by Amelia Shea
* * * *
Cassie’s teeth continued to chatter through her words. “Yyyyeeahh.”
The other voice on the line was familiar, smooth, almost comforting, if that was even possible. She knew the voice but couldn’t place who it belonged to.
“Are you okay?”
She was far from okay but she nodded her head and whispered, “Yyyyyeeaahh.” She was alive, for now.
“Sweetheart, we’ll find you, okay, I promise. Do you know where you are?”
“Cab.”
The phone was ripped away from her ear. “Oh look at that, you and this bitch have something in common, you both don’t know where the fuck she is.” Jimmy laughed and stood up. He paced back to the table.
“You tell T, I want a hundred grand. When he gets the money, he needs to get Tina, and when he has all that shit together, I’ll set up a meet spot. The money and my sister for his pussy. How much time do you need?” Jimmy continued to pace the small cabin as he listened.
“No. You talked to her, you tell him he don’t need to talk to her. Fuck him, I’m running this, not that fuckwad. Me.” His voice was angry and he balled up his fist.
“Good, I’ll call in an hour.” Jimmy walked back over to Cassie, glared down at her and smiled cruelly. “One more thing, tell him if he doesn’t show up with the money and my sister…” he paused “…I’ll make it so he never finds the body, but before I bury her…I will fucking destroy her.”
Cassie closed her eyes and Jimmy ended the call.
* * * *
Ethan kept his eyes on T but remained quiet listening to the person on the other line. T’s heart dropped when he heard Ethan speak. “Cassie?”
T felt a surge of fear run through his body. He shot up from the table, never losing Ethan’s stare.
“Are you okay?” His voice was calm. Ethan hit a button on his phone and returned it to his ear. This was how Ethan handled everything, calm and smooth.
“What the fuck, E? Gimme the phone,” T demanded.
Ethan shook his head and turned to Bogs mouthing, “Tracer.”
Bogs rushed from the table and through the door.
“Sweetheart, we’ll find you, okay, I promise. Do you know where you are?”
T leaned across the table. “What the hell is going on, E? Gimme the fucking phone!”
Ethan scowled at T and shook his head. T slammed his hand against the table. His composure was rocked, something that never happened with Ethan. T was enraged. What the hell was happening? We’ll find her?
“What do you want? Name it and it’s yours.” Ethan spoke in an even tone. He listened, not making eye contact with T. He looked at Stone, who had concern written on his face, but he refused to look at T. His heart pumped fast, the fury building. Someone had his Cassie.
“Fine, one hundred thousand dollars and,” Ethan finally looked at T, “your sister, Tina. Done.” T felt his heart skip and his body tense, Jimmy had her. That psychotic druggie motherfucker had his girl?
“Let T talk to her, just so he knows you really have her. Just put her back on for a minute.” T immediately put out his hand for the phone. He needed her voice; he fucking needed to hear her.
Ethan sighed and shook his head at T. “We’ll have it for you in one hour.”
T watched Ethan’s face change from frustration to fear as he listened to Jimmy. Ethan turned off his phone.
“Oh, my God!” Sadie cried from the end of the table. T didn’t bother looking at her; he knew Roxanne would have her out of the room in seconds. Stone didn’t want any of this shit to touch his woman.
“We need to find her now. Stone, call Trent and Dec, see if they can help. I’ll call the bank. We’ll meet at the office in thirty.” Ethan tried to walk past T but he blocked him. Bogs ran into the room. “Got the location, it’s up by Trent and Dec’s place, call them.”
“On it.” Stone had the phone to his ear.
“She said cab, but I think she was cut off. Probably a cabin. Bogs, how far out are we?” Ethan said.
“Just a guess on vicinity, forty-five, hour tops.”
Ethan looked back at T.
“What did he say?”
“A hundred grand and Tina, that’s what…”
T shook his head. “The last thing. What was the last thing he said?”
Ethan grabbed his phone and punched something in. T had seen him turn on the recording device earlier. T focused on his face. His temper seethed. He was about to explode. He knew it was bad, really bad, but he had to know.
Cassie’s small voice played over the phone, T’s fury built with every scared word she spoke. Then Jimmy’s voice came on the line. He was going to kill that motherfucker. He was going to make him pay, in blood.
One more thing, tell him if he doesn’t show up with the money and my sister…I’ll make it so he never finds the body but before I bury her…I will fucking destroy her.
Control completely lost, T picked up the chair in front of him and screamed, “Motherfucker!” and threw it through the bay window of the dining room.
Jimmy would die.
Chapter 27
AFTER Jimmy had gotten off the phone, he took another hit and passed out at the table. She was thankful for that. Her fear spiked with his last words on the phone. He was going to kill her, but not before he made her suffer.
She was comforted when he passed out. Maybe that would give them more time to find her but she watched the clock in dread. An hour had come and gone, Jimmy still asleep at the table. Cassie lost hope.
She tried to keep her eyes open but her body was fighting her. Sleep was calling to her like a warm blanket. Her eyes flickered open just to close again. Her body was numb; her chattering had become a soothing rhythm leading her to sleep. She dropped her head to her knees. Don’t give up, Cassie, he’ll find you.
“Wake up, bitch.” She felt a pain in her thigh before opening her eyes to see Jimmy standing above her. His eyes were half-mast and his words were slurred, his nasty grin aimed at her. Her fear intensified. He was going to hurt her, she could see it in his eyes. He raised his hand.
Suddenly, the front door flew open, banging against the cabin wall. Jimmy jumped back and scrambled to the back door. He threw open the door and a large figure was standing in the doorway. Cassie watched as Jimmy was grabbed by the neck and thrown across the room into the kitchen table. The table buckled under his weight and crashed into pieces. Jimmy lay limp on the broken table.
The man from the front door stalked into the cabin and locked eyes on Cassie. He slowly walked to her and bent down in front of her. His hair was light colored, pulled back in a short ponytail at the nape of neck. His eyes were soft but his face stern. Her fear intensified as her heart pumped. She couldn’t tell if he was here to help her or hurt her. He gave Cassie a lopsided smile. “So, you’re the girl who brought down the mighty T, huh? He sure picked a pretty one. My name is Trent, sweetheart, and this is Declan.” He pointed behind him.
Cassie just stared in shock. The other man, Declan, who threw Jimmy, had come to stand behind Trent.
“Y’alright?” Declan said in a deep voice. The sharp edges to his face made him appear hard and a little scary. He reminded her of T when she first met him. He looked like a man who rarely smiled.
Cassie nodded.
Trent smiled at her again. “Well, let’s see if we can get you untied and get that body temperature up.” Trent’s smile faltered when he looked down at her. “Dec and I are going to take care of ya until T gets here. Won’t let nothing happen to ya, Cassie. Okay?”
She gave him a weak smile and nodded. He reached down with a knife he pulled out of his belt and freed her tied feet and then her hands. She stretched them out slowly and it felt like small daggers being stabbed into her legs. She jumped when hands squeezed her ankles.
Trent rubbed her calves up to her thighs. “Got to get blood flowing, sweetheart. Just breathe and try to relax.”
&n
bsp; She looked at Jimmy, who was passed out, and Declan, who was on the phone in the corner of the room. He talked for a minute and put his phone in his pocket.
“When will T be here?” Her voice was so shallow she didn’t even recognize it as her own.
“Soon,” Trent said, massaging her legs.
“On his way, ten minutes.” Cassie met Declan’s gaze as he spoke.
* * * *
She was safe. They were ten minutes away from the cabin. Stone drove them up with Ethan and Bogs in the back. T was eerily calm. They had all gone into action after the call. Bogs was able to trace Ethan’s phone. From the little that Cassie said they were able to narrow down that she was in a cabin. Trent and Declan, being from that area, knew where to look.
They got lucky and found her. She was safe, in the hands of men he trusted with his life. Cassie was lucky, too fucking lucky for his liking. The minutes felt like hours up to the cabin. The truck was silent; no one uttered a word.
Declan, whom he had just gotten off the phone with, said Cassie looked okay. She was freezing and definitely hurt, bruised on her face from a hand mark and she was scared. But she was alive, anything else, they would get through. Anything.
Stone pulled up to the small cabin. There was a small white compact car parked in front. The guys must have parked further back. T jumped out and ran to the door, which opened as he scaled the steps. Declan nodded and T stormed in and stopped in the center of the small cabin. There she was, on an old beat-up chair. She was wrapped in a large blanket that looked dirty but warm. Her face was rosy-cheeked and her eyes were swollen, probably from crying. Her cheekbone was bruised with a hand-shaped mark.
Her eyes focused solely on T. He snapped out of his head and took three large strides to reach her. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, his mouth at her temple.
“Cass,” he whispered. He could feel her body quiver and heard the sobs.
“I gotcha, pixie.” He held her as the other guys filed in and surveyed the surroundings. T rocked her slowly, trying to calm and soothe her.
“I’m okay, T.” She sobbed.
“He touch you?”
“He hit me in the face and kicked me in the leg.”
“Did. He. Touch. You?” T growled.
“No, not that way. I just want to go home; can you take me home, please?”
“Yeah, Cass, I’ll take you home, baby.” T put her down on the chair again to talk to the guys before he headed out.
“Hey dick face, where’s my money and my sister?”
T’s body tightened up and rage ripped through him. He was so focused on Cassie, he’d almost forgotten about Jimmy. He slowly turned to glare at the junkie on the floor. Jimmy smiled and spit a wad of blood on the floor next to him.
“Too bad I never did get to try that pussy.”
T stomped over to Jimmy releasing an angry snarl. He grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him off the ground. He swung hard and fast with his other hand, knocking Jimmy’s head back. He punched him again and again. He dropped him to the ground and reached into his holster, pulled out his gun, and aimed it directly at Jimmy. This man had to die. T cocked back the safety and looked into his eyes.
“T…no!” He had been so close to pulling the trigger. None of the guys stepped in to stop him. This man had hurt and almost killed Cassie; they all knew he’d never walk out alive. But Cassie’s voice stopped him.
She was at his side, her hand on his arm, tears filling her eyes. “Please…no, don’t do this.” She sobbed. “Please…”
He watched the woman he loved, the woman he almost lost, ask him to spare the man that almost took her from him. Jimmy deserved to die, there was nothing good about Jimmy, but there she stood, asking him, begging him. He knew the only person who could stop him was her, and she was stopping him.
His eyes never left hers. He put his gun back in the holster and cupped her face, leaning in and placing a small kiss on her head. He lifted her into his arms and moved past the guys, who all stood silent. He walked out the door.
* * * *
Cassie was cradled in T’s arms as he walked past the men and out the door. She looked over his shoulder and met Declan’s dark, somber eyes. She watched him as he stepped back, nodded his head, and closed the door.
They had just reached the truck when a loud, cracking sound came from the cabin. She flinched in T's arms, her eyes slamming shut. She felt his arms tighten around her.
“Nobody hurts you, pix. No one,” he whispered.
Chapter 28
CASSIE stirred in bed, feeling the soft sheets brush against her sore legs. Her head hurt and her entire body felt achy. She shifted her face into the warm pillow; so soft. Slowly she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. Through the window to her left she could see light through the curtains. She squinted and looked around.
It was a decent size room, a dresser and thick plush chair sat in the corner. The walls held no pictures or art. From where she lay, they looked blue or green. The bed was big and took up a majority of the space. She looked over to the nightstand and saw one picture frame. Rolling to her side, she saw the same picture from the Gala.
This was T’s room.
Cassie struggled to sit up. Her leg hurt and when she lifted the sheet, she saw she was dressed in only her underwear and a large T-shirt. On her leg was a welted purple bruise. Ouch! Her memory flooded back to the cabin and Jimmy, and then T, and the gunshot. That was all she remembered and that was almost too much.
The door creaked open and a mass of red curly hair appeared. Her blue eyes looked worried but her smile showed relief. It was Emory.
“Hey, girl. You’re up.” She walked over to the bed and spoke softly, as one would speak to a waking child.
“Hi,” Cassie croaked. Her throat was raw and dry.
“You had us all worried. I better go get T; he’s been a bear to deal with. Actually that’s me trying to be nice. He’s been a full-on asshole, even for T.” She giggled.
Cassie smiled. She really wanted to see T and as if he could hear her, he came barreling through the door.
He walked straight to the bed and hugged her. She hugged him back as best as she could without causing herself too much pain.
“Get out,” he demanded.
Emory snorted. “I’ll let everyone know she’s up and not to be disturbed.” The door closed quietly behind her and they continued their embrace in silence.
He released her and cupped her face in his hands. His eyes told her everything. He was scared and worried and relieved and very much in love with her.
“You good?”
“Yeah, you?”
“Better now.” He hugged her harder. “Never been that scared, ever.”
“I should have listened to you.”
“Got that fucking right and don’t think just ’cause you’re hurt I’m not gonna remember. When you’re better, we’re gonna talk about it and you’ll learn that lesson. Starting with my hand on your ass.”
She chuckled. “Baby, that doesn’t sound like something I’m not going to like.”
“Fucking smart-ass.” His face turned serious. “I love you.”
“You love me?” Tears streamed down her face. He loved her. She had loved before but never been in love. To feel his love back…Her heart felt full. She wanted to grab onto him and never let go.
“Love you more than anything. Anything, Cass.”
His finger swiped the tears from her cheeks. His lips pressed softly to hers.
Chapter 29
CASSIE looked down at her computer clock; 6:12. Shit! She was supposed to be home an hour ago. Not her home, T’s. It caught her off guard every time she thought of home as his place. It didn’t help that he referred to it as their place. He wanted her to stay with him but she insisted on getting her own place. She had an appointment at seven to look at an apartment tonight. This would be the third. She didn’t have high hopes; T had shot d
own every other one she’d looked at. The first was too small, the second was too big, and the third had been in an unsafe section of town. This had been the main source for their arguments in the last two weeks since the Jimmy incident, which it had come to be known as.
She started to pack up her desk. She shut down her computer and gathered the paperwork for next week’s event.
“What are you still doing here?”
Cassie looked up to see Evie walking toward her desk. Her hair was wrapped up in a messy bun, her glasses resting at the end of her nose. Her eyes looked tired. She was way too young to have bags under her eyes, and way too pretty to be stuck at work on a Friday night. She should be out, on a date, having a good time.
“I should ask you the same thing.” She raised her eyebrows.
“Last minute details. I messed up again. Probably minutes from being canned.”
“Nah, Beverly knows she’s a bitch and no one wants to work for her. I think we’re safe.” Grabbing her bag and pushing in her chair, she continued, “Besides, she fires us, then she has to do all the grunt work and you know that’s not happening.”
Evie laughed. “True. So, you heading out?”
“Yeah, I was supposed to be home an hour ago.” Cassie rounded her desk, stopping in front of Evie. “What about you, leaving soon?
Evie nodded. “Yeah, I’m almost done.”
“Anything fun planned this weekend?”
Evie snorted. “Not unless you count grocery shopping and cleaning fun.”
“You need to get out, have fun, real fun. Ya know, T has a brother. He’s really cute, I could set you up.”
Cassie almost laughed at the look on Evie’s face. She looked horrified, immediately shaking her head.
“No, umm no.”
Cassie giggled. “Okay but if you change your mind, let me know. He’s a nice guy, a lot of fun.”
Evie nodded. “Go on and get out of here.”
“All right, have a good weekend.” She walked down the short hall and pushed the door open.
“Hey, Cassie?”
Turning back around, she found Evie still standing in front of her desk. For a second she thought she might have changed her mind about Bogs. They would make such a cute couple.
