“Bad,” he muttered as he eased her back down.
“I don’t like that Alex still hasn’t shown himself,” King said. “The guys say there’s no sign of him approaching the building. I thought he would have waited until we were all but trapped down here with only one entry and exit point before storming in, but so far nothing.”
“Why lead us all the way out here only to let us get Abby and leave?” Chaos asked.
“Maybe he’s waiting to get us on the way back to the helicopter,” King suggested. “Surround us and gun us down out in the jungle.”
“Abby, did he say anything about his plan?” Spider asked as he gently pulled her shaking body into his arms.
“Just that he hates you guys, was angry I turned him down, and how he can’t wait to make you watch him rape me,” she whispered, tears leaking from her closed eyes. “Ryder, he said when I was here before he would drug me with Rohypnol and …”
She didn’t finish her sentence but she didn’t have to.
His entire body clenched with a fury so deep it rocked him to his core.
Alex Irwin was a dead man.
“Come on, honey, let’s get you out of here,” he whispered, preparing to stand with Abigail in his arms, just as the basement erupted into yelling and gunfire.
Chapter 16
June 29th
12:01 A.M.
The sudden gunfire made Abigail flinch, and Ryder’s arms tightened around her.
“It’s all right, babe,” he whispered in her ear before setting her down on the floor, tucking her into the corner, and standing between her and whoever was shooting.
But it wasn’t all right.
He was here, his team was here, Alex was here, they’d played into his hands, given him what he wanted, and now it was time to see if they walked out of this alive. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Ryder and his team it was just that she had no idea what they had planned, and at the moment whatever it was didn’t seem promising.
“Better late to the party than never,” Alex’s voice boomed. “Weapons down, men, I think it’s safe to say we hold the advantage.”
To her surprise, Ryder set down his weapon. She wanted to ask him why he was doing that, but she was so weak, and she wasn’t sure she had the energy to speak.
“Kick them over here,” Alex instructed, “then all three of you into the cell with Abigail.”
Three?
Where were the others?
Was this why Ryder was doing as Alex instructed because he knew that the rest of his team would soon be here?
The sound of the cell door clunking shut filled her with dread. They were trapped. Locked in. Alex had them. He had Ryder, who had just given up his weapon.
No.
Wait.
Ryder wouldn’t just have one gun on him.
Maybe that was the plan, wait until Alex came in here to do whatever it was he had planned next, and then they would jump him.
That hope quickly fled.
“All weapons,” Alex said cheerfully. “I know you guys are still armed and I want everything. You’re outnumbered, you’re on my home turf, and if you try anything stupid then it will be Abigail who suffers the consequences. I know you’re all gentlemen and wouldn’t want that.”
Although he wasn’t touching her, Abigail felt Ryder’s whole body go tense at the threat against her. While she knew that Ryder could take Alex armed or not, right now they were trapped in a cell, unarmed, while Alex’s men still clutched their weapons, all of which were currently pointed at her.
“A bullet through the knee is pretty painful I’m told,” Alex added when Ryder and the others didn’t make a move to do as he requested. “Actually, I don’t just need to be told I’ve heard the screams of men who have experienced it.”
Ryder growled low in his throat but complied and threw the last of his weapons out of the cell.
“There, that wasn’t so hard was it?” Alex asked. “Now, where are the others? I know the three of you didn’t come alone. Where are Night, Shark, and Fox?”
So it was Charlie and Grayson who were trapped in here with her and Ryder. At least the others were somewhere close by, and she hoped that whatever they had planned they were going to do soon. Alex had waited too long for this, he wouldn’t drag it out, he would rape her and beat her some more before killing the others, then he would either take her to this Luis Perez guy or he would keep her for himself. Either way she wasn’t dying today along with the others.
“Not going to answer?” Alex asked, all cheerfulness gone from his tone, now he sounded just plain angry. “She decided it was a good idea not to answer my questions, I think you know what that achieved.”
“You lay a hand on her, you die,” Ryder warned.
“I don’t think you’re in any position to be making demands, Spider,” Alex growled. “Did you get a chance to chat with your girl? Did she tell you how she and I used to have a little fun while she was my guest?”
If Alex thought goading Ryder was a good idea then he was sorely mistaken.
All he would achieve by making Ryder angry was ensuring that they made him suffer before they killed him.
“You lay a hand on her again, and I’ll rip your head off,” Ryder said, his voice all the more threatening by how quiet it was.
Alex threw back his head and laughed. “I’d like to see you try. Did you miss the part where you’re locked in a cell—unarmed—while my men have weapons trained on your girl?”
“Why go to all this trouble, Alex?” Charlie asked. “You really think what happened to you was our fault?”
“You’re the one who decided to become an enforcer for a drug cartel. You’re the one who chose to beat up your girlfriend and who threw away your life. What did that have to do with us?” Grayson asked.
“Being a SEAL was fun, I liked the women who threw themselves at me, I liked the killing, but the money sucked,” Alex replied.
“Money?” Grayson asked. “This all boils down to money?”
“Most things in the world do,” Alex said. “I had it all, the SEALs, family, a girlfriend who knew her place, and the money from working for Perez, and you ruined that. I don’t like people messing with my life, never did. Now all I have left is the money, and I’m going to be swimming in it if I decide to sell that pretty piece of meat lying on the floor. After I do her,” he added.
Ryder lunged, but Charlie and Grayson grabbed hold of him. “He’s trying to provoke you, don’t let him,” Charlie muttered.
Alex laughed. “King ain’t wrong, but I am going to do her. Pick her up, Spider, and bring her to me, not sure she can walk after the beating we gave her. Not sure she’ll be able to walk when I’m through with her either.”
Abigail couldn’t help but shudder at what was coming next. There didn’t seem to be any way to stop it but she wasn’t going to scream, wasn’t going to cry. She wouldn’t beg or do anything that would make this worse for Ryder.
“Pick her up, Spider. If you don’t I’ll shoot her in the knee and use her blood for lube when I take her,” Alex threatened.