by Tara Rose
The dog traced the smell to the east parking lot, but that was it. Sean ran his hands through his hair. “How did he take her if his fucking car is still parked down the street?”
“He had help,” said Jack, one of the officers.
“But from who? No one in this town would want to hurt Julie.”
“Then it had to be someone from outside Racy.”
Sean opened his cell and was about to call Dean when Dean’s call came through. “We have it,” he said. “I have the SUV description and the license plate out to dispatch. And they’re calling the state troopers.”
“Can you see the driver on the tapes?”
“Not clear enough for facial recognition software, but judging by her long blonde hair I’d say it was a woman.”
Sean nearly dropped his cell. “I thought you said the woman at the motel with him didn’t fit Sarina’s description?”
“I said they didn’t think she did. Obviously they were wrong.”
Sean actually felt dizzy. He sat on the ground and put his head down to keep from passing out. This couldn’t be happening. Kane and Sarina had Julie. They’d kill her. There was no doubt in Sean’s mind that they would. Why else would they have watched and waited and then taken her? This had been planned out ahead of time, and it wasn’t about ransom money. This was about revenge on him, plain and simple. He’d put Julie smack dab in the middle of the worst danger possible, and he’d been so fucking blind that he hadn’t recognized it.
“Sean, let’s go.” Maddox stood over him, a look of pure terror on his face. “They have a fix on the SUV already.”
Sean got to his feet slowly. He’d known Maddox his entire life and had never seen that look on his face. Not once. Nothing fazed Maddox. The fact that he was so afraid frightened Sean more than anything. “What did you say?”
“The SUV. They found it.”
* * * *
Julie’s head hurt like a bitch, and her mouth was so dry she couldn’t swallow. As she became aware of her surroundings, she also realized something was across her mouth and her eyes, and her hands and feet were bound. She was sitting on what felt like a wooden chair, and the air smelled musty and cold, like a warehouse or a basement without heat.
Julie struggled not to cry. Her heart raced and hot fear shot through her limbs like someone had suddenly injected her with lava. She’d never been so afraid in her life, but her one thought was to survive so she could gaze into Sean’s face again, and look into Maddox’s hypnotic eyes. And then she was going to tell them each how much she loved them.
She should have done it before. Her stupid fear of rejection from shitty past relationships had kept her from doing so, but how insignificant was that now? What if she never had the chance to tell them? What if she died and they never knew?
Two voices argued in the distance, one male and one female. She couldn’t tell if they were in the same room or a different one. Their voices echoed, as if the space where she was being held was devoid of furniture. She tried to concentrate on the timbre and cadence of their speech in case she got out of this alive and had to identify them only by their voices.
She also tried not to move so they wouldn't realize she was awake, in case they could see her right now. How long would it have taken Sean and Maddox to wonder why she hadn’t yet returned from the bathroom? Did the theater have security cameras on the exit doors? She had no clue.
“I told you to rent the fucking SUV in Lafayette, you dumb bitch. Not right here in this fucking hick town.”
“I couldn’t get one. You said get something big, and then only gave me one damn hour to get it to the theater. What the hell was I supposed to do? We almost missed our chance as it was. Your plan was asinine, Kane. It was pure dumb luck that she came out to use the can when she did.”
“Sarina, pure dumb luck was all we needed, but you even fucked that up by not doing what I told you to do.”
“She wouldn’t be here right now at all if I hadn’t done something—what the fuck was that?”
“What?”
“Shut up. I hear sirens. Oh, fuck. Kane, they’ve already found us.”
* * * *
Maddox couldn’t even think straight. When Sean had realized that Kane must have taken Julie when she went out to use the bathroom, all he could think about was that he should have contacted someone in Chicago even though Sean had asked him not to. Then this might never have happened.
Julie had to be all right. She just had to be. He was head over heels in love with her, and as soon as he had a chance, he was going to tell her that. He should have done so already. He and Sean could share her life and her bed for the rest of their lives if that’s what she wanted. Anything…as long as he could hold her and look into her beautiful blue eyes again.
She couldn’t be dead. He knew Sean was afraid that she was. As they raced in Sean’s car toward the empty warehouse on the outskirts of town where they’d found the SUV, he could feel the despair and hopelessness coming off Sean in waves. But he was wrong. He simply had to be.
* * * *
Sean hadn’t waited for Dean’s okay after finding out where the SUV Sarina had been stupid enough to rent in Racy, just over an hour ago and under her real name, had been spotted. He knew they might have Julie somewhere else by now, but it was a start. He drove so fast that Maddox was actually holding onto the door handle, but he didn’t care.
They pulled up just as the police cars did. Six Racy officers and eight state police officers jumped out of their vehicles and began to surround the building, rifles and guns drawn. Sean pulled his gun out and motioned Maddox around to a side door. Maddox looked momentarily stunned, but then followed. They got close enough to see the door handle when Dean’s voice stopped them.
“Where the hell are you going, Sean?”
Sean whirled around just as a man’s voice through a bullhorn split the silence, telling Kane and Sarina to come out with their hands up. “You think I’m going to just stand here and wait for them to hurt her?”
“Yes, you are. Unless you don’t want your job by morning, that is. And what the hell are you doing taking an unarmed civilian in there with you? Get your ass back under cover right now.”
“But—”
“That is a direct order, Detective.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Julie didn’t know who Kane Dodger or Sarina Kole were, or why they’d taken her, but as soon as the sirens stopped right outside the building and a voice outside called them each by name through a bullhorn, she came to the conclusion they weren't very bright, or that they hadn’t planned her kidnapping very well.
Sarina began to cry and spew forth a string of curse words that would make a sailor blush, and it sounded like she was hitting Kane. He bellowed and called her a bitch and a whore more than once, and then told her to stop fucking hitting him so he could fucking think. They were so engrossed in their argument and hysterics that they didn’t stop yelling at each other until glass broke and Julie heard the sound of boots running on concrete—lots of boots.
Voices yelled at Kane and Sarina to get down, and then someone scooped Julie up into their arms. She was carried outside and placed gently on soft grass. Her blindfold was tugged off and after the duct tape was removed from her face—with considerable pain—she looked up into the faces of Sean and Maddox.
“Oh my God…Julie…” Sean pulled her close and untied the rope from her wrists and ankles. “Julie, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. This was all my fault.”
“She’s okay,” said Maddox. “She all right now. We have her.”
Julie didn’t even have time to talk to them. Dean Ramsey, the Racy Police Chief, was yelling at Sean to let the EMS personnel get her into the ambulance. She closed her eyes as the ambulance sped off toward town. Maddox had crowded into the back of it with her, and Sean had said something about following in his car.
Julie only knew two things. She was alive, and from what little she’d been able to see outside the warehouse she rec
ognized once she’d been carried outside, Sean and Maddox had mobilized not only the Racy police force, but state troopers as well. All that because she hadn’t returned from the bathroom in a timely manner. If that wasn’t love, she had no idea what was.
* * * *
When the doctors finally allowed Sean and Maddox back to see Julie in the ER, neither one looked like they had slept for a week. She smiled and opened her arms.
Sean embraced her, being careful of the IV in her right arm, and then Maddox did. “My heroes,” she said. “Next time I tell you I have to pee in the middle of a movie, tell me to hold it, or come with me.”
Sean smiled, and the love shining out of his eyes brought fresh tears to Julie’s. She’d already cried so much that she was shocked she had any left.
“It’s a deal.”
“Julie, if we’d known…” Maddox stroked her hair gently.
Sean cleared his throat and perched on the edge of her bed. His eyes filled with pain. “I have something to tell you.”
“I hope it has to do with who Kane Dodger and Sarina Kole are.”
He flashed a quick glance toward Maddox. “It does.” Sean brushed a finger up and down her forearm, sending shivers of delight through her body. “Kane Dodger is a Dom I met in Chicago. He has crooked cops and mob bosses for friends.” Sean frowned. “Let me back up a bit. I told you I worked at the Morgan Park precinct. I don't know if you’re familiar with the area, but it’s pretty rough. Lots of organized crime and cops on the take.”
“I worked in Chicago at the same time,” said Maddox. “I was in IT for the FBI.”
“I didn’t realize that,” said Julie.
“Maddox and I frequented the same clubs in Chicago, and I met Sarina in one of them. I was fascinated with her. She was mysterious and a bit dangerous, and I thought the combo was intriguing. What I didn’t know was that she was already involved with Kane. She did that a lot, apparently. Played other Doms for suckers, but her true loyalty lay with Kane.”
“I got suspicious when one day I overheard two agents talking about cops that worked with Sean,” said Maddox. “I did some digging and found out that Kane was involved somehow with Sarina, so I told him what I’d found.”
“But, I was too fucking stubborn to act on it.” Sean flashed another quick glance toward Maddox. “Maddox had already made plans to move back to Racy before the bad shit hit the fan with Kane and Sarina. Kane discovered she was playing sub to me, and I was naïve enough to think Kane and I could talk man-to-man and figure something out. I was wrong.”
Julie’s heart hammered in her chest as she listened to this story. It was like something out of a movie. He could have been killed. “What did he do to you?”
“He tried to put me on the take, threatening me unless I went along. I wanted no part of it, and as soon as I realized what deep shit I was in, I told my Chief and broke it off with Sarina. I transferred to another precinct, but Kane and Sarina don’t give up that easily. Sarina kept trying to see me, and Kane was taunting me by arranging break-ins at apartments close to mine. Every time I moved or transferred precincts, he found me.”
“Sean…” Julie didn’t know what to say. She’d never imagined it had been that bad.
“I finally came home. I was promoted to Detective and told Chad about Kane, just in case. But of course nothing happened for so long that I grew comfortable. It’s been seven years, Julie.” He stroked her face. “I never would knowingly have put you in danger. But I should have told you that Kane was here last month. He walked into Luke’s Bar and was asking about me. That’s who Chad and I were staking out. He was holed up in a motel about forty-five minutes from here.”
She nodded, trying not to feel angry that he’d kept all this from her. He’d only done it so she hadn’t worried, but she still wished she’d known.
“Then he left, and I thought I was in the clear. I was wrong. Julie, can you ever forgive me? I love you so much. I should have told you that a long time ago. I love you and I want you with me, always. As my lover, my sub and my best friend.”
Julie’s breath caught in her throat and tears ran down her cheeks at Sean’s words. She had begun to think she’d never hear them. She took his hand and squeezed it as hard as possible. “Oh, Sean, I love you, too. So much. I should have said something. But I was so afraid. Afraid of my past, afraid of rejection, and afraid you couldn’t love someone like me.”
She turned her gaze toward Maddox, and swore his eyes were wet. She reached for his hand with her opposite one. “Maddox, I love you, too. I know you’ve been hurt as well and I promise you I will never do that to you. I want you both. But can you do this? Can you both love me and share me, and make this work? Is that too much for me to want?”
Maddox shook his head, and the love shining out of his eyes sent Julie’s heart soaring. “No, it’s not. Julie, I love you so much. And I want to spend the rest of my life proving it to you. I will gladly share you with Sean. I want you with me forever. You're my best friend. You’re my most perfect lover, and you’re a wonderful submissive. I couldn’t ask for anything more than you.”
“We want to make it official,” said Sean. “Friday night. At the club.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s called a collaring ceremony,” said Sean. “We formally declare our love and our respect for your submission. You formally declare your love as well as your submission to us. We want the whole town to know, Julie.”
“That sounds wonderful. Yes. My answer is yes.” Julie could hardly speak through her tears. “I love you both so much.”
Sean and Maddox wiped away her tears, kissing her and hugging her so much that she lost all sense of where she was. She didn’t care. She was safe, and both her Doms were with her. And now they always would be.
* * * *
Julie was released from the hospital the following morning and cancelled her appointments for the remainder of the week, as well as the following week. Sean and Maddox had begged her to take a break before returning to work, and this time she didn’t argue with them.
After Linda finished rescheduling her clients, she called Julie back to tell her that what had happened was all over Racy, and every one of her clients had offered their support, and hadn’t minded rescheduling their appointments.
Julie was overcome with emotion again at that news. She recalled feeling anxious over how her clients might react to her relationship with Maddox and Sean, and now realized she had nothing to worry about. As usual, the residents of Racy had come through when one of them needed help.
Maddox insisted she come home with him rather than return to her condo, and she surprised him by agreeing. It would be a while before she felt safe alone again. As both men helped her move a few things into Maddox’s house, Sean grumbled about the fact that he wouldn’t be with her all the time like Maddox would be.
“You’ll end up living here with him.”
“So, sell your condo and move in here,” said Maddox. He gave Julie a long searching look. “You should sell yours, too and move in here permanently.”
She and Sean looked at each other, and Julie laughed at the look on Sean’s face. It was a combination of surprise and incredulity. “You’d really be okay with that?” he asked Maddox. “With me living here, too?”
“Well, yeah, of course I would be. If we’re going to share her life shouldn’t we all be together every day?”
Later that evening, when Sean finished with his shift, he came to Maddox’s house and filled Julie and Maddox in on what Dean had learned about Kane and Sarina.
“Kane and Sarina came up with the harebrained kidnapping and ransom scheme because they’re flat broke. Kane’s former mob associates have put a hit on him. He finally pissed off the wrong people more than once, and he and Sarina were trying to flee the country, but of course that takes money and fake ID.”
“Who were they planning on asking for the ransom?” asked Julie.
Maddox chuckled. “I imagine that would be
me.”
Sean nodded. “Yep. It sure wasn’t me. The police found the ransom note they’d planned on sending in the pocket of Kane’s jeans. Kane was here in Racy last month just long enough to find out that we were both were seeing Julie, and that’s when they planned it.”
“What happens to them now?” asked Maddox.
“They’re on their way to a federal prison for racketeering charges, hence part of the reason the mob put a hit on Kane. The idiot had been stealing from them.”
“Is it all right if I alert my contacts in Chicago about this?” asked Maddox. “Just in case anyone gets the bright idea to come to Racy and try to finish what Kane and Sarina started?”
“Let me run it by Dean first and I’ll let you know.”
Julie looked from one man to the other, still having trouble believing all her fantasies had come true, and she now belonged to both of them. “Then you both are truly my heroes. You saved my life.”
They looked at her with such tenderness and love that her heart raced. She’d never tire of them, and she knew she was safe and secure with them.
“We’d do anything for you, Julie,” said Sean. His voice left no doubt of that fact.
“And you will always have our hearts,” said Maddox. He grinned, and a wave of desire coursed through her body. “And our bodies.”
As he picked her up in his arms and carried her down to the hall to his bedroom, with Sean following, Julie sighed in pure contentment and joy.
* * * *
Friday night, Julie knelt in front of Sean and Maddox. They were in Maddox’s playroom, but although it was a night that the club was usually open, the only other people present were Kari, Alexa, Noah, Adison, Chase and Luke. It seemed more than appropriate to share this night with their closest friends. If it hadn’t been for Kari and Alexa, after all, Julie wouldn’t have gotten to know Sean and Maddox again, and she wouldn’t be here, about to be collared by them.
