Forsaken Duty, The Red Team Series, Book 9 Read online

  Forsaken Duty

  A Red Team Novel

  Elaine Levine

  Contents

  Story Blurb

  A Note from the Author

  Other Books by Elaine Levine

  When we last visited the Red Team…

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Epilogue

  Other Books by Elaine Levine

  About the Author

  FORSAKEN DUTY

  The only truth Owen Tremaine’s certain of is that everything in his life has been a lie. Not only is his former fiancée alive, but so is their son…a child he never knew existed. Raised as a fighter in the resistance against a violent and secretive cult, Owen abandons his team, his family, everything to extract the woman he once loved and the son he’s never met from the clutches of his enemy.

  Adelaide Jacobs has only loved one man…Owen Tremaine. She grew up in the long shadow he and her brother cast, toddling after them as much as her brother tolerated. Owen’s visits were the best memories of her childhood…until the day he saw her as a woman. They had one night together before hell took over her life in a war that’s framed her world ever since.

  Now she’s a fighter too, battling an unknown disease that consumes a little more of her each day. She'll never forgive her brother for bringing Owen into her hell. Is there enough time to find the cure so they can have the future they both thought they’d never have? Or is now—this very moment—all the time they’ll have?

  Dedication

  It’s not easy being married to an author. I couldn’t do it, but somehow my husband makes it look like a breeze. He knows from my fits of paranoia just where I am in the story creation process. He remembers all the arcane facts about my characters that I tell him. I’m still trying to figure out what sandwiches have to do with the fictional love scenes I write, but whatever it is, he deserves them!

  Barry, you’re a one and only, forever kind of guy. I think I’ll keep you.

  A Note from the Author

  We begin Forsaken Duty at the point where Deadly Creed left off. To maximize your enjoyment of this serialized story, I highly recommend reading the series in order, starting with The Edge of Courage and including the Red Team wedding novellas, before beginning this book!

  And make sure you never miss a book from me by signing up for my new release announcements at http://geni.us/GAlUjx. I only send out a newsletter when I have a new book, a new audio release, or there’s a new release in a series I’m in. I’ll never spam you, and I’ll never share your email address with others.

  —Elaine

  Other Books by Elaine Levine

  Red Team Series

  (This series must be read in order)

  1 The Edge of Courage

  2 Shattered Valor

  3 Honor Unraveled

  3.5 Kit & Ivy: A Red Team Wedding Novella

  4 Twisted Mercy

  4.5 Ty & Eden: A Red Team Wedding Novella

  5 Assassin’s Promise

  6 War Bringer

  6.5 Rocco & Mandy: A Red Team Wedding Novella

  7 Razed Glory

  8 Deadly Creed

  9 Forsaken Duty

  Men of Defiance Series

  (This series may be read in any order)

  1 Rachel and the Hired Gun

  2 Audrey and the Maverick

  3 Leah and the Bounty Hunter

  4 Logan’s Outlaw

  5 Agnes and the Renegade

  When we last visited the Red Team…

  Here’s a refresher for those of you who have read the previous Red Team books (skip this and go read them if you haven’t yet!).

  * * * * * Spoilers! * * * * *

  It’s November, and the team is in their sixth month of investigation.

  The team’s getting ever closer to discovering who King is.

  Owen has mysteriously gone AWOL with Jax.

  Jason Parker—Val’s dad—announced everything that was happening was part of a game.

  While being held by Jafaar Majid, Wynn Ratcliff may have spotted the parents she thought had died long ago.

  Lion and his pride of watchers have been found, but Mr. Edwards has taken Owen’s son.

  Yusef Sayed is still acting as the team’s eyes and ears from his motel in Cheyenne, WY.

  Jafaar has outed Rocco (aka Khalid) as a Fed.

  Deputy Jerry is Jafaar’s spy.

  Mandy and Ivy are pregnant.

  Casey still has a crush on Lion.

  And now, we continue with Forsaken Duty…

  1

  Owen Tremaine hoped he’d survive the next punch. He kept his eyes closed, but couldn’t shut out the pain. Life’s bitter ironies. Addy Jacobs was alive…but he was going to die here, before he could see her again if he couldn’t end Mr. Edwards’ interrogation. Life fucking sucked. He laughed at his own morose thoughts. Wasn’t like him to feel sorry for himself. This wasn’t so bad. Not like the day she was taken from him. This was just physical, not a soul injury like that had been.

  He’d gotten through that; he could get through this. For her.

  He’d been some meathead’s punching bag for what, a day? A week? How long had it been? What was it they were after? He tried to think through the pain. He could hear Jax’s muffled shouts in another room. How far away was he? How many men were with Edwards?

  He cracked his eyes open, trying to figure out where he was and how he got there. Oh yeah, the accident. Jax’s car had been broadsided on a country road outside of Denver. They’d exchanged gunfire before a flashbang had been tossed under their SUV, knocking them down long enough for the others to take them. After that, he woke up in this hellhole, tied to a rusty steel chair in the middle of what looked like an old jail cell in some long-abandoned piece-of-shit property, if he were to judge by the peeling paint and the persistent sound of dripping water. He wondered if he was in the tunnels somewhere.

  He slowly straightened in his seat. Who knew how long of a break he’d have before they came back to him? If he was going to act, now was the time. He tugged against the ropes on his right ankle, once again maneuvering his foot to the support bar connecting the front to the back of the chair. Wedging his boot in the weakened corner, he used his other foot to push the chair and himself up a few inches, then slammed down on the one leg. The rope felt like a garrote around his ankle. Didn’t matter. He had to get free. Had to get to Jax. He did it again and again until the chair’s decaying support bar gave way. He repeated the motion with his other foot, breaking that bar too.

  He sat for a minute, letting the pain wash through him, listening to hear if the bastards who’d been torturing them were coming back. When he didn’t hear them, he leaned the chair off one leg and wiggled his tied ankle free, then did the same with his other leg. That was all he could manage before he heard them coming his way.

  He tucked his ankles close to the chair legs so no one would notice he’d go
tten them free. The meatheads came back in, followed this time by a trim, middle-aged man with blond hair and blue eyes. His nose was too small for his face. His skin was weathered. Bastard apparently liked the sight of a man beaten to jelly, for he smiled at Owen.

  “I see you’re awake again. Wonderful. Shall we start over?”

  Edwards was the man who’d carved up Wynn’s hand. The man who’d strung up Ace. Probably one of the costumed observers to Fiona’s attempted initiation. He was the devil himself, and he had a blood price on his head among Owen’s team.

  Owen would be quite pleased to collect it.

  He closed his eyes, knowing the bastard fed on negative emotion—fear, anger, hopelessness. He stuffed those emotions away, starving Edwards of his jollies. “You go ahead. I can’t remember what we were talking about.”

  The edge in Edwards’ voice was the only indication Owen had hit his mark. “Who’s funding you?”

  “I already answered that. Pay attention, man.”

  Edwards nodded toward one of his paid fists. Owen took a hit in the jaw. He looked up at the guy, visualizing a steel chair leg going through his chest.

  “Answer it again,” Edwards said through clenched teeth.

  “Family money.”

  “What family?” Edwards asked.

  “What does it fucking matter?” Owen’s hands were almost free from the rope binding them behind him. He wasn’t about to sell out his investors. Val was a minority shareholder. He could take care of himself, but Senator Jacobs, who’d provided the other minority stake in angel funds, couldn’t. Beyond that, the government had footed the bill for this lucrative contract from their dark ops budget.

  Before the goon standing near him could throw another punch, Owen said, “Uncle Sam’s family. It’s classified. Don’t you have friends in high places? Go ask them. By the way, while I have your attention, where’s my boy?”

  “How would I know?”

  “You took him from Addy.”

  Edwards went absolutely still. “She still has her boy. For now.”

  So it was true; Addy had had a son. “Word on the street is you put him with the watchers.”

  “What makes you think he’s yours?”

  “Good intel. Where is he?”

  Edwards nodded toward his hired muscle. “I’m done here. Finish him. He’s got no info for me.”

  Owen leaned back and braced himself by gripping the bars of the seatback so he could kick out. He hit the man’s chest with his heels, knocking him back several steps. The other guy rushed forward. Owen twirled to his feet, slamming him with the steel chair. In the seconds that opened for him, Owen finished freeing his hands, then kicked in the other side of the broken bottom rung, separating it from the chair. He grabbed it in time to shove it upward into the guy’s chest cavity, using his own forward momentum to impale him. Owen shoved his body into the second guy, then ran after Edwards, but he was too late.

  Edwards had already rushed out of the jail cell, leaving the door locked behind him. The second guy charged toward Owen. He ducked. The guy’s fist hit the steelwork of the front wall, shaking it loose. Owen punched him in the gut then double-fisted the back of his head when he bent over. He slumped down, exposing the knife in his holster. Owen grabbed it and, fisting the guy’s hair, lifted his head and sliced his neck.

  Shoving him aside, Owen looked around the room, assessing his situation.

  The door was locked, and he had no key. Neither man had the door key or wallets, but one had car keys. He pocketed them then gave the cell bars a tug. Flakes of rusted metal and paint fell away. Two bars were loose. Owen looked around the room again. His gaze fell on the busted chair. He broke off the other support he’d loosened, then used it to pry the compromised cell bars free, giving him enough room to climb up and squeeze through.

  He rushed toward the area where he’d heard Jax, finding him three cells down. Owen had to move fast—he didn’t know where Edwards had gone or if he was coming back with reinforcements. Jax was slumped over in the chair he was tied to. The door to his cell was locked, too. Owen used the knife he’d taken to fish around in the big skeleton keyhole. It worked. The gate came loose.

  He hurried over to check his friend, who looked as mangled as Owen felt. At least he had a pulse. Owen cut the ropes binding him. Jax was in a fist-induced stupor. Owen wasn’t certain, in the state he was in himself, if he’d be able to carry Jax out…or even drag him.

  He knelt in front of Jax and gently lifted his head. “Hey…you in there? Anything broken? Can you move?” They had to get out before Edwards came back.

  Jax instantly came alert, ready to fight.

  “Whoa. Whoa,” Owen said. “Just me. We need to move out. Can you walk?”

  “Owen?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Edwards…”

  “Is gone. For now. We gotta go.” He pulled Jax’s arm over his shoulder and hoisted him up from his chair. They moved as fast as they could down the hall to a flight of stairs. Up was the only direction to go. It was dark in that part of the building—no windows anywhere and no lights on. Owen had no idea what time of day it was, where they were, or what the hell they were going to do next.

  They made it to an exit. A chain had been cut and now draped from one of the push bars on the industrial door. It was night outside. The climb out of the hellhole had let Owen’s eyes adjust to dark. They were nowhere. Absolutely fucking nowhere. The building was in the middle of wide-open prairie, inside a tall, walled space. No lights shone anywhere around them, not even on the outside of the building.

  A single SUV sat in front on the overgrown driveway. Owen used the key fob to see if it belonged to the guy below. The lights came on. He ran with an arm around Jax to the vehicle and managed to get him inside, laying him across the backseat. Owen jumped into the driver’s seat and started the SUV up. The building they’d just left was lit up in the headlights. It was a stately brick monolith with gothic arches over the front and side doors. The headlights illuminated a sign over the grand front door: Hawthorne Sanitarium, est. 1878. Jesus. The guards could have just left them there to die and no one would ever know before they were a pile of bones.

  “Hang on, bud,” Owen said as he got them the hell out of there…wherever there was.

  When the sun came up, Owen changed directions, heading west. He knew the moment Jax woke up from the string of foul words he growled. They were so far east that there wasn’t a hint of the mountains, only miles and miles of parched prairie grass and dirt road in the predawn light.

  Owen looked over his shoulder. “How you feeling?”

  “I need to take a piss. And I could use a gallon of water.”

  Owen stopped the SUV. “The piss we can do. Water, not so much.”

  “Where are we?”

  “No fucking clue. I’m gonna need gas soon. I got no cash, no cards, and no ID to get cash. How about you?”

  “Yeah. I got my wallet. They didn’t take it.”

  Owen pulled over. They both got out and relieved themselves in the dust on the side of the road. The sound of their streams made Owen’s thirst even worse. Afterward, he looked in the SUV’s back hatch, searching for bottled water. The trunk was empty. He slammed the door then glared at Jax. “What the fuck happened? How did Edwards know where we were?”

  “No idea.”

  Something about Jax’s quick answer made Owen question everything about him. If Jax weren’t in as bad a shape as Owen, it would have been easy to believe his old friend was in with the Omnis. Owen also found it hard to believe that Edwards didn’t know where his funding came from. Sure, it was funneled through a couple of dummy corporations, but not so deeply hidden that a patient and persistent investigator couldn’t figure out Jax’s dad and Val were his partners—especially an investigator with deep Omni pockets and plenty of time.

  At Owen’s continued stare, Jax’s eyes narrowed. “You think I had something to do with it? Like I like getting pulverized?”

  Owe
n sighed. Fuck. Edwards was sneaky as hell. The Omnis probably had someone watching Winchester’s, since it was a popular hangout with Owen’s crew. They were likely tracked leaving the bar that night.

  “You hear that?” Jax asked.

  Owen tried, but couldn’t hear anything. “No. My ears are still ringing.”

  “It’s a highway. Or at least a paved road.”

  “Where?”

  Jax listened for a minute then pointed in the direction they were headed. “Let’s stay headed west.”

  They got back into the SUV. Owen didn’t press Jax for answers. He needed to rehydrate, sleep, and eat something before anything Jax said would make sense. They found the road Jax had heard. It wasn’t a highway, just a two-lane country road. But there was heavy truck traffic, which made Owen fairly certain at one end or the other they’d hit a gas station. Eventually, they pulled into a little town that didn’t have a single traffic light but did have a gas station.

  Owen used Jax’s cash to get them some food and water while he filled up. The girl behind the counter stared at him in horror.

  “You want me to call an ambulance, mister?” she asked.

  “No.” He managed a laugh. “My buddy and I were off-roading at a friend’s place. Guess helmets shouldn’t have been optional.”