33. Jareth
The four of us quietly walked through a wooded area half a mile from Terri’s warehouse. The inky black sky surrounded us with only the moonlight and the night vision goggles Gage Christensen had brought us, creating a greenish-blue film over the forest before us when we met up ten minutes ago. Besides the soft sounds of our muffled footsteps, a lone owl hooted in the distance.
Gage had also grabbed our motley crew guns and holsters, although he likely had other forms of ammunition in the pack he carried on his back. When he offered to come with us, I reluctantly accepted. I didn’t know him well enough to trust him, but Alden did, and Hazel’s safe return was my biggest concern.
My phone buzzed in my pocket as we neared the edge of the large metal structure sticking to the tree line. Terri. The text with his location. The idiot thought turning off Hazel’s phone or destroying it would stop me from finding them.
My phone buzzed again. Amelia.
She didn’t wait for me to say anything before she jumped in. “I didn’t bother disabling their cameras. It would’ve been too in their face you were there, but they are on a sweet continuous loop.”
“Number of guys?”
“Right now, Terri and Tony. He’s a fucking moron. However, in another five to ten minutes, your godfather expects men from his team to arrive. Spoiler. I intercepted that call and they won’t be.”
I chuckled.
“Oh, and don’t think I wasn’t aware that Gage Christensen has hacked my database to shadow my moves. BTW, I let him in. I’ll let it pass this time, Jareth, but once he’s shown you I can be trusted, I’m locking my system up tight again.”
“Noted.” Logically, my instinct told me I could trust Amelia, but that niggling feeling wouldn’t leave me until I had proof. I’d trusted Terri for the last fifteen years and Tony for the past ten, and the two of them still screwed me over. And now Hazel was going to pay for my poor judgment.
“Which entrance?” Killian said, through our shared earpiece, motioning to the building. As soon as Gage handed us the small piece of plastic, the four of us had inserted it into our ears.
I relayed the question to Amelia.
“Back right. East side. The warehouse has a huge open floor plan. The only closed-off rooms are three office spaces in the back. She’s likely in one of those.”
“Got it. Thanks.” I hung up.
“Alden. You’re with me going in through the rear door. Killian and Gage go through the front. Eyes open. There shouldn’t be any additional men besides Tony and Terri.”
“What do you want us to do with Tony when we find him?”
I growled. “I don’t care. Terri’s mine. I have a clean-up crew on standby if necessary.”
All three men quickly lifted their chins in acknowledgment, and we dispersed in our designated direction. Alden and I moved silently around the edge of the asphalt parking lot until we were only two car lengths from the back door.
JARETH
Locks?
AMELIA
Electronic. Already unlocked.
JARETH
Cameras?
AMELIA
Still playing the loop I created.
I looked at Alden and gestured to the large, scratched metal door, the same gray as the outside of the building. When I eased open the heavy door, I could not stop the slight squeal it made. I quickly slid through the opening, Alden came right in behind me, and secured the door shut.
We both paused, our backs against the walls, waiting for someone to notice our arrival.
“What do you mean you’re at the other warehouse?” Terri bellowed, not far from where we were.
Alden pointed in that direction. Our steps slowed, matching in pattern as we made our way to where we could still hear my godfather screaming obscenities. We moved around the stacks of boxes, and the closer we got to where the offices should be located, the light improved enough for me to remove my goggles.
We turned the first corner, and I opened the door with Alden paying close attention to what was happening behind us. My heart pounded at what I’d find inside. The light was on, but inside the tiny space was a small break room with a two-seater table and chairs.
I shook my head.
Alden moved a few feet ahead. The following office door was ajar, and the lights were on. He pushed the door open with one hand, catching it before it hit the wall. “Empty office,” he whispered.
Then it had to be the last one. Terri’s voice grew louder, and his footsteps drew closer. The corridor we were in only had a few more feet before it stopped and you had to go left or right.
My breathing slowed as I pulled the gun out from the holster and trained it on the hallway in front of us. It was just a matter of time before the bastard showed himself.
I saw his foot first—the brown loafers he’d worn for years—a strange observation to fixate on as the world quieted around me. Then, the rest of his body came around the corner. One arm gestured wildly as he yelled into the phone.
He didn’t see me right away.
“Hello, Terri,” I drawled. “You have something of mine.”
“Jareth?” His dumbfounded expression would have been comical if Hazel’s life wasn’t on the line. Internally, I applauded Hazel when I noticed the lines of scratches cutting across his face.
“Where is she?” I was only asking once.
“Did you bring what I asked?”
“If I have to ask again, you’ll lose your right kneecap first.”
“I have men surrounding this building and placed strategically throughout. You won’t get away with it.” The maniacal laugh he gave had me questioning his sanity. He sounded so confident for a man who was blatantly lying to us.
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Alden grinned, his gun pointed at Terri too.
Terri’s jaw tightened, and his eye twitched. “You’re the reason my men aren’t here!”
“Bingo.”
A strangled growl left Terri’s mouth. “Give me what I want first.” He was so sure that I’d comply. “And I’ll let Hazel go.”
“How do I even know you have her?” He did. I just didn’t know if she was still alive.
In the silence, a muffled scream interrupted us.
Hazel.
Terri smirked and hurried back in the direction he came before I could stop him.
I raced after him.
In seconds, I was around the corner just as he entered the doorway directly in front of us. It banged shut, but not before I saw her. Her tear-streaked face stared helplessly back at me. And a fucking bruise colored her cheek in an ugly purple and blue pattern.
He would die.
Rage filled my veins like molten lava bubbling at the surface of a volcano, ready to erupt.
Terri’s death would be slow and painful. I’d make sure of it.
I entered the room, my gun cocked, ready to fire on the fucking asshole
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Jareth,” Terri tsked, holding a knife at Hazel’s throat.
I should’ve shot him in the hallway when I had the chance.
Hazel froze. Her breath practically suspended in her chest. I knew she had to be afraid any movement might cause the tip of the knife to enter her soft skin.
“It’ll be okay, Sunshine,” I reassured her.
The blinding trust that filled her eyes slayed me.
Pushing her away had never been the solution.
Keeping her by my side was the only way to keep her safe.
“You think I didn’t have a contingency plan?” Terri asked, his smug tone making me want to shake him and then riddle his body with bullets. If this was his contingency plan, I had no idea how he survived.
“There’s two of us, Terri.” A slow, hard smile tugged at my lips.
Terri dug the tip of the metal blade into Hazel’s throat, causing a thin stream of blood to run down her neck. I had to give my girl credit. She didn’t wince or cry out, but if looks could kill, Terri would be laid out on the floor stone-cold dead.
I needed to act fast.
“Do you honestly think a piece of ass is more important than my revenge against you for killing my father?” I asked, deliberately making my voice sound disinterested.
Terri paused.
Hazel closed her eyes, tears tracking down her cheeks.
Pain shot through my chest and up my throat. Saving her was more important than the lies I needed to tell.
“I’ve seen how you look at her. You dropped everything to come here and save her.” He uttered a soft, disbelieving laugh.
“Or I dropped everything to confront the man who murdered my father. The person I swore revenge on for the last twenty years.” I shrugged. I needed to get his attention away from Hazel. “I will admit I’m baffled. How did you hide it all these years?”
Terri’s lips drew up in a twisted smile. “It was easy. You were grieving. Whenever it seemed like you might get close, I’d slip a piece of false evidence for you to follow.”
I’d considered this man a second father, and his betrayal burned like rotgut in my stomach.
“Your desire for revenge blinded you to my duplicity.” I wanted to wipe the grin off his deranged face.
“But why would you kill him? I thought you were friends.” I kept my tone even.
In his delight in finally being able to share his side, his hand dropped less than an inch from Hazel, just enough that the knife was no longer pressed against her throat.
“We were.” Terri shook his head. “I’d even offered to let him in on the embezzlement and money laundering. Neither of us would ever have to struggle again, but no… he said he couldn’t leave that kind of legacy for his son. I didn’t have a choice.”
I suppressed a wry smile. “We all have choices.” I took a calculated risk, aimed for his kneecap, and fired.
Terri gave a high-pitched scream, the knife clattering to the floor as he dropped heavily to the concrete ground. “What the fuck?”
I shifted the gun higher, keeping it trained on Terri’s head.
Alden eased around me and kicked away the knife before lifting the chair Hazel was on and carrying it a few feet from Terri before untying her.
I nodded my thanks, lowered the gun and fired again, hitting Terri’s leg. I’d take my time torturing him. “That was for deceiving me all these years.”
My godfather groaned in pain as blood bloomed on his thigh through the navy pants he wore.
“Jareth, no. Don’t,” Hazel pleaded with me. Alden had pulled the gag from her mouth and was untying her wrists.
At the raw, bloody skin revealed with the ropes gone, red sheeted my vision. I fired again, the next bullet ending up in Terri’s bicep. I hope he suffered. I’d make sure he did.
“Jareth, after all I’ve done for you. I’m the only family you have left,” he begged, a little too late.
“You’re not family,” I spat, disgusted I hadn’t figured out that it was him before now.
Hazel stumbled toward me, almost falling, until I scooped her up in my arm. I held her tight against me, my grip never loosening on the gun in my other hand.
My stomach clenched. I didn’t want her to see this. “Alden, take her outside.”
I had no remorse for what I was about to do, but Hazel needed to be protected.
Her fingers dug into my side so hard I grunted. “No. I won’t let you do this.”
“Alden.” I gritted my teeth.
His steely gaze flicked between me and Hazel. He touched her arm lightly. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”
“Back off, Alden. I said no.” My little Sunshine was showing her stubborn side.
I jerked my head toward my godfather, who was trying to drag himself out of my line of sight with his one good arm. “Alden, keep an eye on him.” I had to convince Hazel to leave.
“Jareth, you can’t do this,” Hazel pleaded.
“He killed my father.” I swiped my fingers across her cheek and gently threaded my fingers into the back of her hair.
“And he should be punished for it, but not by you.”
“It’s his word against mine and my father’s old journal. The police won’t have enough evidence.” I admitted to her. There was no way I’d let him roam free because we didn’t have enough to take him down.
Alden cleared his throat. “Not true.” He tapped his pocket. “I recorded what he said.”
“See.” Tears filled Hazel’s eyes. “You don’t need to do this.”
Was she right? Could I walk away now, or would the ugly craving of vengeance swirling in my chest not be appeased? Would it demand the type of justice he doled out to my father? Death.
“I don’t have a choice,” I rasped.
“You always have a choice.” She cupped my cheeks in her hands. Her words eerily similar to what I’d said to Terri. “Even if I leave the room, I’ll know what you did. I love you, but I can’t be with you if you do this.”
I shuddered under her touch.
“I know you’ve done things in your past I might disagree with, but here today is a fresh slate. I can’t let you make me an accomplice to murder and be forced to lie for you.”
And I didn’t want that for her.
She was the bright light that this world needed. Could I live with myself if I was the cause to dim that in the slightest, to purposely mar her with the gray I’d wanted to shield her from?
Her green eyes beseeched me. “Be the man I know you are.”
Hazel’s belief in my goodness had always been unwavering.
I drew in a deep breath and released it. I’d do this for her. “Okay.”
“I’ve got him handled,” Alden said.
When I shifted my gaze to him, I had to smile. Alden had taken the ropes used on Hazel, tied up Terri, and stuffed the gag in his mouth.
I hoped he bled out on the way to the hospital.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Amelia. “I have Terri. Reach out to my contacts in the police department and let them know we’re here. Terri tried to hurt Hazel and threatened us. He has three bullet wounds.” She knew without me saying it that she needed to be careful about how she relayed tonight’s story.
It was time I let go of my anger. It was time for me to move forward. And it was time to let my father’s spirit rest in peace.
My revenge was not worth losing the woman I loved.
Hazel smoothed out my rough edges and made me whole. I’d never be good enough for her, but I’d try my best to be who she believed me to be every damn day.
Without bothering to look at Terri, I shielded Hazel from his body and walked out of the room with her. The police would be here soon, and my contacts would figure out a way to make it look like I shot Terri in self-defense.
We stepped outside the back door, and Hazel stopped me. She pressed her lips to mine. “Thank you for rescuing me.”
“I’ll always find you, no matter where you are.”
She grinned. “I believe that. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Hazel,” I responded.
Her eyes rounded. “Say it again,” she demanded in a breathless whisper.
“I love you more than life itself, Hazel Finley. And I want to spend the rest of our existence proving it to you.” I wrapped my arms loosely around her waist. “I will never put anything above you ever again. You are my priority and forever will be.”