Just One Touch

by Maya Banks

  The women moved toward Isaac, their intention not lost on him. Gracie looped her arm through his while Ari wrapped her arm around his waist in a hug.

  “We’ll get her back, Isaac,” Ari whispered. “You can’t give up hope. Ramie will find her.”

  But at what cost? And the million-dollar question, what would she see? Would she be too late to save Jenna’s life if the worst had happened? He shook his head because he knew it did no good to entertain such hopeless thoughts. But hope was a vicious bitch as it clawed at his chest, warring with the worst-case scenarios that haunted his every thought.

  This might not even work. Ramie might not be able to connect with her at all because it was too late. Or Ramie might connect with her only to find out Jenna really had betrayed him. Isaac slammed his mind shut to that possibility and fought for control. Once he’d found a shred of it and was reasonably sure he could speak without his voice breaking, he asked Ramie, “What do you need?”

  “Whatever the last item was she touched that you know of,” she replied, her eyes hopeful.

  Isaac hurried to the bedroom he’d given Jenna, frantically trying to think. What could Ramie use? Jenna had come to him with only the clothes on her back. And those were with Lizzie. Fuck. He spun slowly, trying to find anything that might work. His gaze fell on the shirt she’d worn last night—his shirt. A night she’d spent in his arms before she’d disappeared. He snatched it up. It would have to do. If it didn’t . . . He couldn’t go there. It had to work or his only option would be to hunt down a cult in an unknown location, break in, and try to find something that belonged to Jenna and steal it. Jesus, this was a total clusterfuck.

  He strode into the living room and dropped into a crouch in front of the armchair where Ramie was now sitting. “Thank you for this,” he whispered, his voice rough. “I know I shouldn’t ask this of you, that it’s too much, but—”

  “Stop,” Ramie said softly. “You didn’t ask. I volunteered. And it’s not too much if we can make sure she’s safe. I’ve been where she is, terrified and believing I had no one to turn to. I was proven wrong.” She shot a loving look at her brooding husband. “Let’s show Jenna she’s wrong too.”

  Isaac swallowed the lump in his throat, hoping like hell Ramie understood the depth of his gratitude. He nodded, stood, then stepped away to give her space.

  Ramie tentatively reached for the shirt, dread mirrored in her eyes despite her attempts to mask her expression. Then she sucked in a deep breath and closed her hands around the shirt, gripping it tightly as she closed her eyes. Long moments passed, Isaac’s fear and sense of dread building with every second that ticked past. Then he saw her eyes start to move behind her closed lids as her fingers clenched the fabric tighter.

  The color drained from Ramie’s face, and it took everything Isaac had not to lunge across the room and start demanding answers. Only his previous experiences with Ramie’s process kept him restrained, because he knew it could take time before she was able to provide any useful information.

  Adrenaline coursed through his body, his hands trembling, muscles coiling into tight knots as he forced himself to stand still and quiet. He couldn’t interrupt. It might break her connection to Jenna. Their only connection to Jenna.

  Ramie’s eyes suddenly flew open, and fear unlike any he’d ever seen was reflected there. Caleb moved even closer as she gasped. Then she spoke, the speech pattern familiar but not Ramie’s. “Please, don’t hurt me. Please. I’ll do what you ask. Please.” The last was a whimper, and Isaac fought not to drop to his knees as he realized he was hearing Jenna’s words.

  “Where are you, baby?” Isaac begged, no longer able to hold it in. “Just tell me where you are.”

  But Ramie’s face remained strangely blank and he knew that his words were useless. Jenna wasn’t here. She was someplace where she had to beg people not to hurt her and he couldn’t stop it. He could only stand helplessly in the house where she should have been safe and pray that it wasn’t too late.

  Then Ramie fell back, slamming against the back of the sofa with astonishing force. A cry of pain split the air and to the equal horror of both Isaac and Caleb, a large handprint appeared, bright red against the alarming pallor of Ramie’s face. She staggered to the side, tilting precariously as Caleb lunged forward to catch her, hauling her into his arms to cradle her against his chest. He began softly running his hands through her hair, telling her he was there and begging her to come back to him.

  Isaac stood paralyzed in fear and rage. What the fuck had just happened? He stared in shock at the vivid mark on Ramie’s cheek. Was this what Jenna—his angel—was enduring while he stood here helpless to do anything but watch through the eyes of another? Tears burned like acid and for a moment, he had to look away from Ramie as she huddled, looking so fragile, in her husband’s arms, or he feared losing the tenuous grip on his sanity.

  He forced his gaze back to her, so choked up he wasn’t sure he could even speak. He attempted to open his mouth to ask where the fuck Jenna was, but Caleb’s sharp glare cut him off.

  “Not now,” he hissed, clearly incensed at the abuse his wife had suffered, even secondhand. His hands ran over her body as if checking for any hidden injury or evidence of pain and then he buried his face in her hair, tears glistening in his own eyes as he rocked her gently back and forth in his arms. “Just give her a goddamn minute!”

  “No, we need to hurry,” Ramie said urgently, the fear in her voice sending shards of panic down Isaac’s spine. “She’s so scared. And she should be. I know exactly where she is.” She lifted eyes swimming with tears to implore Isaac. “It’s not far, but they plan to move her soon. We have to go now!”

  SIXTEEN

  JENNA lay limply on the cold, hard floor in the room where she’d been carelessly tossed an hour ago, her hands and feet bound so tightly that she’d long lost feeling in them. She drew her knees up, her movements stiff and awkward as she tried to infuse any warmth possible into her numb body.

  Her head ached from the harsh blow she’d received, but thankfully they’d been more concerned with ensuring her captivity so they could plan to move to a more remote location. One not very far from where she’d been with Isaac and the other DSS members.

  Tears stung her eyelids but she refused to give in to the urge to cry. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing they had the power to make her crumble. She was just grateful that for the time being, at least, they were leaving her alone as they made their preparations to move out. They were expecting retaliation from Isaac and the other DSS members, but she wasn’t about to tell them that Isaac had no idea where she was. If they were focused on a nonexistent threat, then that meant they wouldn’t be as focused on her. Yet.

  Even as grief consumed her at what she’d done, that she’d left Isaac to think the worst of her, she knew she’d done the right thing the moment she’d caught sight of her temporary prison. What appeared to be dozens of armed men patrolled the grounds and inside the building. This was nothing like the cult. This property had barbed wire along the gated wall, there were multiple televisions in every room they’d passed showing other areas, and all the men spoke into tiny devices that appeared to go to speakers in their ears. And this was only a temporary holding place! Wherever they were taking her was even more heavily fortified, according to the maniac who’d informed her that she was his property now and that the sooner she accepted it, the better things would go for her.

  Even as grief stricken as she felt for the things she’d so briefly enjoyed that were now forever gone, she knew she’d done the right thing. Isaac and his men were no match for the heavily armed guards who patrolled her temporary prison. They were outnumbered, and the only result if they attempted a rescue would be their slaughter. Jenna would never survive if people who’d been nothing but kind and protective toward her had been repaid by death.

  It had taken her years to escape the elders, and these men were far better prepared to keep her a prisoner. She knew sh
e would never be free again, but at least she had the memory of a few stolen days to lose herself in when before, she’d known nothing but what the cult had chosen her to know.

  Even now she closed her eyes and sought the solace of the beautiful memories she’d made. The new and amazing world she’d discovered. The kindness shown to her by the wives of the DSS members and how by watching them she’d realized that what she’d shared, albeit briefly, with Isaac had been so very special.

  Kissing. Different kinds of kisses. Lips pressed to her head by someone who actually cared about what happened to her. And then the kisses to her lips by someone who wanted her. Her.

  Remembering Isaac’s kisses, how very many different kinds he’d shown her in such a short time, was simply too much, and she finally lost control over her battle to keep her tears at bay. They trailed down her bruised cheek, and she realized that not all men were like the elders and the evil men who dealt in drugs and death who’d bought her from the cult like she was nothing more than an object.

  Men like Isaac, like the men he worked with, had revealed a whole new understanding of men and relationships and how very wrong all of the examples were that she’d been witness to in the past. Her heart ached for the loss of something as beautiful as what she’d been given during those days. For the briefest of moments, regret stole over her, but she shoved it forcefully away, knowing it had no room in her mind or her heart. The men hunting her had been so very close to the safe house. If she hadn’t left when she did, they would have come for her and the result would have been a massacre.

  No, she’d never be free again and she’d never again experience the love Isaac had so selflessly shown her, but she would survive the loss because as long as she wasn’t free, Isaac and all those associated with him would be alive and safe. For that, she could take whatever her captor had planned.

  Isaac waited impatiently, cloaked in darkness outside the heavily fortified old factory that looked as though it had been renovated on the inside while keeping the run-down vacant look on the exterior. He and the others were waiting for Shadow to do what he did best and do recon so they could see exactly what they were up against and hopefully get a bead on Jenna’s exact location.

  From the moment Ramie had roused enough to give them more specific information, Isaac had been paralyzed with fear. The fucking bastard who’d purchased Jenna from the cult had quite the history of buying and selling things. Namely drugs. He’d eluded conviction for years because anyone agreeing to testify against him mysteriously disappeared or turned up murdered in a gruesome manner, a clear message to anyone else who thought to try to take down the vicious drug lord.

  He’d nicknamed himself Jesus, spouting that he was the son of God. How appropriate that he’d gone shopping at a fucking cult for immortality and lucked on to the real thing. Someone who could keep him alive indefinitely. Until the day Jenna died. Knowing that only heartened Isaac a little. Jesus, or Jaysus as he was called by law enforcement and the numerous special tasks forces that had spent years trying to put him behind bars, would protect Jenna as fiercely as he would kill anyone who tried to take her away from him. Because if Jenna died—or managed to escape—then Jaysus was well and truly fucked, and right now Isaac was in a mood to fuck up every single man who had anything to do with his angel’s capture.

  Unfortunately, DSS didn’t have the time or the manpower to mount a full assault on the factory and finally mete out the justice Jaysus deserved. A mission like that would take days—not hours—to plan, not to mention they’d need to pull in a fuck of a lot more manpower and coordinate with local law enforcement. Hell, bringing in the military wouldn’t be uncalled for because the drug lord ruled over an army of insanely loyal men all willing to die for their leader.

  So this had to be a mission of stealth, and no one could know they’d even been there until they were long gone with Jenna. Standing here waiting for the go signal was eating a hole in Isaac’s gut the size of the Grand Canyon.

  Every single man employed by DSS had volunteered for the mission, even those who hadn’t even met Jenna and didn’t know anything about her circumstances. Isaac was damn grateful for the loyalty and sense of honor ingrained in every single one of his teammates, because even with every agent moving silently into position, they were still outnumbered at least four to one. And while Isaac stood here with his thumb up his ass, God only knew what Jenna was enduring. No, Jaysus wouldn’t kill her, but he’d make her life a living hell to ensure her absolute obedience. Just like the fucking cult all over again—a different name and a different agenda, but crazy as fuck just the same.

  For a brief moment, Isaac allowed himself to stop obsessing over the single most important thing in his life, and he turned his head upward, closing his eyes in prayer.

  I know you and I haven’t really had much of a relationship, God. I haven’t spoken to you since I was a kid and I was angry—so very bitter—because you didn’t answer my prayer to save my family and you left me alone for so very long. But Jenna hasn’t lost her faith in you despite being shown a twisted, perverted representation of you. She humbles me and if she can still find belief and trust in you in her heart, then how can I do any less? She’s teaching me. By seeing you through her eyes, I’m learning and I’m trying to be a better man. I’m starting to understand that everything happens for a reason, even if those reasons are not understood at the time, and that prayers aren’t always answered the way you want, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t one day answered. Please keep her safe for me. She’s all that’s good in this world, God. She’s truly one of yours and I vow to you that I’ll protect her with my life and that I’ll never do anything to cast doubt in her belief in you and your mercy and grace. I’m not worthy, but she is, and it’s for her I ask that she be spared, not for me, even though I’m selfish and want her with my every breath, with all my heart and all my soul. I don’t know if you can hear me or if you stopped listening when I turned my back on you so many years ago, but I’m begging you to save one of your angels and I ask only one more thing. That you trust her to me, that you save me by saving her, because without her I am lost. And I finally realize that you did hear my plea not to be left alone and with no one who loved me, because you gave me Jenna. I’m trying to learn patience, God, and it’s hard, but if Jenna is my reward for that patience then I’ll never ask for another single thing of you. Only her.

  Isaac lowered his head, shocked at the dampness on his face and the heavy ache in his heart. But he was suddenly buoyed by a ray of hope shining down on him and warming him as surely as if the sun’s rays were beaming down on him in mid-afternoon.

  “Thank you,” he whispered.

  It was all he could manage through shaking lips and a heart suddenly full of so much love and relief that he was dizzy with it. They were going to pull this off. He knew it as surely as he knew that Jenna was the only woman he’d ever love. He’d have her back in his arms where she belonged before the night was over, and if he had to make good on his promise to tie her to his bed, he’d feel no guilt whatsoever, because she was never getting away from him again.

  Life, a sense of purpose, sizzled through him, replacing his earlier fear and dread and the horrible sense of doom that had settled into his very bones as he’d stared bleakly at Jenna’s prison. Now he waited with anticipation for Shadow to give the all clear so his men could converge, slip in and out undetected with Jenna, and then haul ass to a safe, private place where he could make a few things clear to her, such as his insistence that she never come up with another harebrained scheme designed to protect him and the others.

  He nearly snorted over that notion and he knew his men would love to have a few words with his angel as well, but they’d just have to wait until he let her out of his bed, and well, they might be waiting a damn long time.

  Though they hadn’t had the time to plan a full-scale assault, what they did have were some of the most brilliant minds and strategists, not to mention Quinn Devereaux, the youngest Deve
reaux brother and resident tech geek extraordinaire, who’d been able to access the schematics of the factory and even provide infrared satellite imagery that gave them an inside look at the renovated skeleton so they knew exactly how many rooms, escape routes and, most importantly, the most likely area where Jenna was being held.

  They had it planned down to the nth degree. A cargo van large enough to hold them all and provide swift getaway was parked in a holding area a mile away, with Brent, a former race car driver who’d worked for DSS since its inception, waiting to either move to a closer spot or sit tight and be ready to haul ass.

  Isaac allowed smugness to grip him when before he hadn’t dared allowed himself even hope that they might succeed, because the possibility of failure had been so crushing that it had damn near brought him to his knees.

  The warrior and protector in him chafed at the idea of not immediately taking apart the son of a bitch who’d hurt Jenna, but he’d wait, because her safety was paramount. And he’d get another opportunity. Oh yes, and he looked forward to it. He knew the crazy bastard wasn’t simply going to give up his obsession with Jenna just because of one failed attempt to have her completely under his control. Then Isaac would avenge what was his and he’d make the drug lord sorry he’d ever so much as thought Jenna’s name, much less the abuse he’d meted out on her.

  A click sounded in his earpiece, the arranged signal that Shadow was in. More clicks sounded in rapid succession as one by one, the men moved into position, trusting Shadow not to lead them right into trouble. Isaac shook his head as he slipped through the piece of the fence Shadow had cut out. When the new recruits had signed on, they’d chuckled at Shadow’s chosen nickname, but the man had quickly silenced them all with his eerie ability to move at will, invisible to anyone he didn’t wish to be seen by.

  Dane and Capshaw joined Isaac at one of the back entrances that they knew led into what had formerly been the kitchen area. The old laundry facility was adjacent to the kitchen, but it had no exit to the outside, and they needed inside that room. Dex had grinned when Quinn came through with the original blueprints in addition to the updated schematics, and when he’d pointed out multiple laundry chutes, all originating from upstairs rooms, the others had realized the reason for his smile.

  The rest of Isaac’s teammates converged from different directions, but their common goal was to access the room with the laundry chutes. Quinn had deduced that the only possible rooms Jenna would be held that had one of the old chutes were two windowless chambers right smack in the middle of the rectangular shaped factory building.

  Isaac, Dane and Capshaw were the last to arrive at the rendezvous point and Knight sent them a look of relief.

  “We need to move out fast,” Zeke whispered. “Got three guards moving in our direction at a rapid clip.”

  Dane turned to Eric. “Radio Brent and have him bring the van to the south quadrant where we cut into the fence. There’s enough cover that he won’t be seen if he stays to the trees and shadows, but there’s a drivable road that leads out to the highway from there and we can save a hell of a lot of time once we grab Jenna.”

  The others nodded their agreement and then quickly arranged their weapons so they wouldn’t make noise as they climbed into the two chutes, but they left them within easy reach in case they chose wrong and surprised an unsuspecting victim.

  Isaac used the palms of his hands to reach upward and provide traction against the narrow walls of the chute and heaved himself up, repeating the process until he reached the hatch that led into the room. He held up his hand for the men behind him to halt and then signaled them to be ready on his go. He counted down by folding one finger at a time and when he got to three, he busted out the boards closing up the entrance to the hatch and dove through, rolling even as he brought his gun up, his gaze scanning the room for a target.

  When his stare finally lighted on the huddled form in a fetal position on the floor several feet away, his heart nearly exploded out of his chest.

  Jenna!

  “Cover me,” he whispered to the others as he scrambled to his feet and dove toward her, reaching immediately for his knife to cut the ropes at her hands and feet.

  Anger boiled in his veins as he unwrapped the tightly bound rope to reveal raw, bloody circles around each of her wrists and ankles. He yanked her up and into his arms, holding her tightly enough that he could feel her heart racing wildly against his chest. Then he pulled her away to inspect her for injuries, ignoring the fact that she was staring agape at him, eyes wide with shock.

  Her blond hair was disheveled and as he took in the dark bruise to her cheek and the dried blood where her skin had been split, his nostrils flared in fury. But oh God, she was breathing. She was here. She was alive and he’d held her in his arms. For the first time since waking up alone, knowing she was gone, he felt himself relaxing and he could finally, finally breathe without Herculean effort.

  Her lips curved into a surprised O and her gaze went from shocked to perplexed.

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered. Her face lost some of its dazed look and her voice grew more urgent as she took in the other DSS members spilling into the room.

  “You can’t be here!” she said in agitation. “Oh God, they’ll kill you. You have to go. Hurry! I’m begging you, Isaac. Go!”

  She wrung her hands, drawing even more attention to the ragged, torn flesh. Every man’s eyes were locked on the bruise on her face and the abused flesh of her arms and legs. Their expressions were murderous, and Jenna begging them all to leave only pissed them off more.

  “If you think I’m going anywhere without you then you’re crazy,” Isaac bit out as he herded her resisting body toward the laundry chute.

  She sent Dane a pleading look. “They’ll hunt every single one of you down. They’ll find you,” she said brokenly.

  “Good,” Dane said savagely. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Fuckin’ A,” Zeke growled.

  Jenna stared at them all in bewilderment, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

  “No man left behind, darlin’,” Shadow said, curling his arm around her waist to give her a one-armed hug. “That’s the way we operate. Now come on before our presence is discovered.”

  Fear made her go rigid, her eyes wild as she frantically glanced back at the door to the room. A round of curses went up and the moods of the men were savage. They were all practically snarling, pissed off that not only was Jenna scared out of her mind, and they had no way of knowing just how much she’d endured after Ramie had broken the pathway to her. Knowing what had been done to her for the short span of time Ramie had been able to connect with her was already more than they could stand. But they were also pissed that even now, she begged for them to go and save themselves like a bunch of fucking pussies and actually leave a defenseless woman to a life of degradation and pain.

  The men surrounded her, forming a tight circle of protection. When she tore her gaze from the door and saw what they’d done, her eyes became bright and red-rimmed and she gave a nearly silent sniffle.

  “Time to go,” Dane said tersely. “Brent’s in position, so we have five minutes to make it to the rendezvous point. Let’s load and go.”

  Unwilling to stand there while Jenna argued for them to save themselves and leave her in this godforsaken hellhole, Isaac scooped her up and hustled to the opening of the chute.

  Shadow pushed in front of him. “I’ll go first so I can catch her at the bottom and make sure no one is there.”

  “I’m going behind you,” Dane said grimly. “If you hear anything at all except my okay to proceed with Jenna, find another way out immediately.”

  Not waiting further, Shadow tucked his feet downward and hoisted his big body through the narrow passageway, barely managing to fit his broad shoulders. Dane slid after him with no hesitation. Isaac carried Jenna to the opening and turned her sideways so her legs went down first.

  She gripped him tightly, her fingers curling around
his shirt as her frantic gaze found his. “Where does this go?”

  “It’s a laundry chute and don’t worry, baby. Shadow and Dane will catch you. They won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll be right behind you. I swear.”

  She reluctantly let go of his shirt, but her hands shook as she inched farther downward.

  “Use your hands to control your descent,” Isaac said soothingly. “Press them against the sides and inch your way down.”

  She looked back sorrowfully at the men still standing behind Isaac, all alert, guns in raised positions as they monitored the doorway and listened for any sounds from the hallway.