Page 35 of Shadows Redeemed
But wallowing in self-recrimination wouldn’t help Parker now. She needed to move. Get the team. Find out who busted in on them. Scratch that. She knew how busted in on them. But where did they take him? She took a shuddering breath, forcing herself to focus. She needed to think, to plan.
First things first, though. She needed to get dressed and assess her injuries. With ginger movements, she located her scattered clothing from where she had tossed it last night in the rush to be in Parker’s arms. Every movement sent spikes of pain through her skull, but she gritted her teeth and pushed through it. As she pulled on her jeans, she noticed angry bruisesblossoming on her arms and torso—evidence of her struggle with Broussard’s men. And she knew they were his men because she recognized one from the Bayou Bar. She was just surprised they didn’t take both of them.
Once dressed, Sage made her way to the small bathroom, bracing herself against the wall for support. The mirror revealed a ghastly sight. A large lump had formed at the base of her skull, surrounded by dried blood that matted her hair. Her left eye was swollen and beginning to bruise, while cuts and scrapes marred her face and arms. “You’re not going to win any beauty contests today, Sage, ol’ girl.”
With a sigh, she started to clean herself up as best as she could with shaking hands, the cool water helping clear some of the fog from her brain, allowing her to think more clearly. Now where would Luc Broussard take Parker? Surely not to his house. That would be too obvious.
The sound of a board creaking snatched her attention to the main room, her hands trembling. She cursed herself for not grabbing her gun from where it laid near the sleeping bag, assuming whoever had busted the door got who they wanted and was finished. Such a rookie move. She could hear Bryce scolding her now.
With a deep breath, she grabbed the toilet brush, the only thing in the bathroom she could use as some sort of weapon, and eased her way to the door. Her senses were on high alert as she strained her ears, hoping to catch some sign of how many were out there, and if they knew she was still there.
Peeking through the doorway, all she saw was an empty room until she turned the other way, and then she spotted a burly man squatting next to the sleeping bag, rummaging around Parker’s meager possessions. She focused on his short-cropped dark blond hair as she inched her way closer, the toilet brush raised over her head.
“Not another step,” the man drawled as he pushed himself to his feet and slowly turned around to face her. He cocked a brow as he held something up in his hand. “Might ruin my peanut butter sandwich.”
Sage dropped her arm as she blew out a breath. “Elvis, damn you for scaring me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
PARKER GROANED AS CONSCIOUSNESS returned to him in slow, agonizing waves, and he fought to keep the nausea at bay. His body ached from head to toe—his ribs screamed in protest with every shallow breath, and his head pounded like a drum with a five-year-old holding the drumsticks. God, did he wish someone would control that kid.
When his eyes finally fluttered open, he realized he was sitting in a chair and not at his cabin. No, not just sitting—he was bound to it. The cold, rough rope bit into his bare wrists, holding him in place, keeping him trapped. And his wrists weren’t the only thing still bare! His entire body shivered as cold air brushed over his skin. He was naked still, thanks to these morons busting in on them so early in the morning. Completely vulnerable. A flare of anger rose in him, sharp and hot, as he tugged against his restraints.
Through the throbbing of his skull, he tried to piece together everything that happened at the cabin, but most of it came in fragmented pieces—his cabin, the sudden invasion, Sage’s terrified scream as Broussard’s men kicked the door completely off its hinges, and then the savage beating that followed as he tried to protect them both. He had failed, of course. Those burlyguys weren’t there to mess around—they’d taken him down fast, efficient. He hadn’t stood a chance. Sage…. Parker’s heart raced as panic seized him. Sage had been with him. She was right there when they grabbed him. He jerked his frantic gaze around the warehouse, searching for her. Where was she? Was she still alive?
Instead of finding Sage, however, his eyes landed on four men standing nearby, watching him with cold indifference.
The first one, tall and solidly built with dark hair and sharp features, was someone he recognized right away. Dominick. His brother’s old friend. The realization twisted something in Parker’s gut. Why the hell was the man there? And why was he with the three thugs who had taken him?
Parker’s throat felt dry as he rasped out, “Where the hell is Sage? What have you done with her?”
“She was fine when they left with you, from what they told me.” Dominick sighed as he tossed a bundle of clothes toward Parker’s feet. “Put these on. I’m tired of looking at you like that.”
“What the hell are you doing with these people?” Then his eyes went wide. “Wait. You knew Jacob was at the cabin. You said so when I talked to you the other day. You’re the reason they found him out there.” It hadn’t been a slip-up on Sage’s part.
But Dominick merely crossed his arms over his chest, turned, and walked away a few steps, motioning with a jerk of his head for one of the others to take over.
One of the men, a bulky guy with tattoos running down his arms, stepped forward and pulled out a knife. Parker flinched instinctively, but the man simply sliced through the ropes, freeing his wrists and legs. As soon as he was loose, Parker scrambled for the clothes—sweatpants and a T-shirt—his movements clumsy from exhaustion and pain. His body throbbed with every movement, but the adrenaline pumpingthrough his veins pushed him forward, as he hastily pulled on the sweats and shirt, never taking his eyes off Dominick.
“You’re really working with them?” Parker demanded as he shoved his feet into some boots Dominick had set by the chair. His hands were shaking with fury. “How could you do this? How could you betray your friend like this? You’ve been friends since high school, for crying out loud.”
Dominick’s eyes flickered with what Parker took as regret before he jerked his gaze away. “I didn’t have a choice.”
The words echoed in Parker’s ears, and for a moment, he thought Dominick meant he didn’t have a choice with the Broussard crime family—the thugs who’d taken him, the ones who had undoubtedly put all this in motion.
“There’s always a choice.” Parker finished getting dressed, glaring at Dominick the entire time.. “What did they offer you?”
Dominick shook his head. “It’s not that simple. And I told you to stay out of it. Remember? I warned you that these were dangerous people. I told you you’d get hurt.” He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “You always were too stubborn for your own good, even back then.”
“I remember you told me Jacob was your best friend.” Parker glared at him. “A best friend wouldn’t betray him this way.”
“A best friend wouldn’t shove me into this position.”
“What position?”
Before Dominick could answer, however, the metal door to the warehouse scraped open. As two men stepped inside, their footsteps echoing off the concrete floor as they approached, Parker tried to glance behind them, get a feeling for where they had taken him. But on the other side of the door was simply another dark room.
Parker’s blood ran cold when he recognized them. Nealey and Sullivan—cops, detectives who had been hellbent on hunting Jacob down for months. They were the ones who hadbeen trailing his brother, trying to pin his handler’s murder on him. But what the hell were they doing there? And with Broussard’s men? Dominick. Nealey. Sullivan. What the hell was going on here?
