TRUE HERO: A Romantic Suspense Novel (True Hearts Series Book 1)

by Susan Owensby

  “Yes, I’m fine. Just a flesh wound. How could they get by a whole building full of cops?” I punched the wall with my good arm. I was beyond pissed and let it be known.

  Grabbing my phone, I updated my team. They were going to split up. One would stay at my place just in case, two would meet me here and one would stay with Frank, Frannie and Sam. As soon as I told Shane, we both realized at the same time we had not seen Frannie. Fuck me! Where was she?

  We headed to the front where we saw her last. Nothing. Going out to the parking lot searching for her, we discovered her car was gone. Son of a bitch! She went after them? That was not good. Frank was going to lose it. That old Ranger was not someone to be screwed with. We headed back inside.

  “I should go tell Frank. We shouldn’t keep him in the dark too long about this,” I told Shane.

  “Tell me what?” Frank had just stepped through the door and heard his name.

  “Frannie and her car are missing too. Do you know if she has GPS on her cell phone?” Shane asked looking at him.

  “Yes, she does. How fucking long has she been missing and when the hell were you going to tell me about it?” he demanded stepping right up to face Shane head on.

  Shane looked at his watch and stated solemnly, “Since the explosion. And we just found out ourselves and were coming to tell you.”

  Brent was on the phone in a heated discussion when we walked by. I noticed he had a county-wide map in front of him.

  Hanging up as he saw me approach he said, “Every man that is on duty is out searching. And the ones not on duty, have been called in. I have put an All-Points Bulletin out on the van and pulled the information on it from the DMV. The van is owned by Elton Palmer who happens to have a police record as long as my arm. From petty larceny to DUI’s and even possession. He has a younger brother, Harold, that is mute. No record for him though. We are digging around for more. All police departments have been alerted including the sheriff and state patrol because of the rural areas that will need to be combed. The FBI has also been alerted and they are sending a team that will be here in a few hours. We are trying to figure out where they would go. The Palmer boys were born and raised here so it makes sense that they would go somewhere familiar to them. We need to question people that knew them growing up and people that live near them that might know some of their habits,” he finished telling me as he looked over the map.

  “I am about to fucking lose it right now. Knowing what he did to her in the past and knowing that he has her now! We must find them quickly. He is going to kill her slowly and with as much pain as he can. You saw the scars, Brent! Fuck!”

  I was angry at myself for letting her down. I had failed her. I swore to protect her and I didn’t. Now she was in the hands of her worst nightmare, going through Lord knew what. And here I was, with no fucking leads and no way to find her.

  “Let’s go to another office, Jonah. Let me patch up your shoulder. Then you and I, along with the two friends of yours that just walked in, will talk about our options,” Shane said in a controlled voice.

  I saw Michelle Brighton and Scott Tully in full camo gear standing just inside the door taking in their surroundings with calculated precision. These were some of the best soldiers I had ever worked with. We had a bond like no other. When they saw me, they came right over and Michelle simply said, “Whatever you need.” Nothing else needed to be said between the three of us.

  Shane stared at all of us. I looked back at them and gave a nod. We went into Brent’s office and as Shane patched me up, I made the introductions.

  Michelle became aggravated with the poor job Shane was doing and said to him, “Move it now. You have no damn idea how to clean and dress a field would.” She shoved him aside.

  All Shane could do was stare at her and move a bit further away. I would have too. Michelle was no one to be fucked with. She could take a man down almost as fast I could. She was more than impressive; she was inspiring.

  Shane left me in Michelle’s capable hands to go talk with Brent and Frank.

  “Have you gotten through to Frannie’s cell phone yet Shane?” I asked when Michelle finished.

  “No, but Brent is working on getting a warrant so he can track her by her cell phone. But that is going to take a bit of time. And the phone has to be turned on to do us any good anyway,” Shane stated.

  “Damn it! You don’t think they took Frannie and her car too?” I wondered out loud.

  “I don’t think so, Jonah. Frannie had her gun out and she is smart. She would have shot them dead on the spot.

  The moments ticked by at an excruciatingly slow pace initially. I guess the feeling of helplessness made time stand still so a man could contemplate all the ways he fucked up and all the things he should have done. Looking down at my watch, now spotted with my blood, I realized that time had somehow sped up and hours had passed from the time of the explosion to now.

  While Shane continued to talk to Frank, I went over everything Ally had told me about Tom and their marriage. Nothing was standing out to me and I didn’t know how long I could keep it together if we didn’t catch a lead soon. Talking with Michelle and Scott, I decided to go with them to my place to change and gear up. I told Shane to call me the minute he got any news at all, good or bad.

  Every minute Ally was with her psychotic ex-husband, the more he would torture her. It was killing me to know that. I would trade places with her in a heartbeat if I could. As we pulled up to my place, Michelle signaled to James, who was still watching my house. While I changed, they caught him up to speed on what was happening and where we stood. We fucking stood nowhere. No leads. No Frannie. No Ally. Thank God, Sam was safe.

  My mind drifted back to when I looked into her eyes, with blood running down the front of her and I saw her surrender. She didn’t know how else to keep not just Sam, but Frank, Frannie and even me safe. So, she sacrificed herself to keep us safe. I was begging her no, screaming in my head to let it be me that he would take. I had never felt as useless as I did now. I will find you, my girl and I will fucking gut him where he stands.

  My cell phone rang and I grabbed it looking at the number. It was Frannie!

  “Frannie, are you ok? Are you safe?” I demanded.

  “Listen to me Jonah, I don’t have much service out here. I had to drive for miles to get this much signal and I have to get back. I followed them Jonah. They took our Ally. I am going to kill all of them. I will save the ex for you but you need to come quickly they drug her by her bad ankle into that place. They must die, Jonah,” she said with such venom that I one hundred percent believed she would kill them all.

  “Frannie, don’t do anything. Tell me where they have her and then you need to go back to the station where you will be safe. Frank is about to go out of his mind and Sam is scared and confused,” I told her.

  “I will do no such thing until you get here. I am not leaving her, Jonah and don’t tell me to again. Do you understand me?” she gave me the directions and hung up.

  I filled my crew in on what was happening and what each of us would do. I wasn’t going to call Brent just yet. I wanted to deal with these scumbags on my own first. My team agreed. They would secure the perimeter and take out the brothers, while I went for Tom.

  We loaded our gear into the Suburban quickly and were just getting ready to leave, when Shane and Frank pulled up beside us. I knew it. Even though we were not in need of their assistance, my gut told me Frannie would call Frank, who would then in turn fill Shane in. When Frank stepped out of Shane’s truck, I didn’t even recognize him at first. Before me stood a man in full Army Ranger gear, loaded with all the weapons he would ever need. This was Frank. I knew that now. With the murderous look in his eyes, he nodded to me, daring me to deny him admittance into the fray.

  Now Shane? He surprised me. Not that I doubted his allegiance in any way, but he was a cop through and through. For him to be on board, knowing that I planned to kill every last person that was involved with Tom, filled m
e with pride and an even deeper respect for this honorable man that I called brother. I did notice him eyeballing Michelle and shook my head. Boy, that was one woman he could not woo with his charming ways. Quickly filling them in on the plans, we loaded up and headed out at nearly warp speed. The drive for the average citizen would have taken at least an hour and a half but we were not ordinary. We would cut that time in half if possible.

  Frannie had followed the van from the police station in Wordly for almost an hour and a half, before they pulled into a secluded area. No one would ever even know it was there if he didn’t live in the area. Frannie and I were born and raised here. So, we knew of the old abandoned warehouse that had a full loading dock, where truckers from all around the country used to come load up and head to their next destinations. It was over twenty years ago, that the company went out of business and the property was foreclosed on. The bank was never able to resell it due to the location. The land and buildings had fallen into disrepair and were forgotten about.

  I had to hand it to the Palmer brothers. I didn’t think we would have found them, if it wasn’t for how brave Frannie had been by following them. Shane found an old blueprint of the building’s layout in the county archives that were now easily accessible on the computer. There were too many points of entry, though. We couldn’t cover all of them, but if they did try to run Scott was sitting high with a full view and could take them down.

  We barely found Frannie who had hidden her tracks and car, quite well. When she came out of hiding, Frank looked at her with pride.

  “Hello boys. We have more to deal with than I first knew. Not only are the Palmer idiots down there, but I have counted at least four more men so far. This is not going to be easy. I think we should call in backup but still go in now. They can do all the cleanup. We cannot leave Ally with them any longer. From what I have observed from here, I am certain they are running drugs out of there. They just loaded two cars that left about forty-five minutes ago. That means they have weapons and a lot of them to protect the premises. What’s the plan, Jonah?” Frannie informed us as she took the large duffle bag from Frank. She began to unload her rifle and strapped on an ammunition belt.

  Shane laid the map out on top of the hood and I began giving instructions to each person on what positions they would take. As I did that, Shane used his satellite phone and called Brent to fill him in on what Frannie had found. Everyone went in their intended directions, set to find and protect Ally to the maximum degree.

  Sending a prayer to the heavens above, I set off to kill anyone who dared get in my way. May God have mercy on their souls.

  Chapter Thirty

  Ally

  Alone and lying on the cold, hard cement floor, I thought of my Sam. I would never get to see him again and my already shattered heart, broke even more. How would he take finding out that I was gone? What kind of man would he be when he grew up? I knew Frannie and Frank would do well by him. They loved him and he them. He would be ok, but there was only one way to make sure of it and that was to kill Tom. Something inside me clicked just then, knowing I had to do this without fail.

  Now that the spotlight was no longer directly in my eyes, I looked around at the enormous room I was being kept in. Dirty. Old. Where was I? Maybe a factory? Big metal contraptions were at one end and the other end had rows upon rows of old wooden pallets like I had seen in grocery stores before. It had to be a warehouse of some kind. I needed to find a weapon to use. Something metal would be best. As I tried to slowly sit up, my body started screaming in pain. Reaching up, I lightly touched my eye and I realized it was swollen shut. Putting both my hands down gingerly, I tried to use them to push myself up. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming.

  My left arm didn’t work. Was that the cracking sound I heard when I was cut down? Damn it! How was I going to do this? Please God, help me.

  With pure instinct and determination, I started scooting around looking for anything. I was sweating and panting in pain but I kept going, finding nothing useful. Panic and fear started to rip their way from my mind but then my hand touched something that sliced my fingertips. Shit! What was that? I reached for the piece of metal, gently lifting it to get a better look. Bingo! Hell, if I knew what it was, but it was sharp as hell on one side and big enough to do some damage. I scooted back to where I was lying before and put it under me, near my good arm. I lay there waiting for when they would come back. I would not go down without a fight and I prayed that when I died, I would be able to take Tom with me.

  “Oh, wife! I’m back! Did you miss me?” he said as he crouched down to look at me.

  I stared at him with my good eye and said nothing. When I didn’t speak, he slapped me hard across the face and said, “Answer me bitch, when I speak to you.”

  “I never missed you, Tom. I only ever prayed for your death. You are a demon from hell and I want to watch you die, mother fucker!” I screamed from the very depths of my soul and then spit in his face. Laughter rang out from somewhere in the room. I shouldn’t have turned my head to see where it was coming from. Yet another mistake.

  Tom grabbed me by the throat, cutting off my flow of oxygen just as I turned my head. My survival instincts kicked in, I tried grabbing at his hands to pry them loose. Air. I needed air. Then I heard stringy-haired’s voice.

  “Hey boss, chill a little would ya? We haven’t had enough time to play with her yet. I want a turn with her,” he nearly begged Tom.

  Tom kept squeezing but then suddenly let go of my neck. I gagged and coughed, trying to pull air into my burning lungs that had been deprived of air.

  “You’re right, boy. It’s time to have some more fun. But you? You will not touch her until I say. I don’t do sloppy seconds. She is mine first and foremost. You and your idiot bother can have her after.”

  Tom grabbed my arms and shoved them above my head. I whimpered in pain. My shoulder was broken and the pain radiated all the way up my neck.

  “What’s wrong, wife? Are you hurt? Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. But you haven’t seen anything yet. Go get my tool bag from my office, boy and made it quick. I am going to show my wife, the new ways I have of hurting her,” he said, laughing as he looked at me.

  I cringed, realizing that I wouldn’t be able to reach the piece of metal with my arms held down. Tom climbed on top of me forcing my legs apart. Panic seized me and I started thrashing with all my might. Pain or no pain, I wouldn’t be raped again by him. Just then he slapped me to get my attention. Suddenly, he grabbed me hard between my legs, digging in his fingers. Drawing back his leg, he kneed me. A scream of pain tore through my throat while bright lights flared my vision. He laughed and did it again. I tried to fight, twist, move my legs to kick at him. Nothing worked. I knew I couldn’t take much more. The pain was becoming too much to bear.

  Pop, pop, pop, pop! Just as I heard the strange sounds and a door opening, he unzipped his pants. No! God please no!

  “Boss, we have big trouble!”

  “Shut the fuck up. Can’t you see I am about to fuck my wife?” Tom screamed at him.

  Looking down I saw Tom was having trouble with his weapon of choice. It was limp. He stroked it hard, trying to get it to work. Nothing happened. I started laughing hysterically. I knew I shouldn’t, but it was karma fucking with the right person for a change. He couldn’t get it up.

  “Shut up, you fucking bitch!” He kneed me even harder. He let go of my hands, not thinking while he tried to figure out why his dick didn’t work. It was my opportunity. But I had to be careful. He was still watching me. I noticed stringy-hair looking scared at the continued popping noises but not scared enough to prevent him from coming over and getting on his knees to get a better look at my nakedness. He would fucking die too.

  Tom cursed and stuffed himself back into his pants, getting up quickly.

  “Go ahead and fuck her. But be quick about it and make sure it hurts as much as possible!” he ordered stringy-hair.

  Like a kid in a c
andy shop, he unzipped his pants and pulled them down. His putrid engorged member was ready to go. God, I can’t do this anymore. Please, please just let me die now. Tom walked to the door and went out as stringy-hair pried my legs apart. I screamed and kicked him. He leaned forward, biting the cut on my breast and laughing as he was about to enter me. A loud sound came from somewhere in the room. Stunned, I stared at the monster above me. A strange look crossed his face for a brief second and then he fell on top of me.

  When I looked over to the door, I saw someone but couldn’t tell who it was. I kept screaming, until I heard his voice. Shocked out of my panic, I screamed his name.

  “Jonah? Jonah, you’re alive? Oh, my God, I thought you were dead. Help me, Jonah!” A feeling of hysteria took over. Jonah had killed stringy-hair and his body was on top of me. I couldn’t move.

  “Ally! Yes, I’m alive, baby! I to….” That was all I heard him say before he grunted in pain.

  I must have been hallucinating. There was no way Jonah was here. I saw him shot at the police station. My mind had totally splintered.

  “Well, well, I thought I killed you already. But no, here you are to save the day huh? I don’t fucking, think so, asshole. Ally is mine to do with as I please. She is my wife after all. But, I will tell you what. I will let you watch, as I fuck her and then cut her up piece by piece. When I am done, I will kill you, but only if you beg me nicely,” Tom taunted, then laughed in pure pleasure, staring at Jonah.

  “You are fucking dumber than I thought, if you think I will let you get near my woman, Tom. Ally was never yours and never will be. She is mine and what is mine, I protect and kill for. And you? I am going to take my time killing you. I know ways of torture that your brain couldn’t even fathom. And I can keep you alive as long as I want to, torturing you over and over, motherfucker. You think you’re some fucking badass for raping and torturing a helpless woman? You’re nothing, but a pussified ego on two legs. You have no idea who you are dealing with this time. My team has already taken out all of your men. It’s just you and me now. So, tell me Tom which piece should it be first? I will be nice just this once and give you a choice,” Jonah spoke with a pure but deadly calm.