Bane (24 page)

THE HUMMER CAME into view a hundred yards away. Thank goodness. Maren’s teeth were chattering and she was dragging her feet from the sound of it. She needed to get warm before hypothermia set in. I hadn’t dared look back in case that bastard hit her for me disobeying. At least Maren would be out of the cold here in a second, and I could hopefully get a better assessment of the situation.

“Bane, wait outside the passenger door. Maren’s driving. If you try anything … I’ll kill her.”

Fucking asshole.

I nodded my understanding and did as asked. For the first time since we’d started walking, I got a glimpse of Maren through the windows. She was freezing as she shivered and looked exhausted. Our eyes met briefly and I saw fear in them. She got in the car, defeated. Eric got in the backseat and put the gun to the back of Maren’s head. She squeezed her eyes tight and a tear seeped out. I balled up my fists as I got my anger under control. Nobody touched her like that.

My angel tried to be strong, but this would be hard for anyone who hadn’t been conditioned. Eric motioned for me to get in. The plastic ties bit into my wrists like a bitch. A small trace of blood seeped out the sides. The pain helped me stay focused. Getting in, Maren trembled as she turned the key to crank the car.

“Can we turn on the heat, Eric? She’s freezing.” However he answered would help me determine my course of action. If he said no, it’d be a sure indicator that our lifespan was coming to an end and quickly. I’d have to take more risks to keep her safe—which was worth it. If not, I’d bide my time until an opportunity presented itself.

An opportunity
always
presented itself. Most people weren’t able to see it in stressful situations.

A few minutes passed. “Yes. No sudden movements, Maren. Then follow the road until we come to our first left. From there, we’ll be on the road to the cabin. Keep a steady pace, not over thirty miles an hour.”

“O-o-kay.”

All I wanted to do was kill the asshole behind us and get Maren somewhere safe where I could make her warm. I’d been a total prick this morning to her and I regretted every word. I’d wanted to say,
Yes, I want to see where this goes too.
All my hard work to not get attached to someone had backfired. With all the careful planning, I was in the same situation as before. I’d messed things up with Maren. Jasmine’s face flashed in front of my eyes. I couldn’t imagine seeing Maren like that. I couldn’t imagine her being pregnant and losing another baby. It’d kill me. There was no doubt about it. Maren was my angel—sent to save me from the hell on Earth.

I had been too late before. What if I was too late now?

I kept stoically still and watched the road in front of me. Maren kept a steady pace with two hands on the steering wheel. I watched her closely through my peripheral vision. The chattering of her teeth lessened—slightly.

Eric and I never got along for whatever reason. Shortly after joining the Black Division, Eric lost his wife. They’d been vacationing and he’d been called out on assignment. The mission went terribly wrong from what I knew. Details weren’t shared. I never would have imagined him being capable of betrayal.

Deciding to give Eric a sense of victory, I asked, “So how’d you make it into the building?”

Eric scoffed. “You played right into my hands. He told me it wouldn’t be that easy, but turns out he was wrong.”

He?
Eric was working for someone and not an organization. Who was the question? I imagined everything would reveal itself shortly. Hampton no doubt would make an appearance. Soon I’d know if he was a traitor or if Eric had something over Hampton
.

There was no use in continuing to prod. If Eric thought I needed the information, he would withhold it. If I didn’t continue questioning, I had a higher probability of getting more answers. Eric had a weakness—his need to brag.

Eric continued, evidently pleased with himself. “It was brilliant. You bested two of my best men back there. I thought they’d at least cause you a little more damage. Seems I thought too highly of them.” Eric goaded me into a pissing contest. I didn’t care. All I wanted was Maren safe, even if that meant sacrificing myself. Maybe then the tone of my sins would be forgiven.

Maren flinched every time Eric spoke. The gun scraping the back of her head. I should have left well alone until we got to the cabin, but I needed information. Fuck. Eric kept talking. “We dropped the two men out about three miles to the west. They had small stilts fashioned like animal prints. When they got a clear line of the shed, they zip-lined to it, got inside. The retractable line went back to some tree in the woods leaving minimum to no trace. With the continuous snowfall their paths was erased within two days. They’ve been in that building for the past five days.”

That meant they’d known where we were for at least a week, maybe longer. This cat and mouse game had been orchestrated well and thought out. Maren turned left and headed up the mountain. The car became silent as my mind sorted through different scenarios. If I could manage to get my phone out of my pocket, I could set off an explosion to maybe buy me a window of opportunity. I had a few different areas rigged.

The cabin came into view and only one other Hummer. “Bane, you’ll get out first. Walk to the cabin and stop at the door. No sudden movements. I’ll have Maren.”

Maren parked the car. I got out and headed to the front door. From behind, I could hear their approach. With the smoke coming from the chimney, someone was inside stoking the fire. Answers were about to reveal themselves. There had been no additional track through the yard from what I could tell. It looked like three sets of footprints headed to the door. The yard looked undisturbed. The numbers were on my side if there were only four total to take out. I’d take some damage, but it was doable.

“Walk in slowly.” All I wanted to do was turn and hit that asshole so hard it would crush his jugular, but he’d have time to pull the trigger. I couldn’t lose Maren.

I turned the knob. The main room was vacated. “Take a seat in the chair in the middle of the room. Don’t move.”

Keeping me isolated and away from everything was smart. All I need to do was keep a calm head and an opportunity would present itself. I was sure of it.

I took my seat resting my hands on my lap. Untrained people thought it best to tie someone’s hands behind their back. That was a mistake. It put the hands out of sight. Near, the fireplace sat another chair. Eric pointed to it. “Take a seat, Maren. Face Bane.”

Maren trembled and I fought the urge to go to her. The place had been set up for a show of some sort. I was positioned to see most of the room. My senses were on high alert as I watched everyone closely. With a shaky voice, Maren asked, “Will you let my brother go now?”

The plea in Maren’s voice broke my heart as I watched her beg Eric. “Bring him out.”

The bedroom door opened; Frankie walked out with a gun held to his head. With … Hampton following. My chest heaved at seeing who I thought was one of my friends. The thought Hampton could betray me stung. I waited for any sign from him that this was a double-cross. None came as he stared without emotion back at me.

“Tell me, did you know Hampton was involved? Was I able to get the phone turned off before his voice came through the line when your whore was talking to Frankie?” I fumed at Eric’s jubilation with his insult and my demise. I stared down Hampton, but he couldn’t meet me in the eyes.

Fucking coward.

“Ahh … I take it this was the surprise I hoped it would be. Good.”

Frankie looked shaken standing in front of Hampton. With him being a loose cannon that could make things worse fast or he’d get himself killed. For once, Frankie seemed sincere as he asked, “Maren, are you okay?”

“Yes.” I could tell by the shaking in her voice she was far from okay. At least she was near the fire where she could continue warming up.

Frankie went to walk toward her, but Hampton jerked him back. Panicked, Frankie, confessed, “I shouldn’t have done all the things they asked. Switching out your condoms … pills …”

The blood drained from my face as my head shot over to Frankie. Hampton hit him upside the head.

Bang.

Maren yelled and I looked at her. There didn’t seem to be any wounds as she recoiled in her chair. The sound ricocheted through the room as Frankie dropped letting out a blood curdling scream.

“Frankie! No!” Maren bolted from her seat, but Eric caught her wrenching her back. A gasp escaped her lips.

In one movement, Eric shoved Maren back into the chair and I saw red as I stood. No one touched her like that. No. One.

The hammer cocked which sobered me. Eric held the gun to her head while giving me a malicious smile. I sat back in the chair. He’d kill her without a second thought if I pressed or stepped over the line too much. I needed to save the moment for when I would get us out of here.

“Sit, Maren. It’s a leg wound. He’ll be fine.” Without hesitation, Maren obeyed the orders. Eric alternated the barrel of the gun between us. “Either of you move and I’ll shoot him again.”

Hampton remained impassive as he watched the scene. Any hope continued to diminish as I waited for a sign that I wasn’t going to receive.

Maren shook as Frankie grabbed his leg in agony. He’d live. Leg wounds hurt like a son of a bitch and slowed someone down, but they were survivable.

Eric crouched in front of Frankie. “Ruin my surprise again and it’ll be worse.” Scoffing, Eric muttered, “Amateurs.” He turned to address Maren and me. “I hoped to reveal this little secret in a bit, but seems Frankie let the cat out of the bag.”

The mischievous grin on Eric’s face made me sick. I had a feeling where this was going and I hoped to hell I was wrong.

Eric kept his gun pointed at Maren. I wished he would aim at me and leave Maren out of this. “Maren’s birth control pills were replaced with blanks for two months prior to meeting her. She was one of the many targets we thought you might be interested in based off of accumulated data we had of likes. The condoms were replaced, something engineered by our team. Completely permeable. Basically, this entire time the two of you have been having unprotected sex.”

That was the reason Frankie had been in our motherfucking room that day. Damn it all to hell.

Maren swayed in her chair. “A baby.”

Eric caught her shoulder. “Keep it together, sweetheart.”

This cannot be happening.

No.

Not again.

I can’t lose another baby.

Seeing Maren’s lifeless body like Jasmine took over my vision. I had to shut my eyes to clear my head. This was not happening again. Maren had been throwing up; we’d been fucking like mad … unprotected. She was pregnant. I knew it.

Dryly, I spoke. “Get her some water. She’s in shock.”

Hearing my voice completely defeated, Eric looked at me. “Hampton. Get her some water. I think he’s right.”

Hampton did as he asked, leaving Frank writhing on the floor. He was useless. Hampton handed her the water. “Take small sips. It’ll keep you from getting nauseous.”

When Hampton turned my way, he blinked his eyes consecutively five times, stopped, and then three more.

Our sign. Finally, our fucking sign. Hampton hadn’t flipped.

I said every prayer I could think of. If there were only three guys, including Frankie, as suspected, my odds improved dramatically.

All I could do was stare at Maren’s stomach. I always knew this time meant more than what I gave it credit for. Shit! The situation was spinning out of control—everything I had fought against. I needed to save her and our child if she was pregnant. If we made it through this, I was going to give it all I had. It was time to fight for something I wanted—for Maren. I should have told her this morning how I felt. Regret filled me.

“Maren, be a dear and go piss on this. Let’s see if I’m about to congratulate the two of you.” Maren’s eyes were closed for a brief second. What was going through her mind? I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I knew I wanted Maren and children, but not forced upon her. She’d never believe I wanted her for her. Damn it all to hell!

Maybe she wouldn’t be pregnant. Maren reopened her eyes, tears threatening to spill over. Eric mocked her. “It’s okay. If you’re not, we have some backup plans. Bane’s next steps will decide the outcome of this situation.”

He handed Maren a pregnancy test from the table behind him. A tear fell from Maren’s face.

“Motherfucker!”

Eric turned to me, truly satisfied that he’d gotten a reaction out of me. “I thought you’d be happy Bane. I’m giving you something back you lost.” I kept my gaze on Maren trying not to let his words affect me as Eric said, “Hampton, take Maren to the bathroom.”

On shaky feet, Maren stood and walked to the bedroom. She gave me a sad smile and my heart broke. This was all because of me and not being able to stay away from her. Hampton followed, which only left Eric, Frank and myself in the room. Eric paced victoriously in front of me. “I’m sure you’re wondering how we found you. I won’t make you try and figure it out. In Maren’s birth control pills we put a tracker. Did I mention that her pills had fertility enhancements added to them?”

He laughed like a hyena as he took in his victory. Eric had never been able to handle that I was faster, better, and more agile than him in the field. Overall, I had been a better agent.

I was going to take great pleasure in killing Eric when I had the chance. But for now, I sat still while Eric gloated more. “I didn’t mention the fertility part, did I? Shame on me. Well, we made her as fertile as possible.” He cocked his head. “I digress. At first, we were going to come after you more aggressively. Then, when I searched the hotel room, I realized the condoms and pills had been taken. Frankie said Maren had an extra pack in her purse. We knew there was a two month supply. There was still a chance that Maren could get pregnant. If you had a baby to lose from the get go, I knew you’d be more willing to cooperate, considering you know what that already feels like.”

Eric brushed some imaginary lent off his jacket, truly enjoying this sick mind fuck of a game he played. “About a week ago we turned on the tracker to get your location. It had been turned off up until that point. It wouldn’t have registered on any of your equipment. In case you were monitoring, we turned it back off. Each day we checked and you hadn’t moved locations. It was brilliant actually. With Maren on her second pack of pills, we were running out of time and hoped you’d fucked her enough to impregnate her.”