“Of course not.”
“I see. So you realized that kind of choice would slam doors to other opportunities.”
“I love Allister, Bradley, Ryan, and Derek. I chose them. They chose me. I don’t give a damn what doors are closed to me now. I have the men I love.” She slowly lifted her head and snarled. “And they’ll enjoy—”
He put his hand up. “Before you add what most women tend to say, I’ll warn you. They won’t find you. They aren’t coming for you. I’ve been doing this for six years now, Ellie. I always leave cold trails and colder bodies. No one is saving you and so you know—not because I’m cruel but because it’s better for you if you start down the path to acceptance now—you will never see Allister or any other lover you’ve had again.”
Heather gasped. She gripped her chair with both hands.
“Yes, sweet cheeks. You’re in the same boat,” Seth said, addressing Heather.
A wail escaped Ellie’s lips as she absorbed the seriousness of the situation. She looked away, certain this bastard would enjoy her tears and unwilling to give him that. After she collected herself, she said, “You didn’t tell us why you’re doing this.”
“Oh it’s definitely for the money,” he hurriedly replied. “But I would take out Allister McCall for free. I’m a professional and in my line of work, when someone tries to deliberately embarrass someone or ruin their reputation, particularly in front of their peers—and apparently someone was watching me at the airport—you tend to revel in the revenge. You plot and plan it carefully so there are no mistakes. I’ll enjoy taking Allister out, Ellie. Like I said, I’d do it for free.”
Heather balked at that. “And to think you said you weren’t cruel.” She snorted. “You’re evil, mean, and want to torment Ellie.”
“Shut up, Miss Powers. I have no respect for you. The only reason you’re here now is because Ellie will soon have a decision to make.”
“Respect?” Heather shook. “Why would I care if someone like you respects—”
He slapped the hell out of her then. Ellie screamed. Heather never made a sound.
Ellie immediately squatted in front of Heather, gripping her arm. “Let me see.”
“I’m fine,” she said, keeping her palm against her face.
“She didn’t do anything to you!” Ellie yelled, rising to her feet. “And Allister never did anything to you either.”
“We both know that’s untrue. Have a seat.” He pointed at her chair. “And don’t get up again unless I give you permission.”
Seth opened the door, stuck his hand in his jacket and removed a bloody handkerchief. He placed it on the desk when he returned, offering it as a reminder, no doubt. He never mentioned the soiled cloth. Instead, he said, “When I was a boy, my father worked for two wealthy surgeons in Pensacola.” He seemingly awaited her reaction. When she didn’t give him one, he said, “You seem surprised.”
She didn’t “seem” any certain way because she didn’t have an opinion. She wasn’t sure how any of this mattered anyway. Besides, all she could think about was how she might reach out to her men—Allister, Bradley, Ryan, and Derek. They must’ve been frantic, sick with worry.
Seth circled her, seemingly entranced. “It was a long time ago, but I’ve never forgotten my childhood or how my father lived his life. Every morning I watched him leave with his head held high and a smile on his face. Every evening he came home with his head bowed in shame. On occasion, he’d have tears in his eyes.
“One day I asked him about his attitude and his work. I wanted to know what happened during his day. What was so terrible at his employer’s home that he would come home at night stripped of his confidence, harboring despair? I asked because it was a need to know situation. If you’d been in my shoes, you would’ve wanted to know. Right, Ellie?”
When Ellie didn’t answer, Heather quickly said, “She would.”
“I didn’t ask you, Heather,” he snapped. “I asked Ellie.”
After a few silent moments, she slowly nodded.
“I didn’t hear you, Ellie.”
“Yes. You’re right. I’d want to know.”
“Of course you would. It’s an interesting story. My father looked me in the eye on that particular day and said, ‘Son, nobody hands you the keys to the kingdom. If you want them, you sneak up on that castle like a thief in the night and you take them. Once you have them, cling to them, hold them close and never forget what you had to sacrifice in order to get them. How you get them doesn’t matter. How well you guard them after you receive them is worth its weight in stone.
“I’ve often thought about that. Where I came from, the old folks would say things like ‘worth its weight in gold’ but on this particular day in this particular conversation, my father had said, ‘worth its weight in stone’ and I always found that fascinating.” He took a deep breath and studied Ellie intently. “Do you wonder what he might have meant there?”
“No.” She didn’t care about his stupid story or his childhood.
“I’ll tell you what I think he meant. Family and loved ones are valued more than gold. Some friendships, the same. But when one steals away with something they aren’t meant to have or something that doesn’t belong to them, if they take it by any means possible, then they have dead weight and some random ‘thing’ of no value.”
“And you think your father wanted you to have something of little value?”
“I think he wanted me to embrace the world by any means possible. At the same time, he knew because I was his son, that once I received these things, they would hold no substantial meaning in the end.”
“Then perhaps you should learn from that,” Ellie suggested.
“I have, Ellie.” He circled her once more and then returned to the desk, relaxing there as he’d done before. “Which is why I’ve decided to let you and your friends live.”
Heather whimpered. Ellie released a ragged breath and said a quick prayer of thanks.
“All you have to do is marry me. If you’ll do me the great honor of becoming my wife, I’ll even let Allister live. The others will survive, too.”
Heather turned to her then, perhaps awaiting her response. Ellie didn’t know how to respond but she could only imagine what Allister, Bradley, Ryan, and Derek might say if they were there to witness this outrageous request.
“You’re using me.”
“Am I?” he asked.
“Yes. You want to use me like a chess piece, strategize in a game you’re not even certain you should be playing, but you’re aware of one factor. You can’t win in the end. That’s what bothers you.” She swallowed. “You’re not fooling anyone. I know what you’re doing.”
“Say it.”
“All right.” She held her head high as she thought of her men, the men she adored, the men she loved more than she loved herself. “There are many ways to kill a man and you think it would kill Allister to see me with you.” Not that she would consider it in the first place. “You’re certain it would hurt Bradley, Derek, and Ryan, too.”
He clucked. “You’re a smart girl.”
“I’m no girl,” Ellie stated flatly. “I’ve been the stupid girl, the girl who has been pushed around and abused. Now, I’m the woman who knows who she is and what she wants. More importantly, I have something to lose, which means I also have something worth fighting for.”
“Is this one of those talks similar to the one we had on the plane?”
Ellie quickly recalled the conversation he was referencing. “It is.”
“Then I can’t wait to hear your views.” He crossed his arms. “Go on.”
Ellie opened her mouth to speak but then thought better of it. Changing directions, she said, “All my life I was taught to fear those who said they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I once bought into that nonsense until I had everything to lose and nothing at all I wanted to gain. See, I have everything I want in life. I’ve had a storybook romance and enjoyable life since moving to Trouble. If you
think I’ll let you or anyone else ruin that then you need to look a little harder at the precautions we’ve taken to protect what we love and cherish most in this world.
“The outside world only sees what they want to see when they want to inflict pain on someone they do not know. What they don’t see are the measures taken to protect one’s own. At Trouble, we’ve always known what was at stake, what we were fighting for, and who we wanted to protect. We’ve taken extraordinary measures and gone to exceptional lengths to make sure people like you—those who want to inflict pain and misery because they’re so miserable themselves—never touch us where it matters most.”
“And where is that, Ellie?”
“Perhaps one day you’ll figure it all out.” She grinned smugly. “That is, if Allister lets you live that long.”
Chapter Nine
We keep our own safe.
Bradley had told his sister those very words time and time again. He’d reassured Ellie on occasion, too.
Trouble’s founding fathers had signed on for a lifetime commitment with the primary goal of protecting the community and treating all residents like family. The men had vowed to protect those living there and what had they done?
They’d let down their defenses. Four of Trouble’s women had been abducted. Two of them were the most important people in Bradley’s life—his lover and his sister.
“We’ll find them,” Ryan said, weaving in and out of traffic.
“We’ve faced worse,” Derek said.
Bradley turned to Derek. “I’d like to know when we’ve ever had this much at stake.” He couldn’t recall of a time when he’d felt so helpless. “We’ve never been up against someone like this and we’ve never had this much to lose.”
“We will find them,” Derek assured him, reinforcing optimism by emphasizing ‘will’ and giving Bradley a pointed look.
Bradley’s eyes burned as he focused on one car and then another, watching the passing traffic until all the vehicles looked the same. “What have we done? When have we ever let the women go anywhere alone? What the hell were we thinking?”
“We were thinking they’d go to the curb, hail a cab, and head straight to the hotel,” Derek said. “No one could’ve predicted there would be a limousine waiting for them, someone planning ahead to steal away with opportunity. We let down our guard. Now, we have to figure out how to make this right.”
Bradley flinched. “Make this right?” He clenched his fists and contained his rage. After a few moments of silence, he grated out, “How do we make this right when we don’t know where to look? How do we make this right when whoever it is that’s out there has done everything to ensure he’s able to get away with the abduction? How the hell do we make this right when we failed our women in the grandest of ways when they needed us most?” His voice inflection changed with each question. “No. We can’t make this right. Even if we find them, we have no guarantees we’ll find them alive or unharmed.”
“I’m not giving up hope,” Derek stated flatly.
“We can’t,” Ryan said.
Gabe remained quiet. He hadn’t said much of anything since they’d left the airport. In some ways, Bradley wished his future brother-in-law would just haul off and bless him out.
The clickety-click of a text message being typed resounded. After it stopped, Bradley glanced over his shoulder. “Who was it?”
“It was an outgoing only,” Gabe replied, his voice deathly calm. “I sent a message to Heather’s phone.”
“You know she won’t receive it.” Ryan pointed out the obvious. He adjusted the rearview mirror in an apparent effort to watch Gabe then.
“It wasn’t for her.” Gabe blew out a clearly tortured breath. “I offered to trade myself for Heather and explained that many of you would do the same.”
“At least you didn’t threaten him,” Bradley said, thinking it wasn’t the time to start throwing out warnings. Until they knew precisely what the women’s captor wanted they didn’t need to rattle him.
“Did I say that? No.” Gabe grunted. “Damn right I threatened him. I told him those women are loved. They have families and responsibilities. And I told him if one hair on one of their pretty little heads is so much as brushed out of place, he will answer to me and a small army behind me.”
“Super,” Ryan said tightly, gripping the steering wheel with both hands and glaring straight ahead.
“Next time, if you don’t mind, discuss what you want to say before you send a message out.” Bradley couldn’t imagine anything worse unless one of them made the situation more difficult for their women.
“Actually, I do mind, Bradley,” Gabe said. “And while I’m at it, I’ll throw this out there. I never supported the nonsense of sending the women ahead of us. That was Allister’s bright idea which means the three of you likely voted right along with him. Next time you guys have a notion like this, leave Heather out of it.”
Bradley grimaced. “Let’s hope there is a next time.”
* * * *
The droning sound of a busy expressway was driving Allister mad. “This isn’t helping.”
“I agree,” Draegan said. “But what else can we do?”
Markie appeared between them. His gaze continually darted from one car to another. “Maybe we could—” He stopped abruptly and pointed up at a billboard. “There. Look.”
“What are you talking about?” Draegan asked, looking up.
“Back of the House!” Markie squealed excitedly, shaking his finger at the sign. “Hurry, Allister. Get in the right lane.”
“What does a biker bar have to do with anything?” Allister asked, speeding up anyway.
Markie yanked his phone from the seat and started typing. “Just go. It’s worth a shot. I have a plan.”
“I don’t think it’s a good one,” Allister muttered. A biker bar wouldn’t be a logical stop for someone like Seth.
“When I was at the airport, I harassed those kids for dope. I don’t know why. It didn’t make sense to me. I was just pissed because all of you—”
“Get to the point, Markie,” Draegan said, clearly impatient.
“The dudes mentioned Back of the House. It may be a long shot but the way they talked about the place, they’d been there before. If they headed there soon after they landed, maybe we can find them and see if they can hook us up with the kind of locals who can help.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Draegan said.
Allister sped up a ramp and took a sharp left. “It may be ridiculous but with nothing else to go on right at the moment, I’ll side with ridiculous. It beats the hell out of nothing.”
A few minutes later, they pulled in a grocery store parking lot and met the others. Markie quickly told everyone his plan. The sum of it was to find the potheads he’d met in the airport restroom and ask them to introduce them to the ring leader around there, the one pushing the dope. If the dealer was well connected, he might know where and how to direct them.
As they were talking, Allister’s phone rang. Markie, always one to love the spotlight, waved his hand. “Walk away, hon. I’m in the middle of something here.”
“It’s a blocked call!” Allister raised his voice and his arm, showcasing his phone.
Draegan and Mac rushed him. Several of the others were on their phones texting then, apparently letting Bane know they had a possible incoming worth mentioning.
“Mr. McCall?”
“Where are you?” Allister lacked tact. “I’ll give you whatever you want. Just tell me where I can find Ellie.”
“That may be a problem. See, what you want is what I want.”
Allister stiffened. He glared at his brothers, unable to see then, unable to breathe. “Who are you?” Of course he knew. He was simply buying time.
“Come on, McCall. We both know you already know exactly who I am. What you really want to ask is why I want Ellie. What could a killer possibly want with a country girl from Tennessee, a woman who shares her be
d with several men? Why would I want someone like that?”
Every bone in his body was rigid. Every muscle tightened. Allister might have lost it if his brothers hadn’t been standing there to support him. They grounded him, kept him centered and focused.
“You must want something,” Allister said calmly, wanting him to ask for what he needed, what he most wanted from him right in that very moment. He wouldn’t have called if he didn’t want to negotiate.
“We’re discussing options,” Seth said. “This is somewhat new to me. I typically send my acquaintances home to their family members. To date, I haven’t asked any of them to meet me.”
“You want to meet?”
“I haven’t decided,” Seth said. “But rest assured, when I do, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Tell me something, Seth.” Allister’s voice was quiet, controlled. “How do you see this playing out?”
“You’ve obviously had some help. By now, you’ve done your homework. You and I both know how it ends.”
Allister set the phone on the hood of his car and threw his hands above his head, resting the heels of his hands on his forehead as he paced right in front of the vehicle. The thought of never seeing Ellie again ripped at his gut, gnawed at his stomach like a cancer with the will to kill.
Mac grabbed his forearm and jerked him around. “Get it together.”
Draegan mouthed, “Keep him talking.”
Allister slowly released his held breath, pushing aside thoughts of Ellie and drawing from an inner strength that was only stronger because of his love for one woman. “There’s a lot to be said about guys like us.”
“Oh? What’s that, Allister?”
“We’re creative motherfuckers with enough imagination to carry us to our own version of a happy ending.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I didn’t come to Miami to die. And if only one man is left standing at the end of this thing, then you’re in a real bad spot because I’m standing with my brothers and every last one of Trouble’s founding fathers. For your information, Mr. Jones or whoever you are, when you ain’t standing with us, you’re fighting against us. And that’s a real bad place to be.”
Trouble in Miami [Trouble, Tennessee 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 8
