Colters' Gift

CHAPTER 36

NOAH’S cell rang as he and the others were boarding Max’s jet. Recognizing the number as an NYC area code, he hastily answered.

“Noah, this is Rick Castanetti. I have something for you. We just got a huge break.”

“You found him? Did you find Lauren?” Noah demanded. “Is she okay?”

Around him, everyone went completely silent. Liam pushed in next to Noah and put his ear close to Noah’s head so he could hear the conversation.

Noah punched the button to put Castanetti on speaker and then held the phone in front of him so everyone could listen.

“We just got a tip from an informant that Knight’s personal physician got a call to meet Knight at his lake house in upstate New York to treat Miss Wilder’s injuries.”

“What injuries?” Liam demanded. “What the hell did that bastard do to her?”

Noah held up his hand to silence Liam before he blew completely up. “We don’t know if she was hurt in the accident or not. Let’s not assume the worst. He can’t have had her in his possession that long yet.”

“They’re flying to a private airstrip owned by Knight. He typically takes his helicopter and lands it on the property, but this is where you catch a break. The airstrip he owns is a good forty-five minutes from his house. There’s a commercial field ten minutes away you could land at, and it will even the odds on time. With the head start he got on you leaving Denver, there’s a good chance you’ll get there not long after he does.”

“Where is this lake house?” Noah bit out.

“You have to know that you can’t be the first in,” Castanetti said in a low voice. “I have to go through the channels on this one.”

Noah sucked in his breath and hoped like hell he wasn’t trusting the wrong man. “You can’t call this in.”

There was a long silence over the line.

“What the hell?” Castanetti demanded. “You don’t want me to ensure that the police get there to prevent any harm coming to Miss Wilder? Are you crazy?”

“You can’t call it in because Knight would know about it and then we’d lose Lauren. Right now we know where he’s going. That gives us the edge. If you arrange a sting, he’s going to disappear, taking Lauren with him, and we’ll have lost our one chance to get to her and take Knight down.”

“I don’t like what you’re insinuating,” Castanetti said in an angry, pissed-off tone.

“I’m not insinuating anything. I know damn well that he has some dirty cops on his payroll. I’ve seen the information on the disk Lauren copied from Knight’s computer. And this goes all the way to the top. I’m taking a huge fucking risk even talking to you.”

There was another long silence, and then a string of curses from Castanetti.

“I want what’s on that disk, especially if what you’re saying is true.”

“And if we get Lauren back, you’ll have it,” Noah said smoothly. “She’s our top and only priority right now.”

There was a sigh, and then Castanetti mumbled his agreement and provided specific addresses and locations as well as the airport for them to land.

Noah motioned for one of the others to copy down the details as Castanetti gave them.

“He better not be dead when this is all over with,” Castanetti said when he finished supplying the location.

“I can’t guarantee you anything,” Noah said in a low voice.

If Lauren was threatened in any way, Noah wouldn’t think twice about taking out the bastard.

“Just don’t get yourselves killed,” Castanetti said in a somber voice. “Knight’s been responsible for too many lost lives as it is. I hope Miss Wilder makes it out of this okay, and I’m not just saying that because I want her on the witness stand.”

“Thanks. We’ll keep in touch,” Noah said.

“See that you do.”

Noah hung up as the plane lifted into the air, and grimly surveyed the group of men who’d listened in on the call.

“We’ve got some time to make up. Knight got a head start, and Lauren’s life depends on us getting to that lake house as quickly as possible.”

LAUREN huddled on the sofa of the plane and moaned softly when she was jostled by the aircraft touching down. Fear was immediate, because she had no idea where they were or how Noah and Liam would ever be able to find her.

It was time to be real and not solely rely on someone else to rescue her. She’d escaped Joel once. She’d just have to do it again.

Only, the first time he hadn’t been expecting it. Now he’d watch her constantly, keep her more firmly under his thumb than he had ever before.

Despair settled heavy and bleak. Then she grew angry at the defeat that nagged at her. She’d survived Joel once and she was stronger now. She’d survive again.

“Lift her and be careful with her,” Joel ordered. “If you hurt her, it’ll be your ass.”

Rough hands slid underneath her, lifting her in one motion as Ron settled her roughly against his chest. It made her furious that Joel was such a nauseating hypocrite. That he acted like he gave a flying fuck about whether she was hurt or not. She thought it more likely that he was so insanely controlling that in his mind she was his to torment, much like a favorite toy a child jealously guards from use by other children.

She was still numb from the violent episode of earlier. He’d used her. Not for sexual release, but to humiliate and degrade her. He was proving a point and chipping away at her rebellion.

He was trying to break her.

He had no way of knowing that unlike before, she was infused with purpose. Resolve. She knew her worth. Knew she was loved for who she was. She knew the difference between love and control.

If he thought he was getting back the same naïvely stupid Lauren Wilder, he was wrong. Dead wrong.

She was placed in the back of a waiting car and then Joel slid onto the seat next to her, his hand going immediately to her head. It wasn’t a tender gesture. It was a warning. An expression of his dominance and control.

She curled herself into a tighter ball and closed her eyes, shutting out his presence. The car pulled away, the seat vibrating against her cheek. She didn’t try to rise. She didn’t move a single muscle.

Her face was bruised and throbbing from when he’d struck her and then from his rough handling of her later. And her entire midsection ached fiercely. Though she’d played up her injuries to try to get Joel to lay off her, more and more she thought that she may well have broken her ribs in the wreck. It scared her, this faux concern from Joel. He was like a bubbling cauldron just waiting to explode, and she waited for it at any moment.

The drive took forever, and she was desperately tired but afraid to let herself fall asleep even for a minute. She didn’t want to be put in a position where she was vulnerable and not on her guard.

When the car finally ground to a halt, she automatically tensed. Joel’s hand tightened on her head.

“You should be wary,” he murmured.

His voice was calm, but the threat was there. She’d have to be an idiot not to sense the thinly veiled violence that radiated from him.

“Do as you’re told, Lauren. Don’t make me angry. I’ll have a doctor look at your injuries and determine whether you’re able to accommodate me. If you defy me, I’ll hold you down and fuck you whether you have broken ribs or not.”

Her stomach lurched and her pulse accelerated. Her hands grew clammy and her forehead was dotted with cold sweat.

She had no doubt that he’d carry out his threat. When she lifted her head to glance warily at him, she saw that the idea of raping her, knowing she had injuries, excited him.

As much as she wanted to defy him, to tell him to fuck off and go to hell, she knew she had to be smart and wait for her opportunity.

He cupped her jaw, holding it painfully tight, his fingers pressing into the bruise he’d put on her earlier.

“You’re mine, Lauren. You belong to me. You don’t walk away. You don’t make the decision that it’s over. Only I make that decision, and I’m not finished with you yet.”

When she didn’t respond, he squeezed harder until a whimper escaped her lips.

“Do you understand?” he demanded. “Say it. Say the words. You belong to me.”

“I’m yours,” she croaked.

His hold lessened and tears stung her eyelids. She inhaled sharply, determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing how much he’d hurt her.

“Take her into the house,” he ordered Ron.

Then Joel got out of the car and strode toward the walkway to the front door, leaving Ron to deal with Lauren.

As Ron pulled her from the backseat, she quickly surveyed the terrain and considered whether now was the time to try to make her escape. It would take her being able to get free of Ron, but where would she go? They were in a heavily wooded area, and she couldn’t see any highway or lights from other residences.

Panic scurried up her spine, and she had to work hard to keep herself calm and focused. Ron obviously didn’t like being saddled with the responsibility of packing Lauren around. His brows were drawn together in a disgruntled expression as he carried her up the walkway.

“Told him he should have just gotten rid of you a long time ago,” Ron muttered.

At first she thought she hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Told him you were a silly bitch. Too easy and too dumb. And now you’re just a pain in the ass. He has a business to run and shouldn’t be wasting time chasing you all over the damn place.”

“I’ll be sure to let him know you think so,” she said through her teeth.

“You’ll keep your mouth shut or I’ll come at you,” he said coldly. “Joel likes to watch when I fuck a woman. He says it inspires him. Because I don’t give a shit if I break them. I’ll shove my dick up that tight ass of yours and I’ll enjoy making you scream. If you think Joel will protect you, then you’re wrong. He’ll get off watching me work you over and then he’ll fuck you while you lay there and cry.”

He strode through the open door while she lay rigid in his arms, his words echoing over and over in her horrified mind. It was a threat, yes, but he sounded so certain. There was knowledge in his tone, as if he’d done just as he’d described to other women Joel had been with.

They were both twisted, fucked-up psychopaths whose hatred for women ran soul deep.

He entered the living room and dumped her onto the couch, earning him a frown from Joel, but Joel didn’t reprimand him.

When Lauren straightened herself, she saw another man about Joel’s age standing beside Joel, arms crossed over his chest.

This must be the physician Joel had summoned to meet them.

“See to her,” Joel said. “She was in an accident. She may have broken her ribs.”

“I can’t be sure without X-rays,” the doctor began.

“I only want to know if she’s okay to fuck,” Joel said coldly.

Lauren was utterly appalled, humiliation sucking her into its dark embrace. The doctor hesitated but then made his way over to Lauren.

He went to one knee on the couch in front of her.

“Lie down, please,” he said in a stiff voice that told her he was uncomfortable with the situation.

Slowly she lowered herself until her head met the cushions. She went tense when his hands lifted the hem of her shirt and started to pull it up over her breasts.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll do my best to be gentle.”

He splayed his hands over her rib cage and then began to press in a series of areas with his fingertips.

“Tell me if at any point you feel more pain when I apply pressure,” he said.

When he reached the lower part, she winced and let out a gasp. He paused there and then worked his fingers into the area around the tender spot.

“I’m sorry,” he said when she let out another cry.

He probed another few moments and then lifted his gaze to meet hers. “Can you tell me what happened? Did anything hit you in this area? Have you had any difficulty breathing?”

She recounted the events of the accident in a halting voice.

“But I don’t remember hitting anything,” she said. “It was all a blur. We rolled several times and it was just so fast. And afterward, it didn’t hurt because . . .”

She broke off, refusing to say she hadn’t felt pain because of the adrenaline of running for her life away from the men pursuing her. Joel’s men. It would only piss him off more.

But Joel had stepped to the side and was having a rather animated conversation with Ron. She used that moment of distraction to whisper her plea to the doctor.

“Please, help me,” she begged. “He did this to me. And you heard what he wants to do. He wants to rape me. I’m not here willingly. Can you at least call the police when you leave?”

His face remained expressionless, but his eyes were heavy with regret and he could no longer hold her gaze. He dropped his eyes and continued his examination.

Finally he rose and turned in Joel’s direction.

“She most assuredly has broken ribs. It’s important you take care with her. I can bind them until you can take her to the hospital. They’ll need to do X-rays, give her proper pain medication and supervise her medical treatment.”

“That’s what I pay you to do,” Joel snapped. “I thought you said there was no way to tell if her ribs were broken without an X-ray. And now you’re so sure they are?”

“There is bruising in the lower rib cage. Tenderness to touch and at least one feels displaced. If there are breaks higher, she risks puncturing a lung if she isn’t careful.”

Joel scowled. “You write her the script for painkillers. I’ll see how things are in the morning before I worry over X-rays.”

The doctor sighed and turned, casting an apologetic look in Lauren’s direction. He’d tried and she knew he was afraid to do more. She didn’t know what hold Joel had on him, but it was obvious the doctor was captive to Joel’s demands.

The doctor spent a few seconds scribbling out a prescription from his pad, and then he pulled the top page off and held it out to Joel, who shoved it at Ron.

“Go have this filled.”

Then he focused his attention on the doctor and told him to get out. The doctor was only too eager to disappear. He nearly stumbled in his haste to get to the front door.

When both Ron and the doctor were gone, Joel walked to the couch where Lauren still lay, and he stared down at her, a malicious gleam in his eyes.

“Here’s how this will go, Lauren. Cooperate and please me and I won’t touch your ribs. Piss me off and be difficult and I’ll make you wish you were never born.”