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  "You aren't going anywhere today, Scarlett. They need to keep you for observation. Make sure the drug doesn't have any other side effects."

  "I can't stay here when we're running out of time to save Emery. It's day three, Lucas. We have to find her, or she'll disappear forever."

  "I'll go find her. I'll send someone—"

  "No. I'm getting out of here. You can either help me, or I'll do it alone. But I’m not staying here any longer."

  "Scarlett, you can barely hold your head up."

  "So help me, then."

  Lucas sighed and nodded in resignation. He stood and walked towards the door of the room. Scarlett lay back against the pillows as she waited for him to return with a doctor and discharge papers. She closed her eyes, which didn't want to stay open, and rested. She would find Emery, just as soon as she got a little more sleep.

  Chapter 17

  Lucas spoke with a doctor who agreed to release Scarlett against his advice. Lucas promised him he'd take care of her at home. After getting the discharge papers, he was able to rouse her enough to get her to his car. Once inside, she was fast asleep again.

  He carried her inside the loft, laying her down on his bed. It was almost lunchtime, so he decided he'd make lunch and let her sleep. Lucas wasn't much of a cook, but he could warm up soup and make some sandwiches.

  He was just putting the soup in bowls when his door opened and Scarlett padded in, with bare feet, messy hair, and his t-shirt hanging off her. Something primal and possessive went through him as he watched her walk towards him in his clothes. Mine. His body seemed to cry out for her. Mine.

  Trying to control his inner caveman, he set the soup at the bar. Scarlett climbed up onto a stool and watched him as he cut the sandwiches and placed them on paper towels next to the bowls.

  "Feeling better?" he asked.

  "A little. I feel like I have a hell of a hangover." She leaned down to smell the soup and moaned. "That smells good."

  The moan went straight through him, and Lucas cleared his throat as he gained control over his hormones.

  "Isabel makes it, and then freezes portions of it for us. She swears it's easy to make, but none of us guys is ambitious enough to try it."

  "That translates to you guys are too lazy," Scarlett said with a smirk on her face.

  "Busted." Lucas sat down next to her and dug into his soup and sandwich. The chicken and rice soup was warm and creamy. They sat and ate in silence for several moments. It was a comfortable quiet and not the awkward kind.

  Scarlett broke the spell. "So. What's the next step?" She turned to him with big green eyes—hopeful—trusting.

  Lucas sighed. "I'm not sure yet. When we got to the church, it looked like it was an auction that had just finished up."

  Nodding, Scarlett said, "It was. The guys that took that girl, they said something about the auction not being safe. I guess he meant the unexpected guests."

  "That reminds me"—Lucas looked at Scarlett and saw her cringe—"why did you get out of the car?" Scarlett looked down at the napkin she was tearing in her hands. Lucas felt a little sorry for her, but not so much that he didn't wait for her to answer his question.

  "I heard the shots fired. And then I saw those men running out the door with that girl. I thought…I hoped…"

  "You thought it might be Emery," Lucas said quietly, taking her hand in his.

  "Yeah. But it wasn't. She was so cold that her skin was blue, and so skinny. Like she hadn't eaten in weeks. Is that how Em is going to look? Will she ever get over this if we find her?" Scarlett's eyes welled with tears, and he watched as the green grew brighter and the tears spilled over, down her cheeks. He moved his hand to wipe them away, the pad of his thumb brushing her skin.

  "She'll get past it. She's strong. She has to be, to have gone through what you both have endured. We'll find her." Lucas pulled her close to him, standing so that his body was flush with hers. He stepped between her legs, and she wrapped them around him, pulling him closer still. Lucas placed a chaste kiss on her lips and then placed his hand on the back of her head, drawing her closer to his chest.

  "I thought I'd lost you. To have just found you and then to lose you—I don't know what I would have done. You've crawled under my skin, Scarlett, and I'll do anything to keep you safe." He heard her soft inhalation of breath and realized he must have surprised her. He knew it was fast. Knew they barely knew each other. And yet, he knew her. He knew what she looked like when she was angry. He knew what made her tick—her desires, her passions. He knew what was important to her—knew how she loved unconditionally. What else was there to know?

  She pulled back, staring into his eyes. "When I heard the shots, and you didn't come back out—I thought, I mean—I was scared you'd been killed." She looked down, taking her gaze away from his face. "Everyone I've loved has left me. I don't know what I'd do if you left me before we even had a chance together."

  Lucas lifted her chin with his fingers, eyeing her mouth. He slowly leaned down, pressing a light kiss to her lips. Scarlett's arms came up around his neck, and she pulled him closer. He touched his tongue to the seam of her mouth, and she opened for him. His hands caressed her back as the slide of his tongue against hers shot desire through his veins. Hungrily, he ravished her mouth with his own, taking her bottom lip between his teeth and nipping softly. He felt her mouth turn up in a smile, and he couldn't help the one that spread across his own face. He pulled back slightly and then lifted her up in his arms. "Come on. Let's get you back to bed." Scarlett rested her head on his chest as he took her back to his room. He could tell she was tired, her lids half-open in fatigue—and maybe a little bit of desire, too. He laid her down carefully on his bed, pulling the covers up and over her. She sighed, tucking the covers under her chin. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. When he pulled back, she was already asleep.

  * * * *

  Hands grab her, pulling her up against them. She goes to scream, but a hand clamps down over her mouth, and no sound comes out. She opens her eyes, and there's a bed. A young woman is lying there. Her hair is covering her face, and Scarlett can't see who it is. She's still. Very still. A needle is protruding from her arm. The hands let her go, and she walks over to the bed. She pushes the girl's hair away from her face, and wide, sightless eyes stare into hers. Blood is dripping from her nose and mouth. Emery.

  "Scarlett! Wake up! Scarlett!"

  The voice penetrated through the screams in the room. Scarlett opened her eyes and met the frightened gaze of Lucas. His hands were on her shoulders, from where he must have been trying to shake her awake. A dream. It was all a dream.

  Lucas climbed into bed with her, pulling her tightly against his chest. She rested her head there, her hands holding tight around his waist.

  "She was dead," she whispered. "Her eyes were staring at me. But she couldn't see me. Lucas, what am I going to do if I don't find her?" The sobs started then. Everything she'd been pushing back over the last several days all came to the surface, and she cried, her body heaving.

  Lucas held her, stroking her hair, whispering soft words of comfort to her. It was as if he knew she needed to release the emotions that had been building. The desperation. The hopelessness. They were no closer to finding Em than they had been days before. Time was slipping away. If only they had another clue—any clue—as to where she could be. As to who could have her—

  "Luftar!" she said, sitting straight up in the bed.

  "What?" Lucas asked.

  "Not what, who. Luftar. That's the name that Damon told the guys who wanted to take me with them at the church. He said I was spoken for by Luftar." Scarlett jumped out of bed and began pacing the floor.

  "If I’m spoken for by Luftar, then that means Emery is, too. He wants us both." Scarlett looked up, hope filling her heart as she met Lucas's gaze.

  "So if we find Luftar—" he said.

  "We find Emery," Scarlett finished.

  Lucas scrambled off the bed. "Get ready. We
're going to talk to Zach."

  Moments later, they stood in Zach's computer room. Zach sat at his keyboard and didn't even turn around when they walked in.

  "Luftar—know of him?" Lucas said.

  "Well, good afternoon to you, too," Zach joked. Lucas raised an eyebrow, but since Zach's back was to him, he couldn't see it. "Yeah, he's the guy on the phone with Damon. We've been tracking him for some time."

  "He's a nasty son of a bitch," Sully said, walking in behind them. Scarlett squeaked, not having realized he'd come in. Sully smirked but continued without remarking on her girly response. "Luftar is an Albanian crime lord. The General has had us looking into his comings and goings, although we've not been given any orders yet."

  "What's he into?" Lucas asked.

  "Guns. Girls. Drugs. The usual. It's his ties to terrorist organizations that has The General up in arms."

  Scarlett shivered at the thought. Terrorist organizations? And he wanted her and Emery.

  "And like I said, he's a mean son of a bitch. Likes to play with his food before he devours it." Sully's face was dark, and his fists were clenched at his sides.

  "There are rumors of what he's done to people who crossed him—both men and women. It's not pretty. Torture unlike anything we're used to seeing. He's sick," Zach added.

  Scarlett's blood ran cold. This was the man that, in a few short hours, could have Emery in his possession. She swayed, feeling light-headed as comprehension dawned on her. If they didn’t get Emery, she could be raped, tortured, killed.

  "What does he do with the girls?" Lucas asked. Scarlett wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to that.

  "He likes virgins. Rumor has it that he does virginity testing to ensure they're pure."

  "Virginity testing?" Scarlett asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

  "Yeah, he has a doctor on staff that travels with him. He inspects the girls to see if things are, um, intact down there." Zach was clearly uncomfortable. "Then there's the two-finger test," he said. His face was blushing brightly, but Scarlett was too sick to her stomach to focus on him. He had a doctor on staff who performed virginity tests. What kind of monster were they dealing with?

  "What happens if they fail?" Scarlett asked.

  "Well, rumors have it that he'll give them over to his men to play with, and then they're tortured and killed."

  "And if they pass?"

  "If they pass, he rapes them himself. He keeps them around for a little while, and then they disappear. Whether he sells them or whether he kills them, no one really knows," Zach answered.

  Scarlett was going to be sick. Bile rose in her throat, and she ran out the door and down the hall to the restroom. She barely made it before retching into the toilet. The combination of fear, disgust, the drugs from last night, the head injury—it was all too much.

  She braced herself against the sink as she tried to clean her face. Her complexion was even paler than normal, and dark circles rimmed her sunken eyes. Her hair was wild, with curls and waves pushing away from her head as if they were trying to escape their roots.

  The door opened, and Lucas stood there. He stopped inside the door, crossing his arms across his chest and placing one ankle over the other. "You ok?"

  "Yeah. I think I'm still a little shaky from last night," she answered, trying to avoid his gaze.

  He left his position against the wall, and opened a drawer under the vanity. There were all kinds of toiletries—toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, wipes. Well, that was handy.

  He took out a toothbrush and toothpaste for her, and laid them on the counter. She reached for them and dressed the toothbrush with the paste before brushing her teeth. His hands rested on her shoulders as he stood behind her. Not saying anything. Not pushing. He was just there, his presence making her feel safe and protected.

  She spit in as lady-like a way as she could—it was a little early in their relationship for observing bathroom rituals—but it was what it was. Desperate times and all that.

  She turned to face him. "What's the plan?"

  "Zach found a yacht club—National Yacht Club—located at the wharf. He thinks that's where they'll take her. There's a clubhouse there, and Luftar owns it under one of his front companies."

  "The place with all the restaurants?" Scarlett thought it an odd place to deliver sex slaves. It seemed so public and normal.

  "Yeah, that one."

  "Wouldn't it draw attention to what they're doing?"

  "Actually, no. They can hide under the veil of normalcy."

  Scarlett nodded. She was fearful of getting her hopes up. So far, they'd been too late each time they’d had a lead. She was afraid to hope. Desperation tried to claw up her throat, but she pushed it back down. She had to be strong.

  "You ready to meet with the team?" he asked, slipping his arms around her waist. It wasn't a romantic move but one of comfort. He drew her close to his chest, his hands brushing her hair.

  "As I'll ever be," she answered, wishing she could stay here in his arms. Wishing she could wake up from this nightmare.

  "Let's go," he said, and released her, taking her hand and pulling her down the hallway towards the conference room.

  When they arrived, everyone else was seated at the table. The entire team was there. Gabriel's eyes met hers, and he gave a stiff nod. Well, that was progress. Isabel and Sully were poring over some documents, while Ethan and Zach spoke in hushed voices.

  Lucas and Scarlett sat down at the table, Lucas never letting go of her hand. She appreciated the support.

  "So how do you think it works? Like how do they get them to cooperate in such a public place? Wouldn't they make a scene?" she asked the group.

  "I think they take them off the high-powered drugs and put them on something a little less debilitating," Zach answered.

  "But don’t the girls understand that once they get on that boat, they'll never return home?" She couldn't wrap her head around their not fighting and trying to get away.

  "They've been drugged for days. The girls are existing in a drug-induced haze, where it’s hard to know what is real and what isn't. The drugs they give them before a sale, probably rohypnol, most likely make the girls seem drunk, but not completely strung out." Scarlett's eyes welled with tears. She knew it was too much to hope that they hadn't drugged Emery. And part of her hoped that they had. Maybe her mind wouldn't be able to recall the horror of the last few days once they found her.

  Sully stood, his commanding presence capturing everyone's attention. "It's all hands on deck tonight. Zach, find a spot on a roof nearby where Ethan can set up. We'll need your combat skills tonight as well. You and Gabriel set up shop outside. Zach found out there's a huge gala happening. It's open to the public, so Lucas and I will go in together. Isabel, you and Scarlett stay here—"

  "No," Scarlett spoke up.

  Sully raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms across his chest. He opened his mouth to speak, but Scarlett rushed on. "No. I'm not staying here. I'm going, too."

  "Yeah, that's not going to happen. You're a liability. A distraction. You aren't trained for this kind of thing," he said.

  "No, maybe not. But two men walking into a yacht club? A gala? Wouldn’t it be more believable if you had, you know, a wife or a girlfriend with you?" Scarlett wasn't sure her plan would work, but she couldn't stand the idea of staying behind.

  "She's got a point," Isabel piped in. "We can be your arm candy tonight. Less suspicious."

  Lucas squeezed Scarlett's hand, and she looked at him. His expression was almost fearful. She could tell he wasn't keen on the idea, but she didn't care right now. She didn't want him to worry about her, but she wanted to be there when they found her sister.

  Sully sighed and looked at Lucas. Lucas gave a quick nod.

  "Fine," Sully said. "You girls can come along as our dates. Isabel, make sure you both dress the part."

  Isabel nodded and stood. "Let's head upstairs and get ready, Scarlett. We don't have much time." Scarlett stood, b
ut Lucas pulled on her hand, drawing her back.

  "I'm not happy about this," he started, "but I understand. Please don't do anything stupid tonight. Don't play the hero." Scarlett jerked her hand out of his, angered at his choice of words, although she understood the sentiment behind them.

  "I'm not stupid," was all she said before she walked out the door with Isabel.

  * * * *

  Lucas waited until the girls left the room.

  "Something doesn't seem right about this setup," he said.

  "What do you mean?" Sully asked.

  "I mean, they don’t have Scarlett, and we know Luftar wants them both. So why would Damon deliver one girl and not the other?"

  "Maybe it's like a down payment. A good faith effort. Damon's not an idiot. He's seen this guy’s handiwork," Gabriel said.

  "One of Damon's guys double-crossed Luftar during a gun transaction. They used ancient torture techniques, finally disemboweling him and leaving him to rot in an abandoned warehouse. Luftar sent a message to Damon weeks later. When the guys arrived at the warehouse, there was little left of him," Zach said.

  Lucas's skin crawled. He didn't understand evil like that. Didn't know how people could torture another human being for the pure joy of it. He'd witnessed some interrogations during his time in the military that had been a bit uncomfortable. But those always had an end in mind—the greater good. He hadn't made a decision about what he thought about the ethics of those interrogations, but he knew that they weren't for simple enjoyment. Luftar was a sick freak.

  "You think Damon will deliver Emery with a promise to bring her sister as soon as he can get his hands on her?" Lucas directed the question to Zach.

  "That's my thought. The other option is that Damon knows we're on to him and is setting us up."

  "That means this whole thing could be blown out of the water tonight. All the more reason for Scarlett and Isabel to stay out of this," Ethan interjected.

  "You won't keep her out of this. I'd rather have her where I can see her than leave her alone, and she get into some kind of trouble while we're gone. I'll keep her safe," Lucas said.