by Anya Summers
And yet she could feel the mother of all climaxes building, like a black hole absorbing all the stars and planets until it exploded. Jack hammered her body, thrusting hard and deep until it felt like he was a part of her.
His control slipped as he thrust, which meant he was close to climaxing.
Her hands slid down his sweat-slicked back and gripped his ass. She canted her hips, meeting his repeated thrusts. Jack buried his face in the crook of her neck and his movements turned feral, pumping in and out with such force, it was a wonder he didn’t plunge through her body. Yet that was all it took to catapult her into the black hole and cause an explosion.
“Jack!” she keened.
He plunged deep inside, his cock shuddered and jerked, pouring his spunk inside, filling her sheath with his cum. They rocked their hips, drawing their orgasms out until the last spasming shudder.
Jack’s face rose above hers. His thumb traced her bottom lip. “I love you. If something happens to me—”
“Jack, don’t.”
He cupped her face. “No, I need you to listen. I’ve made arrangements for you. Spencer will help get you out of Jackson Hole if something happens to me tomorrow. He’ll get you to Pleasure Island. You should be safe there. He knows the owner. No one could get to you. Promise me you will go.”
Rayna couldn’t stop the tears but she nodded. “Okay, Jack, I promise.”
And then he kissed her, filling her heart with more love than she had ever known was possible. She prayed that they’d both survive because she didn’t think she would want to if Jack didn’t. They fell asleep intertwined, their hearts beating as one.
Chapter 29
The day of the Fourth of July parade in downtown Jackson dawned bright and sunny. By nine in the morning, temperatures had already rocketed up into the low nineties, promising another scorcher. They were outside the middle school gymnasium, on the field by the Teton Cowboy float, waiting for the parade to start.
Jack knew that everyone was in position. Agent Carson had his team, along with the US Marshalls, stationed through the crowd. Spencer and Mitch were in plainclothes, standing beside the float. They each wore bulletproof vests beneath their Teton Cowboy tee shirts. Jack wasn’t riding on the damn float like he’d wanted to. Both Agent Carson and Chief Sheffield had voted him off the island, so to speak.
But he would be in the street, walking behind the float. It didn’t sit well with him, yet if he balked too much, they would make him sit on the sidelines. That was the last thing he wanted to do. Carter, Alex, Mason, and Cole rounded out the float.
Jack hated putting his friends in danger this way. The fact that each one of them was willing to be there to help shield and protect Rayna was something he would never be able to repay them for. At least they were all wearing vests beneath their shirts.
The entire department was in the streets of Jackson, some in uniform and others in plainclothes, all on the lookout for Travino. If he came anywhere near Rayna, they would spot him and catch him.
Rayna. Jack glanced her way. She wore jeans with her Teton Cowboy shirt. At least it covered the bulletproof vest. Hell, he’d wanted to outfit her in riot gear. That had been nixed rather quickly by Carson and the chief.
He strode over to where she stood by the float. Her body hummed with nervous energy. He slid his arm around her. “How are you holding up? It’s okay if you decide you don’t want to do this.”
She shook her head. “Jack, I’m not backing down. It’s time to end this.”
The parade director gave them the fifteen minute warning. Rayna tensed beside him. Agent Carson approached.
“Shit,” Rayna said.
“What’s the problem?”
She huffed. “I’m so nervous, I need to pee.”
“There are restrooms inside the middle school,” Jack said.
“I can take her,” Agent Carson said. He was wearing a black tee shirt and jeans, but underneath the shirt he had his vest on and his firearm stowed.
“Okay, let’s go before they leave without me,” Rayna said.
“Are you sure you don’t need me to take you?” Jack asked.
She went up on her tiptoes, brushed her mouth against his, then said, “I’m sure. David can protect me too. I will be back before you can miss me.”
Jack didn’t argue with her. Not today. As long as there was time to argue with her later and they caught the bastard, he would be fine. She was right. She would be safe with Agent Carson as well.
“Don’t take too long,” he replied, squeezing her waist and then releasing her. Carson nodded at him and escorted Rayna across the field to the middle school entrance. Jack wished he had said more, that there was more time.
With his gaze lingering on the door she and Carson had entered, in his mind Jack reviewed every spot on the map at which they had officers, agents, and Marshalls stationed, and the measures they had in place to safeguard Rayna and the townsfolk attending the parade. Yet as he did, he felt the clock ticking down to go time.
Rayna left the field and entered the air-conditioned building. The cool air blasted the sweat off her body, chilling her instantly.
“Are you okay?” David asked as they strode down the hall to the restroom doors.
“Sure. I’m fine.” If by fine he meant silently panicking. Hell, she was nearly hyperventilating. Ten years of running from Dominic, and it all came down to this moment, today. She prayed to whatever deity would listen that no one else died because of her.
At the door to the ladies’ restroom, she said, “I’ll only be a minute.”
David nodded. “I’ll be right out here. Yell if you need me. You’re going to do great today.”
Rayna entered the restroom and checked all the stalls. Jack had given her an education over the last few days, on entering a room and making sure it was empty. He wanted her to be the soul of caution and prepared for any scenario.
She took care of her bladder when she found the place empty, then washed her hands in the sink and studied her reflection. It was one she had gotten used to over the last few years. If this failed and she altered her face again, would she recognize the stranger staring back at her?
She inhaled a deep breath. If it came to that, she would cross that bridge, maybe with Jack guarding her back.
Rayna felt as ready as she ever was going to be and stepped out of the restroom. David was lying on the ground, blood leaking from a gash in his temple. Before she could scream, before she could do anything, a hand holding a sweet-smelling cloth slipped over her mouth and nose. She struggled and fought as arms closed around her.
But the drug on the handkerchief did its job. Rayna fought it, fought its effects with every last reserve of strength she possessed. It was no use. She felt herself falling, and the world around her go dark.
Her last conscious thought was that Jack was right. She never should have agreed to this plan.
Rayna and Carson had been gone for seven minutes and fifteen seconds. Jack paced back and forth, trying to expel his excess energy. The float was scheduled to begin its trek through town soon. When Rayna had been gone for ten minutes, he knew something was wrong. How long would it take her to pee? Unless she was sick…
Uneasily, he said to Mitch, “Wait here. Don’t let the float leave until I return with Rayna, even if you have to have the chief call the parade director. I’m going to go check on her. Radio me if she and Carson get back before I return.”
“Want me to come with?” his partner Mitch asked. The last time Jack had gone anywhere on a case without his partner, it had ended badly.
“I need you here, in case something goes wrong. I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s probably nothing.”
“You got it. Keep talking to me on the radio. Let me know you’ve located her and are on your way back. If you’re not back in five minutes, I’m coming after you with a team,” Mitch replied.
“That should do.” Jack strode across the field to the middle school entrance. He didn’t want to
panic, but the unease wouldn’t go away. Then again, he was about to put his girlfriend in the line of fire on a fucking float with a madman after her. There really wasn’t much to feel good about.
Inside the school, his tennis shoes squeaked against the tile floor. He radioed in to the rest of the crew. “Anyone see anything yet?”
All he received was a bunch of negatives. Jack rounded the corner to the bathrooms. Carson was sprawled on the floor. Blood seeped from his temple.
Jack knelt at his side and checked for a pulse, withdrawing his gun on the way down. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found Carson’s pulse.
Shit.
Jack didn’t think; he barreled into the ladies’ bathroom, searching the stalls and finding them empty. Leaving the restroom behind, he got on the horn. “Agent Carson’s down, witness is missing. The bastard got the jump on us. I repeat.”
Dread filled him as he waited for help to arrive for Carson. Rayna had the tracker in her shoe. They’d find her in time. That was what he told himself, but why didn’t he believe it? His heart squeezed as Federal Agents, police, and paramedics swooped in on the scene, and the call went out to search for Rayna.
Chapter 30
Rayna stirred. Her eyelids fluttered open. She squinted at the bright light. Her head felt like there was a little drummer boy inside it. She shifted and discovered her hands were tied to the chair she was sitting on.
Everything came flooding back. David. Was he dead? Had Jack discovered that she was missing? It had been stupid of her to leave without Jack. She had been careless, thinking no one in their right mind would be insane enough to sneak through lines of law enforcement. Except for one person.
“Welcome back, princess. Been a long time.” Rayna recognized the deep baritone. It was the voice that visited her in her nightmares. The one that made her scream in terror every time he caught her, because she knew the unspeakable horrors he would enact upon her; the pain, the fear, and the degradation to come.
Dominic Travino was slick, in an Italian gray suit and black dress shoes. His entire ensemble likely cost more than her SUV. He always did have expensive tastes, for a gutter rat. His black hair was slicked back from his tanned face. The most striking thing about him were his eyes; they were ice blue, and dead inside. She had stared at him over the barrel of a magnum 357 and seen nothing but death in his gaze.
“Dominic. I knew that was your stench. They’ll find me. You know that. You should leave now, before they get here.” Rayna was proud that her voice didn’t shake. She quickly glanced around, assessing the situation. They were in a warehouse of some sort. Five of his stooges stood nearby, all armed to the teeth.
Dominic grabbed a chair and sat across from her. He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. “We already found the tracking device in your shoe and flushed that bad boy into the sewer systems. They will never find you.”
Dammit. She should have pinned it into her panties. It was the one place Dominic wouldn’t have searched. She prayed Carson was alive. Deep down, she knew that Jack must be frantic by now. And if she could wish for anything, it would be that they’d had more time together. Time to love another and just be, because without the tracker, she doubted she would make it out of this alive. She had no idea where Dominic had taken her, or even how long she had been unconscious.
“Well, you got me. Now what?” she replied, her belly quivering in terror.
Dominic smiled. It chilled her to the marrow of her bones. “Well, that all depends on you. You’ve got a tremendous amount of payback coming your way for giving me the slip twice now. There won’t be a third time.”
He stood and removed his jacket, then rolled up the sleeves of his ivory dress shirt. She looked away, trying to get her rising panic under control. If there was a way out, she would take it. She just had to remain calm.
One of Dominic’s goons looked familiar. She focused on him. Dark hair, crew cut, eyes like a cop. Then it hit her. “You work with David in the FBI,” she accused.
The guy didn’t even flinch.
“Ah, yes, Agent Carson would be upset to know that one of his agents has been working for our organization. How long has it been, Kirk, fifteen years or so?”
That was his name. She knew he’d looked familiar. Agent Kirk Freeman shrugged. “Give or take a year.”
She asked the agent, “Why?”
“Because, my dear, we pay better,” Dominic informed her as he ambled over.
Fifteen years? But that would mean… “You son of a bitch! You’re the reason Nicolas died. You were the one who informed my father he was undercover.”
The agent didn’t respond, just gave her a slimy grin and chin nod. Rage boiled inside her. All this time, she had truly believed she was to blame for the way Nicolas had died, that it had been her fault. But it never had been. This guy was the reason Dominic always found her.
“It’s finally making sense to you now, isn’t it, Victoria?” Dominic gripped her chin. His fingers dug in so hard they would leave bruises.
She pushed through the pain. Her fury needed an outlet. She spat at his face. “That’s no longer my name. It hasn’t been for some time.”
Dominic released her chin and backhanded her. The force whipped her head back. Stars exploded behind her eyelids and pain radiated from the blow. Her cheek throbbed in agony. And when she turned her angry gaze toward him and his violent glare, she knew it was only the beginning.
“Anything?” Jack snapped, checking the monitor for the tracking device they had placed in Rayna’s shoe.
He was standing with a group of Federal Agents in the mobile van unit.
The guy at the controls—who looked like he was barely out of high school, let alone skilled enough to handle an investigation of this magnitude—typed in a sequence on the keypad. “It’s on the move, but it’s moving way too fast. Could be in a vehicle. But it looks like it’s going down streets that are blocked off because of the parade.”
“I would say it’s safe to assume they found the tracker.” Jack swore. “How are we doing on the traffic cams? Did we pick up anything, any image that could give us an idea of where they took her?”
The agent nodded. “Most likely. It’s moving too fast to be on foot, and for other people not to notice. When we cross reference it with the traffic cam footage at that approximate time, there’s nothing.”
Jack’s internal panic button was at Defcon one. He’d failed Rayna. How had they not seen this one coming? He should have expected treachery like this when it came to Travino. He had read the bastard’s file. They had expected him to make a stand out in the open with the trap they had laid. But Travino had been three steps ahead and executed a sneak attack behind their lines where they’d believed Rayna was safe.
She had tried to tell him, but he’d been arrogant enough not to listen.
Fuck.
Where the hell had Travino taken her? “We need to start canvassing, street by street, if necessary. He has to be holding her somewhere. At this point, we need to find the location and converge on it.”
“Ah, Detective?” Another one of Carson’s agents approached, his mocha skin and dark gaze steady, like he had seen action like this before and wouldn’t break under the strain.
“Yes, Agent?”
“Agent Marc Evans. I have Agent Carson on the phone.” He handed over his cell and Jack took it.
“Carson. Glad to know you’ll live,” Jack said into the receiver.
“Shut up and listen to me for a minute. We had a fucking mole—the whole time—on my team. I always wondered, considering how thorough the Marshalls are with their program, how Travino always found her.”
Jack went cold. “Explain.”
“It was one of my agents who took her, who knocked me out,” Carson replied.
“Who?”
“Agent Kirk Freeman. Fucking traitor. I’ve sent a message to my superiors on this, and to the rest of my team,” Carson said.
“Son of a bitch. I don’
t know how this helps us, but at least we know we weren’t lax on our security. The tracker was located in a sewer drain so we have no idea where he took her,” Jack replied.
“You’re not following me. Every agent is issued a cell phone in their name—a phone that we have access to, with an ability to track its location,” Carson explained.
“Shit. That means we can find her. Do you have the agent’s info?” Jack said, tamping down his excitement. They would find her, before it was too late.
“I’ve already sent Agent Strickland the info he needs. Let me talk to him,” Carson said. Jack handed over the phone to the kid at the computer.
Agent Strickland worked on the computer, pulling up records. “Ah ha. Got it. Now I can find him.”
“How long will it take?” Jack asked.
Strickland replied, “Fifteen minutes, tops, even if he’s not using it. Let’s hope he was dumb enough not to get rid of his phone.”
Jack got on the horn with Chief Sheffield to give him an update. He wanted the SWAT team ready to go on his signal. Jack was no longer in the mood to play nice. Travino had taken what belonged to him, and he could imagine quite well the terror the man was putting her through. He would make Travino pay.
“Got it,” Strickland announced. “Looks like the moron is on it.”
“Get me the coordinates. Strike team leaves in five minutes.” Jack left the van, and couldn’t stop the thought:
Just hold on a little while longer, babe.
Rayna tasted the metallic flavor of blood. Her lip was split. Her head ached. And she was starting to lose her grasp on her consciousness. She’d had one too many blows to the head.
“Why couldn’t you just let me go?” she said, sagging in her chair.
“Because of your father.” Dominic yanked her head back. Hard. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had pulled out half her hair with that move. He did it so that she would have nowhere else to look but at him.