“I don’t know what you’re talking about
,
” Amari said stubbornly.
He laughed. “Come now, you aren’t going to play that silly game. I have a person in the FBI here who says you didn’t give the investigators everything. The rest has been corrupted and all that’s left is to get what you have.” He grabbed her face cruelly and stared into her eyes. She glared at the man with
the
long thin face
and
a goatee
,
who thought he could pick and cho
o
se when it came to life and death.
“The Bascombe name reaches far
.
I
t
took a little time
,
but we found you
.
T
apped your sister’s phone and found you. If it wasn’t for that cop husband she lived with we’d have taken her and called you to hear her scream. Give me the packet of evidence and I might let you live. Or I’ll get my friends to come back and show you what pain is.” He smiled cruelly. “The things they can do with a body to make you talk
,
if I told you
,
would make you shudder.”
“You’ll do it anyway
,
because that
’s
the ki
n
d of fucked up evil that lives in you,” she said stubbornly. “Go ahead
and
torture me
.
W
hen they find my body
,
that packet will go to the main FBI office in D
.
C. I
’ll
bet
M
ommy’s reach does
n’
t get that far
up the ladder. And if that goes missing
,
a new copy of the packet will be sent every three months until someone pays attention. Not from one person
,
but many
.
” Amari smiled wickedly. “I made sure to cover my ass very well
,
you fucking asshole.”
He slapped her again and then wiped his mouth with a shaky hand. She could see the wheels in his
head
turning
as he tried
to figure out if she was bluffing or not.
“I’ll be back
.
I’ll be back,” he muttered.
She wanted to yell at him and laugh in his face. But she kept silent knowing she had a very tenuous hold
on
the upper hand. She was bluffing
,
of course. The packet of evidence was hidden in Boston so well no one would know where to look. She
glanced
around trying to find something she could use for escape. She tried twisting her wrists hoping that her small hands would be able to slip through the loops. She was tied to
o
tight
ly,
and soon the rough texture of the rope made her wrists sore a
nd raw.
Amari thought of Stavros
and prayed he went to her house to find her and she was gone. If she had any hope
of being freed,
it was him. She wanted the chance to tell him how much she loved him
,
and that she was sorry for yelling and walking out.
Please find me, let hi
m
save me.
She sent the mental thought heavenward. She’d given him so little to work with
,
and she regretted not explaining the whole truth. She hoped that fate wasn’t going to deal her a cruel hand and take her away from the man she loved
b
efore they had a chance to even start a life together.
* * * *
Stavros
had
sat in the jet while they flew and tapped his foot impatiently. Now
that
they were on the ground and driving to a designation point where they would approach the boathouse
,
his last nerve was frayed.
It was dark by the time they
left in
the
black
SUVs that were parked and waiting
for them
at the private airport.
He wanted to just go, find Amari and break someone’s arm for taking her. Right now he should be introducing her to everyone and meeting all the wives and kids himself. Because of some crooked doctor who thought money could buy everything he was praying she was still alive. He strapped
his second set of knives into the pack that Kale held
, and
for a moment
he
immersed himself in the feeling of being geared up and heading out
once again
with the team.
He and Malach
i would be going in to the boat
house
in
shift form. The surprise alone of seeing a bear and a tiger charging in would give them valuable minutes.
Plus
,
he hoped he could sink his teeth into the neck of Dr. Bascombe. He
’d
claimed Amari as his mate
,
and by God
,
no one fucked with his mate without
repercussions
. He
realized he’d
missed the
camaraderie
as they got ready to enter the building
,
and again it hit him in the gut how he
’d
walked away from all of them.
Casey still gave him a look now and then that was filled with betrayal and hurt. But along with that he saw relief in his friend’s eyes. He knew how Casey thought,
and
each day he was alive he probably thought about how that
entire situation
came to be. He would
have
blame
d
himself every
day
,
even though Stavros
had
made the choice to grab that wire.
There wasn’t enough apologies that could go around for what
Stavros had
put them through.
There was enough time for them to get reconnected after a year
.
R
ight now his mission was to find Amari alive.
“Com check
.
,
G
uys
, put your
earpieces in
.
” Camden passed out the
small ear bud rec
e
i
vers.
“Alpha, bravo, Charlie, One
,
two and three, are we good?”
“Roger that
,
” they all answered.
Casey turned. “Ok
ay, just like
we went through it on the plane
.
W
e go in hot. Stavros and Malachi are through the door first. Kale has both
y
our clothes and your weapon
s
. He goes in right after you and secure
s
the interior. We’ll secure the outside for any runner
,
and we round them up nice and pretty for the cops
.
A
live would be great
,
b
ut if they get froggy and want to jump
,
take
’
em down. We all clear
?
” He waited for the nods and then turned to Stavros and Malachi. “Shift in the woods and then we head in.”
Stavros
and Malachi headed into he trees a
nd in minutes came back out in
the form of their second nature
. Malachi in his bear from was
bigger that normal bears
,
and with the dark fur
,
ominous to look at. Stavros
felt wonderful in the guise of his tiger. It was
as
if all the inpatient tension in his human body now pulsed through the power and the muscles
beneath
the white fur. The weakness in his left side was not as bad as it usually
was
when he ran in Alaska. He wondered if it was the connection back with they guys of Army Beasts that made him feel stronger.
They headed in, the team members who had not shifted with their guns up and night vision on.
No one made a sound
,
and not even a dry branch on the ground cracked beneath their feet. They all knew the job
,
it was what made them so
deadly in either form.
The boat
house was just
to the side,
and there was a small amount a light coming through the dirty window.
Casey, Cam and Zane took the root that led to the
part of the boathouse th
at was connected to the small boat dock.
Stavros
moved with Malachi toward the front with Kale and Zander. No cars were anywhere around
,
so they
must have come
in the small boat
that was moored on the other side of
the lake. Stavros had no doubt they planned to kill Amari and sink her in the lake when they got the evidence she had. He was not going to allow that to happen.
“We’re in position
.
I
t’s a go
.
” Casey’s voice came through the com
munications
units in their ears.
Cam had
design
ed
the units
so
that
they
fit in their ears when they were in shift. The man was a genius in Stavros
’s
opinion
,
because the units work
ed perfectly. Zander gave them a terse nod before he
and Kale bre
eched the door with a smooth kick. With a roar
,
Stavros went in
and Malachi followed.
There were
four men in the room
,
and they screamed and yelled when they saw the wild animals
enter
. Two
of them
ran for the back door that led to
the dock
,
right into Casey and those with him. Malachi stood on his
hind
legs and roared before pouncing on one man and pining him under his massive body. Zander used a sleek move to take the other one out buy hitting him the face with the
butt of his AK-47. Stavros
looked around wildly and saw no sign of Amari
.
H
e roared in anger and fear
,
thinking she was already dead.
“
What the fuck is goin
g
on out here!” Dr. Bascombe rushed out a second door
. His eyes widen
ed
in fear when
Stavros’s
white tiger turned to face him.
Stavros charged with a snarl as the not
-
so
-
good doctor stood frozen in fear. He finally moved
,
trying to close the door
,
but he was to
o
late. He used his full weight to knock Dr. Bascombe back into the room and pinned him easily. He put one of his big paws against the man’s neck and pressed down
,
cutting o
f
f his air. He felt no pity as the doctor tried to breath beneath him.
“Stavros
!
Oh
G
od
,
please tell me that’s you.”
Her voice made him turn and he saw her bound to the cot in the room. Her face looked bruised and her arms were tied in an uncomfortable position
above
her head. He snarled and put his face right into Dr. Bascombe’s and showed his teeth. The doctor whimpered in fear.
“We got him
,
Stav
.
S
hift and go help your girl,” Kale said. Stavros moved his body and Kale pressed the muzzle of his gun right against Dr. Bascombe’s chest.
“
Don’t move
,
because I have a kinda hair trigger here
.
If I shoot you with my gun pressed so close to your chest
,
I don’t think you can fix that
,
doc.”
Stavros shifted as quickly as he could. Naked or not
,
he rushed over to free Amari. He got her hands free and pulled her against his naked chest. Holding her tight and inhaling her scent, he felt relief fill him
.
S
he was alive and safe in his arms.