New Species 04 Justice (11 page)

“One down,” she said softly.

“Jessie,” Trey hissed, “find a hole.”

She ignored the order. She took another deep breath and glanced around the

corner, on her knees. One of the men had inched closer to her along the living room

wall. His eyes widened when he jerked his chin down to stare at her in surprise. She

opened fire and two bullets hit their mark. One found purchase in his chest and the

other hit him in the face. She jerked back right as she saw the third man throw himself

out from behind the couch to shoot at her.

“Two down,” Jessie whispered to her team. “One to go.”

Jessie had an idea. “I’m not really shot. I’m going to fake his ass out and have him

come to me. Hug the walls and make yourself smaller targets, guys. I’m sure he can’t

see if you’re in the closet area right inside the door. The cabinet should block his view of you.”

“Jessie!” Trey hissed. “Don’t do it.”

“Shut up and hug the damn wall,” she hissed back. She made a loud sobbing

sound. “I’ve been shot. Oh My God. I’ve been shot. I’m dying. I can’t move. Someone

help me.”

She eased back onto her feet to duck walk as far as she could to squeeze behind the

dryer. It was a tight fit while she waited. The guy obviously believed he was a better

51

Laurann Dohner

shot than he actually was. He suddenly jumped into the doorway and pointed his gun

at the floor where Jessie should have been. Jessie didn’t hesitate as the man’s gun

exploded when he fired at the floor feet from her. She shot him three times in the chest.

His gaze widened, his mouth opened and blood poured out before he just collapsed

backward.

“Three down,” Jessie got out in a shaky voice. “I’m checking vitals.”

“Don’t move, Jessie!” Tim roared. “Wait for backup.”

Oh, he’s pissed and I’m in a world of shit.
She hadn’t really had a choice though. Trey and Mike had their hands full, were pinned and both needed to hold back the jerks

outside. They needed that door from the living room to the entryway secure. That

meant someone had to watch their backs. That left Jessie available to watch the living

room and she’d done it.

Jimmy’s voice sounded. “Four down. I repeat, four down. The second floor is

secured. No female here.”

Trey and Mike were still exchanging gunfire at the front door until another task-

force team arrived to handle the attackers who were pinned without cover. Two of the

property’s security guards were dead but another three gave up at that point. Jessie

walked out from the laundry room into the hallway once an “all clear” was called.

Trey reached her first. He studied her grimly before leaning down to kiss her cheek.

“Good job.”

“Two are down in the living room but I haven’t checked to see if they are still

breathing.” She avoided looking at the dead guy in front of the laundry room door.

“He’s definitely dead. I got him square in the face.”

Trey glanced down. “Yeah, he’s a toe tagger. I’ll check vitals on the others.” He

strode away to do that.

“Someone’s gonna be in trouble,” Mike called out as he swaggered down the

hallway holding his weapon cradled in his arms. “We were pinned down and you did

good, kid. Thanks.”

Jessie nodded.

Trey returned from the living room. “Make that three toe taggers. You got one in

the neck and the other one in the face and chest. I think all that gun-range target

practice is paying off, Jessie. The bad news is that there’s no female here. The mansion

was just cleared by our teams. The garage and staff living quarters were cleared by our

teams. They must have moved her before we arrived.”

Jessie frowned. “They were guarding this building for a reason.”

She spun, nearly ran and searched the lower floor. She glanced at the stairs and

headed that way but Trey grabbed her arm. “It’s been secured, Jessie. I’m sorry. If she

was here she isn’t now. I know it’s hard to accept but we missed her.”

“Did you find a room they would have kept her in?”

“No. None of the team reported that. They would have.”

52

Justice

“They were protecting something. It’s a guesthouse but it’s empty. All those bodies

are security. The dead guys have patches. Why station four men at this location for no

good reason and then send eight more out here?” She refused to give up hope.

Trey shrugged. “Maybe the four lived here.”

Jessie jerked her arm out of his hold. “I’m going to take another look. I don’t care if

we have to tear it down but they were protecting something that we haven’t found yet.”

Trey hesitated. “Hurry. Tim is on his way and he’s really pissed at you.”

She ran up the stairs.
The men were guarding something
. Her gut was screaming it at her. The guy who owned this guesthouse was associated with Mercile Industries. He

was obviously a rich bastard and probably not a nice guy if he hired mercenaries to

guard his property.

She reached the first room, found no furniture at all and searched the open closet.

She used her flashlight to search every inch of room, kicked all the walls and found

them solid. She bounced a little on the flooring inside the closet and the room but

nothing indicated any loosened floorboards.

The next room had a card table set up and two dead men were sprawled on the

floor. The table and four chairs were the only furniture in the room. She went for the

closet first, not looking forward to having to roll the dead bodies to test the floors under them. She searched it with the flashlight but saw nothing. She kicked one side and

heard a solid sound. She kicked the back wall but it didn’t sound right. She frowned

and kicked it again.
Hollow.

Jessie crouched down and used her flashlight to study the floor carefully. She

spotted slight scratches a few feet from the molding. Her fingers brushed over it.

“Goddamn it, Jessie! I fucking warned you,” Tim yelled from behind her. “I’m

going to turn you over my knee.”

“Shut up. I found something.” She didn’t bother to look at her boss, too focused on

the wall in front of her.

There was silence behind her. Jessie bit her lip and pushed on the wall but it didn’t

move. She stood, backed up and studied the wall from a new angle. She glanced back at

her team to see that Tim waited in the doorway, glaring at her. Trey and a few of the

other guys had followed him up.

Jessie turned, kicking out at the wall hard. Her foot made contact and punched

through the plaster a little. The plaster was an inch thick but only darkness appeared in the small hole she’d made instead of wood beams or insulation that should have been

behind it. She crouched down and aimed her flashlight into the hole.

“What is it?” Trey was at her side.

“Take it down,” Jessie ordered softly. “It’s a false wall.” She backed up out of his

way.

53

Laurann Dohner

Trey yanked her flashlight out of her hand and crouched to aim the light at the

small hole, nodding. “She’s right.” Trey stood. He shoved her flashlight at her as he

took a step back. He kicked the plaster wall. “Back up more.”

Jessie gave him room to do his thing. Trey was a big guy, stronger, and he had the

kickass military boots on. In minutes he’d destroyed enough plaster to make a hole big

enough for a man to crawl through. He reached for his own flashlight clipped to his

belt, dropped to his knees and his other hand yanked out his sidearm.

“It’s another room,” he confirmed, inching closer.

Jessie’s heart pounded as Trey disappeared into the hole on his hands and knees.

Seconds passed as slowly as if they were minutes. Trey suddenly called out.

“Jessie, get in here. She’s alive.”

54

Justice

Justice yawned and glanced at the clock. “It’s after three.”

“I’m ready to call it a night.” Tiger stretched on the couch. “That was a good action

film.”

“Thanks for staying with me.”

“Not a problem. Any time.” Tiger met his gaze. “Females are trouble. Never forget

that. We’re better off without them.”

“I’m not sure I agree.”

“Do you want me to stay in the guest room?”

“Do you feel like driving home?”

“Not really.” Tiger yawned. “I’m not used to these late nights.”

Justice clicked off the TV and the DVD player, rose to his feet and dropped the

remotes on the coffee table. “Stay. We’ll have breakfast together and discuss the new

cameras you want installed at the gates.” He withdrew his cell phone and flipped it

open.

“Who are you calling at this hour?”

“Homeland. Our human task team went out on a mission and I want to see if they

recovered one of our females.”

“They’d have called.” Sadness filled Tiger’s eyes. “You know how these things go.

We would have heard if they’d found one. I know they meant to hit the location at two.

It must not have been a good lead.”

That meant that Jessie had been called away for nothing. It had at least been

comforting, thinking he might be without her for the retrieval of one his women.

“Right.”

“Hopefully next time they’ll find one.”

“We can hope. Good night.”

He spun on his heel, walked quickly down the hallway and closed the door softly

behind him. His gaze lingered on the fresh bedding on the new bed they’d put in his

room. No trace of Jessie’s scent lingered and he had no one to blame but himself for that fact. He’d sprayed the area too damn well with air freshener.

The good news was, Jessie was safe. He began to strip off his clothes, yawned and

hoped wherever she was, she thought about him. If she were in his bed she’d be

comforted over the failed mission. He’d make damn sure of that.

55

Laurann Dohner

His cock twitched at the thought of how he’d distract her and he hissed out a curse.

He needed to forget about the sexy human. Jessie Dupree wasn’t someone he could

afford to spend too much time with anyway. He knew the futility of their future.

He paused in front of the mirror over the dresser, stared at his slightly altered

features and for once regretted being Species. He was the face of his people, the symbol

the world saw and he’d never have the freedom he fought so hard to give his people.

Envy filled him as he thought about Fury, Slade and Valiant. They’d fallen for

humans and kept them. The males were loved and got to sleep with their mates. They

had the anonymity to do so. Justice North taking a mate would be world news and

when he did, it would have to be a Species female. Not only would his people expect it

but the entire population of humans would as well.

His shoulders sagged as the turned away, not able to look at his reflection anymore.

He avoided contact with human females for a reason. Plenty had hit on him before but

none of them had stirred him the way the fiery redhead had. She had the courage to

have such bright hair and engage in battle with males. She was fierce, beautiful and off

limits.

He leaned down, removed his cell phone from his pants and placed it on the

bedside table. He sat hard on the edge of the mattress, thoughts of Jessie still haunting him, and reached for the light.
Forget her. You have no choice. It wasn’t meant to be and it’s
best that she was called away. It would be a disaster if she became too important. It would only
hurt worse since there’s no way for you to be with her without the world finding out.

He climbed under the covers and sprawled out on his back. His cock filled with

blood as he remembered the last time he was in that position on the bed with Jessie’s

warm, sexy mouth on his body, her hair tickling his thigh. He groaned and rolled over.

Forget her, damn it. She’ll forget about you. It was just a one-night stand and that’s all it
can ever be.

* * * * *

Jessie didn’t hesitate to drop to her knees and crawl into the darkness. She inched

toward Trey, about ten feet to her left. He had his light trained on the floor as she

moved to his side.

“I didn’t want to scare her,” he whispered. “She’s locked up in the corner but I can’t

find a light switch.” Trey pointed in a direction under his flashlight so Jessie knew

where to look.

“Back off,” Jessie urged him. “Get a lamp in here. Something.”

He backed away and Jessie turned on her flashlight. Jessie slowly lifted the light

until she spotted a large dog-sized cage and a thin mattress on the floor of it. A small

woman huddled in the corner, wearing a long nightgown that was as dirty and dingy

as the mattress cover she sat on. It looked as if neither had been washed for a while.

Jessie lifted the light a little more, careful not to flash it in the woman’s face.

56

Justice

“My name is Jessie,” she stated softly. “We’re going to get you out of here and take

you somewhere safe. I’m going to come closer to you but don’t be afraid. I’d never hurt

you, okay?” She shone the beam on her face and allowed the bright light to temporarily

blind her to give the confined woman a good look at her. “I’m a woman too. See? We’re

not here to hurt you.”

Jessie lowered the light and waited until the spots cleared then carefully tracked the

beam back to where the woman huddled. She took in more of the woman as she raised