Shades of Gray (6 page)

Dolphin was silent a moment. “No, not hearing anything, but they might be making drinks.”

Damn it. They were getting closer but the evening traffic sucked ass. Still too many
damn pedestrians in the streets. Cole swerved to miss one crossing and kept going,
bearing down on the hotel still eight blocks ahead.

He picked up his secure cell, planning to call Donovan or Steele, but he was likely
ahead of them and would be on scene first anyway. No point in asking them what they
were hearing, because he’d had enough of this bullshit.

He was going in and dragging P.J. out. He could claim to be a jealous boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend.
Whatever didn’t get her cover blown, but he was pulling the plug because his gut was
screaming that this was all wrong and that P.J. was in serious danger.

Five minutes later, he finally screeched into the parking lot of the hotel and parked
underneath the awning in front.

“Whoa, wait a minute, Cole, what the fuck are you doing?” Dolphin demanded.

Cole was already out and running into the lobby. Dolphin caught up to him at the elevator
and pinned him against the wall while the elevator rose to the top floor.

“I’m going in and taking her out of there,” Cole said. “She’s gone radio silent. This
mission is over.”

Just then her voice slid like silk over Cole’s ears.

“I much preferred my hotel,” she said crossly. “I don’t know why it was so important
for you to take me somewhere else.”

“Whoa, what?” Dolphin asked.

“Hell no. She’s not leaving this hotel. Check your GPS. Give me her location.”

Dolphin and Cole stepped off the elevator and quietly went to the room next to P.J.’s
as Dolphin brought up the handheld GPS.

“It says she’s right there. Next door.”

“But she said why it
was
so important. Not is,” Cole said as his gut tightened even more. “I don’t like this,
Dolphin.”

“The city is beautiful,” P.J. said, once more coming in clearly. “Even the bridge
is quaint looking. What river are we crossing?”

Cole and Dolphin exchanged looks and then at the same time hit the adjoining door
with enough force to knock it down. They rushed into the hotel room only to find it
empty.

The liquor cabinet was open but everything else was exactly as P.J. had left it.

Their gazes tracked downward, and lying on the floor was the jewelry that P.J. had
been wearing. The necklace was carelessly strewn and the earrings were scattered as
if they’d been ripped off her and discarded. Just as they took in the glittering bracelet
that was broken into three pieces, P.J.’s voice came over the wire once more.

“I still can’t believe you broke my bracelet,” she said in a pouty tone. “It was my
favorite.”

“It wasn’t even real,” Nelson said impatiently. “Besides, you won’t need it. All you
need to worry about is pleasing me.”

The threat in his voice sent a hot flush down Cole’s body. Rage. Anger that P.J. was
vulnerable and as of now he didn’t have a fucking clue where she was. She was trying
to give them clues through the wire Donovan had planted on her.

Steele, Donovan, Baker and Renshaw burst into the room, their expressions grim. They’d
heard everything he had.

Cole looked up as cold fear replaced the heated fury that had boiled in his veins.
He held up the broken bracelet so the others could see it.

“We have a huge fucking problem here.”

CHAPTER 9

P.J.’S
nerves were shot to hell by the time they arrived at the looming stone house just
a few miles from the city center. Though on the fringe of the hustle and bustle of
downtown, it was a quiet neighborhood with much more space between the homes. And
the one whose garage he’d driven into was huge.

She oohed and made the appropriate noises of appreciation all the while trying her
best to convey enough information that her team could find her. She probably sounded
like a complete airhead with the way she parroted information, but damn it, she was
scared
.

Never before on a mission had she felt fear like this. If someone handed her a rifle
right now she couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. But then she’d never been separated
from her team. She’d always had their backup and unwavering support.

Now? She was completely on her own.

She was convinced that the asshole had broken her bracelet on purpose, which meant
she was in some pretty deep shit. If he suspected she wasn’t who she said she was
or even if he just wanted to play it safe, it still left her without a huge safety
net. And it meant he had some not-so-nice plans for her.

At least she still had the patch on her arm so her teammates could hear her.

“You talk too damn much,” Nelson snapped as he herded her toward the door.

She halted and made a show of getting huffy. “Then maybe you should just bring me
back to my hotel.”

His hand curled around her nape and he all but shoved her inside the house. “Not going
to happen, princess.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she demanded as she tried to wrench herself free
from his grasp.

But his fingers pressed tighter into her flesh and he all but picked her up, dragging
her into the spacious sitting room. He tossed her down onto the couch and then wrested
the bottle of tequila from her hands.

“Don’t even think about going anywhere,” he threatened.

She held up her hands hoping to hell they weren’t shaking.

“Hey, chill out. Pour us a drink. No need to get so damn rough. Are you into that
kinky shit? Because let me say before things go too far that I’m not. And if you are,
then let’s just call it quits right now.”

He gave her a look that told her without words to shut up. She went silent and waited,
every single second agonizing.

He pulled out glasses that damn sure weren’t shot glasses and he poured a liberal
amount of tequila into both. A moment later he returned and shoved one of the glasses
into her hand.

“Bottoms up,” he said.

Maybe if she got him drunk enough she could toss his ass and be out of this. Or maybe
she could at least buy enough time for her team to come get her. Either plan worked
for her.

She gulped down half the contents of the tequila, stopping before she risked puking
it all back up. She wiped the back of her mouth with her hand as he finished off his.
To her surprise he didn’t get angry that she hadn’t drunk it all. He took the glass
from her then touched her hair in a surprisingly gentle gesture.

He gave her a look that seemed regretful. “This isn’t the way I wanted things to go
down for the evening, but the boss saw you and he wanted you. Not much I could do
after that.”

Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit! Her adrenaline shot up and her pulse started pounding like
a jackhammer.

Despite her heightened anxiety and her increased pulse rate, the room was moving in
slow motion. She tried to lift one of her arms and it felt like it was encased in
lead.

“You drugged me!” she accused, hoping she wasn’t so garbled that her team heard and
knew it was time to yank the plug for this mission.

Nelson grimaced. “I like my women to fight. Drugging is the coward’s way out, but
my boss gets off on knowing they’re completely helpless.” He shrugged as he made his
way over to where P.J. was precariously sagging toward the couch. “I don’t mind a
few scratches. Makes it more exciting when I overpower them.”

“You’re sick. All of you. Sick bastards,” she croaked.

He put his hands on her shoulders to guide her to the couch and she cringed, trying
to fight him off. She was as ineffectual as a kitten batting at a lion.

He pushed her down to the couch and stuck his hand in the bodice of her dress, ripping
downward.

“Nice lingerie,” he murmured as he stared down at the black lace bra and panties she
wore. “I’ll leave them on for the boss. He likes black.”

As he moved away she whispered brokenly, hoping her team would hear. “Please, please,
you have to pull me out. I’m drugged. I can’t fight him off. Please, he’s going to
rape me.”

The sound of a door opening made her slowly move her head in that direction, hope
alive that maybe they’d come for her. But when she met the satisfied gaze of Carter
Brumley, her heart sank and she knew there was nothing anyone could do to save her
now.

CHAPTER 10

THE
entire van froze when P.J.’s broken plea came over the comm. Cole punched the back
of the seat with enough force to knock the headrest loose.

“Goddamn it! Where is she? We have to find her now. Those assholes are going to fuck
her over.”

“I’m working on it, damn it!” Donovan shouted.

Every single one of the team members was tense. The van vibrated with rage, helplessness
and dread.

“How did this happen? How the fuck did this happen?” Cole raged. He needed someone
or something to blame. Hell, he blamed himself. He should never have allowed it. It
didn’t matter if P.J. never spoke to him again. At least she’d be safe and not in
the hands of a monster.

“Shhh!” Steele snapped. “Brumley’s there. Goddamn it. I hear him.”

The tremble of emotion in the team leader’s voice was uncharacteristic. He was generally
cool under pressure but this had shaken him badly.

The van went silent as Donovan received more intel on every residence that Brumley
owned or was associated with in the area.

Even Donovan looked up, his expression tense when Carter Brumley’s voice came over
the wire again.

“I know you picked her out, Nelson, but there was something about this one that spoke
to me. I had to have her. Did you make sure she was clean?”

“Yeah, boss. Only jewelry she was wearing was a necklace, earrings and a bracelet
and I trashed them at her hotel room. She’s an American bimbo who crashed the party
looking for a good time.”

Brumley chuckled. “Very nice. I’ll do my very best to accommodate her.”

They could hear his breathing, so they knew he was close to P.J., but she hadn’t uttered
a sound. Had the drug affected her so much that she could no longer speak? Was she
rendered incapable of fighting back?

Then he prayed she wouldn’t offer resistance. They’d likely kill her. Oh God. It made
him nauseous that he actually wanted her to lie there and take it because he couldn’t
bear for her to be hurt even more if she fought back.

There was a peculiar popping sound. Metallic. Cole screwed up his forehead and looked
at the others. “What the fuck was that?” he mouthed.

A moment later, P.J. screamed in pain and Brumley laughed.

“It sounded like a knife opening,” Dolphin said hoarsely.

“Dear God,” Renshaw whispered. “What is that sick fuck doing to her?”

“What have you got for us?” Cole asked Donovan in a desperate voice. “That son of
a bitch is cutting her up.”

Another scream rattled the entire team. Baker was driving and he slammed on the brakes,
pulling to the curb. He stared back at Donovan, his eyes blazing with fury.

“You pick a location, Van. Use the info she gave us. There can’t be that many that
fit the bill. Get me a goddamn coordinate so we can go in and get our girl. This is
bullshit!”

Two more screams sent the hairs on Cole’s nape straight up. And then complete silence
followed by the unmistakable sound of thighs slapping against thighs. There was a
quiet sound that Cole had to strain to catch amid the other noises, but he heard it.

It was soft weeping.

He buried his face in his hands, his own eyes burning with tears. Having to listen
as P.J. was violated was the worst thing he’d ever endured in all his years in the
military and in KGI. He’d never felt so helpless in his life.

Donovan thrust the map with shaking hands at Baker. “Here,” he said hoarsely. “This
has to be it. There are only two locations that work with the information she gave
us, and given the time frame in which they arrived, this one has to be it.”

Baker gunned the accelerator and roared into traffic, causing everyone to brace themselves
as he swerved around cars.

Brumley let out a satisfied grunt, and then the sound of flesh being struck echoed
over the comm. The bastard had slapped her. And then the unmistakable sound of pants
being zipped back up.

Cole’s stomach revolted. He punched the back of the seat again and then the window.
Dolphin jumped on him, restraining him before he shattered the glass.

“Save it, man,” Dolphin said quietly. “Save it for those assholes and save it for
P.J. She’s going to need us.”

“She’s all yours, Nelson,” Brumley said, a clear smirk in his voice. “I know she’s
messier than you usually like them, but I don’t think you’ll have any complaints.
She’s a damn fine fuck. If I didn’t have other matters to attend to, I’d take her
along. She would have made a very good temporary mistress.”

“Yes, sir,” Nelson replied.

“Kill her when you’re done. Make sure you clean up the mess. I need you for the exchange
Sunday night. The girls are coming in on a plane at eight
P.M.
The buyer will be there to inspect the goods. I don’t want any issues.”

“Wainwright going to take possession then or are we shipping to his choice of location?”
Nelson asked gruffly. “Will I need to bring along extra firepower?”

“No, he’s coming alone, except for his usual three who accompany him everywhere. He
won’t do a thing because he wants those girls very badly. We’ll off-load the plane
and he’s going to have a truck parked at the airport that the girls will be herded
onto. It all should take five minutes tops, and then we’ll fly out on the plane the
girls came in on. Easy transaction and I make another ten million.”

“We could take this girl with us,” Nelson hedged. “She’s not so messed up I can’t
have her cleaned up in half an hour. I’ll keep her drugged enough she won’t be a problem.”

“Get us the hell there, goddamn it,” Cole barked to Baker. “This is bullshit!”

Brumley chuckled. “Have your fun with her then silence her for good. She saw your
face and mine, not to mention Colin’s and Isaac’s. I don’t take chances. Especially
not over some two-bit whore.”

Steele held up four fingers to signal the number of people in the room.

The sound of footsteps echoing through the comm and then the shutting of a door signaled
Brumley’s departure.

Son of a bitch!

“What’s the ETA, Baker?” Cole demanded.

“Fucking traffic!” Baker snarled. “It’s not far but this is balls, man. It’s balls!”

They all went quiet again when more came through P.J.’s wire.

“Why the tears?” Nelson asked mockingly. “Surely he wasn’t that bad. Most women fight
over the honor to be his lover. But maybe you’ll like me better.”

Cole covered his ears, no longer able to bear to hear anything more. When he looked
up, he could read the expressions of the others.

They’d gotten the information they’d needed after all. Brumley had spilled the details
of the shipment of girls.

But at what cost? At what fucking cost? Something so precious that it gutted Cole
to even dwell on what the success of this mission had cost P.J.

As much as it shamed Cole, he’d give it all back and never know how to save those
girls if he could take back what had just happened to P.J.