Guarding Antonia Read online

  “Okay I’ve managed to get some footage of the area where you are.” Tex said just when Robot was getting impatient for some information.

  Robot made a move to lean closer to the phone, but Italy stilled his movement. He sent Robot a Trust me, I’ve got this look.

  Fuck, he was supposed to be taking a back seat, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from taking over. He took a step back and Italy nodded. “Tex, what have you go for us?” he asked.

  “When Antonia left the building she donned a black ball cap and sunglasses. The woman with her didn’t do anything to disguise herself. They disappeared around the corner.”

  Robot clenched his fists, they knew she disappeared around the corner, they were standing by the dead body, why didn’t Tex get that?

  “Fuck.” Tex exclaimed.

  “What?” asked Italy.

  “There was no fight, whoever was in the car just shot the blonde, closed the door and drove away with Antonia.”

  “Which direction, Tex and what sort of car?” Italy bounced on his feet and Robot recognized the sign he was anxious to get out on the road.

  “I’m about to send the coordinates to you. I’m able to track them. They Impala is still out the front of the building. I’ll let the cops know about it. But they’re now in a stolen Dodge Challenger. I’m guessing they didn’t realize the owner of the car has it registered with one of those organizations that tracks cars. We’ll be able to get these fuckers.”

  “Thank fuck,” breathed out Robot.

  They needed to get moving.

  “Let’s go, Team,” he said.

  Hang on, T. Hang on. I’m coming. He mentally sent her the message as he strode to the car.

  Through the fog of the drugs used to know her out, a sense of calm had settled over Antonia. Why wasn’t she panicking? She was being kidnapped and taken to God knew where. She should be scared out of her mind, but she wasn’t. Deep in her heart she had no doubt Robot Tex, and the guys were working on a way to rescue her, like they’d done before. Believing that help was on the way was the only thing keeping her sane at the moment.

  What she had to do was make sure she didn’t get on the bad side of the guy whose meaty thigh rested against hers.

  Concentrating on her breathing, making sure it remained even so he wasn’t aware she’d woken up, she opened her eyes a little to see if she could make out where they were.

  Damn, she’d have to move her head to get a good look.

  “How much further?” The guy next to her spoke.

  “Not long, maybe another ten minutes.” She assumed it was the driver speaking.

  “And everything is in place?”

  “Yeah, Lars, is ready and waiting for us.”

  Who the fuck was Lars? And what was waiting for them when they arrived?

  The car jolted as it hit a pot hole and, even though everything in her screamed to stay away from the guy next to her, she allowed her body to fall against him.

  He shoved her back, hard, and her cheek slammed against the door. Pain burst through her already bruised face and it was impossible to hold back the grunt of pain.

  “Ahh sleeping beauty is awake. Perfect. We’re almost at our destination.”

  Antonia gave up all pretense of being asleep, turned and glared at him. “What are you going to do with me?”

  He lifted a shoulder but didn’t answer. The guy was cooler than an ice block. His brown eyes were completely void of emotion. The man certainly had no soul, no one who possessed one would be able to murder two women without flinching like he did.

  God, she hoped Robot was on somehow on his way to her, she definitely didn’t want to be his third victim. Actually, she probably wouldn’t be his third victim, he more than likely had a slew of victims he’d taken out.

  “Who are you? And why do you want me?” she persisted.

  “Who I am is of no concern to you. As for what I want with you. Well,” he looked her over and a shiver of revulsion crept over her skin like a snake slithering over a rock. “I haven’t quite decided.”

  The guy was lying, his mind was full of what he wanted to do with her, and Antonia guessed it wasn’t to have lunch.

  The words were on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to blurt out that he wouldn’t get away with what he had planned, and she would be rescued, but how could she be so sure? Her cellphone was in her purse which was probably still sitting in her desk drawer. While Tex’s reputation was second to none, there was still the chance he hadn’t been able to see which car she’d been bundled into.

  Stop it. Her mind yelled at her. She had to believe she would be rescued. That, by some miracle, in a few hours she’d be wrapped in Robot’s arms.

  She closed her eyes on the thought of never being able to see him again. Touch him. Kiss him. Love him.

  Like she had decided the night before in his arms, denying she loved and wanted him was useless. She could no longer deny that she’d loved him since that first night in Vegas. She absolutely fell head over heels in love with him at first sight. Maybe it had taken her a little while to get on board with it, but now she was a full-fledged member of the love train and she had no desire to get off. If she did, it would be with Robot beside her, holding her hand, guarding and protecting her like only he could.

  She had to hang on. Had to believe deep in her bones he was only a few minutes behind her. He’d rescued her before and not just when she’d been taken with Erin. Her wandering soul was found the moment their eyes met across a roulette table.

  The car stopped, and she sat a little straighter. Looking out the window, she didn’t recognize her surroundings. They were in some residential area where the houses looked like they could use a good coat of paint. The porch of the house they were parked in front of had an array of lawn chairs situated on it, the broken down fence surrounding it would easily be taken away on a strong wind. The yard was more weed than grass and the only thing that looked reasonably healthy was an old tree that stood large and proud in the far left corner.

  Antonia didn’t have time to study anything else before the door was opened and she was pulled out of the car.

  “Don’t even thinking about screaming, bitch, because no one will come running. Not here.” Her kidnapper spoke in her ear as he pulled up the pathway to the front of the house.

  Of course, she wasn’t going to scream, she wasn’t stupid. And she was well aware the chance of anyone coming to her rescue was zero.

  The door opened the second their feet hit the porch.

  “I’ve got everything set up.” A raspy voice stated.

  Antonia looked up and saw a man with stringy, shoulder length hair that could do with a good cut and wash. This must be Lars, the guy they’d been talking about in the car. Like the man holding her captive, his eyes held a sinister glare touched with a twisted excitement.

  Fuck, did they all get turned on by torturing women?

  “Excellent.” She was jolted to a halt before they crossed the threshold. The hand around her arm squeezed a little tighter and she looked at the man holding her. If she thought his eyes were dead before, now they blazed with life, as if the thought of torturing her, or whatever they planned, pleased him. “If you cooperate with everything I say, you may just get out of here alive. Maybe.” He then leaned over and kissed her on the lips, she fought back the urge to vomit all over him. Perhaps she shouldn’t and see how he dealt with being covered in throw up.

  He shoved her through the door and she stumbled, reaching to grab at anything to prevent herself from falling flat on her face. Her fingers clashed with Lars’s sweaty ones.

  The second she was upright she snatched her hand away. “Keep your hands off me, asshole.”

  Her reward for her sass was another slap across her cheek by Lars, the one that hadn’t already received two slaps. At least she’d have matching bruises.

  “Lars, don’t touch until I say so.” The words held a wealth of authority. It looked like Mr. Kidnapper was the only one allow
ed to hand out physical punishment. “Take her to the room.”

  Lars grabbed her and marched her through the house. What little glimpses she caught the rooms she walked past, the house was a mess and it smelled funky too—a combination of old shoes, sweat and garbage. She couldn’t believe people actually lived here. Maybe they didn’t, maybe it was kept for this reason only, as a place to bring people to torture or rape before they killed them.

  Antonia shuddered in fear, sweat beaded her brow and her stomach heaved. She swallowed down the bile, her throat burning. She hated letting the word rape even factor into what might happen to her, but she had to be realistic, there was a good chance she could be sexually assaulted.

  “Wait here. Boss will be back soon.” At least she had a name she could refer to her kidnapper as, seeing he hadn’t introduced himself to her.

  The door shut behind Lars, and Antonia looked around. The room was as dirty as the rest of the house. In one corner sat a single bed, the comforter had seen better days and she couldn’t tell what color it was, or had been. The window was boarded up so there was no escape there. Swiveling, her gaze landed on a long white table with a number of items laid across the top. Clutching her stomach, she walked over to it, but a closer inspection didn’t make her any feel better. Knives of all different shapes and sizes and things that looked like big pliers were laid out before her.

  “I see you’re familiarizing yourself with a few of my favorite items.” Boss walked back in.

  What would happen if she grabbed a knife and threw it at him? She’d never thrown a knife in her life, but desperate times called for desperate matters. Her hand inched out, but, before she could even get close to picking up one of the shiny metal items, Boss’s arms closed around her waist, lifting her off her feet. In a quick motion Robot would’ve been proud of, he tossed her on the bed. She landed with a thump and a spring from the mattress dug into her lower back.

  “That was a big mistake.”

  She’d had enough of playing docile victim. It wasn’t in her nature and she wasn’t going to start now. No doubt if Robot could see her, he’d tell her to back down and play it cool, but the fear and fight instincts had taken over and flowed through her, more so now after seeing those metal items on the table.

  “No, the mistake you made was taking me. You’re going to regret it. It won’t be me who’ll end up dead by the end of the day, it will be you.” She reached down, took off her shoe and flung it at him, hitting him square in the chest.

  Antonia was well aware she was poking the bear, but if it kept her from getting up close and personal with any of those instruments of death on the table then she’d do it. She went to grab her other shoe, but Boss moved swiftly and had her arms above her head before she could take a breath.

  “You just keep making mistakes don’t you, bitch? I had planned to play nice with you, now that’s never going to happen.”

  A searing, burning sensation slammed into the top of her right thigh and she screamed. She looked down and saw the hilt of a knife sticking out of her leg. Her breaths came in short, sharp bursts as the pain rippled through her.

  “If I’d gone a little further to the left, I’d have hit the femoral artery. That would mean you’d bleed out and I don’t want that. I’m quite adept with my knife skills.” Boss leaned in close and swiped his tongue down her cheek. “I’m going to have fun.”

  Agonizing pain from the knife still in her leg kept her pinned to the bed, unable to move away from his roving tongue. She tossed her head to the right and left to try and get away from him, but it was hopeless.

  Once again, he raised his arm, ready to hit her. She hoped he hit her hard, knocking her out so that she could sink into a black oblivion and never know what he did to her next. She looked him in the eye, willing him to do it. To hit her.

  A sinister smile stretched his lips, his yellow teeth the last thing she saw as his hand connected with the side of her head and blackness engulfed her once again.

  Chapter 12

  Antonia’s scream rent the air and Robot leaped to his feet from his crouched position ready to storm the shitty house where the asshole had taken her. A quick yank had him sitting on his ass in the dirt. He fired a fuck off look in Italy’s direction.

  The look bounced off his friend. They’d been in too many situations together to get offended by certain looks.

  “I know you want to get in there, but I’m in charge of this mission. Sit your fucking ass down until the other guys are in place. We will get Antonia out, I promise you.”

  Robot blew out a frustrated breath and mentally counted to ten. Italy was right. This was a mission, they had a plan and they would stick to it. If he went in there, without thought or care, Antonia could get killed.

  Fuck, he didn’t want to think of her being killed, but that’s what could be happening to her right now.

  He and Italy had taken position in front of the house and had been squatting in the dirt for about fifteen minutes. While enroute to this place, Tex had contacted a SWAT team, and until they arrived, they had to sit tight. But if they didn’t get here soon, he was going to tell Italy they were going in.

  “Back is all clear. Noticed a room with a boarded up window. Best guess is that’s where they’ve got Antonia. We’re going to take the left side of the house.” Cowboy spoke over the comms. He was teamed, like always, with Red.

  “Sit-Rep, Joker?” Italy asked.

  “Right side clear.”

  “How many perps are we looking at?”

  “Four in the house including Antonia. T-Rex and I are waiting for your word.”

  Robot nudged Italy’s foot. “How much longer till SWAT gets here?”

  “Not long.”

  “I don’t think I can wait much longer. Something’s happened, I can feel it. It’s too damn quiet now.”

  Italy adjusted his rifle and nodded. “Agree. If they’re not here in sixty seconds we’re going in.”

  Four affirmatives sounded in Robot’s ear and he relaxed a fraction. He had no doubt he could count on his team. They’d been in many situations where time was of the essence. The difference between life and death could be a matter of seconds and every second they waited for the SWAT to arrive was a second Antonia didn’t have.

  Italy tapped him on the shoulder and he met his friend’s eyes. A silent communication passed between them. Both men rose, and Italy murmured go, the signal for the rest of the team to get into position.

  They crept toward the front. The front door wasn’t closed properly. What the fuck were they thinking? Looking for a quick escape? Well, it worked to his advantage.

  Once all the men were grouped together, Italy swung the door open and threw in two smoke cannisters in quick succession.

  Footsteps thumped down the hallway. They took up position with their back to the wall. Through the haze of grey smoke two figures materialized. Joker and T-Rex knocked both men out with the butt of their rifles.

  “Go. We’ve got these fuckers.” Joker looked up as he grabbed some zip ties out of his pocket.

  There were only two other people left, one was the woman he loved, and the other was the asshole who’d taken her. Robot would like nothing better than to put a bullet between his eyes so he couldn’t hurt anyone else. The cops wouldn’t like if he did that, they wanted the guy alive so they could question him, but while he breathed he was still a threat to Antonia.

  “Take it easy, Robot. We’ll do this the right way.” Italy’s words were words he’d said numerous times to other anxious members of the team. His instincts were right, Italy had the makings of a good team lead.

  Together they crept down the hallway. Why hadn’t the other guy come out to see what the fuss was all about?

  “We’re in here gentleman, come join the fun.”

  Robot’s blood turned cold at the sound of the calm voice.

  “Wait.” Joker advised. “We’ll be with you in two seconds. These guys aren’t going anywhere and SWAT just pulled up.
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  “Red,” Robot spoke before giving Italy a chance. “Go out and advise them to wait for our signal before coming in. I don’t trust this guy not to shoot Antonia.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “What are we going to do now?” asked Cowboy.

  “Proceed as planned. As a group. There are five us to one of him. We’ll take the fucker down and rescue Antonia.” The resolve was clear in Italy’s voice. Robot believed the same resolve thrummed through everyone on the team.

  He took up his normal position at the front of the group, he wanted to be the first one Antonia saw. He lifted his hand and motioned forward.

  They hugged the wall as they crept to the room at the back of the house. Reaching the doorway, he held up his fist.

  “Gentleman, please there’s no need for all this drama, come on in.”

  Robot entered the room, his eyes going straight to the bed and had to steel his spine at the scene in front of him. Antonia’s face was puffy and blood streaked down either side from cuts on her forehead. He could see one knife protruding from her leg and another from her arm.

  The man standing by the bed pointed a gun at her chest and the smile on his face suggested he was enjoying every single second.

  This fucker was going to die.

  In a split second Robot had his rifle at his eye and his finger squeezed the trigger. The man fell backwards as Robot’s bullet pierced him between the eye. He was also aware of another gun firing and bright red seeped into the front of his shirt.

  Robot had no idea who fired the shot and he didn’t care.

  “Get the paramedics in here now,” he shouted as he rushed over to Antonia’s side. As much as he wanted to haul her in his arms, he controlled himself. He laid his head over her face, waiting for a warm puff of air to hit his cheek signifying that Antonia was still alive. Relief swamped him when he felt it.

  Placing a hand over her heart he leaned close to her ear. “I’m here, T. I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

  In the background, he was aware of Italy dragging the body of the guy off Antonia and the sound of footsteps running down the hallway. He ignored it all.