Fighting for Phoebe

by Jennifer Ann

  “You can count on it, sugar.” Ellen winks.

  I try not to noticeably gag as I steer her away from them.

  “Where are we going, sis?” she asks.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” I reply. “You’re loaning me your car out of the goodness of your heart.”

  Taking a deep breath, I secretly hope Jace can one day find it in his heart to forgive me.

  17

  Jace

  The grating sounds of a low, heated argument jar me awake. I nearly leap from the fucking hospital bed, ready for a fight, only to be met with the guilt-ridden stares of Kory and my Recon buddies. It’s still pitch dark outside and they’re hunched beneath the light I’ve been leaving on at night in case Phoebe’s ex decides to come finish me off. Oddly enough, both Theo and Nolan appear to be dressed in black from head to toe.

  “Go ahead, tell him!” Kory snarls at the other two. “None of this was my idea!”

  Pawing at his short hair, Theo is unable to meet my confused gaze straight on. “This bonehead lost Phoebe.”

  Lost her?

  I whip the thin bed-sheets from my legs, only vaguely aware of the frantic blip from one of the machines reading my vitals as my body explodes with pain.

  “What the fuck?” I roar, nostrils flaring.

  “You obviously don’t know her very well if you think she’s lost,” Kory barks, shooting a challenging look Theo’s way.

  “If you know her so well, why’d you let her out of your sight?” Theo barks back.

  Veins straining from his neck, Kory looks ready to charge Theo. “If someone had told me straight up what was going on between her and Ellen, I probably would’ve been more reluctant to let her step out for a bucket of ice. You guys just met her and seem to know more about her life than I do after ten years!”

  “Someone tell me what the fuck is going on!” I demand.

  Nolan, apparently the only reasonable one of the bunch, calmly crosses his arms as he passes a sympathetic look my way. “The sheriff told your girl that he was going to pay her mom a visit in the morning. Sounds like her mom was planning to turn her in.”

  “I still can’t believe this shit,” Kory mumbles, shooting me a guilt-ridden glance. “I know Phoebe can be a chronic liar at times and Ellen is a major bitch, but the two of them pulling cons together?”

  “Big Rob and I went back to grab anything from her apartment that might be incriminating,” Nolan continues.

  “Yeah, and thank fuck we did,” Theo adds. “Your girl was hiding a seriously valuable stash under the floorboards in her closet.”

  A heavy feeling of unease crashes into my gut. Is this what she was eager to tell me? I knew she was helping Ellen swindle things from old men, but she claimed she didn’t make much off the cons. Licking my dry lips, I frown back at him as my shoulders draw tight. “What was in there?”

  “Some cash, mostly jewelry. We locked everything in the trunk of our rental until we can come up with a better plan.”

  Could some of that cash be mine, or did she steal it from someone else? “Was there an expensive looking ring in the mix?” I ask, my throat thickening.

  “Yeah,” Nolan answers for him. “A big diamond, maybe six or seven carats. Something like that is worth several hundred thousand dollars if it’s real.”

  It takes several tries before I’m able to properly swallow. Stop overreacting. Someone could be setting her up. The asshole or Ellen could’ve slipped it into her apartment to provide the sheriff with solid evidence to back up an arrest. But why would they give up something that valuable just to take Phoebe down?

  Nolan says my name in a grave tone, pausing until I draw my eyes back to meet his. “She said to make sure you take the ring if you leave town without her.”

  A sudden coldness washes over me. Would she give herself up to Decker?

  “You don’t look so good,” Theo says to me. “Maybe you better—”

  “I have to find her,” I cut him off, shaking my head. “If that sick fuck gets his hands on her, he’ll kill her.”

  When I yank the tube out from the back of my hand and the clip from my finger, the room erupts with quiet alarms. I’m especially thankful they finally took that damn tube out of my dick the night before so I don’t have to wrangle that too because nothing’s going to keep me from getting to Phoebe.

  After eyeing Kory’s shorts and Zeppelin T-shirt, I tip my chin his way. “Give me your clothes.”

  “You’re fucking nuts,” he says, glancing Nolan’s way as if waiting for confirmation.

  “I can’t go after her with my ass hanging out.”

  “You can’t go after her if your guts are hanging out,” he argues. “Did you forget you just had the shit kicked out of you? Now’s not the time to go all Rambo. You’re supposed to be resting. Recovering.”

  Theo thumps him on the chest. “Better give him your clothes, man. The guy won’t back down until he gets what he wants.”

  “You and Phoebs really are perfect for each other,” Kory grumbles as he reaches for the back of his shirt. “You’re both crazy as shit.”

  Can’t argue with that, although as I’m wrangling my cast through the borrowed T-shirt, I can’t help wondering what in the hell my girl has gotten herself into.

  Through narrowed eyes, I carefully survey the little blue rambler square in the middle of a small acreage. Though no bigger than fifteen hundred square feet or so, the house is well maintained and lights from inside show a decent sized living area in front. Surrounded by a tidy yard with well-manicured landscaping, it’s something I’d expect to be owned by an elderly couple. A large outbuilding lies behind it in the distance, the only light attached to it showing a handful of cars parked in front.

  “You’re sure this is where the shitbag lives?” I ask Kory, cracking my knuckles.

  When I look over my shoulder at Phoebe’s friend, he’s tugging at the neck of the pale blue scrubs Nolan bribed a nurse into providing before we left. “I came out here a few times with Phoebe when they first started dating.”

  Blood running cold with the thought of Phoebe willingly dating the prick, I quietly growl. It pains me to picture that dirty fucker’s hands all over my girl. I have the urge to break every last one of his fingers right off his hands and stuff them down his throat until he chokes to death.

  As I’m stewing in my sinister fantasy, the whites of Theo’s eyes cut through the darkness as he approaches the truck. “I don’t see anyone in the house, but the engines on a couple of the trucks are still warm,” he reports as he’s slipping into the back seat beside Kory. “They must’ve just pulled in.”

  “They’re in the shed,” Nolan decides, tapping the steering wheel. “The building’s dark because there aren’t any windows.”

  “What’s the plan?” Theo asks, rubbing his hands together. There’s probably as much adrenaline shooting through his veins as I can feel in mine, reminiscent of our days in the desert. I’d give anything for my tactical vest and the welcome weight of an M40 rifle in my hands about now. Hell, I’d even settle for a stun grenade. Anything to make me more certain that I can safely rescue Phoebe from this nightmare.

  “You and me are going to secure the shed exits before Ace draws this bastard out, saying he wants to talk man to man,” Nolan answers. “I’ll sneak inside to grab Phoebe while they’re distracted and you’re keeping watch.”

  Though I have no doubt in Nolan’s abilities to effectively take out anyone before they have a chance to hurt Phoebe, I want to be the one to rescue her. I won’t be able to fucking breathe until I see with my own eyes that she’s safe. “I’ll go in after her.”

  “He’s not going to come out of there for anyone other than you,” Nolan disagrees. “Besides, they won’t be expecting me and Big Rob, so we’ll have the element of surprise on our side.”

  “What about me?” Kory asks, puffing out his chest.

  “You’ll keep watch from in here,” I growl, remembering he has a wife and baby waiting at
home. I hate that any of these guys are involved, but him most of all. Especially when he doesn’t have a lick of training for this kind of operation. “If you see anything that would take us by surprise, lay on the horn. If you see bad shit go down, call the sheriff in Warren County. Otherwise, you wait for Phoebe to make it out to you and drive like a bat out of hell whether or not the rest of us make it out along with her.” I glance between Theo and Nolan’s confident gazes. “Phoebe said the assholes are big into guns.”

  Lips curling with a shit-eating grin, Theo pats a bulge in his shirt. “Good thing we are, too. Figured with the shit-storm you’re in, it wouldn’t hurt if we brought some form of backup.”

  “You bring one for me?” I ask, cracking a smile. These two are every bit as reckless as I remember from our time spent together back in the day, and I fucking love them for it.

  “You’re in enough trouble already,” Nolan answers with a dismissive shake of his head. “Besides, I know you’d take this guy out if I were to put one in your hands whether provoked or not.”

  “He’s provoked me enough already,” I grunt, cradling the cast on my arm.

  “Exactly.” He glances over his shoulder at Theo. “You ready?”

  Theo grunts. “I was born ready, fucker.”

  Nodding my way, Nolan reaches for the door. “Standby to launch. We’re going dark.”

  Wild beats of my heart shake my chest until I’m rattled to the core.

  If anything happened to Phoebe, this guy is about to meet his maker.

  Without seeing them, I know Theo and Nolan are in place somewhere close by in the darkness when I holler Decker’s name and bang on the shed door. Hardly ten seconds pass before the scrawny puke who took a 2x4 to my back appears in the doorway with a shotgun in hand, the sound of country music and male laughter drifting out from behind him. When I try to glance around him, he blocks my view and presses the gun to my chest.

  “Look what the cat drug in,” he says, snickering. “Dude, you look like shit.”

  Somehow resisting the urge to pummel him, I hold up my good hand in surrender. “Tell that prick if he wants his ring, he’ll come up to the house to meet with me alone so we can work out a deal. No weapons.”

  The guy shoots a weary glance through the darkness. “You think he’s going to trust you that easily?”

  “Unlike him, I’m a man of honor,” I sneer as my blood starts to boil. “You can search me if it would make the coward more comfortable.”

  His dark eyes slowly scan over my body. “Wait here.”

  The urge to kick his ass becomes stronger once he lowers the barrel of the gun, but the door slams shut in my face a mere second later. An unusual bird call pierces the quiet. The boys are ready.

  I’m bouncing on the balls of my feet by the time the door swings open again, making it easy to counteract the sudden attack. Decker and five men this time come at me, some with guns in hand. The blur of bodies coming at me are so unexpected that I can’t tell if Phoebe is somewhere in the mix. Someone punches the site of my incisions from surgery and my vision becomes black as I fall to my knees. Should’ve known the dumbass would try to attack me again.

  “Stupid son of a bitch!” Decker yells among the ruckus. “When will you fucking understand?”

  Understand what?

  Gunshots ring out through the night sky behind us before all hell breaks loose. Nolan and Theo are suddenly among the mix as more shots are fired. Spitting blood to the ground, I rise back to my feet and go after one of the rednecks, cracking him in the skull with my cast before he’s able to get his hands on Nolan. The red-hot pain rippling through my broken bones is enough to make me nauseous, but not enough to keep me from putting an end to this once and for all.

  “She’s not inside, Ace!” Nolan calls out from behind me a moment later.

  I swear the fucking ground drops out beneath me. My ragged breaths sound hollow to my own ears as I look back to where he’s pinned one of the rednecks beneath his boot, gun pointed at the guy’s head. Springing over to him, I wrestle the gun from his hands, not exactly surprised when he doesn’t put up much of a fight.

  Fighting my way through the chaos of swinging fists and twisting bodies, I manage to get my uninjured arm around Decker’s neck and squeeze until he’s clawing me and desperately gasping for air.

  “Where the fuck is she?” I demand. “What’d you do with her, asshole?”

  “Ace!” Theo calls from somewhere nearby. “Cops are coming!”

  I cock my head until I can hear the shrieking sirens piercing the madness. Red and blue lights flicker on the road behind Decker as I hold the pistol to his temple. “Last chance, you stupid fucker. Where’s Phoebe?”

  “Don’t you get it? You’ve been played, just like the rest of us who were dumb enough to fall for her bullshit.” He relaxes beneath me, chuckling. “She’s long gone, asshole. Ellen said she stole her car and split town.” Meeting my gaze, his lips spread with a satisfied smile. “Who’s the stupid fucker now?”

  18

  Phoebe

  After five grueling hours of blasted music and energy drinks, I’m finally free of Ellen’s crappy sedan and waiting in an abandoned parking lot outside of Chicago. Though it must be getting close to sunrise, it’s not close enough to take away the ominous shadows or my thoughts of paranoia. To be honest, it’s the perfect set up for a horror movie in which the perfectly naive young woman is slashed to bits. I haven’t seen another car for miles, and the abandoned strip mall nearby with boarded doors and windows more than likely has homeless psychopaths living inside. The lack of noises in itself gives me the serious creeps. Just as I’m second-guessing my sanity for agreeing to meet here, something stirs in the darkness.

  I hold my breath as the shadows bend, spewing a tall, attractive blond man into the parking lot’s limited range of dim lighting. He hasn’t changed since I saw him last, other than packing a bit more muscle. In khaki shorts and a Cubs jersey, he could be mistaken for a stereotypical frat boy and not a maniacal criminal. When his lips twist with a self-righteous smile, I want to claw his pretty blue eyes out and scream at him for not caring about anyone other than himself.

  “Not the brightest bulb, are you?” I ask, setting my hands on my hips. “You could’ve at least dyed your hair so you wouldn’t be recognized so easily. People think you’re dead.”

  “You think I give two shits what people think?” he replies, sneering. “I was surprised when you said you wanted to meet ahead of schedule. What’s up, little sis?”

  “Lots, since you left me to rot in Chesterville.”

  He lifts one shoulder. “We both know if I had come back for you, Ellen never would’ve let me leave. Hell, I joined the fucking Marines for the sole purpose of getting the hell away from her. I wasn’t going to let that crazy bitch get in the way of my happiness anymore. I saw a chance to slip away, and I took it.”

  “You did a real stellar job, by the way,” I tell him with a bitter edge to my voice. “One of your buddies that was there with you that day in Afghanistan is determined to prove that you were actually killed. He somehow believes that you are one of the good guys. He reenlisted, hoping to uncover the truth, and even went after your chief. He’s in deep shit and could go to jail all because he wanted justice for you.”

  “No shit?” Smirking, he quirks a lone eyebrow. “Who?”

  “Jace Daniels.”

  Logan responds with a loud, roaring laugh. “That dumb motherfucker!”

  Something snaps inside of me with the degrading sound. How can he think something so serious is funny? I slap him across the face as hard as I can, welcoming the sting.

  “Fuck you, Logan! This is serious!”

  “Oh shit!” His laughter turns into a slow chuckle. “Don’t tell me my baby sister has fallen for Ace! How the hell did you meet him?”

  When his long, thin fingers rub at the spot where I struck his clean-shaven jaw, I almost spew. He’s wearing a freaking wedding band. The idea of him settlin
g down somewhere with a little family, blissfully ignorant to everything Ellen has put me through since he left suddenly has my blood boiling.

  “I see you must’ve conned Decker’s ex into thinking you’re a good man. Does she know you’ve wrangled your little sister into setting him up?”

  All at once his expression darkens. “Doesn’t matter. That son of a bitch was abusing Brooke.”

  No shit, Captain Obvious. Instead of pointing out how he thinks it’s perfectly okay for his little sister to take a fist or two to justify revenge for his girlfriend, I bite my tongue and close the distance between us.

  “Listen, you ball munch,” I warn, stabbing his chest with my pointer finger. “I’ve done everything you asked. I got close with that puke. I even had sex with the disgusting bastard…something you’re going to owe me for the rest of forever. You were right, he stole that ring from Brooke’s grandmother, and the sheriff didn’t even think to launch an investigation into her disappearance. For all we know, the sheriff knows exactly what Decker did and helped to cover it up. But I was close to bringing down Decker and our mother just like we planned until the little mess you left behind in the desert came along and bit me in the ass!”

  “Jesus, Phoebs! How fucking hard can it be to plant a stolen ring?”

  “Pretty fucking hard when Decker was on to me almost immediately! Turns out I’m one of the only ones who knows about his hidden stash, so he’s pretty certain that I took it.” Resisting the urge to hit him again, I ball my fists at my sides and take a calming breath. “Your old buddy is a real prick. He’s been harassing me and even tried killing Jace.”

  “You look fine to me.”

  “Jace is in the hospital!”

  “How is that my problem?”

  “Because this con was your idea! I’m done trying to run it on my own while you’re playing house in Chicago!”

  His nostrils flare. “This con is your ticket out of that shithole. When Ellen goes down you can finally walk away too.”