Switched (13 page)

     Brad lifted her hands above her
head and held her fast while he unsheathed his erect cock and ran its length
through the folds of flesh between her thighs. Her desire for him ensured she
was lubricated and ready for him. With a surge of wanton lust, she thrust her
pelvis forward, unable to speak with his tongue in her mouth. He entered her
slowly, his thickness filling her depths and spreading her wide inch by solid
inch. When he was fully immersed within her he pulled out completely and
repeated the slow penetration. She pushed forward, wanting him to fuck her with
wild abandon, but he didn’t. Instead, he let her wrists go and moved his hands
to her hips, holding her down while he meticulously made love to her at a slow
and even pace. It was probably the most vanilla sex she’d ever had, but also
torturous. 

     “Put your hands above your head and
keep your legs apart,” he ordered.

     She obeyed, wanting him to thrust,
but he didn’t. So she closed her eyes and concentrated on each thrust, each
pelvic grind until finally, she found herself on the verge of intense orgasm.
When she came she shoved her hips up to meet him and felt her toes curl.  He
continued to penetrate her faster and harder until he came and collapsed
against her.    

     Then, they held each other until
they both fell asleep.

Chapter
Eight

The minute they pulled into the parking
garage Kali
’s
gut twisted. Brad must have noticed her uncertainty because he gave her a warm
smile. “You okay?”

She nodded and took a deep breath.
“Yeah.”

Brad had been tight lipped since this
morning. He had admitted to her that he didn’t like the plan one bit, but both
she and Brocco assured him that the man on the other side, Richard, had agreed
to play along. Kali even told him how much she trusted Richard. Now, they sat
quietly in the SUV, Brad in the driver’s seat and Salazar behind him. The plan
was simple. Kali would go inside. She’d wait forty five minutes and would then
come back out. That’s when Richard and his henchmen would try to grab her and
Salazar would shoot Richard, scaring off the other two in hopes they’d call
Victor and lure him here.

Even though she was wearing a bullet
proof vest, she knew Brad was still worried the guys who weren’t in on it would
snag her and get away, or a bullet would miss and hit something not covered by
the vest. While if something like that happened and he likely couldn’t avert
it, that’s why he insisted he be involved from beginning to end. For the most
part, he’d been all business all morning long.

“Now don’t panic,” came Brocco’s voice
from behind her. “Just walk calmly and confidently into the optometry office,
wait with the agents in there and when they tell you, just walk back out and
back to the car.”

He’d already told her this three times.
She wasn’t an idiot. But instead of scolding the FBI Agent she simply replied,
“Alright.”

Brad reached over and squeezed her hand,
giving her a quick, reassuring glance. She could tell he was nervous even
though she knew he tried so hard not to show it.

Giving him a tight smile, she smoothed
her blouse, feeling the foreign vest beneath her clothes. The damn vest felt
like a corset, or maybe she was just holding her breath with anxiety.

After he put the SUV into park and
turned off the ignition, all three men turned their attention to her.

“Ready?” Brad asked.

“Yep.”

He leaned over and kissed her light on
the lips. “Be careful.”

She nodded, then opened the front
passenger side door and stepped out. Her legs felt stiff and awkward. Shutting
the door, she started toward the optometry office.

Each step seemed to take forever,
especially since she knew she was being watched. She looked around with nonchalance
like smart women do when they walk, and from the corner of her eye she caught a
glimpse of them; the men sent to kidnap her. She was pretty sure it was Richard
driving the blue car. Her steps quickened and her heart raced. When she reached
the door, she breathed a sigh of relief. She would be safe for the next
forty-five minutes at least. But it also meant she had forty-five minutes to
contemplate her life and worry about what was going to happen when that
forty-five minutes was up.

She didn’t share her concerns with
Brocco about the ruse they were playing. Or with Brad, even though Brad voiced
the same concerns she had. One wrong move and she knew she could end up back in
the hands of Victor. Cruel, abusive Victor.  

The interior of the building was your
standard medical looking waiting room. Behind a desk sat a comely woman of
about fifty. The woman, dressed in standard office attire befitting someone who
worked as a receptionist, smiled at her. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, I’m Laura Stanton.” She smiled,
wondering how the FBI had set this up. Were the optometrist and his staff
working with the Feds, or was this really just an empty office only hours
earlier? She didn’t know and she hadn’t asked.

The woman nodded. “Just have a seat and
Gretchen will be out to get you in a moment.” Then she picked up the phone,
dialed a few numbers, and said, “Ms. Stanton is here for Gretchen.”

Then the woman simply went back to work
as if Kali wasn’t there at all. Kali looked around the room and then made her
way toward a chair where she could face the door and see outside the building. 
Grabbing a magazine, she settled in, took a deep breath, and opened it only to
realize she was reading a copy of
PARENTING
.  With a frown she leaned
forward, tossed the magazine on the table and grabbed a copy of
GOOD
HOUSEKEEPING
instead. She wasn’t much of a housekeeper, but what the hell.
However, thoughts of what was going on outside overwhelmed her and she found
herself staring through the pages of the magazine in front of her. It seemed
like fifteen minutes or maybe longer when finally, a woman’s voice called her
name. She jumped.

A blonde woman, maybe thirty, wearing a
lab coat and holding a clipboard looked at her expectantly. “Ms. Stanton?”

Kali stood and gave her a tight smile.
“Yes.”

“I’m Gretchen, follow me. How have your
eyes been?”

Confused, Kali followed almost
instinctively. “I haven’t had them checked since high school, but I haven’t
been having problems,” she started.

She was led to an exam room with charts
on the wall.

“Umm, you realize I’m not really here
for an exam, right?” she asked. Then a terrifying thought hit her. What if
Brocco and Salazar were really Victor’s men and all of this was a ruse to get
rid of Brad? She stiffened. Though those badges she saw yesterday did look
official…

Gretchen nodded, motioning for her to
sit in a chair. “Yes, I know. Doctor Martin told the FBI he didn’t mind helping
out as long as normal business wasn’t disrupted. Our job is to keep you here
for forty five minutes and the best way to do that is to give you an eye exam.
They agreed. The agents are in the doctor’s private office down the hall, I am
going to start your exam, Doctor Martin will finish it, and my understanding is
Uncle Sam paid for it.”

With a bright grin, Gretchen began
examining Kali’s eyes.

The exam was relatively thorough and
Doctor Martin, an older man with graying hair and beard and a slight build,
proved pleasant enough. Doctor like. Sure enough she had twenty-twenty vision
and before she knew it, a man wearing a white dress shirt and dress slacks
knocked on the door.

“We’re ready for Ms. Stanton to head
back to the parking garage. Are we finished here?” He didn’t wait for an
answer. It was obvious he was hearing something though the ear piece he wore.
He nodded to no one. “We’re sending the package now.”

Doctor Martin, who probably knew nothing
of what was going on, nodded at the man and stood aside so Kali could leave.

Her eyes were still dilated so she put
her sunglasses back on, took a deep breath, and made her way past the agent in
the hall toward the front door, and out in the afternoon light.
It’s simple,
she told herself.
Just walk back to the SUV.
Then she noticed the blue
car was no longer parked across the street from the parking garage and with
each step her stomach twisted. As the garage loomed before her she began to
feel nauseated. She kept walking with her head held high, pretending there was
absolutely nothing out of the normal going on. It was an average day and she
had just been in for an eye exam. She made it into the shade of the parking
garage, but when she saw him she stopped short, frozen. It was Richard,
Victor’s right hand guy and a regular to Victor’s house. Secretly, he and Misha
had been lovers. He’d always been nice to her, respectful even. She knew he was
the one working for the feds, but nothing prepared her for the feelings and
memories seeing him stirred up. Becoming acutely aware of every click her boot
heels made on the pavement, she started walking toward the SUV again.

Richard stepped in front of her, his
henchmen trailing behind.

“Come with us quietly, Laura,” Richard
said. His voice sounded resigned. “Victor has promised…”

     She tried to side-step him toward
the SUV, but one of the other men stepped into her path. Behind the men, the
passenger side door of the SUV opened and Agent Brocco stepped out with his gun
pointed at Richard. 

     “What the fuck?” One of Richard’s
men said, pulling a gun out of a holster under his arm.

     The second henchman followed suit,
pulling out his gun.

     Richard turned toward Brocco,
making sure Kali was behind him. “We are simply taking back what’s Victor’s.
Stand down and no one gets hurt.”

     Brocco arched an eyebrow. “Miss
Laura belongs to Alexi. If Victor wants her, he needs to get out here himself
and take it up with Alexi, doesn’t he?”

     That’s when she saw Salazar and
Brad coming around the side of the SUV.

     Brad wore a look of caution.

     “Fuck this,” said henchman number
one. And that’s when the sound of gunfire started.

     Kali’s hands flew up instinctively
to cover her head and she ducked, and then realized she was out in the open and
no matter what, a stray bullet could hit her. She ran past Richard just as he
fell backward with what appeared to be a serious bullet wound to the chest and
just in time to see Salazar jump out of the way and Brad drop to the ground.

     “Brad,” she screamed. Her own voice
startled her. The sheer terror behind it was foreign.

     A hand grabbed her and pushed her
toward the SUV. It was Brocco, directing her into the car.

     “But Brad…” she started.

     “It’s a flesh wound, it hit his
leg, get in the car Ms. Stanton. Now.” Brocco shoved opened the SUV door and
all but shoved her inside, closing the door behind her.

     She twisted around in her seat and
climbed into the driver side to see if Brad was okay. Salazar had him lying
down on the ground. The two men with Richard ran out of the parking garage and
down the street and from around the corner came two paramedics carrying their
supplies. Evidently they’d been waiting. She opened the driver’s side door and
slipped out of the SUV, and rushed over to Brad, falling down beside him. “Are
you okay?”

     He nodded, gritting his teeth.
“Chest and leg because lion heart there jumped out of the way. That’s gonna
bruise,” he said, pointing to his chest.

     Kali laughed, now fully aware of
the tears streaming down her cheeks.

     “Get back in the car and let the
guys bring you to the hospital, okay?”

     She nodded.

     “I think we’re clear here, I don’t
see those guys anymore. Send in the ambulance now.” Then he turned to Kali with
a stern look. “I remember telling you to get in the car Ms. Stanton.”

     She nodded, then paused, “Is
Richard okay?”

     Brocco nodded. “He was hit in the
chest like we wanted, but he hit his head when he fell. Probably a slight
concussion, but the hope is he’ll be fine.”

     Sirens sounded in the distance,
creeping ever closer. Finally she relented and climbed back into the SUV and
waited while both Brad and Richard were loaded into the ambulance.

Chapter
Nine

     Victor Kolknov's cell phone rang
just as Misha brought his lunch onto the veranda.  He looked at the screen and felt
a surge of annoyance run through him. Jason shouldn't be calling him. It should
have been Richard. There was a chain of command and he didn't like it when it
wasn't followed. He answered the phone with a scowl. "Why are you calling
me? I only speak to Richard."