“Jez?” Delilah whispered, her voice quick and frantic.
“I’m here.”
“What the hell is going on?”
Before Jezebel could respond, the door was pushed in and bright light blinded her. “Jezebel?”
“Who wants to know?” Delilah demanded with false bravado. Jezebel heard the tremor in her sister’s voice.
“We have to get you both out of here now,” the man stated, pointing the flashlight to the ground.
Anxiety gave way to fear when Jezebel didn’t recognize the voice. He spoke English, proper British-accented English, but she couldn’t remember meeting him. It wasn’t as if she knew most of the men who guarded the house anyway.
“There’s been a breach in our security system.”
“A breach? Where’s Ramsey?”
Gunfire erupted from somewhere in the house and Jezebel jumped. Oh God, not again.
“We have to get out of here, Jezebel!” a familiar female voice cried. Sarah?
“Let’s go!” the man hissed.“Now!”
They were out of the bed and trailing behind the man with the flashlight in record time. Soon, the light cut out, and they all remained as silent as possible as they followed. Sarah walked directly behind the man, and held tight to Jezebel’s hand, while Jezebel did the same for Delilah. They didn’t want anyone to get lost in the dark.
Sarah halted suddenly and Jezebel ran into her back. “Sor― ”
“Ssh,” the man cut her off. “We have to go down the stairs. Watch your steps.”
Going down the stairs wasn’t as difficult once they held the banisters, and soon they were on the lower floor.
“Wait here,” the man murmured. The three of them huddled into one another, jumping but keeping their shrieks to a minimum as gunfire exploded near them. Jezebel didn’t know how long it lasted, but somehow, the three of them ended up on the floor in a tight ball.
When the exchange finally stopped, Jezebel sent up a prayer. She didn’t doubt they’d be found. They were just behind the staircase and a flashlight would locate them. The flashlight was soon coming as were footsteps.
“Let’s go.”
Jezebel breathed a sigh of relief and opened her eyes. It was the guy with the accent.
***
The gunshot blast was followed by the screams of a woman and the loud cries of rattled children. Chang’s face blanched and he took two steps forward before Ramsey’s voice halted him, “You get one warning. ”
“Goja!” Chang spat. “Women and children―”
“Give me what I want and I’ll let your family live.”
Chang looked over at his daughter and his shoulders sagged. “Swear on your geomdung-i, on the life of your unborn child.”
“Give me every name and I swear no one from my house will harm your daughter or grandsons.”
“Swear on your woman and child!”
Ramsey lifted a brow. “I’ve given you my word.”
The man snorted, and his snorting soon too turned to laughter. Vince’s phone began to vibrate, and Chang’s laughter grew louder.
“Yea?” Vince answered.
His cousin’s eyes flickered until they landed on Chang and his face tightened. “And the rest?” Ramsey stiffened. “Find them!”
“Blame yourself for the war you’ve starte―oof!” Ramsey drew his Sig, and slammed the butt into Chang’s head. As the man went down, he whirled on Vince.
“What is it?”
“Security breach.” Vince was checking his phone, tapping buttons furiously. “Someone must have rerouted the system. My phone isn’t picking up on it.”
“And Jezebel?”
Vince shook his head.“She wasn’t in her room.”
“Her sister?”
Another head shake.
“Sarah?” The question came from Bastian, who now stood close to Vince. He looked nervous, terrified actually.
“Gone.”
He swallowed the rising bile in his throat. “My mother?”
“She’s the only one accounted for.”
As the information washed over him, Ramsey nodded. He had one of the most modern security systems in place, and tall, electric gates. How had someone managed to override his security system, the gates, and over a dozen shadows, to not only get into his house but remove Jezebel?
Chang chose that moment to groan. Ramsey was on him before he could even twitch.
Flipping him onto his back, he placed his gun against the older man’s head and released the safety. “Where are they?”
His answer was a snort. “I warned you.”
“Let me warn you.” Ramsey moved from him and grabbed his daughter. She cried out in fear. Without preamble, he yanked her away from the two boys and forced her to her knees next to her father. “You already used your warning shot, Chang. Now, tell me where she is.”
The other man smirked. “Not so pompous when the shoe’s on the other foot, you half-caste―”
Ramsey pulled the trigger.
Chang cursed and went to his daughter, who was screaming and writhing on the ground. She gripped her upper arm and between her fingers, bright red blood seeped. Numbness had overtaken his body. He felt no remorse for his actions. “You son-of-a-bitch! You shot her!”
“I’ll ask you one more time.” Ramsey struggled for calm. “How are they travelling?”
“Car,” he spat.
“Where are they heading?” Time was against him. If they left Gwangju, Ramsey would be at a loss, Jezebel at the mercy of people who had none.
“Airport.”
“If you’re lying to me, I’m going to put a bullet in both of your grandsons’ heads.” As the man flinched, Ramsey nodded. “I may be young and different from you old bastards but you just fucked with the wrong person. Anything happens to her and I’ll hunt down every member of your family, every last one of them, before I raze your village to the ground.”
With that, he holstered his gun and ran for the exit, yelling instructions on the way.
***
“I’m going to be sick.”
Something wasn’t right. Jezebel could feel it in her bones but she had no proof. Something was off, and she feared that whatever it was wasn’t going to bode well for them.
“Again?” Sarah asked nervously. “What if we’re being followed?”
“I’m sorry…it’s the commotion.” She gagged again and the van swerved onto the shoulder. Delilah jumped out to give Jezebel space to do the same. Jezebel heaved, moaned and spat into the grass, all the while contemplating what made her uneasy. Since they’d been in the van, there had been no talk of Ramsey. She’d asked once and had been told they were being taken to safety, but nothing else. No mentioning Ramsey, or Vince, or even Bastian. He just drove. After fifteen minutes, Jezebel began to think of the “security breach.” A breach meant that someone who shouldn’t have been in the house had been in the house. She’d never heard or seen this man before yet he was the one escorting her to safety? A few times, she’d seen Ramsey’s men in the house, some in the courtyard when she absolutely needed fresh air, but she would have remembered him. He was handsome and tall.
In the midst of gunfire, everything made sense but now it didn’t add up. Why hadn’t she been allowed to call Ramsey? Why hadn’t he called her? Why wasn’t their driver reassuring them about that? Or the other guy in the passenger seat? They were too silent, too still.
She forced herself to her knees and made more retching noises. It was possible that she, Delilah, and Sarah were with the bad men, the men who weren’t on Ramsey’s side. She began to feel sick, truly sick. What now? She had no weapons, no nothing. All she had was the ability to feign ignorance.
“Everything alright down there?” The question came from the guy with the accent. She didn’t even know his name.
“One minute…please…”
This time, when she retched, her late night snack of pickles and peanut butter pitched onto the grass. It was her nerves, she knew.
>
“Jez?” Delilah’s voice sounded close and her sister’s hands began stroking her back. “It’s okay, Jez…we’re okay.”
Jezebel inhaled brokenly and blinked to keep her tears at bay. Not again. Dear God, she couldn’t do it again.
Soon, they were back on the road.
***
The SUV was going too fast, but Ramsey didn’t think it was going fast enough.
Next to him, Vince was on his phone, speaking to someone concerning rebooting the security system. Bastian had called and spoken to Hannah, who was fine. As they went about their tasks, Ramsey could only sit there and wait.
There was one main road to the airport but Chang’s affiliates had at least a fifteen-minute head start over him, which meant barring intervention, he’d be too late. Did he have any allies close to the airport? Had his grandfather?
“Jin In-Su.”
Next to him, Vince pulled the phone from his ear and nodded.
As Ramsey scrolled through his contacts, he found the name and number. The man had been one of his grandfather’s allies and likely retired. Was he still in Gwangju?
He made the call. It rang for long seconds, and Ramsey felt his sliver of hope fall away. He was about to end the call when a scratchy female voice answered.
***
“Shibal!”
The Korean word brought Jezebel out of her thoughts. A quick look around showcased flashing lights. She turned in her seat to find what looked like a police car behind them. Sirens soon came on. It was!
The two men in the front began to talk in rapid Korean, and then, the van slowed, before coming to a stop. The officer’s headlights shined into the van.
“Just sit still,” the one with the accent murmured. “I’ll do the talking.”
An older man walked to the driver’s side and shined a flashlight into the van. Jezebel squeezed Delilah’s hand and began to move her eyes back and forth quickly, hoping that somehow, the officer would get the signal. It was possible that she was wrong and this man was a part of Ramsey’s team, but her gut was insistent, and she’d rather be safe in a police station than sorry when British-Accent and friend took them to “safety.”
He turned the flashlight from her face and focused on the driver. They spoke for some minutes and then British-Accent opened the car door and stepped out.
As he and the officer moved away, Jezebel asked, “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know,” Sarah whispered. “The officer says he was speeding.”
With only one of the guys in the van, Jezebel spoke to Sarah, “Ask him if he’s heard from Ramsey.”
“What?” Sarah turned to her in confusion.
“Just do it, please.”
With a nod, Sarah began speaking Korean. The man in the front seat replied tersely.
“What did he say?”
“Yes. He’s meeting us at the airport.”
The airport? Jezebel wondered. She hadn’t known they were going to the airport. Why the airport? Did Ramsey intend to move them out of Gwangju? Why, when he’d said this was the safest place for now?
A faint squeeze brought her attention to Delilah, who was staring at her with raised brows and confused eyes. Jezebel looked to the front seat, then back to Delilah. Her sister frowned. Jezebel shook her head.
The sound of a gunshot had Jezebel pulling Delilah down and screaming. The man in the front seat rushed out, and she heard more gunfire exchange. Sarah hugged them, screaming as well. The window behind them shattered, and glass rained down.
All the while, Jezebel prayed. There wasn’t much of anything else she could do but hold onto her sister, her belly, her life, and pray. Silence. It was broken only by Sarah’s whimper. Delilah tried to move, but Jezebel held firm to her sister’s back, keeping her down. Jezebel’s erratic breaths seemed to come in slow motion, and despite the light that still shined into the van, everything seemed surreal. As if she wasn’t here, glass wasn’t on her back, in her hair, at her feet. She felt like she was on the outside, looking in at this chaotic scene.
“Jezebel!”
She shook her head, and refused to move.
The door on Sarah’s side pulled open and Sarah screamed as she was removed. Only then did Jezebel sit up, shielding her belly with both hands, and her sister with her body. Hands gripped her and she was dragged out. Only then, when she was free of the glass, the car and her sister, did she fight.
***
The long range, night-vision rifle and magnifying scope had come in handy. Ramsey didn’t know who’d brought it along on their 80 mph chase, but he was glad.
His call to Jin had been fruitful. After being connected to the retired police officer, it had taken minutes to explain the situation. Ramsey hadn’t even had to promise the man anything before he was offering his services. Jin had called in to tell them where the van was stopped and Ramsey had ordered all car lights turned off as they approached. He’d left some of his people in the vans, with instructions to take the first clear shot, while he drew both guns and walked the dark road toward the police car.
When the driver stepped out to follow Jin back to the car, Ramsey had moved faster, knowing what was coming. As the man’s head exploded, he’d begun running, halting only when it was necessary to riddle the body of the second assailant with bullets. Close enough to the parked van, he’d noticed that the back windows were shot out. Heart in his mouth, Ramsey screamed her name, ran to the car, pulled open the door, and began a frantic search. He’d pulled her out and was checking her body for blood, for any injury, when her fist slammed into his face. Shock made him release her but she only came forward, screaming like a madwoman and clawing at his face.
“Jezebel!” he yelled, grabbing her arms and shaking her. “Jez, it’s me!”
Her screams quieted and she blinked, and blinked again. “Ramsey?”
“Yes.” He breathed a sigh of relief and went back to inspecting her. “Are you hurt?”
“Ramsey?” she repeated, her breaths evening out and her eyes began to lose some of the glaze.
“Yes.” He ran a hand down her belly, smoothing out the shirt as he searched for anything that would alert him to her injured state. “Are you in pain?”
She shook her head. He turned her around, still searching for injuries, before bringing her to face him again. She looked both terrified and confused. As he watched, tears built in her eyes.
“Fuck, Jez, I’m sorry.” Reaching forward, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. Her shoulders quaked and she inhaled massive breaths as her body began to tremble. “No one’s going to hurt you.” He pulled away to brush his lips across her trembling ones. “No one’s going to take you from me.”
Around them, men were speaking, Sarah was crying as Bastian offered comfort, Delilah was hovering close to them, and Vince was on the phone with someone. He blocked them all out and held Jezebel until her tremors stopped and her breathing evened. Her hands went around his back and she moved her face across his jacket, once, twice, before going still.
“Jez?” He pulled back to see her face. Her eyes were red-rimmed but steely.
“I want a gun, Ramsey.”
“What?”
“I want a gun.” When he opened his mouth to protest, she pulled away, glared at him, and hugged herself. He remembered the cold and draped her into his wool jacket. As he went to embrace her again, she stepped back and said one word, “Gun.”
He acquiesced, removing his Sig from its holster, and after ensuring the safety was on, handing it to her. Ramsey watched her test the weight, before she dropped it into his coat pocket. He understood, had understood weeks ago why she refused to part with the gun in the Catskills, and he understood now. She wanted the added safety, the ability to protect herself if there was a need. If he had anything to do with it, there would never be another need. Twice was two times too many.
“Thank you,” she murmured in a soft, clear voice.
“Come here.” Pulling her back into his arms,
he breathed a sigh of relief and inhaled the vanilla freshness of her hair. Alive. Jezebel and his unborn child were alive. He’d deal with everything else later.
Chapter 10
“Truth is not a matter of accepting or rejecting, it is something to experience, live and understand.”
―Samuel Aun Weor
Jezebel awoke to Ramsey curled around her and wetness between her legs.
A smile was already forming on her face before she recalled the events that had brought them here. She’d been kidnapped and on her way to Ramsey’s enemies before he’d saved her, saved them all. Two men were dead. She’d seen the bodies as Ramsey led her to one of the waiting SUVs. As they drove, the sun had risen, and knowing they were safe, Jezebel allowed herself to relax. When she awoke next, she was in Ramsey’s arms and he was carrying her into the house. There were men everywhere, wires sticking out from the walls, guns and other tools flashing when people moved. She held tight to him as he moved up the stairs, down the hallway, and into his room. He’d taken her directly to the bathroom, where he washed her dirty feet. There, he’d stripped her, removing every bit of clothing but her panties. He’d even patted her hair for broken shards of glass. By the time she was under the soft down covers, Jezebel was halfway asleep. As soon as his warm body wrapped around her, sleep came.
The smile faded and she sat up.
Next to her, Ramsey shifted. When she looked down, his eyes were open, watching. “How do you feel?”
Jezebel yawned and rotated her head against her neck. “Tired.”
Ramsey patted her pillow.
Something had awoken her. Jezebel soon realized what when she felt an insistent pressing on her bladder. “I have to use the bathroom.”
He only gave her a little smile as she pushed the covers back and moved away. She’d finished, wiped, and was reaching for her panties when she froze. Bright red stared back at her from the white crotch of her panties.
“No.” She shook her head and grabbed a wad of tissue. As she wiped again, Jezebel prayed it was a fluke, some trick of her mind. The paper revealed what she feared. Bright red. Blood. She was bleeding. She was losing her baby. “No!”
The Dragon (G.O.N.Y. - Double Dragon) Page 19
