Nakia froze with apprehension. Alex, probably sensing her angst, started screaming and clutching her tightly as the man got close to them. He was so hysterical that the man stopped and looked back at the Russian for guidance.
The Russian hissed with annoyance and started muttering in his language. “At least take her watch. I heard they did some shit with that.”
Nakia hastily slid her Fitbit off her hand and gave it to the man hovering next to her.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here before those Ragnarson bastards return,” he ordered.
Nakia almost fainted in relief on hearing that Justin and Colt were still alive somewhere. And then the devastation of Imani’s death rocked through her again. She blinked rapidly to keep her tears at bay. She had to be strong for the baby. Squaring her shoulders with a new resolve, she remained rooted to the spot despite the male hand on her arm trying to get her to move. “Let me leave the baby here. He can get cranky when we take him from the house.”
“Either we take the kid, or we kill him. Your choice,” the Russian told her coldly. “And you’d better keep that brat quiet, or we will quiet him for you.” He pulled her along, and Nakia didn’t resist this time.
Nakia clutched Alex to her, vowing at that moment to protect him at all cost. As the men escorted them from the house at gunpoint, Nakia wished that she could close her eyes to the horror of the many dead and injured bodies they passed along the way to the waiting SUVs lining the driveway.
The Russian stopped abruptly and calmly shot the few men she had identified as Americans.
Hiding Alex’s face against her, Nakia bit back the scream and bile that rose in her throat at the senseless killing. They continued the parade to the SUVs after as though nothing had happened.
They had only been in the car for about ten minutes when her phone started vibrating in her pocket. With Alex now asleep against her side, his little body not only hid her gun but also hid her phone. She only hoped that in their haste to leave, the men continued in their negligence of checking her for weapons and continued to dismiss her as a threat.
Chapter Fourteen
“Motherfucker, you’d better hope nothing happens to my son or even your mother won’t recognize your ass when I’m done with you,” Colt roared.
“I don’t know who these guys are,” Baldacci whined. “No one was supposed to die! Fuck, they killed my men! You think I’d help them after that? Whoever did that is an animal! And there sure as fuck was no plan to take your son! We don’t mess with kids, man. That’s not how we work. You have to believe me.”
“Well, someone had the bright idea to do all this shit because you ran your mouth about my wife. So, I’m still going to fuck you up for this!”
Justin remained stonily silent during the running exchange between Colt and the asshole Baldacci. He hadn’t been able to think straight since they arrived at Colt’s house and walked into their worst nightmare. He’d been in war zones that had been easier to stomach.
Colt had lost his shit when they’d found Imani unconscious on the floor of their bombed-out bedroom. At first, they’d thought she was dead. Colt had been like a mad man and had moved most of the debris she’d been trapped under by himself.
“What the fuck? Imani?” His voice was clogged with tears. He gently shook the shoulders of her limp body. “Baby?” Tears rolled down his cheeks. “Come on, baby. Wake up!” His grief was palpable, and Justin fought hard to hold his shit together.
Justin and Mac stood next to Colt’s bent figure as he clutched Imani against his chest, his arms almost crushing her. Tears continued to stream down Colt’s face. Justin got down on his knees beside him and gently placed his hand over Colt’s. “Let me take a look, Colt.”
“No! No!” Colt shook his hand away. He buried his face against Imani’s with huge sobs of pain.
Justin couldn’t help the tears that came to his eyes on hearing his brother’s gut-wrenching sorrow. “Let me see her, brother.” With some basic medical training and out of necessity, he had sometimes been the medic for his Special Forces unit. He wanted to try to help his brother now.
Colt reluctantly allowed him to examine Imani. It took awhile, but Justin eventually found the slight pulse and the bloodied bruised spot in the back of her head. “She’s alive,” he whispered. “Her pulse is weak, but there’s some swelling and bruising here that could explain her unconsciousness. We need to get her out of the dust and rubble. I can take a better look at it then.”
His words only seemed to make Colt more anguished, but this time Justin was happy to see the hope return to his brother’s watery gaze. Things moved fast after that. Tending the swollen area, clearing her air passage, and getting her cleaned up took almost an hour. However, in that time, they had also taken stock of the damages, the lost lives, and most devastating fact that both Nakia and Alex were missing.
One of the guards who’d been badly hurt but would survive his injuries told them that Nakia and Alex were taken by a group of men. The news of that had made Baldacci laugh.
Wrong move.
Colt had been on him in seconds.
“You authorized this? You killed these people? Hurt my people? And took my son and Nakia?”
“Look, the mission was only to take your wife. We didn’t know the lawyer was here. I don’t know who authorized the taking of the lawyer and your son. I’m not into human trafficking, and that’s all they’d be good for.”
Baldacci almost choked on his own spit when Colt punched him in the throat.
Waiting for Baldacci to stop coughing and wheezing for air, Colt growled, “Someone gave that directive, bastard.”
The thought of Nakia in the hands of Baldacci’s men had been devastating enough, but now this was an unknown force, unknown enemy and that chilled him to the bone. Justin was clenching his teeth so hard he couldn’t speak. With the assholes having his nephew and his woman, they weren’t taking any chances.
When Imani finally regained consciousness, she was a mother bear on a warpath. The fact that the men had used C-4 explosives to gain access to the property infuriated her more than anything. Their complete lack of care for human life pushed the scales. And while they’d only been determined to teach Baldacci and his men a lesson, they had to now change their assessment to something more permanent for this new crew.
Imani had a tracking device on Alex. Justin, Colt, Imani, and Mac got back into the SUV with Colt’s few remaining men in separate cars behind them and a few of Mac’s agents bringing up the rear. With the scare for Imani fresh in their mind, there were no limits, no restraint.
“The only thing I want to hear from you, you pig, is the names,” Imani muttered. She stared at Baldacci as though she’d tear him apart with her bare hands. “We know where they are, but we need to know what the fuck we’re dealing with.”
“I don’t understand why you can’t make us the damn weapons!” Despite his situation, sitting with his hands cuffed between Mac and Colt, he was still trying to negotiate for weapons as though he expected to get out of this.