Bent (The Gifted Series) (26 page)

              “No.” Reagan’s response was sympathetic.  They all knew Carter’s attachment to her went deep.  Marnie even questioned if Mr. Free-and-easy Carter might be in love.  Her eyes cut to Sam and she mentally cursed at the possibility that she felt the faint bite from the love-bug, herself.     

 
"Better make this convincing," Sam muttered, jostling Marnie from her love-struck drama. Sam circled his face with his hand. "No one's going to believe me if you don't do some damage."

 
"True," Mattis nodded, rounding his desk.

 
Crack
!
 
Mattis right connected with Sam's jaw. "That felt good, actually," Mattis mumbled.
 
Sam's head rose, as he panted through the pain.
 
Blood was forming around his lip, but he simply shook it off.
 
"Keep going," he ordered, void of emotion.

 
"Nail the bloke for me," Bowen added over the line before ending the connection.

   
Marnie opened her mouth to protest, but Sam leveled her with an intense stare that screamed 'no', shutting her down.
 
"Again," he said toward Mattis.
 
"They'll expect worse than a fat lip."

   
A combination this time, which sent Sam's chair flying backwards.
 
As he slowly picked himself up off the floor, Mattis stepped forward and landed one to the ribs and another to the face.
 
It took everything Marnie had not to reach out and grab Mattis' arm.

   
It was Reagan who spoke practically. "Looks good, Brett—convincing enough."

   
Mattis nodded at his handy work.
 
"It'll do."

   
Mattis then informed Sam that he'd be on the road in the next thirty minutes, and he and Reagan exited the office.
 

   
Marnie watchfully approached Sam, handing him a tissue.
 
As he dabbed the blood from his lip, keeping his eyes averted, he muttered, "I deserve worse, you know." His tone was so full of self-loathing it made Marnie wince.

   
Marnie nodded slowly, feeling a mix of emotions.
 
"Maybe," she whispered, but then grabbed his hand. "But regardless, let's get you cleaned up."
 
Marnie's insides trembled as the two walked out.
 
She knew Sam was right: he probably did deserve worse.
 
Yet she couldn't fight her all-consuming need to protect him.
 

    *     *     *     *

              The helicopter landed at a private strip just south of Seattle’s downtown.   It had been a somber trip without much chatter but Carter preferred it this way.  In fact, other than a quick text to his mom with an update on his dad, he hadn’t communicated with anyone. 

              “We’re going to find both of them,” Leah said low as she unloaded alongside Carter.

              Carter gave a nod and the two began to walk toward a nearby hanger.  “All I can think about is the hell that Joss endured.  If they do that to Jessie—” His lips tightened. Carter’s insides hadn’t stopped churning since ... well, since before his capture, but his body and mind absolutely brewed with vengeful acid upon hearing the news of his sisters capture, and then Joss taking off was just fuel to the twenty-story fire.  He got why she left, even respected her foolhardy save-the-world moxie, but she couldn’t do this alone.  It was a naive move on her part.

              “It’s not gonna happen, Carter.  We
will
find her.”

              He offered no reply because the only reply dancing around his tongue were mean, irksome remarks, so he just picked up his pace and opened the door, letting Leah pass through.  Just as he entered the modest building, Declan came up behind him and snagged his elbow, guiding him toward a nearby room that looked as though it served as an office. 

              “Can I use this room for a moment?” Declan asked an airport employee, but his fierce gaze and steady pace implied that he would be commanding the room regardless of the answer.

              “Uh ... yeah,” the employee cautiously replied, hustling out of the way.

              Declan didn’t release Carter’s arm until the two were inside the office and the door was borderline slammed shut.  “I want answers, Carter, and I want them now.  What the hell happened between you and my cousin?  You know why she took off, and it’s more than her 'wanting to give herself up' without our consent.  This goes deeper.”

              Absently, he rubbed the achy lump along the side of his head—his love bump, so to speak.

              “I’m waiting.” Declan’s false calm was waining.

              Carter knew it was time to man-up and stop denying what his heart had claimed: Joss.
 
Joss was his and he’d fight to the death.

              “I love her, Dec.” His head shook as his shoulders shrugged. “I know it seems impulsive and unrealistic given the situation we’d been placed in, but I can’t deny it.  I love her, man.”  A pause as Carter pushed forward with more truths. “And I said some things, Declan—while we were held captive by Landon—I said some hurtful shit.  That’s why she and I treated each other the way we did after our release.”

              Declan took an unconscious step forward, fists clenched. “What’d you do to her?”

              Carter’s eyes closed.  Closed with pain.  “Look Dec, what went down between Joss and I is our story and not for me to share."

 
"I'm struggling to maintain here," Declan gritted.

 
"I get that," Carter replied.
 
He then sighed. "I love you, bro.  You, T, Smits, Marn—all of you in our division are a second family to me, but what went down between Joss and I, stays between she and I.”  Carter reached out and squeezed Declan’s bicep.  “Just believe me when I say that I love her, okay?  And I’d lay down my fucking life for her.”

              Declan considered his words before offering a slow nod then glanced at the side of his head, where Joss had beamed him. “Yeah, and she must love you too, because she’s willing to do the same.” Suddenly, Declan’s finger was in Carter’s chest. “But mark my words: dick my cousin around and, agency-brotherhood or not, I’ll kick yer ass, my friend.  Her attempt to save your sister—as foolhardy as it is—is for
you
!”

              Carter knew this. That Joss went off to risk her own life for him, but he also suspected that she’d do the same thing for a complete stranger.  That was the mettle from which she came.  Damn, he loved her!   “Then help me stop her, Dec.” His voice suddenly cracked, but he didn’t care. The truth needed to spill forth. “I can’t fucking lose her.  She can’t go back to them.  She can’t go back to doin’—” His voice halted as his eyes slammed shut.  Rage, pain, and sadness blended together, leaving him a hot trembling mess.  He finally knew what Tiago went through mere months ago, stressing over Leah—fearing that the Landons would snatch her up.  Hell, he was still stressing over it.  Leah was Landon enemy number one. 

              Carter felt Declan’s hands wrap around his shoulders, jolting him from his thoughts.

              “I understand,” Declan’s words were low, “and call me a puss but I don’t think I can bear know what went down during her captivity.  The pain and humiliation she must have endured—” He stepped away, gazing off at nothing in particular.  “She’s always had a heart of gold, that one.  Even as a young lass, she despised the idea of being gifted; she never wanted to possess any power that could harm another.” He chuckled sadly.  “And look at the power God granted her.  She was a kindhearted spirit who only wanted the traditional norm: a family with three or four kids, a home, and a golden lab named Lucky or Spot, or some damn thing.”  Declan chuckled at the memory.

              A sad smile grew as Carter listened.  Joss‘ dream didn’t sound half bad, except for the dog part.  Carter always wanted bulldogs, one named Smith and the other, Wesson.  A quick rap on the door drew his thoughts to the present. 

              Declan cleared his throat. “Come in.” 

              Tiago walked through.  “We good,” he simply asked, sizing them up.

              Carter swung a loose arm around Declan’s shorter shoulder in a very Carter-like fashion.  “Charm and I are rock solid, T.  So what’s the plan?”

              Tiago continued, “Some of us are camping here for the night, but shields are heading closer to downtown.  We can’t risk our readers being recognized.”

              “So I’m off then.” Declan nodded, heading for the door.  Over his shoulder he said, “Carter, you’ll be the first I contact if I hear from or spot Joss.”

              Carter went all bromance warm inside. The anxiety and fear for his sister and Joss didn’t waver, but hope emerged that together they would find them, and then maybe he and Joss could make a go of it.  This was such a foreign notion to Carter, being tied down to a woman, but he wanted this—with heart and soul he wanted to give Joss her
traditional norm
. “I’ll do the same,” he muttered. 

              Tiago glanced between them again. “Did I miss something? You lead him in here ready to crack skulls and now I’m feelin’ the need to pass around the Kleenex.”

              Declan didn’t skip a beat, shrugging.  “What? Didn’t you know?  Carter’s in love with my cousin.  He and I are as good as kin.”

              Leah’s voice could be heard from the other room. “Yeah ... like
nobody
caught wind of that little revelation weeks ago.” A few others chimed in agreement.

              They exited the office with Tiago scratching his head. “Hmm, I honestly didn’t see it.”

              “Maybe because you weren’t around, Mr. Turn-a-deaf-ear-to-your-love-life,” Marnie mocked but plenty loud enough for everyone to here, which then earned her a middle finger salute from Tiago.

              A chuckle actually escaped Carter.  “And Mattis brags up your intuitive nature.”

              “Not in matters of the heart I don’t,” Mattis replied dryly from a buffet table that they’d quickly turned into an impromptu nerve center.  Mattis chortled, “You’re track record in that area speaks for itself.”

              Tiago guffawed, shaking his head in disbelief, but immediately turned toward Leah.  She held back a snicker and offered a playful wink as she, Marnie, and Smits sorted through the weapons bags.

              “In tune with the fair maidens, you ain’t,” Smits snickered, grabbing extra clips and approaching the door with Declan.

              “Okay!” Tiago boomed for all to hear, “I get it.  I suck at relationships, and I should be giving daily thanks to the powers that be for the woman across the room.”

              Through her laughter, Leah blew Tiago a kiss, and Smits along with everyone else chuckled aloud as he and Declan headed toward the door. “We’ll be in touch,” Smits added before they ducked out.

Chapter 17

Joss hopped out of the SUV she’d taken from the agency, reflexively stretching stiff shoulders from the long drive.  A drive that provided plenty of time to think, strategize, and fill her head with regret.  She wasn’t one hundred percent sold that she could pull this off but wasn’t exactly left with multiple options.  One thing was for certain, she had to make contact with the agency.  She felt no regret for leaving Carter the way she did, but she wasn’t daft enough to believe that she could manage this on her own.  Someone had to retrieve Jessie; the poor girl couldn’t be left stranded in Seattle.  Although, if this girl was anything like her brother, then she’d fare on her own.

              She sauntered into a Seattle’s Best and got in line, eyeing the store’s patrons.  A young women in front of her cursed low, giving her phone an exasperated shake while complaining to her friend that her battery was almost dead.  She dropped the smart phone into a side pocket of her purse, whining about how she was supposed to spend the rest of her day without her
beloved
phone.

              Joss’ eyes rolled.  The hierarchy of needs in some people’s lives were seriously flawed.

              A couple stepped into the shop directly behind her, and she knew this was her moment to make a move and further ruin this young woman’s day.  Just as Joss stepped forward, providing room for them to pass, she cleanly swiped the phone from the purse and slipped it into her hoody pocket.  After placing her order, she eased off to the bathroom. 

              Once inside, her fingers speed punched Declan’s number—it being the only cell number she could remember.

              First ring. “Who’s this?” Declan asked.

              The phone gave warning of the low battery, so Joss went straight to the point.  “No time to talk, Dec. Just listen.”  She then rattled off the time and address where she was to meet Stephan and told them to send backup. A brief pause followed and the phone warned another shut down. Before this could happen, she quickly added, “Declan, this will sound bloody mad, but tell Carter I love him.  I did this for him, and I have not a single regret.”

              “Joss, where are you now?”

              “No time.  Just tell—” A chiming noise sounded and Joss knew the phone had just shut off.  She hastily ran it under the water, mentally apologizing to the whiner out front that just lost her technological appendage.  Then she dumped it in the garbage before leaving the bathroom.

              Joss grabbed her coffee and ducked out of the store.  Checking her watch, she realized she had two hours until she was to meet Stephan.  As she took a cautious sip, she glanced upward toward the SUV.  Her heart stopped. There stood Samuel leaning against the vehicle.  In the next instant she felt the invasive pull of the hypnotics.  
No, no
! 
Not yet ... I’m not ready for this
.  But her father’s words filled her thoughts. “Life doesn’t bend to our will, Jossy-girl; we bend to its.”  And she was damn sick and tired of bending to Patrice’s.  The time to end this was near.