by Ginger Ring
“No, this is Christian.” The deep voice on the other end wasn’t familiar.
“Who?”
“Sorry, this is Christian. I’m one of the tech guys. I work for Roman.”
Jasper stopped. He’d texted back and forth with the tech guys many times, but this was the first time he’d ever spoken with one. “Yeah, what’s up?” This had him on alert, and he scanned the area for anything unusual.
“One of my duties is to monitor the trackers for abnormal activities.”
Jasper took a deep breath. The guy even talked like a techy. “And?”
“The tracker on Miss Smith’s necklace got my attention.”
It got Jasper’s as well, and he gripped the phone tighter. “What do you mean?”
“It was in one spot, with her phone, but now the one on the necklace is leaving town.”
“Wait. What?” Leaving town? “Maybe she just left her phone at home and went for a drive.”
“No. It’s our belief that’s she’s been taken.”
Jasper collapsed against this side of his SUV.
“What the hell do you mean, taken?” His vision blurred.
“She walked to a wooded area near her home. The phone stayed there, but the tracker on her necklace is still mobile. I searched local camera footage, and it appears she’s in a white van.” White van?
“Is she with Dom?” This made no sense at all.
“No, but he and Arlo are on their way to get you and should be arriving in about thirty seconds.” Jasper turned toward the street and could see Arlo hauling ass his direction. “I have Roman standing by as well.”
“I don’t get it.” Fear like he’d never experience crept down his spine. “Is it the Bratva?” He said a silent prayer for that not to be true. Maybe she was just with a friend, but she didn’t hang out with anyone else, and why was the phone left behind?
Arlo’s SUV skidded to a stop, and he yelled for Jasper to get in. He jumped in the back and had barely closed the door before they took off.
“No.” Christian was brief and to the point.
“Then who is she with?” Jasper still couldn’t wrap his brain around what was happening.
Dominic turned his way but didn’t say anything, a grim look on his face. Finally, Christian spoke up. “We checked the plates. They belong to Alexander Dubnikov.”
Jasper’s chin dropped to his chest.
No. No. No.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jackie
Her mouth was dry, and her head throbbed like a mother. She couldn’t move, and it took all the effort she had just to open her eyes. Focusing was another struggle. The room was not familiar. The fact that she was strapped to a table was frightening. Jolted awake, Jackie fought the straps that bound her, but it was no use. They were heavy duty, and even a knife would be useless on them.
Had she hit her head and was hallucinating? Had she been double-crossed by the Caponellis or taken by the Bratva? She was supposed to meet Jasper. Where was he? Did he even care or know she was gone?
“Finally. You’re awake.” A man from the van strolled into the room with a coffee cup in hand. He was relaxed and totally at ease with having a woman tied to a table in what could only be a dining room. A kitchen was visible through the open doorway.
“Where am I, and who are you?” Even talking seemed to take more effort than it should.
“Name’s Alexander, and I’m your worst nightmare.” He smiled and placed a hand on the table.
“What do you mean?” Fight or flight instinct kicked in, but since she couldn’t do either, a chill swept through her body.
“I had so much fun with the last woman I took. I wanted to do it again.” The man talked as if holding someone against their will was the same as playing a video game or taking an amusement ride.
“What do you mean, the last woman?” Jackie tried kicking her feet, but they barely moved.
“The girl they found along the road.” Alexander took a sip of coffee and leaned back against the wall. “It was on all the news. I’m sure you saw it. Nothing too exciting ever happens in the little town.”
“Ah, who is she?”
“My brother’s favorite whore. I wanted to get his attention, and now that I have you,” he put his hand on her knee, “I have the Caponellis attention, also.”
“Why would they care about me? I’m not a Caponelli.” She had to keep him talking. Someone had to be coming for her or have noticed she was missing.
“It’s too hard to get to Roman’s wife or sister, but I watched you with them a few times, so you must be close to the family.” He had a slight slur and a Russian accent.
“I just work for them. Nothing else.”
Alexander shrugged his shoulders. “A minor matter. They’ll get the message when I throw your body on their front lawn.”
“Why would you do that?”
Oh God. Oh God.
She was in the hands of a lunatic. A deranged freak who look like any normal guy who walked the streets. He could have been at the coffee shop or grocery store, and no one would have viewed him as anything out of the normal. Average height and build, short blondish hair, bright blue eyes, and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.
The guy just shrugged. “Why? Because I want to, and I can.”
Jackie took a deep breath, then another. The only weapon she had at her disposal was her wits, and being smart would buy her time. It had to be past the time that Jasper was to meet her. He had to know she was missing, but would he think she just stood him up? She briefly closed her eyes and said a quick prayer.
“You said you wanted to get your brother’s attention. Why?” Jackie pulled questions out of the air. Anything to keep him talking instead of doing.
“I’m the oldest, yet he has all the power. Fedor’s the one everyone listens to, but once I show what I can do, everyone will be following me, not him.” Alexander circled the table. “Do you know what it’s like to always be in someone’s shadow when you are the first born?”
She swallowed and shook her head.
“It’s torture.” His eyes jerked back and forth. The guy was high on something or just plain insane. He brushed her hair away from her face. “You’re so pretty.”
“Is that why I’m here? You thought I was pretty?” This was so messed up. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, and his face brightened.
“No, that was just a bonus.” He placed a cold hand on her bare arm. “You, my dear, were just the easiest target I could get.” Alexander dropped his hand and stepped back. “Now, let the fun begin.”
“What do you mean?” As hard as she tried to fight it, hysteria filled her veins. Her chest was ready to burst as she gasped for a breath. “Can’t we just talk some more?”
“No. I’m done talking. Time to play.”
***
Jasper
Christian was on speaker phone and giving coordinates according to the tracker on Jackie’s necklace. Hopefully, it was still around her neck. They’d sent one of the other tech guys to the park to retrieve her phone and look for any other clues. Her apartment keys had been found near the dropped cell.
His anxiety level was at a record high. So much for being calm and cool. He was a fucking mess. Thankfully, Arlo was at the wheel, and Dominic had taken over, calling the shots. The man was good at this and not running on emotion. It’d be a different scenario if it were Stephanie who was missing, but then, Jasper would take over. They were both like brothers to him and never more than right now.
“Has the location changed?” Dominic asked. It was a house out in the country that hadn’t been lived in for years.
“No. The subject has not moved in the last twenty minutes.”
The subject? They were talking about the woman he loved and wanted to spend the rest of his life with. A sharp pain pierced his chest just imaging the fear she must be feeling. Twenty minutes was a long time when you were in the hands of a crazy fucking bastard.
“Give us the layout of
the property,” Arlo said. They were only a few miles away, but going in guns a-blazing was never a good idea. In two seconds flat, everyone had a beep on their phones and a detailed map and image of the house Christian gave as Jackie’s location.
Dominic spoke first. “I say go up and around. We park behind this section of woods and move from there.” Arlo grunted, and Jasper drew his gun.
It’d been the longest five minutes of his life, but they finally arrived at the location amongst the trees from where they’d strike. Roman had dispatched a couple of cars for backup, and they were already parked out of sight near the end of the driveway of the farm house they’d soon be breaching.
Adrenaline spiked through his veins as he got out of the car. Jasper took several deep breaths and stepped into mob mode. He brushed aside emotion and became all business. It was the only way to be and the best way to save her—to be a cold-hearted killer and save the one he wanted to spend his life with.
They quietly pressed the doors shut. Phones were put on mute as Arlo told Christian their next steps. Each man wired themselves up for sound and placed in an earpiece. One of the crew around front had dispatched a drone so Roman could monitor the operation. His boss would use it for training later. What to do, or not do, in this case. They were all connected now and could hear anything that happened.
As they approached the edge of the tree line, they studied the layout again. It was an older home with an attached garage. The bastard had probably driven his van into the garage and entered that way.
Dom spoke up. “Any movement visible inside?”
“Some in the front, so you should be good going in around the back. We’ve got visual of only one man so far,” Christian responded.
The men out on the road gave an all clear. They were ready to roll.
“Okay, Dom and I will take the flank, and you go in the front,” Arlo instructed, and Jasper nodded. They’d given him the lead roll with them as backup. He’d have fought it if it were any other way. Dom tossed some sunglasses, a trucker hat, and a hoodie his way on the off chance that Alexander might know who he was. “Ring the doorbell, and say your car stopped and your cell is dead. Just keep your head to the side so he can’t see the earpiece.” Jasper traded his suitcoat for the disguise.
“Yeah, I know the drill.” He’d done it many times, but never had it been this important. Jasper both prayed that she was in there and hoped that she wasn’t.
They sneaked up to the house with the drone in place. Christian would give a shout out if anyone was seen near a window.
With Arlo and Dom in place, Jasper reluctantly holstered his gun. If the guy caught a peek of that, there was no way he’d open up. Running his fingers through his hair, Jasper made the sign of the cross, pulled the hat down low, and knocked on the front door. Footsteps sounded from inside as they neared, but no one showed.
He knocked again before yelling, “Hello. Anyone home?” Jasper could feel the man’s presence on the other side of the door. “My car broke down, and my phone is dead. Can you call someone for me?”
“Subject is by the front door, and I have a visual on Jackie,” Arlo’s voice sounded in his ear. “Go in on two. One. Two.” Glass windows shattered on two sides of the house as he and Dom broke in. Jasper kicked in the door, taking down the man behind it. Jasper was on him in an instant, smashing his face over and over with his fist. He was in a rage as blood spattered the wall and floor around them.
“Stop.” Arlo grabbed Jasper from behind and pulled him off. “I’ll take care of this piece of shit. You go to her.” He nodded toward the hallway before giving the all clear over the radio.
Jasper hurried to the door at the end of the hall, both eager and afraid of what he might find. What he saw would haunt him forever. Jackie lay tied to a table. Dominic stood beside her with a knife trying to cut her loose. Black lines had formed on her face where tears and mascara had mixed together. Her eyes met his, and he rushed to her side as Dom was finally able to get the first strap loose.
“Jackie, my angel.” He crushed her to his chest before putting her at arm’s length to check her over. “Are you hurt? Did he do anything to you?” The knot in his stomach finally dissolved when she said that he hadn’t.
“Thank God you’re here.” She cried and enveloped her trembling body in his after Dom cut the final tie. “His name is Alexander. He’s the man who tortured that poor girl and was about to do the same to me.”
Roman voice sounded over the ear piece. “Everything secure?”
“Yes, sir.” Several men gave their location and status.
“Dom, how do you want to resolve this?” Arlo asked while dragging Jackie’s kidnapper into the room.
“Put him on the table so I can work on him.” No one touched his woman and lived to tell about it. Jasper picked Jackie up and carried her to a nearby chair.
Arlo threw the bloody mess of a man onto the table and gathered the ties to strap him down. Jasper untangled himself from Jackie and stood up. He was going to enjoy this. On his way to the task, Dom stood in his way. “I got this.”
“Get out of my way. I get the honor.” Jasper was going to skin that man alive.
“There’s no honor in doing this in front of her.” His friend nodded Jackie’s way. “I know how you feel, but I will never forget the look on Stephanie’s face when I killed Oscar in front of her. She understands this life, but Jackie isn’t from our world. You need to protect her.” Leave it to Dominic, the man of few words, to say the ones Jasper needed to hear most. “Go, get out of here. We’ll finish up.”
The man moaned as Arlo pulled a strap tight, and Jackie could be heard crying. She had a kind heart, too kind to be here. “He’s mentally ill. He has to be.” She would want the man turned in to the police, but that wouldn’t happen. The man would die an agonizing death for what he did to the other woman and for what he intended to do to Jackie.
Arlo’s phone vibrated, and he answered it. “Roman wants the fucker alive.”
“Oh, hell no.” Jasper wasn’t having any of it. “Over my dead body.”
“He might have information we need about the Bratva. We’ll work him over and see what spills out. You take her home.”
“Son of a bitch!” Jasper groaned and clenched his fist. It was the right thing to do. She needed more than they did here. “Give me the damn keys.” Arlo took them out of his pocket and tossed them his way.
“Thanks, guys.” Jasper choked up. It’d been an emotional day. “I owe you.”
“We’re brothers, even if we aren’t blood.” Dom and Arlo nodded in agreement.
Jasper returned and knelt in front of a very pale Jackie. “Are you okay to go now? Do you want me to carry you?” Jasper took her hands in his.
“Just get me out of here.” She let go of his hands and threw her arms around his neck.
“Where do you want to go?” Jasper said in her ear.
“Anywhere as long as it’s with you.” Jackie held him tight, and he wasn’t letting go.
“Don’t worry. I’m never leaving you again.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Two months later
Jackie
There was nothing better than being kissed awake by the one you loved. Jasper nibbled on her ear before dropping his mouth to her neck, then her breasts. They didn’t have much time, so their lovemaking this morning would be quick but no less mind-blowing. She’d barely awoken before he was pressed up against her opening, ready to make her his.
A moan escaped her lips as he thrust inside her. The fast pace her man kept was matched only by her own. They’d become so in tune with each other’s needs, it didn’t take long to reach climax when short on time. Tonight would be different. Jasper was an expert at playing her body like a fine-tuned instrument, and he promised to make up for their fast and furious wake-up call.
Her muscles tightened, and before she knew it, Jackie was spiraling over a passion-filled cliff. Jasper shuddered and groaned as he followed after. His han
ds clutched in hers above her head.
“Have I told you today how much I love you?” Jasper ran his fingers through her tousled hair.
“No, I don’t believe so.” Her cheeks were flushed as she tightened her legs around his, not wanting him to leave her body just yet.
“You’re my angel, and I love you more and more every day.”
“I love you, too.”
Jasper’s phone alarm buzzed, and he rested his forehead on hers. “Damn. I guess I’d better get dressed.”
“Yes. We can’t be late.” They had a ceremony to get to.
***
The wedding of Stephanie and Dominic was something out of a bohemian and medieval dream, with the bride looking like a beautiful princess and the groom a handsome prince. They’d both wanted a low-key ceremony out in the woods, but with tensions high and security a priority, both parties agreed that the nuptials would be best if they took place at Roman and Madison’s place.
It was a beautiful June day. The sun was shining as the boats buzzed by on the lake. Jackie adjusted her skirt as it lightly ruffled in the breeze. She had a front row seat for the festivities. A lot had happened since her arrival in this town. It was home now, and she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
Her relationship with Jasper had never been better or stronger. Her cheeks blushed as he winked at her from where he stood. He was the best man today and had never looked more handsome. Both he and Dom were dressed similarly, which was a first. Reluctantly, Dom had let Jasper pick out their clothes for the wedding. They were both dressed in mustard-colored pants, ivory dress shirts, and brown suspenders. The groom wore a tie, while Jasper went without. Dom wore his long hair tied back and had trimmed his beard short.
They stood near a dark wood awning that was draped with wild flowers and navy-blue satin, the accent color of the wedding. There were few people in attendance as both Stephanie and Dominic didn’t like crowds. Just the men and women who were close to them. Jackie noticed Arlo standing in the back, his eyes always searching the distance for threats but often returning to the young woman with long dark hair sitting across the aisle from her. Jackie had finally gotten to meet Layla at the bachelorette party. As everyone had hinted at, the guy really did only have eyes for her.
