by Pamela Clare
His mind had been spinning for hours, trying to figure out who had abducted them and why. Originally, he’d suspected one of his angry clients. As a lawyer, he’d made enough enemies, people not happy with the job he did or a final verdict. But this had been pretty damn extreme. It was one thing to want to hurt him, but to grab almost his whole family? That didn’t make sense.
Terry shifted and brought his focus back to now. She’d finally fallen asleep an hour ago, her head in his lap. Her cuffs bound her to the same horizontal pipe. He itched to smooth her red hair away from her face, but the restraints made that impossible. From this vantage point, her black eye looked as if she’d gone a few rounds with a heavyweight champ. His sons had similar bruises. So did he. He couldn’t have been more proud of Terry, of the boys too. They’d all fought hard until the moment they realized the futility.
“She’ll be okay,” Eric, murmured, his voice low, but confident. “Remember when she joined that roller derby team a few years ago and got body-checked off the track? She had a huge shiner after that.”
Jay looked at his oldest son and forced a smile. The cut over Eric’s eyebrow had stopped bleeding, but the trail of blood still remained along his cheek. “Yeah. Good thing it was the end of the season and I convinced her to hang up her skates.”
He’d fallen in love with Terry because of her sass. Her attitude and energy drew him like flies to a picnic. She was the only woman he’d ever loved—high school sweethearts in fact—and he’d be the first to admit that their love had grown even stronger through their twenty-seven years together.
Eric stretched his long legs in front of him, rotated his shoulders as best he could and winced before a grim smile curved his lips. “I think the guy that surprised Mom at the door won’t ever have kids.”
“Yeah.” Jay grinned too, picturing Terry kneeing the stranger in the balls and slamming her purse against his head. He’d gone down quicker than a bowling ball in quicksand. At that point the house had been full of men. It had taken five of them to bring down all the St. Johns. It would’ve taken more if they hadn’t picked them off one and two at a time, waiting as everyone got home. But Terry had been just as awesome as the boys, fighting for her family, for herself. Right up until one of the men slammed his fist in her face and she’d crumbled to the floor in a heap. Jay’s smile faded and he opened his eyes to banish the memory.
“I hope Jess is okay. You think they plan on bringing her here too?” Eric asked.
“No.” Jay shook his head. He’d been considering that idea. “I think we’re leverage. I don’t know who’s taken us, but the longer I mull it over, the more I think Jess is involved. She’s the only one not here.” Once the goons at the house had Terry and the boys, they’d hit the road with six of the St. Johns’ in two different vans and a squeal of tires. They would’ve snagged Jess if they’d wanted everyone, which told him she was being used.
But why and by whom? Who did Jess know who would put all of them in this kind of danger? Only one name came to mind: Maurice Juneau, her boss. Jay had told Jess years ago, when she went to work for the man, that he was trouble. He didn’t have solid proof, but he’d worked for Juneau himself long before that and the experience had inspired Jay to shift his career.
Instead of staying in private practice and making money hand over fist, Jay took a job in the public defender’s office for a fraction of the salary. Life changed. The household budget got tighter and raising five kids suddenly became a lot harder. Terry took a job as a teacher at the kids’ private school and the reduction in tuition was the only reason the kids stayed enrolled.
Yes, life had changed and it was all because of Maurice Juneau.
Though Jay had tried to convince Jess to find other employment, she’d stood firm, saying that this was a great entry level job if she wanted to be in the movie business and that he needed to let go and let her live her life. Despite his protesting heart, Jay had done it. He’d let his daughter go. Let her make her own decisions.
Brendan stirred next to Eric and Jay gestured with his chin to his youngest son. “How’s he look to you? I can’t see him well enough from over here.”
Glancing at his brother, Eric grimaced. “They beat the hell out of him, but I’ve seen him get the same one or two times before. He’s a tough son of a bitch.”
“Hey, watch it,” Terry mumbled from Jay’s lap. “The bitch is listening.”
“Sorry, Mom. Figure of speech,” Eric said.
“Didn’t mean to wake you,” Jay murmured softly. “Go back to sleep.”
Terry sat up, stretched her shoulders the same way Eric had done. “Not gonna happen,” she said around a yawn. “I’m too sore.” After craning a look at three of her sleeping and bruised sons, she snuggled as close to Jay as she could and leaned against his side. Beneath the layer of female perspiration, the smell of Terry’s jasmine perfume wafted under Jay’s nose and he closed his eyes and breathed in his wife. “Okay, anyone get an idea of how to get out of here yet?” Terry asked. “There has to be a way.”
“Not with these damn cuffs on,” Eric said, rattling his for effect.
“I think we have to wait this out for now,” Jay said. “There isn’t a whole lot we can do at this point, but we’ve got to be prepared for any possibility.”
“Such as?” Eric asked.
Jay had already spun a few ideas around. “Such as we need to be ready if Jess gets to speak to us. If I’m right and someone is using us to use her, then she’ll demand to talk to one of us or all of us. If that happens we need to come up with clues. A way—or ways—for her to figure out either where we are or who has us.”
“We don’t know either of those things,” Terry pointed out.
“Yet,” Jay said. “We don’t yet, but maybe we will in time, before we talk to her.”
“If we talk to her,” Danny added from his spot along the wall. He sat up and stretched as his brother and mother had. “And that’s a big if.”
Jay nodded. “Yes, but like I said, we have to be prepared for anything.” He paused a moment as he looked around the room. “So what did we see coming into this place?” he asked.
Danny shrugged. “Other houses, hills.”
“I saw the pier,” Eric said. “You know, the top of the Ferris wheel.”
“Yeah, I did too,” Jay said, nodding again. “If we can come up with something obscure…something that won’t give us away or get Jess in trouble, maybe we can give her enough clues to at least get the vicinity of where we are. If she has the vicinity and knows who’s behind this, even if we don’t, she’ll be able get reinforcements and get us out of here.”
“Whoever did this is sure determined,” Terry chimed in. “They were ready with the man power and transportation for all six of us. That was one hell of a plan.”
The door opened abruptly, slammed against the wall and a man walked in. Terry jumped and straightened. The sound snapped the nineteen-year-old twins awake and they sat up as well.
What caught everyone’s attention first was the black mask on the man’s face. It covered his eyes and nose in a Batman sort of way. It gave Jay a strange sense of hope that as long as they couldn’t identify him, they had a chance of survival.
The designer suit hanging on the man’s lean build easily cost three grand. Jay owned a few himself, but they were old. Back when he had his own practice and money rolled in by the wheelbarrow full, he’d splurged on the suits. Those days were long gone. He got the feeling this guy had a closet full. Two men with guns flanked his sides.
“I see everyone’s here and accounted for,” he said in a voice Jay didn’t recognize. “Sorry it took me so long to arrive. I had other business to attend to.” He put his right hand in his fancy suit and jingled the change in his pocket. His dark hair had been tamed with gel and the tan on his jaw looked like pure spray on. He perused everyone in the room with sharp eyes. “So. Who wants to die first?”
Chapter Four
Streetlights and palm trees whizz
ed past as Tanner drove down Sunset Boulevard. Silence loomed in the car. Jess had already told him she worked as Juneau’s assistant, but that didn’t answer his other question. What did she need with that much money? Or maybe it had nothing to do with need. Maybe it was greed. He’d learned a lot about greed in the past decade. Saw what it did to his best friend and what it did to guys in the pen. How it changed people and made them something different.
Jess wasn’t what he first expected. Her baby doll exterior didn’t mesh with her backbone. She was scared to death of him. He saw it in her eyes, her mannerisms. The way she bit her lip and stuttered words. But she continually looked him in the eye. Faced him head on. Plus she had an attitude on top of it.
The attitude reminded him of three of his sisters. The naïve, scared part reminded him of the fourth. Not that he wanted reminders of his sisters…he didn’t. He had no room for anything but revenge. He had to stay focused.
Prison had hardened him. There was always more to a person than met the eye, so he shouldn’t be surprised that Jess—with her peaches and cream complexion—wanted a piece of Juneau’s pie. But despite knowing that looks didn’t define a person, he’d already judged her. Innocent. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been wrong. Hell, his judgment sucked harder than a category five hurricane.
She hadn’t wanted to tell him about the money. He got that. It was none of his business and they probably wouldn’t be spending too much time together in the distant future. But why would she be mixed up with Juneau in this way if she’d been his assistant for three years already?
“Are you blackmailing him?” It didn’t seem to fit, but anything was possible.
Her jaw dropped as she stared at him. “No,” she said, obviously affronted. “I… You don’t know… I don’t have to tell…” She faced forward, fumed. She played the innocent act like a pro.
Tanner took a closer look, which wasn’t easy since he had to watch the road. Her eyes glittered with moisture. “Are you crying?”
She swiped at her eyes. “No.” Her adamant tone surprised him.
Every time he meant to catch the little fluff ball, she gave him the warrior. He didn’t remember women being this hard to read. Of course he hadn’t been around too many women the past seven years. Like zero. Not his sisters or his mother since getting out of prison. He purposely hadn’t seen any of his family for more than one reason…his dad being one of them. If he didn’t see them, he could pretend his dad was still alive. Tanner quashed the errant thought before guilt swamped him.
Besides, knowing his family, they’d try to change his mind about Juneau. They would’ve surrounded him with things like love, support and understanding. At least they would have, before he’d turned his back on them. He had too much anger to face any other emotion. They wouldn’t understand his rage. His intense need for revenge. Juneau deserved to pay for what he’d done, just the way Tanner had paid for a crime he didn’t commit. His family wouldn’t understand that. They’d want him to move on. Forget the past, but Tanner couldn’t. He lived for the moment when Juneau felt fear. Wanted to see the man’s face when he hurt.
“Watch it!” Jess screamed as the car went over the Braille line of the double yellows, and Tanner swerved back into his lane, the street lights coming back into focus. “God, you’re going to kill us before we even get to Maurice,” she complained. “What is wrong with you?”
Just about everything, but Tanner had no inclination to talk about himself. “If you’re not blackmailing him, then what’s the deal?” he asked, completely ignoring her question. If she worked with Juneau then maybe they were having, or at some point had, a fling. Maybe someone was blackmailing her. But why? “Are you married?” he asked.
She shot him a glare. “It’s none of your business. And no.” She wrapped her arms around her middle and her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths.
“Then why do you need the money?” When she didn’t answer, Tanner pulled over and shut the car down. Several cars whizzed past. Obviously she had an agenda and he wanted answers. Her timetable seemed a little less flexible than his. Because although he wanted Juneau as soon as possible, he’d rather wait and get it right than screw up a second time.
Jess looked at him, her eyes wide. “What are you doing? We need to find Maurice.” She checked her watch. She was definitely on a clock.
“I don’t drive until I hear your story. Give it.” He shifted in the seat and rested his forearm on the steering wheel.
She blinked, looked like Bambi just out of the smoking forest with no idea where to go or what to do. Yep, she definitely reminded him of Holly. Those big eyes, wide with uncertainty and panic. His youngest sister had taken the brunt of the abuse from her older siblings. Him included. Occasionally he’d stuck up for Holly, but most the time he’d teased her like the others. Tanner shoved the memories out of his mind.
“I’ve got time,” he said, rubbing in the fact that Jess didn’t.
Her eyes brightened with unshed tears and the sight rocked Tanner. Made his stomach flip in an odd way. She averted her gaze and stared straight ahead, quickly wiping her eyes, but the damage was done. A strange sensation flexed his heart.
Her jaw clenched and she swallowed hard. In the next instant she opened the door and shot out of the car. Tanner’s adrenaline soared as he lunged and caught her back leg. They both tumbled onto the roadside. She struggled beneath him as he grappled for her wrists. Hardly any traffic crowded the road since it was dead middle of the night and the few cars that traveled the street zoomed by.
Tanner’s heart thumped hard as he subdued her. “Was it something I said?” he grunted, amused and slightly reverent at her attempt. She finally went limp, her eyes bright with fear as she gasped for air. Breathing hard, Tanner stilled above her. He couldn’t ignore the feel of her soft body trapped under his. The way her chest rose and fell with every ragged breath. Nothing sisterly about his thoughts now. Nope, now all he pictured was naked skin and hot sex. He was a frickin’ scumbag for feeling this way when she was so clearly messed up and freaking out.
“I can’t….please don’t…” She couldn’t get the words out.
“Shh,” he told her. “Shh. I won’t hurt you.” He wouldn’t. He might scare the crap out of her, but he wouldn’t hurt her. Not physically anyway. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t mess with her head. “Tell me why you want that money and I’ll let you up.” Yes, he was a bastard to the tenth power. Make sure the girl is helpless and go for the throat. Prison had been a twisted teacher.
“I can’t.” She hiccupped a breath, something close to a sob. Her face contorted into a mask of pain. Something so fresh and real that Tanner felt the ache in his own chest. The foreign feeling wasn’t anything he enjoyed or wanted to explore. “I can’t,” she whispered again.
“Why not?”
She shook her head, refused to look at him.
“What are you afraid of? That I’ll tell someone?” He leaned close to her ear, felt her freeze beneath him. Yeah, lying on top of her like this had his cock growing hard. Was that a surprise? She smelled so fucking sweet. At least the lower half of his body was on the ground and not her. “You don’t have to worry. I don’t know anyone to tell. I’ve got nobody that wants to talk to me or know me. Tell me your secret, sweetheart. I’ll keep it safe.” Probably because he wouldn’t live long enough to tell anyone, but he’d spare her that information.
Her frantic heart beat hard against his chest, her breath harsh in his ear. “He’ll kill them…if I tell.” Her words came out on a tortured cry. “He told me he would. I can’t say anything, don’t you understand. I can’t say anything.”
Tanner met her gaze. She was for real. Fear and pain filled her pretty brown eyes. “Who is ‘them?’” he asked. “Who is going to kill who? Maurice is going to kill someone?” That seemed too far out of Maurice’s territory. The man was a scumbag who hired guys to do his dirty work, he didn’t do it himself. Jess shook her head, but Tanner grabbed her chin and held he
r steady. “Tell me, Jess. We have no problems as long as you give me what I want. Tell me.”
When she still didn’t reply, Tanner ran his fingers through her soft hair and dipped his lips next to her ear. He didn’t say anything, he just took in her scent, brushed his lips against the softness of her skin at the edge of her jaw, right beneath her ear. Not a kiss, but a caress. His lips on her skin. Goddamn…she felt so good. His heart roared in his ears. It’d be too easy to forget he’d forcefully tackled her to the ground. Too easy to strip her clothes and his pants and ease the pressure in his jeans, take the edge off his insanity. God, what was wrong with him?
He shifted a fraction, like he might move on her and a tiny little catch sounded in her throat. He smelled her fear and had never hated himself more.
“The sooner you tell me what I want to know, the sooner I’ll get off you,” he murmured, punctuating the words with another brush of his lips along her jaw. “Otherwise…” He let the sentence dangle, made sure his hot breath wafted in her ear, wanted her to worry about the consequences of now.
Desperation clouded her pixie face. “My whole family, okay? He’s going to kill my whole family if I don’t get his eight stupid-million dollars back! And he means it. I don’t have much time.”
Since she wanted eight million from Maurice, that meant someone else had her family. An unknown player he didn’t want to particularly deal with. As that news sunk in his brain, bright headlights sent a harsh stream of white light over Tanner’s head and he glanced over his shoulder to see the flashing reds of a police car.
His luck sucked.
Jess’s whole body trembled as Tanner moved off her and pulled her to her feet. One minute she’d been pinned beneath his hard, hot body and the next she stood with his arm draped possessively around her waist, holding her tightly to his side.
The flashing lights of the police cruiser caused a wave of hope to flood her veins. Seeing the police officer rounding the hood of his cruiser with a hand on his weapon sent her stomach into a tizzy. She could get away from Tanner! Run, scream and tell this officer that he had tried to kill her boss tonight and still planned on killing him. Hell, he’d shot her! But where was Tanner’s gun? Would he kill this officer if she said something? He hadn’t hesitated firing before so why would he now?
