As Stiletto passed beneath, he fell upon him and crashed a knee into the back of Stiletto’s head. The surprise attack gave him the advantage, and he wrest the gun away. Then, Stiletto pulled a knife and lunged at him.
He shot him twice, the bullets struck Stiletto in the stomach and he dropped the knife and moaned.
He checked through the killer’s pockets and found another knife and an extra clip for the gun. He tossed them on the table and then dragged Stiletto into the living room and out the front door.
Jessica came running from a neighbors’ doorway across the street and flew into his arms.
“When I heard those shots I thought that he had...”
“I know.”
She looked down at his wrist; it was wrapped in a dishtowel that was turning red.
“You’re bleeding.”
“I had to cut myself with a key, but I’ll be all right. Where’s Gabby?”
“She’s still with Mrs. Jones, our neighbor, have you seen Daddy?”
Another neighbor ran over with a gun, and kept watch over Stiletto, while they walked over to her father’s car.
From off in the distance, came the sound of multiple sirens approaching.
He yanked the keys from the ignition and then went to the trunk.
“Maybe you should turn around,” he told her.
Jessica nodded and did as he said, and then he unlocked the trunk.
As Dr. White’s eyes slowly opened, he smiled at him.
“Welcome home, Doctor.”
***
The following afternoon, Jessica returned from the hospital and knocked on the garage apartment’s door.
“Hi, how’s your father?”
“He’s coming home tomorrow; the doctors say he suffered no permanent damage.” She reached out and took his arm. “How’s your wrist?”
“It’s a little sore, but it will heal.”
She kept her hand on him and slid it upwards until it was resting on his cheek.
“You saved my life.”
He locked eyes with her. “I would never let anyone hurt you.” Then, he leaned forward and kissed her, but a moment later, he straightened up. “I’m sorry.”
She grinned. “You will be if you don’t kiss me again.”
He laughed along with her, and then they fell onto the sofa, and into each other’s arms.
***
WEEKS LATER
He walked into the doctor’s study and took the seat in front of the desk, as the doctor stared at him.
“You wanted to see me, Doctor?”
“Yes, first, I’d like to thank you again for saving our lives. That thing you did with the blood trail was very inventive.”
“And secondly?”
“And secondly, I want to talk to you about my daughter. I’m not blind young man, and I can see that you two have become close, but, you need to understand something, Jessica is very special.”
“I know that, Doctor.”
“Yes, but I don’t mean it the way you do, I mean that my daughter has a great future in front of her, she’s going on to college, then medical school. By the way, have you even graduated high school?”
“I did, last year, when I was younger I skipped a grade; this fall I’ll be taking classes at a community college.”
“Oh, well good then, and what about living arrangements? You know that once Jessica leaves for Harvard, it will be time for you to go also.”
“I understand, and I’ve already gotten a job and a room. I’m moving this weekend and I start the new job Monday.”
The doctor beamed. “Fantastic! And here I thought that this was going to be a difficult conversation.” The doctor stood and offered his hand. “I wish you luck with your new job and apartment, but tell me, are you staying in this area, or will you be returning to your home state?”
“Neither one, I’m moving to Massachusetts, right near—”
“Harvard,” The doctor said, as he let his hand drop.
“Yes sir.”
Jessica stuck her head in the room.
“Hi Daddy, we’re taking Gabby to the park, wanna come?”
“No, no I suddenly don’t feel very well; I think I’ll stay here.”
“All right, we’ll see you later, feel better.”
As he rose from his seat to follow Jessica, Dr. White called to him.
“Young man,”
“Yes sir?”
“I’ve got my eye on you.”
“Yes sir.”
The doctor waved him away.
“Get out of here.”
Jessica greeted him with a smile.
“Did everything go all right with Daddy?”
“As well as could be expected,”
“Gabby is playing in the yard, are you ready to go?”
“Yes, and Jessica?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
She kissed him. “I love you too, baby.”
As they were walking out the door, she asked a question.
“Do you still think I’m perfect?”
“No.”
“No? Why not?”
“Your taste in men is questionable.”
Jessica laughed, and onward into the future they went.
PART THREE – BLUE STEELE
CHAPTER 20
RED
Sebastian Rojo stood inside the terminal at Vermont’s Alden airfield and grinned at the rented jet sitting on the tarmac. In a few hours, he would be home free and ready to begin a new life.
In an inside pocket of his winter jacket, was a sealed pouch containing nearly a hundred grand worth of uncut diamonds, diamonds acquired while rifling through the contents of a safety deposit box. He had never told anyone that he had found them, and it was a good thing too, because when everything went to hell, it took all of his other money with it.
Rojo was the last of his crew, and its leader. The other four members of The Takeover Five were either dead or rotting in prison.
Rojo grunted, The Takeover Five, it made us sound like a boys band.
While The Takeover Five did consist of all boys, they were far from musical. The gang of bank robbers got their name from the style they employed while robbing banks throughout the Midwest, they took them over.
No notes were discreetly passed to compliant tellers, no, when Rojo and his crew entered a bank they announced themselves with the blast of a shotgun and, on two occasions, the murder of the bank’s guard.
The gang committed twenty-three robberies in a five state area without even coming close to being captured.
Their secret? Discipline,
They planned each robbery meticulously, and afterwards, they never spent any of the money, and thus, attracted no attention to themselves.
All five men had straight day jobs and lived in modest apartments. They had a plan and they were going to stick to it. Their reward for their sacrifice would be the ability to live out the rest of their lives like kings.
And then came robbery number twenty-four,
Everything went wrong. When Pedro, his right hand man, announced their presence with the customary shotgun blast, he received a blast himself from an off-duty cop. When the chaos was over, the cop was dead along with three of the bank’s customers and Pedro, ironically, lost his right hand.
In order to get Pedro medical treatment, they broke into the home of a general practitioner who kept an office at the rear of his house. After the man skillfully amputated Pedro’s arm at the elbow, Rojo murdered him, and then wiped down the place for prints.
There was just one thing. Pedro’s amputated arm stayed behind. An arm has a hand attached, and hands have prints. Within hours of the doctor’s body being discovered, the feds knew who Pedro was and had a list of his known associates, including Rojo.
That’s when life on the run began.
Eight months later, Rojo was the last man standing, and with a Fifty-thousand dollar bounty on his head, he knew that time was running out. He had to dis
appear, and quick.
WHITE
Jessica White took her husband’s arm and strolled into the terminal in a state of bliss.
They had finally gotten some down time together, and took full advantage of it, by spending the last three days at a bed and breakfast inn, at a picturesque Vermont town. She looked up at her husband’s face and thought that he had seldom looked mellower than he did at that moment.
They were actually flying home early; as a trumpeted “Storm of the Century" was due to arrive within hours. The inn they stayed at was quaint with a capital Q and they had spent more time enjoying the bed than the breakfast. By mutual agreement, they had decided to take a break from their phones and laptops and spent the time talking, while planning the rest of their lives.
Having a child was something they had always put off, but both agreed that now was a good time to start a family, and Jessica had stopped taking her birth control pills.
It was also agreed that they would do less consulting work for the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Jessica had an idea for a book exploring the psychology of serial murderers and, over the next year or two, she planned to begin researching and writing it.
He, on the other hand, was looking into a way to tie together video games and virtual reality. The concept of a life-like game wherein you could become the protagonist appealed to him greatly.
Jessica also thought that it would be a great way for him to work off some of his innate aggressive tendencies. The more virtual baddies he dispatched in a holographic world, the more likely he was to be complacent with living the life of an everyday father.
The future looked bright and the thought of having children, of someday being a mommy, made her smile a happy grin.
BLUE
Blue Steele—and yes, it was her real name—gazed about the terminal coffee shop, while searching for her quarry.
Sebastian Rojo, 6’4”, 265lbs. with various tattoos covering his chest and back. Rojo was 42, and of German-Hispanic heritage.
Ms. Steele herself was of English-Scottish heritage, but her family had lived in Texas for many generations. Blue Steele, 5’6”, 112lbs., had long raven hair and emerald green eyes, accompanied by a figure that garnered her lingering looks.
Blue was 28, never married, and intent on earning enough from bounty hunting so that she could have her own ranch by the age of forty.
In pursuit of this goal, she specialized in capturing the big game, hard-core criminals with bounties well above the norm.
Sebastian Rojo fit that criteria to a T, and Blue had, in fact, already captured two of his gang members. The hapless Pedro with the severed limb proved an easy grab, but Manuel Ortiz, Pedro’s cousin, went down fighting.
Blue informed the San Diego cops of Ortiz’s whereabouts and then watched as Ortiz held them off for seven hours, before finally being felled by a police sniper’s bullet.
Those two were worth fifteen grand each, and Blue then set her sights on their leader, Rojo.
Blue scrutinized each of the males within sight, hoping to spot Rojo. Entering the coffee shop was a couple that caught her eye. The woman was blond and strikingly beautiful, but it was the man that held her attention. He was, in a word—gorgeous.
He was tall and something about the way he moved was like no one else she had ever seen. Maybe it was just coincidence or maybe he felt the weight of her stare, but he turned his head and locked eyes with her.
One look into those eyes told her that, despite his looks, this man was no male model, no pretty boy out for a weekend in the country. This man was Alpha Male.
His eyes bored into hers and then roamed over her body and she knew that if asked, he could accurately state her bra size. A slight nod of his head was all the acknowledgement he gave her and then he returned his attention to the blonde, correction, to his wife, as Blue spotted the wedding bands and felt a pang of envy towards the woman.
She shook herself free of her girlish infatuation and went back to searching for Rojo, and a second later, he brushed by her and went to the counter.
***
At the counter, Rojo pointed to the display of candy bars and bought two each of the peanut butter and caramel ones. His sweet tooth had always acted up when he was under stress, and if having a price on your head wasn’t stressful, well then, what was?
After paying for the candy, he sat on one of the stools and swiveled around to take in the room. That’s when he noticed the hot brunette staring at him, staring and smiling.
Well, well, Rojo thought, I’ve still got it.
The brunette walked over and stood before him.
“Hi.”
“Hello, and what’s your name?”
“I’m Blue.”
“That’s funny, you don’t look sad.”
“No silly, I’m Blue, Blue is my name, what’s yours?”
Rojo hesitated for a moment, before saying, “Call me Red, Blue,”
“Are you waiting for a flight Red?”
“I’ve rented a private jet.”
Blue lowered her gaze as she asked. “Is it big?”
Rojo smiled, liking the game,
“Oh, it’s big alright, and private, why don’t we go see it, and I’ll give you a tour.”
Blue nodded her head and smiled.
Rojo got up from his seat and began walking towards the exit. Blue walked alongside him, while reaching behind her back for a stun gun.
While it might be better to apprehend Rojo in the privacy of the jet, he still outweighed her by over a hundred pounds and if he somehow got the upper hand and things turned physical, Blue would likely not come out on top.
The stun gun brushed against her handcuffs and they made the slightest tinkle. After hearing that sound, Rojo came to attention like Pavlov's dog, then spun around and knocked the stun gun out of Blue’s hand, while reaching behind his back and taking out a pistol. He then plucked Jessica White out of her seat and used her as a shield, while pressing the muzzle of the gun against her temple.
“Everybody get back or I’ll shoot this bitch!”
When the chaos began, he had been talking to the waitress about their order, now he stood and spoke to Rojo in a calm voice.
“What is it you want?”
Blue answered.
“His name is Sebastian Rojo and he’s wanted by the FBI. My guess is he’s trying to leave the country.”
Rojo spoke to her.
“What are you, a Fed?”
“I’m a bounty hunter.”
“Take out your gun and hand it to me.”
“All I had was the stun gun; I’m not licensed to carry in Vermont.”
“Take off the jacket and turn around, then lift your pant legs so I know you don’t have an ankle holster.”
Blue sighed and did as commanded.
While she was doing that, he locked eyes with Jessica and saw that she was remaining calm. They had been through a lot together and had always come out safe on the other side.
They were far from strangers to the acts of desperate men, and both knew that all they needed was a chance, any chance, and this new ordeal would end. He sent Jessica a small smile and then went back to watching Rojo, just waiting for the man to give him an opening.
Rojo finished eyeing Blue for weapons and then jerked the gun around towards him. As quick as he was, he could not dodge a bullet, but instinct made him dive to his right just as the gun went off.
From behind him came the sound of a grunt as an armed security officer fell to the ground with a bullet in his face. He was about to go for the officer’s weapon, when Rojo fired a warning shot in his direction.
“Reach for that gun and you’re dead too, now, get over here.”
As he was rising to his feet, Jessica made her move. She lowered her head and then rammed it back hard into Rojo’s face, striking him on the chin. The impact shook Rojo for just a moment, and Jessica tried to escape his grip.
No good. Rojo had a human shield and he was not giving her
up. He pulled Jessica tight against him and, once again, pressed the gun to her head.
Jessica’s escape attempt wasn’t successful, but it was enough to give her husband a chance to act. He snatched the dead man’s gun from the floor and pointed it at Rojo.
“Let her go.”
“Put the gun down or I shoot the bitch.”
He shook his head as he took a step closer.
Rojo cursed, and then began backing up.
As they left the coffee shop and entered the terminal, they saw that they had the lobby to themselves. When Rojo fired the shot that killed the security officer, nearly everyone had run out of the building, as the remaining patrons of the coffee shop did now.
Only Blue followed them, intrigued by the tableau, and waiting for any chance to act.
They made their way onto the tarmac while continuing their grim game of follow the leader. Rojo dragged Jessica along while her husband followed, gun at arm’s length, ready finger on the trigger.
As they reached the small private jet, the pilot came out onto the top of the stairs singing a tune; the ear buds on his head had drowned out any of the drama that occurred in the terminal. It was not until Rojo screamed at him, that he realized he was not alone.
The pilot ripped the ear buds off.
“Sweet Jesus, what’s going on?”
“Get back inside and start the plane.”
“What?... huh?”
“Get this damn plane moving or I’ll kill you.”
The pilot nodded his head wildly and then disappeared into the plane. Rojo walked backwards up the stairs, slowly, his grip was tight around Jessica’s neck, and at times, she had to gasp to take a breath.
As they reached the top of the foldout stairs, Rojo spoke to him.
“Don’t do anything dumb. I’ll let her go when I get to where I’m going.”
He stared back at Rojo with eyes of fury, but then he switched his gaze to Jessica.
“Jessica.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll find you.”
“I know.”
The pilot called out from inside the plane.
“We have to close that door before I start the engines.”
Rojo spoke to Blue.
“You, after we go inside, lift up the stairs.”
The TAKEN! Series - Books 1-4 (Taken! Box Set) Page 10