New Species 05 Brawn (7 page)

Becca felt bad. Brawn wouldn’t have been captured if she had
spent the night at her dad’s house.
Shit.

“Let’s move out. The police will be here soon.” Randy shoved
her from behind. “Walk.”

The shooter holstered his bulky gun against his thigh, moved
forward and grabbed Brawn’s legs. The three of them carried him out and Becca
was forced to walk behind the trio. Randy kept a tight hold on her and she
didn’t bother to fight. There were too many of them for her to win. They were
obviously well trained and while her father had made her take martial arts, she
was a realist. They exited out of the back of her house where the entire slider
doorframe had been totally removed in one piece from the wall.

They carried Brawn to the back wall at Tina and Mel’s yard.
One man released Brawn’s legs and climbed the wall, while the other two lifted
Brawn’s limp body up. The sound of a distant siren made Becca fight back the
urge to attack Randy. She could take him by surprise, maybe and flee into the
darkness. They wouldn’t have much time to find her before the cops arrived but
they also might just shoot her in the back. Kill her.

Brawn had been caught because he’d refused to leave her
behind to flee. She clenched her teeth as the asshole shoved her at the wall.
The three carrying Brawn had already made it over with him, out of sight. She
raised her arms to grip the top of the wall. She wasn’t leaving Brawn. He was
helpless, drugged and she might see an opportunity to save him.

Never leave a man behind
. That was one of her dad’s
favorite mottos.
Fuck!
She wasn’t about to abandon Brawn.

Chapter Four

Becca felt hope that perhaps the cops would arrive and save
the day until she was pushed into a waiting black van parked in Mel and Tina’s
driveway. She saw a white logo sticker across the side of it advertising
security. They were smart, the cops probably wouldn’t stop them, figuring they
were there to respond to a silent alarm. Her optimism died.

Randy shoved her inside the back of the well-lit interior of
the van and straight into a large cage. She landed on something warm. Brawn was
sprawled under her, not moving, his eyes closed. A loud sound behind her made
her jump as the cage door slammed closed, locking them inside together.

Becca watched men pile into the front half of the
commercial-sized van. The front driver door and passenger door opened to admit
two more men. There were seven in all. The driver’s face wasn’t covered and she
was pretty sure from the back of his head that it was the prick who’d shot
Tina. He turned to glance at the back.

“Let’s roll, people.” He chuckled. “That was some easy
money.” The van engine started and it rolled forward, taking her away.

Laughter sounded around the van after one of the men closed
a curtain partition from the front so they could keep the lights on without
anyone seeing them. “Well, not for Smitty.”

More laughter. “He was a prick anyway.”

“Maybe we should have taken his body with us.”

“Naw. It will confuse the cops. He’s got a list of burglary
raps.”

Becca couldn’t tell who was talking with their mouths
covered. She shifted her body to ease her weight off Brawn. The cage was large,
designed for a big animal, but not big enough to keep her from having to press
against him a little. She settled on the cage floor on her butt and leaned
against his chest. She studied his face with concern and touched two fingers to
his neck to feel a weak but steady pulse.

“Look? It must be love. She’s touching him.”

Another one snickered. “I wouldn’t mind her touching me.”

“Me neither.”

Becca ignored them as she brushed Brawn’s hair back from his
forehead after spotting a scratch above his eyebrow. It wasn’t deep, didn’t
bleed much and she slid her fingers through his tresses to feel for any hidden
lumps. She noticed the silky texture as she examined him but she didn’t find
any signs of head trauma.

“Think she’s going to get it on with him?”

A few of them laughed.

“Well, if not him, maybe one of them.”

More laughs.

“I think I’m going to volunteer monitor duty when we get
back. I want to see this if the Doc wants them to fuck.”

More laughs.

Becca gritted her teeth and looked up. She glared at the
heads turned her way and met the eyes of the men watching her since they’d
removed their goggles while she tended Brawn.

“You’ve made the worst mistake of your lives. My father is
going to hunt down and kill everyone involved so I hope you spend your money
fast.”

One of them snickered. “And who’s your daddy, piece of ass?”

“He lives in the big house on the property you just invaded
and hates mercenaries.” She said it to see if they’d respond. She needed
answers and every word might clue her in to what kind of mess she was dealing
with.

“I hate to break this to you but no one is going to find you
in the hole you’re going to. Your daddy was probably cowering under his bed
when he heard those gunshots. Assholes are all talk to their kids.”

More laughter.

Becca didn’t know why these men wanted Brawn and she wasn’t
sure why they hadn’t just killed her. They obviously had no qualms about
killing innocent people since Tina was dead. Relief washed through her because
she’d learned one thing for sure. Her father would arrive at her house at eight
in the morning to pick up Brawn. He was alive.

Tim Oberto would move heaven and hell to find his only
daughter. It might take time but it’s what he did. He tracked down and found
New Species who were being held captive. Her gaze lowered to stare at Brawn. He
looked different asleep—vulnerable and less intimidating. Her father and his
team would come for her and Brawn. She just had to keep them alive long enough.

Will it take hours? Days? Weeks?
She fought tears,
refused to give the assholes watching her the satisfaction, but it wasn’t easy.
She could survive hours but days or weeks?
What if Dad never finds us?

She pushed that thought away. He was good at what he did.
There was a dead body in her guestroom and while the men who’d kidnapped them
might think leaving it would confuse the cops, it would be a clue for her dad.
He’d do more than a background check. He’d tear the dead guy’s history apart to
find every single asshole in that van and make them talk and reveal what had
happened to her.

“Has anyone called the bitch to let her know we have the
male and we got his girlfriend? Maybe we’ll get a bonus.”

“I did,” Randy’s voice was recognizable. “She’s excited. She
really wants a test subject without the drugs. She thinks the drugs will ruin
the experiment. She believes it might be the key to success. It was the
happiest I’ve ever heard her.”

“Maybe she should climb into one of the cages with one of
the males. She’s such a horrifying bitch he’d be too terrified not to do what
she wanted from him.”

“She’s too dried up to do anything wet,” one of them
laughed. “Or she might have thought of that. I know if she glared at me and
told me to drop my pants I might want to eat my gun but I’d be too terrified to
refuse. I’d be stiff with fear.”

Laughter erupted from the van. One guy hit the van wall.

“Image that bitch bending over.” He roared with laughter.

“How about imagining her bent over in front of 358? Who
would be more terrifying a sight? Him going at her or her face?”

“Forget Doctor Elsa’s face. How’d you like to see her
stripped naked? Good thing I skipped dinner.”

They laughed. “Imagine her talking dirty. Or worse, her
having a brat? I don’t care who knocks that bitch up, that will be the ugliest
damn baby ever if it looks like her.”

They were all laughing but Becca felt dread. Whoever this
Doctor Elsa was, she wasn’t liked by the men she controlled. The things they
said were giving her information though, she kept her gaze on Brawn, hoping
they’d keep talking. The more they said, the more she learned.

Number 358 was a person. All New Species had been given
numbers instead of names when they’d been experiments at Mercile testing
facilities. She guessed that number used to be assigned to Brawn, which meant
the assholes had come after him.

If they know his lab number then…shit
.
They must
work for Mercile Industries for sure.
That kind of information was highly
classified. Her father couldn’t even get clearance. He’d also told her Mercile
staff had set fire to their medical records and had destroyed the computers by
the time the assault teams had penetrated those areas when they’d served search
warrants to find New Species.

Why does Mercile want Brawn alive?
It made more sense
if they’d just wanted to kill him. The NSO slammed the company with lawsuits
almost monthly trying to destroy them financially. For every New Species found
and recovered, another lawsuit and criminal charges were filed against them and
more arrests made. The New Species Organization was smart that way. They were
making sure Mercile never recovered enough to restart their research.

“Hey!” one of the men yelled.

Becca jerked from her thoughts to glance up. One of them
scooted closer, staring at her with narrowed blue eyes.

“You might want to move away. We have to shoot him again.
Doc Elsa wants you awake and alert when we get there. Besides, one hit of this
shit and you’d die from an overdose.”

The man pointed the gun and Becca edged away as far from
Brawn as she could get. She yanked the dart out of him and dropped it behind
her the second that she hid the area with her body when she leaned against him
again on the off chance it prevented him from getting a full dose of the
obvious tranquilizer.

They shot him a few more times as time passed. She removed
them as quickly as possible without rousing suspicion and worry set in. They
were going to kill him with an overdose. She tried to talk them out of it but
they refused to listen. His pulse remained steady and she pressed her ear to
his heart, reassured when it continued to beat strongly under her ear. His big
body kept her warm as the miles passed, taking her far from home.

Fear was instantaneous when the van finally stopped and the
engine died. She sat up and felt pain. The thick bars of the cage under her ass
made her backside hurt after no movement for an extended time. The feeling of
pins and needles spread across one side of her ass and up her hip. The men
exited the van to leave her alone with Brawn.

She reached for his face, cupped it and rubbed. “Brawn? Can
you hear me? Wake up!” She made sure she kept her voice low.

He didn’t stir at all and she started when the van doors
were thrown open behind her. Her hands left Brawn’s face as she turned to glare
at the five men who stepped close to the back of the cage door. One unlocked
and yanked it open. He withdrew one a dart gun and pointed it at her chest.

“Get out,” he ordered.

She had to fight the stiffness in her body to move. She
climbed out and her bare feet touched cold, hard concrete. She peered at the
large room that reminded her of a warehouse with the super-high ceiling and
exposed metal beams. There were a few large windows near the ceiling along the
sides. A hand grabbed her arm and led her away from the van.

She turned her head to watch the four men lift Brawn by each
of his limbs. He dangled in their hold, his long hair brushed the floor and
they carried him toward a stairwell across the room. To see Brawn, a man his
size, that helpless, drove fear right back into Becca. She swallowed and
wondered what kind of hell she would face.

The man gripping her arm jerked hard, forcing her to follow
Brawn and she hurried her step. She didn’t want to lose sight of him. The
stairs were wide and metal, leading down into a near darkness below. Her gaze
flashed upward to the windows. The sight of sunshine assured her they’d
traveled for at least three and a half hours.

Claustrophobia batted at her as they traveled down at least
three dark flights of stairs, going deeper into the bowels of the warehouse.
Only a few light bulbs illuminated the way for her to see the steps. The air
grew noticeably cooler at each landing. She hated that—it notched up her fear
but Brawn remained in sight.

The bottom level ended in two big metal doors that the men
pushed open while carrying Brawn between them. The sight that met Becca’s
fearful gaze made her halt in her tracks. The room was large but bright, long
lights hung from the ceiling. They showed two large cages clearly in the center
of the room, set about ten feet apart. The things were massive, something that
should be found in a zoo instead of the basement of a warehouse and the guy
gripping her arm yanked hard.

“Move.”

She got a better view of the room as she entered the double
doors. Other cages were set up along the walls and it horrified her to see a
few inhabitants inside them. Someone lay on a bunk while another man paced the
length of the bars. His head whipped around and she gasped, identifying a New
Species face.

They had more of them. That realization left her cold.
Concrete walls separated those cells along the walls—they were bigger than the
ones in the middle of the room and much longer. The guy holding her led her to
a cage, opened the door and shoved her inside. He let go to slam the door and
lock her in.

Brawn was dumped inside the second cage to her right, his
body made the cot creak when it took his weight and the four men fled. They not
only locked the door but used chains to wrap around a few sections with chunky
locks securing them.

The kidnappers removed their masks as they walked out of her
sight through a twin set of double doors near the ones she’d entered. The
silence in the huge room was spooky, absolute and she turned to study her
prison.