The TAKEN! Series - Books 13-16 (Taken! Box Set Book 4)

by Remington Kane

  “If Billy Gant wasn’t really Jack Wilson, then, we have some explaining to do,” he said.

  “This is a strange house. There’s no paperwork in the office and no family pictures anywhere, but that gun cabinet in the study looked big enough to hold an arsenal.”

  “If we’re right, they could be here very soon.”

  ***

  When nearly two hours passed, he began to think that he had been wrong about Bel Rey, but then a pair of headlights flashed across the front of the home.

  ***

  Jeffrey had let Hanna drive the entire trip. With one eye, he sometimes found driving at night difficult, and the last thing they needed was to get into an accident. After stealing a larger car from the movie theater parking lot, they had stayed off the major roads as much as possible.

  Circe had remained silent since seeing her father, and Jeffrey only hoped that it hurt her to see him die in the wreck of the motor home, having assumed that Doyle had perished in the subsequent fire, although, Jeffrey noticed, Circe hadn’t shed a tear for the man.

  All three of them were tired, and they had eaten badly, because out of all the food Hanna had bought earlier, the only things that didn’t require cooking were potato chips and warm beer.

  However, Billy Gant had been a carnivore and a drinker. Jeffrey was certain that the freezer and bar would be stocked,

  Jeffrey wanted to eat well, drink something on the rocks, and take a hot shower, but first, he wanted to get his hands on a gun that had bullets, since both his and Hanna’s were empty.

  He opened the front door and hit the light switch as Hanna and Circe followed him inside.

  As the door closed shut behind him, Jeffrey stood in front of the alarm pad and input the correct sequence of numbers.

  Just as Circe reopened the front door, while saying, “We forgot to bring in the food,” he saw his brother step out of the doorway to the dining room and point a weapon in his direction.

  Jeffrey leapt sideways, landing atop the threshold, and then scrambled on his knees and elbows back out into the night.

  ***

  Jessica was following her husband when Circe opened the door. All she saw of Jeffrey was a pair of legs sliding back outside, but as her husband ran for the door, she spotted Hanna heading for the hallway, down which laid the study and the safe full of guns.

  ***

  He reached the door just as Circe tried to slam it in his face, but he managed to slip through before it shut.

  He thought that he would find Mitchell attempting to escape in the car, but instead Jeffrey was running into the very woods that he and Jessica had walked through on their way there.

  He fired twice, missing both times and wondered why Jeffrey wasn’t returning fire. As a cloud passed in front of the moon, he lost sight of him, and so crouched low and listened.

  A sound, coming from somewhere on the right, but when he looked in that direction, there was no one there.

  Then, Jeffrey made the mistake of peeking out from his hiding place behind a tree, and he fired twice more as he moved in for the kill.

  “Leave my Jeffrey alone!”

  Circe, coming in low and hitting him in the back of the knees, if he hadn’t braced himself after hearing her shout, she might have succeeded in toppling him over, as it was she had knocked him off balance and spun him around, and he could hear Jeffrey charging from behind.

  ***

  Jessica was just about to fire the shotgun when Hanna went left and entered the study. Jessica cursed and began running again, but found the door slamming shut and heard a lock engage.

  “That’s a solid door, Jessica, by the time you blast it apart I’ll have the gun safe open.”

  Jessica didn’t bother replying, she just stepped back and fired shell after shell at the door.

  ***

  The gun safe had an electronic lock and Jeffrey had told Hanna that his father had used his birth date as the combination.

  Hanna input the first number as the blasting began.

  Two, three, four, then five 12-gauge shotgun shells shredded the frame around the lock, and afterwards Jessica was kicking at the door. Hanna swung open the heavy metal safe, reached in, grabbed the first weapon she saw, and fired the Colt Python six times at Jessica as she stepped into the room.

  ***

  Jeffrey tackled him and they both went tumbling over Circe, to fall tangled together, rolling down a hill, and it was his shoulder that slammed into the tree and stopped their momentum.

  The impact made him shout out in pain even as it sent the gun flying from his grip.

  As he tried to regain his senses, Jeffrey punched him twice in the stomach, before sprinting away and towards the house. He stood, willing himself to ignore the pain in his shoulder and followed after Jeffrey, who was hampered in his progress by Circe, who gripped his hand and ran alongside him, even as Jeffrey screamed at her to leave him alone.

  ***

  Jeffrey managed to free himself from Circe, but when he looked back past her, he saw that his brother was right behind them and gaining. He was not going to make it to the gun safe and could only hope that Hanna had.

  As he looked about for something to use as a weapon, he let out a roar of triumph when he spotted the swords, and no sooner had he freed one from the wall when his brother came charging at him.

  “Circe!”

  “Yes, Jeffrey?”

  “Go help Hanna while I kill my brother.”

  “But...”

  “Do as I say!”

  “Yes Jeffrey, but be careful,”

  Jeffrey smiled.

  “I’m not the one without a weapon.”

  ***

  Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!

  Jessica grinned at Hanna.

  “The gun isn’t loaded, and you’ve run out of chances.”

  Hanna dropped the useless gun and held out her hands.

  “Jessica, think about what you’re doing. You’re a doctor, not a murderer.”

  “You threatened my children you bitch, babies barely out of my womb!”

  “We weren’t going to kill them, just take them, take them and raise them as our own.”

  “And where would I have been while that was going on, hmm?”

  Hanna looked away, but then an idea came to her, an idea that just might save her life.

  “I understand how you feel, let me show you something. It’s in my pocket right here.”

  Hanna slowly reached into the back pocket of her jeans and took out the stick from Circe’s pregnancy test.

  “Look, see? I’m pregnant too. So Jessica, if you kill me, you’ll also be killing an innocent child, your husband’s nephew.”

  Mixed emotions flashed across Jessica’s face, and she began to lower the shotgun.

  ***

  He watched Jeffrey swagger towards him while swinging the wide sword in a threatening manner, confident that he would soon triumph.

  He glanced up at the other sword, but knew that even if he were to reach it, that by the time he freed it from the wall he’d be set upon.

  Beside the sofa was a floor lamp, the type that came on at a mere touch. He grabbed its base and stripped it of its shade, to wield it like a club.

  Jeffrey laughed.

  “A lamp? Is that the best you can do?”

  He said nothing, but just kept watching Jeffrey’s movements. He had done some fighting with swords for sport and knew a bit about it, but now his survival depended not so much on striking a blow as avoiding one.

  Jeffrey moved in, laughing, playful, jabbing at the air before him but not fully thrusting the sword forward.

  He stayed where he was because he had little room to maneuver if what he had planned was to work.

  Jeffrey drew first blood by nicking the back of his hand, it was a minor cut, but it did draw blood.

  He stared at Jeffrey, as he sent a taunt his way.

  “Billy Gant died on his knees, and so will you.”

  Jeffrey
stopped playing and brought the sword up in preparation for a killing blow.

  That’s when he thrust the lamp at Jeffrey’s face, even as he leaned back as far as he could. The blade missed the tip of his nose by the breadth of a hair and sliced through the lamp easily, but not before the bulb smashed open on Jeffrey’s chin, cutting him while also shocking him with electricity.

  Jeffrey yelped from the current and dropped to his knees, but he held on to the sword, held on to it, lifted it up and jammed it through his left foot and deep into the floor.

  The pain was agony and he struck out blindly, backhanding Jeffrey in his good eye, causing him to stumble away.

  He looked down at his foot and already there was a widening puddle of blood about it. The pain was nearly orgasmic in its intensity, but he knew what he had to do if he hoped to survive, and so he reached down with both hands, gripped the sword, and yanked it free.

  ***

  “Liar!”

  That epithet came from Circe and it was directed at Hanna.

  Circe marched into the room, passed Jessica as if she wasn’t there, and snatched the pregnancy stick from Hanna’s hand.

  “This is mine! I’m the one carrying Jeffrey’s baby, and I love him more than you do.”

  Hanna gave Circe a look of pure loathing and then hung her head.

  “Oh, you little bitch,”

  Jessica raised the shotgun.

  “Get out of the way, Circe.”

  Circe smiled at Hanna as she sent her a little wave.

  “Bye bye, Hanna,”

  Circe sashayed from the room and Hanna gave it one more try.

  “Please?”

  Jessica shook her head.

  “This is for my children.”

  And although the first blast killed her, Jessica shot Hanna twice.

  One for each of her children,

  ***

  Jeffrey’s vision cleared even as his eye began to swell shut, but he could still see well enough, and saw that his brother was swinging the sword his way.

  He leaned back out of the way while instinctively raising his hands in defense and six of his fingers flew into the air.

  As he gaped at the bleeding stumps, the sword swung once more, and this time his midsection opened and his intestines slid into view, before spilling out, and onto the floor.

  Then, he was on his knees, the excruciating pain having driven him there, and that’s when he heard the twin blasts from Jessica’s shotgun, and he knew, Jeffrey knew, Hanna was dead.

  ***

  He dragged his damaged foot along, feeling the severed bones grind against each other, and the wound seemed so wide that he felt the sword must have cleaved his foot in two.

  Jeffrey was down and severely wounded and now it was time to end this.

  He raised the sword in preparation to kill, but then heard Jeffrey whisper a name.

  Leaning over, he put his face near Jeffrey’s and searched his one good eye for the truth.

  “What about Michael?”

  “I, I, I... know... where... where he is.”

  He stared into his brother’s face and saw that he was telling the truth.

  “Jeffrey?”

  “Yes?”

  “What would ever make you think that I’d want another brother?”

  Jeffrey’s eye widened as the sword rose up high, and then came a massive killing blow, a blow that severed Jeffrey’s head and sent it tumbling across the room.

  A geyser of blood drenched him as Jeffrey’s body collapsed backwards.

  Next, there came a scream unlike any he’d ever heard, and as he wiped his eyes, he saw the woman/child Circe holding Jeffrey’s head.

  They locked eyes, his looking out from a scarlet haze as hers peered past a blur of tears. Then, she dropped the head, cried out in anguish, and ran off into the night.

  “Oh my good Lord,”

  It was Jessica, and she was rushing over to him as she absorbed the carnage. When she saw his foot, she gasped.

  “Put your arm around me. There are medical supplies in the bathroom, and you’re losing blood at a frightful pace.”

  “Hanna?”

  “Dead!”

  “The girl, she’s still out there,”

  “There’s no time for her. I need to treat your wound.”

  “Jessica, it’s over, it’s finally over,”

  “Yes, and may the Devil take their souls.”

  CHAPTER 19

  In the aftermath, he was flown to Sacramento to have surgery performed on his foot by a leading podiatric surgeon, and was told that it would take months to heal.

  Jessica visited him again the morning after his surgery with Jace and Lawson, and he gave her the news that the doctor wanted him to stay for a day or two, so that the surgery could be evaluated.

  “I don’t want you to stay here with me. I want you to go home and take care of the children.”

  “Maybe in a day,”

  “No, they’ve been without us for too long.”

  “You’re right, but I hate leaving you alone in a strange city.”

  “He won’t be alone,” Jace said. “I’m gonna stick around so I can help him when it’s time to catch a flight home.”

  “You are?” Lawson said.

  “I am, if you don’t say otherwise boss man,”

  Lawson grinned.

  “Stay, but you’ll be with me at Gant’s house tomorrow. We’re still examining that place for evidence of other crimes.”

  “Speaking of other crimes,” Jessica said, and turned the sound up on the TV, where Summer and Todd Gray were holding a Press conference.

  “We’re so grateful that the good people of Anderson and other volunteers joined our quest to find Missy Collins. Todd and I were determined to search for her alone if necessary, but hundreds turned out, and now Missy is in the arms of her family again.”

  “What’s this?” he asked.

  “Summer and her husband spearheaded a search for that girl that Jeffrey and Hanna were suspected of abducting, and they found her, thank God,” Jessica said.

  A female reporter asked Summer a question.

  “I’m sure you’ve heard of course that Dr. Jessica White and her husband stopped Jeffrey Mitchell and Hanna Jones at great personal risk to themselves. Is there anything you’d like to say to them?”

  Summer smiled her brightest smile, even as her eyes turned cold.

  “I think this day should be more about Missy, don’t you? Also, I’d like everyone in law enforcement to know that Todd and I are ready to assist at a moment’s notice. As you can see, we get results.”

  “Has it been proven that Jeffrey abducted that girl?” Jessica asked Lawson.

  “No, but it’s being looked into, and it turned out that the owner of the car they stole from the movie theater parking lot was still inside the theater.”

  “That Summer Gray likes the camera, doesn’t she?” he said.

  “And it likes her too,” Jace said. “She’s hot.”

  “Lawson, what’s going to happen to Circe’s father, and has she been found yet?” Jessica asked.

  “Mr. Doyle is facing charges of obstructing justice, but he’ll probably only be put on probation. As far as Ms. Doyle, that’s still a mystery. We know that she hitched a ride on the highway that took her to San Francisco, but where she went after that, it’s anybody’s guess.”

  “She’s pregnant with Jeffrey’s child,” Jessica said.

  “Once she’s captured, the child will be raised by the state,” Lawson said.

  “No, it won’t,” Jessica said.

  “It won’t?” he said.

  “I hated Jeffrey as much as anyone, but that baby would be family, and innocent.”

  He nodded. “You’re right,”

  Lawson tapped Jace on the arm.

  “Let’s give them some time alone, eh?”

  “Is that really why we’re leaving, or is it that you want to be alone with me? Hmm, Lawson? Yeah, you like what you see.”
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  Lawson sighed.

  “You are a beauty, Jace, I’ll give you that.”

  Jace sent them a wink and followed Lawson out.

  Jessica leaned over and kissed him, afterwards, she looked down at his foot and grimaced.

  “That foot is going to take a while to heal.”

  “But I’ll walk normally again in time, or so the doctor says.”

  “Yes, and while you’re doing that, I’ll be getting back in shape as well.”

  He pinched her on the bottom.

  “I like you just the way you are.”

  “But you’ll like me even better the way I was.”

  He laughed.

  “I love you.”

  “And I love you too, so very, very much.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Upon his return home, Jessica came out and greeted him with Maggie at her side, and a baby in each arm.

  Jace helped him out of the car, and he balanced himself on one foot between crutches, as he leaned forward and kissed his family.

  After greeting her brother, Maggie walked over to Jace.

  “I’m glad you came back safe.”

  He smiled at her, but then patted at his pocket, where he removed a delicate blue flower.

  “I got that down in the desert, in Texas,”

  “A flower in the desert, at this time of year?”

  Jace shrugged.

  “I think it was there so that I could give it to you.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jace kissed her, just a soft laying of his lips upon hers, but a kiss all the same.

  Maggie smiled brightly and took his hand.

  “We’re going for a walk.”

  “We’ll be here,” he said.

  Jessica was smiling as she watched Jace and Maggie stroll off together.

  “Remember being that young?”

  “Like it was yesterday,”

  As he slowly made his way up the stairs on crutches, Jessica filled him in on a few things.

  “I’ve cancelled all the security we had guarding the family, and Gabby returned home.”

  “Where’s Amanda?”

  “She’ll be home soon. She spent the night at Daddy’s”

  “That sounds like it’s gotten more serious.”

  “Yes it does,”

  “Anything else?”