Scarred (Unlikely Heroes Book 5) (27 page)

Lost it for a moment? Just…snapped?

Emily’s stomach churned with revulsion. That was an understatement. He was a murderer. He’d killed his own wife. He’d killed Sebastian’s mother.

Travis’s chest expanded as he breathed in, slowly exhaled. He let go of her arm.

“I buried her in the backyard at the base of the Oak tree. Sebastian thinks she just up and left, and I let him think that. I wanted him to know it was his fault she was gone. Cause it was. All of it was his fault. If he hadn’t been born, she would still be alive. If he hadn’t been born, she would still love me. If he hadn’t been born, so many things wouldn’t have happened.”

Like you beating him and forcing him to fight, you sick bastard?

Emily forced the thought aside. She had to appear sympathetic or Travis would know she was playing him.

She let out a pretend snort of disgust. “That just shows how selfish he is if he’s willing to hurt his own father. I think you and I can work together to make Sebastian pay. What do you think?”

He glanced into her face, stared hard, as if he was trying to see if she was being honest with him. “Sounds like a plan, Sweet Cheeks. What do you have in mind?”

Emily shrugged. “We can hurt him the way he hurt us.” She eyed him a moment, pretending to think about it. “How badly do you want to hurt him? Like…beat him up? Or…something worse like…kill him?”

Travis chuckled. “I like the way you think, Sweet Cheeks. I don’t want to kill him. I just want to fuck him up real good. Make him suffer some more. I have a plan.”

“What kind of plan?” She held her breath. Crap, what did he have planned?

Travis narrowed his eyes at her. “Thought you could fool me, didn’t you? Pretending you didn’t care. But I know the truth. You’re in love with him, ain’t you? And I’ll bet my ass he’s in love with you too. This is fucking perfect. Sweet revenge come give me a hug.”

Emily stiffened. “What are you planning?”

Travis snickered. He fisted his hand in her hair, yanking her head toward him. “Don’t you worry about that, Sweet Cheeks. You’re just going to call him on the phone and I’ll take it from there.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“We still can’t locate a signal for her phone, so it must be turned off.”

Sebastian sighed. “Travis probably took it from her. He’s not a fool.” He paced away from Craig, spun around, and came back. They’d been staying in this hotel room for the past two days while Craig’s men searched for Emily. So far, they had nothing. Sebastian’s insomnia had worsened since he’d woken in the hospital bed. Those few days with Emily in his beach house he’d slept peacefully for the first time in years. Now his insomnia was back with a vengeance. He was insane with worry about Emily, his mind filling with all the possible horrors Travis might inflict on her. Sleep wouldn’t claim him no matter how hard he tried to relax, no matter how hard he tried to shut his thoughts down. He was a walking zombie. They had to find Emily, and soon.

“So why don’t you call him, ask him to meet you somewhere?”

“It won’t work, I’m telling you.”

Craig rose from the chair where’d he’d been sitting at the small table in the hotel room. “Why not?”

Sebastian groaned. “Because I never initiate contact with him. He always calls me.” He paced back and forth across the room again, his movements stiff and jerky with frustration.

“Always?”

“Yes. Always. Why would I want to contact that son-of-a-bitch? If I call him, he’ll know something’s up.”

Craig sighed. “We can’t just sit back and wait for him to contact you.”

“I know.” Sebastian rocked to a halt. “That could be weeks, even months. Fuck, he’s got Emily. I’m not waiting that long to get her out of there. There’s no telling what he might have already done to her.” Sebastian’s stomach curdled at all the horrible images that flashed through his brain.

Be positive. Emily’s strong. She’s a fighter. 

“We have to find out where he’s holding her. Then we go in and rescue her. He might think he’s in charge, but I’m in charge here.”

Sebastian snorted. “You
think
you’re in charge. He’s the one in charge. Always. And finding her is easier said than done. He knows you guys are here. He’ll never give Emily up. He wants me. The only way he’ll give her up is if I surrender myself to him. And even then, he’ll probably kill her anyway, just to punish me.” 

Travis had been smart to abduct Emily. He’d taken her so he had some control over Sebastian. Had Travis figured out yet that Cole was no longer locked up in his storage shed? If he hadn’t, Sebastian imagined it wouldn’t be long before he did. And when he did, he would be furious. He would use Emily to hurt Sebastian.

Sebastian had to find her. And fast. But he had no idea where to look. He suspected Travis had her hidden somewhere in L.A. Travis had lots of connections in the criminal world. It wouldn’t be too difficult for him to hide her.

At least Cole’s safe.

Cole was now in a safe house. Once this was over and Travis was behind bars, Sebastian would collect his son and bring him home to Idaho. He wasn’t sure what kind of dad he would be, but he would do his best and hope it was good enough.

With Cole safe, it allowed Sebastian to focus all his attention on finding and freeing Emily.

Craig’s cellphone rang. He turned away from Sebastian as he answered it.

Sebastian had to get away from Craig so he could surrender himself and try to free Emily. It was the only way Travis would work with him. But Sebastian was virtually a prisoner until Craig arrested his father. Craig had worked a deal with the D.A. in exchange for Sebastian’s cooperation in bringing down his father. But Craig didn’t know his father like he did. Travis would not negotiate with them. Travis only did things his way. If the FBI showed up, Travis wouldn’t hesitate to kill Emily.

Sebastian couldn’t allow that. Craig might be the trained specialist, but Sebastian knew how his father’s mind worked.

If anyone was going to save Emily, it would have to be Sebastian. It was the only way.

So he had to find a way to sneak out of here without Craig or his team knowing. Once away from the FBI, he could communicate with Travis. He could surrender himself and work out some kind of deal to free Emily.

And then, if he managed to survive, he’d go back and do what he should have done years ago.

Kill the son-of-a-bitch.

Craig strode across the hotel room, still talking into the phone, and glanced out the window. Sebastian took a step toward the door. Then another. He kept his gaze on Craig.

Another step and he was almost there.

Sebastian’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He glanced at Craig, then yanked the phone out of his pocket.

It was a text from Travis.

Sebastian’s heart lurched. He opened the message.

Be out front of the hotel in five minutes or Emily dies. Lose the feds.

Shit. They knew where he was, which meant they must have been tailing him.

Craig laughed at something the caller said over the phone. Sebastian guessed he was talking to Karen or his son Damon. That was about the only time Craig laughed—when he was talking to his family. The rest of the time, Craig was too serious, in Sebastian’s opinion. Then again, the guy had a stressful job, catching criminals.  

I never laughed before either. Until Emily.   

The thought sobered him. He needed to get to her. Free her. Before it was too late.

Sebastian reached for the doorknob. Though Craig hadn’t watched him like a hawk, Sebastian had never had an opportunity to escape. It had never occurred to him to try to escape. Until now.

Craig was still staring out the window, talking on the phone.

Sebastian opened the door and rushed out.

There were no agents in the hallway.

Sebastian wasn’t a criminal, but Craig had informed him he couldn’t leave until he helped bring his father in. Until he fulfilled his end of the bargain.

Sebastian raced for the stairwell. It wouldn’t take Craig long to notice he was gone.

His phone vibrated again as he was bounding down the stairs. He ignored it, assuming it was Craig calling to ask him where the hell he was going.

Sebastian kept flying down the stairs, five or six steps at a time, using the side rail to keep from losing his balance.

Down he went.

Another floor.

His phone vibrated again.

Shit.

He flew down the next flight, tripped on the last step, and barely managed to catch himself.

Finally he reached the main floor of the hotel. He raced out of the stairwell and out into the main lobby, expecting to see a swarm of FBI agents waiting for him.

But all was quiet in the lobby.

Sebastian pulled the baseball cap low over his face and walked toward the main doors.

His phone vibrated once again.

He pulled it from his pocket.

Emily.

Shit! He’d missed two calls from her while he’d been fleeing down the stairs.

“Emily?” His breath hitched. “Where are you? Tell me and I’ll come get you.”

Travis chuckled over the line. “I knew if I had her call, you would pick up. That answers my question.” The line went dead.

What? Sebastian paused out on the sidewalk, staring at the phone. Answered what question?

He called back, waiting for Travis to answer. The phone rang and rang, then went to Emily’s voicemail.

Shit!

Sebastian called again. And again it went to voicemail.

Son-of-a-bitch!

Travis must have shut the phone back off so they couldn’t trace it.

Sebastian called his father’s number and waited. Like most criminals, Travis had an untraceable cell.

Travis answered after the second ring.

“Do I got your attention now, boy?”

Sebastian swallowed hard. “Yeah. You got my attention. Where is she? If you hurt her, you bastard, I’ll kill you.”

Travis chuckled. “I figured you’d say that. You see, Emily here thought she could fool me. She pretended to hate you as much as I do and she even got me to tell her where your momma is buried. Can you believe that?”

“What?”

The breath whooshed out of Sebastian’s lungs.

Mom’s dead?
But…I thought…how?

For a long moment, he struggled to breathe.

He gasped, sucking in a deep breath. “What do you mean?”

“If you don’t want Sweet Cheeks to end up in the ground next to your momma, you’d better do what I say, boy. We’ve got some business to settle, me and you.”

Mom’s really dead?

Sebastian’s heart pinched. Shock left him momentarily speechless. His father knew where she was buried? Why hadn’t Sebastian known that? The bastard! What was his father keeping from him?

“I’ll do whatever you say,” Sebastian promised, his heart pounding. “Just don’t hurt Emily. Please.”

“Is the FBI tailing you?”

“No. I already lost them. Tell me where to meet you and I’ll be there.”

“Where you at right now?”

“I’m out front of the Hilton.”

“I’ll call you right back.” The line went dead.

Sebastian paced along the sidewalk in front of the hotel, waiting impatiently for Travis to call back. It wouldn’t be long before Craig came looking for him. He needed to disappear before Craig discovered he was gone.

Finally, after an agonizing wait, the phone vibrated in his hand.

Sebastian swiped the screen.

“Marty sees you. He’s pulling up out front now. Get in the car and go with him.” Travis hung up.

Sebastian turned his ringer on, just in case. He didn’t want to miss any more calls.

He spotted the black SUV pulling up to the curb.

“Sebastian! Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

Craig strode across the sidewalk, his expression livid.

Shit.

Sebastian pretended he didn’t hear him and raced for the black SUV. Marty thrust the passenger’s door open for him.

Craig shouted his name again.

Sebastian leapt into the vehicle and pulled the door shut. “Go!”

The SUV screeched away from the curb, causing another driver to honk in annoyance. Sebastian glanced out of the tinted window. Craig stood at the curb, glaring after him. Pissed as hell. Would he be mad enough to have Sebastian thrown in prison for five years? If he did, Sebastian wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. He still planned to honor his end of the deal. With one minor change: he wasn’t bringing Travis in, he was killing the bastard.

I’m sorry, Craig. I have to do this. It’s the only way to save Emily.  

“Boss’s got another job for you.” Marty glanced across the seat at him. “And this one’s a big one.”

Sebastian’s stomach churned. He didn’t care what it was, as long as he freed Emily. “Another fight?”

Marty shook his head. “No. It’s bigger than that. You’ll see.”

Sebastian’s phone rang. He yanked it from his pocket.

Craig.

He rejected the call and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. No way could he talk to Craig right now. Craig was pissed.

His phone rang again.

Sebastian ignored it.

“You gonna get that?” Marty glanced sideways at him. “It might be Travis.”

Sebastian yanked the phone from his pocket again. “It’s not Travis.”

It was Craig again. Craig probably wouldn’t give up until Sebastian answered.

Shit.

He rejected the call and stuffed it back in his pocket.

His notification ring chimed, indicating he had a message.

Sebastian yanked the phone back out of his pocket and checked the messages.

“You really want to do this?” Craig’s voice boomed over the phone. “We had a deal, Sebastian. I honored my end. If you renege on your end, you’ll wind up back in prison and there won’t be anything I can do about it. Call me.”

Sebastian groaned. Craig was right. But he had to save Emily, and Travis wouldn’t release her if the FBI showed up.

His phone rang again as he was slipping it back in his pocket.

Marty glanced at him. “Why don’t you just answer the damn thing? Or shut the ringer off.”

It was Craig again.

Sebastian sighed. Then he answered. “Yeah.”

“
Yeah
?” Craig let out a string of curses. “What the fuck you doing, Sebastian? Where the hell you going? We had a deal, remember?”

Sebastian sighed. “I know. I’m not reneging on my end. I’ll honor the deal. But you have to understand he’s not going to release her unless I surrender myself. This is something I have to do on my own. If I show up with the FBI, he’ll kill her.”

Marty quirked a brow at him, then glanced back at the road. Sebastian didn’t care if his father’s man overheard. It wasn’t as if it mattered now anyway. They had Emily.

Craig sighed loudly over the phone. “If you do this, Sebastian, I can’t help you anymore. You’re on your own.” The line went dead.