Vendetta (13 page)

“But if it worked wouldn’t we have seen something by now. It’s been over ten years, Thomas.”

Thomas shrugged. “I know how long it’s been, Drake. I can’t explain it. I don’t know what they’re up to. I just know what we were carrying and what happened to us while we were carrying it. And I know the bastard that orchestrated the entire thing. That’s all I need to know.”

Drake ran his hand over the top of his short-cut silver hair. “Damn-it,” he jumped up.

“What’s wrong?” Thomas finally turned around and looked at his team.

“Sweet Surrender,” he said. “From the Rhapsody album—Geneva’s album.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and angrily punched in her cell number. When he didn’t get an answer he tried her father’s home number.

 “Drake, everything is fine. Stop worrying about me and focus on what you’re doing so you can get your butt back here alive and in one piece.”

He grunted. He wanted to be there with her, but this had to be done. “Where’s your father?”

“I don’t know. Downstairs I guess. I just got out the shower and put on my clothes, so I haven’t been down there yet.”

“Go make sure everything is still in order,” he nearly demanded. He didn’t want to know that she thought her father was downstairs; he wanted to know that she knew he was down there.

“Look, the cop my dad requested sit outside the house is still parked out there.”

“Geneva, just do it.”

“Fine,” she mumbled. “Just let me get my shoes. Ever since he replaced the hardwood floor with that tile the floor always feels so cold.”

She kept talking to him as she walked down the stairs. He heard her calling to her father. When he didn’t hear a prompt response the hairs on the back of his neck went up on edge.

“Daddy, where are you?” He heard her say. “Maybe he took the trash out or something. It is garbage day—Daddy!”

“Geneva, what is it?” He went on high alert.

“Daddy, oh my God. Wake up, daddy wake up.” He heard her crying.

“Geneva…Geneva!”

“Drake, my dad, it’s my dad…” she sobbed.

“Geneva get out of there now!”

“But—”

“Now!” He ordered.

“Okay,” she said breathlessly before another sharp scream tore from her throat and then he heard it, a weapon being fired.

“Geneva!” There was a moment of silence; a moment that had his heart pounding in his chest; pounding with fear—fear for his wife.

“To the victor goes the spoils,” Sabian’s voice rang out. “Bring me Jackson Trailer, and I’ll give you what you want.”

“When I find you I am going to rip your beating heart out of your chest.”

He heard the maniacal laugh. “You’ll have to find me first. Bring me what I want, Drake, and you can have her back. If not; well let’s just say she’ll end up a lot worse than your friend’s pregnant lady—or is she still pregnant?” He chuckled. “I’ll be in touch.”

The line went dead, leaving Drake reeling with anger and fear—fear for Geneva because he knew what kind of man Victor Sabian was; he knew what he was capable of doing, and he knew Geneva wouldn’t last five minutes of that man’s torture tactics.

“He’s got my wife,” he barked. “If he harms one hair on her head I’m going to cut him apart piece by piece, and then I’m going to cut out his beating heart…if he has one.”

“Drake, it’s a trap,” Valencia warned him. “He’ll be waiting for you. He’ll kill you and her; you know that.”

“I’m not leaving her there!” He secured a weapon to his ankle, tucked one inside the waistband of his pants, loaded up with ammunition and knives, not listening to a word the others uttered. He couldn’t bring Sabian who he wanted him to bring because the man was dead. Valencia had killed him while they were trying to get information on Sabian’s location.

“Drake, just listen to me,” Valencia said as calmly as she could. He didn’t want to listen. He wanted to hunt the bastard down and kill him.

“I’ll go with you.”

“He’ll want me to come alone.”

“And he’ll believe you have. I’ll find a way in; it’s what I’m good at and you know it. I’ll be your backup.”

“We all will.”

“No,” Drake mumbled. “He’ll see it coming. If he does kill me I don’t want all of you going down without a chance to put that S.O.B. in the ground.”

“He’s right. I have a feeling wherever he puts Geneva he won’t be there. He’ll most likely be watching from a far. Think about it, so far he’s sent his men to do his dirty work, but he’s never surfaced until now. He went after her because she’s the only one being guarded by somebody who wasn’t military. Her father’s local law, and while he has skills, I can guarantee Sabian knew he’d be the easiest to get through.”

She was right. If anybody had gone after Zenya, the Admiral would have initiated a war. The government wouldn’t have had any choice but to go after Sabian. Everybody else was guarded by former Marines and Naval officers who would have given his men more fight, probably a better fight. If he’d had anybody else he trusted enough to leave with Geneva he would have, but there wasn’t anybody else who wasn’t already in on this mission in one capacity or another.

“I should have sent her to Texas with Zenya,” he said. “I should have made better arrangements—followed my gut…” he let his words trail off. What he should have done and what he had done were two different things. It was too late to change things now. Now he just had to try to make it right, try to save the love of his life. If he lost her, there wouldn’t be a rock on earth Sabian could crawl under to save himself.

“What does he want that bastard back for anyway?”

“I remember that guy,” Thomas said. “I had been trying to place him, but he was younger then, less bulky with the muscles. He was with Sabian in Afghanistan, right before that bastard deployed our team.”

“So they’ve known each other for a while,” Sully noted.

“I don’t care,” Drake snapped. “Somebody get me a location on that Las Cruces facility or I’m going to go hit every building in sight.”

Sabian smiled to himself. He had one of their prized possessions alive and in his care. Either they bring his blood brother back to him, or she would die. Jackson was only his brother in a pact they made when they were kids. He was the younger boy, by three years, but they stuck together through whatever came their way. He always said “Vic, you’re my big brother and I’d die for you.” That was a pact they made with each other and it hadn’t been difficult convincing Jackson to come on board with this mission. It wasn’t just about the money for him; it was about loyalty to family—the only family that mattered. If he didn’t get Jackson back he would kill Geneva Charleston. In fact, he was going to kill her anyway, along with Drake. He wouldn’t leave one of his enemies behind because if he did he would be hunted for the rest of his life.

“Too bad,” he looked in the rearview mirror at the woman he had unconscious, bound and gagged on his back seat. “You could have been fun to play with for a while.” He could have ditched one woman and taken Geneva to the Cayman Islands with him. She would have been a fun toy, but unfortunately she wasn’t going to be able to make the trip. “I have to admit,” he mused. “Drake’s got good taste in women. That is one fine piece of tail back there,” he noted her slender curves once more before putting his focus back on the road ahead of him. Las Cruces was his next stop. He knew his little brother would never give up his location. He might be without most of his team now, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have some help there. Plus, his facility was rigged with enough traps to keep an enemy at bay for a while. And since they didn’t know where he was anyway, life was still sweet. First things first; get Jackson back and then kill Drake and the others one by one. He would take out their family members too because he didn’t want to have to worry about one of them finding a way to come back after him later. He should have killed the father too, just like he had killed that cop in the car outside the house. He had snapped his neck like a chicken, but he didn’t want to take a chance inside the house. He didn’t want her father to get a warning shout out because then he would have had to go chasing after the woman. So instead of using his hand to hand techniques he just shot him with one of the tranquilizer darts in his gun and waited. He was ready to shoot Geneva with the same dose. He was going to silently go up the stairs and get her, but he heard her coming down before he could clear the dining room. He hid in the alcove behind the china cabinet and watched her pass. She didn’t even know he was there and that ensured his victory.

“I almost hate that I have to kill you, beautiful,” he said as he looked in the rearview mirror. She was always his favorite of the women of the men in their group. “Hell, maybe I can have a little fun with you first.” He shrugged. “Maybe not. I wouldn’t want to give Drake time to rescue you.” She had to die, they all did, and there was no point in getting attached to that fine piece of tail when her heart wouldn’t be beating for much longer anyway.

Chapter Eleven

“D
rake said Sabian knew Thena was pregnant. Only a few people knew that, and that’s because you all were in that room when she put her hand on her belly and when I told Drake we were expecting a child.”

“I didn’t say anything to anybody and I wouldn’t betray you. You know that.” Valencia affirmed.

“I know you wouldn’t. I know Drake wouldn’t.” He watched as the familiar hint of realization of betrayal hit her.

“JJ,” she closed her eyes and shook her head. “My father’s most trusted man. A family friend. Wow. I didn’t see that one coming.”

“You have to stop him.” Drake said.

“I can’t.”

“I know he’s like family, but—”

“No. You don’t understand. Betrayal in my family is the kiss of death and if this were any other man I would say I could do it. But this isn’t any other man. I’m not a better warrior than JJ. I go up against him and I will die.” She sighed, bit her lip and shook her head. “I can buy you some time; that’s all I can do.”

“No,” Thomas stepped in front of her. “I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me.” There had to be another way. If Valencia thought this battle would end in her death then he trusted her instinct because she knew her opponent. This was a woman who never appeared scared of anything, who never backed down, who fought knowing she might not win the fight and if she only predicted death—her death—then he didn’t want her out there, going after this monster alone.

She placed her hand on his cheek. “You are so much like my brother, Thomas. And for some reason I just want to save you both. I’ll do all I can. You just make sure you don’t get yourself killed.” She smiled at him before looking to Drake. “Tell Harrison I love him,” she nodded before taking her leave from them. Not even Thomas’ attempt to stop her, to make her rethink her decision was going to make her change her mind. He would not lose her. She was like a third sister to him and he was not going to let her get killed because of him.

He pulled out his phone and angrily punched in a phone number.

“Who are you calling?” Drake looked at him as if trying to figure out what was going on.

“Her father,” he said. “I’ll be damned to hell if she dies because of me.” They had pinpointed Sabian’s location. They knew where he was holding Geneva. Now the trick was getting to him without getting her killed. Valencia was going to be their in-link. She was going to get inside and be sure to keep Geneva safe while they handled Sabian and what was left of his men, but now she had to go take care of JJ Fushima and he was sure to be at the drop location Sabian had specified for Jackson. They were going to be two team players down. Mike couldn’t come with them because he’d been shot, and Valencia was going to go fight JJ, and let her tell it she was going to her death. Thomas couldn’t have anybody else on their side getting killed or injured. He knew of her father, and of his dedication to his family. He knew by the time they arrived in Las Cruces the man would already be on his way. He just hoped he could get there in time to save Valencia.

“Mr. Mishoto,” he said as calmly as he could, when in reality the blood in his veins felt as if it was boiling; just waiting to erupt like a volcano that had been dormant for too long. “This is Thomas McGregor. Valencia’s in trouble. She needs you.” He heard the merriment in the background cease. Whoever the Mishoto family was entertaining clearly saw the tension Thomas heard in the older man’s voice within his body language because the previous background noise stopped abruptly. Thomas filled him in on what had happened, what they had learned, and who had just betrayed them.

“I should have known,” he growled. “When he insisted on going with her, I should have known. I took him on because of my friendship with his father, out of a sense of honor, but I should have known. JJ was never thrilled about his father taking the family legit. He was less thrilled when his father lost everything they had. I had hoped he was an honorable man. Now I know,” he growled. “I am on my way,” his voice was low and ominous. “And if I arrive and my daughter no longer breathes there will be hell to pay.” He acquired the coordinates to where they were headed. Sabian had called with instructions and a meet location. They were to drop Jackson and leave. He assured them he would release Geneva once Jackson arrived to his location safely. They were sure he wouldn’t do anything of the sort. They figured the first location was a trap, probably one with the traitor Valencia was after just hiding there waiting to take them out. Sabian had no idea they knew about his other facility and that had provided them with an advantage because the original plan had them all headed to point B, and not Point A. Now they were split. The trap had been set and Valencia was the one walking into it now—and she was going into it alone.