Khan (Bowen Boys, #2)(49)
~~~
Screaming in her head woke her. She didn’t know who it was at first, but soon realized it was her. He was hurting her again. He was taking great pleasure in this, and she was sure that he was going to kill her sooner rather than later. She was so weak, but reached for someone to help her.
“Tell Khan to come where you are now to get me. I’m on the seventeenth floor. Hurry. I’m dying.” She gave them the phone number to the kitchen at the house. She wished she’d paid more attention to what the name of the hotel was now, but she’d been so afraid.
The knife slid into her again. She screamed around the gag, this time biting it hard enough that she felt blood, her blood, fill her mouth. She looked up at Tony with her one eye, the other long since swollen shut.
“If you’d just tell me that you love me, I will end this. You know you do and that you’ve made a mistake marrying that other man. You just have to tell me.” He cut her again, and she felt faint with it. She reached for someone else, anyone else, and screamed at him rather than asking for help.
Please, she begged him in her mind. Please just get it over with.
~~~
The phone rang and Khan stepped to it. His heart was in his throat and he was shaking. He felt his hand being taken and looked over at his dad. He nodded, and Khan picked up the receiver.
“I’m looking for Khan. Is he there?” He told the man that he was him. “She said to tell you to hurry. She’s on the seventeenth floor. She said that she’s dying for you to hurry.”
“Where are you?” the man cried out. “Sir? Are you there? What’s happening? Tell me.”
“She screamed at me. Just now she screamed and it sounded like she’s in a great deal of pain. I’m calling the desk and seeing—”
“Don’t do that. He might kill her if they call up there. He’s dangerous. I’m coming. Are you at the Wilkinson?” The man told Khan he was. “I’m coming. We’re all coming, but stay away from the floor. He’ll kill you both. He’s killed so many others.”
The man assured him that he would and told him that he’d be near the elevators when he arrived. “I just checked in on the fourteenth. I can…I have the ability to talk to others and I heard her loud and clear. I’ll be waiting.”
Khan hung up and turned to his dad again. In the time he’d answered the phone, his entire family was standing there with their coats on. The cook, a big, burly man, had his on as well.
“You’ll not go without me. I know what you people are, and while I can appreciate the situation, I like this girl, and I’m going with you.” He looked over at Walker. “You try and stop me and I’ll quit this house and go anyway. I’m going.”
No one said a word as they went out to the cars. Khan was riding with his brother in Caitlynne’s truck. Just where he wanted to be. The others were in two other vehicles including Bill’s. The man had his own little arsenal in his trunk, it seemed.
The ride was one of the slowest and longest of his life. When they pulled in front, there were several SUVs already there, and they were leading people out. There was a scare of a large animal loose in the building. He looked at Caitlynne.
“I didn’t know what you’d do so I wanted a cover story first. It’s been in the works to be told to the public since she was kidnapped.” She kissed his cheek before moving into the building. “Try not to f*cking eat one of my agents. I like most of them, and the ones I don’t, I’ll give you a list later.”
He nodded as they moved to the elevator. Walker and Dylan were with them. The man who had called, Daniel Patterson, was there as well, and he was armed. The man looked like he could eat them for breakfast. And he was a werebear.
“You go on up and find her. You leave this down here to me. I will keep anyone from coming down without your say so.” He looked at Dylan, and there seemed to be some sort of understanding between them. “I’ll let him know if the elevators move before you let me know.”
As soon as the doors shut, Caitlynne pulled out her gun, stood under the small camera, and shot it. She winked at him. He took off his shirt and told her to turn around. When she laughed at him, he turned to Walker who only shrugged. She was going to get her butt beat. He knew it.
By the time she, the other two, and he were on the floor, he and Walker both had shifted. Caitlynne was going ahead of them to get all the people out on the floor. Dylan walked by each door and paused. He said he would be able to find her.
They walked slowly down the hall. There were eleven rooms on each side of the hall, and Dylan stopped at each one. When he would pause too long, he would shake his head and whisper that it was occupied. He and Walker would hide around the corner until Caitlynne got them roused and off the floor. They remembered to contact Bill each time.
The fourth time he paused too long, Khan started down the hall. Stupid f*cking people should learn to listen. When a soft whistle had him turning, Dylan took off his shirt. She was in there.
Caitlynne stood in front of the door. “I’m going to unlock the door and when I do, I’m going to step back. If possible, I would like very much not to have to explain what went down in here. The bedrooms are on the left and the right. He probably has her in one of them.”
Khan snarled for her to get a move on and she swiped the card to unlock the door. He waited for her to move back. No one wanted her hurt either. She set the large, black bag down that he hadn’t even noticed that she had and nodded. He looked at Walker, who had shifted back to human.