Valor, Variant - 2: A Dark Genetic Manipulation Romance, page 6
“You cannot keep a woman hostage! Did you learn nothing?!” Scorn yelled.
Valor didn’t answer, but a low, constant rumble started up in his chest.
“Look, we are all upset — clearly!” Nina said. “Everybody just calm down. It’s done now. The police have most likely already been called so we can’t take them back there at the moment. Let’s just go home. We’ll all take a breath and calm a bit. Then we’ll figure out what the best thing to do is. Okay?”
“They are staying with me!” Valor insisted loudly.
“Fine. But we still need to find them a place to stay, and see to their needs. They can’t live with us in the house. It’s not a suitable place for a little girl. She needs a safe, secure place to sleep not surrounded by a bunch of people she doesn’t know. She needs to feel safe, Valor. Not kept prisoner,” Nina said.
Valor looked at the little girl, then he looked at Nina. “She needs to play outside,” he said.
Of all the things Nina thought he’d say, the child playing outside wasn’t it, but at least now he was thinking of something other than keeping them prisoner. “She does,” Nina agreed.
Valor nodded. “We have a park,” he said.
“She can’t sleep in the park,” Nina said.
Valor’s brow creased as the woman began to cry again. He didn’t like her crying. It was part of the reason he was so upset. He leaned over to tell her to be quiet again, but Nina reached out and put her hand on his bicep. When he looked at her she mouthed to him. ‘Be nice.’
Valor looked back at the woman and the little girl. “Please, stop crying. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just couldn’t leave you there. I had to bring you with me.”
“Why?” the woman asked, still crying.
Valor thought about it for minute. “To protect you,” he finally answered.
The woman was still crying, but not as loudly, and the little girl was only sniffling now.
Valor looked at the child. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise. I’ll never, ever, hurt you. Okay?” he asked.
The little girl just looked at him and leaned her head against her mother’s.
“Fuck,” Valor growled, sitting back and realizing the little girl was afraid of him. He didn’t want her or her mother to fear him. He just couldn’t leave them where they were.
“Hey, anybody living in the other side of Two’s duplex?” Scorn asked.
“No,” Nina said. “It’s still empty. And it’s got a larger than average yard, and it’s near the pond with the ducks,” she said.
“Exactly. Maybe they could stay there for now,” Scorn said.
“That’s a good idea,” Feral said.
“Ain’t nobody staying anywhere. We’re all fucking going to prison for kidnapping,” Steel said.
“No, we’re not. We just need to straighten this shit out,” Scorn said.
“And how are we going to do that?” Steel asked.
Nobody answered him, so he just kept driving.
“We’ll be home in about an hour, we’ll figure out what to do then,” Nina said.
Lethal grabbed his phone and placed a call. “Hey,” he said when the other party picked up.
“Hey,” Brutal answered.
“Need you to do something for me,” Lethal said.
“Name it,” Brutal said.
“Place next to Two is still available?”
“Think so,” Brutal said.
“Get some food in the kitchen, sheets and blankets, toilet paper whatever somebody would need to live there. Air it out a bit,” Lethal said.
“You moving into it?” Brutal asked.
“No. But we’re bringing back somebody that is,” Lethal answered.
“Who?”
“Don’t know, just somebody we decided to bring home. And if there’s any toys or anything around, toss a few in there, too,” Lethal said.
“You bringing home a kid?” Brutal asked, surprise evident in his voice.
“Yeah. And her mom.”
“How old?” Brutal asked, not understanding at all.
“I don’t know…” Lethal said. He looked at the little girl. “How old are you?” he asked.
“Four,” the little girl said, looking from the scary man asking her how old she was back to the man she still thought might be her daddy.
“She’s four,” Lethal said.
“We don’t have any damn toys, Lethal. We don’t have kids here,” Brutal said.
“Then just make sure there’s food and whatever they might need.”
“Alright, let me get on it. When will you be here?” Brutal asked.
“An hour,” Lethal said.
“Oh, great, nothing like leaving it to the last minute to tell me,” Brutal snarked.
“We didn’t know until she got in the car. Are you going to help me or not?”
“Yeah, I got you,” Brutal said. “But you owe me.”
Brutal disconnected the call and so did Lethal.
“It’s really a nice place,” Nina said to the still hooded woman. “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but you’re actually very safe. And we’ll get this all figured out.”
The woman didn’t respond, but she wasn’t crying anymore, just sniffling as she held her daughter close to her.
“What’s your name?” Nina asked. “Mine’s Nina.”
“Becky,” the woman said shakily. “Becky Conley.”
“And what’s your name?” Nina asked the little girl.
“Skylar,” she said, looking at Nina, then giving the man that still had not told her if he was her daddy the side eye.
“Can we uncover her head, Valor?” Nina asked, reaching for the shirt that was covering Becky’s head. “It’s got to be more upsetting being hooded like this.”
“No!” Scorn said urgently. “When we let her go, it’s better if she hasn’t seen where we take her to.”
“She’s not going anywhere!” Valor shouted again.
“I need a fucking aspirin,” Lethal growled, rubbing his temples.
“Well,” Feral said, grinning as he looked out the window as they passed pasture after pasture on their way back to Alliance. “It’s never boring being on this team. Freeing our brothers one day, meeting with military brass the next, and kidnapping women and their children the next.”
Chapter 6
The Suburban drove through the front gates of General Ferriday’s property, and proceeded slowly down the gravel road leading the way to Alliance. Instead of pulling up to the house they all shared, it continued on toward the medical clinic, then took the curve at the end of the drive and pulled up at the duplex Nina used to live in, but now belonged to Two.
Two lived in the same unit Nina used to — the one to the right. But as they pulled up, they noticed the door to the unit on the left was wide open.
“Guess they’re busy already,” Nina said.
Everybody got out of the Suburban except Valor, who sat where he was, looking down at the little girl and her still hooded mother.
“Get them out, Valor. You started this, finish it,” Lethal snapped.
Valor glanced toward Lethal, then opened the door and got out. He held his hand out for the little girl to take so he could help her out of the car, but instead of taking his hand she just looked at him.
“Come on,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Why do you have Mommy’s head covered up?” she asked.
Valor didn’t know the answer. “I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “Maybe to keep her calm.”
“She’s crying,” Skylar said.
Valor nodded hesitantly. “I know. Let’s go inside, okay?” he asked. He reached for the child and lifted her from her mother’s arms to place her on her feet outside the Suburban. Becky wouldn’t let go of her daughter, and started fighting again.
“I’m not taking her from you!” Valor said, his voice raised. “I’m just trying to get you both out of the damn vehicle!” he said irritatedly.
Becky still fought, reaching out and taking hold of Skylar’s legs as she fumbled to get her balance and keep a hold on her child.
“Whoa, whoa…” Valor said, holding Skylar against his hip, and reaching for Becky’s hand where it gripped one of the girl’s ankles. “Here, take my hand, you’ll get out of the vehicle together.”
“I’m not letting go of her,” Becky said defiantly.
“Fine. I’ll hold your hand.”
Begrudgingly Becky allowed Valor to hold onto her wrist so he could guide her out of the vehicle. Once Becky was standing under her own power, he leaned over to place Skylar on the ground. “I’m putting her down. Let her ankle go so you can hold her hand.”
Becky leaned over, her hands running up Skylar’s body as Valor put the child on the ground, until she finally felt Skylar’s hand in hers.
“Let’s go inside,” Nina said. She stood in front of Becky and reached out to touch her.
Becky pulled away from the touch.
“It’s me touching you, it’s okay. I’m just leading you into the house you’ll be staying in until we can get you home again,” Nina said.
“She is home!” Valor insisted on a growl.
“Cool your fucking jets, Valor. I’m about up to here with the shit show you’ve caused today,” Lethal said, stalking toward Valor.
“We don’t need this, too, right now,” Scorn said, stepping in front of Lethal. “Just let it go for now. Don’t make an already bad situation worse, Lethal.”
Lethal’s face was a mask of rage. He glared at Valor, and if Scorn hadn’t called him on his temper, he’d have whipped his ass where he stood. Lethal pointed at Valor. “This is not over, and this is not fucking okay!”
Valor stared back at Lethal. “Don’t you think I fucking know that?” he snapped.
“No! Apparently you don’t! You don’t take a woman and her child like some kind of damn stray puppy off the street. I don’t give a damn if you dream about her every fucking night! You just don’t do it! She’s not a fucking reward, Valor!” Lethal shouted.
“Well, isn’t this just a lovely development?” Brutal said from the front porch.
“Isn’t it though?” Steel asked.
“What the hell did you people do now?” Brutal asked.
“You people didn’t do shit. Valor did it,” Steel said.
“And yet you didn’t dissuade him, or force him to leave her behind,” Brutal said.
“Too many witnesses. Last thing we need is bad press. We’re just now beginning to be trusted. He already had her in the Suburban, so we just decided to bring her here and get her settled until we can figure out what the hell Valor’s disconnect is,” Nina said.
“Disconnect?” Valor yelled.
“Yeah, disconnect! What the hell else could be the reason you steal a human being off the street?” Nina asked. “Or what? You missed having rewards given to you?” she asked, stalking toward him.
“Because she’s mine!” Valor bellowed. “I told you; she’s mine!” Valor insisted.
“Do not fucking yell at my woman. I will kill you,” Lethal said, his voice low and deadly as he advanced on Valor and Nina. “And she’s right. This is fucking bullshit. If it wasn’t for us trying to save face for the entire fucking Variant race, I’d have knocked you the fuck out and left her and her child there. But no, you forced my hand, so here the fuck we are. And you know what? You get to tell Ferriday what the hell you’ve done and why.”
“And Roscoe,” Feral said.
“And Roscoe!” Lethal seconded.
“Ya’ll need to be quiet and stop yelling,” a very calm, very deep voice said softly from the open doorway.
All eyes turned to Two.
Two looked at them all with a disappointed look on his face. “You’re scaring the little girl. All you’re worried about is yelling at each other, and you’re all just making it worse. Yelling scares kids. And you still got a shirt on her mama’s head. How can this fix anything?” Two asked. He stepped out of the house and walked over to the little girl who was clinging to her mother’s leg and had a death grip on one of her hands. Then he knelt down.
“Hello,” Two said.
The little girl that had been talking when they first took her was now quiet while tears streaked down her face as all the grownups yelled at each other.
“What’s your name?” Two asked.
The little girl’s lip was puffed out and she hid most of her face behind her and her mother’s hands.
“My name is Two. You know why?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Because I’m too big. I’m too tall. I’m too loud, and I’m too nice. I’m just too everything,” he said, grinning at her.
She gave him half a smile.
“See this house right behind me?” he asked. “This is going to be where you stay while you’re visiting us. It has a back yard you can play in, and we’re going to get you some more toys to play with, too. We’ll get them delivered here tomorrow or the next day so you can have some new toys to play with. And we have a pool you can swim in, and look over there,” Two said, “we have ducks on our pond. We can feed the ducks and everything.”
“I want to go home,” Skylar whispered.
“I know. I wanted to go home for a long time, too. But for right now we’re gonna have to visit with each other here. But I promise you, if when we’re done visiting, you still want to go home. I’ll make it happen even if I have to beat somebody up. And I’ll do it, too, you know why?” he asked.
“Because you’re too big,” she said.
“Yep! Because I’m too big. I knew you were smart,” Two said. “You want to come inside and see where you’re going to be staying while you’re here?”
“Okay,” Skylar said. “Do you live here, too?” she asked.
“I live right there, next door. You can come knock on my door any time you want,” Two said.
“Okay,” Skylar said.
“Ma’am? If you’ll let me take you inside the house, I’ll get that shirt off your head, because I don’t care if you see me or not. I don’t have nothing to hide. And then we’ll get you situated. Nobody’s gonna hurt you here. I promise,” Two said.
“Thank you,” Becky said. Still holding Skylar’s hand in her right, she reached out blindly with her left until she felt Two take her hand. Slowly he began to walk backwards, guiding them toward the house.
“My name is Skylar,” the little girl said, looking up at Two as he led her and her mother into the house they’d be staying in.
“Well, that’s a pretty name. I like that name, Skylar,” Two said. He stepped up over the threshold and warned the woman he led to do the same. “Step up to get inside,” he said.
The woman stepped up and then Skylar did the same as he led them inside. Once he got them in the house, he let go of her hand for a moment. “Hold on, I have to slam the door,” he said. He stepped back over to the door. He glared out at his former team. “You should be ashamed of yourselves.” Then he slammed the door and left them all standing there looking at each other.
~~~
Once Two had the door slammed, he walked back over to where Skylar and her mother waited. “I’m sorry this has happened, ma’am. I wasn’t with them, so I don’t know what happened, but I do know that even though it doesn’t seem like it, you’re safe,” he said as he moved behind her and started lifting Valor’s shirt off her head.
As soon as the shirt was off her head, Becky blinked against the light hurting her eyes and reached out for Skylar. Skylar hugged Becky’s legs as she looked around the living room and into the kitchen that could be seen from the living room. Then she turned to face Two.
“Thank you,” Becky said as she looked at the very large, very nice man standing in front of her.
“You’re welcome,” Two said, smiling warmly at her. “I never liked it much when I was little and all the adults were yelling. I figured the best thing for me to do was to get you both in here so they could keep yelling at each other. You don’t need to hear all that mess. What’s done is done. All you want to know is why and when you can go home again. And I’m not gonna lie to you, that probably won’t be real soon, but if you do still want to go home after we find out why you’re here, I’ll make sure that you do.”
“I’m going to lose my job,” Becky said. “I can’t afford to lose my job.”
Two thought about it. “If you do, we’ll take care of that. We’ll help you get another job.”
“I want my job. I need to go back to my life,” Becky insisted.
“I know. But all I can do is promise you that I’ll make it okay if you lose your job, and if you don’t want to stay here.”
“I don’t,” Becky said.
“I know, but it’s gonna be a little while,” Two said. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’ll make it okay if you just try to be a little patient until we can figure it out. Valor doesn’t usually act like this. He’s the nicest one on my whole team.”
Becky nodded, realizing she had no hope to just turn around and go home. “I’ll try to be patient, but I can’t stay here. We don’t belong here. And you may think Valor — is that his name — is nice, but he just forced us into a vehicle against our will, and now we’re here. Also against our will.”
“I know,” Two said. “It makes me mad. That’s why I’m going to help you soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Two. Can you at least tell me where we are?” Becky asked.
“You’re in a duplex. And like I said, I live next door. Unless I’m at work, I’ll be close if you need anything, and even then I’ll be close. I never leave Alliance.”
“Alliance?” Becky asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Two said.
“I’m Becky, please call me Becky,” she said, wanting to be nice to the only person that had made her feel slightly at ease since they’d been snatched. And he seemed concerned about the fact that the others were scaring Skylar by shouting at each other.
“Hello, Becky,” Two said with a smile.
She responded with her own smile, though strained. “Where is Alliance?” she asked.
