Next to Always: Shattered Innocence Trilogy Book Two (35 page)

“Thanks,” she said as she took the key from him. “So what’s the plan?”

“Sly and Hawk are going to scan the area and let us know what our next move would be. It shouldn’t take them too long. In the meantime, we’re going to hang out. We don’t want to draw any attention. If you’re hungry, I can send one of the guys to get you something,” Richard stated.

“Why can’t we just get something to eat at a café or something?” Dylan questioned.

“We can’t risk being seen. If Chloe’s here, we can’t take a chance running into her. It’s better if we stay inside. I’m in the room next to yours. If you need anything, let me know.” Richard knew the only two people that Chloe would recognize was Dylan and himself. They needed to stay out of sight. The last thing he needed was for her to spot them and take off.

Dylan unlocked her door and stepped inside the room. The furnishings were old. The room could use some major remodeling. Burnt orange and lime green were not her colors of choice. Her only relief was that the room was clean and had running water. Setting her bag on the bed, she stepped into the bathroom and stripped off her clothing. She needed a shower. Waking up early this morning denied her time to take one. Turning on the water, she waited for the water to turn from a rusty brown to clear. “Sick,” she said, crinkling her nose. “Guess they don’t get very many out of town guests.” Stepping over the lip of the tub, Dylan pulled the curtain closed. The water was only a lukewarm temperature, but when it came out of the shower head, it felt more like ice cold. “Guess they don’t count on people taking showers, either,” she assumed. Working as fast as she could, she washed her hair, conditioned, and shaved in less than ten minutes. If she was tired before, she wasn’t now.

Dylan took the rough towel and began rubbing her hair dry. She wished she had remembered her blow dryer. Giving up on drying her hair, she grabbed her bag and pulled out a pair of yoga pants and t-shirt. She knew she had to stay in her room, so she decided to at least get comfortable. Sitting on her bed, she turned on the TV and began fumbling through the channels. Nothing appealed to her.

Staring at the TV, she began thinking about Rade. She thought about how his lips felt on hers when they kissed. How he commanded her body when they made love. The way his mouth felt on her breasts. The way he held her hands above her head when he entered her. Moving her hand lower, she slipped it under her yoga pants. She could feel the heat between her folds. With her index finger, she slid between her wet folds. Closing her eyes, it was Rade touching her. She could feel his warm, gentle hands. Increasing her movement, Dylan dropped her hand lower, pushing two of her tiny fingers inside her wet channel. Pumping her fingers in and out, she moved her other hand across her firm breasts, using her fingers to rub her nipples between them. Bringing her middle finger to her lips, she slid it into her mouth, making it wet with her saliva. Placing her wet finger on her taut nipple, she circled her nipple as she continued moving her fingers in and out of her vagina. Her breathing began to deepen as her climax began taking hold. Reaching her release, Dylan opened her eyes that were now filled with tears. Pulling her knees to her chest, she cried his name. Her emotions took over until she had nothing left. When her last tear was shed, her eyes closed. A deep intake of air was the last sound she made as she fell into a deep, dark sleep.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Dylan heard a light knock on the door. Getting up from the bed, she said, “Just a minute.” She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep. It was dark outside. When she opened the door, Richard was standing before her with two bags. She could smell fried food. Moving back, she allowed him to enter the room. Richard placed the two bags on the small table that was nestled in the corner of the room

“I thought you might want something to eat,” Richard said.

“What time is it?” Dylan asked as she pulled out a chair from the table.

“It’s almost eight o’clock,” Richard stated.

Just as Dylan pulled the Styrofoam container from the brown paper bag, there was another knock at her door. This time Richard got up to answer.

Pulling the door open, Sly, Hawk and Peter stood in the doorway. Richard stepped aside so the men could enter. He wasn’t expecting them so soon. He only hoped they had good news for him.

“I hope you have good news for us,” he said as he looked at each man.

The men took their place on Dylan’s bed. Richard sat in the chair next to Dylan. Peter remained standing, leaning his rock-hard body against the door.

“Looks like there is one, maybe two people we have to deal with. There’s only one car in the driveway,” Sly began. “It was hard seeing through the curtains, but I could make out a man tied to the bed. I am assuming it was Mr. Matheson. He looked to be alive, but pretty beat up. Not sure where his captors were. The layout of the house made it difficult to get a good eye on how many others were in the house.”

“So what’s our next move?” Richard asked.

“We're going to wait till after midnight to zero in on the house. This will give us a better chance in taking out his assailants. They won’t expect an ambush.”

“Why can’t you go in now?” Dylan cried. “Wouldn’t it be better than to wait until something bad happens to him?”

“Dylan, I know you are worried and want him out as quickly as possible, but you have to understand, we need to wait until they can be taken off guard. Whoever is in the house will be resting and their guard will be down. If we try now, we risk the chance of them hurting him,” Hawk explained.

The three men left Dylan’s room, making her feel sick. She shoved the food in front of her away. She could no longer eat. All she wanted to do was go up to that house and beat the shit out of whoever had Rade. She was pretty certain it was Alex and Chloe. It would be her pleasure to get her chance with that evil bitch.

Richard knelt beside Dylan’s chair. He took her hand and squeezed it. “Dylan, you need to have faith in these men. They know exactly what they’re doing. They aren’t going to let anything happen to Mr. Matheson.”

Dylan looked at Richard with worry. “I’m scared for him, Richard. What if something bad happens?”

“Nothing bad is going to happen to him. They won’t let it,” Richard assured her.

Dylan tried to have faith in the men and what Richard said. With everything that was happening, she had a hard time believing anything. The only thing she knew for sure was her feelings for Rade. She loved him with everything she had. He had her heart.

It was close to midnight and Peter’s men were getting ready to head out. All the equipment was tested and retested to make sure nothing would go wrong. Their plan was to park the F-150 and the Rubicon about a mile from the house and walk in the rest of the way. They each had night vision goggles so they would be able to see what was going on in the house. The best scenario would be for Rade’s captors to be resting and oblivious to their attack. Nine times out ten that usually was just wishful thinking.

As the two vehicles pulled out of the parking lot, Dylan looked out the window as the tires left a cloud of dust as they drove off. Richard had settled on Dylan’s bed, trying to make himself comfortable while he waited for news that they rescued Rade. Peter left them with a long-range military walkie-talkie so he could keep them informed of what was happening. Hopefully they would have news sooner than later.

*****

Peter and his men were almost to the house. Sly, Hawk and Mike veered to the right, while Cop and Ash continued ahead. Peter, Ryan and Lou took the left. The area around the house was woodsy. It was hard to get a good take on the house with the high trees. When they came closer to the house, they could see a faint light coming from inside. Peter arrived at the front of the house, fist signaling his men to hold back.. He perched low on the wooden porch as he made it to the front window. With his body crouched lower, he turned and pressed his body against the cool brick. Lifting upward, he slightly turned his head and took a quick look inside. There was no movement except for the flames from the fireplace. Taking another quick look, he saw movement inside. It was only a shadow. He signaled for Sly and Lou to go around the right side of the house.

When he knew they were in position he asked, “Anything?”

“That’s a negative, Cap,” Sly replied. “Wait, got movement.”

“How many?” Peter asked.

“One, male,” Sly confirmed.

Peter focused on his other men as he directed them to the other side of the house. On his command, Cop and Hawk headed for the left side of the house. There was only one window on that side. Hawk knew it was the bedroom where they were holding Rade. Pressing his body as close to the brick wall, he rotated his head and looked in the window. It was dark in the room so he lowered his night vision goggles and looked again. Rade was still on the bed. His hands and feet were restrained. Pulling his walkie talkie out he gave Peter his twenty.

“Cap… Matheson located,” Hawk said.

“Good, Stay put. Heading to the rear,” Peter confirmed.

Peter quietly made his way from the front porch to the back of the house. He instructed Ash and Ryan to keep watch on the front. Mike was busy dismantling the Lexus parked in the driveway.

Reaching the back of the house, Peter scanned the area. Everything was quiet. The back door was half glass, half wood, so Peter was able to get a visual on the inside. Creeping up to the door, he quickly looked inside, only to see no one in sight. This was good news. The only two people they were able to get a visual on were an unknown male and Rade.

“Lou, what’s your twenty?” Peter asked.

“Front, no movement,” Lou confirmed.

“Sly, twenty?” Peter questioned

“Unknown male in kitchen. Armed with forty-five,” Sly confirmed.

“Hawk. Twenty?” Peter asked.

“Eyes on Matheson, Restrained, but okay,” Hawk acknowledged.

“Entering in three counts, wait one, then enter,” Peter ordered

“Affirmative,” Sly countered

“Affirmative,” Hawk said.

“Affirmative,” Lou said.

“Three, two, one,” Peter counted and entered the house.

Alex heard the breaking of glass coming from the back of the house. He grabbed his gun and slowly headed down the narrow hallway. It was dark except for the light from the fireplace. He couldn’t see a thing, but he knew someone was there.

“I’ve got a gun, motherfucker. You better show yourself or I’ll shoot,” Alex yelled.

“You’re surrounded. Please drop your weapon,” Peter ordered.

“No fucking way, asshole,” Alex yelled back.

There was more glass breaking, but this time it came from the front of the house. Alex still couldn’t see, even with the light from the fire. He followed his instincts and began firing his gun towards where the front door was. He must have hit someone because he heard a loud thud.

“Take that, asswipe,” Alex shouted.

There were more shots being fired all around Alex, but he could see where they were coming from. He lowered his body to the floor, thinking that his chances were better. Just when he was on the way down, he felt the sting of a bullet hit his stomach. Then felt another hit his shoulder. Alex fell to the floor when another bullet hit him in the neck. Blood was spewing from every bullet hole. With one last-ditch effort he rose from the floor and started shooting. More bullets hit his body, but he continued firing until his magazine was emptied. He took what little breath he had and mumbled, “Assholes.”

Peter was the first to get to Alex’s limp body. Shining the light on him, he could see that Alex must have been shot at least ten times. His body looked like a pin cushion. Lou walked up to Peter holding his right arm.

“You’re shot,” Peter said as he looked at Lou.

“Yeah, gonna need some attention, Cap. Looks like this guy got the worst of it though,” Lou stated.

“Yeah, I hate when there are casualties. He should have dropped his weapon,” Peter confessed as he reached for his walkie-talkie to give his men his last order. “Stand down, men. Sly, Hawk, secure the parameter.”

“Parameter secure. All clear,” Sly confirmed.

“Affirmative. All clear,” Hawk stated.

Peter walked to where Rade was being held. The door was partially opened. Cautiously he pushed the door open with his foot and scanned the room. There was no one else in the room but Rade. Rade looked up at Peter.

“About time you showed up,” Rade stated. “Did you get Alex Moreno, aka David Wu?”

“Yes, sir. He won’t be a problem anymore,” Peter said.

Peter walked over to Rade and untied his restraints. He looked down on Rade noticing his condition. “Sir, do you have any clothes?” Peter asked.

“I did. Not sure where they are though,” Rade explained.

“Not a problem, sir. We’ll get you fixed up. Was there anyone else other than Mr. Moreno?” Peter inquired.

“I’m not sure. Can’t remember a whole lot. He kept me drugged most of the time,” Rade confessed.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Peter said as he helped Rade stand to his feet.

*****