Left For Dead (The Guarded Secrets Series Book 3) (16 page)

Chapter 27

While Volodya wanted to kill us both, he also wanted to let us suffer for as long as possible. I wasn’t sure how long we had been tied down to these chairs, but from the moment I woke up to now, the guards had gone through three shift changes. I assumed the changes happened every two hours or so, but that actually made it easier for our plan. As far as I knew the first set of guards hadn’t heard our plan, and while they had carried out a short exchange with the new team, it gave me a chance to ensure our charade was believable.

“Did they warn you about me or are you coming in blind?” I asked, goading a response from either set of guards. When neither of them answered I knew I had to go with higher stakes if I wanted to make our plan believable. “Who’s in for a worse time when Volodya graces us with his presence? Marco’s killer or me? I did kill multiple men single handedly; of course a few were shot, but I still take credit for it. He did tell you guys that the last set of guards he left with me are dead, right?”

Anger etched into their features instantly, it had started off as a grimace, annoyed by my comments, but it turned angry at the mention of Marco, then deadly by the end. I would guess that Volodya hadn’t told everyone about the men I killed because one man looked shocked before the fury over took his features as his fellow members filled him in.

His tongue darted along the underside of his teeth, as if trying to control his emotions while his hand reached for the weapon he had slung over his shoulder. He approached me with caution, as he should. He had no way of knowing everything I could be capable of. The few who did were now dead.

I didn’t shy away from him. I wanted to seem fearless and defiant to infuriate him more. I needed him angry, he had to hit me
hard
so I could pretend to be unconscious, but I still should have thought about my comment before I spoke. “Was one of them your friend?”

He didn’t hesitate. His fist made contact with the tip of my nose and upper lip, causing me to rear back with the power of his blow. The pain swelled, taking up the lower portion of my face, as I fought the urge to reach up to see if my nose was broken. I licked my lips, feeling my lip had swollen slightly. I barely had time to register the metallic taste on my upper lip before he landed another punch.

“He was my brother.” The words came out more threatening than I had expected. I almost regretted opening my mouth when he landed another punch. This one had been harder than the rest. It knocked my chair over and forced me to the ground. I tucked my head into my chest as the chair toppled over. My shoulder hit the ground first, but I couldn’t prevent my head from crashing onto the floor. I clenched my teeth, fighting a cry of pain.

I hadn’t meant to make him this angry, only to piss him off enough to punch me, then fake unconsciousness. He may actually knock me out if I didn’t keep my mouth shut.

“Alexei,” someone called to the man who stood above me. I didn’t understand the Russian, but I knew Renegade would. If it’s important he’d let me know somehow. I had to trust him for this to work.

A moment later I was lifted off the ground and roughly placed back into a sitting position. I remained limp and shut my eyes, unwilling to move even as he lightly slapped me to see if I was awake. Another short exchange was given, but this time Renegade answered.

“You’ll regret thinking she’s weak.”

Laughter erupted around us. I guess they didn’t agree with Renegade’s assessment, but he was correct—though they wouldn’t realize until it was too late. I listened closely to their footsteps once they separated. One set of guards went to their post and the other left the room, safe for now. After the other guards left, it took what felt like hours of sitting uncomfortably, about to fall asleep, and itching for a fight before the pain lessened, the blood dried, and for Volodya to finally grace us with his presence.

He carried a brief conversation with the men in the room, ignoring our existence until he decided to turn his attention to us. When he did his attention wasn’t on me, it remained locked on Renegade. I listened intently, waiting for a sign that I had to fight.

“So you are the man who killed Marco,” Volodya stated with a mixture of annoyance and anger lacing his words. “Marco Rykov was a good man, excellent worker, and a friend to many. I thought I’d have to hunt you down, yet you came here on your own. I can’t decide if I’m lucky or if you’re stupid.”

A silence hung in the air, weighing me down in my seat. Renegade wouldn’t take the words to heart; he felt little remorse for killing the mafia member. He only cared for the innocent affected by them, but the words were meant to cut him.

I kept my eyes shut, honing in on the other senses as Rum had taught me. I focused on the sound of Volodya’s footsteps as he approached. He closed the distance quickly, making a direct path for Renegade. Another person followed slowly behind him, judging from the thud in his footsteps it was most likely the larger of the two guards.

“After working with us for so long, hidden, and using us, I’m sure you know what we do to traitors.”

Renegade groaned, from what I believed was a direct blow to his stomach. The air seemed to have left his lungs as he strained for another breath shortly after. I heard the sound of bones cracking and Renegade’s cries as Volodya unleashed all of his anger on him.

It became difficult to remain in cover as Renegade received a few more hits. I knew I had to remain in character, and thankfully it ended quickly. Soon Volodya’s attention turned to me when he had enough of Renegade, for now. He wanted to give Renegade a chance to suffer, and he’d use me to do it.

“She must be very special to you if you’re willing to risk coming back here after your true identity was revealed. I can’t thank Camden enough for telling me.”

Renegade didn’t reply, but knowing him I guessed that he was silently fuming about how he should have killed Camden when he had the chance. I knew his jaw would be tight from him clenching his teeth and that his hands would be in tight fists, ready to fight back when he got the chance.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” Volodya said whimsically. “Yours was coming back for her.”

The other man’s footsteps approached me, heavy and slow. I attempted to remain still, but I couldn’t fight the natural reaction to tense as he approached. I doubted that he’d notice such a small motion, to see I was tensing up, but I didn’t want to give away our plan until it was time. So I didn’t, not even when cold metal lightly traced along my cheek. My lips quivered against my attempts to keep them under control. I knew from the feel of the blade that a knife was pressed against my skin. I could feel small, paper cut like cuts tearing into my skin as the blade swept over my cheek. Even though I knew they were using this as a threat toward Renegade, and that it most likely was an act to get him to cooperate, my breathing picked up.

My muscles tensed and jaw clenched when a strong, sudden slash raked across my cheek. I bit back a cry and swallowed the pain as best as I could as to not give away my conscious state. The sting remained attached to the cut long after the blade had been removed. I could feel blood dripping down my face, warm, wet. It was a warning. It became clear that they weren’t trying to gain Renegade’s cooperation; they were attempting to bait him into a fight. I couldn’t be sure why, but I knew that I couldn’t move or it would break the charade we’d created.

“No!” Renegade cried suddenly. “Night Stripe!” 

I didn’t react right away, though I knew whatever had Renegade worried was bad news. His voice had cracked with fear and worry, and that meant nothing good. I slightly opened my eyes, giving myself just enough room to see the man standing beside me. He didn’t react as I looked him over, unknowing that I could see the knife inching close to my face again, but he seemed fixed on Renegade. The blade inched closer, and once it got too close for comfort, I reacted.

I rocked back in the chair and let it land against the wall behind me for support as I ripped my legs out of the strands of rope I had cut and loosened earlier. I surprised him, and everyone else in the room, with my sudden movement. The shock worked in my favor though. The angle had given me the perfect chance to kick the man in the side. I aimed for the gut, causing him to double over at the sudden blow before I slammed down both feet into the back of his head. In one swift motion, I landed the kick over the back of his neck and leapt from the chair with my knife at the ready, anticipating the man to get up and attack me, but he never moved.

I glanced over the man’s body to notice he wasn’t breathing. He had crumpled to the ground so easily, and didn’t attempt to get back up. I couldn’t be sure what happened, but judging from the lack of breathing and bruising around his neck I must have broken his neck by accident. My gaze turned to Renegade, who’s shocked features echoed mine. Even Volodya and the other men were staring at me, the fear in their eyes slowly being replaced by anger.

“Well fuck,” I chimed, letting an awkward laugh out. “I’ve never killed a guy with just my legs before. Normally I need a few more blows or a weapon, but I won’t complain. At least there’s one fewer of you to deal with once I get out of here again.” While Renegade found my humor amusing, Volodya’s men didn’t. They really hated when you killed one of their friends.

“You little bitch,” one man snapped suddenly.

I shrugged. “I’ve been called worse,” I stated as I walked over to Renegade. Volodya’s men tensed, weapons pointed at me, but neither of them made a move. I guess the death of their friend scared them, and I couldn’t blame them. Now if I could play my cards right, then Renegade and I had a fighting chance, I just had to be careful. Too bad I could never stop myself from pushing tense situations as far as possible. “And I’ve been called it by better people. People who didn’t make the mistake of capturing me, and then threatening my friends.” As the words left my mouth I slashed at Renegade’s binds and cut one of his hands loose.

As the rope fell to the floor, one man broke out of his trance. Anger entered his gaze, surely hoping to intimidate me, but instead it only brought a fire to my soul and told me to step lively to stay alive. I enjoyed a good fight, especially when I had nothing to lose and my opponent had everything to lose. I just had to make it out, but he had to kill me to win. I knew that wouldn’t happen, once Renegade was out and we had an opening, I’d make sure we left no matter what Renegade had in mind. This would be over quickly, and then I could go back home to receive both praise for my choices and punishment for others.

“You’ll pay for killing him,” the other member stated, anger lacing his words. He seemed very angry I had killed his partner, and once again, I couldn’t stop myself. 

“Why? Was he your brother too?” I asked. A mischievous smile curve onto my lips before I added, “Or was he your secret lover?”

The cartel member snapped. He lunged forward and barreled toward me. Mocking the death of his comrade and then taking it a step further worked exactly how I wanted. I easily leapt over him and tossed Renegade the knife so he could free himself. Once the knife was secure in Renegade’s grasp, I raced away to continue distracting the men in the room. The other two men attempted to surround me as I headed toward Volodya, but I slid between one of the men’s legs and continued without missing a beat, though one had been able to recover quickly and grabbed me. I let instinct take over as we fought. I had been able to keep up with him blow for blow until he forced me to the ground and put a gun to my head.

“Now it’s my turn,” Renegade’s voice said just before the man was ripped from above me and pushed aside. “Get up, we have work to do. This isn’t the time to lay down on the job.”

I nodded, and accepted his extended hand with an understanding that for now we would put differences aside to finally end this. No more running; a straight fight to the end.

Chapter 28

Renegade and I turned back to back as we fought off Volodya’s men. It felt strange having him behind me, trusting him to be there for me again. It was a relief to have him. I knew I wouldn’t have been able to take on all of them at once on my own. I needed help, and with his I hoped it wouldn’t take long with only three men against us, but they were soon joined by reinforcements. 

“Can you handle them?” I asked as a few extra men came in, weapons drawn. They wanted an easy shot, but wouldn’t find one, and they wouldn’t want to risk shooting their own men. Even in the heat of battle, it was risky to shoot into a growing crowd for only a few people. They didn’t want more unnecessary death, just Renegade’s and mine.

“Yeah, I got it. Don’t worry about them,” he stated before tossing one more punch and knocking one of the men to the ground.

I took over, and managed to evade the remaining two shortly before one of them pulled a gun and attempted to shoot me. I bounced back, noticing the threat when he stopped chasing after me, causing him to kill his coworker. That’s why when fighting up close you had to have a clear shot otherwise someone else could get hurt. I had a habit of evading in the nick of time, though my opponent’s anger kept him from thinking clearly.
He must have cared for the man I killed. Maybe they were brothers too. Everyone seemed to be related in this mafia,
I thought as I continued to dodge him. I took our fight into the growing crowd around Renegade.

There were more than fifteen men coming into the room for a fight. I hoped that a few bullets would take out the men rushing to join the fight, or that I could get lost in the crowd and do what I do best; attack from the shadows. While I had been trained for close combat, I hadn’t improved much since joining the agency. I had improved in agility and skills, but once put into a fight I fared well enough. I rarely won though. I needed to get creative and fast. Renegade was already struggling to hold off the few who had come in prior to the new wave. We had to find a way to end this quickly. Renegade and I couldn’t hold them off forever. We needed the upper hand, we needed to beat them.

“There you are,” a dark voice said before ripping me off my feet. As he shoved me into the wall I noticed Alexei, the man who had beaten me earlier, had managed to find me once again. I should thank him, he made it possible for me to surprise everyone, but instead I’d pay him back for his
generosity
. Maybe I could reunite him with his brother.

I shivered as the dark thought crossed my mind, but pushed it aside. I knew CIRA had rules against killing unless absolutely necessary, but after Camden lived and could spread our secrets, I had a feeling that rule would change soon enough. At least, it had for me. “Here I am. Pleasure to see you again, Alexei,” I said before I kneed him where the sun doesn’t shine and slipped out of his hold. I pulled my spare knife from my waistband and prepared to end him right there. I could make it quick and then move on to the next person who threatened to kill me. I just never got the chance.

My chest tightened as two pairs of hands latched onto me and pulled me from the ground. I squirmed, but it only caused them to tighten their grip on me. I fought while Alexei slowly picked himself up from the ground and came to stand over me once again. I could see the anger and mourning in his eyes. The gleam in his eyes looked merciless as he lifted the gun to my head. I weighed my options, but in the end none of them gave me an out. When did they ever? It would be too easy to have a way out of this, so I had to create one. He smiled as he reached for the trigger, and before I could think through a plan I wrapped my legs around Alexei’s waist and then pulled the other two men until they collided with each other. They were momentarily distracted as I unwound myself from Alexei and crouched to the ground.

“Not so fast,” Alexei ordered. I half expected him to call me a ‘stupid American’ or something as he held the gun closer to me this time.

I smiled, quickly putting my knife away. This was exactly what I needed. “Actually, I’ll be lightning fast.”

A look of confusion passed across Alexei’s features before I grabbed hold of the gun as Renegade had done during the Cardoza mission, one of the only reasons I hadn’t killed him in the warehouse, and twisted Alexei’s hand to take the weapon. He had gotten too close to me, allowing me to easily grab the barrel of the gun. Twisting his hand gave me leverage to steal the weapon and gain the upper hand. 

The fight had already gone on longer than I had planned, and after stealing Alexei’s weapon more men surrounded me. This time they were determined to keep me in sight so I couldn’t escape again. Unfortunately, that meant I would have to either jump through them all to move, or fight them all at once. I liked the chances of me weaving through them better. It would be easier to fight a few of them and get out, but the only question is what I would do once I got out. I had a gun, a knife, but no plan.

As they approached me, I took a few shots at those who dared to get close. Panic and fear were racing through me. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t process what was happening around me. There were too many of them, and not nearly enough agents for this fight. Volodya could keep calling in more men, and he could keep ordering them to fight. Eventually Renegade and I would be caught, unless Volodya suddenly decided to work with us.

A smile curved onto my lips as a plan formed in my head. Renegade had said to do this like the Cardoza mission, and even though he wasn’t with me in Sandtown, I knew just how to get control of a massive number of cartel members—take a hostage.

In my moment of clarity, Volodya’s men decided to take the offensive. A few leapt toward me, but only provided me with a way out. As I dodged them and their punches, I weaved my way through the remaining members. A few came too close and either met the end of my blade or the metal of a bullet. I didn’t feel sorrow for killing them, in this job it was about protecting the innocent and these men were far from innocent. 

Once I made it through the throng of people, I scanned the room for Volodya. He would be watching the scene unfold with a few men around him. All the leaders of cartels believed they were untouchable, especially on their home turf. He would want to see the murderer, the trickster, who had managed to gain entry to his building and take both daughters from him. Volodya had another think coming if he thought the same way, and that thought was me.

I found Volodya in the corner, surrounded by four men for protection, watching Renegade’s fight. Renegade was severely outnumbered, about twenty to one according to my quick count, and while he seemed to be holding his own fairly well I knew he couldn’t do it forever—which meant I had to work fast, but effectively. Four men, what could be so difficult about that?

I slipped into the shadows as the men behind me turned their focus to Renegade. I felt safer, better prepared, when I wasn’t in sight. This is where I shined, where I became lethal to anyone who threatened those I protect or my teammates. The shadows hid me, as I approached from behind Volodya’s men. They were unaware I had come from behind them, too focused on Renegade’s fight. It allowed me to catch one off guard and slice his throat before he could alert his friends. I didn’t want to attract attention to myself quite yet. Hand to hand combat with whoever Volodya trusted to protect him would only end poorly for me, but leaving all four men standing wouldn’t bode well for me either. They could easily surrounded me, and inevitably force me to release Volodya.

The small victory had been fleeting as one of the men turned around to see me. I acted quickly and stabbed him in the gut. It would eventually be lethal, but it wasn’t quick enough to kill him on the spot. The other two guarding Volodya heard his cries and turned to see me. I pulled the blade from the man’s stomach and turned to them as they turned their weapons on me. Usually I brought a knife to a gun fight, but this time, I had managed to bring both a knife and a gun, though I didn’t want to use it until absolutely necessary. Eventually I’d run out of bullets and be left with a useless hunk of metal, so I quickly grabbed Volodya, holding the bloody knife to his throat and the gun at the ready in my dominant hand.

“If you want a chance to make it out of this alive, then you’ll call off your men,” I said in a low whisper as Renegade continued to fight. Volodya’s guards were forced to sit back and watch while Volodya chose his fate. If they made a move toward me then Volodya would die. They had already seen me kill before, and knew I’d be willing to do it again.

“If I refuse?” Volodya questioned, motioning for his men to take aim.

Without waiting for them to take the shot on me, I pulled the trigger and shot them both in quick procession. The two men fell to the ground, leaving Volodya unguarded, and the other members turning their gaze toward me. The room fell silent, dead silent. The fighting stopped instantly, even the men holding Renegade stopped to stare, wondering what would happen next.

“Still refusing, Volodya?” I noticed a few men twitching, determining if it would be better to just attack or wait. I needed to convince Volodya that it was in his best interest to order them to let us walk out of here alive. As I leaned in to warn him what would happen should he refuse, a few men broke out into a fight with Renegade. I pushed the knife into Volodya’s throat as I spoke. “You’ve already seen me kill once,” I reminded him. He probably thought I meant the man I killed upon the reveal I was conscious, but that wouldn’t terrify him as I hoped. I glanced back up to Renegade, who was busy trying to subdue the few men who couldn’t wait for Volodya’s orders. “Do you want to end up like him or would you like a scene more like how I left Ash Crest, covered in blood and waiting for some unfortunate soul to stumble upon him? I could take you away, and then leave your body in town. How scary would that be for everyone in town? To know their leader was killed and then have everything he did come to light? I’m sure they wouldn’t like you trying to kill your family.”

I felt Volodya tense as the cold, unfeeling words left my mouth. I meant the threat, and I’d follow through if needed. I pressed the blade to his throat to emphasize my words, but before the blade could push into his skin, a hand clamped down on my shoulder. I paused, but didn’t move. I knew who it was. I hadn’t realized that the fighting had stopped around me again. Now Renegade knew the truth.

“What do you mean, how you left Ash Crest? Are you saying that you killed him?” I flinched at the anger in his words, but didn’t reply. “You’ve been lying to me about who killed him for months! You’ve sent me on a wild goose chase, haven’t you? I bet there isn’t even a Cameron Tyler who’s connected to Ash Crest!”

“Can we talk about this later?” I asked through gritted teeth. “I’m a little busy right now.” I moved my head in the direction of Volodya, who still had my knife pressed to his neck and the gun pressed to his side. “You can yell at me when we get out of here,
alive
. You can’t really scream at a ghost if you end up getting me killed now.”

Renegade didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. The anger, betrayal, and annoyance came through loud and clear in his gaze and posture. I didn’t have time to deal with this, or explain why I lied to him. Right now we had to focus on getting out of here. I couldn’t help but feel guilty, though. We had just started to fix our relationship, and I went and fucked it up again.
Way to go, Night Stripe.

“I killed Ash Crest, and I know Camden told you how brutal I had been with him. So unless you want to suffer the same, or worse, fate, you better call off your men.” 

Volodya hesitated, as if weighing his options before finally telling his men to stand down. Once the weapons lowered and they took a step back, I handed Volodya to Renegade. He would be able to keep control of him better than I could, and frankly had more muscle in case we got pulled into another fight. Before Renegade turned to lead Volodya out of the room, I handed him the weapon I had taken from Alexei, keeping my knife drawn and myself low to the ground in case I needed to jump into action.

I stood watch to make sure Volodya’s men didn’t try to shoot Renegade on his way out of the room. Once he was out, I slowly followed after, keeping my eyes on the cartel members as best as I could. It’s a rare occasion when they break a direct order, but this seemed too easy. There had to be a back-up plan, there’s no way they would let us walk out with Volodya. Even Renegade agreed with me. Once I caught up to him he followed my train of thought. 

“We’re walking into a trap.”

I took in a deep breath. I knew that wasn’t what he wanted to talk about, but I was relieved that he could hold off until later. “Most likely, but I don’t have a better plan right now. So unless you have one, then this is all we have.”

A moment of silence enveloped us as we made our way through the building. It didn’t last long. I apparently gave Renegade too much credit when I said he could hold off asking about Ash until later. “So you killed Ash and weren’t going to tell me?” 

I shook my head, but otherwise ignored his comment.

“It’s later, Night Stripe. I deserve an answer.”

“No, you don’t.” My response was icy and unwelcoming. “You deserve an explanation, which I can’t give you right now. We need to focus,” I said as I pushed open one of the doors to lead us out of the building. As we walked out, we confirmed it had been a trap by the sheer number of men Volodya had waiting for us outside.