The Santas Who Stole Me (Stolen #1)

Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

KEEPER

She can’t be dead, I repeat over and over to myself. Calum is in the back loading his pockets with bullets and a few grenades. He checks them repeatedly. The weight is giving him some type of reassurance. He needs that. Out of the three of us, he will take losing Georgie the hardest. Although the tightness in my gut about her not being with me coils to my spine, I push it all away, getting to that dark space I need to complete a job.

Zeke stares at his phone, and the only sound is the click of Calum’s blade as he opens and closes his favorite switchblade. The truck rumbles, and I speed down the highway to get to her. The address is in a small neighborhood nearby.

“Any movement?” I ask Zeke.

“None. Lee was able to get blueprints for this house. She says it’s a safe house. Her FBI connections have really become invaluable today.”

He’s right, but I can’t help but want to burn down the bureau. How they have remained clueless about what Chad has been doing right under their noses is a mystery.

Zeke pulls up the blueprint and displays it on a tablet. No cams are available to try to get a street view, so we only have satellite pictures from a mapping site. It’s unfortunate but not detrimental to getting in and out of the house.

We stop on the street behind our target. The houses are small and in rows with yards separated by short chain-link fences. Each house is the same rectangular shape with simple siding in alternating colors and single-paned windows lining each side of the front door. An attached garage is on the right side of the yard. The homes are set in a way where we can see the back porch of the house on the other side of the street through the fences.

“My guess is the basement. An exterior door on the side of the garage leads to it. There is also a staircase inside the house next to the kitchen that gives access. The basement has a small window near the ceiling above the dryer and washer outlets,” Zee tells us, and my stare remains on the blinking dot marking her location.

Zee looks through the thermal binoculars at the same time a man walks around the side yard. He has a stocky build and dark hair that is pulled into a low ponytail at the base of his neck. His worn denim jacket is out of place. It isn’t cold out, so I assume it’s to cover a weapon or two.

“Guards? Who the fuck does this asshole think he is stationing people outside like he’s royalty?”

“He’s cautious, as he should be due to his impending death. Inside, I see two bodies, one is smaller like a female, one is large like a male. The female isn’t Georgia, it’s not her shape,” Zeke adds.

Another goon walks to the back of the house, and now the body count is at four minimum. The men talk in the backyard. They don’t look like feds, but I know from Lee that can be a deceiving thought. The second guy keeps walking away with a grin on his face, and they are spread apart now. I reach under my seat and grab a pair of bolt cutters. The truck is outfitted with enough weapons to start another world war, along with other helpful tools like axes, and even nunchucks thanks to Calum.

“Calum, go through the neighbor’s yard to the front. There may be more of them out there or in parked cars on that side of the street. Clean, quiet kills, and hide bodies as best you can until we find Georgie,” I tell him with a nod.

“Zeke, get the guy in the back as soon as I’m close enough to get into the basement. Then make your way through the house. Scramble surveillance and we will have Lee do her best to keep it dark. I am going to get our girl. Fuck the cleanup, we can leave the country if we need to, getting her out is the top priority.”

Zee pops his eyebrow at me but says nothing else. He came up with an exit plan if things go sideways, so it’s completely possible for it to look like we never existed on the face of this earth.

With one last glance at the blueprint, I nod to the guys to get going.

Calum silently opens the door but pauses before he slides out. “If shit hits the fan, take Georgie and run,” he tells me, emotions warring on his face.

I swallow, and my throat feels dry. I ignore it. “Okay,” I tell him. We put in our coms. I balked at the price when Zee bought them, but they work long-range and are hardly detectable. I’m grateful for them now if they help us get Georgie back.

“Swear it,” Zee adds.

Calum has a rare look on his face, intense and deadly. He means it. He would give up his life for Georgie. I would, too, and after the display with Zee at the diner, I know he feels the same.

“I swear. Calum, fuck that, kill every mother fucker that dared to step between us.”

Calum’s white teeth appear in an evil grin, and he’s out the door. When we see him hop the fence and cross the street, I make my move, and Zee follows. The coms are silent until the gurgle of someone choking fills my ears. It’s like a hit of the most addicting drug, and Calum calls, “one.” The soft woosh of a bullet flying through the air fills the coms next. Zee calls, “two” in a voice so low that if I hadn’t heard the bullet leave his silencer, I would doubt he spoke at all.

I peer over the bushes on the right of the house to see Zee drag a body off the porch, giving me clearance to move. I dart across the grass and stop when I come to the rusted outer door. Feet shuffle, and before the asshole registers I am in front of him, I spring over the basement door and knock him to the ground beneath me, his breath leaves his lungs with a whoosh. I shove my knee to his chest, keeping him in place. While he’s down, I listen to the soft squelch of the bolt cutters entering his chest.

He grips my arm, but my weight and anger are too much to allow him enough of an advantage to move me.

The bolt cutters are taking too long, so I grab a knife from my belt and slide it across his throat. Blood splashes my face with a final gurgle from this fucker. I shove the knife in my belt again, not giving a fuck about the mess. I sigh, removing the bolt cutters. That was not enough pain for what he deserved. I don’t have time for that. I need Georgie, and my pull to her matters the most. I swipe my arm across my face, removing as much of his blood as I can.

“Three. No lock on the outside of the basement. I am heading in.”

No response from the guys, but I know they are working.

I do another quick glance around the back of the house. Fuck, I hope the lack of a lock means he’s too arrogant to assume she would get out.

She can’t be fucking dead.

Tossing the unneeded bolt cutters, I tug the door open, and it creaks. I duck in before stepping down onto the short ladder, then dropping to my feet without a sound. I leave the door shut despite the darkness, not wanting to tip anyone off. My heart races, and I survey the area. Murky light seeps in through the only small dusty window in the ceiling. The musky smell hits my nose, filling it with the scent of mildew. My pulse picks up, which is unlike me. I’m the calm, collected leader in these situations. Only the fact that this is about Georgie puts the highest stakes in place.

“Four,” Zee says through his earpiece. They must be in the house now.

My eyes adjust slightly when I hear her muffled sob in the corner of the room. I don’t think anyone else is down here, but it’s too dark to tell. The asshole left her in the dark. I feel her terror from across the room.

“No, no,” she whispers, and without a fucking care if I trip or step too loudly, I race toward her voice. She’s in a heap on the floor, folded over herself like she wants to sink into the concrete. I don’t think she senses that I’m standing above her. Her body shakes, and she’s back in that place, when I pulled her out of the basement.

I crouch, afraid to touch her and risk scaring her.

Another sob echoes in the room, and she has about ten seconds before I toss her over my shoulder and race out of here, damn the consequences. I’ll help her get past this at home.

“Kitten.” The soft whisper makes her still, but she doesn’t sit up. “Hey, Georgie, we have to go. Can you walk?” I try again to get her attention.

“Are you real?” The desperate tone in her voice fills my empty heart with dread. I promised he wouldn’t touch her, and I fucking let her down.

She moves, and I hear a rattle.

“It’s me. The guys are upstairs. Are you in handcuffs?” I haven’t touched her, not trusting my rage. I ignore every fiber of my being that wants to pull her close and clench my fists at my sides.

“Keeper?” She stirs, and the rattle is louder now, scraping against the cement. “I’m chained to the floor.”

I can almost make out the outline of her foot and the cuff, so I pull her leg to me, feeling the metal. I need something to cut these and a light. Shit. “Let me grab something to get that off you.”

“Please don’t leave me. He’s going to come back.” My failure to keep her safe almost chokes my throat, stopping my words, but I push them out for her reassurance.

“I would never leave you. Give me a minute, and we will go together.” Before she can answer, I’m back through the side doors, grabbing the bolt cutters and dropping my feet back to the dirty floor.

The lights cut on, and my legs stay rooted in place at the scene before me.

“Sweetheart, you didn’t tell me we had company. I left for the raid at the diner but came back when I saw your guests trip the security alarm.”

That explains why the house wasn’t locked. I stare at the black barrel pointing at Georgie and begin to walk her way. Chad is deranged with his calm voice, as if we’re setting up a dinner party instead of staring at a woman he has chained to the floor.

“I noticed my colleagues upstairs are nowhere to be found. Did you scare them off?”

I take another step, desperate to get between her and the gun. Chad’s dark hair is disheveled, and his gleam is solely focused on Georgie, or so I think until the gun jerks my way.

He tilts his head. His dark eyes don’t meet mine, but they look over my shoulder.

Zeke walks to my side, his murderous intentions filling the small basement.

I don’t have time to think about where Calum is, but I know no matter what happens, I’ll keep my promise. Georgie is getting the fuck out of here.