Xan nodded. “You want me to go with you?”
Hudson’s voice joined the conversation. “Go where?”
Connor turned to find her approaching, and he was momentarily distracted by the thin white tank top that outlined the hard buds of her nipples even through her bra. Her hair was braided down her back, but a few strands framed her face, catching in the sunlight as she walked toward them. Christ. She was so beautiful that sometimes it hurt to look at her. And it was getting a lot harder to keep his emotions under control now that she slept in his arms every night.
“Lennox captured an Enforcer,” Xander told her.
Hudson’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“He’s got him stashed at a warehouse about an hour from here,” Connor said briskly. “I’m heading there now to have a chat with him.”
Her surprise dissolved into wariness. “To question him about Dominik? And Knox?”
Connor nodded.
She let out a breath, then nodded back. “I’m coming with you.”
He could’ve said no, but he knew she’d only argue with him. Besides, he didn’t want to say no. He never would’ve dreamed of placing Maggie in a potentially dangerous situation, but it was different with Hudson. He’d seen her handle a knife, and when he’d teased her about how she had all those guns stashed in her bag but probably didn’t know how to use them, she’d proved him wrong with an impressive shooting display that even Pike had broken out in applause for.
“You can ride with me,” he said. “But go find Rylan, will you? I want him to come too.”
She looked oddly shaken up as she hurried off, but Xander spoke before Connor could ask him if he’d thought Hudson looked a bit pale. “Do you want me to radio Pike?”
“Where’s he at?”
“He took Hope to the woods. I think they’re doing some more training.”
Connor shook his head in amazement. Pike was still the same surly bastard he’d always been, but when it came to that wolf… Christ, he was a different person. An endless well of patience, and more affectionate than Connor had ever seen him.
“Yeah, radio him,” he answered. “But not to come along. I want him to stick close to camp while we’re gone. Kade too.”
As Xander disappeared into the lodge, Connor headed to the garage to fill up the gas tanks for the trip, hoping to hell that it wouldn’t be a waste of fuel. All the Enforcers he’d questioned at storage facilities had refused to reveal the location of their compound before he’d killed them. But depending on what had made him flee, this deserter might be the exception to that rule.
Twenty minutes later, they drove away from camp, Connor and Hudson on the Harley while Rylan rode the beat-up Ducati he’d finally gotten around to fixing. Their tires ate up the long stretch of road, following the river toward the industrial area that had lain abandoned for decades. Textiles warehouses and run-down mills came into view, the chain-link fences that had once served as security now sagging in some places and fully collapsed in others.
Connor slowed down when they reached the old lumber mill, where rusted machinery and rotting logs were scattered around, forgotten in the chaos that had destroyed the world. Colorado was one of the few states that had been almost untouched by the war, which was why so many outlaws had ended up there. Too many for Connor’s liking, because the growing outlaw population in the area was like a magnet for the Enforcers.
He and Hudson slid off the bike. Rylan came up beside them, drawing his gun from his waistband and checking the clip. There was another motorcycle parked on the dirt – Lennox’s ride, and the shiny black paint job was clearly the work of Beckett, who practically lived in the mechanic shop in Foxworth.
Lennox strode out of the building, a rifle propped on his shoulder. “You got here fast,” he remarked.
“Had nothing else to do,” Connor drawled.
Lennox saw through the relaxed front. “I’m sure.” He raked a hand through his messy hair, the tattoos on his forearms flexing with the movement. “Dude’s not saying a word, by the way. I didn’t rough him up for answers, because, well, honestly, I don’t give a fuck. It makes no difference to me where their headquarters are.”
Connor headed for the door. “Yeah, well, it makes a difference to me.”
He felt Rylan on his tail, but Hudson had stayed put, and he glanced over his shoulder with a frown. “You coming?”
“I think I’ll stay out here.”
Connor suddenly understood why her face looked ashen. She’d escaped the city because of men like the one beyond that door. Of course she wouldn’t want to be around any Enforcers, not when one of the most dangerous Enforcers was determined to make her his bride.
The thought made Connor’s blood boil. No fucking way was he letting Knox get his hands on Hudson.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep your girl company,” Lennox said, mistaking Connor’s anger for concern.
Then Lennox suggestively wiggled his eyebrows at Hudson, and Connor promptly leveled a glare in his direction. Also known as touch her and say good-bye to your balls.
“Message received,” Lennox said with a grin.
The smell of sawdust and wood rot hit Connor’s nostrils the second he entered the building. Exposed beams and piping made up the main room, and for all his bullshitting about how he didn’t care, Lennox had taken the time to tie his hostage to one of the wooden beams.
Brown eyes widened in fear when the young man spotted the newcomers. His features strained as he fought the knots binding his hands to the beam behind his back.
“Relax, kid. We’re not going to hurt you,” Connor said. “We’re just here to talk.”
He stuck his gun in his waistband and stepped closer. The deserter still wore part of his Enforcer uniform – black tactical pants with red stripes down the sides and a lightweight zip-up jacket. But he’d stripped the Enforcer logo off his breast pocket, leaving a gaping hole in its place. As if any outlaw would be stupid enough to see him and not immediately know him for what he was, with or without the logo.
“Then you’re wasting your time.” The deserter spoke with a surprising amount of bravado for someone in his position. He also couldn’t have been older than nineteen, which only made his arrogant tone seem even more out of place. “I already told your friend I’m not saying a word.”
With a faint smile, Rylan cocked his weapon. “You sure about that?”
“Yes. Whatever you do to me is nothing compared to what they’ll do if I talk.” Then he pressed his lips together and tipped his head as if to say do your worst. Only the trembling of his body revealed how terrified he actually was.
Connor stifled a sigh. Shit. He wasn’t in the mood to torture anyone, especially a kid who probably hadn’t even screwed his first woman yet.
But damn it, he needed that location.
And he was willing to go to any lengths to get it.
Hudson’s stomach was in knots as she waited outside the mill. She’d been pacing for the past fifteen minutes, straining to hear what was going on inside, but if the men were talking, their voices were too soft to make out. She didn’t dare get too close to the door, which was gaping open. She couldn’t risk the Enforcer recognizing her.
Lennox had given up on making conversation with her. He was now lying on the dirt with his head propped in his hands and tilted up at the clear blue sky, his eyes closed as he basked in its rays.
She grew more and more nauseous with each passing minute. Worst-case scenarios flashed in her mind, and she could practically see the deserter regaling Connor and Rylan with the story of how Dominik’s twin sister had escaped the compound, how everyone was looking for her. Connor would casually ask, “What’s her name?” and the kid would say, “Hudson.”
And then the only person staring down the barrel of Connor’s gun, begging him not to pull the trigger, would be her.
When she heard the men’s footsteps, her heart lurched and her breathing quickened, but there was no gun in Connor’s hand when he walked
out the door. It was poking out of his waistband instead. And rather than the fury and betrayal she’d expected to find in his eyes, all she saw was sheer disgust.
“He’s not talking,” he announced.
Lennox’s eyes snapped open. “Told ya. He’s a stubborn little bastard, huh?” He hopped to his feet and approached the group. “I didn’t hear any screams.”
“Didn’t have the heart to wail on him,” Connor admitted. “He’s just a kid.”
“How old is he? If he’s that young, he might be a trainee.” Hudson was surprised by how calm her voice sounded when her windpipe was clogged with terror.
Rylan shrugged. “I’d put him at eighteen or nineteen.”
“Can I go in to see him? He might talk to me.” Her stomach churned. “Actually, there’s a chance I might even know him. I didn’t have much contact with the recruits, but I did meet a few of them when I was working at the hospital.”
Lennox sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re from the city?” His head swiveled to Connor. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because it’s not important.” Connor shrugged. “She’s one of us now.”
Her heart soared when he said that, but it didn’t stay airborne for long. It plummeted even faster than it had flown, twisting in the pit of her stomach. She had to tell Connor the truth. She had to. But not here, and especially not in front of Rylan and Lennox.
It would have to wait until they got back to camp, but no longer than that, because he considered her one of them, damn it. If she didn’t come clean soon, the guilt was liable to eat her alive.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot,” Connor said in reply to her offer. “C’mon.”
He took a step to the door, but she stopped him by touching his arm. “Let me talk to him alone,” she said quietly.
“What for?”
“He obviously doesn’t trust you guys,” she pointed out. “If you come in with me, he’ll probably clam up again, but if I go in there alone…” It was her turn to shrug. “He might respond better to a woman. See me as less of a threat.”
Connor thought it over. “Yeah, you could be right about that.” He quickly affected a stern tone. “Don’t get too close to him, and keep your gun on him at all times. He’s tied up, but those fuckers are well trained. You never know what they’ll do.”
Nodding, she withdrew the pistol she’d tucked into her boot, then released the safety and headed for the building. She felt Connor’s eyes boring into her back with every step she took. Not suspiciously, but protectively, as if he was worried that the deserter might find a way to hurt her. She was worried too. Who knew what the kid would do if he recognized her? He might shout out her name loud enough for everyone in a five-mile radius to —
She didn’t know him.
Relief flooded her body as she encountered a total stranger. Light brown hair, wiry body, and completely unfamiliar features.
But the relief drained away when the kid’s eyes widened at the sight of her.
Shit. They might not have met before, but like Tamara, he’d clearly picked up on her resemblance to Dominik.
“Holy shit,” he blurted out.
Hudson instantly raised her finger to her lips. “Keep your voice down.”
He looked alarmed, gazing past her toward the open door, then shaking his head as if he couldn’t fathom what was happening. “You’re…”
“Shut. Up,” she hissed.
“But…”
Hudson moved closer, but heeded Connor’s order to keep her distance. Leaving three feet of space between them, she squatted on the dusty ground and rested her pistol on her thigh. “They’ll kill us both if they hear us.”
“Why…? How are you here?” His voice lowered to a whisper. “You’re Dominik’s sister, aren’t you? You look just like him.” Panic flickered in his eyes. “They’re all looking for you!”
The nausea returned in full-force. She should’ve known better than to hope her escape was no longer a priority for Dom. “They’re still sending out search parties?”
The kid nodded fervently. “One a day. Knox —” His mouth slammed shut.
“Knox what?” she demanded.
“He’s on the warpath. He demanded round-the-clock searches, but Dominik turned down the request, and the two of them had it out in the courtyard a couple weeks ago.”
Her mouth puckered in a frown. She wasn’t surprised to hear that Dom and Knox had argued – the two of them had been at odds for as long as she could remember. That’s why she’d been so shocked when Dominik had informed her she had to marry Knox.
What surprised her now was hearing that Dominik was limiting the search for her. She had assumed he’d be desperate to find her and bring her home.
“It was bad,” the kid admitted, still talking about the fight. “Really bad. Knox got Dominik on the ground and snapped his wrist, but Dom somehow fought through it and broke Knox’s nose. They would have killed each other if Cruz and Dalton hadn’t stepped in to break up the fight.”
Shit. An argument was one thing, but a full-on fistfight? With broken bones? It was rare for Dominik to get violent with his own men, even ones he didn’t like.
“I don’t know… Maybe it’s the drugs, or maybe they’re all fucking crazy. Either way, I had to get out. I —”
“Wait. Back up,” she ordered. “What drugs? What are you talking about?”
“You know, the pills.” He shrugged. “Well, now it’s injections. The commander says they get results faster.”
Hudson had no clue what he was talking about. The only pills she’d ever seen her brother take were the vitamin boosters that every man in the compound swallowed on a daily basis.
Her throat grew impossibly dry. “What do the pills do?”
“I’m not really sure. The commander says they keep you alert, you know, help you focus, and something about blood clots and healing faster… I honestly don’t know half the stuff he was saying. But it’s all bullshit. The only thing the drugs did was give me headaches. And the other guys in my training class… they…” His hard expression collapsed. “The pills messed them up too, made them violent and angry and turned them into strangers.”
She felt sick. What the hell were the Enforcers taking? Some kind of aggression drugs? Steroids, maybe?
Hudson’s mind raced as she tracked Dominik’s behavior as far back as she could. He’d been taking the boosters since his Enforcer training, so… since he was seventeen. Hudson’s father had worked closely with a chemist at the city lab and a nutritionist to create the cocktail, and Dom had still been normal at that age, so the drugs couldn’t have had a negative effect on him, not back then. She knew Dom was still taking the cocktail, though. And their father had died two years ago, which was when her brother had started to change.
“Did Dominik ever say anything to you about the drugs?” she asked.
The kid shook his head. “I barely spoke to the guy. Cruz was my training instructor, so he was the only authority figure I ever had contact with.”
Her mind spun faster as she tried to put the pieces together. Dom’s behavior had changed once Commander Ferris had taken over for their father. Hudson had always hated Ferris. The man was a cold bastard. Rude, short-tempered, and self-entitled, and he lacked the diplomacy that Hudson’s father had possessed, that enigmatic combination of ruthlessness and compassion that had made Arthur Lane such a strong leader.
She wouldn’t put it past Ferris to give his men drugs. But she knew her brother. He would never willingly take anything that screwed with his head.
Had Ferris altered the vitamins without Dom’s knowledge?
Her pulse sped up at the thought. God, if that was true, then…
Dominik was as much of a victim of the GC as the outlaws he’d been hunting.
“Cruz is fucked in the head too. They’re all fucked in the head. They’re killing them! They make you kill them.”
She tensed. “Kill who?”
“
Outlaw prisoners,” he mumbled. “It’s the final test you need to pass if you’re accepted into the program. They bring out an outlaw and make you kill them. Cruz says it’s supposed to prepare us for taking a life in the field, but it’s sick! It’s fucking sick, and I had to get out – don’t you get it?”
Hudson inhaled slowly. “What’s your name?”
He faltered. “Max.”
“Okay. I want you to listen carefully to me, Max.” She let out the breath. “I’m going to tell my friends to let you go.”
Gratitude flooded his eyes. “Thank —”
“On two conditions,” she cut in.