Promises (Blood Brothers #1) (25 page)

“Got them, sir,” came the pilot.

“Do it.” Rafe shut down all thoughts except to apprehend and take out those who had taken his Heart - Now.

The helicopter swung wide, making sure the other smaller chopper saw them. The only plan was forcing it to the ground, they had to get them out of the air. Two people could be seen in the front seats of the chopper, one with a high powered rifle aimed at Rafe’s helicopter while movement could be seen in the back through the side panels. There was no way his team could allow them to escape. Rafe’s pilot was trained in the battlefields of the Middle East, extracting SEAL teams from some of the hottest areas in the world and he had never lost a team member during extraction. With precision that seemed choreographed rather than instantaneous the pilot brought his craft within a hair’s breath of the front window, allowing Rafe to look eye-to-eye at Jollie’s kidnappers.

“No!” A roar echoed across the airways, both neural and radio, alerting all of Rafe’s team the identity of the traitor. The radio crackled, coming alive.

“Back off, Rafe! Now or she dies!” Davy’s smooth, boyish tone came over the radio. No remorse, nothing to connect him to the brothers with whom he had fought with, almost died with remained in the voice of the young man Rafe had thought he knew. “They want her back and I have to take her. Kayne has Chayle and soon his baby. Let us go and we’ll disappear. Otherwise, she’s dead.”

The two aircraft hovered in a Mexican standoff several feet apart facing each other above the ground in a meadow just inside of the woods near the lake. The turbulence from the blades of both aircraft whipped the branches of the huge trees in all directions, kicking up debris and dirt as Rafe glared at the young man in the other craft. Every time Davy’s chopper tried to swerve around to move away, Rafe’s pilot cut him off.

“Why, Davy?” Rafe asked over the radio, his voice rough with anger and rage it was impossible to hide. Davy was the youngest of them. They had all worked hard to protect him when he came into the project, the last to enlist, the last to be tested and the last to take so much of the shit that was dished out during the experiments. He had been through so much they had worked to keep him sheltered thinking the shy yet determined young man who had made it through all of the same training they had and ended up with their group had somehow been damaged by the chemicals pumped into his body. Smaller than the rest at just barely five foot ten inches, Davy had the lean muscles of a swimmer instead of a body builder like the rest of his team and therefore all of them had treated him like a little brother. Hell, Rafe and Kayne had always kept him close.

“Because I can be more than I am with you.” The whispered answer almost broke something inside of Rafe. The only thing keeping him together was his Heart. Rafe had to get to Jollie because without her, he would be nothing.

“Rafe,”
Gabe called to him, seeking out the single connection they shared rarely used except by mates or familial.
“Keep him talking, distract him for just a few more minutes. If you can, get them closer to the ground.”

“What are you doing, Gabe? You can’t endanger Jollie!”
Rafe growled back along the silent airways.

“Just do it, Rafe. Please,”
was the only answer Gabe gave him before everything went silent. Looking over at the pilot, Rafe made a decision.

“Force them down to ground, now!”

“Yes sir!” The pilot didn’t hesitate.

The men on each side of his gun ship were already in position but Rafe unstrapped himself and moved to stand behind Merc at one of the door. The pilot gently tilted the stick of their helicopter, nudging toward the other craft as he tried pushing the skids of his craft as close to the other helicopter without interfering with its blades. It was a risky move because if the other pilot panicked he could crash both of them. Slowly and with precision, the other chopper was nudged and cornered until it was mere feet from the ground skimming the pasture grass and backing up.

Suddenly, Rafe saw the other pilot clutch his head with both hands and scream, slumping over the stick. The action forced the helicopter to a hard landing, the blades still going at full blast but the pilot out cold. Davy tried to push him off the controls but it was useless. They were on the ground and instantly surrounded before he could do anything to stop it.

Davy’s sad eyes lifted to lock with Rafe’s. In a move that both surprised and stunned every man there, Davy pulled his Glock and put it to his temple.

“Davy, no!” Rafe screamed, running toward the helicopter as fast as he could.

“I’m a dead man either way, Rafe. He’ll kill me if you don’t and I wouldn’t blame you if you did.” With a sad smile Davy pulled the trigger, sending his head back against the headrest, his hand dropping with the gun still clutched in his hand.

Rafe slammed into the side of the bird, pulling open the side door to find his Heart trussed up and sleeping on the floor mats with duct tape over her mouth and a blindfold over her eyes. Another man was slumped on the floor beside her, out cold. Jollie was still sedated, which was probably a blessing. He pulled her into his lap while at the same time reaching for the knife from his boot, making short work of the duct tape around her hands and feet. Gently he removed the blindfold and pulled her into his arms and against his heart as his body began to shake.

“Kayne - I have Jollie. Tell Chayle that she is safe and unharmed, brother.”

“Tell her yourself when you come say hello to your nephews, brother.”

Rafe clutched Jollie to him as he closed his eyes, breathing in her unique scent of sandalwood and smoke essence, aware that his men stood around them in battle mode waiting for orders but he could only sit rocking her at the moment. He had almost lost her. The thought was still too fresh and it was going to take a very long time before Rafe was able to let her out of his sight again. It suddenly dawned on Rafe what his brother had said, and he started laughing.

“Did you just say nephews, as in more than one?”

“Just caught that, did you?”

Chapter 35

Jollie became aware of warm breathing close to her ear first, then strong arms holding her against a broad expanse of chest. She refused, not wanting to alert her captors that she was awake. If she could surprise them maybe it would give her just the edge she would need to get back to Rafe. The thought of Rafe hit her, and a gut-wrenching pain hit her chest as she gasped.

“Easy, my Heart. I have you!”
She heard him, but when the arms tightened Jollie panicked.

“Rafe,” she screamed loud and long, kicking her legs down and back as she fought to break the tight arms around her chest.

“Enough!” Rafe’s growl was sharp and loud next to her ear, stopping Jollie’s movements in an instant. She didn’t want to hurt him, couldn’t hurt him if her life depended on it. If Rafe was holding her then Jollie would be still so they could figure out how to get away. Somehow, the kidnappers must have gotten both of them but she didn’t remember anything.

“Rafe?” she whispered, keeping her voice soft so no one could hear them. Instantly she remembered and stopped.
“Babe, how did they get you?”

She tried to look back over her shoulder but Rafe simply buried his head in her neck and took a deep breath. Jollie could feel him shaking behind her, feel his huge muscles trembling as he held her tightly against his massive chest and it scared the hell out of her because Rafe McIntyre never let anything get to him. Something was wrong, seriously wrong and Jollie now felt it along their mate-bond. Whatever it was, it was bad and it was tearing her man apart. They had to get away from here so she could help him. Jollie opened her mind completely to her lover for the first time since realizing this man was everything to her - her heart, her soul. She sent feeling she could manifest into their link and shoved it down to him so he would know just how much he meant to her.

Rafe tensed against her and then began to relax, snuggling against her neck as he licked behind her ear. It was a particularly sensitive area he had found out sent her reeling on more than one occasion when he was trying to distract her, but now was not the time for distractions. They had to get out of here. Finally, Jollie was able to take stock of her surroundings and look around. They were lying in a very uncomfortable hospital bed in what looked like a medical facility. Slapping Rafe’s hand when it started rubbing her breast she pushed him back and moved to finally get a look at his face.

“Rafe, where are we?” she whispered, careful to keep her voice down. “Where’s Davy?”

Sorrow so profound filled Rafe’s eyes, so deep that Jollie knew it would take her man a very long time to get over the betrayal of what Davy had done to him and the team, if ever. He had been the baby of the group. The one they had protected and coddled the one that was the baby brother so many of them had either never had or had lost along the way. For him to turn on the team, and especially Rafe and Kayne, was to turn on everything they stood for and had fought for to be the very people they had become.

“Oh baby, I’m so sorry.” Jollie gathered him to her breast, pulling Rafe to her as she felt him shake in her arms as if he would come apart. The long, quiet sobs were soul wrenching and something few would have understood from a man who was always so strong and so stubborn. She feathered her fingers through hair he was finally allowing to grow a little longer because she liked to play with it instead of keeping it buzz-cut short and whispered softly how much she loved him. Only a man who loved so deeply would feel the loss and betrayal of a team member like Davy. It reminded her just how different Rafe and his brother were, and just how fortunate she was to have him in her life.

Suddenly, Jollie remembered her frantic call for help to Chayle.

“Rafe, babe, can you hear me?” she whispered to him now that he had calmed down and was seemed to be resting against her. Jollie felt him nod against her chest and smiled. Even bad boys needed mothering sometimes, even her bad boy.

“Babe, is Chayle alright?”

Dark blue eyes looked up at her, slightly red but now sparkling with mirth like he had a big secret to keep. Rafe crawled up her body and took her face in both hands, kissing her like she had never been kissed before.

“Chayle and the twins are fine. Just fine.” Rafe watched as the news sank in and couldn’t keep back his grin with Jollie’s eyes popped open wide. He nodded, confirming her questioning look and stood, pulling her to him as he rose.

Without letting her say a word, Rafe led her out the door and down the hall of the facility they were in, and Jollie was reminded to have him tell her again just where the hell they were at. She was getting tired of waking up in someplace other than her own bed. Down a long hallway, around a corner and then they were standing in front of a window where Kayne was looking inside, a goofy grin on his face. He looked up as the two of them came to stand next to him.

“Damn, you two look like you’ve been rode hard and put away wet.” He laughed and pointed to the window. “Let me introduce you to my sons. Jollie, please meet Adam and Darren McIntyre.”

Jollie stood in the circle of Rafe’s arms and stared down at the two babies wrapped in blue blankets. At the moment it would be almost impossible to tell them apart just looking at them.

“Chayle has already figured out they will be terrors, just because they came so early. At least we will be able to tell them apart because of their birthmarks.” Kayne motioned to the male nurse who stood to the side and he pulled back the corner of each blanket. Each baby had a small birthmark, except it was on their opposite shoulders. An exact mirror image of the mark.

“Good lord! What will ya’ll do if they are mirror images of each other? Two of either one of you will be too much.” Jollie’s remark had the brothers laughing as the boys were covered back up and tucked away to take a nap. “Is Chayle doing ok?”

“She’s good. Sleeping at the moment and I wanted to give her that. She almost took my nuts off during delivery and then promised to make it better, so I think she’s forgiven me. At least I hope so!” Kayne had the cutest look as he watched his sons and Rafe knew there would be hell to pay if anyone tried to take them.

“Let’s get you to the house, shall we?” Rafe pulled her close. “We can come back to see Chayle later.” He turned to led her away when Mercury ran down the hall.

“I need both of you now. It’s Gabe!”

Chapter 36

“When did you find him?” Rafe stood beside the bed, looking down at a comatose Gabriel and wondering just how much more the team could take at this point.

“I found him in the Security Compound once Davy and his men were contained and the situation defused. When no one could raise him on coms, I went to see what the problem was and found him slumped over on the floor unconscious.” Merc’s description left Rafe feeling baffled. The only reason blood could have been leaking from Gabe’s nose and ears, and his hands shaking that hard would be from convulsions. It would mean he had tried to over extend himself with his abilities. But Gabe’s abilities had never been that advanced, at least not as far as Rafe was aware of.

“Get me Commander Derek on the phone. Now!” Rafe headed to his office, Jollie and Kayne close behind. He was tired, hungry, and just wanted to hold his woman, but first he wanted to know what the hell was going on with his men. And why he didn’t know about it? The instant Commander Derek picked up and answered through the speaker phone, Rafe lost it.

“I have a man down, Derek. I have another one who I thought was incapable of betrayal who put a bullet in his own head, and two outsiders who are almost brain dead from some twisted motherfuckers idea of brainwashing. So you had better tell me right now what is wrong with Gabriel and why he would be comatose after using just his basic telepathic abilities or so help me God, I will put a bullet through your head myself the next time I see you.” It was deathly quiet on the other end of the phone for long minutes once Rafe finished.

“Is Gabe alive?” The softly asked question took Rafe off guard, causing him to finally take a hard seat in his large chair behind the desk. Jollie came to stand behind him, gently rubbing his shoulders.