The Ramsey Doms

by Mardi Maxwell

  “I’ll join you. I hate the sight of blood.” Bridget kissed Sabre. “Please don’t make a big mess like you did last time.”

  One of the men they’d captured moaned with fear and Orin hushed him. While Nate took care of Miguel, the others set four chairs in a row, then gagged and zip tied the assailants to the chairs.

  “I’ll take this one,” Orin said, then grabbed the first guy and dragged him, chair and all, to the men’s room. Miles grabbed the second guy and took him to the ladies’ room.

  “There’s a storage room back there,” Dirk said. “Sabre and I will talk to this guy back there.” When the man struggled, Dirk laughed, then drug the guy, chair and all, toward the hallway. The legs screeched, then bumped from tile to tile.

  Nate returned and moved to stand next to Cade. He bent down and looked at the fourth man. “Looks like you belong to us.” He cracked his knuckles and pulled his knife from the sheath on his belt. He ran the razor-sharp blade over his arm, shaving a line of hair from it. The man began to struggle and make grunting sounds behind the gag in his mouth. “Aw, come on, don’t be that way. It’s been a while since I got to torture anyone.”

  Cade shoved him aside. “You always get carried away. It’s my turn to go first.”

  Muffled screams came from the man. The chair rocked as he struggled to get loose.

  Cade sighed. “Do you think he wants to talk to us?”

  The man nodded, his eyes wide with terror.

  “Damn, I miss the old days when the bad guys kept their mouths shut. Maybe it’s time I retired.”

  “Let’s see what he has to say,” Cade said.

  Before Cade got the gag completely out of the man’s mouth, he was talking. “I don’t know much. We were told to follow you and, if we got the chance, to kill you.”

  “Who told you to do that?” Nate asked.

  “The manager at the resort. I owe him money. He said if I did this, he’d call it even.”

  “What about the others? They owe him money, too?”

  “No, their daughters are missing.”

  “Missing or taken?” Nate asked.

  The man looked even more frightened. “I don’t know.”

  “I think you do.” Cade glanced at Nate. “I think this guy needs some convincing.”

  “Taken! They were taken.”

  “By who?” Nate asked.

  “Ladrón Fantasma.”

  Cade glanced at Nate, who shrugged. “The phantom thief? Who is he?”

  “It is what we call the person who takes them. He comes in the night and the girls in our village disappear. We are told if we do not do as we are told, that they will never return. I have a daughter. I don’t want her to be taken.”

  “How long has this been going on?” Nate asked.

  “The first was taken seven months ago,” the man said.

  “How many girls have been taken?” Cade asked.

  “Six from my village.”

  “How well do you know the three men who came here with you?” Cade asked.

  “One is my brother. The other two are my cousins.”

  Nate jerked the man’s head back. “If I find out you’ve lied to us, I’m coming back here and I’m going to kill you—very slowly. You understand?”

  “Yes, yes, Señor. I’ve told you everything I know.”

  Nate nodded. “Then I’m sorry for this, but they’d never believe you got away without being damaged.” Before the man could ask what he meant, Nate slugged him several times. When he was done, the man’s lip was bleeding and his left eye was swelling. “That should do it.”

  “I’ll go get the others,” Cade said.

  “I’ll get the ladies.” Nate went through the swinging door into the kitchen. Nymph was sitting at the table nibbling on patacones while Bridget sipped on a soda. “The bastards won’t talk. If we beat them anymore, they’ll die,” Nate said. “We’re getting the hell out of here.”

  “What about these three?” Bridget asked.

  “They don’t know anything,” Nate said. “Go join the others. When you’re ready to leave, let me know and I’ll untie the cook. She can free the others after we leave.”

  Nymph and Bridget went into the main room. The team members were there, along with the four assailants who were still tied up and sporting bruises and cuts on their faces. “Nate is going to release the cook when we’re ready to leave,” Nymph said.

  “We’re ready now,” Sabre said. “All of you head out to the car. Nate and I will be right behind you.”

  Orin and Cade made sure the vehicles hadn’t been tampered with, then they got everyone settled in the vehicles and waited for Nate and Sabre to join them.

  “Seems like everywhere we turn, Mendez shows up,” Nymph said.

  “He has this entire area locked down tight,” Nate said.

  “We’re going to see if we can get in the red cottage and have a look around, then we’re going to pack up Thor and Marisol’s things and get the hell out of here,” Dirk said. “Rios has some people working for him. If they hear anything, he’ll let us know.”

  “I hate to leave without finding them,” Nymph said.

  “We’re making the resort manager nervous, and nervous people make mistakes,” Cade said. “Once we check Thor and Marisol out of the resort, then he might slip up and Rios’s guy might learn something.”

  “Let’s hope so. They’ve been missing over a week. God only knows what’s happening to them,” Bridget said.

  When they arrived at the resort, the men followed Nymph and Bridget back to the red cottage. The shutters were open and music was playing.

  Nymph knocked and a young man came to the door. “Hi, sorry to bother you, but we’re looking for the people who were staying in the cottage next to you. They’re friends and they’ve gone missing.” She held out Thor and Marisol’s picture. “Have you seen them?”

  The man took the picture, looked at it then shook his head. “No. Haven’t seen them.” He handed the picture back. “When did they go missing?”

  “Sometime last Friday night or early Saturday morning,” Bridget said. “We think they were kidnapped.”

  A young woman walked up behind the man. “What’s going on, Doug?”

  The man slid his arm around her. “Cara, these people are looking for their friends. They think they were kidnapped from the cottage next door.”

  “Oh, my gosh!” Cara said. “Are we in danger?”

  “We don’t think so,” Nymph said. “Our friend was a police officer. We think that’s why he and his wife were taken.”

  “We were told that you were supposed to be in this cottage that night but you were put in the penthouse suite instead,” Bridget said.

  “That’s right,” Cara said. “They told us that there was a water leak in the cottage. We stayed in the suite until Saturday afternoon.”

  “Is there any way we could come in and look around?” Nymph asked. “We think that was a lie and that the people who abducted our friends were staying here and may have brought them here.”

  “You know, you may be right about that. They said there was a leak but when we got here the walls in the living room had been freshly painted,” Doug said. “I don’t think there are any pipes in those walls.”

  “Could you show us?” Nymph asked.

  “Sure,” the man said, then held the door open. “Come on in.”

  Nymph and Bridget stepped into the cottage and the man pointed to the wall to the right of the door. “See here? You can tell the wall was damaged then repaired and painted.”

  Nymph examined the wall. “You’re right. Any damage anywhere else?”

  “No, but my wife found a ring stuffed down in the couch cushions last night,” Doug said.

  “A large, heart-shaped ruby surrounded by diamonds?” Nymph asked.

  “Yes,” Doug said. “Honey, get it for them.”

  Cara went into the bedroom, then returned with the ring and held it out.

  Nymph took it and showe
d it to Bridget. “It’s Marisol’s. Her mother gave it to her. She’d never go anywhere without it.” She turned it until the inside of the band caught the light. “See, it has her mother’s name engraved here.”

  “I’m glad we didn’t turn it in to the manager,” Doug said. “There’s something not right with that guy. First he put us up in the penthouse suite, then the next morning he wanted to move us to a small, run-down cottage on the other side of the tennis courts for a few days. Seems they had some bigwig visiting who wanted the penthouse.”

  “Really? Did you see the bigwig?” Bridget noticed Cara shiver, then hug her arms around herself.

  Cara stepped closer and lowered her voice. “We caught a glimpse of him in the manager’s office. The manager looked terrified and we could hear the man cussing at him. He’s short, overweight, black hair combed straight back from his forehead and a thin mustache. His eyes are dark and squinty—like a…a, pig’s.” She shuddered again. “When he looked at me, it made me feel dirty.”

  Doug tried to laugh, but it came out strained. “She made me take her back to the penthouse so she could take a shower.”

  “He was evil,” Cara said.

  “Sounds like he made a lasting impression on you?” Nymph asked. “Did you happen to hear his name?”

  Cara shook her head. “No. He caught us watching them and told this huge man who was with him to close the door. He was scary, too, tall and strong-looking with a jagged wound that went from the left side of his forehead down across his nose to his right jaw. His eyes were horrible, cold and dead.” She shuddered again and Doug hugged her.

  “Cara wanted to go home after we saw them. They scared her,” he said, then cleared his throat. “To tell you the truth, they scared me a little, too. They looked like killers.”

  Cara looked up at Doug. “Show them the other thing, Doug.”

  “What other thing?” Bridget asked.

  “This,” Doug said, and walked over to the couch and tipped over the cushion. “We think it’s blood.”

  Nymph and Bridget moved closer to the couch. Nymph went to her knees next to it, then ran her finger around the stains. “Yes, it’s blood.” She tipped the other two cushions over, but they were clean. “I’m taking a sample back with us. Maybe it’s Thor’s or Marisol’s.” A second later, she pulled a knife from her purse, snapped it open, and cut a large square of the material away.

  Bridget held out an evidence bag. “Put it in here.”

  Nymph dropped it in and Bridget sealed the bag, then wrote what it was and where they’d gotten it while Nymph snapped pictures of the cushions.

  “We might get in trouble because of that,” Cara said.

  Nymph shook her head. “No, this couch matches the one in Thor’s cottage. I’ll have one of our friends go get the cushions and bring them here. We’ll exchange them.” She walked to the door and signaled Nate. He and Cade waved, then approached the house.

  “What’s up?” Cade asked.

  “We found Marisol’s ring and a place where the wall was damaged then repaired and repainted. We also found some bloodstains on the couch cushions.” She held up the evidence bag. “We’ve cut them out but we need to exchange these cushions with the ones from the other cottage.”

  “Let me get them and I’ll exchange them.” Cade stepped past Nymph, nodded to the two guests in the room, then grabbed the cushions and walked out.

  “Uh, are you guys with the police or something?” Doug asked.

  “Or something,” Bridget said. “Believe me, you don’t want to know anything more than that.”

  Doug nodded. “Honey, why don’t you finish packing so we can get out of here?”

  “You’re leaving?” Nymph asked.

  “Yes. Our plane leaves this afternoon.” Doug turned to his wife. “We need to pack.”

  “Okay,” Cara said, then stopped in her tracks when Dirk and Sabre entered.

  They carried the couch from the aqua cottage into the house. “It didn’t quite match so we’re switching them,” Dirk said as he set down his end. Sabre dropped his end, then he and Dirk lifted the damaged couch over the replacement and set it down. They moved the new one into place then picked up the damaged one and carried it out.

  Nymph smiled. “My husbands. They just look scary.”

  “I’ll bet,” Doug said.

  “Both of them?” Cara asked.

  “It’s a long story.” Bridget rubbed her hands together, then clapped them once and said, “Okay. We better get out of your hair so you can get packed and out of here. Thanks for all your help.”

  “You’re welcome,” Doug said.

  “Yeah, thanks for your help. Have a safe journey home,” Nymph said.

  Bridget handed them one of her cards. “If you think of anything else you can call this number and leave a message for me. My name’s Bridget.”

  Doug took the card then held the door open for them. “I hope you find your friends.”

  “Thank you,” Nymph said. She and Bridget waved as they hurried down the steps and along the path that led to the lane.

  Nate, Dirk, and Sabre met them.

  “So, does everyone agree Thor and Marisol were brought through the woods to the red cottage then later moved to the carts and taken to another destination?” Sabre said.

  “Yes, but where to?” Bridget asked.

  Sabre hugged Bridget. “Unknown but we won’t stop looking until we find them.”

  “What if it’s too late to find them?” Bridget brushed a tear from her cheek.

  “We won’t stop until we know what happened to them no matter how long it takes,” Cade said. “Thor wouldn’t stop looking for us if the situation was reversed.”

  “Let’s go back to their cottage, pack their things and get the hell out of here,” Nymph said.

  Nate placed his hand on Nymph’s lower back as they walked back to the aqua cottage. “Sooner or later, we’ll hear something and when we do we’ll be ready to move on it.” He saw Cade slip his phone back into his pocket. "Everything okay with Addison?"

  Cade nodded. "Jackson said she's behaving."

  * * * *

  Jackson read the text from Cade, then tossed the phone on the bedside table just as Jenna opened the bathroom door, flipped off the light and stepped into view. The thong and lace tank top she wore left just enough to the imagination to be intriguing. He signaled her to turn and she took a few steps toward him before twirling around and sending him a flirty grin over her left shoulder.

  “Do you like it?” She smoothed her hands over the aqua-and-gold material of the top that ended just above her navel. “Cassie made it for me.”

  Jackson left the bed and walked around her, stopping behind her. He touched the two bows on her shoulders, then leaned down and placed his lips against the side of her neck. “Hands behind your head.”

  Jenna shivered as goose bumps popped up on her shoulders. A second later she obeyed his demand.

  He ran his hands down her sides, pausing on each of the four gold bows that held the two sides of the aqua tank top together. Two bows on either side of her hips kept the thong in place. He fiddled with them for a moment then grasped her waist and twisted her around to face him. “Why do the bows have numbers on them?”

  Jenna laughed. “They’re for a dice game.”

  Jackson smiled. “One of the twins’ games? Tell me the rules.”

  “You throw two dice and whatever number comes up you get to untie the corresponding bow.”

  “What happens if I throw the number of a bow I’ve already untied?”

  “You have to retie it.”

  “That’s my part. What’s yours?”

  “I throw one dice and receive points for whatever number comes up. Two points equal one swat. If I reach thirty points before you untie all of the bows then I get fifteen swats. Ten with your hand and five with your belt.”

  “When I win what do I get?”

  Jenna smiled. “Anything you want. Name it.”

&n
bsp; “A blow job and you don’t get to come tonight.” He swatted her on the bottom. “Get the dice.”

  Jenna hurried to the dresser and took a pair of dice from her jewelry box. She tossed them toward Jackson. He snatched them out of the air and looked at them. “Gold and diamonds?”

  Jenna nodded. “A gift from Addison last year after—” She looked away from him.

  Jackson hesitated. They’d never spoken about the night they’d spent together or what an ass he’d been the next morning when he’d sent her away. He set the dice on the dresser, then picked her up and carried her to one of the chairs by the fireplace. Once he was seated with her straddling his lap he said, “Jenna, look at me.”

  When she looked up, her eyes had a shiny gleam that hadn’t been there before. A tear slid from the corner of her eye. He wiped it away, then sucked it from the tip of his finger, tasting the pain he’d caused her. “We’ve never really talked about what happened or why I sent you away.”

  “Addison said it was because of your parents,” Jenna said.

  Jackson frowned. One of these days, his little sister-in-law was going to go too far and Cade was going to shut her down.

  “She’s partly right, but she doesn’t know the whole story.” He tucked her hair behind her ears, then stroked his fingers down her cheeks. “When I was a kid, Cade was my hero. He’s only a year older than me, but he’s always seemed to be older than his years. Our dad was gone all the time and Cade took his place especially when it came to our mother.”

  Jenna slid her hands into his and he gripped them.

  “We did everything we could to stay out of her way. In the winter, we hung out at the library. In the summer we’d find a park or something like that. We never had friends because Joan moved us around so often. A new neighborhood meant a new school.”

  “So you were always the new kid in class?”

  Jackson nodded. “We would have flunked out of school but Cade made sure we did our homework.” Jackson smiled at the memory of Cade interrogating a teacher when one of them got a low grade. “Joan wasn’t interested in our schooling or whether there was food in the house. Cade was the one who got us up and off to school. He made sure we were signed up for free breakfasts and lunches.”