Hidden Fates (Hidden Heroes #4)

Prologue

“Compliments of the gentleman at the bar.”

Teresa “Reese” Graham glanced over her shoulder and instantly spotted a large man wearing a blue plaid shirt and a wide grin. She swallowed hard and jerked her head back to face forward. Whatever that guy wanted from her, she wasn’t interested. “No thanks,” she said to the young bartender holding some fruity cocktail, and held out a twenty-dollar bill. “I’m ready to close out my tab.”

“Of course,” the red-haired girl said with a chipper voice. “Be right back.”

Reese ran a hand through her disheveled hair, wishing she’d brought a scrunchie with her. Ten hours of cleaning toilets and washing floors didn’t exactly leave a woman feeling fresh and sparkly.

“Ouch,” a male voice said. The first thing she noticed were his boots. Brown worn leather with small tears around the seams. His dark jeans had faded spots at the knees but hugged his thighs like they’d been made for him. The lack of a beer belly was appealing, only in the sense that almost every asshole who’d put his hands on her at Desert Cove Psychiatric Hospital had one and used it to his advantage whenever she tried to fight them off. Fuckers. Her skin still crawled every time she let her mind wander back to that place. It had already been six months since the FBI raided it. Convincing them she wasn’t crazy hadn’t been easy, so when they finally let her go, she’d run as fast and as far as she could. Unfortunately, her bank account had been drained, and with only the clothes on her back, going as far as she could meant getting stranded less than two hundred miles away from where her step brother tried to have her committed. She probably needed to talk to someone about it, but fuck that shit. Going to the police wouldn’t help. He was the police. And talking to a shrink? Who had time for that?

Everything she’d worked for since turning eighteen had been stolen right out from under her. The only thing she needed to feel better was to get it all back. She just had no clue how. Getting a shitty apartment on the wrong side of town and a job that paid less than she used to make at the local coffee shop back in high school was a start. But Reese would need a hell of a lot more than that if she planned on getting back what was rightfully hers.

Her gaze lifted to the man’s face, but she was careful not to look him in the eye. Maybe the awkwardness would be enough to send him packing. “You want something?” His face split into a grin that she could almost call sexy. “Not interested,” she added, in case sending the drink back that he now held wasn’t a clear enough message.

“It’s only one drink and you look like you could use it.” There was a hint of empathy, or something like it in his tone.

“I’ve already had one. That’s my limit.”

“All right. I’ll drink it. You can watch. May I?” He gestured to the chair next to hers.

The place was all but empty. Tuesday nights were always dead at the Crooked Pony. “There’s like half a dozen free tables for you to choose from,” she retorted. “I’m sure their chairs are just as good.”

“But they don’t have you sitting at them,” he said.

She almost smiled. Almost . This guy’s pick-up lines were old and stupid, but there was something about the attention and his persistence that felt oddly good. Unlike the jerks at the hospital, he wasn’t shoving anything down her throat or putting his hands on her like she was some freak or common criminal. He was just asking to have a drink with her.

“I’m leaving in five minutes,” she warned, not wanting him to get too excited or comfortable. “Alone.”

“Roger that.” He took a seat, placing the drink in front of him. “I take it you had a long day?”

Reese glared at him. “Why would you say that?”

A corner of his mouth lifted just slightly. “Well, this place isn’t known for its booze and you don’t look like a lost tourist.”

That time she did smile. How long had it been since she’d genuinely smiled. “Long day at a job I hate in a place I don’t really want to be.”

He nodded. “I know the feeling. I get stuck cleaning up other people’s messes all the time. But I guess sometimes we just have to go where the money is to pay the bills.”

Reese sighed. Was this guy some male version of her? “Who are you?” She asked, suddenly feeling a little on edge and exposed by this complete stranger.

“Tony Odrich,” he said, extending his hand to her.

“Reese,” she said, not ready to give him a last name. But she shook his hand, and he definitely earned points when he didn’t squeeze it like most men did to assert dominance.

“Like Madonna?” He quipped.

Reese was sure it was meant as a joke, but something about his tone irked her the wrong way. “Like I don’t know who the fuck you are, and I don’t go around telling people my last name,” she bit out.

He raised both hands in front of him in surrender. “My apologies. I’ve had a long day, too. I wasn’t thinking.”

The sincerity in his tone had her sitting back in her chair. She’d been a total bitch for no good reason. Sure, she carried a lot of anger and resentment for her stepbrother, and the whole world really, but this guy was just an innocent bystander who didn’t deserve to have his head bit off for being a little too friendly.

He didn’t exactly scream axe murderer in his blue flannel long sleeve shirt and Detroit Tigers baseball hat. He looked like the kind of guy she’d want to curl up next to while watching a movie and eating too much pizza. The thought alone actually startled her. When had she started thinking about men like that again?

“It’s okay,” she said in lieu of an apology. “Here,” she reached for the drink in front of him that he hadn’t touched yet. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. Let’s taste this concoction you ordered for me. What’s it called?” She plucked the maraschino cherry out of the glass and popped it in her mouth.

Tony smiled. “Sex on the beach.”

“Hmm.” Reese couldn’t remember the last time she’d had sex, on a beach or anywhere else. Maybe one night with this guy was exactly what she needed to break her out of the rut she’d been in. She took several long sips of the drink, enjoying its fruity flavor. She wasn’t usually into the sweet stuff, preferring her alcohol a little less girly, but this thing had more sugar than alcohol in it and she was kind of digging it right now.

“Here you go,” the pretty red head said, placing her change and a receipt on the table in front of her.

Reese was feeling way looser than she had a few minutes ago. “Keep the change,” she said, a slight slur to her words. That was strange. She didn’t usually have more than one drink, but she’d never been a lightweight before.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone polish off a drink that fast. Can I get you something else?” Tony asked.

“No,” Reese said, gripping her purse tighter. “I should -”

A group of rowdy men came barreling into the bar, their booming voices and laughs drowning out the country music playing over the speaker system. There had to be six or ten of them, but Reese couldn’t seem to get an accurate count because they looked kind of fluid, like one was melding with another. “What the -”

“Easy, Darling. Let me help you.” Tony’s voice was so close, she felt the warmth of his breath on her ear and she shivered.

“No,” she said, “I don’t…” Nothing made sense. Who were those guys and why were they all fuzzy like that?

“Reese Graham, just relax.” Tony’s voice was harsher now, but he wasn’t sitting next to her anymore. He was standing over her. Wait, no, she was being carried…by him. And she didn’t remember telling him her last name.

What. The. Hell.

The last clear thought she had was of her stepbrother. Russell had found her.

***

A blood curdling scream tore through the thin walls rousing Reese from yet another nightmare. Had that been her screaming? It wasn’t like she hadn’t already done her fair share of it while she was awake. Maybe her subconscious decided to give it a try while she was asleep.

She’d lost track of the number of days and nights she’d spent in this room. From what she could tell, it was some abandoned motel that smelled of mold and dust. She coughed, her mouth and throat dry. When was the last time those idiots had even given her water?

Not that it mattered. She was resigned to die here, she only wished it would already happen. She wasn’t one to easily give up, but after spending months of her life in that hospital, and then being dumb enough to trust that jerk Tony at the Crooked Pony, Reese figured she deserved whatever she got.

There was one window in the room and the curtains were pulled shut, but she could still tell that it was pitch dark outside. Familiar voices traveled through the glass and the locked door. Not that they needed to lock her in. Her hands and feet were handcuffed and chained to the bed with just enough slack to reach the bucket they’d placed against the wall. But with how often they actually gave her any food or water, the thing stood empty most of the time.

Aside from Tony, who occasionally paid her a visit, she had no idea who the others were. Only that the woman was in charge, and she was a complete and total bitch. The glow of a small red light caught her attention at the foot of the bed and her gaze went to it. The damn camera was still there. The first time she saw it when they first brought her here, Reese thought they were going to rape her and post the footage. Some sick porno videos. But they hadn’t so much as touched her except Tony who liked stroking her face or arms, which always made her cringe.

But it was the woman that Reese hated the most. She liked getting in Reese’s face, taunting her, accusing her, trying to get a rise out of her. At first, Reese had no idea why, but then the woman finally let it slip. They were hunting people with special abilities. Paranormal abilities. And they knew Reese had one.

That was what finally convinced Reese that Russell was somehow a part of this. He was the only one left of her family who knew about what she could do. She hadn’t even told her closest friends back in high school or college.

Another scream permeated the air, and Reese twisted on the hard, clumpy mattress. They hadn’t gotten what they wanted out of her, so they’d probably snatched someone else. But who? If all they wanted were people with paranormal abilities, surely there weren’t that many of them just walking around, right?

The lock on the door clicked, the handle turned with a small squeak and the woman that Reese had overheard was called Vivian stepped into the room. “Still awake, I see,” Vivian mused. “You know, if only you’d cooperate, you could’ve already been free as a bird.”

Reese didn’t believe a word coming out of her mouth. And she had no intention of cooperating. Ever.

Vivian flicked a switch, turning on a bright light that made Reese squint. What the hell did she want now? “Let’s get a better look at you,” Vivian said with a smile that made Reese’s insides turn cold.

Reese turned her head away, not wanting to chance looking into her eyes, but she grabbed her by the jaw and yanked hard. “Look at me,” Vivian ordered. But the light was too bright and Reese still had her eyes nearly sealed shut. “Eyes open or I do to you what I’m doing to your neighbor. I know you can hear the screams.”

A shiver ran down Reese’s spine, her muscles tightening in fear. “No,” Reese said. “She doesn’t deserve that.”

“She?” Vivian asked. “How do you know it’s a woman? Unless you know more than you’re letting on.”

This woman had more than pissed Reese off by now, so she did the very thing she hadn’t wanted to do. She threw her eyes open and glared at Vivian, hoping her eyes landed anywhere on her face but her gaze. No such luck. “I know it’s a woman because a man would’ve had you screaming by now, and not in a good way.” Reese spat out the words, but the image that played out in her mind of Vivian’s impending death was what made the corners of her mouth lift in a weak smile.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside and someone ran into Reese’s room. “There’s someone out there, Boss.” A tinge of fear laced Tony’s voice in the most satisfying way, but when Vivian followed him out after turning out the light and locking the door, Reese’s heart sank.

Whoever was out there was probably looking for the woman who’d been screaming. But who was going to find her? And how?

A surge of determination pulsed through Reese’s veins. She felt her strength returning. Her will to live blooming. Her desire to get the hell out of this place was suddenly a pounding need that matched every beat of her still beating heart.

No matter what happened tonight. No matter who was out there. Reese was going to make sure they found her.

***

“Did you hear that?” Texas Ranger Garrett Cooper asked. He and his friend, Homicide Detective Tanner Rhodes had cleared the area, but they hadn’t checked the couple of rooms with locked doors. The old motel reeked of rotting wood, mold and dust. Everything about it gave Garrett the impression that the rundown building was empty, aside from the room they’d found Skyla and Hallie in.

Blake sat on the old stained mattress cradling a nearly unconscious Skyla in his arms. Her hands were covered in Hallie’s dry blood, and his voice was clogged with so much emotion, it was a wonder the man hadn’t broken down yet. “No, hear what?”

Garrett heard the soft sound of something clanking again. It was probably just the wind, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. “I don’t think we’re alone.” He wasn’t sure what it was, and if he was being honest with himself, he was probably just looking for an excuse to give Blake and Skyla a few minutes of privacy. They had already been through so much tonight, and Blake would be stuck here for a while longer after discharging his weapon. This was the least Garrett could do for them. “I’ll be right back. Yell if you need anything.” Garrett stepped out of the room. Tanner was leaning against the outer wall and raised an eyebrow when Garrett pulled out his weapon. “What’s up?” Tanner asked.

“I think I heard something. It’s probably nothing. Stay here.” Garrett eyed the perp handcuffed to the nearby pole. He was the Feds’ problem now, and Garrett hoped they threw the book at him and made sure he never saw the outside of a prison cell again.

Turning his back on the piece of shit who smirked at him, Garrett drew in a ragged breath, inhaling the fresh air deep into his lungs. He needed a second to ground himself. He’d had a lot of hard days on the job, but this one would go down in the top three. Finding Hallie and Skyla in the condition they had would stay with him and all his friends for a long time.

He walked down the outdoor pathway, pressing his ear to each door until he heard the sound again. A soft clanging noise. It was irregular, both in volume and frequency.

“What is it?”

Garrett swung around, nearly knocking Tanner off his feet. “You really shouldn’t sneak up on a guy.”

“I didn’t. What’s got you creeping around these doors?”

Garrett sighed. “I think there might be an animal trapped in there.”

Tanner raised an eyebrow again. “Do you want back up?”

Garrett shook his head. “Back up.” Tanner did, and Garrett kicked in the door. It didn’t take much for the whole thing to come crashing down. Early morning light poured into the room, revealing partly decayed walls, rotting carpet, and an awful stench, likely coming from the bucket next to the bed with a rusty metal frame. A small form moved on the mattress, and Garrett and Tanner both raised their weapons. Then Garrett threw his arm out in front of Tanner.

“Stand down. That’s not an animal.” Disgust and horror filled his voice as he holstered his weapon.

“What the…” Tanner started to say, but then bolted from the room. A gagging noise quickly followed from behind Garrett, and he had to admit, he was about ten seconds from losing his own dinner.

He stood frozen in the dank room, staring at the form on the bed. A woman. Vivian had another prisoner. For how long? The smell suggested she’d been here for a while.

The poor thing was chained to the bed frame. Her wrists and legs bound by handcuffs; her ankles chafed from trying to escape. Whoever had left her there, definitely wanted something from her and didn’t care how they got it.

“What the hell?” Tanner muttered under his breath. Garrett hadn’t even noticed him come back.

Just like the room they’d found Hallie and Skyla in, a tripod stood at the foot of the bed with a blinking camera pointed at the woman. It was obviously still recording. “I’m Texas Ranger Garrett Cooper. This is Homicide Detective Tanner Rhodes.” Garrett found and clicked the power button off before turning to face her again. “Don’t be afraid. We’re here to help. What’s your name? How long have you been here?”

Her long brown hair lay limp and greasy. Some strands covered her face, others were splayed out on the pillow. She watched him cautiously, followed his every movement, but as soon as he tried to meet her gaze, she averted her eyes.

“Here.” Tanner handed him a set of handcuff keys.

“I won’t hurt you. I’m just going to get these chains off you. Okay?” Garrett stood a few feet away from the bed where she could easily see him. He was a big guy, and after everything she’d likely been through, he didn’t want to scare her.

He waited for her nod, then moved in and unlocked the handcuffs, first at her feet then at her wrists. She offered him a small smile of appreciation, and Garrett swore it was the sweetest smile he’d ever seen.

He lowered himself to his knees next to the bed beside her. “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now. What’s your name?” Garrett asked again, carefully taking one of her fragile hands in his. Her fingers were ice cold, so he covered them with his other hand. While Vivian and her men had used a portable generator to power the cameras and a few lights, they hadn’t bothered to provide any heat. “Is there someone we can call for you? Maybe your parents or a sibling -”

“No.” Her voice was scratchy, but he didn’t miss the steel behind it. This poor woman had been tied down to a bed, endured unspeakable things, but she still had fight left in her.

“Okay,” he said, gentling his tone even more. “We’ll call for an ambulance and get you taken to the hospital to be checked out.”

The woman shook her head so hard he thought her neck might snap. “No hospital. No ambulance. I’ll be fine.” She started to sit up, and Garrett placed a soft hand at her back to help her. When she was sitting on the edge of the bed, her feet planted on the ugly carpeting, Garrett noticed the flimsy flip flops she wore.

“I can’t just let you loose on the streets. You need to be checked out by a doctor, and we need to file a report about what happened to you.”

The woman stared at a point just over his shoulder, as if she hadn’t heard him or he was speaking a foreign language. “No.”

The corners of his mouth started to curve upward. She might be small, but there was a fighter inside her. And he liked that a lot. It would serve her well. “No?” He asked, repeating what seemed to be her favorite word. “Why? Vivian and her guys won’t hurt you anymore. They can’t get to you.”

The woman swallowed and pushed a strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. It was Garrett’s first chance to get a good look at her, and he stifled a gasp as realization and recognition set in. “Oh my God, you’re - I’ve been looking for you. You’re Teresa Graham.”

The woman’s eyes widened in horror. “Please don’t tell him you found me. Please.”

Garrett glanced over at Tanner, then turned his attention back to the woman in front of him. He had no intention of pretending not to know who she was talking about. “Russell?”

She nodded. “I have no actual proof he was part of whatever is going on here, but he was the one who had me committed before these people found me. If he finds out where I am, he’ll come for me again. Maybe even put me back in that awful place.”

“Teresa,” Garrett started to say, but she raised her hand to stop him.

“Call me Reese. No one’s used my full name since I was a little girl. My mother would only use it when I was in trouble.” A hint of her sweet smile returned, only it was tinged with sadness, and Garrett wondered where her mother was now. As if reading his mind, Reese said, “she died in a car accident my first year in college.”

“I’m sorry,” Garrett said. “Okay, no hospitals. No ambulances. But tell me, did they hurt you? Any injuries? Sexual assault?”

Reese shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. They even fed me sometimes, and I got to use the toilet.” Her eyes traveled to the bucket, and Garrett felt another wave of nausea roll over him.

“That’s not a fucking toilet,” he bit out.

Reese shrugged. “They weren’t gentle, but I think whoever was screaming in the other room got it much worse than I did.”

Garrett visibly recoiled at the thought of Hallie’s screams. Caden had left in an ambulance with her a while ago. Garrett could only hope she was already getting the care she needed.

“Did you know her?” Reese asked softly.

The woman sure was perceptive. He nodded slowly, not bothering to correct Reese that Hallie was still alive. At least he hoped for Caden’s sake that she was. “Let’s get you out of here,” he said, then turned back to Tanner. “Go let Blake know what’s going on.”

Tanner nodded and left, leaving Garrett alone with Reese. He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it around her shoulders before helping her slip into it. “It’s not that cold outside, but this should keep you covered up.”

“Thanks.” She wore a pink tank top and denim shorts. Both were filthy, but they did nothing to hide her soft curves and long legs. Even in this condition, Garrett couldn’t deny that Reese Graham was a beautiful woman with a very sweet smile. He moved to lift her into his arms, but she held her hand out to block him.

“I was carried into this hellhole. I’ll be damned if I let anyone carry me out. I can walk.” The steel in her tone had a bite to it, but Garrett understood where she was coming from. Still, he stayed close as she started to stand. He offered his arm, but she refused to take it. He respected the strength behind her attitude and hoped it never faded. She would need it in the days and weeks to come.

He grabbed the camera with one hand, and guided her to the door, pleased that she seemed to lean into his touch at the small of her back rather than pull away from it.

Just before taking her first step out of the room, she’d been held prisoner in, she stopped and turned to Garrett. Her gaze landed somewhere on his mouth, but he doubted it was meant in a sexual way. He really wished she would look him in the eye. Because if this had anything to do with shame, Reese Graham had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. She was probably one of the strongest women he’d ever met, and he hardly knew anything about her.

“Where are we going?” She demanded. The bravado in her voice just barely hid the quiver of uncertainty. Even vulnerability. “Because I’m not giving a statement.” Reese lifted her chin in defiance, almost daring him to make her.

That stopped Garrett in his tracks. He had no idea how he was going to explain her presence if she refused to give a statement. But if Vivian had her in front of a camera, it could only mean one thing - Reese Graham had an ability of some kind, or at least Vivian suspected she did. The thought had been there in the back of his mind this whole time, and he was itching to ask her about it. But given how guarded she was, Garrett didn’t think he’d be able to get her to admit to anything right now.

She sighed, probably perceiving his extended silence as some kind of reprimand. “Look, I don’t mean to cause problems, but if you put me in the system, Russell will find me. I’d be better off if you left me on the streets to fend for myself.” Her words came out harsh, with a tinge of bitterness. It seemed whatever Russell had done to her, started long before he put her in that hospital.

“I’d never do that.” He honestly wasn’t sure what he was going to do with her. If she refused medical assistance, wouldn’t give a statement, and clearly had no family to reach out to, the only other option was - No, he wouldn’t do that. The last time he’d brought his work home with him, it had a disastrous ending. He wouldn’t go there again.

But what else could he do? Put her up in a hotel? No, that wasn’t an option either. She’d probably up and leave the second his back was turned, and he’d never find her again.

Reese Graham was their only real connection to her step brother, Russell Graham. If they wanted to nail him for everything he’d done to Orly, they needed Reese’s help. Which meant, they needed her .

Shit.

He was going to regret these next words, but he said them anyway. “How about this? I can take you back to my place. I have a guest house on my property where you can stay until we figure things out.”

Reese stiffened, her eyes going wide. “Why would you offer something so generous to a perfect stranger? I don’t have any money. I can’t pay you.”

Garrett sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He’d been up all night after working a twelve-hour shift. “I wouldn’t take your money if you had bags of it. You need help, and I’m in a position to provide it.” Left unsaid was that he also needed her help, but he’d wait until she had a chance to get cleaned up, eaten something, and gotten plenty of rest before telling her that.

They stood in the doorway of the stinky hotel room for a long moment. The early morning breeze lifted the ends of her hair, and felt amazing against his hot skin. There was something about this woman that had Garrett thinking things he shouldn’t be - like what shade of brown her eyes were in the warm glow of a sunrise. How she took her coffee in the morning. What kind of books she liked to read.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Reese asked over the hum of the generator, interrupting Garrett’s inappropriate thoughts. “I don’t want to intrude.”

Garrett wasn’t sure he wanted to do that. Not by a longshot. In fact, he wanted to send her on her way and never think about her again. But they needed her help. Luke needed her to get to Russell, and Garrett wasn’t about to let their best lead walk away.

Besides, he had a feeling, now that he’d met her, held her hand, heard her voice, and seen that sweet smile, he’d think about her no matter how far apart they were. “I’m sure,” Garrett said, infusing his words with a certainty he didn’t feel. “You’ll have your own space. You can come and go as you please. It won’t be an intrusion.” He’d forced out that last part, doing his best not to think about how spectacularly his last relationship failed.

Not that he planned on dating Reese, no matter where his thoughts took him. Still, having a woman he didn’t know the first thing about, living just feet away from his home, was probably a disaster waiting to happen. But what choice did he have?

Reese fidgeted with her hands, clearly torn about what to do. Maybe she sensed his hesitancy. Smart woman. “I won’t stay long,” she finally said.

Garrett shrugged. “Stay as long as you like.” Or until he and his friends got what they needed from her to put Russell Graham away for good.

Reese’s eyes glazed over with tears, and she let out a ragged breath. “Are you always this kind to perfect strangers?”

The sense of awe and gratitude in her words was enough to knock him on his ass. “No,” he said flatly, needing to dissipate some of the tension between them before he pulled her into his arms and kissed the shit out of her despite his better judgment.

But his plan backfired when she gave him a hint of that sweet smile. “Thank you.”

And right then and there, Garrett knew he was completely and utterly screwed.