I called.
Zane spun, but not soon enough, and Spider Tat tackled my man, pinning him with his huge weight.
Spider Tat started punching Zane.
Baldy struggled to his feet, favoring the leg I’d kicked.
Spider Tat weighed so much. This was going to turn ugly quickly.
But Zane proved me wrong by leveraging Spider Tat off him and getting to his feet.
With a roar, Long Hair appeared from around the corner and charged Zane.
Zane dodged the hairy beast, but now it was three against one.
“Behind you,” I yelled as I got to my knees.
Baldy had picked up a log from the woodpile and swung it at Zane.
Zane dodged and kicked Baldy in the stomach.
The big goon folded, but not before Spider Tat got the same idea and picked up a log.
Wincing, I grabbed a piece of wood and threw it at Spider Tat.
It slipped out of my grasp as I flung it.
Zane grunted and bent over as my log hit him in the ribs.
Spider Tat charged.
Zane lunged forward before the guy could swing his log. They grappled.
I grabbed another log off the ground, with two hands this time, and joined the fight. I refused to let the thugs beat up my man. I swung at Spider Tat. For once, I hit the right man, but it only forced him off balance.
That was all Zane needed. He delivered a fierce series of kicks and punches to Spider Tat, sending him to the ground. Then he attacked the other two idiots. Zane’s movements were so fast they almost blurred.
Movie fight scenes went on and on, but Zane hit for effect. It was over quickly, leaving the three monsters all on the ground in the fetal position, groaning.
Zane pulled me up. “I told you to stay back.” He crouched to check out my leg. “You’re bleeding.”
“That’s from climbing over the fence. Like they say in the movies, it’s just a flesh wound.”
He stood after a second. “We need to clean that.”
I leaned in and hugged him. “Thank you. If you hadn’t come…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. The possibilities were too awful to put into words.
He hugged me back. “These three are going to seriously regret coming after you.”
“It wasn’t my idea,” Baldy moaned.
I turned around and kicked him. “That’s for my friends, asshole.”
Zane pulled me back. “Hold on, tiger. Let ‘em keep their teeth so they can answer my questions first. Then you can have a go at ‘em.”
I turned to Spider Tat and spat at him. “You wanted to have some fun? How about I kick your balls all the way to Vegas? That sounds like fun.”
Yates strode around the corner and folded his arms. “Looks like I missed all the action.”
“Yeah.” Zane spat blood. “What about Jordy and Pete?”
Yates gave him a thumbs-up. “They’ve got headaches, but they’ll be okay.”
Zane touched his ear. “Peyton secure. Three to transport to guest accommodations.” He wrapped me up in a hug. “I was so worried about you.”
I was hot, sweaty, and still breathing hard. He was dirty, bloody, and breathing almost as hard as me. Comfort and hygiene had no bearing in the moment. I snuggled into him and held on to this amazing man for all I was worth.
“Easy there, tiger.” He shifted me. “My ribs.”
“Sorry.” Okay, there was a reason for me not to hold on so tight.
He grimaced as he laughed. “Next time, stay out of the fight.”
I’d been the one to hurt him. “Sorry,” I repeated. “But I had to help.”
He bent down to kiss me.
The enormity of today slowly sank in. There were a dozen ways Zane could have been a minute later, or not found me in this backyard, and I would have ended up being carried off by these thugs. I turned and kicked Baldy again. “Asshole.”
Yates pulled out his phone. “I’ll call 9-1-1 to get this filth picked up.”
Zane waved at him. “No. We have a chat with them first.”
Yates’s brows creased. “Should we check with Lucas?”
“This is the procedure,” Zane said. “We don’t take no for an answer, and we have methods of persuasion that the cops can’t use.”
A week ago, his statement would have put me off, but these thugs had been ready to deliver me to a murderer, and that altered my perspective. A dozen movie scenes of interrogations ran through my head, and none of them repulsed me.
“You aren’t talking about waterboarding, I hope?” Yates asked.
I noticed Long Hair cringe.
“Of course not.”
Yates relaxed.
Zane laughed. “That takes too long. Electricity works better. It’s easier to dial up until we get what we want.”
The three moaned, but I knew psychological intimidation when I heard it and added to Zane’s approach. “I want to help with the jumper cables.”
Zane looked confused. “Are you sure, Angel?”
“I want to see if they cooperate better if I attach the cables to their dicks or their balls.”
Our captives squirmed.
Yates did as well. He hadn’t caught on to Zane’s tactic. “Maybe I should call the police.”
Zane’s smirk said he got my drift now. “No need. Since they attacked Peyton, it’s only fair that she gets to take part in the interrogation.” He added a wink that none of the three stooges could see. “And her experiment is one I haven’t tried yet.”
Baldy puked. It sprayed across Long Hair’s back.
“Okay,” Yates said, smiling. “I’ve got a decibel meter on my phone, so we can see which one works better.” Now he was getting it.
A smell wafted up from the ground. One of them had shit himself.
“We’ll tell you anything you want to know,” Spider Tat said.
“Yeah, anything,” Baldy and Long Hair agreed quickly.
Yes, my badass SEAL had just gotten three hardened criminals to agree to spill their guts without even lifting a finger.
As he held me, I looked up into his piercing eyes. It was official. I was falling for this man. “Can I still do my experiment? Please?”
Take that, you assholes. I was only half joking. I’d happily watch the electricity turn their dicks to charcoal for trying to hurt my man.
Zane’s smile lit up my world. “You know I can’t deny you when you ask like that.” I’d remember those words when I asked him to take me later.