When he opened his eyes and refocused on the dim light streaming in from the windows, Mike was eye level to the man that had filled his thoughts and his mind for so long. There was nothing that he could do but stare back at him. He was gagged and tied. He wasn’t going anywhere, and dirty looks just seemed to piss the man off.
“I see you’re up. Ready for more questioning?”
Mike tried not to respond, but it was hard not to. The last thing he wanted was to answer any questions, especially the way that Caston liked to ask them. Caston was one of those people who genuinely liked to hurt other people, and Mike could tell he was in for it by the smile on his face. It was unnerving, the idea that he could do it for hours and be relaxed the whole time. Caston was a man with patience. That was not always a good thing. When he saw the familiar smile, he shivered on the inside and hoped like hell that instead of looking as afraid as he was, he looked determined. If he could manage that, it would be enough.
He tried to respond, forgetting that he had a dirty gag in his mouth. He instead met his eyes and nodded his head that he was.
Caston moved towards him and pulled the gag don. Mike spent time trying to moisten the painfully dry areas in his mouth before he was forced to speak. He had nothing to say, but he was happy to have that out of his mouth.
“So what can you tell me about this woman, this Jessa?”
He shrugged and told him that he didn’t know. “She was supposed to be here when I got back. Maybe she left without me. You know how woman are. They are even more skittish nowadays. She could have seen us coming and be watching us right now. I really don’t know.”
Caston liked the idea of the woman just anywhere around. He made a mental note that he was going to go look for her, but instead he asked more questions. No one else was up yet and he wasn’t ready for the gripes and moans for the rest of the day that would surely take place.
“What do you know? Does she have any family? Anywhere else that she would go?”
He shook his head that she didn’t. “No, when I found her, she was all alone.”
Caston grinned and Mike looked away so that the man wouldn’t see his anger because of it. The older man was playing him like he was stupid and the best thing for him to do was let him think that as long as possible. When he realized his error, Mike hoped that it was a big enough one that he would be able to get out of there.
“Yes, I have found many on the road, all alone and in need of protection. They of course realize too late that I am not it.”
“If there are so many, why would you bother with just one girl? There are many more out there like you just said.”
Caston made a face. “No, they are getting to be less and less. All of the good ones turn bad or get taken. Either way, the choices are not as good as before all of this. Now a man has to work for it. You seem like the type that would not hold on unless she was Grade A. Am I right?”
Mike wasn’t going to answer him, but in any world, Jessa was Grade A. The idea of her being around such men made him sick to his stomach. It was not hard to think of what they would do to his beautiful Jessa. They would ruin her and most likely kill her. He couldn’t let that happen.
He looked away, desperately trying to think of something to say when he saw something outside the window. Mike was sure that he was seeing things. Then he saw a head pop up behind Caston and he gasped.
“No...”
“What was that?”
Mike tried to recover, seeing Milo brought so many questions running through his head. What was he doing there and did it mean that the rest were close? He had only told Caston that because he wanted the gang to look for them around there, giving them more time to get further away. What the hell was Milo doing there!?
“What was that, Mike?”
Caston’s voice had risen and he looked back at him. “No, it was not like that. She is not like that. The first time I met her she was in a garden. I had never met someone like her, but now she has left me and maybe if I wasn’t here I could find her. But her tracks are probably gone now.”
He said the last bit a little louder, hoping that the man outside would get the point and try to make some tracks taking him in the other direction.
“We can look together. The rest of them will be up soon.”
Michael just shook his head. “You don’t want your men to get to her first. How apt are they to turn down a piece of tail? She won’t even make it to you I bet.”
He was playing on the man’s greed, hoping that he wanted her all to himself and by the look on his face, he did. Caston was sure of himself, so sure that he did not fear Mike. The man was strong, but he was stronger.
“We will leave now then.”
Mike was jerked up by the arms and wrists tied together. He didn’t make a sound, not wanting anyone else to wake up. If he could get him out there by himself, no matter the ropes and the lack of gun, he would come out on top, Mike was as sure as Caston was. One of the men was wrong though.
When they were a bit away from the cabin, Caston finally stopped and took the gag off of Michael completely. “So where is she?”
Mike tried to look around, to see if Milo had made some tracks for them to follow. He really hoped he did because the last thing Mike wanted was for Caston to somehow get his hands on his Jessa. He would not be able to live with himself if that happened and he knew that it was a gamble bringing the man out there. But why was she still there? Was it really that hard for her to do as he asked? Chuckling to himself, he figured it actually was.
If he knew what he had known about Jessa before, he didn’t know if he would have jumped her in the first place. It was only because she fancied him in a way that she had let him get close. Mike knew that and knew that he should have stayed. Nothing was worth losing her over.
Caston looked at Mike as if he may have lost his mind. It was clear that he was thinking about something and he wasn’t so sure that he thought it was for the best. “So where are the tracks?”
“We have to go back towards the cabin. We just took off in a direction and didn’t even check for them. She was here a day ago and it hasn’t rained, so there should be something of a clue of where she went.”
He nodded his head that it made sense, but he could tell that Caston wasn’t so sure if he believed him or not. Mike sounded believable, but he knew that something was up. So Michael looked down, hoping that Milo had led him in the right direction.
5
“Milo! What the hell are you doing here?”
The boy looked up, lost in thought, surprised to see her. “You shouldn’t be here Jessa. That bad man is coming and he has Mike tied up. I think it is only him, but I can’t be sure.”
Jessa liked those odds, but not the fact that the man supposedly had a gun. She could deal with a lot, but it was hard to fight against a piece of metal flying at ridiculous speeds towards her. There was no going back from that.
“Milo it will be fine. Take them to a place where I can jump him and it will be all over.”
Milo wasn’t so sure, but he had seen her in action and didn’t doubt that she would do what needed to be done. “It is too dangerous. Michael didn’t want you involved in any of this. That is why he left in the middle of the night.”
She didn’t want to hear it, knowing why he took off. It wasn’t because of anything but his desire to protect her. Jessa wanted him to know that she didn’t need his protection. She would rather be a partner, not just the doll on the shelf that could break.
“I don’t care. I will scout ahead. You take them this way, away from everyone else. I remember a building up here that looks like a good place for an ambush. It’s an old fire house. You have to get them there. Okay?”
He nodded his head, not wanting to go against her and still very aware of the men that were no doubt following the trail he was making. He didn’t know what Mike’s plan was, but he knew that the woman looking at him then with fire in her eyes was harder to ignore. Mike would be pissed and if they
made it through it, Milo was sure that something bad would happen. But he would worry about that later. He had to worry about Jessa then.
“Fine. I will take them there.”
“You know where I am talking about?”
He nodded, remembering seeing it as he had passed by it that morning. He didn’t know much more about what she was going to do, but he could only imagine. Jessa scared him. Milo would be the first to admit it. He knew that she was a kind person, but when she was crossed, Jessa was capable of anything.
“Yes I saw it before. Are you sure you want to do this? He is not going to be easy to take out. From what I have heard, there is more to it with him. He laid waste to Jason’s family and to Mike’s too I think. He isn’t just a bad guy. He is a really bad guy.”
Jessa just shook her head, tuning Milo out. She didn’t want to look at it like that. Though she was happy to have as much information as she could, there was little that was going to deter her away from him. “I can be really bad too, Milo.”
***
Milo did as he was asked, taking the two men right to Jessa. He knew that there would be angry people when it was all done, but it had to be done. He was taking them away from the rest of the group, the ones that couldn’t really fight for themselves.
When he was almost to the fire station though, a man came out of the bushes and grabbed him. It looked to be one of the guys that he had seen sleeping through the window. Milo had no idea how he had got there or how many more of them there might be. His eyes went to the firehouse as he was dragged back the way he had come.
“Caston. I found him.”
The older man sighed and looked at the boy. He was a pitiful display, obviously suffering from radiation poisoning. “What do we have here?”
Milo looked over at Mike, who was trying to cover up his expression. He didn’t want him to know that he knew him. Not answering the question, he waited for him to repeat himself before he told him that he had never seen him before.
Michael was also worried about the man that had popped up in front of them in the trail. He was supposed to be alone with Caston so that he could find his moment. That wasn’t going to happen if there were more of them. Were they all there? His eyes took in the area around them and didn’t see anyone else.
“I don’t know who that is or who the other guy is. I told you who I was travelling with. I thought that was why we were out there looking for her.”
Caston wasn’t sure that he believed him. “So you say that you don’t know him?”
He gestured to Milo, then grabbed him up and shoved him towards the man so he could take a good look. “I thought I saw a look that said you did. You are telling me you don’t?”
Mike shook his head. He didn’t think it would be any better to tell him that he did know him. It seemed that everything he was doing was somehow the wrong choice. He hesitated and then he shook his head no. “No, I don’t know him.”
“Good, I didn’t want to see him all day.”
Then Caston turned back to Milo and shot him at point blank range in the chest. It happened so quickly that Mike didn’t have time to respond. He knew not of the plan to get them to the firehouse, but it wouldn’t have mattered if it did. How could one answer have caused so much grief?
“I thought you said you didn’t know him?”
He sneered back at Mike, liking that he had hurt him in some way. It wasn’t just physical pain that got Caston off, emotional pain was so much deeper.
“So you knew the boy? Is that your Jessa?”
Mike was still too shocked to say anything. He couldn’t recover and didn’t know what to do. He looked over at Caston, the same hateful look in his eyes as there had been the first time. “Now we are getting somewhere.” He smiled a little too big for Mike’s mind and he grimaced.
“Boss, I think there are more tracks going towards that Fire Station not far from here. I think it is the woman.”
Caston sighed, thankful that Jessa was not made up or some boy that had the face of a demon. “Good, then we will carry on towards the fire station. Is there anything that you would like to add Mike?”
“You don’t know what you have just done.”
Caston was not expecting that answer and it made him think twice. Did the man have something up his sleeve that he wasn’t ready for?
“Why do you say that Mike? You are there and I am here. I am not the one with my hands tied.”
Mike wanted to tell him to piss off and the anger that he had inside of him didn’t have to do with the past. It had to do with what the guy was going to do in the future. He looked at Milo’s lifeless body on the ground. His mind had already started playing tricks on him, seeing what he wanted to see and thinking that he had seen Milo move. But that would be impossible.
“I thought you said you were not the same man anymore?”
“I’m not. If I was, you and all of your friends would already be dead. But you keep lying to me Mike. How am I supposed to trust you, when I can’t trust what comes out of your mouth? This kid was trying to lead us somewhere, or he was trying to get back to someone. Either way, I will find out what it is. Be thankful that you make me curious more than angry. I will get my answers.”
6
Jessa knew that the men were coming. She didn’t know that there was now more than one or that Milo had been hurt. She had heard the gun shot in the distance and hoped that it wasn’t Mike who was getting shot. It was hard to think of something happening to him.
She stayed crouched in the top floor of the firehouse. There was a pole she could slide down to the entrance if she had to get out of there quickly. Jessa didn’t know what was going to happen, but she was better off with her son and the others away. She wished that Milo hadn’t left without her, but he was the only one there who could help her. If he hadn’t come, she would be all alone. The feeling was not as comforting as it used to be.
Jessa used to like the solitude, but it was hard to like it now. She had gotten too used to people and even though it had been some time since she had left the settlement because of a man, she had made her own group. Each one was picked up on the road and she trusted all of them. But now what?
Her trust was no good now, and there was nothing that she could do but hope that whatever happened next, she would walk away with as many people as she started with. Life then was worthless and cheap, ending without so much as a word of goodbye.
She tried to shake the thoughts from her mind, questioning why she was so sure that something bad was going to happen. It was that feeling, the knot in the pit of her stomach that told her something wasn’t right. She knew that her gut was more accurate than her mind sometimes, but now she questioned it. She questioned everything except the love she felt for Mike and the need to get him back. Jessa didn’t want to go on being aimless without him. There was no peace at the coastline if he was not there with her. Jessa knew that now.
There were noises and she could hear people talking. It took her a minute to put together where she had heard the voice before. It threw her off, because they were not supposed to be there. Why was she hearing her son talking to Carin? Jessa looked out the small, dingy window that was covered in dust and her heart dropped.
What were they doing there?
“Jessa!”
She scrunched down even more and tried to think. Whoever they were, they knew she was there. And now her son was there. It was clear that she had trusted the wrong people and Jessa didn’t have anything else to do, but give herself up.
“Come out now or this sweet little boy gets one in the face.”
Her heart leapt in her chest.
“All right! I’m coming now. Don’t hurt him.”
Jessa slid down the pole and put her hands up, looking into the faces that greeted her. Her son tried to run to her, but he was passed off to Carin to hold onto.
“Well, now I see what all of the fighting was about. You my dear, are prettier than I would have thought.”
Caston�
��s eyes took in the long hair and supple curves. She was exactly what he had been looking for and it was the first time that Caston had smiled in a long time. She would do.
He turned to Mike and smiled. “I can see why you wanted to keep this under wraps. Good call to keep the rest of them back there. They will tear her up. I will let them have what is left.”
“Just let my son go, please. I will do whatever you want.”
Caston looked at the boy and then shrugged. “Fine, he goes.”
Shane looked at his mom being held and tried to go to her. “Don’t. You need to go. Stay out of sight and do what I told you.”
She was pulled back from the guy holding her and grimaced when she felt his need on her backside. Blocking it out, she waited till Shane was out of sight before she turned to the man in charge. Her eyes hadn’t even met Michael’s. She was too busy sizing up the two that had betrayed her. She should have known that it was a trap. Their story was just too convenient, but she had trusted them enough to leave her son with them and that was on her. How could she have been so wrong?
“What did you tell your son to do?”
Jessa wouldn’t tell him the truth, but she had to think of something. “There was a house many miles from here that was safe. I told him to go back there.”
He looked into her eyes, but saw nothing amiss. She was still playing the scared woman and it was working. His gun had already been taken off of her and the man behind her was far more worried about smelling her hair and rubbing himself against her than actually holding her properly.
She looked to Mike for a minute and saw the sorrow in his eyes. She didn’t want to see that. There was no time to be sorry, only time to move on and finish it.
DIESEL (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 13) Page 84
