Protecting Summer (15 page)

Tex’s excitement didn’t carry to the rest of the SEALs standing in the room. They all knew if Hurst had taken another woman so soon after kidnapping Summer, he’d either already killed Summer, or he had something else horrible planned.

“Helicopter’s here,” Benny said quietly into the sudden silence in the room.

“Tex, stay in touch, let me know whatever information you get as soon as you get it,” Wolf ordered as the team began to head out of the room to the waiting helicopter. Mozart was leading the way, they all knew if it would’ve sped up the timetable for leaving, he would’ve been running.

“Save her, Wolf,” Tex said softly, obviously having waited until he could hear the others leave the room.

“We plan on it, Tex,” Wolf returned, just as softly. He clicked off the phone and followed his team out the door. They had one of their own to find and rescue.

Summer couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. She’d been brave for as long as she could, now she was scared shitless. She grunted and twisted against the handcuffs. They were already tight, but as she struggled, they dug in even more. Blood oozed down her hands to drip on the floor below her, but Summer didn’t even feel the pain anymore. Watching Ben hurt the woman in front of her, had finally broken her.

“Mumph, Peas stmp.
Peas
.” The gag in her mouth prevented Summer from articulating what it was she wanted to say, but it was obvious Ben understood her mumbled words.

He laughed and held the lit cigarette once more to the poor woman’s chest. She’d passed out about ten minutes ago, but Ben hadn’t stopped. He continued to burn her flesh, pausing only to relight and puff on the cigarette each time it was snuffed out on the hapless woman’s skin. Ben looked Summer in the eyes while he continued to hurt the woman lying motionless on the ground.

“Yeah, that’s what I like to see.
Beg
me to stop, bitch.”

Summer looked on in horror. He’d grown hard while torturing the poor woman. He was getting off on what he was doing. Even knowing she was playing right into his hands and doing exactly what he’d manipulated her into doing, Summer couldn’t stop her whimpering behind the gag wrapped tightly around her face.

“Remember, this is gonna be you. Everything I’m doing to her, I’ll do to you too. You want me to stop? You want me to wait until she’s conscious again? I will if you want me to.”

Summer shook her head frantically. Jesus no. Where was Mozart? She needed him more than she’d ever needed anyone in her entire life before.

* * *

“Are you sure you’re under control?” Wolf asked, eying Mozart intently.

Mozart simply nodded once.

“Because if you’re not, you’ll put her in even more danger.”

Mozart nodded sharply again, but still didn’t say a word.

Wolf just looked at Mozart for a second, then turned to the rest of the group. They’d spent the last thirty minutes scoping out the lay of the land. Hurst’s cabin was sitting in a small clearing about two miles from the nearest gravel road. There was a four-wheeler parked in front of the door, obviously Hurst’s transportation to and from the road. They hadn’t found a car yet, but they hadn’t looked for it. They were all focused on getting to Summer and Elizabeth.

The cabin was a piece of shit. It was small, only about two hundred or so square feet and it had two small windows, one in the back and one on the side. There was a sad looking front porch listing to one side.

Mozart clenched his hands at his sides. Standing there, listening to Wolf outline the plan one last time to the team was literally killing him. His heart was beating too fast and he could feel his breaths coming way too shallowly.

He was trained for this type of thing. They all were, but it was a completely different thing when it was someone you loved who was in danger. Mozart paused for a moment, letting his thoughts sink in. Yes. He loved Summer. It was quick, yeah, but it felt right. The feeling settled into Mozart’s gut and didn’t make him panic or feel trapped. He now knew how Wolf had felt when Ice had been kidnapped. This was the worst feeling in the world. He knew he should be taking deep breaths to calm his heart rate and ready himself for what was to come, but it was physically impossible.

Wolf, seemingly able to read his mind, turned to him. “Mozart, talk to me. Where are you at here?”

Liking the fact that Wolf wasn’t ordering him around, but trusting him to know where he might be the most useful, Mozart answered tersely. “You take lead. I’ll go in behind you.” Wolf had been there. He’d let his team members take the front line to rescue Ice, and they’d delivered her back into his arms safe and sound. If Wolf had been able to do it, so could he.

Wolf put one hand on Mozart’s shoulder briefly, before nodding and turning to the others.

“Okay, Dude, you take the side window and deploy the flashbang. After it’s gone off, Cookie will make entry through the back window and Benny will go in through the side. Mozart and I will take the front door. Dude, you and Abe stand outside just in case Hurst decides to make a run for it. Our first objective here is to protect the women. Whatever it takes. Got it?”

All the men nodded solemnly. They knew what Wolf wasn’t saying. They were ready.

“You all know it’ll be crazy in there for a moment. That cabin isn’t big enough to hold all of us comfortably, so be sure about your movements.” Wolf paused for a beat then said, “Whatever you see in there, don’t lose your heads.”

“Fuck,” Mozart said under his breath, knowing exactly what Wolf meant. He couldn’t even think of Summer not being all right. He knew he should feel bad about the other woman as well, but his mind was filled with thoughts of Summer. He saw how she’d tried to be polite when she was literally starving and trying not to show it. He remembered how they’d laughed together while they’d cleaned the damn hotel rooms. Mozart even remembered how she’d felt in his arms. He had no idea what condition they’d find her in, and that sliced through him more than anything.

“Mozart, you have to keep your cool with Hurst. If he’s alive when the dust settles, you can’t go all vigilante on us. You hear me?”

Mozart jolted and his eyes careened with his buddy’s. “Jesus, Wolf,” he whispered dumbfounded, “I hadn’t even thought about Hurst. All I can think about is Summer.”

“Good,” Wolf returned immediately. “I wasn’t sure. You trust us right?”

“Yes, with my fucking life and with Summer’s,” Mozart said without hesitation.

“We’ll take care of Hurst. He won’t hurt anyone else after today. You have my word on that.”

Mozart looked around. Every man was looking at him with determination and intent in their eyes. He relaxed. For the first time in his life something, no someone, was more important than his vendetta against Ben Hurst. He threw a silent prayer up to Avery, asking for her forgiveness in putting Summer first.

As if able to read his mind, Abe said, “Avery would want you to move on. No matter what, she’d want you to move on.”

Mozart nodded. His heart finally slowed and he got a handle on the adrenaline coursing through his body. Abe was right. Avery would’ve been pissed at him for putting his life on hold. She’d tell him that Hurst wasn’t worth all the effort he’d put into him over the years. She would’ve loved Summer.

“Let’s do this.”

The men nodded and everyone but Wolf and Mozart faded away silently into the woods to get into position.

Needing to say one last thing before everything went down, Mozart turned to Wolf.

“Make him pay.”

“I got this, Sam,” Wolf said, using Mozart’s real name for the first time in a long time. “You take care of your woman, we’ll take care of Hurst.”

Mozart looked his friend in the eye for a beat, then nodded. No more words were needed.

Both men turned toward the cabin and waited. The shit was about to hit the fan.

* * *

Summer’s eyes were open, but she wasn’t seeing anything. She’d turned her brain off to protect herself. Ben Hurst was evil. He’d been torturing the woman, whose name she finally learned was Elizabeth, for hours. Every time Summer had closed her eyes, Ben had hit her in order to force her to open her eyes again. When she wouldn’t stop closing her eyes, Ben had taken two pieces of duct tape and taped Summer’s eyelids open. She physically couldn’t close her eyes anymore. Summer wouldn’t give up though. Ben might have physically made it so her eyes had to remain open, but he couldn’t force her to
see
what he was doing.

Ben had no idea that even though Summer’s eyes were open, she was seeing Mozart. Instead of seeing the long knife wound Ben had carved into Elizabeth’s side, she saw the looks on the faces of the bitches maligning Mozart the first time she’d met him. Summer remembered how she’d run her hands up and down his chest, reveling in the feel of Mozart’s cut body and seeing the look of jealousy in the other women’s faces at her words.

Instead of seeing Ben’s hands cruelly squeezing Elizabeth’s breasts until finger sized bruises formed, Summer saw the look on Mozart’s face as he palmed her own breasts and erotically pinched her nipple. The look of pure rapture and lust on Mozart’s face would be engrained in her brain forever. Summer never thought she could make a man feel or look like that. The fact she’d done it without even being undressed, was even more of a miracle.

Instead of hearing Ben’s threats of her upcoming torture, she heard Mozart calling her “Sunshine.” She laughed inside at his exasperated mutterings of, “you’re a pain in my ass,” and thought about how she couldn’t wait to find other ways to make him laugh and smile at her.

Instead of hearing Ben rant about how her mutilated dead body would never be found after he buried her deep in the woods, Summer remembered how safe she’d felt in Mozart’s arms and how he’d purposely taken the side of the bed next to the door, just so he could protect her.

And instead of feeling the slaps and hits from Ben as he tried to terrify her with his threats, Summer remembered the feel of Mozart’s arms around her as he walked next to her, stood next to her, and slept next to her.

Suddenly the room erupted into chaos. Because her eyes were taped open, she couldn’t protect herself from the blinding flash of light that suddenly filled the room. The quiet of the day, the slaps, moans, and crying she’d gotten too used to hearing, were drowned out by the loudest noise she’d ever heard. Summer wished she could bring her hands up to her ears to cover them, to protect them, but they were still securely cuffed behind her back.

She was completely blinded by the flash of light that accompanied the loud bang and she felt physically nauseous from the loud noise. Summer shook her head, trying to get some of her senses back. She had no idea what was going on, but she wanted to stay in the place in her head where she’d felt safe in Mozart’s arms.

Summer felt hands on her face, but still couldn’t see who it was or what was going on. She tried to jerk out of way, but was held fast to the chair by the cuffs. She whimpered.

Finally a few words made their way through the ringing in her ears.

“…hold on…safe…fuck…help…”

Summer desperately tried to regain her faculties. She had to know what the hell was going on. Slowly she began to see shapes instead of the inky gray she’d been seeing since whatever had blown up had…well...blown up.

Her eyes hurt, were dry beyond belief, and Summer knew she’d been hoping Mozart would find her, but seeing his face in front of hers was a miracle she wasn’t sure she could believe yet. She hoped she wasn’t hallucinating. Summer jerked again, forgetting for a moment that her hands were still bound. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, but she couldn’t.

“Thank fuck,” Summer heard Mozart say. She watched as his face slowly came into more and more focus.

“Stay with me, Sunshine. I know you’re in pain. I know the flashbang fucked with your senses, just give it a minute and it’ll be safe for me to help you.”

Summer didn’t really understand anything Mozart was saying, she was too glad he was there. He’d keep her safe. He wouldn’t let Ben hurt her. Suddenly she remembered Elizabeth. “Mpsbth.”

Mozart answered as if she’d spoken perfectly understandable English, “Cookie has her. She’s okay.”

Summer didn’t look away from Mozart’s eyes. She could vaguely hear a commotion going on behind him, but at the moment she didn’t care. All she cared about was that Mozart was there with her. He was actually there. He wouldn’t let Ben touch her again. Summer breathed heavily through her nose.

“All clear!”

At the words, Mozart moved quickly. He bought a knife up from somewhere and Summer felt the gag that had been tied around her face loosen. She whimpered and tried to spit out the bunched up cloth from her mouth. Her mouth was way too dry to be able to rid herself of the nasty piece of fabric.

Mozart put the knife on the ground, and gently took Summer’s chin in his. “Hold still, Sunshine. Let me help.”

He reached between her dry cracked lips and grasped the edge of the material that was in her mouth. Mozart didn’t even bother to look at it as he flung it away once it cleared her lips. Mozart tried not to let the way she gasped for breath get to him. He couldn’t. There were too many other things he had to do to help her first.

“I have to get the tape off your eyes, Sunshine,” he whispered. “It’s going to hurt. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’ll hurt for just a moment, then it will feel so good to be able to close your eyes. Okay? Do you understand?”

At her small nod, Mozart reached for the tape above her right eye. He had no idea if Hurst had known what he was doing, but he’d managed to get the tape on so that it was sticking to her eyelashes, eyebrows, and even some of her hair. Mozart hadn’t lied. It was going to hurt coming off, but it couldn’t wait for the hospital. Her eyes were bloodshot and dilated. She was in shock, and it had to be done.

Mozart wasn’t sure if it would be better to rip it off, like a Band-Aid, but he decided to go slow and steady. When Summer didn’t even moan as the tape ripped out the hair of her eyebrows and lashes, he knew her shock was worse than he’d thought. Seeing the little hairs on the tape as it came off, physically hurt him. Summer hadn’t so much as whimpered throughout the ordeal though. As soon as the last piece of tape was off, Mozart watched as her eyes closed and she sighed.