Текст книги "Brawn"
Автор книги: Laurann Dohner
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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
Tim Oberto would move heaven and hell to find his only daughter. It might take time but it’s what he did. He tracked down and found New Species who were being held captive. Her gaze lowered to stare at Brawn. He looked different asleep—vulnerable and less intimidating. Her father and his team would come for her and Brawn. She just had to keep them alive long enough.
Will it take hours? Days? Weeks? She fought tears, refused to give the assholes watching her the satisfaction, but it wasn’t easy. She could survive hours but days or weeks? What if Dad never finds us?
She pushed that thought away. He was good at what he did. There was a dead body in her guestroom and while the men who’d kidnapped them might think leaving it would confuse the cops, it would be a clue for her dad. He’d do more than a background check. He’d tear the dead guy’s history apart to find every single asshole in that van and make them talk and reveal what had happened to her.
“Has anyone called the bitch to let her know we have the male and we got his girlfriend? Maybe we’ll get a bonus.”
“I did,” Randy’s voice was recognizable. “She’s excited. She really wants a test subject without the drugs. She thinks the drugs will ruin the experiment. She believes it might be the key to success. It was the happiest I’ve ever heard her.”
“Maybe she should climb into one of the cages with one of the males. She’s such a horrifying bitch he’d be too terrified not to do what she wanted from him.”
“She’s too dried up to do anything wet,” one of them laughed. “Or she might have thought of that. I know if she glared at me and told me to drop my pants I might want to eat my gun but I’d be too terrified to refuse. I’d be stiff with fear.”
Laughter erupted from the van. One guy hit the van wall.
“Image that bitch bending over.” He roared with laughter.
“How about imagining her bent over in front of 358? Who would be more terrifying a sight? Him going at her or her face?”
“Forget Doctor Elsa’s face. How’d you like to see her stripped naked? Good thing I skipped dinner.”
They laughed. “Imagine her talking dirty. Or worse, her having a brat? I don’t care who knocks that bitch up, that will be the ugliest damn baby ever if it looks like her.”
They were all laughing but Becca felt dread. Whoever this Doctor Elsa was, she wasn’t liked by the men she controlled. The things they said were giving her information though, she kept her gaze on Brawn, hoping they’d keep talking. The more they said, the more she learned.
Number 358 was a person. All New Species had been given numbers instead of names when they’d been experiments at Mercile testing facilities. She guessed that number used to be assigned to Brawn, which meant the assholes had come after him.
If they know his lab number then…shit. They must work for Mercile Industries for sure. That kind of information was highly classified. Her father couldn’t even get clearance. He’d also told her Mercile staff had set fire to their medical records and had destroyed the computers by the time the assault teams had penetrated those areas when they’d served search warrants to find New Species.
Why does Mercile want Brawn alive? It made more sense if they’d just wanted to kill him. The NSO slammed the company with lawsuits almost monthly trying to destroy them financially. For every New Species found and recovered, another lawsuit and criminal charges were filed against them and more arrests made. The New Species Organization was smart that way. They were making sure Mercile never recovered enough to restart their research.
“Hey!” one of the men yelled.
Becca jerked from her thoughts to glance up. One of them scooted closer, staring at her with narrowed blue eyes.
“You might want to move away. We have to shoot him again. Doc Elsa wants you awake and alert when we get there. Besides, one hit of this shit and you’d die from an overdose.”
The man pointed the gun and Becca edged away as far from Brawn as she could get. She yanked the dart out of him and dropped it behind her the second that she hid the area with her body when she leaned against him again on the off chance it prevented him from getting a full dose of the obvious tranquilizer.
They shot him a few more times as time passed. She removed them as quickly as possible without rousing suspicion and worry set in. They were going to kill him with an overdose. She tried to talk them out of it but they refused to listen. His pulse remained steady and she pressed her ear to his heart, reassured when it continued to beat strongly under her ear. His big body kept her warm as the miles passed, taking her far from home.
Fear was instantaneous when the van finally stopped and the engine died. She sat up and felt pain. The thick bars of the cage under her ass made her backside hurt after no movement for an extended time. The feeling of pins and needles spread across one side of her ass and up her hip. The men exited the van to leave her alone with Brawn.
She reached for his face, cupped it and rubbed. “Brawn? Can you hear me? Wake up!” She made sure she kept her voice low.
He didn’t stir at all and she started when the van doors were thrown open behind her. Her hands left Brawn’s face as she turned to glare at the five men who stepped close to the back of the cage door. One unlocked and yanked it open. He withdrew one a dart gun and pointed it at her chest.
“Get out,” he ordered.
She had to fight the stiffness in her body to move. She climbed out and her bare feet touched cold, hard concrete. She peered at the large room that reminded her of a warehouse with the super-high ceiling and exposed metal beams. There were a few large windows near the ceiling along the sides. A hand grabbed her arm and led her away from the van.
She turned her head to watch the four men lift Brawn by each of his limbs. He dangled in their hold, his long hair brushed the floor and they carried him toward a stairwell across the room. To see Brawn, a man his size, that helpless, drove fear right back into Becca. She swallowed and wondered what kind of hell she would face.
The man gripping her arm jerked hard, forcing her to follow Brawn and she hurried her step. She didn’t want to lose sight of him. The stairs were wide and metal, leading down into a near darkness below. Her gaze flashed upward to the windows. The sight of sunshine assured her they’d traveled for at least three and a half hours.
Claustrophobia batted at her as they traveled down at least three dark flights of stairs, going deeper into the bowels of the warehouse. Only a few light bulbs illuminated the way for her to see the steps. The air grew noticeably cooler at each landing. She hated that—it notched up her fear but Brawn remained in sight.
The bottom level ended in two big metal doors that the men pushed open while carrying Brawn between them. The sight that met Becca’s fearful gaze made her halt in her tracks. The room was large but bright, long lights hung from the ceiling. They showed two large cages clearly in the center of the room, set about ten feet apart. The things were massive, something that should be found in a zoo instead of the basement of a warehouse and the guy gripping her arm yanked hard.
“Move.”
She got a better view of the room as she entered the double doors. Other cages were set up along the walls and it horrified her to see a few inhabitants inside them. Someone lay on a bunk while another man paced the length of the bars. His head whipped around and she gasped, identifying a New Species face.
They had more of them. That realization left her cold. Concrete walls separated those cells along the walls—they were bigger than the ones in the middle of the room and much longer. The guy holding her led her to a cage, opened the door and shoved her inside. He let go to slam the door and lock her in.
Brawn was dumped inside the second cage to her right, his body made the cot creak when it took his weight and the four men fled. They not only locked the door but used chains to wrap around a few sections with chunky locks securing them.
The kidnappers removed their masks as they walked out of her sight through a twin set of double doors near the ones she’d entered. The silence in the huge room was spooky, absolute and she turned to study her prison.
A cot had been set up, a camp toilet placed in the corner and folded blankets had been left on the long bed. She stared at the metal floor under her feet, lifted her chin to look up at the bars overhead and fought tears. Think. Remain calm. Those silent orders helped as she carefully took stock of her surroundings past the bars.
It wasn’t hard to spot the cameras aimed in her direction once she scanned the ceiling. They were larger models, geared for outdoor security and a concrete wall blocked her view of whatever was behind her prison. It wasn’t that high, maybe ten feet of divider, but more than enough to keep her curious about what she couldn’t see.
Her hands gripped the thick, cool bars and she studied them. No signs of rust showed at the joints and she doubted they’d ever seen the outside to be exposed to the elements. She inched to the door, saw the gap was nearly nonexistent and it had been well built. A metal plate covered the section far enough to make it impossible for her to reach around and attempt to pick the lock. The inside part of the door lock was totally sealed, without any key access. It told her one thing for sure. They hadn’t been designed to hold animals. A shiver sliced down her spine.
Becca got as close to Brawn’s cage as she could, staring at his facedown form. His chest rose and fell, assuring her that he still lived. The drugs they’d dosed him with worried her. She couldn’t see how anyone wouldn’t overdose on all those tranquilizers.
“Brawn?” She cleared her throat. “Please wake up! Can you hear me?”
A growl from across the room jerked her head in that direction to see the pacing male had moved to the corner of his cell, gripped the bars and glared at her. He had really long black hair to his waist—a wild mass of tangled, silky strands—but she couldn’t make out the color of his eyes. Just the shape of them and those pronounced full lips and wide cheekbones assured her of his altered DNA.
“I’m Becca,” she got out, hoping he’d talk to her. “How long have you been here?”
He growled again, a scary, deep sound. He wasn’t exactly the talkative type, she decided. Not real friendly either. She wasn’t about to give up though. The more information she gained the better the chances of figuring a way out of the nightmare she was living.
“Can you talk?” She released the bars and touched her chest. “Becca.” She pointed to him. “What is your name?”
He spun away, snarled and kept pacing. She gave up instantly on trying to learn anything from him. She did study his clothes—white pants with wide, thick seams running down the sides and that’s all he wore. His chest was massive, his arms thickly muscled and his fingers were clawed at his side. Something seemed to have agitated him from the way he stalked back and forth. Her focus returned to Brawn.
“Brawn!” Her voice rose sharply. “Wake up, damn it!”
His arm twitched, gave her hope and she pressed tightly to the bars. “Brawn? Open your eyes right now! I’m worried about you. You’ve been heavily drugged and need to fight it. Can you hear me? It’s Becca. Remember me? We live together. Brawn!”
He was sluggish as he rolled, fell right off the cot and she winced when his big body sprawled onto the metal floor. That seemed to rouse him though as he snarled, pushed up with his arms and his eyes opened. Fury twisted his normally handsome features as he stared at the bars and lifted his chin to take in the cage roof. Every muscle appeared to tighten with strain.
“Brawn?” Becca softened her voice. “Are you okay?”
His head jerked in her direction, confusion crossed his face. The anger receded and he paled. “No.”
“We were attacked. Do you remember?”
He rose to his feet slowly, rubbed at some of the marks from the darts he’d taken to his thighs and stared around them. His gaze stayed on the cages across the room where the two other prisoners were kept. He moved fast though, hit the side of the bars and growled at the pacing male.
The other guy ignored him, kept walking the length of his cage and Brawn sniffed loudly. “Fuck.”
“What?”
He turned his head. “We’re in a lot of trouble.”
“No shit!” She bit her lip and glanced at the cameras. “They are watching us.”
He followed her gaze and turned her way, came to the corner closest to her cage and studied her body slowly. “Are you harmed? Did they drug you too?”
“No. I think they are from Mercile.” She whispered that part. “I overhead enough to know they are working for some woman doctor and they know your number. That’s classified, right?”
“My number?”
“358.”
“That’s not me.”
She stared at the Species pacing. “Maybe it’s him.”
Brawn glanced at the other male before staring at Becca. “I can smell drugs heavily in the room and suspect he’s drugged. I’ve smelled those chemicals before and he’s mentally gone if it’s coming from him. Has he talked to you at all?”
“No. He growled a bit but no actual words. I tried to ask him how long he’s been here but he just began pacing again. He’s done that since we came in.”
“How long have I been out?”
“About four hours, best guess, but it could have been longer. I saw sunlight before they brought us down here. We were in that van for at least three and a half hours because that’s how long it would have been until the sun rose when we were attacked. They drove us here in a commercial van with a home security logo on it but I’m pretty sure they don’t work for that company. I got a good enough look at it to see it was one of those magnet signs affixed to it and a real company would have them painted.”
“We are in serious trouble.”
“You think?” She gaped at him a little. “What I can’t figure out is why they wanted us alive. Wouldn’t Mercile employees want you dead? You guys sue the shit out of the company and my dad said that they are tracking down anyone who worked at that company to show the victims pictures to try to identify the ones who abused your people.”
He sniffed the air. “Hope my memory is wrong.”
“What does that mean?”
He hesitated. “I smell the drug they used on us for breeding experiments.”
Her knees weakened. “What does that mean?”
“They developed a highly stimulating drug to force us to desire sex and dosed us when we refused to mount our women sometimes when they were trying to figure out why we weren’t able to get our females to conceive. The room reeks of it and that is very bad.”
No shit. “I don’t see any of your women. There’s the guy sleeping on the cot and him.” She glanced at the pacer who hadn’t slowed inside his cell.
“I smell another Species male, at least twelve different human males and two human females. You are one of them.”
That was seriously disturbing. Becca knew the doctor the mercenaries worked for was a woman so that just left her on the wrong side of the cage bars. The blood drained from her face at the implications.
“You don’t think they brought me here to…you know.” She slowly mouthed the next words she hoped he’d understand after lifting her hands to cover her profile from the cameras. “They think I’m your girlfriend.”
Brawn spun away with a snarl, obviously able to read lips. He walked to the cage door, studied it and gave it a kick with his bare foot. Becca winced, knew that had to hurt and the metal didn’t budge. He lifted his leg, rubbed his toes and snarled again. He dropped the leg, spun and stormed back to the corner closest to her.
“I will do everything I can to protect you,” he swore softly. “You need to trust me.”
“I do.” She meant it. She hadn’t known him for long but he was a good guy. “We’ll be found.” She didn’t want to tell him about the dead body or how her father would use it to tear into the man’s past, too afraid the cameras would pick up her words. She didn’t want these assholes to be warned. “Nothing will stop them.”
He nodded. “Watch what you say.”
That bit of advice was useless since she already had surmised that. Brawn stared at her and took deep breaths. “I was not drugged with the breeding drug. This is good news.”
The double doors the men had left through suddenly were thrown open. The sound echoed in the big room and Becca gaped at the sight of four men pushing a gurney through the opening. A large New Species male was strapped down on it. His eyes were closed but his heritage was apparent from his muscular size. It became more apparent as the jerks pushed him closer. His cheekbones and full lips were a dead giveaway and Brawn sniffed loudly as they passed their cages and moved out of sight behind the concrete wall behind them. The wheels of the gurney stopped shortly after.
A good minute passed before a cage door slammed closed. The sound was distinctive enough for Becca to be sure and chains rattled. They were obviously securing his door the way they had Brawn’s. The four guys returned minus the Species and the gurney. One of them stopped to glare at Brawn.
“You’re next, asshole.”
She knew that voice. It was Randy, the one she’d winged in her house, the leader of the mercenaries. She saw the bandage near his ear as he turned his attention to her. “Then you, bitch. I’m going to take great pleasure watching you suffer.”
“Why are we here?” Brawn kept his voice low.
A smile curved the bastard’s lips and he gripped his hips. “The doctor wanted fresh meat but your girlfriend was a bonus.” Randy took a step closer but remained a good ten feet from the edge of Brawn’s cage. “You know what’s going to happen. We don’t have any females, weren’t able to grab any of them when we were raided, so she’s it.” His grin widened. “I hope she likes pussies as much as you do.” He lifted his hand and jerked it toward the pacing New Species. “He’ll be first and you’ll get her second.”
Brawn roared, lunged at the side of the cage and grabbed it. “He’ll kill her.”
“Even better.” Randy touched his bandage. “That cunt tried to blow my brains out. I’ll enjoy hearing her screams.” He spun, marched away and his three goons followed him.
Becca trembled. She wasn’t an idiot and could fill in the blanks. Brawn refused to glance at her and instead glared at the double doors that closed behind the men. She backed away from the side of the cage to sit heavily on her cot. Her legs didn’t want to hold her weight anymore.
Her gaze traveled across the room to the still agitated Species male. Terror gripped her. The guy couldn’t even talk and didn’t seem friendly in the least. He’d kill her for sure if she were thrown into his cage for some breeding experiment.
“Becca?”
She turned her head at Brawn’s raspy tone. He watched her, his beautiful gaze grim.
“I know. Breeding drugs, I’m the only woman and that guy over there is out of his head, right?”
“Listen to me.” Brawn took a deep breath and gripped the bars. “Do not fight if they put you in there with the male. He will be aggressive to begin with but if you resist, he will…” His voice trailed off.
“Kill me?”
Brawn refused to look away from her. “Yes.”
Hot tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back.
“He is drugged and it is painful. His body is on fire, the need to mount a female has taken his sanity and he will be sorry when it passes.” A sad note filled his voice. “I know this.”
Becca hugged her chest. “You’ve taken it before, haven’t you?”
“I was not given a choice. They used me for breeding tests. Only two of the five facilities that have been discovered used this drug.” He crouched. “I do not remember anything but knew I had shared sex with a female when the drugs passed from my system. I never smelled blood on my body and hope I never hurt one of our women. None of them ever told me I had after we were freed but they might have wanted to spare me any guilt if I had.”
Memories of their conversation about how he enjoyed sex made her shiver. She wasn’t a New Species female, tough, or designed to be stronger than average. She was plain ole human, not even one who was in shape and she doubted she’d survive a round of sex with a drugged Species guy even if she didn’t put up a fight.
“Becca?”
She realized she’d glanced down when she had to lift her gaze to Brawn.
“I’m tough. I’m a survivor.” She sucked in air. “And we are going to be found.” Anger made her voice stronger. “Someone is going to die.” She glanced at the double doors. “A lot of them.”
“The male will not mean to hurt or force you.”
She glanced back at him, avoided staring at the guy who still paced his cell and terrified her. “He’s a victim too. I get that. Don’t worry. It’s not his blood I’m hoping to see spilled.”
“They will find us.” His voice deepened into a snarl. “Trust me.”
She appreciated his optimism. Her dad was good at his job and they’d left a dead body behind to investigate. She had faith in her father and his team. They liked her and would do whatever it took to rescue her.
“Dibs on the guy with the bandage. I want to kill that motherfucker myself.”
Brawn’s eyebrows arched.
“When we’re found,” she clarified, “you hold that piece of shit and I get to beat on him for a while, okay? I’ll borrow one of the team’s guns and shoot him after I hear him scream enough to make me feel better about whatever happens to me.”
“You are violent.” Brawn’s lips twitched. “I like that.”
“Extreme circumstances. It’s either plot to kick that dickhead in the nuts or curl into a ball and cry. I prefer the first option.”
“Becca?”
She stared into his eyes.
“We will be found.” Sincerity shone there. “I swear this to you.”
She nodded, hoping it would be before they started any breeding tests.
Chapter Five
“Stay away from her,” Brawn snarled.
Becca jerked awake on the cot, knew where she was and sat up. She’d somehow fallen asleep. Two men, neither one of them Randy, unlocked her cage door. Brawn snarled at them again and she glanced his way to see how he clutched at the bars. He shook them hard, his biceps strained from the effort of trying to break them but it was a wasted effort.
One of the men stepped inside and frowned. “Get up and come with us. You will get hurt if you fight us.”
“Leave her alone. Take me,” Brawn roared. “Don’t touch the female. I will kill you, tear you apart, if you hurt her.”
The guy in her cage ignored the threat. “Get up, Becca. That’s your name, isn’t it? There’s no point in fighting unless you want to feel some pain.”
She stood on shaky legs and glanced at Brawn. His eyes were narrowed with rage as their gazes held.
“I’ll be okay. Calm down and save your energy.”
Brawn shook the bars again. “Take me. Don’t harm her.”
The jerk inside her cage finally shot him an annoyed stare. “It’s not a big deal. The doctor wants to examine your girlfriend and give her a little shot. Stop making that racket. I hate you large cat mixes. I forgot how damn annoying you can be.”
The guy outside the cage snorted. “The howlers aren’t any easier on the ears.” He glanced at the far cage with the still-sleeping male on the cot. “I’m so damn glad that one finally crashed. My ears were bleeding, I swear.”
The guard grabbed her arm to jerk her out of the cage and she stumbled forward. She was afraid as the two men made her walk toward the double doors. She dreaded whatever waited behind them.
A long hallway stretched ahead as they entered the unknown section of the basement and stopped three doors down on the right where one had been left wide open. The room reminded Becca of a doctor’s office when she spotted the exam table in the center of the room, one big light attached to it, and her head turned. A desk was in the corner, covered in papers, files and two computers. One of the monitors showed the room with the cages. A female doctor turned her chair away from that view to openly study her victim.
“Put her on the table and strap her down.”
“Who are you?” Becca didn’t fight as the men shoved her at the table. “What do you want?”
“Sure thing, Doctor Elsa.” One of the men nodded.
The woman refused to answer, instead just stood and crossed her arms over her chest. Becca memorized the gaunt face, the black hair pulled into a tight bun and the woman’s long, thin nose. She glanced down to note the doctor was rail thin, perhaps five foot nine in her flat shoes and wore a white lab coat. No rings adorned her fingers, no scars or tattoos were visible. She had no distinguishable marks besides a few wrinkles around her mouth and eyes, which pegged her age at around fifty. She stared long enough to make sure she’d be able to pick the bitch out of a lineup if the need arose after her rescue.
The two men suddenly adjusted their holds, lifted her off her feet and slammed her back on the table. It was padded, no paper had been laid down the way real doctors did for exams and the cheap, fake leather was cracked from age. Panic struck when they began to use Velcro straps to pin her arms down and she kicked at one of the men who grabbed an ankle, nailed him in the arm and he glared.
“Put your feet at the end of the table.”
She locked them together bent up. No way was she going to allow them to strap her flat and leave her totally helpless. The jerk leered at her. He suddenly reached out and grabbed her thigh to dig his fingers into her flesh deep enough that it really hurt. She screamed. It felt as though he was tearing the skin from the inside of her thigh. She opened her thighs and his hand released.
A faint roar sounded but she heard it. Brawn. He must have heard her scream. The doctor laughed.
“He is pissed. Make her scream again and see if he reacts, Dean.”
Dean grabbed her thigh and dug his fingers in again. This time Becca expected it. She gasped and tensed through the horrible pain but the asshole dug in deeper until she couldn't take the agony anymore. His hand released her thigh when she screamed. Another faint roar sounded a second later.
Doctor Elsa chuckled. “I never expected them to bond so well.” Her cold gaze examined Becca. “Thank you. Now I have a way of controlling one of them. I think he’ll do anything I want if I use you against him.” She smiled widely at her two goons. “Look at the monitor. He’s going nuts.”
Dean turned his head and Becca stared at the monitor too. It was a live shot of the cages from high above, where she’d spotted those cameras. Brawn paced and attacked the bars but they didn’t break. He roared again, spun and began pacing furiously.
The doctor walked to a microphone system by the monitor. “Stop it or I’ll hurt the female,” she warned. “Sit down and be quiet.”
Brawn paused, lifted his head and glared at the camera. His rage was evident. He backed up until he reached the cot, sat hard and his hands gripped the edges of it. He kept glaring at the camera. The Doctor moved away from the microphone and laughed.
“I’ll be damned. I bet that cat would bark if I told him I’d hurt her if he didn’t. This is intriguing.” She waved her hand as she faced Becca. “You men can leave us alone.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Dean hesitated. “We should stay in case you need us. Her legs aren’t strapped down.”
She shrugged and walked around the exam table, studying Becca. “What’s your name?”
“Rebecca.”
“Well, Rebecca, I’m going to take a swab of your mouth to test you for drugs and get a sample of your DNA. Open up and if you bite me one of these guys will knock out your teeth. Do you understand? I’m also going to draw blood and give you a shot. I’m trying to figure out what is different about you that attracted him to you. Leave those feet down and don’t kick at me either. I have no sense of humor.”
Becca didn’t fight and opened her mouth for the swab against her cheek. She flinched when the bitch drew blood from her arm. The shot to her hip hurt but the doctor finally backed away.
“Are you on any form of birth control? IUD? Do you have breast implants? Take any medications? Do you have any diseases?”
She clamped her lips together.
“Do you want a full body exam?” The woman reached into her front pocket to withdraw gloves. “I don’t have an ultrasound here to see if you have implants but I could feel my way around. It won’t be comfortable but the men might enjoy holding you down, tearing off your clothes—and the view.”
“Fuck you,” Becca hissed. “No. No breast implants or anything else added. I don’t have any diseases or take drugs.” She paused. “I’m totally healthy and I am not on any medications.”
“What about birth-control pills?” Dean stepped closer. “Or those shots. My girlfriend takes those.”
“Are you on any form of birth control?” The doctor suddenly grabbed Becca’s nightshirt and jerked it up to her ribs, exposing her stomach.
Becca gasped but the woman’s hands were on her skin before she could react. She held still, afraid one of the men would hurt her since they lunged forward, ready to grab her if she fought the doctor’s touch.
“No scars from surgeries.” The hands were cold as the woman lowered the waistband of her underwear a few inches. “No stretch marks from pregnancies.” She glanced up at Becca. “I take it you don’t have any children? You haven’t answered me about the birth control.”
“No children and I’m not on anything like that either.”
* * * * *
Brawn stayed seated but fumed and worried about Becca. Horrible images of the things being done to her filled his imagination. Memories surfaced of what Species women had endured at the hands of Mercile staff during the breeding tests. They’d examined the women, sometimes performed exploratory surgeries on them and didn’t even have the decency to drug them first to alleviate the pain.
A snarl built in the back of his throat at the idea of Becca suffering that way. She hadn’t had years to build up tolerance to pain. She was gentle, sweet, and he worried about her mental state. He might be able to keep her alive if given the chance but their captors might kill her outright. He definitely couldn’t protect her mind from the atrocities she might have to endure.
He fingered the coin inside his pocket and worried that it was useless since help hadn’t arrived. The second he’d placed the emergency distress call to Homeland they should have activated the tracking device hidden inside the metal. A team should have already shown up and attacked, or better yet, reached them before they were secured inside the underground prison. Becca had been certain hours had passed since they’d been taken and that meant help probably wouldn’t come.
