Lost Too Much

LOST TOO MUCH Chapter 25

Days blurred into each other and soon a few weeks had passed by. Callen looked on in despair as he watched Bronte become skin and bone, hardly eating and the bags under her eyes deepened. He'd had enough of what the Formosa case was doing to her, whether she knew the truth or not. He'd had enough watching her destroy herself from the inside. He called around to see Mick who was still on leave after a year of back to back operations, to spend the time with his family.

"I'm worried about Bronte, Mick. She's not sleeping, hardly eating and she looks like death warmed up."

Mick sighed and shook his head. "It's my fault, Callen. I should have been honest with her from the beginning. But I couldn't. If you had seen the state I found her in after I rescued her from Adán fifteen years ago, you would see why I chose to keep it from her. But I never thought that the Columbian would go in search for her and his son. After Joshua died, she was a mess and when she transferred to New York, I thought she'd be safe there. Far away from where she'd been kidnapped and drugged."

He couldn't go on to talk about what else she had gone through. The memories of that day remained ingrained into his mind like it happened yesterday. "I never envisioned that he would find her in New York and kill Greg and Carrie. I was in shock and yet I still found myself lying to her. Agreeing with everyone else that he'd been burned from his undercover op within the cartel. That's why it was so important for me to go undercover to stop them from bringing the drugs into our country. I needed to do something. I felt so helpless."

Callen placed his hand on Mick's shoulder for comfort. "I know. I would have done the same thing in your position. But keeping it from her is not helping her anymore. We need to do something to help her."

"I'll talk to Gibbs. He might know what to do."

That night, Bronte screamed out in her sleep. It was another restless one, but this one was a nightmare. She was in a dark alley with her gun at the ready and she had been separated from her partner, Mick. She felt a hand over her mouth and a needle pierce the skin in her neck. Everything went blank until she found herself tied up in a dark room. The air was musky and thick and her hands were tied up to a post. She tried to free her hands but it was no good. She was on something soft, but it smelt horrid. She felt nauseas as she realised that she was held prisoner.

She thrashed in the bed from fear. Her nightmare felt so very real to her and sweat beaded along her brow and her body. Callen tried to soothe her out of the nightmare without any luck.

She heard footsteps come closer and for the first time since waking up, she realised that she wasn't alone in the room. The man's face looked evil, his dark brown eyes stared into her own eyes and fear for her life made her scream. He laughed at her fear and placed his hand over her mouth to muffle it. He sat down on the bed beside her and gently guided his hand up the inside of her leg. She moved in protest as he grabbed her crotch hard. Pain surged through her body as she tried to scream out for help. He went gentle again, causing confusion from her.

Callen watched on in frustration as Bronte screamed a horrid shrill out of her mouth and fought him off her. Her breathing became rapid and her body dripped with sweat as she continued to be trapped in her dream. He dialled his cell and asked for Mick to come over immediately. Mick had more experience with dealing with Bronte, this was a whole new situation he'd found himself in with her. He couldn't ring Hetty, she was still on strict rest from stress, orders from the doctor.

Bronte's stomach churned as she felt helpless from what this man was doing to her. Touching her in places no man should unless she permitted it. The man smiled and sucked hard on her nipple, causing sensations that she shouldn't have been feeling. This was wrong. So very wrong. He had control over her body where she did not and it scared her even more than being held captive by him. She sat up panting, her breathing remained quick as the adrenalin continued to surge through her body after she had escaped the nightmare. She looked like a wild cat as she stared at a worried Callen.