Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was getting harder and harder for Isaac to stay awake.
He’d been alone for a while now. Or maybe it just felt that way and it had only been a few minutes.
Time had no meaning for him at the moment.
All he was concentrating on was keeping himself awake.
If he passed out, he was more vulnerable, and that was the last thing he wanted.
At least conscious, he had a little bit of control on what was happening to him and how he could protect himself from the blows.
What was Viktor up to?
Was this what he meant by dragging out his death?
It wouldn’t surprise him. Anyone who had no issues trafficking people for a profit would be sadistic enough to prolong the torture. Pity he’d picked the wrong man to try that out on. Isaac wasn’t going to be broken easily.
Behind him, the door opened, and he didn’t give the person who was entering the satisfaction of turning to look at them.
Isaac kept his blurry gaze forward and imagined Marie standing in front of him, wearing those sexy scrubs with her stethoscope around her neck.
They hadn’t ventured down the path of roll play, but he was enjoying the fantasy he was creating in his mind.
When he got out of this he’d suggest it to her. Given how open she was to some of the things they’d done before he’d been taken, he liked to think that she’d be keen to give it a go.
“Does the prospect of your imminent death make you smile?” Viktor’s face appeared in front of him.
No way was he going to tell the other man what he’d been thinking, the fact that he’d been able to do that considering his condition surprised Isaac.
He put it down to his determination to get back to the woman he loved.
“Imagining your death, yeah, that makes me smile.” He stretched his lips into a wide grin, ignoring the pain the action caused on his badly split lip.
“I will get rid of that smile, asshole.” Viktor slapped him, and Isaac’s head whipped to the right violently. Blood from his cut lip splatted on the ground.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Poking the lion wasn’t the brightest idea, but Isaac was beyond the place of caring.
“You really do have a death wish don’t you?” Viktor pulled his gun out and pointed it at Isaac. “One shot and you’re dead.”
“Isn’t that what you want? Me dead? Then do it.” It was a huge gamble to taunt the man, yet he hadn’t been able to stop the words from bursting out of him.
“It will be my pleasure.” The gun cocked, and Issac lifted his head, facing his foe head on, even if his outline was blurry. He would look at the man when he took his life. He wasn’t going to back down.
Regret twisted inside of him that he wasn’t going to keep his promise and come back to Marie. At least he’d known true love and pleasure once in his life. If he was going to die, he would be grateful that he’d had Marie for a short time, instead of not at all.
The door opened again, and the rapid beat of footsteps slapped across the concrete floor. A man rushed up to Viktor and spoke in rapid Russian, too fast for Isaac to understand. Whatever he said caused Viktor’s lips to firm into a thin line and glance over his shoulder briefly.
Was help on the way?
Had his team found him?
From somewhere deep inside, a rush of adrenaline and energy swarmed, anticipating the moment the breech occurred. Would it happen before Viktor killed him, or would he not get to see it happen?
The other man tugged at Viktor’s arm, clearly wanting him to leave the room before whatever shit was about to go down. Viktor shook him off and gave a short, sharp nod. “I would say it was a pleasure knowing you, but it wasn’t. Goodbye.”
Isaac felt the burn of the bullet ripping into his flesh before the sound of it being fired hit him. Around him he thought he heard windows smashing and other gunfire, but he couldn’t be sure.
Pain radiated through his body, pulling away the ability to think. Darkness lured him into its safety net, and he fell willingly. “Marie,” he whispered before he was fully engulfed with agony.
The team hadn’t been happy that Marie had insisted on coming with them, but she argued that she could provide Isaac immediate medical attention instead of waiting for the paramedics to arrive.
Eventually they’d given in when she threatened to follow them if they didn’t let her go with them.
Fortunately, the route they had to take to where Isaac was being held went past his house, so they could take a slight detour for her to pick up her medical bag ensuring she had what she needed in addition to the well-stocked kit that Alliez had.
Now she sat in the safety of the vehicle with Angelo down the block from where the warehouse was. They were close, but not so close that their presence would be deemed as suspicious.
Marie wanted to apologize to him for having drawn the short straw to babysit her, but she kept the words to herself, knowing that he would refute that he was unhappy he wasn’t in the middle of the action, like the rest of the team.
“Copy that,” Angelo said into the comms he wore. She hadn’t pushed her luck to get one of those devices so she could hear what was going on. It was enough that she was there should she be needed.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“They’re about to breach the building. We’ve also got a name for who took him.”
“Who?” Was there a chance she’d recognize the person? Possibly not.
“Viktor Koznovi?, a Russian mobster who was going into business with Gomez Ramirez, Cass’s uncle and former leader of the Ramirez Cartel.”
Marie was aware of all that Gomez had put Cass and the women of Alliez through. And the reason he was no longer breathing was because of the work Isaac had done when he’d been embedded into the organization. “Isaac prevented them from going into business, right?”
Angelo nodded. “His intel helped with the rescue of Steff and Cynthia who worked with Teresa. They, along with thirty other women, men, and children, were all being shipped to an undisclosed location and then auctioned off. My guess is somehow Viktor was able to connect Javier Cortez to Isaac Warner and wants revenge for the loss of his business. It would’ve dented his reputation as well, so that would’ve pissed him off even more. ”
“I can’t believe there are people in the world who do that,” she whispered, trying to wrap her head around what all those victims would’ve gone through, would still be going through. No one got over a trauma like that in a matter of days.
“There is so much that the general public doesn't know. During my time as a SEAL we took down high value targets regularly, only for more to turn up. There are some sick fuckers out there.”
And one of them had Isaac. Not for a minute did she think that Isaac and Viktor would be having tea and cake.
There was every chance that Isaac would be coming out in a body bag.
Her breath hitched, and she bit back a sob at the thought.
She couldn’t allow herself to travel down that road.
She had to believe that Isaac was still alive.
She would know if the other half of her soul had died, wouldn’t she?
“They’re going in.”
“Shit.” She didn’t know what else to say. She had to believe that everything would work out and at the end of it all, Isaac would be walking out. Alive, definitely battered, but alive.
“They’ll get him. Don’t worry.” Angelo’s reassurance did nothing to settle her frayed nerves.
“I’m sorry you have to be with me and not with them.” She hadn’t wanted to apologize, but now that it was all happening she felt like she had to.
“Looking after you is just as important as being with them. Same with Ox remaining behind at the office to watch proceedings and watch over everyone. We’re a team.
We do what we have to, to ensure the mission is a success.
We all have our roles. This time mine is here with you.
Next time it could be someone else sitting out and me going into the action.
That’s what we do. It’s why we’re a successful operation. ”
“Okay. Thank you for explaining that.” Marie should’ve realized it wasn’t a competition between the men on who got to do the “fun” stuff and who got to do the “boring” stuff. Every part was important.
The screeching of tires caught her attention, and a large silver SUV screamed past them going faster than was legal. Another one followed. The windows on both vehicles were tinted so dark it was impossible to see inside. Not that she had an opportunity with the way they sped past them.
“Fuck,” Angelo said. “Two vehicles hightailing out of the hot spot. Unable to get a visual on who was inside. Not in a position to pursue.”
Because of her. If she hadn’t insisted on being with them, Angelo would’ve been able to chase whoever had left and hopefully apprehended them.
“Copy that. Moving now.” He started the car. “We’re needed.”
Adrenaline pumped through Marie as the importance of his words sunk in. “Is Isaac okay? What’s happening? What about the cars?”
“Isaac is secure. We’ve neutralized the remaining threats and Cass will be tracing the cars.” Angelo fired off his answers as the car jerked into motion.
The journey to the warehouse took mere seconds, and Fox was running toward them flinging open the back door before the car had come to a complete stop.
“Follow me,” he demanded as he grabbed both her medical bag and the first aid kit.
For half a second she was frozen, unable to move, as the enormity of what she was about to walk into hit her—Isaac was injured and badly.
Could she do this?
Could she save the man she loved?
What if she couldn’t? How could she live with herself if that happened?
“Marie! You’ve got this, let’s go.” Angelo grabbed her hands, and it took a second for her to register that he was standing in front of her and not sitting in the driver’s seat.
It was his complete confidence in her that had her accepting his help out of the car. Fox was a few steps in front of her, and she rushed to catch up to him. “What’s his status?” she asked when she got to his side.
He spared a quick look. “I’m not going to lie, he looks bad. Gun shot wound to the stomach and they’ve messed him up pretty badly.”
How she stayed upright she didn’t know, but she did, and she managed to keep walking.
The warehouse was dim when they entered, but she didn’t miss the shadows of men laying on the ground.
Her medical instincts kicked in, and she wanted to pause to examine them, but knew that the moment she touched her fingertips to their carotid arteries she wouldn’t feel that familiar beat of blood being pumped through.
But on the off chance … Her step faltered and she looked at another man lying on the ground.
“They’re gone,” Fox said, as if he knew exactly why she’d almost paused.
“Right.” There was no way these men would leave anyone alive that could potentially harm them. “Is anyone else injured?”
“Hound caught a graze on his shoulder and Deal has a stab wound to his leg, but it’s not deep. They’ll be fine. Isaac needs you.”
Marie blew out a breath, fear doing its best to drown her, but she wouldn’t let it happen. “How much farther?”
“Right here.” Fox led her into a large room and in the middle of it lay Isaac, a discarded chair, and the dark stain of blood on the ground near him.
Marie rushed over to his side, in that moment as a woman in love and not the doctor she needed to be.
She was unable to keep her cry of distress from erupting out of her when she saw his battered face.
“Oh my god, Isaac.” Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.
She wanted to sob into his neck, but she couldn’t do that.
She had to keep everything locked down because he needed her as a doctor.
She could be his lover and partner once she knew he was going to be okay, because he was.
There was no other option. “Hand me my bag,” she demanded.
She had a life to save.