Chapter 30
Jaxon
Prepping ourselves with guns and knives from Franklin’s safe, we gather whatever we can from his limited arsenal. With most of the items hidden on our person, we get ready to bring Melody back home. Taking Franklin’s jeep, we head to Silicon Valley. The drive takes us an hour and a half, but we finally make it.
Cutting the lights to Franklin’s jeep, we crawl to a stop to avoid attention. There we see a guy leaving the warehouse that matches the photo that Franklin pulled up of Damian.
After he locks up, he heads to his vehicle and takes off. Wasting no time, we put in our earpieces so that we can all communicate with each other and Franklin. James, Kayden, and I make our way to the building walking nonchalantly. Franklin stays in the vehicle to be our lookout.
Breaking the lock on the door, Kayden pushes it open and waves for us to follow him inside. Not seeing any type of security system, we shut the door and move further into the dark building. The building was definitely a warehouse of some sort at one time, and it’s absolutely massive. Sticking to the plan, and equipped with our flashlights, James goes to the right, Kayden to the left, and I head straight down the hall.
Opening a door on the left with my gun and flashlight raised, I find nothing but empty boxes so I keep moving. On the far end of the hall is a set of double doors. As I make my way over to them, I quickly check all the rooms as I go. Opening the double doors, I’m brought into a large open space where all the manufacturing must have occurred at one point. In the middle of the room is a drain, and from where I’m standing I see a puddle surrounding the hole.
I make my way closer, dread turning my stomach. As I shine my flashlight over the puddle, it glows crimson, and I almost lose the contents of my stomach. What did he do to her? Turning in a slow circle, I look around to see if there are any other rooms I missed. My eyes catch on a door behind some machinery. I make my way over and just as I’m about to open the door, I’m met with resistance. Locked.
Pushing the button on my earpiece, I tell the guys to come to the center of the warehouse and that I found a locked door. All I get is radio silence from Franklin, strange. Setting down my gun and flashlight, I try to pick the lock to no avail. I was never skilled at picking locks, that is most definitely Kayden’s area of expertise.
“If you knew what was good for you, you’d step away from that fuckin’ door.”
I freeze. Slowly turning my body, I’m met with Damian standing behind my brothers. Holding a gun in each hand, he prods my brothers along until they stop just in front of me.
I give my brothers a look and turn my attention to him. “So… how is this going to play out Damian?”
“I’ll tell you how it’s going to play out, Jaxon Stonewell. Yes, don’t look too shocked. You and I are aren’t all that different. I’ve seen you hunting my Mel since that first day at the bookstore. However, once I saw you with Melody at her house the night I trashed the place, I made certain to do some research on you.”
“But that’s not important right now. You’re going to step away from that fucking door and if you don’t, I’ll shoot one of your brothers here through their fucking head.”
Following his orders, I step away from the door with my hands raised up in surrender.
“Good, now get on your knees, motherfucker.”
I slowly sink to my knees, never breaking eye contact with my brothers in the hopes that one of them is quicker with their blade than he is with his gun.
“You’re a fuckin’ pain in my ass. If it weren’t for you, I would have had my sweet Melody so much sooner. I would have been able to sink my cock in that tight cunt of hers repeatedly by now. You took her from me and for that, you’re going to pay.” He moves the gun from behind Kayden and brings it to my forehead. Waiting for one of my brothers to make their move, I close my eyes as he cocks the gun.
The gunshot rings out close to my head, and my ears start to ring. Opening my eyes, I take in the scene before me. Kayden has a knife buried in Damian’s side, and James has secured both guns from his grasp. How they moved so fast is beyond me, but I’m just grateful I’m still alive.
“Search him for a key,” I tell Kayden. Searching him, Kayden finally finds a set of keys in his front pocket and hands them to me.
“Go get Melody, Jax. We have it covered.”
Turning back toward the door, I hear James and Kayden laying punches into the guy. I’ll let them have their fun before I get my turn. Part of me is wondering what happened to Franklin and why he didn’t alert us, but right now Melody is my top concern.
Trying each key, I start to get frustrated that none of them are working. Finally, I get to the last key and hope blossoms in my chest as the lock turns.
Opening the door, all I see is darkness. Unsure where the light switch is, I squint my eyes and just barely make out someone huddled deep in a corner in the room. Trepidation fills me as I wonder if it’s Melody and if she’s alive. Reaching a hand out along the wall, I finally find the light switch and flip it on.
The sight before me has me shocked to my very core. My little sparrow huddles in a corner, face buried in her knees. Her body is riddled with bruises and slashes. Her back is split open in various spots as though she was whipped within an inch of her life. My jaw clenches and I shake with barely controlled rage. As I step further in the room, I see Melody start to tense up and huddle even further into herself.
“Little sparrow…” I say, coaxing her to look at me. I walk slowly towards her, not wanting to startle her.
“Little sparrow, look at me.”
She turns her head to the side and her eyes widen. She drops her arms from around her knees. “Jaxon? But how?”
“Shhh, I’m here now, baby.”
“But he said you died, he said he heard your screams… You burned to death…”
“He lied, little sparrow, I’m right here.” I crouch down and reach out a hand to comfort her, but my hand just hovers. I’m unsure where to touch her without causing her more pain.
Her voice catches on a sob and next thing I know she’s throwing her arms around me. I’m careful not to touch her back so I simply hold her head to me. She lets everything out and all I can do is hold her as she cries and shakes with all her pent up adrenaline.
Pulling her arms from around me, I grab her face as gently as I possibly can.
“My little sparrow, you’re safe now. I’ve got you.” I kiss her forehead tenderly and grab her hand to pull her up. She hisses through her teeth in pain, and I immediately let go of her hand. Looking down, I turn her hand in mine and finally see the stab wound. That motherfucker.
“Fuck, baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t see it.”
“It’s ok, Jax. I know you didn’t mean to.”
Taking off my button down shirt, I hand it over to her so she can put it on. As she does, I notice the pearl necklace around her neck. “Melody, do you want that necklace on you?”
When she shakes her head no, I move behind her to take it off and then throw them on the ground.
Next, I take off my jeans and briefs, handing her the briefs so she can put them on. Once I help her into the briefs, I put my jeans back on and I lead her from the room.
The scene before me fills me with renewed rage, and I’m ready to kill.