Protected by Shadows (35 page)

“I can fix it. Let me find out if he’s dead or not,” John—Stephen—pleaded, not just with his voice but his entire expression.

Trevor looked at her. “You will be one of my wives.”

“Fuck you,” she snapped. The man holding her shook her so hard her teeth rattled.

“You agree or I kill him.”

She shrugged. “Kill him then.”

It shouldn’t have surprised her when he slit the man’s throat, but it did. As John lay dead on the ground, she kept her focus on Trevor.

“And this man and this one as well?”

She lifted a shoulder unenergetically. “Whatever, man. They’re your lackeys. I don’t give a damn if they die or not.” Callous or not, it was how she felt.

Trevor narrowed his eyes at her before nodding. “That’s right, you’re an animal lover.” He approached one of the dogs, brandishing the knife.

“Don’t hurt him!” she cried out, straining toward the canine.

Trevor’s smile was evil. “I think we found out how to control her.” He stepped over John’s body like the man wasn’t even there. “Put her back in the hut. I have some things to do. I’ll be seeing you in a while, Alexsa.”

The one who’d been restraining her kept his hold on her as they went back to the hut. He pushed her inside. When she turned to face him, his expression was unreadable. A few charged seconds passed before he left, shutting the door forcefully behind him.

She sank to the bed and hugged her knees to her chest. Her home had been blown up and they figured Valentino had been in there. The tears came and she didn’t stop them. What the hell was she going to do? There didn’t seem to be any end in sight to this nightmare.

Chapter Twenty-One

“We have to call it. Running on fumes.”

Valentino swore but nodded. Gio swung the chopper around and headed back to the airfield they’d set off from. In the fading light of day, Valentino marked through another set of places they’d checked.

Yes, it was progress. No, he didn’t feel good about it. He was desperate and needed to find her.

“I need some chow, a refuel and then I’m good with heading back up,” Gio said in his ear.

“I know. Me too.” And Valentino hated admitting it. In his mind, there should be no breaks until she was found.

They landed and he had some guys refuel the chopper while he and Gio each showered then grabbed some food. They were eating at a small diner when his phone rang.

“What do you have?” Valentino said, having recognized Masters’ number.

“We found one of his locations. Taking it down now and will be interrogating all the people we’ve rounded up.”

“Where are you?”

“Arizona. In the middle of the goddamn Chihuahuan Desert. One of his strongholds if I’m to believe what one said. Trevor’s not here. They said he went to take care of some things and get his newest wife.”

“Lexy.”

Valentino gripped his fork so hard it left an imprint on his palm.

“Most likely,” Masters agreed. “I have to get going. Will keep you updated.”

Their call ended and he placed his phone on the table. At Gio’s look, he filled his brother in.

“What the hell is he doing in the desert?”

“Best we can figure is he has a few strongholds. But really, out in the middle of nowhere, it’s a great place to store weapons. I know he’s gone after Lexy. I won’t lose her, Gio.”

“I think she’s safe for now, Valentino.”

“How do you figure that when she’s at the whim of a fucking madman?” he snapped.

“This man has a hard-on for you, bro. Think about it. He showed himself before with Alyssa. He wants you there for whatever he has planned for Lexy as well.”

He mulled that over and gave a short shrug. “Perhaps.” But what was Trevor trying to do with Lexy? Turn her against him as he had Alyssa? Valentino shook his head. No way. That wouldn’t happen.
You didn’t think it would happen with Alyssa either,
his brain reminded him. Not an encouraging thought in the least.

Two women approached the table and gave them smiles. Gio returned them, but Valentino basically scowled. As they scurried away, Gio chuckled.

“You should try smiling. You may learn something.”

“You’re married. As am I.”

“Smiling at a person doesn’t stop just because you’re married, Valentino. We need the locals to like us. Not hate us.” He stood. “You get this meal, next one’s on me. I’m going to find out where we’re landing next. Meet you at the helo.”

Valentino was exhausted and had to force himself to finish up the food. Waving for the bill, he thanked the waitress when she brought it. Draining the rest of his coffee, he walked to the counter and asked for two to go then paid the bill, leaving a nice tip. Drinks in hand, he left the diner and made his way to the chopper where Gio was performing his check.

“Here.”

“Thanks.” Gio took the coffee and drank some. “I found where we can land next and fuel up while continuing the progress up the chain. I’m going to need some shuteye at some point though. I don’t want to miss what may be the one thing we needed to find to lead us to her.”

“There was a hotel back past the diner. We could grab a room and crash for a few. Maybe Masters will have garnered something from those they took in by then.”

“I think that sounds like a plan.”

Locking the helicopter, Gio fell into step with him as they again left the airfield. At the hotel, they tossed their cups and walked inside.

“Evening.” A man sat behind the counter.

“We need a room for the night. A double, please.”

He stood. “Just passing through?”

“Yes, sir,” Gio answered first. “My brother and I are on a vacation. You know, time away from the wives.”

The man nodded and handed them two keys and a sheet of paper. “Just sign the bottom if you please.”

“Thank you, sir.” Gio signed with a flourish.

“Military man?” he asked after looking at the name.

“Yes, sir.”

The man scratched his chest. “I was in the Army back in ’Nam.”

“Thank you for your service.” Gio pulled out his wallet and paid him in cash.

“And you for yours, Commander.”

“Is it like that for you all the time?” Valentino asked as they went to the room numbered five on their keys.

“Not always.” Gio unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Clean and neat were the first two things that popped out at him. The second were the beds. Until Gio’d mentioned it, he’d been ignoring how tired he was, but now exhaustion swarmed him.

They took care of things and each of them collapsed on a bed.

* * * *

Five hours had passed when his cell chimed and Valentino answered immediately.

“Yes?”

“West Virginia.”

He sat and clicked on a light. “The entire state is within the mountains.”

“It’s all I have. And it narrows down your area of searching. I’ve deployed some UAVs over there equipped with thermal imaging. A few techs are staring at the shots as they come in.”

Gio sat as well and yawned before cracking his neck. “Time to go?”

Valentino nodded at his brother who headed for the bathroom. “When will they get there?”

“Images are coming in already, we’re looking for another setup similar to the one we found in the desert. But as of yet, I’ve not been alerted that anything matches. Will let you know, I have to go.”

“Thanks, Masters.” He hung up and waited for Gio to depart the bathroom. Valentino took a quick shower and redressed in his clothes. He felt a bit more awake and alert. The few hours they’d slept had helped him immensely.

Sharing a brief look with one another, they left the room, dropped the keys off then jogged back to the silent airfield. Before he powered the engine up, Gio did another quick check over then climbed back into the cockpit.

“Saddle up,” Gio called to him, waving him on.

“Let’s go.”

He spoke into the headset and Gio took off. His phone was on vibrate because he knew he wouldn’t be able to hear the ring, but hopefully Masters would just get himself patched into the helicopter. He had all the information he’d need to do that.

As they streamed along, Valentino breathed out a breath he’d been unaware he’d held. Yes, it was still a large area, but Masters was right. It was a smaller one than they’d had before.

* * * *

Trevor looked down at the woman lying beneath him on her belly, his seed smeared along her ass cheeks and the small of her back. She didn’t move even though he knew she would want to go clean herself up.

He’d trained her and she had learnt she didn’t get to move until he okayed it. His cock stirred as he thought about how it was going to be training Lexy. He was tempted to cross the compound and let himself into her hut. Only his patience kept him away. Tomorrow would be soon enough to start.

Staring down at the alabaster skin upon his dark sheets, he smacked her hard on the ass. “Get.”

She didn’t race away. Her movements were slow because he’d been rough with her. Not that it bothered him. She walked to her dress, slipped it on over her head and left the room without a look back at him. Submissive. Subservient. It didn’t matter what he called it, he liked his women that way.

He cleaned himself up then lay upon his bed, not caring that beneath him was more of his release and sweat. It just wasn’t important. The bed would be cleaned come morning.

Trevor had just about fallen asleep when a cry had him running from the room. Three spotlights were on and in the center, surrounded by five automatic rifles, lay Lexy, blood trickling from her temple.

“What the hell happened?”

“She snuck out.” One of his men spoke up. “I caught her crossing back to her hut. Not sure where she was, but when I called for her to stop, she took off running.”

“You didn’t shoot her.”

“They said you wanted her as a wife, sir. Hard to marry a dead woman.”

Trevor stroked his goatee. “So what’s the blood from?”

Another man stepped forward. “I did it, sir. She ran into me and after kneeing me in the jewels tried to get away. I hit her with the stock.”

“Bring some water and wake her up.” Excitement began to hum in his veins. She was a fighter and wouldn’t go down easily. He was really going to enjoy taming her.

Splash!
Lexy coughed and sputtered as she pushed up. “What the fuck?”

“Even after being clipped with a rifle you still have that offensive mouth. Maybe something I need to work out of you as well.”

She pushed her wet hair from her face and squinted. Bright lights shone down upon her.
Well, I’m not dead yet.
The scowling faces surrounding her didn’t bode well, however. They seemed like they wanted nothing more than to fill her with bullets. Thankfully none of them acted.

That ain’t the only thing I’m thankful for.
They’d caught her on her way back from the communications hut. For all they knew, she’d been to the outhouse. She could do this, pull it off and get out of it alive.
I hope.

“Where did you go?” Trevor stared down at her.

“A night stroll,” she snapped.

One of the men behind her kicked her in the kidneys and as she pitched forward, she got the message. Not good to be a smartass.

“One thing you will learn about me, Alexsa, is that I despise repeating myself. It won’t go well for you if that’s what this is reduced to. Me asking, you making a smart comment and me asking again. You may want to think about that.”

The emotionless way he spoke had her doing what she could to tame her tongue. She pushed up from the ground and did her best to regain her feet.

“I went to the bathroom. Not exactly the easiest thing for me to do when I don’t know where I am or they are. Wasn’t exactly paying attention when I was dragged around the first time.”

Trevor didn’t look like he bought it. The man stared at his nails—which looked better than hers currently—and yawned. “You were taken to them before. You left the hut and went to the right. You were coming back from the left when they stopped you.”

“Yes, I was.” She dusted off her hands and ignored her need to touch the bump on her head. “I heard the animals and knew I had gone too far so I turned around to try and find the hut.”

“Why didn’t you just call for someone?”

Because it’s hard to send a coded message if one of your fuckin’ goons knows what I’m doing.
She sniffed. “I did. No one came. If someone had been there, why would I have tried to sneak out?”

Lord forgive her for these lies, but she really didn’t want to get shot today. Trevor crossed his arms over his bared chest and rubbed his chin. “This is your one pass. Happens again and you will suffer the consequences. Get her back to the hut. And bring me Davis, who was supposed to be guarding her.”

One man she didn’t know gestured at her with his rifle and she headed off in the direction he pointed. Moving slowly, she took as long as she could before getting back there. Now she truly did have to pee. Oh well, some things she could wait on. It wasn’t that long before dawn. She hoped.