Chapter 47

Damien

Rafe snaps his fingers at me, pulling me out of the dark thoughts swirling around in my head. I watch him scribble something down on the yellow stick pad in front of him, and it’s like my mind switches to slow-motion mode.

The look on his face.

The way he stands, trying to rush off the phone.

I feel like I’m standing outside of my body, watching everything unfold before me, unable to interact.

They found something.

They know where she is.

Penny.

My body moves on instinct. I’m up and out the door before I can think twice. Rafe and the guys follow hot on my heels. I walk past my own vehicle and climb into Rafe’s truck. I’m too keyed up to drive, and I need to be in one piece when I smash in Charles’ face.

I don’t know if he says anything to me. Everything is a blurr until the moment we turn into the maze of warehouses off the shoreline. Exactly six miles from the office.

Six miles away from where I’ve been pacing and worrying for the last eighteen hours.

Six fucking miles.

“Damien!” Rafe shouts, getting into my face. I blink once, twice and come to standing steps away from his truck. “Man, you’ve got to get it together.”

“I need to get to her.”

“Not half-cocked, you don’t. We don’t know what we’re walking into, and the way the compound was protected in Vegas, it’s possible this place is, too. We need to do this smart. Legally.”

“It’s not like Vegas. That was Armando’s paranoia,” I explain, trying to sidestep him, but he won’t let me pass. “Move.”

“No, we need to wait for the guys to get here,” he states, but the sound of a gun going off has us both in motion.

Rafe pulls his firearm from its holster at his side, reminding me to pull my own from the holster at my ankle.

“We need to do this smart, man,” Rafe repeats, but it’s not his woman who’s been kidnapped. It’s not his woman who could have been on the receiving end of that bullet.

I hear the rumble of Bear’s bike and the screech of tires somewhere behind us, but there isn’t time. I need to find Penny.

“We should wait for backup.” I shake my head before releasing the safety on my gun and cocking it.

“You wait. I’m going to find my woman,” I spit, reaching my limit of cautious and careful. I’ve spent too much time doing nothing, and I refuse to wait on others any longer.

The building looms in front of me like a beacon, and my heart skips a beat knowing she’s somewhere in it.

So close but so far away still.

I feel Rafe at my side as I approach the large metal door. I’m sure the place is rigged with top-of-the-line security, but after the sound of a gun going off, I lost my give-a-fuck filter.

Pushing open the rusted and heavy door, I step inside with my gun drawn and aimed.

Please, let her be all right, I send up a silent pray.

The place is clean.

Surprisingly so.

Looks like they’ve been here for longer than we thought, because it looks like they’ve settled for some time.

“You stupid little bitch…”

The sound of Mirabelle’s voice fills the empty air around me, urging me forward into the lion’s den. Images of Penny tied to a bed somewhere in its depths send me into a panic, and I run toward the voice, losing all sense of direction and Rafe.

“You have no idea who you’re dealing with, or the monster you’ve let loose.”

I freeze midstride. The sound of Mirabelle’s voice is close, and I take a precious second to decipher which direction it’s coming from. It’s coming from the door on my right.

Reaching out, I test the handle and discover it’s unlocked. I twist the knob and push the door open. The sound of a gasping gurgle fills my ears. My feet carry me over the threshold as I aim down the sight of my gun, looking about the room for the source.

I see her instantly.

My beautiful girl.

She’s splayed out on the cement floor, on the other side of a huge double-paned window. There’s a makeshift pallet on the ground and what looks like a bucket in the corner for waste.

Mirabelle is straddling her still body, and her hands are wrapped around my girl’s neck. She’s muttering to herself, but I don’t make out a single coherent word. She’s in a manic state and has no idea I’m walking toward her.

Shutting down the panic and the rage of emotions boiling inside of me, I focus on trying to get her away from Penny without bloodshed. Why, I don’t know, but something inside of me keeps me from puting a bullet in the woman, ending her life right then and there. It takes every ounce of control I have.

“Mirabelle,” I call softly, desperate to see some spark of life from Penny as my voice echoes off the walls. Mirabelle continues to screech a variety of profanities, squeezing and releasing Penny’s throat. Pointing the gun away from them, I fire the weapon, finally getting her attention.

Mirabelle slowly turns to face me. Her dark eyes are almost black, and I watch her eyes widen with surprise. She lets go of Penny.

“Tony,” she exclaims with a clap, quickly placing one hand over her mouth, feigning embarrassment. “Oh, wait, I mean, Damien. Right? Because Tony’s not your real name.”

“Get up,” I demand and look past her, trying to gain a better assessment of Penny from my vantage point, but it’s hard to see the rise and fall of her chest with Mirabelle still perched on top of her.

“I’m afraid you’re too late,” she tells me matteroffactly, a smug smile on her face. She reaches down and pats Penny on the face, proud of what she’s done. “Oh, the tragedy of the moment, knowing she’s dead and you weren’t able to save her.”

I cock the gun again, pointing it at her, ready to pull the trigger.

“An ironic twist to the plot, her lover face-to-face with the killer.” She stands and throws her hands out. “Revenge is sweet, Damien. I have firsthand experience.”

A flicker behind Mirabelle draws my attention. I hear the gasping breath of my woman, and relief floods my body. Mirabelle hears it, too, and turns her back to me, and I see the glinting metal of a weapon tucked in the band of her pants.

Penny’s eyes flicker open, and she lifts a hand to her throat, trying to drag in another breath. Mirabelle growls and reaches for the gun, but I fire off a shot, grazing her upper arm.

She screeches and turns toward me, granting me her complete attention. “You fucking asshole! You shot me!”

“I’m not the only one with another identity, am I?” She frowns, forgetting the gun tucked into her pants. Penny rolls to her side, her beautiful blue eyes filled with relief to see me. “They called you Cassie, right?”

Mirabelle chokes hearing her real name for the first time in a long time, and the blackness that filled her dark eyes disappears almost instantly. “How old were you when they took you?”

“How do you know that name?” she asks, sounding panicked. Her eyes flicker around the room and instinctively look for a source of danger.

“Your mother and father have never stopped looking for you.” I take a step forward, lowering my gun as I do. She’s still a threat with the weapon tucked away on her person, but like King said, she’s a victim. One who did what she had to do to survive, and I have no doubt she won’t hesistate putting a bullet through my head. “They’ve never stopped hoping.”

“Bullshit.” She tries to sound hardened, but it comes out shaky and unsure. She begins to tremble as her body fights the conditioning she was taught and the hope I’ve sprung inside of her. “They sold me to him.”

“Is that what he told you?”

Penny pulls herself up into a sitting position behind her. She stills and quiets, listening to the conversation happening.

“They didn’t want me. I was nothing to them,” she cries and reaches up to cover her ears. She slinks to the floor, and Penny scoots away from her. “I watched them. They didn’t turn around. I cried out, but they were too busy with my brother.”

“They didn’t sell you, Cassie. You were kidnapped.” I holster my gun, advancing another step toward her. “That’s what Charles wanted you to believe. He wanted you to believe no one cared about you, because he wanted to control you.”

“I was nine,” she whimpers, and I see Penny flinch at the confession. I know she’s thinking about her youngest sister, Isa, and how much younger she is than Cassie was when she was taken. “I was only a little girl. Who does that to a little girl?”

“A monster,” I say the words, meeting Penny’s eyes. It’s the way she described Miguel to me the night she told me about him. It’s also my way of telling her I know who Charles really is. “Where is he, Cassie?”

I use the name Cassie instead of Mirabelle, trying to keep her from reverting to the monster he created in her. Mirabelle is the name he gave her to make her forget the memories of her real life. It’s the name he gave her to control her.

“He’s dead,” she tells me, pulling her legs up to her chest. I kneel beside her, giving her enough space to feel safe in my presence but still trying to get close enough to take the gun away. “I killed him.”

“You did?” I ask, my ears alert to the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway, just outside the room. It must be the guys. I glance at Penny and see she’s managed to scoot herself to safety without any noise. A learned ability that comes from years of staying invisible to the abusive Miguel. Penny comminucates the sight of my team standing on the other side of the glass, watching and waiting for the outcome.

Cassie nods and looks down at the ground. She pushes out her legs and reaches behind her back to pull out the gun. She holds it causually in one hand, resting it in her lap. I meet Penny’s eyes from across the room, and they plead with me to be careful.

“With that?”

She nods again, keeping her eyes downcast. “He can’t hurt me anymore.”

“No, he can’t,” I assure her on an outstretched hand. “Can I have the gun?”

I see her eyes look at my hand, and then down at the gun in hers as she contemplates what to do. She shakes her head as her instinct to survive kicks in. “I can’t.”

“Okay.” I nod and rock back onto my heels. She looks up to at me finally, no trace of the monster visible.

“Will I get to see them?” There’s a childlike quality in her voice.

My heart stings a little bit, because I’m sure she knows she isn’t going to walk away from any of this life as a free woman. Which is a terrible thought because the bad she’s done and the people she’s hurt were the result of what happened to her twelve years ago. King’s words echo in my head.

“Yes, I promise you’ll get to see them.” I throw a look over my shoulder, and King nods. He’s already called her parents.

Cassie shifts, pulling my attention back to her, and she holds the gun out toward me. As I reach for it, she yelps and pulls it back.

“No, they can’t see me. They can’t know what I’ve done.” She begins to spiral. The thought of seeing her parents sends her down the rabbit hole. “They can’t know the monster I’ve become.”

“Cassie—” I try soothing her, but she places the barrel of the gun in her mouth and pulls the trigger before I realize what’s happening.

I watch in horror as Cassie falls backward onto the concrete.

The sound of Penny screaming and the sight of her reaching for the dead woman pull me out of the shock controlling my body.

I stand and lean over, scooping Penny into my arms. She fights my hold, but I carry her out of the room and away from the sight of Cassie’s lifeless eyes.

King leans over the woman, checking for any signs of life, only to hang his head in defeat.

Cassie is gone. And she took Mirabelle with her.