Playing Jax [Wylde Shore 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Jan Graham

“I’m going into the house. She may have left a clue. I might be able to see something you can’t.” He ignored Christian and Daniel’s objections and walk up the stairs to the open front door. He took a deep breath. Whatever he found inside, he could cope.

  The first thing his eyes fixed on was her flowers and the teddy. His heart lurched. At least she’d gotten them, read the message, and knew he loved her. She’d put them in the vase he’d given her when he sent her flowers the first time. He liked that. She’d had time to enjoy them before… he didn’t see signs of a struggle, but something had happened.

  Blood pooled on the floorboards, and there were strands of hair and blood embedded into the corner of the coffee table. He squatted and took a closer look. They weren’t hers. They weren’t the right color, and they were too short. The blood-coated knife lay a distance away, closer to the hallway that led from the kitchen. Smatterings of blood spotted the floor but not a significant amount. Still, until the blood was identified the possibility remained it may belong to Rhia. There was a cake box on the table. He looked at it. Someone had come for a visit. Maybe that’s how Harper got into the house. He inspected the lock on the door. It hadn’t been forced. Rhia wouldn’t let Harper in, especially if she had Kevin Johns with her, not unless they’d tricked her. He turned back to the blood near the coffee table. It wasn’t her hair, so it couldn’t be her blood.

  “Have we found Patrick yet?” He knew they hadn’t, but he wanted to ask. That had to be who’d been here with her when she was taken. Finding him was even more important than before. “Put out the alert again, we need to find him. He might know where they’ve taken her.”

  “We’ve got a large handprint on the outside of the front door and two smaller ones on the inside of the door. Like someone’s flattened their hands pushing against either side,” Christian said, watching his friend carefully. Steve looked at the prints on the inside of the door. They were too large to be Rhia’s. Maybe Patrick tried to stop them getting in and ended up thrown against the table when Johns pushed from the outside. He checked the rest of the house. She’d been making coffee for two. He glanced at the fridge calendar. One entry stood out, today’s date, written in red pen when all the others were in black. He read the names, Harper R and Kevin J. She’d left them a clue, the only clue she could. He walked out of the house and stood near Christian and Daniel who waited on the lawn.

  “We’ll get her back,” Christian said the words with conviction.

  “We have to, it’s not just Rhia they’ve taken,” Steve said calmly. His two friends both looked confused by his words. “You need to come with us, Dan. They might need you.”

  “Who are you talking about? Rhia and…” Daniel kept his voice low so only the three of them could hear.

  Rage rose inside Steve as he responded. “Rhia and I just found out she’s pregnant. So not only has that conniving Roderick bitch taken my woman, she’s also kidnapped my child. And she better not hurt either of them.”

  Steve walked to the car. They’d contact him when they were ready. As long as they thought he was going to play their game, Rhia would remain alive. He allowed himself to feel the fury building inside. He needed it. He was about to play a sick game of Russian roulette with two psychopaths, and he intended to win.

  * * * *

  Patrick could hear them arguing as he sat at the side of the old farmhouse. His father and Harper were as bad and evil as each other. He didn’t know how he’d get Rhia out of this. He’d seen her briefly. They had her gagged and tied, lying on the floor between them as they yelled at each other. She appeared scared but unharmed. He looked at Rhia’s phone that he’d taken before he left her house. The cop he’d given the parcel to told him Steve was back from the city. Patrick had originally thought it best if Steve stayed away, but now he wasn’t sure.

  Harper raised her voice and screamed at his father. “I told you the plan, and you agreed. I want her in the side room toward the back. When that cop of hers gets here, I want him to hear her scream and have no choice but to head further into the flames. They’ll both be dead from the fire before they reach each other.”

  “I don’t see the point. Wouldn’t it be better for him to watch her burn? If he can see her, he’ll be more inclined to enter the burning house to get her.”

  “I want emotional pain as well as physical. They can’t have a happy “burn together in each other’s arms” ending. We’re not orchestrating a fairy tale ending here. I want them to experience pain for the trouble they’ve caused me. Now pour the damn accelerant where I told you and take her into the other room. I’ll set up the sensors.”

  Patrick couldn’t believe he’d even liked Harper a little bit. She was a shrew. He heard movement and then the smell of some kind of fuel. It wasn’t petrol, but it smelt nearly as bad. He chanced a look through the window. Kevin was saturating the floor with the liquid. Rhia and Harper were nowhere to be seen.

  Patrick crept back to the cover of the shrubbery at the side of the farmhouse. Harper and his father were both insane. They seemed so confident and convinced of their right to kill. Patrick was out of his depth. He dialed Steve’s mobile number. He hoped Steve believed him when he explained what was going on.

  “Rhia?” Patrick was a bit startled by the gruffness in Steve’s voice.

  “N-no.” Patrick cleared his throat and tried not to sound nervous. “It’s Patrick Johns. Um, I don’t want you to be annoyed when I tell you this, but Rhia has been kidnapped by Harper Roderick and my father. I’m watching the house they have her in, but I need help to get her out.”

  There was a long silence on the end of the line. Patrick took the fact that Steve hadn’t hung up on him as a good sign. He decided to continue talking and hope Steve eventually responded.

  “I was at her house—”

  “I know, and you delivered the parcel to me. How badly injured are you? I assume it was your blood near her coffee table. Tell me if Rhia is injured. Was she the person who was stabbed?”

  Patrick was astounded Steve knew he’d been to the house. The fact that he must be out of his mind with worry reflected in the tone of his voice as he asked the last question.

  “She stabbed Kevin, not badly I don’t think, but the knife is his blood. I’ve only seen her from a distance, and she’s probably scared but she doesn’t look to be harmed. They have her gagged and tied up.”

  “You didn’t tell me about you. How injured are you?” Steve shouldn’t be concerned for him, not after what he’d done, and yet he seemed to be.

  Patrick didn’t understand why but answered him anyway. “I got hurt trying to keep Kevin out of the house. He hit me, and I have a cut on my scalp from landing against the coffee table. It’s nothing I’m not used to. My head and cheek hurt, but I’m okay.”

  “You’re a good man, Patrick Johns. Now, tell me everything you know, all that you’ve heard.” Steve sounded like he meant what he’d just said.

  There was a hint of pride in his tone, a sincerity that caused Patrick to pause. Steve thought, despite everything to have happened, Patrick was a good man.

  Confidence swelled inside him. He might not have been either of those things until today, but it was time to make amends. Patrick detailed what had happened and where the farmhouse was located. He explained that Harper was rigging the house to catch on fire with Rhia and Steve in it. He made sure he warned Steve that it was dangerous for him to come, that they intended to kill him.

  Patrick knew Steve would be in as much danger as Rhia once he arrived here, but Steve still insisted on coming. The man seemed fearless, confident, and driven as he spoke. Patrick realized why the possibility of death didn’t scare him.

  He’d read the card on the flowers Steve had sent Rhia. Steve loved Rhia more than life, so of course he would do anything to save her.

  * * * *

  “Oh dear, look at you, Rhia McCabe.” Harper stalked around her in a perfect circle, staring at her like she was an insect she wanted to squash. “I hope you’
re uncomfortable. I’d hate it if you didn’t feel at least a little pain while you’re waiting to die.”

  Rhia stared up at her and tried to focus. Kevin had punched her in the face as punishment for stabbing him in the arm. She assumed she had a bit of a concussion. She was seeing in soft focus, and all she really wanted to do was pass out. Rhia knew it wasn’t an option. She had to try and stay alert, escape, and get home to Steve. Rhia wasn’t sure what time it was, but it seemed like an eternity since she’d been taken captive.

  “You don’t seem very scared. You should be, you know. I’m going to kill you and your policeman. I assume you told him about my burn. I probably would have left you alone if you hadn’t mentioned it, but I can’t take the risk now.” Rhia hated the sickly sweet tone Harper used. It was the same tone she used at work, the one that hid the fact she was a lunatic.

  “I found this near the old gas stove, watch.” The small clicking sound drew Rhia’s attention. The spark and orange flame set her senses on high alert. Harper pointed the oven lighter toward Rhia. “You know, you didn’t seem concerned that I’d been in pain when I was burnt. You asked the question so casually. I realize you were just letting me know that you were aware of who I was, but a little sympathy wouldn’t have gone astray. Anyway I thought I’d give you a taste of what it felt like, while I explain what’s going to happen over the next hour or so.”

  Rhia winced when Harper placed the end of the lighter firmly against her bare leg. The flame was extinguished, but the metal was still hot. Harper made a sizzling noise before moving it away.

  “Oh look, you have a little O on your leg.” If Rhia wasn’t bound and gagged she’d give Harper more than a little O, she’d slap her senseless. “Well, that will keep me amused while we talk.”

  Harper didn’t seem to be doing much talking as she repeated her torturous action. Light the flame, let the metal tip heat, burn Rhia’s leg, make the sizzle noise, giggle and repeat. Rhia bit against the gag and tried not to cry. She didn’t want to give Harper the satisfaction of seeing her tears.

  “So, this is the plan. I’ve rigged the house so that when Steve comes through either of the doors he’ll trip off my sensors. The sensors are linked to these cute little machines that spit out a flame. A bit like this thing really.” She waved the lighter toward Rhia’s face. “Anyway, Kevin is currently following a lovely pattern that I’ve drawn on these old wood floors. It’s lighter fluid, catches fire in an instant when it comes in contact with a naked flame. Kevin will get to your room soon. He’s going to pour a big circle around you and a few zigzag lines over the top of you. It will be so pretty when it’s alight. I mean you are trussed up like a turkey, so we may as well roast you.”

  To Harper’s apparent delight, Rhia groaned as the hot metal came into contact with her leg once more.

  “Now you’re getting into the spirit of it.” Light the flame, let the metal tip heat, burn Rhia’s leg, make the sizzle noise, giggle when Rhia groans. The pain was so intense Rhia thought her thigh was going to combust.

  “Anyway, back to me. Once the house is doused, I’ll remove the gag. Kevin and I will set the sensors to active and leave. He’ll call your boyfriend and tell him the house has thirty minutes before it blows up with you in it. That should give lover-boy plenty of time to get here. He rushes into the house thinking he’s about to save you and surprise, surprise, the house erupts in flames. You scream as your body is engulfed. He hears you but can’t seem to find you. You see he’s disoriented with the fact that his body is now on fire. You die screaming each other’s names. Oh, it’s so romantic, don’t you think?”

  Harper stood up and began dancing around the room.

  “Oh Rhia, won’t it be wonderful to see. Steve Jax, your new Lord and Savior coming to the rescue, believing he’ll save the woman he loves only to realize he’s been the man that killed her.”

  Rhia rolled her eyes and groaned again.

  “And if by chance he survives the inferno he created…oh the agony that would inflict on his soul. The torment would surely drive him mad.” Harper shivered in what appeared to be delight. “He’d be destroyed, a mere living shell of a man.”

  The woman’s joy at inflicting such turmoil and pain into people’s lives proved she had some kind of personality disorder. Rhia hoped the woman tripped over her own feet and face-planted into the floorboards.

  When Harper had finished amusing herself with interpretive dance moves, she returned to inspect Rhia’s leg.

  “I did a good job on that. You know, I bet if you joined those dots together with a pen it would spell the word, Steve.” She patted the burn and smiled. “Kevin, the turkey is ready to be basted.”

  The fluid they used on the floor smelt so awful Rhia gagged. Her eyes burned from the fumes, and when the liquid splashed over the burns Harper had inflicted, Rhia screamed into the gag. She didn’t see Kevin leave the room, but she heard him. Harper was screaming out instructions to him, and he was yelling back. Obviously they were out in the middle of nowhere on some kind of unused property. She kept her eyes shut to try and protect them from the fumes and allowed herself to cry.

  The situation was hopeless. Steve would come for her. She had no doubt in her mind that he’d try and save her. She had no way of alerting him to the danger they both faced. Harper seemed to have thought of everything. Her eyes opened with a start as a hand came to rest on her shin and cool water poured across her burnt thigh. She tried to focus. A man was in the room, but it wasn’t Kevin. He wasn’t big enough to be Kevin, or rough enough. She couldn’t see his face clearly. A trickle of water washed against her mouth. Who was he?

  “Don’t worry, pretty lady, no one will die today. Be still and wait. It’s all about the timing.” His voice was soft and gentle, almost feminine. The blurry figure moved to the side of the room. The wardrobe door slid quietly aside and he stepped inside, closing the door behind him. She closed her eyes again and whimpered softly.

  Great, now, on top of everything else, I’m hallucinating.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Steve disconnected the mobile call and stared at the players left in the detective rooms at the station. No one spoke even though they’d all heard the call via the speakerphone function of Steve’s handset. He digested the information Patrick had supplied. Rhia was unharmed as of the time of the call. Excellent, that information was something he needed to hear. It calmed him slightly. The rage was still present, but it was caged inside, like a stalking animal waiting to be unleashed on his woman’s two captors.

  He wasn’t going to play their game. If they were rigging a fire for Steve to trip when he entered the house, then he wouldn’t enter the house via conventional methods. He assumed when the call came from either of the psychos, and it would, he’d be instructed to attend the scene alone. That wasn’t happening either.

  “Call the firehouse. I want the fire chief here and in on this brief. Tell him we’ll need assistance at the scene, so he needs to order his guys to be ready to roll. We also need someone who’s familiar with detonation devises, so get him to bring whoever he feels is most appropriate.” The statement was directed at Braxton, one of his oldest detectives, who was dialing the firehouse by the time he’d finished speaking. “Dan, I need ambulance back up as well. Can you organize that one?”

  “It could be the set up call. We don’t know that what he says is true. I mean we have the evidence proving he works for Harper.” Christian made the statement with a degree of caution. Steve had already ripped into him for taking charge of his team earlier. Of course he understood why his friend had done it, but Steve needed to know Christian understood he was back in control.

  “No, we know some of it is true. I mean you saw him covered in blood,” Carlie replied. “He was definitely injured, and the hand prints on the back of the door—even Steve agreed they were too big to be Rhia’s. If Patrick tried to protect Rhia while they were at her house why would he go back to Harper and his father now?”

  “It’
s not part of the setup. I still think we’ll get a call from Harper or Kevin, and we need to be in place or at least moving in before that call comes.”

  Two things concerned Steve. His team was spread thin at the moment. Pierce and Henderson were securing Rhia’s house and initiating the forensics while they waited for the head office special forensic team to arrive. His uniformed officers were out on patrol. He’d need them back at the station or at least at a rendezvous point somewhere close to the farmhouse. Carlie and Braxton were the only two detectives on duty at the station with him. Christian was always a good man to have around, and Dan, he might be a doctor but he could hold his own if they needed to use him as backup. So he had a team of four, not including the doc. It should be enough.

  The other concern he had related to the one vulnerable member of the team…himself. He didn’t want to be the weak link in the chain, but he couldn’t ignore the potential threat he posed to the operation. The anger was holding him together at the moment, keeping him focused. The confounding variable in this would be what happened when he got to the farmhouse. Knowing Rhia was inside and needing to reach her might threaten his control if something went wrong. He could make an error that affected everyone present. If Rhia…no, he wasn’t going to think about what might happen if he didn’t save her. That was not an option.

  He heard voices coming down the hallway. He didn’t have time to explain in complete detail. They needed to get underway. The major players could travel together and then take charge of the relevant teams once they arrived at their destination. He couldn’t believe the rabble that walked into the room. Cal Webster was accompanied by the fire chief, Trevor Duncan, plus four drug squad officers whom Steve had worked closely with for over ten years, and Barry Reid, Rhia’s brother in law. Jesus, he was in trouble now.

  “Steve, I know I’m not a cop, but I heard what’s happened and I’m not leaving, so live with it.” Barry’s voice boomed throughout the room, an air of challenge in his tone. Steve wasn’t going to tell the man he couldn’t stay, but there’d be hell to pay if a civilian got injured.