I had so many questions, but during this cat and mouse game with the Harlequin goons really wasn't the time, so I let JJ tug me along as he pushed the door wide and fresh air finally greeted me.
Mutt scampered after us as we jogged up a set of concrete steps and we soon found ourselves back on ground level in the parking lot at the back of the Dollhouse.
"Fox will be losing his shit if they've told him they lost you already," JJ groaned as he led me over to his orange Mustang.
"So let's go where he least expects to find me then," I suggested. "Harlequin House."
JJ chuckled as he opened my door for me and I slid inside while Mutt hopped into the footwell.
But by the time JJ dropped down behind the driver's seat and we were heading back along the streets towards his home, silence fell heavily between us again.
"What?" he asked eventually and I cast about for a reasonable thing to be pissed at, settling on one without overthinking it.
"Did you steal the keys I had hidden in my trailer?" I blurted.
I counted to three, wondering if he'd be honest or not and when he finally replied, I was pleased that he at least gave me that much credit and didn’t try to bullshit me.
"I did," he agreed darkly. "How did you know it was me?"
"Because I know it wasn't Chase and I realised that Fox would have already gone all Badger on me if he knew. He'd have tried to spank my ass raw and make me repent. But not you. You're the thinker, J. You don't do anything without going over all of the possible outcomes and then aiming for the best results. So I'm guessing you realised Fox would freak out if he knew and that Chase would try and use it as ammo to get rid of me for good, so you decided that you were the best keeper of that little secret for now.”
"What do you want me to say, pretty girl? I wasn't just going to leave them there for anyone to find. And I'm not going to let you use them against us either."
"I'd need all five to do anything with them and you know it. You have no right to keep them from me."
I ground my teeth as I fought the urge to yell and JJ scowled out at the road which was lit up with his headlights before us.
"Well I'm not giving them back," he replied.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know if I can trust you."
"You trusted me enough to fuck me though, right? Although you moved on fast enough, so I don't know why I'm even wondering about that."
"Is that hurt I hear in your tone, pretty girl?" JJ asked and I could have sworn there was a touch of hope in there.
"No," I said quickly. "It's not like I thought I was special to you. I was just one in a list of many, right?"
JJ pushed his tongue into his cheek as he stared at the road and I swear the silence was so loud it hurt my damn ears.
“Well it’s not like you waited around for me either, is it? You were quick enough to jump into Maverick’s bed the moment I was out of sight.”
“That’s different,” I shot back, my cheeks flushing.
“How?”
“Because it’s Rick,” I replied lamely. “He was one of us once.”
JJ frowned in thought. “So does that mean you’re gonna hook up with Chase and Fox too?”
“What if I did?” I asked instead of just saying no for some insane reason.
“Would it change us?”
“No,” I said instantly, knowing it was true.
“Maybe it is different then,” he muttered. “But only with the five of us.” He gave me a hard look and I nodded in agreement.
He seemed to accept the ridiculous logic of that for some reason and let it drop.
We turned off of the road and I ducked low in my chair as the Harlequins on duty at the gate let us in. JJ drove straight down into the underground garage and quickly shut off his engine. The lights died and we were plunged into darkness, just me and him alone in his car with nothing but the night air to hear us.
"You know that's bullshit though, don't you?" he asked me in a low tone, his gaze still forward.
"What is?"
"The part about me going straight back out on the game the second I'd had you. You don't seriously believe that, do you?"
"I literally just found you doing some kind of funky fetish thing for a group of admirers while they jacked themselves off and smooshed you.”
"Sploshed. And I wasn't fucking any of them, was I? In fact, none of them were touching my cock, were they? And I wasn't even letting them look at it either."
"So...what? You expect me to believe that you aren't fucking for cash anymore? Even though the others were literally calling you out on it in front of me a few days ago?"
"They don't know," he said angrily and I arched a brow. JJ rarely got angry like that, but the acid in his tone said he really was pissed. "Why do you think I was working in the fucking Dollhouse doing fetish performances? I'm not fucking for cash anymore which means my cut is coming in low. Fetish work might be a bit odd, but as it doesn't turn me on in any way and I'm not fucking anyone I just think of it as unusual stripping."
"You're right about that," I snorted. "Covering your lickable body in paint shouldn't turn anyone on. It needs to be bare and free and maybe a little oiled up, but that's it for me. They can keep their paint and shit."
JJ breathed a laugh, his hands curling around the steering wheel in the dark. "Like I said, pretty girl, you probably have some fetishes too. Or at least a few hot fantasies. I bet you're not against being restrained. Or using a few toys. Maybe you'd have a thing for balloons if you gave it a go."
"Erm, no, I don’t wanna stuff a balloon animal up my vag. But I guess if you wanna dress up as the Green Power Ranger for me and come save me from the bad guys then I wouldn't mind sucking a cock out of gratitude.”
"Okay, so Power Ranger role-play and kidnapping bits turn you on, huh? I'll remember that."
"What are you going to do? Jump me while wearing a ski mask and see if I let you fuck me in the back of your psycho van?"
"Strokes for all folks," he purred, turning my way at last. "But I meant what I said Rogue - Johnny D has been out of action since he got a taste of you. Hell, he'll only even get hard if I'm thinking of you. It's only you."
Suddenly the air in the car was too thick and my chest was rising and falling too heavily. I'd heard those words and the truth in them, and it had lit something blazing inside of me which I didn't dare lay a name to.
"But I know you don't feel the same,” he went on. “I get it. I'm the mistake you made. I know you don't feel-"
I leaned forward to stop his words and JJ groaned hungrily as my lips met with his. My hand slid up the back of his neck and my mouth parted for his tongue as his hand found my waist and he tried to tug me closer.
I was giving in. I could feel it. His words and his closeness and this sexy fucking car had me going all dick blinded again and I was about to lose my damn head to this man.
With a wrench of determination, I drew back, panting slightly as I grasped the door handle and damn near fell on my ass out of the car as I pushed it wide and got out.
"You can't keep running from me forever, pretty girl," JJ growled as I began to back up and I wasn't certain if I was insane or horny or just fucking lost over this man and the memories my heart held for him, but the words that passed my lips in reply were entirely of their own making and I was in no way responsible for a single one of them.
"Maybe I'm just waiting for you to catch me."
I turned and ran as I struck him with that challenge and as I raced up the stairs towards the house, a shaky, desperate laugh escaped me because I was almost certain that they might be true.
“W here are you, man? Answer your fucking phone,” I growled into JJ’s voicemail then hung up for the tenth time. I’d jacked a car parked at the Dollhouse and we’d taken all the guns from Fox’s truck, leaving it for Basset and Eddie to take Rogue home. Fuck you Basset. Oh, did you get left out of this job? Sucks to suck.
I made sure all of our guns were loa
ded and that I had at least a couple of small knives concealed across my body. My adrenaline levels were raging and my bloodlust followed. I had more than a few reasons to despise Shawn Mackenzie even though I’d never met the asshole, but now I had one that overrode them all. And despite all the shit between us and how much I hated the girl, I still wasn’t going to let some scum hurt her and get away with it.
Fox drove like a maniac through the streets until we approached Carnival Hill.
Cyril sat in the back seat, quiet and seeming nervous as we approached our destination. I doubted the dude had planned on coming along for the showdown tonight, but it was better to rely on a guy who’d been to Shawn’s exact location than being distracted using our phones to try and lock down his trailer in the woods. Once Cyril had done his part, he could fuck off back to Jolene for all I cared. He directed Fox to park up on a dark road before we got anywhere close enough to the woodland beyond the hill to raise suspicions.
We filed out of the car and an owl hooted close by, but all else was quiet. I strapped two handguns to my hips and placed a bag on my back full of ammo, hoping it would be enough to end this motherfucker for good.
“There’s a trail up this way,” Cyril said, wiping a line of sweat from his brow. He had a gun at his hip and a knife in his hand, but it was clear the guy’s jitteriness meant he’d be no good in a fight.
“Don’t be a liability, Cyril,” Fox growled and the guy nodded, straightening his spine and marching up the road to lead the way.
Fox checked his phone as we followed then tucked it into the back of his fancy trousers. He’d stolen some guy’s sneakers in the Dollhouse and had swapped his white shirt out for a black one. Why had he even been dressed like an asshole? To impress Rogue? Since when had she ever been impressed by that shit? She loved mocking posh twats for their stupid ass clothes and quaffed hair, why would he think she was into that? The dude could pull any girl in town with nothing but a look, but when it came to Rogue Easton he reverted to being an awkward teenager with no game. It was kind of sad to watch, especially knowing JJ had been fucking her right under his nose.
We followed Cyril off of the road as he pushed through some foliage into the trees and we found a narrow animal track beyond it. We hurried along behind him, climbing Carnival Hill and veering deep into the woodland. After a while, Cyril pointed to a dirt road a hundred yards away.
“That’s how they get in and out,” he whispered. “I tracked one of their trucks this way.”
He’d already briefed us on what to expect. Five armed men including Shawn were staying out here, keeping hidden from the world. Fox and I could probably take them alone, but he’d called Luther in anyway and he was bringing reinforcements too just to be on the safe side. He’d told us to scout out Shawn’s camp and nothing more, but if I got a good shot at the motherfucker, I wasn’t making any promises tonight. This was personal. Maybe not to me, but to Rogue. Punishing the asshole who’d hurt her was my duty. Well, it used to be. Now…everything was fucked. But I still felt that allegiance in me deep down. You hurt one of my own, you die. I wasn’t going to overthink it beyond that.
Cyril slowed his pace and we followed suit as he glanced back at us with a look that told us to be quiet. Then we crept slowly after him and voices carried through the trees, men hollering and laughing and the crackle of a fire. I glimpsed the flames as we drew nearer in the shadows, hugging the trees to hide our movements.
When we reached a wide oak tree close to the camp, we huddled against it and cautiously looked around the sides. There was a large trailer at the heart of a clearing, the lights were on in inside and the door was wide open. Four men sat around a fire outside it and beyond that were three parked trucks. I couldn’t see Shawn among the chatting Dead Dogs, but a large shadow suddenly blotted out the light of the trailer doorway and the motherfucker in question stepped outside.
Shawn was shirtless, wearing dark jeans and a leather belt with a gleaming silver buckle in the shape of a horseshoe. He had a shotgun in his hand which he casually rested on his shoulder as he moved to join the men by the fire. His body was covered in tattoos, but the one that snagged my attention most was the word violence which curved along his collarbone and a large dog skull across his right pec which was the symbol of his gang.
“I’m starting to think Rogue has a type,” I murmured to Fox as we ducked back behind the tree and his jaw ticked at those words.
“Yeah, men who are soon to be dead at my hands,” he growled and I thought of JJ with a knot in my gut.
Cyril crouched in the shadows beyond Fox, seeming on edge and I was wondering if it was best if we told him to get out of here before he trembled loud enough to give us away. He was obviously just a scout, and this kind of dirty work did not suit guys like him.
“Has he answered yet?” Fox breathed and I checked my phone for any sign of a response from JJ. Nothing.
I shook my head, shoving my phone away with a curse as a roar of booming laughter sounded from the camp, making my teeth clench. Laugh your last laugh, Shawn. You’re on borrowed time.
“How far away is Luther?” I hissed and Fox checked his watch.
“He should be here in fifteen minutes,” he whispered and my muscles coiled with frustration. “Just hang tight,” he commanded and though my instincts warred with that order, I managed to force myself to stand there and wait.
After a couple of minutes, Fox’s phone rang, the screen flashing but no sound coming out. He answered it, keeping his voice to a whisper. “What?...Fuck, find her you idiot. If she’s not back at Harlequin House by the time I’m home, you’ll pay for it.” He hung up and I shuffled closer to him with a question in my eyes, but I’d picked up the gist of what was wrong. Rogue. As per fucking usual.
“She’s given them the slip,” he muttered, his gaze furious and I tutted under my breath.
“Bring them out here then, boys, I’m getting bored,” Shawn’s loud voice reached us and I shared a look with Fox, freezing for a moment as I feared he meant us.
But as I cast a look around the tree, I saw his men hauling a couple out the back of one of the trucks, a man with sandy hair and a pretty girl with large brown eyes. My heart clenched hard as I recognised the guy as a Harlequin. Ned Dorkins and his girl Hannah.
“Fox,” I hissed and he moved to look as my heart pounded furiously in my chest.
The couple were thrown to their knees in front of Shawn and the asshole swaggered a step closer to them, swinging his shotgun between them as Hannah screamed and tried to shrink away from the barrel. He rested it against Ned’s forehead, his finger slipping onto the trigger.
“Boom,” Shawn said loudly, making Ned jerk backwards with a yell of terror and his girlfriend scream in panic. Their hands were tied behind their backs and my throat tightened as I watched.
We had to do something. We couldn’t just let them die.
Shawn’s men laughed obnoxiously, moving closer to enjoy the show and I twisted around to look at Fox. His eyes were dark with thoughts as he decided what to do, but there wasn’t fucking time for that.
“We have to go,” I growled, about to move into a better position, but he grabbed my arm, his fingers digging in as he pulled me back.
“Wait,” he hissed. “Something’s not right.”
“You’re telling me,” I shot back in a whisper. “He’s gonna kill them if we don’t act now.”
“Your girl won’t look so pretty when her brains are splattered all over the floor now, will she?” Shawn taunted.
“Please,” Ned begged. “Don’t hurt her. She’s not in the Crew, she’s not your enemy. Let her go.”
“Nah,” Shawn said dismissively. “I’m not gonna do that, sunshine. I’m gonna watch you watch her die.”
“Fox,” I snarled.
Cyril looked ready to take off into the trees and Fox was doing fucking nothing except thinking. But we didn’t have time for a plan. Shawn could pull that trigger at any second.
“Say goodbye
to your girl,” Shawn said as she screamed and Ned started begging. “My camp could use a little splash of colour.”
“Please, I’ll do anything!” Ned yelled.
“I’ll get closer and take the shot,” Fox decided. “You stay here.”
“No,” I growled and his eyes flared with my defiance.
“That’s an order,” he snarled then slid out from behind the tree and moved away in the direction of our enemies.
I watched as he crept quickly along between the trees like a wraith in the dark as he closed the distance between him and the camp. When he was on the very edge of the circle of light, he raised his gun and my heart beat like a drum as he lined it up with Shawn’s head.
“Three,” Shawn barked. “Two…”
A gun barrel pressed to my temple and my blood ran cold as I turned just enough to see Cyril’s shaking hands around the weapon. “Get up,” he growled with more confidence than before and my breaths came furiously as I did as he asked. Oh fuck. “Drop your gun and the bag.”
I let the weapon slip from my fingers and tossed the bag from my back, my mind reeling and anger spewing through me. He took the other gun from my hip and threw it away into the trees before patting me down and locating the concealed knives across my body.
“You motherfucker,” I spat as he tossed my blades away into the undergrowth. “You’re one seriously dead piece of shit.”
Cyril didn’t answer, finishing up his hunt for weapons with shaky hands and keeping the gun levelled at my head.
“One and three quarters,” Shawn called as the screams grew louder. “One and a half.”
“Move,” Cyril commanded.
“This is a bad idea, asshole,” I warned.
“Get moving,” he snipped.
“One and a quarter,” Shawn called as I rounded the tree and all my hope dissolved as I saw Fox being manhandled by two men, dragging him out of the trees with a gun pointed at his head.
My world came crashing down before me as Cyril forced me to move faster and Shawn smoothly lifted the shotgun and rested it on his shoulder, turning to Fox as he was dragged towards him with no hint of surprise in his gaze.
Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2) Page 26
