Chapter 36
Ethan
Iran down the stairs from the helipad and found Mick sprawled on the ground, the side of his head sticky with drying blood. Jed and Freya sprinted toward the house, calling for Holly as I crouched down and checked his pulse. “He’s alive,” I told Remy and Darius. “You two. Get him into the house.”
I got to my feet, leaving the others to tend to Mick as I ran down the breezeway, I didn’t know toward what. Or what I thought I could do now.
The worst had happened. They had neutralized my defenses, which I had trusted implicitly. I had invested so much time and thought in making this place a fortress, in handpicking the people worthy to defend it. But I’d fucked up, and I had left the people I loved most vulnerable.
Now, I had to pay for my mistake. The ultimate price.
Jed came charging back from the security room, meeting me halfway down the breezeway. Freya followed more slowly, eyes horror-stricken.
“The guys are all unconscious,” Jed said grimly. “Alive, but out cold, every last one. Drugged or poisoned. The ambulances are on their way up. No sign of Kat or Holly.”
“Oh, God,” Freya whispered. “Oh my God. My sweet baby.”
Jed pulled Frey into his arms, and I was glad he was there to do it, because I was in no position to give comfort.
How the fuck…? How was this possible, that I had left five tough, seasoned, battle-hardened men, tested in the field, men I had trusted my life to multiple times, and Nicole had sliced through them like they were nothing?
There was something terribly wrong here. Not even any signs of a struggle, other than the blood on Mick’s head. How the fuck…?
We moved forward somehow with caring for our injured. Got Mick inside, carefully worked his jacket off, and then the Kevlar vest which had evidently saved his life, judging from the bruises beneath it.
Mick’s eyelids had begun to quiver. They opened a slit, squinting against the light of the lamp.
“Mick,” I said. “What the fuck? What happened?”
He coughed, wincing. “She shot me,” he whispered. “I had the vest.”
“She, who?”
“Nicole, I assume. She didn’t introduce herself. Asian woman, or part-Asian. Long haired, fit. Good-looking, I guess. I don’t know how she was able to land. I was down on the bottom floor, and I heard the chopper, so I came running up. When I got there, they’d already landed.”
“Where are Kat and Holly?”
“They’re with her,” he croaked out. “I’m so sorry. They’re gone.”
“Did she say anything?” I demanded.
“Just that she’d be in touch,” Mick said, his face tight with agony. “And Kat…”
“What? What about Kat?” I couldn’t stop myself from yelling.
“She’s with them,” Mick said, his voice shaking. “She’s…she’s one of them. On Nicole’s team. I’m so sorry, Ethan. I don’t know how it—”
“I don’t believe that,” I said harshly. “That’s not possible.”
Mick’s face contracted. “I’m so fucking sorry, man,” he croaked out. Tears were leaking from his eyes.
The ambulance came, a welcome distraction from what Mick had just said, which was impossible to process.
I put it all aside and helped load up Trey, Cade, Dale, and Ryder.
Mick refused to go to the hospital with them, in spite of the pain, the broken ribs, his possible concussion.
His face was dead pale, lips tight and bluish.
He’d always been good buddies with Holly.
When the ambulance was gone, I poured Mick a glass of Scotch and started grilling him, pain or no pain. “What the fuck happened, Mick?”
“Kat must have dosed the sandwiches,” Mick said wearily. “We should have what’s left of the sandwiches tested. It couldn’t have been the coffee, because I was drinking that, and I wasn’t affected. But I skipped those chicken wraps. My ulcer was acting up.”
“Who made them?” Jed asked.
“Angela,” Freya said. “I remember her saying that she’d leave a cold lunch for us before she left. Chicken wraps. But we can certainly rule out Angela.”
“Kat brought the sandwiches into the security room,” Mick said. “She could have put something in them right before that.”
My brain just stopped. Refused to even entertain the thought. No. Fucking. Way.
“Ethan,” Mick began, hesitantly. “You have to face the fact—”
“No,” I said. “It’s not possible. Don’t even say it. I’m warning you.”
“I have to say it,” Mick persisted. “I was the only one who didn’t eat one of those chicken wraps. This was an inside job. I saw her leave with Nicole, talking with her, on good terms with her. I’m sorry, Ethan.”
“But she ran away yesterday,” I said. “To protect us. Why would she do that?”
“To make it look good, I expect,” Mick said.
“She knew damn well you’d chase her. They probably timed Nicole’s attack to coincide with the moment you showed up.
We were all wondering how you two got away so easily yesterday, and this explains it.
Nicole wanted Kat to go back with you for a tender reconciliation.
To consolidate your bond. It’s not your fault it worked so well. Any one of us would have been fooled.”
I sat there, my mind blank, while they hashed it out, voices raised, arguing with Mick. Freya, like me, wasn’t ready to accept it yet. Jed just looked miserable and unsure. I just sat there, watching my whole world go to shit, trying to imagine how I could have been that wrong. That gullible.
For God’s sake. I had been begging that woman to marry me. Laying my fortunes at her feet. And if this impossible thing was true, then she had preferred to hurt and terrify an innocent little girl rather than accept my love.
Fuck. The cognitive dissonance was shaking my mind to pieces.
Then Holly’s princess phone rang. A single buzz. I grabbed it, and found a text message like this morning’s. It read HAVING FUN YET? It was followed by a link.
Freya, Jed, and Mick hung over my shoulder as I hit “play.” I couldn’t even breathe, I was so terrified at what she might make us watch.
The video began with a smiling cartoon pig mask which filled the entire screen.
Sharp dark eyes glittered through the eyeholes, which had exaggerated fake lashes glued on, and the mouth was an exaggerated, pouting pink cupid’s bow.
The effect was grotesque, especially when the pig began to speak in a mechanically distorted voice.
But there was no question of who it was who was speaking. Her vibe was unmistakeable.
“Hello, Ethan, Freya, Jed!” the pig said.
“I’m enjoying our stimulating game so much.
I was impressed by how quickly you got to the warehouse.
And kudos to you all, for not losing a hand to my fun little surprise!
I suppose you’re wondering if your niece and your girlfriend are still in one piece, and the answer is yes…
for now. But you may or may not be surprised to know that your new bed toy is actually one of mine.
That’s how we got in and out so smoothly.
She’s a real find, I must say. So talented, so intense!
If it’s any consolation, she found it no chore to service you sexually.
In fact, she told me all about your heroic exploits! ”
I stared at the screen, seeing it and everything else tinted red from the rage that permeated my entire being.
“Your blonde fuckbunny made the whole thing possible. So many things you don’t know about your new little friend!
Like her connection to domestic terror groups, for instance.
Go ahead, do some research on her while you’re waiting for your marching orders.
She’s been spewing hate in online forums ever since it was a thing.
Her handle is Payback Bitch 898. Amuse yourself by exploring her hidden depths!
But you really should have known, Ethan.
I mean, all that blood and trauma? What did you expect? ”
“Blood and trauma?” Jed asked. “What’s she talking about?”
“Later,” I snarled. “Shhh.”
“…anyway, never mind the traitorous bitch, right?” Nicole went on.
“Let’s talk about little Holly.” The camera panned over, landing on Holly, who sat in a straight-backed chain and stared straight at the camera.
She appeared to be unharmed, her hands unbound and clasped on her lap, but her face was dead pale.
She was frowning, blinking back tears. Squeezing her eyes shut, then blinking, then closing, looking straight at the camera.
Probably trying not to cry. Such a tough kid.
“Say hello to your Uncle Ethan, Holly,” Nicole directed.
“Hello,” Holly said woodenly.
Nicole’s pig mask appeared again in the camera’s view next to Holly, this time brandishing a sharp knife. “Oh, no, no, no,” Freya whimpered. “Don’t, don’t, don’t.”
Nicole yanked up a lock of Holly’s rumpled dark blonde hair, but Holly didn’t wince, just kept staring and blinking. Maybe she was in a fugue state.
Nicole hacked it off, and flung it at the camera. “Do as I tell you, understand? Instructions will arrive soon. No police, or Holly will pay. I’ll be in touch.”
The video ended.
“What did she mean?” Jed asked. “About the blood and trauma? Should you have suspected something? Why, Ethan?”
I shook my head, still unable to speak.
Mick stepped into the breach. “Kat had some trouble in her past,” he explained.
“Her older and younger sisters were both whacked by the mob right in front of her when she was only fourteen. She testified against the killer and got him put in jail, but the crime family’s been after her ever since. She went into Witness Protection.”
“Oh, my God.” Freya said. “That’s terrible. And even so, I don’t see how the woman I met could have done this. I just don’t buy it.”
Mick shook his head, his eyes full of raw pain. “I am so sorry,” he muttered.
“It’s not your fault,” I said dully. “I’m the one who rolled out the red carpet for a honeytrap spy, not you.”
“Don’t call her that,” Freya said sharply. “I’m not ready to accept Nicole’s word about fucking anything, Ethan.”
“But how else can we possibly explain what happened?” Amos asked. “The drugged sandwiches, and all that?”
“Honestly? Even the sandwiches seem out of character for Nicole,” Freya said.
“If Nicole were doing this, she wouldn’t have had our people drugged.
She would have used something horrible that causes an agonizing death, preferably with lots of blood.
That’s more her speed.” She turned to Mick.
“And you,” she said. “I don’t mean to be cold or heartless, but I confess, I’m puzzled that she didn’t pump bullets into your head.
She left you alive. Was that just sloppy? Or was it on purpose?”
“Don’t know,” Mick said, his voice colorless. “Might have been better if she killed me.”
“Do not mope, Mick,” Freya snapped. “Not useful. We have enough problems.”
“Can you imagine what Shane would say, if he knew?” I asked. “I completely failed. I did not protect his little girl.”
“This is not your fault!” Freya said furiously. “Don’t blame yourself! You have been doing everything possible to keep us safe! Even when we make it almost impossible, like I did. You never stop trying. You go to outrageous lengths!”
“Maybe, but even so,” I said. “That bitch has our baby girl. I fucked up.”
“And why is that on you, rather me, or Jed, or any of us?” Freya was crying angry tears.
“Damn you, Ethan. You always think you have to be the big man. The smartest one, the one who is in charge, the one who carries us all and takes all the responsibility. But it’s too much.
You can’t ever make a goddamn mistake. If Kat really is a mistake, and I will tell you from the heart, I am not convinced of that yet. ”
“I don’t see any reason to deny reality when it’s being shoved down my throat,” I said. “I was thinking with the little head. That’s all.”
“There’s no way you could have known, if it was Kat who betrayed us. We all loved her. All of us bonded with her. Holly loved her, Angela loved her, you loved…”
Her voice trailed off. I got up, waving her back, and walked outside, going over to the railing to look down into the mountain valley, letting the breeze cool my hot face.
Yeah, I had loved her.
I couldn’t connect the two realities in my mind. The Kat who I loved, and the Kat who had betrayed Holly to torture and terror. They couldn’t be the same person.
I had spent the last eight months trying not to picture my brother being tortured, and I had thought there couldn’t be anything worse.
This wasn’t worse. It was just more of the same, multiplied by infinity.
Freya followed and leaned on the railing next to me. I couldn’t look at her.
“I just hate it,” she said. “It’s so wrong. The minute you finally let down your guard, the very first goddamn time in my life that I ever see you do it, you get stabbed to the heart. That just hurts me.”
I nodded. “Yeah,” I whispered. “Me, too.”