Break Me (Taken Series Book 2) (3 page)

The day I save Sierra is coming real soon. I can feel it. Brownsfield has been gaining allies, building enough force to go in and takeover. I have no clue if he plans to kill Jeremy but what I do know is he won’t let everyone think he’s a pussy. Brownsfield will make sure to punish Jeremy publicly to show whose boss but I plan to kill Jeremy before that happens and have Brownsfield in custody.

Now I don’t plan to go in just Damon and I with hopes that the FBI gets there in time so I don’t get killed. I do have a few allies willing to help me that I had worked with before. They’re also undercover so they understand my need for secrecy about me being alive.

When the time comes they will be by our side storming the house as quietly and efficiently as possible. These guys are the same guys who have spent years trying to take down this ring. They will be relieved once it’s all over because they can go back to their regular lives. Being undercover has taken them away from their families and friends. It is a lonely life not having anyone to talk to about what’s going on besides your small team. Some of the guys haven’t even been able to see their family in months for fear that they would be targeted if they made a mistake. Helping me rescue Sierra and watch as the FBI take down all the players in the ring has them excited.

Since being in hiding I have felt pretty alone. I’ve been staying at a private residence with a little old lady that agreed to have me as long as I mowed her lawn and occasionally helped her reach things on the top shelves. She lost her husband years ago in a sting operation gone wrong so now she helps as often as possible by lending a room to agents and witnesses who need to hide out temporarily. No one can trace her to the agency so her place is one of the safest places to hide until the threat is taken care of.

              Her name is Lois and she is about five foot two with short white hair. During the days she gardens and every night she has supper on the table. No matter what I have going on I never miss supper with her. First off, her food is amazing. Second, she loves having someone to talk to. Our conversations usually consist of her late husband but when she starts to feel despondent talking about him she switches the topic over to me. I’ve told her nearly everything when it came to Sierra. How we met, how I felt then and how I feel now once I finally figured out that she was more than just a friend to me. I even replayed the most recent events leaving a few things out that just wouldn’t be appropriate and how I plan to rescue Sierra again.

              Just talking about Sierra leaves an ache in my chest bigger than I thought possible. I never thought that I would have to worry about her being taken from me and to have it happen twice has me feeling like maybe I can’t protect her like a real man should. But what I do know is that once I save her this time there will be no way she will ever be taken from me again.

              The other part of this whole scenario that I refuse to think about is what if Jeremy has already killed her or auctioned her off? It’s not something I want to think about but it’s a real possibility that he decided she just wasn’t worth it to him or that he could make more money on selling her to someone else than keeping her for himself. If he decided to sell her to someone else then it will be nearly impossible to find her again. I would continue to search for her until my last breath but it would be a search that could go on forever and I may never find her again.

              Every Wednesday I head to the underground fight club in hopes I may hear of anything new. I want to make sure there is nothing happening that will interfere in my mission to save Sierra. As I walk around the crowded, abandoned building through the throngs of shouting men I look for anyone who has any contact with Jeremy or his men. There are always a few buyers or their minions who do business here hidden in the dark corners or up close to the cage so they don’t miss a fight. The turnout isn’t as big as when I fought but it’s still a decent amount of people who show up to see two men fight until one goes down in a bloody heap.

              As I come to a group of men huddled over a stack of pallets discussing business I stand close enough to hear the conversation but far enough to make them believe I am watching the fight. Occasionally I throw out a ‘fuck him up’ or ‘fuck yeah’ to make it seem legit. The conversation is of a party Jeremy is throwing at his house for all of his buyers and is happening this weekend and they are talking strategy. Apparently there are a few girls they want but they don’t want to go over budget so they are picking a limit on how much to spend on each girl. Just listening to them talk about these girls as if they are just cattle is disgusting. How could anyone find buying women or children okay? I never understood it. Don’t these men have daughters, wives, sisters or mothers? What if that was one of them? Would they still feel the same way? To them women are just a means to an end; things to use and abuse before throwing them away like trash when their usefulness is over.

              I listen just a little bit longer hoping to hear anything else that may be useful but the only thing left for them to talk about is who they are betting on during the main fight tonight. I decide it’s time to leave before anyone notices me and starts questioning why I’m here. The people in this building may not recognize me at first but if they have enough time to look they may figure it out and I don’t need any extra problems added to my already growing list.

              I call Damon and automatically get sent to voicemail and I hang up. He has been keeping an eye out on Brownsfield since he left the hospital a few months back. Apparently he is no longer on desk duty now that he is healed from his gun shot wounds and is ready to get back out there in the field. Damon has befriended him hoping to keep close by playing on his loss of his sister and the mutual loss of me as far as Brownsfield is concerned. It’s working well in keeping him off my trail but I worry that he may turn on Damon thinking he’s out to get him, which he is.

              As my phone starts vibrating in my pocket with a text from Damon telling me to call him, I wait until I am in my car and on the road before hitting the call button.

              “Took you long enough fucker.”

              “Fuck you asshole. I was doing a little recon. Found out there is a party this weekend with a lot of business.”

              “Is that right?” Fucking Damon. His sarcasm is annoying.

              “Cut the shit man. What did you want and I’ll tell you the rest of what I got.”

              “Alright dang. You’re one moody son of a bitch.”

              “Get on with it.”

              “Well I heard about the party also and I got a way in for us to make a quick search of the perimeter and see how many guards on average he has during a gathering, where his room is and where he has Sierra locked up.”

              “That’s great. Let’s meet up so we can go over a plan of getting in and out quickly and quietly.”

              “Sure. Where at?”

              “Do you remember the place I used to fight before it was moved to the warehouse?”

              “That abandoned house? Yeah.”

              “Meet me in twenty and bring the map of the house and the perimeter.”

              “Ok. See ya.” I don’t reply as I toss my phone to the passenger seat and gun it towards the abandoned house where I first fought and was asked to join the undercover operation to catch the bad guys. When I arrive, Damon is already there waiting with a flashlight and a roll of paper with the floor plans of the house Sierra is holed up in.

              “What else did you find out?”

              “Not much. The party is Saturday and it’s another auction for his biggest buyers. It’s invite only so even if we wanted to slip in through the front door with everyone else we would get nowhere without the password and our name on the list.” Damon goes to open his mouth. “And even if we had a name on that list and a password doesn’t mean we’d get let in because he more than likely has a photo of each buyer or his guards would recognize them. He wants to make an impression on these guys. Bring them back for more and he’s not taking any chances on letting in the wrong people.”

              “Fuck. He’s strict.”

              “He’s smart, just not as smart as us. He’s going to focus all his efforts on the front door where everyone is entering.” I roll out the floor plans of the house and mark an X with my pencil on the front door and the back door so we know where the entrances are. “And the back door to stop anyone from sneaking off with anything that’s not theirs. You can’t trust anyone in this business so the two main exits will be blocked.”

              “So then how do you plan to get in?”

              “We are going to go through his bedroom door. There is a balcony and there won’t be any guards watching it because all the doors to the rooms will be locked and he will have the key.”

              “How do you know all this?”

              “Because that’s what I would do in a business like this. When you have a lot to lose you make sure you cover all escape routes. If he locks all the bedroom doors then nobody can try to escape without alerting him first.”

              “So how do we get to the balcony then without being detected? Doesn’t he have guard dogs or men walking the perimeter?”

              “No dogs that I know of but if so we will deal with it then. There will be men walking the perimeter so we will have to go early and find out how often they come around. Once we figure that out we will slip in through the fence between shifts and run to the balcony. It shouldn’t be hard to climb up there and once we do we’ll have to be extremely careful. We’ll head down the hall,” I point with my finger, “and check each door. I’ll bring a lock pic for us to use to get into each room to look around. I don’t want to be there for long so we have to move fast. Once we check each room and find out which one Sierra is in, we’ll leave and discuss strategy for when we come back for her.”

              “Why can’t we just take her at the party?”

              “Because it’s too soon. If we take her now then there is still a chance that he could come back for her or Brownsfield will come after her. I have to wait for Brownsfield to make his move so that I can take them both out at the same time. I’ll have the FBI on their way when we storm in to save Sierra. It will give us enough time to get her out and have both of them occupied long enough not to notice that the FBI is surrounding the place. Jeremy and Brownsfield will both be arrested and the whole ring taken down piece by piece.” I decided not to let him in on the fact that only Brownsfield will be arrested because I’m going to make sure that Jeremy doesn’t make it out of that house alive. I have no idea if Damon would hate me or want to help in murdering Jeremy but I don’t want him to have his hands dirty with another man’s blood.

              “Fuck!” Damon punches the wall behind him in anger causing drywall to crumble to the floor from the force of his fist.

              “Sorry man. Believe me I want to bring her home just as much as you do but we have to be smart. I can’t screw this up again and put her in even more danger. She’s not going anywhere anytime soon. She just needs to hold on a little longer. And you need to keep your cool or I won’t take you. I can’t have you taking your anger and frustration out while we’re there.”

              “I won’t man. Fuck. It just pisses me off that we can’t take her home with us.”

              “I know man. I know.”

              “What if we see her? What if she sees us?”

              “It will devastate her that we are leaving her there but she’s smart. She’ll realize we’ll come back for her and she needs to stay strong.”

              “This is a fucked up situation.” I nod my head in agreement.

              “Why don’t you go home and rest? Clear your schedule this weekend because it’s going to be an all weekend affair. We have to get there early Saturday afternoon when they aren’t looking for party crashers and wait until its dark to make our move. We probably won’t get back until early Sunday morning and I need you to keep up with me.”

              “Don’t worry about me. I’m ready. I’ve been ready since she was first taken.”

              “Good. I’ll call you tomorrow with a list of things we are going to need and a meeting spot.”

              “You really think they’re still looking for you?”

              “I don’t know but until I have Sierra tucked safely away in her own bed and out of that bastards clutches I don’t want to give anyone reason to suspect and start looking for me on a hunch.”

              “Right. This fucking sucks. Is there anything I should let mom and dad know?”

              “No. Don’t tell them anything. I don’t want them to think we are getting her right away. It could be we have to wait until next month and it will be hard for them to deal with knowing we can get in there but haven’t yet saved their daughter. If you need to tell them something just tell them we’re close and I am working my ass off to make sure I get her home to them as soon as is safely possible. And tell them to continue taking flowers to my grave.” Ever since they had that fake funeral for me I know it’s been hard on them trying to make everyone believe I’m dead and that they are mourning me so whenever they leave a new set of flowers for me and take the old ones out of the vase I make sure to leave a letter for them to read when they get home. It’s the best I can do to ease their worry.