A Force of Three [Elite Dragons 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (13 page)

Codi moved beside her and propped himself up on his arm. “Are you okay, baby?”

“Yeah, I’m just having trouble sleeping. I can’t seem to turn my mind off.”

“Do you know how proud I am of you, Nyssa? We all are. God, I am so in awe of your bravery. Even men trained to deal with this shit would have trouble coping with what you have over the last weeks.”

Nyssa shrugged but then moved over closer. Codi sighed and hugged her tight.

“I love you, Nyssa,” Codi declared then placed his fingers over her lips when she would have spoken. She wanted to speak of the feelings in her heart, too, but she stayed silent and allowed him to continue. “No, don’t say anything, baby. I just wanted you to know how I feel in case things go bad, how much you mean to me. When this is all over I want your answer about moving to North Dakota with us.”

Nyssa snuggled in, placed her arm across his upper torso, and rested her head on his chest. The steady beat of his heart was comforting and helped her relax enough to drift off to sleep.

The next morning Codi drove her to work and, just before she got out of the truck, kissed her nearly senseless.

“Check and make sure your transmitter’s on, baby,” he commanded.

Nyssa pushed the button and then whispered as she got out of the truck, “I’m scared, Codi.”

Codi got out and pulled her close for a hug. “You’ll be fine, Nyssa. Just pretend it’s another normal day at work.”

“Okay.” She sighed, leaning into him, reassured to have his arms and warmth surrounding her.

“You are so brave, baby. You better go before you’re late. I’ll see you tonight. I’m going to check in with you several times today, but if you need me just call.” Codi tapped her earlobe. “And remember Ward will be close by.”

“I will.” Nyssa pulled away, gave him a tremulous smile, and headed to the office.

By the time she unlocked the door, she was so scared that her hands were ice cold. She set up her computer and tried to concentrate on one task at a time. Two women came in within an hour of each other, and Nyssa was glad for a break in the monotony. The only other work she had was going through patient files and printing out their details to hand over to the Elite Dragons.

Codi checked in with her as did Linton and Bryden, and each time she whispered her reply that she was okay.

By the time the last patient left at four, she was beginning to think the day would never end. She had just printed out the last patient’s details when the door to Dr. Jones’s office door opened. He was headed straight to the printer.

Shit!
Nyssa rushed toward the printer, but Dr. Jones was closer and beat her to it. He picked up the paper and perused it. He looked up and pinned her with his gaze. He was frowning at her. Nyssa felt a shiver of fear skate up her spine at the malevolence in his eyes as he stared at her.

“What’s this?”

“Uh, I thought we should have paper files, too. You never kn−know when a computer will crash.”

“Hmm. Come into my office, I want a word.”

Nyssa frowned. “There’s no one here. Surely we can talk out here.”

“My office now, Nyssa,” he ordered.

Shit! Did he see through my lie?

“Sit down, Nyssa.” He indicated the chair across from his desk.

Nyssa didn’t want to sit because he was still behind her, but if she didn’t, she could rouse his suspicions. So she sat down with her back to him and waited.

He came up behind her and placed an arm across her throat and gripped her hair so tight he brought tears to her eyes.

“What…”

“Quiet,” he barked. “You have been such a good little receptionist. You are a joy to work with, Nyssa.”

A sharp pain stabbed into her neck and everything began to get blurry. She tried to get her tongue to work, but whatever he gave her had paralyzed her. Nyssa couldn’t even move her pinky. The only things still working were her eyes. When he released her, she fell to the floor with a thud, right onto her chest and face.

God, that hurt!
Warmth trickled from her nose, and tears leaked from her eyes.
Did he break my nose? Fucking asshole!
He moved away from her, and she heard him in the reception area. The phone gave one ring, and Nyssa knew the prick had put the answering machine on. She heard the
snick
as he engaged the lock to the front door.

What is he doing?
Fuck, I’m screwed!

His shoes were within sight and then the bastard grabbed her hair close to her ear and lifted her to her feet. A hot, stinging pain shot through her earlobe and a slight
ping
sounded just before a small
crunch
.

No!
The asshole had ripped her earring out when he’d grabbed her hair. As he dragged her to the door, she saw the remains of the device. It had been crushed beneath his shoe.

If she could have screamed she would have, but whatever he had drugged her with had frozen her vocal cords as well. Her nose was throbbing and bleeding as was her ear, a warm trail of blood was trickling down her neck, and now she couldn’t even call for help.

You’re not screwed, Nyssa.
You’re dead!

* * * *

An alarm sounded on Bryden’s cell phone. He glanced at it, frowning, and turned away from the kitchen table where he and the other Elite Dragons were going over maps.

“What is it?” Coulter called.

“Not sure.” His senses were on alert, though, and his heartbeat had picked up. The alarm signaled a loss of reception on one of their tracking devices, but everyone who was wearing an earring was present. Everyone except Nyssa.

He rushed over to his laptop and punched in his password. He’d lost all data on Nyssa’s whereabouts. Feeling frantic, he switched to the video feeds from the clinic. The reception area was empty. So was the hallway. But in Jones’s office…

“Codi! Linton!” he roared. “You need to see this!”

His brothers ran into the room with Coulter close on their heels. Bryden realized that he’d jumped out of his chair. His body shook with the tension of staying still when all he wanted was to load up his weapons and run to Nyssa’s rescue.

“That bastard has Nyssa,” Bryden snarled. “Get Ward in there now!”

Coulter placed a hand on Bryden’s shoulder. “Show us.”

Bryden replayed the footage of Jones jabbing Nyssa with a syringe. They all watched her fall to the hard wooden floor. Bryden saw red as the fucker just left her there without a care then dragged her out by her hair. Just as Bryden had, Codi and Linton made sounds of distress as they watched the bastard rip the earring from her torn earlobe. It seemed to have happened by accident, but the damage was done. The transmitter had been crushed under Jones’s shoe, and the last they saw of Nyssa was as she was dragged out the back door. Blood was dripping down her jaw and neck as well as over her lips and chin. Ward wouldn’t even know she was gone since he had taken a position out front of the clinic about a hundred yards down the street so he couldn’t be seen from the windows. Access to the backyard was around the corner on another street.

“He’s mine,” Codi snarled. He ran to his room, grabbed his gear, and headed toward the front door.

“Wait.” Trace gripped Codi’s shoulder. “You can’t go in yet.”

“He’s right,” Coulter interjected. “We have to wait until after the package is delivered tomorrow. If we go after him, then Smith will get away and this will never end.”

“We can’t just leave her at the mercy of those assholes,” Bryden snapped.

“You’re right, we can’t. Load up. We’re moving out. Trace, Corbin, and I are heading to Creston. Linton, you need to stay here with Codi, Stedman, Ward, and Bronsin. They’ll follow you in tomorrow. Bryden, go to the clinic. Take Seton, Wolf, and Lander with you, meet up with Ward, and let him know what’s happened and tell him to get his ass back here. See if you can get a reading on Nyssa and follow it, but don’t go in until I say so. You hear?”

“Yeah, I hear you,” Bryden snarled.

“Okay, let’s go.” Seton nudged Bryden. He gave one last look over his shoulder at Codi and Linton and followed his teammates to the back fence. They jumped it with ease and headed to Seton’s truck, which was hidden behind Nyssa’s house.

Bryden was on pins the whole time he was in the back of Seton’s truck, but he kept a cool head,
barely
. Now that things were accelerating, he couldn’t afford to let his emotions rule. He had to keep it together for Nyssa’s sake.

When Seton pulled up out of sight of the clinic, Bryden was the first one out of the truck.

“Hold up, Bryden,” Wolf said as he got out the other side. “We need to keep out of sight in case the place is being watched. We’ll go in the back way. Lander, go and find Ward and then get back here quick.”

Bryden gave a nod and headed off. He kept to the shadows so he wouldn’t be seen. The gates to the yard were wide open. He cautiously scanned the area and lowered his shields. When he ascertained there was no one on the property, he headed in. The back door was wide open, too. Drawing his gun, he entered the building and went straight to the reception area. The front door was locked and the blinds pulled down. Nyssa’s computer was still on. The fucker hadn’t even bothered to shut it off. He met Ward, Seton, Wolf, and Lander in Jones’s office.

On the floor behind the guest chair was a printout of one of the patients’ records.

“Fuck! He must have caught her printing out information.” Wolf picked up the paper.

“That’s not the only reason he wanted Nyssa. He had to have a buyer set up for one or more of her organs,” Bryden said.

“Shit! Do you think he’s gotten far?” Lander asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe he just didn’t want to leave any loose ends before he skipped town. But I don’t think that’s likely.” Bryden stared at the blood marring the wood floor. “I’m going to rip that fucker’s head off with my bare hands.”

“Take a deep breath, man.” Seton thumped him on the back. “You have to concentrate on getting to Nyssa now.”

Bryden took a few deep breaths to gain control and then sorted through the room.

“I think he’s taking her to the same rendezvous as the other two kidnapped women. Look at the map on his wall. He has colored pins stuck in it, and if you follow the pattern, it’s leading straight to Canada.”

“Do you think he’s heading to Creston, too?” Lander asked.

“That would be my guess.”

Bryden prayed that Nyssa was okay. She had been hurt and bleeding, but as least she was still alive. For now.

* * * *

Nyssa came awake with a start, but her body didn’t move. She was so cold. Her eyelids opened and she could move her eyeballs but that was about all. Taking in her surroundings she realized she was in some sort of metal box and she began to panic.

Besides her clothes there was only metal beneath her. The cold had penetrated her to the core, making her fingers and toes feel almost numb. God, she would die from lack of oxygen before they arrived wherever they were going. Light flicked past her head and she moved her eyes up. She would have sagged with relief if she had been able to move. There were holes in the panel near her head.
Thank you, God.
Listening intently, she could just make out the drone of an engine.
Am I in a car?
Her lips were dry and caked with blood and her nose and face were throbbing, but she was alive.

She had no idea how long she’d been out and wished she could contact her men. Even though she had the receiver in her ear she knew it wouldn’t work without the rest of the device.
Do they even know I’m missing? Of course they do, Nyssa. Codi was supposed to pick you up. Surely it’s after five thirty now?

The faint droning slowed and then stopped and a car door slammed closed.
Oh God, is this it? Is this where he is going to kill me and cut me up?

And then she heard more voices. It sounded like Jones was arguing with someone. Another sound and the voices were clear.

“I told you, I’m transporting a cadaver. Surely you don’t want to look at the body.”

“Open it up,” a voice commanded.

The lid to her metal tomb was lifted and a stranger peered in at her. Nyssa wouldn’t have even had time to blink, if she had been capable of such an action, before the lid was slammed closed again.

“That’s pretty freaky. Usually the eyes are taped closed. She was a pretty little thing. What happened to her?”

“Car accident. Major head injuries.”

“Why wasn’t the body cleaned up?”

“The parents didn’t want strangers working on her. They have family in the funeral parlor business.”

“Makes sense I guess. Okay, you’re free to cross the border. Welcome to Canada.”

Canada? Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Wait! Don’t panic yet, Nyssa. Coulter, Trace, and Corbin were heading to…Where was that again? Cressick? No! Preston? No! Creston. Yeah, Creston.
Her fear dissipated slightly. They were going to be in Creston, Canada, and when Linton contacted them with more information they were going to go in with guns a-blazin’.