Taken! Box Set - Books 1-6
Page 12
He ended the call and spoke to Blue.
“He won’t come, we’re on our own. My guess is that Rojo is walking toward the town on the other side of the lake. I hope you’re in good shape, Blue, because they have a big head start on us.”
Blue walked over and placed a hand on his cheek.
“It’s nice to know you’re thinking about my shape, handsome, but if we’re going to catch up to them, we’d better get a move on.” And after saying that, she took off at a sprint.
He smiled, shook his head, and then hurried to catch up to her.
***
Rojo was resting, again. The big man stood with his mouth opened wide as he sucked down air.
It’s the damn candy bars. He thought. I’m going to freeze to death atop this lake because I couldn’t stop eating sweets.
Jessica stood in front of him, shielding her eyes from the snow, as she prayed for her husband’s arrival. She shivered as the frigid wind whipped across the frozen lake and the snow piled ever higher.
After teasing with a gentle snowfall, the storm arrived with preternatural force over an hour ago and turned the world into a wall of white. She and Rojo pressed on, hoping to reach the town that lay beyond the lake’s northern shore. Now, as she stood within an avalanche of flakes, she wondered if they were even still heading in the right direction.
A shadow!
Something moved swiftly in her peripheral vision, and as she whipped her head around to see what it was, she realized that Rojo must have seen it also, because he took the gun out and waved it around.
Then, she heard Rojo cry out in pain, as the gun went off and put a hole in the ice. A moment later, and the big man was crashing to the ground with a dazed look on his bloody face.
Next, she saw Blue, walking out of the wall of white as if it were a spotless past. Blue lowered herself to one knee in the snow and, after taking away his gun, she cuffed Rojo’s hands behind his back.
And then, he was there, at her side. He took her in his arms and hugged her so tightly that the breath fled from her body and her feet dangled above the ground.
After a kiss, he spoke. “I’d thought I’d lost you when the jet crashed.”
She smiled. “I knew you’d come.”
Blue walked over.
“Sorry to interrupt the reunion guys, but we’ve got to find shelter. Just before the storm became blinding, I thought I saw a church steeple off in the distance; I would guess we’ve still got miles to go.”
“Then let’s get going,” He said. “Blue, you walk along with Jessica while I get Rojo back on his feet and—”
A loud CRACK! rang out, as the ice beneath them split down the middle of the bullet hole and opened a foot-wide gap. Blue fell to the ice, but grabbed onto the collar of Rojo’s jacket and pulled herself to safety.
Jessica was closest to the hole and slid backwards into the icy water, before her husband grabbed her hand and kept her from sinking any deeper. However, the water had gone pass the tops of her boots and filled them, and now she shivered uncontrollably, as her feet grew numb from the cold.
“Oh my God, oh my God it’s so cold,” She said, as her teeth chattered.
“She’s screwed,” Rojo called over. “Those boots of hers are filled with water, and in this cold, that means frostbite.”
He leaned over and talked to her, while Blue removed her boots and wet socks; it was so cold, that the socks were already stiffening, as the water turned to ice.
“Tell me what to do Jessica. How do we make this better?”
“Heat, I need heat, and soon, or he’s right; I could lose my toes, possibly even my feet.”
“We could make a fire?” Blue said.
He shook his head. “This wind is brutal; we’d never get one going.”
“We’ll use friction,” Blue said. “We’ll each rub her feet with our hands.”
“Our hands are like ice, it wouldn’t be enough,”
Jessica cried out in pain, as she shivered.
“Oh God, it hurts so mu, mu, much,”
He looked around, desperately searching for anything to use to make a fire, but everything was coated with a glaze of white ice, and he knew that the wet, howling wind would test the flames of any fire. Then, he saw the solution, and rose to his feet.
Without the slightest preamble, he walked over to Rojo, took out his gun, and shot him between the eyes. Rojo had just enough time to yell, “Hey! Hey!” before the bullet blew the back of his head off.
Blue cried out. “What the hell was that?”
“Mercy,”
“Mercy?”
He pulled back Rojo’s clothing and then planted a knee on his chest, afterward, he drew the Bowie knife from its sheath, and then jammed the blade just beneath Rojo’s breastbone, where he began cutting him open, splitting him down the middle like a Christmas turkey, as vapor rose from the bloody gash.
Throughout all of it, Rojo laid with his eyes opened, but unblinking against the driving snow.
He walked back over to Jessica and lifted her up, to carry her back to Rojo’s corpse. With considerable care, he slipped first one, and then both of her feet amidst Rojo’s organs, Rojo’s still warm organs.
“Good God!” Blue said, as Jessica wept in his arms.
“Blue,”
“Yes... yes?”
“I need you to ease Rojo’s jacket off of him and then take the knife and cut it in two. We’ll use it as a covering for Jessica’s feet.”
She didn’t move.
“Blue?”
“I heard you; I got it, right,”
She removed the jacket, and as she was cutting it in two, a cloth pouch fell out of an inside pocket, when she opened it, she discovered the diamonds.
“What’s in there?” He said.
“Diamonds,” Blue said. “Holy crap they’re diamonds,”
“Good, that means you’ll still get your payday.”
She nodded in reply and soon walked over with the makeshift moccasins. He lifted Jessica a little higher and her feet slipped out of the gore, and then Blue wiped off the blood with the remnants of a sleeve and wrapped up Jessica’s feet.
He opened his mouth to say it was time to get going when he heard it.
A helicopter.
Somewhere above them a helicopter was hovering, searching.
While still holding Jessica, he fumbled in his pocket for the flare gun, and then fired a shot into the air. Moments later, they could hear the motor of the metal bird descend, and soon, a bright light blinked off and on from a short distance away.
Before walking toward the light, he kicked Rojo’s body and sent it tumbling, until it rolled into the icy water and disappeared.
When they reached the chopper, they found their reluctant pilot and a young Asian woman wearing a thick parka and carrying a laptop; her pretty face wore a big smile, and, it was a familiar face.
“I see you decided to come anyway, Carly.” He said.
Carly beamed at him with pride, but when she spotted Jessica, she began to cry.
“Oh my God, Dr. White, oh thank God you’re alive,”
He spoke to the pilot. “What changed your mind?”
“Not what, who, that girl back there threatened me.”
“Carly, are you carrying a weapon?”
“No sir, I didn’t need to, I threatened to send his business records to the I.R.S. His real business records,”
“Jessica,”
“Yes?”
“I think it’s time we gave Carly a raise.”
Carly smiled again. “Thank you sir,”
“Land this thing at the nearest hospital, my wife needs medical attention.”
“Right,”
“And Blue, while I’m at the hospital with Jessica, please pay Max Stacey a visit.”
“I’ll do that, and afterward, I’ll call the police.”
“Sir?”
“Yes Carly?”
“The man who abducted Dr. White, did he escape?”
He said nothing, and Carly leaned forward.
“Sir?”
“He split Carly,”
“Split?”
“Yes.”
“I see.” Carly said, while not seeing at all, and she wondered just what was so funny, that it had the dark-haired woman seated beside her, shaking from suppressed laughter.
***
He arrived back at the motel the next day to find Blue loading her pick-up.
“How’s your wife doing?”
“She’s good. We’re going home tomorrow.”
“Well, I’m out of here now. I’m going to cash in these diamonds and then spend a week in the Bahamas. I’ve had enough cold weather for a while.”
He nodded at her. A moment later, she walked over and kissed him.
“What was that for?” He asked.
“That was for the hell of it, God, it’s such a shame you’re married; we’d make a hell of a pair.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Was that a proposition?”
“No, I like your wife too much and we both know that you’d turn me down anyway, plus...”
“Plus what?”
“Tell me something, if Rojo hadn’t been there, and it was just you, me and your wife...”
“Yes?”
“Would I have had your wife’s dainty little feet tiptoeing among my innards?”
“Have a safe trip, Blue,”
She nodded. “That’s what I thought.” And then she kissed him again, climbed into her truck, and drove away.
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About The Author
Donald Wells is the author of numerous short stories and novels, including The TAKEN! Series, The Caliber Detective Agency, Blue Steele, Monsters & The Reynolds Family Saga.
He lives deep inside a writing cave in the wilds of New Jersey.
However, the cave does have Internet access, and so, you can contact him at:
www.donaldwells.com
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www.thecaliberdetectiveagency.com
www.hewhofightswithmonsters.com
www.thereynoldsfamilysaga.com
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COPYRIGHT
TAKEN! – BOX SET -BOOKS 1-6
Copyright © Donald Wells, 2012
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Did you love Taken! Box Set - Books 1-6? Then you should read Taken! Box Set - Books 7-12 by Donald Wells!
By Donald Wells
The Author of The Reynolds Family Saga
Taken! Box Set - Books 7-12 of the Taken! Short Story Series
Taken! 7
Jessica White and her husband are back in Georgia to spend time at the home of an old friend who is getting married.
But when their friend's fiancee, Lena, goes missing, they become involved with not only the Russian mob, but also discover a plot to kill dozens of innocents.
Jessica consoles their friend, George, as her husband once more defies the odds and helps Lena free herself from the bonds of her past while wrecking havoc on the streets of Atlanta.
Taken! 8
Even as her husband battles personal demons, Jessica White must come to the aid of her sister, Gabby, who is undergoing a crisis of her own.
While her husband is chomping at the bit to exact vengeance on the man who hurt Gabby, Jessica struggles to make him understand that not every battle is a physical one.
However, once Gabby is on the road to recovery, her aggressor must be dealt with, and dealt with he is, in a most brutal and surprising manner.
Taken! 9
Someone wants Jessica White dead and they'll stop at nothing to make that happen.
After her husband thwarts the first attempt on her life, they discover who's behind the plot to kill her and realize that their enemy is an old one.
With time running out, their adversary escalates the stakes and sends a team of men to kill her.
But the doctor is not alone in this fight, she has a husband, a very capable and ruthless husband who will do whatever it takes to see his wife safe, and her enemies, dead.
Taken! 10
Jessica White and her husband are in New York City, while taking part in a task force formed to catch a serial killer.
When the case leads them to the doors of The Caliber Detective Agency, Jake Caliber, the legendary private detective, has surprising news for Jessica's husband, and gives them a clue that may lead to the whereabouts of his mysterious father.
Taken! 11
Dr. White and her husband are in the northern California town of Bel Rey, tracking down a tip that may lead him to his father.
However personal business becomes deadly business when the doctor's husband happens upon a group of drug smugglers and incurs their wrath.
Now, the odds are five against one, and while the men chasing him are heavily armed, all he has to rely on are his wits.
It's predators versus prey, and the loser gets death.
Taken! 12
Agents Burke and Ramos finally reveal their true intentions, but when Jessica and her husband refuse to play ball, Burke and Ramos decide that they know too much and must be taken out.
Easier said than done, however, Burke has a secret weapon, a man who may well be every bit as deadly as the doctor's husband.
Read more at Donald Wells’s site.
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Watch for more at Donald Wells’s site.
About the Author
Donald Wells is the author of The Taken! Series, Blue Steele, Monsters, Caliber Detective Agency & The Reynolds Family Saga.
When he's not writing he spends his time reading and when he's reading, he wishes he were writing.
A man of many talents, Mr. Wells invented the now much used term .com as well as the word "Dealy"