by Dale Mayer
Walking over to the only other full wall she made a tiny tapping sound and waited. Nothing. She walked to the wall with the doorway and repeated the action. Just when she thought there was nothing she heard a tiny tap back. She rapped twice more and listened to two more taps coming her way.
Good, maybe that meant the boys were there. Or a different captive. Vanessa went back to the window and looked out at the window beside her, but it was too far to reach. As she studied it, a face popped out. Amrit. His face broke into a wide grin. Peter’s face showed up above his brother’s a moment later. She held her finger up to her mouth to keep them quiet and walked back inside the room to figure this out.
There really were only two options. Going out the window or breaking the door down. The latter wasn’t possible, and if there were men in the house she’d be alerting them to her attempts to escape. She wanted no part of that. The window was her only choice.
She didn’t have much rope but if she tied them together… She quickly tied a small loop on the one and with the two ropes tied together she hooked it over the latch and then clambered up into the window. If she hit the knot with a hard jerk it would likely slip free, but it would still help break her fall. Just not enough. She climbed outside the window knowing Amrit was watching her, she lowered herself down until she was hanging onto the ledge by her hands. Then she grabbed the hanging rope and pulled.
It held.
She slowly lowered her weight onto the rope, slid down to the end and then dropped to the ground and rolled.
And just like that she was free. With a wave to the boys she quickly bailed over the back fence.
Now to find a phone. And someone to help her. She ran around to the front of the house whose yard she was in and pounded on the front door. When a man answered she asked, “Please can I borrow your phone. This is an emergency.”
He quickly handed her the phone.
She called Chase.
“I’ve escaped. I’m at…” She stepped back to look at the address beside the door. “The number is 364.”
She looked over at the man who’d let her borrow his phone and he said, “Cypress Road. This is number 364 Cypress Road.”
She repeated the address.
“Stay where you are. We’re on route,” Chase said, his voice calm. But she could hear the turmoil and the anger churning behind it.
“I escaped from the house directly behind this one. I jumped out the back window. Amrit and Peter are being held in the room beside the one I was in.” Her voice wavered as she looked around to make sure nobody was coming after her.
The man’s wife had come to the front door. They stood silently horrified yet supportive as she spoke to Chase.
“We have to help the boys before someone finds out I’m missing.”
Chase asked, “Did you see anyone? Did you hear anything?”
She shook her head wildly. “No, I fell asleep on the couch at Brett’s, and then I woke up tied up in the bedroom behind here.”
She heard the gasp of the people standing inside their front door, and she tried to smile at them reassuringly. But it was a little hard when she just wanted to run away from the faceless enemies.
“How long are you going to take to get here?” she asked. Should she walk around the block to the front of the house? She really didn’t want to, but there was no way she was going to leave those boys alone.
“Not long. Stay exactly where you are. We’re almost there.”
*
Chase gripped the phone in his hand a little too carefully. He really wanted to smash it against the inside of the truck. But that wasn’t going to help anyone. Vanessa had managed to free herself and escape the house. For that he admired her. So many people panicked and then couldn’t help themselves. That she’d seen the boys was also great news.
Now they had locations for all three of them. They just had to get to them in time. Cooper was en route too. More than a little pissed but healthy enough to dish out a beating if he got a chance.
Wary of another set up, Markus pulled up to the front of the house she’d called from.
Chase jumped out of the vehicle in time to see Vanessa racing toward them. She’d been partially hidden on the front porch. He opened his arms and caught her in midflight. She was laughing and crying, her body shaking uncontrollably. He crushed her to him, his heart filled with relief. That had been close. Too damn close.
“Dear God, I thought I’d lost you.”
She clutched his neck tighter. “Thank you for coming for me. I was so scared.”
He snorted. “Really? You’re in danger because of me and here you are thanking me. You should be blaming me instead.”
Rearing back, she glared at him. “Like hell. Did you kidnap me? No. Did you lock me in a room tied up on the floor? No. Did you kidnap those poor boys? Hell no. That’s enough of that talk. We need to get them out of that house now.”
“And you need to get into the truck and wait for us.” He led her back to the truck, helped her into the back seat while Mason and Swede approached from the corner.
Mason said, “We’ve searched the area and there’s no sign anyone’s inside.”
Chase shook his head. “Why would they leave their prisoners alone? That makes no sense.”
“The only thing that makes any sense is that it’s a trap,” Swede said. He motioned to the area and all the fenced backyards. “They could be hiding anywhere.”
“The priority is to recover the children. Then to take down the assholes. If this isn’t a trap then we need to set one ourselves using this house as bait.”
“Use me.” The truck door opened and slammed shut behind him as Vanessa rushed toward them. “I didn’t see anyone when I was inside the house. But they aren’t likely to leave the house empty for long. Let’s retrieve the boys, I’ll go back where I was and you guys can hide throughout the house.” She grinned. “Give me a phone this time though, will you?”
Shadow smiled. “We can do that.”
“Whoa, let’s not forget she just escaped,” Chase said. “She’s safe now. There’s no way she should be going back in there.”
“And yet I am involved.” She turned back to Mason and said, “Don’t worry about him, he’s just feeling guilty.” She turned back to look at Chase. “And besides, we don’t have time for this. They could be back any moment.”
“How are you going to get back into that house?” he asked furiously. “Climb up the rope again?”
Shadow answered. “We’ll help her back into the bedroom and one of us will stay in the closet with her and another one in the boys’ closet. When these guys get back then we take them down. But our window of opportunity is closing.”
And in spite of his protests, she completely overruled him and Chase gave in. Fear gnawed at his insides. He didn’t dare think about what could go wrong. There was no way any civilian should be involved in this and especially not her. But he could see that the options weren’t great. He tried one last time. “You stay in the truck. We can rescue the boys then return to hide in the house.”
“We get the boys out, that’s first,” Vanessa said calmly. “But if the guys come in and check on us they will relax if they still have me. If all of us are missing they are going to run. You might be able to catch one or two but a few minutes extra notice can make all the difference.”
And then it was too late.
They were out of time.
The plan went ahead. At least he knew he’d be there to watch over her if anything happened this time.
Chapter 25
Why had she suggested this idea? Once again she was tied up on the bedroom floor as she had been when she woke up. At least the boys were safe. They’d rushed to Chase and Swede and had been quickly picked up and carried out. Hawk and Shadow were now standing guard of them back at the truck. And now the long wait began. She should’ve asked to go to the bathroom first. She just knew she was going to have to go soon. The longer she waited the more nervous she got and the mo
re she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
She couldn’t see Chase in the closet but she knew he was there. She wished he could lie down beside her and just hold her, but if anybody heard him dashing back to the closet, it would defeat the purpose. There was the tiniest of movement behind her. She twisted so she could look at him and he gave a thumbs up sign then held up three fingers. In low tones, he said, “Three men are approaching with boxes of pizza.”
Her gaze widened as she understood. So they had intended to leave their prisoners to go get food. Why hadn’t they left one man on guard? Shrugging at their stupidity, yet grateful for it, she relaxed back on the floor. Almost instantly she heard noises downstairs as the three men walked inside. She heard them calling, “Hey, Jimmy, you there? Got your pepperoni pizza.”
Silence. One of the other men called out, “Jimmy, where are you?”
Silence.
Had one of the kidnappers disappeared when the opportunity had arisen? Would they blame him for the boys being gone? He was smart if he had taken off. But she didn’t know if the world was big enough for him to hide. These guys had tracked down Chase. What would it take to track a deserter, particularly when he could turn evidence on them?
They’d kill him if they caught him.
Chase had to be thinking the same thing. Kidnapping was a serious offense. If things went well, all the gang members would see long jail terms.
Footsteps raced up the stairs and she froze. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing. As they came closer, the door to her bedroom flung open and she could hear a heavy sigh of relief.
“The bitch is here,” the man cried out. He ran to the boys’ room and flung the door open. “Fuck. The boys are gone!” he yelled.
“What?” roared another man.
More footsteps sounded as the other men ran upstairs.
“How did they get out? And where the hell is Jimmy?”
She could almost picture the three men staring at each other as the answer came to them.
“Jesus, did he take the boys? Did he let them go? What the hell’s going on? Surely Jimmy would never turn on the gang.”
“I wouldn’t have thought so, but he was against kidnapping the kids so he might have opened the door for the boys and then run. Or, kids these days are pretty damn smart. If they could get out of the house they would have. If he found them gone he might have run then too, knowing how much trouble he’d been in. Which means, we can expect the damn cops to be here any moment,” one of the men said in a panic.
“Let’s go. Let’s go. Grab the woman and get the hell out of here.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.”
She smiled in relief as she heard Mason’s voice. “You three aren’t going anywhere.”
“Get him…”
And the place erupted.
Vanessa cringed as Chase bolted past her, a little too eager to get his hands on the men who’d kidnapped her. Her hands hadn’t been tied very tight and as the sounds of a heavy fight raged out in the hallway, she quickly untied herself. The bedroom door was still open. She peered around the door frame to see two against three.
Chase caught sight of her. And straightened. He roared, “Vanessa, get back inside,”
A shot fired. And Chase staggered.
“Chase!” she screamed, racing toward him.
“No,” he yelled as the gun fired a second time.
One of the men ran toward the stairs but Mason tackled him from behind. The kidnapper twisted but lost his footing and fell over the railing head first to land on the tiled floor below. The other two men stopped fighting.
Chase used the handrail to stand up and looked down at the man below, an odd look on his face.
She ran to his side and looked over at the dead man. It was Ronnie.
“Good riddance,” she snapped.
“I agree,” Chase said carefully, holding his arm tight against his chest.
“You’re hurt,” she whispered, her hand going to her mouth.
“Just a flesh wound. My ribs are likely cracked too.” He grinned as he looked at the other two men. “That’s okay. It’s all worth it.”
She turned her attention to the two kidnappers and recognized them from the park. They were pinned by Mason and now Swede who’d joined them.
“So these are the cowards who pick on women and children,” she sneered. “I see you had to attack me while I was sleeping. What’s the matter? Are you scared of me too?”
In a sudden move, the closest man twisted free and went to backhand her.
She laughed, grabbed his arm, twisted it up behind his back while knocking his feet out from under him. She’d pinned him to the floor in seconds.
“Go ahead and hit me again,” she snapped. “See what kind of treatment you’re going to get next time.” And she reefed his arm up behind his back until he cried out.
With a laugh, Chase said, “Let him go. We’ll get him into custody and make sure the others know a girl beat him.”
The others sniggered. The gunman roared and tried to leap to his feet. Chase smacked him down again…hard. “That’s for kidnapping those boys. I’d hit you again for Vanessa, but I think she did a fine job on her own.”
Chase led her downstairs and away from Ronnie’s body. “I’m taking you back to the boys and the truck. Everyone is going to get checked over then home.”
“Home? Their mother is in the hospital, their apartment trashed. My apartment was broken into. What was that about home?” she reminded him. “None of us have such a thing any longer.”
*
He could take them to his apartment, but it was small and would be a tight squeeze. Brett’s house was big, and like Vanessa had pointed out, was built for a family. But it had taken hours to get his arm seen to and the few stitches put in. Plus the boys had to be checked over and Vanessa, who had refused to be checked until Chase had insisted.
She’d rolled her eyes at him and said, “You’re a worry wart.”
And of course he was. He couldn’t imagine not waking up a dozen times in the night making sure she was there safe and sound at his side.
When they were all fixed up, they’d walked the boys up to see their mother in the same hospital.
After much hugs and cries of joy they left with the boys, picked up pizza and the promised ice cream before returning to Brett’s house.
As he unlocked the door and ushered the boys in, he had a moment of shock when he realized the house was no longer empty.
Brett came storming out of the kitchen only to stop and stare. Then his face broke into a huge grin. “Well look at this. I leave for a few days and come home to find my best friend has a ready-made family.”
Vanessa stepped forward with a big smile. “Hi, I’m Vanessa. Nice to meet you. Chase is injured and needs to sit down before he collapses.”
Chase snorted in disgust behind her. He watched as she dumped the three pizza boxes in Brett’s surprised hands.
“And this is Amrit and Peter, two boys I believe you’ve met before.” She ushered the boys toward the kitchen. “Go wash your hands so we can eat. And wash the ice cream off your faces.”
The boys took off racing for the sink. Vanessa followed more slowly.
“Uhm, so you’re ready to collapse?” Brett said in fascination, his gaze following Vanessa’s trim figure as she followed after the boys. “You can’t be as badly injured as Levi and the boys in his unit.”
“She’s just mad I wouldn’t stay at the hospital overnight.”
Brett’s gaze zinged back toward him in shock, immediately seeing the bandage around Chase’s upper arm.
“It’s nothing.” He grinned and motioned for Brett to lead off toward the chaos. “I think the pizza is needed in there.”
“And when did you plan on explaining this,” Brett muttered. “I still can’t believe what I’m seeing.”
“Believe what?” Vanessa snagged the pizza from his arms and efficiently opened each box and laid them on the table.
“Uhm, this.” And Brett motioned from Chase to Vanessa and back.
“What’s to explain?” she said. “It’s all good. We met. We fell in love. And it’s so perfect we’re going to work hard to keep it that way.”
Chase sucked back his breath.
There was an odd silence in the kitchen. The boys were busy stuffing pizza down their gullet, but there was nothing wrong with their hearing. They listened avidly.
Vanessa turned to look at each male face. Her frown deepened as she came full circle back to Chase. “What did I say?”
He tugged her into his embrace, ignoring the pain in his arm. “Did you mean it?” he asked.
“Of course I did.” She gazed into his eyes then dropped her voice into a husky whisper. “Unless you didn’t?”
That slow sexy smile slipped out making him wish they were alone. “Oh I meant it,” he said.
And he lowered his head and kissed her.
“Hey, break it up,” Swede shouted from behind them. “We brought more pizza.”
Chase pulled back slightly to peer down at the woman in his arms. Was it really that easy to let go of his past and walk into the future with this beautiful woman? “Is this really possible?”
A rosy color washed over her face as she clearly realized everyone was listening in, but she nodded. “It’s very possible. Life is what we make it. Our pasts are over, today is happening but it’s our tomorrows we need to create.”
“And you’re willing to create one with me? To build a life together,” he added in a hoarse whisper, still not so sure.
“Absolutely. Just because you had a tough start in life doesn’t mean you had to stay on that course. You turned that around and made yourself the man you are today. I’m no fool,” she said in a serious tone. “I know a keeper when I see one.”
As the cheers erupted around them, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
He crushed her close. Maybe dreams did happen for guys like him.
This concludes Book 10 of SEALs of Honor: Chase.