“Go on, boys. Don’t make me tell you again,” Susan scolded.
Sinner and Burg walked over to Knight, bowing their heads like little kids in trouble.
“Sorry for ruining your stuff,” Sinner mumbled.
“Yeah, we’ll clean it up for you,” Burg added.
“I appreciate the apology,” Knight smirked.
Susan walked over to Knight, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “That’s so good of you to be such a good sport over this. How about I go make you that steak you wanted?”
Susan walked off in a hurry and I stared at Knight in disbelief.
“What the fuck are you looking at?” Knight growled at everyone.
“Did you just allow my future mother-in-law to kiss you?” Jackson asked completely astonished.
Knight narrowed his eyes at Jackson, stepping forward menacingly. He didn’t say anything, just stared us all down and then walked out of the room. “You’d better get this shit picked up or you’ll be trying to fit something else in the backside of that thong,” he shouted over his shoulder.
✯✯✯✯✯
“Do you have good news?” Ali asked. “Do we get to go home?”
“Unfortunately,” I didn’t even get to finish before the ladies were groaning. “It’s just not safe right now. We’ve all agreed that this is the safest place to stay.”
“You mean, the people with the penises decided,” Lucy retorted.
“Hey, Florrie and I don’t have penises,” Lola said.
Lucy waved her off. “You don’t count. You’re manly women that think just like them. You’re he-she’s.”
“I think I’m a little insulted,” Florrie said. “That’s the second time that we’ve been called manly women.”
I had to stop this now or we’d be on a runaway train of arguments about who had the power here. “Can we get back to the topic at hand?”
“Yeah.” Lindsey stood from the couch that she was sharing with Ice. He was still recovering from heart surgery, so he had to take it slow. “What about my business? Am I just supposed to let it go under because the cops pissed off the robbers?”
“This is a little more serious than playing cops and robbers,” I admonished.
“Well, I know that, but it doesn’t have anything to do with us and I don’t think we should have to give up our jobs while you all run around trying to dominate the world. This is the second time I’m losing my bed and breakfast because of Reed Security.”
“In all fairness,” Ice started. Lindsey shot him a death glare.
“Don’t you dare tell me that technically you’re not responsible. You were there and then my business wasn’t.”
“You should actually be thanking him,” Gabe said, trying to break the tension in the room. Like that would help. Gabe always said the wrong shit and pissed the women off. “If we hadn’t gotten your business shot up, you wouldn’t have met John and had those beautiful kids. Plus, you have an even better bed and breakfast with actual customers. So, really, all of your happiness is because of Reed Security.”
Gabe stood there looking smug while the rest of us men prepared for the onslaught.
“I see,” Lindsey said carefully. “So, all the good in my life is not because of me in any way. My children are because of Ice accidentally fucking me, and he wouldn’t have accidentally fucked me if you hadn’t shown up at my business.”
“See?” Gabe grinned. “You get it!”
“And I suppose I should thank everyone for bringing Knight into my life,” Kate smiled. “Without you, I would never have been the target of murderers and I would never have experienced what it’s like to run through a burning building while bombs are going off all around me.”
“They weren’t technically bombs,” Derek interrupted, eliciting a glare from Kate. “See, they were using a grenade launcher and a grenade isn’t classified as a bomb in the military. It’s thrown by hand or shot with a grenade launcher, which is what they used on the building we were in. Grenades have an explosive charge, a detonating mechanism, and firing pin inside the grenade to trigger the detonating mechanism. But a bomb is the term used by the air force for an unpowered explosive weapon that’s airdropped. Lots of people use the word bomb for civilian explosive devices, but they would be incorrect. For instance, people like to call IEDs over in the Middle East homemade bombs, but the correct classification is an improvised explosive device or IED. And then there are all the other weapons that are classified as bombs, which technically are not, like shells, depth charges, or land mines.” Derek took a deep breath and looked around at the women staring at him. “So, technically not a bomb.”
“It’s okay,” Emma said to Claire, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. “They’re all that stupid.”
“So, what exactly are you guys saying?” Maggie asked.
“We’re saying that you can’t take care of yourselves and we can’t be there to watch you every minute of the day.”
I glared at Hunter for his stupid comment. He and Derek were making men look really bad. I tried to lessen the damage.
“That’s not what he was saying.”
“Yeah, it was, Cap.” He turned to the ladies, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. “Now, ladies, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Men were just built to take care of the weaker sex.”
“The weaker sex?” Lucy said angrily. “Why don’t you just call us brainless twits that can’t fend for ourselves?”
“Baby, weak doesn’t mean that you’re brainless. It just means that you’re physically lacking in strength and stamina.”
“Tell me, does this seem like I’m weak?” Hunter looked confused, right up until Lucy kneed him in the groin. He bent over, red faced and moaning in pain.
“I thought you wanted kids,” he squeaked out.
“You’re the stronger sex. I’m sure your little swimmers will find a way to fight through.”
I noticed that most of the guys had found a way to cover themselves up somehow, and with Maggie, I just never knew what to expect. I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be a knee though. She glared at me, like I had been the idiot who had said they were weak.
“What? I didn’t come up with that.”
“In my defense,” Hunter groaned, still bent over. “Ice wanted to say that you all didn’t have important jobs, so it didn’t matter if you didn’t go back.”
“Thanks, man,” Ice spat at Hunter.
“No problem,” he groaned.
“I’m so glad you were able to save my useless job,” Lindsey spat at Ice.
“Do you think my job is useless?” Emma tilted her head to the side, daring Burg to answer. I could see the sweat rolling down his face, but no one could help him off that land mine.
“Useless?” He laughed nervously, pulling his shirt away from his chest to fan himself. “Is it hot in here?”
“Answer the question,” Emma demanded.
“I…” He looked around for help, but I just shook my head. I wasn’t going there. He leaned in close to Emma to whisper, but I was still close enough to hear. “Baby, you sell books. I mean, it’s great, but it’s not making or breaking someone’s life.”
She glared at him and he quickly backpedaled. “But, hey, your job is way more important that Ivy’s. You feed someone’s soul when you sell them a book. Ivy just pours coffee. Anyone can do that at home.”
“Excuse me?” Ivy glared daggers at him and he looked to Jules.
“Don’t look at me. I’m not stupid enough to call my wife’s job unimportant.”
“What about those of us that don’t have a paying job?” Cara asked.
We were all a little surprised because Cara was usually the one that didn’t stand up and become the center of attention. But when she had something to say, her attitude definitely took over.
“Lollipop, it doesn’t matter that you don’t work. Your job is to stay home and take care of the family and the house. And hey, you can still do that from right here.” He pinched her cheeks and then
rubbed his nose against hers. She reared back and looked at him incredulously.
“I don’t work? So, when I make sure that your work clothes are washed, that’s not work?”
“Well, it’s technically part of the household chores.”
Cara stepped toward him, advancing on him like a cougar goes after her prey. “And when I take care of the plumbing because you’re gone on an assignment, that’s not work?”
Sinner squinted, moving his head from side to side. “I wouldn’t really call that fixing. I had to call in a plumber by the time you were through with it.”
“How about when I take care of your children twenty-four/seven, even when you’re home with your feet kicked up on the coffee table as you watch tv?”
“Lollipop-”
“Dude, shut the fuck up,” Chris grumbled.
Knight stepped forward, pulling Kate behind him. When they got to the center of the room, he whistled loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Now that you have all fucked this whole conversation up, let me show you how you tell your woman.”
He turned to Kate with his death/possessive glare and yanked her waist so she was flush against him. “Baby, it’s really fucking dangerous right now and I can’t risk ever losing you. We’re not going home until this is settled, and I don’t give a shit if that pisses you off because you and the kids mean everything to me and I won’t ever risk losing you.”
He slammed his mouth down on hers and gripped her by the back of the head, holding her in place as he practically mauled her in front of all of us. When he broke the kiss, Kate was staring up at Knight like he was her savior.
“And that is how you get shit done.”
He walked out of the room, pulling Kate behind him while the wives stared at us expectantly. I pulled Maggie to me, hoping that since I hadn’t said anything, nothing was fucked up between us.
“Freckles, you know how much I love you and how important it is that you help us out around here. We wouldn’t be able to do the big stuff if we didn’t have people like you helping us out with the little stuff.”
I leaned forward and kissed her hard. When I pulled back, she was grinning at me coyly. She took my hand and turned it palm up, then closed my hand around something that I knew had been coming for years now. When I looked down, I saw a grenade in my hand, sans pin. She held the pin up as she walked away, sashaying her ass out of the room.
“Freckles, that shit’s not funny.” She didn’t walk back. “Get your ass back here now. I’m in charge around here!”
When she didn’t walk back, Sinner walked up to me, slinging his arm over my shoulder. “Look on the bright side, Cap, at least she handed you the grenade instead of hiding it in your bed or under your truck.”
I slowly turned my head and glared at him. “How exactly is that the bright side?”
“She could have rigged it up to trigger when you opened your door and you’d already be dead. It means she still wants you around.” He slapped me on the back and walked away. Somehow, I didn’t see things quite the same way he did.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Chance
The last two times they took me out to torture me, I wasn’t able to escape. I fought against the guards like usual, but they had started bringing more guards with them, and I just didn’t have the energy to fight them all off. When they came for me this time, I played along. I had to let them think that I was beat and couldn’t fight back anymore. Eventually, they would stop sending so many guards.
The first thing I noticed as they dragged me out of my cell was that one of the men was carrying a long length of rope. I was shoved toward him and when I fell against his chest, he shoved me to the ground. That was when I realized how weak I really was. Normally, I would have been able to stop myself from being shoved to the ground, but I could barely hold myself upright when they dragged me out of my cell.
They didn’t take me far, only over to the same tree they whipped me at the first time they had tortured me. Only this time, they didn’t tie my arms around the tree. The man with the rope flung the rope over a thick tree branch, pulling it through a loop at the other end. Another man brought a stool over and placed it under the branch and made a noose at the end of the rope.
“Get up there,” one of them said as he shoved me.
I did as he said and stepped up to the stool. There was no going back now. I couldn’t fight them all off right now. I just had to pray that they cut me down before they killed me. One of the men shoved the noose around my neck and then yanked my hands behind my back, tying them with another length of rope. I was fucking terrified. I had never felt so helpless in all my life. I wasn’t scared to go into battle and I wasn’t scared to die, but this, knowing that I couldn’t protect myself in any way and I had no choice if I lived or died, was every man’s nightmare.
The stool was kicked out from under me and the rope cut into my neck, cutting off all oxygen. I wanted to fight back. Instinct told me to do everything to get out of here, but I also knew that the more I struggled, the more energy I used up. My fists were clenched tight and the pressure around my neck was painful. The dark started to creep in and my body jerked as I tried to get any last bit of oxygen. As my body slackened and my brain shut down, a thought floated through my head. This wasn’t the way I was supposed to go.
✯✯✯✯✯
I woke up choking, feeling like I was still being strangled, but I was drawing in air, so I didn’t have the rope around my neck anymore. My hands were now restrained in front of me and when I tried to lift them, they pulled even tighter and I felt pressure around my ankles. I had to be tied all together. I felt as much as I could and realized there was something above me. It was wood and I found two holes right above my stomach. They weren’t very big, just enough to let in air. I could feel wood pressed on either side of me and when I extended my toes, I felt more wood at my feet. They had put me in a goddamn box.
I could feel the added pressure in my lungs. The oxygen levels were restricted like this, making it difficult to take deep breaths. I couldn’t panic. I closed my eyes and pictured a creek that I used to play by as a kid. My brothers and I used to go down there in the summer and go fishing. I couldn’t remember actually catching fish, but we were determined.
“Come on, let’s go down to the creek!” My brother Samuel yelled. He was older than me by two years, so he always assumed that he could boss me around. Of course, I did the same to my brother, Adam.
“Wait for me,” our sister Gertie cried. She was always slowing us down because she was the baby.
I groaned and climbed faster up the hill. We had to walk a mile to get to the creek, but no one else ever went there, so we had the place to ourselves.
“Mom said you have to take me with you!”
“Let’s just leave,” I begged Samuel. “She can catch up.”
“We can’t leave her behind. She’s our sister.”
“She’s a pain in the butt,” Adam grumbled.
“Come on, let’s just go.”
“No, we aren’t leaving without her.”
We waited as Gertie ran up the hill and then walked beside her. Her little legs couldn’t go as fast as us. She was only four, while Adam was six, I was eight, and Samuel was ten. When we finally got to the creek, we played for hours, skipping rocks and pretending to fish. We were just about to leave when a boy about my age got there. He took one look at Gertie and started making fun of her. Maybe it was her red Shirley Temple curls or maybe it was that she was a girl, but it didn’t sit right with my brothers and me that this kid would pick on her.
“Knock it off, jerk,” I spat at the kid, but he didn’t stop and started taunting us. He was a heavier kid, so maybe he thought he could crush us, but the minute he pushed Gertie down, we couldn’t just walk away. The three of us ganged up on him, shoved him into the creek, and kicked the shit out of him. My sister watched with wonder and when we climbed out of the creek, she ran up to us to make sure we were okay. From then on, Gertie went wit
h us everywhere. We never let her out of our sights until she was finally an adult. As far as I knew, my other brothers still kept an eye on her.
I smiled at the memory and sifted through more memories to get me through however long I would be in here. At some point, light started to filter into the box, but it wasn’t very much, just enough to show me where the air holes were. There were a few near my face, but they were only about the size of a quarter. They were scattered all along the lid, but none were big enough for food or water.
I laid there for hours, wondering how long I would be stuck in that box. I kept telling myself that I was going to escape. Every minute so far had been spent planning my escape, thinking out different routes to take through the jungle. I planned how I would tie Payton to me and then swim for as long as I had to in order to reach land. I knew that I could do it if I was up to strength, but when they dragged me out of my cell, part of that hope fizzled out. I wasn’t strong anymore.
Someone came by a few hours later and pushed a straw through one of the holes by my face. I had to assume it was water and eagerly started sucking. Water filled my mouth, relieving the dryness in my throat, but they never returned with food. If they were giving me water, then they were planning on keeping me alive.
I’m fine. It’s just a fucking box and they can’t keep me here forever. I will get past this and I’ll find a way to get out of this fucking place.
I took calming breaths and kept repeating that kind of shit to myself over the next few hours, but when the heat started to get to me, doubt started to creep in. Sweat coated my body and the heat was making me tired.
Maybe I should have tried to run again sooner. I might have been able to collect more intel on Payton, but I’ve waited too long. Now I’m too weak to save her. Fuck, I can’t even save myself.
Chance Page 7