To Have A Heart (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 7)

Callum was by far the most handsome of the Star Elite men. He was cool, almost unflappable, and clearly in his element searching the building with a brisk efficiency that made it clear he had done things like this before. His handsome features were stern, glacially frozen in time. So much so, he became a stranger to her, but he still created emotions within her she daren’t put a name to. As she watched, he silently signalled to his friend, Oliver. Together, they paused while they waited for Niall and Phillip to find them.

“Nothing,” Phillip grunted when they did.

The heavy thuds were coming from upstairs.

Callum put his finger to his lips and beckoned Mallory closer.

Callum pressed his lips to her ear. “When we have reached the top of the stairs and I signal you, come up after us. Don’t stay down here.”

Mallory nodded. She was happy to follow seeing as the thought of being left anywhere in the building alone was simply horrible.

Callum and Oliver went up the stairs first. They crept up, step by silent step, their guns drawn in readiness should anyone appear at the top. Once on the landing, Niall and Phillip nudged Mallory after Callum. She opened her mouth to tell them that they should go first only for Phillip to nod at Callum, making it clear that they wanted her to stay with him.

Mallory hastily climbed the stairs.

“Stay here. Call out if someone appears at the bottom of the stairs,” Phillip whispered before he stepped around her.

Together with Niall, the men made their way toward the heavy thuds and curses coming from a room to their right.

Oliver and Callum quietly made their way down the hallway but in the opposite direction. Together, they searched the rest of the rooms on the upper floor until they reached the last one at the end.

Without stepping inside, Callum beckoned to Mallory. Mallory didn’t hesitate. She raced toward him only to slam to a halt in confusion when she saw the dark look on Callum’s face. In that moment, she knew that this was a Callum she had never met before. Gone was the charm, the rueful smiles, and the twinkle of mischief in his eyes. In their place was a hard cruelty that was nothing short of lethal. Something, some powerful emotion, had changed his face and turned each angle of his jawline and high cheekbones sharp. Unless she was very mistaken, Callum was furious; coldly and ruthlessly furious.

“What is it?”

“Stay here,” Callum growled. “Don’t move.”

Mallory was curious to know what was inside the room that had made Callum so angry. Before any of them could look, a sharp movement at the end of the corridor caught their attention. They all turned to watch Rhys help an injured Will shuffle awkwardly down the corridor. His eye was swelling shut, his cheek and upper lip were cut, his shirt was blooded and torn, but he was alive and grinning like a lunatic – until he saw the cold watchfulness of his colleagues’ faces. Then his smile died.

“What?” Rhys demanded.

Niall and Phillip came to stand behind Oliver and Callum. The men looked at Oliver who turned his attention to the room. Rather than step inside it, he studied the floor, and the wall inside the door. Only when he could be assured that the room hadn’t been boobytrapped did Oliver venture into the room, which was empty save for one thing: a body.

Mallory followed them only to cry out in alarm when she saw what had made the men so grim.

This wasn’t just any body. This body had been so badly beaten that his face was almost unrecognisable – almost.

But the men from the Star Elite did recognise who had been bound by the ankles and wrists, and so badly beaten that his face was swollen and bloodied, as was most of his battered and broken body.

Callum stepped closer.

“Who is it?” Mallory whispered.

Oliver, Phillip, Rhys, Will, and Niall, equally as grim as Callum, all stepped closer to the body hanging suspended from the ceiling by his tightly bound wrists.

“It’s Sir Hugo,” Callum whispered, his voice low and hushed, in deference to their valiant boss.

CHAPTER NINE

Callum removed a small but wicked looking knife from his boot and turned to the rope wound tightly around Sir Hugo’s wrists and used to suspend him from the ceiling. Once Oliver and Niall were in position to catch him when he fell, Callum cut the rope that had prevented Sir Hugo from ever being able to defend himself against his captor’s cruel blows.

“Is he alive?” Rhys whispered.

Callum grimly knelt beside the body of his boss and checked for breath. He felt his stomach dip and shook his head just once, crisply, when he couldn’t feel any sign of life.

Nobody moved while Callum placed his head on Sir Hugo’s chest.

“He has a heartbeat. Get a doctor,” Callum hissed grimly. “Hurry.”