Chapter 25: Tangled
Jade
Adrian and I had to work the afternoon shift tonight. When Gideon dropped me off this morning Adrian drilled me about our reconciliation. He was standing near my bedroom doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. “So what made you take Mr. Golden God Apollo back?” I shake my head amused by his comment and take a seat on my bed. Rubbing my hands up and down my thighs I answer. I know that I can’t tell him the whole truth though. It’s one thing to involve myself voluntarily in Gideon’s life. But it’s another to involve someone who is not tangled in any of it. “Well…we talked. He told me that his feelings for me scared him. I mean he’s older and he didn’t want me to miss out on things girls my age do. So he asked a friend to pretend that they were sleeping together so he could push me away.”
Adrian gives me a disbelieving look. “And you believed him?” I nod my head. “Yes. I do. I know that he loves me. I can understand that I’m not what he expected. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.” I stand up and reach for Adrian’s hands. “I love him Adrian. I have to give this a chance.” Adrian tightens his hands over mine then lets out a deep breath. “Alright, but I meant what I said about cutting his dick off if he hurts you.” I nod my head giving him a big smile. “Thanks Adrian. I love you.” He pouts and primps. “I know girl. I love you too.” I give him a big hug feeling happier than I’ve ever felt. Adrian is like the brother I never had. I can’t imagine life without him.
Gideon called me earlier. He told me to pack my bags and move in with him. His high handedness amazes me. I told him that I had to work and hung up on him. I have to laugh imagining the look on his face. Right now, Adrian and I are at work. I almost vomit at the sight of Carlson walking into the restaurant. I back up before he can spot me. Adrian is behind the bar making a few drinks. I walk up to him startled. He turns to me noticing my agitation. “What’s wrong Jade?”
I’m breathing raggedly as terror consumes me. I rush into his arms. “Oh God Adrian my mom’s here with Carlson.” Adrian looks towards where my mom and Carlson are standing. He pulls me to the break room. “Stay here. I’ll be back.” He turns around and walks out of the dining room. I sit in a bench wrapping my arms around me. Adrian returns a moment later. “Okay, I told Tasha to take your shift. Charlie is taking care of the bar for me. Come on. I’ll take you home.” He ushers me out the back door.
I’m about to thank him when I hear my name being called. Carlson and my mother are standing behind me. They must have seen Adrian and me walking out the door. Fuck! “Jade. There you are. See Carlson. I told you it was Jade.” My mother says with a sneer. I’m stunned. I don’t know what to say. What is she doing here? My mother gestures to the restaurant’s front entrance. “Carlson and I heard from a friend that you were working here.” I shake my head in disbelief. “What do you want mother?” She waves my question off. Typical.
Adrian moves forward showing support. My mother gives him a big smile. “Hello. You must be Jade’s boyfriend.” Adrian puts his hand on his waist sneering at my mom’s friendly manner. “Actually, I’m not Jade’s boyfriend. I’m her roommate. That’s her boyfriend.” He points towards where Gideon just got out of his car. The color drains further from my face when I see Gideon crossing the street to make his way towards us.
He’s wearing all black. A black fitted sweater, black jeans and black boots. He looks gorgeous with his golden hair and five o’clock shadow. My mother lets out a shocked gasp and looks at me surprised. Carlson looks pissed. Gideon moves closer wrapping an arm around my waist. “Hey baby.” He says kissing my head. I tighten my arms around his waist feeling shaken. His eyes sharpen when I don’t say a word. He nods his head to Adrian then gives Carlson and my mother a questioning look. I don’t know what to say. Adrian must notice because he steps forward gesturing to my mom and Carlson. “Gideon. This is Jade’s mother and stepfather.”
Gideon stiffens. His face looks like granite. His mouth tightens and his eyes sharpen in anger. He steps back pulling me closer to his body. My mother smiles extending her hand in welcome. “Hello Gideon. My goodness you’re not the type of guy I saw Jade dating.” Gideon does not respond to her comment. Instead he turns to me. “Let’s go.” He says with a controlled voice. I can see that he’s angry. It’s almost scary how calm he seems on the outside.
My mother steps in front of us blocking our way. “Where are you two going? How about we take a seat and talk.” I shake my head. “No mother. I don’t know why you’re here. But I have no interest in becoming a part of whatever this is.”
Gideon and I move towards the door and out into the street. He still hasn’t said a word. Suddenly, my mom and Carlson are following us. Gideon turns around angrily. “Why the fuck are you following us?” My mother gives him an innocent look then looks at me. “Are you going to let your boyfriend treat me this way?” I give her an incredulous look, but Gideon is done. He moves closer to my mother and Carlson. “She’s treating you this way because you’re a shitty mother and she has no interest in being in the same room with you and your sick husband. Now, I suggest you go back to whatever hole in the ground that you crawled out of before you piss me off.”
Carlson moves forward unaware of the predator that is standing before him. “Hey you don’t talk to my wife that way. Who the hell do you think you are?” Gideon moves forward grabbing Carlson by the neck. Carlson stands on his tiptoes trying to loosen Gideon’s grip on him. Carlson is about five foot nine and Gideon is six foot four. My mom lets out a startled gasp when Gideon pushes Carlson against the wall. “Trust me asshole you don’t want to know who I am. What I do know is that if you don’t get out of my face, I will rip your dick off and feed it to you. Now whatever you want from Jade is going to have to go into your never going to happen list…” He turns to my mom who looks frightened. “…I know what you’ve done to Jade. I know that you told Julliard that she was a drug addict and that’s why she wasn’t accepted into the school.” My mother sputters. I gasp in shock. “Why would you do that to me?” She shrugs her shoulders looking at Gideon nervously. “I just thought that you weren’t prepared for the work it would take to become famous.” Gideon releases Carlson who falls on the floor gasping for breath and snickers. “Yeah right. Look, let’s cut to the chase here. You’re here because your investors found evidence of your shady dealings. Now the IRS is indicting you for fraud and misappropriation of funds. Unfortunately, their digging has brought a few more things to light and you need a character witness. That’s where Jade comes in. The problem is that you’ve burned Jade. Your husband tried to violate her and you kicked her out of school and any financial security. Am I right?” My mother’s face drains of color and Carlson swallows nervously.
Gideon moves back towards me wrapping me in his arms. I look at my mother. “If you’re looking for some form of support, you can forget about it. I’m not your daughter, remember? I can’t believe you would hurt me that way then expect me to help you.” My mother opens her mouth but I cut her off. “NO! You don’t get to say anything else to me. I want you out of my life.” Feeling free, I grasp Gideon’s hand and walk with him towards his car.
I turn to Gideon. “I know you had something to do with this. Thank you.” He gives me a put-out look. “Yeah, well I couldn’t kill them. So I thought I’d destroy them financially instead.” I give him an amused look. I know that I should feel bad for my mom and Carlson, but after what she did to me I can’t feel anything.
Gideon opens the passenger door for me. I sit down leaning my head back on the head rest. Gideon starts the car and rolls into traffic. He looks over to me. “I want you to move in with me Jade. I wasn’t lying about what happened at Julliard. I have a friend whose wife works at the administration building. I explained your situation and the fictional information that was fed to them. She spoke to the head of the school and they want to offer you a place in their school. You should be getting an acceptance letter soon.” Joy rushes through me at his words.
I raise my hands to my mouth. Tears of joy gather in my eyes. I lower my hands. “Are you serious? Please tell me I’m not dreaming.” Gideon smiles gently and reaches for my hands. “It’s true baby. Move in with me. You can still work if you want. But I’d rather you go to school and continue performing with Adrian.” He kisses my hand and whispers sweetly. “Say yes.”
I look at his beautiful face for a moment before I say. “Okay, I’ll move in with you. But no more bossing me around.” He gives me a wolfish smile and squeezes my knee. “I’ll try. No promises.”
Chapter 26: Cornered
Gideon
Micah, Cameron and I are at the harbor right now. Micah is waiting at the designated area and Cameron and I are sitting at different angles readying our sniper rifles. Micah paces in place checking his watch. I look at mine too. It’s almost time. Willem should be showing up soon.
I can’t wait to get this over with. Jade is with Adrian right now. I dropped her off at their old apartment. Earlier, she asked me if she could invite Adrian to dinner later in the week. I told her to do what she wants as long as she keeps him out of my weapons closet. I fucked her in that very same closet after she rolled her eyes at my comment. I swear that girl is going to be the death of me.
Last night we went straight to Adrian’s house and moved her things. Adrian warmed up a little more to me. I’m glad that he and Jade are friends. I will always be grateful to him for being there when I couldn’t be. If inviting him over makes her happy, I can put up with it.
Micah looks at his watch again. Suddenly, a shadow stops in front of him. It’s not Willem. Fuck! The man talks with him for a moment, then gestures to a vehicle in the distance. I check out the vehicle through my scope. It’s a black SUV. I can’t see who is in it because the windows are tinted. Micah nods his head looking at me from over his shoulder. Then he begins walking towards the vehicle. Goddamn it! He and the man talk for a moment. The man opens the door whispering something in Micah’s ear. I can see him visibly stiffen. With one last look back he steps into the car. Shit! He wasn’t supposed to leave. We told him that we didn’t want him leave. Where the fuck is he going?
I rise from my perch when the vehicle drives away. A moment later my phone rings. It’s Cameron. “Yeah Cameron.” He lets out a pissed off curse. “Did you just see that fucker get into the car?” I nod my head rubbing the crown of my nose with my thumb and index finger. “Yeah fuck. What is he doing?” Cameron lets out a few more expletives. “He’s betraying us, that’s what the fucker is doing. I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him.” I can hear a pounding sound through the phone. Cameron must be hitting something. Picking up my rifle I collect the rest of my things. “There’s no point hanging around. Let’s get out of here and regroup.” Cameron agrees and hangs up the phone.
We meet at his house. Cameron is pissed beyond belief. He slams the door as I walk in behind him. “That mother fucker. When I get my hands on him I’m going to tear him limb from limb.” I try to be reasonable. “Let’s keep our heads here Cameron. We don’t know anything yet.” He slams his bag against the living room couch and gives me a cold look. Before he can say more my phone rings. I check the caller ID. Unknown number. Pressing answer, I put the phone to my ear.
“Reaper. Did you like my surprise?” I look at Cameron mouthing the words Willem silently. Cameron snaps up and wheels his chair to his computer. I put the phone on speaker, inhale deeply and ask. “What surprise?” A sardonic laugh resounds through the earpiece. “Let’s cut the shit Gideon. I know that you and Micah are working together. Imagine my disappointment when one of my men comes back the other day to tell me that Reaper and Savage killed the men I sent to attack you.” My body goes cold at his comment. Jade was with us. Did the men notice Jade? Fuck!
I try to play it off as if I was just having a casual talk. “Well I did run into Micah screwing some girl in the alley. I was suspicious as to why he was in my territory. However, before I could glean any information your asshole meatheads attacked us. Is that the night you’re talking about?”
Willem goes quiet for a moment. However, my world shatters with when he says. “Some girl, eh? Well that’s too bad. Is that why you and Micah took her home? I was going to use the girl as leverage to hurt you, but since she’s just some random girl, I guess I’ll have to kill her.” My vision begins to dim. My eyes snap back to Cameron’s. Anger simmers through my body, but I remain calm. Swallowing deeply I ask. “Really? Fine. I’ll admit it. Savage and I took the girl home and screwed her. After Micah left, I screwed her some more. Then I dropped her off in the morning. Your men wasted their time following us. You know I’m not the long term type. What does it matter anyway, Willem? Micah can tell you it was just fun. Where is he?” Willem sniffs loudly. “Micah is here actually. Here, why don’t you talk to him?” I can hear him passing the phone. “Reaper, what the fuck have you gotten me into? Willem is here holding the piece of ass we were banging the other night for ransom. Why the fuck does Willem think I’m working with you?”
His words confirming Jade’s capture, makes ice run through my veins. I take a deep breath playing along but inside my rage and terror burn through my soul. I’m sure that Willem is listening intently to our conversation. “I don’t know Savage. Maybe you should start banging your women in more private settings. Hopefully, it won’t get around that you and I are tag teaming chicks. Of course, I won’t let you live long enough to confirm it. I should have known that you and Willem were tight. You mother fucking traitor.” Micah clucks his tongue. “Don’t worry about me Gideon. The girl is just incentive. She was a good fuck. So I guess I’ll keep her. Willem needs me right now. I’ll see you around Reaper.” He says before he hangs up.
I grip the phone tightly in my hand trying to control my terror. “They have Jade. Tell me that you got an address from that call. Tell me that I didn’t wait here for no reason.” My nostrils are flaring in anger. Cameron gives me a serious look and points to the screen. “I put a tracer on the call. It was encrypted, but my program is working on it.” I run my fingers through my hair feeling frustrated. “I’m going to Adrian’s place to see if he’s alive. Call me when you get the information.” Without another word I rush out of Cameron’s house.
I don’t know how I got to Adrian’s in one piece. Jade was the only thing on my mind the whole way there. I pull out my gun when I get to his door. The door is half open. I hold up my weapon prepared for anything I might find. Everything seems quiet. The apartment looks untouched. As I’m making my way to the bedroom the front door opens. I aim my gun at the door shocked to see Adrian standing there looking frazzled. His eyes go wide with horror when he sees me come out of his bedroom. I move forward aggressively. “Where’s Jade?” Adrian wraps a hand around his neck. “Oh God Gideon, someone took her. We were walking to the coffee shop and this car pulled up beside us. I didn’t know what to do. I tried to fight them, but one of the men hit me in the head. I must have passed out because when I woke up I was in the hospital.”
His words become fractured as he cries. Upon closer inspection I can tell that he’s pale and has several bruises and a cut over his forehead. His hair is mussed and his clothes are torn. I grasp him by the forearm and push him into the seat. “It’s okay Adrian. Did you see any of the men?” He shakes his head. “No, it happened so fast. They just grabbed her and threw her into a black SUV. They had guns. What is this about? Why are you carrying a gun?” He asks hysterically.
I move forward holding his shoulder to keep him on the seat. “Listen to me Adrian. I don’t have time to explain. I need to find Jade. Can you think of anything the men might have done or said?” His eyes shift around in thought. He moves his hands up and down as if replaying what happened in his mind. His mouth opens and closes like a fish. “Um…um…” He snaps his fingers and looks back towards me. “One of the men said. Hurry up we need to get her to the docks before he finds out.” His eyes widen as he recalls. “Oh and he said…this is her. The one that he took home yeste
rday.”
I pull my hand back and reach for my phone dialing Cameron. “Gideon. I’m still looking. They triangulated the signal…” I interrupt his news. “Find a place near the docks. Her roommate said they took her from a coffee shop near here. One of Willem’s men said to take her to the docks.” I hang up the phone and squat down in front of Adrian who is silently crying in his hands. “Look Adrian. I’m sorry you got dragged into this. There’s a really bad man I’ve been hunting. I tried to keep Jade out of it, but I fell in love with her. I couldn’t stay away from her.”
Adrian gives me a pitying look as he wipes his eyes. “Is that why you broke it off? Are you like a cop or something?” I give him a serious look. “I can’t tell you that. What I can tell you is that I’m one of the good guys and I’m going to find her. But I suggest you stay somewhere else for a couple of days. Do not call the police. That might put her in danger. I’ll call you as soon as everything is clear.” He nods his head looking miserable. “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?” I shake my head. “No you’ve helped a great deal already.” He looks down solemnly. I pat his back and walk out of the room.
Chapter 27: Trapped
Jade
I look around groggily as the room swims in front of my eyes. My head hurts where one of the men hit me. I blink my eyes trying to focus. Everything is dank and musty. The room is large with a halogen lights and old broken furniture strewn around. My focus clears slightly. I try to move, but my hands are tied behind my back. I’m sitting on a chair completely restrained. My legs are tied around the chair legs and my mouth is gagged. There are several men standing around talking but no one is paying any attention to me.
The Assassin's Weakness Page 12