Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jake
Jake was running on fumes when one of Trevor’s men jogged into the old office in the warehouse where they were interrogating the Russian doctor.
“Grab your kit. Trevor needs you in Wales right now. There’s a helo inbound now. It’ll take you to the airport, and a charter jet will fly you to Wales.”
He exchanged a look with Aaron and Lowri. “What about this?” he asked.
“They’re sending the other plane for everyone else now. It’ll land at the airstrip.”
“Did he say why the rush?” Jake asked.
“Something about they need you for translations.”
“Sorry,” Jake said to Lowri and Aaron.
She rubbed her forehead and glared at the scientists, who looked terrified where he was manacled and tied to a chair. “That’s okay. We should move all of this to Wales now anyway. Better off having it all in one place where we have control of the sitch instead of here.”
“You’ll be maybe four hours behind Jake,” the guy told her. “Everyone’s getting packed up now.”
Jake walked over to the scientist and feinted, like he would attack him, and the guy let out a shriek and recoiled, making all of them laugh.
“Yeah, you’re not such a brave fucker when you can’t do the torturing, are you?” Jake said. “Just be glad they ordered us to keep you alive for now. I could fucking rip your entrails out for what you did to those people.”
The scientist didn’t respond because he’d quickly learned that speaking when he wasn’t being asked a direct question requiring an answer meant he got punched.
Usually in the nuts, if Lowri did the punching.
Jake was ready to go when the helo landed, and he was shocked when, exactly as told, an entire executive jet awaited him on the airport tarmac, ready to take off as soon as he was on board.
Can’t believe I went from living in a cave to this in just a couple of months.
Even more, he couldn’t believe his luck that not only had he made it out of the lab unscathed, so had everyone else.
Well, of their team.
The doctor they were interrogating had only been working at the lab for about fifteen years, the latest in a short string of them. He hadn’t been able to give them any details about the subjects’ names, because everyone they’d rescued had only been referred to by numbers assigned to them.
So when he’d questioned the fucker about the possibility of Maya ever having been there, he was clueless.
Somewhere, deep in the records, they would locate names, but the asshole had never bothered learning them when he took over.
What Jake did learn was that Ray Dorland and Faegan Lewis were the ones who’d been behind the abductions this guy knew about. Different merc teams were hired to take down the assigned targets.
Peyton hadn’t been the specific target when he was abducted, just the person who showed up after they laid the bait.
In that way, at least, they could relax. Especially since they’d learned that the merc team had, in fact, merked each other when Peyton escaped.
What they still needed to do was track down all the lab’s funding.
Much of it had funneled in over the years via redirected military secret research funds, although no one in Moscow realized they were even there.
The original funders had made sure to set it up that way to keep it going in case they were ousted.
It became its own foundation at one point, a charitable arm soliciting donations from oligarchs in the name of “caring for orphans.”
Which was a fucking joke. They were orphans because of the lab’s operations. It was common for them to sell children and babies to rich people based on physical characteristics, children that the lab had determined weren’t shifters.
But a few children who did have shifter abilities had been sold throughout the years.
Usually to families in deep with the Bratva or other crime organizations around the world. One of them might have even been sold to the Yakuza.
Which meant rescuing them could be problematic, if not impossible.
The jet landed in Wales close to 10:00 pm local time, and a helo transported Jake through the night to the estate, where weeks earlier they’d created a makeshift helipad by lighting a landing zone.
Trevor met him in the backyard where the helo landed and escorted him toward the house. “We’re sorry to change plans on you like this, Jake.”
“This whole thing’s a clusterfuck,” Jake grumbled. “Not this,” he clarified. “Not the part we did. I mean what they did running the lab, and what they did to these poor people and others. It’s… Frankly, I needed a break. It’s a lot. I don’t know if there’s enough therapy in the world for this.”
Trevor stopped him before they headed inside. “What you’re about to encounter will be equally shocking.”
“Fuuuck me,” he said. “Just what I need.”
“Please, try to stay calm.”
As he followed Trevor down the renovated corridors, he felt… something.
A tickle of an idea he immediately stomped into submission because he damned sure didn’t need to get his heart broken when there was so much to do.
Peyton stood outside the room when they walked up. Without a word, he opened the door and led Jake and Trevor inside.
Trevor closed the door behind them, and as Peyton stepped aside, Jake got a look at the person in the bed—
He didn’t realize he was screaming, hell, he didn’t realize he’d practically run across the room, until Peyton’s hand clamped onto his shoulder to quiet him as he flung himself at Maya.
Peyton touched her shoulder, too, and her voice immediately softened as they clung to each other.
“Sorry,” Peyton said, smiling. “The rooms aren’t soundproofed, and I don’t want the children to be scared.
We shuffled beds around so she could be by herself and give you two privacy.
We’ll leave you alone. Let us know if you need anything.
We’ll have someone stationed outside her door to bring you anything you need. ”
Jake was barely aware of them leaving as he cradled Maya’s face in his hands and stared at her, unable to believe his eyes, now hating himself for not stopping to look at every hostage they’d rescued before leaving the lab.
But he’d been so busy helping Lowri, Aaron, and the others identify items in the lab to take that he’d not thought about it until that plane had already departed.
“I love you so much!” he said, kissing her, his heart pounding so hard he wasn’t sure it might not explode right there in his chest.
“Ray told me you and Carl died.”
He shook his head, tears blurring his vision. “That fucker is dead,” he said. “Ray, not Carl.” He laughed. “We have a son-in-law, and—holy shit!” He pulled out his cell phone and, not even caring what time it was in Florida, placed a video call.
Carl answered, looking groggy. “Dad? You all right? Did everything go okay?”
Next to Jake, Maya let out a soft cry and stared at the phone. “Carl?”
Carl’s jaw dropped. “Mom? Is that you?”
“Yes!” Jake said, openly weeping. “She’s alive! I just found out. She was rescued from the lab…”
Jake wasn’t even sure when, but someone brought in a charger cord for his cell phone because it was almost dead as the four of them—including Mateo—talked and cried and laughed and cried and…
Well, a lot of crying.
A lot.
And now he wished Trent had saved Ray’s head so he could kick it around and piss on it.
Carl
Carl didn’t know that ecstatically happy and unbounded joy could also simultaneously feel functionally numb.
Mateo’s grin looked permanently etched across his face as he dashed out of their room to update Tamsin on what was going on and that the noises she was hearing from them were happy ones—and yes, that Aisling was fine.
They were on the phone for over two hours when they had to end the call so they could check his mom’s vital signs and give her medicine and food.
Carl sat on the edge of their bed, still in the boxers he’d been wearing when the call awakened him, and he stared at the phone in his hands.
“Please tell me that just happened,” he said to Mateo.
Mateo playfully punched him in the arm. “Happily ever after, motherfucker!” he shouted, bouncing onto the bed and sitting next to him.
“We gotta get a bigger house, you know. No way in hell are we letting them out of our sight for a long-ass time. They will live with us. I don’t care if we need to beg Peyton to Prime-order them to, they are living with us. ”
Carl nodded, wondering if numb was a good thing. “For the first time in my life, I honestly wish there was a hell so I could envision my uncle burning there.”
“Should we make them a chainsaw cake to celebrate their return?” Carl stared at him as Mateo grinned. “What, too much?”
Carl grabbed Mateo and kissed him. “Never—I mean, never—did I ever think Mom was still alive!” Then a dark thought hit him. “God, I wish Ray was still alive so I could kill him.”
“I suspect there would be a long line for that pleasure, if he were.”
Outside, they heard a car pull into the driveway and park. Then Tamsin opened the front door and welcomed Lu’ana and Bebe.
“I suppose we should go help her,” Carl said.
He flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
“I just don’t know how I’m supposed to function today with everything that’s happened.
I want to get on a plane immediately and fly there.
I mean, if Ray and Faegan are both dead, there’s no risk to Tamsin, right? ”
His phone buzzed with a text, and he laughed when he read it. “Peyton says Badger will book our tickets, and to make sure we arrange babysitting coverage to help Tam. Dewi, Ken, and their baby are coming with us.”
Mateo stretched out next to him on the bed, lying on his side facing Carl. “This is big,” Mateo softly said. “This is life-changing in the best way possible.”
“Yeah. I mean, first Dad, and now Mom.” He blinked back tears. “I don’t care what they ask of us—the Targhees have done more for us since we joined them than we’ve ever experienced in our lives. No way are we ever leaving them.”
“Fuck no, we’re not,” Mateo said. “They’re family. They’ve not only become our family, but they’ve given us back our family.”
Carl rolled onto his side to face Mateo and kissed him. “I hope we haven’t used up our lifetime supply of good luck.”
Mateo palmed his face. “Don’t even think like that. Just take this as it comes and enjoy life. Are we done hating on Aisling now?” He smiled. “I mean, Peyton said she was instrumental in the planning and execution of the operation.”
Carl laughed. “I was done hating on her the moment I learned she’d pinged on Tamsin as her mate. But yeah, she’s earned special bonus points from me for saving Mom.” His smile faded. “I just can’t believe that fucker took them from me.”
“The ultimate in small dick syndrome,” Mateo said. “Eh, your uncle, obviously. Not you, babe.”
Carl nuzzled Mateo’s nose. “I knew what you meant.”