Chasing Thunder (37 page)

Snake chuckled. “Our M.J. is a clever girl,” he said. “Fortunately she uses her powers for good and not evil.” He walked behind Kelly to survey the map on the screen. Each pin indicated one of Isbecky’s many properties, spread all over the Los Angeles Basin. “Jesus. That’s all of them?” Kelly nodded. “Where do we start?”

Kelly enlarged the map, pointing to an area in Hollywood. “This is where we believe M.J. intercepted Haley. Baby,” he corrected, glancing up at Snake. “Gang member found dead, obviously ran afoul of someone on a motorcycle, as evidenced by the tire marks in the alley. According to Donny Costas, that gang had been affiliated with Dominic Isbecky, providing security detail for Slick.” He pointed to the club on Sunset. “As you can see, it’s the closest property, aside from this estate in the hills.”

“So if she’s not going to Slick,” Snake started, and Kelly was on his feet before he could complete the thought. Before they could reach the door, Kelly’s cell phone went off. It was Llewellyn. “What’s up?” Kelly answered, putting the call on speaker.

“I had her,” Llewellyn said, his voice breathless. “She got away.”

“What do you mean, ‘she got away’?”

“I don’t know, some kind of ambush, I think. M.J. was right about the upper rooms. There were several to choose from. I selected ‘goth,’ given Haley’s new appearance. I lucked out, she was there. I tried to convince her to trust me, but she wasn’t having it. Before I could get her out of there, someone blacked out the lights and stole her right out from under me.”

“Was it M.J.?” Snake asked.

“I don’t know,” Llewellyn answered. “It’s pandemonium here, guys. It’s like someone hacked into all the systems and created utter and complete chaos.”

Snake closed his eyes. He knew exactly who was at Slick. As soon as he disconnected the call with Llewellyn, Snake told Kelly, “You go to the estate. I’m going to Slick.”

“You think it’s M.J.?” Kelly asked, but Snake shook his head.

“No. Just my idiot brother trying to get himself killed.” He stormed out of the apartment. Before Kelly could follow, he spotted the envelope sitting under the matchbook for Slick. His brow creased as he reviewed the contents, then he pocketed it and headed out the door.

Kid pulled Baby along the darkened hallway until they reached Mad Dog, who had engineered his master hack from Dominic Isbecky’s own office. It had been a coup to find it unoccupied, especially since they were fairly certain Dominic was setting a trap for M.J. Its hidden control panel, which monitored cameras that surveyed the entire premises, had shown Baby’s exact location, and had afforded the computer genius carte blanche to create total confusion within minutes, giving Kid just enough of a window to rescue their damsel in distress.

They made it down the service stairs and were almost home free when a big goon of a guy blocked their path. He was wearing the same kind of gang getup those creeps in the alley had been wearing, and Baby was terrified. Kid stood in front of her and Mad Dog stood behind.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the big guy demanded.

“To hell if I don’t change my ways,” Kid quipped.

“Sooner rather than later, asshole,” the monstrous man growled. He took a swing. Baby was astounded as Kid sidestepped and used the goliath’s own body mass and momentum against him, tripping him over a bent knee.

“Come on!” Kid urged as he pulled his posse forward.

“I’ll get you fuckers!” the man cried, scrambling to his feet.

Mad Dog pushed Baby forward as they raced through the few feet of darkness that separated them from the real world. Just as they reached the door, a gunshot exploded, and a split second later a bullet glanced off the doorframe. All three of them flattened against the wall, facing off against the giant man, who was now holding a gun. “You!” he said, pointing at Baby. He waved her over to him and she reluctantly went. Kid tried to hold her back, but she shook her head. If she could spare them, she would, no matter the cost to her.

The big guy grabbed her and put her in a neck hold. He brandished his weapon at her two friends. “You have a choice, boys,” her captor said. “You can walk right out that door and never look back. Or you can eat lead.”

Kid’s gaze never wavered. “You’re going to have to shoot me, then. Because I’m not leaving without her.”

“Kid, no,” she whimpered, which made the big man holding her laugh.

“Kid, huh? Sounds about right.” He glanced over at Maddox. “And who are you?”

Maddox squared his shoulders. “Mad Dog.”

Baby’s captor found this hilarious. “You’re a mad dog? Look more like a pampered poodle to me.” He started to bark and howl at the younger man, and Baby could tell by Maddox’s clenched jaw it was all he could do to stand there and take it.

Anger bubbled up inside of her. Anger for all the times she didn’t stand up for herself, or that she didn’t say enough was enough. Anger for all the people who thought they could run her over because she was young or because she was small or because she had no choice.

Today she had a choice.

She stomped down on her captor’s foot with all her force before sending the point of her elbow right into his solar plexus. He grabbed a fistful of her hair as he fell away. “Bitch!” he hissed. She spun and kicked, breaking his hold and sending them both stumbling away.

She heard the gunshot before she reached Kid, who was holding out his arms to her. For a moment, she didn’t even realize she had been shot. She heard the noise, contemplated what it meant, and only then did the pain set in. She collapsed into his arms as blood gushed out of her shoulder.

“Jesus,” he breathed as he held her. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”

She nodded, even though she suspected he might be lying. Mad Dog hovered over her as well, ripping off the bottom of his T-shirt and holding it to her wound, trying to slow the bleeding.

Another shot echoed through the hallway. Mad Dog and Kid looked up to find the big guy crumpling to the ground. Behind him they saw X holding a smoking gun. He dropped it to his side as he faced the three of them. “Get her out of here,” he said. “I’ll cover you.”

“Like we’re going to trust you.” Kid sneered.

X looked at Baby, who held his gaze for a moment and nodded. She struggled to stand. “Let’s go.”

Kid and Mad Dog helped her outside just in time to see Richard Bennett arrive with a dozen uniformed officers to meet Agent Llewellyn, who was being attended to by first responders. But it was Snake that all three kids were relieved to see. The minute they emerged, he sprinted from his bike, running towards them. He didn’t even know which of them had been shot. They were all covered in blood.

He wanted to scream at Kid, but he was much too happy to see him upright and breathing. He grabbed his baby brother in an arm hold hug, kissing his hair. “You little fucker,” he whispered. Logan was all the family he had left in the world. If he had lost him, he didn’t know what he would have done.

But then he glanced down at Baby, who was wilting like a flower in his strong arms. She was covered in blood and still bleeding. All color had faded from her face. “Baby?” he managed, his voice cracking.

She gave him a brave smile before passing out. He hoisted her up in his powerful arms and carried her to someone, anyone, who could help them.

27. SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

M
.J. walked right up to the door of the massive contemporary mansion. She didn’t bother to knock on the big double doors. She waltzed right inside, where uniformed staff greeted her like she was an invited guest, which of course she was. She was taken immediately to Isbecky’s study, where he waited, seated behind another ornate ebony desk.

In fact, his home office was much like the office at Slick, including the artwork and the “beleaguered good versus triumphant evil” motif. “Déjà
vu,” she quipped.

He offered a smooth smile. “You don’t like the ambience?”

“It’s not very imaginative.” She shrugged.

He chuckled and tapped his ring against his desk. “There are other rooms in which creativity is exercised,” he said. “You’ll see them soon enough. You’ll have to reserve judgment until then.”

“I make it a practice never to reserve judgment,” she said as she walked toward his desk.

His eyebrow arched. “Judge, jury, and executioner?”

“Something like that,” she said. “All’s fair, since that’s exactly what you did with my grandfather.”

He chuckled as he stood. “That was business, my dear.” He rounded the desk. “You shouldn’t take everything so personally.”

Her eyes bore into his. “You’ve stalked me since I was sixteen years old. There’s nothing more personal than that.”

He perched on the edge of his desk. “That’s where you are wrong. I’ve had my eye on you much longer than that.”

The longer he let that tidbit linger, the more nervous she got. “Why?”

“Your grandfather wasn’t the first Bennett to interfere in my affairs.”

She remembered that day when her grandfather was shot, the masked man had told him that he had met his son. She’d always suspected that Dick had something to do with it, but she had yet to put the pieces together. “Yeah, I get that,” she said. “I’m not an idiot.”

He smiled. “No one knows that more than I do. I’ve had the singular pleasure of watching you evolve from a child into a warrior. It has been like studying a living, breathing work of art. I’ve had so many opportunities to destroy you over the years, but it would be like tossing acid on some undiscovered Monet. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

Her eyebrow lifted. “And now you can?”

He chuckled again. “I might not destroy you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get to keep you on my wall.” He reached out to touch her face. “Who knows? You might even like it.”

She twisted his arm away, but he was ready for her move. In fact, it was almost as if he were expecting it. He easily spun her right into his arms before pushing her, chest first, onto his hard desk. He ran his fingers over the weapons she kept closely strapped to her person.

“Like I said, I’ve been watching you for a long time,” he murmured as he pressed his hard body against her. “So I know all your little tricks of the trade. It’s no use fighting, but I sure hope you will. That always makes the conquest more fun.”

She struggled against him, but he kept her pinned with his body weight and her twisted arm behind her back. “Is that all you want? To fuck me?”

“So crass,” he derided. “Like any common gutter whore. When are you going to demand more for yourself, Mojo?” he whispered against her ear.

Her blood boiled as she fought against him, but it only aroused him more. She changed tactics. “I may be a common gutter whore, but you’re the one who wants to fuck me. What does that make you?” He said nothing, so she prodded further. “What kind of trophy can you take from me, huh? You want to put my pussy up on some sick little shelf with all the rest?”

He laughed, which took her by surprise. He stepped away from her, which surprised her more. “Perhaps I have given you too much credit,” he said. “You still think much too small.”

She tried to pop up off the desk, but he was ready to use her own momentum to send her backwards to the floor. She kicked herself back to her feet, where she squared off against him, ready to charge, but he met her with his own roundhouse kick, demonstrating advanced combat training. His kick landed right in her chest, winding her immediately. When he grabbed her by the throat and held her to his body, she could feel his erection poke at her back. Every struggle was only giving him more of what he wanted. “Fight me,” he commanded in her ear. “The longer you do, the better it is.”

“You’re disgusting,” she spat.

“You have no idea,” he promised as he dragged her down the hall toward his bedroom and into his master bath. He threw her into a large tiled shower stall, knocking her head on the wall. She slid down, disoriented. He held her by the hair and turned on the hot water, making sure it was aimed right at her face. When she sputtered and struggled, he put her in an unbreakable hold, again twisting her arm behind her back. He wrapped his other arm around her neck, with his fingers at her throat. “It’s time to be baptized, Mojo,” he said over the sound of the rushing water. “Welcome to my religion. I’m your god. I’m your devil. And you will submit to me.”