by Mackenzy Fox
Oh, holy shit.
I drop my phone in my hand as it smashes to the ground.
All there is surrounding me is darkness as I give in to it and let it swallow me whole.
24
Jaxon
My phone rings and I look down at it as I wrap up the meeting with Lennox.
It’s Ryan.
“What’s up?” I answer.
It sounds like Ryan has been running. “Shit, Jax, I’m sorry, something happened at the hospital.”
My eyes go wide and panic hits me.
“Is it John?”
Please fuck say no, I don’t know what Morgan will do if he dies.
“No, it’s Morgan,” Ryan pants.
My heartbeat kicks up a notch. What is he talking about?
“What happened?” I bark impatiently.
Lennox looks up at me from across the desk.
“She went down for coffee with Lewis and some guy jumped them in the elevator.”
The blood rushes to my ears as I stand and start pacing, waiting for what comes next.
“He took her, Jax, she’s fucking gone.”
My eyes go wide at his words. I close my eyes. I had an iffy feeling about leaving her alone, all week I’ve had it, that unsettling feeling. I can’t fucking believe this; I’ve only been gone just over an hour.
“I’m going to fucking kill you.” I promise as I run a hand through my hair trying to think.
“I’m pulling up the security footage now,” Ryan says quickly. “They may have a partial plate number of the van.”
Fuck.
“I’ll be there as fast as I can,” I spit and end the call. I go to move but I’m momentarily stunned. This is actually real. Holy Jesus.
“Everything ok, Jax?” Lennox asks as I rush suddenly from the room.
“Call everyone,” I call behind me. “Morgan’s been kidnapped.”
I pace the exit of the hospital where the footage showed a van and Morgan being loaded into it, she was out cold, lifeless, and I know for the rest of my life I’ll regret this day after seeing that. I’ll never forgive myself for this. She was like a rag doll in his arms, the footage did show a partial plate which Zane is running as we speak. Fuck the police, I’ll do my own investigating.
I run my hands through my hair.
I’ve already had Ryan by the throat up against the wall and I have no doubt I will fucking kill him when I get Morgan back. Lewis is recovering from being tasered and let’s just say he’s lucky that I can’t get my hands on him so I can beat him to death and finish the job off.
They had one fucking job to do. One!
I knew I shouldn’t have left her. I just knew it.
Who the hell is after Morgan? It’s obviously someone with a vendetta, someone perhaps involved with the Bill Chapple fiasco, I mean, it has to be someone out for revenge. As much as I want to think so, my gut tells me I’m missing something. I just don’t know what.
I look around helplessly like that’s going to solve anything, like some clue is just going to jump out of the bushes and solve everything and Morgan will reappear.
I need to think.
I hold her phone in my hand; I can’t track her because she dropped it in the elevator. I stand there in utter confusion but I know I have to keep it together. I have nothing until Zane rings.
I have to have faith in the team, I know that, but it feels helpless right now. Imagining what she’s going through right at this very minute makes me tremble with rage.
I don’t know who the hell has her or what they want or what they’re doing to her, the thought makes my blood curdle. I can only hope they need a ransom, fuck, I don’t want to think about that but it’s obvious they’re gonna want something.
I run through every possible scenario in my head that I can, and I can’t say it helps, it fucking doesn’t. If anything, it just gives me a headache.
I should never have left her. Not while this was going on, not while John is still in the hospital and there could be people out there waiting to pounce. I don’t know why I listened to her. I should have been with her.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Dixie to let her know I’m coming over, we need to talk.
I stare at Dixie across the desk in her office as she takes in what I’ve just told her.
“I can’t believe it,” she says, cupping her mouth with both hands. “Who would do this?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” I say, my expression grim.
“She was so happy when I talked to her from San Francisco.”
That feels so far away now.
I think back to our hot night in San Fran, when Morgan came into my bed and seduced me. I think about her beautiful body, her soft skin, her scent. And the nights we’ve spent at my place since then, we’ve gotten so close. I used to think she was just a cold fish with no feelings, but she isn’t. When you break through the layers and the walls come down, you see a side to her that very few people do. She’s vulnerable. Smart. Funny. Sexy. I’m hook, line, and sinker.
I know I’m in love with her. Maybe I always was.
“I’m going to get her back,” I assure her. “There’s no question about that.”
I’ll hunt them down until my last breath.
“Do you think that it’s something to do with that stalker?”
I look up at her suddenly.
“Why would you say that?”
Dixie looks down at her hands, then looks back up at me nervously.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I say, leaning forward. Oh, I know the signs, sweetheart, you can’t hide from me.
“I-I thought Morgan would have told you?” she starts, her hands are shaking.
I want to explode and shake her but I remind myself I’m not in an interrogation now, I don’t want to frighten her but I also need answers and fast. I don’t have fucking time for this.
“Told me what, Dixie? Time is of the essence here.”
She looks down trying to think. “I know that Ellen Moore was released, the girl who got put away for stalking.”
I stare at her.
“When was this?”
“About a month ago,” she replies, her eyes going to the floor. “Morgan was really upset, it was just before you came on board, she was afraid she’d contact her again and want more money.”
My heart beats wildly at her admission. Want more money?
I realize there is so much to Morgan that I don’t know. Like this, for example, and my heart lurches with disappointment.
Morgan hasn’t told me any of this, not a thing, I don’t know why.
“What are you talking about she’d want more money?”
At least Dixie has the good grace to look guilty, not like Morgan. She could have told me this; I thought we could tell each other anything, she’s had plenty of opportunity. She told me about Brandon Thomas for God’s sake.
“Before this chick eventually got arrested, she came around demanding a large lump sum of cash or she’d leak to the press what happened between Morgan and Brandon Thomas.”
I close my eyes and bite back bile. This can’t be happening.
My head swims with all of this information.
“Go on,” I murmur.
“Morgan paid her ten thousand dollars to keep quiet, then this Ellen chick got caught for stalking her shortly after because she wouldn’t let up, she’s been in the slammer for a bit of time so maybe she’s out for revenge? Maybe she is really that desperate.” Dixie sits back and pales at her own words. She really does love this girl.
So do I. Fuck, what?
I know that what I’m feeling is new to me because I’ve never felt it before. The thought of losing her, of never seeing her again… no, that’s not an option. She has to come back.
“So, obviously, the police don’t know about any of this.” It’s not a question; I know it’s true, I never read this in any of the police reports over the stalking incident and I’ve read it all numerou
s times.
“You have to understand how hard this was for Morgan,” Dixie says quietly, probably seeing I’m about to explode. “How long has this been going on for? I don’t want to believe it’s got anything to do with this current situation, but it could be, I mean, I don’t know, I’m clutching at straws here.”
“I know what Brandon did to her at prom,” I say through gritted teeth. It seems I’m paying Brandon Thomas a visit after this and not before time, that fucker has been on my mind for quite a while and for all the wrong reasons. I want to end him. “I know everything, she told me.”
“Did she tell you that she’s in love with you?” Dixie blurts out, her eyes meet mine at her admission. I stare at her wordlessly.
“It seems she didn’t tell me enough,” I mutter. I don’t know if I can fix this. Right now, I need to get her back and that’s what I need to concentrate on, but I’m hurt, truth be told. I wish she’d have confided in me.
“Don’t be mad at her, she has a low self-esteem as it is.” Dixie protests before I can say anything more. “She lived in fear for so long, Jax, she has a hard time trusting people, especially after Ethan and all that he did to her as well, it was bad for a long time, she’s only just found herself again.”
I don’t want to think about her with her ex. I’ll end him too if I have to.
She’s mine. I’m obviously mad at her, sure, but that doesn’t mean that I want anyone else to have her.
“She should have told me,” I maintain.
“Please find her, Jaxon,” Dixie whispers. “You don’t understand how important she is to me, to all of us.”
If only she did know that I do understand.
I make a call.
“Zane.”
He picks up on the first ring. “Yo, what’s up?”
I don’t have time for niceties. “I need another favor and I need it fast.”
“Sure thing,” he says. “I’m still running the plates on the van; I should have a match within the hour.”
Fuck, time’s ticking.
“I need everything you can find on the woman who was charged with stalking Morgan James twelve months ago, goes by the name of Ellen Moore, I need it pronto.”
“Alright, you gotta give me some time though.”
“She’ll have a record, got charged with serial stalking and harassment,” I say, pacing, my hand running through my hair, my chest may explode. “Just got released about a month ago.”
“Okay then, give me a little time, I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can,” he assures me. “I’ve also got the intel you asked for on Brandon Thomas, I’ll text it to you.”
“Perfect, I’m about to go visit him as luck would have it. Stay on standby.”
“Got it.”
I hang up as Dixie has her hand over her mouth again.
“Chances are, if this woman extorted money out of Morgan, she probably tried with Brandon too, he may know something,” I state calmly. I don’t like it when I’m calm, it means I’m about to be violent. “And I’m in just the mood to do some extracting.”
“Yes, you’re right,” she whispers. “But what if he doesn’t know anything?”
Fat chance of that.
“He does because this has to be someone that knows Morgan personally, she hasn’t told anyone except you and me about Brandon, so it must be someone from their past.”
“Maybe someone from high school?” Dixie mouths, shocked.
“Exactly.”
She takes a few moments to process that. “What are you going to do to Brandon?” she asks, her tone worried.
I meet her with an icy glare. “That’s not important, what’s important is that I will get what I need by any means possible.”
“Jesus, Jaxon.”
“Before I kick the living shit out of him, I’m going to extract every piece of information out of him that I can, hopefully by force,” I add for good measure.
She swallows hard. “God, Jax, I’m so scared.”
I don’t admit that I am too, this isn’t the time to be confessing anything, I have to be strong.
“If you think of anything else, call me, anything at all.”
“I will.” She nods. “Is there anything I can do in the meantime?”
I look up at her again. “Maybe go to the hospital, keep John company, they’re slowly easing him out of the induced coma and he’s due to come round sometime soon, it would be good to have someone there he knows when he wakes up.”
It won’t be his daughter unless I find her pronto. The thought has my stomach sinking and in knots at the same time.
“Of course, I’ll go now.”
“I’ll send Chase to escort you,” I tell her.
She goes to protest. “Please,” I say, holding up a hand. “I don’t need to worry about you too.”
I can’t take any more chances; I already fucked up leaving Morgan with those two knuckleheads. I even have security escorting Morgan’s employees home tonight. I just don’t know how far this operation goes so I have to think of every possible scenario.
I need everybody safe, and everybody is… except her.
In truth, I’m hoping for a miracle. I hope the kidnapper reaches out; at least we’ll have some idea of what they’re after and who we’re dealing with. I’ve had enough experience to know though that ransoms rarely go well.
I get in my car with Ryan in the passenger seat and I drive over to Brandon Thomas’s office. I hope he’s there.
25
Jaxon
Forty long minutes later, I’m walking into Thomas Property Inc. and taking the elevator to his office suite. In a few moments, I come face to face with a pretty receptionist who greets me politely and asks if I have an appointment.
I tell her I do.
As she goes to press the intercom, I realize he must be in. Excellent.
“Tell him it’s an old friend; Jack Westbrook.”
“Certainly, sir.”
She reiterates what I said, pauses, frowns, and then a few moments later, she hangs up the phone.
“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Westbrook, but Mr. Thomas is busy today, perhaps I can schedule an appointment for you next week.”
I don’t have time for these games.
“Call him back,” I tell her, my glare is glacial and I think she’s thinking about calling for security.
“Mr. Westbrook…” she begins to protest.
“Call. Him. Back!” I bark.
She visibly swallows and dials again.
“Excuse me, Mr. Thomas…”
I lean over and snatch the phone from her as she jumps back, startled.
“Thomas. Let me the fuck up, I need to discuss Morgan James amongst other things, and don’t even think about calling security or I’ll circulate the footage I have of you at the Chameleon nightclub this past weekend, I’m sure your colleagues will be very interested to know what you get up to in your spare time.”
I hang up. I pass the phone back to the receptionist and smile sweetly as she stares at me with an open mouth.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Her eyes are wide with fear.
A few moments later, the devil himself appears from the hallway looking ruffled if not a little pale. He does up the top button of his suit jacket and almost baulks when he sees me, yeah, some things change a lot and some things stay the same, don’t they, Thomas?
“Hold my calls, Sophie,” he says, calling over to the receptionist who I know by now has dialed security. Well, that’ll be his first mistake.
“You may want to also cancel the rest of Mr. Thomas’s afternoon appointments,” I add, I nod to Ryan. “Wait here.”
Ryan gives me a chin lift.
Brandon, however, looks at me puzzled. “You’re really Jack Westbrook?”
“Yeah, you heard right.”
He looks me up and down like he can’t believe it. I’m bigger than him now, not so tough now, huh, Thomas?
“What’s wrong? Cat got your
tongue, quarterback?”
His eyes go wide. “What do you want?” he stammers, visibly confused.
I glance behind me momentarily. “You want to do this here in earshot of your staff or would you prefer a more private setting? Trust me when I say it’s incriminating.” I need him alone so I can sucker punch the fuck out of him without witnesses or causing a scene.
He swallows hard, the coward, and turns to lead me to his office.
“I don’t know what this is about,” he mutters, running a hand through his hair.
Oh, you’re about to find out, pretty boy.
“You made a real name for yourself, didn’t you, Thomas?” I taunt behind him. “You got everybody fooled into believing something that’s a lie.”
He turns on me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, now what do you want?” he snaps when the door closes behind him.
I move toward him and he takes a step back.
“I’m here to find out information on the woman that was bribing you and Morgan James,” I say, there is no time to dance around it, though I have no problem smashing his face in if I have to. He’s not that pretty anyway.
“What are you talking about?” he splutters, walking around to the safety of his desk. That won’t stop me leaping over it to strangle him with his tie, then I’ll revive him just to do it all over again.
“Cut the crap, I know everything, I just need to know who she was and I need to know now.”
“Ask Morgan.”
“I can’t,” I state. “She’s gone missing and this woman may have something to do with it.”
I don’t want to tell him all the gory details, I owe him nothing, so the less he knows, the better.
He watches me with a pensive face; I like how on edge he is but I don’t trust the fucker. Maybe he thinks I’m not serious?
“Are you really Jack Westbrook?” he asks again, rubbing his chin, trying to assemble if I’m taking the piss. I mean, how many times do I have to make it clear? Maybe I should just snot him one and prove it once and for all, he wouldn’t be expecting it.