They hadn’t found Savannah’s car, but Sawyer and Ian had struck out and found a small cabin tucked away in the forest.
No one knew for sure that Savannah was here, but it was safe to assume that if she was, she was being held against her will. Otherwise she would have called them. No way would she leave Max and Logan wondering and worrying. She loved them.
Eli and Kellan were huddled together with Ian and Sawyer. Jake and Duncan stood to one side, talking to a frantic-looking Max and furious Logan.
Duncan turned and walked back over to her. “You’re going to stay here with Kellan,” he told her.
“What are you guys going to do?”
“We’re going in there,” he said grimly. “We’re getting Savi back.”
She hugged him, holding on tight. “Be careful,” she whispered.
“Always. I have all the reasons in the world to be careful, don’t I?”
“Yes. Yes, you do.”
She pulled back, looking at Kellan as he walked over. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
Kellan snorted. “Good, because I have no interest in watching over a child. You’ll wait in the car and you’ll do exactly as you’re told.”
Duncan moved off. As she glared at Kellan, all the men disappeared into the forest.
“Ian and Sawyer move like ghosts,” she commented.
Kellan grunted then pointed to the car behind her. “Get inside and lock the doors.”
She huffed out a breath. “I’m perfectly safe out here. Look, I know you don’t like me much. You never talk to me—all you do is glare and grunt. But I promise I’ll keep out of your way.”
He simply stared at her then at the car.
“Fine, I’m going, I’m going.” Asshole.
As she opened the door and climbed in three words hit her ears.
“I like you just fine.”
She smiled.
“I like you more when you’re obedient.”
Duncan watched the back entrance of the cabin as Sawyer approached the front. They didn’t want to panic whoever was in there by having Jake or himself approach the cabin in uniform. If he had a gun, he might well turn it on Savannah.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins then a pained cry burst through the woods. A woman’s scream. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Max take off toward the cabin. Shit.
Duncan had no choice but to run after him. The other man was already storming in through the back door. Duncan came to a sudden stop at the sight before him. Savannah was standing naked in the middle of the room, her arms over her head and tied coarsely with a rope hanging from the ceiling.
Her back was red, raw with some patches of broken skin. She shuddered, cries falling from her lips as she stared over at… Shit! Duncan dived towards Max who was beating the shit out of a man. The man he was beating lay on the ground, screaming for mercy.
As though he fucking deserved it.
But the last thing Savi needed was for one of her men to go to jail for murdering the son of a bitch. He pulled Max off the bastard, giving a nod of thanks to Jake who jumped in to hold Max back. Duncan pulled out some handcuffs, putting them on the crying, older man on the ground. He read him his rights, before pulling him up.
Duncan glanced over to find Logan cutting Savannah down. Logan wrapped her up in his jacket, pulling her into his arms.
“Max,” Logan said sharply as the other man continued to try to break free, to get to the half-conscious man Duncan held up. “Savannah.”
It was all Logan said, but it was enough to have Max turning and reaching for his wife. They held her between them like she was the most precious thing in the world.
“Okay, let’s get Savannah and this asshole back to the vehicles. He’ll need to go to hospital,” Jake said, his face as cold and dark as Duncan had ever seen.
Duncan trudged back through the woods, needing to check on Laken. Jake was on the other side. The bastard looked to be in his mid-fifties, he was short but in shape. Who the hell was he?
Laken jumped out of the car as she saw them coming, her gaze zeroing in on Savannah. “Is she okay? What happened?” She stared over at him, her face pale, eyes dark with fear. “What—oh my God.” She froze, staring at the man who was coming around. “What is Richard doing here?”
Jake and Duncan froze.
“You know this guy?” Duncan asked.
She stared up at him, looking shocked. “Know him? He used to be my boss. He’s Ricky’s father. Richard Stanton. What-what did he do to Savannah?”
“He beat her,” Ian told her. “He was whipping her when we burst in. He’s your old boss, huh?” The big man looked thoughtful before stepping in front of Stanton and grabbing his chin. “Look at me,” he growled.
Neither Duncan nor Jake stopped him.
The asshole raised his face, blinking open his half-swollen eyes.
“Who are you?”
“Your worst fuckin’ nightmare. Why’d you take Savannah?” Ian asked.
The man just smiled. “Fuck you.”
“Richard?” Laken tried to get close but Sawyer intercepted her. “Let me through, I want to talk to him. I want to find out what’s going on.”
“Laken? Is that you, my darling girl? You left, you went back to your old, dirty ways. Come back to me, darling. Let me make you clean again.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Duncan handed the asshole off to Ian. Everything clicked together. Stepping over to Laken, he pulled her close.
“Oh, God, it was you? You’re the one who took me? Who killed all those women?”
“Savannah, no,” a loud voice interrupted.
Everyone looked over to find Savannah pulling out of her men’s grasp to walk over to them. She winced as her bare feet connected with sharp rocks. Finally, Logan picked her up, but brought her closer. Her face was drawn, almost gray, but her gaze was furious.
“He told me everything,” she said. “He’s killed a lot of women and he was going to do the same with me. He said they were all dirty and that he had to punish them, just like his wife. He said he only let one go free, because she was meant to be his. But that she needed to be punished for straying. He was talking about Laken. He planned to punish Laken by killing me.”
“Oh, God,” Laken cried. “I’m so sorry.”
Savannah’s gaze was intent as she stared at Laken. “Not your fault. Lock him away. Promise me he won’t get out.”
Duncan pulled Laken tight, holding her close.
“I promise, sweetheart,” Jake told her, staring at both Savannah and Laken. “I promise both of you that he will never hurt any woman again.”
Chapter Eighteen
Laken sat on the wooden corral, looking out at the hills around her. She shouldn’t be out here; she should be inside with the others, having dinner. But she’d needed some air, some space. Lila was her best friend and her men were fast becoming good friends as well. But she wasn’t ready to act as though everything was normal and okay.
It had been four weeks since Richard had kidnapped Savannah. How had she not known it was him? She had worked with him for years. Admittedly, she hadn’t had that much to do with him, but never once had she connected him with that psycho that had kidnapped her.
Part of her still couldn’t believe it. Richard, prim and proper Richard was a murderer. They now believed he had killed his wife, even though her death had been ruled a suicide at the time. Although he wasn’t talking, from what he had told Savannah, his wife had wanted to leave him, had been cheating on him with a man who owned a BDSM club.
They had brought Ricky in for questioning as well but then released him. There had been nothing to connect him with his father’s crimes.
“Want some company, sugar?”
A warm arm surrounded her waist as Duncan came up behind her and leaned against the corral.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” he told her.
“Sorry, I’ll be in soon.”
“Do you want to go home?” he asked.
“Duncan, do you still want me?”
There was a long silence then he turned her, pulling her down to stand in front of him.
“What are you talking about?”
“I feel like I’m in free-fall without a parachute. I’m spiralling this way and that. I went from having this threat over my head one day to having it gone the next and now I don’t know where things stand. Do you want me now that you don’t have to protect me?”
He placed his hand in her hair, gently tugging it back until she looked up into his gaze.
“I will always protect you. I want you. Nothing will change that. I am your parachute or safety net or whatever fucking metaphor you want to use. I am here for you.”
A weight lifted from her chest and she could breathe easier. “We haven’t talked about the future.”
“I wanted to give you some time. You’ve been through so much.”
“Idiot,” she told him. “I don’t need time. I need you.”
His gaze narrowed. “Your butt is going to pay later for calling your Dom an idiot.”
She grinned. “I’m counting on it.”
His hand travelled around her throat. “I’m going to collar you and marry you.”
She raised a brow. “Don’t you think you should ask me?”
“And give you a chance to say no?” He looked horrified.
Laken scowled. “What am I going to tell our children when they ask how you proposed?”
His hand dropped to her stomach. “Children, huh? How many?”
“I don’t know, 2 or 3?”
He nodded. “I think two is a nice number. No more though. I’m a selfish bastard; I want some of your attention on me.”
“Whew, I thought you might say you wanted another Jones clan. Ten might be a few too many.”
“Ten is definitely too many,” he told her, a dark look briefly crossing his face.
She cupped the side of his face. “Duncan? Are you okay? Your brothers left rather quickly.”
Eli and Kellan had left as soon as they could. A brief goodbye and they’d been gone.
“They hate being here. It brings back all the bad memories.”
“But surely there must be good memories. What about when your Mom was alive? What was she like?”
He gazed over her head. “She was beautiful and kind. Mostly I remember her laugh and her hugs. She had a great laugh. It was full and loud and it made you smile no matter what.”
“She sounds wonderful.”
He glanced down at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “She’d have loved you. I can’t help thinking that if she had lived things would have been different. My father wouldn’t have drunk himself to death; my brothers wouldn’t be spread out across the globe, trying to chase their own demons away.”
“How come you came back?”
“For you, sugar. I came here for you.”
She leaned her forehead against his chest.
“Yes,” she said.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“Damn straight.”
Epilogue
Laken stared out the window at the guests waiting for her below.
“Ready, baby girl?”
She turned to see her Dad standing in the doorway, he stepped aside and her Poppa stepped through. Both of them looked so handsome in their tuxes.
“You two look great.”
Tears filled her Dad’s eyes. “And you look breath-taking, baby girl. You momma would be so proud of you.”
She stepped forward hugging one then the other. “I know she’s here watching.”
“She’s always watching over you, Laken,” her Poppa told her. “Now, your man is getting a bit impatient, he looks more worried than your dad on our wedding day.”
Laken smiled as she followed them out of her childhood bedroom. This was a new phase of her life, one she was more than willing to take.
Two nights ago, Duncan had collared her in front of everyone at Saxon’s. She already belonged to him. Just like he belonged to her. But today would completely cement that.
She stood between her two fathers and looked out at all of her friends and family. Duncan’s brothers were here. They’d arrived a few days ago and she knew how much that meant to Duncan. All of them had gone out to the old farmhouse where they’d grown up. Afterwards Duncan had looked lighter. Like a weight had been lifted off him.
The music started and she took a step forward.
To her man.
Her world.
Laken's Surrender (Haven) Page 20