It whisked open immediately, only the person standing there wasn’t Zach.
“Come in.” Ian stepped back, his face grim.
“What happened? Did you find Michelle?” Jaxon glanced at his watch.
The club would be opening for afternoon business soon, and getting Freya out without eyes on her would become exponentially difficult. Not impossible, simply difficult. Of course, they could always loop in the cops and FBI, but at what cost?
“Jax, there you are.” Shelby circled the kitchen island. She had some sort of harness on her shoulders and a gun under each arm. “Zach found her.”
“Where?” He glanced from her to Zach, who was sitting on the stairs, two of his hairless cats at either side like some sort of guardians.
“She’s in a condo off the water.” Zach flicked his fingers toward Shelby. “There was a number on Donny’s phone. It traced back to one of Michelle’s old boyfriends—who is still footing the bill for Michelle’s cell—and the signal from that phone is coming from a condo here in Seattle.”
“Shelby found Michelle’s Instagram account, and she’s pretty sure that Michelle is there,” Ian said.
“Wait, Michelle still has her phone? You need a phone for Instagram.” Jaxon frowned.
“Yeah. Strange.”
“Are we sure it’s Michelle?”
“She posts pictures of herself.”
“Well, let’s go get her,” he said.
“There’s just...what if we grab Michelle, and Yuri runs off with Freya?” Shelby’s face creased. She didn’t like the question any more than Jaxon did.
“Freya can’t face Charles again. We have to get her out of there before tonight.” Jaxon didn’t want to put her through that again. Not at any cost.
“Then we need to get both girls at once,” Ian said.
“Is that possible?” Jaxon pulled out his phone. “The club’s about to open. Once they have security in place, we won’t be able to get her out until later.”
“We could go up through the basement entrance,” Shelby said.
“We still have no idea how to get down there.” Jaxon shook his head.
“It’s possible to get both if we leave right now,” Kade said.
“Wait. Hold on. This is two women’s lives were playing with. We can’t rush off half cocked.” Jaxon glanced around.
“If we wait, this opportunity might close,” Ian countered.
“We can’t go for Freya until we have Michelle. She’ll never go with us, and honestly, I think she’d go back to Yuri, if it meant protecting her twin.”
“God, gotta love the faithful ones.” Shelby sighed.
“What do we do, then? We don’t have a lot of options,” Ian said.
“We go for Michelle like we’ve planned all along. We have to make sure this is our girl.” Jaxon was spinning ideas and the others were looking at him as if what he said made total sense.
“We get in, confirm it’s Michelle, take over the situation, and then tonight you can get Freya out,” Shelby said.
“Let’s go then, people,” Ian said.
“What about me?” Zach straightened.
“Stay here.” Ian turned toward Zach. “Monitor any chatter you see. Be ready to act as backup. Ryan and Vito are your first call if anything goes bad, got it?”
“Got it.” Zach shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Here, put this on.” Ian snagged a Kevlar vest from the sofa and tossed it at Jaxon.
He paused to put it on over his undershirt and zip his jacket up over it.
“You still don’t have a gun license, do you?” Ian asked.
“I don’t need a gun. Let’s go.”
Ian and Jaxon hoofed it back to Jaxon’s BMW.
Jaxon tried to ignore the bad feeling gnawing at him.
“If it were me, I’d march into that place, haul Freya’s ass out and call the FBI.” Ian grimaced. “No. If it were Taylor, I’d be more careful. I’d want all my ducks lined up. Fuck.”
Jaxon didn’t like this either, but he couldn’t risk blowing his cover on a false alarm. He had to know that the woman on the other end of that account was Freya’s Michelle. The only way to do that was to put his eyes on her.
“We go to the condo, we get Michelle, then we go to the Swan Palace. We stake it out until it’s time for me to go on shift, and then we get her out,” Jaxon said.
“We could always go in earlier. What’s the crowd like?”
“Heavy security. They have the most guys on first and third shift. We would put Freya in more danger going in during working hours.”
“Liv’s there. Maybe she can handle the security on Freya, get her part of the way down. Or maybe she can find out where the inlet for the basement is. What about roof access?”
Jaxon and Ian talked circles around the Swan Palace building, the different entrances, the security, where cameras were and Yuri’s hours. By the time they pulled up at the address for Michelle’s location, they barely had a shoestring plan. Their best option was still to wait until tonight.
Shelby and Kade were out front of the condo building, arms around each other. They could have been any couple out for a stroll. Except there weren’t a lot of people wearing coats.
Kade shoved a black, knit-face mask at Jaxon and Ian.
Jaxon took the lead. He was the one who had to see Michelle. He headed in through the front entry, catching the door as someone came out.
Not the best security.
Was the condo like the Queen’s Nest? Would there be guards and a door to bypass? If that was the case, then they’d have to pull back and replan.
They had little to no idea what they were heading into.
“Jax? Hey, hold up a second.” Shelby caught up with him at the elevator. “Kade and I were talking in the car and...here’s the thing—Michelle doesn’t sound like she’s being held against her will. She sounds like she’s... Like she’s being kept by another boyfriend. We might have to convince her of what’s going on.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. Like it or not, she’s coming with us.” Jaxon stepped into the lift. He didn’t have reservations about forcing Michelle’s compliance as he did Freya’s. Especially if there wasn’t security on her.
“I’m with you, but it would be a lot better if she came with us willingly. And where are we going to take her?”
“Zach has a basement, or the apartment at Trinity Hall.”
“The Hall. Zach doesn’t need any more grief,” Kade said.
The elevator dinged.
Jaxon pulled the knit mask on. He never could breathe in these things. He strode down the hall, counting the flat numbers as he went.
“I don’t see any cameras,” Ian said, voice pitched low.
Jaxon reached the door Zach had identified as where Michelle was being kept.
“Do we knock or what?” Shelby asked.
“I say let’s go with or.”
Jaxon tried the door, but it was locked. He’d like nothing more than to bust it down, but that would possibly invite more problems.
“Move. Let me.” Shelby shouldered him aside, something small and slim in her hands.
“I don’t like this,” Kade said.
“Sh,” Shelby said.
Kade took up position on one side of the door, Ian the other. Between the three of them, Shelby was shielded from view. They looked damn conspicuous though, what with their masks.
“Got it.” Shelby pushed the door open, but it only went a few inches before one of those chains stopped its progress. “Shit.”
“Give me your hair tie.” Jaxon nudged her out of the way. There was still no movement inside the condo, but that didn’t mean anything.
Shelby presented the elastic band to him.
“Can you get the tape off that sign?” He nodded to a HOA announcement a few feet away.
Jaxon looped the elastic around the door chain. By the time he had that done, Shelby had pried much of the tape off. He used the tape to attach th
e other end of the elastic to the interior side of the door, contorting his arms around.
“How many times do you break into girl’s apartments, dude?” Kade asked.
“Usually, it’s one of the guys from work, and they’re passed out with alcohol poisoning.”
“Shit,” Kade muttered.
Jaxon closed the door gently, his ear pressed against the surface so he could hear the scrape of the chain as the band contracted, pulling the catch free. Once he heard the jangle of metal on metal, he opened the door, reached in and pulled the tape off.
The door swung inward freely.
The condo was silent. Not a soul moved. No security. Nothing.
That wasn’t good. Was it?
If Yuri Gabor was keeping Freya on the threat of harming her sister, wouldn’t Michelle be kept under some sort of guard?
Jaxon edged farther in, peering around the corner and down a hall.
Ian crossed to the kitchen, gun out.
“Clear,” he said.
Jaxon walked down the hall.
He knew that sound.
Freya had this sort of almost-snore she made when dozing. He hadn’t pointed it out because he was just glad she was getting something resembling sleep.
Jaxon bypassed the bathroom and pushed the bedroom door open. It banged against a metal folding chair sitting too close. A pair of platform wedges clattered to the ground.
“Shit,” he muttered, almost tripping over clothes.
It looked as if someone had taken the contents of the closet and strewn them around on the floor. The piles were tall enough there were even little paths between them.
“Who are you?”
Jaxon blinked at the woman sitting up in bed, one hand pressed to her face.
Her hair was shorter, some sort of shoulder length bob, only with shorter layers around the top of her head that stuck straight up. Her black eyeliner made dark rings around her eyes, and something red smeared one cheek.
“Michelle Thorburn?” But Jaxon didn’t need to ask. The shape of the face was the same and the eyes were similar. Michelle’s hair was paler, her skin a golden brown. She was a different version of Freya.
“Yeah? Who are you?” Michelle dropped her hand to her face and tugged the comforter up under her arms.
“I’m a friend of your sister’s.” Jaxon pulled the mask partway up with one hand and held the other up.
“She here?” Ian stepped in, glancing from Jaxon to Michelle.
“Shit. Why do you have a gun? Did something happen?” She pushed back until she leaned up against the headboard, eyes wide.
“Yes.” Jaxon shoved Ian out into the hall. “Something’s happened to her. We need you to come with us now. We believe you might be in danger from the same people.”
“Wait...” Michelle stared at him, lips parted, lashes doing a quick flutter. “You mean... I’m in danger?”
“Yes, there’s not a lot of time. We can explain everything later, but we need to get you out of here, now.” Jaxon bent and scooped something up off the floor that resembled a dress. The faster they got Michelle bundled up and out of here, the faster he could circle back and get Freya. Then this nightmare might be close to over.
“What are you talking about?” Michelle’s face scrunched up and she dropped her hands to her lap.
“Let me handle this. And put your mask back on.” Shelby shouldered past Jaxon. She put one hand on her hip and leaned forward, her gun in the other hand. “Look, cupcake, you’re going to get your pretty ass out of that bed, put some clothes on, and then we’re leaving, got it?”
“Okay, okay.”
Michelle tossed the comforter back. Jaxon turned, glancing back down the hall.
“Out.” Shelby nudged Jaxon. “We’ll be ready to leave in a minute.”
Jaxon retreated down the hall to the kitchen. Kade remained by the door, peering out into the hall, while Ian was walking around the perimeter of the room.
“I’ve got some bad news.” Ian stepped up onto a side table. The drywall ended about ten feet up and above that was black, treated metal and exposed industrial beams. All very contemporary in design.
“What?” Jaxon crossed, staring up at Ian’s hands against the black beam.
Ian grasped something mounted to the wall and yanked. Sparks rained down. Jaxon threw an arm over his head, peering up at Ian holding some kind of black box in his palm.
“What’s that?”
“Looks like a transmitter. See over there? That’s a camera. And over there.” Ian pointed to small, almost invisible bumps on the wall.
“Someone was watching her?” Jaxon frowned.
“I’m guessin’ she didn’t even know she was a prisoner.” Ian jumped down and pulled at his mask. “Good thing we wore these suffocatin’ things.”
The bedroom door knocked open and Michelle, followed by Shelby, hauling a suitcase after her, walked into the main room.
“We will take Michelle to a safe place.” Shelby spoke oddly, but was no time to decipher her layered meanings.
“Bad news.” Jaxon pointed at the transmitter in Ian’s hand. “Yuri’s going to know we were here.”
“They might’ve recognized you, even with the mask.” Ian glanced at Jaxon, his gaze hard.
Yuri leaned against his desk while Thomas fumbled with a manila folder.
The worst part about losing the help was training the replacement.
Donny had been an enterprising soul full of drive. Thomas was loyal to a fault, but not terribly fast on the uptake. This would be a painful transition, but a good one. Yuri needed to lose some of the dead weight, downsize, keep his business true to his brand.
Thomas shuffled the papers around. He was a bit of a luddite still, not that it was a bad thing. Yuri enjoyed the ease of technology, but after seeing firsthand the kind of terror Ogden’s arrest was raining down it had Yuri rethinking his standards.
The office door banged open.
“Sir? Mr. Gabor?” The fresh-faced young man Thomas had stationed at the Queen’s Nest for the afternoon stood in the doorway, eyes wide.
“What?” Thomas turned, file forgotten.
“The black screen beeped and came on.”
The black screen.
“Show me.” Yuri stalked toward the young man, shadowing him back to the desk.
A small monitor against the wall displayed the shadowy images of people.
“What the—?” Thomas crowded the kid out. “Who is that?”
They peered at four masked people bustling around Michelle’s condo. They weren’t cops, they weren’t quite professionals, but they were efficient.
Wait...
Yuri knew that coat.
“Mind getting the door for me, love?” the blonde waitress said.
“Not now,” Thomas snapped. “No...”
Yuri leaned closer.
“Is that...Jaxon?” Thomas asked.
“Yes, and I bet I know who she is.” Yuri pointed at the woman on the screen.
The bitch had kicked him in the balls once. This time, there wasn’t a customer paying for her to be kept unharmed.
13.
Freya paced the living room, back and forth. She was going to wear the carpet down if she was here much longer. She’d dug out the one item of clothing that had pants. Never mind that it was a lace-covered, strapless jumpsuit. It made her feel a bit readier to run than a cocktail dress. Whatever happened, she wanted to be prepared.
Her stomach growled and her mouth was dry, yet she couldn’t bring herself to drink anything.
Jaxon hadn’t texted her. She hadn’t seen Liv yet today, either, which was odd. She should have been by already. Had Jaxon’s friend found out something about Michelle? What was going on out there?
There was a whole, wide world full of people going on about their day, and Freya was stuck inside this horrific bubble. If she disappeared today, here and now, would it matter to anyone?
It would to Jaxon.
She swallowed.
What was going on with them?
She wasn’t blind. She knew he cared about her. He was one of the few remaining good guys in the world. She’d known that after a minute spent around him way back in the beginning. He was the guy who, at the end of a long night, she’d ask to walk her to her car. He was the one who, if anything went down inside the club, she wanted to handle it. He was the one she wanted to spend time with. Get to know better.
Now she was.
Why was she balking at the idea then?
Because she knew his feelings for her were deeper. Or at least he thought they were. He’d say he loved her and then... Then things would wither and die, because love wasn’t real.
Freya groaned and rubbed her hands over her face.
She couldn’t love. She didn’t know how.
Then why bother with coffee? Why go out with him at all?
Because she was human and craved connection.
She could get that from going out with a couple girlfriends. And yet, she’d waited to go out with Jaxon, because she’d wanted her shit together. She’d looked at him and wanted to be better, to have her head in a place where she could focus on a relationship.
Why aim for more than friends?
If she truly didn’t believe in love, in being with a person, why bother?
She stared at her reflection in the tinted glass.
Deep down, did she still believe some part of her was capable of loving? Of being loved?
She’d grown up with terrible examples. She didn’t believe in being swept off her feet in a whirlwind romance, but maybe, buried in the back of her mind, a part of her still believed that love, for someone like her, was possible.
By nature, humans crave connection. Community. It was why people changed themselves, set goals and spent so much time and money attaining the next best level of who they were. Because it would attract a better mate, better peers, a more attractive community. The better chance of attracting a mate.
That’s what so much of it boiled down to. Beyond the idea of community, was the need for a partner. It was an ingrained human need.
Freya blew out a breath, creating a circle of fog on the glass.
The truth was, she’d often dreamed of her own family. Something better or at least more normal than what she’d had. It’d included a man, kids, the whole thing. But she wasn’t ready for that. Didn’t know how to be that person or if she even could. And yet, a part of her wanted to find out if she could be that version of herself.
Bad Boy Prince: A Modern Fairy Tale (Twisted Royals Book 3) Page 16
