Savage Scheme (15 page)

“Please help them,” she asked the woman, her voice rigid, unforgiving.

“I don’t know what they took,” she stated in disbelief, staring at each one of the skeletal forms tied to the beds.

“What did they take?” Libby demanded of the doctor. She didn’t bother with the IV, instead digging the blade of her knife into the man’s throat. It was clear he had soiled his pants as a tear escaped from the corner of his eye. “The longer you take to answer, the longer I draw out your death. Your choice. What the
fuck
did you give them?”

The doctor listed off the ingredients as Stella understood and began shouting orders. “We need to get them out of here.”

“The west wing,” Libby told her. “It’s sterile, medical. You can take them there.”

“Good, let’s move them. Now.” Nate’s brothers filed in followed by the big man she had faced off with earlier. It all made sense. He was one of them. She wondered out of everyone she’d met who wasn’t working against her, betraying her. Libby’s eyes briefly connected with Max before the man lying underneath her knife whimpered, pulling her back into the moment. She heard them moving the patients at the same time feeling Nate stand in the doorway of the cell. She refused to look at him knowing she would crack under his warmth.

“Libby,” he pleaded quietly.

“I’m fine. Help them, please,” she ground out between clenched teeth, watching the small trickle of blood run down the side of the man’s throat. She breathed a sigh of relief hearing him move into the cell next to her and pick up the frail man who Libby was praying would make it through the night.

Knowing her and the good doctor were now alone, she looked down at him and cocked her head deciding his fate. “You understand why this is happening, right?” The man nodded, his cheeks now damp and his sobs uncontrollable. “Where do you keep your medical supplies? I need to fix myself up,” she explained, looking down at the drying blood that stained her skin.

“Top cupboard... table.” His words were starting to slur, the drugs making his eyes roll as they took him away to some far off place. Looking behind her she could see built in cupboards above the large medical table. Removing the clamp completely, she turned on her heel and refused to feel anything but peace knowing she’d put an end to this nightmare. Leaving the man to die alone, she began shoving supplies into a small black bag she’d found in the cabinet before walking out, ignoring the doctors strained cries for forgiveness. Hearing the clang of the metal door close solidly behind her, she turned her face to the night time sky, the symphony of the toads singing through the still air.

Nate watched as Libby turned her face to the sky. He hadn’t noticed the formality of the dress she was wearing earlier. Was it a fucking wedding dress? He could see that her eye and the side of her face was swollen, covered well by makeup that was now ruined by the sweat running down from her forehead. What the hell had gone on in the twenty-four hours she’d been here? She couldn’t even look at him earlier and for the first time in his life he had no idea how to recover from what he’d done. He’d hurt her immensely, that much was clear. What he didn’t know was how to fix her hurt. She’d been through too much already and she didn’t need his shit. But he needed her. The last few days without her had been hell and when he’d watched Carlos aim his gun and fire, slamming Libby in the chest. He’d never felt so helpless in his life. She needed medical attention. She was running on adrenaline that was quickly fading. She’d lost too much blood and he needed his sister to ensure him that she was going to be okay.

“Hey,” he greeted warily, stepping out of the house. “Stella is working on the patients upstairs.” She nodded her head but remained where she was, keeping her distance. Taking a chance, he moved forward only to be faced with her gun.

“Don’t come any closer Nate.”

“Libby, you need help. You’ve lost a lot of blood, I just want to make sure you’re okay. I get that you’re mad at me.” He took another step closer, needing to be near her even knowing it was probably the last thing she wanted. This time she fired, hitting the brick of the house just above his shoulder. Okay, so maybe she was a little more than mad.

“Don’t make me shoot you Nate. Please.” He hated that her voice held no emotion. Even in the dark he could see that her eyes were blank, her face disinterested as if he meant nothing more than one of the bodies that lay at her feet.

“Nate, go inside and check on the young girl. She’s lucid, you should be able to question her now.” He turned to look at his twin sister, the one person who shared a bond with him unlike anything else, appreciating her understanding smile. He wondered if she could feel his heart breaking. Taking one last look at Libby, he tried to send her a silent plea that was clearly blocked by the walls she’d pulled around herself. Letting out a defeated breath, he turned and squeezed Stella’s shoulder before retreating into the house. He wasn’t worried about leaving her with Libby. His sister was smart enough to know that if Libby refused her treatment she would walk away. She also knew how much he cared about her. Hiding in the shadows of the kitchen, he leaned against the wall close enough to eavesdrop.

“We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Stella, Nate’s twin sister.”

“I know who you are.”

“Will you let me take a look at that wound?” his sister asked. He had to give her credit for the confidence in her voice.

“I can handle it, thanks.”

“Humour me. Something about the doctor in me needs to make sure it’s clean.” There was a long moment of silence between them as Libby considered her plea. “Just doctor to patient, I promise. You can hang on to that scary gun of yours if you want and when we’re done I’ll look the other way.” Nate clenched his jaw wanting desperately to refute what she was saying.

“Okay,” she finally acquiesced.

“Thank you. Are you able to make it upstairs?”

“Not upstairs. The kitchen is fine.”

“But all of my supplies are upstairs.”

“I have everything you need here,” she told her, holding up the medical bag in her hand.

“Alright.”

He heard them move toward the house and made himself scarce knowing he would only prohibit what his sister needed to do and Libby’s health meant more to him than her anger.

After getting set up, Stella looked over Libby with gentle fingers. “It looks like a clean shot. Through and through, no internal damage. We’ll just clean and stitch you up.” Nate didn’t have to see her to know she simply nodded her head in agreement. They remained quiet, Libby lost in her thoughts while Stella meticulously worked to bandage up his little wildcat. He had to give Libby credit. He had no idea what she had stashed away in that medical bag, but he would bet there wasn’t anything to numb the pain. And yet she remained quiet and he would guarantee that she didn’t flinch once as Stella worked to close her wounds.

“What happened here?” Stella asked, gently touching the swollen skin around her eye.

“I met with the wrong end of a pistol.”

“Is there a right end of a pistol?” Stella asked sarcastically.

Nate’s stomach turned at hearing she’d been pistol whipped while Libby’s humourless chuckle filled the quiet.

After half an hour, he heard his sister blow out a slow breath. “All done.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it. I didn’t know how I was going to close the exit wound, to be honest.”

Stella laughed. “It was my pleasure, I’m glad I could be of some help for all you’ve done.”

“All I’ve done?”

“Libby, you effectively put an end to this drug your father was manufacturing and while luckily, no one on our team got seriously hurt you were able to get those people upstairs medical attention. You alone just took out two of the CIA’s most wanted.”

“I wasn’t doing it for the CIA.”

“I know that, and they do too. Regardless of the reason, I hope you know they are indebted to you.”

“I don’t want anything from them. Or your brothers.”

Stella reached out and placed her hand over Libby’s dirt and blood stained fingers. “I am so sorry Libby. I’m sorry for everything you’ve had to go through that’s caused you this hurt. I hope today was able to bring you a little bit of closure.”

“It’s over now,” Libby whispered.

“Can I give you a hug?” Nate heard her let out a surrendering breath. Taking a chance, he glanced around the corner and saw his sister pulling her into an embrace. He could see the pained emotion on Libby’s face as she returned Stella’s hug and he couldn’t help the pang of jealousy he felt knowing it wasn’t his arms wrapped around her. “What are you going to do next? Where are you going to go?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Why don’t you come back with us?”

“I can’t do that,” she admitted, shaking her head.

“I know. I thought I’d try.”

“Take care of them, please,” she pleaded, pointing to the patients upstairs.

“I will. And promise me you’ll call me if you need me. For anything. I’m sure you know how to find me.”

“I promise. Thank you, Stella. For everything you’ve done.”

“Of course. Be safe.”

“I always am.” Nate couldn’t hear what Libby said as she leaned in and whispered something in Stella’s ear before she turned and walked out of the kitchen into the night. He felt his stomach plummet as emotion welled in his chest. He needed to go to her, to beg her to just listen to him. He couldn’t lose her.

“Don’t,” Stella warned, looking over her shoulder as he stepped from around the corner.

“I need to go after her Stel!”

“Not right now Nate. That girl is broken. She has been through too much today to deal with you. Let her heal, give her time. She’ll come to you.”

“No, she won’t.”

“Have a little faith, Nate.”

Everything inside him told Nate he should revolt against what his sister was warning him against. Moving quietly to stand in the doorway he watched as she slinked into the shadows of the night. His chest felt vacant, an emptiness he'd never felt before, knowing only she could fill it and fearing she never would. 

"Nate." He turned to find Aiden leaning against the doorframe. His brother looked almost as bad as he felt. They were tired, haggard. It had been a long mission, one they were all glad was over. The one thing he chose to ignore was the look of concerned sympathy his brother had in his eyes. "We lost one. The old man was too weak. I'm amazed any of them are still breathing with the amount of drugs West was pumping into them." 

"How’s the young girl?"

"Touch and go right now. She's lucid but very weak. Logan just got the call that Ashbrook and his team are on their way in. What do you want to tell them about Libby?" 

"Who's Libby?" he asked, a cold edge to his voice as he walked past his brother and up the stairs not waiting for an answer. He heard his brother’s sigh.

“Understood,” Aiden mumbled. Nate wasn’t going to draw Libby into their mission and what was going to be endless debriefs. It was clear she wanted nothing else to do with anything relating to their mission. Not her father, not Vasquez, not Savage Security and sure as hell not him. They would tell Ashbrook that she escaped and they didn’t know where she was now. All that mattered was that West and Vasquez were dead. Case closed. They would head home and Cameron would tell them about the next mission. He would be deployed wherever the action was because he couldn’t imagine going home, alone. His house used to be his little corner of sanctuary. Now, the thought of it was daunting. It was big and empty and the last thing he wanted was to be alone with his own thoughts.

“Nate, I need you to change the bag on that IV,” Stella ordered. She was in full-on doctor mode as she commanded each one of them to change or attend to something. The patients were something they definitely weren’t expecting. They knew West had been creating what was rumored to be the fountain of youth drug, but the essential human lab rats were a wrench in the plans. Nate had no idea what to think when he’d followed Libby through the rock tunnel. It was the sight of the young girl strapped to the bed, her breathing shallow while she stared vacantly at the ceiling was horrifying. And it was then he was so grateful his sister was there. She was a doctor through and through. She didn’t see the violence first, she saw someone who needed help.

“Damn it - I’m losing this one!” she shouted. Nate looked over and could see the man’s body start to seize, his limbs shaking fiercely under her touch before he began to foam at the mouth. After ten minutes of attempting to revive him, he lay lifeless, lost to the torturous drug. “Get Ashbrook on the phone and tell him I need medical heli’s here now!”

“They’re on their way,” Luke told them, looking out the window.

Stabilizing the remaining victims, they prepped them for travel to the nearest hospital. Ashbrook walked in, Cole on his heels. Stopping abruptly, he surveyed the patients lying on the beds. Pulling out his cell phone he made a quick call, barking orders for the rest of his team to move the patients out immediately.

“West and Vasquez have been eliminated,” Logan informed them.

“I’m aware. I stepped over their bodies on my way in. You made quite a mess out there.”

“The orders were to seek and destroy. Eliminate the threat. At any cost.”

“Yes, and you did your job. I’m not refuting that fact. A cleanup crew is on their way in as we speak. Where’s the doctor?” Ashbrook asked.

“He’s strapped to a cot in the lab. Probably dead by now. Wait, you knew about the laboratory?”

“We had some intel about it.”

“Why the hell didn’t you put a stop to it sooner?” Aiden charged.

“You seem to have done a fine job of that,” he said vaguely, sweeping his hand across the room.

“And we’ve already lost two!” Stella sneered. Cole raised an eyebrow and Nate felt his fist curl waiting for the other man to make a snide comment.

“Take me to the laboratory,” Ashbrook commanded, looking directly at him. Nate looked back, sending a silent message to Max. They weren’t going to take this asshole’s bullshit and he knew it. Throwing his agency around meant nothing. Cole needed Savage Security, not the other way around and he would do best to remember that.

Nate walked past him with a deadly stare, following Ashbrook down the stairs and out into the rising sun. The air was already heavy with humidity, the stench of blood clinging to the soft breeze.

Pushing through the heavy metal door, Nate threw his arm over his face to avoid the eye watering stench. He heard Ashbrook cough behind him, choking on the smell as he pulled out a handkerchief to cover his nose. As they moved further into the cave Nate saw the doctor still strapped to the gurney, the IV line still running into the crook of his elbow as blood trailed from his eyes, nose, and ears. It was clear the man was dead and it wasn’t an easy death he’d experienced. The veins on his arms were violently raised, the blue of each almost unnatural. He heard Ashbrook let out a long breath.

“Where is she?”

“Who?” Nate asked, feigning ignorance.

“You know who - you’re girlfriend. This looks like her handiwork.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Nate, stop fucking around. Where the hell is she?”

“She’s not here. And you’re going to keep her name out of this mission.”

“Nate, she was here. That is already on record...”

“Then you need to make something up. She’s not here anymore Peter, she’s gone.”

“Well, where the fuck did she go?”

“I don’t know. So if her name needs to stay in your god damn report, then you need to say she escaped before any of this shit happened. Do you hear me? Keep her name out of it.”

“Jesus Christ,” he mumbled, sighing.