Brain Read online

Now, knocked out from the drug and in repose, without the defensive wall she kept up, she seemed so fragile and delicate… innocent. I knew none of those things were true, however.

  Bash had brought up a large, rolling suitcase, and I arranged a pillow in the bottom before cutting the zip-ties and settling her into the suitcase. She was flexible, and though tall for a girl, she was thin. I positioned her so when we rolled her, she’d be situated as if she was kneeling, her head bowed, and the pillow under her knees.

  “I’ll go out the way I came,” I told Bash. “You get her out of here and into the Expedition without being rough. You know the route to take, I’ll meet you at the cabin.”

  Because Ice is smart, she’d gone to a tourist town to try to get away from us, as it’s easier to hide and get lost in the crowds. We were in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Bash and I had rented a cabin on one of the nearby mountains.

  I was hoping I could undress her and put her in one of my shirts before she awakened, as I didn’t want it to be a fight. I’d seen a tiny handcuff key clipped unobtrusively to a belt loop on the back of her pants. Odds are she had other escape tools on her, so I’d need to remove everything. I’d feel like a pervert doing it, but it had to be done.

  I needed to get my head out of my ass when it came to her, though, and do my job. She’d hacked into our system and stolen information that could hurt us in the wrong hands, and I needed to know which of our enemies she’d given it to. I was honest enough with myself to admit the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours would go completely different if she were a guy.

  But she wasn’t. She was a sexy as hell woman who was so far beyond a genius, she could give me a run for my money. The guys wondered why I only fucked women and never got serious? Because I needed someone who could hold a conversation with me, and intelligent women weren’t generally interested in bikers for more than a quick fling. I didn’t regret the life I’d chosen, though. This was me, and people could take me as I was, or go fuck themselves. Without lube.

  I travelled to our rental cabin via a different route than Bash, plus I was on a bike, so I arrived before him. He was supposed to be taking it easy on the curves to keep from banging her around, so it was good he wasn’t here yet. I unlocked the door, did a walk through to be sure no one else had been here, and then went outside to wait.

  Instead of rolling her inside the suitcase again, I lifted her from it and carried her in the house in my arms. Bash wisely kept his mouth shut.

  I held her so he could see the handcuff key on her belt loop, and said, “Odds are she has more stuff hidden on her we can’t see. I’m going to get her out of her clothes before she wakes, and put her in one of my shirts. Once I get her restrained, I’ll try to catch some sleep while she’s out. You good to stay up and keep watch?”

  “Yeah. I’m gonna make some burgers while you get her undressed. You want one?”

  I nodded. “Make one for her, too. We can put it in the fridge, and warm it up when she wakes.”

  Chapter Three

  Ice

  It was daylight when I awoke, and I did a quick inventory before I moved.

  I was in a bed, under the covers. I was in a house, not a hotel. Generic bedside table with nothing personal on it, and an ugly lamp, so possibly a rental. My right wrist had a leather cuff locked onto it, with a lead going over the side of the bed. I couldn’t see what it was connected to, but figured it was likely the bedrail. My right ankle also felt as if it were bound, likely to the bottom of the bed. I had plenty of slack, so it hadn’t interfered with my sleep, but I doubted I could sit up, and knew I wouldn’t be able to reach my foot with either hand.

  I was wearing a royal blue shirt, and since I’d worn a black one yesterday, they must’ve changed my clothes. I felt for my ring and realized they’d taken it, too. My tiny saw was curled inside it, which meant I wouldn’t be able to cut my way out of this.

  I lifted my head, looked around the room, and saw my captor sitting in a chair with a small table in front of him, my laptop opened as he worked at it.

  I propped up on one elbow and asked, “What time is it?”

  “Nearly noon. The drugs wore off within a couple of hours, you were apparently exhausted. How do you feel?”

  “Bathroom?”

  He nodded and walked to me, pulling keys from his pocket as he neared. He talked as he unlocked and removed both cuffs. “I’m going to trust you to go in and shut the door all but a few inches. I’ve put something in place to temporarily keep the door from closing all the way. The first time you try something, you won’t be allowed to be alone again. One of us will go with you and stand guard as you go.”

  I didn’t ask who undressed me, or whose shirt I was wearing — it said, “I play keyboard for the internet.” I doubted their motorcycle club had two hackers, so Wulff/Brain had put me in his shirt.

  I peed for-freakin-ever, which was annoying because every second I peed was a second less I had to escape. There was a high window, and I was betting I could stand on the back of the toilet and pull myself up and through it. The guys couldn’t — they were too big, but I was skinny and could get out of it no problem as long as it wasn’t too far down on the other side.

  I was barefoot and wearing a man’s t-shirt that came nearly to my knees, but if I could get back to civilization, and to my bike, I had enough stashed to buy some shoes and pants, and get the hell out of town.

  I stood on the back of the toilet, opened the window, pulled myself up to it, and groaned as Wulff/Brain waved at me. I’d have been better off going out the door.

  Hmmmm. I dropped to the floor, ran to the bathroom door, and opened it only to find the other guy blocking my way. Still, he wasn’t too big, and I had to try.

  I relaxed, looked contrite, and then lunged forward, aiming my shoulder for his midsection in an effort to take him to the ground.

  It should’ve worked, but he caught me, turned me towards the living area, and said, “I’m warming a burger up for you. My guess is Wulff’s gonna tie you back up, since you tried to escape. Can’t really blame you for trying, but… trust is earned, and you just lost it.”

  Wulff. So he wasn’t going to admit to being Brain. No big surprise.

  “What do you want on your burger? We have mayo, mustard, onions, and cheese.”

  “All of it. Do you have a name?”

  “I do, but you can call me Fox, for now. What should I call you?”

  I shrugged, unsure of what he knew and unwilling to give him information he may not have.

  “Let’s call her Destiny, for now,” Wulff said as he stepped into the kitchen. He held a strand of rope and said, “I’m gonna bind your legs together and leave your hands free as much as possible. It means I’ll need to carry you when we change rooms, but while you’re sitting, perhaps it can give you the illusion of freedom.”

  “Don’t try to pretend to be nice. I mean, sure, thanks for the burger, and thanks for leaving my hands free… but fuck you for chasing me, kidnapping me, and holding me against my will!”

  Fox leaned over the table, his face menacing. “I don’t know what Wulff has planned, but he’s the one who’s investigated you, studied you, chased you, and eventually caught you, so I’m trusting he knows how to get the information we need out of you. If I was in charge, you wouldn’t have gotten a good night’s sleep, there’d be no offer of food or drink, and you’d be hooked up to a battery while I asked questions, each zap growing longer and longer if my questions weren’t answered satisfactorily.”

  My eyes went from Fox’s face to Wulff’s, who looked grim as he said, “Eat your burger. Questions come later. I’ve only had a few hours to go through your laptop, but I’m learning more and more about you. Genius little autodestruct sequence you had on the master password, by the way.”

  There were only a few people on the planet who’d be capable of getting past it, and Wulff had. I was so fucked.

  “If you’re learning so much,” I told him, “you won’t need to ask me an
ything.”

  I ate the rest of my burger in silence, and then followed them to the living room. No sense trying to get away from them now, though every cell in my body wanted to fight to keep Wulff from tying my legs so I couldn’t walk.

  I was pretty sure this was a rental cabin in the middle of nowhere, which meant screaming would do me no good. I could see forever out the front windows, we were high up on a mountain with a kick-ass view, and all I could see from any other window was forest.

  Wulff’s rope was at least twenty or thirty feet long, and he doubled it up and put the bent loop behind my ankles. My fight or flight instincts kicked in without my consent this time, and I tried to fight, but Fox grabbed me and held me from behind as he said, “Wulff doesn’t want me to hurt you, but knows I might have to if you struggle too much. Do us both a favor and don’t fight.”

  “You can’t expect me to just sit passively and let you fucking tie me up!” I said, still fighting despite his unexpected strength. I mean, sure, he had muscles, but so did I, and he didn’t look this fucking strong. He was treating me as if I were a toddler refusing to eat her mashed potatoes, for crying out loud!

  Within a few minutes my legs had enough rope around them I couldn’t pull them apart, and I stopped fighting. I needed to pick my battles, which meant preserving my energy unless I had a hope of succeeding.

  Wulff spent thirty minutes doing fancy ropework on my lower legs, until I may as well have been a freaking mermaid, with one limb instead of two. I was bound from my big toes all the way to just under my knees — no way would I walk anywhere.

  I zoned out for part of it, and when I came back and realized my PTSD had taken over, I stayed frozen as I talked myself down, because I couldn’t afford to zone out around these guys. I needed to stay alert, so if there was a chance to escape, I could take it. Wulff seemed reticent to actually hurt me. If they were going to rape and torture me, they would’ve started already. Even Fox, who badly wanted to start the torture portion of the program, had only mentioned hooking me up to a battery.

  When Brain finished, he said, “This is snug enough to stay put, but not so tight it should interfere with circulation. If your feet get cold, let me know and I’ll double-check, though.”

  I rolled my eyes. “So fucking thoughtful. Just a regular damned Romeo.”

  He propped my legs on the sofa, put a throw blanket over them so we couldn’t see the ropework, and sat opposite me in an upholstered chair that matched the sofa.

  “You’re good, and you’re careful, but so am I,” he said. “Because I’m quite familiar with the IP addresses they use most, it appears you do regular work for the Disciple Playas.”

  “If you know the answers, there should be no questions.”

  “Did they hire you to hack us?”

  I sighed and told him, “You have to know I can’t tell you that, Wulff.”

  “Do they think you’re a guy?”

  “Everyone on the planet thinks my hacker persona is a guy except you and a few Russians, and, I’m assuming, your friend.”

  “He doesn’t know your hacker name. Duke and I are the only ones who know right now.”

  “You wanting me to worship at your feet and thank you for that?”

  He grinned, apparently thinking my attempts at throwing him off balance were funny. “The woman I told you about? Your possible way out? Her name is close enough to Crystal, you can likely get away with using it as a nickname.”

  “You’re offering me a way out, how do you know I want out of this life?”

  “I don’t, but if you want it, I can make it happen. You don’t know me, so you’ll have to trust that when I give my word, I mean it, but you have my word I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe during the transition period, until you get back on your feet under your knew identity.”

  He sighed when I didn’t respond, and told me, “You never scoped Fox. I didn’t use him much, but he was dressed in various civilian clothes when he tailed you, and always in a different car. We worked a deal with the rental company to return and get a new car as often as we wanted. When you ditched your bike, I hoped you’d ride the trolley somewhere, and had him close by the nearest trolley stop in case you did. I watched another, after I lost you, but he got on right behind you and then followed you off.”

  “How did you know what name I was registered?”

  I got his cocky-assed grin again, and, “Can’t give away all my secrets.”

  I pulled from what I knew of the RTMC. They were known to rough people up, but they protected women, even the prostitutes they pimped out. I didn’t know if they were above murder, but I hoped they were. They knew I could never go to the cops and report them for kidnapping, though, so my seeing their faces didn’t necessarily mean I was doomed to death.

  Wulff seemed to be trying to protect me from Fox, but then again, this could be the classic game of good cop/bad cop.

  I needed more information.

  “What’s your end game?” I asked Wulff.

  He shook his head. “If I could’ve caught you in the first twenty-four hours, it would’ve been to hack whoever you sold our info to, so I could delete it before they had a chance to go through it. Now? I still need to delete it, but much of the damage is done.” He sat up, ran his hand through his hair, and sighed. “I can’t tell you our plans for damage control, only that we need to do it. Also, I’d rather have you working for us in the future, instead of them, so we’ll talk to you about putting you on retainer, but only if you prove you can be loyal.”

  “So, you’re starting out nice because you don’t want to make an enemy of me unless you have to?” I’d secretly hoped he liked me and couldn’t bring himself to hurt me, and if I were honest, I’d have to admit to being a little disappointed at his logical reasoning.

  “I’m starting nice because I think it has the highest chance of getting the desired results. If it doesn’t, we’ll go to Plan B.”

  “And what’s Plan B?”

  “Not nice.” Steady gaze, unapologetic tone of voice.

  I looked at him a few seconds and asked, “Can you send Fox away so we can talk?”

  “No.” He didn’t hesitate, didn’t even consider it.

  I bent my knees, pulled my legs up, and wrapped my arms around them. “While I admit the idea of going back on the grid and living a normal life sounds tempting, I’m not sure it’s me. I mean, what does this girl do for a living? Can I do it? Would I want to?”

  “She’s an ex-prostitute with brain cancer. She’s never been arrested, and has a clean driving record. She has no family who’ll miss her. She lives in South Carolina, so as long as you stay away from there, no one you meet is likely to hear the name and think of her. The name isn’t terribly unusual, though, so it’s likely you’d be okay even in the same town.”

  God, I needed to go for a run. I still felt sluggish, whether from whatever they dosed me with, or from sleeping for so long, I didn’t know, but pounding the pavement a few miles would work it out and clear my cobwebs. I looked up, knowing the answer, but I had to ask anyway. “I think best when I run.”

  “Yeah, I get that, but you have to know it isn’t an option.”

  “Can I do something else to step to the side of the problem? A strategy game, or maybe a firewall to break through, some encryption to beat?”

  “Not letting you on a computer, but there are some board games in one of the bedrooms.”

  “You realize she’s just trying to buy time, right?” Fox asked, his voice incredulous.

  “No, I get it. It’s a big decision and she needs to keep her conscious brain busy so her subconscious can work on it without interference.” He looked back to me. “I remember seeing dominoes, checkers, and I think backgammon, and a deck of cards. How about some Rummy?”

  After we’d basically trounced Fox in a few games, he decided to go make dinner while Brain and I played a few more games. Both of us remembered every card drawn, and all of the games were close. We stopped when we�
��d both won six games, and he said, “Okay, doll. Decision time. I’ve given you all the leeway I can.”

  I nodded. “How long, beginning to end, do you think this will take?”

  “Up to a week to make the necessary arrangements and then get her to a ski slope and fake the accident. We already have the doctor near the ski slope in our pocket, but he isn’t the only person we’ll have to pull in. Probably another week to get you into surgery, and then however long it takes you to heal. You’ll take on her identity even before she dies, by that point she’ll be in a hospital bed in a safe house with a nurse to give her drugs so she doesn’t hurt. Our deal is to make the end of her life as painless as possible, and we will. If you don’t opt for her identity, someone else will take it. Her pimp put it up for auction a few weeks ago — we have first dibs, and another two days to pay and take her on, or the option goes to the next highest bidder.”

  “Give me ten minutes of silence, no one talking, no pressure, and I’ll tell you what I’ve decided.”

  He pulled his phone from his pocket, leaned back, and ignored me.

  I rested my head on my knees, closed my eyes, and plotted. If I said no, they’d hurt me. If I said, yes, I’d have to give them information and then I’d lose my bargaining power… or would I? There was a lot of information not on my laptop, stuff I’d picked up here and there. Hmmm.

  Several long minutes later, my plan was formulated and I was going through some of the fine points when I heard, “Time’s up.”

  “It isn’t about money or territory anymore for the Disciples,” I told him, “but about reputation. They want your territory because you’ve kicked their asses so many times. They worked a deal to bring the cartel in, giving up some income in exchange for the manpower, but then you befriended the head guy before he even moved in, worked a deal, and they still don’t get your territory. This next part is speculation, but they’re looking at a way to take you down in multiple cities at the same time, so none of the chapters can send men to help, because they’ll all be too busy at home.”