by Julia Bright
“Hello.” His voice felt like gravel, and he cleared his throat, trying to wake up enough to understand the conversation. An ache set up in the back of his head and radiated forward. He hadn’t drunk too much the night before, no this was from having so much sex he wasn’t sure he’d be able to walk.
“Reginald, this is your father.”
He grunted as he sat up. “What do you need, sir?”
“Your brother has been taken hostage.”
A few things happened at once. Jackson’s head pounded and spun, making him dizzy. His stomach clenched, and his muscles jerked as he tried to stand but failed.
“What?”
“Your brother was in Barcelona and was picked up by someone in a black van.”
“Hold on, are you saying someone kidnapped him in Barcelona? Any ransom, any communication with the abductors?”
“No, nothing,” his dad said. “I thought you should know since you’re the reason he’s over there.”
The dig went straight to his gut, and he almost threw up, but he wouldn’t give his dad that satisfaction. He blinked a few times, adjusting his eyes. A light went on behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder, getting a quick glance at the awesome view of Marissa’s backside. There wasn’t time to even say goodbye. He needed to be on the road to the ranch. There had to be chatter, something. Kelsey and Adam could begin looking once he called them.
“You need to come home immediately,” his dad said.
Of course, that’s what his father would demand. There wasn’t anything he could do from home, but he couldn’t tell his dad the truth. His dad thought he was a lazy, good-for-nothing drifter who begged, borrowed, and stole. It wasn’t worth the pain to inform the man everything he’d accomplished in the last two months since moving to Canyon Ranch. His dad wouldn’t believe him anyway, so why bother.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Jackson lied.
“You’d better be here. Your mother needs you.”
With that, his father ended the call. He thought about calling his dad back, but he could find out more information from the ranch. He stood, and his path was immediately blocked by Marissa who’d pulled on her clothes, dressing in record speed.
Annoyance filled him. He was about to bark something rude about her getting out of his way when she held up a hand.
“Okay, so what’s his name.”
“What?”
“Your brother’s name. Tell me now.” Her words were crisp, like a command.
“Randall Archibald Jackson. He goes by Randy.”
“Where was he last seen?”
“He didn’t give me an address. Somewhere in Barcelona. I’ve got to go.”
“Hold on.”
His mouth was open to tell her to bug off when she pressed something on her phone and lifted it. Her next words shut him up.
“This is Special Agent Marissa Edwards. I need information on Randall Archibald Jackson. He goes by Randy. He was abducted in Barcelona today.”
Jackson blinked at her as his thoughts scattered. Of course, she wasn’t just some random woman at that bar. This woman had admitted she was in town with a group of friends, and that she lived in Europe. Who was she? FBI, CIA, another of the alphabet soup gang?
“Okay, so there’s been no demands, no leads. Do we have any partial plates from the van?”
She met his gaze and shook her head. He dropped to the mattress, his mind swimming with worry. Randy wasn’t as big as he was, and he wasn’t as strong. What could they want from him? No demands for money was bad. Usually, they kidnapped for money, which his dad had plenty.
“Please keep me informed. My flight is tonight. Yes, I’ll see you in a few days. I need to know what happens on this. When I land, I’ll head to Barcelona to head up the task-force. Yes, sir.” Marissa hung up and pocketed her phone. She reached out and smoothed her hand down his shoulder.
“There have been no demands, no leads. The van didn’t have plates and was probably stolen. It has been twelve hours since they took him. I have a flight out tonight. Once I hit the ground, I’ll go straight to our office at the embassy in Barcelona. I need your phone number and an email. I want to stay in contact with you.”
He gave her the information, still rattled that someone had taken his brother hostage or kidnapped him or whatever they were calling it. He’d rescued enough hostages to know what that meant. The torture had probably already started if Randy was still alive. That thought caused him to whimper.
“Hey, don’t start going down the what could have happened already path. We’ll get intel, find out who has him, and go find him.”
He shook his head. “He’s not like me. He’ll break.”
“We’ll get him back.”
She sounded so confident, and he wished he could believe her, but the thought of Randy being held hostage made him want to vomit. Her arms came around him, and he clung to her. She was an anchor in this terrible storm. Now, he wished she lived closer.
2
Marissa hadn’t intended to spend the night with this hulk of a man. She doubted even a week would be enough. When his phone had pulled her out of sleep, she’d been ready to complain. Then the words had jolted her. All too often she’d lived through nightmare after nightmare where American families received the news their loved ones had been taken or killed. A few of the abducted ones returned home, some tortured so badly they’d never be the same, others never made it back, even in a body bag.
International abductions were serious business for her team. She’d dealt with enough over the years to know no demand for ransom wasn’t a good thing. Kidnappers who wanted money asked fairly quickly because they didn’t want the person in their custody. They wanted cold, hard cash.
After getting Jackson’s information, she pulled him into a hug. He held on like she was his life preserver in the storm. If she could stay in the US, she’d want Jackson close, but her job was overseas. She was stationed in Madrid, but Barcelona wasn’t too far. There’d been unrest in Barcelona, but the Catalans were peaceful people, usually. They wouldn’t have abducted Jackson’s brother.
“I’ll be on the ground on Sunday afternoon. I’m flying into Madrid, but I’ll hop a flight to Barcelona. I know this is scary.”
He blew out a breath and pulled away. “He’s too young. He’s not mature.”
“How old is he?”
“Nineteen. My dad has him believing he’s invincible. He received a special appointment to the Naval Academy and will start next year. He won’t be able to hack it.”
“Why do you say that?”
He shook his head. “I sound jealous and petty, but it’s not that. I know my family, my brother. This abduction will ruin him.”
“I get that you know your brother and I understand sibling issues. Sometimes people surprise us. I have to get ready, I need to pack my stuff and say goodbye to my friends, my flight to New York is at noon. I’ll catch a direct into Madrid. If I hear anything, I’ll text or call. Go, be with your family.”
He nodded but wouldn’t meet her gaze. For some reason, she thought he was hiding something. She didn’t have time to investigate, and right now, she had no reason to investigate this man. Even though there was a bit of sibling infighting between the brothers, Jackson wasn’t acting like a guilty jerk hell bent on screwing over his brother. His worry seemed real, and he hadn’t been distracted by anything last night. Their lovemaking—wrong word, fucking didn’t seem right though—had been intense and all-consuming. If he’d been the mastermind behind a kidnapping, she would have seen the distraction in his eyes, but there hadn’t been anything occupying his mind other than sex.
“Call me if you hear anything,” Marissa said before lifting to her toes and giving him a quick kiss. He drew her closer, his mouth slanting across hers. The kiss drew out her emotions, teasing her with the sensuousness of it.
Jackson ended the kiss, his gaze serious. “I had no idea you were FBI last night. You are FBI, right?”
She
nodded, wishing she could have left without him knowing. She wasn’t hiding anything, but people clammed up when they found out she was FBI.
“I’m glad you’re here this morning. Thank you.”
“Hey, if I can help you in any way, I will.”
He rested his forehead against hers, his breath ragged on her face. “I have to find him.”
“We’ll put the best people on it. You have my word.”
“Thank you,”
She left the hotel room and headed to the place where she and her friends had a room. The sun sat just below the edge of the horizon, giving enough light to see the path. She whipped out her phone, sending an email to her unit. She wanted everyone aware that finding Randy Jackson was the top priority.
She snuck into the suite, hoping she’d be able to make it in without her friends noticing, but she had no such luck.
“Yo-yo girlfriend, you’re the last one back,” Amy called out.
She cringed and plastered on a smile. First off, no one could know about Jackson’s brother. It wasn’t on the news yet. Second, she really didn’t want to talk about Jackson. He was different from other guys, and she wasn’t even sure what he was to her.
“So, how was mister hulk?” Susan asked.
“Nothing special,” she said.
Amy rolled her eyes as her lips pinched in a thin line. “Sure, I believe that. You were out all night.”
She shrugged and grabbed for a cinnamon roll. “My flight is at noon.”
“Was he good in bed?”
“Eh, I slept most of the night. He really wasn’t anything special.”
Amy and Susan stared at her like they didn’t believe a word she said. They’d been friends since their freshman year in college at the University of Texas. They were too big of geeks to rush a sorority, so they formed a club of their own. Two of the members had dropped them as friends, but her, Susan, Amy, Nicky, and Elizabeth had stuck around. Nicky was the one celebrating her freedom.
The bedroom door opened, and Nicky and Elizabeth came out. “You’re late getting back,” Elizabeth said.
“My flight is at noon,” Marissa said.
“I’m leaving at eleven thirty. I’ll share a cab with you,” Susan chirped before she grabbed a few grapes from a bowl.
“Sounds good.”
“Ugh, I wish you all could stay, but it was nice hanging out with you. Next time, I won’t marry the jerk when he asks. I’ll just have a fling and go about my own way.” Nicky picked up an apple and bit in.
Marissa chuckled on the way to the bathroom. She needed to do some work before they headed out. After a quick shower, she packed even faster. It would be months before she saw her friends again. Living in Madrid while trying to keep her life normal was wearing on her. Being in the Bureau had been great at first. But now, the politics were daunting. She liked her job well enough now because she got to reunite families, but the way her boss had been acting was troubling. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if she left, but the time away from the States was getting old.
After a tearful goodbye, she and Susan caught a cab to Denver International airport. The drive was long, and they both checked email. About thirty minutes into the trip, Susan stopped what she was doing, her gaze was serious.
“Are you okay?” Susan’s question threw her.
“Yeah, why?”
“Something happened. Are you really okay?”
She nodded and reached over, squeezing Susan’s hand. “I am.”
Susan’s lips twisted like she didn’t believe her. Of course, Susan could tell if something happened, but she didn’t want to reveal how she felt about Jackson. First, there was no way it would work. Second, they were celebrating divorce, not love. If she even mentioned she felt something for Jackson, her friends would pounce on her.
“I’m good. Nothing happened. Work just has me worried.” Her friends knew she was FBI and that her job was stressful at times, but they had no clue what her work entailed.
“Okay but know you can call if you need to.”
She nodded and squeezed Susan’s hand again, trying to reassure her everything was fine. “You’re the best. I’ll send you a note when I land in Madrid.”
“Ugh, I can’t believe you have to fly all that way. I miss seeing you more.”
“I know. I miss you all too.”
“It has gotten old, hasn’t it?” Susan asked.
She stared out the window as a little regret twisted through her. “Yeah, it has. But I’m not done yet.”
“Okay, just know you don’t have to stick with it forever. You’ve been there for six years, you deserve a break.”
Maybe she didn’t deserve a break, but she needed one. “I’ll be fine.”
Susan didn’t seem convinced though and held on longer than usual when they said their goodbyes.
The flight to Madrid left her exhausted. She wouldn’t even leave the airport since her flight to Barcelona was in an hour. Once on the ground, she was on the phone to her colleagues, trying to find out anything they could about Randy Jackson. Though it had been nearly forty-eight hours, they’d heard nothing.
She stared at her phone, not wanting to call and tell Jackson they had nothing. She’d promised him she would tell him what she found, and here she was too afraid to disappoint him. They weren’t even friends, so why was she having such a difficult time just calling the man?
3
Jackson was on the phone before he put the car in reverse. Adam answered on the second ring, clearing his throat as he fumbled the phone.
“It’s early.”
“I got a call from my dad. Randy was kidnapped in Barcelona.”
“Fuck.”
He could hear Adam scrambling out of bed. His friends were the best. If anyone could find Randy, Adam, and Kelsey could.
“I’m driving that way. I’m in Denver, haven’t eaten, but I’ll pick something up on the way. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I need you two to look into the chatter. See what’s going down.”
“Will do.”
“Oh, and Adam.”
“Yeah, buddy?”
“When I found out, I had a woman with me. Turns out she is FBI. We need to keep this clean.”
“Fucking-A, we can’t escape them, can we?”
He huffed out a breath that was halfway between a chuckle and a sob. “No, looks like we can’t.”
“Kelsey is up already. She’ll fire up the computers. Drive safe, and we’ll call if we have any updates. Get some food and coffee.”
“Sure thing.”
“Jackson, we’ll work to get him back. Don’t worry, we’ll do what we can.”
“I know.”
He ended the call as he pulled on the interstate. The drive was lonely, and he only stopped once in Fort Carson. The memory of him and Adam taking out that stupid pedophile made him angry and sad. He prayed his brother was still alive, but he wondered if he would survive the impact from the torture he was undoubtedly experiencing. There was so much evil out in the world. He hadn’t been able to stop it when he was in the military, and he couldn’t stop it now either. Even if there were teams and teams of them networked across the world, some freaking jerk would find a way to take advantage of the innocent.
The winter had been cold, but now that March had hit, he saw hope for spring. This summer would be hot. The snow had mostly melted, allowing the land to dry out in some places. He imagined that once it stayed above fifty more than a few days, he’d love living up here again. He just hated January and February. Right now, all he needed was his brother back. It could snow every day in March as long as Randy came home alive.
He pulled onto their property and Kelsey stepped outside, waiting for him to get out of the truck. “We have food. Adam and I will do the chores. You figure out what you need to do. We have everything pulled up we could find, which wasn’t much.”
“Fuck, this is bad, isn’t it?” He gave Kelsey a quick hug before heading into the house.
Adam was t
here, tugging him close. “Hey, we’ll dedicate all our resources to finding him.”
“There’s work on the ranch that has to be done,” Jackson said.
“I hired two men to help,” Kelsey said. “Adam can do a little stuff, but mostly, we’ll be in here, searching and digging until we find something.”
He squeezed his head between his palms and closed his eyes, wishing the world would stop spinning for a moment so he could catch his breath. His brother was ten years younger. Memories of Randy as a baby played through his mind. It wasn’t Randy’s fault their dad was an asshole, nor was it Randy’s fault he’d been smarter and cuter. Randy hated how their parents babied him, but Randy usually got what he wanted even if he said he didn’t like how their parents acted.
Why couldn’t it have been him taken? His dad would never forgive him. They’d go round and round again if he went home.
“You want to shower first?” Adam asked.
“I’m good.” He and Marissa had washed well. Heck, her fingers had been between his butt cheeks, all over his taint and balls. She’d made sure he was clean, so no, he didn’t need the shower. Thoughts of Marissa made his cock twitch. He shoved the desire away, focusing on his brother. Hell, he’d probably never see her again.
After about an hour in the room, Kelsey took her laptop out to the kitchen and continued to work. He’d never noticed before how hot the room got when they were in there with every machine on. They worked for hours, looking at leads, searching for information. Any hint of a clue, they chased down.
He ended up sleeping in the recliner when he fell asleep close to midnight. Before the sun rose, he was back at it. He hadn’t heard from Marissa, but he’d heard enough from his dad. The man had called multiple times, bitching him out, calling him all sorts of names.
Stalling seemed to be his best tactic. No way would he go home. If he left the ranch, he’d lose his ability to research. Here on Canyon Ranch with the Dark Eagle resources, he was finding tiny pieces of information. They didn’t have a name, but they’d seen a mention of the kidnapping deep in a dark forum that only the worst of humanity would be allowed in to see. Thanks to Kelsey’s dark imagination, they had created a profile to search inside the dark alleys and strange paths of the internet most of the world didn’t even know about. The Silk Road had been nothing compared to what took its place. These people were genuinely demented.
