He huffed a little and I watched as red filled his puffy cheeks. It was no wonder Orsen had me handling all the trials for the big-name clients; he had no poker face and was as easy to read as an open book.
“You have to prove yourself in order to be made partner, Quaid.” His tone was firm but his hands were fidgety, telling me all I needed to know. They were going to work me like a dog, put my face and my talent out there in front of the entire legal world with their title behind it, but they were never going to let me be one of the shot callers. They were never going to consider me their equal.
“I’ve proved myself, Orsen. In fact, I’ve more than demonstrated what an asset I am to this firm and to the legal community in general. I’ve earned the right to pick and choose the cases and the people I want to represent, and if you don’t agree with that, then I think it’s time we go our separate ways.”
I watched the older man balk and some of the arrogance that surrounded him waffled. “You won’t quit. You’ve got too much time and energy invested in your career here.”
He sounded so sure and he was almost right. Before Avett, the thought of quitting would have never crossed my mind, but after you survived a hurricane your perspective on the things that mattered most in life changed and I no longer needed or wanted to impress Orsen McNair. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to work for him any more either.
“That’s the thing, Orsen. It was time and energy invested in the wrong thing. If I hadn’t been so focused on you finally seeing me as an asset, maybe I would have noticed my marriage falling apart sooner. If I hadn’t been convinced that being made partner would finally make me happy and give me the kind of self-worth I was sorely lacking, maybe I would have realized the people I was fighting for, the people I was giving my all to, were the kind of people that absolutely didn’t deserve the best of me and would never, ever appreciate what I gave. I’ve been searching for the good life for as long as I can remember, Orsen. This sure as shit isn’t it.”
Orsen held his hands up in front of him and his face went from accusatory to cajoling. “Now, son, don’t make any rash decisions. Where else do you think you’re going to get the kind of opportunities and money you’ve had access to here? We have a wait list a mile long of young attorneys right out of law school that are dying to be let in the door. You’re lucky we offered you a position at all considering your less than stellar credentials. I handpicked you because I saw the fire and the drive in you, Quaid. Don’t forget that.”
I snorted at him. “I’m a good lawyer. Fuck that, I’m a great lawyer, and I’m the one that has handled every ugly, sticky, complicated, tangled case this firm has profited from since I signed on. You really think anyone wants you or Duvall representing them in front of a jury when you haven’t left your goddamn office in all that time? I go and the media and the high profile cases are going to go with me. So don’t pretend I don’t know who is doing who the favors here. Day in and day out, I persuade people to go against their better judgment. I lie for a living, old man, so here’s a word to the wise … you’re out of practice when it comes to bluffing your audience so don’t try and outmaneuver me—it won’t work.”
Orsen dropped all pretense of this being some kind of friendly office chat and leaned forward so that his hands were resting on the desk in front of him. The red in his face turned a furious maroon and his words sounded like each one was being bitten off and spit out in my direction.
“If you leave this firm, I will ruin you, Jackson. I will make sure no other law firm touches you and that you never get the opportunity to represent another client.”
This time I didn’t bother to stop the eye roll. I also decided Orsen and his precious firm had taken up enough of my time and my personal investment. I rose to my feet and leaned over so that my palms were flat on his desk. I narrowed my eyes at the man who I once thought gave me everything and told him flatly, “I don’t want to represent the kinds of people you think need a solid defense, Orsen. I’m no longer interested in setting free the kind of man that could start a house on fire knowing his own child was inside. I don’t want a reference or a referral from you. I want to get as far away as possible from the man you helped me become.” I saw fear flash in his gaze and felt a kick of satisfaction that some of my old roughness and intimidation was starting to rise back to the surface. “I’ll have my office cleaned out by the end of the day.”
I pushed off the desk and was headed for the door when I heard his quiet, “This is all that girl’s fault. You were on the fast track to success until you took her case and let her get to you.”
I looked at him over my shoulder and frowned when I pulled my ringing phone out of my pocket and saw Brite’s number on the screen. I figured he wanted to chew me out for making his daughter cry. I was willing to face his wrath so I could tell him I was working on a way to show Avett that she was the most important thing in my entire world. A way that she couldn’t misinterpret or ignore. Brite seemed like the kind of guy that appreciated actions over words so I was sure I could smooth things over with the right words.
I told Orsen matter-of-factly, “You’re right that she made me realize that I need more in my life than the next big case, and the next paycheck, but you’re wrong about the path I was on, old man. That path led to nothing more than high blood pressure and more useless shit that never impressed anyone anyway.”
I touched the face of the phone and expected to get an earful about how to treat women; what I got was Brite’s breathless voice that was made even rougher by panic.
“Quaid, Avett’s been abducted.”
I slipped out of Orsen’s office and pressed the phone more fully to my ear as my fingers reflexively tightened around it.
“What? What do you mean abducted?”
My feet of their own volition carried me away from Orsen’s office and down the hall towards the elevator. My blood started to rush between my ears so loudly that I could barely hear him when he told me in a rush, “These guys broke into the house and held me and Darcy captive while they called Avett. They think she knows something about the drugs that loser ex of hers took off with. I told her not to leave with them, but do you think she listened to me? She got into a black SUV and they took off with my little girl.”
“Did you call the police?” My heart was pounding and my palms were slick with fear-sweat.
“Of course we called the police, and we have the plate number on the Yukon, but these guys are armed and they mean business. We need to figure out where she would lead them to. I know she would want them as far away from Denver and us as possible. Do you have any idea where she would go?”
“Wait, if you were being held captive how do you know all this? How did you manage to call me?” My brain was going a million miles a minute but the need to have as much information as possible was ingrained in me and I couldn’t keep the questions from spilling out as I practically ran towards my truck.
“Avett was taken from the bar. Before she got in the car, she told Rome and Church I needed them at the house. Armed thugs have nothing on former special ops guys. We called the police as soon as the situation here was under control, but it’s been an hour so that’s one hell of a head start the bad guys have.”
Where would she take them? Where would she go so that she could buy time for everyone she cared about to get safe?
I put my hand on the door handle and swore long and loudly. “I know where she’s taking them.” It was the exact same place I would go if I wanted the rest of the world to be unable to find me. “I own a cabin out in the woods in the middle of nowhere. That’s where I took her when we dropped out of sight for the weekend. I’ll call the state patrol and tell them to haul ass there but the woods are thick and there aren’t any real landmarks, so the chances are I’ll find her before they do.”
“These guys are dangerous, Jackson. They were armed and had every intention of taking both Darcy and me out and setting the house on fire as soon as they heard from the guys that have Avet
t.”
I stiffened as I heard something behind me. In the reflection of the glass on the driver’s side window, I saw the man dressed head to toe in black moving up behind me. I let out a slow and steadying breath through my nose and told Brite, “I’m aware how dangerous the men are and how critical the situation is, Brite. I’ll text you a general location as soon as I’m on the road.”
I ducked and spun out of the way as the man behind me reached for me. I slid to the side and caught the arm he had raised to grab me by the wrist and used his surprise and my leverage to my advantage. I wrenched the wrist up behind his back and between his shoulder blades with enough force that I heard the distinct pop as bone slipped out of the socket. I slammed his face against the window on the side of my vehicle and leaned in close so that I was talking directly into the assailant’s ear.
“You better hope your buddies don’t touch a single hair on her head. If you hurt her in any way, jail will seem like a vacation compared to what I’m going to do to you and your friends.”
The man gasped as I put even more pressure on his arm. “I wanted to ask you to use your phone. I have a flat and I forgot mine at home.”
I grunted and leaned farther into him. I used my free hand to give the man a quick pat-down and turned out the pockets on his coat; I wasn’t surprised when a switchblade fell out of one and when I found a gun in the other. I took the snub-nosed revolver and tucked it into the back of my pants, under my suit jacket, and shoved away from the man, who turned around and immediately groaned and listed to the side as his injured shoulder was released.
He blinked at me through a scowl as I kicked the knife under the truck.
“I thought you were some kind of suit. The guys said you were an attorney, not a fucking commando.”
I pushed him out of my way and reached for the door handle once again. “I wasn’t always an attorney. The guy that pays you should have done more research.” I wanted to tell him that he could pass that message along to his co-workers, but I didn’t want the men that had Avett to have any kind of heads-up that I was coming after my girl and that I would do whatever needed to be done in order to make sure she was safe and returned to her parents unharmed.
The truck started with a growl and I was pleased that the state patrol already had people on the highways and interstates looking for the SUV. I gave them directions to the turnoff and tried to explain the best way to get to the cabin, but I knew that it would eat up too much time as they combed the dense wilderness that surrounded the homestead. I was the only one that was going to get to Avett before something unthinkable happened.
I sent a haphazard text to Brite giving him the general vicinity I was sure that Avett had directed the men to take her and wasn’t surprised at all when he told me the men that had freed him were already on the road. No one was going to let Avett fight this battle on her own, even though that was what she had set out to do. Her actions might seem brave and heroic to some, but I knew her well enough to know that she was once again surrendering herself when she didn’t have to. Avett wasn’t planning on leaving those mountains alive if that meant the people she loved were safe. I wanted to throttle her for being so noble and so stupid. When I got my hands on her, she would never again be able to doubt that she was the most valuable thing in my life and that if she sacrificed herself for the greater good I would be left with nothing.
A car honked at me as I drifted lanes because I was focused on my phone instead of my driving. I put the device away and floored the big truck, making it jump and speed up to miles per hour the big beast wasn’t ever made to see. The body vibrated around me as the engine roared. I kept my eyes locked on the road as I weaved dangerously in and out of city traffic on my way to the interstate that would take me out of town. I hoped no one called the cops on me, and if they did, I had no intention of stopping until I hit the turnoff that led to the cabin. The cops were going to have to follow me into the mountains, that was all there was to it.
The drive typically took a little over three hours. I made it in two and was amazed I didn’t get pulled over. The truck was screaming and my nerves were shot when I rounded the last turn with gravel kicking up and the tires barely sticking to the road, but I saw the turnout and the black Yukon. I also saw the guy that was sitting behind the steering wheel perk up and take notice as I came to a skidding halt in a cloud of dust and exhaust in front of him.
It was a less than subtle entrance, but when he reached for his phone, presumably to call in a warning that I had joined their party, my foot found the gas pedal and before I could fully think about what I was doing the truck lurched to life again and raced hard and fast for the front end of the Yukon.
Metal shrieked against metal, and the air bag knocked me stupid when it deployed, but when I was able to shake the fuzzy from my vision, when I adjusted to the ringing in my ears, and the tang of blood on my tongue, I noticed that the entire front end of the SUV had crumpled up like an accordion up to the windshield and the driver was slumped over his own deployed air bag and steering wheel, limp. His face was covered in blood, and he didn’t appear to be moving. Smoke billowed up from the front end of both the vehicles and it was obvious that neither was going to make it back down the mountain without some help.
I was wobbly on my feet as I climbed down from the cab, and when I touched my fingers to my forehead where something was burning, I wasn’t too surprised they came away smeared with crimson. I’d knocked my own head pretty hard in the collision but not hard enough that I was going to go into the woods without making sure the driver couldn’t get away, in case the state patrol showed up.
As I walked to the mangled vehicle, I made sure to tuck the gun I took from the thug back into my belt, because I wasn’t taking any kind of chance when I knew I was the only hope Avett had of getting out of these woods alive. It took a bit of effort to pry open the door, considering the way the front was smashed in; the driver flopped to the side without the metal there to prop him up. He definitely wasn’t going anywhere soon, but I still pulled my tie off of my neck and used it to lash the man’s wrists around the steering wheel several times. The silk pulled tight and I knew it would be impossible for him to work his way free unless he ripped the steering wheel loose and, considering his current state, that seemed highly unlikely.
I shook my head—hard—to get my focus back and cringed as the motion sent blood spattering to either side of me. I looked down at my wingtips and swore I would sell everything I owned to be dressed in jeans and hiking boots. If I’d ever needed a sign that all the expensive and luxurious stuff I surrounded myself with was absolutely useless when it came right down to it, this was it. Right now, I needed to be the man I tried so hard not to be in order to be someone worthy of the girl I was trying to save.
I pulled my dress shirt out of the top of my pants and took off my suit jacket. I was going to have to shred the thing in order to leave a trail of bread crumbs to follow for whatever type of backup that arrived. I was falling back on survival instincts and training that came from both my life lived in this wilderness and the tools Uncle Sam had imparted on me. I’d never thought I would have to use them again after I passed the bar, but at this moment I’d never been so glad to have the kind of knowledge I did at my disposal.
I popped all the buttons off with my teeth. I applied a little muscle and yanked each of the sleeves free and worked at shredding the silk lining. Once I had a decent pile of scraps, I headed off into the woods. I kept my eyes peeled and scanned for any sign of movement since they had evidently left the guy behind to prevent anyone from following. I veered in the direction of the cabin and glanced up at the sky. This close to the end of fall, the night crept into the sky pretty early and there wouldn’t be much daylight left soon. That could work to my advantage if the guys that had Avett weren’t aware that I was coming for them. But if they did know I was on their tail because my pal with the dislocated shoulder or the driver had managed to get a warning sent out, I knew they would rando
mly fire into the darkness hoping to hit something and that made the situation more dangerous than it already was.
As I dodged trees and slipped on the foliage that was wet and slick with almost-frost, I decided I was never wearing Italian-made shoes with no tread on them again. I made sure to space out the bits of fabric and metal I scavenged from my coat so that even a blind man or the most ill-equipped city slicker could find their way to the cabin. When I got to the clearing where the ramshackle building rested, I breathed a sigh of relief that there wasn’t anyone out front waiting for me with double barrels pointed in my direction.
I worked my way around the outhouse and crouched down low so that I could use the pile of logs that I’d stacked only a few days ago as cover. I pressed my back flat to the rough logs that made up the structure of the cabin and crept my way along the side of the house, careful to make as little sound as possible so that the woodland creatures that were bound to be watching didn’t alert anyone to my presence.
So slowly that I was hardly moving, I inched my way up so that only the top of my head and my eyes were visible as I peered into the grimy window that looked into the vacant cabin. I let out the breath I was holding and lifted myself to my full height so I could get a better look inside. The cabin was empty, completely barren, and it looked as sad and ramshackle as it had when Avett and I left it.
She wasn’t here. She hadn’t been here, which meant the only other place she could have taken them was the waterfall. My girl wasn’t just fearless; she was also clever as hell. The men that had her wouldn’t know about the drop-off or the cabin. She could lead them around the woods for hours, and maybe if she was lucky, she could create an opportunity to catch them unawares so that she could jump.
My girl always jumped. It was one of the things I now realized I loved most about her.
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