She heard whispering and then a deeper tone of voice. Looking to the right of the living room, she saw Samuel sitting in a chair talking to Gabe West and two other men. She could hear what they were saying.
She listened for any details as to what they were planning. Her eyes landed on Roxie, who was sitting on the floor next to Samuel’s leg. She rubbed her hand up and down his thigh, and when her hand moved closer to his crotch he gave her head a shove. Valentina gasped and then swallowed hard, clenching her teeth. Roxie laid her head against his leg as he continued to ignore her while he spoke to the men.
“If you’re not in the mood for her, I’ll keep her busy. Unless it’s okay to take the cop to the back room,” the one guy said and looked right at Valentina. She saw that evil expression in his eyes. She could feel the pocket knife practically burning a hole in her pocket as her anger flared. Come near me and I’ll slit your throat.
“The cop stays untouched. We might need her in one piece,” Gabe said and glanced at her.
“I promise to keep her in one piece. She looks tough enough to handle what I have in mind,” the guy said and licked his lips, leaning forward.
“Try to resist, will ya? We need to finalize our plans,” Gabe said to him.
“Look at her, though. She’s got a sexy body. I can tell she’s big up top with her blouse ripped right now. It’s giving me a hard-on.”
Valentina couldn’t help but to shake and be fearful. She was tired, weak, and he was a big guy.
“Roxie’s good for a blowjob. Now focus,” Samuel said as he shoved Roxie toward the guy’s crotch. It shocked Valentina. She watched as Roxie looked at Samuel and he gave her head a shove again. He gave her a look and she smiled at the guy and then began to rub her hands up and down his thighs before unzipping his pants.
Valentina looked away and turned her body so if the kids woke up they wouldn’t see what was going on. She felt sick, angry, and she wanted to cry for these kids. These poor babies weren’t loved or even considered in anything their parents did. They really were a tool for Roxie to get Samuel to keep her around. He had no respect for her, and she had no respect for herself.
Valentina wanted to cry, but she knew she needed to be strong for the babies and for herself, too. She may be fighting these men off sooner than later. She looked at the babies. I’ll protect you. With my life, if necessary.
The thought of dying had her thinking of her men. God knows what torture they were going through right now worrying about her. The town and the Texas Rangers she worked for were resourceful men and women. Yet, they hadn’t been able to track down Samuel, Roxie, or this main guy, Gabe West. The likelihood they would find them now, in the middle of some woods in God knows where, was pretty damn unlikely.
She wasn’t giving up hope that she could stop them. Stop this all right here and get the kids to safety. She wanted to cover her ears as the man moaned and then came. She tightened up and then felt the anger filter through her system. She wasn’t going to die here, and neither were these babies.
* * * *
The sound of the rotors was smooth and not as loud as a normal helicopter. A few favors had been called in by their new friends, Dash and Hopper, Hunter and Sharp, Airborne Rangers ready to kick ass and take names later.
Gunny, Sparrow, Jace, Ridge, Beck, Ghost, Evan, Laverty, and Ford all prepared to jump from the helicopter and parachute into a small clearing. Through satellite images, they’d located a medium-sized cabin in the woods that contained a separate garage with a van that matched the one they were looking for. Sparrow looked at his brothers and his cousins. They were all there when they heard how the witnesses said Roxie, Samuel, and another man held them all at gun point and locked them into the basement of the house. Not before Roxie had shoved around the babies, taken a screaming one-year-old from another mother helping the baby, and then slugged the woman in charge of the shelter. J.R. said he saw Valentina pull her gun and he went to help when he was shot—but he’d seen the babies, Samuel, and Roxie.
Sparrow’s gut tightened. Here their woman was, trying to help these babies, fighting the last couple of weeks to prove she would be a great mother and be able to provide for them, and the social workers, the judge, the system in general would rather sit and do nothing and allow those babies to be around people like this. People who abused kids, showed no respect for police, for the law, shot cops and innocent people, beat them up and left them for dead? This is where those babies belonged? He was feeling more and more compelled to kill these men and to save his woman and those kids. He prayed they hadn’t hurt Valentina, or the children. She already had scars from saving her sister and nephew. What would they find when they finally got to her?
“Okay, we’re coming up to the spot. Try not to hit a fucking tree. We won’t be able to get your ass out of here, and we will leave you to get to the target,” Dash stared firmly. They chuckled.
“I may not have jumped out of a plane in a couple of years, but I bet I’ll land better than you,” Ridge egged Dash on.
Dash chuckled. “Never gonna happen, old man.”
“Oh, shit,” Sharp said and laughed.
“Let’s do this,” Gunner said as Hunter slid the door open. The darkness of the night gave them no view of where they were jumping.
“Night vision on, now,” Hopper ordered. They shifted their head gear into position and they began to jump into the abyss.
When Sparrow looked out, he made a leap of faith based on Hopper’s knowledge, the pilot’s hopefully accurate stop hovering above, and all the military training he’d ever had.
We’re coming for you, Valentina. Hold on, baby. Hold on.
* * * *
Valentina thought she heard a noise. A quick glance around and she saw that Gabe was gone, probably to the bedroom. She didn’t see Roxie or Samuel. Maybe they were together. She eased the baby down to the couch and tucked her next to Tye so she was secure and wouldn’t roll off the couch. Lena was curled up against her brother’s legs and she shifted her slightly.
Valentina eased herself up to her feet.
“Can’t sleep, cop?” She heard the voice and squinted, and then the guy who worked for Gabe was there. She swallowed hard.
He stepped closer. He had no shirt on and his pants were undone. She had flashbacks of Roxie pleasuring him. That sick, angry feeling began to simmer in her gut.