Protected by Shadows (37 page)

“Aside from the fact I’m your boss and want this fucker caught as well? I just am.”

“How far out are you?”

Muffled voices then Masters was back. “Twenty minutes. You can and you
will
wait for me to arrive.”

Valentino knew that tone and replied, “Better get here quick.” He hung up and put his attention back on Gio who was still on the phone. “Anything?”

Gio moved the phone from his mouth. “You know Jaydee. Triple-checking to make sure she has it right.”

Valentino wanted to tell her to make haste, but one didn’t rush that woman. He slumped against the helicopter and prayed that the address was near where they were.

“Right. Thanks, hon.” Gio ended the call and snapped his fingers. “Map.”

Soon they were hunched over a map of the mountains and were punching in the numbers Jaydee had given her husband. Valentino frowned and looked at the paper before them.

“West Virginia? We had the drones over there and it came up empty.”

“They can do another flyover. This time concentrate on the area and see what pops.”

Valentino made the call, grateful it wasn’t too far from where they were. Masters landed and they filled him in as well. While waiting to get images from the UAVs, they sat in the private jet Masters had arrived on and had the computer up and running. They ate and began to plan the basics of what they were going to do.

He was nervous and wanted to get going. It was Gio who broke through to him, explaining it was best to let the recon information get back to him before they went in so they knew what they were up against. Waiting wasn’t easy, but Valentino occupied his time with weapons selection and staring at the computer.

“We’ve got something!” Gio announced, grabbing his attention.

Valentino left the MP-5 on the seat and went to see what they were going into.

* * * *

She ached. The women took great pleasure in hitting her whenever they wished. If she wasn’t picking fast enough, they’d hit her. If she missed a spot, a kick or two for that. Each time they connected, her anger grew, but she managed to keep it contained. She wouldn’t get away with her outhouse excuse a second time, so she had to let them think she’d been beaten, her will gone. And make a run for it tonight.

Dangerous, especially without shoes, but she wasn’t about to stick around here. It was certain death if she did. Trevor may want her for other reasons, but the dude was seriously whacked out and she wouldn’t put it past him to kill her only to realize later he hadn’t meant to. For her, it would already be too late. He had no feelings one way or the other toward others. The fact he enjoyed causing pain was apparent to her. Unfortunately that bit of knowledge also scared her. What the hell was he planning to do to Valentino?

When he’d received word that Val hadn’t been killed in her house blast, he’d nodded and said something about how if John had known that, he might have still been alive. His logic was warped, plain and simple.

She ignored the pain in her foot and took the basket of beans to the women who were canning them. Setting down the full one, she glanced around then picked up an empty and made her way back to the plentiful garden. This place was self-sufficient and it scared her. How would she find her way to something else? They knew the area, so if her head start wasn’t enough, they would catch her in no time. Heck, they might still regardless of how much of a lead she accrued.

What should I do? Follow the river? Head east?

She walked back into the row she’d been in before and crouched back down to pick more. This was an awful lot of food. She paused to stretch her back and bit back her snarl at Maya’s yell to get back to work. Lexy sat on the ground and pulled the barb from her foot. It bled and she wished there was something she could cover it with.

I’ll use part of the shirt later before I make a run for it.

Ten minutes later something triggered in her mind. A sound, faint but familiar to her. She paused and stood, looking around.

“Get to work!” Maya screamed at her.

She waved her off and continued to listen. One by one, others fell quiet as well. A helicopter. Hope exploded within her chest and she moved away toward the entrance to the garden. Maya reached for her and she punched her in the face before scrambling for the gate. The garden was under a natural netting of trees and vines so it couldn’t be spotted from the sky. She knew she had to get out from there.

“Cover! Cover! We have incoming!” Men hollered and the place erupted into action. Camouflaged nets were drawn over things. They were swift and efficient.

She ran into the open and stared up at the sky, hoping, praying to see the helicopter. The sound was much louder and clearer now. Closer. She dodged the ones trying to take her back into shelter. One man lifted her off the ground and began to carry her like she was a child.

She struggled but couldn’t break free so she kneed him in the groin and he dropped her instantly. Lexy fell on her stomach, rocks digging into her, but she didn’t care. She bolted back to the main part of the open area.

The chopper rose from behind the trees like a black wraith, one minute nothing then it was there. The sound of the blades were deafening and she squinted up at it. Gunfire had her falling to the ground. The chopper tipped forward, its blades whipping up a bunch of dirt and unsecured netting. She rolled away and scrambled to a crouched position.

The machine turned and she froze when she saw the man at the controls.
Gio!
“Gio?”
What is he doing here?

He met her gaze and continued speaking in the headset he wore. More shots were fired. He grinned at her and gave her a small salute before lifting up, using the trees as cover.

Where is he going? Why isn’t he taking me with him?

“Bitch!” The man she’d punched was back, his hand in her hair as he dragged her along behind him.

She wasn’t about to be docile anymore. Despite the pain in her head, she whirled around and kicked him in the back of the knee, dropping him.

“Fuck!” he cried out as again he released her.

She bolted away, dashing through the men who were after the chopper that kept popping in and out of view. Unfortunately, she ran into another man who stopped her with a shotgun to the face.

“No time to be running out there,” he said with an eerie grin. “Would hate for you to get shot.”

She seriously doubted that. Licking her lips, she held up her hands in surrender. He directed her with the hand not holding the shotgun and she listened.

“Ground movement! We’ve got intruders!”

The cry spread like wildfire and Lexy smirked.

“What’s that look for?” he asked, nudging her with the shotgun.

“You’re about to get your ass kicked.”

“Not a chance. Our group is prepared.”

“Not for the hell that’s about to rain on you.”

Trevor heard the call and ran to the door. The helicopter had been unexpected and he knew he would have to check their radar to see how it had managed to get through. But intruders on the ground could prove problematic.

Was this the rescue for Lexy? Or an attempt? He grabbed an AK-47 and ran outside. Sure enough, men in black were pouring in from the surrounding woods. He fired at some and ran for Lexy. Dave was supposed to have her. He barely slowed as he passed Dave lying dead in his own pool of blood.

“Trevor!”

He turned sharply and saw, Rick, one of his top men partially hidden. “What?”

“I have the woman.”

He grinned. “Excellent. Give her to me.”

“What about the plan?” Rick shifted. “With the government?”

“I’ve not forgotten. But right now, we have to deal with this. Give me the woman and get out there and kill them.” His voice had an edge to it.

Rick hesitated for a second then shoved Lexy at him before he ran off. Lexy was bleeding and had dirt all over her face. Still, she didn’t look defeated. Quite the opposite, she seemed haughty and smug.

“Let’s go. Hopefully your man is coming and can watch me take another one of his wives.”

She spat on him and laughed. “Joke’s on you, dumbass. Our marriage was nothing but a ploy to get you to show your hand. It was all planned after your stooge, the dumbass John, went after my brother.”

He punched her and snapped as she fell to the ground, “Don’t lie.”

Lexy gasped as she got to her knees. “Don’t have to. He doesn’t care about me. This is all fake.”

“No.” Fury unlike anything he’d experienced before raged through him. “You lie!” He put the muzzle of his weapon to her forehead.

She wiped her mouth again. “So pull the trigger, you crazy fuck. You can’t do it, can you? You don’t know if I’m lying or not.” The gunfire grew closer. “Here they come.”

“No!” he cried.

His woman stepped up to his side and pressed on the rifle, removing it from Lexy’s head. He stared into her blue eyes and knew she’d seen Valentino. Reaching for Lexy, he jerked her to her feet. “Let’s test your theory.”

He moved them to a spot a bit more in the open and fired his weapon. “Valentino! Valentino Cassano!”

The voice was the same as it had been years ago as it rose above the sounds of fighting and the helicopter Gio was using to mess a lot of their place up. Valentino tightened his grip on the MP-5 and searched for the man who had called his name.

Trevor walked into view, one hand on his own automatic and his other on…Lexy. She was battered and bleeding but alive. On his other side, a woman walked, one he didn’t know. Porcelain. His gaze returned to the man holding his wife.

Trevor Mansfield looked nothing like the projected aging simulator had made him out to be. He must have had plastic surgery. This clean-cut man could go anywhere without raising flags. People would notice the doll at his side so she obviously didn’t go many places.

“Trevor,” Valentino said in a low tone.

“It’s been a few years. Seven or so, since I took what was most precious from you.” He dipped his head and licked Lexy’s neck. “I’m taking it again. We’ve had the most lovely of nights together.”

“Don’t listen to him. I told him it was nothing more than a ploy to draw his dumb ass out of hiding.” Lexy didn’t pull from Trevor’s touch, but her gaze was unwavering from Valentino’s.

Strains of doubt, given Alyssa’s betrayal, rose up in Valentino and he battled it back. They were two different women.

“Let her go. This is between us.”

Trevor’s smile was brief. “No. I want to kill her and see if she was lying to me about your feelings for her.”

“She wasn’t. It’s as she said, nothing more than getting you out in sight again.” He didn’t look at Lexy, afraid he might not be able to pull this off.

“Do you think of Alyssa?” Trevor asked.

“No. She’s dead.”

“Funny thing, she’s not.”

Valentino froze. “What?” he croaked.

Trevor tipped his head to the left. “Don’t you recognize your wife?”

Valentino’s mind didn’t want to accept the words he’d just heard. Staring at the woman beside Trevor, he searched for any resemblance to Alyssa. There was nothing.

“She was shot in the throat. She died.”

Trevor readjusted so Lexy still blocked him. “Not entirely true. She was shot, yes. But I saved her. And fixed her.” A sadistic grin. “Isn’t she gorgeous? My own little china doll.”

“Alyssa?”

Blue eyes instead of green found his. There was no emotion in them at all. Her black hair had been pulled away from her face in a tight braid and the dress wasn’t anything his wife would have worn. There was a small quirk of her lips before she gave a nod of her head.

The blow was devastating and he took several deep breaths before pushing the news away. He had to save Lexy. Valentino looked at her. A mistake. He realized that the moment he met her brown gaze.

Chapter Twenty-Three

He was still married. Lexy wanted to hurl. And he looked like he wanted to go to Alyssa. Touch her. Hold her. Lexy wanted to do all that as well, get her close enough to touch then kick Alyssa’s ass for using her son as she had.

What was unfolding around them didn’t seem to matter anymore. This was a standoff between Trevor and Valentino. Lexy was just in the middle and despite what she’d said about not caring, she wasn’t a fan of being expendable for the cause.

She slanted her gaze to the woman next to her. Alyssa held another automatic. Lexy knew she wasn’t doing anything because she was waiting for orders.

“Let Lexy go,” Valentino said, his own weapon unwavering.

“No, that’s not how this goes. You remember. You drop your weapons and get on your knees. Then you’ll beg me for her life.”

“Never happen.”

Trevor used his free hand to do something then she felt the cold sting of steel against her neck.
Great, that huge-ass knife of his.
This wasn’t boding well for her. Gun against her back, poised to shoot her through the heart, and a knife at the throat.

“You don’t want to do this.”