by Sophie Oak
“Be careful. You’re going to break the damn roof if you keep swinging like that.”
Dani got her footing back and stared up at the ceiling where the hook was bolted. Sure enough, Val was right. There was a crack right there, snaking out from where the hook met the ceiling. A bit of hope soared through her. Jimbo’s father had built this place himself over twenty years before. The elder Smart hadn’t been known for his perfectionism. He’d been just as lazy and apt to cut corners as his son. She looked at the hook above Val’s head. It was taking her weight with ease. Never before had Dani been so happy to have twenty pounds on her sister.
“What are you doing?” Val’s attention was focused now as Dani took a deep breath. “I don’t think you should do it, whatever it is.”
“I’m done listening to you. If I decide to save you when all this is over, I don’t think I want to be your sister anymore.” Dani braced herself because this was going to hurt.
She grabbed the ties with her hands and pulled. The crack opened a bit more, but not enough. It would take more than a simple pull. Dani brought her feet up and dangled. She swiveled her hips and started to sway.
Val tried to turn to her. “You’re going to bring the roof down on top of us. This is your plan? You’re going to kill us before he can?”
Dani pulled and pulled. She gained ground, but not enough. It would take time to work the screw out of the beam. She let her full weight hang. The beam groaned but held.
The door opened, and Dani’s time was up.
* * * *
Finn sat back in one of the old vinyl chairs that dotted the sheriff’s department’s waiting room. All around him people were buzzing like flies in a flurry of activity, but he felt completely still, held in place. His brain screamed for everything to stop. He wanted it all to stop so he had a minute to process the fact that they were both gone.
They were gone, and he didn’t know where they were. He didn’t know what was happening. He stared down at the phone in his hand almost waiting for it to ring. Julian had dropped his phone just like Dani had dropped hers. Leo had picked it up and had confirmed it was the same number that had called Dani, Val’s old-model cell. He’d called and called the number, but it simply went to voice mail. The phone company was trying to trace it, but it would take time, and there was no way to know if Jeremy had dumped it somewhere. His own phone had been completely silent.
Leo had been on the phone with Taggart, who was on his way, but how would they find Julian? Dani was out there and Finn couldn’t protect her. Julian was walking into a trap and Finn was…alone.
He wanted to be with them.
Why wouldn’t it ring? Damn it, but he wanted to be where they were. Fuck the consequences. He didn’t want to be left behind. He’d run after the Jeep Julian had been driving until he couldn’t anymore.
“Finn, I got the location on the Audi. The sheriff and I are going out to take a look. Would you like to come?” Leo stared down at him. He seemed perfectly cool and collected. Finn bet there wasn’t a screaming idiot inside of Leo waiting to get out.
“No. I’ll wait here.” What was the point? Dani obviously had ditched the car, and Julian had driven off in a Jeep. They were following someone’s plan. Finn was certain Leo would find the car without a driver, and there was no way to trace the Jeep. Julian was gone the same way Dani was gone.
“All right, Finn.” Leo’s eyes were sympathetic. “It’s probably for the best. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Jack Barnes should be here in about twenty minutes. Taggart is on his way, too. Let them know what’s going on.”
Leo walked away. It wasn’t a moment before there was a hand on Finn’s shoulder. He looked up into the face of his nemesis. Jimbo Smart. Damn it. This was not what he needed.
“Finn, what the hell is going on? Someone said Dani went missing.”
Finn softened slightly. The big man honestly seemed concerned. “Someone’s after Julian, and he thinks he can get to him through Dani.”
“Is Julian the rich guy?”
Finn nodded, though his attention was taken by Tricia Walker, who sat by the big window staring at her cell phone, too. Finn studied her carefully. Her head was down, and she didn’t seem to notice anyone around her. She was so quiet for a reporter. Finn had met many reporters in his time, and the one thing they all had was an innate confidence. They had to. Tricia lacked that confidence.
Wasn’t that odd?
“I knew he was trouble,” Jimbo was saying. “What’s a guy like that doing here anyway?”
“Taking a vacation,” Finn said as he stood and crossed to Tricia.
Her eyes came up, and before she could settle a mask on to her face, she was open. Finn read her like a book.
“Is he really your brother?” He asked the question gently. One thing Finn had learned to do in his years as a lawyer was to properly gauge the witness. Some required a firm hand, but many needed sympathy to get them to properly tell their stories.
Tears welled in her eyes. “Half-brother, but yes, we’re related.”
“He scares you.”
“Well, hell, Finn, of course he scares her if he runs around kidnapping people.” Jimbo stood right behind them. Finn thought briefly about shoving him back, but he had other fish to fry.
“I think he’s perfectly capable of doing everything he says.” She leaned in a little. “But then I’m scared of that Julian person, too.”
Finn bet she was. “And what paper did you say you worked for?”
A pause. “The Dallas Morning News.”
Her eyes had flared briefly. Finn knew he had her. It was time to make her afraid of him. A small lie was called for, but then a good lawyer always knew when to lie and when to tell the truth. “Really? Because that’s not what you said this morning.”
He watched as she tried hard to think. She finally bit her lip and clutched at her phone. “No. I said it. I know I did.”
“Because he told you to say it?”
Again, a brief flaring of her wide eyes. He bet she couldn’t play poker to save her life. If he’d been watching her closely this morning, he would have seen this, but he’d been distracted.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Finn turned to Jimbo. “Jim, I need you to contact The Dallas Morning News and ask if they employ one Patricia Walker.”
Jimbo’s eyes widened, but he gamely started to pull out his cell phone.
Now her hands shook. “No, don’t. I don’t work there. I work for a suburban newspaper. I write a pet care column, but I do have press credentials because sometimes I cover dog shows. Jeremy made me call. He said it would cause chaos, and this Julian guy hates chaos. Jeremy made me say it. He took someone precious to me. I have to get her back.”
He didn’t care. Nothing in the world was more precious than Dani and Julian. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He’s been in the area for days. He doesn’t tell me anything. He just calls me on this phone, and I do what he says. I don’t even know how to contact him.”
And Finn believed her. He took the phone from her trembling hands. He turned to Jimbo, who was watching avidly. “If you were going to take someone someplace secluded, where would you go? It has to be someplace fairly close.”
One big shoulder went up and down. “Damn, there’s a ton of places outside of town. This is East Texas. We have woods and swamps. You could hide for a long time in places like that.”
Tricia sniffled. “He wouldn’t like that. He’s not an outdoorsman.” Her tears were flowing freely now.
“Yeah, but there are plenty of hunting shacks…oh, fuck, Finn, I think I know where they are.” Jimbo’s breathing became ragged. “I think he might be holed up on my land.”
“Do you know how to get there without alerting them that we’re coming?” Finn glanced around the station house. There was only the deputy left and the secretary. All in all, he would rather go in alone. He didn’t trust Andy.
“Hell, yeah,” Jim
bo replied. “I know those woods like the back of my hand. But I’m telling you, if you get Andy or the sheriff involved, they’ll go in with guns blazing. I can be a hell of a lot quieter than either of those two.”
“I agree. I would call Leo, but I don’t have his number. I think we’re it.” Finn couldn’t wait. He knew he’d been told to stay here until Taggart came for him, but he couldn’t. He had to get to them. Every second he waited something terrible could happen. “But, Jim, I’m going to need a gun.”
A wide smile split Jimbo’s face. “I think I can help you out there.”
Finn ran behind Jimbo. He held the only way for Tricia to talk to her brother firmly in his hand. Her cell phone. She wouldn’t be able to warn him even if she wanted to.
As Jimbo pulled out of the parking lot, Finn sent out a silent prayer. Keep them safe.
Whether they liked it or not, he was the only cavalry they had coming.
Chapter Eighteen
Julian saw him the minute he put the sedan in park. His greatest mistake in human form. Jeremy stood in the doorway to a small structure, his thin frame seemingly too gaunt to cause any real damage.
How wrong he had been.
Jeremy smiled as he jogged down the steps. He looked excited, as though Julian were a welcome guest, not a victim. Everything seemed normal except for the oddly shaped gun in Jeremy’s hand. God, was Danielle already dead? He wouldn’t accept that possibility.
“Welcome, Julian.” Jeremy stopped feet from him. Far enough that Julian would have to jump to get him. Far enough that Jeremy would have time to shoot him.
“You wanted to get me here. Well, I’m here. Now, you will let Danielle leave here unharmed or we will have trouble.” He used his darkest voice, the one assured to get every sub in a five-mile radius on his or her knees.
And he could see the impulse written on his former slave’s face. Jeremy wanted to do exactly that. Unfortunately, it looked like he’d tamed his impulses. Jeremy pulled the gun out, and now Julian could see it was no ordinary gun. He braced himself because he had the feeling this was going to hurt. He cursed himself for not keeping a gun in his car. If he survived this he was applying for a concealed license, and the next time someone freaked out on him, he would just shoot the bastard. He was certain Taggart could teach him how to use all the weapons.
Jeremy held the gun level to Julian’s torso. “I don’t think that works for me, Sir. I think I would rather give you a dose of your own medicine and see how you like it.”
A spark flared from the end of the Taser. The probes shot out of the end of the Taser and lodged into Julian’s chest. He lost all control in an instant. He hit the ground, knees first, his chest falling after, and he shook. Pain filled his every sense. He would have sworn he could smell that pain, hear it in the creaking of his bones. There was no control at all, merely the random spasm of every muscle in his body. He tasted dirt as his muscles shook violently for what seemed like forever. Julian tried everything. He commanded his body to do his bidding, but in the end he had no control. Pain screamed along his nerves until finally, blissfully, the pain ceased, and he was left quivering, all his strength sucked away.
It took everything he had to merely get air into his lungs.
“You’re so big, Julian. I didn’t want to get too close. These suckers can get you from fifteen feet away. I had to modify the output. I upped the ampage.” Jeremy reached down, and Julian felt the pull on his dress shirt. His body flipped over at Jeremy’s command. The probes from the Taser were still in his skin. Jeremy began to pull him by the back of his shirt. “You’ll forgive me, but I didn’t think you would actually cooperate with me.”
Julian tried a snappy comeback. Tried to tell the fucker he’d never cooperate, but he couldn’t seem to make his limp noodle jaw move. He was pulled along the ground like a sack of shit, and his only vision was of the sky above him. It was blue and pure, so unlike his situation it was perverse. He should be lying out by the pool at the ranch, Danielle and Finn at his side. Again and again he tried to make his arms move. His frustration boiled. What good was he to Danielle? He’d intended to trade himself for her or at least throw his body in front of hers and take whatever came their way. He was useless like this. His eyes burned with the knowledge that he’d gotten her into this.
“Don’t bother,” Jeremy said, a malicious glee in his voice. “With the electricity you took, it should be a while before you get function back. By then I’ll have you nice and secure. You like bondage, Julian. I couldn’t use metal cuffs, but I think you’ll like the ones I bought for you.”
“Ffffuuuckkk offff,” Julian managed to stutter.
He was finally able to clench his fists. He rotated his feet in a deliberate manner. Yes, he was getting control back. In a moment, he would pull the Taser probes out of his flesh. He would reach out and grab the little fucker’s legs. He would pull his ass down and beat him until he was dead, and then he would get Danielle, and he was never going to let her go. He would wrap her up in the tightest contract he’d ever written. He would never, never tell her how much of his heart she and Finn held. He would be their Master, their lover. He would never, ever let them go, but he couldn’t love them. He couldn’t afford to love them. To love them was to ache the way he was aching now. Why couldn’t he let them go? He wished he could, but they were essential now. Somehow, they had wormed their way in. How could he handle it? People died. People left. They all left in the end. But if he wrapped them up, he could keep them. He could hoard them, like gold. They were precious. He’d gotten them into this position.
He looked up and saw the beginnings of the roof. He felt his head bump against something hard. Stairs. He moved his knee, flexing. Almost time. Just another minute and he would kill Jeremy. He would enjoy it. He would let the beast that lived inside him out and have his way with the prick. He would be covered in blood by the time he was done.
There was that horrible crackling sound as Jeremy struck again. His body convulsed as lightning flared through his system. Hated tears leaked out of his eyes and down his cheeks. Every muscle convulsed from the pulse sent through the probes, and he heard his own animal groan. He’d never felt so helpless, so vulnerable. It was like acid in his gut as he struggled to regain control.
Make it stop. Please. Please. Please.
The begging in his head felt toxic. He held it in. He wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of hearing him beg. Not ever again. He’d begged his uncle. He’d gotten on his knees and begged to be allowed into his home with his aunt and cousins. He’d so wanted to be a part of a family. He’d cried that day.
His uncle had sent him away.
He would never beg again.
His body sagged in exhaustion as the shock finally stopped flowing through his system.
“I can do this all day, Julian.” Jeremy knelt beside him, Taser in hand.
He wanted to shrink back, to crawl away like a wounded animal, but he couldn’t move again. Control was so far away. Jeremy’s hand came out and caressed his face.
“Isn’t that what you used to say while you fucked me? ‘I can do this all day, slave.’ I dream about those words at night. I longed to hear them for so long. So I want you to know that I intend to make our last day together memorable.”
Jeremy’s eyes were big and soft, as though he was talking to a beloved lover rather than a victim. He hated the word, but victim was the only way to describe him. God, what had this psycho already put Danielle through? Was she even fucking alive? Please, please let her be alive and whole.
Jeremy got up and resumed his previous occupation of dragging Julian’s dead weight into the shack that would probably be the location of his death. He heard the door open and the soft sound of a woman crying.
Danielle? Was Danielle crying?
“Oh, god, Julian. Julian. What have you done to him? You asshole.”
Yes, that was his Danielle. He’d never heard her curse. It sounded savage. His sweet Danielle sounded like a warrior. Hi
s head turned as Jeremy pulled him, and he was able to see her. She was bound and still in her clothes from this morning. At least it appeared Jeremy hadn’t raped her. God, he hoped not. He tried to reach a hand out to her. He’d promised to protect her. There was no contract between them, but she’d taken him into her body, into her heart. It was contract enough, he suddenly realized. He was the one who had broken the promises their bodies had made. First he’d said words meant to hurt her, meant to make her feel small and inconsequential. Then he’d gotten her into this mess. He’d be the reason she died.
Tears streaked down her face. “Please leave him alone.”
Jeremy pulled him along. “I can’t, dear. He’s the reason we’re here.”
Julian felt his torso being dragged up against something solid. He could see Danielle, and now he could see Lexi huddled in a corner. She was so still. Her black hair fell over her face, and she didn’t move at all. Lucas was going to be devastated. Lucas might not survive losing her no matter what their current relationship status was. Lucas loved her.
Like he loved Danielle. Like he was coming to love Finn.
Time, he needed more time. If he had a little more, maybe he could have made it work. His hands were brought up one by one, and he felt the hard plastic wrap around his wrists.
“I love you, Julian.” Danielle’s voice eased over him, the only soft thing in a world that seemed so full of pain.
He wanted to give those words back to her. He’d never said them aloud since that day his uncle had sent him away. He’d used them that day. He’d told his uncle he loved him in hopes of getting what he wanted. Now he wanted to say them, to shout them, but his voice was mute. His mouth was a useless thing.
“Please don’t hurt him again,” Danielle begged. Her hands were over her head, attached to a hook in the ceiling. He could see where the ties were too tight. Her wrists were chaffing. She would be bruised.
