by Lynn Hagen
Jayce tried one more time but got the same results. He set his phone next to him on the small table and took a drink of his juice. What the hell was Baxter doing that he couldn’t answer his phone? It wasn’t late at night. Baxter should still be awake. The guy was a night owl and more than once had woken the next morning well past noon.
Jayce also wanted to find out if Baxter had any luck with his sleuthing. His best friend could be very persuasive when he wanted something. If he turned his charms on a guy for information, more times than not Baxter got what he’d been looking for. Jayce had seen his friend in action before, and damn, Baxter was a charmer.
Before Deon, Jayce used to envy Baxter’s ability to land any man he wanted. That had been a skill Jayce lacked. He was never the confident type and couldn’t flirt to save his life. But that was all behind him now. Deon was it for Jayce, all Jayce wanted and…loved.
God, he really was in love, and that made Jayce feel giddy. Did that mean Jayce would live on the farm? This kind of life wasn’t so bad, and Jayce wouldn’t mind working side by side with Deon to make a living. It had felt like backbreaking work when he’d been cleaning out the stalls but nothing Jayce couldn’t get used to.
He was so lost in thought that Jayce barely paid attention to the screen door opening behind him. He’d started to take another bite of his sandwich when a hand clamped over his mouth.
“Make one sound and your parents are dead,” the low, deep voice said. “Get up and come with me.”
Jayce was yanked from his chair, knocking his cup of juice over, and dragged away from the sunporch. His heart was beating way too fast as he was hauled past the barn and through the woods. The person still hadn’t taken his hand off of Jayce’s mouth.
Jayce didn’t even have any shoes on, and the rocks and other debris hurt his feet. That was the least of his concerns, though. He had a feeling he knew who was kidnapping him.
Ruiz.
If Ruiz managed to separate Jayce from Deon, he feared he would never see his mate again. With all the strength he could muster, Jayce elbowed the guy in the ribs and tried to wiggle free.
Ruiz cursed but kept a firm hold on Jayce. His hand gripped Jayce’s mouth in a painful hold. “I’ll snap your fucking neck and end this.”
The guy cocked his arm back and slugged Jayce so hard he saw stars. The next thing Jayce knew, he was being tossed over Ruiz’s shoulder and carried deeper into the woods.
Then the trees ended, and a road appeared. The big black truck he’d seen before was sitting there on the soft shoulder. But Jayce wasn’t put in the passenger’s seat. He was tossed in the back, and the truck bed cover was pulled down, ending in a loud click.
Jayce beat against the hard plastic and shouted as he felt the truck jerk and pull away. Shit. He didn’t even have his cell phone. He’d left it sitting on the small table on the screened-in sunporch.
How was he going to call for help? How was he going to hear Deon’s voice again? Jayce covered his head when the truck went over a series of bumps that jostled him around. Where was Ruiz taking him? Did the guy plan on killing him?
No, don’t even think about that. Concentrate on finding a way to escape. You’re not gonna die. Just keep telling yourself that. You’re not gonna die.
Jayce curled into a ball and prayed that was true.
* * * *
Jayce blinked several times when the lid to the bed of the truck was opened. His body was sore from being tossed around, and a headache pounded against his skull.
When he was finally able to focus, because the moon shrouded the person standing there in shadows, he realized there wasn’t just one person but three.
Jayce tried to scoot all the way to the back, but there really wasn’t anywhere he could go. A guy stood on each of the three sides, sneering down at him.
“Who the fuck is this, Ruiz?” the guy with a scar on the right side of his face asked. He had dark hair that was cropped short and menacing brown eyes. His front teeth were capped in gold, and dog tags dangled around his neck.
“It don’t matter. Help me get him inside.” Ruiz reached for him, but Jayce clamped his teeth down on the man’s hand. “You son of a bitch!”
Jayce screamed when Ruiz jumped into the bed of the truck and kicked him so hard his ribs ached.
“Inside,” Gold Teeth said. “You want someone to see this?”
It wasn’t until Jayce was yanked from the truck that he knew why Gold Teeth was concerned. The building they were parked next to was right off a busy street. As Jayce looked around, he knew he wasn’t in Maple Grove anymore. His town didn’t have a Jaylee’s Pizzeria. The pizza shop was right across the street, past the large metal fence that the third guy—the one who hadn’t spoken a word—was closing.
Next to the truck Jayce was being hauled from sat a row of shiny motorcycles. That was when he noticed the three men wearing leather vests. He looked at the guy closing the gate and saw two names on the back of his leather. Black Pythons.
Holy fuck. Jayce was in serious trouble. A motorcycle gang had kidnapped him. When his feet hit the ground, Jayce yanked free. He suspected he was only able to do that because the move had been unexpected and Ruiz lost his grip. Jayce ran for the gate before it was fully closed, but the guy closing it tackled him.
Ruiz grabbed Jayce by his hair and pulled him to his feet. He shoved Jayce toward the side of the building.
“I see I’m gonna have to break you,” Ruiz said through gritted teeth. “You’re a fighter. I didn’t expect that.”
Gold Teeth opened the side door, and Jayce was led inside to the sound of loud music, pool balls cracking, and people talking. There were mismatched couches and recliners, tables with chairs, and a bar at the back of the room.
The men looked like hoodlums and the woman like whores. Not that Jayce judged anyone, but their short, short skirts and the way they rubbed up against guys was a dead giveaway. There was a name for women who traipsed around biker clubs, but Jayce couldn’t think of it. He was too busy worrying about his fate.
Everyone looked his way, but Ruiz didn’t take him into the main room. He led Jayce down a hallway with plenty of doors.
Ruiz stopped at the last one and opened it, shoving Jayce inside. When he closed it behind him, Jayce ran to the other side of the room. They were in a bedroom. There was a ton of things on the dresser, posters on the wood-paneled wall, and a bookcase headboard attached to the unmade bed.
“What do you plan on doing to me?” Jayce stared at the bed then looked at the thug standing at the door.
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Ruiz curled his lip. “You’re not exactly my type. You’re missing tits and a pussy.”
The knowledge that Ruiz wasn’t gay didn’t relieve the rocks in Jayce’s stomach. There were still some horrific things this guy could do to him.
Like torture and murder.
Jayce didn’t want to die. He still had his full life ahead of him. He was only twenty-five and, according to Deon, had hundreds of years to live. That still fucked with Jayce’s head, but he needed to focus on what was going on right now. He needed to find a way out of here, and then he would trip out about how long he would live being mated to a shifter.
Sure, Jayce should have flipped out about it before, when he’d first learned about Deon not being human and that he would slowly age with his mate, but there had been so much going on. Too much. Jayce was starting to miss his boring life. That would have been preferable to standing in a bedroom at a motorcycle club with someone who wanted him dead.
“What”—Jayce swallowed around the dryness in his throat—“What do you p-plan on d-doing with me?” He hated that he sounded so afraid, but damn it, he was. He’d plead and bargain his way out of this if he had to.
“For now, sit tight.” Ruiz pointed at the window above the bed. “It’s sealed shut, so I wouldn’t think about escaping if I were you. If I find out you’ve been standing on my bed to try and get out, I’m gonna beat your fucking ass.”
He turned and looked around the room, wishing he had his phone on him. But Deon was smart. When he found Jayce gone, he would know who had taken him. Right?
And if he doesn’t know, you’re completely screwed. Jayce was fucked anyway. There had to have been at least fifteen to twenty men in the main room. Even if Deon brought Darren, Malik, and Moose with him, they were heavily outnumbered, and beyond a shadow of a doubt, these men were strapped with weapons.
Jayce looked at the bed and cringed. Instead of sitting on it, he sat on the floor, his back pressed against the cluttered dresser. He curled his arms around his bent legs and wondered what Ruiz had in store for him. A quick death or torture?
If the guy planned on killing Jayce, he prayed it was a bullet to the head, not that Jayce wanted to die.
He jerked and jumped to his feet when the bedroom door swung open. Ruiz smirked as he shoved…holy fuck! The bastard shoved Baxter into the room. “Got some company for you.”
The door slammed closed as Baxter swayed. He took a few steps forward and then face-planted on the bed. Baxter turned over and stared up at the ceiling.
Jayce hurried over. “Baxter, are you all right?”
His friend didn’t answer him. In fact, he looked out of it.
Jayce patted his face. “Hey, Baxter, what’s wrong?”
If he was right about his suspicions, Baxter was drugged. Jayce’s gaze landed on his friend’s arm, and sure enough, there was a small hole in the crook of it that was dotted with blood.
They’d stuck a needle in Baxter.
Jayce snarled as he walked to the door and beat on it. “I’m gonna kill you for this!”
No one answered, but Jayce heard the music beyond and loud, riotous laughter. They were partying like two hostages weren’t being held down the hall.
Jayce joined Baxter on the bed and cradled his best friend in his arms. “I promise I’m gonna get us out of this.”
Because Baxter never should have been involved in the first place. His friend had just been trying to help. And where in the fuck was the person who was supposed to be babysitting Baxter? How had his friend been snatched if a watchful eye had been on him?
Jayce hoped like hell that Deon found them in time and his mate brought plenty of backup. Jayce wasn’t a violent man, but he wouldn’t shed a tear if Ruiz was ripped apart. He blinked back tears as he rubbed Baxter’s arms, trying his best to come up with a plan.
Ruiz had said the window was sealed. But it was made of glass, and glass could be broken. Jayce just had to make sure no one heard the window breaking. He eased Baxter down to the bed and looked at his friend.
The window was high up. Even if he managed to get out, how in the fuck was he gonna lift Baxter up and out the window? His friend was high as hell. He couldn’t even keep his head from lolling, and there was no way Jayce was leaving Baxter behind.
He needed to find a weapon because, the next time Ruiz came into the room, Jayce had to take the man down.
* * * *
“Where would he take him?” Malik asked.
Deon couldn’t rip his gaze from the spilled juice. His mate’s cell phone was sitting on the table. He doubted Jayce would take off, and even if he had, his mate wouldn’t leave his phone behind.
“The clubhouse.” Deon’s panther yowled to get Jayce back. “It’s in Falls Bend.”
Why hadn’t he kept Jayce closer? Why had he let his mate leave the room? Deon knew how devious and cutthroat Ruiz was. The guy had no compunction about walking right in and taking Jayce.
He’d done just that. He could still smell Ruiz’s scent clinging to the air like a noxious odor. Deon growled as he turned to the men standing by the kitchen door. “Are we still going to argue semantics, or are you guys gonna help me get my mate back?”
Moose stood taller than everyone else. Deon saw how the bear shifter’s expression darkened. The guy was a giant but a playful one—a genuinely kind-hearted, charming, and lovable guy.
But the look on his face right now would make any man with common sense wet themselves. He rolled his shoulders as his canines descended. “We go after that punk bitch.”
Darren and Malik gave a solemn nod.
“What kind of numbers are we talking about?” Darren asked.
“If all the members are there, twenty,” Deon said. “No doubt they have club whores there, too. Those bitches will throw down with the men, so higher than twenty, maybe.”
Malik pulled out his phone before he turned and walked away. Darren and Moose left the doorway, as well. Deon couldn’t get his feet to move. He was still in shock that Jayce was gone. A deep, dark hole settled in his chest. Ruiz was cruel and unforgiving. There was no telling what he was doing to Jayce right now.
And Deon didn’t want to think about it, either. He’d seen Ruiz’s work firsthand. The guy got off on hurting people. He was slow and meticulous with his methods, drawing out the person’s pain and his own pleasure. The guy was a pure psychopath. Deon should’ve never let Selene turn his head. He should’ve never gotten tangled up with that bunch.
Now Jayce might pay the price for Deon’s stupidity.
Malik reappeared in the doorway. “Got help meeting us there. If we’re gonna go, we need to leave now.”
With nothing but death in his heart, Deon snatched Jayce’s phone from the table and pocketed it before he followed his friends out the door.
Chapter Ten
“Come on, snap out of it.” Jayce brushed a few strands of Baxter’s hair from his face. “What the fuck did they give you?”
Baxter groaned but didn’t open his eyes. He lay there with his mouth slightly open, saying incoherent words. Jayce slid Baxter off his lap and searched the room, opening the closet door and checking the dresser drawers. There had to be something he could use to knock Ruiz out. He also had to be quicker than the jerkoff.
Jayce wandered into the bathroom, but other than the place needing a good scrubbing, there was nothing in there he could use. He came back into the bedroom, hands on hips, glancing around. His gaze lowered to the floor. Jayce dropped to his knees and looked under the bed.
Bingo!
He pulled a wooden bat free, tossing aside the nasty underwear that had gotten hooked on the handle. Jayce was gonna have to scrub that hand when he got out of here. The boxers had felt crusty, and now Jayce imagined a flesh eating disease clinging to his skin.
After checking on Baxter to make sure the drugs hadn’t made his heart stop, Jayce took up a stance behind the door, the bat at the ready. Hopefully he didn’t have to stand there too long, because his arm was already starting to hurt.
He really did need to get in better shape. And his ribs still hurt from Ruiz’s kick. Jayce also wouldn’t be surprised if he sported a shiner from when the douchebag had slugged him.
His breath caught when he heard footsteps moving closer. Jayce gripped the handle until his knuckles were white, his heart hammering loudly.
The doorknob rattled then twisted. Jayce rocked on his feet, getting ready. The door opened, and Ruiz stepped in. His eyes widened seconds before Jayce swung the bat. Bile rose in Jayce’s throat when he heard a sickening crack.
Ruiz stumbled farther into the room. Jayce kicked the door closed and swung again, this time landing the wood across Ruiz’s back. The guy went down, and Jayce struck him in the head.
Ruiz went still.
Crap. Now what? Jayce hadn’t thought about what he would do after he’d taken Ruiz down. He dropped the bat and hurried to the dresser. He doubted the thug had any neckties Jayce could use. He settled for some long socks.
Jayce hurried back over and pulled Ruiz’s arms behind his back. He was tempted as hell to keep going and break them. Instead, he tied the so
cks around Ruiz’s wrists, yanking hard to make sure they were good and tight.
He gathered more socks and secured Ruiz’s ankles. Jayce still might not have a way out of here, but at least Ruiz wasn’t going to torture him. All Jayce had to do was wait for the cavalry. As one last touch, Jayce shoved a rolled-up sock into Ruiz’s mouth. Best not give him the opportunity to call for help.
And Jayce seriously didn’t want to hear any of the man’s threats when he regained consciousness. Jayce looked from the discarded bat to Ruiz. He thought for only a second then kicked the guy in the side.
“Payback’s a bitch.”
Ruiz didn’t move. Jayce thought about checking for a pulse, but he didn’t want to get that close. If Ruiz’s unconsciousness was a ruse, Jayce wasn’t going to give the guy a chance to get near him.
Jayce grunted as he pushed the dresser until it blocked the door. He wiped sweat from his forehead and winced when he pressed a hand on his lower back. When he got out of this, he was renewing his gym membership.
He was even gonna take his mom with him, just as long as she didn’t try to give him the sex talk.
Jayce needed to check on them. Ruiz had threatened Jayce’s parents. He wanted to make sure they were all right. His mom and dad might drive him batty, but Jayce loved them with all his heart.
He patted Ruiz down, hating that he had to touch the guy and keeping an eye on his features to make sure the guy didn’t wake up. Jayce hit pay dirt. He pulled Ruiz’s wallet free and set it aside. Next, he grabbed the pistol that had been shoved in the back of his waistband.
Jayce didn’t know the first thing about guns, but how hard could it be? He’d watched plenty of television shows. Aim and shoot. Next, he grabbed Ruiz’s cell phone. Jayce prayed Deon had grabbed his cell from the sunporch. He didn’t know his mate’s number. Not by heart, anyway.
Before he dialed, he pressed his ear to the door. The others were still partying, but he didn’t hear anyone’s footsteps getting closer.