by Rachel Cade
“I’m sorry.” She paused. “I shouldn’t have called you. This number was just for an emergency.”
Jack merged onto the shoulder of the highway. He had to get out of traffic. Once he put the car in park he leaned hard into his seat, his head hitting the headrest.
“I can go. I’m sorry-”
“No, it’s fine. Don’t hang up.” Everything was far from fine, but he didn’t want to stop talking. Truth was he missed her. “What are you gonna do now?”
“I screamed at my dad in the front of the house a while ago. So I think it’s best I start looking for a new place to live.” She sniffed. And the thought of her crying caused Jack to ball his fists.
“You’re gonna be alright Ciara.”
“God. You’ve got your own problems and here I am burying you in mine. Have you been okay?”
“I’ve been … Jack.” Exhaling hard he asked, “You’ve been staying away from Kelly, I hope.”
“Yes.”
Good, Jack thought.
“You like coconuts?” The question blurted from his mouth as he picked at the steering wheel.
“What?” she asked with a chuckle.
“I ain’t never had one. I always wonder what it would be like to grab one off a tree and crack it open.”
“To drink?”
“Yeah. Why not?”
She laughed again and the sound took some of his edge off.
“I wish we could have tried that in Nassau.”
Jack did too.
“Are you at home right now?” he asked.
“No,” she answered. “Where are you?”
“Just out running some errands.” He tapped the steering wheel with his thumb. “Since you’re done with Kelly, maybe after I get stuff sorted out we can do something together - like normal people.”
“You mean a date?” Her voice lifted in surprise.
“Yeah.” He could feel his face heat anticipating her answer.
Gonzalez was a pretty big loose end. But he would tie it. Then maybe he could find some normalcy in his life. Ciara wasn’t a bad place to start.
“Okay.” Jack heard the smile in her voice and wished he could see it. “I’d like that.”
“Then I’ll make it happen.”
He bit on his bottom lip. If she was in his truck right now she’d be dressed in something expensive, staring at the worn dashboards and ceiling before looking over at him in mild contempt. And he’d love every second of it. A sedan whizzed by, taking him out of the thought.
“I need to go so I can handle this.”
“Be careful, Jack – please?”
“You’re a bossy chick,” he heard her laugh through the phone, “but I will.”
Then he turned on the ignition.
“Talk soon?”
“Yeah.”
She hung up.
Jack took a moment to get his focus back before merging onto the highway again.
There was someone else he needed to pay a visit.
Now that you’re done with Kelly…
Not quite, Ciara thought as she entered the elevator and pressed the button to his penthouse.
Marcus opened his own door and she was thankful. A huge guy had met her on the elevator as she made her way to his penthouse suite and she knew he worked for him. She glanced around the large living room as she entered for signs of his entourage. It appeared he was alone.
“You’ve been ignoring my calls, so I was surprised when you asked to come over.”
“I know. I just needed some time to get my head on straight.”
“About what?” He closed the door behind her.
“Stuff. I had a lot of things going on.”
“Mm hmm.” Marcus walked over to the couch and sat down, eyeing her. “That’s pretty vague.”
“How’ve you been?” She quickly asked.
“Busy.”
“That’s pretty vague too,” she observed. His apartment was well decorated, all the right accents and contemporary furniture. He looked handsome where he sat in his dark blue slacks and black v-neck sweater.
“I guess we don’t really want to give each other anything.” He strummed his fingers on the back of the couch.
“Marcus. I just …” Ciara kept her gaze on him. “I would like to know what’s going on between you and my father.”
“Ah.” Marcus nodded slowly. “Of course you do.”
Now wasn’t the time to play games. “Could you just tell me? Please.”
Marcus kept his expression neutral while regarding her before saying, “Strip and come sit beside me. That’s my price.”
“What?”
“Not completely nude; you can keep the bra and panties. And it’s not like no one’s ever seen you like that, so fuck your pearl clutching.” There was no malice in his voice, but that didn’t stop Ciara from being mortified.
It wasn’t about embarrassing her, it was about control. But he had the answers she knew her father would never give.
The moment she began to unbutton her top, Marcus smirked.
Ciara quickly removed the pink top and white pleated skirt she wore.
Keeping eye contact with him, she walked to the couch in her heels and sat next to him in the center seat.
“Shit.” Marcus threw his other arm over the back of the couch, positioning himself to continue taking her in. “You’re a trust fund baby with some bonus, I tell ya.”
“My dad?” She was tempted to snap her fingers in his face to pay attention, but thought better of it.
“Firstly, I wanted to see if you were wearing a wire so it wasn’t a completely gratuitous request.”
Okay.
“Your dad owes me money. Lots of it. Seven figures. He made some bad investments. Claimed he was also trying to help your mom who’s running for office?” He waved it off being no concern to him. “Anywho, I told him I’d be willing to knock off a hefty sum, for you. He’d make sure we were introduced and I’d wine and dine you into a courtship.”
Ciara really wanted to get her clothes off the ground and walk out.
“Funny thing is though, he called me a little while ago and told me our arrangement wasn’t going to work out. That he would pay me back every dime he owes me. I kind of figured something was up after you refused my calls. At first I thought you guys were gaming me, but you wouldn’t have shown up here if that was the case. I guess the idea of having a drug dealer in the family was just too much for the Kimball family, huh?”
Ciara didn’t know how to react, frowning with her eyes on the floor.
She could feel an ache at her temples as she tried to wrap her head around everything.
“I wasn’t welcome, but my money was.”
Suddenly, she pushed herself off the couch to stand, but Marcus grabbed her arm in a firm hold. “No, sweetheart. We ain’t done yet.”
Ciara balled her hands into a fist, her body going rigid as he sat her back down.
Marcus pulled his phone out of his pocket. Who was he calling?
“I’m glad you came. It saved me a trip of coming to your place.”
He held the phone sideways in front of her at eye level. “You didn’t think anyone was watching, did you?” On the screen, she saw footage of herself opening the patio doors and going outside in the rain.
Ciara couldn’t even blink.
“But it gets better. You know it gets better.” The footage changed to night vision from the roof of the hut pointing down. Her legs were wrapped around Jack’s waist. “It’s a clip version. I should’ve added music, but-” He raised the volume and cries and grunts echoed around her.
At Ciara’s growing horror, Marcus chuckled.
“When you’re back in D.C. married to some lawyer prick, you wanna remember me taking you like this?”
“Yes. Oh God yes-”
“That’s enough of that.” He paused the video still holding it up to her. “I was trying to be a fucking gentleman, trying to win your heart-”
“You don�
�t care about my heart.”
“-but that was the opposite of what you wanted, obviously,” Marcus spoke right over her. “Because here you are, screaming for mercenary dick.” He shook the phone at her. “You know what a mercenary is right? Private military; they’ll do anything for a price.”
When he said it, everything fell into place. Jack was a mercenary.
Tears skid down Ciara’s cheeks.
“You’re not Kim K., baby. This getting online doesn’t turn out well for you. Mom running for office, dad a respected member of the community. All that prestige gets flushed down the toilet. You can’t have that, right?” He set the phone on the couch. “Shayla! Bring us some fucking champagne.”
Ciara sniffed, leaning forward as she wiped her eyes.
“Me and you are headed to the justice of the peace tomorrow.”
Ciara opened her dry mouth. “N-”
He lurched toward her. “I wish you would,” he threatened through his teeth. “I wish you would open your mouth to say somethin.’”
Shayla came out of nowhere holding a gold bottle. Marcus seemed poised to hit her, but was redirected when the girl entered the room.
“I know you two got beef. But you need to squash it.” Marcus’ face relaxed as he grabbed a grape off the table and tossed it into his mouth. “You’re going to be very friendly pretty soon.” Even from here, Ciara could see dark bruising around her neck. Fear was clear in the other woman’s eyes.
He laughed. “Crack it open, bitch. We’ll all have some.”
The front door opened.
One man entered, then another and another.
They all had handguns and they were pointed right at them.
Shayla dropped the bottle, broken glass and champagne scattered across the floor. An unconscious Jay was dragged in the room along with another man before they were both tossed on the ground.
Marcus swore.
“What the fuck!” He gnashed his teeth holding his hands up. “Are you from Estella?”
A man whose face was half covered held an assault rifle on both of them.
“We’re here for Ciara Kimball.”
If her mouth could drop any further, it did.
“Take her,” Marcus responded immediately. “I don’t know what this is about but I barely know this bitch.”
“You don’t know what it’s about?” A Spanish accented voice emerged from behind the men, some of whom scattered to check the rest of the penthouse.
A tall thin man stepped forward. His face and the heaviness of his walk conveyed authority.
Ciara was trying not to shake. Who knew if this guy had a hairy trigger finger?
“No one knows. No one knows.” The thin man looked up to the heavens. Then he dropped his gaze to Marcus. “Are you a criminal?”
Marcus didn’t seem to know how to answer, and all Ciara wanted to do was kick his face into the floor and get the hell out of here.
“He is,” she answered for him.
“And you’re his girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“NO!” Marcus wrestled to gain control of his voice. “No, she’s fucking not.”
“Marcus, how can you say that?” Ciara used her real fear to tremble her voice.
Marcus’ eyes shot daggers at her. “You goddamn cunt.” He turned back to the men.
“I don’t have shit to do with whatever the fuck this is. Take her and leave out the back!”
A small whistling noise, then everything turned red.
Marcus slumped forward, falling off the couch.
Ciara’s spine turned into lead. She couldn’t move, not even to scream, but Shayla could.
The girl’s voice barely escaped her mouth before a bullet found the side of her head and she collapsed into the pool of glass and champagne.
Now Ciara was trembling visibly.
“Miss Kimball, relax. You’re going to come with us.”
“C-can I get my clothes?” She stared at the pile on the floor.
The thin man picked up her blouse, purse, and skirt from the floor and handed them to her.
She was trying not to hyperventilate, but blood from Marcus’s body was creeping toward her foot. She snatched her foot back, rushing to put on the skirt. As she looked down to grab her silky blouse, she noticed a gold glint between the cushions.
Marcus’s phone.
Ciara put on the blouse as quickly as she could while trying not to get it stuck on her earrings.
“You’re a hard woman to track.Come, we’re going to go wait for your other boyfriend, Jack.”
Ciara stood holding her purse tightly as she was led out of the penthouse.
Jack wasn’t in his car anymore. Now he was walking toward a front door, trespassing yet again.
His knock was hard.
An older sandy-haired woman answered the door in a maid’s uniform. “Yes?”
“I need to speak to Dennis Kimball.” He’d looked him up on his phone right before leaving his pickup at the edge of the driveway.
“Can you wait here, please?” The maid smiled, showing only the lower half of her teeth, and shut the door.
Jack huffed and rolled his eyes.
Dennis came to the door with a frown. He seemed a bit wary, and he should have been.
“Can I help you with something?”
“No,” Jack’s hands itched to grab his tailored suit lapels and throw him into the nearest wall, “but how about you help your daughter instead?”
His brows rose. “Excuse me, do I know you?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am.”
“You’re on my property right now. Yes the hell it does.”
Jack laughed, letting out a breath; he felt wild just then. His hand still burned from shooting Elwin. “I’m the guy who wonders how an upstanding man sets his daughter up with a drug dealer.”
Dennis’s expression dropped for a moment, but he quickly gathered himself and leaned toward Jack through the door frame. “I told Marcus I’m done. This is over! And you all better stay the hell away from my daughter.”
Jack laughed, never letting his eyes leave Dennis’. “Actually, you should be thankful I’ve been around. Protectin’ Ciara is somethin’ I’ve been doin’ a lot better than you.”
“Ella, call security and the police.” Dennis gave Jack a once over. “He’ll learn not to send thugs to my house.”
Jack could hear the booted footsteps of two guys coming up on his six.
For Ciara, he wouldn’t make a scene.
“Dennis?” A woman in a green dress was coming down the stairs behind him. “What’s this man talking about?” Her stomps were heavy, and she stared at Jack as she hit the landing, looking him over with wary eyes as she approached.
Ciara’s eyes.
Must’ve been the mother.
“Dawn, go back upstairs, honey.”
She ignored him, continuing for the door staring up at Jack.
“Sorry, ma’am. I’m just beggin’ for change,” Jack joked, but no one could tell from his expression.
“We’re going to have to ask you to leave sir.” One of the guards said as they approached.
“You were talking about Ciara. What is this about a drug dealer?”
“Get him out of here!” Dennis gritted.
Jack felt one of the guards place a rough hand on his shoulder.
He closed his eyes in an attempt to will patience from somewhere in the universe so he didn’t break this guy’s hand in two places.
“Are you Mrs. K?” Jack asked. “I can see where Heels gets her looks.”
“Dennis. I need you to tell me what the fuck is going on? What’s going on with Ciara?”
Jack felt the other man’s fingertips hit his arm. “Just back off,” he warned.
The man’s hand grew tighter and Jack stomped the guard’s foot, then elbowed him hard in the face before he could recover.
Instinct kicked in and he whirled around, kicking the other guard in the stomach so hard he flew
back against the ground, losing his grip on his stun gun.
Dennis had slammed the door closed at some point. Wich was fine, Jack was sure he had a lot of explaining to do.
“I’m also the guy that’s dating your daughter,” he called through the door. They could hash that shit out too.
With the two guards laid out it was only a matter of minutes before the real cops showed up. As usual he’d caused a bit of a disturbance.
Jack began sprinting toward his car.
Hell of a way to meet the parents.
On his way to the truck, his phone rang.
Ciara.
Jack wasn’t sure how he was going to explain this.
“What’s going on?”
“Jack.” Her voice stopped him at the foot of the driveway.
“Ci-”
“Mr. Turner. Nice to hear from you.”
His whole world twisted around him when he heard Gonzalez’s voice slither on the line.
Jack could hear police sirens in the distance.
“I’ll keep this brief because you have a task to complete. I want my money. Once I have it you can your cute little sweetheart back.”
His gut dropped. For a second he couldn’t feel his feet. But he pulled himself back.
“She’s not involved in any of this. I barely know her.”
Gonzalez’ chuckle was long. “You’ll be sent the address in a half an hour. Any tricks and I’ll have her head.”
Jack took off at a dead run toward his truck.
Chapter Fifteen:
There Will Be Blood
The city blurred past him. He didn’t remember the lights or any of the cars in front of him.
All he could think was that Gonzalez had Ciara.
The truck was barely in park and he was out of it, busting into Sam’s warehouse.
“Jack, what the fuck?”
Sam raised his arm to the blinding light that hit his face from the sun bombarding the room.
“He has her.” All of Jack’s muscles were tight.
None of this made sense. How would he even know about Ciara?
Her BMW? The plates. How the fuck did he miss that?
His head was swimming at a time when he needed to concentrate.
Sam stood from his computer. “Who has who?”