Protecting Summer Page 14

  “Mozart, you have to keep your cool with Hurst. If he’s alive when the dust settles, you can’t go all vigilante on us. You hear me?”

  Mozart jolted and his eyes careened with his buddy’s. “Jesus, Wolf,” he whispered dumbfounded, “I hadn’t even thought about Hurst. All I can think about is Summer.”

  “Good,” Wolf returned immediately. “I wasn’t sure. You trust us right?”

  “Yes, with my fucking life and with Summer’s,” Mozart said without hesitation.

  “We’ll take care of Hurst. He won’t hurt anyone else after today. You have my word on that.”

  Mozart looked around. Every man was looking at him with determination and intent in their eyes. He relaxed. For the first time in his life something, no someone, was more important than his vendetta against Ben Hurst. He threw a silent prayer up to Avery, asking for her forgiveness in putting Summer first.

  As if able to read his mind, Abe said, “Avery would want you to move on. No matter what, she’d want you to move on.”

  Mozart nodded. His heart finally slowed and he got a handle on the adrenaline coursing through his body. Abe was right. Avery would’ve been pissed at him for putting his life on hold. She’d tell him that Hurst wasn’t worth all the effort he’d put into him over the years. She would’ve loved Summer.

  “Let’s do this.”

  The men nodded and everyone but Wolf and Mozart faded away silently into the woods to get into position.

  Needing to say one last thing before everything went down, Mozart turned to Wolf.

  “Make him pay.”

  “I got this, Sam,” Wolf said, using Mozart’s real name for the first time in a long time. “You take care of your woman, we’ll take care of Hurst.”

  Mozart looked his friend in the eye for a beat, then nodded. No more words were needed.

  Both men turned toward the cabin and waited. The shit was about to hit the fan.

  * * *

  Summer’s eyes were open, but she wasn’t seeing anything. She’d turned her brain off to protect herself. Ben Hurst was evil. He’d been torturing the woman, whose name she finally learned was Elizabeth, for hours. Every time Summer had closed her eyes, Ben had hit her in order to force her to open her eyes again. When she wouldn’t stop closing her eyes, Ben had taken two pieces of duct tape and taped Summer’s eyelids open. She physically couldn’t close her eyes anymore. Summer wouldn’t give up though. Ben might have physically made it so her eyes had to remain open, but he couldn’t force her to see what he was doing.

  Ben had no idea that even though Summer’s eyes were open, she was seeing Mozart. Instead of seeing the long knife wound Ben had carved into Elizabeth’s side, she saw the looks on the faces of the bitches maligning Mozart the first time she’d met him. Summer remembered how she’d run her hands up and down his chest, reveling in the feel of Mozart’s cut body and seeing the look of jealousy in the other women’s faces at her words.

  Instead of seeing Ben’s hands cruelly squeezing Elizabeth’s breasts until finger sized bruises formed, Summer saw the look on Mozart’s face as he palmed her own breasts and erotically pinched her nipple. The look of pure rapture and lust on Mozart’s face would be engrained in her brain forever. Summer never thought she could make a man feel or look like that. The fact she’d done it without even being undressed, was even more of a miracle.

  Instead of hearing Ben’s threats of her upcoming torture, she heard Mozart calling her “Sunshine.” She laughed inside at his exasperated mutterings of, “you’re a pain in my ass,” and thought about how she couldn’t wait to find other ways to make him laugh and smile at her.

  Instead of hearing Ben rant about how her mutilated dead body would never be found after he buried her deep in the woods, Summer remembered how safe she’d felt in Mozart’s arms and how he’d purposely taken the side of the bed next to the door, just so he could protect her.

  And instead of feeling the slaps and hits from Ben as he tried to terrify her with his threats, Summer remembered the feel of Mozart’s arms around her as he walked next to her, stood next to her, and slept next to her.

  Suddenly the room erupted into chaos. Because her eyes were taped open, she couldn’t protect herself from the blinding flash of light that suddenly filled the room. The quiet of the day, the slaps, moans, and crying she’d gotten too used to hearing, were drowned out by the loudest noise she’d ever heard. Summer wished she could bring her hands up to her ears to cover them, to protect them, but they were still securely cuffed behind her back.

  She was completely blinded by the flash of light that accompanied the loud bang and she felt physically nauseous from the loud noise. Summer shook her head, trying to get some of her senses back. She had no idea what was going on, but she wanted to stay in the place in her head where she’d felt safe in Mozart’s arms.

  Summer felt hands on her face, but still couldn’t see who it was or what was going on. She tried to jerk out of way, but was held fast to the chair by the cuffs. She whimpered.

  Finally a few words made their way through the ringing in her ears.

  “…hold on…safe…fuck…help…”

  Summer desperately tried to regain her faculties. She had to know what the hell was going on. Slowly she began to see shapes instead of the inky gray she’d been seeing since whatever had blown up had…well...blown up.

  Her eyes hurt, were dry beyond belief, and Summer knew she’d been hoping Mozart would find her, but seeing his face in front of hers was a miracle she wasn’t sure she could believe yet. She hoped she wasn’t hallucinating. Summer jerked again, forgetting for a moment that her hands were still bound. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, but she couldn’t.

  “Thank fuck,” Summer heard Mozart say. She watched as his face slowly came into more and more focus.

  “Stay with me, Sunshine. I know you’re in pain. I know the flashbang fucked with your senses, just give it a minute and it’ll be safe for me to help you.”

  Summer didn’t really understand anything Mozart was saying, she was too glad he was there. He’d keep her safe. He wouldn’t let Ben hurt her. Suddenly she remembered Elizabeth. “Mpsbth.”

  Mozart answered as if she’d spoken perfectly understandable English, “Cookie has her. She’s okay.”

  Summer didn’t look away from Mozart’s eyes. She could vaguely hear a commotion going on behind him, but at the moment she didn’t care. All she cared about was that Mozart was there with her. He was actually there. He wouldn’t let Ben touch her again. Summer breathed heavily through her nose.

  “All clear!”

  At the words, Mozart moved quickly. He bought a knife up from somewhere and Summer felt the gag that had been tied around her face loosen. She whimpered and tried to spit out the bunched up cloth from her mouth. Her mouth was way too dry to be able to rid herself of the nasty piece of fabric.

  Mozart put the knife on the ground, and gently took Summer’s chin in his. “Hold still, Sunshine. Let me help.”

  He reached between her dry cracked lips and grasped the edge of the material that was in her mouth. Mozart didn’t even bother to look at it as he flung it away once it cleared her lips. Mozart tried not to let the way she gasped for breath get to him. He couldn’t. There were too many other things he had to do to help her first.

  “I have to get the tape off your eyes, Sunshine,” he whispered. “It’s going to hurt. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’ll hurt for just a moment, then it will feel so good to be able to close your eyes. Okay? Do you understand?”

  At her small nod, Mozart reached for the tape above her right eye. He had no idea if Hurst had known what he was doing, but he’d managed to get the tape on so that it was sticking to her eyelashes, eyebrows, and even some of her hair. Mozart hadn’t lied. It was going to hurt coming off, but it couldn’t wait for the hospital. Her eyes were bloodshot and dilated. She was in shock, and it had to be done.

  Mozart wasn’t sure if it would be better to rip it off, like a Band-Aid, but he decided to go slow and steady. When Summer didn’t even moan as the tape ripped out the hair of her eyebrows and lashes, he knew her shock was worse than he’d thought. Seeing the little hairs on the tape as it came off, physically hurt him. Summer hadn’t so much as whimpered throughout the ordeal though. As soon as the last piece of tape was off, Mozart watched as her eyes closed and she sighed.

  Mozart stood up while saying, “Okay, Sunshine, you’re doing great. I’m going to get these cuffs off then we’re out of here.”

  “Don’t touch me.”

  Mozart took a step back as if Summer had physically hit him. He’d wanted to hear her speak to him, to reassure him that she was okay, but hadn’t expected her first words to be for him to get away from her. “What?” The word came out before Mozart could pull it back.

  “Don’t touch me,” Summer repeated.

  Ignoring what was happening behind him, Mozart couldn’t give a shit about Hurst at the moment. His focus was centered on Summer, and only Summer. Who the hell knew what Hurst had done to her while they were trying to find her. He’d only gotten a glimpse of the young woman who’d been strapped to the floor, but if Summer had been through anything like what it looked like the young woman had been though, it was no wonder she didn’t want to be touched.

  “Sunshine, I have to touch you to get the cuffs off.”

  Mozart watched as her eyes opened to slits. Her words tore through him.

  “I’m not clean. He jacked off on me. He wiped her blood on me. He spit on me. He smeared his fucking cum on my face and hair. I don’t want him anywhere on you.”

  Mozart’s stomach turned. Fuck. He brought his hand to her face and put it over her eyes lightly. “Sunshine, keep your eyes closed, I know they hurt. I don’t give a fuck what he did to you. I’m here now, I’ll take care of you. Let me take care of you.”

  “I…Okay.” Summer’s voice was so soft, Mozart could barely hear it, but he had heard it. He brushed the knuckles of one hand down her cheek briefly before standing up again. He pulled a set of handcuff keys out of his pocket. Handcuffs keys were generally pretty standard and they were a part of the team’s general supplies they carried with them at all times. They’d come in very handy in the past when they’d gotten into some sticky situations as well as when they’d gone in for a hostage rescue.

  Mozart made quick work of unlocking the cuffs and winced at the condition of Summer’s wrists. They were covered in blood and he could see deep gouges in her wrists from fighting against the cuffs’ hold. Mozart dropped the metal handcuffs on the ground and took hold of Summer’s hands with his. He walked around her careful not to jar her and kneeled in front of her again.

  “I’m going to pick you up, Sunshine, and take you outside and away from here. I want you to hold on to me, don’t let go, and keep your eyes closed. It’s bright outside and I know the light will hurt your eyes.”

  He watched as Summer nodded, then she squeezed his hands.

  “Is Elizabeth going to be all right?”

  Mozart thought about lying to her, but decided she needed to hear the truth. “I don’t know. I’ve only been concerned about you.”

  He leaned over and picked Summer up and settled her into his arms. She immediately rested her head on his shoulder and wound her arms around his neck.

  “His name isn’t Joseph.”

  “I know.”

  “It’s Ben Hurst. He said he’s been torturing and killing women and kids for years.”

  “Shhhh, I know, Summer.”

  “He said…”

  “Sunshine,” Mozart said a bit more forcefully as he maneuvered them to the door of the small cabin. “I know.”

  Mozart looked back into the room for the first time. Cookie had cut Elizabeth free and was trying to tend to her injuries. Benny and Dude were holding a subdued Hurst. His pants were around his ankles and his face was bloody. Wolf was standing over Hurst holding his pistol in his hand. Wolf met Mozart’s eyes as he stopped at the door.

  Mozart knew what Wolf wanted to know, but he didn’t feel capable of making the decision. Once upon a time, he knew he would’ve wanted to be the one standing over Hurst, making him beg for his life, but he just didn’t care anymore.

  Even with holding an injured and traumatized Summer in his arms, he felt lighter. He felt as if he’d finally let go of all the angst and bitterness he’d held since he was fifteen over what Hurst had taken from him. In a weird way, Hurst had brought him and Summer together. If it hadn’t been for Hurst hiding out in Big Bear, he never would’ve met Summer.

  Mozart just wanted to get Summer out of the cabin and into some fresh air. He needed to get her to a hospital and he needed to make sure she was all right. Nothing else mattered. Not even Hurst.

  Mozart turned away from Wolf and left the cabin. He heard Hurst yelling at him as he left the cabin, but Mozart didn’t care. Whatever the man had to say, it didn’t matter anymore.

  Mozart saw that Abe was standing outside. He met his eyes and walked toward him.

  “We need to get her to a hospital.”

  “I’ve got the four wheeler ready. It looks like its got lots of gas in it. You can’t drive and hold Summer at the same time and three people won’t fit on it. We also need to get help for Elizabeth. I’ll head down to the car and get a hold of Tex. He’ll get a chopper up here.”

  Mozart wasn’t letting go of Summer. Not until he had to. “I’m not leaving her.”

  “Of course you aren’t. Don’t worry, Mozart. She’s made it this far, she’ll be fine. I’ll make sure Tex knows there’ll be three people the chopper’s picking up.”

  “Appreciate it.” He turned to walk further away from the cabin and to get into the shade of some trees.

  Abe turned to leave just as a single shot rang out from the cabin behind them. Abe stopped and turned around and looked at Mozart. Mozart hadn’t veered from his path to the shade and in fact hadn’t even turned around. Abe shook his head grimly, knowing what the shot meant. Hurst wouldn’t be hurting anyone else ever again.

  Finally, he shrugged, he had to get back to the cars and get a hold of Tex. Both women needed to get to a hospital immediately. They’d deal with Hurst and the aftermath of what had gone down later.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mozart sat next to Summer’s hospital bed with his feet propped up on the end of the mattress and watched her breathe. He watched as Summer’s chest slowly moved up and down and he counted her breaths. She was breathing about sixteen times a minute, which was still in the normal range, but was toward the top of it.

  She’d scared him to death, and Mozart wasn’t afraid to admit it. Tex had worked fast and they’d been taken to the Community Hospital of San Bernardino, the closest trauma center to Big Bear. Within a couple of hours, Ice, Alabama, and Fiona had arrived, along with the rest of the team.

  Mozart had stayed by Summer’s side and had refused to leave. He’d told the doctor that Summer was his fiancée, and every member of his team had backed him up. Summer hadn’t even contradicted him. He’d been allowed to stay while they’d examined her physically. Her clothes had been put into paper bags for the police as evidence, and a crime scene investigator had arrived to document her injuries with photographs.

  Mozart stayed in the room, even when the nurses had tried to chase him out before they gave her a sponge bath to clean her up. He turned his back, so as not to embarrass Summer, but he wouldn’t leave.

  Summer hadn’t said much during the exams, but Mozart noticed that she constantly checked to see where he was. Hardly a minute went by where she wasn’t searching for him. Mozart made sure to stay within her eyesight. If the doctor moved so he blocked Summer’s view of him, Mozart would step to the side, so she could still see him. Someone else might not have even noticed she was doing it, but he’d noticed and made sure she felt as comfortable as possible during the uncomfortable exam.

  While the doctors checked her eyes, Mozart had held Summer’s hand and didn’t complain a bit when her fingernails dug into his skin. It wasn’t until he saw the damage that had been done to her wrists that he’d broken down. Mozart hadn’t been able to stop the tears that fell silently from his eyes. He’d seen worse injuries in his lifetime, but it was what the deep gouges meant, that made him lose it.

  He knew Summer had fought. She’d fought against what Hurst had done to Elizabeth. She’d tried to escape. Mozart knew she’d continued to try to escape her bindings, even when it was obvious she couldn’t. Even as the blood coursed down her hands and dripped on the floor below, she continued to fight.

  Summer had seen his tears and leaned into him. She couldn’t touch him since the nurses were cleaning and stitching her wrists, but she still found a way to comfort him. She turned her head and nuzzled into his neck as he cried. She sighed as Mozart’s arms went around her tightly. Summer had simply whispered, “I’m okay, Mozart,” and continued to let him take her weight until the nurses were done. They’d given her a shot for pain and the last thing she’d said to him was, “please don’t leave.”

  So here he sat. She’d asked him not to leave and nothing was going to tear him away from her side. Not his commander, not the United States Navy, not the damn President of the United States. Mozart would sit there until hell froze over if he had to.

  Each one of the girls had tiptoed into the room to see how Summer was doing. They hadn’t known her very long, but she’d obviously made an impression on them. Summer had slept through all of their visits. The girls had promised to come back the next day when hopefully Summer would be awake.

  Caroline had to get back to Riverton, she was in the middle of a huge project at work and really couldn’t spare even one day away, but she’d insisted on coming up to visit anyway. It meant even more to Mozart because he knew first-hand how much Ice hated hospitals. Mozart had pulled her aside and asked for a favor. Of course, Caroline had agreed with no questions asked. Mozart smiled, remembering. Caroline probably would have been pissed if he hadn’t asked for her help.

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