Elite Metal-ARE-epub (38 page)

“Let me break this down for you, Beth.” Poppy took her own chair behind the desk and smoothed back an imaginary hair from her face. “When Ant embarked on this unauthorized mission to retrieve you, he unknowingly set a series of players into motion who are associated with our known enemies.”

“I didn’t ask for him to come after me. In fact, until I saw him in that bar the other night, I thought he was dead.”

“That’s still true. The man you might have known is dead, but obviously he’s very much alive and apparently still beholden to his past. Which brings to question what Ant’s loyalty to you means for us. Tell me, Beth, what exactly is your relationship with Brandon Chesterfield?”

Whether the blonde knew it or not, the question was like a slap in the face. No way did she want to admit the truth to these two women. “Girlfriend,” she mumbled.

“Are you in love with him?”

“No.”

“So you’re after his money?” Copper asked.

“No,” she answered vehemently.

“Then it must be the sex.” Copper nodded. “In my experience, a women is only with a guy for love, money, or sex. So what, does he have a foot-long cock and knows how to use it?”

“Copper, please. We don’t need examples from your sexual history.”

“At least my history involves actual men and not battery-operated equipment,” she shot back.

Poppy rolled her eyes and turned her gaze back to Beth. “Then is Chesterfield in love with you?”

“Ha.” She laughed so hard, she snorted. “I’m just another whor—thing to Brandon. One more employee on the payroll.”

“An employee? Then what are the details of your job?” Copper asked in a flippant tone.

“To suck cock and look pretty,” she snapped. “Happy now?”

“Ladies, please.” Poppy slapped her hand on the desk. “Beth, Chesterfield has hired several bounty hunters to find you. These are men who are associates of one of the largest weapons dealers in the world. Why would he do that if there isn’t more between you?”

Bounty hunters? What the hell had Ant gotten her into? “I don’t know. Pride?”

“Think, Beth. Why are you so valuable to Chesterfield?”

“Besides the blow jobs?” Copper murmured with a snicker.

“Why are you here?” Beth shouted.

“Sorry.” She threw up her hands. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“Look.” Beth turned to Poppy. “The truth is my husband died owing Brandon a lot of money, and the only way I could pay it back was by doing things I didn’t want to. It cost me my life as I knew it, and my child.” Tears stung her eyes, but she continued on in as strong of a voice as she could muster. “The threats Brandon made against my daughter are the only reason I stayed. My job is to keep in shape, make my weekly salon appointments, and fuck who he tells me to. I don’t ask questions, I don’t interfere in any way. I don’t know why he’s hired those people to find me. I’m just his—just his whore, and with me gone, my daughter could now be in danger.”

Copper swore under her breath as Poppy’s shoulders lowered. Pity filled her gaze for a moment before she gave a curt nod and her posture straightened.

“You’re not a whore, Beth. You’ve just done the best you could with the shitty hand you were dealt.”

Beth sank back into her seat and stared at the floor, willing for the tightness around her chest to ease. Her relationship with Brandon was one of those realities that was going to take more than compassionate words from a stranger to undo the years of damage spent under his thumb.

“These are the men our operatives caught last night. Do you recognize any of them?” Poppy placed two 5x7 photos in her field of vision.

She focused on the pictures and shook her head.

“What about any of these men?” Poppy laid out three more photos.

No. No. Hey. “That’s Ratcliff.”

“Who?” Poppy held up the third photo. “This man?”

“Yes.”

“This man’s name is Korovin.”

“Maybe to you, but I know him as Ratcliff. Or at least knew. I heard he was killed recently.”

“And you actually met this man?”

“Yes. He would come by the house once or twice a year to meet with Brandon.”

“What did they talk about?”

“They never discussed business in front of me.”

“You must have heard something. Names, locations.”

“I told you, my job was to entertain. There wasn’t a whole lot of shop talk going on.”

“I told you this was a waste of time,” Copper said. “We’re going to need more info than Korovin liked to take women up the ass.”

“Actually,
he
was the one who liked to be taken up the ass.”

Copper’s eyes rounded. “Really?” She tossed her hands in the air and danced in her seat with a laugh. “Oh, that’s so good. You know, I’m starting to like you.”

Poppy cleared her throat. “Beth, I think you know more than you realize. Already you’ve given us another one of Korovin’s aliases we didn’t know about. Look over these photos. See if you recognize any other names or faces. Maybe something will jog your memory. I’m thinking you know more about Chesterfield’s contacts than you should, and he doesn’t want anyone to find you.”

“And what about my daughter?”

“I’m certain Ant has already begun the search for her.”

“Beth!”

She turned her head to see Ant kick the door open and stumble into the room with his bosses following.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she jumped to her feet.

“Are you all right?” He grabbed her by the arms and hauled her into a bear hug. “Have they tortured you?”

“Not really.” The words came out muffled as her mouth was crushed against his chest. “Unless you count being subjected to too much sassy attitude.”

“None of you are allowed to touch a hair on my girl’s head,” he growled and pointed a finger at the women. “Understand?”

Copper stood and stretched as if she were a big jungle cat lazing in the sun. “Relax, Wonder Boy. She’s holding her own.” She walked up to Ant and patted his cheek. “I approve.”

As she walked out of the room, she called over her shoulder. “I’m starving. Who else is hungry? I swear I could eat a bushel full of fire-roasted cobras right now.”

“Is she for real?” Beth whispered in Ant’s ear.

“Unfortunately, yes.” He tilted up her chin to look into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Of course.” She stepped out of his embrace. “I’m not completely helpless.”

“I didn’t say you were. But Copper is not exactly…normal. I’d ask anyone who was trapped in the same room with her.”

“It’s true,” Steele added. “That woman is scary. But not as scary as
that
one.” He pointed at Poppy.

“Funny,” she responded in a tone as dry as a martini. “Ant, why don’t you both get something to eat? Beth, I’ll meet you here in an hour and we’ll start to go through the list of Ratcliff’s associates.”

“Who’s Ratcliff?” Ant asked.

Poppy broke into the first real smile Beth had seen from her. “Korovin. But Beth knew him as Ratcliff. I can’t wait to see who else she knows and by what name.”

He turned to her in surprise. “Seriously? You knew him?”

“Brandon introduced me to a lot of people. Remember, he was well connected.”

His mouth tightened, and she saw the question he wanted to ask her in his blue eyes. The mere thought of expounding on just how well she knew this Korovin made her ill.

She twirled on her foot and headed for the door. “Do you think Copper would take me seriously if I asked her to cook me up some cobra?”

* * * * *

Four hours later, Ant was ready to tear the roof down around them. In comparison to his stormy emotions, Beth looked like the seasoned professional. She took her time, studying each photo and rap sheet, creating family trees of who knew whom within Red Wolf’s organization. At least, as far as she knew. Most of the information she relayed they were already aware of, but Beth was able to fit together a few more pieces to the puzzle.

Besides the two of them, Steele, Poppy, and Steele’s girlfriend Alayna were in the command room. As the strategic team asked Beth questions, Ant and Alayna entered the information into their databases, building up the web of information they had gathered on Red Wolf. Each time Beth gave the details of her encounters, he’d catch her casting glances in his direction before answering in full, unedited honesty. As more information was revealed, the jagged edge of his failures tore through his gut with bull-like strength.

Because of him, she was forced to relive the most degrading parts of her past, in front of an audience, no less.

He bit the inside of his cheek so hard, blood coated his tongue as the questioning went on and on. Beth began to sink deeper in her chair, her shoulders slumping until she curled into herself and wrapped her arms around her waist.

“Can we stop, please?” he asked as Beth’s eyes glazed over. It was as if she had retreated into her mind to protect herself from the past and only her voice was still active. “You’ve asked her the same questions over and over again. She’s told you all she knows.”

Steele shook his head. “There’s still something missing. While the new intel is great, I wouldn’t say it was enough to launch a manhunt for her return. Beth has information Chesterfield wants to keep to himself. We just have to figure out what it is.”

“Then figure it out tomorrow. We all have other projects we can be working on. Let her go and maybe more will come once she’s rested.” He glanced back at Beth and swallowed hard against the lump lodged in his throat.

With her body curled in and eyes downcast, she appeared as if she were a naughty child being forced to confess her sins before the priest. He guessed in some ways, she was. Only this time the clergy were former Marines whose sins weighed far heavier than hers ever could.

The determined frown on Steele’s face gave his answer before he opened his mouth, but he stayed silent when Alayna placed her hand on his chest. “We’ll leave it for now and pick it up tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

Before Steele had a chance to override his girl’s opinion, Ant took Beth by the hand and led her out into the hall.

“Sunshine? Sunshine, baby girl.” He rubbed her cold hands between his palms. “Tell me what I can do to make you smile. Beth? Beth.”

“What?” She blinked and looked around the hall as if she were surprised to be there. Her glance fell onto their clasped hands, and she pulled away. “Are we done?”

“Yeah. We’re done. Hey, let’s grab a carton of ice cream and some spoons and head back to our cabin. I’ll draw you a bath and we can see if it can fit both of us. How does that sound?”

“
Our
cabin?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, um.” She swallowed and looked all around as if searching for a way to escape. “I’d rather take a walk. By myself.”

“Sunshine, I’m not going to let you walk around the compound by yourself yet. You don’t know where all of the defenses are. I’d hate to have you trip a wire on accident.”

She backed down the hall. “I just want to be alone.”

The way her hands fluttered and her gaze swept wildly around the room reminded him of cornered livestock. She was ready to bolt.

“Beth, honey. I know it’s been a really trying day. But it’s too dangerous to walk around until you learn the lay of the land.”

“I need air,” she gasped and ran to door after door, trying the doorknobs and stifling a sob when they refused to open. “I need heat.”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll take you out and not say a word.” His mouth objected to what he was about to say next, but he forced the rest out. “I won’t even touch you. I just want to make sure you don’t get hurt. Come on. Follow me.”

He led her out of the bunker and through the garage and into the fading Texas sunshine. Instantly, sweat started to collect along his hairline, and the air felt as if it had been sucked right out his lungs. “Africa hot” was what his mother called this type of weather, and having been to Africa, he knew that wasn’t far off the mark. Inside with the air conditioning blasting was where they should be, or better yet, in that bath he wanted, but Beth clearly needed to feel in control of something, and to walk with her was a small concession.

“Stay close by me, sunshine. Cobalt placed pressure alarms all over to alert us to any incomings. I don’t want you step on one by accident.”

The only indication she gave that she heard him was to sway in his direction. Otherwise, she kept her focus facing forward, though he sensed she didn’t see what was in front of her.

He led her to the river and the rows of pine trees shading the shoreline. With each step, the band around his chest squeezed tighter and tighter. Several times, he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, then he’d shut his trap. Really, what did he know about women besides the basics he needed to get his job done? He never allowed a woman to get close enough to him to understand the hows and whys of their thought process. Hell, he grew up in a house of seven men and a mother who doted on their every wish. It didn’t take a genius to realize the processing going on in Beth’s hard drive at that moment was so far into the advanced level, he’d need a doctorate to begin to comprehend the data.

The river took a slight bend to the right, and the stand of trees grew thicker. His ears picked up a slight cracking sound, followed by a low moan. The sounds repeated a second time, and then a third.

At first he thought he was imagining things, then he noticed that Beth had stopped walking and cocked her head in the direction of the noise.

She inched deeper into the brush and he followed. The sounds grew louder and louder and his muscles tensed as he recognized the moans as being human and female.

Instinct took over, and he pulled Beth behind him. “Stay back. This may be a trap.”

He lowered his hand to the knife he kept at his side and withdrew it from its sheath. Keeping to the shadows caused by the setting sun, he crept closer, only to pause when he heard the husky sound of a manly chuckle. He parted the brush and felt his eyes about fall out of his head as he took in the sight before him.

Seeing his commander’s naked ass was shocking enough, but coupled with the vision of his girlfriend Cammie, equally naked, and tied spread-eagled between two trees made his jaw hit the ground.