Chapter 15
RAFE
The vehicle bounced over uneven ground, tires spinning in the mud in some spots.
My prison transport was a nondescript black sedan, four doors with leather seats.
Not exactly the type of rig one needed to navigate overgrown, muddy terrain.
Shelton sat behind the wheel while Military Dude sprawled on the backseat beside me, his weapon at the ready and serving as a constant reminder that I was screwed, though the fact they hadn’t pulled the hood over my head this time was reminder enough.
Because I’d killed again, and if they didn’t own me before, they sure as hell owned me now. They’d trapped me in this for life. It was Shelton’s ultimate revenge—me, enslaved in death matches that would make him richer, and Alex enslaved to her worst nightmare.
Even if I learned to accept our fate, I couldn’t accept it for my son. I had to find a way to get Will out of the equation of Shelton’s retribution.
We parked on the edge of a field, and the guy next to me prodded his gun into my side. “Let’s go.”
I slid from the car, boots sinking into dark sludge.
The rain was letting up, but a shitload of mud caked the ground.
The three of us trudged toward a large outbuilding in the distance, where I assumed they’d been holding Will and me.
Shelton walked in front, while Military Dude brought up the rear of our trio.
We’d gone maybe seventy-five yards when Shelton came to an abrupt stop. He tilted his head, listening for something, and it was then that I detected it too.
Dogs barking.
Cold dread slithered down my spine.
“What the hell?” Military Dude said, halting behind me. “What’s up with the mutts?”
With a frown, Shelton pulled out his weapon. “Could be a deer.”
But he didn’t believe his own words, and I didn’t either.
We resumed the journey across the field to my new home for the foreseeable future, each step a hair-standing occasion. My survival instincts were going haywire. With no moon to brighten the cloud cover, visibility was a bitch.
But I still saw it.
Shadows emerging from the overgrown field—two of them about fifteen feet on either side of where Shelton stalled in front of me. His head swiveled left then right, gun steady in his hand as he took in the unfamiliar men that surrounded us.
“Drop your fucking weapons,” said a voice from behind me. A voice I recognized.
The cold press of Military Dude’s weapon bit into the back of my head, but the gun-cock I heard didn’t come from him.
“We already killed the rest of your guys,” Jax said. “We don’t have a problem taking the two of you assholes out. Drop them now!”
Shelton dropped his gun before lifting his hands in the air. “Stand down,” he told Military Dude.
The guy at my back shifted, and I detected the thump of his weapon hitting the ground. Pulse ratcheting, I turned and stepped to the right, bringing Jax and another guy into full view.
His gaze drifted over me, cataloging the mud and blood, and he raised his brows at the sight of my busted up face. “You okay, man?”
“I’m alive.” I gestured toward the outbuilding. “How’d you find me?”
“Alex got creative with a skillet. Your woman’s got balls.
” He stepped forward and shoved Military Dude to where Shelton still stood with his hands in the air.
“She dragged that fucker down to the cellar and locked him up. If not for her propensity for survival, I wouldn’t have known you guys were in trouble. ”
Pride for my wife rose in my chest. “They have my son.”
“We already got him out.” As his buddies retrieved the dropped weapons, Jax nodded in the opposite direction of the outbuilding. “He’s with Alex and Angel.”
“She’s here?” I glanced across the field, as if she’d magically appear in the overgrown grass, just like Jax and the other three men had.
“Yeah, but before you run into her arms, what should we do with these assholes?”
I shot a glance in Shelton’s direction, noting the furrow between his brows. He looked a little worried, and he should be. Jax passed me a handgun, and I sauntered up to the bastard.
“I should toss your ass into the dog pit.”
“Don’t be rash, Mason. We can make a deal. I’ve got money.”
“You’ve got nothing I want.” I raised the gun, and his eyes widened, alarm registering an instant before I pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through his skull, and Shelton dropped to the ground.
Military Dude took off running, and before I could aim, Jax got out a shot that sent him into the grass as well.
Instant death was better than they deserved, but I didn’t have the stomach, or the time, to make them suffer. I needed them dead, unable to come after us while I got my son to safety.
Meeting Jax’s gaze, I spanned the feet between us and pulled him into a one-armed hug. “I’ve never been more happy to see you, man.”
Clearing his throat, he stepped back. “I had some help.”
“You saved our asses,” I said, taking in the small group. “If you’re ever in a bind and need a guy…”
“We’ll let you know,” said the dude sporting two arm sleeves of ink. He slapped Jax’s back. “This fucker’s always had our backs.”
“Same here,” I said.
Of course, there was a time when Jax hadn’t had my back, and Alex and I had ended up enslaved in a sex ring nightmare, but he’d more than made up for it in the past year.
Jax nodded toward the line of trees on the other side of the field. “Go see to your kid. We’ve got this.”
“Did he see your faces?”
Jax gave a solemn nod. “Wasn’t about to traumatize him with a blindfold. Kid’s been through enough.”
I was grateful for his care in getting my son out of that place, but the question was on everyone’s minds, and it begged to be addressed.
What the fuck would we do if Will returned home to his grandparents and implicated us all in his kidnapping?