Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
NIALL
Being here makes me feel even more protective of Jade.
Watching someone as sweet and caring as Jade be treated so coldly by her parents makes my heart ache for her.
I knew they weren’t nice people, but this? It’s beyond anything I imagined.
Not once did either of them ask if Jade was okay. They didn’t ask if she was struggling. If she felt safe.
There were no hugs, no comforting touches, no offers of support. Just the little jabs her father kept taking at Jade, like scolding her for not coming here to stay. For worrying her mother, who looked the furthest thing from worried—more concerned with table settings than her daughter’s well-being.
When Jade told me she was a disappointment to her parents, it was hard to believe. Now that I’ve met them, I think they’re the disappointment. Jade is smart and sweet and kind and my parents would have loved her. My dad would have told me to hang on to such an amazing woman. My mom would have taken Jade under her wing.
I’m ready to get out of here. Get out of this cream-colored confection of a room with its stiff velvet sofas and immaculate rugs and fancy-looking clocks all over the walls. I want to get Jade out of this oppressive house and back home where I can give her a massage and make love to her and tell her over and over again how great she is.
Soon. Jade’s been talking to her mother for about fifteen minutes now, and her father just left to check on them. See how their girl talk is going, as he put it with a sneery little smirk, like two women talking is unimportant and silly.
I saw the flicker of hope in Jade’s eyes when her mother brought it up, and I’m hoping, too. Maybe, away from the domineering influence of Garrett Bell, the two women will actually talk. Maybe Jade will get to talk with her mom the same way Shea used to talk to ours.
But I’m not holding my breath.
As I wait for everyone to come back, I scan the room again, this time counting the clocks. There are ten of them, which seems like nine too many, all ticking in slightly different rhythms. I didn’t notice when we were all in here talking, but in the otherwise quiet room the ticking gives it an ominous feel.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and since I’m alone, I pull it out to find a text from Matt.
Are you still at Jade’s parents’ place?
I tap out a quick reply.
Yes. Leaving soon, I hope. Do you need something?
Three dots blink for a second.
I found out something about her father. Can you leave now without it seeming suspicious?
An icy tendril works its way down my back.
Jade’s with her mother in another room. What is it?
The three dots blink longer this time.
I was going back through all my research and found something new. We looked at all the Bells’ financials, connections, but I just had this feeling like something was missing. So I looked at his college records. It looks clean, BS in biochemistry, good grades, but he did some alarming research.
My gut makes that familiar twinge. And the incessant ticking of the clocks gets inexplicably louder.
Matt’s next message appears.
Bell worked on trying to formulate behavior controlling drugs. One of his mentors had been involved with the CIA and the MKUltra program. They experimented with mind control back in the 1960s. In Bell’s senior thesis, he discussed a specific compound that he believed was promising. It’s the same one we found traces of in some of the captive women.
What?
Another text pops up.
Maybe it’s unrelated. But Bell’s company is a lot more profitable than comparable ones of its size. And the drug can’t be found anywhere. It’s not patented. You said this guy didn’t seem concerned about Jade. What if…
Fuck.
What if?
Her own father? Is it possible?
Either way, I need to get Jade out of here. Bring her back to B and A so she’s safe while we investigate this. Teeth grinding, all my muscles tense, I reply back to Matt.
I’ll get Jade. Headed home ASAP.
As I jump up from the couch, all my nerves are jangling and my instincts are screaming at me to find my woman now .
The house is big, but I can make a sweep of it quickly. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to find Jade’s mother’s bedroom. Then another one to make an excuse to leave, and we’ll be back in my car in under five minutes.
I’m just about to leave the lounge when my phone vibrates again.
But it’s not the Blade and Arrow pattern this time. It’s violent. Insistent.
A red alert flashes on the screen.
Jade!
She triggered her earrings. She’s in trouble.
Fuck.
I open the app to find Jade’s little blinking red dot on the west side of the house. Still in the bedroom, or somewhere else? Somewhere worse?
As I start jogging in that direction, I reach for my Sig—an instinctual move engrained after years of battle—but it’s not there.
Shit.
Of course, I left it in the car. It didn’t seem appropriate, meeting my girlfriend’s parents for the first time while armed. Now I wish like anything I had it with me.
Do I have time to run to the car? Or are those precious minutes Jade doesn’t have?
While I run down the hall, checking each room, I spot something.
It’s obviously Bell’s office. There’s a giant wooden desk and oriental rugs and bookshelves stretching to the ceiling and— thank you —a gun cabinet.
I slingshot myself into the office and sprint over to the cabinet. The door is unsurprisingly not locked, so I yank it open and snatch up a Colt single-action revolver, which isn’t nearly as good as my Sig, but will get the job done.
Hopefully, it won’t come to that. But better armed than not.
It takes another minute before I hear the voices.
Just ahead. Coming through a closed door on the left.
I have no idea what I’m going to find. Other than Jade in trouble. Needing my help.
Rather than burst into the room, though that’s what my body is aching to do, I get close to the door and listen.
It’s Garrett Bell, his voice harsh and biting.
“Come on, Jade. It’s not that bad. All the men who were interested in you—they’re wealthy. Successful. You would have been treated like a treasured prize, just like your mother. You’d have a fulfilling life instead of this ridiculous job of yours, living in a crappy apartment, wasting your prime years…”
He pauses. “Anyway. Enough of this. You ruined everything, so now you’re going to help me recreate a new operation.”
“You’ll be caught.” Jade. Sounding scared but still steady. “Everyone is going to jail.”
“Not me. I was so careful. None of my associates ever knew my name. All the payments were in cash. And it’s so easy to hide profits when you own a pharmaceutical company. It’s perfect, really.”
Ah, shit.
An inferno of rage ignites. His daughter . My Jade.
Bell huffs an impatient sigh. “Alright. I know what you’re doing. Trying to stall. Hoping I’ll change my mind. I won’t. And my patience is running thin. I have a client that is waiting for you. He’s very eager.”
“No,” Jade retorts sharply, “I won’t.”
“Yes.” It’s a hiss. “You will. You’re going to make me millions. Enough to start my operation again. And if you fight me, I’ll kill your boyfriend. So you’re coming with me now .”
This fucker.
Tears are in Jade’s voice. “People will look for me. You can’t just make me disappear.”
“I won’t.” It’s smug. Triumphant. “You decided to leave town. Too many bad memories. And once you’re trained… You’ll convince everyone you want to be there. That you’re in love. That you want nothing to do with that rent-a-cop out there.” He pauses, then adds, “Unless you want me to kill him instead.”
Fuck no. Jade’s not leaving, her father definitely isn’t going to kill me, and this whole monstrous thing ends now.
Her father growls at her, “Let’s go, Jade. Now .”
A second later, I hear a pained yelp.
And that’s my signal to move.
The door is locked, but I’ve been practicing lock picking since I agreed to join Blade and Arrow. “You don’t have to,” Cole told me during one of those early phone calls, “but we’ve found it helpful in critical situations.”
Like this one. Ever so quietly, I use the little pick I keep attached to my belt and jimmy the lock open. Then I push the door open, my gun at the ready, and step inside.
Her father’s gaze swings toward me and his eyes go wide. “You!”
Jade’s tear-streaked face shifts from fear to relief and back again. “Niall. He has a gun.”
“Fine!” Voice raising, Bell swings his gun toward me. “I wasn’t going to kill you. But now I have no choice.”
“No.” I meet his gaze, and he flinches at the rage in my eyes. “You are not killing me. And you’re not taking Jade.” I point the gun at him. “You aren’t going to win.”
His face twists, contorting in anger. The hand he has clamped around Jade’s arm tightens and he yanks her in front of him. “Are you going to shoot her? Is that what you want?”
Jade pulls against his grip. “Please. Stop.” She’s crying now. “Don’t hurt Niall. I’ll go with you.”
“Ha.” He barks out a satisfied laugh. “It’s too late for that.”
Does Jade really think I can’t get her out of this? Or is she terrified beyond reason? She watched me in the shooting range, hitting my targets over and over. There’s no target I can’t hit.
But then.
Her eyes glint. There’s that little jut of her chin. And Jade slams her elbow into her father’s solar plexus, hard enough for him to let out a wheezing grunt.
He shouts, “You bitch!” and the hand holding his gun dips.
There.
Everything comes down to this. Hundreds of hours of training. Years out in the field.
I spot my target. Mid-forearm, right where the radial nerve is.
Then.
I take my shot.
He screams, a shrill cry of pain.
The gun drops to the floor.
Her father keeps screaming as he clutches his arm.
And Jade, my smart, brave Jade, leaps toward the fallen gun and snatches it up.
Even though I feel like tearing her father limb from limb, I force myself to say calmly, “Good, sweetheart. Just come over to the door. Away from him. And I’ll take the gun. Okay?”
She nods at me and whispers, “Okay.”
Although I’m desperate to hold her, my priority is making sure Jade’s piece of garbage father doesn’t try anything else. Not that I think he will—he’s sobbing and cursing about his arm—but I’m not taking any chances.
Once I get him zip-tied—I need to stock up after this—I glance at Jade’s mother still sitting on the bed. She’s not smiling; she just has this sort of flat expression on her face, and I have a terrible suspicion that she was one of the ones Bell used his drugs on.
On the other side of the house, a door slams, and a stampede of footsteps race in.
My phone vibrates for approximately the fiftieth time since Jade’s alert went off, but this time I actually look at it. This most recent message is from Xavier, asking about the sitrep, if I’m in trouble, and reassuring me they’re here.
I raise my voice and call out, “West side of the house. Fourth door on the left. I’ve got things under control. But I could use an assist to handle the police.”
“Niall?” Jade’s voice is so tiny. She’s over by the door, hugging herself and shaking.
“Oh, sweetheart.” I rush to her, gathering her into my arms. Then I pull back a little to inspect her face. “Are you hurt? Did he hit you?” I didn’t see any blood, but maybe I missed something. Maybe?—
“No. But—” She sucks in a shuddering gasp. “My father . Niall. My father. He was behind all of it. He wanted to sell—” And she dissolves into sobs, burying her face in my shirt.
The look of devastation on Jade’s face is something I’ll never forget.
This is the terrible part of love.
Seeing Jade so hurt, so crushed, and I can’t fix it. I can’t make her pain go away.
But I can be here for her.
I’ll help her get through this.
Between sobs, she whispers against my chest, “It hurts .”
Oh . My heart wrenches and tears fill my eyes. “I know, sweetheart.” I cuddle her to me, stroking her hair and pressing kisses to the top of her head. “I’m so sorry. But I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”