18. CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 18

Chyler

Canceling plans with Atlas turned out to be easier than I had expected. It was my lucky day because he just so happened to need to stay late at work tonight, so I didn't have to come up with a lame excuse for not being at his apartment tonight. It was a win-win situation, but I was also disappointed that I couldn't go back to his place when this assignment was done.

I checked my outfit in the closet mirror to ensure I was completely covered up from head to toe. I wore a black bodysuit that hugged me like a second skin and a black leather jacket over the top with an attached hood. My black balaclava covered half of my face, up to the bridge of my nose, and my hair was secured in a low ponytail so I could tuck the excess under my jacket and pull my hood up to cover my forehead. The only exposed skin was my eyes. Even my hands were covered with black leather biker gloves.

I attached the strap of my sheath to my right thigh, where I kept my knife, and slipped into my black combat boots. I zipped up my leather jacket and went to the kitchen to grab my phone off the counter.

There was a message from Alexis.

Alexis: Outside. Let’s go.

Me: On my way!

My jacket had an interior pocket, where I tucked away my phone before picking up my keys. I made my way out my apartment door and down to the street, where Alexis had pulled up in a black luxury SUV. One of the perks of this work is that we always get to drive around in expensive vehicles. Madison was already seated in the front passenger seat, so I jumped into the back.

“Is everything ready to go?” I asked as I got myself situated in my seat.

“Yes, next to you is the bag with the sedative and a syringe. I am going to drop Madison off at the warehouse first to prep the site while we go and pick up Michael.” Alexis spoke over her shoulder as she pulled out into the street.

We couldn’t all be in the SUV when we picked Michael up from the airport. It would be a huge red flag to have anyone other than the driver in the car, and there was no way the two of us were going to squeeze into the cargo space.

“Sounds good.” I nodded, pulling my seatbelt across my lap and securing it with a click .

By the time we dropped Madison off, the anticipated storm had rolled into the city. We were in the middle of a severe thunderstorm warning. It was pouring rain with high winds and a lot of lightning. Michael’s flight was delayed because the strikes were less than a mile from the airport.

An hour later than his expected arrival, he was off the plane and on his way to us.

I took the vial of sedative out of the small bag and began prepping the syringe for when he arrived. Once I had the syringe filled with the correct dosage Madison had given me, I crawled over the seats and into the far back of the SUV.

Not long after I had situated myself in the back, Michael approached us, and Alexis confirmed his identity as part of her driver protocol. Roman must have had a preference for hiring younger men because this man didn’t look a day over thirty—and if I remember correctly, Tyler looked like he was in his twenties. Michael was wearing a sharp, dark navy three-piece suit. He opened the door, climbing into the back seat as Alexis got into the driver’s.

“You know where you are going?” He asked her.

“Yes, Sir.” She nodded, glancing at him through the rearview mirror.

As soon as Alexis began pulling out of the pick-up ramp, I leaned over the seat back and stabbed him in the neck, plunging the syringe of sedative into him. He cursed and grabbed onto my wrist, pulling me forward onto the second-row floor. I hit my head on the center console on the way down and immediately went from calm to pissed off .

“ Fuck. ” I hissed a curse as Michael started shouting at Alexis to stop the SUV and pull over. He pulled on the door handle several times, but we had already set it to child safety lock—a lesson learned from a previous kidnapping attempt. He wasn’t going anywhere. I pulled myself up and straddled his lap, with my hands around his throat, waiting for the sedative to kick in.

“Don’t kill him, Chyler; we need to question him, remember?” Alexis yelled at me from the driver’s seat as she took a hard turn.

“I know; I’m just trying to restrain him until the sedative kicks in.” I gritted out, clenching my jaw.

Instead of trying to hit me, he gripped my wrists and attempted to pull my hands off and away from his neck. The distraction was working, at least; he was more focused on me than getting out of the SUV. From this angle, I could see his facial features. He had moss-green eyes, short blonde hair, and a clean-shaven face. When his eyes started to sag, and his pulse slowed down, I released my hands, letting him fall to the side, asleep.

That sedative took it’s sweet ass time…

I pulled my balaclava down briefly to get better air and dropped my ass into the seat next to him, relieved that I didn’t have to fight him any longer.

“Well, that fucking sucked. Michael here is a fighter.” I chuckled sarcastically as I sat back and fanned my face. Fuck, it was hot in the back seat.

“We’ll see just how much of a fighter he is once we get him inside. Hopefully, you don’t have to torture him too much for the information we need.” Alexis looked at me through the rearview mirror as she pulled up and into the warehouse through the rear garage door.

“Now, where’s the fun in that, Alexis? Tyler was boring. I like it when they play with me.” I shot her a sadistic smile.

“Play with Atlas when this is all over.” Alexis rolled her eyes and got out of the driver’s seat. Oh, I was going to do that too . I readjusted my mask and gloves before Madison opened the back door for me to get out.

“This is way more convenient than the last place we used. Let’s get him out and strapped in the chair before he wakes,” she said as she made her way to his passenger door and opened it. The three of us worked together to pull his body out of the car and drag him to the chair in the middle of the room.

“Any particular reason why we continue to use the same setup for every location we’ve ever used?” I raised a brow in curiosity as I began to zip-tie his wrists to the arms of the chair, and Madison used rope to secure his legs.

“Dramatic effect,” Alexis said with an amused tone as she pulled a black hood over his head and then returned to the SUV; Madison, not far behind her, jumped into the front passenger seat.

“We’ll call you over the earpiece if we need anything additional from him. Otherwise, he’s all yours. Good luck.” Madison winked at me before shutting her door.

With Michael secured in place, they backed out of the warehouse and drove to the office building across the street, where they would monitor and record everything happening in here. I walked over to the doors and pressed the button to close them, keeping the rain out. It was loud in the warehouse between the heavy rain and the thunder outside. At one point, I could swear I heard hail ricocheting off the metal roofing.

I pulled up the spare chair Madison had left for me, and turned it with the back facing Michael. I straddled it, resting my forearms on the back, and waited for him to come off of the sedative. I didn’t give him a large dose, just enough to knock him out for about an hour, as I wasn’t sure how long it would take us to get him here and strapped down.

I pulled out my phone and browsed my social media; only minutes had passed, but it felt like hours. I heard Michael groan from over my phone, and I pulled my attention from it to see his head start moving slowly from side to side.

I took a deep breath and stood from my chair, sliding it aside. The metal on the concrete made a loud scraping sound—intentional, of course. I then flipped my switch and fell into the role of his executioner for the night.

Michael was startled by the loud noise and jerked his head around, trying to shake the hood from his head.

“Who—who’s there?” Readjusting my mask and hood, I pulled the black hood from his head and tucked part of it into my back pocket.

“Hi, Michael, is it? Michael August?” I furrowed my brow and tilted my head like the animal I was as I stepped back to get a good look at him. He glared at me as if that was going to deter me from what I had planned for him.

Un-fucking-likely .

“Who the fuck are you?” He snapped. Oh, he has definitely got more fight to him than Tyler. This is going to make for a fun night. I couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at my lips as I bit down on my tongue and placed my hands on my hips.

“I am your worst nightmare tonight,” I announced, pulling out my knife and tossing the handle around in my hand. “I know this is a little cliché, but care to play a game with me? I love games.” I twirled the knife in the air before grasping it firmly in my hand. I bent forward, placing the flat side of the blade against his cheek and resting my free hand on his arm.

“Seeing as you know my name, you know that you are fucking with the wrong person right now. Roman will kill all of you fuckers if you do anything to me.” He growled.

I let out a sadistic laugh— What? Did he seriously think that he was going to intimidate me? And the mouth on this man; I do love it when they have filthy mouths.

“Here’s the thing, Michael.” I returned my knife to its sheath temporarily and rested both of my hands on his arms, leaning in closer to his face. “Roman isn’t going to do shit for you. But if you want to make this easier, just tell me where he is, and I might let you go.” I hissed.

“Not happening, you fucking cunt.” He spat. Clenching his jaw, he looked into my eyes; his moss green eyes had a fire behind them, and without warning, he bent his head back and slammed it forward into my face.

“Motherfucker!” I shrieked, stepping back and pressing my palm to my cheekbone, which felt like it had split from the force .

Michael is a dead man.

Granted, he was always going to die, but now I— really —wanted to kill him.

I pulled my knife back out and dragged it across his left arm, splitting the skin. Blood began pouring onto the floor. He groaned from the pain.

“ Fuck! ” I hissed again, bringing my hand back up to my cheek. He got me good, and my face felt like it was on fire. I will have to have Madison take a look at it later. Perks of your friend being a nurse, I just hope it won’t scar.

“Chyler, are you alright?” Madison asked over the earpiece.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Michael likes to play rough.” I gritted out, dropping my hand from my face and rolling my neck and my shoulders. His knuckles were turning white from the strain of holding back the pain in his arm. His jaw ticked as he looked up at me with dark eyes.

“I’m not telling you shit.” He hissed between his teeth.

“You’ll tell me everything, Michael, and if you don’t, you’ll be leaving here in pieces.” I deadpanned. “Now tell me where you last saw Roman, and don’t lie to me because I will know if you do.” I wouldn’t technically, but he didn’t need to know that. All he needed to know was that I could tell if he was telling the truth or not. Alexis was fast enough on her laptop to fact-check him within seconds.

“Do your worst. I’m not talking.” He rolled his wrists and flexed his hands. They were most likely becoming numb from the lack of circulation with the zip ties .

“What the fuck is it with you guys and your loyalty to him? He’s just some fucking pharmaceutical asshole.” I threw my hands in the air and then slammed them on my hips.

A dark chuckle bubbled up from his throat, “That ‘ pharmaceutical asshole’ is going to destroy the world. Let me guess; no one that you’ve kidnapped and tortured talked or had the answers you were looking for?”

I couldn’t help the deep, feral growl in my throat as I stabbed my knife into his thigh and punched him across the face. I was getting sick of him toying with me.

“Don’t fuck with me, Michael.” I seethed, and I ripped open his shirt, the buttons flying everywhere, before pulling the knife out of his thigh and slicing it across his pectoral muscles. His laughing was smothered by screams of pain.

“Not so fucking funny now, is it?” My voice was laced with malice as I pointed my knife in his face.

“You fucking cunt. I’ll kill you!”

I grabbed him by his hair and yanked his head back to look up at me.

“Not likely,” I whispered, jerking his head away and releasing him from my grasp. He spat blood from my punch to his face and inhaled a deep breath, hissing at the pain across his chest as his blood began soaking into his pants. “I’ve got all night. How much pain can you handle before I break you?” I rolled my wrist and flexed my hand. His jaw was a rock, but I wouldn’t let him see me as weak .

“You think your death toll is high right now? You should see Roman’s.” He chuckled lightly as he rolled his neck and flexed his hands again. His wrists had turned red from the zip ties, and they were close to breaking through the skin. Good.

“If he’s so unstoppable, then why can’t you tell me where he is? Let him fight his own battles.”

“Because I am not a rat.” He spat his words with venom, and it drove me over the edge. I am going to make him scream until he passes out, and then when he comes to, I will do it all over again.

“We’ll see about that.” I started dragging the knife along his torso, breaking skin wherever I could. He fisted his hands, groaning against the pain and shifting in his seat.

When I had finished carving up his chest with the word ‘rat,’ I moved to stab his other thigh and, for good measure, slash his other arm. His blood was dripping to the floor, surrounding him in a small puddle at this point. I tried my best to avoid stepping into it.

“Now, if my anatomy is correct. If I were to stab you right here—” I stabbed the knife into his side a few inches below his rib cage. “You should feel all of the pain with very minimal damage.” I cackled, pulling the knife out as I stepped back from him, and he let a scream break from his throat.

“Where is Roman, Michael?” I asked in my sweet saccharine voice, wiping the blade of the knife on whatever part of his pants wasn’t already soaking in blood. I enjoyed the jump from sweet to psycho; it always gave me a rush .

“Go… fuck … yourself.” He panted, his breaths clearly becoming labored from the pain and loss of blood. His eyes were starting to water from the strain.

“I think I just might do that later, but first, I need to finish my job.” I cooed as I stabbed him again, just below the last spot in his side, keeping the knife in him and twisting it.

“Roman. Location. Now.” I demanded.

He cursed, blood flowing out of the corner of his mouth and down his chin.

“Fuck you, fine!” He spat out as much blood as he could so he could speak. “He’s at his private villa in Grand Cayman. He’s been there for the past few months. No one knows of it because he bought it under the table; there’s no record that it even exists.” His chest was heaving with his words; I might have punctured something important. Oops.

I ripped my knife from his side and stood there for a few minutes, waiting for Alexis to confirm if the information was accurate or not.

“He’s telling the truth, and from the feed of his security cameras, he’s exactly where Michael said he was. Madison is leaving now to grab a private jet from Charlotte. We are not going to waste any time on this. We’re done here.” She spoke.

I raised a brow at her words. She must have had a couple of her hacker friends on standby to gain that much information already. She was fast, but that was faster than she could ever have pulled off alone. But regardless, we finally had him, and now I could finish this and be one step closer to leaving this work for good. One step closer to a future with Atlas, free of complications.

“Thanks for playing Michael. You were a lot of fun.”

I sliced his throat with my knife, not letting him get any more words in, and then stepped back, watching him bleed out completely. The color drained from his face, and his body went completely slack.

Once he had stopped breathing, I took my knife and broke the zip ties around his wrists, then removed the ropes from his ankles. Replacing my knife in my sheath, I lifted his body to remove him from the chair and was startled by a loud bang, dropping him to the floor.

What the fuck was that?

I turned my head to look over my shoulder but was taken out before I could even see who it was.

Without warning or a second to think, I was abruptly thrown across the floor by a strong body, smacking my head on the cement floor with my landing. I brought a hand up to my scalp and groaned, my vision blurring slightly as I attempted to get a good look at who just threw me on my ass. The force of the throw had knocked my hood off my head, so I quickly pulled it back over to cover my brows and jumped up to stand.

I had landed a few feet away from where the light covered the floor, giving me a small advantage of blending into the shadows. My heart was racing; I could feel it beating hard against my chest.

“Who the fuck are you?” I hissed, pulling my knife from its sheath and pointing it at the man who was looking down and standing over a very dead and mangled Michael August. He slowly turned his head to look at me, and as our eyes met, my body went rigid—I stopped breathing. He lifted his badge in the light, its glint causing a blinding flash.

“CIA. Drop the knife and get your hands up.” Atlas. I really was completely fucked.

“AJ, what the—goddamn.” Another man entered the warehouse and stopped behind him, holding his gun down as he took in the body. “The fuck did they do to him?” He didn’t take any notice of me.

“Don’t you fucking move!” Atlas didn’t break his eye contact with me.

Adrenaline surged through me, and my breaths became heavy. I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate. I was a rabbit trapped in a corner—the fox ready to strike at will. He was the predator this time, and I was his prey.

Tearing my gaze from Atlas, I quickly accessed my surroundings for an exit, my attention catching on a hallway that I hoped led to a back door out of here—it was that or throwing my body through one of the windows.

Fuck. Why didn’t I ask Alexis about an emergency exit ?

Without giving myself a second longer to think, I threw my knife at Atlas, catching him with it on his side, and hauled ass down the long dark hallway, hoping there was a door at the end of it that I could use to get the hell out of here.

Atlas cursed and took off after me, holding his side where the knife grazed him. I could see a crack of light coming from a door at the end of the hall and sighed with relief. Please be unlocked.

Just before reaching the door, his body slammed into me, knocking me off balance and against the wall. Atlas leaned his full force into me, forearm pressing into my throat. I began digging my nails into his arm, struggling for breath.

If he weren’t trying to kill me right now, this would be such a turn-on.

Unable to speak, unable to think. My eyes began rolling to the back of my head. Noticing that I was losing my fight and slowly my consciousness, he let up slightly on my throat. I choked out, coughing and inhaling a deep breath, my throat burning.

“Who are you?” He demanded.

I didn’t answer him and turned my head to look away. I couldn’t bear to look into his eyes any longer. Knowing what I felt for him and what he just caught me doing. He roughly repositioned me, his hand taking both of my wrists and pressing them above my head, his body still keeping me immobile against the wall. I struggled in his grip; I had to get out of here. He took my chin in his fingers with his free hand and turned my face to his.

Catching the sudden flare of his eyes, I knew exactly what he knew. I hoped he wouldn’t recognize my eyes and realize it was me. I sucked in a breath, my eyes glazing with the tears that threatened to break through. My heart squeezed inside of my chest like a vice.

“Who. Are. You.” He whispered, his words dripping with every ounce of venom he had in him as if he already knew who I was but wanted confirmation. I was out of options; he wasn’t going to let me get away with this.

“Atlas, I—” My voice cracked, and something inside of me broke.

He cut me off with a curse and dropped his head, breaking our eye contact. He punched the wall beside my head with his fist so hard he almost put a hole through it, and his knuckles split from the force. I didn’t flinch; I deserved anything and everything that was coming to me. I had made my bed a long time ago; I just never thought that, in the end, I would get caught by the man I had started falling for.

I was so fucked.

I wasn’t coming back from this.

He was so done with me.

“Atlas, let me explain.” I choked out before he gripped my arm tightly and ripped open the door next to us, shoving me through it. I whimpered with his aggressive movements.

“Get the fuck out of here, Chyler. Now.” He ground out, glaring at me with a fire burning in his eyes.

“I—” Please don’t do this…

“Now!” He growled, and this time, I flinched before turning away from him and running out into the storm. I didn’t stop to look back and see if anyone was following me; I just ran as fast and as far as my legs would take me. I needed to get out of here and get to Alexis.

Atlas would never forgive me for this.

What have I done?