Protecting Jessyka (SEAL of Protection) (Volume 6) (17 page)

I’ll fucking kill him and won’t think twice. Get your ass outside and if you say anything to anyone, or warn them, I’ll know and he’ll die.

Jess thought fast. There was no way she could sneak out the back. Dude and Cookie were way too paranoid about that back hallway and door. She also didn’t think the girls would let her go to the bathroom alone, and one of the guys would watch them if they did go.

I cnt go out the bk. Hve to go out frnt. Dnt hrt him. I’m cming

Jess tried not to panic. She didn’t want to be one of those girls who was too stupid to live. And walking out the door would certainly make her just that. She didn’t want to be kidnapped, but how the hell could she do anything differently? Jess knew the guys would figure it out quickly. They had to. She knew Tex was tracking her. She didn’t think he just sat in front of his computer and watched their movements all day, but hopefully it would look weird when he did finally take a look to see that she went from the bar to . . . wherever she’d be taken when she stepped outside. Hopefully it would be to Kason.

What sucked was that no one had ever thought about the
guys
needing to be tracked. It had always been the women. Everyone had always been so concerned about one of
them
being taken again. They didn’t even think that one of
them
could be kidnapped or put in danger. All it would’ve taken is one measly device attached to a piece of clothing, or a watch or a shoe or something, and Kason wouldn’t be in this predicament. Hell,
she
wouldn’t be in this predicament.

If Kason had a tracking device she would’ve immediately told Dude or Cookie and they would’ve taken care of it while she stayed safe, but now she was put into a position where if she didn’t do exactly as whoever was on the other end of Kason’s phone demanded, she could lose the best thing that ever happened to her.

Jess didn’t want to risk ignoring whoever it was that had texted her, because she had no idea where Kason was. She didn’t know who was behind the kidnapping. Was it someone from a mission he’d been on? She couldn’t imagine the guys being so careless as to let one of their enemies know where they were, but she had no other idea who might be responsible. Jess was scared to death, but knew Kason’s best chance was to get whoever it was to take her to him and hope Tex was watching.

You have three minutes. I’ll kill him if you aren’t out here.

Jess closed the phone without bothering to answer and took a deep breath. Showtime.

“That was Kason,” she said to the girls, hoping she sounded normal. “He’s waiting outside. Guess he got too impatient and wanted me to call it a night already. That text got him thinking I suppose.” Jess laughed, knowing it wasn’t her usual easy-going laugh, but she wasn’t
that
good of an actress.

“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t!” Caroline laughed as she hopped off her stool and came over to give Jess a hug. “We’ll do this again soon!”

It looked like she’d fooled her friends. Jess nodded in agreement and hugged each of the women. If she held on a bit too long and squeezed a bit too hard, no one said anything.

“I’m going to go and say bye to the guys.”

Everyone nodded and turned back to their conversation. Jess took another deep breath. It was one thing to trick her friends, but fooling the SEALs would be another thing altogether. How much time had passed? She had no idea, but knew she had to step this up.

She limped quickly over to Cookie and Dude. “Hey guys, Kason just texted, he’s outside waiting for me. I teased him a bit too much before we got here I think.” She looked up at Dude. “Guess that little talk you had with him went over well. He said he has plans for me tonight.” Jess smiled up at Dude.

“You all right?” Dude asked, taking her chin in his hand.

Damn, guess she wasn’t as good at this acting thing as she thought. Jess closed her eyes briefly and prayed he’d let her go. “I’m good, Dude. Swear. Hell, what can go wrong? Tex has me bugged up ten ways to Sunday. I can’t take a step without Tex and you guys knowing where I am, right?” Jess knew she was overdoing it, but she had to try to give them some clue. Maybe Dude and Cookie wouldn’t get it right away, but hopefully they’d figure it out sooner rather than later.

“Right. Remember you can always say no and Benny’ll stop.”

Jessyka flushed. Jesus. Dude was talking about her sex life as if he knew exactly what Kason had in store for her tonight.

Dude chuckled, obviously enjoying her embarrassment. “All right, sweetie. Go on home. We’ll see you later.”

Jess gave Cookie a hug and wished with all her heart she could say something to these men. She knew they’d take action in a heartbeat, but she couldn’t stop seeing the words,
I’ll kill him,
flash in front of her eyes or get the picture of Kason lying motionless and bleeding out of her head. She wouldn’t risk his life. The guys would find her, and hopefully Kason, soon.

Jess headed for the front door of
Aces
, wondering if she’d ever see it again. She turned and waved at the girls. They wavered in her sight a bit because of the tears in her eyes. Jess beat the tears back. Fuck that. She wouldn’t cry. She had to be strong. She had two tracking devices on her at the moment, they’d show Tex, and therefore the others, where she was. They had to.

She opened the door and stepped outside and looked around. Jess had no idea where it was she was supposed to go. Suddenly an arm wrapped around her from behind and a cloth was shoved over her mouth and nose. She struggled, but quickly became overwhelmed from the fumes on the cloth. The last thing Jess thought about before she went unconscious was that she hoped Tex was as good at tracking people as the guys said he was.

Chapter Fifteen

Jess wrinkled her nose and turned her head to get away from the horrible stench currently filling her nostrils. When the smell didn’t abate, she brought her hand up to smack whatever it was away, but her hand was caught in a harsh grip and forced to her side.

Finally she opened her eyes and looked into the brown eyes of her ex. He was holding a little white capsule under her nose that was emitting a noxious smell.

“Brian,” she breathed.

“Yeah, it’s me, babe. Glad to see me?”

Jess struggled in his grip. “Let go.”

“You’re going to do exactly as I say if you want your precious SEAL to live. Got it?”

“Where is he? What did you do to him?” Jess refused to give in to Brian ever again. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but fuck it. She was done cowering from him. She’d heard all about what Caroline and the other women had been through, and if they could be brave, so could she.

“I’ve only done to him what his friends did to me. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. Come on, crip, let’s go.”

Brian hauled Jess to her feet and kept a strong grip on her arm. She swayed, still trying to fight the effects of the chloroform.

“Now, you’re going to walk, bitch. I’ve hidden him out in the woods so he wouldn’t cause any trouble. I didn’t want his asshole friends to find him before I was done with him . . . and you.”

Brian pushed Jess toward the trees next to where he’d parked. It was the same park Kason had brought her to in the past when he wanted to talk. Jess bit back a bitter laugh. How ironic.

She stumbled over the uneven ground and tried to keep her pace up. Brian had a light on his hat to help him see as he walked, but Jess had to rely on the meager light coming from it to show her the way. Every time she faltered, Brian would shove her. She fell each time he put his hands on her. The uneven length of her legs had never made hiking easy, and walking through the woods in the middle of the night, and not on an established path, wasn’t making it easier.

She fell for the tenth time and Brian brought his foot back and kicked her in the hip, hard. “Get the fuck up, bitch. Swear to God, I have no idea why I wasted so much of my time with you.”

Trying to ignore the pain in her hip, and to give it time to stop throbbing before she had to use it again, Jess asked, “Why
did
you Brian? If you hated me so much why the hell did you ask me to move in?”

“Tammy needed a fucking babysitter. You were there. So we decided you’d do.”

Jess stared at Brian in disbelief. “You decided I’d
do
? That’s all I was? A means to an end for you?”

“Yeah, that’s all you were. A means to a fucking end. Then the stupid bitch killed herself. We were making good money off of her too.”

“What?” Jess breathed, not believing what she’d heard.

Brian squatted down next to Jess, smiling evilly. “Yeah, she was a good fuck for my buddies. They paid us in drugs and they got . . . teenage pussy. Too bad she was so fat though, we could’ve gotten double if she wasn’t such a fat ass.”

Jess saw red. She had no idea Tabitha was being abused. None. She’d trusted Brian. She hadn’t really liked him much at the end, but she had
no
idea he was so twisted. Jess reached out and shoved Brian as hard as she could. “She was your niece! How could you
do
that? That’s
sick
!”

Brian stood up and hauled Jessyka up by her hair. As she scrambled to get her feet under her and to take the pressure off her scalp, Brian put his face to hers and sneered, “All she was good for was fucking. I got my drugs and she got some dick. Besides, who do you think came up with the idea anyway? Yeah, her fucking mother. Don’t put this on me, Jess, I was just doing what mommy dearest wanted.”

Jessyka felt sick. She’d lived with Brian for years. She had no idea Tabitha had been going through what she had. No wonder she’d ended her life. It hadn’t been because Jess was moving out, but she’d ended up being more of a catalyst for Tabitha getting the courage to end her own torment. Hell, for all Jess knew, Brian was telling Tabitha he’d hurt
her
if she didn’t comply.

“Now,
walk
. Or I’ll drag you the rest of the way by your fucking hair.”

Jess knew Brian would do exactly as he threatened. She’d never been so scared of him as she was right now. Before, she’d only been worried he’d smack her around. But now? Knowing how depraved he was? Knowing what he’d done to Tabitha? Jess was terrified. Where was Kason? What had Brian done to him? For the first time Jess realized that Brian might have already killed him. He was obviously crazy enough.

Jess stumbled along in front of Brian as best she could. Her hip hurt worse than it had in a long time. Brian kicking it certainly hadn’t helped. The pain reminded her of the one time she’d decided she could do a 5K charity walk. She’d done it, but her hip had hurt for at least a week afterwards. The difference in the length of her legs didn’t allow her to walk for long periods of time, nonetheless a forced march over uneven ground like this.

While Jessyka fell a few more times, Brian didn’t kick her, he just hauled her up time and time again and forced her to keep walking.

Finally Brian came to a halt and grabbed Jess’s arm. He pointed to the right as if he knew exactly where he was going. “In there.”

“What? Where?”

Brian pushed her hard until Jess fell on her hands and knees. “
There
.”

Jess lifted her head and saw Brian pointing toward a break in the trees. How the hell did Brian know where they were going? There was no difference that Jess could see from where they’d just came from and what the trees looked ahead of her, especially in the dark. She had no idea how far they’d come either. Her faltering gait was misleading. It could have been one mile or four.

Jess stood up slowly, repressing the groan of pain she could feel on the tip of her tongue, and crawled to where Brian was pointing. She moved the branches out of her way and suddenly came face to face with Kason. And he was absolutely livid.

Chapter Sixteen

“Lookie what I found, SEAL man!” Brian cackled as he propped a flashlight in the crook of a tree nearby. Ignoring the daggers shooting out of Kason’s eyes, Brian put his boot on Jess’s butt and shoved until she fell with a cry right in front of Kason.

Jess heard Kason grunt and saw him struggle against the ropes that were holding him to a large oak tree. She stared at him in dismay.

Kason had dried blood on the side of his face, obviously from the cut at his temple. Brian had wrapped cloth around his head and shoved it into his mouth so he was effectively gagged. He’d been tied by what seemed like miles of rope. Kason’s hands were behind his back, putting his body at an awkward angle as his back couldn’t lie flush against the tree he was tied to. His legs had been tied together at the ankles, then wrapped up with the same rope as was holding him the tree at his knees and thighs as well. He also wasn’t wearing any shoes or socks.

Somehow it was seeing his bare feet, so vulnerable in the middle of the forest, that got to Jess the most. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered before Brian grabbed her by the hair and hauled her upright once more.

“Fuck!” Jess couldn’t stop the word from escaping.

“He’s not so high and mighty now is he?” Brian murmured into Jess’s ear as if he was a lover whispering sweet nothings. “Now he knows how it feels to be helpless, just like I did when his buddies came to visit me. Seems to be a fair exchange if you ask me.” Brian threw Jess away from him and she once again landed on all fours in front of Kason. She was sick of being on the ground.

Jess thought fast. She had to do something. Brian was bat-shit crazy. She didn’t want to think about what he was going to do to them. She had to buy some time. Jess knew there was no way she could save them both, but all she had to do was give the others time to find them. She wasn’t a SEAL, she wasn’t a soldier. Hell, Brian outweighed her by a lot and she couldn’t overpower him. But maybe she could trick him somehow.

Kason was the vulnerable one here. She knew he was a SEAL and a super soldier, but seriously, he was trussed up so tightly there was no way he was getting loose. Hell, if he could’ve gotten loose, he would’ve while Brian was back at the bar grabbing her. It was up to her to save him. The tables were turned for once. It was up to her to protect Kason until his friends could get to them. And she had no doubt they would. It was what they did. She only had to give both her and Kason time for that to happen.