He'd been reeling. And when they'd switched cars, he'd gone along for the ride, hoping he could convince one of them to talk to Landon for him. But when it drove away, with him in the back, it took him a few miles to realize they were men he'd never seen before.
When he tried to get out, they Tasered him. Beat the shit out of him when he couldn't move until he'd passed out. He lost track of everything, figured they were going to kill him. When he woke to a wet nose on his cheek and a low howl, he thought he was about to be eaten by some kind of wolf. And he didn't give a shit.
Now he pressed the man's head against the nearest car hood, an arm on the back of his neck. "Who the fuck sent you?"
"Same guy who sent me the first time."
"Guess you should've finished the job. Because this time, I'm going to." With the right pressure he knocked the guy out and cracked his neck as he fell to the ground. Gunner went through his pockets, took the phone and memorized the name on the ID, kicked the guy under the nearest truck and strolled back to his car.
A fucking forced stroll instead of the full-on run he'd wanted to do. As he walked, his phone rang and he grabbed for it without looking. "Avery?"
"Someone just tried to fucking kill me, Gunner."
Jem. "Me too. I'm going home to Avery-can't get in touch with her."
"I'll meet you there."
Chapter Fifteen.
Jem pulled into the driveway twenty minutes after he'd hung up. Gunner met him on the porch as Jem demanded, "What the fuck's happening here?"
Jem was covered in dirt, and there were concrete pieces in his hair.
"Someone tried to kill you?"
"Suicide bomber," Jem said grimly as he followed Gunner inside. "What do we know?"
"There's a syringe on the back deck. Whoever took her left these two earpieces on the kitchen counter. They're not turned on yet."
"Fuck."
"I shouldn't have left her."
"Come on, Gunner-get real. And whoever took her couldn't have gotten far."
"I was gone an hour. An hour could get her far. On a plane, out of the country." Gunner swallowed his panic. "They left no tracks."
"Listen, they want to be in contact with us," Jem turned over the earpieces in his fingers, then popped one into his ear. "I'll get in touch with Mike and Andy. And is there any doubt who took her?"
"None," Gunner said grimly. "I can call him."
"That might piss him off more. For Avery's sake . . ."
That was the only reason he hadn't called yet. He paced as Jem talked with Mike and Andy, forced himself to keep his phone in his goddamned pocket. Landon could be anywhere with her and his best course of action was to wait.
"What's he doing to her, Jem?" he asked at one point.
"He'd better not do shit to her," Jem muttered, and then he pointed to his earpiece. He turned on the tracking software and mouthed, They're bouncing the signal. It's going to take a little time.
Time Avery might not have. He held out his hand for the second earpiece and Jem shook his head. Paled.
"Gunner, we'll get her back," Jem was mouthing, pointing at the tracking software that was working furiously to pick up the location.
"Let me hear."
"No." Jem's voice was hoarse. He looked like he was about to be sick.
"You have to let me be with her. Now, of all times."
Jem cursed and handed him an earpiece. Gunner hesitated briefly, then slipped it on.
His ears flooded with Avery's whimpers of pain.
"No," he whispered, as if that could stop anything.
He heard sounds of grunting. Handcuffs. He tried to listen past it, to get any clues about where she'd been taken, but he couldn't get past hearing Avery cry.
He heard, "Bitch," muttered too low for him to tell if it was actually Landon or not.
"Fight, Avery," he muttered. The fact that she wasn't doing so could only mean one thing-she was drugged. Even tied, Avery would find a way to fight, scream, claw. Something.
Landon was determined to take everything away from him, to strip him down to nothing. To force him to be a machine.
He could never do that. Not after tonight.
He'd never forgive himself. Couldn't see how she ever would either.
Avery needed him to stop cutting her. The fact that she couldn't feel, couldn't know if she was dying or not was freaking her out more than anything.
"He talks about you, Drew. He understands you," Avery told Landon, trying to appeal to the man Gunner talked about, the one who'd saved Gunner from Powell. The one who'd been more of a father than Powell had been.
Of course, that wasn't saying much. But the Landon in front of her was a monster that maybe Gunner never saw, never wanted to acknowledge.
"That's where you're wrong, Avery. James doesn't know me, and you don't know him." His eyes were so dark and angry, the fury palpable even though his expression was outwardly calm. She tried to remain equally calm, but her fear bled through. And that was what he wanted.
She was a fighter and he'd taken that away from her physically. But inside, she was still strong.
Break them before they break you. She could hear Gunner's mom saying that to him.
"Yolanda, help me," she said out loud.
"I don't know who that is, but she can't help you."
I don't know who that is. How could he not know Gunner's mom's name?
"You're taking Gunner away from jobs he does best, Avery. He saves helpless women and children. Don't you think that's important?"
"He doesn't need you to help people."
Landon smiled, a cunning, chilling look. "You can't really believe that."
There was more blood every time Landon put the knife in her face. She whimpered because her body was cold now, numb and cold, and she was running out of time.
"Did your perfect James tell you what he did for me? What a good worker bee he was?"
"He was trying to save his wife. He was trying to survive." God, her voice was clearer now, which meant the drugs were wearing off. Soon, she might feel everything.
She didn't know how much worse that could be.
Landon smiled, that wicked, horrible smile that told her he was getting so much enjoyment out of this. "He'll do anything to survive."
"So would most people. But Gunner would never sell out the people he loves."
"No, he'll just kill children to protect them."
She blinked, wanted to call him a liar, but she knew that it was true, and that's why Gunner couldn't talk about it. "I'm sure that whatever he did, it's because you tricked him into doing it."
"I never had to trick him into doing what he was built for."
"You can't know him nearly as well as you think you do."
"He spent time in my life. My bed. I knew him intimately."
"And now I do. And I'm the one he wants." She drove that dagger in deep, smiling as she did so.
"He'll always come back to me. He always has."
"Not this time. Never again."
"You think James is yours?" Landon sneered.
"I think Gunner is his own man. I'll be damned if I let you force him to do your dirty work."
"Force him?" Landon bit out a laugh. "No one forces James to do anything. This job's in his blood. He's a legacy."
"I know all about legacies," she spat. "You have no idea what my pedigree is." She forced herself to calm down. "I want you to know that the next time you see me in person, you won't breathe longer than ten minutes."
"Threats, Avery."
"It's a goddamned promise." She'd been in that place before. She'd sought vengeance for her mother, killed the men who'd killed her, and she'd discovered it hadn't made things better at all.
In fact, it made them somehow worse. But this time, it would be different. She couldn't save her mother, but she'd be damned if she couldn't save Gunner.
But first, she'd have to save herself and survive this. She closed her eyes for a long moment, willing the courage she'd always had to come thrumming back through her body. She noted she was shivering. And her body was aching.
Oh God, it was wearing off. And he wasn't done cutting her.
"Is this the only way you can get it up, by killing the women Gunner loves?" she spat out.
Instead of answering with words, Landon held up the knife and pressed it to her skin.
She tried not to scream and failed.
"Playtime's over, little girl. You have no idea who you're up against. But don't you worry, I've got plenty of time to show you."
"No matter how long you take, you'll never show me." She didn't care about making him angrier. She'd take her power any way she could, would hang on by her nails, leaving deep claw marks.
Her hands moved as she thought about that. They moved-only slightly, but the tingle meant that the drug was metabolizing.
It wouldn't be fast enough. Because he was still cutting her, and she would wear those scars forever.
"Remember this. Every time you're with James, he's going to see these and think of me. And so are you. If you'd stayed apart . . ."
"If you'd done a better job of trying to kill me," she taunted. She wanted to pass out, but she couldn't. Adrenaline coursed through her body, made the pain bearable. Made her somehow unable to look away.
The blood welled from the deep cuts. She knew where he was going . . . her beautiful flowers.
She wouldn't beg, not even when Drew said, "If you ask nicely, I'll leave this alone."
She didn't believe him and she forced herself to stay calm. "What kills you more, the fact that Gunner would rather work with me than you, or the fact that Gunner marked me first?"
That was the end of the conversation and the numbness, but only the beginning of the excruciating pain.
Gunner buried his face in his hands, knew what she was doing and why, but Landon was going to hurt her. The man had lost control . . . if it was truly Drew Landon, Gunner knew he was capable of carrying out his threats. He'd seen Landon torture people firsthand. A lesson he'd never forget.
"Find her, Jem."
Jem nodded, his eyes never leaving the screen. Ten minutes later he had a lock on her location, but Gunner wouldn't stop listening. He'd been deadly silent, fisting his hands so tightly they'd gone numb. Holding himself ruthlessly in check rather than risk losing the audio link, the only link they had to Avery now, was all he could do as Avery screamed in pain and terror. And then she went quiet, only whimpering occasionally.
He'd barely noticed that Jem had maneuvered him into the car, driven them back to the airport where the police presence was still heavy. He was still listening as Jem yanked him onto the private plane he'd called in that favor for.
They didn't know how sophisticated this audio link was, didn't know if they'd lose contact in the air, but they had little choice. "Tell him to go, Jem," Gunner said, after one particularly brutal scream from Avery.
"Fuck," Jem breathed, and then yelled, "we have to go now," and the plane began hurtling toward the runway.
"Who's the pilot?"