Reunited

by Jodi Kae

  Chapter Twelve

  Survive:

  *continue to live or exist, especially in spite of danger or hardship. *manage to keep going in difficult circumstances.

  ~Olivia~

  I am no longer shackled because both my wrists are raw and bloody and I think he realizes there is no place for me to go. I have looked out the windows and there is no civilization in sight. Not even a noticeable road. We are secluded in a little cabin in the middle of the woods and I wouldn’t know which way to run for safety if I could get away. I haven’t even seen his truck so he must park far away and walk in. I have lost track of how many days I have been here and how many times I have been raped. Jerry keeps repeating that it’s not rape because we are together and the fact that we have not had sex before now is just a formality.

  “After so many years of cohabitation, we will be considered legally wed. I think it’s seven, so after six more years you will be my wife in the eyes of the law. We will probably have four or five kids by then and you will have no choice but to stay with me and love me as the father of your children.”

  He is delusional, but I don’t say that. He is getting angrier by the day about our “lovemaking,” as he calls it. I still call it rape but not to his face. He wants me to moan and say it feels so good, but I truly feel nothing other than violence. I have never had an orgasm with him and he has tried everything to coax one from my body. Thankfully, I have perfected my disconnect, so I feel nothing that resembles pleasure. When he is finished and realizes that he has once again failed to turn me on, he beats me relentlessly. He stays away from my torso; he says in case there is a baby, but my face, arms, and lower legs are covered in cuts and bruises. I have two black eyes and a split lower lip, and every time I stand, dizziness overwhelms me so I’m sure I have a concussion.

  He left today after my rape and said he would be back in five minutes. He was actually gone an hour and brought back pregnancy tests, forcing me to take one in front of him. I make a note of his timing for the next time he leaves.

  I am sure I haven’t been here for longer than a week and there is no way to discover pregnancy that fast. Even the box says the earliest detection is twenty-one days. This is just another example of how crazed he has become. I will never tell him about the birth control shot I’m on because I am sure I wouldn’t survive his rage.

  ~Savage~

  “What’s the latest information from Snake and the boys?” I have been going crazy in the hospital not able to help in the search for Livvy. Jax brought me a laptop and I have been searching for information on Jerry Stanford. I have a list of any and all addresses he has lived in since he was born. I know he has one brother named John Stanford who lives in Kentucky and his parents, Patricia and Tom, also live in Kentucky. Snake discovered that he has been estranged from his family since he started pursuing Olivia. Jerry told his parents that he had met a woman he wants to marry and would bring her home to meet his family soon. That was in the beginning of their relationship, and he hasn’t talked to them in over a year. His parents were helpful with anything we asked of them, the brother John, not so much. He refused to talk to me; once I told him I was FBI.

  “The latest report from Snake is that Jerry purchased a piece of property in Alabama that was just recorded a few weeks ago. His landlord from his and Olivia’s apartment said he moved out in the middle of the night about two weeks ago and did not give any notice. The neighbors started complaining about the noise coming from his place after Olivia left. They said he would scream all hours of the night and they could hear loud crashes and things shattering. No one knew what happened to Olivia and a few of the neighbors had gone to the police fearing foul play when they no longer saw her around.”

  Jax is as frustrated as I am that things are moving so slow, but it seems Jerry planned things very well. He covered his tracks, and we only got lucky on a property search that covered the Atlanta area and the surrounding states. “Has the team been to the property yet?”

  “There are no mapped roads leading to his property; it may as well be in freakin’ Alaska. We are using GPS coordinates and satellite maps to locate the property line but have not located the cabin yet. We know the general area but have no idea if he has any booby traps or triggers to notify him if someone is coming. I feel like we are dealing with the damn uni-bomber. Secretive bastard. We are goin’ in tomorrow at 3:00 a.m. Our plan is to take up ATV’s as close as two miles from the property line and go in on foot.”

  Derek speaks up for the first time and I can tell he is holding back for fear that I will lose my shit. “Just spit it out, Boss.” I am also losing my patience.

  “Just listen to everything I have to say before you react, okay. We know you are getting released today and you are getting along fine. Our concern is the ride and hike up the mountain and what we may find when we get there. It might not be a good idea for you to come. The doc said you’d need at least two to three weeks and he ‘s only discharging you early on our word that we will keep you mellow. Running off half-cocked and out for revenge is not mellow. Why don’t you stay at the hotel penthouse with Ren, Tori, and Alex? We need someone here to watch over them as well.”

  I am going to say this in as calm a manner as I can because right now I feel anything but calm. “Derek, when you were dealing with your situation with Serenity, I did not advise you to back off and let someone else handle it. I only learned of most of your circumstances recently, but I would’ve backed you in any way I could. I hope you are not asking me to sit back and let someone else save my woman.”

  “You just recently learned of her identity and she has not been your woman for the last two and a half years. You also just learned of your son and he needs to be your priority right now,” Derek tries to convince me.

  “NO!” I say with as much aggression as I feel. “I have searched for MY woman for two and a half years. I knew she was mine the moment I touched her. She is still mine regardless of whom she’s been with or lived with in those two and a half years. I will be there when we take her off that mountain. She will know that I am not going anywhere for the rest of her life, regardless of what that bastard has done to her in the last seven days. She will know that fate played a cruel joke on us for the last two and a half years, but I intend to make it up to her for the rest of our lives.

  Jax, I have supported you in your half-cocked ideas for the last three years of being your partner. I may not have agreed with the way you handled Tori, but I supported you and went along for the ride. Don’t you dare tell me that I can’t go to Alabama to get Livvy and bring her home to our son.”

  “Hey, Mate, that was all Derek’s idea.”

  Jax throws up his hands and hikes his thumb in Derek’s direction but winks at me. I know it was probably his idea as well, but he is just trying to get Derek riled up.

  “You fu....pansy-a... pushover, we discussed this, Jax. He is still healing. What if he rips open a stitch or gets shot again since he doesn’t seem to know how to dodge bullets and we don’t bring him home to Alex? What are you going to tell that little boy? We didn’t have babies involved in either of our situations so I would think that should be a game changer.”

  Before Jax has a chance to speak for me, I lay down the gauntlet. “I understand your concern and I love you too, Buddy, but what will I tell my son when he is older of why I didn’t help rescue his mom.” That seemed to shut him up, and we are all now determined to fly into Tuscaloosa, Alabama, together.

  ~Olivia~

  Today is going to be a very bad day. Jerry has been screaming and throwing things around in the other room for at least an hour. He woke me up at sunrise to make me take a pregnancy test.

  “The box says that morning urine is the most potent and will give the best results.”

  I refuse to tell him that no amount of urine will give him the result he is wanting. I now have a new cut in the corner of my right eye and the white around my pupil is bloodshot red. He even disregarded his rule of no torso damage
and I think I might have a cracked rib from the toe of his boot. It hurts to breathe deep, so I just take shallow breaths and try not to cry. I cringe and shrink back into the headboard as he stalks back into the room.

  “You bitch! What are you doing? I know you are doing something to prevent pregnancy. You should be pregnant by now with how many times I have planted my seed.”

  “Jerry, please no more,” I beg. I can’t take much more of his abuse before my body shuts down completely. “It usually takes at least three or four weeks for the hormone to show up in a woman’s body. I was six weeks pregnant with Alex before I...” He backhands me so hard I fly off the other side of the bed hitting my head on the nightstand. The pain explodes through my skull as my vision goes black. I can still hear him screaming, but I can’t see a thing. I don’t dare move or feel my face to see if my eyes are open or not, so I lay very still. Maybe if he thinks he knocked me out, he will stop and leave me in peace.

  “Don’t you dare say his name in my damn house. He is the reason I am in this mess. Yesterday I heard a radio report saying that I was wanted for questioning in the disappearance of Olivia White and the shooting of Alexander Troy Savage. Now you have his full name, Olivia. Isn’t that what you have wished for over the last couple of years? Well now you have it and he’s dead all because of you so his name can’t help you now.

  I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry. I refuse to respond to his rant and I let my body go completely limp when he grabs me by the hair to jerk my head back.

  “You are pathetic and weak. I don’t know why I chose you to be the mother of my children. I should have gotten the hint when you told me your one and only lover just walked away. You may have a face and a body that would tempt a monk, but you are as cold as ice. Not a damn bit of warmth to you.”

  He picks me up and throws me on the bed. I lay completely motionless as if I’m unconscious and listen as he slams out the cabin door. I lay there listening for about ten minutes to dead silence. I blink my eyes several times, at least I think I do, but still see nothing. I reach up to feel my eyelids move and realize that I have lost my vision. Maybe the severe trauma to my head has caused blindness and I have just become more vulnerable than ever. I will not survive trying to get off this mountain without my sight, but I don’t think I will survive the night staying here either. I would rather take my chances being free and dying free than at the hands of a monster.

  I slide off the bed onto my hands and knees and frantically feel all over the dirty floor for any shoes. I know I am dressed in pajama pants and a tank top, which will not offer much warmth in these hills at night, but finding a coat might be impossible. Reaching my hand under the bed, my fingers brush across something soft. I grab tight and pull it out to feel one large slipper, probably his. I reach back under to feel for the other one, bingo. They will not offer much protection for my feet, but it’s better than nothing.

  “Please, God, help me,” I whisper as I slip my feet into the slippers and scramble to the bedroom door. This two-room cabin consists of a bedroom and bathroom plus a living room and kitchen combination. The bedroom door is to the right of the bed with the front door straight ahead from there. I remember a wood burning stove by the front door so I will stay to the left, so I don’t get burned if it is on. All of the furniture is to the right so there are no obstacles I remember that should be in my way. Tears are streaming down my face by the time I bump into the front door. I sit down and listen for about five minutes to get my bearings. Am I really going to do this? This is my only option unless I want to die on this mountain, so I reach for the doorknob and open the door to freedom. As I start to crawl through, my hip bumps into something and a large pole like thing falls on my back. I scramble to get out from underneath only to realize it’s a coat rack and I feel a slick thin windbreaker lying on the ground by my hands. That is better than nothing, so I struggle to put it on. I remember from looking out the windows that the mountain slopes downward away from the front door so that is the direction I’m heading. I plan to hide at the sound of any trucks and I pray that someone good finds me before he does.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rescue:

  *save someone from a dangerous or difficult situation. *keep from being lost or abandoned; retrieve. *to free or deliver from confinement, violence, danger or evil.

  ~Savage~

  “The perimeter line starts here and stretches to the north about two miles. Let’s spread out and go silent unless you come across the structure. Satellite shows it’s very small and built to blend. Watch for vehicle trails and pathways and keep your ears open.”

  Jax has taken over our team of seven and he leads as Derek, Snake, Boomer, Case and me slink up the mountain. Jim stays with the SUV at the bottom as a lookout. It’s 3:00 a.m. and eerily quiet until we hear shouts from up ahead.

  “You stupid bitch! You’re gonna freeze out here. If you kill my baby, I’m gonna kill the rest of your family.” The voice at the top echoes.

  “What the hell!” Case whispers. “Do we have the right property, over?”

  “Affirmative,” Jax whispers back.

  Jax looks at me, points to the left and we begin to belly crawl closer to the sound of the shouting. My head is clogged with images of her pregnant with this better-than-dead bastard’s baby. What will I do if she’s pregnant with his baby? I have searched for her for so long that I didn’t think of anything except getting her back. If she will have me, will it bother me to raise another man’s baby alongside my own? No! Any baby she carries will be a part of her. She is mine; I will love her and any baby she has or will have until the day I die.

  I don’t know why she left the morning after we made love, and right now I don’t care. She has been the only person in my life that I have given my first name too, and I had planned on telling her anything she wanted to know that morning, but she was gone before I got back. I can’t explain the pull to her I felt the moment I laid eyes on her any more than Derek or Jax could explain the connection they had to their wives at first sight.

  “I’m gonna kill you when I find you or make you wish you were dead.”

  Jerry’s shouting snaps me out of my head and I realize that I have quit climbing the hill. Jax is about fifty yards ahead of me and I’m sure the other guys have the cabin surrounded. I hear a slight rustling sound to my right causing me to remain motionless. There are a lot of predators in these mountains and the last thing any of us need is to be mauled by a cougar or hungry wolf. After a few minutes with no more sound, I begin my ascent up the mountain. As I clear a small rise, my night vision locks on the man standing at the cabin door holding a shotgun pointed at Case. We are all dressed in black with infrared headgear covering anything identifiable except for the colored band around one ankle. Case wears a yellow band and is standing motionless with his hands in the air. I’m sure he is playing up a distraction so the other guys can get into place and search the cabin.

  “Who the hell are you? Why are you on my property? If you’re here to take me in, I’m not going in for questioning. I will die and take her with me before you can take me.”

  Slight movement appears at the back of the cabin out of Jerry’s line of sight and I see Snake signal that there is no woman in the cabin. Where in the hell is she? I have the perfect kill shot, but if I take it we may never know what happened to Livvy. I need this man alive long enough to torture the information out of him. Jax whispers, “Take the shot Boomer.” A shot is fired from the left causing Jerry to pull his trigger and Case drops hard. Jerry falls to the ground screaming and loses his gun as Snake, Jax and Boomer rush in to secure him. I jump up and race toward Case, but when I’m within five feet of him, he stands up to brush debris off his clothes. “Damn, Case; I thought you were hit.”

  “Hell no! I know how to dodge a bullet.”

  He pulls off his goggles, winks and slaps my back as we walk toward the others. I’m never going to live that down. Jax has Jerry pinned down with a boot to his knee that
was blown to hell by Boomer’s bullet. He is screaming that he doesn’t know where she is. Just then Derek walks out from clearing the cabin.

  “She’s not in there.”

  “I swear. She ran this afternoon when I left. I came back around five, and she was gone. I have been searching all over this mountain and haven’t found her. It is 3:00 a.m. and freezing. If the animals haven’t got to her, the cold surely will. I don’t know why I bothered; she was a cold fu....”

  My bullet between his eyes shuts him up. I walk away shouting, “we’ve got to find my woman.”

  “Damn, Sav; that just means more paperwork. We could have put him away for life.”

  “Don’t you dare, Jax. Did you offer the same reprieve to Sully, or any of the guards in The House? This man shot me, tortured my boy for a year, kidnapped Livvy and probably raped and tortured her for days. DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON FAIRNESS OR RIGHTS NOW!” My voice echoes through the mountain. “He was hostile, he shot at Case and almost took him out. These are a few more reasons why he needed to die. Now help me find Livvy.”

  I remember the rustling I heard on the way up the mountain and move back down the mountain in that direction. Turning on my infrared, I sweep back and forth searching for anything to light up. If she is bleeding or injured, there could be any number of predators sniffing around. Fifteen minutes later I am about ready to crawl out of my skin when I spot a faint heat signature to my left. Crouching low, I crawl slow whispering, “Livvy, it’s Troy, shit, Alex. Livvy can you hear me?” Nothing. I scramble over to a small mound only to find her body buried in leaves and twigs, but she doesn’t move as I remove the debris. “Livvy.” Shit! Ripping off my glove to touch her face, I realize her body temp is low, and she has blood caked in her hair. “CASE, I NEED A THERMAL BLANKET. A HUNDRED YARDS DOWN FROM THE CABIN.” Within minutes, all the guys come sliding down the mountain to stop by my side. I have wrapped my body around hers and I’m reluctant to release her even for a second, so I roll with her and bring her on top. Case proceeds to wrap the blanket around her as I stand and we make our way to the SUV. As Case and I carry Livvy down the mountain, Jax moves ahead and starts barking orders to get everyone in place.