Then and now (Edge Of Retaliation, #3)

by Jewel, Bella

  I hope this one is a little better.

  2

  CALLIE

  “Sit down, Callie,” Tanner orders, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyes hard, his jaw tight.

  He’s had enough of my behavior, and I can’t say I blame him. I have wanted out of this hospital since the moment I found out that Jo and Tatum are missing. I’ve been able to think of nothing else. The doctor wants me to stay a few extra days, so Tanner has been out trying to figure out what the hell happened to them.

  I’ve been making his life difficult, storming around—well, hobbling—trying to work it out, asking a million questions, and calling him when he’s not here to find out if he’s found anything. It’s driving him crazy, I know, but that’s my best friend, that’s my Jo, and someone has her. Someone has her because of me. Because of my desperate attempt to end certain chapters in my life.

  She’s been with me every step of the way, risking it all.

  I’m not going to leave her when she needs me most.

  “I’ll sit down when you tell me what you’ve found out!” I snap back, exhaling and clenching my teeth together until they make a grinding sound.

  “Won’t be telling you fuck-all if you don’t sit the fuck down, right fuckin’ now.”

  Oh, boy.

  His voice is like a whip, so I do as he asks.

  I sit the fuck down.

  Not without crossing my arms first, though.

  “Went back to the place they got arrested. Ethan and I broke in and went through some shit, checked things out. Couldn’t find much, except a couple of phone numbers scribbled on paper. Called a few numbers, asked a few questions, spoke to a few people, found out the leader of this fuckin’ group didn’t go down. He didn’t get arrested.”

  I blink, shaking my head in confusion. “What?” I whisper.

  “He didn’t get locked up. Must have clued in and got out of there, then he must have gotten hold of Jo, Tatum, and Chase.”

  My mind is reeling. He didn’t get arrested, so everything we just did was for nothing? If he didn’t go down, the rest of them are irrelevant; he’ll just find new people and keep his little operation going strong. Not to mention he has my best friend and we have no idea where he might be.

  “Do you know where he is?” I ask.

  “Not yet,” Tanner says. “I’ve got Ethan onto it. He’s askin’ questions, talkin’ to the right people. We’ll find out where they are and get them back.”

  “What if ...”

  “Don’t,” Tanner growls, stepping forward and squatting down in front of me, his eyes locking onto mine. “Don’t think the worst, Callie. It’ll make you crazy.”

  “He’s crazy,” I whisper. “And he has my best friend.”

  “We’ll get them back.”

  “What if he’s hurt her?”

  “We’ll get them back.”

  “What if he’s done worse?”

  “Callie,” Tanner says, grabbing my jaw and forcing my eyes to lock with his, “we’ll get them back.”

  “We should call the police.”

  Tanner shakes his head. “Not yet, I’ll make sure he goes away, but not before they’re safe. We call the police and he finds out, he could very well end their lives. Not riskin’ that right now.”

  “What about Pat?” I ask, biting my bottom lip. “He’ll try to call Jo, and when she doesn’t answer, he’ll get suspicious. He could go to the police.”

  Tanner purses his lips and rubs a hand over my thigh absentmindedly before saying, “You call him, tell him that Jo lost her phone and the two of you are okay. Tell him that she wants some time out, and she’ll talk to him in a few days.”

  “He’ll lose his mind; he’ll demand to speak with her.”

  Tanner squeezes my knee before pushing to his feet. “You’re smart, Callie. Figure it out.”

  I stare at him as he starts pacing the room. Sure, I’ll figure it out. I’ll try and hold the raging beast that is Patrick off long enough to get Jo back. If he gets suspicious, this is all over. I’m not going to let something happen to Jo because of him.

  So yeah, I’ll figure it out.

  I pull out my phone and dial his number, not wanting to wait a second longer. He’s probably already tried to call Jo a few times and has figured out she hasn’t answered.

  “Callie,” his voice comes across the line cool, calm and collected, as always. “Been trying to call Jo, where is she?”

  Not, Is she okay? Has something happened to her? Just, Where is she? Plain and simple, straight to the point, just how Patrick likes it.

  “She lost her phone,” I tell him, “but, Patrick, she is having a hard time and wants some space. She’ll get a new phone in a few days, but she told me to let you know that she needs some time and will call you when she can.”

  The line goes silent for a moment. “I knew she’d do this, get you to do her dirty work for her. She’s been playing this little game for months now, and she’s finally spoken up. You can tell Jo that I don’t want her to fucking call me, I want her to come home and speak to me like my wife, like I deserve.”

  “Maybe,” I snap, “if you spoke to her a little nicer than you’re speaking right now, she’d do that.”

  “Gotten into her ear finally, have you, Callie? You know, she was fine when you were locked away. Then you got out and, suddenly, she doesn’t know what she wants.”

  “First of all,” I growl, clenching my fists, “you know damn well Jo hasn’t been happy for a long time. You know it and you’re making her life a misery because of it. She’s finally had enough. I haven’t gotten into her ear; you’ve done a fine and dandy job of doing that all on your own. Now, if she means anything to you, anything at all, you’ll let her be for a few days.”

  “Gladly,” he snaps. “She’s not the only one who has had enough. Tell her that she’ll lose everything when she loses me.”

  “Maybe,” I mutter, “but she’ll gain a fuck of a lot, too.”

  I hang up the phone and glance over at Tanner who has stopped pacing and is staring at me with his arms crossed, eyes narrowed. “That went well then?”

  I snort. “Yeah, perfect. Well, at least we know he won’t be calling Jo for a few days, possibly more because he’s a giant dick.”

  Tanner grins, and it catches me off guard. He doesn’t smile much these days, but when he does, it utterly breathtaking. I can’t help but grin back at him.

  “Now,” he says, his eyes lightening at my grin, “let’s find our friends.”

  Yeah.

  Let's.

  “I FOUND SOME LOCATIONS,” Ethan says, walking into the hotel living room a day later.

  The hospital finally agreed that if I took it easy, kept up with my medication, and didn’t go back to work for a few weeks, that I’d be okay to leave. Tanner insisted we all share a suite, because he didn’t want any of us alone right now in case things went bad. We’re in a different town, with people who are on the hunt for us. It’s dangerous.

  Ethan agreed, and booked a two-bedroom apartment for us until we could locate Jo and Tatum and get Chase home so he can finally end this for all of us.

  That’s if we find them alive.

  The thought has my stomach clenching with anxiety.

  If something happens to Jo, I just don’t know if I can go on. She’s ... well ... she’s everything. She’s gotten me through the hardest times of my life. Without her, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

  “Talk to me,” Tanner says, standing from the sofa he was sitting on, drinking a beer. “I’m done waiting. I want to know where they are.”

  “Managed to get a fella to speak,” Ethan says. “Acted like I was part of it all, and the stupid junkie fell for it. Told me he has heard that he didn’t get arrested and is hiding out. Said he had been to the place he frequents a few times to buy drugs, and that it’s really well hidden. Figure it’s worth a look. At the very least we might find someone who does know where he is.”

  “It’s d
angerous,” Tanner says, “but I’m not waitin’ any longer. If we don’t find them soon, there is a chance we won’t.”

  Ethan nods. “We go tonight.”

  “I’m coming!” I say, heart racing at the thought of finding my best friend.

  Both men look at me like I’m losing my mind.

  “You’re jokin’ right?” Tanner mutters.

  “No, I’m not joking. That’s my best friend. I’ll stay in the car, but I’m coming.”

  “Yeah,” Ethan says, not looking at me as he pulls out his phone and punches something into it, “you’re not.”

  “Since when do you two get to make choices for me?”

  “Since you got shot,” they both say at the same time, and then their eyes meet for a split second.

  I wonder how long it’ll take for them to talk about what happened all those years ago and maybe bring their friendship back to life.

  “I’ll stay in the car,” I repeat again. “That’s Jo. She’s ... she’s everything to me. I’m not leaving her when she needs me.”

  “You’re injured,” Tanner argues.

  “She’s my best friend, she’d do it for me. I know she would. Nothing would keep her from being there when I got found. Nothing is going to stop me from being there when she’s found. I’ll hold a gun, lock the car, stay low, but I’m not staying here.”

  Tanner exhales and looks to Ethan. “She ain’t goin’ to give this one a rest, is she?”

  Ethan shakes his head. “Not until she drives you crazy enough to give in. Might as well let her come, or she’s as likely to catch a cab and follow us.”

  Now there’s an idea.

  I grin.

  Ethan shakes his head, and Tanner scowls at me.

  “You don’t move from that fuckin’ car, you follow all my commands, you don’t fuckin’ do anythin' without me tellin’ you first. We clear?”

  “Yeah,” I say, holding his eyes. “We’re clear.”

  He nods, and Ethan goes back to his phone.

  I glance out the window, taking a shaky breath.

  Hang on, Jo.

  We’re coming.

  3

  JOANNE

  “You gotta stretch, stretch until your body feels like it’s goin’ to break, Jo.”

  Tatum’s voice penetrates through the darkness, through my panting, through the angry grunts that are coming out of my throat as I fumble around in the darkness, looking for a piece of abandoned metal he happened to notice lying under an old cabinet when the lights were on. He said I’d be able to reach it, but it’s been well over an hour, and I can’t find the damn thing.

  “It doesn’t help that I don’t know where I’m fucking looking, Tatum. I could be way off. It’s not easy when I can’t see.”

  “Just keep patting around, you’ll find it. It’s there, I know it is.”

  “Where exactly, because right now I haven’t felt a thing except what I pray isn’t rat shit.”

  He goes silent for a moment as I grunt and puff, stretching my fingers out in front of me as far as I can. I shuffle and reach, feeling around anywhere I can. I’m probably right near it, it’s probably inches in front of me and I’m too short to reach it. Tatum was sure I could, but I’m starting to think he’s full of damn shit.

  “Have a break,” he murmurs into the darkness.

  “No,” I growl. “No, I won’t.”

  “Jo, fuckin’ stop.”

  “Go fuck yourself, Tatum.”

  “You’re being irrational.”

  “You’re being a jerk.”

  “Jo ...”

  My fingers hit a hard piece of wood, a good way off to my right. I’ve been searching the wrong damn area. He told me it was to the left slightly, but mostly in front of me. He was wrong, it’s to my right and not in front of me at all.

  “I found it,” I say, my fingers sliding up as I stretch my body to its absolute limits to reach the dusty old cabinet.

  “It was just underneath it. Trace your fingers down to the bottom and very carefully feel around.”

  “For what it’s worth,” I pant, stretching as hard as I can, “it was to the fucking right.”

  Tatum makes a snorting sound but doesn’t say anything else. A moment later, I reach the bottom and feel a cold, rather small, piece of metal beneath my fingertips. It’s not a great deal bigger than a nail—hell, it probably is a nail.

  “This tiny thing is the metal you’re talking about?” I mutter, curling my fingers around it. “What’s this going to do?”

  “It’s big enough, and it’s going to cut this rope off my damn legs, that’s what.”

  Good lord, he’s going to cut his rope with this?

  “I’m not sure you’re going to have much success.”

  “Do you want to die, Jo?”

  His question takes me by surprise, and I whisper, “No.”

  “Then you’ll try anything. Bring it here.”

  I shuffle backward, my body aching, my fingers tight. I feel around in the dark for Tatum’s outstretched hands and place the metal into them. He’s quiet for a moment, no doubt feeling around the escape weapon we just secured. Then I hear him scratching it against the concrete ground, over and over.

  “What are you doing?” I ask. “Digging us out?”

  “I’m sharpening one edge of it, if you must know.”

  I shut my mouth, because I’m being a cow. I know I am. I’m just scared. Deep down, I’m frightened as hell about what’s going to happen to us, and I’m trying my hardest not to think about it, but it’s really damn hard when we’re tied in a basement, waiting for them to come in and put a bullet between our eyes.

  “Sorry,” I say softly. “I’m just—”

  “Yeah,” Tatum cuts me off, “yeah I know.”

  Of course he knows.

  He’s here too.

  He feels it too.

  He’s scared for himself.

  For me.

  For his brother.

  For all of us.

  “ARE YOU GOING TO TELL me what it is you’re planning to do?”

  Tatum doesn’t answer me. Maybe he’s asleep, but most likely he’s ignoring me.

  “No,” he finally says. “No, because I don’t know yet.”

  “Right,” I mutter.

  “I need you to scoot as close as you can, this metal is sharp enough now. You’re going to saw the rope on my feet. Can’t do it myself, my arm is ...”

  Sore. Probably broken.

  The fact that he’s been managing to sharpen that little piece of metal is enough, let alone with his hands being cuffed and his body being damaged. I’ve seen his arm, battered and bloody, and I know he’s in pain because he winces every now and then amidst the scraping along the concrete. Even Chase, at one point, told him to stop.

  At least he’s still with us.

  That’s something, right?

  “Okay,” I say, not questioning him further. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

  “Come as close as you can and reach out for my hands.”

  I do as he asks, scooting as close to him as my bound feet will let me, there is only about a yard of rope attached to the wall, if that, so I can’t get too far. Then I lie on my belly and reach my hands out, thankful they decided not to cuff my hands, I guess they figured I wouldn’t be able to do much. Without this tiny piece of metal, I wouldn’t. I tried undoing the hard rope tied around me, but my fingers ended up bloody and broken before it moved. A knife is the only way that rope is coming off.

  Or possibly days working on it.

  Tatum’s cuffed hands find me, and a little feeling rushes through my body when his fingers, his broken fingers, purposefully graze over mine, just for a second, running across my smooth skin in an act of affection. My heart hammers against my ribcage and I close my eyes, so many mixed emotions travelling through my body. Emotions I just can’t even think about right now.

  The cold metal drops into my hand, and Tatum’s voice, low and husky, says, “Feel around,
find the thinnest piece of rope you can and start cutting. Once you start, don’t stop because you’ll lose the spot. It’ll hurt, Jo. It won’t be easy, but I need you to do this, yeah?”

  “Yeah,” I whisper.

  “Good girl,” he murmurs.

  My heart makes a funny flutter again and I feel around the rope tying his feet together. It’s as thick as mine and tied so well that there is no way I can cut through the bundles of knots. I move to his ankle instead. If I can cut one free and then cut the rope leading to the wall, he’ll be able to move, even if there is still rope tied to his legs.

  I find the thinnest part of the thick rope around his ankle, and I start sawing. My fingers burning within minutes as I use all my strength to cut through the rope that’s so thick, I doubt whether I’ll ever actually get through it. The thought makes me feel even more determined to keep going, even through the pain in my wrists and hands. I won’t let us down.

  “Tell me something, Jo. Anything. It’ll help.”

  I grit my teeth together, sawing with all my might, then I take a deep breath and say, “If there was anyone in the world I could be here with, I’m glad it’s you, Tatum.”

  He goes silent for a minute, a long freaking minute, so long I wonder if I’ve said the wrong damn thing. Then, after a pause, he tells me, “What about your husband?”

  In all our time together, we’ve rarely mentioned the big elephant in the room, the fact that I’m married. He knows it. I obviously know it. Everyone knows it, but nobody mentions it, except Callie, of course. She’s not afraid to remind me of the dangerous situation I’m putting myself in feeling the way I feel about Tatum.

  I can’t help it.

  I don’t act on it, but I can’t help it.

  He brings out something in me, something I can’t explain. There is a connection that runs so deep, I never thought something like it could actually exist. I thought people just told people they had that kind of connection so they didn’t feel left out in the world. Turns out that’s not the case at all. It’s real, and it’s terrifying.

  “I’d never want to be in a situation like this with him,” I tell Tatum, and it’s the truth.