Relentless (Option Zero #2) - Christy Reece Page 0,94

knew Matthew and Elizabeth wouldn’t let go until they were sure everything had been done that could be done. It was an elaborate scheme, but I had no choice in the matter. If I had told anyone what really happened, it would have put my family in even more danger.”

“So they were going to sell both of us into human trafficking? Becca and me?”

“No. I believe it was a scare tactic—to get me to comply. But when they realized Becca wasn’t with you, they were going to cut you loose and let those men…” He swallowed hard, and then continued, “I convinced them I would recruit Becca if they returned you. They agreed. I paid a ransom, but they were still angry.”

“That’s why that…that man said they were to send me home with a message,” Aubrey whispered. “Those stab wounds were a message to you.”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. I’m so sorry.”

Aubrey shook her head. Liam could only imagine the pain and betrayal she was feeling. In the span of a few hours, her entire world had fallen apart. Again.

“I thought you were such a hero,” she whispered. “For paying my ransom. Handling things with the authorities. But you were a traitor…to me, to my parents. To Becca.”

“I tried to make it right. Once I paid the ransom and you came home, I hoped it was over. I hoped they would reconsider.” He closed his eyes and a lone tear rolled down his pale, lined face. “But of course they wouldn’t. They still wanted my compliance—still wanted Becca. I refused again. So they—”

“They what?”

“They punished me.”

“How?” Liam asked.

“They took my wife away instead.”

“Aunt Jenny?” Aubrey whispered.

“Yes.”

“What…what did they do?”

“Gave her some kind of drug that caused a massive stroke. I didn’t know about it until the police came to my office and told me. By the time I got to the hospital, the damage was done.”

Aubrey sprang to her feet. “Excuse me.” Covering her mouth, she ran toward the bathroom.

Liam gave Green a hard look. “Stay put.” Striding to the bathroom, he held Aubrey’s hair and rubbed her back as she vomited and gagged.

When she stopped and leaned against him, he asked, “Better?”

“No, not really.” She glanced up at him through the hair that had fallen in her face. “Is this really happening?”

He brushed the hair from her face. “I’m afraid so, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”

“What do we do now? They’re not going to stop.”

“We’re going to find out who these bastards are and stop them.”

She nodded wearily. “Better go check on Syd. I need a few minutes alone.”

He dropped a kiss on top of her head. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

Liam returned to the room, relieved to see Green still there. Going after him and hauling him back inside would’ve been a pain. The man didn’t look as though he had the energy or the will to do anything more. He was sitting in a chair, sipping from a cup as if he barely had enough life in him to lift it to his mouth.

“One of the nurses brought tea. It might help Aubrey to drink some, too.”

The only thing that would to help Aubrey was if her uncle weren’t such a lowlife. Because he’d made a deal with the devil, his entire family had been destroyed.

Something hammered at his brain and he wanted to address it before Aubrey returned. “Who were they?”

“I’ve already told you. I don’t know. Why won’t—”

“I’m not talking about this organization or entity or whatever you call it. I’m talking about the men who abducted Aubrey. The men who beat and terrorized her. I want the name of the bastard who raped her, stabbed her. He’s British. You know who he is.”

Green blew out an explosive sigh. “He’s dead. They’re all dead.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I made sure of it. Think what you want about me Stryker, but I never intended anything like that to happen to Aubrey. When I found out what they’d done to her, I arranged for the monsters to be dealt with.”

“How did you find them?”

“I traced the money. They never left Syria. They were dead within days of Aubrey’s return.”

Liam tried to be glad about that, to be at peace that the promise he’d made to himself—finding and punishing Aubrey’s attackers—had been done already. Didn’t diminish the fury. He had wanted to be the one to make them pay. But he did console himself with one thing. They hadn’t been alive these last twelve years. That would have