Cherish Me (The Protected Love Series) (15 page)

“Next month on the 26
th
. That leaves us with a little over a month. We figured that since we were having such a small wedding that it wouldn’t be too last minute for anyone.”

“I will mark my calendar. I guess this means I have to decide on a bridesmaids dress. Blue or coral?” Judy asked.

They both paused for a moment trying to gauge which the other would choose before spouting out in unison, “Blue.”

“Ha! Great minds do think alike! I will call tomorrow and order it.
” Judy pushed the lettuce in her salad around the bowl.

A comfortable silence fell between the two of them. It was so hard to
carry on small talk with the unknown that tonight held. Judy knew they needed to stay positive and hope for the best but the darkness of negative thoughts kept seeping back into her head.

The guys had been holed up in Jace’s office for what seemed like hours. Abbi and Judy had gone through every channel on the TV and countless wedding and baby magazines before they all reemerged. Mark and Aaron headed immediately out the door as Ryan
, Mason and Jace came into the great room.

“Ok girls. We need to go over a few things for tonight.” Jace let out a deep breath as he took a seat next to Judy.

“When we leave this apartment tonight you do not under any circumstance leave. There is still the possibility that this could be gang retaliation and until we know for sure that it isn’t you have to be where we know you’re safe. Our heads have to be on our mission and we can’t be worried that you’re not ok.” Ryan placed his hand on Abbi’s back. “You will have Gabe and Josh inside the apartment with you. Johnson and Martinez will be in the hallway and Lucas will be in the lobby.”

“We have already alerted the building security so that they will be aware in case something happens here. But that is only a precaution.” Jace squeezed Judy’s hand reassuringly.

“When are you leaving?” Judy whispered.

“We are meeting Mark and Aaron at the office in a few hours. I wanted to give them time to go and talk to their families before we left.” Jace answered.

“Jace, what are you going to do to him? Are you going to…kill…” Judy questioned as her voice trailed off. Fear of what his answer would be sent a shudder through her body.

“
Too much death has already been caused at his hands. I also don’t want to have any possible way of this blowing back on us. Our mission tonight is to send the fear of pain, just like what he has caused others, into his soul. When we are done we will hand him over to Antonio and it’s his business what he does from there.”

“Ok.” Judy’s voice was still quiet.

“Babe. Everything is going to be ok.” Jace reassured.

Jace, Ryan and Mason walked into the office as the last of the LA sunset came flooding in through the windows. They made their way to Ryan’s office where Mark and Aaron were already anxiously waiting. Both were already dressed in black tactical attire. Aaron’s two .9mm were holstered on his sides as Mark had one placed in a holster on his hip and another tucked into the back of his pants.

“Alright guys. Let’s go over the details one more time before we head out.” Ryan clicked the button turning on the big screen TV that hung on the opposite wall. Bending over his desk he hit a few keys before the blueprints of the apartment complex came up onto the TV screen.

“I know we are asking a lot from you guys and I appreciate your willingness to join us. However I want you to know that you do not have to go with us tonight. If anything happens or if the law gets involved I expect you to run like hell.” Jace said taking a seat onto Ryan’s desk.

“No way we’d be anywhere els
e man. I am ready to give this asshole what he deserves.” Mark nodded agreeing with Aaron.

“Ok then let’s get into it. This is the apartment complex.
It’s mostly vacant. It’s has quite a bit of tree cover on each side which will help to conceal us on our approach…” Ryan’s voice hummed throughout the room as he went over the details of the mission.

Jace had already played it out a thousand times in his head. He was ready to face it head on. They had confirmed the address and time with Antonio this afternoon. They would be meeting up with Antonio and a few members of the gang before entering through the back exit of the complex. From there it would be up to their own creativity as to what they did to make him suffer.

Jace knew there was a possibility that this wouldn’t have a storybook ending but not everyone in life gets that. Alexis didn’t get that, nor did Ashley.

“Jace do you have anything to add?” Ryan’s question pulled him from his thoughts.

“Let’s get in there, raise some hell, and get this shit done.” Jace said turning to the guys.

A silent nod from ever
yone and they were off toward the lower garage. Tension radiated throughout the elevator as they took it down to the private parking area. As they stepped out the group made their way towards the blacked out Yukon parked in the VIP Bodyguard section. They gathered around the back of the SUV as Jace reached in and took out the locked ammunition box. He grabbed his two Smith and Wesson .45 mm pistols and holstered them on each side. Taking the two Sig Sauer .9mm’s and handing them to Mason.

“These got me out of a lot of bad situations in the desert.” He handed him the pistols along with extra clips of ammunition.

The group loaded into the SUV and sped off into traffic. They sat quietly on the ride through the city. The blacked out windows of the SUV made it hard for anyone to see into the vehicle, which only made people stare harder hoping to get a glimpse of someone famous.

As they pulled onto the street leading to the apartment complex Jace allowed the worry to sink in. He couldn’t answer the
‘what if’s’, he could only hope for the best. Just as quickly as he began to dwell on the bad he let it go. He emotionally prepared for what was ahead of them and he couldn’t let his mind wander to anything else.

Looking out he noticed the variety of gang signs painted on the sides of different buildings as they drove toward the
apartment. It was as if they had left LA altogether and were now driving through the streets of the Middle East. Tattered and worn dwellings lined each side of the road that without a doubt had seen their own fair share of tragedy and violence. They were in someone else’s stomping ground now, they had no pull here and he didn’t figure they would get any assistance if things went wrong.

Jace felt the SUV slow into the darkness as Ryan turned the main headlights of. Just the slight glow from the running lights and the moon were all they had to guide their way in. Ryan pulled the SUV just outside of the apartment complex and stopped.

“Jace see if you can get eyes on our building.” Ryan motioned to the small paper map of the apartment complex.

Jace lifted his binoculars and scanned the perimeter of the buildings.
Building A, Building B, Building… C.
“Got it.”

“This place looks pretty empty Ryan. Do we know if there are any other people living here?” Mason asked from the back.

“The complex got condemned about a year or so ago. I imagine there isn’t anyone else here and if there is I can promise you they are up to no good so they shouldn’t be a problem to us.” Ryan answered.

“I got Antonio. He’s at the base of the stairwell.
He just flagged me, we have confirmation that Trent is in the building.”

Ryan pulled the SUV past the apartment complex and up into the thick tree line on the other side of the road. Jace’s heart quickened as Ryan killed the engine. Nothing but blackness surrounded them as they left the vehicle. They didn’t speak but followed Ryan’s signal to cross the road
and go into the trees outside the complex.

Without making a sound the group formed a line and crossed into the tree line. Under the cover of the brush they made their way in front of the abandoned complex. As they approached the building that Trent was staying in a sudden commotion of movement forced them to stop.

“Jace, get eyes up there.” Ryan’s tone was that of a leader in war as he whispered over to Jace.

Jace quietly lay
onto the ground and pulled the binoculars up. He could see a dim light coming from inside the apartment as the door flung back open. The shouting cut through the silence as Trent stepped out onto the walkway of the third floor.

“You
stupid bitch!” Trent’s hand slammed down hard on the face of the other person.

He adjusted his line of sight and took in the curly brunette hair that tangled into the railing of the walkway.

“I told you to stay the fuck out of it!” Trent’s voice reverberated off of the empty walls.

Jace looked down at Antonio who was now squatting on the bac
kside of the apartment complex next to two shadowed figures.

“I was just trying to help! I promise I will do whatever you want me to!” A woman’s voice cut through the darkness.

Jace’s heart almost stopped as he looked back up toward the walkway to see Ashley’s disheveled body standing in front of Trent. Bruises and cuts marked the sides of her face as the bloody track marks ran down her arms.
You gotta be fucking kidding me.

“Ryan.” Jace whispered as he motioned toward him. “Ashley is up there too.”

He could see the anger flare into Ryan’s eyes but they had taken into consideration that Trent may not have been alone. However they had never considered that someone so close to them would be up there. Ryan motioned for them to keep moving toward the end of the apartment building. Again they crept slowly through the thick brush staying as quiet as they could. Approaching the end of the apartment complex they heard the courtyard again go silent.

As they neared the opening of the tree line they each masked their face with a bandana in order to conceal their identity. Jace stood at the front of the group and looked back toward Mark taking in the skeleton outline across his mask. As Jace led them out of the tree line and to the side of the complex a sudden movement to his right caused him to bring his pistol up meeting the forehead of Antonio.

“It’s me Ese!” He whispered quickly holding his hands up.

Jace dropped his gun as the group moved behind the building.

“What Antonio?” The irritation could be heard through Jace’s low voice.

“You fuckers are slick. I didn’t even see you coming.” Antonio smirked.

“What. Do. You. Want?” Jace’s voice was clipped as he spoke.

“Ok here’s the plan. He’s got that drunk bitch up there with him. If she sees anything she’s as good as dead. We don’t leave loose ends.”

“You let me take care of her. Is there anyone else up there?” Jace asked.

“Not that we know of. Here’s the plan. You go get him, rough him up and then you bring his ass to me. We will be down here waiting. You have thirty minutes.” Antonio motioned to the two men standing back by the empty dumpster.

Jace nodded as he motioned to the guys to line up behind him. They made their way to the edge of the stairwell as Mark’s hand came up and squeezed Jace’s shoulder telling him the team behind was ready to follow him in. Jace swiftly moved up the stairs, the heat from his breath blowing out against the bandana covering his face caused condensation to form around his mouth. As he reached the top of the stairs he paused surveying the area again before moving forward. Quickly and quietly they made their way to the apartment door. Jace, Mark and Mason took the right side as Ryan and Aaron took the left. Jace motioned that he would open the door and Ryan would enter the room first. He took a deep breath as he reached over to the door handle.
Time to bring the pain.

*****

“Abbi, they have been gone forever. Do you think they are ok?” Judy paced the living room in front of the fireplace.

“Judy
, I am going to smother you if you ask me that one more time. Or at least duct tape you and put you in the closet until they get back.” Abbi said from the couch.

“Josh
, have you heard anything? What’s going on?” Judy asked again.

“Judy
, I promise once I know something I will tell you.” He said apologetically.

“Well I can’t just fucking sit here with my thumb up my ass. I am about to go crazy.” Judy spouted off as she paced.

“Josh, the duct tape is in the middle drawer of the kitchen island.” Abbi said from the couch. “I will get her hands if you get her feet.”

“Ha. Very funny.” Judy said in a dull voice.

Abbi made her way over to Judy and placed both hands on her shoulders. “Listen, I know you’re worried; I am worried too. But you have to stop stressing. We have to think positive, there is nothing on the news and the guys haven’t heard anything yet. No news is good news right?”

“Ok. I am going to be quiet now I promise.” Judy gave Abbi a weak smile before following her back over to the couch.

She was trying, really she was, but Judy just couldn’t seem to shake the anxiety that something bad was going to happen.
How do military wives do this day in and day out?
There was no way she’d ever be strong enough to take on an endeavor like that. Yearlong deployments, not being able to talk to your loved one, she’d already experienced that with Mason and it was heartbreaking. Now she finally had him back and the thought that something might happen to him tonight had her stomach in knots.