I take Dylan’s arm and we walk into the living room to stand before Trevor and Mathis.
Mathis smiles evilly as he says, “Who gives this woman to this man?” He looks at Dylan with a raised eyebrow.
“What? Me? No, no way. I’m not agreeing to give my mom to this psychopath!”
Trevor growls and backhands Dylan sending him staggering back.
“Dylan!” I cry, grabbing him and pulling him to me before he can fall.
Trevor grips my arm tightly. “He will do what he’s told or he will be punished.”
In a panic, I grab Dylan and make him look at me. “Please. Just say the words. You don’t have to mean it, just say it. Please.”
I see my own stubborn look on his face. His jaw is clinched as he says, “No, this isn’t right.”
Trevor looks around the room for a moment, before grabbing a belt he’d discarded one night after beating me with it. He’s livid. I stand in front of Dylan with my arms wide.
“No, please. He’ll do it. He’ll say the words.”
“No, I won’t!” Dylan insists.
I glare at him. “Dylan James. Stop this. Just say it.”
“Mom, you can’t be serious?”
There’s a loud snap as the belt swishes through the air and lands across Dylan’s shoulders. Dylan cries out in pain as he looks to me in abject horror. He has never been hit a day in his life.
“Trevor, don’t!”
I do my best to try and block my son, but Trevor’s brandishing the belt as if it’s some sort of whip. He’s hitting anything he can reach, even me. I shove Dylan down and out of the way as I charge at Trevor.
“Stop! Leave him alone!” I scream, jumping on him and trying to wrestle the belt out of his grip.
Trevor shoves me off him, tossing me across the floor like a discarded doll before attacking Dylan again. Dylan screams, covering his face with his hands. I move to try and grab Trevor again, but Mathis wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me against his chest. His mouth presses by my ear as I struggle to get free.
“Stop fighting. You’re not going to save him.”
“Let me go, Jason. Let me go! He’s going to kill him.”
Mathis chuckles. “No, he’s not. I won’t let it go that far. I can’t have my fun ruined.”
I struggle more, kicking, hitting, and biting anything I can reach. It does me no good. Mathis is too strong. He simply laughs at my struggle while I watch Dylan cower on the floor, trying to protect himself from a mad man.
“Trevor! Please stop. I’ll marry you; I’ll even make love to you, just, stop hurting my son.”
Trevor finally pulls back. He turns to me, breathing heavily, and throws the belt across the room. His eyes look wild and dark, like a caged animal ready to strike as soon as he’s released. He grabs Dylan and hoists him up from the floor.
“Say the words.” The growl in Trevor’s voice is deadly.
“I do. I give her away.” Dylan is crying and shaking with fear.
“Good. Now that that’s settled, lets continue.”
Mathis reads through the standard vows. I can’t focus. I hear nothing, but speak when I’m told, and before long Trevor is smiling and kissing me. I don’t respond, until he pinches my arm hard.
“Introducing Doctor and Mrs. Daniels,” Mathis says with a flourish, even taking a bow to us like we’re royalty.
He thinks this whole situation is hilarious. I wish I had a knife, I would kill him now. Him and Trevor both deserve to die. I turn just as Dylan collapses onto the floor.
“Dylan!”
I’m immediately in doctor mode as I check him over. I roll him onto his back and unbutton his shirt, making sure his airway isn’t restricted. To my surprise, Trevor also goes into doctor mode. He pulls out his pen light and checks Dylan’s eyes, then examines his chest, stomach and sides.
“I think he’s fine. He’s bruised, but nothing is broken.”
“Internal bleeding,” I say.
He rolls his eyes. “I didn’t hit him hard enough for that and you know it.”
“Will you help me get him to my room?” I plead but when he doesn’t say anything I add, “You said that he could stay in the house.”
“Fine.”
Trevor bends and picks Dylan up. I can tell it’s hard for him, Dylan isn’t little and he’s dead weight, but he manages to get him to the room and on the bed. I grab a rag from the bathroom and wipe his face and neck. There are big, red, angry welts covering his arms, face, chest, and probably his back and legs. Thankfully, his clothing helped to soften the blows so there’s no bleeding or broken skin. I kiss his forehead.
“I’m so sorry.” Trevor grabs my arm and pulls me away from him. “No, I want to stay with him.”
“No, you’re staying with me. I’m your husband now. This wedding will be legally binding as of tomorrow morning. Ryan will have no legal reason to break in here and rescue you.”
I roll my eyes. “Do you really think he needs a legal reason? Besides, you kidnapped his son. That’s reason enough, even if I chose to stay with you.”
He looks as if he’d never thought about that. What a stupid fool. He’s getting too cocky with his plan. He thinks he’s invincible. I hate to break it to him, but he’s not. Ryan will end him for what he’s done.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re mine now, and even if he gets you back, I’ll never divorce you. You’ll never be able to be with him like you really want to be. You’ll always be mine.” The evil look in his eyes terrifies me.
“I’ll never be yours,” I mutter.
He squeezes my arm. “You already are.”
With a quick, sharp jerk, he hauls me out of the room and across the hall to his. He shoves me inside and slams the door behind me, locking it. I grab the knob and pull on it but it doesn’t budge.
“Where are you going? Let me out, Trevor. If I’m your wife, I should be able to roam around my own house!” I yell, banging on the door.
There’s no reply. I rip the stupid veil off my head and throw it on the ground, and promptly stomp on it until it’s a dirty tattered mess of organza and toile. I’m so angry. I take off my heels and throw them as hard as I can. I start to grab anything I can reach and throw it against the wall and window. I hate him and want him dead. I slowly slide down the door, letting go of all my emotions. My entire body shakes with the strength of my sobs. I want my baby. I want Ryan. I want to go home.
“Ryan, where are you?” I mumble through my tears.
I don’t know how long I sit there. It’s probably only been ten or fifteen minutes, but it definitely could be longer. I’ve lost all sense of time. The door suddenly pushes against me, but I don’t move. I don’t want him in here and I’d rather die than let him in voluntarily.
“Shayla, move away from the door.”
“No.”
He growls. “Shayla Daniels, move now.”
“I’m keeping my maiden name.”
I shove back, slamming the door shut. He shoves hard on the door, causing me to fall forward. I just lie there. Whatever is going to happen, I’m not going to make it easy for him.
“Get up.” I don’t move. He picks me up, walks over to the bed and drops me onto it. “You’re being a petulant child.” I say nothing. I continue to lie there like a lump. He sighs dramatically. “If I let you check on Dylan will you perk up?”
I look at him. “Yes.”
He smiles at me. “Come on then.”
He holds his hand out, and I take it without thought. He pulls me up from the bed, kisses me, and then tugs me along behind me. He unlocks the door to Dylan’s room. He’s sitting up in bed eating what looks like a cookie. I rush to him, throwing my arms around his neck.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. He brought me milk and cookies. That’s weird, right?”
“Yeah, it’s weird.”
Dylan wipes at my face. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I was just upset because he wouldn’
t let me stay with you.”
“He didn’t hurt you?”
I shake my head. “No, he didn’t. But I’m more concerned about you.”
Dylan looks back at the closed door, then to me. “How long do you think he’ll let you stay in here?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I wish Dad would hurry and find us.”
“Me too, was he getting close to finding me?”
“Dad wasn’t very close, last I heard. We got into a huge fight and I stayed at Grandma Penny’s. That’s where they got me.”
“What were you and Dad fighting about?”
“It was dumb, Mom,” he says looking down.
Hmm, not sure what’s going on with the two of them, but I can’t deal with that now. I don’t say anything for a little bit, trying to rein in my worry and concern for not just Dylan and Ryan, but about all of Ryan’s family. How far will Mathis go to hurt him?
“Was Grandma Penny okay?”
“She is, as far as I know, but Danny …” Dylan stops, tears begin to form in his eyes. I hug him to me.
“What happened to Danny?”
“That guy, the one who Dad called The Fox, killed him.”
I gasp, Danny was just a kid, just like my Dylan. How could he hurt a young boy, someone who can’t defend themselves against attack. This is crazy.
“Mom, he beat the crap out of him and then shot him in the head. He did it in front of me. I tried not to watch, but he made me. Every time I looked away, he’d hit me. I should have done more to help Danny.”
I squeeze him tighter as he cries. “Oh, Dylan, none of this is your fault. You did everything you could. I’m so sorry you had to see that; that you had to lose your cousin like that.”
“I don’t know how he got there. I woke up and we were tied together, then the next thing I knew he was dead.”
I hold my son as we both mourn for the loss of his cousin. This whole thing has gone way too far. I hope to God that Ryan ends him soon. The door to the room opens and my heart sinks.
“Times up.”
I turn to see Trevor smiling and looking like he’s won the lottery. My heart sinks to my stomach and I fight the urge to vomit.
“Now, Shayla, or I’ll get Jason.”
I stand and kiss Dylan’s cheek. “Please do what they say.” He nods, gripping my hand tightly. “I’ll be okay, Dylan. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
After one last kiss to his forehead, I follow Trevor out of the room to face my fate, but in the back of my mind, I’m praying that Ryan finds me in time.
Chapter Nineteen
Ryan
We set to work forming our plan of attack. Jon is on the phone with one of the guys from his office, arranging to have his helicopter delivered. We probably won’t need it until the rescue is about over, but I want it there in case Shay or Dylan have to be airlifted out of here, heaven forbid.
“I think we can do a recon at dusk. We want to be sure we know exactly what we’re going into. There may be areas we aren’t seeing clearly on the monitors.”
Marsh doesn’t look up from the computer as he speaks. He glances at Linc, pointing out something on the map, then finally turns to me. He can see the anger in my expression. I want to go now, the longer we wait, the longer my family is with those psychopaths!
“I’m sorry, Ryan. This is what we need to do. We have to keep our men safe. We can’t rescue Dylan and Shayla if we go in halfcocked and end up dead. I know this is tough, but I’ll do everything I can, just like they were my own family. I swear that to you, Ryan.”
I know he’s right, but hearing that Shayla and our son have to stay with these monsters for a moment longer than necessary makes my skin crawl. Who knows what Daniels is doing to her? He wants her, wants her as his girlfriend, that much I know. Would he stoop so low as to rape her? God, I hope not.
As far as Mathis is concerned, I’m not sure what he’ll do to Dylan. His sole reason for taking him is to torture me by hurting him. Is he okay right now? That phone call didn’t make it sound like he was okay, which I’m sure is exactly what Mathis wanted. I shove my hands in my pockets, needing to do something with them.
“I know you’re doing what you think is best, but don’t expect me to sit by and do nothing. I’m not a civilian. I know what I’m doing. I don’t want us going in unprepared. Losing one of our men may cost my family their lives. Don’t worry, my head is clear, Marsh.”
“Good. Now, get to work. We need you on weapons. Go help Paul.”
I salute him, earning me a salute that wasn’t so nice, but it breaks some of the tension in the room.
“I’ve set up these tables for weapons. We’ve got an overload of guns, but depending on who they call in, we might just need them.” Paul lays two shotguns on the table, then turns to pick up two more.
“I’m sure there are more people at the property than we know about. Those bunkers worry me,” I say, lifting a big box full of ammo to the table to sort.
“Exactly, I think Marsh called in the local police. Plus, we have your officers and the neighboring counties are sending men. I think we’ll have at least thirty by tomorrow.”
“That should be plenty.” We could be walking into an ambush. Mathis has hundreds of people under his control. I pick up another crate to unload. “Uh, I don’t see the point of these.” I hold up a taser.
Paul smirks. “You know, you don’t have to go in with guns blazing to win the war.”
I snort. “If you’re doing it right, you do.” He shakes his head at me.
“Ryan!” I turn towards Marsh. “We have movement.”
I drop the taser back into the crate and run over to the monitors. On the screen are two men, dragging Dylan from the house into the storage building.
“Talk me down, man, because right now I want to bust in there and get my kid.” My anger is boiling so close to the surface that I’m not sure I can contain it. Marsh grabs my arm.
“We’ll get him. At least we now know that he’s alive and walking. We’ll move in soon. It’s about an hour before dusk. Let’s get ready to do some recon.”
“Yeah, I need to do something. Suit up,” I order, not really caring that Marsh is the one in charge.
By the time we’re ready to move out, a car is pulling down the long driveway. It looks like your standard rental car, which I’m sure Riley can trace. Marsh walks over to both Riley and Howard and taps the monitor where the vehicle is moving.
“Find out who it is and keep us posted. If they leave, we’ll stop them for questioning,” Marsh instructs Riley and Howard, then turns to the rest of us. “Ryan, with me to the west. Paul and Jon, head east. Linc and Smith, north. Jessica and Matthew, head toward the driveway entrance. You’re both in uniform so you can stop the occupant and bring them in. We won’t be able to keep them long, but maybe we can get some information. Sound off.”
“I’d like to go,” Tom says.
“Not this time. I want you to stay here and guard these guys.” Marsh thumbs over his shoulder to Riley and Howard.
Reluctantly, Tom agrees. I know he just wants to get to Shayla and Dylan, but we can’t risk him getting overwhelmed with emotion and reacting instead of thinking with his head. I’m sure that’s why Marsh put me with him. He doesn’t trust me. Of course, I don’t blame him.
We each sound off in our coms, and when we have confirmation that everything is working perfectly, we head over to the four wheelers and set off. We can only go about six of the ten miles between us and the compound just to be sure no one hears or sees us, but it’s better than walking the whole ten. We stop near a small open area. There’s enough tree and shrub coverage to cover the ATVs in case someone should come near here.
“Promise me, that even if you see Dylan or Shayla, you won’t do anything. We need to be sure we go in prepared so we don’t end up killing them or us.”
“I’m not a civ …”
“Yes, I know. You’ve said that enough times. It does
n’t matter if you’re a civilian or not, Ryan. These are two people you love, people you’d give your life for. That can make anyone react, instead of act. You know this.”
“I’m good. I want them home safe.”
Marsh nods in response and we start our walk, guns at the ready. Mathis knows we’ll be coming. There’s no telling how far he’ll be sending his men out or how many he has employed. If he pulled from his family’s resources, then he could have a hundred for all we know. A noise to our left causes us to pause and assume fighting stance.
“A deer,” I breathe in relief.
Marsh chuckles. “I feel like an army is going to jump out at any minute. I’m having some serious flashbacks.”
“I totally understand. The desert is almost easier than all these dead leaves and evergreens. There are more places to hide out here.”
“Exactly. Ryan, over there, it looks like they have an electric fence about 30 yards up.”
I look and see a bright yellow anchor attaching the wire to the almost invisible brown metal post. Marsh radios the others, and it looks like they’ve run into the fence as well.
“Eagle to base. Come in base.”
“Reading you loud and clear, Eagle, go ahead,” Riley answers.
“Looks like we have an electric fence around the perimeter about a mile out. Over.”
“I read you, Eagle. Shutting power to fence in three, two, one. Proceed with caution. Over.”
Marsh reaches out and touches the fence, confirming that it’s dead. “Proceeding. Eagle, over and out.”
“Confirm proceeding. Hawkeye, over and out.”
Marsh snorts. Riley did this crap when we were in the desert. He signed off with different handles, trying to persuade us to call him something other than base.
“Eagle to base. This isn’t MASH. Over and out.”
We can hear Riley’s laughter, but he doesn’t respond. We carefully cross the fence and slowly make our way towards the compound. A few minutes later, Riley is buzzing us again.
“Base to Eagle, come in. Over.”
Marsh and I stop and look at each other. “Base, this is Eagle. Over.”
“We have confirmation on the driver. Over.”
Vengeance (Oak Grove Suspense Book 1) Page 26