by Cait Jarrod
****
“Ohmygod, Jake!”
“Shhh.” The light from his headlamp illuminated the small room, and he crouched beside her.
Everything would be okay. Jake was here. She released a long, suffering sigh. He’s here.
A gash an inch wide sliced her right knee from the broken glass on the floor. He brushed a kiss to her lips and her forehead as he held her to him, then withdrew the pack from his back, pulled out the first aid kit, and applied several butterfly bandages.
“Sweetheart.” He helped her stand then wrapped his protective arms around her. “We’ve got to get you out of here. Steve and Larry are here. Though, I don’t know where.”
“How are we going to leave? The door is locked.”
The light on Jake’s head moved to the window. Pamela’s eyes went wide. “No, uh-uh, I can’t do it!”
“Hang on to my back.”
Pamela marched to the window and looked down at the choppy water below. A lightning bolt brightened the sky. She jumped, and one hand flew to her neck while the other grabbed Jake’s arm. Thunder shook the metal container. “Not again.”
Jake bent in front of her. “Put the harness on.” Holding on to his shoulder, she stepped into the safety equipment, and he buckled it, then he hooked the end of the rope to the harness. The other end, he looped around a spike that had been driven into the floor.
“You don’t have another harness.” She looked out at the window again. “There’s Steve.”
“Good, he’ll catch you.”
The door boomed open. Jake blocked Pamela with his body. “Jump.”
Ohgawd, ohgawd. She closed her eyes and took the plunge.
****
Jake faced down the three men, standing in front of him. No guns?
“The Warrior. I’ve waited a long time to avenge my brother’s death.”
Clenched jaw, hands fisted, Jake scowled at the man who had killed Jennifer. “Cow.”
Bull glared at Jake for using the name Sanjar had called him when he was pissed. “That’s not my fucking name.” Bull closed the gap.
Another man with a scar down the side of his face grabbed his arm. “You can’t. The boss wants him alive.”
Bull shrugged off the other man’s grasp. “That don’t mean I can’t beat the shit out of him.”
Bull rushed forward, fists flying. With each punch, Jake blocked the blow with his arm. Gaining a free moment from defense, Jake slammed a fist into Bull’s stomach. The other two joined in.
A kick to Scarface’s midsection and the man slumped, going down as Bull did a second ago. The last one, stood facing Jake, a knife clutched in his hands. Jaws. The peeping tom Pamela the first night he met Pamela.
Jaws swung his knife, nicking Jake’s arm.
A blow connected to Jaws’ chin, making him stumble, but the son of a bitch didn’t fall.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Bull slowly rise. Shit, he didn’t want to fight three of the bastards at once.
Jaws swung the knife, missing Jake by inches.
A whack to Jaws’ wrist sent the knife sailing across the room. A wallop to the ribcage and Jaws weakened. Jake’s arm pressed into his windpipe, shoving the Scorpion toward the open window.
Bull rose and grabbed Jake’s shoulder, shoving him backwards into Scarface.
An elbow to Scarface’s stomach, a backhand to his nose, and Scarface slumped away.
Jake grabbed Bull’s arm and threw him over his shoulder. The lighthouse shook.
Scarface looped his arms under Jake’s shoulders and locked his hands behind Jake’s neck. “I gottem.”
Bull put out his hand, halting Jaws near the window, and moved toward Jake. “Not so bad now.”
“Have your dog release me, and fight like a real man, Cow.”
One fist landed in Jake’s stomach, while the other hit his face. Blood trickled into Jake’s mouth as Cow snickered at his handiwork.
“I want a chance at him,” Jaws wheezed.
“Not happening,” a voice said from the window. Hanging from a rope, Larry wrapped his legs around Jaws’ neck, squeezing and twisting.
Jaws gasped and coughed.
Scarface leaned close to Jake’s shoulder. “Fight back!”
Jaws grasped Larry’s legs, trying to pull them away. Snap.
Jake thrust his head backward. Skulls hit like animal horns crashing. Scarface released Jake’s shoulders and crumbled to the floor as Jaws’ limp body sailed out the window.
Larry jumped inside, and both of them squared off with Bull. “Where’s Sanjar?” Larry demanded.
The corner of Bull’s mouth rose. “We’ll meet him on your death bed.”
“You won’t.” Jake socked Bull’s cheek, then punched his stomach. Bull slumped. Larry propelled, swinging his leg, connecting with Bull’s chest. Bull stumbled backwards. Jake placed his hand on his chest. “Time to be reunited with your brother.” And then he shoved.
Bull fell out the window.
“Crap, Pamela’s down there.” Jake looked down at the water below. A storm had commenced. Rain pummeled the ground. One body bounced over the waves in the water, and the other bloodied the deck.
“Up there.” Larry pointed to Steve waving, then giving a thumbs up. “He must have Pamela inside the lantern room.”
Jake nodded. “I wonder how he got her up there.”
“Better there than below.”
Larry had a point. “Time to search.”
Jake ran downstairs searching, while Larry checked that floor.
Nothing.
They moved to the next two levels, each taking a floor.
No one.
They reached the widow’s peak and walked into the lantern room to find Pamela and Steve huddling on the bench.
Pamela jumped up and flung herself into Jake’s arms. “I was so worried.” She clutched him with one arm, then looked at him. The small lantern in the room put a glow over his face. “You have bruises and cuts everywhere.”
He touched her cheek. “You should see the other guys.”
Pamela closed her eyes, leaning into his hand. “I already did.”
“Let’s get you home, then the three of us find Sanjar,” Steve said, straightening.
“Not surprising the coward has disappeared. It seems to be his MO,” Larry said, opening the door and grabbing his pack.
Steve slipped his onto his back, then headed downstairs. Pamela and Jake followed while Larry brought up the rear.
“When we get to the bottom, Steve and I will get the boat and come back for you two,” Larry informed.
“How’s your shoulder?” Jake asked, holding her good hand.
“It hurts, but I’ll live.”
At the deck, Jake enfolded her to him as they watched Steve and Larry dive into the water.
“Damn it. I forgot my pack.”
“I’ll wait here.” Pamela smiled. “Steve gave me a gun.” She lifted it, showing it to Jake. “No way am I going back in there.”
The storm had passed, and the moon was easing out from under its cover, and a soft beam surrounded Pamela. She looked tired, but she had a strength to her that she hadn’t possessed previously. “You’re gorgeous.”
“I look like dog poop, but thank you.” She laughed.
Jake grinned and took the stairs two at a time to the room where Pamela had been held.
“What do you know, The Warrior came back.”
Jake froze. Pamela was unguarded, and he had no weapon. “Scumbag.”
A low chuckle escaped Sanjar. “Always the fighter, Agent Jake Gibson.” He twirled a gun around his finger. “Imagine my hurt when I found that my confidant was screwing my girl, in essence me.”
The door banged closed behind him. Scarface stood behind him. “Damn, I thought I’d put you out of your misery.”
“Tough guy,” Sanjar said a second before Jake saw stars. Scarface tossed the club aside and shoved a weak-kneed Jake into a metal chair.
“How
to repay the favor you’ve done me. You got Jennifer out of my life, which was long overdue. She was too much trouble. Before that, you rid me of the leader that I’d handpicked for the Black Scorpions. That stung a little, but not too much, since he was easily taken out. He wasn’t as strong as I’d thought. The favor I need to pay back is the one of trust. In our line of business, if you don’t have trust, you have nothing.”
Jake groaned.
“Just think, if it hadn’t been for Agent Lever telling me your real identity, I wouldn’t be talking with you now. Yes, trust is everything.”
Sanjar faced the window, and Jake eyed his pack behind the table. Scarface’s hands felt like bricks on Jake’s shoulders. Sanjar must want something; otherwise, he’d be dead already.
“I find myself in a precarious situation. I need something from you, Agent Gibson.”
Jake glared, yet remained silent.
“Bearer bonds are in the possession of the FBI. I need them back.” He turned away from Jake again. “Send a boy to do a man’s job and what do you get? Trouble. Threaten a boy with something he loves more than his own life and what do you get? A killer.” He faced Jake. “The bonds for Pamela Young.”
Jake groaned. Pamela had to be downstairs. Steve and Larry should be back any second. However, he hadn’t heard a motor.
“Ah, you’re wondering when your friends are going to save you. They’re being detained. It seems their boat sank.”
The pulse in Jake’s neck ticked.
“You’ve taken out several of my best men, but I have more. I think we’ll wait for the others to arrive. Once they find that tender morsel on the deck, they’ll have a field day. She’ll never be the same when they’re done with her.”
“The hell you will!” Jake slid out of his chair, picked it up, and slung it at Sanjar. His elbow hit Scarface in the neck.
Sanjar’s gun fired.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Pamela started. What was that? Someone was inside with Jake. She looked out across the water, trying to see through the dark. Larry and Steve were nowhere in sight.
Bang.
She looked down at the gun in her hand, drew in a breath, and ran upstairs. As she neared, voices yelled, but not Jake’s. What to do? She had to help. How dumb would that be? More scuffling and she turned the knob. Whenever people did this in the movies, they did it fast to catch whoever off guard, so … she flung the door open, pointing the gun in front of her with her good hand. Pain still shot through her shoulder. One man lay flat on his back on the floor. It took a second to register. It wasn’t Jake. Her eyes lifted.
A gun pointed back at her. “Now, this isn’t how I wanted to meet you, Pamela.”
“Leave her alone, Sanjar,” Jake growled.
She shifted her eyes to Jake sitting on the floor, fresh blood dripping from his shoulder. He was shot. Tears filled her eyes. She swallowed and looked back at the man glaring at her.
“Get the fuck in here,” Sanjar snapped.
She shook her head, her hand shaking as she kept the gun pointed at Sanjar’s chest.
Jake shifted uneasily on the floor. “Get out of here, Pamela.”
Tears leaked down her face. No. “I’m done running.” She squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit its target, and Sanjar stumbled, immediately regrouped, and pointed his gun at her.
Jake lunged, throwing his body against Sanjar. They flew out the window.
Pamela ran down the steps and out the door. “Jake!” Sanjar’s body sprawled out on the deck. Bile rose to her throat. As much as she hated to see someone dead, he deserved it. The son of a bitch! She dodged the body and leaned over the railing. “Jake!” The light from the tower lit the deck, but not too far into the water. Quickly, she skimmed the other body on the deck, not trying to look too hard, but looking long enough to make sure it wasn’t Jake.
No, she couldn’t lose him. Not after everything. “No!” Her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest.
“Pamela.” She whipped around. Steve was climbing up the ladder.
“It’s Jake. He’s in the water!” Pamela’s voice shook as she pointed the gun in the direction he had fallen. “That guy and Jake fell out the window.”
“Larry’s got him. They’re in the boat.”
“Boat?” Her eyebrows shot up, and she pinched her lips.
“We had to paddle our way back. Got this Zodiac off a guy who was night fishing. Someone sank our boat.”
“Ja-akkke’s on it?” Pamela looked over the side to see the inflatable boat. It was too dark.
He smiled. “Yeah, he’s there.” Steve slid the gun from her grip.
She rushed to the ladder and stopped. “I don’t think I can climb down it. I barely had the strength to pull the trigger.”
It was Steve’s turn to lift his eyebrows. “Who did you shoot?”
She pointed at Sanjar.
Steve started laughing, then it turned into a full-fledged deep stomach roar. More laughing came from below.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
Steve touched her arm. “Of all the trained people who wanted to shoot that son of bitch, you’re the one to do it. My sister. I’m so proud of you.” He squeezed her to him. “Come on; let’s get you to the boat.”
Like Jake, Steve easily helped Pamela down the ladder and to the boat, but it wasn’t as fun as having Jake behind her helping her on every rung. They reached the boat and with Larry’s help, she sat beside a pale-faced Jake without tipping the boat.
Jake held a cloth to his wound. His eyes flashed on hers. “My hero.” He grinned.
Larry put a sling around Jake’s arm and tied it around his neck.
Pamela leaned into him. “Thank goodness, you’re okay.”
“I am now that you’re beside me.”
The same emotion that bounced around inside her was expressed in his words. They were alive and together. She eased against his side. “I can’t believe I killed someone.”
“It’s not your first time.”
She shifted away from him and met his eyes. “What?”
“The guy in the mansion, near the ship, that was yours too.”
“You said you had shot him.”
“I know, but you were so upset, I didn’t want to burden you with the truth.”
“And you don’t think I’m upset now?”
“No, you’re pretty much numb.”
That made sense. She knew she’d killed someone and didn’t like it, but he wasn’t a good person. He would have hurt a lot more people if he had lived. At that moment, she understood Jake, Steve, and even Larry’s job and the rush they must have felt in helping others. “I understand.” She curled back into his chest.
“I figured you would.” He cuddled her close. “I love you, Pamela.”
She smiled, ignoring Steve’s frown and Larry’s grin. “I love you, too. I have a flying squirrel position to show you.”
Jake chuckled. “After my poison ivy disappears.”
****
Pamela walked into her townhouse and slumped onto the couch. A day later, after returning to Fredericksburg, she finally walked inside her house. Jake, on the other hand, would be in the hospital for a few more days. She couldn’t wait to get him home. A smile crossed her face. That sounded good.
“You’re chipper for all the crap you just went through,” Celine said, placing a glass of iced tea on the coffee table in front of Pamela. The ice sparkled from the sun seeping in through the window.
“I am.” She sipped the tea. “This whole fiasco is behind me, and I’m excited to see if this thing—”
“Thing?” Celine’s eyebrows narrowed.
“Zing, then.”
Celine’s expression didn’t change.
“Whatever’s going on between Jake and me,” Pamela added.
The backdoor opened and closed, and the smell of grilled hamburgers drifted in, making her stomach growl. Steve cooked good hamburgers.
Celine sat down on the couch
beside her and patted Pamela’s thigh. “There’s a good chance he’ll leave. He’s not the type of guy to hang around.”
Her pained look unnerved Pamela. She was wrong. Jake wouldn’t leave, not after he’d told her he loved her. She relaxed on the couch and shook her head. “No, you’re wrong.”
Celine cleared her throat. “Pamela—”
“Let it go, Celine.” Steve’s curt tone cut off Celine’s words. He set a plate of food on the coffee table in front of each of them, then sat on the loveseat across from the couch.
The room remained quiet as Pamela ate for the first time in over twenty-four hours.
The doorbell rang, and Paul walked in, followed by Marge and her father.
Pamela set her hamburger back on her plate and straightened. She received a kiss on the cheek from Paul, then stood and closed the distance between Marge and her. She held her friend close, as tears fell down her face when a tremor ran through Marge’s body, Pamela cried harder.
The same had happened last night when her dad arrived at the hospital.
Donald rubbed her and Marge’s backs, and they separated. Pamela slipped into her father’s arms and rested her cheek on his chest. “I’m so tired, Daddy.”
A sob escaped her burly farther. “I know, baby girl.”
She eased back, wiping her eyes. “Have you heard if Mom’s going to be released this evening? Before I left there was talk of it.”
“They let people leave so quickly nowadays.” Marge sighed and sat down beside Steve.
“No, she’ll be there a few more days. Something about some blood work they want to keep an eye on.”
“It’s so sad about her husband, Nicholas,” Marge said.
“I’d never thought he was a thief,” Pamela said.
“Pamela, that’s because he lied to Vivian the first time she met him. I swear, I think I’ll run anyone’s social security number who comes within five feet of this family,” Steve grumbled.
Pamela smiled. She knew the family Steve was referring to, their makeshift one. She wondered if he would still let her boy toy join.
As if Steve read her mind, he said, “Too soon,” then turned to Marge. “Do Donald and you want something to eat?”
“No dear, Donald and I just came back from a terrific dinner.” Marge faced Pamela. “Dear, we have some wonderful news.”
