Page 28

The satisfaction that flowed through my veins after landing the first punch to Mona’s deceitful face was incredible. My primary rage was over what she did to my sister. It was followed by what she’d been responsible for doing to countless others. And the final bit was over the way she’d dismissed her husband’s death. He was in the wrong, without a doubt, but I believe he let his love for her dictate his actions. She didn’t love anyone but herself.

I got lost in landing punches. It wasn’t until Beau wrapped his arms around me from behind and gently, though firmly, yanked me away from her that it registered I’d been whaling on her. My knuckles throbbed, and not only were they bruised, but one had broken open.

“Keeley, that’s enough. You’ve got yourself bleeding. We can’t have that. Let me take over if you want her punched more, though I don’t know how much more she can take.” I swore I heard pride in his tone.

Looking at Mona, I was pleased with what I saw. Her lips were busted. Both eyes were turning black, and there were the beginning of areas where I knew they’d turn to bruises.

“I don’t think she needs more punches, though, thank you. I believe it’s time to make her feel other pain. Kensy, do you want to come up here and give her some with me?” I called over to my sister. She was standing not too far away. Ben was with her.

I noted fire in her gaze as it met mine. “I believe I would, Keeley. Let’s let her feel an ounce of the pain I’ve felt. There’s no way to let her feel what all those others she helped lead to their doom have endured.”

She walked over to me. Mona was moaning but still conscious. “How do you want to do this?” I asked.

“You’ve punched her enough for the both of us. However, she hasn’t been kicked, and I’ve wanted to do that many times,” Kensy said with a slight smirk. I wanted to laugh.

Learning to kick correctly and land them in the most effective ways and spots had been a big thing Dad had focused on with us. We did it until we were ready to drop. He let up once we perfected them all. I landed a few of my own, but I preferred to watch my sister take her frustration and hate out on Mona. She did several different ones, getting her in spots that would hurt the most and cause maximum damage. Kensy stood bent at the waist, panting after she assaulted Mona with front, flying front, cartwheel, and roundhouse kicks to her ribs, stomach, and face.

Mona was barely awake. Her head hung down, blood dripping from her nose and mouth. I knew as hard as Kensy kicked, she’d broken ribs and damaged a few internal organs. There wasn’t much left to make Mona hurt. She was on the brink of dying.

“Where’s that cattle prod? I want to use it on her,” she spat out to Reed.

“Kensy, honey, maybe you should rest,” he advised.

“I can do that once this bitch is dead. If you won’t let me end her with that, I’ll find something else.” She scanned the basement.

“You can use it. Here,” Arnie said as he picked it up and handed it to her. He gave her a quick rundown on how to adjust the volts.

After he had stood back, Kensy went at her. She held it to Mona’s skin for five seconds before moving on. When she got it to the point the amperage would kill her, she made the ever-briefest contact. I was about to tell her to let me kill Mona if she wasn’t able to when she applied it and held it long enough to end Mona.

We didn’t linger. As soon as Mona was dead, the guys moved her and her husband to a far corner of the basement. A look at the clock showed Boyko could be here as soon as an hour and a half. That’s when I saw how not only Beau and the other Patriots could plan, but so could Reed, Dickie, and Arnie. None of them excluded us. They went at it, assuming we’d want to be involved.

The early detection devices used to protect the perimeter, which she and I learned about from the men, were relocated further away. There was an open area in the trees that they assumed was a road of some kind during the summer. It would most likely be how they’d return to the house if they came by snowmobile. If they could get a helicopter in here, the area out front of the cabin had the most space to land one safely. Both of those were covered with shotgun primers.

They’d serve more as a way to surprise and make them off-kilter if they landed in the yard. Those along the road would serve to do that and warn us they were coming. They took a few of the trail cams and relocated them along the route. This might give us an idea of numbers. Something told me that Boyko wouldn’t come alone. When we questioned Kensy about him and his visits, she admitted he’d come with two to five extra men in the past. That didn’t include Slava.

“Kensy, I don’t want to remind you of anything terrible, but did that Slava touch you while you were left here alone with him?” I asked hesitantly.

“No, he didn’t. He had strict orders from Vadzim not to touch me in any way.”

“But how could he trust he wouldn’t?” Justin muttered.

“First, Slava is totally loyal to Vadzim. He would never go against his orders. Second, he couldn’t rape me himself even if he wanted to.”

“Why the hell not?” Ben asked gruffly.

“He’s a eunuch. From what I know, when he was a boy, he was rescued by Vadzim. However, it was too late to save his testicles. Vadzim helped him to kill the older boys responsible for his castration. When it came to guarding women that he didn’t want to be touched, he relied on Slava.”

“Women? So you aren’t the first Boyko has held like this,” Beau said.

“I can’t say for sure I’m not one of several, but Vadzim denied there were others—only that there were others he didn’t want to be touched. I overheard that Slava had stood guard over females in Boyko’s family—his sister and mother. Anyway, that’s why he trusted Slava and no one else.”

“Did he ever say why he protected you so much when he hadn’t others?” Ben asked.

I could tell the conversation was making her uncomfortable.

“Guys, enough questions. She doesn’t need to tell us everything,” I protested.

“Keeley, it’s alright. I get it. They’re not asking inappropriate or private questions. You asked if I knew why. Yes, I do. Or at least what he told me. When he was young, there was a woman who looked exactly like me, he said. He was in love with her, and before he got the courage to say something, she was killed in a home invasion. That was why he kept me for himself. I reminded him of her.”

The way she abruptly stopped talking told me she’d had enough. I signaled the men to leave her alone. I helped where I could, but for the bulk of the time, I stayed with her, and we ensured things were ready inside. Weapons were planted where they could easily be accessed. We were using the cabin as cover.

The other thing we did was make something to eat for them. It had been hours since any of us had eaten. We were starved, and we needed all the energy we could get. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a hearty soup made of things we found canned in the pantry, but they seemed to enjoy it. It was thick and made to be full of vegetables and numerous chicken breasts from the freezer.

Several guys went outside when it hit six thirty, and the sun was up. Beau, Ben, and Reed remained inside with us. The plan was to eliminate as many as they could without killing Boyko and possibly one more. We needed to interrogate them and get information on the other sites, who was working for him, and the scale of the pipeline they had for feeding people to Europe and vice versa.

I held Kensy’s hand as the sun continued to rise, and we waited. I was so tense that not even Beau rubbing my back helped. I just wanted this over with and for us to be free to go home and start to live again. As I thought of that, I prayed that all of us would walk away from this alive.

???

It was almost eight o’clock when hell broke loose. Due to the continued snow, they didn’t arrive in a helicopter. They came riding snowmobiles. The gap in the trees that we assumed was a road in summer appeared to be accurate. We heard the first shot down the road when they were two miles out. I admit, I jumped and gave a tiny scream when I heard it. Kensy just hugged herself tighter.

We watched the trail cams that had been relocated. After the first bang, the snowmobiles split up and came through the trees toward the cabin. Again, we’d figured they’d do that, so additional ones were set up on both sides. More went off. They kept coming, but they abandoned their snowmobiles at the edge of the trees. They had their heads on swivels, watching for someone to creep up on them, but they should’ve been watching the ground. What they assumed were piles of snow hid blinds where some of the men hid. Our friends had put those together. They were geniuses when it came to doing them.

Boyko had brought ten men with him. After the first went down after being ambushed from a nearby blind, they scattered more and began firing blindly. More shots rang out, but these weren’t tripped wires. They were the real thing. Two more men fell.

Kensy and I stayed inside the cabin, watching the camera feed on monitors. Ben, Reed, and Beau dispersed throughout the house. We were ordered to lock ourselves in the room, which was reinforced as a panic room. I detested remaining safe while they risked their lives.

It was hard to keep track of everything, especially when you didn’t have a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree viewing field. We thought everyone on our side was okay, but there was no way to tell. After an intense fifteen minutes, all the gunshots and explosions stopped. Scanning the monitors, I saw two men not on our side standing out front with their hands clasped together on the tops of their heads. A shaky gasp from Kensy made me glance over at her. She was back to being pale again.

“What?” I asked.

“That’s Vadzim and one of his bodyguards, Nikita. He’s almost as bad as Vadzim. He enjoys inflicting pain on others.”

“Did he do that to you?” I asked.

“Not me, personally, no, but he loved to watch and make suggestions to Vadzim when he was hurting me.”

I tried to imagine what she went through. Hopefully, once this was over, she’d tell me. I’d do whatever it took to help her heal and be whole. I put my arm around her shoulders. She stiffened for a moment, then relaxed.

“They can never hurt you again. It’s our turn to let them know what pain feels like. Are you ready? It looks like they’re bringing them inside. We should be starting soon.”

She inhaled deeply, held it, let it out, and nodded. “Yes, I’m ready.”

???

We weren’t allowed out of the panic room until they had Boyko and Nikita secured in the basement. We were asked if we were sure we wanted to be a part of this. The looks we gave them left no doubt with the Patriots and our pseudo-uncles that we would not be left out.

Entering the basement, I was shocked but pleased at what I saw. Neither man was in the chairs our earlier prisoners had been seated in. Nor were they in the cage that had been my sister’s home for three months. Instead, they were on the other half of the basement. Vadzim was secured face-down on the sex bench. Nikita was secured face up on the dentist’s chair. Both were glowering at the men surrounding them. Nikita’s rage increased when they saw us enter with Beau and Ben. Vadzim, on the other hand, appeared happier.

“There she is. Come closer. Let me see you, my pet,” he crooned.

Kensy flinched and stepped away from him, bumping into Ben’s chest. She squeaked, then stopped. His arms came up around and encircled her. He held her to him and was whispering something in her ear. This pissed Vadzim off.

“Get your hands off her! She’s mine,” he snarled. He had to crane his neck to see them. He jerked on the bench, but it was bolted to the concrete floor, so it didn’t move.

Kensy listened to whatever Ben was saying and nodded her head. When he was done talking to her, he let go and guided her closer to me. Then he strolled over to stand by Vadzim. I could see the side of his face. He was smirking down at him.

“Sorry, but I have some bad news for you, Vaddy. Kensington is not your pet. She never was. She was here against her will. You kept her caged. I rescued her, and she’s free with me. The sight of you makes her sick. She said every time you touched her, she wanted to puke and die. I told her not to worry. As soon as we deal with you and your little friend, she’ll be safe, and I’ll show her how a real man treats a woman.”

I was shocked at Boyko’s reaction. He went crazy. He screamed her name, demanding she come to him. When she didn’t, he tried to get loose. Of course, he couldn’t, so it made him even crazier. His bodyguard was yelling at Ben to stop. Vadzim totally lost it when my sister walked out of the basement and upstairs. He screamed until he was hoarse and sweating from fighting to get loose. Ben shoved a balled-up piece of cloth into his mouth.

This left Nikita hollering. While the others stood back—I had to think it was by agreement from earlier when the men were all together talking—Beau and Ben went to the guard. His face was bright red, and his eyes showed his hatred.

“You’ll pay. Every one of you will die except for Vadzim’s pet and her sister. I’ll take her and make her my pet. That should be fun.”

If he thought it would get either man to react, he didn’t get his wish. As for me, I laughed. It startled him. I moved to stand by my man.

“If you’re an example of what I have to be afraid of or your worm of a boss over there, then I have nothing to worry about. Beau, hurry up so we can go home,” I said.

“I know you’re anxious to go home, but we have these two to deal with first. Be patient,” Beau said. I sighed.

They began the process of questioning Nikita. He refused to answer, and then the beating started. He was refusing to tell them anything about Vadzim’s pipeline, who worked for him, or where the other women were held and sold. They got tired of his refusal to talk. He’d insult them, tell them how they’d all suffer and die, but that was it. After an hour of that, they were over it. Even beating and shocking Nikita didn’t work.

That brought about a different kind of torture. I saw Arnie come forward with something in his hand. He gave it to Beau. Ben and Heath went to Nikita’s head. He tried to shake their hands loose, but they got him in a headlock. While they held him still, my man put it into his mouth. When he was done, I realized it was a dental guard like you see a dentist use to hold your mouth open so he could work on your teeth. I was wondering what they planned to do. When the pliers were slapped into Ben’s hand, I knew. I rushed up close.

They removed the bulk of his teeth before he did more than scream. It was hard to understand him due to the amount of blood in his mouth and throat and the mouth guard in place. “I’ll never tell you,” he hissed.

I checked to see how Vadzim was taking what was being done to his bodyguard. He wasn’t paying any attention to him. His eyes were glued to the steps. He kept grunting and moaning.

I raised on my toes to whisper in Beau’s ear. “His only weakness is Vadzim. Hurt him and see if that gets you anything.”

Nodding, Beau walked over to the boss, which got Nikita’s attention. He watched as Beau took a whip off the wall, swung it a few times in the air, and grinned.

“This should do nicely,” he muttered a moment before he brought it down across Vadzim’s ass.

This made him jerk. Nikita hollered louder. After a dozen strikes, it became evident that while it was pissing Nikita off and if he could kill us, he would, he wouldn’t break. Why he was so loyal was anyone’s guess. When it became apparent he wouldn’t, Beau gave his men the go-ahead to end him. It was a waste of time to continue. As we waited for one of them to finish the job, I think everyone was slightly shocked when Reed was the one who ended it. He took out his gun and shot Nikita between the eyes.

“We’ve spent enough time on this one. It’s time to get that fucker to talk.” Reed gestured to Vadzim, who barely blinked when his loyal guard was shot before his eyes.

Beau went to Vadzim and yanked the wad of cloth from his mouth. “We’re not kidding, Boyko. We want names and everything else. You’re not walking away from this. Talk.”

“I want my pet,” he said.

“She’s not your pet, and you won’t see her again,” Ben snarled.

“Yes, she is. She’s my special pet. She enjoys the attention I give her. She loves it here. Why are you interfering?” He was now focused on Beau and Ben, who were closest. His gaze was no longer on the stairs.

“Because she doesn’t fucking love the attention, you crazy, sick bastard! You hurt her, degraded her, and kept her prisoner for months, and you think she wanted that!” Ben shouted.

He said everything I wanted to yell at Vadzim, but he did it before I could. I walked over to stand next to Beau. Vadzim glanced at me. His eyes widened.

“You’re her sister, Keeley, aren’t you? She used to ask for you. I had no idea how much you two look alike. I’d love to have two pets.” His expression became greedy. “You would love to be mine.”

“Like hell I would. You’re sick. No one wants to be kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery or any other kind. What you did was wrong. You need to tell us what we need to know,” I demanded.

“KenKen, I need you. Come to your Worship,” he hollered.

His tone, nickname for her, and what he referred to himself as made my anger peak. I lashed out, punching him in the face. I smiled when I felt his nose give out. It instantly began to bleed, and it was no longer straight.

Did he yell in pain or berate me? No, he hollered KenKen louder. The sound of his voice grated on my nerves. What if he refused to tell us anything like Nikita did? We’d be left with no way to stop this whole horrific organization or to recover any of the victims.

“I think we need to make him feel a lot more pain and see if he’ll stop with this KenKen shit,” Ben growled to Beau and me.

“I think you’re—” Beau began to say but stopped when something caught his attention over my shoulder. Ben and I turned our heads to see what it was. I gasped when I saw my sister coming down the stairs. She wore a determined expression. I rushed over to her and grabbed her hands. She stopped at the foot of them.

“Kensy, you don’t need to be here. You’ve suffered enough. Let us handle him.”

“I was listening. I heard that Nikita didn’t give you anything. What we got out of the Chases was a start but not everything. You need Vadzim to talk. I’m your only way. I have to play along and make him believe he can have me if he cooperates. I can’t do that if you and the others interfere. Tell them to stand back and try not to say anything. They have to ignore what I say and do, or I won’t be able to do it. Better yet, make most of them leave so they don’t see it.”

“Kensy, please don’t do something that will leave you with lasting nightmares,” I pleaded.

“Keeley, I’ll have those whether I do this or not—the things he did. God, I don’t think I can be strong like you,” she whispered.

In the background, Vadzim softly repeated his nickname for her over and over. It was hard to block him out. The guys watched the two of us with various emotions on their faces.

“What do you mean you can’t be as strong?”

“You didn’t let what happened to you when you were sixteen keep you from being intimate with men or having relationships. It looks like you have something with Beau. I don’t know if I can ever let a man touch me after what that bastard did to me. I feel so dirty and disgusting.” She hung her head as she cut off a sob.

Unable to stop myself, I hugged her. I whispered into her ear, “You will be even stronger, and I’ll be there to help you all the way. Anything you need, you’ll get. I know you can go on and have a wonderful life full of love and a family. You just have to give yourself time and have faith. If you’re sure, let’s do this. The sooner that motherfucker is no longer breathing, the better.”

She nodded and hugged me, whispering, “Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

We stayed wrapped together for a good minute before I let go and faced the room. I knew Beau would need to be here. “Who do you want to stay? I have to tell you, Beau won’t go.”

She scanned all the men twice before she answered. When she did, she addressed the room.

“I want to thank all of you for helping to find and rescue me. You have no idea how much I appreciate each and every one of you. I need to do something to end this. In order to do it, I can’t have all of you present for it. I’m asking you to please go upstairs until we’re done. I’m begging you, don’t fight me on this. That said, I’d like to have Reed, Beau, and Ben stay.”

There was disappointment yet understanding on the faces of those not chosen. On Ben’s, there was relief. Reed appeared to be steeling himself. Beau had a calm, professional look. As the others made their way upstairs, they patted her arm or squeezed her hand. Once they were gone, which included the door being shut, Beau, Reed, and Ben came to us. We were several feet away from Vadzim, who was staring at Kensy like she was his prized possession. It was creepy.

“What is it you need to do to get him to talk?” Reed asked.

“Something that makes me sick. I want to vomit and scrub myself until I’m raw just thinking about it.” She paused.

“Then don’t do it. We can get him to talk,” Ben stated adamantly.

“No, you won’t. He’s a sick individual, and the relationship he created here is twisted. I’m his slave, and he’s abusive as hell, but he is also dependent upon my responses. I can manipulate him to a degree, but it was never enough to let me leave. I have to play the part he created for me. It’s degrading, and having anyone see it makes me want to cry, but I believe it’s the only way he’ll give us what we need. I don’t want anyone else to suffer this or worse due to his business. And if we can rescue others who have already been taken, I have to do it. That’s the only way I can live with what happened. I need you all to be quiet, stay back, and focus on the outcome, not what happens to get it.”

I saw the struggle in them because it was in me. We wanted to protect her. In the end, everyone nodded after a very tense minute or two.

Beau was the one to answer. “We’ll be over there. If you need us, call out. When you’ve gotten everything from him, we’ll end it. You don’t need that on your hands. But if you prefer to stay for it, that’s up to you.”

“Thank you. We need to do this now. I need you to remove the restraints so he can sit up and move freely. It’s the only way this will work. He can’t get away. If he gets out of hand, I’ll let you know.”

None of us liked it, but in the end, I chose to be the one to remove his restraints. I backed away as he sat up.

Just like that, she moved toward Vadzim, and we went to the far corner where we could still hear and see them but were out of the way.