Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Jaxon killed the engine on his Harley and swung off the bike in front of Deep Dive.
The meeting about the General’s upcoming trial had run longer than he wanted, but at least it was done.
He needed to see Tazzy. Needed to feel her in his arms and know she was still safe after three long days of lockdown.
He pulled open the door and stepped inside.
The familiar smell of coffee and sugar hit him, but the scene in front of the counter made him pause.
The Musketiaras and Hutch were cleaning up from Tazzy’s taste-testing session.
Empty cups, syrup bottles, and sample spoons covered the bar.
Georgia was wiping down the counter while Winnie stacked dishes. Breezy laughed at something Suzi said.
They all looked up when he walked in.
Georgia’s face brightened first. “Hey, Jaxon! You’re back. Where’s Tazzy?”
Jaxon frowned. “What do you mean, where’s Tazzy? She’s here.”
The room went still.
Hutch straightened slowly, a dish towel still in his hands. “Tazzy left with you a few minutes ago.”
Jaxon felt the cold spike of dread hit his chest. “The fuck she did. I just got back.”
Hutch reached under the counter and held up Tazzy’s phone. “You told her you were almost here to pick her up and to wait outside in the parking lot. I saw the texts myself.”
Jaxon stepped closer, his boots loud on the tile. “Show me.”
Hutch turned the screen toward him and typed in the password Jaxon gave him. The messages were right there, clear as day. Jaxon’s blood turned to ice.
“That wasn’t me.” Jaxon’s heart slammed against his ribs. Rage and terror battled inside him with equal vigor. Fighting his fear, he fought to keep his voice steady. “How long has she been gone?”
Georgia answered quickly. “Not long. Maybe five or ten minutes. She boxed up her supplies and then hurried out when you texted.”
Cupping his hand over his brow, he let out a frustrated sigh. That explained why her box was sitting on the ground outside the door. No way would Tazzy have left her stuff out there like that.
It had to be the General or one of his goons. Knowing the General, she could already be in a ditch somewhere. Five minutes with him might as well be five hours. He yanked his phone from his pocket and dialed Sawyer.
Sawyer answered on the second ring. “Yeah?”
Jaxon broke in. “I need the location of the General. Now.”
Sawyer paused. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Just get me the fucking location!”
“Calm down, brother. I’m on it.”
Every second felt like an eternity. Jaxon paced the floor in front of the counter while the girls watched him with wide, worried eyes. His mind raced through every worst-case scenario. The General had her. He knew it in his bones.
Sawyer came back on the line. “I show him as still at the Graceview compound. What the hell is going on?”
Jaxon’s hand tightened around the phone until the plastic creaked. “I don’t know yet, but Tazzy’s missing. Tell Reid I’m headed to Graceview.”
He hung up without waiting for a reply.
Georgia stepped forward, voice shaking. “Jaxon—”
“Not now,” he cut in. Already moving toward the door, he called back to Hutch. “Make sure none of the other Littles leave. Nobody enters. Nobody leaves, and call Ezra and report a kidnapping.”
Jaxon didn’t wait for Hutch’s reply as he headed out the door. If anything happened to Tazzy, the General was a dead man.
He shoved the door open and strode out into the parking lot. It only took a moment to fire up his Harley. Graceville estate was the place to start. Every mile of the wind whipping his face felt like torture without Tazzy riding behind him.
He leaned low over the handlebars. Where the hell was Ghost in all of this? It had been three fucking days with no word. Was he on the General’s payroll? Maybe there’d be a double funeral.
The instincts he’d sharpened in prison told him something was coming and that his time was limited to save Tazzy. Right now, those instincts were screaming that he needed to talk with Ghost.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, he thumbed the call button. Ghost answered on the third ring.
“What the fuck is going on?” Jaxon demanded without a greeting. “Tazzy’s been taken, where the hell have you been?”
Ghost’s voice came back tight and low. “Look, man. I’ve been trying to figure out what the hell is happening.
Thorne and the General had a huge blowout last night.
Word is, the General fired him. Said he would represent himself from now on.
Thorne was hot as shit. He stormed out of the compound sayin’ the General would ‘rue the day you crossed Phillip Thorne.’”
Jaxon’s grip tightened on the throttle. “Why the fuck didn’t you call me then?”
“At first, I thought it was a good thing, and not that important. Second, it’s not like I can yank out my phone and call from anywhere.
There are guards all over the place on the lookout for spies.
Listen, that’s not the important part,” Ghost snapped back.
“The General called the monitoring company early this morning. No idea why, but I’m thinkin’ it can’t be good. ”
Fuck. Jaxon was going to kill this idiot, but first, he needed to hear what he had to say.
“He hasn’t been seen since the monitoring guy left.
I checked with one of the girls who services the General.
She said the General didn’t take his breakfast tray or his lunch tray.
They left them outside his door like always.
She said there was a note on the door saying not to disturb him today for any reason.
But I’m thinking something is off. You’d think he’d at least eat, but according to this girl, she picked up his breakfast tray untouched when she left his lunch. ”
Jaxon’s blood ran cold. “Get eyes on him. Now. I don’t care what you have to do, just do it.”
Ghost cursed under his breath. “Fuck! Fine. I’ll call you back.”
“Like hell you will. You hang up, and it’ll be the last thing you do.”
“Stay on the line then, asshole. I’m going in.”
Jaxon could hear the muffled sound of Ghost’s boots on the concrete as he moved through the compound. Jaxon listened to another door opening, alerting him that Ghost was in a building. Ghost must have met someone because Jaxon could hear a woman’s voice talking to him.
“No, he still hasn’t taken the lunch tray,” the woman said. “And no, I don’t have the key. The General has the only one. Besides, the note said not to disturb him, there’s no—hey! What are you doing?”
The sound of a heavy kick cracked through the phone. Wood splintered. A door slammed open.
The woman must have panicked. “Stop, you can’t do that! I’m getting security!” she said, as the thump of running footsteps slowly faded.
“Oh shit.” Ghost was back on the phone and scared.
Jaxon’s stomach dropped. “What do you see?”
“There’s a man in here. He’s gagged and bound to a chair, and he’s wearing a monitoring service uniform.”
Jaxon’s voice went flat. “Get the gag off him.”
Ghost’s footsteps thudded over the phone. “Hold on, man. I got you. Let me get the gag off you.”
Jaxon heard movement, then a man’s panicked voice came through the line, hoarse and terrified.
“He made me remove the monitor. The crazy fucker held a gun on me and said he’d blow my fucking head off if I didn’t do what he said.
He had me transfer the monitor to my own leg, gagged me, and tied me up.
I’ve been in here for hours. Thank God you came in. ”
Jaxon hung up and called Sawyer.
“The General left the compound. The tracking on that ankle monitor is useless.”
There was a pause, the sound of typing. “What do you mean? I still show him at the compound. He hasn’t moved.”
“I’m telling you he’s not there. He jumped a technician from the monitoring service and placed the ankle monitor on the fucking tech. And now he has Tazzy.”
“Son of a bitch!” Sawyer yelled. “The bracelet just went dead. The tech must have disarmed it. I’m bringing Reid in.”
Jaxon pulled over his bike and parked so he could hear better. Besides, he didn’t know where to go. The General could have taken Tazzy anywhere. It would be better to stop moving until they had a plan.
“Okay, Jaxon, Reid’s here now.”
“The General’s in the wind. I’m headed back. I need a plan to find my girl by the time I get there.”
“Stay where you are, Jaxon. I went over the video footage from the parking lot cameras. The SUV that took Tazzy is a black Tahoe with tinted windows and no plates. They came in hot, grabbed her in under ten seconds, and peeled out. I’m running the make and model through every traffic camera in the county right now. ”
“Anything else?”
“Yeah. The driver was wearing a mask, but the passenger side window rolled down for half a second when they turned out of the lot. I got a partial profile. You’re right, brother. It’s the General. I’ll let Sawyer tell you the rest. I’m going to finish mobilizing the team.”
Jaxon’s vision narrowed to a red haze. The steady thumping of the bike was like a heartbeat that was counting down to Tazzy’s death.
“Jaxon, what’s your location?”
“I’m on the main road to Graceview about two miles out, headed back to town.”
“Keep your eyes open on the road from Graceview. It’s unlikely, but he may have headed back that way or pulled off a side road.
I’ll send Ravage and Brick that direction.
I’ll be reviewing the cameras in town to see if I spot him on the CCTV.
The Littles will help by reviewing the camera history for the ones we can access.
Everyone else is out canvassing the town for any sign.
Reid thinks he’s still around, and he’s probably right.
The General wouldn’t take a chance on moving Tazzy too far.
Not when the one he’s really trying to get to is you. ”
“That’s what I’m worried about.” Sawyer said.
“We’ll find her, Jaxon. We will. I swear, we’ll get her back.”
Jaxon didn’t answer right away. His mind was already ten steps ahead, calculating routes, possible hideouts, and exactly how he was going to kill the General when he caught up with him.
“She’s scared,” he said finally, voice rough. “She’s alone with that fucking monster, and she’s scared. I can feel it.”
Sawyer was quiet for a beat. “We’re moving as fast as we can. Hutch has been talking to Ezra, and the DPD’s cooperating fully. He’s put out a BOLO on that Tahoe. One way or another, we’ll find her.”
Jaxon twisted the throttle hard, tires squealing as he hit the road.
Jaxon was still roaring toward Graceview when his phone buzzed again. This time it was an unknown number. Could it be the General? He answered on his helmet headset.
“What?”
The last person on earth he expected to hear spoke. “Jaxon. Phillip Thorne, here. I have some information.”
Jaxon’s teeth ground together. “Where’s Tazzy, you bastard? Talk now, or so help me God, I’ll find you and cut your fucking throat out.”
Silence met his threat. For a minute, Jaxon wondered if Thorne was going to hang up.
“I’m calling to help, but if this is a bad time…”
Jaxon took a deep breath. He had to get it under control, for Tazzy’s sake.
“Just say what you have to say, Thorne.”
“Very well. As I am no longer representing Alexander Boucher, I am under no obligation to cover for the man. I’ve been living and working out of his house.
He demanded I leave immediately, but before I did, I couldn’t help but notice something interesting.
The General arrived with a driver in a black SUV.
I couldn’t see clearly through the tinted windows, but I did see a small, dark-haired woman in the back seat. ”
Jaxon’s blood turned to ice. His grip on the handlebars tightened until his knuckles went white. “She’d better be okay, Thorne. What do you and the General want?”
Thorne gave a low, humorless chuckle. “I want nothing except her safe return, that’s why I’m calling.
It’s illegal for me to believe someone is in imminent danger and not report it.
I’m calling the Darling police after we hang up, but I thought you might want to know where she is.
Because, believe me, Jaxon, she’s definitely in imminent danger. So, if I were you, I’d hurry.”
Jaxon was already turning toward the General’s house. It didn’t matter if it was a trap. Didn’t matter if it meant his life. No, the only thing that mattered was Tazzy.
“I’m guessing this is some kind of trap. Is that your game?”
Thorne’s voice, normally under complete control, dropped to something cold and sharp. “No one fires me. No one.”
The line went dead.
Jaxon didn’t waste a second. He hit Reid’s number as he leaned harder into the wind, cranking the throttle.
Reid answered on the first ring. “What’ve you got?”
“I just got a call from Phillip Thorne,” Jaxon growled.
“He says he saw the General pull up to Breezy’s old house in a black SUV with a small dark-haired woman in the back.
According to Ghost, Thorne and the General had a big blowup last night.
Thorne says he’s not representing the General anymore. I’m headed there now.”
“Don’t go in there by yourself, Jaxon. You know this is probably a trap. They’re probably trying to set you up. Or worse, kill you.”
“Maybe, but for once I think Thorne was telling me the truth.
“Look, brother, we’re right behind you. Ravage and Brick will get there even before we do, at least wait for them, before going in. I’ll call Ezra on the way and tell him where we’re headed. After that time in prison, we don’t want to lose you now.”
“He’s got my girl, Reid. Nothing will keep me from getting to her.”
“Jaxon—”
All he heard was the engine screaming beneath him as he pushed it to its limit. All he saw was the General standing over Tazzy’s broken body.
No!
That was not happening.
Something ugly stirred inside. All the pain, all the anger, all the darkness that he’d been trying to hold back broke free. The walls holding them in were gone. Now there was only darkness.