Midnight Shadows (12 page)

“Sounds like you're walking a fine and dangerous line,” Ian said.
 

“Part of the job.”
 

“If you've been working on this Silva for two years, why’s it taking so long? When’s he going down?”
 

“As I said, your escape set me back a bit.” A darkness entered his expression. “I had to prove my worth all over again.”
 

Sabrina didn't even want to know what he'd been forced to do.
 

“So why are you here?” Ian asked.
 

“He says he knows where Lauren is.”
 

“And that's all you want? To tell Sabrina about Lauren?”
 

“Not exactly.”
 

“Then what exactly?” Ian asked.
 

“I need Sabrina’s help in saving Lauren.”
 

“Why? Where is she?”
 

“Silva has her again. This time he doesn’t have to let her go.”
 

“Silva is hung up on her?” Sabrina asked.
 

“You might say that. Do you know what happened when he had her before?
 

Sabrina shook her head. “Just the little I got when Cruz was being tortured. She spent some time with Silva?”
 

“Yeah. For his fiftieth birthday, Cruz gave him Lauren. Silva had her a week.”
 

“Shit,” Ian said softly. “Can't decide who's the biggest bastard.”
 

“Both of them,” Marsh said. “Only Silva has more money and power, along with a high dose of sadism.”
 

“You could do nothing to stop it?”
 

“I didn't know anything about it until the week was almost over. I'd been out of town on a job for Silva. When I returned, I heard several of his men lamenting that this week's entertainment was almost over.”
 

Bile surged up Sabrina's throat. “He shared her with his men?”
 

“No. Silva doesn't share, but he used her in front of them. He enjoys humiliation almost as much as he does doling out pain.”
 

“When she described what Cruz had done to her, she didn't tell us about that.”
 

“I'm sure what Cruz had done to her was enough to convince you to help. I didn't know that much about the man's day-to-day activities, but if he was shitty enough to give his girlfriend to a sadist for a week, he was slime.”
 

Cruz had treated Lauren horribly. When she’d come to Wildefire Security for protection from Cruz, Lauren had told them hideous stories of abuse. Of the murders and torture she had witnessed. She had endured hell. Sabrina had never fathomed just what the woman had gone through. No wonder she hadn't shared everything.
 

Had Logan Wright known about it? He and Brody James, Wildefire Security’s partners, had been Lauren’s bodyguards. But Logan had been more than that. He and Lauren had become close. Had she revealed to him just how horrible her experiences had been? Sabrina thought not. It would take more than a few months of knowing someone before you told something like that. Sabrina knew all too well that there were certain secrets that could never be revealed, no matter how much you trusted someone. Her own nineteen year old secret was one she planned to take to her grave.

“So Silva has Lauren. How long and how bad off is she?”
 

“He's only had her a few days. And so far, I don’t believe she's been hurt. Silva is in Chicago attending his daughter's wedding. Lauren’s being held for him… he hasn't seen her yet. If any of his men touch her, they know they’ll die. Which means she’s safe for now. When he returns…”

Marsh left that hanging, leaving no doubt that Lauren would soon be in dire danger.
 

“When's he due back?” Sabrina asked.
 

“In four days. I need to figure out a way to get her out before he returns.”

“He wants to kill her?”
 

“Most likely. Once he’s done entertaining himself with her. And her death won’t be as painless as Cruz’s.”
 

Sabrina could only gawk at Marsh. Cruz’s death most certainly hadn't been a painless one.
 

Correctly interpreting her expression, Marsh nodded grimly. “Believe it or not, Cruz got off easy. Silva had some kind of twisted affection for the man. I've heard about weeks of torture Silva has inflicted.”
 

“Why can't the DEA or another law enforcement agency help her? If she’s being held against her will, why can’t they save her?”
 

“We can't afford for my cover to be blown. Whatever I do to get Lauren out will have to be done without harming Silva. We can’t risk our case against him falling through.”
 

Ian gave a slow nod of understanding. “They don't know you're here, do they? Your people at the DEA? They don't know you're trying to save her.”
 

“One woman's life compared to the ones we'll save when we finally bring Silva down?” Marsh shook his head. “No, they can't sanction a rescue.”
 

“Then how do you want me to help?” Sabrina asked.

“Silva was royally pissed when you got away. He's not put a lot of man-hours behind finding you simply because you covered your tracks so well. Not even the Miami police knew your real name. However, he'd be more than thrilled to find you.”
 

An ominous chill swept up her spine. “And?”
 

“He’s got feelers out, just in case you can be found. I want to take you to where he’s keeping Lauren. Once you’re inside, I’ll help both of you escape.”

Chapter Ten

Ian’s head was shaking long before Marsh finished his sentence. Put Sabrina at the mercy of this Silva person? No way. No way in hell was he about to let that happen.
 

“I understand why Silva can’t be taken down at this point, but couldn’t we do the rescue covertly? Go in and rescue her straight out? Why would I need to be taken to him?”

“Silva has a house where he keeps his…playmates. I’ve never been invited to it. As much research as I’ve done on the man, I’ve yet to uncover the location. Once he learns you’ve been found, he’ll instruct me to take you there.”

“But when Lauren and I both disappear from his house, won’t he suspect you?”

“No, he won’t know I had anything to do with it.”

“How’s that?”

“As I mentioned, Silva has feelers out for you. One of them will pay off and make a call to one of his men. Silva will order me to make the grab.” His face twisted in a distasteful grimace. “I’ve become the asshole’s go-to man when it comes to shit like this.”

“How do I know we'll be able to get out? He might just kill me on the spot.”
 

Ian shot her a glare that should’ve singed her. It would have if she’d been paying him any attention. Instead her focus was on Marsh. Ian could almost see the wheels turning in her head, planning on how she could work this.

“He won’t kill you,” Marsh assured her. “He’ll want to talk. Find out who you are. How you got away. That'll give us some leeway in pulling off the escape.”
 

Okay, he had heard more than enough. “No. Hellfire, no. You're insane if you think Sabrina's going to go undercover like this.”

“Ian, stop. We need to—”

His gun still steady on Marsh, Ian sent Sabrina a warning look. “You are not going to get anywhere close to this Silva. We’ll figure out another way to save Lauren, but putting yourself in his hands is not even an option.”

“She’s a Wildefire client. We agreed to protect her.”

“And you did the job she hired you to do. Got paid for it. The job was done and she left of her own freewill. She’s not your client any longer. Not your responsibility.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Ignore that she’s been kidnapped. Hope it all works out for her?”

“Hell, no. Like I said, we’ll get her out. But putting you in the same kind of danger can’t be the solution.”

“Do you have a better one?”

“We’ll find a better one.”

“Would you two like to be alone to discuss this?” Marsh asked.

They answered simultaneously, only Ian’s was a “Hell, yes” and Sabrina’s an emphatic “No.”

“Look, Mackenzie,” Marsh said. “I can understand your concern, but Lauren’s living on borrowed time. Once Silva gets hold of her, I don’t know what all he’ll do to her. I can guess and believe me, none of it will be pleasant.”

Two sets of accusing eyes stared at Ian. Marsh’s he couldn’t care less about. Sabrina was his only concern.

“And what happens when he gets hold of Sabrina? You know damn well he’ll want to do the same things to her. What’s going to prevent him?”

“I’ll get both of them out before it can happen.”

Ignoring Marsh again, Ian focused on Sabrina. “We don’t even know this guy. You watched him kill a man, order the death of another. He kidnapped you, held you hostage. And now you trust him enough to go along with this harebrained scheme? That’s insane.”

“We’ll verify what we can, Ian. But if it checks out, I don’t see any other way. We can’t let this Silva guy get to Lauren again.”

“There’s got to be another way.”
 

“That’s not your decision, Ian.”

No it wasn’t, but he’d hoped his opinion meant something to her. Once again he was reminded that his influence with Sabrina only went so far.

“What are you going to tell your sisters?”

“That depends.” She looked to Marsh again. “If we’re to get Lauren out, we’ll need all the help we can get. Agreed?”

“What are you thinking?”

“That we need to include Wildefire Security in the rescue. The entire agency.”

“The less people involved, the cleaner and easier it’ll be.”

Sabrina shook her head, the mutinous look on her face one Ian knew all too well. “Nope. It’s a package deal…not up for debate. I bring Wildefire Security in on the rescue or I back away, too.”

Marsh was silent for several seconds as he apparently adjusted to that ultimatum. Finally he nodded. “Fine. Since I’m off the grid on this, I’m alone. Maybe we can make it work.”

“Savannah will stay here. Zach will stay here, too…make sure she, the baby and Aunt Gibby are safe. Quinn’s former military so he could help. That’s five…” Her eyes flickering with a myriad emotions, Sabrina turned to Ian. “We could use your help, too.”

With a hard knot in the pit of his stomach, Ian gave a silent, grim nod. What the hell choice did he have?
 

Sabrina was surprised Ian waited until Holden Marsh left before he detonated. But then, Ian Mackenzie had an enormous amount of self-control. The tick in his jaw told her that his incredible control was being sorely tested.
 

The instant Marsh shut the door with her assurance that she would call him as soon as she’d talked to her family, she had expected an explosion of some import.
 

It didn’t come. Instead he just looked at her, silently.

She smiled at him, not nervous, exactly. “I think I’d rather you yell at me.”

“Yell at you for what? Agreeing to do something that would put your life in jeopardy? What’s the point? You would do it anyway. Or should I yell because you don’t think about the people who love you before you jump into the fire? You just go gung-ho, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”

“You’ve been watching too many John Wayne war movies.”

He didn’t laugh, didn’t even crack a smile.

“Ian…please. I don’t have a choice.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“What should I do then? Just tell this Marsh guy sorry but whatever happens to Lauren is her problem, not mine? That Silva can do anything he damn well wants because I’m not going to put myself out to save her?”

“Putting yourself out? Sabrina, the man is a killer. You’re agreeing to willingly put yourself into his home, his territory. What’s to keep him from shooting you on sight?”

“According to Marsh, he’s not that kind of a killer. Other people do his wet work for him.”

“Forget the fact that I trust this Marsh guy as far as I can throw this house. If what he says is even a fraction right, Silva is a rapist and sadist.” He shrugged. “But hey, no big deal.”

She reached out to touch his arm, hoping contact would diffuse his anger. “Don’t be like that. I’ll be fine.”

Ian backed away from her touch. For the first time ever she felt a rejection from the one man she depended on never to let her down.

It was difficult but she managed to ask, “So you’ve changed your mind? You’re not going to help me?”

“I’ll help...don’t worry about that. I’m just getting damn tired of watching you punish yourself.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He released a humorless laugh. “Yeah well, neither do I, but I’ve seen it too much not to know it’s there. When we first started working together I saw it but thought you’d fought it back. Then last year, right before you decided to work with your sisters, it came back, worse than ever. It’s like you have a damn death wish.”