by Susan Stoker
“Okay, but since Hunter and Faulkner are at the bar, Fiona, you and Cheyenne will need to go to the restroom, so they’ll really think you did it.”
“Good idea, Jess. Come on Cheyenne, let’s go!”
The other girls watched as Cheyenne and Fiona tripped across the room toward the bathroom. Neither was surprised when Faulkner casually got up and stood in the hallway that led to the bathroom. The last time Cheyenne went to the restroom in a bar, she disappeared. Faulkner wasn’t going to take a chance on that ever happening again.
The girls left the restroom and laughed hysterically after seeing Faulkner standing there watching them.
They came back to the table and continued to giggle uncontrollably.
“Okay, everyone get your phones out, but try to hide them from the guys at the bar,” Caroline ordered. “Type in the message and don’t hit send until we’re all ready.”
When everyone was done typing, Caroline counted down. “Three, two, one, send. Okay, now everyone put your phone in the middle of the table. We’ll see whose vibrates first.”
Everyone giggled as they waited. Then Cheyenne’s phone suddenly wiggled on the table.
“Why am I not surprised?” Caroline said laughing and rolling her eyes.
Cheyenne picked up her phone and everyone watched as she blushed furiously.
“What did he say?” Alabama asked, leaning toward her.
Cheyenne turned so her body was blocking her actions from her man sitting at the bar and showed Faulkner’s return text. Did I give you permission to remove them? Hope you’re comfortable sitting on that stool because I’m taking you over my knee when we get home.
“Jeez, Cheyenne, you lucky bitch!” Caroline said, completely serious.
Cheyenne giggled and put her phone back into her pocket. “I know you guys know how Faulkner is with me, but I swear I’ve never been happier.”
Caroline put her hand on Cheyenne’s and said seriously, “Just because he’s a bit more dominant in bed with you than our guys are with us doesn’t make it wrong. If you guys are happy with what you are, who the hell cares what everyone else thinks.”
Everyone around the table nodded their agreement. Suddenly two more phones started vibrating.
Jess leaned over and picked her phone up, read Kason’s words, and smiled. “He said, ‘Are you ready for me to pick you up yet?’” Jess typed out a short negative return text and put her phone away. “What did Cookie say Fiona?”
Fiona laughed and showed everyone the phone. What game are you girls playing?
The all laughed and turned and waved at the two men at the bar. Hunter had seen them laughing and he and Faulkner had obviously shared that they received the same text.
“Three more to go!” Jess said with glee. She couldn’t remember when she’d had a better time. It’d been a long time since she’d hung out with girlfriends.
The next phone vibrated and Caroline snatched it up. She threw her head back and laughed and showed them all Matthew’s response. Fuck I love girl’s night out!
They all leaned forward and stared at the two phones left on the table. Alabama and Summer both looked ready to jump out of their skin. Finally Alabama’s phone vibrated, then Summer’s did too, five seconds too late for her to have won.
“Damn! Mozart’s gonna pay when we get home!” Summer said laughing.
Abe’s return text had said, Bet we don’t make it home before I can make you explode and Mozart’s said, You’re going to pay for that . . . in the best way possible.
Everyone agreed that while Summer might have lost the bet, they were all going to be winners that night.
Chapter Fourteen
Benny waited impatiently for Jessyka to text or call him to come and pick her up. The words she’d said right before she’d entered Aces for the night, echoed around in his brain. Jess loved him. He’d known it already, there was no way she could respond to him the way she had if she didn’t love him.
He wanted to show her how much he loved her in return, before giving her the words back. It figured she’d say them when he couldn’t do anything about it.
But Benny had the night all planned. He’d been serious when he’d told her what he had in store for them tonight. Benny had spoken at length with Dude about his lifestyle. And while Benny knew he’d never be a hardcore dominant as Dude was, he found there were aspects of it that he found interesting and wouldn’t mind trying out.
Jess had never complained when he’d held her down or ordered her around in their bed. He knew she liked it. Benny figured he’d take it just a step further and see if she also enjoyed being physically restrained. If so, Benny knew they had a lot of fun nights experimenting ahead of them. He didn’t need to be in control in the bedroom, like Dude did, and he knew Jess liked to take the reins sometimes, which he had no problem with. But, it was fun to mix it up now and then and try new things.
When Jess had texted him the naughty note about her panties, it had taken all he had not to get in the car right then and pick her ass up and drag her home. He wanted to give her the night out she’d been looking forward to, but it was killing him.
Finally around eleven, Benny’s phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but answered anyway, figuring it had to be Jess.
“Hello?”
“Is this Kason Sawyer?”
“Yeah, who the hell is this?” Benny’s voice was curt and impatient. He didn’t like getting calls from people he didn’t know, but who obviously knew him.
“I work at the bar where Jess and the girls are at. Your SEAL buddy told me to call and tell you trouble’s brewing and that you need to get down here. Go to the alley in the back and enter that way. He’ll make sure the door is open.”
“What kind of trouble?” Benny asked, but the person on the other end of the line had hung up. “Fuck,” Benny couldn’t hold back the expletive.
This is the last time they go to that fucking place by themselves.
Benny thought about calling either Cookie or Dude to verify what whoever was on the phone said, but didn’t want to take the time. He knew he was being a dumbass, but all he could think of was Jess. Everything he’d ever been taught in his SEAL training said to wait, not make rash decisions, to get all the intel possible before entering into an unknown situation, and perhaps most importantly, relying on his teammates to help him . . . but he couldn’t wait. Not when it was his Jess that could be in trouble.
He grabbed his keys and shoved his phone in his pocket and raced out the door. He jogged to his car and started it up. Not bothering with his seat belt, Benny threw the car into drive and pealed out of the parking lot toward the bar.
As he pulled into the parking lot, the bar looked quiet, maybe too quiet. Benny had no idea what was going on, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He parked his car at the far end of the lot, out of direct line of sight of the door and silently made his way to the alley behind the bar. He pulled his K-bar knife out of its sheath and held it loosely in his hand. He had no idea what trouble he was walking into, but he wanted to be prepared for anything.
Benny saw the back door to the bar and made his way forward. He reached for the handle of the door and pulled, surprised to find it locked. The hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up and he suddenly knew he’d fucked up . . . huge. Hell, it was as if he hadn’t spent ten years of his life learning the basics about dangerous ops. Benny wanted to kick his own ass. He had to get a hold of Wolf and the others immediately. He turned around to head back around to the front to find out what the fuck was going on and to call his teammate, but didn’t make it two steps before everything went black.
* * *
“Holy shit, Jess, please stop! My stomach hurts so bad!” Fiona begged as they all doubled over with laughter again.
“I can’t help it if I see some crazy shit here at the bar,” Jessyka defended herself. She’d been telling the girls stories about some of the weird things people did when they were drunk. “There was even this
one time when a group of women came in and tried to do a shot from the opposite side of the glass!” That made the girls all double over with laughter again.
“Hey, we were amazing at that!” Summer bragged, knowing exactly what Jessyka was talking about.
“Yeah, you were. You’ll have to teach us all how to do it!” Jess agreed and smiled. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so hard. Feeling her phone vibrating in her pocket, Jess eagerly pulled it out, excited to see what Kason would have to say to her. She’d been ready to go for at least an hour, but didn’t want to be the first one to bail.
I’ve got your boyfriend. Don’t say anything to the others or I’ll kill him. Come outside through the back door.
Jess frowned as she re-read the text. It said it was from Kason’s phone. Was he playing a joke on her?
Kp yr pnts on Kason, Ill be hme sn
She clicked the screen off and lifted her head ready to share Kason’s impatience with her friends. Over the last few hours Jess had learned they didn’t keep anything from each other, and she loved the openness and non-judgmental attitudes of her new friends.
Her phone vibrated again and Jess smiled and looked down to see Kason’s response. She gasped instead. There was no note, only a picture of Kason on the backseat of a car. He was obviously unconscious and there was blood smeared on the side of his face. Trying to figure out if what she was seeing was for real, another text came though.
I’ll fucking kill him and won’t think twice. Get your ass outside and if you say anything to anyone, or warn them, I’ll know and he’ll die.
Jess thought fast. There was no way she could sneak out the back. Dude and Cookie were way too paranoid about that back hallway and door. She also didn’t think the girls would let her go to the bathroom alone, and one of the guys would watch them if they did go.
I cnt go out the bk. Hve to go out frnt. Dnt hrt him. I’m cming
Jess tried not to panic. She didn’t want to be one of those girls who was too stupid to live. And walking out the door would certainly make her just that. She didn’t want to be kidnapped, but how the hell could she do anything differently? Jess knew the guys would figure it out quickly. They had to. She knew Tex was tracking her. She didn’t think he just sat in front of his computer and watched their movements all day, but hopefully it would look weird when he did finally take a look to see that she went from the bar to . . . wherever she’d be taken when she stepped outside. Hopefully it would be to Kason.
What sucked was that no one had ever thought about the guys needing to be tracked. It had always been the women. Everyone had always been so concerned about one of them being taken again. They didn’t even think that one of them could be kidnapped or put in danger. All it would’ve taken is one measly device attached to a piece of clothing, or a watch or a shoe or something, and Kason wouldn’t be in this predicament. Hell, she wouldn’t be in this predicament.
If Kason had a tracking device she would’ve immediately told Dude or Cookie and they would’ve taken care of it while she stayed safe, but now she was put into a position where if she didn’t do exactly as whoever was on the other end of Kason’s phone demanded, she could lose the best thing that ever happened to her.
Jess didn’t want to risk ignoring whoever it was that had texted her, because she had no idea where Kason was. She didn’t know who was behind the kidnapping. Was it someone from a mission he’d been on? She couldn’t imagine the guys being so careless as to let one of their enemies know where they were, but she had no other idea who might be responsible. Jess was scared to death, but knew Kason’s best chance was to get whoever it was to take her to him and hope Tex was watching.
You have three minutes. I’ll kill him if you aren’t out here.
Jess closed the phone without bothering to answer and took a deep breath. Showtime.
“That was Kason,” she said to the girls, hoping she sounded normal. “He’s waiting outside. Guess he got too impatient and wanted me to call it a night already. That text got him thinking I suppose.” Jess laughed, knowing it wasn’t her usual easy-going laugh, but she wasn’t that good of an actress.
“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t!” Caroline laughed as she hopped off her stool and came over to give Jess a hug. “We’ll do this again soon!”
It looked like she’d fooled her friends. Jess nodded in agreement and hugged each of the women. If she held on a bit too long and squeezed a bit too hard, no one said anything.
“I’m going to go and say bye to the guys.”
Everyone nodded and turned back to their conversation. Jess took another deep breath. It was one thing to trick her friends, but fooling the SEALs would be another thing altogether. How much time had passed? She had no idea, but knew she had to step this up.
She limped quickly over to Cookie and Dude. “Hey guys, Kason just texted, he’s outside waiting for me. I teased him a bit too much before we got here I think.” She looked up at Dude. “Guess that little talk you had with him went over well. He said he has plans for me tonight.” Jess smiled up at Dude.
“You all right?” Dude asked, taking her chin in his hand.
Damn, guess she wasn’t as good at this acting thing as she thought. Jess closed her eyes briefly and prayed he’d let her go. “I’m good, Dude. Swear. Hell, what can go wrong? Tex has me bugged up ten ways to Sunday. I can’t take a step without Tex and you guys knowing where I am, right?” Jess knew she was overdoing it, but she had to try to give them some clue. Maybe Dude and Cookie wouldn’t get it right away, but hopefully they’d figure it out sooner rather than later.
“Right. Remember you can always say no and Benny’ll stop.”
Jessyka flushed. Jesus. Dude was talking about her sex life as if he knew exactly what Kason had in store for her tonight.
Dude chuckled, obviously enjoying her embarrassment. “All right, sweetie. Go on home. We’ll see you later.”
Jess gave Cookie a hug and wished with all her heart she could say something to these men. She knew they’d take action in a heartbeat, but she couldn’t stop seeing the words, I’ll kill him, flash in front of her eyes or get the picture of Kason lying motionless and bleeding out of her head. She wouldn’t risk his life. The guys would find her, and hopefully Kason, soon.
Jess headed for the front door of Aces, wondering if she’d ever see it again. She turned and waved at the girls. They wavered in her sight a bit because of the tears in her eyes. Jess beat the tears back. Fuck that. She wouldn’t cry. She had to be strong. She had two tracking devices on her at the moment, they’d show Tex, and therefore the others, where she was. They had to.
She opened the door and stepped outside and looked around. Jess had no idea where it was she was supposed to go. Suddenly an arm wrapped around her from behind and a cloth was shoved over her mouth and nose. She struggled, but quickly became overwhelmed from the fumes on the cloth. The last thing Jess thought about before she went unconscious was that she hoped Tex was as good at tracking people as the guys said he was.
Chapter Fifteen
Jess wrinkled her nose and turned her head to get away from the horrible stench currently filling her nostrils. When the smell didn’t abate, she brought her hand up to smack whatever it was away, but her hand was caught in a harsh grip and forced to her side.
Finally she opened her eyes and looked into the brown eyes of her ex. He was holding a little white capsule under her nose that was emitting a noxious smell.
“Brian,” she breathed.
“Yeah, it’s me, babe. Glad to see me?”
Jess struggled in his grip. “Let go.”
“You’re going to do exactly as I say if you want your precious SEAL to live. Got it?”
“Where is he? What did you do to him?” Jess refused to give in to Brian ever again. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but fuck it. She was done cowering from him. She’d heard all about what Caroline and the other women had been through, and if they could be brave, so could she.
“I’ve only done to him what his friends did to me. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. Come on, crip, let’s go.”
Brian hauled Jess to her feet and kept a strong grip on her arm. She swayed, still trying to fight the effects of the chloroform.
“Now, you’re going to walk, bitch. I’ve hidden him out in the woods so he wouldn’t cause any trouble. I didn’t want his asshole friends to find him before I was done with him . . . and you.”
Brian pushed Jess toward the trees next to where he’d parked. It was the same park Kason had brought her to in the past when he wanted to talk. Jess bit back a bitter laugh. How ironic.
She stumbled over the uneven ground and tried to keep her pace up. Brian had a light on his hat to help him see as he walked, but Jess had to rely on the meager light coming from it to show her the way. Every time she faltered, Brian would shove her. She fell each time he put his hands on her. The uneven length of her legs had never made hiking easy, and walking through the woods in the middle of the night, and not on an established path, wasn’t making it easier.
She fell for the tenth time and Brian brought his foot back and kicked her in the hip, hard. “Get the fuck up, bitch. Swear to God, I have no idea why I wasted so much of my time with you.”
Trying to ignore the pain in her hip, and to give it time to stop throbbing before she had to use it again, Jess asked, “Why did you Brian? If you hated me so much why the hell did you ask me to move in?”
“Tammy needed a fucking babysitter. You were there. So we decided you’d do.”
Jess stared at Brian in disbelief. “You decided I’d do? That’s all I was? A means to an end for you?”
“Yeah, that’s all you were. A means to a fucking end. Then the stupid bitch killed herself. We were making good money off of her too.”
“What?” Jess breathed, not believing what she’d heard.
Brian squatted down next to Jess, smiling evilly. “Yeah, she was a good fuck for my buddies. They paid us in drugs and they got . . . teenage pussy. Too bad she was so fat though, we could’ve gotten double if she wasn’t such a fat ass.”
