Conviction (21 page)

Chapter 27 – James

They’d purposely tripped one of the alarms, using a laser light coded specifically to trick Devlin’s state of the art security system. The chaos that ensued proved that they had been successful. The alarm they had set off was on the opposite side of the compound, so they had the advantage of only having to engage two of Devlin’s security brutes and both had been silently put out of commission. Permanently.

Xander crouched next to him feverously working on a thick padlock that locked one of the doors.

“Jesus, how much longer?” James whispered harshly.

“It’s a fucking bitch…let’s swap.” The two men quickly and silently traded places and equipment. James now held the lock pick tools while Xander crouched in front of him in the tiny space. The window they were trying to break into was locked tight with a top of the line pad lock. Designed not to snap when tampered with. The only way to open it was with the master key or if he was lucky…the lock picks.

It took him another minute of precious time to finally here the click of the padlock opening. Sweat covered James’ brow as he opened up the small blacked out window. The room below was dark and silent. From the blueprints they’d managed to ascertain that this room should be a basement.

James lowered his body until his legs swung into the room before pushing the rest of his body through, landing silently on the floor below. Xander quickly followed and immediately found his footing, raising his gun in a typical defensive stance.

Reaching into Xander’s side pocket, James pulled out his friend’s weapon before his eyes adjusted to what the room contained. Both men were still in the shadows and had dropped so silently that none of the women in the room had heard them. They stood silently listening for a few minutes, before James had heard enough.

“You will stay present, Kelly, or I’ll spank your ass until it glows,” he growled out the words as his throat threatened to close over with emotion. He heard the collective gasp and felt the palpable fear of the women in the room as they realised there were two unknown men in the cell with them. The smell of blood, urine and fear made him want to vomit, but the look on Kelly’s face was what astonished him the most. She looked pissed at him.

“Come here, Kelly.” He said quietly.

James watched as she fought herself. Fought the waring emotions that were flooding her brain. By the state of her body, he could only guess what had happened to her since Devlin had reclaimed her. He tried not to wince at her hesitation of his request. No. His
command
. He couldn’t help himself. Kelly brought out his Dom side more than any other woman he’d ever known. She took the first step towards him before she launched herself into his waiting arms. He wrapped himself around her, holding her to him by her head and her back. He never wanted to let her go again. Ever. Surprising even himself, he let out a chocked sob before letting his tears streak down his face and into Kelly’s matted hair. He didn’t care that he was surrounded by scared women or his best friend. He needed this moment with
her
. Even when Xander spoke he didn’t let Kelly go, only slightly loosening his vice like grip on her body realising he was probably hurting her anyway.

“You’re okay, Kelly. You’re okay. I told you I'll protect you, I told you...” James wasn’t really sure who he was reassuring, Kelly or himself.

“I hate to break up the reunion, but we need to figure out a way out of here.” Xander said.

James ignored him as he pulled Kelly gently away from his body and ran his eyes over every bump and bruise.

“Pain level?”

“I’ve had worse.” She answered quietly, her eyes on the floor.

“Kelly, tell me where it hurts.”

Kelly sighed, clearly not wanting to tell him. Gently he lifted her face with one finger under her chin until she was forced to meet his own red rimmed eyes. One of her eyes was almost completely swollen shut and that whole side of her face was a mottle of purple, blues and black.

“Ribs mostly, I think I’ve broken a couple. Obviously my face, my nose is mostly likely broken…” Kelly’s voice cracked and she slowly controlled her breathing. “I can’t talk about the rest…please...don’t make me.”

“I won’t.” James said quietly. He could see the bite marks, the chunks that were missing form her body and most likely were starting to fester, and even in the darkness he could see the purple bruises from metal collars and cuffs around her neck, wrists and ankles. He could see the cut marks and the little prong marks from where they had obviously overpowered her with a Taser. What he couldn’t let himself process, was the blood on her inner thighs, the bites that had taken small chunks out of her skin and the cuts to her labia. He could only imagine the damage that had been done on the inside. James stepped around Kelly and looked at her back, her ass and legs. The bastard had written on her in her own blood.
Whore. Slut. Slave
. The words weren’t as clear as they would have been when they were fresh. But he still got the point. He wanted to pick her up and carry her out of this hell hole once and for all.

“You shouldn’t have come, you know. You either...Master Xander. He’ll kill you both.” Kelly’s head hung as she whispered the words to the quiet room. That’s why she’d looked like she wanted to kill him herself when she’d first seen him.

“Little One, when will you realise that you’re a little more special to me than just an employee?” Xander said quietly.

Kelly gasped and turned to face him. She took in the darkness of his eyes, the honesty they exuded matching the depth of his words. James watched as she realised what he was saying and took a step back from him. James’ heart sunk as she allowed Xander to hold her. She hadn’t come to
him
for comfort.

Time
. Xander mouthed to him as he whispered something into Kelly’s ear. Instantly she stood up and went over to the small group of women who were still frightened by their sudden appearance. She quietly told them who the men were and assured them they would not hurt them.

“We have a key card for the door but once we get upstairs we don’t know what’s waiting for us.”

“No, this is the plan. Gather round, ladies. Let’s go home.” James and Xander sat on the floor and slowly the women gathered around them, some still preferring to stand. And after an hour, they had a plan that James knew wasn’t solid enough to be fool-proof, but offered them all the best chance of survival.

Chapter 28 – Kelly

Kelly tried to concentrate on what James and Xander were explaining but she couldn’t get past the fact that they had come for
her
. She had known that James was attracted to her, she’d known it for a while, but she had assumed his attraction was partly because she wasn’t a sub. She presented him with a challenge. By not succumbing to his advances at Momentum, she had basically made herself stand out
more
to him.

Now, after seeing his face and almost melting into a puddle when he had called her
Little One
, she finally understood. He had feelings for her.
Real
feelings. Part of her was elated and giddy and excited. Feelings that she’d never felt nor understood, aside from the affection she had been shown by her parents growing up. But the other part? Her broken part? That part knew that she would never be enough for him. He needed what he needed to be happy and fulfilled. Kelly knew she was far too damaged, emotionally and physically, to be able to give him everything. To give him
all
of herself. She was already lost.

She couldn’t believe that her baby had never even taken his first breath, never felt the warmth and love that he should have from his mother. Even though she knew his father was evil, she clung to the notion that she could have saved him from himself, been his rock and guiding light to show him the right way to live. Kelly closed her eyes and remembered how he felt when he moved in her swollen belly, what his tiny foot had looked like when he had pushed it against her stomach so hard she could see it clearly defined through her own skin. Or what it felt like to experience his hiccups from inside her womb. She would cherish those memories and hold on to each one for as long as she could.

Kelly-Anne would need to be found. Kelly wasn’t convinced the little girl was dead. Devlin knew how to play his evil games better than anyone and he used that ability as much against the girls as he did his friends
and
enemies. Kelly’s thoughts were running amok in her head and she struggled to stay on a single tangent.

“Kelly?” James asked quietly, standing next to her without touching her, knowing that in her current fragile state, he could send her over the edge from deep shock to full blown catatonia. “Did you hear any of that?”

“Hmmm? No, I’m sorry…I was…” Kelly’s voice trailed off into silence, not able to figure out what she wanted to tell him. She could tell by the haunted look on James’ face that he knew some of what was going on in her head, but she wasn’t ready to voice or confront those demons just yet. Not here. Not in this hell. Maybe if they survived.

“It’s okay. Anna was just filling us in a little on the games that Devlin plays when he lets the girls escape. Fucking bastard.” Kelly flinched when he raised his voice and shrank away. James took a step back from her when he realised his mistake and lowered his voice.

“James, keep your voice down, we don’t want anyone up there to hear us. But we need to get moving.”

“Yeah, point taken. This is going to take some time though to pull off. There’s a chance we won’t be able to get them all out before we’re discovered.” James whispered to Xander, but Kelly was still close enough that she caught what he said. She didn’t say anything, keeping the information to herself.

“Okay girls, we’re going to get you out one by one. Youngest to oldest seems the only logical way to go, so who’s the youngest?” Xander stated almost military in tone, he seemed to be able to switch off his emotions in order to focus completely on the massive task that was in front of them.

Claudette stepped forward, separating herself from the group. “I’m the youngest one here, but I’m not as hurt as some of the others, I think they should go first.”

“Claudette, we don’t have time for negotiations, plus the ones that are more severely hurt will need help once we get them out of here.” Xander countered. Claudette dropped her eyes and nodded. For someone so young who had suffered so much, standing up to voice her opinion to the two big men was a feat in itself.

Kelly walked over to the shaking girl and held her arms out. Claudette stiffened before accepting the comfort. Kelly wrapped her arms around her and held her as tightly as she could without hurting either of them. She wished she could take away Claudette’s pain and memories of her time here. She wished she had come back earlier and saved more of them. She wondered how many girls had died from Devlin’s games. Too many was the first thing to come to mind.

In each other’s embrace both girls found the strength they would need to survive the rest of the night. Kelly disengaged from Claudette but continued to hold her good hand.

“This is what’s going to happen, I’m only going to say this once, so be prepared for when it’s your turn. It will take us about five minutes to get you out and into the safety of the tree line. Once there you will find a concrete wall, if you follow our directions you should walk straight to the section where there is a rope tied to a tree on the other side. You are going to have to climb it to get to the other side. For some of you this is going to be harder because of your injuries, but don’t let the pain get the better of you. Focus on what’s on the other side of that wall. Freedom.”

Kelly wanted to laugh.
Braveheart
had been one of her favourite movies and she couldn’t help but compare what Xander had just said with Mel Gibson’s speech to the army he lead. In reality, the few women, girls and two men who stood in the room were akin to their army. She smiled at the idea until the pain from moving her face got too much and she stopped.

“Braveheart?” James whispered in her ear, the warmth of his breath ticking her neck. Kelly nodded in agreement, surprised that he had thought the same thing.

“Claudette, it’s time to go.” Xander reached for her and Kelly let her hand go so she could go to him.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?” James asked her.

“I know, James. Go, get them out.” James was staring at her like he wanted to say something more, but Xander called him over to the window that they had slipped through earlier. Xander gripped James’ feet and hauled him up so he could pull himself up on to the tiny ledge and check to see if anyone was around. A full minute passed before the window reopened and unfamiliar black boots fell through the window, followed by dark khaki pants and shirt belonging to one of Devlin’s guards. As he fell to the floor already unconscious Xander was on him, pushing the huge man onto his stomach and using cable ties to roughly restrain the man’s hands. He did the same to his legs before going through his pockets and pulling out any weapons.

Kelly stood shell shocked as she realised who the man was. He’d been one of the men who had been on her
welcoming
committee, courtesy of Devlin. Kelly scrambled backwards falling onto her ass as she tripped over her own feet. Her body jolted and her pain nerves went into over drive as her wounded and exhausted body fought off nausea to combat the pain.

“Deep breathe, Kelly. He can’t hurt you now.” Xander had pulled her into his arms and was rocking her gently. She didn’t even remember him picking her up off the floor. “Anna, I have to keep moving, you need to take care of her and make sure the next girl is ready to go please.”

“Sure, X.” Anna replied as she slipped in between Xander and Kelly to take his place. Xander quirked an eyebrow at the girl's nickname for him but didn’t say anything. He could tell she was scared but forcing herself remain calm.

“Don’t you have to go? I can take care of her, she’ll be fine in a minute.” Anna said to Xander who hadn’t moved from his spot standing above the two naked women. He shook his head and moved back to under the window where James was waiting.

Together they hoisted Claudette up and out into the cool night.

“Anna, can you please help me up? There’s something I need to do.” Kelly whispered quietly.

“Can you stop disappearing like that? It’s kind of freaking me out a little.” Anna said as she slowly pulled herself to her feet before helping Kelly up gently.

Kelly didn’t say anything as she stepped cautiously over to the cable tied man who was still unconscious on the floor. Using her feet she pushed him until he was on his back, his ugly battered face lolling off to one side. James must have thrown in a couple of extra punches to get this guy under.

Kelly wanted to kick him and punch him until he was dead. He deserved nothing less. Kelly stood over him a foot on either side of his body, both hands in tight fists as her adrenalin kicked in. She took a quick look around the room, taking in the huddled naked bodies of the girls imprisoned with her, as her gaze landed on Anna her resolve was set. Turning back to the animal beneath her, Kelly started to pummel into his face. Ignoring her own pain as she continued to punch violently into each side of the monster’s head. He wasn’t a man. He was a malicious, callous excuse for a human. The skin on his face split and blood splattered onto her stomach, she recoiled back and screamed, desperately trying to wipe his filthy blood from her body.

A hand covered her mouth and pulled her forcefully back.

“Kelly, calm down, you’re going to alert the guards. You have to stop.” Xander held her as she tried to calm her breathing, her hands still wiping at the red splattered fluid on her stomach. Each breath left her lungs screaming in pain, as she asked them to work harder than they were capable. She knew she needed to calm down or she would jeopardize the lives of everyone else in the room.

“I’m going to let you go, but Kelly, you
will
remain calm or I will be forced to calm you down. Do you understand me?” When she nodded, Xander quickly let her go and passed her into Anna’s arms before resuming his position under the window. A full minute passed before the window once again lifted and another girl was passed up to James’ waiting arms.

Kelly started to shake off Anna who simply held her tighter and whispered soothing words in her ear until the shaking subsided.

“I’m okay, I’m sorry. I can’t…” Kelly noticed something in the pile of things that Xander had taken out of the monster’s pockets. A key card.