Hearts on Fire 5: Loving Frankie (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  Kevin stopped and then looked to the right. There was a small dock with three medium-sized boats. Was he taking her on a boat? What was his plan? To take her out to sea, kill her, and then dump her body? Oh God please. Please don’t let this happen.

  “What are you doing? Where are we going?”

  He gripped her upper arm and squeezed tight. “Shut up and do what I tell you, Frankie. You’re in enough trouble as is.”

  “I didn’t kill a cop and two gangster thugs from Chicago and dump them on a main street. You did.”

  The backhand came out of nowhere. He pulled her close as she cried, her face throbbing from the strike to her cheek. She felt the instant swelling. The pain radiated down her neck to her shoulder, and her lip was split and aching. He thought nothing of striking her. He would kill her if necessary.

  “I killed them to save you from Carlotto. You think I didn’t know he wanted you? He fucking drooled every time he saw you. He asked me all these personal questions. You’re mine, and he wasn’t going to stand between us.”

  She yanked her arm free from his hold as he undid the rope from the buoy.

  “You were doing a great job of that all by yourself. You cheated on me. I got the pictures and the weekly schedule of your screw sessions,” she yelled at him.

  She was shocked when he grabbed her, lifted her in the air, and threw her into the boat. Her head hit the wooden seat. Her back hit the floor, and she thought she lost focus a moment.

  She moaned from the pain and felt the blood ooze from her head. It seemed like only seconds passed.

  The small hum of an engine, the rocking up and down, the nauseous feeling, and the weakness.

  The sound of a phone ringing. Kevin’s voice echoed in her head. What was he saying?

  What’s wrong with me?

  “We’re on our way. I see the yacht. We’ll be boarding momentarily. Make sure that plane is ready to take off.”

  A plane? A yacht? Boarding? She tried opening her eyes and moaned aloud. He grabbed her by her shirt, and she still had difficulty focusing. Her head throbbed something terrible.

  “You stupid bitch. You had to piss me off with that damn tough-girl mouth of yours. You’re fucking bleeding all over me.” Her shirt ripped, and he gripped her face between his hands.

  “Look at me. Focus, Frankie,” he yelled, and she moaned louder. She couldn’t focus.

  “Fuck,” he yelled out.

  She felt the boat stop. She heard voices then he lifted her up and over his shoulder. All the blood rushed to her head, and she felt her stomach react, and she vomited all over the place.

  “What happened?”

  “Concussion. She’ll be fine. It won’t matter where we’re going. This is only the beginning of her punishment anyway. Is everything in place?” Kevin was talking to someone, and she was trying not to throw up more. She felt horrible.

  Someone else took her from him. He set her down on a seat. He checked her head and face.

  “This is her? I see why you risked so much,” the man said as he eyed over her exposed breasts and licked his lips.

  “Get this fucking thing moving. We don’t have much time.”

  He was going to win. He was taking her somewhere by boat and had a plan. She saw the gun on the guy’s waist. She saw the one on Kevin’s hip in the holster. If she could get her hands on one of them, she could perhaps save herself. As she moved, she felt the pounding pain, and then her gaze roamed slowly over her hands. Her wrists were taped together. How could she grip the gun and shoot?

  She practiced the motion, pretending to grab a gun and grip it then shoot. It would be difficult but not impossible. She was probably going to die anyway. She wouldn’t let him win.

  He would own her forever. He would have his way with her body. He wouldn’t be staying in the country. How could he as a wanted killer?

  “What the fuck is that? Get us out of here now,” Kevin yelled at the man.

  Kevin grabbed her as the engine started and the boat jerked forward. She couldn’t even stay upright. Something was happening. She heard the sound of rotors and saw flashing lights in the distance. They were headed in the opposite direction, toward the ocean and complete darkness. Was help coming? The engine roared louder. She held on to the railing on the side of the boat, and Kevin pulled her up and against his chest.

  “Get downstairs.” He shoved her to the floor. She crawled forward, sickness consuming her stomach again.

  “I’m going to be sick,” she said.

  The boat rocked and bounced on top of the water. She heard the engine roar as it leaped through the air then slammed down on the wakes and swells of the ocean. She was so scared.

  “Get us the fuck out of here. Their boats are far enough behind us for us to lose them. Turn off the lights and let’s do this.”

  The boat went dark. No cabin lights, no side lights on the bow. Nothing but darkness and the sound of the engine.

  “Over there. Head that way toward the shoreline and that cove before the open ocean.” Kevin gave orders, and the boat headed that way.

  Frankie looked behind them. The lights, red and blue, turned to the left. They were going the wrong way. They couldn’t see the boat. She cried out. “Oh God no. Come back please.”

  Kevin lifted her up by her hair. He dragged her to the hatchway leading below deck.

  “Keep us on course. Don’t let them catch us, or you’ll never get your money,” he threatened the guy driving the boat.

  She smelled the aroma of suede and leather as they entered the cabin below. It was fancy and large, filled with a small wet bar, a couch, another set of doors, and brass fixtures everywhere.

  “Sit down.” He shoved her onto the small couch then went around to the bar. He pulled out a snifter, filled it with liquor then drank down the contents. He filled it again then walked closer with the bottle in one hand and the glass in the other.

  He smirked at her.

  “Our new lives have begun, sweetheart. We’ll be sitting on our own private beach living the lives we’ve dreamed about for far too long.”

  He sat down and brought the glass to her lips. Her head throbbed, and her heart ached. It was over. Kevin had won.

  He looked at her head then placed the glass back down on the table with the bottle. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and reached up to wipe away some blood from the cut on her head. She flinched, feeling the rawness and sting.

  “You’ll need stitches. I can’t promise where we’ll going that you’ll have the best doctors, but a little scar by your temple I can live with.” He eyed her breasts and then ran a hand along her thigh and under her skirt. She scooted back and pressed his hand away.

  “Don’t,” she said.

  His eyes turned darker. He clenched his teeth and forced her thighs open as he fell to the floor between them. His grip was painful on her groin, and he pulled her closer and forced her onto her back.

  “You seem to forget who you belong to. I think you need a reminder, Frankie.” He ripped her blouse wide open then grabbed her taped hands and placed them above her head with one hand. His eyes were wide and bore into her skin as he stared at her breasts and pushed her thighs open wider with his own.

  “Don’t, Kevin. Don’t do this.”

  “You need to be reminded about who you belong to. Don’t fight me, Frankie. This can be pleasurable for both of us or just plain painful for you.” He leaned forward and licked along her skin, pressing his tongue into the cleavage of her breasts.

  She was so angry and disgusted she didn’t think twice as she shoved her head forward and head-butted him.

  The blood splattered from his nose as he pulled back and held it. She slammed her hands against his face and screamed at the top of her lungs.

  He was disoriented as she pushed herself up and off the couch. As she turned to head toward the stairs, she heard his roar, turned, and side-stepped just as he swung at her. He caught her shoulder, and she slammed against the railing, cried out in pain
, and fell to the step. He was struggling to get up when she screamed and panicked, crawling up the stairs and back into the open. Lights were flashing in the distance, and the boat was moving fast through the darkness.

  She’d run toward the side when she felt the hands on her skirt, pulling her back. Kevin tackled her against the side of the boat, and she struggled against him. When she felt the gun on his waist, she pulled it from his waist. But then he punched her in the jaw.

  The sky illuminated with colored lights. A chopper in the distance moved closer, the white spotlight zigzagging until it landed on the bow of the boat. There were other boats moving in closer, surrounded this boat.

  With her hands taped, she could hardly grip the gun.

  “You stupid bitch!” Kevin roared.

  He pulled back, and she pulled the trigger, hitting him somewhere, but she didn’t know where. His eyes widened in shock, and she climbed higher, waiting to see if he were badly injured and unsure what to do. He reached for the gun when she dropped it, and she knew that look. He was going to kill her.

  She ran up the side of the boat toward the front just as a deep voice echoed over some sort of intercom.

  “This is the United States Coast Guard. Put down your weapons.”

  The shot rang out as she turned back toward Kevin. The impact of the bullet hitting her arm sent her over the railing, and she plummeted into the darkness and the cold ocean water.

  * * * *

  “Jinx, he’s going to kill her. Hurry,” Nate yelled to Jinx as the Coast Guard boat sped in front of the boat with Kevin and Frankie on board.

  They could see the struggle. Nate and his brothers saw her ripped clothing then her scrambling for the railing of the boat as Kevin pointed a gun at her.

  The shot rang out. He saw her body swing backward, and then she fell into the darkness.

  “Woman overboard. Woman overboard,” Raphael called out to the other crewmen.

  In record speed, they approached the boat. The marine police were pulling up fast in the distance, but all Nate and his brothers cared about was getting to Frankie.

  There were sirens blaring and lights flashing, and a spotlight landed on the water, trying to locate where Frankie fell in. It looked like a pool of black. There was chaos around them as men jumped into the water, and then Nate did, too. He couldn’t see a damn thing. He nearly hit his head on the boat as he surfaced, looked around, and saw others doing the same thing.

  “Over there. Look over there, Nate,” Rye called from the boat.

  They were all holding lights onto the water. He’d almost missed it. Her platinum-blonde hair then the piece of her blouse.

  “There,” he yelled and pointed then swam to her, diving under water and grabbing a hold of her.

  It felt as though it took forever to get her onto the boat, and then Turbo was helping him up. Mike was lying on the floor of the boat next to her doing CPR.

  “Breathe, baby. Breathe,” Rye ordered as they stood over her. “God, she’s all beaten up. Look at her head.”

  Nate looked toward the boat where Kevin was. They’d kill the fucker.

  “Kevin is dead. Bullet wound to the stomach. No pulse,” Raphael told him as he spoke into a walkie-talkie.

  Nate looked back at Frankie as Mike did the compressions on her chest then blew air into her mouth. He held his breath and then he heard the gurgling and Frankie choking. Mike pressed her onto her side.

  “That’s it, baby. Good girl. Get it all out,” Mike said as he rubbed her back.

  The medics came over with blankets and special covers that would heat her body. Someone placed one over Nate’s shoulders as he shivered, standing there watching her, relieved that she lived.

  Mike looked at Rye then Turbo and Nate.

  “You did it. You saved her.”

  “We all did it together. Like always,” Nate said as the medics began to evaluate her injuries and call in for an ambulance to meet them by the closest point of the shoreline.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Rye asked Nate as he stood next to him, placing his arm over his shoulder, hugging him, looking as though he had tears in his eyes.

  Nate ran his fingers through his hair as he looked around at the chaos and at the federal agents who had now joined the other boats on another U.S. Coast Guard boat, carrying on and demanding to know what happened.

  “We committed several felonies to get to her. You know that?”

  Rye smirked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Nate. We were just out with our friends, who just happen to work marine patrol when we noticed that yacht moving at an excessive speed. Marine patrol called into the Coast Guard, and as we got closer to assist with the evaluation of the potential situation we caught glimpse of our woman and the marine patrol called in for backup. We were along for the ride and had to jump in to help once we noticed it was our woman on board being held against her will.”

  “You seriously think that will work?”

  Rye smirked.

  “That’s the way it went down.”

  “That’s what happened exactly,” Jinx added, and then the other crewmembers said the same thing.

  Nate smiled at his brothers and the rest of them.

  “Well, thank God we were all hanging out tonight then, huh?” Turbo added, and they chuckled.

  Treasure Town was a close-knit community. Friends made were friends made for life. The bonds they shared with each other were unbreakable, and it was times like these, in the midst of serious danger, that those friendship bonds were tested.

  He looked at Frankie, bent down, and caressed her lower lip, avoiding the cut.

  She moaned softly.

  “We’re going home, baby, and whether you like it or not, you’re moving in with us.”

  Chapter 14

  Frankie’s arm was wrapped and in a sling. The bullet wound to her arm was only a flesh wound but enough to give her twenty-four stitches. Her head was still pounding, especially right now with the federal agents and detectives from Chicago questioning her.

  She saw the anger on her men’s faces, especially as the federal agents tried to order them from the room.

  “There’s no reason for you to be present. Your John-Wayne ways could have cost us an entire operation. So don’t push me, Hawkins,” the one federal agent said to Nate.

  Nate kept a straight face and remained by her bedside, along with Rye, Mike, and Turbo.

  “If it weren’t for them, I would probably be dead right now, and you wouldn’t have the opportunity to use my testimony against Carlotto. So I suggest you start showing some respect to these four men because, as I see it, they’re the real heroes.”

  “I understand you’re upset. You’ve been shot, sustained a concussion—”

  “Was beaten and practically raped by Kevin and left to be collateral damage as part of your operation, so don’t try to sugar the bullshit,” she said, finishing his sentence and shutting him up.

  She held her hands to her head and closed her eyes.

  “You don’t need to do this now. They can wait,” Jake said from behind the agents.

  She opened her eyes and held the one federal agent’s gaze. He was the one who’d threatened Nate with jail time, for interfering with a federal case and a list of other charges. She didn’t like him, nor did anyone else seem to.

  “I’m fine. This is the deal. I want all charges, by you and the government, dropped against Nate Hawkins and his brothers. I want them commended, government-style, for their quick thinking and use of obvious military skills to save me as they stumbled upon the scene. In return, I will cooperate and testify against Carlotto and be a witness to his admission of being part of killing Officer Oscar Finerty. Oscar’s family should receive his medal, the one acknowledging his sacrifice to help bring down such a large and wanted gangster as Louie Carlotto and a cop killer like Kevin Lang.”

  “That’s a lot to ask for. I’ll have to speak with my superiors and determine if that’s enough to acc
ept and give into your demands,” the federal agent said.

  She looked him over.

  “You do that, and perhaps mention that I may, or I may not, have other information that could prove to be vital in putting Carlotto away for life.”

  “What kind of information?”

  She took a deep breath and slowly released it. She thought about the meetings she’d sat in on and how, at first, she hadn’t understood what Kevin and his buddies were talking about, and then how it all made sense. She’d written down names and phone numbers, locations, and keywords she thought might be code for something when she’d found out Kevin had been cheating on her. Could they mean nothing? She wasn’t sure, but her gut told her there was information there. Other men were involved in the drug operation and distribution. Other cops, too. It was why she had feared going to anyone for help in the Chicago PD.

  “Maybe names, locations that could help a task force bring down more individuals connected to Carlotto’s operation. Maybe Carlotto isn’t even the largest fish for you to catch, Agent. But I guess whether you get that information or not depends on how you treat my heroes. Now if you’ll excuse me, recovering from a concussion, a bullet wound, an assault, and nearly drowning is taking its toll on me. I need to rest now.”

  He nodded and glanced at the men and the other detectives.

  “You take care of yourself, Francesca. I’ll be in touch.”

  “I look forward to it,” she said, and then they all walked out of the room except for her men, Jake, and Buddy.

  “She’s a keeper. Don’t fuck this up with her,” Jake said, and Buddy chuckled.

  Jake and Buddy walked closer.

  “You rest and don’t worry about those agents. They’re more scared of you right now than you realize.” Jake winked, and then he and Buddy exited the room.

  Frankie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and released it. She felt her eyes well up with tears, and then she felt Nate’s hand against her cheek.

  She opened her eyes, and he stared at her with such an expression of love that she felt the tear roll down her cheek.