Conviction (18 page)

Chapter 21 - James

“How did we not get to her in time? Fuck!” James ripped his hands through his hair violently, frustrated at his inability to protect Kelly.

“I know this is hard, I never thought he would have enough time to get her to his compound before we landed.”

“We can't just walk in there and tell him to hand her over, he's going to laugh at us.” James sunk utterly defeated into the hotel armchair. “If he kills us then she has no hope at all.”

“I need to make some calls, I've got more favours to call in.” Xander left the room, the click of the door leaving James feeling more alone then he had ever felt before.

Sitting in the chair for an hour, staring at the buildings that surrounded their hotel, James continued to try and figure out ways to free Kelly
and
have them all walk away alive. He came up with nothing. Nothing but a bunch of ideas that he and Xander had already decided were far too risky.

Looking around the room he noticed Kelly's laptop sitting open on the table.

“What the hell,” he said to the empty room. “It can't hurt.”

He turned it on and immediately went into her emails. He was shocked to see that she had several obviously from Devlin. He looked at the date and time and realised that she had received the photos and emails just after the massage session in his dungeon. His pants began to get tight as he remembered how she had come undone for him. It had been the most beautiful sight he had ever experienced and he had brought many women to orgasm in his time. But Kelly giving in to him, submitting her body for him to please her had been the singular most amazing experience he had ever had.

He clicked on one of the emails and quickly read it.

You left her here for me to do as I please. Nobody but these men know that she even exists. There is NOBODY to save her. NOBODY will save her.

I will let her go.

Message me to find out and do NOT tell anyone about this email. Not Sarge or that do-gooder friend of yours James. I will know.

You are being watched. Not everyone is who they seem.

As he was about to close the email, he saw a small symbol in the corner. If he didn't know what it was he wouldn't have even noticed it. That one small symbol meant that someone was tracking Kelly's emails and internet usage. Who the hell was it?

Kelly had never mentioned noticing anyone following her, let alone getting access to her laptop. He thought back and quickly rang Sarge. Outside of work, Kelly had limited contact with people. Her only other outlet had been Climax, Sarge's gym.

Five minutes later he had only one name on the list that had joined up after Kelly had. The name surprised him. He already knew who he was, and hoped that the next call he made would shed some light on what was the hell was going on.

“Why the fuck have you got a trace on Kelly Ashley?” He barked down the phone without even waiting for the man on the other end to say hello. There was silence on the line as the other man contemplated his options.

“First, I'm not a liberty to discuss this with you. Secondly, if you want to help her you will stay away from Devlin King's compound. And thirdly, how the fuck did you find me?”

“You left a trail in her emails, a little bit sloppy for a cop don't you think?” James practically growled down the phone. “Plus, if you knew this was happening why didn't you stop him
before
he got his hands on her? What the fuck are you playing at anyway? You obviously know what this monster did to her the first time around, imagine what is happening to her now!”

“Look, James,” he must have had a trace on his phone as well, James hadn't given him any personal details during their short conversation. “As I have already said, I'm not at liberty to discuss this with you. If you want to help her, stay away from Devlin King.”

“How did you find out about the little girl?”

“I'm not at liberty to discuss it with you.”

“Look you fucker, I can
help
! I know more about her and Devlin King than you'll ever be able to dig up. Read us in, let us help.”

“James that just isn't an option right now.” There was some yelling in the background and Chase quickly terminated the call. “I have to go. Stay
away
from Devlin, James. For Kelly.”

“What was that about?” Xander said as he walked quietly back into James' room, a file and his own laptop in his arms.

“Did you run a background check on Chase Alexander?”

“Of course I did, as soon as he joined up at Climax. Why?”

“He's a fucking cop. They're running a case involving Devlin King. Fucker told me to stay away and do nothing.”

“Shit.” Xander dumped his things on the table and slumped into a chair.

The two men sat silently until James walked over to the mini fridge and pulled out four tiny bottles of scotch. For the price of them he could buy at least a whole bottle but he needed something now. He needed something to take the edge off his anguish and turmoil. He needed Kelly.

“Xander...I'm...” James cracked open the lid on his second bottle and drank it down in one mouthful. “Fuck man...I'm in love with her.”

“I know, James,” Xander countered. “I know.”

Chapter 22 – Kelly

Kelly felt each bump as they dragged her along the floor by her arms. Her body was battered, used and abused, each ridge in the carpet felt like sandpaper on her sensitised skin. When she was finally dumped onto a cold wooded floor she didn't even have the energy to open her eyes. She was done. He'd won this time. She had no determination left. No will to live. Her reason for surviving this long was gone in the most brutal of fashion.

The thick metal slave collar that bound her neck filled her nostrils with the acrid scent of rusty metal, the chain dragged beneath her body. Both her wrists and her ankles were cuffed with similar metal restraints, each tight enough to dig into her skin.

One of her eyes was swollen shut, she had at least one broken rib and multiple cuts and lacerations on various parts of her body. Not to mention her broken nose. She didn't even know what Devlin had used on her. But whatever it had been, he finally broken her. Not just her body. But her mind too.

“You look disgusting, whore.” Devlin barked at her. “Not that I don't like seeing you in pain, but wow...I never thought even I could make you look so...
unappealing.
”

Good
, she thought,
maybe he will leave me alone for a while
.

“Something's changed with you, whore. Tell me what.” Devlin snarled at her as he roughly removed the strands of hair that covered her face.

Kelly said nothing. She knew if she antagonised him enough he would lose the ounce of control he had over his anger. Then maybe he would finally finish her off.

“I said tell me!” He boomed at her.

Still she stayed silent, her breathing shallow and rough the only emotion she showed was the single tear she couldn't contain and it rolled slowly down her face. Devlin licked at it. His feral tongue wiping it away, his rotten breath scorching her face.

Then, just as she thought he was finally going to lose it, he stood up and stepped away, pulling his ringing phone out of his pocket.

“What!” he yelled at the caller. “This is what I pay
you
for. I shouldn't have to be interrupted to deal with this shit. I've got
better
things to be doing with my time. Consider yourself fired. Put Roman on the line.” There was a small pause before Kelly heard a vaguely familiar voice talk down the line.

Who was that?
She thought. She
knew
that voice. Devlin was only a metre or so away from her so Kelly concentrated on phone and the possibility that she had been betrayed by someone she trusted.

“Roman you're taking over from that incompetent fool. Take care of it. I expect a full report in an hour.” Devlin slammed his phone down onto a nearby table and growled. “Consider yourself lucky that I have other matters to deal with. But rest assured, you ignorant whore, you and I will be reacquainted very,
very
soon.”

Before he left Devlin picked up the chain that connected to the collar around her neck and secured it to a lock in the floor. He then took her arms and ankles, chaining them together so that she was hog tied and helpless.

“Let's see if this loosens up your tongue.”

Kelly said nothing. Her mind in overdrive as she realised that something other than Devlin getting her back was going on. There was so much more to this than she knew and she was determined to find out what.

Chapter 23 – James

His heart soared as he watched Kelly tie her perfect red hair up in a high pony tail, letting it swish through her fingers before she donned her boxing wraps. He watched the taught muscles of her back move under her porcelain skin with each controlled movement of her arms.

Slowly she looked over her shoulder and smiled at him, she bit her bottom lip before lowering her eyes and blushing before turning and walking away from him.

James called out to her, begging her to wait, begging her to stop because he had something important to tell her. But she didn't stop. She walked through a blackened door and when he tried to run after her it turned to blood. He desperately reached into the warm flow clawing at nothing but the viscous, red fluid.

“Kelly!” James sat up in his hotel bed, alone, sweat dripping from his body and the last of Kelly's name tearing from his lips. Quickly he stripped and headed for the shower. Consequences be dammed, he was going in after her now. To get to her they were going to have to kill him.

After he showered he dressed in his black night op clothing. Left over from his military days, he never thought he would ever pull it on again. Reaching into his black duffle bag, he started to load the various pockets and patches with guns, knives, zip ties, lock picks and anything else he thought he would need. He also readied two morphine syringes hoping that Kelly wouldn't need them, but also knowing deep down she would probably welcome them.

As soon as he was ready, he quickly wrote a note to Xander telling him he had to go to her. To try and help her. Knowing that he was most likely going to his death, he also jotted down the name of his lawyer and his contact details. Xander was set to inherit everything he had. It might not be much, but he really didn't have anyone else to leave the small amount he had collected over his lifetime.

He quietly opened the door to his room and realised that his game was up. Standing directly across from him, wearing identical clothes to his own and leaning against the wall with his legs crossed was Xander.

“Seriously, what the hell took you so long?”

James smiled before walking over and hugging his oldest and best friends. Sometimes, even when he didn't know it, he needed help. For Kelly, he would shove down his stupid manly pride and accept whatever help he could get. He trusted Xander, trusted him with his life. And where Devlin King was involved. He would need all the help he could get.

After hiring a car the two men set off for Devlin's compound. Xander had managed to somehow get a hold of the blueprints for the massive building that Devlin called his home. One of them anyway. The man had houses all over the country and overseas. All bought with blood money gained from buying and selling young girls as slaves to wealthy men who saw them as dispensable.

They formulated the beginning of a plan and James tried to hack into Devlin's state of the art security system as Xander drove. Just as he was about to throw the laptop out of the car he nailed it.

“I'm in, pull over.”

Xander complied immediately and pulled off the dark country road they were travelling on. They would be coming up to the compound from behind. Based on the blueprints, this side of the house had more entry points. And based on the information that James now had at his fingertips, Devlin didn't have each point manned with his psychotic guards.

He'd quickly flicked through the security teams profiles. Each one more lethal and deranged than the last. Devlin wasn't only a sick son of a bitch but he surrounded himself with men who wouldn't think twice about killing anyone they were ordered to. In fact, most of them would even enjoy it.

“Open up the security feed, we need to try and locate Kelly before we go in there. I'm hoping we can get in and out with minimal noise. We will be gone before they even realise we were there.”

“Xander...I'm not sure that's going to happen. Look.” James turned the laptop towards Xander and prayed that his overly intelligent friend would have some ideas on how to get past the guards, dogs and security system.

On the screen were eight different rooms, but the one both men concentrated on was the one where Kelly was. Even in black and white, there was no mistaking the markings on her body. She was trussed up like a fucking animal. Her wrists and ankles bound together with heavy metal cuffs. A thick collar wrapped around her neck, secured to the floor with thick links of chain. Two guards stood at two entry points. Both armed with semi-automatic rifles and they never took their eyes off Kelly.

“Fuck, James.”

“We've been in worse situations, remember.”

“Yeah, but we were the only ones to get out of those, don't forget how many men we left behind.”

“The point is nothing is impossible. We're trained to get in and out as quickly and efficiently as possible. If I didn't think we stood a chance, there is no way I'd let you come in there with me.” James said.

“Let me? Are you serious? What sort of friend would I be if I let you go in there alone? She's one of our girls. Hell, that little red head has gotten under the skin of most of our male employees. Kai is out for blood because I won’t tell him what Kelly is doing. He knows she's not really your sub and he threatened to quit yesterday unless I told him what was really going on.”

“What did you tell him?”

“To mind his own fucking business. I left him in charge of the place until we get back. He told me not to bother coming back without her or he'd hunt us down himself.”

“Did you leave him any breadcrumbs to follow?”

“Only if we need it and only if he goes looking.”

“Good. Our unit was covert and black ops, but his didn't even exist in normal military channels. Unless you were in the know, there is no record
he
was never a part of it.”

“His IQ is ridiculously high, he has tech skills that would most likely rival you, and his combat skills are off the chart. There was a reason we hired him and it wasn't because he was eye candy for the subs.”

The men quietly studied the feed, clicking on individual images and matching the rooms up to the blueprints in front of them. Xander held his torch in his mouth so he could make notes on the delicate paper.

An hour later, the sun started to peep over the horizon, lighting up the sky in different shades of red and orange. James had only ever seen one sunrise that rivalled this one, and it was the day he lost ten men in combat. Ten men who never went home to their wives and families. Ten whose family would never know how they really died.

James ran his fingers through his hair before part of one of the feeds caught his eye.

“Here! See that? That's our in.”

Xander nodded and marked the blueprints once again before turning the car over and heading straight for Devlin's compound. Neither spoke until they pulled up a few kilometres short and got out, preparing themselves to walk the rest of the way.

“Let’s go get your girl back.” Xander said as he turned and walked into the dense bush that surrounded the compound.