“Like hell I’ll stop,” Damon snapped brutally. “Where is she?” He kept hunting through the guy’s energy, looking for whatever messages he might have sent, realizing that the guy was stressed and exhausted, his mind a mess. “You haven’t had a break at all, have you?” Damon noted. “You haven’t had a rest.”
But the guy was on his knees, his bloody hand holding his head as he screamed and screamed. “They’re here.”
“Jesus, they’re coming here.” And, with that, he gave a slight push, and the gunman collapsed unconscious on the floor.
Retrieving the man’s gun from the floor, he walked over to Wade. Terk, the kidnapper is coming here with Tasha. I’ll need you and Merk whenever they get here. Wade’s still unconscious, and the gunman here just happens to be Wade’s brother.
Shit. I’m already on the way, Terk sent, and so is Merk. He’s only minutes away.
Well, he better watch it because, if anybody comes through that door without identifying themselves first, I’ll kill them, Damon snapped. No questions asked.
Chapter 14
Tasha had heard Terk step outside, but she was working away on the keyboard, trying hard to track down that last asshole she had on a hook. Damon had done a hell of a job tracking him online, but she’d widened the search. When she heard a sound, she didn’t even think about it. “Did you find out anything?”
But the voice that answered wasn’t the one she expected. She spun and bolted to her feet, as a cloth was slapped over her face, and the last thing she saw was a balaclava-covered face standing over her as she went under.
Waking up—struggling, kicking, and fighting like crazy—a man at her side laughed. “Keep on fighting. It won’t do you any good, but keep on fighting if you like.”
She was tied up and wasn’t going anywhere. She was also in a moving vehicle. She looked around, but a dark hood was over her eyes, and she couldn’t see a thing.
“Good. At least that’ll keep you a little bit calmer until we get to our destination,” the man noted.
She tried to ask him where she was being taken.
“Oh, are you trying to talk? Well, if I thought you could actually be trusted, I’d be happy to talk to you,” he muttered. “Doing so much mental work is a lonely job, but I don’t get to talk to my victims that much. I just go in and kill them. Or, if I can’t kill them, I go in and wipe their minds. Same difference to me. In your case, well, it’d be a whole lot more fun. We’re trying to get the rest of your team and guess what? You’re the bait.” He laughed. “It’s always a pretty woman because men are so predictable.” He chuckled. “But it’s good for us. Oh, that’s right. You don’t even know who us are. Well, that’s because you guys are stupid and not very good at your jobs,” he replied, still laughing. “Our hacker said your system was all too easy to get into.”
Heart pounding, trying to ignore the fogginess in her brain and the pain in her body, Tasha waited, just listening, trying hard to pick up anything that would make sense or would help in some way. So far she found nothing of value. Except that she was being used as bait and moved to a new location, where they could try to draw in the men. Of course they would. Particularly Damon.
He would get pulled in and get hurt badly; she just knew it. She didn’t have any basis for it, but she sent out messages immediately, telling the guys to sacrifice her and to solve the larger problem instead because she was too far gone already.
Terk immediately responded to her, which just blew her away.
Stop the talk, focus, and keep your energy to yourself, in case anybody is reading what’s going on. I’ll only step in when and if I have no other way. Stay calm. We’re on it.
She lay here in absolute wonder, shocked that somebody could actually do what he’d just done. Hell, what she’d just done. Again it went back to not really understanding the work they did, but to know that this telepathy was even an option was stunning. More than that, it was, … well, honestly, it was quite scary. But Terk was on her side and for that she was damn glad.
She wanted to see this arrogant asshole die and even spit in his eye as he took a bullet. She didn’t realize how vindictive and mean she’d become, but seeing what was happening to the world around her and how these guys didn’t give a shit for human life had changed her. They were so busy trying to take out her and her team, and it had brought out the worst in her, something she wasn’t particularly happy about. But she’d deal with that afterward, when the panic wasn’t rising through her, knowing that the man she loved and one of the most respected men in her sphere were both riding to her rescue—and certain death.
When the vehicle turned a gentle corner and came to a rolling stop, she realized that they’d reached their destination.
“Now,” her kidnapper murmured, “if you’re a good girl, I won’t have to torture you.” He paused. “But, if you’ll give me trouble, then you can expect to get beat up some.”
Instantly she froze and then nodded quietly.
“Smart. At least, they hired some staff who actually think for themselves,” he replied, with a laugh. “Too bad we had to knock y’all off. Because, well, no way we could let anybody live. That’s just not part of the job. And anybody who signs up for the type of work you do knows that already.”
She wanted to scream in outrage because she hadn’t ever thought of something like this being her end, but then neither had Wilson or Mera. Tasha didn’t say anything; she just waited until he opened up a door that slid to the side. I must be in a delivery van. Then she was grabbed by the feet and dragged halfway across the floor of the vehicle. At the edge she was dropped to her feet. “Now you can stand up. Your hands are tied, but your feet will be free in a sec.” She felt a release of pressure around her ankles.
“You give me any guff,” he told her, “and I’ll pop you one.”
She had no doubt he meant that.
He walked her forward, and she felt the air change as they entered a building.
He muttered, “The damn alarm should have been on, but no worries. I know it takes time and energy to keep that shield up, and nobody has really got energy to spare right now. It makes sense that he would shut it down. I just hope that’s all he’s done.”
She tried to listen to her kidnapper, but she was sending messages as fast as she could to Terk, hoping that somebody was picking them up. Damon was a receiver too, so she immediately started sending him messages. Stay away. It’s a trap. Stay away. It’s a trap!
Terk popped into her mind again. Stop. You’ll cause trouble. Keep your energy to yourself.
She immediately shut it down. She had a lot to learn, but this would damn well be the last time that they kept this type of shit from her. If Terk could talk to her this way, they could all talk to her this way. Particularly when they were out on jobs. That she was just now finding out about it was absolute bullshit.
Laughter entered her mind, and Damon stepped in. I’ll remember that, he noted. Stay quiet and calm. We’re coming.
Like hell, it’s a trap.
What you don’t know, he told her quietly, is who is prepared to trap whom here. So please stay calm, behave, and don’t get yourself beat up.