Page 26 of Always Been Mine (Always #2)

“Thanks, man,” Gabe mumbled. He motioned them to follow him into the house as he strode up the walkway to the front stoop.

Unlocking the door, his eyes fell on Beatrice’s purse and other things, which reminded him that just a few hours ago, she had been here . . . safe.

His fists clenched at his sides as it took all he had to control his emotions. As if sensing his struggle, Nate said, “We’ll get her back.”

“I need to change out of these clothes,” Gabe muttered. His shirt and jeans were stained with Rhino’s blood. “You can set the laptop over there.” He wrote them his Wi-Fi password.

He took a quick shower and threw on a Henley and a fresh pair of jeans.

Nate and Travis were already studying the surveillance footage when he returned downstairs.

“Wait,” Nate said. “Back up a little. See that? ”

Gabe walked over to the two men. “You guys have something?”

“Fuck,” Travis muttered. “You’re right.”

“We first zeroed in on the white van,” Nate said. “Unmarked. Fake plates—we already ran them. Unless a 75-year-old man kidnapped Bee, the plate is a dead end. However, before the van appeared, there was a blue Honda Civic that was shadowing her. Our girl noticed and started to turn back.”

“Caught the plates on the Civic when it turned into that intersection,” Travis said. “Running tags on it right now.”

“A guy stepped out, but he was facing away from the cams,” Gabe muttered. Beatrice didn’t stand a chance. She was cut off from all corners. “Damn it.”

“She did everything right,” Nate said sadly. “They were just prepared for everything. Rhino could have surprised them though.”

“I doubt it,” Gabe said. “They’ve been watching her.” Just the thought of it made him sick. “What did I miss? Who could be after her?”

Porter’s enemies, and there were many of them.

To the public and to the world, the admiral was a respected officer in the U.S.

Navy. His connection to the CIA was simply a rumor.

However, if what the admiral said was true and there was a bad seed inside the agency orchestrating the events of the past three to four years, no one was safe.

“We’re trying to figure out if it’s any of our client’s enemies,” Travis said.

“This has not happened before, at least not to Beatrice since she’s simply a top-level contact.

” Travis’s eyes narrowed at Gabe. “If there’s anything we need to know, Gabe, now is the time to tell us.

You say the admiral is off the grid? We’re all you’ve got. ”

“I don’t know everything myself,” Gabe said carefully.

“Before the admiral disappeared this last time, he said he had uncovered some troubling intel and may be gone for a while. Eric Stone was murdered; he was killed with an assassin’s concoction.

” The look on the other two men’s faces hardened, so Gabe pressed on.

“Five people were killed in the Cloverleaf District; three of them masqueraded as fans of Titanium Rose and attacked Beatrice. Finally, the reporter—”

“Kelly Winters? That was blamed on a Russian diplomat.”

“All were Steve Ryker’s hits.”

“The man who was after Senator Mendoza?” Travis frowned. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“The target was Senator Mendoza’s uncle,” Gabe said. “I still don’t know why he killed the uncle but left the senator unharmed. I was the secondary target, Travis.”

“This explains a lot,” Nate said. “We’ve always wondered why they didn’t go after the senator after they had disabled your vehicle.”

“So what does Ryker have to do with all the other deaths?”

“He killed them the way Dmitry Yerzov made his assassinations,” Gabe replied and told them how he was supposed to be dead.

“Wait, how did he find out your methods enough to do a copycat killing?” Nate asked.

“We suspected he was in cahoots with Crowe.”

Just the mention of the double-crossing Crowe brought a storm cloud over Travis’s face. “Is Caitlin in danger?”

Gabe wasn’t about to sugar coat the situation, because after what had happened, he knew exactly where Travis was coming from.

“I don’t know, Travis. I have a feeling Ryker’s actions were personally motivated, but Porter always believed he had a sponsor for his actions.

His exact relationship with Crowe remains a mystery unless we can dig into his background. ”

“We tried,” Nate said. “Short of raising alarms in the CIA databases, we couldn’t delve deeper.”

“There is a whole other layer on the internet where we can find information,” Gabe said. Crowe had functioned as his intel guy. “However, I’m not set up nor savvy enough to navigate those layers without getting caught by the feds.”

“You’re talking about the Black Plane?” Nate asked. “I’m set up for it and can manage enough, but I think Caitlin is better.”

The Black Plane was websites that were not easily categorized by URL-filtering databases because of their ad-hoc infrastructure.

Simply put, they were hard to trace and frequently used for clandestine and covert communication and illegal activities.

They were also a source of leaked classified information—that was if one knew where to look.

“I hate to get her involved,” Travis said. “She freelances for the NSA, and after what went down with the whistleblower, things are too hot right now.” He sighed. “However, I know she would do anything to get Beatrice back. And where the hell is Porter?”

Fuck if I know , Gabe thought.

She was sitting on a chair; her hands and feet were tied against it.

Her senses were groggy from the chloroform, but Beatrice suspected they had injected her with something else as well.

She dazedly took stock of her surroundings—three walls and a mirror, which she suspected was a two-way one.

The lighting was from a single fluorescent lamp above.

She was thirsty.

“Good morning, Ms. Porter.”

Morning? How long had she been out?

She tried to focus on the mirror. “What do you want from me?” she croaked.

“Your father’s whereabouts. We suspect you don’t know, do you?”

“You suspect correctly. But why take me?” Beatrice knew, but she wanted them to spell it out .

“He’s been causing us problems, Ms. Porter. We want him to back off. Taking you is our message to him.”

Beatrice laughed derisively. “You don’t know my father. He doesn’t care what happens to me. All he cares about is his job.”

There was a long stretch of silence.

She tried to place the voice but couldn’t. She figured they had used a voice enhancer anyway.

“Poor girl. Seeing how you’ve been operating so high-profile in Washington DC and no attempt has been made on you so far, you may be right in your assessment.”

Beatrice snorted. “Right is an understatement.”

“And Sullivan, he seems to care about you?”

Gabe was probably losing his mind right now. Oh, no, Rhino . “He probably cares more that you shot his dog, you assholes. We’re fuck buddies. I’m sure he can find my replacement easily enough.”

Another stretch of silence. A different voice came on. “Ms. Porter, I’m surprised you let a man like Sullivan into your bed.”

“He’s . . . well-endowed.” Despite her situation, Beatrice smirked.

The voice chuckled. “You’re just like all the other women he killed.”

She reacted. Froze. She struggled to regulate the quickening of her pulse and breathing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You mean you don’t know he killed people for the mob?”

“No,” Beatrice lied. She wasn’t sure if these people were just fishing for information. “All I know is he did what he had to do.”

“Vague. Was that his answer to you? Did he give you specifics of what he had to do as Dmitry Yerzov?”

Beatrice didn’t respond.

“Did you know he was called the Angel of Death ? ”

No she didn’t, but she was sure she was about to find out.

“No answer?” This time the laughter was smug. “He didn’t tell you, did he?”

Beatrice braced and held her breath.

“He killed children, Ms. Porter. First born sons.”

She realized too late she was shaking her head. “No,” she whispered.

“He probably told you everyone he killed was guilty,” the voice continued.

“That’s what enforcers of the mob say, Ms. Porter.

That’s how they justify the kill. Anyone who’s in the mafia is a made man, guilty by virtue of association.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re sixty years old or six, you’re fair target. ”

She couldn’t control the single sob that escaped her.

Her lips were trembling, so she bit down to steady it.

No! Gabe swore. Even if most of her senses were numb, the rending of her heart delivered a stabbing pain.

How could she accept that the man she loved killed children? How would that be acceptable?

He was protecting a cover.

It didn’t make it right.

Don’t jump to conclusions.

What if he couldn’t deny it?

Ask Gabe. Trust him.

At that moment, Beatrice felt fear. Not fear for an imminent death, but fear that she would die with these conflicted emotions about the man she loved.

As her turmoil continued, she almost didn’t notice the voice was speaking to her once more.

“. . . so you had no idea, poor Beatrice.”

The inflection on her name made her ears prick up. It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

The first man came back on. “This presents such a wonderful opportunity. You do realize that Gabriel Sullivan acted with full orders from your father. That the killing of those children was sanctioned by the admiral. ”

“You’re lying about Gabe and my father,” Beatrice lifted her head and stared at the mirror defiantly.

“Ask them.”

“How can I when you’ve abducted me?” she retorted.

Diabolical laughter echoed around her. She was feeling dizzy and the room spun.

“We’ll return you to your father, but we’ll have a little fun with you first.”

“Wh . . . What?”

“Do you know how Dmitry Yerzov sent his messages to Zorin’s enemies?”

This time her fear had morphed into something else. Terror.

After the last threat, someone in a ski mask came in and gave her water, but not food. She couldn’t eat anyway for her stomach was tied up in knots. They let her use the restroom, but marched her right back to the chair and secured her once more. This time they blindfolded her.

They kept her guessing a few hours more. Maybe it was another whole day. She had lost concept of time.

Footsteps came up to the door. It opened. Her ears picked up maybe three men shuffling into the room.

Something was dragged into the center of the room, probably the table she spotted in the corner earlier. Her chair was suddenly shoved forward and the edge of the table hit her rib cage. She didn’t react or say anything.

Her hands were untied and her arms were pulled forward across the table, and held down firmly.

No!

Panic seized her for she knew what was about to happen. Images of Kelly Winters’s brutalized body flashed through her mind .

She attempted to fight, yank her hands away, but they were slammed painfully down on the table when she tried.

“The more you fight, the more it’s going to hurt,” a voice said by her ear.

“You sadistic bastards . . .” she whispered hoarsely.

“Just sending a message.”

The pain hit her and she screamed. Unrelenting agony tore through her flesh. Her arms burned with each slice. After a while, all the pain faded, but someone was still screaming.

“Gabe, help me.” Beatrice reached out to him in the darkness.

She was suspended in the air, wearing some kind of white garment.

He ran toward her, but never got closer.

Blood started from her hairline, streaming down her face.

Soon, it drenched her body and soaked her clothes.

“Gabe!” she screamed as she was swallowed into the darkness.

“Beatrice!” Gabe shouted, jackknifing into a sitting position. A nightmare, thank fuck. He buried his face in his hands. They were shaking.

Rhino whimpered beside him.

“I’m okay, boy,” Gabe whispered, leaning down and petting his head. He had brought Rhino home today, settling him in a dog bed pulled close to the couch where he lay.

But Gabe wasn’t okay. Beatrice had been missing for over 24 hours and there were no demands from anyone and every lead they’d taken was a dead end. Was she even still alive?

Stay alive, Beatrice. Please.

Don’t give up.

I’ll find you .

Gabe swung his feet to the floor and picked up the laptop from the coffee table. Leaning against the couch, he checked his emails again, but there was nothing from Nate or Travis. Gabe was also able to get in touch with the Iron Skulls, but they had nothing for him either.

There was a rap on the door. Despite being injured, Rhino growled. It was 1:00 a.m. Gabe grabbed his 9mm from the table and walked stealthily to the door. He peeked behind the blinds and saw a familiar shape.

Relief or rage, he didn’t know what he felt as he disabled the alarms and opened the door to his early morning visitor.

Benjamin Porter.