Chapter 26 Mace
Mace
As I launch myself towards Lily’s booth, I have to remind myself that this is a public place, but there’s a guy making a move on my woman. He has Lily penned into the corner and… Fuck this. He’s stroking her arm.
Simon is close on my heels. “Stay calm, Mace,” he warns.
The best I can do is keep the gun in my waistband as I reach them.
I can only see the back of the guy’s head, but my first priority is Lily.
I scan her face and although the lights are dim, I’m used to reading people in the dark.
I know immediately something’s wrong. She’s been crying, which is bad enough, but that’s not what alarms me most. Her eyes are unfocused, and her pupils are blown.
I know she’s been drugged even before I hear her ask, “What am I doing here?”
The shadows around me dissolve to red and the music dies. All I hear is the thundering of my heart and the voice of the man who’s going to bear the brunt of my wrath.
“You’re my girl,” he croons.
And fuck me, did he just sign his own death warrant.
“The fuck she is,” I growl.
“What the…?”
His head snaps around and his nose presses against the gun that’s back in my hand.
He goes to recoil, but I grab him by the hair and haul him out of the booth.
He almost drops to the floor, having lost the ability to use his legs, but I hold him up by the scalp, my gun pressed into his flabby stomach.
“The only reason you’re not dead yet is that I don’t want to ruin Lily’s new dress with your blood.”
“But I– I haven’t done anything. You– You have to believe me. I found her like that.”
I don’t have time to waste listening to his pleas, so I turn to Simon. “Is there somewhere in this dump you can take him? Somewhere secure?”
“I’ll find one,” he promises.
“Good. Get him out of my sight.”
I pass Simon our captive, and trust he knows what I’m asking for. For now, my only concern is Lily and I slide back into the booth. She’s resting the side of her head against the seat, and her eyes have closed. I cup her face gently in my hands and stroke her cheeks.
“Open your eyes, Lily. I’m here.”
Her eyelids flutter. “I’m here too.”
My neck cords. She’s completely out of it, and all I can do is pull her against my chest. Her head drops to my shoulder and as I wrap her in my arms, I have to stop myself from squeezing the breath out of her. I inhale the citrus scent of her hair as I rest my cheek on top of her head.
“I almost didn’t catch you this time, Slayer,” I whisper. “Don’t you ever pull a trick like that on me again.”
Her somnolent laugh vibrates against my tensed chest muscles. “Tricked you,” she mumbles.
I’m a pressure cooker ready to explode, but that laugh has me smiling. I stroke her hair. “You’re in so much trouble.”
There’s a sniffle behind me. “Is she going to be OK?” Kaitlyn asks.
I glance at the beer bottle on the table. It’s still half-full. I need to know exactly what he gave her, but it’s a good sign she didn’t drink it all.
“I’ll have a doctor check her over, but she could do with some water.”
Kaitlyn holds out a water bottle. “Here, I got this.”
I break the seal on the bottle and tip Lily’s head back. Her eyes lift to mine and I offer the water to her lips. “Take a sip.”
“I don’t want it,” she complains. “I feel sick.”
“And I don’t care. Do as you’re told.”
She tries to roll her eyes, but she takes enough water to satisfy me.
“What happened?” I ask Kaitlyn, tension returning and more than a little accusation in my tone.
“I was at the bar while Lily stayed here. Two guys offered to buy us drinks.”
“And you fucking accepted?” I’m not hiding where I’m placing blame now.
She rakes a hand through her hair. “There were four bottles,” she says. “We could have picked any, Lily had first choice.”
“And naturally, she picked the one closest to her, because that’s what happens. For fuck’s sake.”
I press Lily to me as if I can meld her body to mine so I never have to let her go. Her head is nestled against my chest and I can feel the warmth of her steady breaths through my shirt.
Of the two extra men that came to the club with us, one has gone with Simon. I turn to the other. “Where’s the guy who Kaitlyn was with?”
“Long gone, Sir.”
“We got up to dance,” Kaitlyn explains. “And he kept stopping me from going back to Lily. I thought he was just eager at first.” She swallows a sob. “But when he got a bit too forceful, I knew something was wrong. That’s why I sent up the bat signal.”
“The…?” I’m starting to wonder if Kaitlyn’s had her drink spiked too, but then she continues.
“I was supposed to wait for Lily to give me the OK before posting an update so you’d know where to find us, but I did it anyway.
And then I told this guy you were a dangerous motherfucker and he was going to be in deep shit.
” Kaitlyn gulps down a breath. “He panicked and said he’d never met Toby before tonight.
Toby approached him and said he wanted his help chatting up a girl, and could he keep me occupied. ”
“Did he know this Toby was going to drug her?”
“I don’t think so. He was only interested in the money.”
My jaw ticks, the tension returning. “He was paid to keep you separated?”
Kaitlyn hands me a roll of bills. “When I spotted Heatrush doormen on the dance floor, I knew you were here. My guy shoved this in my hand and made a run for it.”
I take the money and I know exactly what I’m going to do with it.
I kiss the top of Lily’s head. I hate to leave her. “Kaitlyn, I want you to sit with Lily and get her to drink more water. I won’t be long.”
Toby is being held in a storeroom, and on my way to deal with him, I make a call to Jake.
“I’m going to send you two addresses,” I say without any preamble. “The first is an apartment block where I need you to send a doctor.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m good,” I say, although there is a tightness around my chest that’s either a heart attack or explosive rage. “Just send her over. I’ll be at the location in an hour, and I’ll meet her there.”
“Her?” Jake asks. “You don’t want me to send Mac?”
“No. It has to be a female.” I don’t want to subject Lily to another strange man’s touch. I don’t think I could deal with it either. “And make sure she’s someone with experience of date rape drugs.”
“Do you know what drug was used?”
I stop at a door being guarded by one of Calder’s men. “Not yet, but it was slipped into a drink.”
“I’m on it.” I can already hear him tapping away at a keyboard.
This is why it’s easier to call Jake in an emergency. It doesn’t matter what I throw at him, he remains professional and gets the job done. He doesn’t judge and he doesn’t make crass comments like my brothers would.
“And the other address?” he asks.
“It’s a nightclub in River North. I need a clean-up operation. One body.”
Jake isn’t fazed when he asks, “How messy?”
I blow out a breath. “I haven’t decided yet.”
And now Jake breaks character and gives a low chuckle. “Just remember we pay these guys by the hour and it’s getting late. They have families to get home to.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Have fun,” Jake replies. He’s about to cut the call when he adds, “Do your brothers need to know?”
“It’s not urgent. I’ll talk to Ash tomorrow.”
When I cut the call, I take a deep breath, but it’s no good. It doesn’t calm me. There’s only one way to release this tension.
Toby cowers in the corner of a room, wedged between two sections of racking stacked high with archive boxes. The cardboard is porous, which is going to be a nightmare to clean.
“Sorry,” Simon says when he notices me scan the room. “It was the best I could do at short notice without involving the owners. They’re the kind of people who’d expect a favor in return.”
“For what?” Toby asks, looking from me to Simon, and back again. “What are you going to do to me?”
I crouch down next to the sniveling wretch. He has a graze on his cheek suggesting he hadn’t gone willingly with Simon, but he’s not fighting back now. He simply watches as I run my finger down the barrel of the gun I’m holding casually in my hand. He’s shaking and I’m not even aiming it at him.
“The last person who touched my woman ended up with two broken arms,” I say. “But you were going to do more than touch her, weren’t you, Toby?”
“I don’t know what–”
I move fast, pressing the gun barrel to the center of his forehead. He stills.
“Tell me another fucking lie, and I will blow your brains out. But only after breaking every bone in your body,” I say slowly and calmly. “What did you give Lily?”
“Rohypnol. Here, look.” He moves carefully to take a small bag from his inside pocket.
I check the contents before slipping it into my pocket. The tablets have already been crushed ready for use. “How much did you give her?”
His face creases as if dosing, or overdosing his victims, isn’t something he’d spent too much time thinking about. “Not much, half my normal dose. And she didn’t finish her beer.”
Needing to take a moment, I keep the gun planted firmly on his forehead as I glance over my shoulder at Simon. I don’t think he can believe what the guy’s just said either.
Toby quakes when I face him again. “Your normal dose? How many women have you drugged and raped, Toby?”
He doesn’t reply so I press the gun hard enough that his head is trapped between the barrel and the wall behind him.
“Two, I think,” he squeaks.
I flick off the safety on the gun.
“Four,” Toby tries again. He swallows. “And another couple of times where I couldn’t get them to move. It’s why I started using less. So, six attempts all together.”
As I continue to stare, I think about what my older brothers would do in this situation. We’ve all taken lives to protect our own. Would they let this piece of shit live?
“And then… then there’s tonight,” Toby says helpfully. He’d assumed I was waiting for more confessions. “Lily makes it seven.”
“Oh, shit,” Simon mutters even before I’ve reacted.