by Julie Morgan
He motioned for the group to follow him to his Humvee. He pulled out a folder and grabbed the pictures inside. “Here’s a picture of Andria.” He handed her picture out and held one in his hands. Andria was smiling, wearing a blue top. He closed his eyes then turned back to his ride. “And this here is Draven Combs. This is his mug from the Denver prison.” He handed out the pictures and climbed into his car. “I’ve written the coordinates to the location on the back of Andria’s picture. It looks to be some type of warehouse storage area.”
“Are there civilians?” Cash asked.
Jax shook his head and turned on the ignition. “It’s an old area, no longer in use.”
“Of course it is,” Cash said and shook his head.
“Let’s roll,” Jax said and closed his door. He exhaled a long, hard breath and gripped his steering wheel. “I’m coming for you, baby. I promise I’ll be there soon.” He looked up to the sky and sent up a silent prayer.
Please, Lord, keep her safe. Give her the strength I know she has inside her. Please, please keep her safe.
A man’s home may be his castle, but just as the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, so too would the heaviest of fortresses. Jax followed the signal to the old industrial area. Cement walls still stood in this derelict area.
Cement was strong, but his explosives and armor were stronger. They parked half a mile away and gathered their supplies, explosives, and first aid. On foot, they walked through the dilapidated area. Sweat ran down his back, chest, and forehead. His gear was heavy, but in that moment, he felt he carried the world.
As they closed in on the location, he held out a hand to silence his unit. He held his Glock at the ready and turned off the safety. Jax approached the wall in silence. His back to it, he faced forward and waited for the cue to continue.
A moment passed until he felt a tap to his shoulder. The all clear. He held out his hand and Cash placed a listening device in it. Jax took it and leaned against the wall.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on what he could hear.
Nothing.
He moved to the left.
Nothing.
He moved to the right.
He heard grumbling and he opened his eyes. He moved further right.
He heard a scream, someone yell, another scream.
Jax nodded and handed the device back to Cash. He motioned the group forward. Small steps, they moved in on the target. Three feet away was a door. He motioned to it then squatted down. When they stopped, he grabbed the snake camera Greg brought along. He attached it to a mobile screen and turned it on. Jax pointed it at himself and his image appeared on the screen. He looked to Cash and nodded, then laid on the ground by the door to the building.
Using his fingers, he dug out the debris under the crease between the door and the ground. It provided just enough space to slip the snake through.
“We’re hot,” Cash whispered. “The room’s not dark, but it’s hard to see.”
Jax pushed up on his knees and took the screen. He furrowed his brows and adjusted the sensors. There was a chair and someone in it in the distance, far from the door. Two people paced. He handed the screen to Cash and turned to Greg and Ben.
“There is a chair on the far side of the room. I can’t get a clear picture of it. Two people are inside pacing. I need overwatch to give me a better picture.”
“On it,” Ben told him. “I’ll snake another camera in and send it to your window.”
Jax nodded. “Be careful up there. The roof may not be sturdy enough to hold your weight.”
“I’ll walk on the support beams. I got this, Jax.” Ben stood and jogged away, disappearing around the building.
Someone inside screamed. Jax’s chest tightened. Using the listening device, he pressed it to the door.
“Why are you doing all this for you? You said you loved me!”
What the fuck? Jax thought. Brandi?
“If he loves you, why would he have me here?”
Oh yeah, that was Andria. She’s alive, thank God. She’s fucking alive.
“Shut the fuck up!” Brandi screamed. “You’re only here so he can kill you and get it over with! He wants me!”
The room remained quiet for a moment. Jax adjusted the camera some to try to get a better look, but it was of no use. He needed overwatch. He glanced to Greg and motioned for the gatecrasher. Greg nodded and took a few steps back to get the explosive ready.
Jax held his breath as he watched the screen.
“Baby, why take her back? Don’t you love me?”
Jax blinked. Andria? She’s fucking with his head? Fuck yeah, that’s my girl. Keep going. Psych him out.
“Take me home, Draven. Come on, baby, take me home. You’re right. I shouldn’t have left. I belong with you, always. Take me home.”
It pained Jax to hear those words, not because she said them to him, but because she chanced drawing him closer to her. He could call her bluff and kill her. He could also fall for it and release her. He prayed for the latter.
“Shut up,” Brandi screamed. “He does not love you, you whore!”
“Brandi! Shut your fucking mouth,” Draven yelled.
Jax grinned. It’s working, baby, keep working it.
“No! I will NOT shut my mouth! You said you loved me. I found you in prison. I helped you escape. I love you, Draven, dammit! Me, not her!”
Overwatch came online and Jax’s camera shifted views. Seeing from the top, he found Andria tied to a chair. Draven stood over her, with Brandi closing in. Andria had bruising on her face, but he could not see much else. Her hair had been mangled, her arms tied behind the chair.
Brandi pushed Draven and slapped his face. “You said you loved me!”
Draven turned to face Brandi. Jax watched him as he moved toward the woman. Brandi stood her ground to him.
Bad mistake, woman, Jax thought.
“Hey, Brandi,” Andria called out. “He killed my father and tried to kill me. What makes you think he won’t kill you?”
Draven paused and kept his sights on Brandi. “I did it because your father kept you from me. You’re mine, Alexandria. Always will be mine.”
Brandi’s body had begun to shake. Anger? Maybe rage? Both? Didn’t matter. It was a distraction Jax needed. Without looking away from the screen, he motioned for Greg to get set up. Jax pointed to the door and stayed on the ground while Greg set up the explosive.
Jax looked up to Greg for a moment. A gunshot erupted in the silence. Jax held his breath and looked back to the screen. Brandi laid still on the ground, bleeding out from her head.
Andria screamed.
Draven turned with the gun pointed at her.
Andria shook her head, frantic. “Draven, no, please, baby. I want you to take me home. Release me, please,” she cried. She pulled at her restraints.
Jax died a little inside and his hands shook. He knew what she was doing, hell, she knew what she was doing. She was feeding that SOB exactly what he wanted to hear. Draven stepped closer to her and had the gun at her forehead.
Fuck! “How much longer?” he whispered to Greg.
“Ready in five, but you need to move out of the way with me.”
Jax nodded and closed his eyes. I love you, baby, and I’m coming in to get you.
Holding the camera to his chest, Jax got to his feet and waited for Greg to wire the gatecrasher. Greg began to unwind the wire and took a few steps back. Jax took a hold of his vest and led him backwards. Jax looked toward the south side of the building and found Cash over there, waiting for the explosion. In case Draven managed to escape again, Jax and Greg would be there. He looked to the north and Ben was there, safe from up top. Ben on one side of the building, Cash on the other. Draven had no where to go.
Jax looked to the screen once more. Andria stared up into the eyes of a murderer. She did not stand a chance with him if he did not get in there. He sat the screen down and turned his back to the building, covering his ears. “Now,” he ordered.<
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16
Jax felt sick to his stomach and the air around him was thick. A chill ran up his spine whereas sweat beaded on his forehead. Smoke and debris littered the area. Jax held his Glock at the ready and trucked forward, Greg to his left.
The gatecrasher did its job. A large man-sized hole was made and not much was left of the warehouse. Jax prepared to toss in a flash-bang grenade when he heard a scream, followed by a gunshot.
“Fuck!” Jax rushed inside and held his gun at shoulder level. No one was standing or moving about. “Andria!” He stepped further inside. He made it as far as Brandi’s body. The woman was dead, without a doubt. No one survived a head wound like that and lived to tell about it.
He motioned for Greg to check her body anyway, just in case. As Greg knelt down, Jax continued his pursuit inside the warehouse room.
“Andria, answer me, baby. Are you safe?”
A groan caught his attention just as the dust of the explosion settled to the ground. Draven’s body had pinned hers to the floor, but he wasn’t moving. There was blood, a lot of blood. He rushed forward as another groan erupted in the silence.
“Get the fuck off me!” It was Andria.
Jax sighed with relief, she was alive. He pointed his Glock at Draven and bent down, pressing it to the back of his head. “You move, I will kill you.”
“You can’t kill him, he’s already dead,” Andria told him. “Get him off of me, please.”
Jax felt for a pulse in the man’s neck and sighed once more. He was gone. The monster was vanquished. Her father’s killer would never again bother his daughter. The breaking-out-of-prison-to-find-his-conquest-again was truly, and finally, dead.
He grabbed the man’s shoulder and heaved his body off the woman he had fallen in love with. What Jax did not expect was a gun shoved in his face. He stared down the barrel of the hammerless revolver Andria held. The gun shook in her hands. Her eyes welled with tears. Her mouth shook as shock had begun to hold claim over her body.
“Andria, it’s me, Jax. Let me have the gun. You’re safe now, baby. No one will hurt you. Draven is gone.”
“You…” she started and held onto the weapon. “You promised to keep me safe.”
The words struck him like a hot iron thrust through his chest. He held his poise and continued to talk to her. “Andria, I am not him. I promise, I will never hurt you the way he did. Suzy will be with you soon. We have a call out to her.” Jax waved to Greg and behind him, he heard the response.
“On it.” Greg rushed from the room. Jax knew he would dial Andria’s sister.
“Andria, I wish I could change the past and never let you from my sight. I wish I had someone escort you to the bathroom. I wish we never went to the party. There are so many different scenarios that are playing through my head of what if we did this, or what if we did that. I cannot change what happened, but only offer my most sincere apology and promise that nothing like this will ever happen again.” He slipped down to his knees and held his hands out in surrender. “Let me take you home. We can begin our life once again, and put all of this behind us.”
Andria’s hands shook as did her body. Jax waited for her to give in, and knew it would be a matter of time. Only a second had passed but it felt like an eternity. She gave in and dropped the weapon.
Jax picked it up, flipped on the safety, and shoved it into the back of his pants. He looked her over, hoping Draven had not shot her, punched her, anything. From what he could manage to see, she seemed to be okay. He held out a hand to her and Andria stared at it. Her lip began to tremble. Instead of taking his hand, she lunged for him, thrusting her arms around his neck.
With a sigh, he wrapped his woman in his arms and held her close. Her body shuddered as she cried into his shoulder. He moved his hands up and down her back and whispered, “I have you. You’re safe. I love you.”
Jax scooped Andria into his arms and stood. He carried her out of the warehouse and into the open. Red and blue lights staggered through the trees and uniformed officers approached the scene.
Greg was talking to a few of them when one broke away to approach Jax.
“Is she okay?” asked the officer.
Jax nodded. “She was bound to a chair and possibly hit a time or two, but he didn’t shoot her. The escaped convict is inside dead, as well as one of his accomplices. I have video recordings of the ordeal inside I’m happy to turn over, as well as records showing Miss Huffton hiring GAPS for protection.”
“We’ll get to that soon enough, son. You’ve done a real good thing here. There’s an ambulance, just over by the parked cars. Please get her checked and see if she needs further medical help.”
Jax nodded and held Andria close. She may need to go to the hospital but he would ride along with her. No way would he allow her out of his sight until she gave him the go ahead.
He approached the ambulance and sat Andria onto a stretcher. She clung to him around his neck. “Shh, it’s okay,” he told her and cupped her face. He kissed her on the forehead and continued. “I’m only setting you down for observation. I’m right here, not going anywhere.”
She nodded but did not let go of his hand. “I’ll tell you whatever it is you need to know.”
Two EMTs stood by, a man and woman. The woman brushed Andria’s hair back and smiled.
“You’re a very brave woman. Please tell the officers your story, if you would.”
Andria nodded. “I feel so tired.”
“Your adrenaline is fading,” Jax told her. He laid her back on the stretcher and lightly rubbed his fingers along her hairline.
Tears slipped from her eyes and she turned on the stretcher toward Jax. He rubbed her back while the EMTs checked over her body. The woman lifted Andria’s top in the back and shook her head. She met Jax’s gaze and pointed.
“There’s a bruise forming on her back, but no lacerations. We’ll get a thorough eval at the hospital.”
Jax nodded. He knew the drill, but he wasn’t happy about it. He lowered his gaze to Andria. He would do anything, give anything, to take this nightmare from her. He could only imagine the fear she felt facing the demon that plagued her life.
Noise caught his attention behind him and Jax turned to look at the warehouse. Two bodies were brought out on stretchers, covered in white sheets.
Brandi and Draven.
An officer approached and nodded to Jax. He returned it. “I need to ask her a few questions.”
Jax nodded and bent down to Andria. “Are you up for this?”
She nodded. “Help me sit up?”
He took her by the hand and braced his other hand under her. She sat up and smoothed down her hair. She wiped at her eyes and sniffed, then met Jax’s gaze.
“How do I look?”
He smiled. “Beautiful.” Swelling had started around her left eye. He grit his teeth to keep the rage to a minimum. He wanted to bring Draven back to life for the opportunity to kill him again.
“Ma’am? I’m officer Hightower of the Virginia Beach Police Department. I need to ask you a few questions.”
She nodded. “I’ll try to answer them best I can.”
“Are you comfortable answering in front of this man?”
Jax frowned. “I’m her hired guard.”
“Yes, it’s fine,” she offered and took Jax’s hand. The gesture did not go unnoticed to the officer.
“What was your relationship with Mister Combs?”
“He was an ex of mine. He murdered my father and almost killed me. He was sentenced to prison but escaped and came looking for me. Needless to say, he found me. Anything else?”
Officer Hightower jotted down a few notes then looked up. “Just a few. How did you get out of the restraints? We saw them inside and need to understand what happened.”
“I do have it on video,” Jax offered.
The officer held up a hand and motioned to Andria. “I need the account from her first, please.”
Jax nodded and looked to Andria. She met
his gaze and squeezed his hand.
“Well,” Andria started, “I gave him what he wanted. He wanted me. I told him I would leave with him, that I made a mistake coming here. I told him I wanted him to take me home.” She lifted a brow and looked to her legs. “He believed me, so he let me go.”
“What happened then?” Hightower asked.
“Just before he released me, he shot and killed the other woman, Brandi.”
The officer nodded and took notes. “Then what happened?”
“He pointed the gun to my head. I begged him not to shoot, that I would return home with him. Eventually, he left the restraints off.”
“How did it come about you shooting him?”
Andria looked to Jax. The look on her face seemed to ask for permission. Confusion settled over him. He nodded, hoping this was what she needed.
She shifted in her seat then continued. “Jax taught me how to fire a gun and fitted me for one to my size. I have my permit to carry. When Draven captured me, I remembered I had my gun tucked away in a holster inside my clothes, my revolver. When he untied me, he wrapped his arms around my body and held me tight.
“I used self-defense to free myself. I broke free and dropped to the ground, then punched him as hard as I could in the groin. He fell over and dropped his gun. I scrambled to the side to escape. He grabbed my ankle as I went to get to my feet. I fell forward and my gun fell from my holster. I reached for mine first and he followed, landing on top of me.”
“What happened to his weapon?” Hightower asked.
“I don’t know,” she said and continued. “As I was saying, he landed on top of me and I managed to grab my revolver. He had a hold of my wrists and bent my arms. He pushed down and tried to get the gun close enough to make me shoot myself.
“It was then that the wall was blasted open by Jax and his team. The distraction was what I needed. I pushed the gun to his throat and pulled the trigger. He died instantly on top of me. That was when Jax found me inside.”