I lay there for about fifteen minutes before the medicine started to take hold. As I looked around my surroundings, I worried what our final destination had in store for me. I would be trading one prison for another. I prayed the next one was a little bigger than the three-foot-by-five-foot hole that I was currently curled up in. I felt like a sardine.
Within a few minutes, I felt my whole body relax and my eyelids started to droop as I succumbed to the sedative. My ankle was still pounding but my ribs ached less. As I started to drift off, my thoughts went to my aunt. I hoped she was okay. Surely, Brody would have gotten to her fairly quick.
Brody.
When this is all over, if I live that long, I swear to God, I’m going after what I want. To hell with the consequences.
I needed to start living.
If I live, that is.
Chapter Twenty-one
~Brody~
Jaxon was still staring Damon down like a lion hunting prey. It had been several minutes since Damon had explained the situation with Barb and no one had moved a muscle.
“Enough. Now is not the time, and here in front of everyone is definitely not the appropriate place. Jaxon, I understand that Viper was your boy and that he and Barb were together, but Damon is right. She has a right to move on with her life. Do you really think Viper would want her sitting around grieving him forever?”
Jaxon glared, but I saw his shoulders loosen and his jaw slacken.
“Damon, you need to understand where Jaxon is coming from. He’s just looking out for Barb. She’s Leila’s best friend and his best friend’s—widow, for lack of a better word. Now, you two need to squash this shit, right here, right now. I have no fucking clue what we are walking into down here, but I need both of y’all’s heads in the game. Emmery is counting on us.” I reminded everyone that there were people’s lives on the line. This wasn’t a bachelor party we were going to in Venezuela.
I stood up and walked away from the pack of wild animals toward the bedroom at the back of the plane. I needed to get the hell away from the pall of animosity. Negativity was like the black plague. It seeped into your pores and infected your soul.
Before I reached the door, Kaci stopped me. “Do you have a minute?”
The buxom brunette, who was our most genius Internet sleuth, nodded ahead, indicating she wanted to talk behind closed doors.
Ushering her forward, I closed the door behind us. Most women in the past that angled to get behind this door usually launched themselves at me right about now, but Kaci wasn’t like most women, which is why I was beginning to grow quite fond of her.
“What can I do for you?”
“I didn’t want to speculate out there, but I have been doing more digging into Emmery’s mom. I hacked into local security cameras around the three miles where Alejandra lives and I haven’t been able to find her out of the compound without at least two armed, escorts. And those shots were taken almost six weeks ago.” She exhaled a hard breath. “I don’t think it’s her behind this.”
“Why do you say that? Everything points to her. Who else would kidnap Emmery just to take her to where her mother lives?”
“I don’t know who, but it’s too easy. There are too many breadcrumbs. Think about it. Why would she invite Emmery down if she was only going to kidnap her a week later? Why would she use her own credit card to buy those guys plane tickets? Those same guys—well at least we think it’s the same guys, anyway—those same guys had a private plane on standby. Why, if Alejandra is taking over, would she need her daughter so desperately that she would have her men run her off the road and almost kill her?”
Maybe Em was right after all. Maybe someone was setting up her mother.
“If it’s not Alejandra, then who? We don’t have any other leads. All signs point to her. Maybe she thinks down there she is above reproach. It’s not far-fetched for that family to think they can do whatever they want and get away with it. They do it all of the time.” I reminded her of the intel she had previously given me.
“I know, but my gut is tellin’ me there is more to this than we can clearly see. We are missin’ a piece of the puzzle. You don’t have to agree with me, but just keep an open mind and look at the evidence without any preconceived notions, okay?”
“Fine,” I agreed. “Emmery seems to think someone is setting her mom up, as well.”
“Of course she would. It’s her mother. We never want to think the worst of our mothers. Thanks for hearin’ me out.” Kaci turned to leave.
“Do me a favor—we have another hour or so before we land. Keep digging on this theory of yours. If it’s right, you may just save us one hell of a fight to get her back,” I told her with an encouraging nod. “Let me know what you find.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Kaci said with a huge, satisfied grin. She pulled the door shut as she exited, leaving me alone with my thoughts. And a few reservations.
The room was small but had a queen-size bed, small couch and full bathroom. Pulling my cell from my pocket, I placed it on the small side table that was affixed to the wall next to the bed. I sat down on the bed and toed my shoes off. We still had about an hour and a half left in the flight; I needed to try to rest. Just an hour or so of sleep should be plenty—I had been on the go since five this morning.
Settling back, my head found the pillows but my mind found worries. How could this day have gone so horribly awry from the amazing morning Emmery and I had spent? I loved that she was a little bashful, despite my already having her nipple in my mouth and her dry-humping me in a dark alley. I’ll never forget the way she looked sitting on that shower floor covered by a sopping wet towel; frustrated, adorable and so damned determined to do things on her own. I saw why she questioned Jane on living with and taking care of me. Emmery was fiercely independent and as a fellow child of wealth, I admired that quality. She could have sat around and done nothing with her life and had plenty of money, but she chose to go to school and get a double degree. That takes a lot of self-drive, dedication and passion.
Passion, she had in spades. She was full of hunger and aspirations. I just hope that she makes it through this with only a broken leg and ankle.
As I thought about her being hurt or in pain, dread and anxiety crept up my throat and seeped into my brain. For someone I had only known a week, she certainly had put a spell on me. The kind of magic she weaved was new. She didn’t just make me want her on a physical level; she made me want to find out where the little scar above her eyebrow came from, when she fell in love with horses, what was her favorite music. I wanted to take time and get to know what drove her, what her dreams were.
As I started to fall asleep, I thought about how it would be to work with her. Maybe she would consider staying in Charleston with me if she had a job. Viper Security was looking for an accountant and she had an accounting degree. Maybe she could take over the finances and grow in the position.
Somewhere deep down, I knew I was kidding myself. Her first passion was riding and training, not sitting behind a desk crunching numbers. The last image that danced through my thoughts before I succumbed was the memory of Em sauntering down the hallway away from me, so confident and full of life.
***
I awoke to the quick rapping on the door, which I decided to ignore. Too bad the person on the other side decided to be a pain in my ass. The pounding ensued until I finally dragged myself from the bed and snatched open the door.
“What?” I snapped at Drew.
“Dude, what crawled up your ass?”
“Sorry, I was trying to grab a little sleep. What’s up?” Calming, I walked back toward the bed, leaving the door open for Drew to come in.
“We started our descent into Caracas,” he told me as he shut the door behind him. “Kaci left out of here over an hour ago and has had her nose to the grindstone ever since. What did you two talk about?”
“Did you ask her?” I was curious if she discussed her alternative theory with anyone else.
“
No, I’m asking you. Why the secrets?”
Sitting down on the foot of the bed, I put my shoes on then scrubbed my hands up my face and through my hair, straightening it as best I could. “She came to me with a theory on who is behind Em’s abduction. I told her to run it down.”
Standing, I walked into the bathroom to splash some water on my face and brush my teeth. Looking up into the mirror, I saw Drew stood in the doorway. “Who does she think it is?”
“Not Alejandra. And when she started laying everything out there for me, I can sort of understand why she thinks it’s not. So, I told her to run it down,” I explained with my toothbrush hanging from my mouth. Spitting the remaining toothpaste out, I rinsed and grabbed a hand towel to wipe my mouth.
“Do you have any other theories?” Drew inquired as he leaned on the doorframe.
Did I have any other theories? I didn’t know Emmery’s family. Who knew if they had enemies? I doubted she had enemies, but I couldn’t say I knew her all that well.
Yet.
“Yo, B. Where are you?” Drew asked, bringing me back from my own deliberations.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about your question. I don’t know who else it could be. The only family I know she has is Jane, her mom—and her dad. Shit.” It dawned on me that we hadn’t even reached out to her father to let him know the current predicament. “I need to call Jane and get her dad’s number so I can call him and let him know what’s happened. Maybe he will have some insight into Alejandra or her family.”
“I could have Kaci track him down if you’d prefer,” Drew offered.
“No, Jane will be easier. He’s an international tax lawyer so he’s all over the place. Emmery said earlier today she didn’t even know where he was. Plus, I can check on Jane while I’m at it.”
“Whatever you wanna do, man. Anyway, we’re almost there. I’m gonna head back out front,” Drew said before he turned and walked out.
“I’ll be out in a minute.” Walking over to the small table, I picked up my phone, scrolling through the contacts until I landed on Jane’s name.
It rang a few times before she answered groggily. “Hi, my sweet boy.”
“Hi, Jane. How are you feeling?” Instantly, I felt awful as I realized I woke her up.
“Sore and tired, but grateful it wasn’t worse. Thank God you insisted on buying me a big SUV. Have you found Em yet?” I could hear the worry in her voice once she woke up a little.
“No, we haven’t.” Which reminded me, Kai’s guy should have intel for us by now. “Jane, we need to contact your brother and let him know what’s going on. Could you please send me his contact information?”
“Of course, but I think this should come from me. No offense, sweetie, but he doesn’t exactly know you. I’ll call him and let him know what’s happened. And Brody…”
“Yes?”
“Please be careful and take care of yourself,” she pleaded. “I couldn’t bear if something happened to either of you. Y’all are the only family I have, other than Richard.”
“I promise to be careful. The plan is to slip in and slip out without having to deal with anyone,” I advised her. I just hoped it was as easy as I made it seem.
“Okay. I’ll call Richard. Please call me when you have more news,” she requested.
“Will do. I’ll see you soon. Try not to worry.”
“Bye, dear.”
“Bye, Jane.”
Moving out the bedroom, I set my sights on the rather large Samoan man who had saved Leila when her life was in danger. Yet again, I was asking him to save someone I cared about.
“Talk to me. What do you know? Where did Marco say they took her?” I asked Kai as I walked up to the conference table where the crew had gathered. Rosa and Barrett were still in the ivory leather reclining chairs. As ex-pilots, I suspected neither of them enjoyed flying when they weren’t the ones in the cockpit.
“Marco followed them to Alejandra’s compound. The good news is that Emmery’s okay. The bad news is she’s behind a heavily fortified wall with about ten guards on the perimeter. We don’t have eyes on the inside so we’ve got no clue what it looks like,” Kai disclosed.
“Fuck,” I roared. No one said a word; their eyes just bounced around to each person, waiting to see who would be the first to open their mouth and speak.
“It’s not impossible,” Jaxon said bluntly. “We have a small team, yeah, but we have a specially trained, lethally accurate team of experts who specialize in precisely this kind of problem. We will eliminate this problem and retrieve the package. This is what most of us did for ten plus years.”
“He’s right,” Bear spoke up. I’d heard him speak so few times, the deep, huskiness of his voice caught me off-guard. He really did sound like a bear. “You’ve basically put together and hired your own personal hit squad.”
“Don’t underestimate these guys. They aren’t just kids picked up off the streets. They’ve got training, just not the amount of experience,” Kai informed us.
“Let’s not get cocky, people. Arrogance gets people killed,” Jaxon said somberly before turning in the stationary swivel chair and leaving the table. I knew he was thinking about Viper, the namesake of the company that employed this crew of mercenaries.
“Did Marco get transportation arranged?”
“Yes. Two large SUVs are ready and waiting. Keys are inside. He said his guy in customs is there and waiting to stamp us through with no questions asked,” Kai reported.
“Good. Has he gotten us a place close to the compound for us to work out of?” I wanted to be as close as possible. We had to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike, so I wanted to be ready when it presented itself.
“Still working on that, but he should have it taken care of by the time we land and make our way to the vehicles,” Kai replied, leaning back and stretching his arms over his head. “Once I get home, I’m gonna need a few days off. I think I’ve spent more time on planes in the last week than I have in my entire life.”
“Kai, as soon as I have Emmery home, safe, you can take off as much time as you’d like. All of you can,” I told the crew, looking around the cabin to each of them. Even Jaxon.
I hated to admit it, but I didn’t think I could do this without him. He’d had more experience in hostage rescue than anyone there.
Just as we are making our final descent into Venezuela, Jaxon’s phone started playing “Die a Happy Man” by Thomas Rhett. I could tell by the look on his face the call was from Leila.
“Hey, babe, hang on.” Jax pulled the cell from his ear and looked from me to the bedroom. I nodded and he disappeared.
Damon came over and sat down next to me at the conference table as everyone slowly took seats along the windows, preparing for landing.
“Thanks for fuckin’ outing me earlier,” he huffed.
“Damon, it wasn’t like that and you know it. But I am sorry Jax gave you a hard time,” I said.
“I didn’t want anyone to know. That’s for Barb to tell. She’s the one dealin’ with all of this shit. I’m just tryin’ to be a good friend,” he told me, his face coated with regret. “I told her I’d keep this between us, but it’s tearing me up.”
“What? Are you falling for her?” I asked, shocked. Then I reeled it in. “I mean, that’s not a bad thing. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.”
“Nah, I’m not in love with her. I do care about her, but it’s more as friends.”
“Then what’s got you so tangled in knots?” I couldn’t figure him out. Part of me thought he was just telling me what he thought I wanted to hear, but who knew. Maybe it was just friends with benefits. Certainly wouldn’t have been the first time for Damon.
“I want to help her move on and that’s what I thought I was doing. But the other night, I woke up at her place and she wasn’t in the bed. When I finally found her, she was in her closet, wrapped up in his old leather jacket, sitting on the floor cryin’. Maybe I’m hindering her from moving on by letti
ng her use me.”
“Wow, D. That’s some deep shit. I don’t know what to tell you, bro. I think you have to talk to her,” I advised. My experience with relationships was atrocious; I was the last person to give him advice. I dated a manipulative liar and I dated an angel that was too good for me. The first tainted me and I tainted the last to bring it full circle. All of the others didn’t count.
“Yeah. That’s pretty much what I had decided to do until you called. I’ll talk to her when I get back to town. Hang on,” he told me as he reached into the front pocket of his jeans and retrieved his vibrating phone. “Shit. It’s Barb. I have to get this.”
Overhead, the speaker bonged twice then was followed by Charles telling us that we were minutes away from touching down and to take our seats.
I stood and walked to the bedroom and knocked once before entering. “Jax.”
“I heard, I’ll be right out,” he told me.
“Can you please ask Lei if she could go to the hospital and look after Jane?” I requested humbly.
“She’s already there. Jane called her a few hours ago.”
“Good.” I turned and walked out of the room.
We were an hour away from taking Emmery back. From whom, that remained to be seen.
Chapter Twenty-two
~Emmery~
We landed somewhere in the mountains. I know because the big guy picked me up and carried me off the plane and I found myself in God’s country. The airport was a small, private little airstrip with a few hangars sprinkled around the open green field with a single runway down the middle. It was cut into the side of a mountain. Below us you could see a beautiful evergreen tree line with hills and valleys shaping the mountainous region. Above us, more of the same, just a different perspective.
As we exited the plane, I heard Freddy call him Manuel. At least now I have a name other than Big Guy and Gigantosaurus. For the record, he was right—Freddy was an asshole. I was awakened by his ranting and raving like a maniac. Not about being drugged—I don’t think he realized that yet—but about the fact there was a bottle of water by me. He knew that Manny gave me water.
His Redemption Page 19
