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Lucas shoved his gun into a holster in the middle of his lower back and reached into his pocket for a small black packet. “Go watch the door.”
“What?”
“I’ve got to pick this lock, and it will go better if I know you’re not watching over my shoulder.”
“Seriously?” Jude asked, unable to hide the amusement in his voice.
Lucas glared at him as he dropped to his knees to give him a better view of the lock. “If you can believe it, this isn’t a skill I get to practice all that often. I might be a little rusty. Now go watch over there.”
With a smirk, Jude walked back toward the glass door and stared out at the empty hallway while listening to the soft sounds of metal on metal as Lucas worked on the lockpick in the deadbolt. He couldn’t help but wonder: if Lucas Vallois knew how to fight, use a gun, and pick a lock, what unique skills did Snow have that he had yet to discover? God, he needed to find Snow so they could work on uncovering all those hidden skills that Jude had yet to experience.
Lucas grumbled under his breath as he continued to struggle with the lock. “Do I need to send Wednesday up to help you?” Noah teased.
“I can fucking do it,” Lucas snarled.
Jude had heard about Dominic’s rather shady childhood and was glad the man had managed to not only find a new life in Cincinnati at Ward Security, but also find love.
“There,” Lucas said with a sigh. Jude turned to see Lucas pushing back to his feet while shoving the picks into his pocket. With his gun in his hand again and Jude at his side, Lucas slowly pushed open the door. The smell of bleach and air freshener was stronger, but there was an underlying scent that couldn’t be masked. The smell of urine, old blood, and sex. There was no question…they were in the right place.
The hallway seemed narrower than the one in the law firm and the walls were no longer drywall but painted cinderblocks. There were just three metal doors. One on the left, one on the right, and one facing them at the end of the hallway.
Jude held his breath as Lucas turned the knob for the door on the left and it easily opened. The room was empty of furniture except in the center of the room was looked to be a spanking bench. A number of leather whips, floggers, and paddles hanging from hooks lining the wall. Facing the bench were a pair of tripods as if the room was prepared for filming.
Normally, there was nothing about the setup that would put Jude ill at ease. He’d played safely in this scene in the past and there was nothing wrong it with when it was done with care and consent. But the streaks of blood on the plain white walls whispered of something much darker happening in that room in the past.
Jude backed up and stepped across the hall, opening the door before Lucas was at his side. The second room was completely empty of both furniture and sexual instruments, but there was a stain on the floor that couldn’t quite be cleaned away with bleach. The smell of blood was stronger in the room.
“We’ve got to find him,” Jude choked out, backpedaling into Lucas. He didn’t want to think about Snow or his brother in a place like this. Neither man deserved to be somewhere so evil. This place wasn’t about pleasure and enjoyment. This was about torture and hurting another person.
He needed to get Snow out of there. To hold him and know that he was safe. He needed to get back to the hospital and hold his brother’s hand, just to reassure himself that Jordan was safe and alive. That he was going to recover and be safe again.
“One room,” Lucas said, leading the way out of the second room and down to the end of the hall. Lucas reached out for the doorknob, and Jude noticed that his hand shook slightly before his fingers wrapped around the silver handle. He turned it, but the door didn’t budge. Another deadbolt. “Fuck. Locked,” Lucas muttered.
“You’ve got this.” Jude backed up a couple of steps to give him some room to work.
“We’ve got company,” Royce suddenly announced.
“How many?” Rowe demanded.
“One SUV, and it’s approaching fast.”
“Lurch? What do you have?”
“He’s working on the last door on four. I think we may have him,” Jude answered quickly so Lucas didn’t have to take his attention away from the deadbolt. “This office is just a façade. It’s…it’s a fucking sex torture chamber of horrors.”
“Three is almost cleared,” Noah chimed in.
“Let the SUV come,” Rowe growled. “If the team on four confirms they have Thing, then let it park. After the occupants enter the building, take out the tires and be ready to take out any runners. Gomez and I will head back to the first floor to stop them there.”
