Silver Fire (Guardians) (28 page)

“Don’t hurt her!” Sophie shouted angrily, momentarily forgetting her terror.

A man, who looked faintly familiar, leaned into the car and rested one knee on the seat. He looked over her critically as if making sure she was not hurt, then he gently pulled her up. “Finally, my beauty, I have you.”

Sophie felt a chill run through her body as his words disclosed who held her captive.
 
Justin Bishop. A man of many disguises. The man who stole her research. Her stalker. Polly’s killer. She had spoken too soon. Things just got worse.

***

Derek didn’t know how long he was out, but when he woke up, it was like he had consumed an entire bottle of whiskey. He had the hangover from hell. He recognized the industrial looking medical bay at AGS. He got up from a bunk bed and tore off the IV that was giving him some fluids—much help that had been.

When Jack and Maia turned up at his condo, he was barely coherent. The initial adrenaline rush that had helped him fight against the haze wore off and he was left with a very bad trip. There was no question—he had been drugged. His friends immediately whisked him off to AGS and he had passed out. Sophie. The events of the previous night made him flinch. She should be here.
 

He was thankful that the dizziness had subsided, and he could walk steadily. He was still wearing his trousers, but the nurse had removed his dress shirt. Viktor kept a small team on retainer to supervise the medical facility. Odd gunshot wounds, broken bones and other non-life threatening injuries were treated here to keep missions under radar. Dr. Lance Henderson caught him getting up.

“Where do you think you’re going, Lockwood?”

“Sophie, Dr. Leroux,” Derek muttered. “She should be at the bunker.”

“She’s not there,” Maia said behind Lance. “How are you feeling?”

“Worse hangover ever.”

“Have a seat, Derek,” Dr. Henderson said.

Derek did not care for his tone as if he were about to tell him some bad news. But he ignored the doctor when Maia’s words finally sunk in. “What do you mean she’s not there? Where else should she be?”

Maia sighed. “Apparently, after getting everyone all in a panic—we couldn’t get hold of Sophie, Taggart and Beth—we called Stephen. He said Sophie had called him last night and said she and Beth were going away for a few days. They’re taking Taggart, of course.”

“What?” Derek said disbelievingly. “What?” He repeated.
How dare she run away from him?

Not wanting to be ignored any longer, Dr. Henderson firmly guided Derek to a high swivel chair and sat him down.

“Your drug test came back with an alarming cocktail of controlled substances.”

“I knew that, Doc,” Derek said impatiently. So, Layla roofied him. That was the least of his worries right now.
 

“It wasn’t just Rohypnol, there were also traces of Sildenafil citrate.”

“Oh my,” Maia gasped and tried to hide a grin.

Derek glanced sharply at the doctor. “Is that—”

“Viagra.”

“What the fuck?” Derek cursed. What the hell was Layla trying to do? Fuck him to death? Maia started choking with laughter. “I’m not finding this funny, Maia.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Derek said, shifting his attention back to the doctor. “I remembered most of what happened last night. I thought Rohypnol was an amnesiac drug.”

“As I said it’s a blend of different drugs and it appeared to be a specialized dosage. Not something that would have been thrown together in some smoky backroom,” Dr. Henderson explained. “You guys haven’t heard of any new street drug, have you?”

Maia shook her head. “How did Layla get you out of the Manor and back to your condo?”

Derek massaged his throbbing temple. He’d probably have a chat with the condo’s security and give them a piece of his mind. Exhaling deeply, he said, “No fucking clue. She probably roped in one of Daddy’s bodyguards. Anything else, Doc?”

“Take it easy today, take lots of fluids. The Rohypnol is still in your system. If you kept the IV on, the electrolytes would have helped,” Dr. Henderson chided. He walked to the sliding doors. “See you around, Lockwood.”

“Hope not, Doc,” Derek called after him as he glared at Maia who was still trying to contain her laughter.

“If you knew what clusterfuck happened last night, you wouldn’t be laughing,” Derek said tersely.

“Jack and I couldn’t make out your blabbering,” Maia said. “You said Layla was giving you a blowjob and then—”

“Sophie walked in,” Derek said.

“Shit,” Maia said, her face sobering. “That is messed up.”

“Do you know where they went?”

“Stephen didn’t share. He actually didn’t feel like sharing. Obviously, Sophie had explained to him what had happened and they were closing ranks around her. Now, Viktor has to explain Taggart’s absence to the CIA. They’re the ones who hired him from one of our contractors. He should have known better than to have two women talk him into going on a vacation. He should have checked in with AGS. Unfortunately, his phone is not one of ours and if the women convinced him to take the battery out, it’s untraceable.”

Sophie probably turned her big gray eyes on him. If not Sophie, Beth Turner had a way of bulldozing even the toughest of agents. And after witnessing his supposed
douchebaggery,
Sophie definitely had the man’s sympathy.

“Can’t you track the car? It’s AGS issued, right?”

“They’ve taken out the transponder. Found it in a gas station in New Park City.” Maia looked exasperated. “Your girlfriend is a pain in the ass. Couldn’t you just have picked a dumb blonde?”

Derek smiled faintly. His heart ached from missing Sophie desperately.

“Are you pressing charges against Layla?” Maia asked.

“What’s the point? It’ll only end up in the tabloids,” Derek said with distaste. “But she better stay away from me. And if Sophie never forgives me...”

Derek exhaled deeply. Sophie didn’t have a choice. He was not giving her up.
 

***

Sophie studied her room closely. The windows had been boarded up—whether from wear or on purpose she didn’t know. It was a very old house; some of the floorboards were suspect. And the walls permeated with the smell of mold, mildew and tobacco. At least her bed had a new mattress with clean sheets. There were some clothes folded neatly in a corner. The attached bathroom had no running water, instead there was a big drum with an empty bucket beside it. Looked like someone had scrubbed the filth off before she arrived judging by the strong odor of bleach.

The door knob rattled. Sophie tensed as she watched it turn. Justin walked in. He smiled at her, but his smile did not reach his eyes. Sophie might call the smile charming but unfortunately, right now, it made her skin crawl. “How are you, my dear?”

“Look, I don’t know what you want from me,” Sophie said. “But I really need to know how my friend is.”

“Ms. Turner is fine. And she won’t be harmed if—”

“If?”

“If you do exactly as I tell you.”

Sophie sucked in a breath and trembled slightly.
 
Justin frowned and moved into the room. When he raised a hand to touch her face, she flinched. His mouth tightened as he dropped his hand.
 

“I won’t hurt you, my sweet Sophie.”

“But you would hurt my friend.”

“To keep you in line.”

“What? What are you going to do to me?” Sophie was almost afraid to ask.

Justin eyes drifted to the bed behind her and she swallowed hard.
No, please no, kill her now,
Sophie prayed.

“You know what I want,” Justin murmured as he stepped closer.
 

Sophie tried a different tactic so she glared at him. “I think I know what you want,” she said icily. “But what if it’s not what I want.”

Justin’s face was impassive, but the the twitching in his jaw revealed his anger. He firmly grasped Sophie’s chin and said, “There is some mulishness about you I need to tame. This challenge you present will give me great pleasure.”

“I am not challenging you.”

He smirked as he walked to the door. “Morgan, you can bring it in.”

The big man called Morgan walked in, carrying two buckets of steaming water. He went to the bathroom and proceeded to pour them into a big rain bucket that stood in the shower.

“You’ll have to excuse the facilities, my dear,” Justin murmured as Morgan left the room. His eyes swept the length of her body. “Now, strip.”

“Not on your life,” Sophie said indignantly.

Justin stalked toward her and yanked her hair, causing her to yelp. He was only slightly taller than her, so they were almost eye to eye.
 

“You said you wouldn’t hurt me,” Sophie whispered to him.

“I define the limits of what is considered ‘hurt.’ I am merely disciplining you,” Justin said and without another word, he tore off the front of her blouse, sending buttons flying everywhere. Sophie screamed, Justin released her. His face turned red, his fists balled at his sides.
 

“Now—Strip!” he roared.

Sophie started dry-sobbing, she was shaking so hard as she started to peel off her clothing. She left her bra and panties on.

“Everything,” Justin said and his eyes started flaring with lust. Sophie twisted a little and unhooked her bra. Before she knew it, Justin was before her as his gaze ran down the length of her body.

“You are beautiful,” he murmured. He ran the pad of his thumb against one nipple as he sucked in a breath. He kneeled in front of her, kissing her just below her belly button. Sophie squeezed her eyes shut as she felt him kiss lower and lower and then he stopped. He threaded his fingers through her panties and pulled them down, helping her step out of them.

He stood up and started nuzzling her neck, nipping her shoulder and inhaling her scent. He cupped her bare breasts and squeezed lightly. When his lips reached her ear, he kept them there for a while before exhaling deeply. “Go clean up, Sophie, before the water gets cold.”

Without another word,
 
Justin turned around and left the room.

***

“I’m really not up for company,” Derek sighed when Jack came through the door, holding a bag of Chinese takeout. He had been nursing his hangover all day and just when he thought he was over it,
 
Jack buzzed him on the intercom telling him he had brought a migraine-inducing dinner.

“Chinese food isn’t exactly the best remedy for a hangover you know,” Derek continued when Jack ignored him and prowled into the kitchen.

“My wife is working on a Sunday,” Jack told him. “Your woman is on vacation because she’s pissed at you. Wait. No. She’s probably planning your funeral because she caught you with your dick in another woman’s mouth.” Jack shuddered dramatically. “I’m really feeling sorry for you man.”

“Are you?” Derek asked sarcastically. He was still not finding this funny even if his friends apparently did.
 

“Yeah. That’s why I’m keeping you company. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to cook for shit and since Maia is busy, I brought take-out,” Jack replied as he shoved a container of food at him. “Get me a beer, will you?”
 

“Don’t want to hurt your feelings man, but I’d really prefer Sophie’s company to yours right now,” Derek said. He couldn’t get the scene from last night out of his head. Sophie’s face cringing at what she had seen was forever etched in his mind, as he was certain the scene of him and Layla together was stamped in hers. He needed her to be here. He needed to know that they were going to be okay, that they could get past this.

“You need to let her calm down,” Jack said, reading his mind correctly.

“The crazy thing is, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Derek countered. “She needs to know what happened. I don’t want her overanalyzing if she was enough woman for me or why we weren’t having sex—”

“No sex?” Jack frowned. “Are you sure Sophie and you are—”

“She wanted to take it slow, I obliged,” Derek explained. “And it damned near killed me with as much blue balls that gave me.”

“Hell, you didn’t even need Viagra then—”
 

“I have no need for Viagra,” Derek cut in. “I can get it up, no problem.”

Jack chuckled as he scooped some shrimp fried rice into his mouth with chopsticks. For the first time that day, Derek felt ravenous.

Jack’s phone buzzed and by the way his friend’s face lit up, Derek knew it was Maia calling.
 

“Hey, babe,” Jack answered and then he frowned. “Sure.” He pressed the button for speaker phone.

“Derek?”

“What’s up, Maia?”

“I have some bad news. Some hikers found a body in the Shenandoah Valley National Park. It’s Taggart.”

“What are you saying?” Derek rasped. His heart just sunk to his gut or shot through his throat. Whatever. What he was feeling was as confusing as Maia’s words. What did she mean? Where was Sophie?
Who the fuck was with Sophie then?

“Two shots, one in the head, one in the neck,” Maia said. “We found the AGS car parked at one of the motels near the Blue Ridge Parkway. Left side smashed. It looked like they were forced off the road. Driver side window broken. They must have shot Taggart while he was down.”

“Sophie. Maia, what about Sophie?” Derek asked hoarsely. “Does anyone know where the fuck she is?”

“We retrieved their cellphones from the car. Derek, there’s something else.”

“For god’s sakes, Maia!” His patience was wearing thin.
Where the fuck was Sophie?
His mind screamed
.

“Derek, you need to calm down—”

“Fucking tell me!” Derek roared.
 

“Sophie received a text message from Christopher Blackstone right before 11:00 p.m. Two pictures of you and Layla in an intimate position.”

“A set-up?” Derek whispered incredulously, already putting some puzzle pieces together in his head. “Are you telling me this was a set-up?”

“A very elaborate set-up. Whoever planned this was a master manipulator. I think we need to bring Layla in for questioning.”

“Do it.”

“It might be easier if we can charge her with something.”