One week later

 

Slade Caulder was living the dream.

Well, the collegiate version of it, anyway. Since his dad had been deployed more than he was at home, Slade had grown up living in dorms. Unfortunately, the academy he'd attended had not been co-ed. The old man had known that not having the opposite sex around would keep him focused on his studies.

It had worked, and he'd graduated at the top of his class.

Now that he was in college, it took strict discipline to study first and fraternize second. Especially when the girls competed to get his attention. Not that he was complaining. It was a battle that he thoroughly enjoyed. And it also made school breaks all the more appreciated since he could focus completely on women.

This summer he was staying on Sanctuary Island with his dad's team. The place was cool as hell, but the females were all off limits. Which really sucked. His friend, Gregg Hammond's family, had a place in Miami, so he stayed with them while his dad was off on an op. There were plenty of women to be found in Miami.

Right now he had three of them hanging off of him.

When his phone rang, he reached around Darlene, Danielle or Delaine, to get it. Hell, they were identical triplets, and he couldn't tell them apart, much less keep their names straight. Fortunately, they all answered to darlin', so he wasn't that worried about it. Yep. He was living the dream all right.

Raven showed on the caller ID, and Slade immediately hit talk. He and his uncle had become close since they'd been introduced. The older man had started keeping an eye on him after his dad had moved to Florida. Rave was cool as fuck to hang with, and the custom bike he'd built for Slade was as badass as it looked.

Smiling in amusement, he answered with, "I've got three gorgeous women in my lap, and you're seriously cock blocking me right now, dude."

The girls giggled, but his uncle didn't bother bantering with him like he normally would. Instead, he responded with, "Hey, kid. You with your old man?"

"He's on an op, Uncle Rave," the young man informed him with a frown at the serious tone. "What's up?"

"Kira dropped off the grid, and I'm trying to locate her for a friend," he admitted.

"I'll hit you back in five," Slade said and ended the call as he motioned for the girls to let him up. He didn't even notice their pouting expressions as they rose to let him off of the chaise lounge they'd all been occupying. He walked a few feet away, pulled up an app on his phone and within seconds he had her location.

He'd grown attached to his dad's ex and still couldn't believe that he'd been stupid enough to let her get away. After his dad had clued him in as to why, Slade had been as worried about her safety as his father. Hunter had hooked them both up with an app so they could track her phone and keep an eye on her from afar.

He called his uncle back, and the older man answered with, "Where is she?"

"I pinged her phone's IP address, and it's in Miami," his nephew responded.

"She's in Miami," Raven repeated and sounded relieved.

"I'm a few blocks away from her right now, Uncle Rave," Slade said seriously. "Think I should drop by and see what's up?"

"Go for it," he agreed. "Call me back when you make contact."

"Will do," Slade replied and ended the call. "Yo, G. We gotta roll," he told his buddy who didn't look all that pleased about leaving the gaggle of girls gathered around them. The triplets were very unhappy and clung like leeches in spite of his assurances that they'd be back. One of them even begged to go with him.

Fifteen minutes later, they were standing under a covered portico trying to figure out how to get inside the building. They had discovered that the front door required a key card for entry and he seriously doubted the security guards seated behind the desk in the lobby would let them in without one.

"How the hell are we supposed to get in to see her?" Gregg queried.

"I'll think of something," Slade assured him as a taxi pulled under the portico. A middle-aged blonde stepped out with her hands filled with shopping bags. "Bingo," he said in satisfaction and moved to intercept her. He flashed his lady killer smile at the woman and said, "Let me give you a hand with those, darlin'."

The woman looked up at him and seemed to be mesmerized. When she just continued to stare at him without responding, he asked, "Can I help you with your bags?"

"Oh," she gasped as if slightly dazed and quickly handed over her purchases. "Thank you so much," the woman said breathlessly as she swiped a key card over the scanner.

"I assure you it's my pleasure," he responded with another megawatt smile that sent her right back into that dazed state again.

Slade held the door open for her to proceed him and she escorted them right past the security desk and onto the elevator. He carried on a lighthearted flirtation with her until the doors opened on her floor. After handing over her shopping bags, he shot her a flirtatious wink and hit the button for the doors to close.

"How the hell do you do that?" His friend grumbled.

"Do what?" Slade asked as he checked the app on his phone for Kira's location. The multi-dimensional image showed that she was above them, so he pressed the button for the top floor. They could start at the top and work their way back down till they found the right one.

"Never mind," Gregg sighed as he peered over his shoulder. "Dude, where do you get those crazy apps? Is that thing even legal?"

"You don't want to know," he assured him since Hunter had hooked him up with the app. It probably wasn't legal, but it damn sure did come in handy.

"You're sure your dad's girlfriend will be cool with us just dropping by?"

"She's his ex," Slade corrected and was seriously regretting his decision to bring his buddy along. Gregg was a great guy, insanely smart, but a little short on balls.

"Hence the question," the other man said dryly. "None of my dad's girlfriends want me around, much less his ex's."

"Kira's great. Seriously."

"If she's so great, why isn't she still with your dad?"

"Cause he's a fucking fool," he admitted in disgust as the elevator doors opened. They stepped into a foyer area that only had one door leading off of it, and it was wide open. "Kira, it's Slade," he called out, so his unexpected arrival didn't freak her out. He didn't think she'd appreciate a repeat of the shower scene.

When she didn't answer, he stepped cautiously inside. The living area before them was lavishly furnished, but it looked like a college frat party had broken out. A glass coffee table had been shattered, chairs were overturned, and an icy frisson danced up Slade's spine. Something was seriously wrong with this picture.

"Stay here and don't touch anything," he commanded in a hushed tone before he crept silently toward the doorway located on his left. The door was partially closed, so he peeked through the crack and surveyed the room. The sight before him would haunt him until his dying day. It looked like the scene of a bloodbath.

"Please, let it be the wrong fucking condo," Slade breathed as he slowly pushed the door all the way open. His heart was about to beat itself out of his chest as he stepped inside the room. The bed was completely destroyed. The linens were a tangled, bloody mess, hanging half on and half off onto the floor.

But it was the sight of the woman bound spread eagle in the center of the bed that froze the blood in his veins. Her naked body was so bloody that he would not have recognized her had it not been for her red hair. "Kira, honey, can you hear me?" He asked hoarsely as he draped the sheet gently over her battered body.

One eye was swollen completely shut, but the other one was filled with sheer terror as she stared up at him. "J… Jax?" Kira breathed in a whisper.

"It's Slade," he replied and saw her lower lip begin to tremble. Tears filled her good eye and overflowed down her swollen, blood-streaked cheek. "You're gonna be okay. I'm gonna get you some help so just hang on," he assured her and fought the anger threatening to choke him as he cut her free from the ropes that bound her to the bedposts.

Since his dad was unavailable, Slade whipped out his phone to call Chaz. After giving him a sitrep, Jenna took the phone and demanded to know what Kira's injuries were. His furious gaze locked on the bed, he bit out, "Somebody beat her half to death. The bed looks like something from a fucking slasher film."

He heard the doctor's sharp inhalation before she instructed him not to move Kira until she arrived. Chaz came back on the phone and informed him that there was a helipad on the roof and that he needed to make sure they had access to the rooftop entrance. Slade assured him that he would and ended the call.

He found his friend where he'd left him and gave him a quick rundown. "Dude, shouldn't we call 911?" Gregg demanded anxiously.

"She'll be safer on the island," he assured him. "Whoever the mofo is that hurt her won't get a second chance."

"What do you want me to do?" His buddy asked nervously.

"Watch for the helo. When you see it, get your ass to the roof and let them in," he replied and pulled his phone out again as he walked back into the bedroom. When the other man answered, he said grimly, "I found her, Uncle Rave. Somebody beat her and left her for dead."

 

***

 

"Kira? Can you hear me? Kira, I need you to answer me."

The voice was insistent, demanding, and so familiar that it hurt. Memories played through her mind like hazy vignettes on a movie screen. Each one more painful than the last until the ache became unbearable. Oh, God. She hurt so bad. Inside and out. She wanted to go back to the dark, peaceful place where nothing could hurt her.

"Kira answer me." The voice commanded sharply, pulling her back to the surface again. It took a tremendous amount of effort, but she managed to force one eye open. She saw a blurred figure looming above her and Kira flinched as a gentle hand touched her face. "Just relax. It's okay. I'm gonna take care of you."

Her mind was playing tricks on her. Jenna wasn't there any more than Jax had been. Jaeger was just trying to lull her into a false sense of security so he could torment her with more of his sick, twisted games. He must have drugged her again. That would explain why she couldn't seem to think. Why her brain was so sluggish.

"You're not real," she breathed and refused to play along. She knew he'd punish her for spoiling his fun, but physical pain was preferable to his mind games.

"I'm the real fucking deal, girl," Jenna assured her as she continued to poke and probe at her aching body with gentle hands.

"Prove it," she taunted in a hiss of pain.

"It's gonna take more than sunblock to fix you up this time," she said, and her voice broke.

There was no way that Jaeger could know about that. No one outside the team knew about their private joke. "J…Jenna," she whispered in disbelief.

"Just hang on, Kira. You're gonna be okay," her friend assured her.

"Help me… help me," she whimpered brokenly.

"I got ya, girl," the doctor said confidently. "The guys are gonna get you out of here as soon as I know it's safe to move you."

Terror filled her soul, and she tried to shake her head. She gasped in pain as tears rolled down her cheek. "D… Don't let… Jax… see me… p… please."

"He's on an op, so don't worry, okay?" Jenna said soothingly. "Just relax. I've got you."

 

***

 

The morning after he'd seen Kira with Von Osterman, Jax had demanded to be sent on the next available mission. It hadn't been his turn in the rotation, but one look at his expression had convinced Ashe and Chaz to let him go. That he had been in desperate need of a distraction had been obvious.

Though neither of them had mentioned it, he knew they had a pretty good idea as to why he was chomping at the bit to get away. Everyone knew that he had gone to Miami specifically to check on Kira, so it wouldn't take too much effort to figure out that something had gone horribly wrong.

Seeing her with another man had been exactly what he had needed to put the situation in perspective. Kira was the woman that he loved, and he was sick of being miserable without her. Jax had decided to fight for what he wanted. He was going to confess the truth about everything and pray that she'd give him a second chance.

If she kicked his ass out, at least he'd know for sure that it was over between them. Maybe then he'd be able to find some kind of closure. And if she didn't kick him out… well, he still had the engagement ring. Nothing would make him happier than to slide it onto her slender finger and claim her as his own.

As soon as the plane touched down on Sanctuary, he was out the door and jogging toward the resort. All he needed was a hot shower and a change of clothes, and then he'd be hauling ass toward Miami. He had made it as far as the gate when he saw Chaz waiting in the center of the circular drive.

Jax knew by the bleak expression on his friend's face that something was wrong. The shiver of foreboding that shot down his spine confirmed that it was bad. "What's wrong?" He asked in his usual clinical tone. "Is Slade okay?"

"It's Kira," the other man replied, and his fucking heart stopped. It just… stopped.

"Is she all right?" He demanded and fought the panic that had gripped him by the balls.

"She's in bad shape, bro. Jenna's got her in the infirmary," Chaz informed him grimly.

He dropped his gear and tore ass across the driveway to the infirmary. Fear at not knowing what was wrong with her was driving him insane. Jax burst through the door, stalked into the exam area and wrenched the privacy curtain back. The sight before him ripped his fucking guts out and almost sent him to his knees.

Kira, his petite little Vixen, lay still and unmoving in the hospital bed. She was as pale as death. Her head was wrapped in a swath of bandages, the mane of flame-colored hair draped neatly over her shoulders. There was a breathing tube in her mouth and an assortment of tubes and wires connected to her body.

Her beautiful face was swollen, the left side discolored a deep angry purplish black, bandages covered her nose and wrists. He barely breathed as his eyes roved over her arms, cataloging the myriad bruises in a variety of colors. Some were fresher than others which meant someone had been beating her for a while.

Rage such as he had never known burned through his veins. He needed to hit something. No, he needed to kill someone. Nothing pissed him off more than knowing that a man had abused a woman. But when the woman in question was Kira? Yeah, he was fucking livid. And the mofo who had dared to hurt the woman he loved was going down.

"He's a fucking dead man," the words were ripped from his throat without conscious thought. Jenna rose from a chair on the opposite side of the bed and gave him a stern look as she motioned to the door. He followed her into the hallway ready to breathe fire and rain hell. "What the fuck happened?"

"Kira was assaulted," the doctor informed him grimly.

His lungs seized at the implication. "Sexually?" Jax wheezed and prayed to every god he knew that it wasn't so.

The doctor placed a hand on his arm, her expression compassionate and said, "Jax, knowing the full extent of her injuries won't help…"

"Fucking tell me!" He thundered and felt like he was going to implode.

She sighed in resignation and let her hand fall away. "She was restrained and beaten for an extended period," she began in a pain filled tone. "Every inch of her body is covered in contusions, lacerations and varying degrees of fractures. Her nose was dislocated, and she may have some loss of vision in her left eye."

Jenna drew in a ragged breath and continued in a voice that shook with suppressed emotion. "She suffered internal bruising and tearing from oral, vaginal and anal penetration. Massive blood loss occurred due to her uterus being repeatedly lacerated by a sharp foreign object. The damage was so severe that it had to be surgically removed."

"The tox screen revealed dangerously high levels of LSD in her system." Her voice was broken when the trauma surgeon finished her dissertation with, "Kira also received severe head trauma, so I put her in a medically induced coma to prevent cerebral edema. She would have died if we hadn't gotten to her when we did."

Kira had been drugged, beaten, raped and mutilated.

His fucking head exploded.

Jax couldn't see beyond the red that hazed his vision. Couldn't hear anything except the blood rushing through his veins. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. All he could do was feel. A roar of sheer rage ripped from his chest. Both fists connected with the wall. The block didn't give an inch, but the excruciating pain in his knuckles helped clear his mind somewhat.

"Who did it?" Came out in a guttural rasp that sounded nothing like his usual cold, clinical tone when he was finally able to speak.

"Slade found her, and he's pretty torn up," she replied instead of answering his question. "He needs his dad right now so dial down the urge to interrogate and decimate, okay?"

That could be a problem.

Because right then the man well known for his complete lack of emotions was feeling too much. If ever a situation called for cold, clinical detachment, this was it. The problem was, his feelings for Kira were too strong. No matter how deep inside himself he reached, Jax was not able to regain his icy control.

His emotions were too volatile. "Fucking hell," he rasped and raked both hands through his shoulder-length hair.

"Go spar with the guys or blow some shit up if you have to," the doctor suggested. "But get your fucking head on straight before you talk to Slade. Feel me?"

Since he was afraid of what would come out if he opened his mouth, Jax gave a curt nod. When Jenna walked back into the infirmary, he stalked down the hall to the gym. Maybe if he beat the shit out of something he'd be able to think straight. He pulled the door open and discovered he hadn't been the only one with that idea.

His son was drenched in sweat and pounding the hell out of the heavyweight bag as if he had no plans of stopping anytime soon. Fucking hell. Now he had no choice but to get his shit together. Helping his son deal with the traumatic experience took precedence over his own emotional state.

Slade saw him, and the thundercloud of his expression changed to a look of relief. "Dad," he said in a growl of pure fury as he stalked toward him in grim determination. "Gear up and let's go get that fucker."

Oh, he'd be doing that, for damn sure. But his son would not be along for the ride. Not that the kid couldn't handle himself. He had been raised by a SEAL after all. Not to mention he had a shit ton of uncles who'd taught him a few of their own skills. Under that happy go lucky exterior, Slade was a seriously badass mofo.

And he was fucking livid over what had happened to Kira.

Like father, like son.

"Slow your roll, son," he said in a voice that assured the younger man he meant business. "I appreciate the offer, but this is my fight."

"Fuck that," Slade barked as he walked right up to him until they were standing toe to toe. The aggressive stance assured his father that he had no intention of backing down. "You didn't see what he did to her dad. You weren't there. That bastard is mine."

Jax closed his eyes in anguish because his son was right. He hadn't been there for Kira when she needed him, and that gutted him. He was consumed with guilt because he had left his woman to fend for herself and she'd been tortured. This whole fucked up situation was his fault. He was an even worse piece of shit than his old man had been.

He opened his eyes and said in a tone filled with self-loathing, "Let's take a walk while you give me a sitrep."

They walked the circumference of the entire island while his son explained the situation to him. Slade was by turns furious and tearful as he walked him step by step through the series of events. Once he was finished, Jax pulled him into his arms and held him tight while the young man cried out his pain.

"We have to get the fucker, Dad," Slade said brokenly as he pulled away from the embrace and wiped his face with the tail of his t-shirt.

"We'll get him," he swore, and his implacable expression showed his resolve to do just that. But first, he needed more intel. "Go on in and get cleaned up. I'm gonna get a sitrep from Steel."

"Uncle Chaz put me on lockdown when we got back to the island," his son complained. "Nobody will tell me shit."

Probably because they knew the kid would go off half-cocked after the mofo himself. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that Steel knew who had done this. Or at the very least had a damn good idea. He did work with the best of the fucking best after all. "I'll fill you in later," he assured the younger man.

"Damn right you will," Slade confirmed and broke into a jog back toward the house.

Jax pulled out his phone and called his brother to snarl, "How the fuck did you know that Kira was in danger?"

"I didn't," Raven denied and explained that her friend Savannah Summers had contacted him when Kira dropped off the grid without a word. "How is she?"

"The mother fucker raped and tortured her, Rave," he rasped harshly. "If you hadn't sent Slade after her, she'd be dead."

"Jesus fucking God," the older man breathed angrily. "Listen, bro. When you go after that mofo just say the word, and I'm there."

"Appreciate the offer," he admitted and ended the call.

Now that Jax had the details, he needed to know who the bastard was. That thought firmly in mind, he stalked back to the resort and straight to the war room. Somehow he wasn't surprised to find the original team gathered around the conference table waiting for him. He closed the door behind him, planted himself in front of it and demanded, "Sitrep."

***

Every one of his friends knew that he had just issued a challenge. The only way out of the room was through Jax, so no one was leaving until he had every last detail. Not a damn one of them had a problem with that since they'd do the same fucking thing if they were in his shoes and it was their woman that had been hurt.

Chaz and Ashe exchanged a look before they both gave Hunter a nod of confirmation. The team geek blew out a heavy breath and began to reveal what they had discovered. "Kira was in a high-security building with interior and exterior video monitoring and access points accessible only by keycard."

"Security guards are stationed in the lobby 24/7, so the elevators don't require a key card for access. Once Slade gained entry to the building, he was free to go to any floor," he explained. "They take their security very seriously because there were firewalls and security protocols out the ass, but Kenzi got through them."

Kenzi, with no last name, was one of the many new additions to the team. According to Hunter, she was the absolute best hacker in the world, and there was nothing she couldn't get into or out of completely undetected. So far she'd lived up to the hype. The woman was eccentric, to say the least, but she always got the intel they needed.

No one was stupid enough to ask how.

Hunter tapped his notepad, and the TV screen on the wall showed Kira and a man exiting an elevator. The time stamp in the corner revealed it had been made the same night that Jax had seen them together. They watched as she stopped in the center of the lobby and stared at something off-screen. Her expression portrayed shocked disbelief.

"That's Jaeger Von Osterman," Jax's voice cracked through the room like lightning.

"The dude she works for," Chaz confirmed as he and Ashe exchanged another indecipherable look.

A man and a woman came on screen and joined them. Kira looked confused and kept her eyes on the other couple who had their backs to the camera. The men shook hands, it looked like introductions were made, and then the four of them walked toward the entrance. Hunter tapped the notepad again, and the feed stopped.

The tension in the room fairly crackled with electricity because every last man knew that these people had something to do with the condition that Kira had been found in. "We believe that Von Osterman is in the Illuminati," Chaz informed them, and shock waves rippled around the room.

"The fuck?" Jax barked in disbelief.

"The timing is right," Hunter inserted. "Von Osterman offered Kira a job the same day as the attacks on the other women. It's a little too coincidental."

"There's a lot of fucking difference between a job offer and kidnapping," Reed pointed out grimly since his wife had been a victim of the latter.

"Under normal circumstances, we'd agree with you," Ashe confirmed and nodded to Hunter again. Every eye trained on the TV screen as it changed to show Kira and Von Osterman exiting the building. Hunter froze the screen when the other couple came into view.

"What the fuck?" Reed roared as he shot out of his chair. Even though her hair was different, and she'd lost a considerable amount of weight, there was no mistaking that the woman on the screen was his wife. She was smiling up at the man who had his arm possessively around her slender waist.

The man who they referred to as Pepe le Pew.

NCIS agents had interrogated Detective Anderson after the shooting incident at Chaz's apartment. He had confessed that a mysterious Frenchman had tipped him off about the kidnap attempt on Jenna and he'd been trying to protect her. He'd even come up with a decent sketch of what the bastard looked like.

Jenna had seen the sketch and recognized him as Jean, one of Char's clients. She told them that he'd been around for a few weeks before the attack. The team had spent the last eighteen months unsuccessfully searching for the bastard. And now he showed up right under their noses in Miami with Von Osterman.

And Char.

"Now we have proof that Pepe was involved in Char's kidnapping," Ashe pointed out.

"Who the fuck is he?" Reed demanded.

"We still don't have a name," Hunter admitted. "Kenz ran him against every known database and didn't get any hits with them or with facial recognition software."

"What's his connection to Von Osterman?" Jax queried.

"None that we can find," Hunter admitted. "Which is why we're certain they're both connected with the Illuminati."

"So why offer her a job?" Rico asked in confusion. "Why didn't they just snatch Kira like the others?"

"Maybe that was the plan, and the job offer was just a way to get close to her," Mace suggested. "Like Pepe did by using Char as his hairdresser."

"But Kira took the job," Rhett pointed out.

"After she and Jax broke up," Chaz reminded them. "So Blade was right, and they decided it was a wasted effort to grab her if it wouldn't hurt him."

"Then what changed?" Ashe questioned with a scowl. "Why did they go after Kira now?"

"She saw Char," Jax deduced. "And Pepe. Maybe she wasn't supposed to. She could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they were tying up loose ends."

"Yeah, but why would they torture her?" Mace queried.

"Because the sick fuck wanted to send a message," Hunter added regretfully and laid a twelve-inch K-Bar knife on top of the conference table before he sent a video to the screen. Since the team geek had a habit of recording shit on his phone, they knew this was going to be gruesome if he had videoed the scene.

While the screen showed a living area that bore signs of a struggle they could hear the fear and desperation in Slade's voice as he pleaded with Jenna off camera to help Kira. As Chaz's voice tried to calm him down, the camera followed the doctor until she disappeared through a doorway with her trauma kit.

Jenna's voice could be heard demanding Kira respond to her while the screen revealed a bed saturated with blood. The small figure sprawled in the center of it was unrecognizable. Hunter's voice breathed, "Jesus fuck," in horror as he turned the camera back toward the door in a blur of motion before it backed up and froze in place.

Written on the wall in blood, was the word Blade.

A twelve-inch K-bar knife was impaled beside it.

With Kira's blood dripping from it.

The screen went black and not a man in the room uttered a word. Their expressions said it all. The mother fucker had intentionally tortured Kira to hurt Jax and signed his death warrant in the process. Reed turned to face him and said grimly, "I want that fucker dead as bad as you do, bro, but he's our only link to finding my wife."

"Then we take him alive and interrogate him," Jax confirmed coldly as he walked over to the table and picked up the knife.

"You won't be handling the interrogation, Blade," Ashe denied. "You're too emotionally involved to be objective, and you know it."

"What would you give for the chance to get your hands on the fucker who took Cat away from you?" Jax demanded in a voice like ice as he leveled an impenetrable stare on the other man, his hand tightening around the hilt of the blade he held. "Now ask yourself what it would take to stop you from getting it."

Ashe caved and gave him the green light. Because they all knew there was absolutely nothing he wouldn't do, no price he wouldn't pay to have the same opportunity for retribution. And nothing short of death would stop him from doing it.

"I'll get the intel we need," Jax assured them all as black eyes blazing with emotion swept over every man present. "But once we have Char, he's mine."