One for Three [Elite Dragons 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (14 page)

“Ten or fifteen million would be nice compensation for getting thrown in a basement for a few days,” Corbin added coolly.

Coulter continued, “Katlynn is in it up to her eyeballs. What would you bet she’s been screening the women to see who are the best candidates for the organ donor black market? Think about it. She’s a nurse and has access to all their medical records. She could have potentially been screening and marking women who match organ recipients and passing on the information to whoever she’s working for.”

Coulter knew he was getting through to the Healys by their expressions of anger and dismay. “So how does Pike fit into this?” Bryden asked.

“Katlynn might have recruited him,” Coulter hypothesized. “Pike has no reason to turn on us, but here we are.”

“Oh, I bet he’s got a reason,” Trace said in a voice like a growl. “Just let me talk to him.”

“Fuck, it all makes sense,” Linton spat.

“Where is Katlynn?” Corbin asked.

“She was going over the stables to see the horses,” Codi answered.

There was a momentary pause. Coulter saw realization dawn on his teammates’ faces.
The stables
… “Shit, let’s get out there. There’s no telling what damage she could do,” Codi snapped out.

Coulter, his brothers, and the Healy men raced from the room. They were at the stables moments later. Katlynn was nowhere to be found. Coulter jumped the high rail around the arena and sprinted across the ground, heedless of the man and horse in the center of the ring. He jumped the fence and pulled open the door which hid the cells. He stepped into the gloom and saw they were empty. Their prisoner had escaped with help from Katlynn.

“Go and alert the others and gear up. Let’s see if we can find them before they get too far,” Coulter commanded.

He ran back to the house and into the office. They bundled up against the cold, and then he pushed the code into the button panel on the long side wall and began loading up with weapons. He grabbed an automatic rifle, knives, pistols, and his Kevlar vest. He fit his small receiver into his ear and clipped the microphone to the collar of his jacket.

“Testing, one, two. Dragons one ready,” Coulter whispered.

“Dragons two ready,” Ward replied.

“Dragons three are a go,” Bryden responded.

“Dragons four,” Seton said.

“Ward, start searching out from the stables. See if you can get a lead on their direction.”

“Copy that,” Ward replied.

“Bryden, check around the other outbuildings. Seton, you go with them.”

“Roger,” Bryden and Seton replied together.

“Stay alert, everyone. I don’t want any casualties amongst us. Shoot to kill if it’s the only option, but try to bring them back alive,” Coulter commanded. “Okay, let’s go.”

As the teams took off, he signaled for Corbin and Trace to follow him. They ran through the house, up to Brooke’s room, moving fleetly and silently. Coulter was preoccupied. He didn’t like to send his team out without him.
I’ll join them as soon as I make sure Brooke’s all right. I just have to set eyes on her first.

Trace’s voice muttered in his earpiece. “Something’s off.”

At that moment, Coulter reached Brooke’s door. “Brooke?” he called.

No answer.

He hesitated with his hand above the knob. He felt it, too. In sudden fear, he tried to turn the knob. It was locked.

“Brooke, open up!”

Still no answer came from inside. “She’s not there,” Trace said. Coulter met his brother’s eyes. “I checked.”

Coulter understood. He’d felt for Brooke’s mental signature. The room was empty, but the door was locked from within.

Coulter unholstered his gun, fearing they’d wasted too much time already. “Back,” he said, but Trace and Corbin had already moved out of the way.

He stared down the barrel of the gun and fired. The lock exploded, the knob hanging loose. Keeping his piece in his hand, Coulter tried to push it open.

The door butted against something inside. Coulter imagined Brooke’s body lying just within, blocking the door.
No. She can’t be.

His heart was pounding, but he made himself master his fear. Coulter slammed the door open with his shoulder. Corbin threw his weight beside him. Whatever was on the other side was heavy. As soon as the door was open, Trace slipped past them, weapon drawn.

Freezing air blew through the open window. Coulter looked around and saw that the chest of drawers had been shoved against the door. There was no sign of Brooke.

The three sets of footprints in the snow outside pointed to where they might find her.

Brooke left her men and went to the living room. She intended to take Coulter up on his suggestion that she do some reading, but once she sat down with her book, she found it hard to concentrate. She wished she knew what was going on, but knowing Coulter, Trace, and Corbin, they wouldn’t tell her until they had found a solution to the problem.

She sighed and smiled as she thought back to that morning. Those three men had loved her with their mouths, hands, and fingers, and even though she knew they wanted her, they hadn’t tried to get her to have sex with them. They had pleasured her and ignored their own hard-ons, and then they had dressed and gone for breakfast.

She still believed she might be putting her men in danger by being here, but she also believed their assurances that they could look after themselves. She thought through the life she’d left behind in Bismarck. Nothing there was worth going back for, though she did worry about Neville. She felt responsible for her boss’s welfare and just couldn’t leave him to fend for himself, when his health was deteriorating. But she didn’t want to leave. She loved those three men with her whole being and never wanted to leave their sides again. She hoped she hadn’t left it until too late to make up her mind about what she felt. No, she was staying and she would talk to them about Neville. They would help her think of what to do for her old boss. She was going to have to find them.

She rose to her feet with every intention of telling her men she loved them. She was about to leave the living room when Katlynn strolled in.

“Hi, Katlynn, how are you?”

“I’m not sure.”

“What’s wrong?” Brooke asked with concern and hurried over to the other woman.

“I need your money.”

“Uh, I don’t have any money, Katlynn.”

Brooke watched with confusion as the other woman began to laugh. It wasn’t a joyful sound. It was full of cynicism and harshness. She watched Katlynn warily as the hair on her nape prickled and stood on end. She took a step back and then another, but halted in her tracks when Katlynn swung an arm up and pointed a gun at her.

“You’re such a dumb bitch,” Katlynn said. “You are richer than Midas and don’t even know it.”

Brooke held up her hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she protested in a quavering voice.

“The lotto winnings, you idiot.”

“I don’t play the lottery,” Brooke replied.

Katlynn rolled her eyes. “Your grandmother won the lottery years ago. “You could have been living in the lap of luxury for years, but instead you live in a squalid apartment.”

My grandmother?
Brooke could only stare at her. Either this woman was crazy, or…
The men with cameras and microphones… Ma ma was so happy that day…

Katlynn went on in a bitter tone, “The sons of bitches told me I would be rewarded for getting them all those donors. Rewarded? Stabbed in the back, more like.”

Brooke’s brain was working overtime. “Donors? You…?”

“Yeah, me,” Katlynn sneered. “And then they thought they’d throw me in that basement with you and those other cows. That two-timing bastard, Smith, forgot that I know all about you and your little fortune. So now it’s time for me to get my reward.”

“You sent that man after me,” Brooke said. She heard the words come out of her mouth, but she hardly believed them. “The man who tried to—”

“The idiot who
failed
to do what I’m doing now.” Katlynn cut her off impatiently and then gestured with the gun for her to come closer. “We can chat later. Get over here before I shoot you.”

Brooke eyed Katlynn intently as she moved a step closer. She wanted to yell for Martha but didn’t want to put the elderly woman in danger. She was scared if she called for Coulter, Trace, and Corbin that they would get hurt, too.

“Move it,” Katlynn hissed at her.

Brooke looked around for something to use as a weapon, but she was too far away from the coffee table. She took another step closer to Katlynn, moving slowly until she was within arm’s reach. Katlynn was quite a few inches taller than Brooke and more solidly built. She knew she would have to use every bit of strength if she had any hope of getting away from the woman. She caught movement behind Katlynn and saw Jason Pike walking up the hall from the bedrooms.

Brooke felt a surge of relief. She’d seen Jason around the stud. He would help her. She opened her mouth to call out to him, but then he spoke.

“Hurry the fuck up. We have to get out of here,” Jason said.

“We’re coming,” Katlynn snapped.

Brooke’s heart sank.
So much for that idea
.

“Move your ass, Brooke. Follow Pike.” Katlynn pushed the barrel of the gun into her shoulder.

Pike led them down the hall and into her bedroom. She waited with trepidation as Katlynn locked the door and then held the gun on her while Pike pushed the chest of drawers in front of the door. She went to take a step back, but Katlynn’s cold voice stopped her.

“Don’t move or I’ll shoot you, now.”

“No, I don’t think you will,” Brooke replied quietly.

“What?” Katlynn snarled.

“If you shoot me you’ll never get your hands on my money.” Brooke cursed the fact her voice trembled.

“I can shoot you without killing you, bitch.”

“Yes, you can, but that will only make it so much harder for you to get away. You need me, and you need for me to be able to keep up with you,” Brooke said confidently.

“Shut the fuck up, you whore,” Katlynn raged, and then she hit Brooke on the side of the head with the butt of the pistol.

Brooke whimpered as pain radiated through her skull and into her brain. Dark spots formed in front of her eyes, and she fell to the floor on her knees.

“Get up,” Pike demanded nastily and pulled her up by her hair. Brooke sobbed with pain and fear, but did as he said. “You stupid, fucking bitch. Why did you have to hit her?”

“She was pissing me off,” Katlynn snarled.

“Shit, let’s get the hell out of here,” Pike grumbled.

Brooke was having trouble seeing. Her vision was slightly blurry. She figured she’d had too many knocks to the head lately. Her head was pounding, but she had to push the pain to the back of her mind. She needed to keep her wits about her if she was going to get out of this situation unharmed. She knew they had to keep her alive until they got what they wanted, access to money she had no idea she even possessed.

Pike lifted the window and slid out to the snow-covered ground, still holding on to her hair. She tried to pry his fingers away, but his grip was too hard. He pulled her through the opening headfirst and didn’t bother to help her when she fell. She wasn’t dressed for the weather conditions, and her slippers and feet got soaked and cold as soon as they hit the ground. Her jeans were already wet, and so was her long-sleeved T-shirt. She shivered as the icy wind penetrated her damp clothing.

Brooke stumbled after Pike as he led her away from the house and into the forest. She fearfully realized they were following the same route that her other attacker had taken her. He must have a vehicle waiting nearby to escape in.
And then what?
Brooke shivered, this time from fear rather than cold. If they put her in their car or whatever they had out here, she knew she’d never be found.

She sent up a prayer.
If I never see them again, I hope they still know. Coulter, Trace, Corbin, I love you all so much.

* * * *

The frozen air dampened Coulter’s sense of smell, but to his enhanced vision, the footprints stood out against the snow like a flaming arrow pointing toward Brooke. He moved silently, his own feet making only the softest crunch as he followed the trail. Finding Brooke and her would-be kidnappers wasn’t going to be the hard part.

They don’t want her harmed, either
.

He wouldn’t leave anything to chance when Brooke was involved. He lowered his empathetic barrier, feeling ahead. He immediately registered the presence of Trace and Corbin, flanking him through the trees. Even Coulter couldn’t see them when they didn’t want to be seen. He ignored their mental signatures.

There
. Ahead, exactly where he would expect the tracks to lead. He could feel two people, presumably Katlynn and Pike, who radiated tension and anger. And close to them was a third.

Coulter’s gut twisted. Brooke was injured. He felt her pain and fear. And beneath that, pulsing like a beacon, he sensed something more familiar. If he concentrated, he could make out her thoughts.