aHunter4Trust (4 page)

She forced back her revulsion.

“Do you hate us so much?”

“Quite the opposite.” George flung his
jacket onto the couch. “The problem is that most woman won’t give me what I
want. I like it rough. Women are ashamed that pain could give them pleasure and
they cry foul.”

“So you drug them?”

“It’s easier than foreplay.” George walked
over to a cabinet and opened the doors. His back was to her so she tried to
stand. When her legs wouldn’t work, she dropped to her knees and crawled. She
had barely made it past the living area when George hauled her back by her
hair.

Pain screeched through her scalp.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He had a
video camera in his free hand and he was aiming at her. “It’s time for your big
shoot.”

He pulled her back to the center of the
room where a large black area rug covered the floor. He placed her in the
center and set up his camera on a tripod before undoing his belt. The sound of
him snapping it sent terror and revulsion through Tamsin.

She was helpless.

He brought the belt up to her chin.

“Do you like it rough Tamsin?” His voice
sent a chill through her.

She shook her head. “Don’t do this.”

“I’ll take that as a no.” He stood up and
pulled his shirt off. “That’s good. I like it when they try and fight me.”

“You’re sick.”

“Maybe, but you’re not going to get out of
here alive. You should have finished your wine.”

“No.” Tamsin throat went dry as the
implication of his words became clear. He was going to kill her.

“I can’t afford to have women remembering
and going to the police.” George ran the edge of his belt down her cheek. “That
means I can do anything I like to you, and believe me, I have a vivid
imagination.”

“Let me go and I swear I won’t tell anyone
what you threatened to do.”

“Where would the fun be in that?” George’s
fingers moved down the bodice of her gown. “Besides, the dead can’t speak.”

Tamsin struggled to push away. She couldn’t
feel her feet and when she tried to move, nothing happened. She balled her
fingers into a fist and raised her arm to hit George. He laughed.

“Is this what you want to do?” He slapped
her face, sending her head reeling backwards.

Pain seared through her.

George grabbed the silk of her dress and
yanked. It ripped down the middle, exposing her lace bra underneath. She
struggled to cover herself, but her hands refused to obey. Her stomach churned
with nausea and a part of her wished she’d drank more of the wine. It was only
a fleeting thought. Anger burned through her and she used the last surge of her
strength to bring her knee up into George’s groin.

He howled in agony before he pulled her up
to her knees and dragged her over to the chair. He bent her over the chair arm
and pulled her dress up over her shoulders. He pushed her face into the cushion
and kept a hand on her neck so that she couldn’t move. Every nerve in her body
cried out at in outrage over the violation, yet she was powerless to fight.

The image of Darrogh came into her mind.

She swore she could hear his voice reassuring
her that he would be there.

He would never have let something like this
happen to her. She was in this predicament because she’d put her trust in the
wrong man. What a fool she’d been. It was her own fault. She struggled once
more to rear her body off the chair. George was too strong for her. There was
no escape.

She was going to be violently raped.

Then she’d be murdered.

Inaction was fueling Darrogh’s frustration.

The purr of the van’s engine was a constant
reminder that they were no closer to finding Tamsin now, than ten minutes ago.
They had the CCTV video from the bar and the alley, but no real clue as to
where Tamsin had gone.

“There.” Savis pointed at his computer.

Darrogh glanced over his shoulder and
nodded. “Can you read the licence of the vehicle she’s getting into?”

“I’m already searching for it.” Images were
flashing on the screen where Kerm was working. “I’ll have an address in a few
minutes.”

“Good.” Darrogh exhaled a breath.

“She has probably gone home.” Firbin spoke
for the first time since they had entered the van. “She told me she wanted time
alone.”

Darrogh glanced over at the young warrior
and nodded. “I hope you are right.”

“We cannot assume that.” Savis’s voice was
low. “We were hired to protect so that means she is in danger from someone.
This might be that person.”

Darrogh’s hands tightened into fists. He
had been a soldier too long to rely on things going smoothly. Tamsin was a
difficult woman to guard, yet that did not excuse his failure. If she wanted to
be alone and escape them, it was because she was uncomfortable with his skills.

The van door opened and Breanon entered.
He’d kept his watch across the street until Darrogh was certain that Tamsin was
not returning to the Club. There was no doubt that she had left with the man
that Firbin had seen her talking to in the Club.

Now they had to find her.

“Firbin, and Jehon go to Tamsin’s house.”
Darrogh turned to the warriors. “If she is there, make certain she stays
there.”

The men jumped out of the van.

“You believe she is in trouble.” Savis’s
words were a statement.

“My instinct has never been wrong.”

“We will find her.” Kerm’s fingers raced
across his keyboard. “A Hunter does not fail.”

Darrogh clenched his jaw. “We will have to
cover our tracks. If the man she is with has harmed or touched her in any way
then he will answer to the Sacred Code.”

Breanon reached into the metal box beside
him and started pulling weapons out. He checked each pistol for bullets and
handed one to Darrogh and Savis. He then rested his rifle across his lap and
leaned back against the side of the van.

“I have already cleared the CCTV footage
showing us entering the club and Tamsin leaving.” Savis turned back to his
computer. “There will be no evidence of our presence.”

“Good. We need to keep our existence here
quiet. There are cameras inside the club. Make certain the footage for tonight
is also destroyed.”

Savis nodded. “It has been done.”

“Got him.” Kerm announced. “The vehicle is
registered to a George Saxby. He has a flat in Knightsbridge.”

“Drive there.” Darrogh put his gun into his
waistband. “Savis do a search on Mr. Saxby.”

“Already started.” Savis frowned at his
laptop. “He attended the same school as Tamsin. He also works with finances.”

Darrogh looked at the picture of the man on
the computer screen. He had dark hair and brown eyes, pleasant features that
humans would consider handsome. Darrogh did not trust the deadness in his eyes.
That might be the trick of the photographer, though.

“Firbin said that she recognized him.”

Savis looked up from his computer. “He owns
the building where his flat is and I cannot find any other residents there.”

“Good.” Darrogh held onto his seat as the
Kerm pulled away from the curb. “We will not have to worry about witnesses.
What about security cameras?”

“I’m searching the database now.”

Five minutes later Savis spoke. “I have the
vehicle arriving at the address. It is underground parking and I cannot see if
she is with him.”

“She is there.”

Darrogh could feel her in his bones. Her
fear and horror were racing through him. He had never connected with another
like this before. He hoped it was because this was the first time he had been
responsible for a woman’s safety. Any other reason was unacceptable to him.
Darrogh still followed the rules that had governed his life before landing on
Earth.

Women were forbidden to Hunters.

“Knock out the security cameras and the
CCTV in the area.” Darrogh’s voice hardened. “If you cannot see if he has a
passenger, then no one else will either.”

“Done.”

Silence filled the van until Kerm came to a
stop.

“Kerm stay here. We will get Tamsin.”
Darrogh nodded to his men.

They picked up their weapons and exited the
vehicle. It was a cool, summer night with only a slight mist in the air. Fog would
have given them better cover, but it was not to be. Darrogh led the men to the
large warehouse where the car had been seen entering. There was no obvious
front entryway, so they made their way along the side. In the rear, there was a
large loading dock door.

A computer pad lock was beside it.

Darrogh motioned to Savis who went to the
security lock. Within minutes, he had the door opened and they entered the
darkened building. It took a couple of seconds to focus their eyes before they
could see. It was one of the benefits of this planet. Hunters had already been
genetically modified for improved night vision. Earth made it that much better.

There was a lift, and beside it, stairs.
Darrogh started up the steps. An elevator would only alert someone to their
coming, and surprise was their best weapon. They stopped at the first floor,
Savis and Breanon waited with guns ready while Darrogh opened the door. There
were construction tools scattered throughout a large open surface.

They exited and moved up to the next
landing.

It too was empty.

In total they searched five floors before
they came to the sixth. It was the last one in the building. Tamsin had to be
here. There were no other places to search. Darrogh leaned against the wall
beside the door and took a deep breath. He was just about to open the door when
he received a mind connection from Firbin.

“
We are at Tamsin’s house. She isn’t
here.
”

Darrogh closed his eyes for a second before
replying. “
We have found the man she left with. We will make certain she is
safe.
”

Darrogh turned the handle.

They entered a hallway.

There was only one other door and the lift.
This was the only floor that had been renovated, so it had to be George Saxby’s
home. Darrogh looked up, noting the two security cameras on the ceiling. One
was aimed at the lift and the other at the door. He signalled to Breanon, who
used his rifle to push the cameras up to the ceiling. Darrogh did not want to
take the chance that they would be seen coming.

He turned the knob of the entrance door.

It was unlocked.

Saxby was a fool if he thought that he was
safe. Darrogh pushed through the opening and then crept into the flat. Breanon
and Savis followed, moving out on each side of him. They moved forward in
unison, scanning the room as they made their way to the area of the floor that
was lighted.

There was the sound of a hand slapping bare
skin.

Ahead, Darrogh could see two people. A man
who was holding a woman by the back of her neck over the edge of a chair arm.
He could not see if it were Tamsin, but the dress was the same color as the one
she had been wearing this evening. There was no struggle, so the woman might be
a willing participant. He could not take that chance.

Darrogh controlled his breathing.

He inched his way closer.

“Stop,” he said as he placed his pistol on
the man’s temple.

“What the hell?” The man started to turn
and Darrogh pulled back the trigger of his gun. “Do not move.”

“How did you get in?”

“No lock can stop a Hunter.” Darrogh’s
voice was cold. “Turn around slowly.”

The man raised his hands and turned. He was
tall for a human, but still shorter than Darrogh. He was the same man who owned
the vehicle Tamsin had driven away in. He was bare-chested and the zipper was
down on his pants.

The woman’s dress was over her head and she
made no attempt to cover herself. She did not move or speak. Darrogh pulled her
dress down. It was obvious that Saxby had intended to have sex with her.

He did not know if it was consensual.

He grabbed George Saxby by the shoulder and
threw him at Breanon. Breanon trained his rifle on Saxby, who backed himself up
against a side table. Only when the man was under their control did Darrogh
look at the woman. He knelt beside her and turned her face so he could see if
it were Tamsin. It was only a formality because from the moment they had
entered the flat, he had known she was there. There was a red mark across her
cheek and tears running down her face. His thumb brushed the tears away. Her
eyes were still filled with terror.

“Do you want us to leave?”

“Of course she does.” Saxby shouted. “You
idiots have ruined everything.”

“Please.” The word was so faint that
Darrogh had to bend closer to hear. “Help.”

Her words were slurred, but unmistakable.

“Kill him.” Darrogh stood.

“What?” Saxby sputtered. “You can’t get
away with that.”

Darrogh lifted Tamsin off the chair. The
bodice of her dress was torn so he took his jacket off and put it around her
shoulders before easing her back into the chair. She didn’t resist him. Neither
did she help. He frowned and looked at her eyes. They were bloodshot and she
could barely keep them open.

“What did you drug her with?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“I can make your death quick and painless,
or drag it out. Which would you prefer?”

“Neither.” Saxby crossed his arms over his
bare chest and clamped his mouth shut.

“Search the place.” Darrogh ordered. “Start
with the kitchen and the bottle on the counter.”

Savis opened cupboards and in a few minutes
he held up a bag of white pills. “It is Rohypnol.”

The man had no honor. Worse, he had done
harm to a woman. The Sacred Code was very clear about the consequences. George
Saxby would die for what he had done to Tamsin.

“Hey, it was only a joke.” Saxby’s voice
was a whine. “I never meant to do anything, just scare her a bit.”

Darrogh looked at the video camera mounted
on a tripod. “You were filming this?”

“Broadcasting.” Saxby straightened his
shoulders. “Everyone on the internet has seen what you’ve done.”

“I doubt it.” Savis picked the camera up
and pulled the memory card from it. “The camera is not connected to a network.”

“Search his flat. I want his computer and
any other evidence of his activity. No one can trace this back to Tamsin.”

Savis nodded and pocketed the memory card
before he started searching the bookcases that lined one wall of the apartment.
Darrogh flipped open the computer on his desk and searched the files. What he
saw turned his stomach. Tamsin was not his first victim. There were dozens of
video clips of women being abused and drugged.

This man’s actions had condemned him.

“There is more here.” Savis had opened a
locked cupboard.

Darrogh left the computer and went to
Savis. There were memory cards, video tapes and discs. All of them had labels
with women’s names on them. It was a neat and orderly library of George Saxby’s
evil.

“Make sure there is nothing with Tamsin’s
name on it.” Darrogh turned back to Saxby. “I do not want the police making any
connection with her and this monster.”

Darrogh walked over to Saxby who was now
standing with his hands behind his back. “You have broken every code that I
live by.”

“I took what they were offering.” Saxby
sneered. “They strut around in dresses that barely cover them. They want to
entice us. All I do is give them what they’re asking for.”

“A crime against a woman is never
tolerated.”

“A good lawyer will get me off.” Saxby
shrugged. “You can’t prove that I’ve done anything worse than have sex with
these women.”

Disgust filled Darrogh. The man showed no
remorse or regret. He would never see that his actions were wrong. His abuse
must stop and there was only one way to ensure that.

“I am not bound by your laws.” Darrogh
leaned close to Saxby. “To defile a woman is punishable by death.”

Saxby’s eyes widened and he took a step
back, moving his arm forward as he did so.

Cold metal pressed into Darrogh’s side.

The fool thought he could kill a Hunter. He
was a mere human and his reflexes were too slow. Before he could pull the
trigger, Darrogh had grabbed the gun and pushed it up and away from him. It was
now pointed under Saxby’s head.