Mountain Man Secret_Back On Fever Mountain 3

by Melissa Devenport

  And then, at last, the man he hated so very much, the man who had instilled so much terror in the underground world, the man who had tried, and nearly succeeded, to end Jason’s life, set foot in his driveway.

  He’d recognize those polished shoes anywhere. The need rose in him, strong, so very strong, to fire through the window and put a bullet in the man’s skull.

  I can’t. I can’t even think it. Not if I ever want to go back to Amanda again.

  “Let me do it.” Andy grinned, eyes flashing with unadulterated black hatred. “Let me put a bullet, or twenty, in his fuckin’ head.”

  Jason nearly agreed. Ricci was standing there, out in the open, hands at his sides, no gun in either one of them.

  Something isn’t right.

  His worst fears were confirmed a minute later when Ricci called out, voice echoing through the peaceful, quiet clearing. “We have your woman and your brat, Dallas. If you want to see them alive, you will come out of that cabin without firing a shot at us.”

  Dallas. He hadn’t heard his real name spoken in a very, very long time.

  “He’s fuckin’ lyin’.” Andy swiveled towards the window, gun raised.

  “No!” Jason held out a hand. “It doesn’t make sense. He wouldn’t come here like this unless he truly did have a bargaining tool. He doesn’t just want to see me dead. He wants to make an example of me. He wants to make me suffer. If we kill him now, his men, whatever men he has out there, will kill Amanda. He might be lying, but I can’t take the chance that he’s telling the truth.”

  “Come out of the fucking cabin, Dallas,” Ricci spat. “You have one minute or your woman dies. She fucking dies as well as your kid. Don’t test me. You know very well what happens to those who disobey. You wouldn’t want your pretty little woman to end up like the last one? Or do you?”

  A sick, maniacal laugh shattered the silence. Ricci’s goons closed in around him, putting themselves between their boss and any stray shots that Jason might be stupid enough to fire off.

  “They don’t know I’m here,” Andy whispered, ducking away from the window. “You hid my car. They have no idea I made it ahead of them. They probably think this is the last place on earth I’d ever go.”

  “You’re right.” Jason paused. “I’m going out there. I have to. If anything goes wrong, get out of here, Andy. You can still save yourself.”

  “Ten to one, they don’t have your woman.”

  “I can’t take that chance.”

  Andy shrugged, shocking Jason. “If they have them, they ain’t here. We’ll find them and I’ll kill those guys as well. They’re hired. Just like these guys. They don’t give a shit where their money comes from and from now on it’s comin’ from me.”

  Andy moved so fast, Jason was powerless to do anything but watch as the other man dove towards the window. There was a volley of gunfire and exploding glass as the nightmare Jason had always envisioned happening, finally begun.

  Chapter 12

  Captivity

  Amanda

  “Where do you figure we are?” Joan Rath kept her voice low, so the three hulking captors in the next room wouldn’t hear.

  Amanda blinked hard. She inhaled and exhaled, trying all the while to stem the rising flood of panic that filled her chest. Her son sensed it. Ross Rath. She now knew why Jason insisted the baby take her last name, even though it seemed strange to her at the time. Strathmore wasn’t even his real last name. He’d said it, at first in the hospital, Jason Ross Strathmore, but that hadn’t been what was written down on paper. No, it had been Ross Jason Rath.

  “I don’t know.” She scooted closer to her mother on the disgusting shag brown carpet. The thing looked like it was alive, the only sign of life in the deserted house that they’d been brought to, bound, blindfolded and gagged. The walls were dingy, with holes punched through them. The drywall was stripped away in parts to reveal the wood studs. There was no insulation, wiring or piping visible. Overhead an even dingier bulb hung out of a scraggly wire in the ceiling. It buzzed and blinked on and off occasionally. “I don’t even know what part of Wyoming we were in when they caught up with us. They could have taken us anywhere. We were in the back of their vehicle for what felt like forever.”

  “It might have only been half an hour. I tried to count the seconds and keep track of the minutes so that I’d know.”

  What does it matter where we are? They probably brought us here to kill us. They didn’t even hide their faces, as though it didn’t matter since we won’t live long enough to talk. Jason will never know what happened to me. He’ll never know what happened to his son…

  That was the worst thought of all. Amanda stared at her sleeping child. He was surprisingly calm, the car ride having lulled him to sleep since he didn’t know any better. She’d left him in his bucket seat, which was placed in the room with them when the goons, men dressed all in black with short dark hair, mean looking eyes and thin lips that never smiled, had unbound their hands and removed their blindfolds.

  The door was slammed shut, a not so subtle warning not to try anything foolish. There were no windows. The walls might as well have been a barred cell. It was all the same.

  “I don’t know.” Amanda lowered her head. “I didn’t make it. I didn’t even get us close. If Jason gets out of this alive, he’ll always know that I was the one to blame.”

  “No. Don’t talk like that.” Joan crept closer and gripped Amanda gently, but firmly, by the shoulder. “You can’t blame yourself. This was not your fault.”

  “Do you think it’s Jason’s?”

  “I… I didn’t say that. I don’t truly think it’s his fault either. He might have chosen fighting, but he didn’t choose to not be allowed out. No one should be kept like that-like an animal for sport. Those men killed the woman he loved. He certainly didn’t choose that. He never, ever would have wanted to give you or Ross up. Never. He truly love you both, Amanda. Really.”

  Amanda sighed. They’d been over the whole story more than once during the long hours they’d been driving. She’d thought they would actually get away. That was, at least, until a black SUV with tinted windows came up behind them. She knew right away, as soon as she’d noticed it in her rear view mirror, that it wasn’t good. She’d sped up, hoping that maybe it was just another vehicle on the road, but they’d tailed her. They waited until there was a free stretch of road before they’d pulled beside her and just about driven her right off the road. She wasn’t skilled enough to evade them. She wasn’t a damn stunt driver. She knew she had to pull over or be driven right into the ditch.

  It was the same thing she remembered Jason saying they’d done to him when he tried to get out with Janine.

  She expected it, the end. She wasn’t ready though. She wanted to go down fighting. She’d kicked one of the goons in the shin, another in the balls before they’d grabbed her by the hair, twisted her arms behind her back and thrown her against the car. Her mother had gone peacefully, not wanting to anger the men who held the life of her daughter and grandson in their hands.

  Ross never woke once throughout the whole ordeal.

  “Wherever we are, we just have to keep our wits about us. Don’t make them angry. Don’t say more than you have to. Remember that we are Ross’s only chance of surviving. We have to try everything we can to stay alive for your son.”

  “Shh… I can hear them talking,” Amanda hissed under her breath.

  Joan snapped her mouth shut and they both strained to listen. It was true. In the other room, a room that must have been either across or right beside the one they were in, the dull hum of conversation carried.

  “…can’t get a hold of Ricci or Beck. Something weird…”

  “Shut up. They’ll call us back when they want us to know what to do.”

  “What if they don’t? What if something’s happened?”

  “I said shut up. They’ll fucking call back.”

  “Alright, alright.”

  Their conversation, be it
what it was, was cut short by Ross’s wail. He woke from sleep suddenly, unfurling his small body and shaking his fists in the air.

  “He’s hungry,” Amanda whispered to her mother. She moved rapidly, unhooking the car seat’s straps from Ross’ small body, trying to calm him by placing him into her arms. “I didn’t see the diaper bag in here. Do you think they got it?”

  Joan shook her head, a worried frown creasing her brow. “I never even thought of it.”

  “They’ll come in here eventually to check why the baby is crying,” Amanda said, half hopefully. “I’ll tell them I can’t feed him. They’ll need to get us something.”

  Joan tried to keep the doubt out of her eyes. “I hope so. God knows what those men are capable of.”

  A sudden chill ripped up Amanda’s spine. She realized how naïve she was being, even after everything. She’d made the mistake of thinking, hoping, that there was good in these men. They had taken them alive and she thought that meant something, despite the worst of the thoughts that wracked her brain. She had to hold out hope that they were being used as leverage and would be released as soon as Jason figured out what to do.

  It hurt to realize that they may still be disposed of. Just because the goons didn’t do it on the highway, didn’t mean that they were meant to be kept alive. Maybe they were just waiting for the right time. In that case, a crying baby would only be a nuisance.

  Amanda tried frantically to hush Ross, bouncing him gently, padding his back, but his crying only grew worse. It had been hours since he’d fallen asleep. He probably needed to be changed and it was a certainty that he was hungry.

  Ross kept on screaming shrilly and she kept trying to hush him until one of the goons burst through the door. His scowling countenance immediately inspired fear.

  “What’s going on with the brat?”

  The guy sneered at Amanda as he took a step forward, trying to get a look at Ross. She tucked him in against her chest.

  “He’s-he’s-hungry,” she stammered, trying to quell her pounding heart.

  Her mother leaned in closer, instinctively trying to shield both Amanda and Ross with her own body.

  “Pull out one of those pretty little tits and feed the brat then.”

  “I’m sorry,” Amanda whispered. “I… can’t. I don’t have any milk.”

  The goon snorted. “What use are you then? Good lord, I thought when we were going after Dallas Williams’ woman and by-blow that you’d at least be worth a little bit of a fight. Very disappointing, to find that you’re nothing more than a mewling little piece of trash.”

  Joan cleared her throat. “Please, sir, if you don’t want to put up with the crying, we need formula or milk.”

  “Or I could take the brat and get rid of the crying pretty fast in my own way.”

  “Please,” Amanda begged. “Don’t do that. You’re very certain that your boss is going to make it through this. Come out the victor. I wouldn’t bet on it. Did you know Jason and Andy are together? In that cabin? Did you know he was warned? Of course you did. Because you came after me and I would never have left Jason if we didn’t know there was going to be trouble. But I bet you thought Andy wasn’t going to stick around. What are the odds, do you think, of Ricci and his men at the cabin surviving Jason and Andy together? I heard that Andy dispatched quite a few of your men singlehandedly.”

  The goon actually paused. He looked uncomfortable, unsure of himself for a second. He blinked and took a halting step back. Amanda was amazed. Just speaking Andy’s name put the fear of god into the man.

  “Please, will you get us something to feed my son with? Some milk and a bottle? I swear I’ll remember your kindness, should it matter.”

  The hulking human mountain blinked once before he composed himself. “We won’t need your kindness. I’ll get you the damn milk just because we haven’t received further orders yet and that brat is going to give me a headache. I don’t doubt, for a second, that your man is dead, rotting in what is left of the sunlight. Good thing you never married him. You’d be a widow then.”

  He turned, a wicked laugh trailing after him long after he shut the door. Amanda shivered. She rocked Ross gently, padding his back, trying to keep her anxiety and fear from seeping into him and making him even more upset.

  “Amanda! Do you think it was wise to have said those things,” her mother whispered.

  Amanda stared into Joan’s fear filled eyes. “I don’t know,” she admitted. She lowered her voice further. “I was only speaking half truths about Andy. I don’t know anything about him, but I do know he’s with Jason and they wouldn’t give up without a fight. That’s what they are after all, fighters. He really did dispose of a whole bunch of Ricci’s goons when he got away to warn us. That part was true.”

  “Do you think it’s wise to upset them though? Or taunt them?”

  “I wasn’t taunting them. Jason told me, when he was explaining everything, that the men who let him go did it out of mercy. They roughed him up and dumped him alive, against Ricci’s orders. They had respect for him because of who he was. These men are paid. They are employees like any other employee. Well… not like any other, but that means they have a boss and they work for pay. I’m trying to get them to second guess their allegiance. I don’t think Ricci is overly popular. He is rich though, and that’s why people fear him. I don’t think they respect him. No doubt Jason and Andy are well known to them.”

  “And you think if Jason survived this that he’d buy their allegiance?”

  “I don’t think he’d have to. If their boss is dead then they don’t owe any allegiance to anyone, but if it came right down to it, he would have the money to pay to get us out of here.”

  Joan worried her hands in her lap while Ross screamed, his cries becoming hoarse and angrier, shriller. It broke Amanda’s heart.

  “I still can’t believe any of this, Amanda. I never would have thought Jason would be in trouble like this.”

  The sting of tears went up Amanda’s nose, just like inhaling water while swimming. It was actually painful to keep them from spilling over.

  “He told me if he thought that they were still looking for him, he never would have let me get involved. He would have sent me away, no matter how much it hurt him.”

  “If you had it to do over again, would you do it the same way?”

  Amanda pulled Ross away from her shoulder and looked into his red face, scrunched up in anger. “Yes. Absolutely. Well… maybe not the same way. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have made sure we were far away. Out of danger. Head down to South America or go to Europe or something.”

  “What about Canada?”

  “That isn’t far enough. I think that was just Jason’s meeting point before we left for good.”

  Joan smiled sadly. Her eyes held something strange, a distant look, like she was already preparing for the worst, detaching from the situation, retreating inside of herself.

  Amanda waited. Ross screamed on, his cries getting angrier and angrier. He’d cried once like that when he was first born. He must have had gas or been over or under stimulated. She’d never figured out what it was, but the crying lasted for hours. All night. She remembered how helpless she felt. How the sound broke her heart.

  She felt as powerless now and just about as hopeless.

  Finally, what felt like hours later, the door opened again. Amanda jolted out of her trance. She too had withdrawn inside herself without even meaning to, retreating to a time and a place where she didn’t have to worry about their lives being at risk.

  “Here. Shut that brat up or I’ll do it for you.” The granite mountain of a man, as hard and as cold as rock, passed over a bottle with some dubious looking milk.

  Amanda didn’t hesitate. She took the bottle, tears of gratitude pouring down her cheeks. “Thank you,” she whispered brokenly. It didn’t matter in that moment if that man was the devil himself. She’d gladly take help where she could get it.

  Ross silenced immediately
when the nipple was thrust into his mouth. He sucked greedily, his little hiccup sobs escaping past the milk flowing down his throat. It was one of those slow pour bottles so he had to work at it. He’d be at it for some time and hopefully silent and happy after.

  “I’m serious. If that kid makes another sound, I’m coming back in here and you aren’t going to like the result. Shut him up.”

  Amanda nodded silently. The goon stomped out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

  “What are we going to do, Amanda?” Joan whispered desperately as Ross neared the end of the bottle. Fear twisted her face into a mask Amanda nearly didn’t recognize.

  “Wait. It’s all we can do.”

  Amanda stared down at her son, who had indeed calmed. She breathed out a long sigh of relief and on her next breath sent out a silent hope, up to the universe, that Jason would hurry. She couldn’t doubt he was coming. He would find them. He would save them. He’d promised and if she had faith in anything at all, it was his word.

  Chapter 13

  The Call

  Jason

  “Make the call.” Andy found a sleek black cell in one of the prone men’s back pocket. “I’m sure this was the one they were using.”

  Jason held out a hand and Andy slapped the cool metal device into his overheated palm. He realized, belatedly, as though he was looking down on himself from above, that the phone was smeared with blood. Bile crawled up his throat, and he barely managed to keep himself from retching.

  The yard was a blood bath. The volley of bullets exchanged as soon as Andy opened fire had lit up the evening. There were almost no windows left on the side of the cabin facing the driveway. Bullets were lodged in the logs. The guys in the drive, who had never even thought Andy would be in there with him, who had never figured on Jason returning fire when Ricci had his family, hadn’t fared well without cover.