“There it is.”
David eyed the warehouse from inside the bird. Charis was in there. He had to get to her. While the tracking device had worked beautifully, it stopped transmitting almost two minutes ago.
He looked at his watch. Shit! Make that three minutes ago.
“Get me down there,” he ordered the pilot.
“Too many trees, sir.”
“Fuck the trees. Get me down there!”
Allen rested a hand on David’s shoulder. “When was the last time you rappelled out of a helicopter?”
“Saving your sorry ass back at that cabin.”
“Dude, that was over three years ago.”
It didn’t matter. If it meant the difference between finding her alive and finding her... He shook off the thought. He’d sprout wings and fly if he needed to. He would find her. He had to.
“Get me into gear.” He worked with the two men in the bird with him. Keller was small and swift on his feet, and one of the top rappellers in TREX. He gave David a quick rundown of the gear as Allen suited him up.
“You should let me go,” Allen said and tried to stare him down. “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t have the shit kicked out of me by a car today. Besides, I’m in better shape.”
“The hell you are. Marriage has made you soft.” David smacked Allen’s abs. “Besides, I need your eyes and ears up here, running the find from the air. I’ll take the lead on the ground.” Allen gave him a nod and relayed the order to agents in the other helicopters.
“Once on the ground,” Keller continued. “Disengage. Got it?” David nodded. “Ready? One. Two. Th—”
He jumped out and rappelled down. The absolute weightlessness was exhilarating. Looking around, he spotted the rest of the team rappelling as well. Oh yeah. What an awesome sight.
I’m coming, Charis. Hold on, baby. Once he hit the ground, he disengaged his restraints and motioned for the team to follow him toward the warehouse. Signing for half to take the left, the other half to take the right, he turned and stopped at the group of trees twenty feet from the main entrance.
“Team A in place.”
“Team B in place.”
He tapped his earpiece to acknowledge. Until they had Charis safely away from the psycho son of a bitch in there, they were now reliant on the mics and hand signals.
He couldn’t wait to give Surreal a hand signal.
The first order of business was to cut the power. During the chaos they’d charge in and take out the target after securing the hostage.
Hostage. Shit.
“Be ready to move in three...”
He brought the dykes up to the wire.
“Two...”
Securing the wire in the opening of the tool, he started to pinch.
“One...”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Surreal’s voice came over their transmission.
“And why not?” David rasped. How did he tap into their goddamn frequency?
“Because if you do, she dies.”
“You’re lying.”
“Try me.”
He dropped the dykes and grabbed for his pistol. He ignored the weakness still lingering in his system, threatening to take over if he allowed himself to rest even a few seconds. His body screamed at him to give it a break. You can rest when Charis is safe.
Fine, asshole. You want it your way? Just fine and dandy. You’re still going to die.
“Drop the weapon, Snyder. You, and only you, step in front of the door.”
“You think I’m fucking stupid?”
“I think you want her back. I think you’ll do just about anything I say to get her back. So, yes. If I ask you to do something stupid like blindly stand in front of a door, you’ll do just that.”
“Fuck you,” he muttered sharply. But he did as Surreal told him and dropped his weapon. He then walked over and stood in front of the door.
“Hands up, please.”
Ignoring the tightening sensation across his chest, he raised his hands. His mouth went dry as he waited for Surreal’s next order. His ears ached as he tuned into every noise, every breath. “Next?”
“Now turn around.”
He did.
“Look up and smile. You’re on Candid Camera.”
Son of a fuck. He brought his gaze up to the group of trees directly in front of him. There, hidden under some leaves, was a lone camera.
He needed to get to Surreal before he detonated anything. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to blow himself up when he blew up the rest of them. Charis included.
God, he hoped he was right.
Spinning around, he ran forward and kicked the door in, picked up his weapon, and ran inside. The sound of Surreal’s laughter echoed in his ear when David stopped in his tracks and did a quick visual scan.
“Shit!”
A pair of pants had been folded neatly on a chair in the center of the room. Charis’s pants. Other than that...
The warehouse was empty.
He’d lost her.
* * * *
She had lead anvils on her eyelids and blinked slowly. Ow. OwOwOw. Blinking had never hurt before. But then again, she’d never been beaten unconscious.
Oh God. Her vision blurred as she tried to blink everything into focus. Surreal had beaten her unconscious. God only knew what he did to her once she no longer had the strength to fight him off.
Running her tongue along her dry, cracked lips, she didn’t taste blood. Could a person run out of blood? Of course, idiot. It’s called bleeding to death.
She shuddered. At least he didn’t kill her. Yet. Another shudder washed over her. Ow. Even that hurt.
Something bound her hands. And her feet. She wiggled to pull herself loose, but the bindings held tight. The more she struggled, the more they cut into her flesh. Ow again.
Where was he? Strike that, she didn’t care. Where was her hero? Why hadn’t he come to save her? How could he let this happen?
Oh, David. Where are you? Her insides hurt, and it had nothing to do with her beating. Why hadn’t he come for her? The fear and dread consumed her heart, invaded her mind. Deep down she knew. Only one thing would stop him from coming for her.
He was dead. Whether he died in that crash protecting her or died at the hands of Surreal, dead was dead was dead. She prayed she was wrong, but knew she couldn’t be. He would have come for her if he could have.
Which meant she was on her own in every sense of its meaning. She pushed back the enormous sobs aching to break free, her heart hurting, mourning over her lost love. She’d give into her grief. Oh, God. How she would.
But for now, she had to keep her mind focused on escaping. David’s death would not be in vain. Everything he did, he did to keep her alive. She’d be damned if she’d let Surreal win.
Working against the bindings, she pulled her arms. She pushed them down. Pull. Push. Pull. Push. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. The bindings dug into her wrists. Her flesh tore, exposing tender and raw muscle. The wet stickiness of the blood coated her wrists as the bindings tore her skin.
A voice rang out from the darkness. “It’s not going to work.”
She froze. “Surreal!”
“I told you to never—”
“I’ll call you anything I want, you psycho piece of shit.” Come on, you bastard. Show yourself. Where—ah, there. She just made out his shadow off in the corner. From the looks of his shape, he sat in a chair, leaning his elbow on a desk or table. At least he’d gotten dressed.
“You’ve changed. You never used to swear. Did he do that to you? Tell me, Charis. What else did he do to you?”
“Untie me and find out.” She wanted to scream at him, to get him to come over to her just so she could find some way to hit him and hit him hard. She wanted to make him feel every ounce of hurt, wanted him to know how it felt to lose a piece of his heart. Because when he took David from her that was exactly what he did.
“I can’t trust you. It breaks my heart to know you’d rather run back to him than stay with me. I don’t want to hurt you, my love.” He stopped and she heard him take in a sharp breath. “I love you.”
“And beating me up proves that? How?”
The chuckle he left floating in the air sent chills crawling up her spine. “You see? See what he’s done to you? You actually believe I could do something like that.”
“That’s because you did.”
“No. I saved you.”
“Saved me?” If she could drop her jaw without it hurting, she would have. “You could have killed me.”
“Do you realize everything I’ve done for you? When TREX separated us, I knew how devastated you were. I took care of them for you. When you didn’t come back to me, I sent a message.”
Oh, he’d sent a message all right. She eyed her exposed leg. The roadmap of scars reminded her of the message he’d sent. Would she escape him this time with only scars? Would she escape him at all?
“I was going to ask you about them but didn’t want to seem rude.”
She bit down hard on her lower lip. If she told him exactly what she thought of that comment, he may lose it again and continue with his beating. Because he’d bound her to a chair, she had no way to defend herself. He’d kill her for sure.
“You gave them to me.”
“Me?” He sounded dumbfounded. Even sat up. “How?”
“Remember the cabin? The landmine that went off outside right before you triggered an explosion inside the cabin?”
He rose. As he approached her, her breath caught. She didn’t want to be scared, but the closer he came, the more terror gripped her senses. As he stepped into the light, he stopped and glared at her, frowning. “You were there?”
She nodded once. It was all she had the strength to do.
Anguish softened his expression. Slowing his breathing, his shoulders rising and lowering with every intake, the icy fear held her prisoner. He was about to lose it. Again.
He continued toward her. Oh, God. No. She closed her eyes, her insides already tightening in preparation. “Open your eyes.”
She did, too scared not too. He knelt down in front of her and rested his hands on hers. His gave held hers. “Why were you there?”
“To negotiate your surrender.”
“My…my surrender?” He laughed in her face as he shook his head. “You know me better than that, Charis. I’d never surrender, especially since I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Then why did you ask for me?”
“I think we both know the answer to that.” He rested his palm to her cheek. A shiver washed up her spine. “I’ve loved you since the day you came to me at that job fair. Do you remember?”
She remembered and wished she could turn back time, never recruited him. Maybe then this waking nightmare would have never happened. All those innocent people would have never died by his hands.
He ran his touch down her face, along her neck, and across her exposed collarbone. His gaze followed his touch. “I knew you’d come for me. I saw you the year before. Did I ever tell you that? It was at the annual job fair. I knew you were different. You talked with potential recruits, but I knew you weren’t really interested in them.” He continued to watch as he trailed his finger along her skin, drawing chills that crawled along her flesh wherever he touched.
He snapped his hard gaze to her face and she sucked in a breath, bracing herself. “You were looking for me, even then. I spent the next year doing everything I could to get your attention. It worked for the most part. You returned and recruited me, just as I knew you would.”
His delusions started earlier than they’d originally thought. “Thomas, listen to me. I didn’t even know you.”
“You can stop with the act, my love. We’re together again. The way it was always meant to be.” He stopped moving his fingers and flattened his hand over her heart, his gaze riveted to hers. “Remember what I told you before I left TREX?”
Oh, God. She swallowed hard. “You said you’d find a way for us to be together again.”
“And now here we are.” He stood and disappeared behind her. “Everything I’ve done, that I’m about to do, is for you. All those buildings. All those people.”
“You killed them, Thomas.”
“Tributes,” he explained. “Every last soul I saved, I did for you. I’m exhausted proving my love to you, Charis. Since you clearly don’t appreciate what I’ve done, you leave me no choice.” He wrapped his arms around her midsection. Sucking in a breath, she waited for him to squeeze her. To hurt her again. Something. Instead, he draped something on her. A blanket? It was heavy, heavier than any blanket she’d ever felt. And scratchy. Wires ran through the fabric. An electric blanket?
“What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry it’s come to this.” He finished behind her and stepped back around, knelt down on his haunches to be eye level with her. Leaning on the arms of the chair, he stopped inches from her face. With him this close, she finally saw him, his eyes. They were dark, cold, full of something she couldn’t read. Whatever it was, it sent desperation coursing through her veins. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. I’m sorry to see what that monster has turned you into. More than that, I’m sorry I went through so much trouble to reach out to you, to save you.”
“Thomas,” she choked on his name. Dear God, what did he have planned?
“But more than all of that,” he continued calmly, ignoring her. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize what I have to do. I’ve already wasted too much energy on you. It’s time to move on. It’s time for both of us to move on.”
A sensation of intense sickness and desolation swept over her as he ran his knuckles down her cheek. “And how are we going to do that?”
“First, I need to save you from yourself, Charis.”
Her eyes flew open as her desperation melted to raw fear. “No, you don’t.”
“Oh, but I do. Just as I saved all of those people when I ended their pathetic lives. They were lost souls, my love. Don’t you see? You are a lost soul, too. You were the moment you chose him over me.”
Oh shit. Panic rioted in her when she looked down and realized the blanket he’d wrapped around her had a clay compound of some kind woven through it. She highly doubted it was Play-Doh. “What are you doing? What is this?” Struggling, ignoring the pain as it jarred her soul, she fought the bindings.
“An electric blanket,” he answered easily, plugging the two wires extending out of the end of the blanket into a wireless router.
No. Terror unlike she’d never known welled in her throat, cutting off her air. She started to hyperventilate. The room spun as she fought to steady her breathing. She had to get loose, damn it. Her restraints cut into her already existing wounds, but she barely felt it. Life meant dealing with pain. And, right now, she’d deal with the pain if it meant saving her life.
“I guess that does it. I’ll give you five minutes to make your peace.”
She yanked at her hands. She didn’t care if she ripped them off. She could live without hands. If she stayed tied to this chair, she wouldn’t live at all.
“You have four minutes and fifty-two seconds. I wouldn’t waste them, my love. Accept your fate. Embrace it. Soon, you’ll be free. And, once you are, I will be, too.” He smiled at her. And, oh dear God, he started to breathe heavily.
“No, please. Don’t do this!” She started to cry, damn it. “Please!”
He blinked lazily and widened his grin as he watched her struggle against her restraints. Stepping backward, melting into the shadows, he returned to his chair and sat.
“Thomas!” Her cries echoed through the warehouse.
“I love you, Charis. It’s my love for you that will set you free. Accept your fate and make your peace. Let me watch you.”
He was going to watch? Did he plan on blowing himself up, too? Was this some sort of murder-suicide thing?
“Four minutes, thirty seconds.” He hummed in the back of his throat, his breathing becoming more and more labored. She heard the distinct sound of a zipper.
He was going to masturbate? Now? Oh, God. He really was insane.
Now would be a great time for TREX to barge in and take off Surreal’s head. She’d leave it to the agent to choose which one.
She tried to steady her erratic pulse as she continued to fight against her restraints. She kicked. She jerked. Nothing worked.
“Four.” Heavy breath. “Minutes.”
Closing her eyes against the sight of him as he stroked himself, she summoned every ounce of strength she had. Pull. Kick. Yank.
“That’s it,” he moaned. “Keep. Struggling. Yes.”
I hope it falls off, you sick bastard. Twist. Pull.
“Three.” He hissed sharply. “Oh. Baby. Oh, yeah. Just like that.”
This was too much. Bile stirred in her stomach. She tried to close out his voice. With as loud as her heartbeat pounded in her ears, it should have been easy.
He moaned her name. “Charis.”
A spark of hope flickered when one of the bindings on her wrist came loose. Yes! Now for the other one. Twist. Pull. There!
He breathed erratically. Good. Let him lose himself in his party of one while she slowly moved to untie her ankles. She expected him to yell and charge her any minute, just as soon as he realized she’d gotten loose.
But he didn’t. His moaned louder, his breathing faster. Dear, God. He was close. She had to hurry.
“Oh, yes! That’s it, Charis! Fuck me. Faster. Faster.”
Acid burned the back of her throat. She stole a glance toward his shadow as his head rolled back. More than likely he had his eyes closed as he acted out his sick little fantasy.
“Charis!”
She froze, her heart painfully pounding. When he moaned loudly and caught his breath, she knew her time had come. And so had he. Now or never.
Spit or get off the spot.
With determination and strength she didn’t even know she had, she kept her hands steady enough to quickly release her ankles. Careful not to make a sound, she slipped the blanket off, darting her gaze between Surreal and the wires connecting the blanket to the router. Looking at the connection, then back at Surreal again, she closed one eye and yanked the wires out of the clay, half expecting it to detonate.
It didn’t.
“Charis?” He no longer moaned, no longer breathing heavily. “What are you doing?”
Shit.
Drawing from her newfound strength, she jumped up and ran the opposite way, into the shelter of the darkness.
“Charis! No!”
In her bare feet, she crept, soundless, toward the door. Slowing, she cursed under her breath. Not only were they all locked, they all had dim lights above them. If she went to any of the doors, he’d see her. And then he’d tie her down and finish this.
“Charis? Sweetheart? Come out. You have a date with destiny.” He walked out of the shadows. She wasn’t that blind without her glasses to see that gun in his hand. Where did that come from?
Hurrying in the darkness, she ran her gaze over every inch of the walls. The darkness helped to shroud her, but did nothing to help her find a way out.
“I can’t save you if you hide from me.”
When he cocked the gun, it sent her into a run. She tripped and went down, landing on something soft. Pushing herself up, she came nose-to-nose with a body. A dead body. His lifeless eyes stared right through her. The scream rumbled in her throat and before she could stop it, flew right past her lips.
In an instant Surreal had a hold of her hair. He dragged her back over to the chair. She stumbled along without a protest. That was the one thing she couldn’t handle—the sight of a dead body. Having seen a few before, and each one landing her in therapy until she could finally close her eyes without seeing it staring at her, she had one more to add to her list.
How many therapy sessions would she need to recover from this ordeal? How many years? Would she ever be able to sleep again?
No. She’d only see David, see his lifeless eyes staring at her. Her eyes burned with tears, horrified at the imaginary sight. Crying, knowing she’d just lost her one and only chance at escape, she let the tears fall. The sobs started small but soon grew to enormous convulsions ripping through her body. She was going to die. She’d never be married, never have kids. She lost the only man she’d ever love because of Surreal. She’d lost everything.
He threw her down and held her arm on the chair’s arm as he wrapped duct tape around and around. After finishing taping her wrists to her elbows, he strapped her ankles, all the way up to her knees. Talk about overkill.
“David,” she sobbed. “D—D–”
He brought the roll of duct tape up to her face. “Shut up or I will tape every one of your orifices closed.”
She choked and swallowed a straggling sob.
Anger flashed in his eyes. “You aren’t the woman I thought you were. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you. The Charis I know would have appreciated that.”
“No. She wouldn’t.” She held his gaze, blinking the tears down. Hiccoughing, she pulled in several breaths to stall and search for what she wanted to say. She’d only have one shot at this. Ignoring the tingling in her hands and feet from the tightness of the tape binding her to the chair, she continued. “I wouldn’t.”
His eyes softened as he furrowed his brow. Her words seemed to confuse him. Either that or he pondered which orifice to tape first.
Digging deep for her most successful negotiating tactics, she decided the ‘Fluffing the Big Ego’ tactic would work just fine with this guy. “Thomas, I know how brilliant and talented you are. I know what you have the power to do.”
“You—You think I’m brilliant?”
She wiggled her fingers and toes to keep the circulation flowing. “Not too many people can do what you do.”
“You can.”
“Not as well.”
He smiled. For one millisecond she had hope. He then tore off a piece of the duct tape and covered her mouth. She choked on a breath. After her panic-induced crying attack, her nose had stuffed up. Oh, God. If he didn’t blow her up, she’d die from suffocation. Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.
It helped.
Until he brought the gun to her temple. “I guess this means I win.”