Jace: The Pride of the Double Deuce (13 page)

~~~

Jace felt her anger, but before he could ask Holly what she was so pissed about, he felt her fear. Gut-wrenching fear. He held onto to the side of the truck while he reached for her.

I’m shot. Not badly, but I’m bleeding really badly, and I…I’m really afraid.
Jace reached for his brothers and told them to come to him.
I’m not dying, but she shot me in the shoulder just like she was a fucking hit man. Now the bitch who shot me has me loaded in the car and is taking me across the state. She’s making me marry her son, Jace. I don’t want to marry her son, I want to marry you.

Who? And you’re right, the only person you’re marrying is me. As soon as possible.
He told Mason, who had arrived first, what was going on. He told the others.
Who has you and where are they taking you, love?

Jeff Hardgrave’s mother. And let me tell you, if there is a worse mom in the world, I do not want to meet her. This woman is a fucking cunt. She’s rude and nasty. And this whole act she has going on is so fake that I want to hit her. She has poor Jeff all tied up in knots, and I don’t even think he even—

Holly.
He wanted her to stay focused. She was telling him things that would not get him to her. And he desperately wanted to get to her.

Just give me a minute, please? I’m dealing as best I can. She came into our house, Jace. Just came in and shot…. Will you send an ambulance to my dad’s house? I think she killed Howard.
The butler was dead? No, this was getting worse and worse all the time.
She hit him with her cane. Then when he was down, she pounded him like she was trying to hit a home run for the World Series.

Jace tried again to get her to tell him where she was, but she kept talking about anything but what he wanted. He was worried that whatever had happened to her, the gunshot wound might have hurt her more than she was saying. When she finally slowed, he asked her again.

I’m trying not to be sick, but I promise that I’m okay. Really. Just let me…I’m working through this in my own way. If you don’t like it, I don’t know what to tell you.
He felt her sorrow.
Jace, she killed Howard. He’d never done a thing to anyone in his life.

I’m sorry, honey. But before she hurts you again, can you tell me where you are?
She told him that she was in the back seat of her dad’s car.
Okay. Do you know where you’re headed?

She said she was taking me to the justice of the peace to marry Jeff. That poor man. He was so…she really has him all tied up. Dad left a file on him.
He wanted her to stop talking about Jeff and tell him about her wound, but she kept talking.
Jace, we have to help him. I think she might kill him too. I’m not sure what’s going on with the two of them, but the man is poleaxed.

We can’t do anything without me knowing where to come for you.
She said for him to hang on, and he relayed what little he knew to his brothers. Mason said he’d dispatched an ambulance to the house and that his buddy was going to call him when they got there. This was a nightmare.

We just went by this mile marker seventy-nine. And it says that we’re on the interstate going south. It hurts to concentrate. I think I might have bumped my head.
He told Mason.
Jace, I’m not going to marry Jeff. He’s all beaten up in his heart over this thing with his mom, but I don’t want to marry him.

I know, love. I know. And you won’t have to. We’re coming to get you. I’m going to call your dad too. He’ll be very pissed if he finds out I have to murder the bitch for you.
She giggled and he felt it.
There’s my girl. And so you know, our first piece of equipment came to the house. We have some building to do.

Jace wasn’t sure if he was distracting her or him. Either way, he needed to get to her. Even his cat was worried. Climbing into the truck with Logan driving, he talked to her, telling her about what they were going to do when she got back.

I love you, Jace. Very much. And if I die out here, will you please—?

His heart skipped several beats and he told her to stop.
I need you. Please don’t let her kill you. I can’t…I won’t live without you, baby. I just can’t. And I want us to have children. Soon, all right?

You want a baby?
He could feel her happiness at that.
Will they be cats? No, I’m not a cat. I think I’d like to be. Can you do that? Make me like you?

Yes. I’ve never done it before, but I can do it if that’s what you really want.

I do want that. To change into a sleek cat like you. Yes. Very much so. Jace?
He could hear how her voice had softened, and he was afraid.
I’m so tired. I need a nap. I know that I shouldn’t, but….
She didn’t speak for some minutes and he nearly said her name when she spoke again.
We’re stopped. The courthouse says Jamestown. Do you know where I am?

Yes, I know. And we’re about twenty minutes away. Hang on for me, love. The pride is coming for you.
She didn’t answer and that worried him. He could feel her pain and then even that was suddenly snapped out. He looked at Logan as he drove. “I can’t lose her. I will join her if she dies.”

“We’ll get her. I promise. I’ve called in a few favors of my own, and we’ll get her.” Logan pressed a little harder on the gas and they zoomed up the road. “Hopefully the cops are busy elsewhere today and will leave us alone.”

“If they pull us over, you’re going to have a hard time explaining a large cougar in here with you.” Logan laughed. “I’m serious.”

“I know. I was just trying to imagine Graver’s face when they do pull us over.” They both laughed then. He looked behind them and saw the rest of his family, including their aunt. The Double Deuce Pride really was on their way.

Chapter 13

Holly looked down at the wound on her shoulder. It was saturated now; her tee shirt and bra were sticking to her skin. She wasn’t sure if she’d stopped bleeding yet, but she knew that as soon as they moved her, she would be again. The voices from the front seat had her closing her eyes.

“This is not going well, Mother. You hurt her. How will she ever trust you again?” His mother huffed at him. “I would like for you to let me take her to the hospital. Holly is bleeding.”

“I don’t care if she bleeds to death so long as you’re married to her.” Mrs. Hardgrave huffed again. “Jeffery, you are not treating me well in this. You promised me a wedding and I’ve come all this way. And I’ve had to endure so much. More than a mother should for her son.”

“I’m sorry, Mother.” Even Holly could tell that he didn’t sound all that sorry. In fact, Jeff sounded sort of pissed himself. “You killed that nice man. Mr. Snow is going to have you put in jail for it.”

“He won’t because you’d never let that happen, would you, son? You’d never let them put your poor mother in jail. I’ve done so much for you over the years. Raised you up as best that I could, even though you’ve been such a disappointment to me.” Holly wanted to sit up and hit the woman, but waited for her move. She needed to save her strength, and hitting the battle axe wouldn’t do her any good. “Jeffery, you’ll have to tell them that you did it. I can’t go to prison. I have my health to think of. And while you’re away, I’ll take care to train your wife. She needs a lot of training.”

“Mother, Holly is a lovely woman. But she’s not going to marry me. I can’t do that to her. She will be unhappy with me, and that isn’t a good way to start out—”

“You listen here, young man. You’ll marry her. I need the status that her money will bring me. And that house is big enough for all of us to live in while you’re in prison. I don’t know how long you’ll have to go away for, but you’ll see, I’ll take care of you just like I always have.” Holly moved and let out a long moan. “She’s whining again. Let’s get this over with so that we can move on to the house. We should have some lovely dinner, but with the blood on you both, that might raise questions. Jeffery, you should never have killed that man.”

“I didn’t.” Mrs. Hardgrave told him he’d see it her way. “Mother, I didn’t kill that man. You did. You beat him with your cane. Then you shot Holly.”

“If you say so. It’s my word against yours, and you aren’t very smart, are you?” Jeff actually agreed with her. “There, you see? As stupid as they come, and you did murder that man. I was there. I saw it all.”

The car doors opened and Holly looked up into the face of Mrs. Hardgrave. The woman was glaring at her as if Holly might have killed Howard too. But Holly wasn’t going down without a fight. This woman was going down.

“You fucking bitch. When Jace and his family get here, they’re going to kick your ass.” The cane came down on her leg and Holly screamed at the pain. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You’re one evil fucking bitch, did you know that?”

“You’ll learn soon enough that I’m in charge. And the one who will keep you from being hurt. Don’t mess with me, girl. Jeffery is my son and under my complete control. And you will be soon enough. Starting today.” The cane came down again and Holly kicked out. Her left foot connected with Mrs. Hardgrave’s chin just as her cane came down on Holly’s knee.

The pain was excruciating, and it made the pain in her shoulder feel like a pin prick. As she leaned up, holding onto her leg and sobbing, Jeff tackled his mother, taking her to the ground. Holly could only see that Jeffery was on top, but that cane made an appearance several times as well. They scuffed for several moments before the gun went off again.

Holly was terrified. She actually hoped that the old bitch was dead, but with her luck so far it was going to be Jeff. Then she would be stuck with this woman for the rest of her life. When he staggered up, holding onto the car, she sat up too, her knee pain nearly forgotten, trying to see how badly he was hurt. Then he turned to her and she saw the blood.

“Jeff?” He nodded, then dropped to his knees. Holly felt her heart break for the man as he knelt there, sobbing. Then the old bitch stood up and hit him with the cane, knocking him completely to the ground and out of her sight again. That fucking stick was going to have to go.

“Get up.” Jeff, still sobbing, staggered to a standing position when his mom barked at him. “You actually tried to hurt me. You…you ungrateful child. I wish now I had aborted you when I found out that your father soiled my body. Straighten yourself up and clean the blood off your face. I’m going to…Jeffery, this is not like you. I will have to do something about your behavior once the two of you are married.”

“You were going to kill her.” Jeff looked at her and she saw that the blood was from the wound that was creasing his temple. She knew that head wounds bled a great deal, but this one seemed to be gushing. “I’m so sorry, Holly. So very sorry that I brought you into this. I only wanted…I really don’t know what I wanted. I didn’t love you, don’t love you, but I—”

“Oh for heaven’s sake, shut up.” Mrs. Hardgrave’s lifted her cane up and Jeff stiffened. “Now, pick her up and take her inside. If they ask about the blood, you just leave that to me. I’ll make sure that you’re married before…well, before.”

“I’m not going to do it.” Jeff stood towering over his mother. “I’m thirty-three years old, Mother, and I’m not going to marry a woman just because you said so. This is not right, Mother, you have to see that. Look at her. You’ve hurt her and me. What…I don’t want to marry her.”

“You will…Jeffery, honey. Why are you doing this to your mother? You know that my heart isn’t all that good.” The transformation from cunt to whiney, broken woman was astounding. Not only did she sound like she really was on her last leg, but she even wiped at a cheek. Holly was sure it wasn’t a tear but acid, which more than likely filled her body like blood. This woman was good, Holly thought. “Please, I might just need to…you’ve no idea what it’s like for me to think that I’m not going to live long enough to see you married with children of your own.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake. Give it up. Even if he was to agree with this sham, I’m not going to do it. They have laws now, and a shotgun wedding isn’t going to happen. Ever. You are good, I’ll give you that. But I’m not marrying your son.” Holly tried to get out of the car on the other side, but her knee was throbbing like a son of a bitch. “You can try and take me in there, but you’re never going to get me to say I’ll marry anyone.”

The phone on her lap rang and all of them stared at it. Holly picked it up and knew right away whose phone it was. Howard’s. His little doggie, Peaches, was on the home screen. She answered it, trying her best not to think of the dead man.

“Holly? It’s your dad. I’m on my way…why are you answering Howard’s phone? I thought that maybe Jace would have it on him. He told me that he was going after you. You are safe, aren’t you, my baby?” Holly cried then. It was suddenly too much for her. Sobbing, she told her father what was going on all the while Mrs. Hardgrave was trying to grab the phone from her. “I’m coming. I just spoke to Jace and he said he’s nearly to you. We’re coming, honey. Soon.”

The phone flew from her hand and she grabbed the cane before she could think better of it. Shoving it back at the old bitch, she knocked her to her ass just as a big red truck skidded to a stop beside the car. Logan got out on the driver’s side, but it was the big cougar coming at her that had her full attention. Jace was finally here.

~~~

Jace let his cat go. He didn’t try at all to rein him in when he leapt at the older woman. Blood filled his mouth even as he took her to the ground. The woman had hurt what was his, and he was out for blood.

It was over in seconds. His cat snapped her neck and then tore into her throat just to make sure that she’d never hurt again. When something touched him, ran their hands over his flank, he turned and snarled at the human male standing there. Jace tried to calm the cat by telling him that the threat was gone, but he was in a blood lust and he wasn’t finished just yet. Then he heard her.

“Jace. Come to me. Don’t hurt Jeff. He saved me.” The cat snarled again, this time swiping at the male in front of him. “Jace. Stop it.”

His cat hunkered down and whimpered. He wasn’t liking his mate yelling at him like that. When he lifted his head, Jace calmed him with the fact that Holly was theirs now and that he could go to her. But the human male dropped to his knees and then the ground.

“Help him.” Holly was screaming now, crying about pain and that the male had helped her. Logan rushed to the male and the cat stood up; Jace was having a hell of a time controlling him. Holly grabbed him by the fur and turned his head to her. “You so much as lick him and I will castrate you.” Jace laughed and his cat calmed even more.

While Logan took care of Jeff, Jace got back in the truck to find his clothing. He had no idea how they were going to explain the woman, but Jace no longer cared. As he pulled his pants on and carried his shirt back with him to Holly, he pulled her from the back seat of the car and held her as gently as he could. Within minutes an ambulance and the police rolled up.

They put Holly in the back of a second ambulance as Jeff was in the first one. Jace was not allowed to ride with her because there was only enough room for the medics and the cop who said he was going with her. Mrs. Hardgrave was pushed into the back of the van that the coroner had come in.

It had been the hardest hour of his life. Most of the information he’d given the police when they’d asked had all been him telling them over and over that they had only arrived a few minutes before the police did. And how they’d found her? Well, the GPS on the phone that had been stolen at the Snow household.

“You didn’t see the animal that tore into that woman?” He and Logan knew the drill and told the cop the story they had heard used a million times in their lifetimes.

“No, sir. When we got here, that woman was dead, all mauled up like that. Never saw a thing. The man, as I said, is Jeff Hardgrave, and he works for my future father-in-law. My fiancée was lying in the back seat screaming in pain when we found her in the car.” The cop nodded, but he kept glancing at the stain on the road where they’d just scooped up Mrs. Hardgrave.

Jace was aware of how thin the story was. Hell, most of the time he didn’t know why they didn’t call in some animal control experts to search the area. They were convinced it was a large cat, but not sure what. Then someone suggested it might be a wild dog. But once another shifter showed up, a wolf this time, they booked the entire thing as a freak accident. He had no idea what they wrote down to satisfy the higher ups.

Jace was driving to the hospital, and looked at Logan when he laughed. He asked him what was so funny. He could use a good laugh about now.

“Holly. Christ, that woman is the bravest person I know. She’s beaten to shit, bleeding from a gunshot wound, as well as her knee is really messed up. And there she was taking control of your cat like she was some sort of leader or something.” Logan laughed again. “You have any idea what kind of kids you two are going to have? I don’t want to babysit, that’s all I’m saying.”

“She wants children.” He just remembered that. “And she asked me to change her. I have no idea how to do that, do you?”

“Ask Aunt Georgie. You know she knows everything. I bet she can put you in touch with someone who knows someone.” She did at that. Logan laughed again as he continued. “Christ, Jace, if all our mates are half what Holly is, we’re so fucked. Aunt Georgie is going to love every minute of it, too.”

“I’m sure she will. She’ll be laughing, too. At us.” Logan nodded. “I love her…Holly, I mean. I have never thought that I’d find someone like her. And now that I have her, I can’t imagine ever being without her.”

“Me either. I know that she’s your mate and all, but Jace, I love her too. All of us do. And Mason said that he’d not even look at another woman if he couldn’t have one just like Holly. Smart mouth and all.” Logan cleared his throat. “I just have to ask, does she…will she mind playing? I mean, is she into bondage too?”

“She is learning and enjoying it.” They pulled into the hospital parking lot just as Mason and the rest of the family did. “Logan, you haven’t told anyone, have you? About my weirdness?”

“Jace, I hate to break it to you, but everyone who meets you knows that you’re weird.” As they rolled out of the truck they were both laughing, but sobered quickly when they entered the big building.

She was already in surgery when he got there. A very nice nurse sent them to the waiting lobby, where they were offered some clean clothing. Jace accepted the scrubs over the bloodied clothing he’d had on from holding Holly, and Logan told them he had something else. He left to change, and Jace called Palmer when he found service on his phone.

“I’m about four hours out. How is she?” He told him what he’d found out from the nurse. “She’s a fighter, Jace. She’ll pull….” The sobbing nearly broke Jace’s heart.

“She was fighting with my cat when I got a little out of hand.” Jace skipped over the part where he’d killed the woman, but he was pretty sure Palmer got it anyway. “She told him to get with the program or she was going to castrate me. I think she not only impressed him, but scared him a bit too.”

“I can see her doing that. I can.” He was quiet for a moment and Jace let him have the time. The man was far away from his only child and he was hurting. “Was Jeff…is he gone?”