I’m posted inside the girl’s room, sucking on a hot coffee and trying to get comfortable in an uncomfortable, hard chair. Her window is locked, and she has her left ankle cuffed to the bed railing. She looks harmless enough and in no condition to make another great escape, but I’m not taking any chances.
The doc’s eyes were filled with fear, a total giveaway when I walked in carrying a half frozen, unconscious, bleeding female in my arms.
To the outside world, she ran her own legitimate medical business by day in the city, and when called upon, she would be here in this fully equipped setup in one of his many properties. It was a front for a printing business and came with a small skeleton medical staff, who were all on the payroll.
The doc’s behavior was more a nervous panic, with her eyes darting back and forth between Whisper and me, which only tipped me off to her own guilt. There was a reason this girl was able to escape. She didn’t achieve it all by herself, and she was so close to pulling it off. Only a couple of blocks were between her and freedom.
If I had been by myself, I may have played ignorance. After all, it wasn’t my fault she escaped. The gods were on her side, and then she had to go and flee in the wrong direction.
Stupid little rabbit.
There is nothing more enjoyable to Dickwad-Kane than killing. Just give him a reason. She presented one on a platter for him.
I had been shown to the room by the good doctor for a much-needed rest, but I needed some fresh air and a walk and didn’t want anybody knowing that.
Kane had a similar idea. He was out getting himself some fresh air and a coffee, unbeknownst to me, and I was out stretching my legs, getting a coffee and something to eat. What can I say? The doc supplied shit coffee.
I decided to take the longer walk back, giving myself some much-needed alone time, when Kane and I unfortunately crossed paths. I could have done with a break from the fucker. We kept on walking and all, but barreled into her. Our slow reaction time was enough to allow her to make a run for it because we sure as hell didn’t think we were going to bump into our prisoner on the street.
The determination she has to escape can only bring her trouble, especially when he gets his claws in her. She is too headstrong and a fighter. She would have been tame once, and now she is wiser to life and no longer able to be brainwashed.
Being free for that small amount of time has taught her she will do anything not to be held captive again.
Anything.
And that means taking on freezing cold temperatures in fucking Alaska in the middle of November, wearing virtually nothing but a blanket for warmth.
The doctor had to push it by questioning me why I wasn’t asleep, tucked up in that bed she had offered me. Nobody’s fucking business why I hadn’t quite gotten around to getting into it, and now I was going to forego any proper rest to keep this girl out of more harm.
I bided my time until the doctor re-stitched the female’s shoulder and set her wrist before I slammed her up against the wall, my forearm pressing down on her throat. I didn’t care that Whisper saw me attack the doctor; it would do her well to be reminded of what I was capable of. Things were getting out of hand, and that needed to stop real fucking fast.
I saw the terror in both their eyes. The doctor pleaded ignorance to it, and so did the girl. She was exhausted, but she still did her best to raise her voice to me, pleading it was all her idea, and the doctor just stood there letting her take the blame.
I knew better.
The doctor had cracked, and the guilt from the role she played among his minions had gotten to her. Hell, I was feeling bad about my role with this girl. She was so freakin’ innocent; I could see that.
She had already told me a little about escaping from a life that was taken from her, and she had people who cared for her and they would be looking for her. She was a good person. If you were stolen as an infant, became a pet to a man for twenty years, and you had no identification, no worldly possessions, you were a nobody unless somebody helped you to become a somebody. Yes, she had people who would miss her and be looking for her now.
He was playing with fire with this one.
I’d released the doctor and took her aside, away from prying ears, and told her to run and stay hidden once we left the premises.
I told her if she valued her life she would need to burrow into the ground and stay there. She didn’t even try to lie anymore. I knew she was thinking about her own safety and what the value of her life would mean to him. If you agree to be put on the payroll, don’t expect to live a long life under his thumb. Whatever made her agree to taking his money is on her head now, because it was going to come back to bite her if she didn’t heed my warning. It would probably bite her anyway.
Once you wake up to what is going on in his world, the money is no longer so attractive.
Now, we are back at almost square-fucking-one with Whisper, and time is up.
No more delay.
I’ve been piecing it all together, as much as I can, because nobody knows everything. He has contacts, who suggest women to him. They are normally loners, strippers, women who won’t be missed, or who are runaways, but they are all beautiful.
He sends out his well-paid delivery boys to abduct them. I have recently climbed the ranks, and this female is my first-hand delivery. I’m about to make it to the man himself. I will finally get to meet him.
I’ve worked the shady world for two years. I knew who to put myself in front of to be noticed. He finds his sentinels in the MMA world.
I wanted in.
I was never a delivery boy. They are just thugs, lowlifes out to make some fast cash. They are dispensable.
I’m not dispensable.
I’ve been working toward this meet-and-greet for six months.
He has a maximum of two events a year, and he’s got one coming up soon. Nobody knows when but his most trusted.
Nobody knows where but the man himself until he wants his clients to know.
He is paranoid.
He is seriously warped in the head, from what I’ve heard, and I will get to witness it for myself. The fucker is also very, very clever and unpredictable.
I move the chair closer to her bed and put my feet up on it, preparing to take a nap after I’ve finished my shit coffee. The doctor says Whisper will be out for hours with the juice she gave her, and I need some shuteye before we move her.
Things were going to heat up soon enough.
This female is a complication I wasn’t expecting.
I am an undercover agent.
At whatever cost, I. Will. Bring. Him. Down.