by James, Gemma
“We need to get to the office. It’s our best shot out of here. But getting down the tunnel is gonna be tricky. I need you to pass yourself off as Cleft.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to do that?”
Jax shrugged out of his jacket. “He wears a hoodie just like this. Can you pull it off?” he asked. “Once we break Alex out, she’ll have to crawl down the hall. It’s the only way we’re getting out of here.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
With a nod, Jax pushed the hoodie into my hands. I shoved my arms through the sleeves and flung the hood over my head, burrowing my face into the soft lining.
“Got a smoke?” I asked.
Jax aimed the flashlight at my face. “You’ve never smoked.”
“No, but Cleft does.”
“Quick thinking.” Jax pulled a pack from his pocket and passed it to me. I pulled out a cigarette as he sparked a lighter to life.
Hopefully, the stench of tobacco, along with the hoodie and the leashed girl, would be enough to convince any passerby that the man at Jax’s side was one of them. Since Cleft and I were about the same height, this might work.
I put the nasty butt in my mouth but didn’t inhale. “What about you?” I asked. “Is anyone gonna question you roaming the tunnel?”
“I learned a long time ago how to put up a good front. The old man thinks he put me in my place.” He turned his head away for a moment, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “It’s back to business as usual. He’s a fucking heartless bastard.”
“Why’d you go along with this then?”
“We’ll get into all of that shit later. Let’s just get the fuck out of here.”
“It’s about time,” I muttered, stomping the cigarette with my bare heel. I prayed to fuck no one would notice how I wasn’t wearing shoes. The jeans were on the long side and would hopefully hide the barefoot problem.
“Ever since your escape attempt, the guys have been on high alert, and today the clients are visiting the underground to sample the goods, so keep an eye out.”
A sense of smothering fear overcame me. “What about Alex? Is she safe?”
Jax reached for the handle. “She’s the old man’s pet. No one’s touching her but him.”
That didn’t make me feel any less sick. “She doesn’t deserve this.”
“You used to feel differently,” he said.
“I’m not the same guy. Shit, I don’t even remember that guy.”
But I put too much effort into convincing myself it was true. Even now, with my memories gone and a drop of decency careening through my bloodstream, I’d wanted to own her in this dark cell, had thrilled at thrusting my cock down her throat in their torture room.
How long before I snapped and let the monster possess me?
Could she handle it if I did?
Could I?
Jax wrenched the door open, taking the lead. I walked at his side, vigilant of every sound, which left me with no time to question or war with myself. If we didn’t get out of here, none of it would matter anyway. A man entered a room down the tunnel, and the faint pleas of a woman drifted to me. She wasn’t a willing participant in whatever he was about to do to her. None of them were. If we got out of here, I vowed to take this place down and free these women.
Jax halted a few doorways down and inserted a key. The room was dark and nearly identical to the one they’d held me in. At the soft pads of our footsteps, Alex sat up, grasping the blanket to her chest. Jax’s flashlight lit up her face.
God. She looked like hell. She’d been through too much, seen too much, had experienced too much.
For years. She’d been going through this shit for years.
I was about to hurtle the distance and crush her in my arms, but she shrank back at the sight of our towering forms, her eyes squinting against the light.
“It’s me, baby.”
“Rafe!” The blanket pooled around her, and she catapulted into my arms.
“We’re getting out of here,” I said, words muffled in her hair. “But I need you to act like I’m Cleft. Can you do that?”
She nodded, her hands roaming my cheeks, her gaze wondering over my face, lowering to my chest, as if checking to make sure I was in one piece. “I thought he was gonna kill you.” She buried her head in the crook of my shoulder and inhaled. “God…I thought you were dead. It’s been days.”
I shared a look with Jax. Had it really been that long? Man, had I been out of it.
“Timing, man. It’s now or never.” He lifted his shirt, revealing the gun jammed in his waistband. “You have no idea what I had to do to get this thing. Old man took my damn weapon.”
But one gun wouldn’t do shit against a bunch of guys with guns and access to human shields. Alex shifted in my arms, and her chain grated my ears.
“Tell me you have a key for that?”
“Sure do.” He bent and released the lock with a quick turn of a key. “But you’re gonna have to crawl,” he told her. “Keep your eyes on the floor, like a slave would, and we might make it out of here.”
With not a tinge of hesitation, Alex dropped to her hands and knees and lowered her head.
“Let’s do this.” He wedged the door a crack, peeked into the hall, then opened it all the way. I followed, Alex behind me on all fours, and we hadn’t taken more than a few steps when a man exited a room.
“What’re you guys up to?” he asked.
Jax slowed, and I turned to Alex, yanking on her chain with a growl. “Sit,” I ordered in a low voice, hoping to fuck the guy didn’t realize I wasn’t Cleft. Curling my toes inside the hem of the jeans, I kept my attention on her dark head and hoped it was enough to shield me from the guy’s scrutiny.
“Boss is on his way in,” Jax explained. “He wants her in the office.”
“What about the boyfriend? Should we grab him?”
I watched from the corner of my eye and recognized the puny kid I’d taken down during our first escape attempt.
“Nope. I think she has a private date with the boss and his spanking horse.”
“Lucky for him, huh?”
“Yep. Mason’s out cold. He won’t be a problem.” Jax turned to me. “Ain’t that right, Cleft?”
“Uh-huh.”
The kid laughed. “Boss is making the two of you work together? Man, he must really be punishing you.” He slapped Jax on the back before ambling down the hall.
Jax let out a breath. So did I.
“Fuck, that was close,” he muttered.
We made frustratingly slow progress down the hall, as Alex could only move so fast on her hands and knees without drawing attention to ourselves. We passed by two more men, though they didn’t stop to talk. Keeping my head low, I hoped it was enough to hide my face in shadow. Once we reached the door to the office, Jax glanced down the hall. A door opened and shut somewhere.
“If we don’t make it out of here—”
“We will,” I interrupted his quiet words.
“But if we don’t, I just wanna say I’m sorry, man.”
I peered over my shoulder. “Just open the damn door. You can kiss my ass all you want later.”
He let out a shaky breath and rapped on the door.
Was someone else in on this? Was this a fucking trap? But I didn’t have time to process shit. Jax pulled the gun out and raised it. The damn thing shook in his hands, but the firm set of his mouth said he meant business.
“What are you—”
The door opened, Cleft’s eyes widened, and Jax pulled the trigger.
No warning.
No hesitation.
The blast ricocheted down the tunnel, through my ears. Voices echoed, but Jax was already yanking Alex to her feet. I shoved him out of the way and tossed her over my shoulder, and we stepped over Cleft’s body and into the office.
16. BRAWL
Alex
“Why the fuck did you do that?” Rafe shouted at Jax. He nudged Cleft’s body out of the way and slammed the door
before turning the lock. He set me on my feet then grabbed a chair and wedged it underneath the knob.
I stood frozen in place, arms wrapped around myself. I couldn’t rip my gaze from Cleft. He stared at me with unseeing eyes, his head at an odd angle, as if he’d fallen and broken his neck. Blood pooled from underneath his brown hair, and the edges of my vision started to go red again. The gunshot rang in my ears, a continuous bang that muffled all sound, even the thump of my heartbeat. I felt it at my throat, my temples, pounding through my chest.
“Alex.” Rafe shook my shoulders, and my attention snapped to him. “That’s it. Look at me.” But his worried gaze swerved toward the back of the room.
I turned and found Jax fingering one of the oversized portraits of his mother. He lowered his arm, glanced at Cleft, and his face went pale.
“He deserved it.” His jaw slackened, as if he couldn’t believe he’d pulled the trigger.
“Jax!” Rafe shouted as footsteps thundered from the tunnel. “Punch in the fucking code!”
Blinking with a jolt, Jax dragged his gaze from Cleft and hurried to the door that stood between us and freedom. His fingers trembled as he entered a string of numbers, but nothing happened. “Fuck!” He rested his head against the door, closed his eyes for a few moments, then tried again.
Someone banged on the door leading to the hall. “What’s going on in there? Cleft?”
Rafe and I exchanged a glance, and his fingers threaded through mine. The doorknob jiggled.
“Hurry,” Rafe told Jax in a loud whisper.
More beeping. More cursing. More footsteps.
“Open up!” That sounded like Brock, and the consequent body-slam that shook the door supported my suspicion. I jumped, and Rafe and I backed toward Jax, who wrenched the heavy door open. We scrambled up the darkened staircase, but Jax stalled at the bottom to close and lock the entrance.
“Can they get through there?” Rafe asked.
“No. Door’s made of steel and no one but me and Cleft knows the code…knew the code.” He slumped toward the bottom step. “I killed him…”
“Get the fuck up,” Rafe said, taking a step downward. “You can have a pity party later.”
Jax’s features hardened in determination, and he began climbing the stairs. He squeezed past us and opened another door. The three of us entered what must be the basement of the house. Decades worth of furniture and art cluttered the space between the slab walls.
Rafe slid the hood off his head and shrugged out of the jacket. “Can you get that fucking thing off her neck now?”
As I pulled the hoodie on, covering my breasts, Jax shuffled through several keys until he found the one he was looking for. I tilted my head back, baring my neck. The lock clicked over and the choker fell free, dropping to the floor where the chain pooled around the collar.
I drew in a deep breath, but it didn’t quite fill my lungs. “Can we get out of here now?” I wouldn’t be satisfied until this place was behind us. I didn’t know if I could handle getting this far just to have Lucas toss us back into that tunnel. I thought about the women still trapped down there and shuddered.
“What about the others?” Rafe asked, as if he’d read my mind.
“We’ll figure it out after we get the fuck outta here.” Jax strode toward another door, and we climbed another flight of stairs. Entering the ground floor of the estate was like stepping into an alternate reality. The decaying brick and stone, the dusty rooms, the darkness—all of it was gone, replaced by open spaces that allowed the sunlight to stream through the windows. My bare feet glided across the smooth hardwood in the dining room.
I’d been here before, sitting at that very table with Lucas as he wined and dined me. A whole world of horrors had existed at my feet, several layers below the earth, while he’d attempted to work beyond my indifference with his charming smile and conversation.
Jax led us through a French door, but the alarm started its countdown. Cursing under his breath, he punched in a code, silencing the beeping with a sigh of relief. Sunlight hit my face, and I nearly gasped at the warmth, the blinding brightness. I lifted my chin toward the sun and closed my eyes for a few seconds. A slight breeze ruffled my hair. It was almost too much, after being confined in darkness for so long. Rafe tugged on my hand, and we padded over the grass, like silk underfoot.
“My van’s parked over there,” Jax said, pointing to a shaded spot between two trees just off the driveway. We changed direction and Rafe came to an abrupt stop, his attention locked on a gas generator standing a few feet from the house.
“Does that thing supply power to the tunnel?”
“Yeah, why?”
Rafe cranked his head, apparently searching for something, and his gaze landed on a shed. “I have an idea.”
I swallowed hard, remembering what happened the last time he had an idea. He pulled me along after him, and Jax scuttled to catch up.
“What’re you doing, man? I just killed my cousin down there. The old man is gonna be on our asses soon. We need to get the fuck outta here.”
Rafe tried the knob on the shed without success. “Stand back,” he warned, letting go of my hand. I retreated, and he studied the door for a few seconds before sending a swift kick below the knob. After four more strikes, all impacting the same spot, the frame cracked at the latch, and Rafe pushed open the broken door.
“Dude, what the hell are you doing?” Jax followed him inside.
“Looking for something,” he mumbled.
I pulled the jacket tighter around my body and cast a furtive glance toward the driveway that ended at the garage, expecting to find Lucas’ black SUV pulling in. The next minute passed in an eternity, and I heard nothing but my rapid breaths mixing with the subtle chirp of birds and passing of vehicles.
They exited the shed, playing tug-of-war with a gas can.
“Don’t be stupid!” Jax shouted. “If you blow the power, those girls will never be seen again. They’ll just move the operation elsewhere, and the old man will lay low, protected by his fucking cop buddies until it blows over.” He yanked the jug from Rafe, and fluid sloshed inside. “We need some time to figure this out.”
Rafe swiped a hand through the air. “I’m not fucking kidding. Hand it over.”
“No way!” Jax put the jug back in the shed. “What are you thinking?”
“He’s gonna pay for this! That’s what I’m thinking. He killed Nik…that bastard fucking hurt Alex.”
“It’s always about your lying whore, isn’t it?”
The harsh words punched me in the gut, and Rafe pummeled Jax in the nose. They tumbled to the ground, Rafe wailing on his face, unleashing blow after blow as if he couldn’t stop.
As if he wouldn’t.
“Stop it!” I screamed.
Jax pushed against his shoulder and raised a knee. He squirmed from beneath Rafe by a few inches, and they rolled. But Rafe was too irate.
Out of control.
His face scrunched in exertion, blanketed with sweat. Rafe pinned him to the ground again, his hand reaching for the gun in Jax’s waistband. He pulled it free and held the barrel to his head, then pressed an arm across his throat. “You did this.”
“Rafe!” I grasped his back, but he applied steady force to Jax’s neck, and he wasn’t letting up. He was too far gone.
“You’re killing him. Please, Rafe! He got us out!” Biting back a sob, I tried pulling on his shoulders, but they were like rocks under my hands. “Rafe!”
With a roar, Rafe sprang to his feet, breath coming fast and hard, his body trembling from the surge of adrenaline.
Jax gasped for breath, fingers clawing his throat, feet kicking the ground. He rolled to his side and spasmed with coughing fits.
“Her brother raped her!” Rafe waved the gun in the air. “Those fucking assholes in there violated her. I fucking violated her. Don’t you ever call her a whore again, do you understand me?”
Jax pushed to his knees and stared up through his shaggy
hair, the tips tinged with the blood dripping from his nose. “I got it,” he said, pulling his T-shirt off. “She’s not a whore.” He bunched the shirt and pressed it to his nose.
“She’s fucking mine, and I’ll kill anyone who touches her again.”
“I’m on your side. I got her out, didn’t I?”
“Which is the only reason you’re still alive.”
Rafe’s words seemed to pummel Jax more than his fists had. His shoulders drooped. “Won’t happen again.”
“You let this happen,” Rafe said, jabbing a finger at Jax’s defeated form. “You could have stopped it, but you didn’t. You let them fucking beat the shit out of her.”
“She lied to you,” Jax said, wheezing air between his lips. “She made you go crazy in that prison. I was there, and that’s all I knew. That’s all I had to go on. I had to do it.”
“You didn’t have to do anything.”
“This isn’t the place to talk about this, man. We need to get the fuck outta here.”
“I’m not leaving until Perrone comes back.” Rafe jammed the gun into his waistband.
“You’re not the only one who wants payback. Get into the damn van. We’ll figure something out.”
“And go where?
“We have a safe house, you and I. Money. No one else knows about it.”
Rafe frowned. “You could’ve gone off on your own and no one would be the wiser. Why’d you get us out of there?”
“Because you’re under my fucking skin the way she’s under yours.” Jax stomped past us and headed toward the van.
17. SAFE
Rafe
The sun kissed the horizon in fiery red-orange by the time Jax pulled into the place he called a “safe house.” I wanted to scoff at the term. I’d yet to find a place that inspired a sense of safety. Even my own fucking island hadn’t been safe. The engine fell silent, and I glanced over my shoulder at Alex’s dozing form. She’d curled on the bench seat, one hand pillowing her cheek, yet her muscles hadn’t given in to sleep yet. She was too rigid, too unrelaxed, and probably headed for another nightmare.