by Joni Hahn
Flipping the page, he perused the photos, his fingers stopping on one at the bottom.
“We were building the barn. We’d gotten up the walls just in time for him to leave for Wyoming the next day. He died there.”
Pain seared her chest, knowing how he felt, knowing how much he still hurt. She wanted to take it on for him, away from him.
“How did he die?”
He looked down at her, the pain in his eyes like a lance to her heart. “A bull stepped on him. He died instantly…” Struggling to swallow, his face looked flush with pain. “They wouldn’t open the casket. I told them I wouldn’t believe it until they proved it to me.”
Shutting his eyes, his brows creased. “What I saw when they opened it… God… Hope, it wasn’t my dad.” Opening his eyes, he looked right at her, the pain searing her heart. “But I recognized his hands. I’d worked alongside him for thirteen years – I would’ve known them anywh -” His voice broke.
Sitting up, she kissed him hard on the mouth. He clutched the back of her head, his lips clinging to hers with raw desperation.
She pulled away. “I’m so sorry, Jaydan.”
Looking down at the photo again, he said, “My life changed that day. No matter how hard I tried to stay on the path he wanted for me, I screwed it up at every turn. My grades dropped, I started drinking my sophomore year. I started sneaking into Sarah Jane’s room as soon as I could drive.” He shook his head. “I used to give her everything she wanted because she gave me the only thing I wanted.”
Hope looked away. She couldn’t think about it, wouldn’t think about it. They’d come too far to let old memories ruin it.
“When Mom married Booker, I lost it. We fought all the time. I knew he would beat the hell out of me but I kept butting heads with him. Not too bright, huh?”
The world’s strongest man was way too hard on himself. “You were hurting.”
“One night, Sarah Jane told me her father would be gone for hours. We were in her room, just getting started when I heard him pull up. I knew she’d set me up.”
Hope caught her breath. “She wanted her father to catch you there?”
Nodding, Jaydan gave her a rueful grin. “I was able to climb out her window but he still saw my truck parked behind the house. When I got home, Booker was fit to be tied. He beat the shit out of me.”
“Oh, Jaydan…” She feathered her fingers through his hair.
“Mom sent me away that night. She was afraid he’d kill me. I packed up some clothes and my dad’s championship buckles and caught a bus to Colorado to join the rodeo. One of my dad’s old contacts gave me a place to stay but he wouldn’t let me ride until I finished school. So, he helped me enroll in the local high school, I graduated and enrolled in an online college. I loved it.”
“Why’d you quit if you loved it so much?”
He gave a bark of bitter laughter. “Another screw up. I had a bad night and another rider told me I’d never be a real champion like my father.” His hand clenched into a fist. “I beat the hell out of him and got kicked off the circuit for the rest of the year.” His cynical gaze met hers. “A couple of nights later, Naylor’s henchmen found me at the rodeo and offered me a job.”
Hope laid her head against his shoulder. He’d endured so much pain and turmoil. She felt helpless, useless against the hurt that he still carried inside.
“If you hadn’t followed that path, you wouldn’t be where you are now – with D.I.R.E.”
“And you.” With a sad smile, he gave her a quick peck on the mouth.
Picking up another album, he opened it to the first page. Gunner grinned at the camera, holding a newborn.
“Look at that fool.” Jaydan’s smile appeared genuine this time. “Issy already had him wrapped around her finger.”
Laughing, Hope sat forward to get a closer look. “Well, she is a cutie.”
Admiration shone in his eyes when he looked at her. “Mom said you had Issy wrapped as soon as you walked in the room.”
Hope would argue the opposite. “All little girls like to be treated like a princess. My mother used to do the same to me. It became a game for us.”
What Keegan had said about her mother living in the past still bothered her. Her logical mind told her to dismiss it, whereas her gut told her it rang true.
“Jaydan, do you think Cyrus tampered with Keegan’s mind?”
The photo album forgotten, he gave her a hard stare. “Why do you say that?”
“On the flight, she told me my mother was brought to the future in a time machine, and that Cyrus’ grandfather sent her to the past so Natalie’s family wouldn’t find her.”
Sitting up, he clutched her arms tight. “She said that?”
Frowning, she searched his eyes. “Yes. Why?”
Stilling, he cocked his head before he inhaled. “Do you smell smoke?”
Jumping up from the bed, he went to the window and lifted the blind. Hope sat up.
“Shit. There’s a fire out back.” Picking up his discarded jeans, he tossed her a gray t-shirt from his bag. “Get dressed.”
Jumping up, Hope pulled on the shirt and grabbed her jeans. “What’s out there?”
“The rear stables.” Grabbing her by the arms, he kissed her hard. “Go to the reception and find Mom. Stay with her until I come for you.”
Nodding, she called out to him as he ran out of the room. “Be careful.” I love you.
Jaydan reached the stables just as some of the men pulled up in a truck and piled out the back. Horses whinnied and cried as flames licked at the roof with insistent force.
Running inside, he ran down the open corridor to the opposite end of the structure. Heat shrouded him with suffocating intensity, clawing at his skin, burning his lungs. Opening the last stall, he chased out the frightened horse. Gunner arrived at his back, flicking open the opposite stall and shooing the animal outside.
“Hurry, Gunn,” Jaydan cried, before coughing into the crook of his arm. “That roof isn’t going to hold.“
Men yelled outside as someone pulled up in the water pump UTV. Water rained down on them, hot and scalding. They worked together, racing down the stable corridor, releasing horses.
Jaydan heard the creak. The snap.
Shit.
Springing toward Gunner, he caught the long, center beam in mid-air, snatching it just above his brother’s head. With a ferocious growl, he threw it outside a second before the soggy roof gave way. Boards and shingles crashed down in a heap, Jaydan knocking them away with heavy, swinging blows. The wood burned his arms and his back, stinging and relentless.
A few feet away, fire sparked anew, turning the fresh-cut hay into a blazing inferno. He had to get Gunner out of there. It would overpower them in seconds.
Turning around, he nearly collided with Gunner who stared at his armbands and chest with wide eyes.
“Holy shit, Jay…”
“Come on. We’ve got to get out of here.”
Rushing down the corridor, he flicked open the remaining stalls, the fire on their tail. Gunner did the same on his side, Jaydan catching the last two for him. Reaching the end of the passageway, he shoved Gunner outside before following him out.
His brother turned to him with wide, disbelieving eyes. “What the hell did you just do in there? Or better yet, how did you do what you just did in there?”
Ignoring the questions, Jaydan went to Booker who cursed as he fought with the water hose. His shirtsleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his weathered face red from exertion.
“What is it?”
“The damned tank is too far away. I can’t get enough pressure in the pump to reach the other side of the building.”
Sprinting over to the plastic storage tank, Jaydan shoved into the tank with his shoulders, grunting with force. His muscles burned with energy, his feet digging into the ground to find leverage. The water tank moved a foot, then two, before Jaydan had it nearly six feet closer to the stables.
Running back to
the men, Jaydan stopped beside Booker who gave him an incredulous onceover.
“Is that close enough?”
Booker gave a dazed nod.
Jaydan rushed over to Austin who held the hose. “You got this?”
“Yeah, now that I have water pressure.” Austin turned to him, before doing a double take. “What the?…”
Jaydan cocked his head. He heard a noise over the ruckus of the fire. It sounded like the whir of a blade. Looking around in the darkness, he didn’t see anyone else react so he blew it off.
“I’m going to check on Hope.”
Running past them, he made his way to the barn. Women and children stood just outside, watching the fire in the distance. When he got closer, everyone turned to him.
Everyone, but Hope.
“Mom, where’s Hope?”
She held a frightened Issy against her. “I thought she was with you.”
His heart stopped in his chest. “I sent her to find you. She never showed?”
His mother’s wide-eyed gaze sent panic racing down his spine. “No, she didn’t.”
Whipping around, he ran to the house.
The whir stopped him in his tracks.
In the pasture on the opposite side of the house, he saw it. The tiny lights. The outline of a helicopter against the dark sky, its silent, barely perceptible blades increasing with speed.
No…
Racing across the yard, he vaulted a car, a second, and kept running. He’d never make it. He’d never reach her in time.
The helicopter lifted just seconds before he reached it. Jumping up, he grabbed a foot rail and yanked down hard. He fell to the ground, the chopper wobbling as it grazed the grass.
Hope’s scream echoed over the landscape, tearing at his soul.
He’d kill him. He’d freaking kill Cyrus Matheson.
Truck lights drew closer from behind him, shining on the chopper. The blades sped up again, whirring in silence. It lifted from the ground, taking him with it. Growling with frustration, he jumped down, pulling it with him, afraid to jerk it too much and endanger Hope.
His armband vibrated, glowing yellow. He ignored it.
“Grab the front guard, Jay.” Gunner yelled out the truck window.
Damn good thinking, Gunn. He needed something to keep him grounded.
With a hand on the helicopter, Jaydan looked back. Stretching his arm, he reached for the truck. Gunner inched closer. Catching it, Jaydan hooked an arm through the guard. The chopper wobbled again, struggling against his strength.
A door slid open on the helicopter, a dim light appearing inside. Zeke held a gun to Hope’s head, her arms locked behind her back.
“Let go or I’ll kill her.”
Jaydan’s eyes connected with Hope’s. Stark terror shone in her round eyes.
He couldn’t let go.
Zeke cocked the gun at her temple. Panic flooded him, rage surging through his muscles like the fire they’d set in the stables.
Flicking his wrist, Zeke turned the gun on Jaydan and fired. Hope screamed. The bullet hit his shoulder, knocking him back against the truck. His head slammed into the guard, shooting pain through his skull and down his arm.
It dropped to his side before he slumped to the ground.
“Bring Keegan to the island.” Zeke slammed shut the chopper door. It shot into the darkness.
A foul, succinct curse escaped his throat, his face falling against the truck guard. Gunner rushed around to the front of the truck, Booker and Austin following from the other direction.
“You okay, Jay?” Gunner approached him with wary steps.
With a loud growl, Jaydan ripped the guard off the truck. The others backed away. Swinging back, he threw the guard as far as he could into the pasture. It disappeared from sight.
He cursed again, breathing heavy. “Mitchell.”
Mitchell’s voice carried over his armband. “Rose, your armband’s on yellow. Stand down.”
“Matheson’s guards have Hope in a chopper headed for his island. I’m going to fuel up and head back.”
“Roger that. Call me once you’re up in the air.”
Signing off, Jaydan stumbled on his feet. Blood ran down his arm in a river of crimson. “I need to get to the plane.”
Gunner said, “Hell, you can’t fly. You’re losing too much blood.”
Turning on the pale blue light of his armband, Jaydan held it up to his shoulder. Pointing it at the truck grill, he saw the bullet had gone through his shoulder and into the truck.
He’d be fine.
Shoving them out of the way, he stormed to the house. He heard them follow into the bedroom. He shoved his belongings into his duffle bag with jerky movements.
“What the hell’s going on, Jaydan?” Austin said from the doorway. “Or, more importantly, what the hell are you?”
He could feel the energy start to ebb, the pain already teasing him. Add a bullet wound on top of it and… this one would be a bitch.
“Hope and I just freed a woman from her kidnapper. His guards just took Hope. I’m going to find her, find him-“ Wincing, he clutched at his shoulder. “- and then I’m going to kill him.”
Grabbing Hope’s bag, her scent engulfed him like a dust storm, billowing around him. Pain seared his chest like a bayonet, sharp and clean. Just a few minutes ago, they’d lay there, sated and happy, looking at pictures. He’d never been more content in his life.
“I’ll go with you.” Austin unraveled the tie at his neck.
Jaydan gave a whatever bark of laughter. “No, Austin. I work alone.”
He said, “I thought you worked with Hope.”
Swallowing hard, Jaydan shook his head. The only time she’d worked with him and he’d lost her.
Zipping up her bag, he picked up his duffle and headed out the door. The three men followed.
Shoving open the front door, he swayed when he hit the top porch step. Gunner caught him. He shrugged him off.
Taking another step, Jaydan’s head whirled. He would’ve fallen face first in the gravel if Gunner hadn’t caught him again. He could feel the darkness looming.
“You can’t fly, you stubborn ass,” Austin growled.
Hell. As much as he hated to admit it, Austin was right. He’d never stay awake long enough to make the flight. And, to wait until he woke from his recovery would give Cyrus hours to do God knows what to Hope.
Shit. He didn’t have a choice.
He had to ask Booker.
“Booker,” he said, nearly doubling over, trying to fend off the pain. “I’ll freaking pay you to fly me. Whatever the cost.”
Gunner and Austin stared at the old man with round eyes, his mother coming up beside him with Issy. The bastard stared down his nose at Jaydan, arms crossed over his chest.
Shit. Why would he think Booker would help him after all he’d done to the family?
Shrugging out of Gunner’s grip, Jaydan stumbled to the truck. “Forget it. I’ll –“
Everything went black.
***
“We have Miss Powers.”
Hope squeezed her eyes shut, cuffed hands in her lap. The helicopter flew over the dark countryside like a ship into a black hole, with no apparent destination in sight. She sat in the back beside Zeke, the guard from the luau sitting in front beside the pilot. They wore black, their faces painted to match, their demeanor all business.
Besides the whir of the blades, they sat in silence, its presence seeming to amplify her dark isolation even more. Only Jaydan’s scent on his shirt kept her grounded.
While a part of her worried about his gunshot, she also knew nothing that insignificant would bring down Jaydan Rose.
She refused to think about her vision.
“Any sign of Keegan?” Cyrus said over the speakers.
“No, sir.”
Cyrus’ growl of rage boomed in the chopper’s cabin like lightning crackling across a turbulent sky. The guards appeared unaffected by his outburst, their reaction… absent
.
“Would you like me to make her talk?” Zeke turned to Hope, his gaze passive and professional.
Her heart shot to warp speed, her vulnerability jumping to the forefront of her mind like an overplayed actor. She was alone with three men that had been created to protect Cyrus Matheson’s interests.
She and Jaydan had stolen his greatest asset.
“No, I want healthy cultures from her. Once we have them, we’ll make her talk.”
Zeke turned away from her. “Yes, sir.”
Her hands shook in the handcuffs. They planned to take her to his laboratory and take anything that involved her genetic code. He planned to recreate some version of her like he had Zeke from Riordan.
He also wouldn’t let her go when he was done. Would he send her to Mongolia, too?
“What of Jaydan Rose?” Cyrus said.
“I shot him but it won’t slow him down,” Zeke said. “You were right, sir, he’s been enhanced with extraordinary strength.” Zeke turned to look out the opposite window and lowered his voice. “He’ll come for her.”
Taking a deep breath, Hope welcomed the confidence that filled her. Damn right, he’ll come for her. She knew Jaydan wouldn’t stop until he got her back to safety. What frightened her was… at what cost?
Chapter 14
The sound of a ringing phone woke Jaydan. Frowning, he willed it away, his muscles sore and crooning him back to sleep. When it persisted, he yawned before rubbing a hand down his face. Blinking open his eyes, he spotted Booker sitting beside him in the pilot’s chair of the D.I.R.E jet. He shot up in his seat.
Checking the gauges, he saw they were an hour out from Oahu. He’d been asleep for hours. He’d pushed his body too far, trying to pull down that chopper. It had cost him hours of time – maybe, even Hope.
“Thanks, Booker. I owe you.” He spoke between his teeth, the words like shards of glass on his tongue.
Booker’s gaze traveled over his form before he nodded.
Glancing down, Jaydan still wore jeans and boots, his chest bare. His shoulder had been wrapped with bandages, the pain virtually nonexistent. Reaching for Hope’s bag on the floor beside his seat, he searched for her smartphone. It rang in his hand.