Page 2 of Benedict’s Rejuvenation (Dark Patriots #5)

“I don’t understand why you would be here with a guard. You’ve been gone for three months. You should’ve been sold already,” Beau stated. He said it matter-of-factly. He was right. It made no sense.

Kensy dropped her head. She avoided eye contact with any of us. I wanted to tell her she had nothing to be afraid of or ashamed of, which is what her posture screamed. Her supersoft voice replied. If I hadn’t been so close to her, I wouldn’t have been able to hear her.

“I wasn’t sold like the others because Vadzim took a liking to me.

He decided to keep me for himself. He found it funny that the police were looking for me and had no idea I was still nearby.

He loved the fact that he had his own personal detective to lead everyone astray.

I never left Montana. He keeps me here, and when he wants me, he comes to visit. ” She shuddered with revulsion.

I wanted to hug her, but her sister beat me to it.

“Kensy, honey, we won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.

Vadzim and his people will be dealt with.

If he’s coming here, we can’t leave. We have to stay and catch them.

I’d like to send my sister back to the rental with Dickie, Reed, and Arnie.

She’ll be safe with them, and they can find their way back easily. ”

“I agree. We stay and deal with those two, this one and his wife. However, I think it’s best if you go with Kensington, too,” Beau stated.

This remark had Keeley standing and shaking her head. There was steel in her expression.

“I’m not leaving. If you think you need to protect me or that I can’t handle what has to be done, you’re crazy. I told you what I did. I need to be here.”

Beau came over to her and tugged on her arm.

They moved to a spot across the kitchen.

He whispered in Keeley’s ear. We couldn’t hear what he said.

When he finished, Keeley turned back to us.

Kensy spoke up. She was shaking her head, her clenched fists resting in her lap, and she wore a fierce look of determination.

I found it sexy as hell. Not the thought to be having at a time like this.

“I’m not leaving without you, and I can’t leave until this is finished.

I want to see Vadzim suffer. I want everyone who was involved in this horrible, degenerate business to pay.

They’ve been destroying lives and playing God.

They don’t care who they hurt, treating people like cattle to be bought, sold, and used however they see fit.

I refuse to go with them. So, unless you’re willing to knock me out and take me away against my will, which is acting like them, then I’m staying. ”

I had to respond to what she said, especially the last part. I was blunt and stared at her to see her response.

“No one is knocking you out or kidnapping you. But this isn’t going to be a pretty sight. We will get the information we need from them in any way we can, and we will make them pay for what they did in pain and blood. There is no jail afterward for them. They’ll die and die hard.”

“Good. They deserve nothing less. And this one and his bitch of a wife are guilty, too. He’s a cop.

Can you believe that? He helps a bastard like Vadzim carry out his plans right under the noses of other cops and law enforcement.

He makes me sick. But the truly evil one is his wife.

That bitch needs an extra dose of torture,” Kensy hissed.

Her gaze was on Chase, bound on the floor.

Beau tried to reason with her. “Kensington, you’ve been through enough. You can surely see why we want you to leave. It’s to help you start your healing process. Staying here and seeing what we do to them will add to your nightmares.”

Again, Kensy impressed and surprised me with her show of backbone. It would be determined later whether it was enough to get her through the next several hours. For now, it was great to see her demonstrating it. Whatever Vadzim did to her, he hadn’t broken her, at least not entirely.

“That’s where you’re wrong. It’ll help me start to heal.

I won’t ever forget what was done to me, but if I’m to find some semblance of life and happiness in the future, I need to know they suffered and are dead.

And while I trust my sister to make it happen, I need to see it.

Keeley seems to trust you. I don’t know you or your men.

So the four I trust, you’re trying to send away with me.

Nope. I’m staying, so let’s stop wasting time arguing about it.

I won’t change my mind, and we’re wasting precious planning time. ”

Her chin came up. It took restraint not to bite it, then kiss her.

God, I was in the middle of a rescue mission, and I was having sexual thoughts about our victim.

Thoughts that she wouldn’t be willing to return, possibly for years, if ever.

I’d never had this happen to me. However, I had heard others talk about how they had been instantly captivated by women this way.

My brother-in-law, Blade, was one of those, along with my bosses and numerous bikers in the clubs we were friends with.

It happened to every one of them when they met the woman they wanted forever.

Shit, was this what Kensy was? If it were, talk about the wrong time and place.

I vaguely heard Keeley tell the room that Kensy was staying, and Beau told her it would be messy and dangerous. Plus, there were no guarantees. It was Beau calling Keeley, babe, that garnered a response from Kensy. She must not have heard it the first time he said it.

“Wait a minute. Did he just call you, babe? What’s up with that?” Kensy’s surprised voice asked. I held back my chuckle.

“There’s been a lot happening in the past three months. I’ll tell you all about the why, but it’ll have to wait. How long will it be before we have more company?” Keeley asked.

After glancing at the wall clock, Kensy replied, “It’s one-thirty in the morning.

Slava left two hours ago. He wanted to be sure to arrive on time, given the weather conditions.

Vadzim is supposed to land his private jet at Missoula airport at six a.m. They’ll be here soon after if they can get here using his helicopter.

If they have to come by snowmobile, then it will take two hours or more.

I don’t know exactly where we are. I just know what it has taken him in the past.”

Justin chimed in. “Let’s assume they can get here with the helo. That means we have roughly five hours.”

A groan from Detective Chase caught our attention.

Keeley left Beau’s side and walked over to Chase’s body.

She nudged his side with her foot. He didn’t respond, so she used the sole of her foot to kick him hard.

I wish I were the one doing it. My steel-toed boots would break his ribs like they were made of fragile glass.

I liked the idea. Chase grunted and flinched before opening his eyelids.

He blinked a few times before he focused on her.

Keeley’s smile was filled with dark promises.

I liked her already. It seemed like Beau had made a good choice in his woman.

“Hello, Michael. I guess you now know what it feels like to be knocked out and wake up disoriented. Not fun, is it? Don’t bother to try to get loose. There’s nowhere for you or your bitch wife to go,” she told him before jerking the gag from his mouth.

All the bastard said in a croak was, “W-where is she?”

“Mona? Or my sister? My sister is sitting right here. We’ll talk about that later.

As for Mona, she’s upstairs, unconscious and tied to the bed.

I’ve got to say. Whoever tied me didn’t know shit about knots or how to secure someone.

It was easy for me to get loose. I was coming to deal with your ass when these guys came bursting in. ”

She gestured to us and Beau. Out of nowhere, Heath said, “Beau, I’m going upstairs to check on the sleeping bitch.”

Beau asked Heath to let him know when she woke up. Arnie went with Heath. As they left the room, Beau was on to business. He wanted to get this shit over with, too. If we were to pull this off successfully, we would have a lot to do before Vadzim and Slava returned.

“Get him up in a chair. I have questions, and he’s going to answer them.

Before you try lying or delaying, Chase, we know your boss, Vadzim, is on his way here.

Kensy already told us that. We have time until they get here.

You and your wife are going to entertain us with tales of your exploits with this bunch of traffickers.

By the time you’re done talking, I’d better know every single iota of information you know about them,” Beau told Chase.

“If you tell us, your death will be before they get here,” I added because I had to.

“You can’t kill a cop. If you do, the force will never stop looking for you,” Michael spat out. Aryan and Reed had wrestled him off the floor and onto a chair. Chase glared at us. I laughed.

“Do you think a single one of them will care about a lowlife loser like you? No, they won’t.

They’ll only care about the stain you bring to their reputation being cleaned away as quickly and quietly as possible.

Once the information about what you did leaks out to them and the media, they won’t give a damn about who killed you.

They’ll be mad they couldn’t do it themselves,” Keeley taunted.

“She’s right. And, after all, you’re a cop killer now. You killed that deputy,” Dickie said.

I saw Keeley was barely holding herself back as she verified Officer White was dead.

I wanted to get this shit started. The need to inflict pain and suffering of my own was growing.

Every time I looked at Kensy, it grew. I kept a close eye on her.

If she indicated it was too much for her or that she was about to collapse, I would remove her, regardless of what she said. I made my suggestion.