24. Devon

Chapter twenty-four

Devon

W ith guns raised we enter right through the front doors, while some of Riggs’ men go through the back. The reception counter is unattended with a sign to press the buzzer for assistance, but we bypass that, Lenny leaping over the counter and breaking through the staff door to release the security doors that let us in.

“We’re in,” Finn says beside me and we scan the space, the men checking in every room we pass.

“We’re in too.” Riggs confirms through the small earpiece in my ear, letting us know they have entered the back part of the building.

The facility, Holly River Estate, was mentioned in the voice message left by Dr Xavier, so I knew where to go, since the place borders the Holly River.

The building looks like an aged care facility from the road. The grounds lush. Lots of open air. Manicured gardens. A look of luxury.

Inside is a different fucking matter.

“Hey! What are you d—” the male nurse’s voice cuts off a second after I squeeze the trigger, the silencer doing its thing to keep our presence covert.

“One gopher down,” I say into my wrist mic, informing Riggs and his men of my kill.

Eyeing the now dead man and the red oozing blood from the bullet hole in his forehead, I pass by an open door and halt.

Unlike the other rooms that have beds with no sheets, this room has a made bed with strewn sheets, but nothing else.

Locking eyes with Finn, I gesture my head into the room, letting him know that I’m taking a look, and enter quickly, checking the bathroom to find it empty.

Approaching the bed, I stare at it and wonder if Jaxcen had been sleeping there. If this is the room they locked her in.

Leaning down, I press my head to the pillow and breathe in the familiar sweet scent of honey and oat milk. It’s the shampoo I left for her in my shower.

Fuck. She’s been here.

“Anything?” Finn asks quietly from the doorway, and I turn my menacing glare to him.

“She slept here. I can fucking smell her.”

“Fuck.” Finn steps aside so I can pass.

We now know this is definitely where my girl is, and that knowledge has me moving faster, my urgency to have her back in my arms fucking impalpable.

“We got a lamb.” Miles mutters from a door up further, so I hurry forward to the closed door.

There, inside the room, only backlit by the light coming through the grate on the window, is a silhouette of a female, sitting, staring right back at us, which we can only make out because Finn shines his flashlight through the viewing window in the door.

Eyes, dark and sinister stare back, and I have to say, nothing much unsettles me, but this… This woman, or girl or whoever she is, gives me slasher vibes. Or something like that.

“Collateral or rescue?” Miles asks, and I open my mouth to respond, but Finn beats me to it.

“Rescue.”

Miles turns to face Finn. “She looks pretty crazy man.”

Gritting his teeth, Finn leans in close to Miles, getting in his face. “You’d be crazy too, if you were locked up and endured whatever it is they fucking do here. She’s a fucking rescue.” He jabs Miles. “Don’t fucking question me. ”

Deciding to leave them to hash that shit out, I keep moving, seeing a sign hanging from the ceiling up ahead, with the name Dr Xavier on it.

Fucking Dr Xavier. I’m gonna gut that fucker.

“What are you doing!” a male voice yells behind us, and the click of a silenced weapon, followed by the thump of a body falling assures me my men have that shit handled.

The moment I reach the door and hear a whimper, I kick the fucking thing open, gun raised as I storm in.

There, across the room is a man, close in age to Jaxcen’s dad, practically waterboarding my girl with what looks like orange juice.

“Step away, motherfucker!”

“Who are…” he trails off, his eyes wide as he watches over my shoulder, obviously seeing my men enter behind me.

My gaze darts to Jaxcen, her blonde hair a tangled mess like someone had their hands in it, her already frail body haphazardly covered in a pale blue hospital gown as she sits slumped in a chair at a fucking dining table.

What the fuck is going on here?

“Jaxcen,” I call as I approach, but she doesn’t answer, too busy gasping for air. “Jaxcen?” I try again, my gaze darting to the doctor as he takes a step away from her.

Rounding the table, my little mouse comes into view, the only colour in her skin is the remnants of juice trailing down her chin and neck, soaking the neckline of her gown.

“Little mouse?” I say, my voice not giving away the fucking panic I’m feeling, and finally, those big blue eyes slowly track to me.

“Dev,” she mumbles, her voice slurred.

Fuck.

She’s drugged.

I see fucking red and turn my sights on to the man that would dare to harm her.

Two fucking strides is all it takes for me to reach him as he holds his hands out, thinking that will keep me back.

Fucking wrong, arsehole .

Gripping the back of his neck, I lurch him towards the table and slam his face into the surface, hearing his nose crack before he cries out.

“Stop. I was just doing what I’ve been paid to do.”

I force his head up and slam it down again.

My eyes dart to Jaxcen, still slumped in the chair, but her eyes are watching everything that’s happening, and fuck if that doesn’t make me want to spend hours torturing this fucker.

Dragging him up again, I force him into the chair as Finn approaches with something in his hand.

A pill bottle. Rohypnol. The script made out to Jaxcen Summers.

Fuck.

My eyes meet Finn’s, and he shoots me a sympathetic look.

“Date rape drug,” he whispers, and I nod, already knowing that.

Snatching the pill container off my mate, I turn back to the doctor, who’s looking around in every direction, probably trying to figure out a path to his freedom, while I pour a number of the meds into my palm.

“Did I just walk in to find you forcing my girl to drink this juice?” I point to the jug on the table, lift it and start pouring more into the glass he’d used for Jaxcen.

“I…I…”

“The correct answer is yes,” I snap, placing the jug of juice back down and lifting the glass. As I round the table again, I nod to Finn, who approaches from the other side, and the doctor starts to panic, his head darting from me to Finn and back.

With rough hands, Finn grips the doctor’s face, punching him in the ribs every time he tries to swing a fist at one of us, and the moment the doctor yells, I shove the pills in his mouth and fill it the rest of the way with juice .

“Swallow!” I boom, slapping my hand over his mouth to close it, and he struggles against us, not really enjoying being treated the way he treated my girl.

Too fucking bad, arsehole.