“The problem is I won’t know who’s part of it all, and who’s just part of the hotel,” I said. “Listen, I know you’re eager to barge in and rescue her single-handedly, but maybe it’s not the best idea. Why don’t you call that federal agent you’ve been working with and have him meet us up here? If they left quickly they could be right behind us.”
“It’s not a bad idea, Jude,” Brooklyn said hesitantly. “We just don’t know what we’re in for when we get up there.”
I saw Jude clench his fists in his lap. “You want me to get up there and do nothing? I want to find Aiden and beat the shit out of him, that’s what I want to do,” he said in a low voice. “I can’t just wait around for the cops to arrive. Especially after they told us not to get the cops involved!”
“I understand,” she said soothingly. “But what if we get caught and then nothing can be done at all? We have no idea who this group is or how deep it goes.”
Jude slammed a hand on the dashboard. “Fuck!”
Then, he took a deep breath. “Fine, we’ll do it your way. But, Brooklyn and I are sitting and watching the outside of the hotel while we wait.”
He pulled his phone from his pocket and made the call to Agent Martin. And I kept driving, praying the experts would arrive quickly.
Because as we neared the top of the mountain, I got the sneaking suspicion that we were in way, way over our heads with this one.
27
Lila
I must have fallen asleep for a while, and it was hard to know night from day around here. But, when I opened my eyes I saw Aiden standing in front of me, down in the cellar at the bottom of the steps.
“What the--?”
He pressed a finger to my lips as he leaned down. “Sh. Don’t move, you’re going to feel a little prick.”
That woke me up. “What?” I asked, trying to sit up, but his hands were tight on my chest, holding me down.
“Gotta move you, babe. Your time in the cellar is up.” He lifted one hand and reached into his pocket for something.
“You’re moving me? But, why? Where? What’s happening?”
I struggled again, hoping I’d be able to dislodge his hand while his other was preoccupied, but he moved a knee onto my chest.
“This is a restaurant, Li!” He laughed. “You can’t stay here! They’ve already had to remain closed the past few days. Now we have to move you to a new location.”
“Wh--where are you moving me?”
This was exactly what I’d been afraid of. Panic enveloped me. I struggled harder.
“Don’t make me put more weight on you, sweetheart. Don’t want to bruise you,” he said with a sweet little smile. “I’m taking you somewhere we can be alone forever. Won’t that be nice?”
He reached down and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear, and I had to swallow the bile working its way up my throat.
But, the way Aiden looked at me, you would’ve thought we were in Candyland. “I’m going to take you somewhere this world won’t bother us so much. Just me and you, always.”
“No, Aiden! No!” I thrashed as hard as I could, but he had the advantage. I saw the needle as he uncapped a syringe, and then felt its prick.
Everything went fuzzy, and then dark.
28
Brooklyn
When we arrived at the resort, Janey parked under a tree to provide some cover. But, we were still close enough to the front door that we could keep an eye on what was going on.
Per Jude’s demand.
He was still on the phone with Agent Martin, though, and had just finished catching him up to speed on what was going on. And I didn’t hear the agent’s voice rumbling through the phone, so I figured what Jude had to say left the man speechless.
Then, Jude smirked at me and put the man on speaker.
Yep, left him speechless.
“Okay… okay,” Agent Martin said hastily, “we’ll move on this right away. From what it sounds like, this will further implicate your mother and her connections. I’ll call you as soon as we have her.”
“Well, you probably won’t need to do that,” Jude said calmly. “We’re actually here now, sitting outside in a black Bentley.”
“You what?” snapped Agent Martin.
“And if I see anything, I’m just going to be honest with you out of respect, I’m not sitting still.”
He growled. “Son, you don’t want to do that.”
“Get here as soon as you can,” Jude said. “And for the record, I’m not your son.”
“LISTEN--.”
Jude hung up the phone and looked at me with a triumphant smile. His cell phone rang again almost immediately, but he declined the call. As well as the next two calls. And the text messages that rolled through after that. It seemed that at that point, Agent Martin understood we were going to do what we wanted.
Janey nodded. “Okay, they’re not going to take too long then. I’ll get inside, make this delivery, and see what I see.”
“We’ll lay low out here,” I said.
Then I took her hand, surprising us both. “Be careful, Janey. Please.”
“I will,” she said, and then got out.
We watched her square her shoulders and march inside, looking unafraid, and I found myself proud of her. Good for her.
I simply hoped she could keep up the act.
It was freezing up here, and Jude was definitely not in the mood for chitchat. We laid across the back seat with just our heads peeking through the window in total silence. The white puffs of our breath mingled in the air in front of us. It condensed against the window so we dipped down, allowing it time to dissipate.
“Good thing these windows are tinted,” I murmured to myself.
There wasn’t much going on, though, despite our desire to keep peeking out. It didn’t seem like there were many guests or workers at all, and almost no one came and went. We saw one or two people entering and leaving, but nothing interesting. Nothing that stuck out about them, or made them seem suspicious.
Until Aiden walked out the front door.
I felt Jude stiffen beside me. I heard his breath coming quick. I put a hand on his arm and gripped him, hoping to keep him at bay. But, he ripped away from me and kept his eyes locked out the window.
“Wait and see,” I whispered, even though Aiden was yards away and not even looking in our direction.
Jude didn’t answer me, but he did do as I asked. He perched and watched, his muscles tight beneath my hand.
Aiden strolled to a police cruiser, looking mighty casual for a man who’d kidnapped his girlfriend. He got in the driver’s seat, buckling up safely and checking his mirrors, and then circled the parking lot. We both ducked down as he passed the Bentley, but he kept going until he was at the front door. He backed up carefully, hanging his head out of the window until he was lined up right in front of it, and then he got out and popped his trunk.
“I’m going after him,” Jude said as he shifted.
“Wait. No!”
I wanted to stop him. The thought of him going in there scared the shit out of me. But that trunk popped and ready right at the front door was so ominous.
And when Jude glared at me, I let go of his arm. “Fine. We’ll go together.”
“No,” he said. “Someone needs to hang behind in case there’s trouble. And you can keep watch for the agents to arrive.”
“But--.“
He crashed his lips against my own, silencing my words. Silencing my protests. And silencing the worry in my heart. He pulled back and cupped my cheek, gazing into my eyes. His thumb stroked my skin tenderly. Lovingly. And I knew what he was about to say before he even said it.
“I can’t let you walk in there,” he murmured, “especially if it puts you at risk.”
I kissed the tip of his nose. “Then, make sure you hold onto that feeling and remind yourself that your girlfriend is sitting in this car, feeling the exact same way. All right?”
He kissed me one last time without
any more words spoken, then he opened the car door. Stepping out into the swirling snow that coated the ground by the inches every minute, it seemed.
And with every step he took toward Aiden, my gut clenched.
Please get here soon, Agent Martin.
I hoped he did for all of our sakes.
29
Jude
The lights in the lobby were dimmed, and the place was deserted. It looked to me like the hotel was closed, for the time being at least. I walked casually, like I had every right to be here, trying to keep the looking around limited to my eyes.
I had no idea where they might be keeping her, and this place was fucking massive. I walked down the ornate entrance hallway, seeing where it would lead me.
I wasn’t walking out without Lila. I’d search every inch of this place if I had to. But luckily, I didn’t have to.
Right as I was turning a corner, walking to a doorway that looked as if it might lead to stairs, the door opened. I looked around, but there was nowhere I could hide, so I was standing there, dead center, when Aiden walked through that door.
And my sister laying limp in his outstretched arms.
“You motherfucker,” I said, and then I started to run.
Aiden froze in shock at first. I mean, I can’t imagine he had expected to run into me here. But he caught up quickly. He had only one direction to go, which was back downstairs. And I watched him stumble, taking them two at a time even though he was burdened by the weight of my sister. That worked to my advantage and I caught up to him quickly, wrapping my hands around his neck and jerking him backwards and to the side.
I pressed his head tightly against the side wall of the stairway, then squeezed my hand around his thick neck.
“Put her down,” I said in his ear. “Now, or I’ll smash your head against this wall.”
It was concrete too, so it would do some damage. Especially with the rage rushing through my veins.
The man had one smart bone in his body, though, and he complied without a fight. He slowly lowered his arms, and I loosened my grip on him so he could bend down to place her on the stairs, He sat her up with her back against the wall before I pulled him to the opposing wall, thrusting him back against the cold, hard surface.
But, I didn’t hold him there for long before he exploded back into me.
He made me lose my footing and I fell back, landing hard on the stairs. I landed a blow in the center of his solar plexus and he doubled over in pain, groaning as I smiled grimly at the sound of him coughing up a massive breath.
He grappled to get on top, but I kept raining blows. When he started to fall, he held tight to me, and we went rolling down the stairs, thumping down each one of them before landing in a sprawl at the bottom. I scrambled to my feet, kicking Aiden in the stomach as he tried to rise. Maybe it was fighting dirty, or maybe I was fighting for my sister. I didn’t give a shit.
All I cared about was making sure this man never walked another day in his pathetic, bullshit life.
He curled into a ball as moans fell from his lips, but I didn’t stop. I kept kicking him as I took a second to assess my surroundings, noticing there was a grate in front of me. It was half opened with a set of keys hanging from the lock, and I stopped kicking Aiden while he coughed up blood. He must have opened it enough to carry her out and planned to come back to get the keys.
Lucky for me, but certainly not for him.
I gave him one more solid kick and felt his ribs break against the force. His blood splattered to the floor, but I didn’t care where it was coming from. For all I cared, he could die down here. Then, with the last ounce of anger that rushed through my veins, I dragged him by his foot into the makeshift cell, quickly striding back out and slamming the grate shut and locking it with a satisfying click.
I didn’t even give myself a moment to catch my breath. I sprinted to Lila still leaning heavily against the wall to check on her. I didn’t allow myself to think, I just checked her breath. And when I felt it, steady and calm, I collapsed to my knees on the stairs.
“Thank God,” I said aloud. “Oh, thank God, she’s still alive.”
But now, I had to find a way to get her out of here, and I felt my angry energy quickly draining from my body as Aiden continued to groan at the bottom of the steps.
30
Brooklyn
Janey and I were waiting together at the entrance to the hotel arguing about how best to go in when backup finally arrived. A fleet of all-terrain police vehicles pulled up, with sirens blaring and not a scrap of subtlety to be found. Tires squealed and scraped across the snow. Some of the cars skidded to a stop right in front of Aiden’s car, blocking it in completely. A stern looking bald guy I took to be Agent Martin got out first, then he spotted me and came right over.
So, I took the liberty of finally stepping out of the car.
“Where are they?” he asked as he stormed up.
But before Janey and I could answer, Jude came strolling out of the front door with Lila in his arms. It was like a scene from a movie, where you’d expect the building to explode all around them. Except the snow continued to pour down and the world seemed to stand still as my knees went weak.
“Jude!” I screamed as I ran up to him. “Is she alright?”
“She’s fine!” he called back.
I wrapped my arms around them both—unconscious Lila and my Jude—with tears of relief seeping from my eyes. Out of all the ways I figured this would turn out, this wasn’t one of the scenarios that rushed through my mind. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought we’d get out of this unscathed, much less with Lila being okay in the end.
But, our happy little moment was interrupted by Agent Martin. “Any useful information you can offer?”
“Detective McNamara is locked in some weird cell down in the basement. But, I didn’t see anyone else,” Jude said. “It looks like he doped her up with something.”
He shot me a look of blank horror before he continued. “I think he was going to put her in the trunk and take her somewhere. I stopped him coming up the stairs with her like this.”
I shivered at the thought.
Agent Martin turned away from us and started barking orders, coordinating his team and sending officers inside with the information we just fed him. Then, I listened as he spoke into a radio on his arm and called for an ambulance to get to the top of the mountain.
So Lila could get checked out.
But, when Agent Martin turned to face us again, I pointed toward the Bentley. “A woman by the name of Janey is in the car over there. She’s worked for the Congresswoman for over a decade now. She’s the one who dug up the information we used to get up here, so she might have some more information for you.”
Agent Martin peered over his shoulder. “How did she come across this information?”
I shrugged. “Something about a drop? I’m unsure of the details after that. It would be better to speak with her.”
He looked back at me and nodded, then went to talk to her.
“Here, Jude, why don’t you put her down,” I said, leading him gently to the car and opening the back door. “We’ll turn the heat on for her. Come on.”
He let me lead him, and I noticed he was moving with a limp. When they escorted a handcuffed Aiden out of the hotel and into the back of a police car, he looked much worse though. Aiden groaned with every step. He was bleeding from his nose and his mouth. And I was pretty sure the guy was missing teeth and had a couple of broken ribs. I watched him go, thinking how close we came to…
I shook the thoughts out of my head. Better not to think about it, since it didn’t happen.
The ambulance wasn’t too long in arriving, and they insisted on taking Jude in for a checkup as well, no matter how bitterly he complained. And when he looked over at me, I saw the slightest fear in his eyes.
“I’ll ride with you,” I said. “It’ll be fun!”
He shot me a dark look, but complied.
So, th
e big bad Jude doesn’t like hospitals.
Guess I learned something every day about the man I loved.
Agent Martin poked his head in the back of the ambulance before they closed the doors. “I’ll come to the hospital to speak with you when we get this wrapped up.”
But, all I cared about at that point was that Aiden and the Congresswoman were put away for a long, long time.
No matter how many interviews I had to give or how many doctors we’d have to see.
31
Lila
When I woke up, it was in a warm cocoon of pleasantness. For a moment, I didn’t open my eyes, enjoying the warm and comfortable drag of sleep too much. Then it all came back to me.
“NO!” I jerked upright, something tugging unpleasantly at my arm. I opened my eyes, but everything was dark. Oh my God, he’d locked me somewhere.
“Where am I?” I tried to scream but my voice was hoarse.
“Lila.” Footsteps ran to my side, and a warm hand grabbed mine. “Calm down, you’re safe.”
I was still confused, but I knew that voice better than I knew my own. If Jude was here, everything was alright. And sleep was still pulling me so strongly. I grabbed his hand as tightly as I could. “Don’t go,” I mumbled, and then sank back against the bed.
I was back asleep within moments.
The next time I woke up, I wasn’t sure if everything had been a dream. My head felt sharper, clearer, less fuzzy. I opened my eyes at once. And after drawing in a deep breath, I determined that I was in a hospital.
Relief filled me, even though I struggled to sit up. And the second I grunted in pain, Jude was at my side.
“Hey, hey,” he said softly. “Take it easy. You’re still a little messed up from the injection.”
Vengeful Royals: A Dark College Bully Romance (Heirs of Havoc Book 3) Page 17