United and Dangerous by Cherie Benjamin (the speed reading book .TXT) 📕

to send in Daniella to pose as the hotel’s on-call doctor.  She will have the Androgel® topical cream for him to apply to his dick, which, of course, has also been treated with hydrochloric acid, which will cause the skin to begin peeling and fall off.  When he calls back, which we know he will, that is when we move in and capture him.”  Elizabeth stated.

“So we are looking at tomorrow for the capture?”  Ara asked.

“Yes.  With the amount of additives we inserted into his medications, and, of course, the new cream, the results will be immediate. We will need to get the planes and the teams ready to move back to Seattle.  I already have Jack and Rick dismantling most of our equipment for transport.  I am leaving a skeleton crew and essentials to still monitor and locate the suitcase.”  At this, Elizabeth could feel the tears at the back of her eyes, but forbid herself to show anymore weakness before her bosses.

“Great work, Elizabeth.  We need to contact Sean and Peter and let them know about the timeline.”  Kane said. 

“Yes, we do.”  Elizabeth mumbled, hoping that Kane would make that call.  She was still upset with her father and her feelings for Sean were too raw to talk to him right now. 

Ara could tell by the look on Elizabeth’s face that she was in no state to talk to Sean or Peter.  She understood the turmoil that she was going through.  Hell, she was getting ready to capture, torture, and kill her own father.  “Elizabeth, you go get everything ready for the team; Kane and I will call Sean and Peter.”

“Thank you.”  Elizabeth responded, releasing some of the tension that was building up.

Suddenly, Jack ran in covered in mud and green mossy gunk.  His expression conveyed a mixture of emotions, sympathy, success, but, to Elizabeth, it indicated one thing. The suitcase had been found.

Chapter 18

 

Jack stood in the entrance to the room, covered in mud and green slime, with a heavy heart.  This was not an enviable position.  He felt relieved that he could bring closure to Elizabeth, by finding her sister’s body, yet still wished he was able to provide her with better news.  Elizabeth’s face looked so broken; he could tell she was barely holding it together.

Elizabeth cleared her throat, trying to find some semblance of the professional demeanor she aspired to maintain.  “Jack, what do you have to report?”  The question came in a whisper, her voice breaking with every syllable.

“Elizabeth, I found the suitcase.  It is the one Sebastian purchased.  I’m sorry, Elizabeth, our suspicions were confirmed; the body of your sister, Lisa, was within the suitcase.”

All hope, even the smallest shred, was lost as Elizabeth heard the words Jack delivered to her.  Her knees began to buckle and her breathing was becoming labored.  She had anticipated this, she knew just the kind of monster Sebastian Morotti was, so it was no surprise that this was the result.  But, God help her, it was her baby sister.  She did not know if it was true if, at the moment of your death, you saw your life flash before your eyes, but she knew that her sister’s life was flashing before hers. 

Memory upon memory assaulted her.  When her parents first brought her home, helping her mother take care of her, assuming the role of her mother when theirs had died.  Everything that she tried to store as far back in her mind as she could, had escaped and now crippled her completely.  She wasn’t going to survive this; she wanted Lisa back.  She was so lost in her memories she didn’t hear Sean enter the room.  He had come to the townhouse for an update on their operations.

The night before, after Elizabeth had left, he planned to go to his home office and try to get some work done.  The family was expecting a shipment of guns next week, and he needed to ensure that everything organized and as secure as possible.  The family had received intelligence that the Cortez family from Colombia were putting out feelers to weasel their way into his territory.  They were known for their distribution of drugs, but it seemed they wanted to branch out into guns.  Sean knew that shit wasn’t going to happen on his watch. After reading over the same paragraph three times, he decided to give up and go for a long walk.   He needed to clear his mind.  Grabbing his jacket and his nine mil, he placed the gun into his back holster, and took the elevator down to the first floor.  The guards on duty tonight were Colin and Seamus.  Seamus jumped up from the desk when he saw the Don step off the elevator.  Colin was Sean’s personal bodyguard, and was already in step with his boss and best friend as he stepped off the elevator.

“I don’t need you guys tonight.  I’m going for a walk, clear the cobwebs, alone.” 

“But, sir, that is not advisable.” Seamus responded.  Colin remained silent, with a slight smirk on his face.  He knew when Sean was in this type of mood; it was better not to push.

“I don’t give a fuck.  I am going for a walk and I am going alone.”  Sean barked in a tone that would make a grown man piss his pants.

“Yes, sir.”  Seamus returned.  Colin stationed himself outside the front entrance to the building, but not before instructing Seamus to keep an eye on the monitors.

Sean walked out the door and down the street towards the park.  With every step he reviewed every word they had shared, every look, and every touch; fuck, why couldn’t he get Elizabeth out of his head?  Why the fuck was that?  All the other women he had ever dealt with had never been a problem.  As he fucked them, he didn’t think of them again.  Even though he and Elizabeth had never had sex, he couldn’t seem to stop thinking of her and longing spending more time with her.  But she shut him out.  Did she not share the same feelings that he had?  Better yet, what the fuck were these feelings?  And why the fuck did hurt so much when she left and why was it that he wanted nothing more than rush over to the Leone townhome, rush in, take her into his arms, and kiss the fuck out of her before he kidnapped her and rushed off to Vegas for a quick wedding.  WAIT!!! Marriage?  Was that what he was feeling?  Was he in love with Elizabeth? 

Suddenly, he was faced with a punk ass kid dressed in all black, holding a knife.

“Give me your fucking money or I will cut you, motherfucker.”  The kid snarled, shaking the knife in Sean’s face.

Shit, this was not this kid’s lucky day.  Sean looked at the kid, his shaking hands, his hold on the knife, and knew he had nothing to worry about.  “Really, you want my money?”

“Yeah, motherfucker.”  The question made the kid nervous.

Sean reached into his jacket and pulled out his gold plated, pearl handled desert eagle and pointed it in between the kid’s eyes.  When the kid saw the gun, his hands shook so badly that he dropped the knife.  “You don’t know who the fuck you are messing with.  Who do you work for?”

“Jose Lopez.”  The kid responded.  He wanted to either run, or piss his pants, and not necessarily in that order.

“And that fucking name should mean something to me?  Who is the Boss, ese?”  Sean barked, knowing that, if the kid was part of a family, he would know what he was asking.

“Roberto Cortez.” He responded with just a little more bravado.  He knew that name meant something in this town.

Fuck, this punk ass kid was working for the fucker who was trying to cut into his turf.  He needed to send a message to Roberto and this kid was going to do it.  “Listen to me very carefully.  You listening?  I want you to take this message back to the Boss, not Jose, but to Roberto.  You tell him to stay the fuck out of the O’Leary turf or there is going to be a lot of fucking bloodshed, and it isn’t going to be Irish blood.  Do you have that, ese?”

“Yes, sir.” 

“Good, now get the fuck out of my face!”  Sean said, shoving the kid hard to the ground.  The kid jumped up and took off down the street, leaving his knife on the ground.   Sean returned his weapon and continued his walk.  After hours of walking around the city, he headed back to his apartment with a plan to go to Leone’s townhome tomorrow and lay his feelings on the line.  If they didn’t straighten out where they stood, Elizabeth was going to drive him batshit crazy.

Sean arrived about mid-morning at the townhouse.  Maggie was there and told him about the dress she had picked out yesterday.  During their conversation, he saw Jack enter through the back door.  From all appearances, he had been searching for the suitcase.  Jack’s expression said it all; the suitcase was found, and so was Lisa.  Sean wrapped up his conversation with Maggie, and went to the command post to find out what was going on.  When he entered the room, he noticed all the color had drained from Elizabeth’s face, and her knees were buckling, and she was gasping for air.  Her eyes were empty.  There was no emotion, no tears, just that blank stare.  He had seen this look before, it was not a good sign.  As soon as he neared her, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she began to fall backwards toward the table.  Running the last few steps, Sean quickly caught her before she hit the floor, cradling her limp body close to his.  “Get a damn doctor in here!”  Sean screamed.

Kane grabbed his phone and called the Dr. Mallos, who had come with the team on the trip.  It had been determined early on that they would have a doctor on all extensive jobs, just in case something went wrong.  It was almost impossible for them to go to a regular hospital and it was more cost effective to pay the good doctor a hefty sum to keep the team alive and healthy.

“Let me take her, Sean.”  Kane said as he began to kneel beside them.

“No.  Get the goddamn doctor in here and don’t even fucking attempt to take her from me.”  Sean seethed between his tightly clenched teeth.  “She is mine and mine alone and I will kill any motherfucker who tries to take her away from me.”

Kane slowly rose and took a step back.  He could relate to the way Sean was feeling; he felt the exact same way every time someone came too close Ara, the rage for his need to protect the woman who was his everything. 

Dr. Mallos walked into the room carrying his bag and went straight to where Sean was kneeling on the floor holding onto Elizabeth.  He knelt beside them.  Sean instantly tightened his hold of Elizabeth and gave Dr. Mallos a look of warning that would kill.  “Sir, I am Dr. Mallos, and I need to check Elizabeth