by Alexis Gold
Lance reached down and quickly snatched up the phone. His finger swiped across the screen, and he brought the phone to his ear.
“Hello, Danielle?” Lance spoke loudly over the sound of the waves.
“Oh, you’re not Jenna? Who’s this?” Danielle immediately sounded worried, and slightly pissed.
“Danielle, this is Lance. I’m the brother of the woman she’s looking for down here. Do you know where she is?” Lance asked, hoping that maybe Danielle had been in contact with her recently and knew something he didn’t that would send Jenna off and away from the house.
“Wait, Jenna’s gone? From where? What’s going on?” Lance heard her jump up from a chair she was sitting in, her voice now laced with worry.
“I went to the grocery store and when I got back to the house, Jenna was gone. Her phone was out behind the house. I have no idea where she went.” Lance began to pace the deck and ran a hand nervously through his hair.
“Shit, that’s not her style. Jenna would have let you know where she went,” Danielle replied.
“Do you think, do you think it was Franco?” Lance felt his mouth go dry.
Danielle paused. “Well, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Fuck, I need to find her!” Lance was about to hang up the phone when Danielle yelled at him.
“Lance! I have a tracking device, per her request, on her belt. I can tell you her exact coordinates. But you wait for the Feds. I told Jenna I’d have my guy on speed dial if shit went down.” Danielle quickly clicked away at a keyboard as she spoke.
“Ok, fine, just tell me where she is.” Lance ran inside the house and grabbed a pen and paper, ready to get the address from Danielle as soon as she pulled it up.
“Ok, this looks familiar…” Danielle trailed off, and Lance heard her click again.
“Yeah, it’s our guy. They took her back to the warehouse I sent you two coordinates for. Did you check it out already?”
Lance rubbed a hand over his face and then punched the wall with his fist.
“Yes. They must have seen us in the chopper and traced it back to the family and our house. Shit!” Lance felt the anger swell within him.
“Calm down, man. Jenna can handle herself. You meet the feds at the dock on the main land; they’ll be there as soon as they can.”
“Sure, thanks, Danielle.”
“Wait, you can’t go in alone—”
Lance ended the call before Danielle could tell him not to go. No way in hell was he going to stand around and wait for them to show up while Lia and Jenna were in there.
Lance turned down the hall and stopped at a closet, opening the door and moving the jackets away from the wall. A keypad was hidden along the panel. He typed in the code and the back slid up, revealing a room hidden from the rest of the house. He stepped in and the room lit up; white walls and tile floor brightly glowed, revealing rows and rows of weapons, gadgets, and gear.
Lance grabbed a duffel bag and began stuffing it full of materials: ropes, gloves, knives, his crossbow, night vision goggles, and other items he saw fit for the venture. He grabbed his climbing harness and slipped it on, tightened the buckle, and closed it with a loud snap. He walked over to the safe and unlocked it; the large container opened and revealed an entire selection of handguns and rifles. He grabbed a small pistol that fit his hand perfectly, his custom made handgun that he had trained with for hours. He slid it in the back of his pants and pulled down his shirt.
He zipped the bag and quickly walked out of the room, sealing it once again behind him. He slammed the closet door, went out onto the patio, and began to run down the stairs. His legs swiftly carried him across the back to the cliff that overlooked the beach. He swung around a curve in the path and came to the stairs that went down to the boat house. His boots slammed against old wooden steps as he made his way down in the dark of night, the pale blue moonlight guiding him as he rushed toward the ocean.
The waves grew to a roar as he came to the boat house door. The building was a large white structure that was half on land, half in the water. He typed in his code yet again and heard the door unlock. Without hesitation, he opened the door, turned on the overhead light, and headed toward where the boats were kept.
The room was large, and the echo of water that gently lapped at the metal walls sounded around him. A large red and white speedboat gently bobbed. He hit the door opener and with a groan the machine kicked on, lifting the large garage-like door that led to the ocean. The waves picked up, and the boat bobbed a bit more as Lance threw his duffel bag in and hopped in the boat.
He pulled up the anchor, untied the lines, and fired up the engine. With smooth hands, he guided her out of the boat house and onto the dark, churning waters. He turned on the lights, hit the gear, and sped off into the night towards the warehouse.
*
Jenna woke slowly. The cold sensation in her hands and the tingling of numbed limbs pricked at her fingers and wrists; the pain brought her to her senses and slowly back into consciousness. Her vision was blurred, and as she blinked slowly to clear the fuzz, the dark corners began to recede and the room came into focus. She was propped in a metal chair, with her hands cuffed behind her back and her legs strapped down to the legs.
The place had once been painted white, but years of abuse from the salt waters around the place had rusted the metal frames, curled the white paint along the concrete walls, and had begun to rot the wooden beams overhead. The scent of salt, rot, and mold hung heavily in the damp room, and Jenna felt the moisture in the air cling to her skin and hair.
Her mouth was dry, and her throat was sore. She tried to swallow, but she didn't have any saliva to dampen her parched mouth. She looked around slowly, her senses working again as she tried to put the pieces of her mystery room together. Her mind went back to the beach house. She had been researching Lia, and Lance had gone to get groceries.
She felt her stomach churn at the thought of Lance. What if they had him too? He would have walked into the trap like she did. He would never have seen it coming. Jenna cursed at herself as she recalled her attack. While hand to hand combat she could have handled, she had been blindsided like prey. The other two men who chased her down were simply there for that reason, to chase her straight into the arms of the hunter who had been waiting at the door.
Jenna tugged at the cuffs a bit, but her mind and body were still having a hard time connecting, so the effort was weak and the discomfort made her hiss in pain. She surveyed the room again, everything now in focus. She saw it was bare, with only another chair, a worn-down wooden table, and a few old, half-deflated life preservers hung on the walls. She sighed and let the breath out slowly. This wasn't exactly how she had pictured the night going.
She had a feeling she was in the warehouse, and lucky for her, she had worn the belt that Danielle had put together for her with a tracking device. With how often she found herself in tight spots, she and her best friend had decided it was better to play it safe than dead. She leaned forward as far as she could and brought her leg up and pressed it against her arm as she tried to feel in her pocket for her phone. Nothing slid out of her pocket, nor did she feel the device tucked away inside her jeans. She realized it had either fallen out at the house, or they had taken it out of her pockets when she was unconscious.
“Let’s hope for the prior…” she mumbled to herself as she leaned back and began to ever so slightly wiggle her hands so she could begin to work at the ropes.
Jenna slowly worked at the cuffs for the next hour. She felt the time slowly pass, but her confines didn’t loosen. The sudden click of the lock made her freeze, and she turned toward the door to watch who came through it. Her back straightened as she felt the hair on her neck stand on end, her heartbeat echoing loudly in her ears. The large, looming metal door creaked open and a tall, lean blonde woman stood in the frame as her green eyes met Jenna’s. Lia.
“Jenna, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” she said as she leaned in close to Jenna and
smiled, her perfect teeth gleaming in the fluorescent lights.
“Oh, that’s right, you can’t really shake my hand with your’s all tied up, huh?” Lia clicked and waved a finger. She stood up straight, grabbed the other chair, set it with the back facing Jenna, and sat down to address her guest.
Lia wore tall black heels on her long, lean, and fit legs, which she wrapped around the legs of the chair. Her skin-tight skinny jeans showed every curve of her body, and a dressy top accented her fine features. Her lean fingers were garnished with rings, her neck bore a large jeweled necklace, her hoop earrings intertwined with her loose blonde curls, and her eye makeup was fresh. Jenna studied her and realized she had dressed up for this interrogation.
“Pleasure is all mine,” Jenna sneered right back at Lia. She knew from the moment she saw her from the helicopter that this woman was bad news bears.
Lia gave a small laugh and looked at Jenna with her head cocked, her eyes narrowed.
“So, my father hired you, huh?” Lia’s tongue ran over her canines like a cat that had devoured its prey.
“Sounds like you know the answer to that.” Jenna gave a fake smile.
Lia slapped her across the face. Jenna didn’t make a sound as Lia laughed, and then stared her down again.
“Don’t get smart with me, or it will be more than my hand next time.”
Jenna was mentally reeling from the slap and the fact that Lia, the missing woman she had been sent to find, was apparently an insane drug cartel leader.
“Why did you and Lance hookup to find me? Did my father send him with you?”
Jenna said nothing, her eyes burning into Lia’s as the two squared off.
Lia slapped her again. This time Jenna felt her lip bust and blood begin to seep onto her tongue; the metallic taste and pain from the smack made her gut twist, but she chased it away. She needed to hold strong until she figured a way out, if Danielle hadn’t sent the feds.
“Jenna, this isn’t worth the pain. You just tell me what I need to know, and you don’t get hurt. Simple as that,” Lia told her as she stood. She wrung her hands and began to pace the room.
“What does it matter?” Jenna asked. She hoped maybe she could distract Lia from her line of questioning.
“It matters, because I need to know who knows about what I’m doing here.”
“What, selling drugs? Hate to break it to you sweetheart, but you picked a hell of a sloppy team to do your bidding.” This time Jenna laughed.
Lia turned around and glared at her. She stepped closer, and Jenna prepared for another slap.
“You don’t know the first part of it. Hell of a job not even putting together the story as a P.I.,” Lia taunted as she sat back in the chair.
“Enlighten me then,” Jenna replied simply, ready to let Lia talk and not ask questions.
Lia looked at her then to the door. “Well, I suppose we have the time, and we’re just going to kill you anyway.”
Jenna’s heart jumped at the statement. She was going to need to stall her for a while.
“Gavin and I are going to be the biggest cartel in the world. We are going to OWN the largest empire you have ever seen.” Lia’s eyes glowed as she spoke of Gavin. The dreams of the two of them together and ruling the world made her smile.
Jenna watched and realized this woman had sadly been swindled and driven out of her mind by love. The pieces were coming together now.
“When I met Gavin last summer, he changed my life. He became my everything. When we were at the clubs, we danced all night, in a way that made me realize we had been brought together by something MORE.” Lia’s hands expanded out as she spoke, as if to show the vastness of some supernatural being.
“We started talking, and he told me about how his dad was once a big cartel guy, but after a bust by the Feds, he was financially cleaned out. And as you can imagine, that’s where I offered to come in.” Lia smiled broadly as she stood again and paced. Her heels clicked loudly and echoed in the room.
“Ok, but if you and your honey wanted to run away together, then why did you make it so suspicious that your father would send me?” Jenna spoke a bit louder, as she began to ever so slightly move her fingers to work at the cuffs.
“Well, I didn’t expect him to send YOU; I thought he was just going to send Lance.” Lia rolled her eyes, like Jenna should have known that piece of information.
“Why’s that?”
“Because, Lance had all that training as a teenager and in his twenties, like survival shit and military stuff. But no, as USUAL, he didn’t trust my brother and hired someone else.” Lia flipped her hair and looked at Jenna with crossed arms.
“Ok, but why did you want Lance here?” Jenna realized at that moment, as a big Cheshire cat grin crossed Lia’s face that she really didn’t want to know the answer.
“While my yearly investment allowance is great, imagine the money I could play with if I didn’t have a brother?”
Jenna felt herself go cold. The blood drained from her face, and she felt that terrible sensation of dread in her gut. Lance had always known his sister as a family member he loved and who loved him. He had never even realized the woman, who pretended to care about him, was actually plotting his death. She felt her stomach grow sick at the thought of Lia luring Lance in here and then killing him.
“But, since he sent you, we now have too many players in the game. So, I’m going to use you to bait Lance into coming here so I can kill him; then I’ll finish you off and get rid of both of you. When they send someone to find you guys, my guys and I will have already set it up so it looks like you were taken by a rival. Two birds…”
Lia reached down and picked up a pebble. She stared at it for a moment with that chilling grin then looked back at Jenna.
“One stone.”
Jenna stared at the woman before her, baffled and amazed that one person could have so much greed, hate, and absolute disregard for human life. She was one of the sickos Jenna was usually chasing.
Jenna looked up at Lia, and as she did, she felt her hand ever so slightly begin to slide through the cuff.
Her eyes blazed into Lia’s. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Chapter8
Lance made his way across the dark waves in silence, his night vision goggles strapped on so that he could see into the night without having to use his headlight as he grew closer to the warehouse. The coordinates showed it was about an hour and a half away, and Lance only hoped the night stayed as clear as it was. The change of a tide could slow him down and keep him from Jenna that much longer.
He saw the large building in the distance. From where he was, it was just a shadow in the moonlight. The roar of the engine kept his mind quiet; years practicing behind the wheel of a boat made the drive natural to him. He gave a small sigh as he thought of all those years in training. He had always wondered when or how those skills would come in handy, as he never did pursue the search and rescue career he had dreamed of. His family had diminished that dream years ago. But now, here he was, a skilled and well-trained man of survival, of search and rescue, on his way to find Jenna.
His heart seemed to skip a beat as he thought of her, as he recalled those warm eyes, that perfect face, her rich brown skin and tight black curls, her smile as she threw her head back with a laugh at one of his bad jokes. He wanted nothing more than to hold her right then, in that moment with the waves, in the moonlight with her away from danger and in his arms.
Lance pressed the lever harder, and the boat roared louder as it sped faster towards the warehouse. He felt the cool, wet air dampen his face. It should have chilled him, but adrenaline was pumping through his veins, making his blood and skin hot against the frigid night.
As he drew closer to the ominous building, he realized how large and imposing it was compared to the tiny island. Trees had been cut away and sand had been stirred to make room for a giant loading dock, and the building itself was eating away what seemed like football fields of land. La
nce thought about how in debt this operation must be, to harbor such a large space, in such a strange place. He was even more curious about how Lia was tangled in this entire mess.
He felt himself stiffen as he thought of the argument between Jenna and him, how he had laughed at the idea of Lia being a criminal. Sure, she was wild, high-maintenance, and demanding. Yes, she loved to talk about herself. But Lance had always thought that deep down she cared, that she loved her family. Why would she do something like this?
The wind picked up ever so slightly behind him and seemed to push him that much faster towards his destination. He continued to rack his brain as the waves lapped at the side of his boat. Lia had been different since she had returned from traveling South America last year. Although she and Lance hadn’t been close over the last decade, he thought she seemed more aloof, less connected since her return. He had brushed it off thinking that she was simply trying to pursue her career in fashion, and that that road hadn’t been kind to her, had made her pull away from the ones she loved.