Chapter 46
I struggled up through ponderous darkness, already fighting my bonds.
Escape. I had to escape.
Hard hands clamped on my arms and I lashed out with a foot, letting out a cry of pain when something bit into my ankle.
The clank of the door latch and Holt’s voice brought me back to full comprehension. “Okay, here’s how we’re going to-”
“Take her hood off, for God’s sake!” Kane’s voice sounded strained. “She’s only semi-conscious and she’s claustrophobic. She doesn’t know where she is.”
“Take him out,” Holt said flatly.
“Take her hood off!” Kane barked.
“As soon as you’re out. Move it!”
The jingle of chains and rocking of the van’s suspension marked their exit, and a moment later my hood was whisked off with a painful jerk of my hair.
“Ow! Fuck!” I glared up at Holt from my uncomfortable position, half-crushed by my two big guards. “Get them off me!”
Holt nodded at them and they eased their weight off to sandwich me tightly between them instead of leaning on me.
“What the fuck, Kelly?” Holt demanded.
“What the fuck yourself,” I snarled. “I just wanted them to lift the hood enough so I could breathe, and they tranked me as soon as I started to ask.”
“As per their orders,” Holt retorted. “So shut up or they’ll trank you again.” He turned on his heel and got out, slamming the door behind him.
“Asshole!” I bellowed, but one of my guards held up a trank dart with a warning look, and I shut up.
Outside, Kane spoke again, his voice only slightly muffled by the van’s closed door. “What did you do to her?”
“Nothing. She’s just a cranky bitch. Do you want to see your kid or not?”
After a moment of sullen silence, Kane growled, “Yes. I would like to see my son. And I don’t intend to do it wearing shackles.”
There was a brief tense pause, and I braced for an explosion from Holt.
Instead, when he spoke his voice was hard and even. “Okay, here’s how it’s going to happen. We’ll remove your restraints. You’ll have three automatic weapons trained on you at all times. You won’t go into the house. You can talk to the kid on the doorstep. One wrong move and the bullets will fly; and if your kid happens to be in the crossfire, well…”
Imagining Holt’s shrug, I barely prevented myself from yelling obscenities through the door.
“Unacceptable,” Kane said, his voice dangerously flat. “Daniel’s safety is not negotiable.”
“I’m not negotiating,” Holt replied. “If you don’t try anything, your kid will be perfectly safe. That’s the only deal going. If you don’t like it, you can get back in the van right now.”
A familiar gravelly voice said, “Hey, what the fuck’s goin’-”
Scuffling and loud thumps against the van made my guards bolt to attention, their hands flying to their weapons. A surge of adrenaline kicked my heart into overdrive.
An instant later the van door burst open and two small flat reports plunged me into blackness again.
“Wha… whaddafuck…?” I mumbled, straining to push the weight of the guards off me.
“Hey, darlin’, it’s okay.” Hellhound’s gentle rasp sounded close to my ear.
I dragged one eye half-open. Above me, his beloved battlescarred face wavered in and out of focus.
“You’re okay, darlin’,” he assured me. “Ya don’t hafta fight. I got ya.”
Going limp in the safety of his arms, I let my eyelid fall closed again.
Sleep. I could sleep here forever…
“Shit!” My eyes popped open and I struggled into sitting position. “What happened? Where am I? Where’s John?”
“We’re in the Sirius van, an’ he’s right there.” Hellhound nodded out the window to where Kane stood on Alicia’s front lawn holding Daniel.
“Oh…” I relaxed into Hellhound’s embrace, my heartstrings tugging at the sight of Kane’s smile. He held Daniel close, his gentleness obvious despite the power coiled in his bulging muscles. Daniel nestled in his father’s arms, both hands curled into Kane’s T-shirt and his face pressed to Kane’s shoulder. Alicia stood on the doorstep frowning, but she didn’t interfere.
“Thank God…” I began as I turned back toward Hellhound. “…Jesus Christ!” I yelped, recoiling from Holt’s murderous close-range glare.
Behind a gag that looked suspiciously like one of the blackout hoods, Holt growled words that were probably capable of igniting the fabric in his mouth, if he been had able to enunciate them properly. His hands and feet were bound with Sirius-issued restraints and the seatbelt had been tied through both, trussing him in the driver’s seat with remarkable effectiveness.
“Sorry ‘bout that, darlin’.” Hellhound’s grin was unrepentant. “Hate to make ya look at that ugly mug, but I didn’t know where else to put him.”
More inarticulate invective leaked out around Holt’s gag as I stared open-mouthed at him.
“Wh… What… exactly… happened?” I asked.
“He pissed Kane off,” Hellhound said cheerfully. “Ya really don’t wanna do that.”
“Um… what about the guards?”
“They’re havin’ a nap in the back. They got the darts an’ you only got the inhaled trank, so they oughta be down for a few more minutes.”
“B-But… what…?” Words failed me as I imagined the repercussions.
Oh, God.
We’d defied orders. Obstructed justice. Attacked officers of the law.
We were going to jail.
Unless…
An even scarier thought occurred to me.
What if Kane really had gone rogue? What if he left Holt and his team tied up in the van and went on the run? Or worse, made a stand? If he decided to fight, it would be a bloodbath…
“It’s gonna be okay,” Hellhound said as if reading my mind. “Come on, let’s get outta here. Don’t wanna look at that ugly fuck any longer.” He jerked his chin at Holt’s rage-purpled countenance.
My knees buckled as I stepped out of the van, and Hellhound’s strong arms caught me.
“Easy there, darlin’.” He eyed me worriedly. “Ya okay?”
The memory of the motionless bodies at Battalion Park surged back, slicing my heart open to sear it with the bitter acid of failure. Tears flooded my eyes and I buried my face in Arnie’s chest, clinging to him as if his solid presence could somehow bring all those innocent people back from the dead.
“Hey.” He held me tightly, stroking my hair. “Hey, Aydan, what’s wrong?”
“I’m so… glad…” I drew a hiccupping breath. “…you’re okay…” The grief of all the people who would never be able to hold their loved ones again crushed my soul. “Oh God… all those poor people…” Sobs wrenched my chest.
“Whoa, hang on. What people, darlin’?”
“At B-Battalion P-Park…”
“What…? No.” His hands closed on my shoulders, strength schooled to gentleness as always. “No, Aydan. Hey, look at me.” He held me away from him, ducking down to look me in the face. “Darlin’, it didn’t happen. It was fake news. Some fuckin’ sicko spliced a video clip into the live feed. Nobody died. They announced it on the news just before ya got here.”
“Nobody…” My knees went weak. Tremors spread through my body until I was vibrating in his grasp. “…F-Fake…?”
“Yeah.” Arnie closed his arms around me again, enfolding me in comfort and safety. “Everybody’s fine. No casualties.”
Pressed tightly against him, I let the glorious heat of his body melt the icy chill in my chest.
“It’s all… okay?” I asked again, afraid to believe it.
“Yeah. It’s all okay, darlin’.” He pressed his lips to my hair, rocking me while I clung to him. “It’s okay, everythin’s okay.”
“Well, maybe not quite everything.” Kane’s voice intruded on our moment. When we pulled apart, he gave us a regretful grimace. “I’m afraid we’ll have to pay the piper now.”
Leaning past us, he opened the passenger door and eyed Holt’s furious face. “I’m going to untie you now,” he said evenly. “And I’m going to let you put the restraints back on me, and I’ll get in the back of the van and cooperate with the guards so you can deliver me to Sirius as per the original plan. You’ve been watching us the whole time, so you know Aydan and I haven’t communicated in any way. It’s up to you whether you want to put this in your report. I’ll own up to it if you do; and I’ll pretend it never happened if you don’t. Your call.”
He reached in and pulled the gag off Holt.
Braced for a deluge of obscenities, I dared a peek into the van when all was silent. Holt and Kane had locked eyes, both wearing their impenetrable cop faces.
“You goddamn prick,” Holt said. “This is going to make me look like a fucking idiot, but…” He hissed out a breath. “I’m not going to falsify a report. It’s going in, and we’re both going to have to take whatever Stemp dishes out.” He turned a sardonic smile on me. “Kelly, of course, comes out smelling like a fucking rose since she was unconscious. Well played, Kane. Asshole.”
Kane shrugged, the small grim smile twisting his lips again. “Thank you.” He turned back to us, but Hellhound spoke before he could.
“I’ll stay with Lish and Dan, Cap. I’ll protect ‘em with my life.”
“Thank you.” Kane briefly clasped Arnie’s shoulder before going around to the driver’s side to release Holt. Then he turned his back, holding his arms behind him.
Holt bound his wrists with a fresh set of restraints. “For all the fucking good it’ll do,” he grumbled. “Stay here. I’ll let the boys out of the back and keep them from killing you.” He turned to me. “You need to come to Sirius, too. No talking. Hoods on. But I’ll make sure your nose and mouth are uncovered.”
“Thanks,” I said in a small voice, my pulse bounding up in renewed fear.
“It’s gonna be okay, darlin’,” Hellhound said, but I could see the worry in his eyes.