Shades of Gray

CHAPTER 10

THE entire van froze when P.J.’s broken plea came over the comm. Cole punched the back of the seat with enough force to knock the headrest loose.

“Goddamn it! Where is she? We have to find her now. Those assholes are going to fuck her over.”

“I’m working on it, damn it!” Donovan shouted.

Every single one of the team members was tense. The van vibrated with rage, helplessness and dread.

“How did this happen? How the fuck did this happen?” Cole raged. He needed someone or something to blame. Hell, he blamed himself. He should never have allowed it. It didn’t matter if P.J. never spoke to him again. At least she’d be safe and not in the hands of a monster.

“Shhh!” Steele snapped. “Brumley’s there. Goddamn it. I hear him.”

The tremble of emotion in the team leader’s voice was uncharacteristic. He was generally cool under pressure but this had shaken him badly.

The van went silent as Donovan received more intel on every residence that Brumley owned or was associated with in the area.

Even Donovan looked up, his expression tense when Carter Brumley’s voice came over the wire again.

“I know you picked her out, Nelson, but there was something about this one that spoke to me. I had to have her. Did you make sure she was clean?”

“Yeah, boss. Only jewelry she was wearing was a necklace, earrings and a bracelet and I trashed them at her hotel room. She’s an American bimbo who crashed the party looking for a good time.”

Brumley chuckled. “Very nice. I’ll do my very best to accommodate her.”

They could hear his breathing, so they knew he was close to P.J., but she hadn’t uttered a sound. Had the drug affected her so much that she could no longer speak? Was she rendered incapable of fighting back?

Then he prayed she wouldn’t offer resistance. They’d likely kill her. Oh God. It made him nauseous that he actually wanted her to lie there and take it because he couldn’t bear for her to be hurt even more if she fought back.

There was a peculiar popping sound. Metallic. Cole screwed up his forehead and looked at the others. “What the fuck was that?” he mouthed.

A moment later, P.J. screamed in pain and Brumley laughed.

“It sounded like a knife opening,” Dolphin said hoarsely.

“Dear God,” Renshaw whispered. “What is that sick fuck doing to her?”

“What have you got for us?” Cole asked Donovan in a desperate voice. “That son of a bitch is cutting her up.”

Another scream rattled the entire team. Baker was driving and he slammed on the brakes, pulling to the curb. He stared back at Donovan, his eyes blazing with fury.

“You pick a location, Van. Use the info she gave us. There can’t be that many that fit the bill. Get me a goddamn coordinate so we can go in and get our girl. This is bullshit!”

Two more screams sent the hairs on Cole’s nape straight up. And then complete silence followed by the unmistakable sound of thighs slapping against thighs. There was a quiet sound that Cole had to strain to catch amid the other noises, but he heard it.

It was soft weeping.

He buried his face in his hands, his own eyes burning with tears. Having to listen as P.J. was violated was the worst thing he’d ever endured in all his years in the military and in KGI. He’d never felt so helpless in his life.

Donovan thrust the map with shaking hands at Baker. “Here,” he said hoarsely. “This has to be it. There are only two locations that work with the information she gave us, and given the time frame in which they arrived, this one has to be it.”

Baker gunned the accelerator and roared into traffic, causing everyone to brace themselves as he swerved around cars.

Brumley let out a satisfied grunt, and then the sound of flesh being struck echoed over the comm. The bastard had slapped her. And then the unmistakable sound of pants being zipped back up.

Cole’s stomach revolted. He punched the back of the seat again and then the window. Dolphin jumped on him, restraining him before he shattered the glass.

“Save it, man,” Dolphin said quietly. “Save it for those assholes and save it for P.J. She’s going to need us.”

“She’s all yours, Nelson,” Brumley said, a clear smirk in his voice. “I know she’s messier than you usually like them, but I don’t think you’ll have any complaints. She’s a damn fine fuck. If I didn’t have other matters to attend to, I’d take her along. She would have made a very good temporary mistress.”

“Yes, sir,” Nelson replied.

“Kill her when you’re done. Make sure you clean up the mess. I need you for the exchange Sunday night. The girls are coming in on a plane at eight P.M. The buyer will be there to inspect the goods. I don’t want any issues.”

“Wainwright going to take possession then or are we shipping to his choice of location?” Nelson asked gruffly. “Will I need to bring along extra firepower?”

“No, he’s coming alone, except for his usual three who accompany him everywhere. He won’t do a thing because he wants those girls very badly. We’ll off-load the plane and he’s going to have a truck parked at the airport that the girls will be herded onto. It all should take five minutes tops, and then we’ll fly out on the plane the girls came in on. Easy transaction and I make another ten million.”

“We could take this girl with us,” Nelson hedged. “She’s not so messed up I can’t have her cleaned up in half an hour. I’ll keep her drugged enough she won’t be a problem.”

“Get us the hell there, goddamn it,” Cole barked to Baker. “This is bullshit!”

Brumley chuckled. “Have your fun with her then silence her for good. She saw your face and mine, not to mention Colin’s and Isaac’s. I don’t take chances. Especially not over some two-bit whore.”

Steele held up four fingers to signal the number of people in the room.

The sound of footsteps echoing through the comm and then the shutting of a door signaled Brumley’s departure.

Son of a bitch!

“What’s the ETA, Baker?” Cole demanded.

“Fucking traffic!” Baker snarled. “It’s not far but this is balls, man. It’s balls!”

They all went quiet again when more came through P.J.’s wire.

“Why the tears?” Nelson asked mockingly. “Surely he wasn’t that bad. Most women fight over the honor to be his lover. But maybe you’ll like me better.”

Cole covered his ears, no longer able to bear to hear anything more. When he looked up, he could read the expressions of the others.

They’d gotten the information they’d needed after all. Brumley had spilled the details of the shipment of girls.

But at what cost? At what fucking cost? Something so precious that it gutted Cole to even dwell on what the success of this mission had cost P.J.

As much as it shamed Cole, he’d give it all back and never know how to save those girls if he could take back what had just happened to P.J.