Brawn Read online

  “I swear none of them hurt me, Dad. How many times do I have to say it?”

  “Tiger and Trey wouldn’t tell me much, no matter how much I threatened. What the hell was going on down there?”

  “There was a woman doctor who used to work for Mercile and she had a bunch of goons working for her. They planned to sell the New Species to someone in Europe so they could earn enough money to flee the country. They knew they are wanted by the police. They have some buyer over there who wants a set of them. I guess there are three types of New Species and the doctor only had one so she had Brawn kidnapped and plans to kidnap another one.”

  “Feline, canine and primate. I read the report and we’re trying to find the leak.”

  “Good. Can I ask you something?”

  He tensed but gave a firm jerk of his head. “You’ve earned some answers after what you’ve gone through. What do you want to know?”

  “What is going to happen to them?”

  “The males are under a doctor’s care. The New Species have a few specialists working for them and they’ll do whatever they can. They’ll call in consulting doctors if they think someone can help. Those guys will get the best care possible now that they are home.”

  “I’m glad to hear that but I meant the ones who took Brawn and me. Are they going to pay for what they did? That’s what I want to know.”

  He reached out and rubbed her foot through the blankets. “New Species law is brutal. You were right to leave on that helicopter. I wasn’t thinking straight or I would have sent you to Homeland myself. Those sons of bitches are never going to know freedom again.”

  “The NSO can give them a trial and sentence them to life in prison?”

  He hesitated.

  “Tell me. Please?” Tears pricked her eyes. “I’ll sleep better at night. They killed Tina and Mel. They came into my home and—”

  “We have a prison, baby. It’s not known, it’s not for general population, but one that only holds people who have committed crimes against New Species. Justice North is a damn smart man who negotiated some impressive deals.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Mercile was funded in part by the US. It’s not widely known but the public would be pissed if they knew where their tax dollars were being spent. Everyone involved wants to keep it that way. New Species could sue the United States and win in court the way they’ve gone after Mercile to be compensated for the years they were imprisoned. It was cheaper to settle and better for public relations to just keep it under wraps. They were given Homeland, the money to start it up, and my task team to hunt down Mercile employees who weren’t captured and to recover New Species still out there. We have found five testing facilities and there could be more. We don’t know but some New Species were given to investors.”

  “Given to investors?”

  He looked down. “Women, baby. The company traded money for flesh.” His gaze lifted and his mouth grimaced. “Sexual slaves. We try to find them.”

  Tears fell. “Oh my God.”

  “Yeah.” He rubbed her foot. “That’s what my team is mostly for. We hunt those sick bastards down who bought them and try to find out if the women are still alive.”

  “Have you found any?” She hoped so.

  “Some. Usually it turns out bad. I won’t lie. Justice demanded to have a task force put at his disposal with full resources to track them down and I was assigned to lead it. We can do what most law agencies can’t, don’t have as many rules as they do and that includes starting up our own prison. We take the ones we arrest there and they aren’t getting out. There’s no such thing as parole or time off for good behavior.”

  “It’s at Homeland or Reservation?”

  He shook his head. “No. It’s at another location and I’m not telling you where. Some of the people who used to run Homeland before New Species took control are now in charge of that facility. It’s not a resort, let me assure you. They aren’t mistreated but they sure aren’t watching cable or getting visitors.”

  “New Species now get to hold the people prisoner who once kept them locked up. That seems fair.”

  “No. Justice didn’t want to put any of his people in that uncomfortable situation. The prison is completely staffed by us.”

  “Your team?”

  “Humans.”

  “They are human too, just not completely.”

  “That’s true but they call us humans. It’s starting to rub off on me.” He smiled. “I’m going to sleep downstairs on the couch tonight unless you want me to sleep on the floor in here. I could.”

  She was touched that he’d offer. Usually he drove her nuts but after what had happened, she didn’t really want to be alone. “You’re too old to sleep on the floor,” she joked. “You’d never get up. My couch pulls out into a king and the mattress is pretty comfy. Thanks, Dad.”

  He released her and stood. “I’m just downstairs. Do you want me to leave the light on?”

  Becca admitted to being tempted to do just that but she shook her head instead. He was being really sweet at the moment but she didn’t want him using her moment of weakness against her later. Her dad had a way of doing that. Before she knew it he’d be trying to talk her in to moving back into the main house.

  “When is Brawn returning?” She really wanted to see him.

  “He’s not.”

  Shock struck, quickly chased by pain. “What? I was under the impression when I reached Homeland that they’d take his statements and afterward he’d be coming back to my house.”

  Anger deepened Tim’s voice. “Tiger is in charge while Justice is on vacation and he deemed it a failure having one of their men live here. They were pretty helpful today getting you back but it’s just not safe for them to live outside those walls. It puts anyone they are with in danger.”

  “It wasn’t his fault.”

  “I know but I’m glad he’s not coming back. I have a meeting in the morning to go over different scenarios to get some of their guys to integrate with my team. I just have to figure out how to do it safely.”

  “I’d like to talk to Brawn,” she braved, risking her father’s temper.

  He paused by her door. “That’s not going to happen. I was assured that he’s done with humans. I know something happened between you, you refuse to tell me the details, but I was assured he wants nothing to do with humans ever again.” He flipped off the light and closed her door.

  Tears fell. Brawn was done with humans? As in he never wanted to see her again? She remembered how he’d reacted when she’d touched his arm and yelled at Trey to get her out of there. Maybe he’d lied and he was angry at her.

  It hurt. She’d fallen for him but should have remembered he didn’t want to get involved with her. He’d made it clear, yet she’d hoped. Becca turned her face into her pillow and clutched it. She missed Brawn and it tore her up a bit that it was over without even getting to say goodbye to him.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nine weeks later

  Becca wandered around the cabin, bored and lonely. She finally settled on the couch, curled into a ball and used the arm of it for a pillow. She was due to contact her dad soon and she’d have to think up a new lie. He thought she was traveling through Europe and would be shocked if he knew she’d never left California. They kept in touch via her computer.

  It was much easier to lie that way than to figure out how to route calls with her dad’s caller ID. She had friends and family who lived in France and Germany, they knew her dad was a tyrant and were sympathetic enough to send the occasional postcard his way to keep him fooled. They thought she just needed a break.

  That part had been true up to a point. Her dad had driven her nuts after she’d come home and she’d needed a break from him charging into her home trying to draw her out. She’d been depressed after her kidnapping, had taken time from work and hated to admit she’d wanted to stick close to her phone in case he called.

  The thought of Brawn made her sit up and clen