Her body was hurting. Andrea thought perhaps her arm had been broken again; the pain in it was making her sick to her stomach, but she knew it had more to do with the fact that she’d been laying on it rather than it being hurt. Rolling to her back made her put her unhurt hand over her mouth as she moved to an upright positon. It was difficult because heavy silver tape was stretched across her cast and bare skin, but she managed to hold onto her meal.
Sitting up had cost her, but now that she was in that position all she wanted to do was to lay down and close her eyes again. But the noises were getting clearer, and she thought someone was telling her to get up. Opening one eye, she looked around.
She was in a cell of some kind. As her vision got more in focus she realized it wasn’t a cell but a stall…like the kind horses and cattle were stored in. She could even see ropes and a few other items that she was sure had to do with animals, but for the life of her, she had no idea. The grass—or, she supposed, straw—under her wasn’t sweet smelling like she’d heard it would smell, but sour and dirty.
“Are you awake yet?” Andrea turned her head in the direction of the voice and nearly threw up on herself. Everything was making her sick, and she nearly let go of whatever might have been on her belly when she closed her eyes again. “Hello. Are you awake yet?”
“Yes.” Even to her, her voice sounded hoarse and scratchy. Andrea wondered if the woman could understand her, so she told her again. “I’m awake. I’m hurting, so just give me a minute to get...I just need a minute. Can you tell me where you are or where are we? I don’t remember how I got here.”
Her legs were bound together by tape too. Her hands, cast and all, were also taped together, and it was so tight that she was sure she might lose fingers if it was on much longer. Working to get it free, she looked around carefully.
The woman—there was little doubt that was who was talking to her—sobbed. If she was talking to her, Andrea had no idea what she was saying over the sobs and tears. There had to be something that she could use to get free.
The barn, she could see now, was overgrown with weeds and smelled like some animal had been stored in here and had died. There wasn’t any sign of anything like that, but she knew the smell of death and decay. The roof was falling in…there were large holes in it where she could see the morning light. It could also have been twilight, but she felt sure it was coming on morning, as the sun was just too high. When the woman spoke again, Andrea knew she might have a better grip on her fear.
“You came in about an hour ago. They just dropped you on the floor, and then one of them...he jerked off and...well, it’s on your back, so you know. But yesterday morning we were brought here in a van. We were told that we’d be having some fun and that we’d be paid well. I came because my friend thought it would be a hoot. But then these men came in, groomers they called themselves, and started getting us ready, as they said, for ‘the big event.’” Andrea asked her what they’d done to them. “I’ve been shaved. Everywhere. The only hair on my body is on my head. What the fuck? Don’t they know that’s going to itch like hell when it grows back? I told that man that and he said I’d not have to worry.”
Andrea looked down at the clothing she had on, wondering where it had come from. The last thing she remembered having on was a gown. And that had been...she supposed this morning. Looking it over, she could see that there were indeed stains on it, and knew there was little she could do about it now. But as soon as she figured out who had done it, she was going to tear their balls off and feed them to them. Sick now that she knew what was on it, she looked up at the woman that was hanging there. She wanted to help her, but was still feeling too much pain.
“Did he tell you why you’d not have to worry?” There was more crying, and that was when Andrea realized that there were more than just her and the woman here. It sounded to her like there might have been at least a few more. “What’s your name? I’m Andrea Dean.”
Andrea had been thinking she liked that name much better than Marshall. It might have been because she’d been told that was her name first, but she had a feeling it was because of the man who had said he was coming for her.
“Penny James. There are a bunch of us here. We’re all prostitutes, in case you were wondering.” Andrea had no idea why she thought that would matter, but said nothing. “I think they’re going to kill us when they’ve finished with us.”
Andrea felt the blood in her arms start to move again as she got the tape pulled back a little more. She tried to move her ass over to where the gate had been broken down, and moved toward it a little at a time. Her head was pounding now, and she thought that if she was killed right now, she would almost welcome it. Almost.
You will not die. The man gave her pause, and she thought maybe it was the best thing she’d heard in a very long time. There are a bunch of us working on a plan to get in and get you out. Can you tell me where you are?
A barn. It’s kind of run down. I don’t know how I got here other than being thrown in the back of a car, I guess. But there are a bunch of us. Penny, one of the women, thinks that we’re going to be killed when they’re done with us. He didn’t say anything and that scared her more. Look, Buster, I want you to help me, but I’d just as soon have a little information to arm myself with, if you don’t mind. Just tell me what the fuck is going on. Somebody jerked off on me, and I’d really like to get me some payback.
I’ll take care of him. But the men, they’re going to shift and run you all down, then rape and kill you. Okay, maybe she didn’t want the information. Do you know what I mean by shifting?
There are men out there that can change into something else. Like...like cats and stuff. She had a thought and felt her heartrate pick up. Are you a shifter too? Like one of the men that are going to try and kill us?
Yes, I’m a shifter, but no, I’m nothing like the men that are going to die for hurting you. Closing her eyes, she tried to think what that meant to her. I’m a wolf, as are most of the men that are going to try and kill you and the women that are with you.
They brought them here for the purpose of killing them. He told her yes, that was their plan. They groomed them, she told me. Shaved them all over their bodies, and now they’re hanging from the rafters of the barn. But you’re going to fix this. Save us, right?
I am. I’m working now with a few of my pack. She wasn’t entirely sure what a pack was, but had a feeling that there were a lot of wolves out there. Andrea, you and the others, we’re going to need your help. The women with you are human like you are. And while they can help, they’ll die if the wolves turn on them. We need to get them to safety, along with you.
I don’t know what I can do. I have a broken arm, I’m tied up, and I’m sick as a dog. They gave me something, and it’s not working well on my belly. Not that it matters, but...I just want the fuck to get out of here and somewhere that things are normal. Is there normal out there somewhere? I don’t think so right now. She realized she was talking out of her head and let out a low breath while she worked on getting free. You said that...I know that...we’re mates, and you have done something to me that makes it so we can talk, right? Trevor said that was right, that he’d bitten her. And we had sex. I remember having...we had sex on a plane.
And just like that, it all come flooding back to her. Everything. The crash, the sex. Even the way he’d made her feel when he came inside of her. Andrea could hear him screaming at her now, his voice in her head telling her to calm down, that he was coming, but all she could see was the dead man’s head staring at her, the rushing water under the plane, and the way the plane felt when it fell into the cold freezing water.
He was yelling at her. Calling her name and telling her that she was all right now. But she wasn’t. Things had been done to her, said about her, and now she was tied up again. Her entire life was flashing behind her closed lids, and she was suddenly terrified that she was going to die and have nothing at all to show for it.
Come on honey, please answer me. I’m so sorry, but I had no idea that you’d freak out like this. Just talk to me. She wanted to tell him to shut up, but she had a feeling that he’d just keep talking. You’re going to be all right, I promise you…and I’ll take care of you. You’ll never have to worry about money again.
I’m not worried about money now. He just laughed in her head. I’m not your wife. You lied to me. Don’t you dare do that again.
I won’t. I promise you that. But I wanted to be sure of being able to give you the best care should you need it. And not being your husband would have given me no rights, or any kind of say in the amount of care you would get. It was...it was selfish of me. But I knew what you were to me when I sat down beside you. Looking down at the tape on her hands, she began trying to cut it loose with the wood there instead of thinking about everything else that seemed to be taking over her mind. But in order to save you, I’m going to need your help.
All right. But for now I’m working on taking this tape off me so I can move. He told her good thinking. Yeah, believe it or not, I can think on my own.
I have no doubt that you do it well too. She had a feeling that he was teasing her, but wasn’t sure. You said that you’re in a barn. There are actually three of them on this property…that we can see anyway. The one with the cars in front of it is not the one you’re in. And the other two are surrounded by men that have guns. While I’m not worried about a gun right now, I don’t want to bring them down on us until I can set you free.
Us free. There are more than just me in here. You’re going to help us all, right? He told her that he was. Good. Because as much as I’d like to get out of here, I don’t want to leave anyone behind. I’ve been through enough shit to last me several lifetimes. That guy, Peter, the doctor? I don’t know where he is, but he needs to have his license taken from him. He and that nurse are terrible people.
He has, in a way. She heard the hardness of his voice and asked him what he meant. They’re both dead. They touched what is mine and they had to be dealt with.
Really? He didn’t answer her, but she could feel his anger, not at her. She had no idea why she knew that it wasn’t directed at her, but it was there all the same. You killed a man because he...well, he did tie me to the bed and give me drugs. He might even have brought me out here to be...okay, killing him was okay. But the nurse? Why her?
She was his mother. That wasn’t a good explanation for killing her, but it certainly cleared up a few things. She wasn’t all that nice either. We’ve since...can we table this for later, perhaps? After I get you out?
The tape broke before she answered him, and she told him she was willing to wait, but that they would talk before anything else. Standing up as slowly as her body would let her, she could see more of where she was. And the other women. Walking to the women that were tied to the beams in the barn, she told Trevor what she could see.
There are ten of them with me. All of them are naked, and it...it looks like someone might have taken a whip to a few of them. I’d say...Trevor, one of them might be dead. He asked her if she could get to them. Yes. But I’m going to need to find a knife first. To cut them down. They’re hanging...someone has hung them from the beams.
It took her too long to find a sharp instrument to try and cut through the rope. She had no idea how long it actually took her, but it felt like forever. Cutting down Penny first, she sat with her as the woman sobbed and tried to get her circulation going in her legs and arms. When she was ready, they cut the rest down, and she told Trevor that two of the women were dead.
I’m coming, love. Just as soon as we figure this out, we’re coming for you. She told him to hurry. You have no idea. I want this to be over as much as you do.
She had no idea why he thought so, but let him go. There were things they could do to arm themselves in the event that the men, the other wolves, came for them before Trevor and his pack found them.
Moving along the woods to sneak into the outbuildings was taking its toll on him. His anger was getting the better of him, and he’d had to bite his lip a few times when one of the men that were searching with him got on his last nerve. Sending them away so he could look alone, Trevor moved through the forest and found three more buildings that had to be searched. Everyone was on edge, he supposed, but he wanted to find her now and take her home. Just...he needed to touch her. As did his wolf. Entering the building in front of him, he knew immediately that she wasn’t there. His wolf whimpered in response.
“I know buddy. I’m looking. But we have to go carefully or she might get hurt again.” His wolf moved along his skin, and Trevor knew it was for comfort. They both were going a little over the edge waiting for their mate to come home. Just as he was ready to move out, he stopped and hid behind the door when he heard voices.
“I called him three times already. It just goes to voicemail, and he’s not calling me back. What the fuck do you think is taking him so fucking long?” He knew the voice and peeked between the cracks in the door to make sure it was Patrick. It was. But the man with him was still standing outside of where he could see him, so Trevor waited. “I’m telling you that the man ditched us. But if he thinks he’s getting his money back, then he’s a bigger fool than I thought he was.”
“What are we supposed to do about his woman?” Trevor felt like his blood had turned to ice and that every cell in his body had exploded. As his brother continued to speak, Trevor held onto his breath, knowing that if he showed himself now, they’d all be dead. “I don’t know about you, but it kind of makes me nervous to have all these cops around here. Did you really invite all these people?”
“No, I did not. That fucking bastard, the mayor, did that. He’s a wolf, you know, and thought that with the election coming up soon, he’d get a few more votes if he brought some of the bigger money out here to have a little fun.” Patrick laughed a little. “But I’m telling you. This is a bigger payoff than I first thought it would be. Damn, who would have thought that people would pay ten grand to come out and have a little pussy?”
“I did.” Trevor listened to the two of them moving around the room, wondering what they were doing until his brother spoke again. “Is there room for them to be brought in here? I’m thinking that we’re going to need some plastic and lye before we can just store their bodies in here. I read somewhere that lye can mask the smell, but that many dead bodies is going to need a lot of lye.”
They were going to store the women when they were done with them? That seemed...well that seemed cold and heartless. At least when he’d killed Neal he’d made sure that his body was found. Or at least it would be found someday.
“Yeah. I should have thought of that. Burying them won’t work out like it did when I was out here by myself the other time. We’d be here all fucking day digging the graves if we did that. But like you told that guy in the suit, having our parties out here where nobody cares is going to be our best bet.” Patrick must have dropped something, because he started cussing like he’d been hurt bad. It sounded to Trevor like it was metal. “Fucking hurts. I’m going to have to shift out of this shit so I can run later.”
“Yeah, you do that. I’m thinking...I think I’m going to go and have me a sample of one of them women. Christ, did you see that one we brought here for Neal? She is...I think she smelled like my brother, but that can’t be right.” Patrick, still cursing, asked him what he meant. “You know, like her and Trevor might have been fucking. She smelled like him. But Neal told us when we packed her in the trunk that she’d been with him for over a week. Didn’t you smell that?”
“I’ve never been that close to your brother. I just figured she’d been putting out for anyone he wanted. She is a looker, though. Red headed women are my weakness.” Patrick laughed again. “Hell, anything with a pussy is my weakness. I might have to join you in going to see to them. I want them primed up for tonight.”
As they moved out of the barn, Trevor stood up. He was going to kill Patrick and put his brother in a world of hurt. Both of them were going to pay as soon as he found Andrea. That fucking bastard was going to die a slow and very painful death. And Burton was going to wish he’d never made it to his next birthday.
Moving out of the barn nearly got him caught. Trevor had been so wrapped up in knowing that his brother was involved in this mess that he almost didn’t see the man coming out of the bigger barn and walking toward where he was.
Trevor stepped behind the big tractor with the trees and weeds growing out of it that were nearly as big as he was when he heard Burton and Patrick talking to the man. He had no idea who he was, but apparently someone from Neal’s house had called him about Neal and the others.
“He’s dead, along with his mom and several others. My guy said that Trevor Dean just came in with his guns out and started shooting whoever moved.” Trevor smiled. Not quite true, but it was nice to know that he’d made an impression on someone. “Ben, that guy from his house, called and said that there isn’t anyone left out there but a few of Dean’s men, and they’re taking names. He even killed the women that were fucking us all.”
Ben was as good as dead when this was over. Trevor heard one of them whistle, knowing that it wasn’t his brother because he couldn’t, and wondered what they might think if they knew he was not ten feet from them.
“You think he’s on his way here? I don’t think I want to be here when he comes around.” Burton sounded panicky, which was good. He’d better be afraid. “I want him as dead as you do, but I’m not going to be caught here when he comes in pissed off at everyone. That could mean trouble more than you guys have the ways and means to take care of. He is one nasty mother fucker when he’s pissed off. Let me tell you, I know that for a fact.”
“Ben said his mate is here. Where the...who the fuck brought her here?” This was from an unknown man. One of them must have pointed to Patrick, because Unknown started yelling at him. “You brought Trevor’s mate here to be one of the women we were gonna have some fun with? Are you a fucking idiot? He’s going to—”
The gunshot sound startled him, and Trevor looked up over the large wheel he was hiding behind to see who was down. Unknown had said too much, apparently.
Trevor? He told Andrea he was fine. If it helps you at all, we all heard that. I mean, like it was right here. He looked around where he was, trying to find her. Also, there are trees behind us. A wide open field of them. If we can get out, we’re going to avoid those like it’s our job.
He started to tell her not to leave the barn, but it might help them in finding them quicker. Trevor told her to go out the front of the barn, but to be careful. I don’t know where you are, so if you run into trouble, I won’t be there quick enough to protect you.
We found some things to make us a little better off in that department. This barn is full of some scary shit. We’re armed. Not against any guns, but we can hurt in close hand to hand. He told her that he was proud of her. Don’t be yet. It might just quicken our deaths. But I have eight of the women with me, and we’re not going down without a fight. He heard his brother yelling at Patrick and had to smile a little. They had no idea what kind of shit they were about to run into. He told Andrea to be careful and he’d see her soon. Time to take care of Patrick.
“You fucking just killed that man. Don’t you think someone is going to notice?” Trevor looked around the tire at the two men left standing. Burton was walking back and forth talking loudly to Patrick, and Patrick was reloading his gun. Trevor had a moment of worry that Patrick might kill his brother before he got to.
“I’ve just killed it down so that our split is just four of us now. And when you pay up after your brother takes you back into his arms, then we’ll be full partners.” The gun was put back in the back of his pants as Patrick continued to talk to Burton. “You really are a fucking pussy, aren’t you? Christ, you should have killed him the moment you realized that your birthday was coming up. Would have saved you a lot of heartache and me a lot of speculation on whether or not you were going to pay up. You are, aren’t you, Burton? Going to pay me?”
“I am. When Trevor is dead and gone, I’ll take over his businesses and you’ll be the first one on my list. Right after I take care of that Sara bitch.”
Trevor knew in that moment that there would be no saving his brother from this. He had thought, way in the back of his mind, that one day Burton would realize what he’d been doing for him all these years and come to him about it. Most of the crap he had pulled could have been forgiven after a while, but not now. He was as dead to Trevor as Trevor was to his brother. Pulling out his own gun, Trevor let out a slow breath as he stood up. It was time—past time—to make sure that his brother didn’t hurt him again.