Nicole Read online

  “In the bathroom under the floor. We can’t get out. Daddy is laying on top of the door. He gave us the phone and told me to press g to call Mr. Gammon. And I did. But we can’t get out and…” Chris started bawling despite his resolve to be strong and soon little Sammy was squalling with him.

  “Shhh it’s okay. I will come and get you. Do you know where you live? What town? What country?”

  “We live here, at our house.” Chris managed to say between the choking sobs of terror and hopelessness.

  “It is okay, shh, now listen stay on the phone with me and I will see if I can track the phone okay?”

  “You will come save us?”

  “Yes little one.” Gammon vowed.

  “Promise?”

  Chris managed to stop crying as he listened to the strange man on the other end of the phone promise to come rescue them from underneath the floor.

  “They took Niknik.” Chris whimpered.

  Chris heard a door open and men talking in the house above him and reached out his hand to cover his sister’s mouth but he was certain the men had heard them. He heard them leave earlier so he didn’t know why they had returned. He had not expected them to come back and he was terrified. He heard them moving around in the house and throwing things. The trap door was hidden but these were wolves and it wouldn’t take them long to figure out where they were if the men were looking for him and Sammy.

  “Little one? What is going on? Is someone there?”

  “The bad men came back. They are looking for us. Daddy couldn’t fit Nik Nik in the hole with us. Please help us. They have her and now they are going to take us. Please.” Though his voice was barely audible Chris knew the man on the other end would hear him. He hoped the ones in the house were making too much noise to notice his whisper. Sammy had fallen silent in terror and Chris hoped she stayed silent. Maybe the men wouldn’t find them.

  Gammon whispered back, “listen to me, be quiet and still and hide the phone in your clothes. If they take you we will find you. Now hide the phone. Wait! How much battery does it have?”

  “It is full because daddy said a dead battery is no good.” Chris whispered.

  “Good, now listen, do you know if the location is turned on?”

  “I don’t know. NikNik would know but they took her.”

  “It’s okay, we will get her back. Now listen to me, I want you to turn the volume down on the phone and hide it. Can you do that for me?” Gammon asked.

  “Yes.” Chris looked down at the phone and turned the volume down. He stuck the phone down the front of his pants to hide it. If Gammon said anything else no one would be able to hear, he hoped. He heard the killers when they made it to the bathroom and started swearing about the smell. He and Sammy cringed when they heard the men move their dad from the floor. Silent tears tracked down his face and he kept his hand firmly over his little sister’s mouth as the men above stomped and swore before they finally broke the trap door and opened it. He blinked furiously at the sudden light. Temporarily blinded he and Sammy screamed as the men jerked them from their hiding place. The men threw them to the floor as they checked to see if the hole hid anyone else. One of the men kicked him and ordered him to shut up. Another man grabbed Sammy by her hair and lifted her from the floor twisting her around before slapping her a few times and ordering her to knock off the racket.

  The men were not gentle as they grabbed the children and dragged them from the house. They threw them in the back of a van and slammed the doors. Chris had a moment to see his oldest sister Nicole, bound and gagged laying on the floor of the van. He and Sammy crowded closer to her as the van took off. He tried to untie her but the men were watching and his efforts got him hit. In the end he managed to get the gag from her mouth and listened to her take in deep breaths. Sometimes when he had cried too hard he had trouble breathing because his nose would get all stuffed up. He was terrified, if something happened to his NikNik he and Sammy would be all alone. He wanted to tell her he had called for help, but he didn’t. He hoped Sammy didn’t say anything about the phone or the call.

  Reaching out he pulled Sammy closer to NikNik and wrapped his arms around both his sisters. Heart thudding, hands shaking he struggled to understand what was happening. He wasn’t sure his baby sister realized their parents were dead and he wondered why Drew had not help save them.

  With no way to hold on Nicole was bounced around the back of the van. Chris was not strong enough to keep her still but he tried using his and Sammy’s bodies to brace her. When that didn’t work he tried shoving her against the side of the van and and bracing his feet against the other wall while cuddling Sammy close. Bounced and jostled, aching from the ride the three could only wait for the trip to end.

  Terror rode him as he realized he was helpless against the ones who captured them. Fury bleed through his body when he pieced together what the men were saying about Drew. Some of the talk went over his head but from the way NikNik tensed her body and the scent of horror coming from her he knew whatever the men were saying, she at least understood. If he was going to be turned into a slave at least that meant he wouldn’t be killed. From the talks his parents had with him over the years he knew death was the more likely outcome of being captured. His dad had said time and time again rogues killed the males without question.

  “I don’t like the black men.” Sammy wailed. “I want mommy. I want to go home.”

  Chris and Nicole both jerked around to stare at her. The men who had captured them were not black. Their dad had protected them the best way he could and as a result Sammy had never seen a rogue before. But if she was calling them black then she must be able to see the aura her dad had talked about.

  “They aren’t black Sammy.” Chris started to say. Nicole shook her head at him.

  “Shhh, hush little one. The bad men won’t hurt us if we do what they say.”

  Chris stared at Nicole for a moment before looking back at his little sister. The men did not look black to him so why did Nicole stop him from correcting Sammy? It was his job, all of their jobs to help her learn her words. She knew her colors so why did she call them men black? His dad had done the same thing a few times. Thinking of his dad, and the last time he saw him alive caused him to break down in sobs again. The men had not moved his dad from the bathroom. The memory of his dad laying of the floor covered in blood played over in his head again. The sight of the blood splashed against the walls of the room and puddled on the floor would haunt him. The men had left footprints in his father’s blood and he swore if they let him live to one day track down every one of the men who took them and end their lives then walk through their blood.

  Chapter Five

  Nicole pulled Chris and Sammy closer. When they threw the three in the cell they didn’t bother taking the ropes off. Chris struggled to remove them finally freeing his sister. Now all she wanted was to hold them tight and never let them go. This entire situation was her fault. Her parents were dead because she wanted something different. Sammy would never be rocked by her mom again because of her. Chris would never go fishing with their dad because of her.

  Looking around the dim room she saw the mattress in the corner. She led Chris to the mattress while she carried Sammy and they settled down. Chris reached for Sammy so Nicole gently readjusted them so he was holding the little one and she was holding him.

  “I’m scared.” Chris’ whispering voice trembled as he hugged Sammy a little tighter to him and scooted closer to Nicole. “What’s going to happen to us? Are they gonna kill me and sell you and Sammy?”

  “I don’t know. We have to be strong though.” She brushed the hair from his face and wiped the tears from his cheek. Sammy was asleep though the hiccuping from the sobs still racked her body.

  Chris leaned closer to his sister so he could whisper. “The G man said he will find us.”

  Silent tears tracked down Nicole’s cheeks when she heard those words. She hadn’t dared asked him if he had made the phone call. Their dad h
ad trained him for the last year on making one phone call. Ever since the night rogues had made it all the way into the house before being caught and killed by her dad he had become paranoid about someone slipping past him and getting to his children. The last few months he had been almost frantic to leave for Alaska but he stayed to see his oldest daughter marry.

  Nicole knew he had regretted giving her the choice but she had been in love and couldn’t see giving up a normal life with Drew for one spent looking over her shoulder all the time and knowing the same thing would happen if she ever found a mate and they had a child. She had spent the last eighteen years being protected by her parents. Once she was old enough to understand her parents had told her all they knew about what to expect. Her dad’s ability to see the blackness of a rogue was probably the one thing that kept them the most safe. But she didn’t have that ability. Her dad explained how she could train to recognize certain clues but she had not wanted to devote years of her life training for something when she could marry a human and never have to worry about it again.

  Sammy was luckier in a way. Well, Nicole amended her thoughts, she was only lucky if the G man as Chris called him could find them and save them. But Nicole didn’t put much hope in a rescue. Nicole adjusted Christ on her lap and felt a hard lump in is clothes. The cell phone, he had the phone. She felt her hope flare to life for a brief moment before reality crashed down. The phone wouldn’t do much good since they had no idea where they were being held. Sagging back in defeat she cuddled her brother and sister closer to her. Turning her thoughts back to her sister she tried to think how she could get her not to call the men black. Her dad had mentioned a few times to her how having the ability to see rouges would have giving her an advantage in life. But she knew from the few times they had encountered rogues when she was younger she did not have the ability.

  Nicole whispered in Chris’ ear, “Sammy said the men who took us are black. Only Seekers see rogues. If she can see them maybe she can see who isn’t. We have to try to find one who has a pure heart if we are to have any chance of escape.”

  “What do we do for now?” Nicole’s heart shattered at the question. Her brother was seven, too young to understand all the men had said in the van. Sammy, at only three hadn’t understood anything, not even the mention of slavery. The truth was she had no idea what they should do. The reality of the situation continued to strike at her heart and soul. The guilt swamped her.

  “None of us got much sleep last night. We should try to get some sleep while we can. If anyone comes around we will wake up but we can’t do anything right now. Staying awake will only make us tired and tired people make mistakes. Listen for a minute, try to stop crying long enough to see if we can hear anyone breathing. I don’t feel anyone close, do you?”

  Chris shook his head as he tried to stop the sobs. The room was dark, with no windows to let any daylight in the only light was from outside the cell. “I don’t hear anyone.” He whispered.

  Knowing how well shifters could hear Nicole was afraid to say anything but she had to know. Tilting her head down, with her mouth as close as possible to her brother’s ear she asked, “What did the man say when you called?”

  “He said he will find us. He asked if the phone had battery and if the location was turned on and he told me to turn the volume down and hid the phone. I still have the phone. Do you want it?” He moved his hand from Sammy’s stomach but before he could get the phone Nicole stopped him.

  “I am worried they have camera’s watching and they will see it. He asked about the location on the phone? Good, maybe he had a way to track it. The location was turned on but, he would have to, no it doesn’t matter. Here, stretch out, let me take Sammy, now lay down and I will lay down beside you then we will arrange Sammy like so.” With Sammy snuggled between the two they lay in silence silent sobs wracking their bodies as they snuggled Sammy between them. Neither one aware the man was still on the other end of the phone, they finally fell asleep. The mental and emotional exhaustion had taken a toll on them. No one disturbed their slumber until hours later the lights in the hall came on and approaching movement woke them.

  Chapter Six

  “Dimitri, send Hendrix a text. Tell him we need him back in the States by tomorrow morning at the latest. Nikita, call Trey and tell him to get up here. No scratch that, tell Hendrix to, damn, he has never been to Marcus’ territory. Dammit. Doesn’t matter, get him back here. Get Trey to call his friends, I need to use some of their technology.” Gammon paced as he talked. His mind played the words he heard earlier on a continuous loop. He was determined to get those children back, he swore to them he would come for them and he never broke his word.

  Dimitri stared at Gammon a moment before pulling out his phone. Hendrix was not going to be pleased with the developments.

  Gammon pulled his own phone out and looked at it a moment before dialing a number, “William, I need your help. I need the High Councils help. And I want Senator Avery.”

  Every eye in the room turned to stare at Gammon. They could not hear what William was saying on the other end of the phone but they could feel the anger radiating from their Alpha.

  “I don’t give a damn. He is oath bound to the packs. He can’t have broken the oath and the High Council not have felt the oath break. So I don’t care how much evidence links him to the compound we just raided. I don’t care what you think you know, unless you and the rest of the High Council are lying then he has not broken his oath. I want his side of the story and then he is going to help us get those kids out of Mexico.”

  Dimitri looked back at his phone when he felt it vibrate and shook his head. Hendrix was texting in code and that did not bode well for getting him back by morning. The only time he sent those types of texts was when he was deep in a mission and couldn’t take the time to say much or ask questions. He sent back a terse reply and waited. In a moment a text came back with three letters, LTA. The Beta let out the breath he did not realize he was holding. Loyalty to the Alpha meant that whatever mission the agent might be on he would drop everything and return. Those letters had never been used, never had a situation so dire they had to be used.

  Gammon glanced at Dimitri, eyebrows raised. He turned his attention back to the call when he got a nod in return.

  Nikita had left the room to make his call and when he returned he shook his head. Gammon growled before turning his attention back to his call.

  “Do I have to remind you of your oath again?” Gammon snarled, “No? I didn’t think so. Well you remind Avery of that same damn oath and you get him to meet you somewhere,” Gammon stopped talking, “Don’t be an idiot. Taking him to Marcus’s would be a death sentence and you know it. You are not taking care of the High Council problem like that. No, you get him to your High Council building and I will meet you there. Tomorrow.”

  Every eye in the room was on Gammon when he hung up the call. Mia stroked her hand down his arm, “Darling, did you just call William an idiot to his face? I don’t think it wise to antagonize the High Council.”

  Gammon lifted her up until her face was level with his, “Technically I called him an idiot over the phone, and no I don’t care. The Council has done damn little for me and mine other than pawn the problems of the shifter world onto our shoulders. I don’t mind that we have the caring of the females, in fact I have found I rather like it since my people know immediately if we have their mates. You know I consider it an honor to have the females here,” he paused and looked up from Mia’s face to scowl at the others, “of course no one outside this pack needs to know that now do they?”

  Satisfied at the answers he received he looked down into the face of his mate, his pregnant mate. He had not shared with the pack that they would soon have a child. He gave so much of himself and his mate to the pack so often that for now he wanted the pregnancy to be something the two of them shared. He knew it couldn’t last long, soon she would show and others would notice the difference in her scent. But for now, and until the
y got back with the little ones, he didn’t want to share. He knew his pack. As soon as they found out the females would be over every day checking on her and bringing food and trying to take care of her and the males would camp outside his house to protect his mate. May the gods help them all if Mia was pregnant with a female. Since no male had come forth to talk to him and he had not noticed any of the males acting strangely around him or his mate then he was faced with two possibilities. Either Mia was expecting a male or the female she carried would find no mate in his pack. He knew from what had been said the curse was not broken, so a male child would be one more who might never find a mate. He would love and cherish either sex, but he would wish, only for the sake of the future of the child, that the child would prove to be female. Of course then he would have to kill all the males because no one would be good enough for a daughter of his. He could build a tower and put a moat around it and they could move in, but of course the moat would freeze in the winter and what good was a frozen moat? He shook himself from his daydream. He had little ones to save and as much as he wanted to stay wrapped in the arms of his mate, the little ones needed him more right now. Brushing his lips across the top of her head he lowered her to the floor.

  “Would you get with the Chero and see if he will mind catering us some lunch. Thank you for fixing all of us sandwiches earlier for breakfast but if we are going to plan we need to move this meeting over to the hall.” He dropped one last kiss on the top of her head before turning her toward the door, “and see about getting a bit more rest, you look tired. We have been on the go more these last few months than ever in our time together. I need you. You are the rock that keeps me going but you look worn.”

  Mia giggled, she knew exactly why she looked worn and tired. She wondered how long it would be before the others figured it out. Gammon wanted to wait as long as possible and with everything he had been through in his life she understood wanting to have something that, for a time, belonged only to them. But she didn’t think it would take the rest of the pack as long to figure it out as Gammon hoped it would. She headed down the hall calling Chero through the pack bond as she went. She hoped her walk looked more alert than her body felt.