Wilde Storm Page 9

  I scratched my nose and whispered into my watch, “Are you getting this?”

  Nothing came back to me, but they’d warned me about this before I went in. Technology, even that of Sherlock’s, wasn’t always a hundred percent reliable. If something went wonky and they discovered I was wearing a wire, there would be hell to pay.

  I sipped my water and waited for my food. By now, those guys were getting along so well, I was getting bored.

  Until they weren’t.

  I can’t tell you exactly how I knew the tables turned away from Gwynne’s favor. Perhaps it was the look in the older gentleman’s eyes. Interest flared to suspicion. He whispered something harshly to Gwynne. She looked taken aback, but scrambled to open her purse and dump the contents on the table. Unsatisfied, he pawed through her things, yanked her purse away, and felt through the inside of it and around the seams. There was a slight lull in the noise level of the restaurant, but it stabilized quickly. Perhaps its patrons were used to terrified young women getting their things rifled through.

  My waitress brought over my potstickers at the worst possible time. She stepped right in front of me, obstructing my view. For the next few seconds, I heard raised voices, a couple shouts, and when I was finally able to look around her, two young men were dragging a terrified Gwynne out of public view and through the doors of the kitchen.

  “You need anything else?” the woman asked me.

  I shook my head. She finally left me to my own devices and I calculated the odds of being able to slip into the kitchen and follow behind them unseen.

  Low. Very low.

  I watched as the other men in suits settled back in, laughed at someone’s jokes, and went back to normal, as if two thugs hadn’t dragged a pretty young thing off to the back. Just a few weeks ago, I’d been sitting at my house eating rocky road out of the tub and Netflixing until I needed a chiropractor visit. I wanted to get out here as soon as I could without drawing suspicion. I cut and ate three of the dumplings as swiftly as I could and motioned the waitress over for my check. I paid in cash, took a long sip of water, gathered my purse, and headed out the door.

  One quick glance behind me told me no one was following me, so I slipped around the side of the building and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dimness of the light.

  Watson stepped out, followed by Aaron.

  “They dragged her out. Through the kitchen. I couldn’t follow without blowing my cover.”

  Aaron’s mouth was a grim slash across his face. “Let’s go around back.”

  We crept quietly, avoiding the trash and various other disturbing items strewn around our path. Once we made it to the back door, Aaron tested the knob. It opened easily and he slipped inside. Watson grabbed my hand and tugged me in behind him. It was noisier back here. The sound of high powered dishwashers hummed in the background along with the inane chatter of the wait staff. We kept our heads low and passed by the freezer.

  Watson stopped and quietly opened it. “It’s possible there’s some kind of door through there.”

  I personally was all about not freezing my ass off if I could help it.

  Aaron nodded, but kept heading away from the cooking area. Smart move. It was where the most people were. If the thugs moved her somewhere, they would probably have to walk right by them, which told us all where their loyalties lay. We wouldn’t be able to ask them any questions and we’d be lucky to get out of here alive if they caught us. I watched as Aaron crept around the restaurant with stealth and speed. He had to have blueprints of the place, otherwise he wouldn’t have known where the hell to go.

  We followed behind until we came to a nondescript gray wall. I stood up straighter. “Aaron,” I hissed, “do not get us trapped in here! Do you know where you’re going?”

  Aaron raised a hand to shush me. I clamped my lips together and promised the next time I could smack him without fear of imminent death I would. I watched as he leaned closer to the wall and placed his ear against one stone, then another, then another. He paused at one, moved to another, and so on and so forth until I was ready to scream in impatience. We were standing in an area where anyone who walked by would see us. If we were going to do something, we needed to do it quickly.

  Aaron leaned one cheek against the stone, raised one of his hands and pressed it down. He stumbled when a door swung open right in front of his face.

  “I’ll be damned,” Watson whispered under his breath.

  To Aaron’s credit, he didn’t gloat. He stepped inside and headed down the staircase with us right behind him. I startled and gripped the back of Watson’s shirt when the false stone door swung behind me and shut, plunging us into almost total darkness. As my eyes adjusted, I noticed tiny lights about every twenty or so stairs. It made seeing difficult, but not impossible. Aaron turned back to us and lifted a finger in a shushing motion. We would do our best, but putting three people in a dimly lit stone staircase isn’t the quietest thing. There were sounds of breathing, shoes scuffing the stairs, and other miscellaneous noises. And we were trained for crying out loud. Imagine someone normal trying to come down these steps. It would sound like a herd of buffalo.

  But we kept plodding along anyway, trying to stifle all sounds.

  A minute or so later, we came to the bottom. Aaron stopped and looked around. His jaw was tense and tight and his eyes darted around like someone would jump out and attack him at any moment—which wasn’t actually too much of a leap to consider.

  At minimum, these guys were armed. Anyone could get a good shot in when bullets were being sprayed any and everywhere. I just hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Not that we were supposed to interfere. But what would Aaron do if he saw his sister harmed? I didn’t think I would be able to bite my tongue and watch someone I loved being hurt.

  I began to think we’d made a terrible mistake coming here. It was a good lead, but the consequences of it could be dire.

  Aaron started walking again and we trailed slowly after him. Moments later, raised voices carried through the stone corridor. “Twenty-four hours. Not a second more. Do we understand each other?”

  A feminine sniff. A watery voice.

  “I’m glad we’re in agreement.”

  A door opened and Gwynne stumbled out of a room. We all stepped back against the wall to avoid being seen.

  So, she was alive. This was good news.

  She was not undamaged, though. Even in the dim light, I could see the shiner blooming against the left side of her face.

  Aaron tensed beside me. I rested my hand over his and tried to put some comfort in the squeeze I gave it. I watched as Gwynne righted herself. If I expected her to be sobbing uncontrollably, she squashed all my thoughts about that. She straightened, wiped one arm over her face and hand, and stalked forward into the night. When we were sure no one else was leaving the room behind her, we hurried, trying to catch her. If I thought the staircase had been dark, it had nothing on this hallway. I couldn’t see a hand in front of my face. Why in the hell had Gwynne gone in here?

  A cool breeze on the bottom of my legs gave me pause. There had to be an exit here. It was the only explanation. I could still hear her shoes tapping against the floor, but they paused every so often and I heard something, perhaps a palm of a hand sliding across the stone and tapping.

  If this were Gwynne, this was not her first visit. She had some explaining to do to Aaron if he managed to get her out of this mess alive. I crept forward, following close behind Aaron and Watson until a soft swoosh and gust of air alerted me. I swung my head to the light and tapped Watson. He nodded and steered us all toward it.

  Another whoosh of air and Aaron let out a muffled curse. Gwynne had left us behind and we would have to figure out how to get out of this place because there was no way we could go back through the kitchens. Not now.

  I whispered for Aaron and Watson to touch the stone and feel for a change. Aaron snorted in amusement.

  “A change in temperature,” I clarified. “Colder or warmer than
the other stones. If it were exposed to the elements, it could feel different.”

  I felt Watson reach up beside me. The soft shush shush tones of us touching the rocks around us was almost hypnotic. I felt around and couldn’t tell a difference anywhere. It seemed like it went that way for at least thirty minutes, until Aaron finally blew out a relieved breath. The false door slid open and with it, we were out of the restaurant and back into the night.

  Where, I couldn’t exactly tell you, but not in that restaurant—and that was a relief.

  We heard rather than saw the door shut behind us and in that moment, I sagged against Watson, grateful he was here with me.

  “This explains why you never saw her leave,” I said.

  “But it doesn’t explain her absence,” he said. His gaze wandered around frantically, trying to spot his sister. But she was a ghost, almost as if she had never been there at all. I looked around at where we were and realized it wasn’t anywhere close to the restaurant. Whoever had built those tunnels underneath had done a hell of a job. We were at least a mile and a half away, possibly two. “We need these back at the compound,” I said.

  Watson laughed. “Do you really think we don’t already have these?” he asked, his tone laced with amusement.

  I sighed in annoyance. “Can’t you just let me have this one thing? Just one thing?”

  His eyes glittered. “You don’t want me to answer that.”

  He was right. I didn’t. At least not in mixed company.

  Aaron cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Shall we try to pick up the trail?”

  Watson shook his head. “Let’s mark these coordinates and come back to try to catch up with her tomorrow. If we wait here, she won’t expect it.”

  “Plus, she’ll be alone,” Aaron added. “I’m pretty sure she won’t shoot me.”

  “Pretty sure?” I asked

  “She was mighty angry when we parted.”

  “Well, as long as she shoots only you and no other innocent parties, I think we’re good.”

  “Thanks for your loyalty,” he quipped.

  “My pleasure.”

  Watson rolled his eyes and blinked out of existence. I really needed to learn how to do that. He didn’t even need his DAR and I still used mine as a crutch. I set mine to the time and date we left and gave a little finger wave to Aaron. “Till tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow it is. Farewell, lovely Penelope.”

  A bright blush captured my cheeks as I pressed the button to take me home.

  7

  I’d always had weird dreams before, especially when I was little. Dragons, unicorns, fire breathing circus performers—all kinds of weird crap ended up in my brain only to jump out at night to scare the shit out of me. I chalked it up to being a suppressed kid, but the dreams continued into adulthood and with time, they grew even weirder.

  After my father had done whatever the hell he’d done to me, my dreams went from plain strange to whacked out X-Men Avengers dancing around in my head. But the one I experienced just a few moments ago left me discombobulated and a little bit disturbed. It all started out so real, part of it a memory and other parts so deranged, I had to remind myself I hadn’t taken any hallucinogenics before bed time. I was sitting at the small desk in my old room. My mother had left me with pad of paper and some map pencils and went into the kitchen to make grilled cheese for lunch. I was drawing happily away with my tongue stuck out between my teeth in concentration. Behind me, in a vantage point I’d never had before tonight, Watson stood, watching me.

  It wasn’t scary exactly, just completely unnerving.

  Had he been there during that time or had I subconsciously placed him there?

  When my mother called me for lunch, Watson slid back into the shadow inside my closet, concealed by the dim light and dark colors of my wardrobe. I watched as my braids flew out behind my head in my haste to get to the kitchen, but instead of following myself in the dream, my conscious stayed inside that room.

  Watson stepped out of the closet and moved to the desk I had just been sitting at. He picked up my drawing, studied it, and with an unreadable expression, folded and tucked the paper inside his jacket.

  The strange thing about it was I remembered that day. And I remembered coming back into my room and wondering where my drawing had gone.

  My mother blew it off. I lost things all the time, remember? It had to be somewhere in the room, she’d told me.

  Yet, I’d just watched as Watson took it and disappeared out of my bedroom without a trace.

  The dream morphed into a chaotic maelstrom of blue light and spinning space. I followed him unwillingly through the time vortex. His arms spread out on either side of him, his face turned up in rapture. I could feel my mouth open in a silent scream. He’d been unaware of me the entire time, but I was wholly aware of him.

  My body thumped inside itself as I landed in a room I didn’t recognize. Watson landed on one knee and straightened, unaffected by his journey.

  My father sat behind a desk, his thumbs steepled in that oh-so-familiar expression.

  “Did you find her?”

  Watson turned away from him to a decorative metal table that held all sorts of potions and liquors. He picked up a glass, twirled it in his fingers, and selected a bottle of amber liquid. Impatience flickered over my father’s face as he waited for Watson’s response. He poured himself a finger of the drink, lifted it, and knocked it back in a single shot. Without a grimace, he shook his head. “Nothing.”

  Sherlock’s eyes shut in pain. I gasped in the silence. His lie was masterful. One word. No elaboration. No hint of deception on his face.

  “She has to be somewhere,” Sherlock said. “We’ve been looking for years.”

  Watson poured himself another glass. “You would not have loved Maggie if she hadn’t possessed a quick and agile mind. Your worst mistake was letting her go.”

  “No need to tell me something I already know,” Sherlock said shortly.

  Watson shrugged and knocked back another drink. “When will this chase be over?”

  Surprise, and even worse, stubbornness, flared to life in his expression. “This is my daughter. There is no answer but one.”

  “Never,” Watson spoke with resignation

  “Never,” my father agreed.

  I woke up in a sweat, breathing hard like I’d been chased. Could it be possible? My mind raced over my first meeting with Watson. There had been no recognition in his eyes, nothing to tell me we’d ever met before. But the dream had been so real. Could it be possible he’d watched over me as a child? Watson wasn’t the type of person to lie—not usually. Although I’d seen him do it a few times, it was always for a compelling reason. He’d blatantly lied to my father about my whereabouts. How had he found me, and even more important, had my mother known?

  I dragged myself out of bed and reluctantly dressed. A quick check of my watch told me it was dinner time. I’d need to grab something to eat before we headed back out to find Gwynne. My sleeping habits had never been normal since I’d moved to the compound, but every time we got involved in a mission, I grabbed sleep when I could and for however long I could snatch.

  Aaron and Watson were already rolling through the cafeteria line when I arrived. With a twitch of his head, Watson indicated a table away from the main area. I piled my tray high and headed over to them.

  Aaron chuckled when he noticed my plate.

  “Shut it,” I said.

  “I didn’t say a word.”

  “You were thinking it.”

  Watson took a huge bite out of his apple. “You have the most curious metabolism. You cannot handle any type of drug, yet you eat like a majestic cow.”

  Aaron’s chuckle turned into raucous laughter.

  My fork paused halfway up to my mouth. “A majestic cow?” I rolled my eyes. “I bet that line gets you lots of ladies.”

  “What?” he asked innocently. “It’s true.”

  I opened my mouth wide, inserted my food,
and began to imitate the chewing of a cow with a cud.

  “Disgusting,” Watson said, but he couldn’t take his eyes away from the huge portion of food hanging out in my left cheek.

  “Mmm mmm,” I mumbled over my food.

  Aaron watched us in amusement. I continued to eat like I was a baby experimenting with silverware for the first time and Watson continued to stare at me in horror. When he finally couldn’t stand any more, he dropped his fork and raised his hands. “Fine. Fine! I give. Please stop.”

  I swallowed. “And what do you say to the majestic cow?”

  “Sorry,” he grumbled.

  “That’s right,” I said in a voice reserved for rowdy kindergartners. “Never tell a lady she resembles a majestic cow. Even if you think it’s true.”

  “Right.” Watson picked at his food for the next few minutes until Aaron broke the silence.

  “Leave in twenty?”

  “Yep. We can meet in Watson’s sparring room and leave from there if everyone is in agreement.”

  “I think this time we should arm ourselves. We have no idea what we will encounter.”

  Aaron took exception to this. “My sister. We are going to encounter my sister.”

  Watson speared him with a look he saved solely for people he wanted to kick in the face. “She’s also the woman who stole a precious serum from the dirtbag who stole it from us in the first place and almost killed someone very dear to us.”

  “Awww, you think I’m precious?” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

  “To Sherlock,” Watson clarified.

  I blinked away the suspicious wetness in my eyes and tamped down the hurt that small statement caused. “Right. Of course.”

  Aaron sent a sympathetic glance my way. “I’m not going to keep apologizing for my actions. It’s something I can never take back. But this is my sister, and her actions were for something greater than herself. I’ll allow weapons, but please let me lead this.”

  “You’ll allow them?” Watson’s imperious tone told me we were about to go down a road none of us were prepared for.

  I dropped my fork, stood, and walked away, hoping they would follow. “I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.”