Chapter 32: Early the following morning: The rescue

CHAPTER 32

MIKI

EARLY THE FOLLOWING MORNING – THE RESCUE

M y eyes stung and were blurry from lack of sleep. It was the early hours of the morning, and we still hadn't found my woman.

I was exhausted and frustrated and bloody angry with myself.

Why had I thought leaving her here alone was a good idea? Even with Marko in the other suite? I should have taken better care of my Little Miss Red.

Guilt washed over me.

Why hadn't I stayed here with Eilidh and let someone else go with Luca to fit the cameras and check the tunnel? If I'd been here, nobody would have got close to her, and I wouldn't be facing the possibility that I'd lost her forever.

We'd tried everything we could think of to find where Martin could have taken Eilidh and come up with nothing. Our other enemies had finished work, returned home, and remained there. There had been no communication between them since.

With nothing to go on, I was seriously contemplating rounding up her colleagues and beating them senseless until one of them told us where she was.

The only thing that stopped me was that I didn't want to jeopardise the upcoming Interpol operation. I couldn't risk it, not when it was just a short time away. It was unfair to do so when so many other women, ones currently being trafficked, could be freed and so many of our enemies caught all at once.

Frankly, if it was just up to me, I would do it in a heartbeat, but it wasn't. I had Jim and my Brotherhood to think about. And I also knew Eilidh would hate me for it if I did anything to disrupt our plans for revenge. So, I'd bided my time and waited, hoping Martin Johnson or one of the others would get in touch with me about her.

But they hadn't, and it was getting close to the time of the handover. I was at the end of my tether, thought, ready to find Roy Allen, at least and beat the shit out of him when the phone in my room started to ring.

Shock filled me and I grabbed it.

"Rominov."

"It's me."

My knees buckled in relief when I heard Eilidh's voice on the other end.

Thank fuck she was alive!

"Can you trace this phone?" Eilidh asked, and I told Marko to do just that.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" I asked, unable to hide the worry in my voice.

"I will be when you ride to the rescue," she joked.

Chuckling in relief, I told myself she couldn't be too bad if she was joking.

I knew it would take Marko a few minutes to trace her location, so I asked her what had happened.

It was difficult to hear, and I knew she was holding a lot back from me.

The image of Johnson hurting her and touching her made me livid, and I banged the desk angrily, knocking the lamp off and breaking it.

"I'll fucking kill him!" I vowed.

"No need; he's already dead. Roy killed him," she said before she told me the rest.

When I heard about Roy and his sick fantasy, I almost puked. No fucking way! I'd skin the bastard alive.

We hadn't even been aware that Roy had left his house yet. He must have left his phone and car behind. Fuck! What else didn't we know?

Marko gave me the thumbs up and then showed me Eilidh's location on his computer.

"Got you. You're in the building next door to the handover location. We're on our way!" I told her.

"Great, I'm in an old office," she said.

"See you soon, sweetheart," I told her before hanging up.

My Little Miss Red's call had arrived just as Vlad and Luca were about to leave to meet Jim MacArthur's men. They needed to get there in plenty of time to head through the tunnel and be ready for when the informant gave them the signal that Mathieson and the others had arrived. So, I grabbed a ride with them.

I'd already figured to that using the tunnel was my only chance at getting to my woman unseen.

On the way, I called Jim, explained the situation and told him to ensure that our men all had eyes on the other fuckers to ensure none of them slipped past us. We didn't need any surprises. For this plan to work, all the pieces had to line up just right.

We slipped through the tunnel. My anxiety level had been through the roof since Eilidh had been taken and even though I'd heard her voice, and she'd said she was okay; I wouldn't be able to calm down until I saw that for myself and held her in my arms.

My palms sweated, my stomach was in knots, and my heart was beating way too fast. It felt like I'd run a bloody marathon by the time I'd reached the end.

I hated not having everything under control. My plans were always meticulously thought out, and every scenario prepared for. But not this time. I hadn't prepared for this, and I felt like a fish out of water.

Marko said the building Eilidh was in adjoined the factory and that there should be an emergency exit on the upper floor of the factory building, which led directly into it.

That's how I planned on getting in and out with her, undetected by any police who were by now watching the building. It would be tricky though, as Roy and probably a good number of the Thomas gang would likely already be there. It was only about thirty minutes until the handover was due. Anything could go wrong!

Worry gnawed at me, and I had to admit, for the first time in my life, I felt truly scared.

Vlad went to climb the stair to the hatch, but I pulled him out of the way and headed up first. At the top of the ladder, I pushed my shoulder against the door leading into the small cupboard in the factory, moving the old carpet aside so I could peek out. It was empty, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I climbed into the cupboard.

"I'm coming with you!" Vlad said.

"No, stick to the plan," I told him.

"You need backup!" Luca stated.

"No, I don't. I can handle this. You two have a job to do. Do it!" I said.

Despite their continued protests, I made Vlad and Luca remain in the tunnel to wait for the informant signal as planned while I sneaked up the stairs and along the hall to the emergency exit door. It had been jammed open. I peered through, but there was nobody in sight. So far, so good!

All the doors were open except the one at the very end. I moved that way, double-checking the rooms were empty as I passed.

The last door was closed but not locked. I quietly turned the handle and pushed it open. Relief filled at the sight of Eilidh sitting on the bed, a bloody lump lying nearby, which I assumed was Jonson.

"Miki!" my Little Miss Red sobbed as I rushed over, pulling her into a gentle hug.

I was reluctant to let her go, but we needed to hurry. Pulling back, I opened up the blanked covering her and checked her over.

There were marks on her wrists, a large bruise on her abdomen, smaller ones on her head and cheek and what looked like finger marks on her neck, but otherwise, she appeared okay. My hands fisted at the sight of them. And she was fucking chained up like an animal too.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed in fury.

Closing my eyes, I fought the urge to go storming out to look for Roy. Since I couldn't kill the fucker Johnson, I'd be more than happy to kill him instead!

"I'm okay," Eilidh said, reaching up to cup my cheek, obviously seeing me upset at her appearance.

She wasn't, but I appreciated the attempt to make me feel better even while it shamed me. It should be the other way around.

"Let's get you out of here, sweetheart," I said, wrapping her in the blanket again.

Eilidh nodded and pointed to a key on the desk, and I grabbed it and freed her wrist.

I gave her a quick kiss, then passed her the clothes and shoes I had in my backpack. She smiled her thanks, and I was glad that even in my overly anxious state and haste to get to her, I remembered to bring her something to wear.

After she dressed, I took her hand in one of my mine, and with my gun in the other, we headed for the door. As soon as I opened it, a figure lunged at me, hitting me on the head. I collapsed to the floor, barely conscious.

Eilidh cried out, but someone grabbed her and pulled her away from me.

My eyes wouldn't focus properly, and I could barely make out the shapes of two bodies as I tried to force myself to stay awake.

"I hope you weren't planning on leaving daddy, baby girl!" a voice said.

Roy! I thought before darkness engulfed me.

Blinking my eyes open again, I saw the room was empty. They were gone. Fuck! So was my gun.

My head pounded as I staggered to my feet and lunged for the door.

Thankfully, I could only have been out for mere seconds as I heard a scuffle and saw Roy dragging Eilidh towards another exit while she struggled against his hold. He saw me heading toward them and shot, but Eilidh struggled so much in his arms that he missed.

The gun had a silencer, so the noise was muted. I hoped it wouldn't attract attention, but if I didn't get control of this situation soon, it definitely would, and then we'd be in even more trouble.

Eilidh continued to struggle frantically against Roy's arm, which was wrapped tightly around her neck as he tried to get her out the door. He fired towards me again but was too distracted to aim correctly, and once more, the shot went wide. Thank fuck!

It didn't stop me from heading towards him. Nothing would. Eilidh elbowed Roy in the ribs, and he loosened his grip on her. She grabbed his arm and smashed his hand against the doorframe, which made him drop his gun, but he backhanded her, sending her sprawling at his feet.

The fucker!

I lunged towards him, fists flying, punching him twice in the face.

Roy fell to his knees and threw himself towards the gun on the floor. Eilidh grabbed for it at the same time. She got it, and it went off.

Roy was dead!

Little Miss Red looked completely shocked. There were a few seconds of silence before I acted. Pulling her up off the floor, I took the gun from her limp wrist as she stared at Roy's dead body.

"Eilidh, baby, we've got to go," I said gently before tugging on her arm. That roused her, and we ran to the emergency exit, into the factory and down the stairs.

I checked the small corridor, and it was clear except for Vlad, who was heading our way. I should have known he would check on me if I took longer than expected.

With a relieved look, he led us back to the tunnel. Just in the nick of time, as chaos broke out in the factory above.

The sound of sirens, shouts and screams rang out as the Interpol officers arrived, and the traffickers realised they were surrounded.

Gripping tightly to Eilidh's hand, I hurried her through the tunnel, leaving the others behind for our plan to play out as expected.

I knew I should check on the progress of things, but looking after Eilidh right now was more important to me. Besides, if there were any issues, I trusted Luca, Vlad, and Marko to deal with them.

One of MacArthur's guys drove us back to the hotel, and I took Eilidh straight up to the suite. I needed to be close to her and desperately wanted to throw her down on the bed and show her how scared of losing her I was, but I didn't.

Instead, I ran a bath for her. I expected she would want to wash off the night's events, and I certainly wanted her to. The thought of either of those men touching her made me so angry I wanted to bring them back to life so I could have the pleasure of kill them, torturing them slowly, making them scream.

As the tub filled, I fought to control my emotions. They were gone and couldn't hurt Eilidh anymore. Killing them wasn't required; taking care of my Little Miss Red was, I reminded myself, finally calming down.

Eilidh sank into the bubbles and closed her eyes with a sigh. I stripped off, then grabbed some oil. Climbing in behind her, I sandwiched myself around her, needing to have her close. My cock was already hard, anticipating being inside her, but not yet, I told it. Patience! Eilidh had been hurt and been through a traumatic experience. My Little Miss Red needed to bathe and rest.

Pouring some oil on my hands, I gently massaged her shoulders. Eventually, I felt her muscles loosen as her tension slowly drained away and she became drowsy.

It was good to see her relax, but I didn't want her falling asleep on me yet.

So, I stopped what I was doing and moved my hands lower to cup her breasts, then squeezed them gently, nibbling lightly on her neck.

There were things I needed to say, and there was so much I hoped to hear.

"I was so scared I would lose you, sweetheart! The thought of never seeing you again made me crazy. I don't think I could survive it!" I whispered.

Turning her towards me so she straddled me, I looked into her eyes.

"Come home to London with me," I said, praying she'd agree.