“Get her out fast.”
She heard the voices, but she couldn’t open her eyes.
“She hit her head. She’s too out of it,” a male voice she didn’t recognize said.
“Good, makes it easy for traveling,” another male voice said. She felt her body being lifted. “Jesus, she has some body on her. Fuck.”
“We’ll send pictures. Let’s go.”
She blinked her eyes and moaned. She felt something warm and wet easing into her eye. “Help me.”
“Send the pictures while I drive. She starts moving around a lot, give her a shot of the stuff.”
“Got it.”
She tried to look around her. Her body felt sore, her head was pounding, and she couldn’t see straight at all or focus. She wasn’t in the jeep anymore. How did she get out? Who was talking? She was scared, but her mind was so fuzzy, she couldn’t think.
“Please. Call Kenny.”
“Give her the shot. I don’t want to hear her moaning.” She could hear them talking.
Who are you? she asked, or she thought she did but then felt a prick to her neck and a funny numb sensation travel along her throat, into her shoulder, and then down her back, and then darkness overtook her vision.
“What the fuck did they do, Kenny?” Landon asked.
His brothers stood there with their friends from the Marines. Freddy, Birdie, and Conan came into town to work out and then hang out at Harper’s with them tonight to meet Cherise.
“I don’t know, but she was crying. She sounded upset,” Kenny told them. His brothers were angry.
“When will she be here?” Rome asked.
“Where are those two assholes now?” Eric asked.
“What exactly is going on, man?” Freddy asked Rome.
“Cherise has two ex-boyfriends, active duty Marines, and it seems they’re still in love with her.
“Fuck ’em up, that will set them straight,” Conan said.
“And upset Cherise. Let’s hear her out,” Kenny told them.
“What’s going on?” Ivy asked, joining them with Keller, Bronc, and Angus.
They waited for a while, and Cherise didn’t show up. “She did say she was coming straight here, Kenny?” Eric asked.
“She did. Something is wrong.”
More time passed. A good half an hour. “I’m going to head that way,” Rome said.
“We’ll go with you,” Birdie, Conan, and Freddy said when the sheriff, Kane McCabe, walked into the dojo.
“Guys, there’s been an accident,” he said, and Kenny knew immediately that it was Cherise.
“Is it Cherise? What the fuck happened? Is she okay?” he asked.
“We don’t know. Her jeep was found on the side of the road, tipped over in the ditch. There’s blood on the steering wheel. Titus is on the scene, and he called me right away,” Kane told them.
“Where is she?” Rome asked.
“Who is Titus?” Birdie asked.
“The sheriff of Central Valley. Come on, let’s go,” Rome said, and they all headed out of the gym.
“Let us know what’s going on. Oh God, where is she?” Ivy asked, and Angus pulled her into his arms to hug her.
“We’ll call you as soon as we know what the hell is going on,” Kenny said and as they left in multiple trucks Rome was furious.
“First place we look is for Ben and Eagan. If they hurt her, I’m going to kill those fucks,” he said, and they all traveled to the scene of the accident.
“You need to calm down,” Titus said to Rome.
“Calm down? Calm down? How the fuck am I supposed to calm down when my woman’s jeep is flipped over in a ditch, there’s blood on the steering wheel indicating that she’s hurt, and she is nowhere to be found? All while the last two people she was with hurt her feelings, and upset her, and maybe did worse because she wouldn’t accept their advances. Would you be calm, Titus, if it were Charlie?” Rome yelled at him. This was a fucking mess.
“I have deputies speaking with Ben and Eagan now. They were still in town. They were at the bar and have witnesses who saw them there. The deputies say they’re just as shocked and upset as you are. They’re heading here now. Let’s look at the possibility that she was hurt, hit her head, and maybe got out and walked because no one came by that could help her,” Titus said to them.
“She would have used her cell phone to call us,” Eric said.
“She didn’t walk into the fields. Look at this,” Birdie said. He was bent down and looking in the dirt by the passenger side of the vehicle. “Boot prints, two sets, heavier here, like the person was carrying her. No blood trail either, just the prints leading to the road a few feet ahead,” he said.
Rome looked too, and Conan and Freddy. “He’s right. Sharp eye, bro. Someone fucking pulled her out,” Rome said.
“Who, though? What the fuck is going on?” Eric asked, and they heard the rev of a diesel engine and then a black truck pulled up.
Ben and Eagan were out in a flash and running closer. “What happened? Where is she?” Ben asked.
“You were with her last, and you upset her. She called crying,” Kenny yelled at Ben and stepped closer.
“We didn’t hurt her or do this. She left,” Eagan stated, puffing out his chest.
“You upset her though. Made her fucking cry. What did you do, hit on her? Try to kiss her?” Landon asked.
They started arguing.
“Everyone, calm down. This isn’t getting us anywhere or figuring out what the hell happened here,” Kane yelled at them.
“Everything was fine until you little fucking dicks came back here.” Landon shoved Ben.
“You’re just pissed, old man, because you know Cherise will always love us and we’ll always love her. In fact, if we wanted to, we could have gotten her into bed today after lunch and celebrated old times,” Ben said, and Landon decked him.
He fell back, and Eagan went for Landon, but Kenny punched Eagan. Ben got up and went to fight Landon, but then Landon punched Ben in the stomach as Eagan got up and then got punched by Kenny.
The sheriffs broke it up. “That’s enough. You two, you head with Deputy Jameson along with Sheriff Mullen’s deputies back to the department, and you answer any questions they have in regards to where you think Cherise may or may not be. You guys head back to Cherry Hill. The state police are involved and on their way. We’ll have a forensics team try to get any prints or evidence from the scene. Rack your brains, all of you. Cherise is hurt, and someone may have taken her, and we need to figure out who and fast,” Kane told them.
“Do you believe that dick? Like Cherise would have fucking slept with them today? Like they could seduce her,” Eric stated as he paced back at the dojo.
“He was full of shit. Wanted to piss you guys off. At least you got a few good shots in. They didn’t get shit in on you ‘old men’,” Birdie said and chuckled.
“Old men, my ass. This stinks. Something is fucking going on here. I hope Prime and them keep a watch on Ben and Eagan. I didn’t trust them at all, for obvious reasons, but also their arrogance. This could have something to do with them,” Rome said.
“I don’t know, but it’s getting dark. I can’t stand this waiting around shit,” Landon said.
“What else can we fucking do? The police sent out the dogs to scent a trail and got nothing. They kept going back to the road. Someone definitely pulled her out and took her, but who?” Eric said.
“I would hate to think it was some guy from the bar. You know, a man with a crush on her,” Bronc said.
“Oh God, it couldn’t be. There hasn’t been anyone she’s complained about. I mean, guys hit on her all the time,” Ivy said.
“Fuck,” Rome stated and rubbed his face with his hands.
“I’m sorry. I’m just trying to think of anyone I can. Or any concerns she had,” Ivy said.
“We have to look at all possibilities. Where else do we have to go? Nowhere,” Eric said and then leaned back in the chair.
/> Rome had never felt so helpless in his entire life. Who took Cherise, and why?
Prime watched as Ben got a text message on his phone. His eyes narrowed, widened, and then narrowed. His face went flush, then he looked up, and Prime quickly glanced the other way. Ben gave his brother a tap in his arm.
“Hey, do you need us for anything else right now?” he asked Sheriff Titus.
“Well, we aren’t holding you if that’s what you mean,” Titus said.
“We didn’t do anything wrong, but there isn’t anything we can do sitting around here. Please keep us updated. We’re going to head out.”
“Don’t go far. We may need you again,” Titus warned, and Prime said he was heading back to Cherry Hill. He followed the men out of there, but after they left, so they wouldn’t know they were being followed.
“You see that?” he asked Titus.
Titus nodded. “I don’t trust them one bit.”
“Because you’re friends with the Waters men,” Titus said.
“We all are, and what they said to them was messed up back there by the accident. They could be involved but hiding something.”
“Go on then. Keep me posted.”
“Got it,” Prime said and headed out.
He saw them by their truck. Ben showed Eagan his cell phone, and Eagan’s expression of shock was obvious, and then he slammed his hand down on the truck.
“Let’s go home. Now,” Ben said.
Prime caught their eye as they got into their truck. His gut clenched, and he knew something was up. He pulled out his cell phone.
“Rome, I don’t know what the fuck is going on. It could be nothing, but Ben got a text message. He looked shocked, and then he made an excuse to leave, showed his brother the text, and Eagan turned white, then was angry. Could have nothing to do with Cherise disappearing, but my gut never lies.”
“I don’t trust those assholes. I know it seemed like they were telling the truth about not knowing. We’ll take care of this, Prime.”
“I don’t want you going there and beating the crap out of them. I could keep watch instead.”
“No, I’m not going to go. I have friends who live for this shit. They won’t be detected, and they can tell if something is going on or not.”
“Keep me posted. I’m off the clock in twenty. I’m here for you guys.”
“Thanks.”
Chapter 6
“How the fuck can this be happening? How?” Eagan yelled.
Ben was running to the closet and packing up his bag.
“How the fuck do I know? I didn’t even know who these men are. You saw the fucking picture. She’s hurt—her head is cut, cheek bruised and swollen, her chest bruised, and she’s out cold. These men are going to kill her. Obviously they are connected to those fucking terrorists and that mission we just completed.”
“We need to call the commander.”
“You read the other text. They said not to.”
“So we go in blind, at their whim, and we get ourselves and Cherise killed? She doesn’t deserve this,” Eagan yelled as he placed guns into the bag and ammunition. He grabbed their passports and anything else they would need. They changed their clothes and argued about contacting their commander.
“We will need help to get her out alive. We don’t know where they took her. You know what those men are capable of. We’ve seen the bodies,” Eagan said.
“Fine, call him. Call him now, and tell him what’s going on,” Ben said, and then Eagan dialed the secure number.
“Two men who work for Habal and Jordun took our girlfriend. They abducted her today. Crashed her jeep and grabbed her. We don’t know where they are, but they texted us pictures of her. We need assistance,” Eagan said. He covered the receiver. “He put me on hold.”
Ben squinted his eyes. Eagan cleared his throat. “Yes, sir. Home right now and heading to the location.”
“Yes, sir,” Eagan kept saying, and then he ended the call.
“We aren’t to go there yet. He said to keep the phone nearby and head toward the base an hour from here.”
“It’s halfway to the location they may be keeping her. Do you think intel knows about what is happening?” Ben asked.
“I wouldn’t be surprised. They have multiple agencies working their angles on these terrorists. If they had their shit together, they would know these two men who came here to take Cherise. They may have a plan of action,” Eagan said and lifted the bag up over his shoulder. “Or they could blow us off and don’t give a shit about the situation.”
“If that’s the case, then we do what we need to and get to Cherise. I’m not going onto the base. These people could be watching our every move. We hang low and call the commander when we are close.”
“Cherise must be scared out of her mind.”
“Let’s hope she’s unconscious and that they don’t do more to her. If they do, I don’t care about the consequences—every one of those sons of bitches are dying.”
“Agreed,” Ben said, and they headed out.
“They’re on the move. Birdie is a mile up the road. He’ll pick them up on the highway. I added the tracking device to their truck,” Conan said.
“Anything else?” Rome asked.
“They were dressed in camo gear and black coverings on their faces, and carrying large duffel bags like they’re heading out to a mission. I think they know where Cherise is. This may definitely have something to do with them after all,” Conan said.
“We’ll grab our shit and stuff for you guys. Tell Birdie to be careful to not get detected.”
“He will. With that tracking device, he won’t need to be close.”
“Excellent. Get here and we’ll head out together.”
Rome ended the call and looked at his brothers, at Ivy and his best friends.
“Looks like Ben and Eagan are somehow connected to Cherise’s disappearance.”
Ivy gasped.
“Bastards,” Keller stated.
“They’re on the move, packing military gear, and appear to be heading into a mission. Conan, Birdie, and Freddy will track them and follow. We need to grab what shit we think we need,” Rome said.
“Guns. Lots of ammunition in case we’re dealing with military,” Landon said and walked out of the room.
“Let’s do this,” Rome said, and they headed to their gear, starting to gather weapons and ammunition.
Rome’s cell phone rang. “It’s Ferion Dotry,” he said aloud, and his brothers squinted.
“Ferion, what’s up?”
To Mend Fearful Hearts Page 10
