Page 107 of Completing Her

“As soon as I can, Damien. You know we have to do this right.”

I tightened my hands on my gun. I knew he was right, but my anxiety was high. I wanted to get to her as soon as possible.

Marcus met my eyes. “Patience, Damien.”

Egan kept talking as he typed. “I want to hack into his system and see what he’s got going on. Knowing how he likes to stalk her, I’m sure he has a camera trained on her.”

I let my head hang, rolling my shoulders. Outside, the rain picked up, the sound of the water hitting the roof loud. Thunder rolled, and Egan grinned. “Perfect.”

A few moments later, he grunted. “I’m in.”

I watched over his shoulder as his fingers flew and he set up the loop, fed it into the grid, and then moved on to hacking into Andy’s system.

His annoyance was evident as his fingers hit the keys in hard thumps. “Bastard is good. I’ll give him that,” he muttered. “But I’m better.” He glanced up. “We’re in.”

Then he sucked in his breath. “Jesus.”

I froze as I looked at the screen. Raven was visible, her body curled up into itself on the ground. The room flashed with lights. She had her ears covered, and the sight of the heavy chains and clamps around her wrists made me curse. Her eyes were shut against the lights. Her entire body trembled. Then the room went dark.

“He’s trying to break her. Sight and sound deprivation,” Julian muttered. “Then he’ll retrain her. That sick bastard.”

“He’s not going to have a chance. He’s a dead man walking, and his time is about to expire. We ready?” I snarled.

“Five minutes. Get her and get back. Sofia is on standby, and we’ll treat any injuries as best we can until we get her there.”

I checked my gun. “Let’s do this.”

* * *

Something I learned during my time with Hidden Justice was all criminals have a weak point. Often it was their ego. Andy was a master at manipulation. At pretending to be someone else. Hiding in plain sight and enjoying the twisted satisfaction of doing so.

But he also underestimated those around him. And thought because he was so smart, he couldn’t be found. He was careless with the fact that he left the back of the house vulnerable. He’d been playing his game so long and so well that he assumed no one would ever put the pieces together and find him.

But we did, and we walked right into his hideaway. The security on the back door was simple to override. Egan blocked it, and Marcus had the lock open in only a few seconds. The double garage was black inside, our night vision goggles letting us see what we needed. One car, a nondescript dark sedan, was parked to one side, closest to the house entrance. There were two doors. One leading in and one leading down. Just as we advanced, the loud music ceased. Marcus held up his arm, signaling for us to stop, and we waited but heard nothing.

Egan breathed in our ears. “Proceed with caution. He’s on the move.”

Julian pulled out a knife, slashing the tires on the car. “He can’t go far now.”

“He’ll head for her once he knows we’re here.”

“I’ll cut him off,” Julian whispered. “Go get her. Be alert, boys. I have a feeling he has some surprises in store.”

The cellar was freezing. Damp. It smelled of mold and decay. The metal door ahead of us had a bar across it that we lifted, opening the heavy door with caution. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of Raven lying on the hard, cold ground. The darkness around us burst into light, and I tore off my goggles as it exploded in front of my eyes, leaving me stunned for a moment. I stumbled as I headed to Raven, calling her name. She remained motionless on the ground. Falling to my knees, I dropped my gun and gathered her up, carefully lifting her into my arms. She winced, her eyes firmly shut.

“Raven, baby, it’s me. I got you. You’re safe,” I repeated over and over. I ran my hands over her, horrified at how cold she was. “Baby, open your eyes.”

I hauled her farther up and over my knees. I could hear shouting, shots being fired, running feet, and Marcus glanced behind him. “Go help him,” I yelled. “Don’t let him get away.”

I ran my hand over her head, fury mounting even higher at her injuries.

Raven’s eyes blinked open, the green hazy and filled with pain.

“I got you, baby. I’m here.”

A smile tugged on her lips. “I-I knew—you’d—come,” she mumbled, her voice low and raw.

I examined the chains holding her. “Search his pockets for keys,” I ordered into my earpiece.

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