Page 34 of Forgiving His Past (Eagle’s Nest Securities #5)

“Good. You’re awake.”

Kam opened her one good eye and glared at the man whose fist had slammed into the other one right before she’d blacked out. McDowell, Webb, and the other man from the marina stood a few feet behind the fist-wielding goon.

For the second time in a week, she’d been kidnapped and tied to a chair. Only this time, the men who’d taken her captive weren’t the good guys. Oh, no. They weren’t like those honorable men at all.

Unlike Van and his Eagle’s Nest teammates, the jerk standing before her—and apparently Secretary Webb and Vice President McDowell—were most definitely on the side of evil.

“Why am I here?” Her voice sounded rough from the pain.

It was McDowell who spoke up next. “You’re here to answer questions, Miss Dawari.” He walked slowly toward her. “Not ask them.”

“What is it you want to know?”

“Everything, of course.” The sleezy politician smiled. “But let’s start with Farzad Akimi. Tell me everything he told you, then we can go from there.”

“And if I don’t?”

McDowell’s gaze shifted to the man standing closest to where she’d been forced to sit. “Felix? Would you care to show our guest what happens when she refuses to cooperate?”

Felix—A.K.A. Goon Number One—marched toward her, raised his hand, and smacked the back of his knuckles across her other cheek.

Kam cried out in pain, her head whipping harshly to the side. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth from a fresh cut in her bottom lip.

A low curse came from Webb, who stood a safe distance away. “Is that really necessary?”

Wouldn’t want to risk getting blood on his fancy suit, I suppose.

“She needs to understand that I’m not going to waste my time playing her little games,” McDowell spoke so calmly that it sent a shiver down her spine. “She needs to see that I’m the one in charge here. Not her.”

“ She is right here,” Kam snapped back, spitting her blood on the ground by her feet. “And I can’t tell you what I do not know.”

“So you’re saying Mr. Akimi didn’t tell you anything the day you went to see him in secret? And before you answer, you should know that I’ve had people watching you for quite some time. It’s how I know you were there that day, and how I know you spoke to him before he…expired.”

“He wasn’t a gallon of milk that had spoiled.” She shot him a glare. “He was a human being your people tortured to death.”

“Ah, yes. This is true. But that still doesn’t answer my question.”

“He told me nothing.”

With a tip of his chin, the twisted man gave the silent order for her to be struck again. This time, when Felix’s meaty fist slammed into her, the hard punch sent her and the chair she was tied to flying back.

Kam cried out when she hit the unforgiving ground with a hard thud. Blood ran from both her nose and mouth, her already swollen eye feeling as though it would explode right out of its socket.

She groaned, doing all she could to remain conscious. And when Felix grabbed the arms of the chair to unceremoniously set her back upright, she thought she was going to vomit right there on the man’s shoes.

It would serve the pathetic excuse for a man right for having hit a defenseless woman.

Images of Farzad’s beaten, cut, and broken body flashed before her just then, and Kam knew this was only the beginning of what she might possibly endure. But she had to keep going. She needed to keep them talking for as long as she possibly could.

Because Van would be coming for her very soon. She’d seen it in his eyes as he’d stood on the edge of the dock, watching angrily as she’d been forced away.

By some miracle—because what else could it be—she’d somehow fallen in love with the very man who’d wanted her dead. And in the process of that very same, unexplainable magic, Donovan Braddock had fallen in love with her, too.

Oh, he probably didn’t know it yet, but she would make sure he did before it was all said and done. That was assuming, of course, that she survived. And though nothing about her falling for him made sense, it didn’t have to.

Because it was love.

Love wasn’t neat and tidy. It didn’t always make sense. Not to the people in it or those around them to witness.

Love was messy. Complicated. And sometimes very hard. But Kam knew in her heart…she knew it to her bones …that once you found the real thing, th at love became…

Everything.

“Tell me what Akimi said!” McDowell lost his cool.

“Come on, John.” Webb finally took a few steps forward. “If you’re going to kill her, just do it so we can get the hell out of here before someone sees us.”

“No one knows we’re here.” The vice president brushed away Webb’s concern. “Besides, this is private property. Belonged to Felix’s grandparents. Didn’t it, Felix?”

“Sure did.” Felix grinned as he pointed to an area across the abandoned home’s backyard. “I used to play ball under those trees, right over there.”

Dear God .

“I’ll ask you again, Miss Dawari…” McDowell turned her way once more. “What did Farzad Akimi say to you right before he died?”

The pain in Kam’s head was already blinding, and her face throbbed with every beat of her frantic heart. But despite her fear and the dread she felt for what was about to come, she couldn’t give them even a piece of what she knew…even though it wasn’t much.

Not yet. Not this soon. She needed to buy herself a little more time. Van and the others needed time to figure out what was really going on. They needed time to find out Van was right, and Webb was up to his neck in…whatever the hell this was.

So Kam pulled in a long, deep breath before releasing it in a slow and steady stream. She looked into Vice President McDowell’s beady little eyes and then she said, “Go to hell.”

Felix didn’t just hit her the one time that round. He punched her over and over and over again. She didn’t even feel the last of his vicious blows. Because she was already on the ground—hands and ankles still tied to the chair—and the world around her had once again gone completely dark.

“You sure this is the place?” Van stared at the rural property through his binoculars, watching from where his team had parked.

They’d purposely kept themselves a safe distance away to keep from being detected by anyone who might be there.

“Yeah, I’m with Van,” Chance piped up before Lucky had the opportunity to answer. Looking through his own set of binocs, he gave a slow shake of his head. “I’m not seeing any movement whatsoever.”

“Oh, ye of little faith.” Lucky shifted around in the front passenger seat. “You don’t see them, because they don’t want to be seen. And because, unlike me, you don’t have access to satellite imagery.”

Looking like a cheshire cat that had just made a fresh kill, the smartass held up his tablet for the rest of them to see.

“We’ve got two blacked-out SUVs parked between the house and the outbuilding. And see that right there?” Lucky used his thumb and forefinger to enlarge a specific portion of the frame.

Van’s heart kicked into high gear when he saw Webb, who was standing just inside the three-sided outbuilding. There were two other men in there with him, but they were turned in a way that concealed both their faces.

“There!” He pointed to Kam, who appeared to be tied to a chair.

She was hunched over, her head lying limp against her chest. Her hair was covering her face, and she…

“She’s not moving.”

“She’s still alive,” Lucky assured him.

Before Van could ask how he could be sure, the other man tapped something on his screen.

The entire image changed to black and gray. All except for the red and orange smudges where the people they’d just been watching used to be.

Heat signatures .

Webb’s, the other two men’s…and Kam’s. Lucky was right. She was still very much alive. But for how much longer, they had no way to predict.

“Who’s that?” Chase pointed to two more red smudges as Lucky returned the blackened image to its original size.

“Looks like we’ve got two more tangos hanging out between the SUVs.” Lucky glanced over at Van. “Probably your friends from the marina, if I had to venture a guess.”

They’d worry about making positive IDs after the assholes were either tied up or dead. As long as Kam made it out of this thing alive…

“She’s alive, and we’re here.” Logan glanced back at him from the rearview mirror. “Whatever we have to do, she’s going to be okay.”

He’d been damn near silent as he’d driven them there, no doubt lost in his thoughts about his real-life fallen hero. That alone was enough to make Van want Webb’s head on a fucking platter.

“How do you know?” Van had to ask.

“Same way I knew Nat would be all right back when those bastards she worked for tried to kill her.”

“He’s right,” Archer spoke up from Van’s left. “When Cassie was shot, there was a while, there I thought she was going to die. But I never gave up hope. Not even for a second.”

“Neither did I.” Lucky was next in line.

From where he sat at Archer’s left, next to the back driver’s side door, Chase’s blue eyes locked tight with Van’s. “You know the shit I went through with Scottie. And you were one of the first ones to ride my ass when I started to lose my shit.”

Van wasn’t sure how to respond to all of that. He had no idea what to say. Because they were right. Every one of his teammates—his brothers—had experienced this same kind of hell. And every one of their women had made it out alive .

“You’ve just gotta keep the faith, my man.” Archer gave Van’s left shoulder a squeeze.

Keep the faith.

He almost laughed at the notion, knowing God must have forgotten about him long ago. And yet, as they grabbed their gear and got ready to roll, Van found himself praying for the first time in years.

Please, let her be okay. Please don’t take her away.

He’d already lost his young wife and unborn child. Sure, they’d been young, and he wasn’t even sure they were ever truly, deeply in love. But Van had loved Jenny the best way he knew to at the time. And to have her and their baby taken away like they’d been…