Forever Saved

by Kathleen Brooks

  “What about me?” Jaylen asked as he looked around the huddle.

  “You wait by the car,” Jackson told him.

  “Come on, fam.”

  Jace looked at Jaylen. The man wasn’t going anywhere. “Come with me but stay out of sight to the side of the front door.” Jace looked around at his friend and family. “Thank you.”

  “We’ll get her back. Let’s move,” Jackson promised.

  Jackson and Bliss blended into the night. Porter and Parker walked in tandem and then silently split up as they disappeared down the sides of the house.

  “How do you want to handle this? Whoa, do I get a gun? Wait,” Jaylen said, looking at Jace as they walked toward the house. “Am I the only one without a gun?”

  “Yes.”

  “Doc Sienna says I need to verbalize my feelings. When I’m the only one without a gun, I feel inadequate. I feel left out.”

  “Jackson might let you borrow Bliss,” Jace said, his eyes never leaving the house as they turned up the walkway leading to the front door.

  “Naw. That dog could ruin my image if a picture got leaked. You know all these houses have them video doorbells now.”

  “Dammit,” Jace said under his breath. “You’re right.” Straight ahead was a video doorbell. This wasn’t going to be a surprise visit when he knocked at the front door. Hopefully, the others would be the surprise factor.

  Jace marched up the steps and banged on the door. It seemed an eternity as he waited for the door to be answered. He took a calming breath and knocked again, harder this time.

  “No one’s home,” Jaylen said from where he was peeping into the windows off the patio. “Wait, here comes someone.”

  Jace flexed his fingers on the gun and then wrapped them back around and flicked the safety off. It was time to get Stella back. His breathing stopped when he heard the deadbolt slide free. The knob jingled as if they were unlocking it and then the door was swung open.

  Jace raised the gun. “Where’s Stell—”

  “House is empty,” Jackson said, cutting him off. “Stella’s not here.”

  Jace pushed past the door. He had to see for himself. “Stella! Come on, sweetheart. Answer me. Stella!”

  Jace went room to room even as Porter and Parker joined from opposite sides of the house.

  “Doc, she’s not here,” Jaylen said softly as he placed a strong hand on Jace’s shoulder. The physical connection made Jace’s frantic thoughts focus down into one clear thought. He had to find Stella.

  Jace pulled out his cell phone and called Kale. “Stella’s not here,” he said, not even giving Kale time to say hello.

  “Her watch,” Kale said with a groan. “I’m so stupid. I forgot about her watch.”

  “The fancy running one?” Jace asked.

  “It has GPS. I just need to find her online account and hack it.”

  “Bruh, why is that dog smiling at me?” Jaylen whispered into the silence as Kale worked. The five of them stood in a circle as Jace held out the cell phone on speaker in the middle. Bliss sat across from Jaylen and sure enough, she was smiling. Her big, drooling lips were pulled back revealing impressive teeth and a lolling tongue.

  “You like Jaylen, don’t you, baby? Go introduce yourself,” Jackson said to her in a high-pitched baby voice that sent Bliss’s thick tail thumping hard. The big dog bolted up at the word introduce and in a heartbeat was across the circle with her head between Jaylen’s legs.

  Jaylen stood frozen as Bliss wedged herself between his legs so that her head was sticking out the back and her tail was wagging wildly in the middle of the circle.

  “That’s not right,” Jaylen whispered as he barely blinked. Bliss started stomping her back feet and Jaylen looked ready to run. “What’s she doing, bruh? What do I do?”

  “Oh, someone has the stampies!” Jackson said in his excited baby voice. “You scratch her butt. That’s what you do,” Jackson ordered Jaylen with the seriousness of a drill sergeant.

  Jaylen slowly reached out and placed one tentative scratch on Bliss’s back. The dog moaned and stomped her feet in excitement, demanding more.

  “I found Stella,” Kale said suddenly. “She’s not moving. She’s at that old storage center off New Circle Road. I’ve sent the address to all y’alls’ GPSs in your cars.”

  “I won’t ask how you did that,” Jace said, already moving toward the door. “Kale, call everyone.”

  “On it. We’re already mobilized and on our way. We’ll be minutes behind you.”

  Jace was already halfway out the door with Porter and Parker when he heard Jaylen behind him.

  “Jackson! Help me. Your dog won’t move.”

  “Bliss, car,” Jackson called out the command, not even looking back. The shadowy dog shot past Jace and was already at the car before Jace was off the walkway.

  “Hang on, Stella. I’m coming.” Jace sent the whispered message upward and hoped she’d hear it in her heart as he pulled up the Lamborghini’s door.

  24

  Stella tasted blood trickling down her throat from yelling so loudly. Each swallow was painful. Each scream tore at her inflamed throat, yet she never thought about stopping.

  Time and time again she threw herself at the door. She hit the door at every angle and with every part of her body. The chair didn’t break. The ropes only dug deeper into her skin, but she did it time and time again. Time and time again no one came. Until someone did.

  “What’s going on?” Stella heard a voice say from the other side of the metal door. “I’ll get you out in a jiffy.”

  Tears pushed against Stella’s eyes as she collapsed against the thick wooden chair. Rescue! All she wanted was Jace. She wasn’t even sure how she ended up here, but she knew it wasn’t because of Jace.

  Stella heard the door jiggle as she thought back to earlier in the night. The fog was finally clearing from her mind. She now remembered Molly dropping her off at Jace’s building. Stella remembered locking the ground floor door after waving goodbye to Molly, walking upstairs, and setting down her things. Then she heard a noise and was about to turn around when . . . when, nothing. That’s when everything went black.

  The door unlocking drew her eyes to the soft slit of light appearing at her feet as her rescuer struggled to open the garage-styled door. A sob of relief burst through Stella’s lips, but then the door smacked her toes as it opened.

  Stella let out a startled scream as she was flipped backward. She landed so hard on her back that the air was driven from her lungs and her head began throbbing from where it hit the concrete.

  A figure appeared over her as Stella struggled to breathe. “Ouchie. That looks like it hurts.” And then laughter echoed around her. The missing puzzle piece fell into place.

  The sound in Jace’s apartment had been the door opening. Stella had turned around and the needle had been jabbed into her forearm before she could open her mouth.

  “What did you give me?” Stella had asked as things began to blur.

  “Just a little ouchie before we can have some fun. Come with me.”

  Stella’s mind was already fading as she was walked down the stairs. There had been no fight left in her body. No coherent thoughts could be pulled together. And then things went black before she reached the bottom stair.

  Fingers snapping in front of Stella’s face brought her back to the present.

  “No passing out. Not yet. You still have a role to play, so do I.”

  “I don’t understand,” Stella said as she struggled to move. That was when she felt it. There was now a looseness to the back of the arm of the chair. It wiggled when she pulled against her bindings.

  “Let me break it down for you then. I’m going to give you a couple of shots. They’re going to make you slightly insane and then they’ll kill you.”

  Stella yanked her arm forward over and over when her captor wasn’t looking. “Let me go! Why are you doing this, Molly? I thought we were friends!”

  Molly turned around
slowly from the medical bag she had with her and looked scornfully down at Stella. “Friends? You’re nothing but a whore! A man-stealing whore!”

  Stella was so shocked by Molly’s vitriol that she tried to roll away from her. She managed to flop to the side of the chair that was still tied tightly to her wrist. The power she used to flip herself further loosened the chair arm, but what finally broke her free was Molly herself.

  Molly put her foot on the loose chair arm now sticking up and pulled it back toward her, using all her weight to force it. The result flipped Stella to rest on her back once again, but it also broke the back of the chair arm free.

  “Molly, I don’t understand. What did I do to you to cause you to want to kill me?” Stella asked. She desperately wanted to know but more importantly, needed to stall for enough time to get her arm free. Her heart was racing, her head was pounding, but fear was pumping her so full of adrenaline that she no longer felt any pain.

  Stella carefully and steadily pulled her arm backward, shimmying the rope loop with her. It cut into her as she slowly worked the rope to the back of the arm. Once there, she would move her arm down the broken spindle and that’s when she’d be able to slip the rope under the spindle and break one arm free.

  “You don’t know what you did? Priceless!” Molly screamed down at her, just inches away from her face. Spit flew onto Stella’s face as Molly’s eyes turned crazed. This woman was completely unmoored from reality. She screamed at Stella, “You took my husband! You are a home-wrecking whore!”

  “Well, I know Jace isn’t married since I met his whole family. Wait, is Rick your husband?” Stella suddenly gasped. “That’s the only possibility. I’m so sorry, Molly. I would never hurt a woman like that. I knew Rick was a liar.”

  Molly’s face twisted in rage. “Rick? Rick who? No, Jace. Jace is my husband. We haven’t said our vows in church yet to make it official, but he can’t live without me. He depends on me for everything. Without me, he doesn’t get his email checked. He doesn’t know when to order medical equipment or when he has meetings. We share everything—all our accomplishments, our secrets, our troubles, and all of our life goals. He needs me. I’m his wife. You’ve heard him say it.”

  Stella thought about it and then shook her head in confusion. “Wait, you think you’re married because you’re his work wife?”

  “Wife! I’m his W-I-F-E and you’re nothing! Nothing but a home-wrecking whore who is going to die. And then Jace will come back to me when you aren’t around to seduce him.”

  All the things that had happened—the texts, the car, the fire, Jimmy—it had been Molly. “You hurt my dog,” Stella said slowly between clenched teeth as a cold rage filled her.

  “Just a small payback for taking my husband. Once you’re gone, I’ll be there to care for him. I’ll be the only one taking care of all his needs, just like was before you came and stole him from me.”

  Molly turned away to reach into her bag and Stella intensified her efforts. She pulled as hard as she could until it felt as if her wrist would be sawn in half. The pain didn’t stop her as she worked the rope down the chair arm and then finally free as she slipped it under the broken spindle.

  “How this is going to go down,” Molly was saying as Stella went to work on the rope holding her other arm down, “is I’m going to mix my special little shots and put you in the trunk. We’re going to take a little trip and then I’ll call Jace. I’m going to say I found you beside the side of the road. Being the caring woman that I am, after he and I talked, I went driving looking for you. I’ll find you near Keeneston since I told him I’d dropped you off at his place.”

  Stella’s fingers fumbled with the tight knots as she ripped part of her nail off while yanking on the rope. The pain was worth it as the rope finally loosened.

  “There’re security cameras at the clinic. They’ll show you dragging me out,” Stella said to make sure she kept Molly talking as she measured out the first shot.

  “As I said, I’m his wife. I know everything about him. I have all his passwords and I know how he thinks since he depends on me to take care of him. I have access to everything, including his phone. I check his email, read all his texts, and even post from his phone on the clinic’s social media pages—everything a wife does. I reply to those emails and texts for him. He trusts me that much. So, I simply went into his phone when I was reading your texts and changed the notifications to the cameras. I let the camera’s battery die, and without the low battery notification, Jace never thought to charge it. There’s no evidence of me knocking you out or dragging you into my trunk. My story holds up. I went in with two people in the front seat and minutes later I left with just me up front.” Molly set down the needle and pulled out another vial of medication.

  “What roles do we have to play?” Stella asked, keeping her attention on Molly’s back, but working the ropes with her fingers. Finally it loosened enough to wiggle free. The slack in the rope sent blood rushing back into her hand making it burn. Stella wasn’t going to waste time working the knot completely free. It was loose enough. Stella yanked her hand back as hard and fast as she could. She felt the rope tear the skin on the top of her hand as she broke free.

  Molly glanced over her shoulder and Stella froze with her untied hands clasping the chair arms. Molly didn’t notice as she smirked superiorly at Stella. “I’m going to play the heroine. I’ll find you sick and crazed and try to save you, but boo-hoo, you’re going to die at the end. That’s what this shot does. It’s going to slowly increase your heart rate until . . . boom!” Molly paused and looked up at the ceiling. “Or maybe you’ll be in a hit-and-run. It would be satisfying to feel the car bounce over your body.”

  “You won’t get away with this. Jace will hate you forever if you hurt me,” Stella shot at Molly’s back.

  Molly turned slowly and glared at her. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You know nothing about our relationship. Jace loves me as I love him. Once you’re gone, Jace will realize how he was under your evil spell. Then he’ll thank me for getting rid of you.”

  Molly stormed over to her and shoved her face into Stella’s. Stella kept her hands locked on the chair arms hoping Molly wouldn’t notice that she was free. She hadn’t been able to free her feet yet so that she could run for her life.

  “Screw you,” Molly whispered so softly Stella almost didn’t hear her. The needle was jabbed down into her chest even as Stella’s hands instinctively came up to fight her. “Shhhh, this will knock you out, you naughty girl. Even if you got your hands free, you won’t be able to move in a few seconds.”

  Molly pulled back and Stella knew she wasn’t going to let this go. There would be no running away, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to fight for her life, especially since she knew something Molly didn’t.

  25

  Jace pulled into the old storage facility and parked so that Jaylen’s car blocked the entrance. Behind the closed gates, the place was huge and clearly empty. The small house that served as the office sat between the entrance and exit gates. All the lights were off in the office. Old yellow lights under cracked plastic coverings lined the rows of storage units.

  Jace stepped out of the car and looked around. Jackson had used his car to block the exit. He looked up at the ten-foot-tall fence even as Jackson crouched down in front of the entrance key pad.

  “What are you doing?” Jaylen asked as he quietly came over to join Porter, Parker, and Jace.

  “I’m opening the gate,” Jackson told them as he popped off the cover and looked over the wires. After a minute he yanked one, and the large metal gate rolled back to open up. “Kale’s not the only one with tricks.”

  “Speaking of Kale,” Jace muttered as his phone buzzed. “We’re here,” he said as he answered the phone.

  “I know. We’re all on our way. We’re about eight minutes out. You have other backup arriving shortly. Stella has been moving slightly, so she’s probably alive. She’s in the fourth row to the left, a third of
the way down on the right. Storage unit 606.”

  “Got it.” Jace hung up and stuffed his phone into his pocket before pulling out his gun. “Kale said Stella is in unit 606,” he told them before giving the directions.

  Porter and Parker pulled out two rifles from the locked box in the back of their pickup truck. Jackson was armed to the teeth and even Bliss now had a bulletproof vest on.

  “Seriously, I’m the only one without a gun?” Jaylen complained again.

  Jackson pulled a gun from somewhere on his utility vest, checked it, and then handed it to Jaylen. “Safety’s off. Shoot for the legs if you see this woman,” Jackson showed him the picture of Molly. “Tell everyone else where we are.”

  “Wait, I have to stay here?” Jaylen wasn’t happy.

  “You’re our last line of defense,” Jackson said seriously. “We’re depending on you to stop her if she gets by us. Can you do that?”

  Jaylen nodded. “I got your back.”

  Jace clasped Jaylen’s shoulder as he looked at his family. “Thank you all.”

  “Anything for you, Doc,” Jaylen answered for the group. “Let’s go, fam.”

  “Jace and I will go along the back side so we’re closer to her. Porter and Parker, you cover this side. We converge at the unit on my signal,” Jackson ordered.

  No one spoke as Jaylen pressed himself against the office to keep an eye on both the exit and entrance. Porter and Parker took off down the left as Jace and Jackson ran straight back.

  They passed unit after unit of the cinderblock storage buildings before reaching the end and turning left. Jace silently counted out the four rows. Jackson motioned for him to stay put as he pulled out a mirror on a stick. He held it out and then nodded when he pulled it back in.

  “I see Molly’s car. It’s empty. Let’s move quickly and quietly. You hear anything, push yourself up against the divider. Got it?”

  Jace looked and saw that between each unit door was a two-foot section of cinderblock sticking out slightly. It would provide some cover, but not a lot. “Yes, let’s go. I need to get to Stella.”