We’re currently in a little town in Tennessee. There was a lead that led us here after we landed. A horrible lead, but a lead no less. One of the PI’s contacts said they saw a woman fitting Ashlyn’s description pulled off to the side of the road with two other women. They didn’t get a clear view, but said she appeared to be pregnant and matched the brown hair and short stature description. I know we’re close to her, I can feel it.
Help me out here dad. I’ll do anything. I pray.
I hear heavy footsteps and turn around to see Zander sprinting towards me.
“Josh get your ass back here. They got a tip to where Ashlyn’s being kept.
For the first time in days, I hear something that doesn’t make me wanna punch something. As I’m running Zander’s way, my phone rings and I fish it out of my pocket. I look at the screen and see Jacks name. Finally.
“Jack? Jack, where are you? We think we have a lead on where they took Ashlyn.”
“Josh.”
I stop dead in my tracks. It can’t be. “Ash?”
“You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice.” She sounds tired and on the verge of tears.
“Are you alright? Where are you?”
“Yeah, I’m with Mr. J. I’m on my way home.” I hear her voice break on the last word.
“We’re in Tennessee. Did you leave the state already?” Getting to her is the only thought on my mind right now as I run back towards the hotel with Zander on my heels.
“No, we literally just busted out of that hell hole. Where are you? I’ll come to you.”
I tell her the name and address of the hotel and it turns out she’s not too far away, maybe a 30-minute drive.
“Josh, I can’t wait to see you.” She sobs.
“Hellcat, I’m never letting you go again.”
We hang up as I begin to pace the parking lot unable to calm my nerves. I can’t relax until I see Ash with my own two eyes.
“Dude what’s going on?” Zander finally questions.
“She’s on her way here man. Jack found her.” I stop walking and look down at the pavement.
I see Zander’s feet come into my vision before he pulls me into a hug. “She’s safe. Jack has her, take a breath bro.”
I take a deep breath and it feels like the first one I’ve taken in days. I’m still restless as hell but I know that won’t go away until she’s here. Hell, I don’t know if it will ever go away again.
Savvy exits the hotel room and meets us in the parking lot. Zander runs up to her and bends down speaking quietly in her ear. She falls into Zander’s arms as she begins crying. I continue walking the length of the parking lot looking over towards any and every noise I hear. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, a little car pulls into the parking lot and there’s no mistaking my girl’s in the passenger seat.
The car stops near me and I run for her. I whip open the door, reach in to unbuckle her, and pull her out and into my arms. Right where she belongs.
“Fuck.” I whisper in her ear.
“Josh.” I can feel her tears soaking my neck and I hold her trembling body. When I look over towards Jack, I meet his eyes and nod my head. I owe this man everything right now.
“Let’s get you inside.” She buries her head in my neck as I carry her back towards the room. We have a lot to go over and we need to call the police so the correct steps are taken. I don’t even know who took her right now.
I place her on the bed and check her over to make sure she wasn’t physically harmed. I notice a cut under her eye and a shiner on her cheek.
“Did someone put their hands on you?” I roar throughout the room.
Zander comes over and places his hand on my shoulder trying to calm me down. Savvy sits next to Ash and wraps her arms around her shoulders. I turn around quickly and try to reel in my temper. She doesn’t need me acting hostile right now, god knows what she just came from. At that thought, there’s a knock at the door.
Zander walks over and opens it, escorting two police officers into the room. I look over to Zander and he must know there’s question written all over my face.
“I called them when Jack and Ash pulled into the parking lot.” I nod my head in understanding.
An hour later, after hearing Ashlyn recount everything that happened, I can barely control my rage. Who the hell hits a pregnant woman? And that bastard that put his hands and lips on her is a dead man. I want nothing more than to head to that freak show of a community and kick all of their asses. The cops assure us action will be taken. That’s the only thing keeping me at bay.
Jack walks up to the officers and shakes their hands before walking them outside. He told them he’d come down to the station to give his statement. Ashlyn will have to go down there to officially give her statement after I take her to get checked out at the hospital.
Everyone leaves the room except Ashlyn, Savvy and myself. Zander left to make phone calls to everyone at home.
“Okay I don’t really want to say it but I can’t bite my tongue anymore. What the hell are you wearing?” Savvy looks appalled.
Ashlyn looks down at herself and bursts out laughing. “Please tell me you have extra clothes. I’m sweating so bad I feel like I could roast a turkey between my thighs.”
That’s my girl. I feel the corners of my mouth tip up and I can’t hold back the laughter.
“Of course, and lucky for you I have maternity clothes!” Savvy jumps up and exits the room. Her and Zander were staying in the room next door.
“Ever have an Amish fantasy?” Ash waggles her brows up and down. I can tell it’s all a front, but I’ll let her crack her jokes to make her feel better about the situation.
I sit next to her on the bed and pull her tightly into my side. She grabs ahold of my waist and sighs as she places her head on my chest.
“Where I go, you go. This will never happen again.” I vow.
“How were we supposed to know my parents were keeping tabs on me? Hopefully they all get locked away for a long ass time.”
We sit there on the bed until Savvy knocks and peeks her head in the room. She throws her clothes on the floor near the door knowing she’s intruding and exits. I don’t ever want to let her go. But I have to get her to the hospital for peace of mind. I need to know for certain that my girls are okay.
After I get up and offer her my hand, she looks up at me with tears in her eyes. I can’t deal with her tears, they cut me to the core.
“I love you.” She whispers.
“I love you too, you’re my everything.” I pull her up off the bed and help her get dressed. She tells me she wants to burn the clothes which makes me laugh.
“Let’s get my girls checked out.”
She groans, but doesn’t argue anymore. As we head out the door, the love of my life cuddled under my arm, I can’t help but feel thankful she came back to me. I look upwards, thanks dad.
***
Waking up the next morning is brutal. After finally falling asleep with Ashlyn in my arms last night my mind kept me awake. It kept playing every scenario through my head about what could have happened, how much worse it could’ve been. Not to mention the nightmares Ash had throughout the night. A few times I had to wake her up because she was crying and whimpering in her sleep.
When I look over to the clock I realize we have two hours before we’re expected at the police station. I got the okay yesterday to bring her back to the hotel and let her rest as long as I brought her in first thing.
I push a strand of hair off of Ash’s face tucking it behind her ear. Her eyes shoot open giving me a view into her startled, gorgeously blue eyes. It kills me she’s living in fear right now. I don’t think she’ll find peace until we know what action the police took.
“Good morning Hellcat.” I place a kiss to her forehead.
“Good morning.” She whispers.
“Let’s get ready so we can get some breakfast.”
She groans, but lets me pull her out of bed. We’re at 36 we
eks and moving around is getting difficult for her. It wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t have to sprint through the fucking woods.
“God my back hurts. I want her to come out today, is that too much to ask?”
“Yes, considering we’re not at home.” I laugh and steer her for the bathroom. We undress and jump in the shower together. She’s been through so much in the past few days we just wash each other and enjoy the little touches. My hands keep seeking her out, needing to touch her and know she’s really here.
When we’re done, we get dressed and search for food. Zander and Savvy headed back home last night. They had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon that I convinced them they should go back for.
“I’m stuffed. I shouldn’t have eaten so much.” Ash laughs.
I open the door to the police station and place my hand at the small of her back as I follow her inside.
“If you ask me, you didn’t eat enough.”
She smacks my shoulder as we approach the first person we see. He ushers us to a room I never thought I’d find myself in. An interview room just like you see on Chicago PD. We take our seats and wait.
“Good morning guys, sorry to keep you waiting.” The officer we saw yesterday says.
“No problem, we’re a little antsy to get this all over with. I’m sure you can understand.”
“Of course, how are you feeling Ashlyn?” He seems genuinely interested in her well-being.
“I’m doing okay. But I really want to know what happened yesterday after you left.” She places her elbows on the table and clasps her hands together.
“Let’s take your statement first then I’ll fill you in.”
Ash recounts everything that happened over the last four days all over again. It pisses me off as if I’m hearing it all for the first time. How can people like this remain under the radar and not get caught?
“Thank you so much Ashlyn, I know that wasn’t easy for you.” He sighs.
“Late last night we raided the compound as they call it. Many were taken into custody including your parents and Gwendolyn McNamara. They’re all being held without bail and won’t be seeing the outside world for a quite some time.”
“Thank god.” Ash sighs.
I see the look on his face and know he isn’t done. “There’s more.” I state as Ashlyn furrows her brow.
“I’m afraid so. When we searched their house, we found a hidden room in the basement. It was made into a nursery. It would have been fine until we found pictures of you everywhere and several journals. It seems Mrs. McNamara has been stalking you for quite some time. Your parents admitted to keeping tabs on you after all these years, but she took it to the extreme. According to your mom, she had no clue that Gwendolyn planned to kidnap your child. She appears to be unstable, and the fact that she’s unable to have children pushed her over the edge when she found out you were expecting. It’s all in the journals. She first found out when she saw a picture of the two of you from Las Vegas a few months back that outted you as pregnant. I can’t go into too much detail, but she’s a very sick woman who will no doubt be going away for quite some time.”
“Jesus Christ.” I breathe out and grab Ashlyn’s shaking hand.
“Can I take her home now?” I need to get her back home where she’ll feel safe.
“Yeah. I appreciate your time and I’ll be in touch if we get any more developments in the case.”
We shake his hand and go to exit the room. Before we head for the door Ashlyn turns back towards the officer.
“What about Georgette?” I can hear the sadness in her voice.
“I’m afraid I have no news about her at the moment, I’m sorry Ashlyn. We went through everyone there and nobody by that name or description matched anyone.”
She hangs her head but nods in understanding. I know it’s killing her not knowing where her baby sister ended up after all of this. When we get outside she stops again.
“She wanted our baby?” Ash questions with tears in her eyes.
“That, will never happen.” I wrap my arms around her lower back and pull her towards me.
“I need to find my sister.” She sobs.
“I’ll do everything in my power to track her down, I promise.”
She nods her head. “Take me home Josh.”
CHAPTER 26
Ashlyn
“Why are you making so much food? I thought it was just the family?”
“It is, but I wanted to make sure there was enough.” I reply.
“I think you’ll have enough if you invited 100 people to this shindig. Seriously though, what is that?”
I roll my eyes at Savvy and continue to stir. “It’s ambrosia.”
“Looks like a glob of green shit. Who the hell’s gonna eat that?”
“For your information bitch, this is one of Josh’s favorite dishes according to his mom. It’s like a concoction of sweetness. Fruit cocktail, whipped cream, pistachio pudding mix…”
“I’ll pass. Baby is not pleased with that at all.”
“How are you feeling so far? Still getting sick?”
“This whole pregnancy thing blows. I’m always tired, I’m always hungry, I’m always nauseous. What the heck am I supposed to do? Sit in bed all day with some Haagen Daz watching Jerry Springer with a puke bucket?”
“It’ll get better. How far along are you now?” Savvy is still in the early stages of pregnancy.
“Thirteen weeks tomorrow.”
I look over and smile at her. Who would have thought over a year ago, we’d be here? We found the men that complete us in every way and are growing our families. I feel tears start to form in my eyes.
“What’s the matter? DO NOT CRY! I don’t care if your vaginal pain is the reason. It’ll turn into a chain reaction!”
“Seriously Sav, who would have thought we’d be here right now? A year ago, we were just going through life, me one huge asshole at a time, you one high powered vibrator at a time. Now look at us. Running our bar, carrying our bambinos and taking care of our men. Men, who I’d like to add, love us!” I choke out the last part and see Savvy’s face morph into one hell of an ugly cry.
I take out my phone and snap a picture of her mid cry. This bad boy is being saved to remember this joyous occasion. Maybe I’ll even hang it up in the office.
“Why the hell are you taking my picture? At least be in it with me so I’m not the only Whining Winona.”
Laughing I walk around the table, well I waddle my ass around the table, and get nice and close to Savvy. I count down from three and take the picture.
“Now this one I’m framing. I don’t care if we’re all splotchy and have red rimmed eyes. We need to mark this momentous occasion.”
“Yeah, because us finding men was so farfetched. You make it sound like I was an old spinster with 65 cats. I’m still in my prime damn it! See these boobs?” She pushes them together to emphasize her new pregnancy cleavage. “Look at these puppies, they’re like a beacon for men.”
“What’s like a beacon for men baby?”
I jump 50 feet as Zander makes his way through the door of the kitchen unannounced, scaring the life out of me. My hearts racing and adrenaline is coursing through my body. Will I ever be able to relax or will my kidnapping always have me looking over my shoulder?
“My boobs babe. I was telling Ash that I’ve still got some va va voom in me.”
Zander bends down and nuzzles Savvy’s neck. “Fuck baby, don’t flaunt the goods, those are just for me. I’ll gladly give you all the va va voom you need.”
“Hashtag relationship goals.” I try to make myself sound cheery and I hear myself falling flat.
They look at me and the smiles drop from their faces. “Ash, are you okay?” Savvy questions.
“He startled me, it’s just going to take some time.” I whisper.
“Have you heard anything else about your parents?” Zander stares at me intently.
“All I know is that they just had their pre-tr
ial the other day. My parents plead not guilty and Gwen did the same. The girl has some serious issues, and the cop that’s keeping me informed said that she got involuntarily placed in a hospital to be put under observation. Supposedly she attacked her cell mate in prison then tried to harm herself. I don’t know much about the process, but I think they hold her for a while and the process starts from there, if she’s deemed fit to stand trial. But the fact that my parents aren’t being held somewhere is what’s getting to me. What if they come for me again?” I look down at the concoction I’m stirring.
I’m trying hard not to dwell on everything, I really am. But I can’t help looking over my shoulder. Whenever something reminds me of the compound my paranoia sets in. I’ve been suffering from nightmares since it happened, most nights I wake up in a cold sweat. Josh suggested I talk to someone, maybe join a support group and I’ve been looking into it. Maybe talking to someone that’s been through the same situation might help me. Whenever I think about this whole situation my mind wanders to Georgette.
“You’ll never see them again Ash. You know what, I’m gonna get some bodyguards on you until the trials over.” Zander pulls out his cell.
“No, no, no. I refuse to be babysat, this is just something I need to work through. Josh tried the same thing a few weeks ago and thought he was being stealth. A giant dude following me around wherever I went freaked me out, so I called the cops thinking someone was stalking me. I know they’re locked up for good, I just need some time to get over all of it.”
“Ash I think-,”
“Savvy, please don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” I smile at them and put plastic wrap over the pan and walk it to the fridge in the back. A few steps in, Zander swoops in, scoops it out of my hands and then walks it to the fridge for me.
“Dude it was like 12 feet away.”
“You’re already over doing it, Josh would kick my ass if he knew all this was going on. So, I am here to be your muscle.”
“Seriously I’m fine. Actually, I feel great. My feet are only slightly swollen and my backache is down to a minimum today. Go me!”
Bound By Cage Box Set (Complete Series Books 1-4) : MMA Romance Page 41