Live By The Team (Team Fear Book 1) (34 page)

As Ryder hung up the phone, the beast roared, shattering the last tether to sanity. A voice he didn’t recognize had interrupted Lauren’s call. He heard her bark of pain before they’d taken the phone away.

Ryder’s vision swam with drugs and rage and fear. He jumped the steps leading away from the administration building and went straight for the truck. Someone was dying tonight.

“
Why don’t you just kill us?”

Beside her, Debi smacked her arm. “Shut. Up.”

“
What? I’m trying to figure out how these mental geniuses think.”

They were waiting in the living room of her former house, on the floor surrounded by five sociopaths. Or was it psychopaths? Either way, not a good place to be. At least they weren’t with the dead bodies, although that might be preferable to being surrounded by five bad guys the size of weightlifters. Why hadn’t she noticed their height? Their build? They’d seemed so innocuous when flirting with the college girls, but trapped between them, they gave off an air of menace that kept her head spinning. If Ryder didn’t show up soon, they wouldn’t have to kill her. She’d have a heart attack.

“
We discussed it” Hedrick answered. Away from the bar and the music and the girls, he oozed crazy. A shiver flashed under her skin as she recalled his big hand gripped around her arm. “But we didn’t know how long he’d be out.”

“
You drugged him?” Panic lifted her voice. Ryder had said it wasn’t safe to mix drugs or alcohol with the medical cocktail they’d already endured.

“
Couldn’t have him thinking clearly.” Joe smirked. He’d stationed himself at the door as a glorified sentry.

“
And we can’t have your time of death too far off from your husband’s apparent suicide. Makes people ask questions.”

“
He’s not that easy to kill.”

Joe grinned, the evil coming off him like stink on a feedlot in the middle of the summer. He lifted a section of blind to glance out at the front walkway. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“
What did you do?”

“
We may not be mental geniuses,” Callahan answered. “But we have a solid plan. Your husband isn’t thinking clearly, and he’s got enough drugs in his system to fuck with his concentration. Don’t count on him for help.”

But she was, absolutely, counting on Ryder to make it back to her. The days of doubting him, of expecting him to abandon her were over. He’d protect her. Absolutely. “I’m going to enjoy watching him pull you limb from limb.”

“
Got news for you.” Joe flipped the blinds back into place. “You don’t have to wait.”

Hedrick pulled out a handgun. “Time for the show.”

Debi pulled Lauren close to the wall nearest the stairs. Boy, did Lauren understand the need for a wall at your back. She’d never sit in the middle of any room again. Assuming she lived. When her butt hit the sheetrock, Lauren closed her eyes and whispered a prayer.
Please don’t let him be alone.

Ryder walked in alone. Black jeans, black shirt, black boots. He entered with his hands out in a manner only a fool would consider submissive. “Baby, you okay?”

A knot blocked her throat, so she had to force the words. “Sure, the usual. Dead bodies. Kidnapping.”

“
What happened to your face?”

She dabbed at the tender spot on her cheek. The newest injury didn’t hurt too bad, considering. She glanced at Joe as he shut and bolted the door. At the movement of her gaze, Ryder flipped around. He was on Joe, pummeling his face. He got in three good shots before two soldiers pulled him off.

Ryder stumbled from their grasp. He shook his head like he was trying to clear it. Up close, she saw sweat on his forehead and damp spots under his arms and in a band around his neck. He looked liked he’d been sitting in a steam room. His eyes held a faraway look that didn’t bode well.

Joe wiped a streak of blood off his lip.

“
Where are your buddies?” Callahan asked.

“
You’re the one surprise here.” Ryder pointed his thumb at the house next door, but his arm shook at the slight movement. “You were in the house before we moved in here.”

“
Recon. We planned to take you out the same week you pulled the disappearing act.”

“
You watched me.” All the times the neighbor had checked on her, Lauren had thought he was just a nice guy.

“
I knew your husband would be back. Just a matter of time.”

Yet Lauren had doubted Ryder every minute of every day. She’d written him off rather than trying to understand. She’d been too wrapped up in her own fears, so afraid of losing her husband, she didn’t see his absolute commitment to her. Lauren wanted to go to Ryder, to apologize before it was too late. He’d probably saved both of their lives by leaving when he had. They hadn’t had any clue the danger they were living in.

She grabbed Debi’s hand and pulled her close. They needed to be ready when the shit hit the fan, because no way did Ryder walk into an ambush without a plan. He didn’t mind dying, but he wouldn’t leave her hanging. The feeling was mutual. She couldn’t allow him to sacrifice himself. Ryder might not be afraid, but she was terrified of a life without him.

Joe shoved Ryder from the back, pushing him deeper into the room. “Answer the fucking question. Where are your teammates?”

Ryder stumbled and landed on his knees. He put a hand to his temple. “They’re halfway to Tucson.”

They were alone? “Oh, Ryder.” She nearly cried. Maybe he wasn’t thinking straight.

“
Sometimes you have to handle shit on your own, baby.” He moved closer, placing his body between Lauren and the soldiers. He frowned at Joe. “But you know my team isn’t around. This was a two-prong operation. You guys here and another team following Fowler, dividing my men.”

Joe and Hedrick did a quick fist bump, confirming Ryder’s supposition and destroying Lauren’s hope. Alone and unarmed. She inched closer, hoping—

Callahan shoved her against the wall. Ryder moved just as swiftly, tackling Callahan to the ground. “No one gets between me and my wife.” He struck Callahan in the sternum, the same move that had incapacitated Earl, but Callahan struck back. This time, it took three men to pull Ryder off, but they didn’t kill him. Why?

Lauren sidestepped away from the fight, closer to the stairs. The sixteen feet from windowsill to ground didn’t seem as insurmountable as their odds here in the house.

They lifted Ryder off and he shook his head as if he were trying to clear it. He let loose a sarcastic grin. “You five really think you can take me?” His words slurred.

Dear God, what had they done? He couldn’t even stand straight without one of the soldiers holding him upright. One of the soldiers she remembered from the bar blocked her path. He had the same dead eyes as the others, one shadowed with a bruise. “We don’t have to subdue you.” He put a gun to her head. “You fuck up again, and she takes the bullet that much sooner. She just has to die before you. The how is open for interpretation.”

Great. Lauren swallowed.

Ryder’s eyes filled with rage, the same look before he’d beaten Earl. When his eyes panned the room, there was no recognition in his eyes. No humanity. True fear filled her. Ryder wasn’t himself. She was no longer sure he could defend himself, let alone save her. “You have to wait for a confirmation call from the men following Fowler. You’re not the ones calling the shots.”

The men didn’t answer. Nervous energy filled the house, mostly off her and Debi. The men—all of them—seemed impervious to emotion. There was an aura of cool resolve around the lot of them. “Upstairs,” the soldier ordered.

Lauren didn’t move too fast to get to the stairs. Once they setup the murder-suicide scene, she was pretty sure it was over. She looked at Ryder, but his face remained a mask. They climbed the stairs surrounded by assholes carrying weapons. Joe took the lead, then Lauren and Debi followed by the dead-eyed soldier who held a gun on her. Ryder was behind him with Callahan and Hedrick in the rear. The final soldier stayed to guard the door. There were five of them to one of Ryder, and he wasn’t operating on all cylinders.

Halfway up the stairs, he stumbled into the wall and dropped to his knees. He shook his head like he was having a hard time seeing straight. Dead Eyes stopped to lift Ryder to his feet.

Lauren finished climbing the stairs, her heart convulsing. They were climbing to their execution, and Ryder was walking like a drugged-out fool. Joe pushed open the master bedroom door, revealing a macabre scene. The room looked like a maniac had trashed it. Crazy red graffiti on the wall, holes in the sheetrock, black plastic over the sliding glass door. There was a pallet on the floor and drug needles and paraphernalia next to it. Lauren tried to back out, but Dead Eyes pushed her from behind.

Ryder roared. He shoved Dead Eyes into the doorframe, blocking the entry. A gun went flying. Joe turned, but before he could react, someone tackled him to the ground. Lauren fell to the carpet. Rose plowed into Debi, moving her out of the path and into a closet. The fight from the hall spilled into the room. Ryder pummeled Dead Eyes, and then turned to Baby Face like he couldn’t stay focused. A war waged around her, the sounds of bones breaking and grunts of pain. Each groan cut a hole in her lungs so she could barely breathe.

Rose intercepted Dead Eyes, literally protecting Ryder’s back, because her husband wasn’t focused. He slammed Baby Face across the room, but Joe didn’t go down easy. He took the beating with a grin before shoving Ryder off. Ryder wiped sweat from his eyes, and in that pause, that moment, Joe yanked Lauren up and shoved a knife at her throat. Ryder blocked, the knife cutting into his hand. Blood spewed, but Ryder didn’t blink. His bloodshot eyes threatened death, but Lauren wasn’t sure if he even knew who the target was. He’d lose his hand if he wasn’t careful, but he didn’t back down.

Lauren stomped a boot into Joe’s instep at the same time her fist slammed into the young man’s groin. Joe’s grip loosened enough for Lauren to break free. In a flurry of movement, Ryder grabbed Joe’s knife hand. Bones crunched before Joe relinquished his hold. He kicked, but Ryder came at him like a crazy man, impervious to the hits and kicks the other soldier landed. He swung forward with the knife, making minor cuts in Joe’s skin. Finally, Ryder hit the other man in the sternum, this time with the knife. Flesh oozed blood. Bones crushed.

Joe crashed to the ground like a felled tree. Ryder followed him to the ground. He pulled the knife free and sliced open Joe’s neck. Spurts of blood hit Ryder in the face, but he continued to slice even as the life left Joe’s eyes, until he’d severed the head from the body.

“
Ryder?” Blood covered him. The wound on his hand dripped and the serrated knife looked like something from a horror movie. Lauren swallowed. “Are you okay?”

He turned to her, his eyes filled with the craziness he’d feared. No recognition crossed his features. He rose to his feet and fled the room.

Lauren’s brain was scrambled from the sudden attack and her body seemed to move in slow motion. She crawled to the closet and tried to open it. “Debi?” she croaked. Tears flowed down her cheeks. She needed to get to Ryder. The man was warrior strong, but they had altered him with drugs until he couldn’t think straight. He’d die for her, but she couldn’t live with that outcome. Her breath sounded like she’d just run twenty miles and her chest ached.