Chapter Twenty

Eagle

They’d put something over his face to knock him out. He figured it was chloroform, so someone in the gang had connections.

Link was going to be pissed when he found out that he’d deliberately let himself be taken.

It had been as simple as separating from the others. After that, it was only a minute before they had come at him with guns drawn. It had surprised a few of the gang members when he put his hands up, but then one man took charge and stripped him of his earpiece and gun. That was when the cloth went over his mouth and he was out.

Shit.

Surrendering had seemed like a good idea at the time since they hadn’t been able to get their hands on the boys. This way, he could see firsthand what they were up against.

From the sound of it, this place seemed like he was being held in an apartment building. Eagle tested the cuffs holding his hands behind his back.

They felt heavy, like cop cuffs, made of reinforced steel. There’d be no getting out of those. He’d need to be patient. It wasn’t like he couldn’t fight with his hands tied behind his back; they frequently tested their skills at the bunker in a variety of predicaments.

Still foggy from the drug, he drew in what air he could through his nose, but the hood made that difficult. The tape over his mouth was a bitch, and he itched to rub his face against his shoulder to try and get it loose, but footsteps came into the room and he stilled.

“He’s awake,” someone hissed.

“Don’t remove the hood.”

“I won’t, I just want to see something,” the first guy said.

A blow to his head, right on his cheek, sent pain through his face. Eagle didn’t react. They’d need to hit harder than that to make a dent. When the next blow came, it was a body blow and the guy laughed. A fist hit his face again and Eagle timed his kick to make it count. His military-grade boot hit the stupid fucker right in the nuts. The guy squeaked and hit the floor with a thud. He heard the man rolling around, gagging.

“Shit!” The man’s friend’s voice came closer and then the first guy was dragged away. “You better not let the boss see you wussing out like this. Get up.”

Eagle braced himself for another onslaught, but a moment later, he heard a scuffle and then the shuffling of feet moving around.

Their voices faded as they left the room, but they hadn’t closed the door. Eagle tested his jaw and cocked his head to listen. Their footsteps sounded like they were going downstairs.

The place smelled like mold. There wasn’t any breeze on his arms, so he wasn’t near an opening close to any exit that he could tell. Maybe the exit was closed. The structure creaked like it was settling into the ground, or it was old. With their steps on the stairs, he’d guess it was at least three stories or more. Maybe. Probably abandoned since they hadn’t closed the door.

He thought about breaking the chair he was sitting on; it was wood and didn’t seem all that stable. He might be able to find something to at least catch against the material and remove the hood.

Someone came in and he tensed, bracing himself for another round of blows. Did they think to wear him down? He was ex-Special Forces; he’d been in similar situations before. No amount of sucker-punching him would break him.

His hood was lifted, but only enough to reveal his taped mouth. Fingers caught the edge of the tape and started removing it. The sticky glue pulled at his beard and mustache. He glanced down through the small slit and caught sight of bright green sneakers and blue jeans. After another slow pull and more tugging on his unshaven face, Eagle wished the guy would just pull it off. When the left corner of his mouth was free, he spoke through the crack.

“Just rip it off.” The words were muffled and a bit garbled due to the tape, but the guy got the gist of it and tore the tape quickly away.

Fuck that hurt!

A bottle of water was placed to his lips and although he wanted to drink, he turned away.

“It’s not poison,” a voice hissed and lifted the bottle.

Eagle heard the guy take several swallows and then position the half-full bottle to his lips. He drank, the water cool on his throat, and it washed away the last remaining fog from the chloroform.

“Get the key and get me out of these, and I’ll help you,” Eagle said, because he’d bet money that it was Tyler. Eagle had seen those green sneakers before.

“I can’t,” the boy whispered.

“Yes, you can. Set me free and I’ll protect you.”

“You can’t, nobody can.” The sound of unshed tears in the boy’s voice hurt Eagle’s heart.

“Trust me. I won’t let you down.”

A long moment of silence came, and just when Eagle thought Tyler would leave, the boy whispered.

“I’ll try, but it won’t be easy.”

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” an angry voice snarled.

“Just giving him water, Sticks. You don’t want him to die, do you?” Tyler said hurriedly, dropping the hood back in place.

“He’s not going to die, you stupid little fucker,” another voice said, accompanied by footsteps stalking closer. Eagle heard the blow and Tyler cried out. Every cell in Eagle wanted to lunge up and tackle the son of a bitch.

“I’m sorry, John!”

John? That was Tyler’s brother? What the fuck? No wonder Tyler didn’t think anyone could help if he had a brother that spoke like that and hit him.

“Get out, you skank. I think the guys need your ass.”

“No! John no, I p…p…p…promise to be good.”

“Fucking move or I’ll knock you out.”

Eagle clenched his teeth so tightly his jaw ached, and he squeezed his fists, trying to break the cuffs so he could get free and beat that motherfucker into a pulp.

At that second, he regretted his decision. Oh, he didn’t regret being taken, his only regret was he hadn’t told Link his plan.