Against The Wall

by Dee J. Adams

  “Nice wheels,” she joked. “Did you get to drive the prison soccer team?”

  His deadly glare pierced her before focusing back on the road.

  Dumb thing to say, especially to a man just out of prison. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I get nervous traveling with…” Ex-cons. But she didn’t say it.

  Jess chose to look at the bright side. She needed to talk to Maurice and maybe Tanner’s gun would help her get what she needed. Then she’d find a way to save Maurice’s sorry ass before Tanner really killed him. There seemed to be some circularity to the evening. Tanner could help her with Maurice, Maurice could help her with her family and she could help Maurice with Tanner. A nice, neat package.

  Ha.

  What a surreal thought. That Tanner might actually kill Maurice if/when he found him. Looking at Tanner’s stone-cold face, mostly hidden in shadows, she doubted she’d be able to stop him from doing anything he wanted. H a spectacular view of the or behind er shoulder throbbed as if to agree with the assessment. Maybe she couldn’t stop him, but Maurice’s security team could.

  “How much time do you need with Juneau before he’s mine?”

  Holy jeez! What a question. And he’d stated it so calmly. As if taking someone’s life was just another errand in a long day. Of course, if Tanner thought to ask, maybe he had the inclination to negotiate. Maurice had better hope so. So, the time she needed with Maurice depended on how seriously he took the situation. “I don’t know.”

  “Let me rephrase,” he said. “What do you need from Juneau before he’s mine?” The certainty in Tanner’s voice freaked her out. He didn’t strike her as a man who killed on a regular basis, yet he sure talked like it. What if that was why he’d been in prison? What if he’d killed multiple people? What if Maurice’s security couldn’t stop him? Bad thought. Because maybe he planned on taking her to Maurice and killing her there, making it seem like some type of work related incident. Crazy Assistant Attacks Boss And Takes Her Own Life. Story at eleven. Yikes.

  “Did you not understand my question?” he said. “What do you need with Juneau?”

  Jess swallowed. This guy wasn’t long on patience. Maybe after spending years in prison, his patience had evaporated. If he’d had any to begin with. “Money. I need money.” A whole hell of a lot of money.

  Tanner glanced at her again, but this time with assessing eyes. He hadn’t expected that answer. Good. She wanted to surprise him. Wanted him to know she wasn’t a wimp who crumbled at the littlest thing…well most of the time. Most of the time she handled a crisis with calm rational thinking. But her idea of a crisis was a cameraman calling in with car trouble and finding a replacement ASAP. Or making sure the location permits were in order or that a fire marshal was present when incendiary devices were used on the set.

  “How much money do you need?” he asked.

  Would it matter if she told him? If he knew how much, he might actually spare Maurice, especially if he thought he could get a fraction of that amount for himself.

  Jess took a deep breath. “Eight million dollars.”

  Tanner jerked his head and looked at her. A car horn blared and he quickly corrected the car. “Eight mil.” He whistled. “What’s a little thing like you going to do with eight million dollars?”

  Save her family, but that was none of his business. She’d been warned not to tell a soul and she wouldn’t. Not if it meant their lives.

  “What does anyone do with that kind of money?” She tried to sound casual, but sounded ridiculous even to herself.

  “Depends on who you are,” Tanner said. He gave her another hard glare. “Who are you, Jess-Jessie?”

  He was mocking her now? “It wasn’t enough that you shot me, now you have to make fun of me too?” It was something her brothers would do, but s gesturing to her.t him he didn’t get any type of brotherly vibe from Tanner. He had her on edge…made her angry. Worse than those two things, he made her itchy. Itchy in a way she couldn’t put a finger on. She held back the urge to squirm in her seat.

  “I told you,” she said, finally answering his question. “I’m his assistant.” And someone in a boatload of trouble.

  ____________

  For the hundredth time, Jay St. John surveyed the unfinished basement where his wife and four sons had been tied—and trapped—for the last twenty-four hours. The cement walls had no windows and only one door led to a short hallway and stairs to the upper part of the house. A series of pipes ran horizontally against the walls several inches off the floor and that’s where the whole family had been handcuffed. No doubt about it, they were in a boatload of trouble. Trying to loosen the pipe that held him, Jay felt the bite of the handcuffs against his raw wrists and pain sizzled up his arms. The damn thing should give at some point.

  His mind had been spinning for hours, trying to figure out who had abducted them and why. Originally, he’d suspected one of his angry clients. As a lawyer, he’d made enough enemies, people not happy with the job he did or a final verdict. But this had been pretty damn extreme. It was one thing to want to hurt him, but to grab almost his whole family? That didn’t make sense.

  Terry shifted and brought his focus back to now. She’d finally fallen asleep an hour ago, her head in his lap. Her cuffs bound her to the same horizontal pipe. He itched to smooth her red hair away from her face, but the restraints made that impossible. From this vantage point, her black eye looked as if she’d gone a few rounds with a heavyweight champ. His sons had similar bruises. So did he. He couldn’t have been more proud of Terry, of the boys too. They’d all fought hard until the moment they realized the futility.

  “She’ll be okay,” Eric, murmured, his voice low, but confident. “Remember when she joined that roller derby team a few years ago and got body-checked off the track? She had a huge shiner after that.”

  Jay looked at his oldest son and forced a smile. The cut over Eric’s eyebrow had stopped bleeding, but the trail of blood still remained along his cheek. “Yeah. Good thing it was the end of the season and I convinced her to hang up her skates.”

  He’d fallen in love with Terry because of her sass. Her attitude and energy drew him like flies to a picnic. She was the only woman he’d ever loved—high school sweethearts in fact—and he’d be the first to admit that their love had grown even stronger through their twenty-seven years together.

  Eric stretched his long legs in front of him, rotated his shoulders as best he could and winced before a grim smile curved his lips. “I think the guy that surprised Mom at the door won’t ever have kids.”

  “Yeah.” Jay grinned too, picturing Terry kneeing the stranger in the balls and slamming her purse against his head. He’d gone down quicker than a bowling ball in quicksand. At that point the house had been full of men. It had taken five of them to bring down all the St. Johns. It private investigator. mt him would’ve taken more if they hadn’t picked them off one and two at a time, waiting as everyone got home. But Terry had been just as awesome as the boys, fighting for her family, for herself. Right up until one of the men slammed his fist in her face and she’d crumbled to the floor in a heap. Jay’s smile faded and he opened his eyes to banish the memory.

  “I hope Jess is okay. You think they plan on bringing her here too?” Eric asked.

  “No.” Jay shook his head. He’d been considering that idea. “I think we’re leverage. I don’t know who’s taken us, but the longer I mull it over, the more I think Jess is involved. She’s the only one not here.” Once the goons at the house had Terry and the boys, they’d hit the road with six of the St. Johns’ in two different vans and a squeal of tires. They would’ve snagged Jess if they’d wanted everyone, which told him she was being used.

  But why and by whom? Who did Jess know who would put all of them in this kind of danger? Only one name came to mind: Maurice Juneau, her boss. Jay had told Jess years ago, when she went to work for the man, that he was trouble. He didn’t have solid proof, but he’d worked for Juneau
himself long before that and the experience had inspired Jay to shift his career.

  Instead of staying in private practice and making money hand over fist, Jay took a job in the public defender’s office for a fraction of the salary. Life changed. The household budget got tighter and raising five kids suddenly became a lot harder. Terry took a job as a teacher at the kids’ private school and the reduction in tuition was the only reason the kids stayed enrolled.

  Yes, life had changed and it was all because of Maurice Juneau.

  Though Jay had tried to convince Jess to find other employment, she’d stood firm, saying that this was a great entry level job if she wanted to be in the movie business and that he needed to let go and let her live her life. Despite his protesting heart, Jay had done it. He’d let his daughter go. Let her make her own decisions.

  Brendan stirred next to Eric and Jay gestured with his chin to his youngest son. “How’s he look to you? I can’t see him well enough from over here.”

  Glancing at his brother, Eric grimaced. “They beat the hell out of him, but I’ve seen him get the same one or two times before. He’s a tough son of a bitch.”

  “Hey, watch it,” Terry mumbled from Jay’s lap. “The bitch is listening.”

  “Sorry, Mom. Figure of speech,” Eric said.

  “Didn’t mean to wake you,” Jay murmured softly. “Go back to sleep.”

  Terry sat up, stretched her shoulders the same way Eric had done. “Not gonna happen,” she said around a yawn. “I’m too sore.” After craning a look at three of her sleeping and bruised sons, she snuggled as close to Jay as she could and leaned against his side. Beneath the layer of female perspiration, the smell of Terry’s jasmine perfume wafted under Jay’s nose and he closed his eyes and breathed in his wife. “Okay, anyone get an idea of how to get out and placed a pack sat of here yet?” Terry asked. “There has to be a way.”

  “Not with these damn cuffs on,” Eric said, rattling his for effect.

  “I think we have to wait this out for now,” Jay said. “There isn’t a whole lot we can do at this point, but we’ve got to be prepared for any possibility.”

  “Such as?” Eric asked.

  Jay had already spun a few ideas around. “Such as we need to be ready if Jess gets to speak to us. If I’m right and someone is using us to use her, then she’ll demand to talk to one of us or all of us. If that happens we need to come up with clues. A way—or ways—for her to figure out either where we are or who has us.”

  “We don’t know either of those things,” Terry pointed out.

  “Yet,” Jay said. “We don’t yet, but maybe we will in time, before we talk to her.”

  “If we talk to her,” Danny added from his spot along the wall. He sat up and stretched as his brother and mother had. “And that’s a big if.”

  Jay nodded. “Yes, but like I said, we have to be prepared for anything.” He paused a moment as he looked around the room. “So what did we see coming into this place?” he asked.

  Danny shrugged. “Other houses, hills.”

  “I saw the pier,” Eric said. “You know, the top of the Ferris wheel.”

  “Yeah, I did too,” Jay said, nodding again. “If we can come up with something obscure…something that won’t give us away or get Jess in trouble, maybe we can give her enough clues to at least get the vicinity of where we are. If she has the vicinity and knows who’s behind this, even if we don’t, she’ll be able get reinforcements and get us out of here.”

  “Whoever did this is sure determined,” Terry chimed in. “They were ready with the man power and transportation for all six of us. That was one hell of a plan.”

  The door opened abruptly, slammed against the wall and a man walked in. Terry jumped and straightened. The sound snapped the nineteen-year-old twins awake and they sat up as well.

  What caught everyone’s attention first was the black mask on the man’s face. It covered his eyes and nose in a Batman sort of way. It gave Jay a strange sense of hope that as long as they couldn’t identify him, they had a chance of survival.

  The designer suit hanging on the man’s lean build easily cost three grand. Jay owned a few himself, but they were old. Back when he had his own practice and money rolled in by the wheelbarrow full, he’d splurged on the suits. Those days were long gone. He got the feeling this guy had a closet full. Two men with guns flanked his sides.

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  Chapter Four

  Streetlights and palm trees whizzed past as Tanner drove down Sunset Boulevard. Silence loomed in the car. Jess had already told him she worked as Juneau’s assistant, but that didn’t answer his other question. What did she need with that much money? Or maybe it had nothing to do with need. Maybe it was greed. He’d learned a lot about greed in the past decade. Saw what it did to his best friend and what it did to guys in the pen. How it changed people and made them something different.

  Jess wasn’t what he first expected. Her baby doll exterior didn’t mesh with her backbone. She was scared to death of him. He saw it in her eyes, her mannerisms. The way she bit her lip and stuttered words. But she continually looked him in the eye. Faced him head on. Plus she had an attitude on top of it.

  The attitude reminded him of three of his sisters. The naïve, scared part reminded him of the fourth. Not that he wanted reminders of his sisters…he didn’t. He had no room for anything but revenge. He had to stay focused.

  Prison had hardened him. There was always more to a person than met the eye, so he shouldn’t be surprised that Jess—with her peaches and cream complexion—wanted a piece of Juneau’s pie. But despite knowing that looks didn’t define a person, he’d already judged her. Innocent. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been wrong. Hell, his judgment sucked harder than a category five hurricane.

  She hadn’t wanted to tell him about the money. He got that. It was none of his business and they probably wouldn’t be spending too much time together in the distant future. But why would she be mixed up with Juneau in this way if she’d been his assistant for three years already?

  “Are you blackmailing him?” It didn’t seem to fit, but anything was possible.

  Her jaw dropped as she stared at him. “No,” she said, obviously affronted. “I… You don’t know… I don’t have to tell…” She faced forward, fumed. She played the innocent act like a pro.

  Tanner took a closer look, which wasn’t easy since he had to watch the road. Her eyes glittered with moisture. “Are you crying?”

  She swiped at her eyes. “No.” Her adamant tone surprised him.

  Every time he meant to catch the little fluff ball, she family member lside and gave him the warrior. He didn’t remember women being this hard to read. Of course he hadn’t been around too many women the past seven years. Like zero. Not his sisters or his mother since getting out of prison. He purposely hadn’t seen any of his family for more than one reason…his dad being one of them. If he didn’t see them, he could pretend his dad was still alive. Tanner quashed the errant thought before guilt swamped him.

  Besides, knowing his family, they’d try to change his mind about Juneau. They would’ve surrounded him with things like love, support and understanding. At least they would have, before he’d turned his back on them. He had too much anger to face any other emotion. They wouldn’t understand his rage. His intense need for revenge. Juneau deserved to pay for what he’d done, just the way Tanner had paid for a crime he didn’t commit. His family wouldn’t understand that. They’d want him to move on. Forget the past, but Tanner couldn’t. He lived for the moment when Juneau felt fear. Wanted to see the man’s face when he hurt.

  “Watch it!” Jess screamed as the car went over the Braille line of the double yellows, and Tanner swerved back into his lane, the street lights coming back into focus. “God, you’re going to kill us before we even get to Maurice,” she complained. “What is wrong with you?”

&n
bsp; Just about everything, but Tanner had no inclination to talk about himself. “If you’re not blackmailing him, then what’s the deal?” he asked, completely ignoring her question. If she worked with Juneau then maybe they were having, or at some point had, a fling. Maybe someone was blackmailing her. But why? “Are you married?” he asked.

  She shot him a glare. “It’s none of your business. And no.” She wrapped her arms around her middle and her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths.

  “Then why do you need the money?” When she didn’t answer, Tanner pulled over and shut the car down. Several cars whizzed past. Obviously she had an agenda and he wanted answers. Her timetable seemed a little less flexible than his. Because although he wanted Juneau as soon as possible, he’d rather wait and get it right than screw up a second time.

  Jess looked at him, her eyes wide. “What are you doing? We need to find Maurice.” She checked her watch. She was definitely on a clock.

  “I don’t drive until I hear your story. Give it.” He shifted in the seat and rested his forearm on the steering wheel.

  She blinked, looked like Bambi just out of the smoking forest with no idea where to go or what to do. Yep, she definitely reminded him of Holly. Those big eyes, wide with uncertainty and panic. His youngest sister had taken the brunt of the abuse from her older siblings. Him included. Occasionally he’d stuck up for Holly, but most the time he’d teased her like the others. Tanner shoved the memories out of his mind.

  “I’ve got time,” he said, rubbing in the fact that Jess didn’t.

  Her eyes brightened with unshed tears and the sight rocked Tanner. Made his stomach flip in an odd way. She averted her gaze and stared straight ahead, quickly wiping her eyes, but the damage was done. A strange sensation flexed his heart. to do thatd l

  Her jaw clenched and she swallowed hard. In the next instant she opened the door and shot out of the car. Tanner’s adrenaline soared as he lunged and caught her back leg. They both tumbled onto the roadside. She struggled beneath him as he grappled for her wrists. Hardly any traffic crowded the road since it was dead middle of the night and the few cars that traveled the street zoomed by.