Chapter 19
Cam went to the kitchen. Her slightly damp feet slapped the hardwood floors. After watching a TV show, she’d soaked in a long hot bath. No matter how hard Cam tried to push him out of her mind, Brooks bounced around in there like a ping-pong ball. Then there was the ping-pong ball of worry about her mom. She needed to keep it together and not lose her mind. She’d find an old movie, have a drink, and dig into the junk food Lexi and Nash had had the foresight to buy them.
She pulled a bottle of pinot grigio out of the fridge. Then she retrieved a wineglass from the cabinet and filled it slightly more than she normally would.
As she took a sip her gaze caught her cell phone on the counter. It lit up—a text message. Her stomach squeezed around the acidic fluid in her gut. She grabbed her phone so fast that wine sloshed over her fingers. She swiped open the screen and read the message.
Hey, Tess and I are going to come by for a drink to keep you company until the guys get home. Be there soon!
A smile touched Cam’s lips, and the gravity pulling down the pit of her stomach released itself. Just Lexi. She moved her thumbs over the screen.
Sounds great. See you soon.
A drink with Brooks’s sister would help keep her mind off what he was doing. Her brain couldn’t get off him anyway, so at least she could talk about him, learn a few things, and hopefully forget he was out killing someone right now. She took a long sip and glanced at the clock on the microwave. Lexi had sent the message twenty-five minutes ago. She’ll be here any minute. Maybe she’d order a pizza. Picking up her phone, she searched for pizza places nearby.
Ding-dong!
That was fast. After setting her wineglass on the counter, she wound through the kitchen and advanced on the front door. At least now she could ask Lexi what the best pizza place was. Unlocking the door, she yanked it open. “Hey—”
Two men rushed her. She screamed and stumbled backward into the house as a gloved hand crushed against her face. Rough fingers bit into her flesh. Bursts of fear exploded in front of her eyes, distorting her vision. Sheer terror swelled in her lungs, the tissue threatening to burst. Black ski masks covered the men’s faces.
They’d found them.
And now they were going to kill her.
***
Stunned, Brooks staredat the woman clutching the white sheet to her chest. He blinked twice. He’d been so focused on Conrad he hadn’t fucking seen that the lump Conrad was shielding in the bed was a person.
She covered her eyes with her hands. “I didn’t see anything, I swear! Please don’t kill me. I have a little boy at home.”
Damn, damn, damn. He yanked his ski mask back over his face.
Nash crossed the room, his mask still concealing his identity, and pointed his gun at the woman’s head. “Scream again and you’re dead.”
“I won’t. I swear!” Her voice rose in terror.
Brooks snapped into action, shutting the bedroom door. He lifted his wrist to the mic. “We’ve got a problem. Conrad’s dead, but there’s a woman in his room.”
Someone cursed.
“I’m coming in.” Cole’s declaration made Brooks clench his teeth. This woman—a mother—didn’t deserve to die because of her association with Conrad.
“There’s no reason we can’t leave now.” Even as he said the words, they stuck in his mouth. For a millisecond, his mask had been up. But she’d closed her eyes damn fast, and it was doubtful she’d made out many of his features in the dim light. Plus, she’d just seen her lover shot—the intensity of the scene would likely work in his favor.
“All three guards are headed your way.” Dare’s warning echoed against his eardrum.
“Sonofabitch!” Nash yelled.
Brooks lurched forward, grabbed the woman by the wrist, sheet and all, and towed her to the en suite bathroom. “Get in here and stay down. Don’t do a fucking thing and you’ll live, all right?”
She nodded wildly, her blonde, ear-length hair bobbing with the movement. Her wide brown eyes filled with tears. “Is he dead?”
He pushed her inside the marble room and closed the door, simultaneously shutting off his compassion. Not his fucking problem that she cared for a sick bastard like Conrad.
Nash stood next to Conrad, his gloved fingers pressed against his throat. There was enough blood on the wall, sheets, and floor to make it pretty evident Conrad couldn’t be saved.
Nash lifted his gaze. “Dead.” His voice was tight, as if the word was hard to speak.
Conrad had raised Nash, but he’d also tried to kill Lexi. Brooks shook his head. Nash’s feelings weren’t something to investigate right now. Indecision buzzed through his senses. Being a sitting duck wasn’t an option. And it was clear his body was still drawing off the drug in his system, given the ease with which he’d hopped the fence. He couldn’t let Nash take the brunt of any bullets. Making a beeline for the bedroom door, he yanked it open.
Footsteps pounded up the stairs. The guards.
“All right, boys,” Dare said, caution thickening his tone. “All I can do from here is create technical difficulties. It’s about to get dark. Get your asses out of there.”
Whomp
The lights turned off. In a split second, Brooks’s eyes adjusted. Another helpful side effect.
“What the—?” The guard’s yelp from the staircase bounced off the cathedral ceiling. Brooks charged. He balanced his weight on the balls of his feet as he reached the top of the stairs. Three men hovered halfway up.
“Wally, check the fuse box. Jeff, call for backup.” A flashlight’s beam lit the stairs, hitting Brooks in the chest.
Brooks smiled. His gaze locked on a bald guard, and he advanced.
“Shit!”
Brooks drove a punch into the guard’s face. The man staggered backward and stumbled down a few steps, his flashlight careening out of his hold. He landed on his knees, gripping the railing. The other man, Jeff, lunged forward. Brooks grabbed the scruff of his neck, hefting him into the air. A weight struck Brooks’s midsection. He coughed and staggered backward as the bald guard tackled him.
“Wally!” Jeff shouted. “Call for backup!”
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The weight against his abdomen went limp. Jeff jolted in Brooks’s hold, a gurgling sound coming from his mouth. Hot, wet liquid ran over Brooks’s hand.
A rough fist caught his bicep. “Where’s Nash?” Cole whispered.
“Here.” Nash rushed up behind them. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“The woman?” Cole asked.
Nash shook his head. “She’s alive.”
Cole’s face turned hard as slate. “Get outside.” He moved upstairs, brushing past Brooks. Brooks snagged his elbow in a death grip.
“We’re leaving. All of us.”
Cole’s face drew close to his, determined. Without his advanced night vision, Brooks wouldn’t have been able to see the unrelenting slash of Cole’s lips, but it was there. “I don’t leave loose ends.”
Brooks gave him a shove. Not enough to send him down the stairs, but enough to let him know he was standing his ground. He wasn’t letting the woman die. “She has nothing to do with this.”
“She does now.”
“You’re wasting time!” Nash shoulder-checked Cole. “Let’s go.”
Cole brushed Brooks’s hands off him. “Fine. It’s your ass anyway.”
“Cops are coming.” Dare’s voice vibrated in his ear. “If you don’t get out of there now, I’m leaving.”
Brooks descended the stairs with Nash and Cole right behind him. Adrenaline chased Brooks’s blood through his veins. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and his stomach curdled at the sight of the dead bodies in his wake. He’d spared the woman. At least he had that going for him.
“Freeze!” A flashlight hit him in the face. The guard who’d run off to check the fuse box stood in their path, a gun pointed at Brooks’s chest.
Sirens screeched in the distance. Fuck. Brooks’s finger tightened on the trigger, but he didn’t dare lift his gun.
“On the ground!” the guard yelled.
An arm shoved Brooks to the side. Cole stepped forward and fired, but Wally dodged down the hall. Brooks kept his gaze locked on the corner of the wall that shielded the man. Wally’s arm lifted. He jerked around the corner, the weapon aimed at Cole.
Brooks fired.
Wally howled, and his gun skittered across the floor. Nash and Cole ran for the side entrance. Brooks kicked Wally’s gun before rushing after them. He barreled down the hall and smacked his palms against the side entrance door. Nash and Cole waited for him.
“You guys need to hurry.” Dare’s voice crackled with excitement. “I made it back to the car. Three cruisers just sped toward Conrad’s.”
Brooks pounded his feet into the crusher dust at the side of the house and then into the small strip that separated the cedars from the fence. Branches hit him in the face as the trees’ thick scent surrounded him. The fence came into view. Cole was battling to lift his body over it. Brooks grabbed one of Cole’s ankles and supported his weight. Cole climbed the rest of the way, dropped down, and ran. Then Brooks boosted Nash over. Finally, he grabbed the cool metal in his palms, hoisted himself over, and hit the ground running. His heart pumped rhythmically, his vessels expanding with every breath, the sensation increasingly similar to that of being on the drug.
In seconds, he passed Cole. Sirens split the night, and bubble lights blipped in the darkness. Dare started the truck as they approached. Brooks launched himself at the front passenger door, got in, and clicked his seatbelt into place. Seconds later Nash and Cole clambered in the back.
Without a word, Dare drove away from the curb. The movement painstakingly slow compared to the urgent rush of Brooks’s nerves. He gripped the dash to stop himself from leaping out of the car and running.
“You okay, dude?” Dare asked. A baseball cap now donned the top of his head, shielding his identity from anyone who might be watching the area.
“Fine.”
“You look like you’re going to dive through my windshield.”
“Can you go any faster?”
“No.” Dare flicked his gaze to the rearview mirror then back down again. “Don’t want to look suspicious, do we?”
Cole and Nash wheezed from the backseat. “How the fuck did you run so fast?” Cole said, gasping. “You were way behind us.”
Silence stretched out. “Lots of practice.” The night vision, speed, and recovery ability still lingered, days after he’d been injected with Axalantheum. His body could be changed for good.
Dare dropped his hand to the bottom of the steering wheel. How he could be so relaxed was messed up.
“You’re not even out of breath,” Cole declared. “Seriously. You on steroids or something?”
Brooks turned in the seat. “Like you said, no offense, but I’ve known you what? Five minutes?”
Nash let out a hoot of laughter. “Ha! You got told.”
Cole’s face relaxed. “After tonight, we can add some time to that.”
Brooks smiled. He could get used to this. Having family, having brothers... most importantly, having Cam. Dare stopped at a stop sign then turned onto the main road that would lead them to the interstate.
They were done.
In fifteen minutes or so, he’d be home. And one step closer to never leaving Cam’s side.
Whatever the hell that meant.
***
“Where is he?”The rough voice ground against Cam’s ear. Spit hit her cheek.
Crashes sounded from upstairs. The other men were kicking open doors. Her heart raced. She had to get rid of them—had to alert Lexi before they got here. She couldn’t let Brooks’s sister get hurt. Fear made her limbs tingle. The man holding her pressed her back to his front. The scents of garlic and onions hung on his breath. His arm locked across her chest and one hand lay on her mouth, loose enough that she could speak, but firmly enough that he could cut off her scream if she tried. She jerked her gaze toward the kitchen. It wasn’t far. Twenty feet or so. If she could get free, she might make it to the back door.
The cold end of a gun tapped her cheekbone. “Where is Brooks? Tell me now and I won’t shoot you.”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Her muffled answer came from underneath the man’s palm.
His brusque laugh sent a shiver down her arms. “Bullshit.”
Sweat collected on her hairline, cooling her scorching skin. She had to fight. She drew her knee up as far as she could and stomped on his foot with all her strength. Pain shot through her heel. The man grunted but didn’t loosen his hold. Ducking her head, she bit the exposed skin on his arm between his latex glove and the cuff of his shirt. He howled as the metallic taste of blood hit her tongue.
The man yanked his hand away and Cam swung her elbow backward, catching him in the nose. He stumbled and clutched his face. “Fucking whore!”
Cam tore through the kitchen. She ran past the island, grabbed her phone, and skidded to a stop at the back door. As she unlocked the dead bolt, footsteps stormed across the hardwood floors. Panic hiccupped in the back of her throat. Her fingers fumbled on the lock.
Click
Yes! She shoved open the door. Cool air blasted her face. She opened her mouth, a scream rolling up her throat.
A hand snagged her hair, tearing her head backward and cutting off her cry. Her hip smacked onto the hardwood floor. Something cold hit her neck.
Zap!
The scent of burning flesh rushed into her nostrils. Her body went limp as electric currents rushed through her nervous system. A dark curtain flickered in front of her vision before snapping everything into darkness.
Brooks.
***
Relief brought Brooks’heart rate to a normal rhythm; the pumping of his blood was slower than it’d been in months. Knowing Conrad was gone, that he’d paid for his crimes and would continue to pay for them in hell, gave Brooks an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
For so long he’d craved justice. Even before he remembered everything that had happened that fateful night he raced to his parents’ house to find it up in flames, his fate had been sealed. He’d been meant to carry out the deed. And now he had only one more to do and he’d be free forever.
“Well?” Dare barked. “It’s done?”
“He’s dead,” Brooks confirmed.
Dare blew a breath through his teeth. “Damn. I never thought I’d see the day.” He glanced over his shoulder then brought his focus back to the road. “You okay, Nash?”
Pity opened up in Brooks’s gut. Conrad had deserved to die. But that didn’t change the fact that it was a fucked-up situation for Nash. Brooks swiveled in his seat to look Nash in the eyes. The streetlights whipping by the window cast a glow over Nash’s face. “I’m sorry, bro.”
Nash lifted a shoulder. “It’s okay. It feels weird though, you know? He had it coming for what he did to you and Lexi’s parents. Hell, for what he did to all the kids he sold into slavery. Fuck.” Nash scrubbed his hands over his face and lowered his elbows to his knees. “It’s hard to explain. I’ve wanted him to pay for so long. I thought prison would be enough, but this is different. It’s over. He’s gone.”
“But he was a dad to you,” Dare said stoically, turning into the subdivision of Nash’s safe house.
Nash snorted. “And he had a hit on my fucking head.” Lifting his chin, he met Brooks’s gaze. “Don’t feel bad about it. You did the right thing. We all did.”
Brooks nodded. His phone vibrated in his coat pocket. He retrieved it and read the number on the screen: Lexi. He swiped to answer. “Hey, we’re almost home. What’s—”
“Cam is gone. She’s—she’s not at the house.” Lexi’s words rushed out, her voice damn-near hysterical.
Brooks lurched forward, grabbing the dash for support. “What do you mean she’s not there?”
“I-I don’t know. Oh, my god,” she squeaked. “Tess and I came over to keep her company. The upstairs is trashed and her car’s in the driveway.”
A low whistle sounded between Brooks’s ears, making Lexi’s voice sound tunneled and distant.
Nash grabbed his shoulder, shaking him. “What’s wrong? Is it Lexi?”
“They’ve got her. Christ, they have Cam.”
His skin turned so cold that the rubbing of his clothes against his skin made his entire body burn. He dropped the phone. As quickly as shock had taken over, anger surged tenfold.
“Who, dammit?” Nash yelled.
Every fiber of his being screamed in unison. “Leonetti.” His voice croaked on the word. He had to find her. They’d torture her to death.
All because of me.