Killing Honor (16 page)

“Where are they taking Brody?”

“To the basement,” Jane replied. “As long as he cooperates, you will remain my guest in the house.”

“Jane—”

“It’s Marie, actually.”

Of course it was. Jane was too plain a name for this woman. I was surprised I hadn’t seen it before now. She’d been a really good actor.

The driver opened the back door next to Marie, who got out and then motioned for me to follow. I slid across the seat and stood, taking in my surroundings. The courtyard had been cleared of all vegetation except grass, and up against the house, colorful flowers lined the walls. The house itself was three stories, lots of windows and several balconies.

Marie spoke with a couple of the men who came out of the house. These men were different, dressed in suits and ties, instead of uniforms and masks. She nodded to something they said and walked back to me.

“Come along, Devyn.” She gripped my upper arm and pulled me toward the house.

“Where are we?”

“Safe house that belongs to my father.” She didn’t elaborate more and I was too terrified to ask.

Opulence was understating this house’s interior. A crystal chandelier was the centerpiece of the room we entered, with vaulted ceilings surrounding it. Leather couches, two of them faced each other, with two recliners placed at each end of the coffee table the couches surrounded.

My flip-flops were loud as they echoed through the room. Jane pushed me toward the nearest recliner. “Sit.” I sunk into the chair. She continued walking, slipping through the door across from where we’d entered. The house was silent. There were men at the door where we’d come in, wearing suits like the ones she’d spoken with outside.

I worried for Brody. Where had they taken him? Where was the basement? What were they going to do him there? I assumed that this had to do with his work, and it terrified me that I’d been talking to someone who was the enemy for over a year. I’d considered Jane—Marie—a friend. A close friend. I’d confided in her. I’d trusted her.

I had to survive this. I had to. For Brody. For Riley and Jackie.

I fought the tears that bubbled forth at the thought of my children. They were safe. They were with Vera. Surely, when we came up missing, and we probably had by now, Brody’s team would check on her and the girls.

Marie came back into the room and at down in the chair across from me. She folded her hands together. The gun was out of sight now, but I didn’t dare think that she didn’t carry one. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, Devyn. I’m sorry this had to involve you.”

“What am I doing here?”

“In essence, you are… insurance.”

“For Brody.”

“Yes. He has a lot of information we need. Having you here will… loosen his tongue a bit, I believe.”

“You lied to me. You tricked me.”

“Brody Battles is one of the few men on his team that is married. It was fortunate that he was so young as well, because he also married someone that is just as young. You’re impressionable, love. You were the easiest way in.”

“I’m just a mark.”

“Unfortunately, he tipped his hand too early. The plan was to take him. Not you.”

“But he called to warn me.”

“His team wouldn’t have told you he was missing. He would left on another assignment, and you’d have been none the wiser.”

“Why was I the mark and not say, another wife?” I didn’t know why I kept asking these questions. I didn’t really want to know the answer, but in some perverse way, I had to.

Marie sighed. “Devyn, love, you’re barely an adult. You’re twenty-three. You’ve been married since you were seventeen to your childhood sweetheart, and you have two very young children. Most women would be easy marks in that situation. And I’m very good at what I do.”

I stood up and walked to the window. I crossed my arms, feeling dirty and betrayed. Her eyes were on me even though I wasn’t looking at her. Beyond us, the green grass stretched for acres. There were patches of yellow here and there, signaling the coming change of season, but for the most part, it was bright and blissful and ignorantly happy. I wanted to be that happy again.

“Devyn.” I turned. Marie was still sitting in the chair. “You need to prepare yourself. Brody Battles was our target. You will survive this, provided that you behave yourself, and do as you’re told. Eventually, we will release you. But… it’s very likely that you will not see your husband again.”

The finality of those words crashed down around me. I crossed my arms, hugging my midsection. Every bit of my being was terrified for my life. For Brody’s life. I couldn’t speak. I didn’t want to. If I did, I was going to fall apart, and I would not shame my husband like that by crying in front of his enemies.

Brody

It was cold and damp, wherever I was. I’d been blindfolded as soon as Devyn and I had been separated. The blindfold was gone now, but it was dark. A sliver of sunlight filtered in from the window near the ceiling, just enough for me to make out the room I was in.

It was like something out of a movie. Rough rope surrounded my wrists, too tight for comfort. I didn’t think my circulation to my fingers was completely cut off, but already they were tingling. The ropes led up to the ceiling where they were suspended from large D-rings. It kept me spread open, my chest and midsection exposed.

The large wooden door opened, a squeak of the hinges and a deep and loud thud as it hit the wall. Light flooded the room, even more as the man approaching me flipped on the lights. Dark hair fell over his eyes, those dark pools of ebony and malevolence. I knew him on sight, since the team had pictures of all the Giroux offspring.

Alex Giroux stopped a few feet away. Two men stood behind him, carrying sidearms strapped to their thighs. There were two types of thugs working for Giroux Enterprises. There were the grunts, hired mercenaries and soldiers recruited from military around the world. And there were the suits, who traveled around with the executive levels of Giroux’s organization, but still carried out the dirty work that the family didn’t want to sully their hands with.

“Hello, Mr. Battles.”

“Where is my wife?” Normally, I would have played stupid and pretended that whatever female agent was with me wasn’t a big deal, but Marie Giroux had been around Devyn for a year. There was no pretending now. They had me, and they knew it.

The corner of Alex’s mouth tilted upward in a half-smile. “Upstairs, enjoying our hospitality with Marie.”

“She’s not part of this. She doesn’t know anything. Please, just… let her go.”

“Interesting that you start this off with a plea,” Alex replied. He had a French accent, which surprised me. Marie’s accent was definitely British. Perhaps Giroux was so paranoid that he’d separated his children growing up. “You know what I want. SEAL Team Thirteen. I want to know it all.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I lied, but of course, he knew that. Whatever game he was playing, I didn’t want to play, because Devyn was somewhere nearby, and if I screwed up, it would cost her her life.

“Come now, Brody, you know that’s not true.” Marie Giroux strode into the room. Her brother and she shared a look. “I think we know more about you than you know about us.”

“Where’s Devyn?”

“She’s fine.” Marie stepped closer. She was in reach of me kicking the shit out of her, since my legs were still free, but I didn’t want to tip my advantage when I didn’t have a chance in hell of getting free of the room. “She’ll stay that way. I have no wish to harm her.”

“Then why bring her here?”

“Insurance, Brody. I know how resourceful you Americans can be. On your own, you could probably find a way to get free. But Devyn’s not like you. She can’t do the things that you will do to free yourself. She’s not a killer. Not like me. Not your teammates. Not like you. She can’t handle what we can dish out, if we choose to. But you won’t leave her here alone, will you?”

Fury steamed inside of me. There was no point in trying to lie.

“No. If you touch her, harm her in any way… There will be nowhere you can hide, Marie.”

Alex slammed his fist into my jaw. He gripped my chin and yanked my head so I had to look at him. “You will not threaten my sister. I will tear you apart.”

“You’re an asshole, Giroux.” I grumbled. Alex smiled and released me. My head felt as if it had been shaken to an inch of its life. My jaw throbbed and a small trickle of blood let me know my cheek had been cut.

“If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I have a guest to attend to. The journey here took quite a lot out of her.” Marie smiled, such malevolence I cursed myself for not seeing it sooner, like the first time I’d seen her sitting on my couch. But she’d hidden herself from view. Or had as much as she could. It had been enough.

“I’ve seen you before,” I called after her. She stopped in her tracks, and slowly turned to face me. “What was it? A year ago? Two? That raid in Brazil.”

“Eighteen months.” Her eyes hardened, all amusement gone. “It was eighteen months ago.”

I nodded. “I thought we killed you.”

“I don’t die that easy,” she sneered. “Nothing but a flesh wound.”

“I’ll have to try harder.”

She laughed. “I suggest not. Just remember… Devyn is upstairs. What happens to her is directly related to how cooperative you are.” She turned on her heels and left.

I remembered Alex’s presence as he popped his knuckles. I glanced at him. He grinned. “So, ready for some fun?”

“You’re too pretty for this kind of work, Alex.”

The man burst out laughing. “I’m not going to do the work.” Another man, his cheekbones and eyes matching Alex’s, walked into the room. “Have you met my brother, Rene, Mr. Battles? No?”

Alex stepped back as Rene surged forward and slammed a fist into my abdomen. Air left my body in a whoosh. It took a few seconds before I could catch my breath.

“He’s much better at extracting information than I am.” Alex stepped forward and grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him. “The best part is that you’ll be alive until he says he’s done. You’ll probably be singing long before then.”

~*~*~

Devyn

Time passed really slowly when you were alone with nothing to do. I suppose I should have been glad they didn’t lock me in some closet with my hands and feet tied. I wasn’t tied at all, actually. But the room I was in was locked, and there was very little around to use as a weapon. It was as if it was made for a prisoner.

There was a small twin bed in the corner, a nightstand to its right, but there was nothing in the drawers. I’d checked. The drawers didn’t even come all the way out. No window. I couldn’t even watch the outside world pass me by. Actually, it reminded me of a walk-in closet. A really large walk-in closet converted into a bedroom.

I think the waiting was the worst part. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was sitting in a small room waiting for the powers that be to make a decision as to what to do with me. I had no illusions that they’d let me go. They couldn’t afford for me to tell Brody’s team about them. So it remained that I needed to find my own way out.

“If you’re thinking of escape, I feel I should warn you, my men are trained to kill with one shot.”

I shot my head up to the doorway. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t even heard the door open. The dark-haired man with the high cheekbones stood there, leaning against the frame. “That was what you were thinking of, yes?”

I didn’t reply.

“You look terrified. No one is going to hurt you. At least, not at the moment.” He pushed off the doorway and saw down next to me on the bed. My heart raced, so unsure of what was going to happen. “Let me ask you something, Devyn Battles.” A sly grin slid up his face. “How prepared are you to die?”

I blinked. Die? I didn’t want to die at all. Every time I thought I might die, my girls’ faces flashed before my eyes.

“Oh, Alex… You’re scaring the piss out of her.” Marie strode into the room, but she didn’t come to the bed. She remained standing across from Alex and me. “Devyn, I told you. We don’t want to kill you.”

“But you would. If Brody doesn’t… If he doesn’t help you…”

“Perhaps we would consider a more efficient way of convincing him, yes.”

“Why Brody? Why me?”

“I told you why, love,” Marie said.

“That can’t be all.”

“You were the easiest target to get at the man who killed my husband.”

“What?” Now that made Marie’s rage more believable. She’d lost a husband. So was it Brody who’d done it? Or another of the team?

“Of course, now that we have him, we stand to be in a good position to gain some information about this new plague they call a team.” Alex’s voice was so matter-of-fact. If it had been under different circumstances, if I had met him out on the street, I’d have found the man charming. His French accent combined with the low timbre of his voice was like a taste of really good sex. “Speaking of, would you accompany me downstairs?”

“For what?”

“It seems your husband does not believe that we are treating you as well as possible, considering the circumstances. I wish to reassure him.”

“Why?”

“You do ask a lot of questions.”