Twisted Complications by Nikita Parmenter
Chapter Twenty-Three
“We’re about five minutes away from where they’ve stopped.” Cash announces.
Trick finds a dirt track, overgrown enough that we know that it hasn’t been used in a long time and pulls far enough down that we can’t be seen from the road. As soon as the van has stopped, he turns in his seat to look at me.
“We do need to discuss this later, Sweetheart. We need to work out why he wants you.”
“I know and we will, I just can’t think about anything other than rescuing Rylie right now.” I reply.
“Okay, I get that. Luc, what have you found?”
“About five minutes up the road is what looks like an airfield building, you know, the really long semi-circle shaped ones?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I don’t suppose you can see any aircraft?” Alaric asks.
“Well, I haven’t hacked into one of the satellites, that’s out of my skillset so I can’t tell you for sure, but this aerial photograph is less than a year old, and it looks abandoned and run down.”
“So, we can assume they’re just using the buildings, and not storing planes there.” Rage mutters.
“On the plans, one of the airfield buildings looks like it’s got an area below it, the same size as the top part.” He continues, studying the images on screen closely and then turning it around to show the rest of us.
“They’ll be keeping her under there.” Atlas says.
“That’s a pretty fucking big space, be prepared to find other things as well.” Alaric warns. “Our priority is to get Rylie out. Anything else we can deal with later. I can send a team in.”
Trick nods grimly.
I get what he means, I really do, but I know that if there is anyone else down there that appears to be a prisoner, I will be rescuing them as well. I’m going to take down as many of the fuckers in there as possible. I do have to remind myself that we’re doing this sort of properly, so I need to keep my strikes non-lethal, so that they can be taken in and the justice system can deal with them. We also don’t want to risk Alaric’s boss taking a dislike to something we’ve done.
I’d rather avoid jail if we can.
I willnot leave anyone behind though. If that means I have to secure the entire building by myself then you bet your fucking perky little ass that’s what I’m going to do. I could do with a challenge after not being able not stretch my muscles for so long.
“I suggest we approach from the back.” Jensen says, “Any vehicle you find, disable it so that anyone who tries to escape, can’t.”
He doesn’t tell any of them how to disable the vehicles, so I presume that it’s all something they know how to do.
Rafe seeing the questioning look on my face smirks and starts signing.
“Tomlinson.”
Ah that explains it, their old rival school.
“Remember, disable and secure any of Liam’s men you come across. Do not kill any of them unless it’s a kill or be killed situation.” Alaric reminds us and we nod.
None of us actually want to kill someone and all of us would only kill if we had no choice. I understand that he feels the need to say it though.
“There are cable ties in one of the drawers under the bench seat.” He adds.
“Aw cool, I didn’t even realise they had drawers in them!” Jensen comments sounding enthusiastic.
“As soon as we find Rylie, we need to get her out. We have no idea what condition she’s going to be in. Has anyone got medical training?” Alaric asks.
“I do.” Cash replies.
“Good, there’s a medical kit in one of the drawers too. Obviously, you can’t take the whole thing in, it’s too bulky, but take out the bare essentials you think you might need just to stabilise her so that we can move her and in case any of us sustain injuries.”
“Got it.” Cash says pulling the drawers out until he finds the kit. He searches through it and pulls out what he needs.
“Everyone who took their weapons off needs to put them back on. Once everyone’s ready, we’ll set off.” Trick says, stepping out of the van and walking around to the back opening the door.
“I’m going stretch my legs, it’s not that comfortable riding in the back of that thing.” I grin hopping out of the van.
I finally get a good look at where we are. Of course, we’re in what looks like the middle of nowhere. We’re surrounded by woods on either side and just through the trees I can make out the sun starting to dip beneath the horizon, painting the sky with reds and pinks. It’s quite beautiful and I take a moment to appreciate it, I learned a long time ago that you can’t take anything for granted. There’s still a chill in the air, winter still underway and my breaths puff out in front of me, I am incredibly grateful for my extra layers right now. As soon as we start to get moving though, I know I won’t feel the cold.
The longer we wait for everyone to get sorted the more worried I get about Rylie. I have to keep reminding myself that Liam doesn’t expect us to show up here, he wants me to be on the bridge. One that I don’t even know the location of, tomorrow at midnight. He said he knew what I was capable of, so I’m going to take him at his word and assume he took me at mine and won’t harm her anymore. The problem with that being, how much he’s already hurt her.
I suddenly find myself sandwiched between Rafe and Riot and all thoughts fly from my mind. Rafe claims my lips, kissing me in the slow and languid way that gently stokes the flame of desire as Riot nips my shoulder. My lips leave Rafe’s and I turn my head searching for Riot’s as Rafe’s lips move down my neck in soft kisses. Riot’s kiss is firm, putting all of his feelings into as usual. I’m pulled from between them and into Luc’s arms, he smirks as I immediately move my arms around his neck, standing on my tip toes and bring his lips down to meet mine. Luc kisses me as if he never wants to let me go, his arms tightening around me, crushing me to him as my feet lift up off the ground slightly.
He kisses me softly one last time before I’m passed over to Cash, my legs wrap around his waist as Trick steps up behind me.
“Tip your head back, Sweetheart.” Trick orders.
I immediately do as I’m told, the only time when I actually do. Cash’s lips start making a delicate trail down my throat as his hands clench on my ass, pulling me closer With my head tipped back, it makes it easier for Trick to claim my lips in a commanding kiss. By the time we pull apart, Cash only has a chance to place a chaste kiss on my lips before Jensen intervenes.
“My turn.” He growls.
My feet barely hit the ground, Cash and Trick just managing to move out of the way as Jensen swoops in, pulling me up into his arms and promptly slamming my back against a near by tree.
“Whoa, hang on.” I hear Rage mutter.
“Don’t worry about it, they’re as bad as each other.” Luc chuckles.
I bite Jensen’s lip in retaliation, making him growl as his hands tighten on my legs no doubt leaving bruises. My hands weave into his hair and I tug hard, knowing he needs that bite of pain. Jensen is practically overflowing with energy right now, amped up for the coming fight. Eventually, he puts me down and I make my way to Atty, crooking my finger to get the giant to bend down to my level, I kiss along his scar before he takes my mouth in a hard and fast, demanding and passion fuelled kiss that leaves me begging for more just like all of the others.
“I don’t like that you knew Liam.” Atty mutters when he pulls back, fear in his eyes.
“I know. I don’t like not knowing what he wants me for.” I admit.
“We’ll get to the bottom of it, Puddin’.” Rage chimes in and I turn to look at him.
I get the overwhelming urge to hug him, but I know he probably wouldn’t appreciate that, and I don’t want to trigger him.
“Thanks, Rage.” I smile softly instead.
“Is everyone ready now?” Alaric asks and my eyes widen.
Since I’m still looking at Rage, he sees and promptly starts chuckling.
“Asshole.” I hiss at him, making him laugh harder.
I can’t believe that I forgot that Atty’s uncle was here with us. I feel my cheeks heat and the guys smirk.
Assholes, the lot of them. Even Alaric looks amused.
“We’re ready.” Trick says, saving me from further embarrassment.
Alaric nods and we all set off into the undergrowth, as we walk, I notice Trick placing these little orange stickers on the trees closer to the ground than eyeline.
“What are you doing?” Jensen asks, curiously, keeping his tone quiet in case there’s anyone nearby.
“Marking our way back, it’s going to be dark by then and all the trees are going to look the damn same.” He replies.
“Smart idea putting them below the eyeline so they’re less easy to spot if anyone checks the woods or tries to follow you too.” Alaric, comments sounding impressed.
“That’s why he’s the boss.” Riot chuckles.
“Oh, that reminds me, since you’ve met everyone now and they know our link. Trick is going to be the one who’s coordinating the jobs you send to us, so I’ll give you his number. It’s easier than me trying to be the go between you two and the jobs should run smoother with him in charge of it.” Atlas says and Trick’s eyes fill with pride.
“That works for me.” Alaric replies.
With that decided, we all fall silent as we get closer to the treeline surrounding the airfield buildings. Keeping a close eye on our environment to make sure we don’t get any nasty surprises. I’m walking ahead of the others just a step or two in front of Trick and Atlas. Which is why I get to the guy patrolling the edge of the woods first. He spots me, and charges, I dodge his fist pulling my knife and holding it with the blade pointing down my forearm. Not only does this mean that I can swipe out at him and slice, but it also means that I can smack him with handle end.
I flick my blade out as he comes for me again, and catch his arm as I raise mine to block his hit, the guy is not pulling his punches at all and he’s not a small guy so he’s got quite a lot of fucking power behind him. I kick out against his knee with force, making him grunt as he buckles and falls to the floor, I fling my knife to the side embedding it in a tree trunk and out of his reach as I grab handfuls of his hair and force his head down as I bring my knee up hard, a move that Jynx taught me. His nose shatters as blood spurts from it, it wasn’t enough to knock him out, but while he’s dazed, I aim a hard kick that knocks him out and has him falling to the floor.
“Timber!” I grin, trying not to be too loud.
I hear a snort from behind me and ignore it as I pull out some of the cable ties that I stuffed in my pockets before we left the van and secure his hands and feet together. Once that’s done, I start to try and pull him towards the tree line to get him out of sight in case anyone comes looking for him. He weighs a fucking ton though and I start huffing and puffing, only managing to move him a foot or so. I give up and turn to face the peanut gallery who are all just standing there, amusement shining in their eyes and the twist of their lips, a good deal of heat is burning in all of their eyes as well, except for Alaric who looks impressed.
“What?” I ask, my hands on my hips. “A little help, he’s fucking heavy.”
“You looked like you had it.” Rage smirks.
“Fuck off.” I throw back, not hiding my grin.
Him and Rafe make easy work of moving the guy into the trees so that he’s not going to be seen by anyone walking by. He will eventually wake up and be able to call for help, but hopefully it’ll be too late by then. I walk over to my embedded knife and pull it out of the trunk putting it back into the holder strapped around my leg. Jensen and Atlas watch my every move with burning heat.
“You okay?” Trick asks, quietly. Checking in as usual. “That was pretty intense.” He adds as we carefully walk towards the buildings, there doesn’t seem to be any more guards at the moment but where there’s one there’s bound to be more.
“That was nothing.” I grin.
My limbs are feeling loose and a layer of tension has completely disappeared. I knew I needed the release, but I didn’t realise quite how badly.
“It was fucking impressive.” Luc compliments and I beam.
“Alright, focus now.” Alaric reminds us.
We quieten down as we approach, peering around the corner, to see three guards posted outside of the single door.
“Remember we want the element of surprise for as long as possible.” Trick reminds us quietly.
Fortunately, the door is closer to us than the other side of the building and the men standing outside all look distracted talking amongst themselves. They’re dressed in normal looking clothes, jeans, and sweaters. Each of them have AK47s, if they start firing, not only is it likely that one us is going to be hit, but also it’s going to make a fuck ton of noise and have god knows how many other fuckers converging on us. Trick motions Rafe and Riot forward, they work together well and take down the three of the men with quick efficiency. Securing them and then moving them behind one of the vehicles that are parked outside.
Once they’re secured and we’re sure there’s no more out here, Trick orders those with the know how, to disable all the vehicle’s we can find. It takes minutes and we reconvene in front of the door to the building. Alaric opens the door and we file in, there’s a moment of shock as the men and women inside turn to look at us. We use that to our advantage, knocking as many out as many as we can, there’s a lot of them in here though, and soon that’s not enough, we’ve all taken a couple of hits and I can’t help but yell as a bullet flies towards Jensen. He dives out of the way at the last second, but yells as he hits the floor making me think that he’s been hit.
Fuck.
The guy who shot him, takes aim again, while Jensen’s lying on the floor. I rush to make it to him, reaching for my gun. Before I can pull it out though he jolts as blood blooms across his chest, he looks shocked for a second before falling to the floor. My eyes meet Rage’s and nod. I’ll thank him properly later, that was one hell of a fucking shot.
He ducks as a fist comes near him and I pull my gun, still on my way to Jensen and shoot one of the fuckers coming for me in the knee, downing him instantly.
“Jensen?” I ask as I sink to the floor next to him, my eyes scanning the surrounding area as I guard him.
“I’m good, Angel. It just grazed my arm.” He says, hopping back up.
He winces slightly in pain and I breathe out a massive sigh of relief, that could’ve been so much worse. We jump straight back into the fight. I end up taking a couple of hits as a woman and a guy decide to team up. Bullets are still flying, but I take the duo down fairly easily, managing to knock the guy out. The woman is harder to take down, you can tell that she’s had a hard life, fought tooth and fucking nail to be where she is, and I have a grudging respect for that. I end up having to use my knives, planting one in her stomach but making sure that it doesn’t hit anything vital.
Using knives as your weapon of choice for long enough and you soon learn where the best places not hit are.
With my knife still in my hand, I stand back up, ignoring the vulgar things coming out of the woman on the floor and glance around seeing where I can help. Riot and Rafe have once again teamed up and are fighting back to back against three men. They don’t need any help. Jensen jumped straight back into the fray despite his arm and is fucking playing with two more. He can end it anytime he wants, he’s just choosing not to. Trick’s handling one of his own, no help needed as he knocks him out cold, the muscles in his arms rippling and momentarily distracting me. Atlas has a ring of downed bodies surrounding him and he looks every bit the dangerous and deadly fucker he appears to everyone else apart from me.
It’s hot as fuck.
Cash has got one fucker in a chokehold, I’m about to intervene as a guy charges at him but without breaking his hold, he whips out his gun and takes two shots shooting the charging fuck in the knee.
Damn.
Luc is wrestling with someone on the floor but smiling at the same time, so I figure he’s good. Alaric is fighting a big fucker but holding his own. That’s everyone accounted for apart from Rage.
My eyes scan the wide space, searching for him. Worry beginning to seep into my senses.