by AliyahBurke
More of that dread filled her. “What are you talking about?”
Crack!
He backhanded her with the hand holding the knife. The edge of the tang caught and tore the skin on her face.
“I’d been without a woman for a long time. Then you show up and you ignore me? Not only that, you ignore me for Sergeant Moser.”
Shit! Jacey looked, really looked at the man before her. Tall, dark brown hair which touched his broad shoulders, and blue eyes. Her mind put him in field gear and she imagined him with facial hair. He crossed his arms and it hit her.
“Captain Roy Weiss,” she spat.
“I’m flattered you remember.”
What the fuck is Derek’s old unit commander doing here? “What are you doing?”
“Keeping you here until after the wedding.”
“Why?”
“You shouldn’t have ignored me. And to find out you had a kid with him. That was an added bonus.” A sadistic grin filled his expression.
“Stay away from my son,” she bit off.
“What? No concern for his father?”
“Derek is capable of taking care of himself.” I hope.
“You won’t miss your son.” He rubbed himself through his pants.
“Who else knows?” There was no reason in pretending she was harmless and scared.
“I haven’t told anyone. Yet. I think I can get more money from him with this bit of information.”
“So you don’t plan on killing me?” She fought back the pain spiraling up her arms from her wrists. But it was working, she could feel the twine sliding over her thumb.
“Not right away. We’re going to have some fun first.”
“I don’t understand. Why are you doing this? What do you get out of it?”
“Of course you don’t understand. Let me explain it to you. I never liked Derek. Damn morals. He testified against me in that rape trial. I mean, who the fuck cared, it was some little remote village somewhere. A few local girls, no big deal. But he testified against me and I got dishonorably discharged.” He spat on the floor. “The Corps was my life. So I’ve been selling my services.”
I’m proud of you, Derek. Relief flooded her when she worked her right hand free. Slowly she slid her hand down to where her ankle sat lashed to the back leg. “Isn’t that a bit awkward, paying someone to sleep with you?”
“Stop trying to get me to kill you.” Weiss stood and kicked the chair away before striding the remaining distance to her. “I’m going to fuck you unconscious.”
“So exciting,” she retorted drolly. He hit her again, rocking her head back. Jacey felt fresh blood fill her mouth. The bindings loosened on her ankle. “This your foreplay?” she sneered. “Getting all three inches nice n’ hard?”
He growled low and wrapped one beefy hand around her neck. Jacey struggled. Her left hand fell free and, just as the spots were forming before her eyes, she boxed his ears, hard. Weiss shoved her away and she fell back. Instantly she began to scramble away, barely thinking about the chair still attached to one leg.
Slamming it to the ground, it splintered, and the moment she got it off a low roar filled the air. Jacey looked up to see Weiss heading for her, a murderous scowl on his face. Ignoring the pain in her limbs for having been in one position for so long, Jacey rolled backwards to come up in a crouching stance. Ready for the fight.
Weiss launched toward her but never made contact. He flew back as if he were on a tether and had just reached the end of it. Jacey stared in shock when behind Weiss she found a furious Derek. He didn’t even wait for Weiss to get to his feet before he was on him. The sound of flesh hitting flesh and bone reached her, along with grunts and muttered curses.
She pushed to her feet and removed the remaining rope around her. Shaking her limbs, Jacey worked the blood back into them, pumping up the circulation. Keeping one eye on the men, Jacey sighed. It was sweet having Derek there, but she had something a bit more pressing to handle at the moment. And she wanted to know why he was here. She almost winced when Derek slammed Roy’s head into the wall.
“Enough, Derek,” she said while he continued to pound the unconscious man. “Enough.” Jacey touched his shoulder and found herself deflecting a strike. “Damn it, Derek!”
“Jace! Oh baby, I’m so sorry.” He hauled her in close, his own face bruised and bleeding. “I thought I was going to be too late.” His mouth sought hers. Desperate. Needy.
Jacey kissed him with the same intensity, unmindful of their injuries. “I’m okay, Derek. Where’s Caleb?”
“He’s safe. Jesus, princess, I thought I lost you.” He continued to kiss her.
Drawing back, she cupped his face, tenderly touching the bruises. “We have to go. We have a wedding to stop.”
“Are you okay?”
“I am now.” She kissed him hard, oblivious to their busted lips, then stepped away. “Let’s get him in the car.”
“You’re bleeding.”
So are you. “Derek, focus. I’m fine. We have to get back to town. Where are we?”
Each taking an arm, they dragged the man out of the small building. “The quarry.”
“Fuck!” They were almost two hours away. Her mood improved a bit when she spotted her Rubicon. “Let’s get this piece of crap in.”
They put him in the back, bound and gagged. Jacey jumped in the driver’s seat and turned over the powerful engine while Derek alighted in the passenger seat. Whipping around and with gravel flying behind them, Jacey tore out of the quarry and headed back to Leeburg.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Derek held on tight as Jacey flew along narrow back roads, skidding around corners. They’d been airborne more times then he cared to recall.
He looked at her. Dried blood on her face, the shirt almost completely open. Even her with dark skin he could see the bruising on her face. Blood also congealed around her wrists. More anger rushed to the surface when he saw Weiss, still unconscious, in the back.
Derek had made it in time to Jacey’s house. He hid and waited. It was almost dawn when they made their move. He’d wakened her father, Jacob, when he’d shot the first and only man through the door. Honestly, he’d expected more than one. After running to ensure his son was truly okay, Derek had gone back downstairs. Jacey’s father stood there with a look furious enough to make the devil back down.
By eight, he’d gotten that they’d taken Jacey to the quarry, an old mining area a ways from Leeburg. But fear expounded when he heard the name Captain Roy Weiss. Kissing Caleb goodbye, Derek jumped into Jacey’s vehicle and drove off. Seeing that man lunge for Jacey snapped any control he had left.
Shifting, he looked back at Jacey. Her gaze honed on the road, taking each curve as fast as she dared and asking for everything her Rubicon could give her. He gulped when she careened hard into a creek and began following it, the large tires bouncing along the rocks.
“I thought I told you to stay with Caleb,” she said as they jounced along.
He bristled. “I was worried for you.”
“I had it covered. You should have stayed with him.”
“Pull over,” he growled.
“What?”
“Goddamn it, Jacey, stop the motherfucking Jeep!” She slammed the brakes and glared at him while the vehicle skidded to a stop. “Get out!” he barked.
With a muttered curse, she threw it in neutral, set the brake and jumped out to stalk to the back. He met her and saw her tying off the shirt under her breasts. He could see more bruising on her torso.
“What?” she snapped.
“I’m not a Marine in your unit, Jack,” he growled, deliberately using her call sign. “I don’t take orders from you and I sure as hell won’t sit by while you’re in danger. I made sure our son was safe but damn you, Jacey, it’s my job to protect you too.”
“No. It’s not.”
“Looks like she don’t want you, Sergeant,” Weiss’ mocking tone reached him.
“Shut the fuck up,�
�� Jacey bit off right before she punched him in the jaw and knocked him back out. Then she stared at him again. “Let’s go.” She hopped into the back and stepped over Weiss before sliding into the driver’s seat.
Derek snarled low but walked back to his side. “This isn’t over,” he told her.
Jacey looked over her shoulder at him, her face bruised and bloody, eyes filled with obsidian fire. She turned away, dismissing him. Derek fought to control himself. He was furious with her attitude. And he longed to shut the engine off and throw away the keys before having it out with her.
He’d barely sat down when she floored it and they raced away. The silence between them overflowed with terseness. She skidded to a stop before the church and looked at him. Her gaze never softened. Jacey jumped out in her tied off shirt, cut off pants held up by his belt, and no shoes. Derek followed behind her.
They entered the church and Jacey took a deep breath before saying, “Stop the wedding.”
All heads turned to her and Derek heard Caleb’s voice call out for his mother. “Junior or Senior?” he asked.
“I want the senior asshole. Watch the groomsmen, they’re mercs.”
“Jacey?” Honey asked.
“Get away from my cousin,” Derek growled.
The room, which had been quiet, erupted into a flurry of activity when the male population of the wedding party ran towards them. He saw Jacey hone in on the senior Turner. Carson intercepted one groomsman as he himself launched a fist into David’s face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jacob Thompson take down another. Then it just plain got crazy.
A few hours later everyone stood out in front of the church. There were FBI vehicles there along with a few state patrol. The final man being loaded in was Reed Davis. His eyes were angry and shocked while he was assisted into the back of the van.
Derek turned away and found the ambulance Jacey sat in the back of. Caleb was at her side while Ritchie, the EMT, cleaned her face. Honey broke away from where she stood with her parents and moved to his side. She wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m sorry, Honey.” He kissed the top of her head before straightening the wreath of flowers sitting there. “You look beautiful.”
“They would have killed me,” she responded in a resigned voice.
“It’s over now, Honey.”
“For me. What about for you?”
What about him? Good question. “I don’t know, Honey. I don’t know.”
He placed his gaze back on Jacey and saw her tugging down a Leeburg paramedic shirt, Ritchie standing close. Too close.
“Don’t let her get away, Derek. I’ve never seen you so happy as I have since Jacey came back into your life. And Caleb, too.”
Derek looked at his cousin. “Are you going to be okay?”
She smiled and a spark flared in her brown eyes. “Yes. I mean, I’ve been in the biggest scandal of Leeburg history. We’re going to go eat. Will you be there?”
“I’ll be there.”
Honey hugged him and walked away. Derek headed over to where Jacey sat holding Caleb in her arms. Her eyes were closed, thick curvy lashes resting on her cheeks. The stark whiteness of the butterfly bandages marred her beautiful dark skin. Not willing to remain out of the bonding, Derek reached out and placed a hand on her head. Her lashes lifted, exposing her eyes to him, they were once again soft.
“They’re going to Rosie’s to eat.”
“Okay,” she said quietly. “Come on, Caleb.”
“We’ll take him, Jacey,” Etta Mae broke in. “You go home and get yourself cleaned up.”
“Yes, ma’am.” She kissed her son and whispered in his ear before walking off.
Derek stared after her until Jacob said, “Get on after her, son.”
He didn’t have to be told twice. Derek vaulted in the Jeep as she drove away. Jacey didn’t speak and he recalled how she had been after the rescue operation. Then, she had joked around with her unit but now, she was stone-faced.
Derek followed her inside the house and up the stairs. “Jace.” She turned to him once in her bedroom. “Talk to me.”
“I have to get a shower.” Jacey reached for the belt and she fumbled her hands shook so much.
Gently grasping her wrists, he moved her hands away. “I got it, Jace.”
She stood still and he undressed her. His belly clenched more with each exposed bruise and cut. And when she stood naked before him, Derek saw the slight tremors which racked her.
“Come on, princess.”
He put her in a warm shower and sat on the sink. After a few moments, Derek slid the curtain back and peeked in. Jacey stood there, immobile, the water sluicing down her back and tears streaming over her cheeks. The raw agony on her beautiful face broke his heart. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her lower lip was caught in her teeth.
Jacey.
In seconds, Derek stripped and joined her in the shower. He didn’t ask, just gathered her close and held her while she cried. He didn’t move until the shudders stopped. Brushing her wet hair back from her face, Derek said, “Come on, princess. We have to get to the diner.” He handed her a soapy washcloth.
Soon they were out, dried, and dressed. Derek knelt on the floor before Jacey, buckling the straps of her aquamarine heels which matched her gauzy sundress. Straightening her Ankh, he rose and took her hand, leading her to the Jeep. He watched her briefly touch her neck where her necklace used to lie.
Despite the seriousness of what had transpired, the diner was full of cheer. Derek fought down the urge to keep Jacey at his side. He stood behind Caleb as she hugged Honey.
“How’s she doing?” Jacob asked him quietly.
“It shook her more than either one of us want to admit.”
“You know my baby girl means the world to me. So even though I’ve always thought of you as a son, you better make sure you treat her right.”
“I’m doing my best, sir.” Derek glanced at Jacob and smiled slightly at the expression on his face. “She’s very stubborn.”
Jacob grinned proudly. “She sure is.” He patted his shoulder. “Good luck, son. I expect y’all to be wed before the next youngun arrives.” Then Jacob walked off.
Next youngun. Derek froze. Nawh. Glancing between Jacob and Jacey he wondered. Could she be? Wouldn’t she tell me if she was? He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
He spent the remainder of the night watching her and wondering. She collected her son and slipped away without a word to him. One minute she was there and the next she was gone.
“Where’d she go?” he asked Honey.
“I don’t know, Derek.”
“Honey,” he grumbled.
“I swear, I don’t know.”
“I’m taking the GTO. Give Carson a ride home.” He left at a run.
She wasn’t at home, nor had she been anywhere in town. Derek took a chance and headed up to Owl Lake. His heart calmed down when he saw her Rubicon backed up to the lake, tailgate down and Jacey, Caleb, and Shadow sitting there. Parking close, he got out and strode towards them.
“W…what about my friends there, Mama?”
“You have friends here. TC is here and I’m sure you’d make more.”
“Did I do something w…wrong, Mama?” Derek’s heart clenched at the pain in Caleb’s voice.
“No, baby. This is not your fault. Not at all. It’s mine.”
“Why yours, Mama?” He watched her stroke her son’s hair.
“Remember how I told you I kept you from him? From your Papa? This is more of him wanting to be in your life..”
Derek froze by the hood of her Jeep.
“What about Grandpa and Grandma? And Shadow?”
“Shadow will always be with you. Grandpa and Grandma have to go back home.”
“S…so I’d be by myself?”
Derek couldn’t take it anymore. He walked up. There was evidence of tears in Jacey’s eyes when she looked at him. “Hey,” he said softly.
“Hi,” C
aleb replied with none of the enthusiasm he was used to getting from him.
“Can I join you?” Small shoulders shrugged and Derek took it as a yes. He reached behind Caleb and took Jacey’s hand.
“Not alone, Caleb,” she assured her son. “Never alone. I’d be here as often as I could. And you’d be closer to Shemar and Alyson.”
“I need to think, Mama. Alone.” He slid off the tailgate and walked away with Shadow jumping down to follow.
Jacey pulled her hand free and he looked at her. “Why?”
“I’m gone in thirty-six.”
“Gone. Where?”
“Back to work.”
Derek forced her to look at him. “Jace.”
“My son’s life was threatened, Derek. My son in his own home. That’s not supposed to happen. You need to be in his life. You can protect him.”
Disbelief filled him. “That’s why you’re doing this? Because you feel I can protect him?”
“That, and you were right. You should be the male influence in his life. No matter how I feel about it, you and I are forever connected because of Caleb. And you are a great father. The only thing is you have to move into the house.”
His mind reeled. “What? Slow down. I have to move in?”
“Yes. Caleb has his room there and feels comfortable.”
“I’m not moving into your parents’ home, Jace.”
“It’s mine. The house is mine.”
“I’m perfectly—”
“You told me to let my parents live their life. Your aunt and uncle don’t need Caleb moving in.”
She made sense even if he didn’t like it. Jacey sounded so damn clinical.
“About us, Jace—”
“No, Derek.”
“What do you mean no?” he demanded on a barely muffled roar. “You can’t honestly tell me that while you’re carrying my second child!”
“What are you talking about?” she ground out.
“Your father said before the second one was born we had better be married.”
A complete mask settled over her face. She stood up and hollered for her son. “Get out of my Jeep.” Her command was low and edged with steel.
“Jace.”