Page 67 of Her Defiant Warrior

They went to the end of the hall to what had to be the master bedroom.

“Hurry it up. We don’t have all day,” Braxton said loudly enough so his voice could be carried to Ely and Amanda.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Jase said apologetically, making sure his voice could be heard as well.

Braxton slammed open the door. “Look at the mess you’ve made,” he yelled. “You’ve puked all over the floor.”

Jase felt a strong sense of déjà vu as he took in the throw up on the carpet. But instead of a little boy and girl looking up at him, there was Ryker, staring at him with one good eye. The other was swollen shut. There was blood matted in his hair, and vomit was caked to his chin.

Huddled in a corner was Gideon. His hands behind his back. Jase was surrounded by actors.

“I’m going to need to get him cleaned up before I take him back to the table.”

Braxton slammed the door shut.

As soon as the door was closed, everybody started moving. Gideon stood up.

“How’d you get out of your ties?” Jase asked.

“Brax conveniently hogtied me so my hands could reach the knife in my boot.” Gideon said as he shook his hands to get the circulation flowing.

Braxton was helping Ryker get up off the floor. “Nice job with the puke,” Braxton complimented their teammate.

“Yeah, well, it didn’t take that much effort. Can’t wait to do some hand-to-hand training with you when we get back to Little Creek.” Ryker walked toward the connecting bathroom. Jase followed him.

After Ryker was finished wiping off the blood and vomit from his face, and rinsing his mouth, he used a washcloth to wipe off the blood from Jase’s face too.

“We make a fine pair, don’t we?” Ryker gave him a half-hearted grin in the mirror.

“Ryker, get out here. I need to get this zip-tie on you, so I can take you out for questioning.”

“How fun,” came Ryker’s sarcastic answer. He looked over at Gideon as he followed Jase out of the bathroom.

“Anybody got an idea on how to play this?” Braxton asked.

“I’ve got an idea. Just follow my lead,” Ryker said.

“Now I know how my brothers always felt,” Jase mumbled.

“Gideon, you lead the way. Jase, you help me. Brax’ll follow the three of us with his gun.”

“Got it,” Jase said.

Gideon opened the door and started down the hall. Jase followed and Ryker leaned on him, making it seem like he was severely injured. Braxton followed the trio, holding his gun. There were two more men besides Ely, Spider, and the Snow Queen. They were so big; it looked like they could make up the entire defensive line for the Cavaliers. One was wearing a barely there black tank top, and the other had on a black headband. Jase knew they were trying for the Rambo look from the eighties, but since they were both sporting short hair, he couldn’t help thinking of the Olivia Newton John Let’s Get Physical music video.

Please don’t let me laugh.

“Spider. Braxton. Make our guests comfortable,” Ely said.

Before Spider had a chance to do anything, Braxton had the three of them slammed into the dining room chairs, facing Amanda and Ely.

“He’s the one with the knowledge. He’s an engineer.” Amanda said, pointing a red tipped nail at Gideon.

“So, why are the other two breathing?” Ely asked.

She pointed at Jase. “He’s the helper. Apparently, it’s a big job, and the engineer needs help.”

“And the one who’s beat to shit?” Ely asked.