“Where the hell is she? Who could have taken her?” Buddy asked Jake as they searched the area where one of the deputies had found her bike.
“We’re getting the surveillance footage from the corner store. Hopefully that tells us something,” Jake said.
Johnny and Trent were standing there now, too. Jake’s phone rang.
“Yeah, Rye.” Jake repeated what Rye was telling him. “The feds seized their accounts and have control of a private jet scheduled to leave thirty minutes ago for Puerto Rico. Nina was on the list as a passenger for that flight.”
“Fuck,” Johnny yelled out.
“Who are these guys?” Jake asked Rye. Jake put the phone on speaker.
“Okay, my guy says that these two men, Miguel and Martino, are big-shot criminals from Puerto Rico. They’re conducting a deal with Rico.”
“Rico? Oh God, no. No, he found her, Rico has Nina,” Johnny carried on.
“What else do you have? A location where they’re keeping Nina?” Jake asked.
“I’m working on it. I can tell you that these men are not going to get out of the state, never mind the country. The feds are ready to arrest these three men and charge them with multiple counts of illegal gambling, prostitution, smuggling, and money laundering, never mind failure to report income and pay their fucking taxes. These guys are bad news. The feds and state police have all their locations of business under siege, their bank accounts, everything. It appears that they were planning on taking Nina to Puerto Rico with them and settling some business deal there. The state police have the two men who abducted her in custody.”
“Any idea whatsoever as to where they might be?” Trent asked.
“The chatter from my source says they’re checking hotels near the airport. I’d keep the scanners on and head that way if I were you,” Rye told them.
“Thanks,” Jake said and disconnected the call.
“Well?”
“Let’s go. Let’s head toward the airport. There’s one hotel that is pretty close to it and a shuttle bus away from all terminals,” Jake told them.
“If they hurt her, I swear I’m going to kill them,” Johnny said as he got into the police cruiser with Jake, Buddy, and Trent. The deputies followed along with them.
* * * *
“There are fucking federal agents all over the place. We can’t leave the fucking country,” Rico told Martino and Miguel as they sat in a hotel room near the airport.
“Fuck, what’s going on? We covered our fucking tracks,” Miguel said as he paced the room.
Martino’s cell phone rang and he answered it.
“What? Are you kidding me? That’s what they told you? All right, stay by the jet.” He ended the call. “The fucking airline won’t let us take off. The jet is being looked over by federal agents right now.”
“What are we going to do with her?” Miguel asked, turning toward the bed where Nina was tied to the headboard. Her mouth was taped closed, her wrists bound. She was staring at them wide eyed.
Rico walked over and sat on the bed. He ran the palm of his hand along her belly. “We could enjoy her for a bit until this shit passes. The feds aren’t going to find anything on that jet. They can’t keep us in the country without evidence, charges, a court order.” He cupped her breast. Nina jerked and tried kicking her legs.
He eased over her. “Calm down, Nina. I told you that you belong to me.”
* * * *
Martino walked closer and got onto the bed. He ran his hands along Nina’s throat then down to her other breast. “She belongs to the three of us, Rico, perhaps only Miguel and me if this deal falls through,” he threatened.
Rico felt his temper flaring. Nina was his woman. She always had been. Being forced to share her with these two was going to be a living hell. He watched as Martino leaned down and licked her neck.
He pressed her blouse open and smiled. “I didn’t realize how big her tits are.” Nina wiggled and shook but he held her firmly and Rico saw red. He wasn’t sure he could go through with this. Seeing another man touch her, have his way with her, was torture.
“You look a little peaked, Rico. Maybe you should step out for some fresh air while Martino and I get to know Nina a little better,” Miguel told him. It was an order. Rico wasn’t stupid.
He slowly moved away from the bed. Martino licked across her nipple then tore open her blouse. He could see Nina’s face, her eyes filled with tears. She was petrified. As Miguel joined Martino and began to rub his palm between her thighs, his anger grew.
“Leave, Rico. It’s time for us to have some fun.” Martino pulled out a knife and cut the ties where Nina’s wrists were bound to the bed post. He pulled her down, and as she rolled to the side to get up and run, Miguel grabbed her around the waist and sent her back to the bed. He bent over her and thrust his hips against her ass as he chuckled and talked about fucking her from behind. Martino was pulling off his shirt and undoing his pants.
Nina struggled to get free, and she shoved at Martino, sending him to the side as she tumbled forward and off the bed with her own momentum. Martino grabbed for her, yanking her up by her hair, and Nina thrust a right hook at Martino’s face. She turned and Miguel was there. He struck her in the face, pulled her up off the floor, and hit her again. Nina hit back and then wound up on the bed again. Martino stuck out his knife.
“You fucking want to fight us? I’ll cut you, bitch. You’ll learn to listen.”
Rico couldn’t take it any longer. Nina belonged to him. He pulled out his gun and fired, hitting Martino in the forehead. Miguel ran for his gun and turned just as Rico pulled the trigger and shot him in the chest.
He looked at Nina. She stood in the corner, shaking, only wearing shorts and a bra, her mouth still taped closed as she gasped for air. Her cheek was swollen, her arms bruised. She looked manhandled.
“Come to me, Nina.”
She shook her head and cried out, snorting from the difficulty of breathing with the tape across her mouth.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I killed them for you. I stopped them from taking what’s mine. Come on, Nina.” He reached out, and when he touched her, she closed her eyes.
He pulled her against his chest and she continued to shiver and shake.
He put the gun back into his waistband and slowly reached over to pull the tape from her mouth. She gasped in pain and then cried out and bent over to breathe freely.
“We need to get out of here. Someone was bound to hear those shots. Come on now.”
“No, Rico. I don’t want to go. Why are you doing this to me?”
He grabbed her and pulled her against him. “You’re mine, Nina. It’s time you learn the truth and accept your fate.”
She looked at him and he explained as he pulled her along with him.
They headed out of the room and toward the stairwell.
“I won you. I own you.”
“Won me? What? You don’t own me. Stop this craziness, Rico. I’ve had enough.”
He jerked her against the wall and pressed his body firmly against hers.
“I do own you. Cleo paid his debt by giving me you.”
* * * *
Nina was in shock. She shook her head side to side and tried pushing him away. But Rico wouldn’t budge. He held her face firmly, and sweat dripped from his brow. She was perspiring, shaking, and bleeding. She couldn’t believe what he told her.
“You didn’t know him. I told you about Cleo,” she replied.
“No, I pretended not to know him. He owed a lot of money on a bet he played and lost. He borrowed money from me. I’m a loan shark. It’s what I do, and when you don’t pay up, you owe money. He owed more than a hundred and thirty thousand. You were part of the payoff.”
“Part of it?” she found herself asking as tears rolled down her cheeks. The realization that even the one man who helped to keep her off the streets and out of trouble had placed her into the arms of the worst trouble ever. She was disgusted, hurt, and angry.
“No, no, it’s a lie. He owed someone else money,” she countered.
Rico shook his head and grabbed her wrist, pulling her down the stairs.
“No. He owed me and when he couldn’t deliver or give me what I wanted and what he owed, he paid the ultimate sacrifice. His life.”
Rico killed Cleo. Oh God, Rico killed Cleo. There’s no way that Cleo would willingly give me to Rico to pay off a debt. He gave up his life for me.
They got downstairs to the exit and all the information was hitting Nina at once. But as they exited into the back parking lot, they saw all the police vehicles, including a sheriff’s truck, and Trent, Buddy, Johnny, and Jake.
“Oh God!” she cried out.
Rico wrapped his arm around her waist and held the gun to her head. “I’ll kill her. Let us go or she dies,” he stated.
She locked gazes with Johnny, then Trent and Buddy, who had their guns out and pointed at Rico.
“There’s nowhere for you to go, Rico. The place is surrounded. It’s over,” some guy in a suit said. She noticed the state troopers were there, too. They really were surrounded. This was a no-win situation and she had a feeling that she wasn’t going to make it out of this alive.
Rico held tighter and backed up a little, but the door was closed.
“Don’t move. Put down your weapon and we’ll talk this through,” the man in the suit stated.
“No talking. She’s mine. I leave with her, dead or alive, I really don’t care.”
Suddenly the back door to the building flew open and the sound of gunshots filled the air. Nina dove to the ground and Rico was firing his weapon. The police fired theirs. She felt a sting to her arm and the ricochet of bullets by her head and body as they hit the pavement. She kept screaming and screaming even as the shots stopped and people surrounded her. Johnny, Trent, and Buddy were there yelling for an ambulance, asking for help. She saw their angry, concerned faces, and she twisted around to see Rico, bloody and dead on the ground, multiple bullet wounds to his body. Then she spotted Miguel, just as bloody, dead on the ground as troopers kicked his gun from his hand. She realized that Rico had only shot Miguel once in the chest. He must not have killed him upstairs in the hotel room.
“You’re going to be okay, baby. We’re going to get you to the hospital,” Johnny told her as he looked at her arm.
“I’m okay. Let me up.” As she tried to move, she felt pain, a burning against her legs and knees. Her arm throbbed, and her face hurt.
“Fuck, she’s all cut up!” Trent exclaimed.
The paramedics were there.
“I love you, baby. God, I’m so sorry we weren’t there to protect you,” Trent said as the paramedics helped to turn her over and place her onto the gurney.
She cried out in pain but somehow reached for Trent’s hand. “I love you, too. This isn’t your fault. But it’s over now. It’s all over.”
He leaned down and kissed her hand. As the paramedics strapped her in and Johnny looked at the flesh wounds on her arms, his expression so serious, she smiled.
“I really was looking forward to that chicken Marsala of yours. Will you save me some?” She cringed as the paramedics lifted the gurney, making it shake. She closed her eyes.
“I’ll make Marsala for you whenever you want, Nina, if you promise to not get into any more trouble ever again. I just can’t handle it,” Johnny told her as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
She smiled and looked at Trent. “Now what fun would that be?”
“We’ll talk about that comment later, Nina,” Trent warned, and her heart lifted with confidence that a better life, a safer, happier life would now be achievable, with Rico gone and her past just as it should be, behind her.
* * * *
Six Months Later
Nina took a deep breath as she looked around her bakery. Everything was perfect. All the tables and chairs were set up and the display case looked exactly how she wanted it to, or at least for right now. Cindy yelled at her for changing it around a thousand different ways. She looked at her friends, who’d gathered around for the grand opening, and she smiled. A quick glance behind her and Nina saw that Cindy was by the counter, Mel by the register, and Michaela by the front entrance waiting for Nina’s signal.
Nina looked at Buddy, Trent, and Johnny and smiled wide. “Well, this is it. The moment of truth.”
“Go open the door, Nina, and let all those people inside. They’ve been waiting for hours for this grand opening,” Johnny told her and she smiled. On shaky legs she walked to the door, flipped the sign from closed to open, and let the crowd in.
She greeted every customer, talked to them about her pies, about relaxing on the porch, and also about the recommendation box by the front door.
Before long the place was running smoothly after a few computer glitches that Trent helped with. She needed extra help behind the counter. Johnny helped with that. And finally Buddy helped her by placing the first twenty-dollar bill she earned as a new store owner in Treasure Town onto the wall by the register. She was so in love with them. They set her heart on fire and she would never be the same woman ever again.
She met other store owners on the block, took numerous catering orders for private parties, and even hired two other young women looking for part-time work. By the time the store closed and all her friends gathered around the tables, she was smiling wide and filled with energy.
“Aren’t you exhausted, Nina? That was one hell of a grand opening,” Cindy said.
“It sure was, but you know what? I’m so happy right now, filled with feelings of accomplishment and love,” she said as she hugged Trent while sitting on his lap. “And like I belong here, with my new family and friends. I’m blessed because of all of you, and because of Treasure Town,” she said.
“We’re happy for you, Nina. The pies were such a hit. This place is going to do fantastic,” Jake told her.
“Hey, what kind of pie is this one?” Cindy asked. “I didn’t try this one yet.”
“Well, try it. It’s something different.”
“Different? Am I going to like it?” Cindy asked, looking concerned as she held the fork in her hand by the pie. Nina looked at Trent, Johnny, and Buddy.
They smiled and replied in sync.
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
THE END
WWW.DIXIELYNNDWYER.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
People seem to be more interested in my name than where I get my ideas for my stories from. So I might as well share the story behind my name with all my readers.
My momma was born and raised in New Orleans. At the age of twenty, she met and fell in love with an Irishman named Patrick Riley Dwyer. Needless to say, the family was a bit taken aback by this as they hoped she would marry a family friend. It was a modern day arranged marriage kind of thing and my momma downright refused.
Being that my momma’s families were descendents of the original English speaking Southerners, they wanted the family blood line to stay pure. They were wealthy and my father’s family was poor.
Despite attempts by my grandpapa to make Patrick leave and destroy the love between them, my parents married. They recently celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary.
I am one of six children born to Patrick and Lynn Dwyer. I am a combination of both Irish and a true Southern belle. With a name like Dixie Lynn Dwyer it’s no wonder why people are curious about my name.
Just as my parents had a love story of their own, I grew up intrigued by the lifestyles of others. My imagination as well as my need to stray from the straight and narrow made me into the woman I am today.
For all titles by Dixie Ly
nn Dwyer, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/dixie-lynn-dwyer
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Hearts on Fire 4: Kisses Sweeter Than Pie (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 20
