Page 77 of Three to Fall

“I know. But I can’t stop thinking about Jacqueline. About what they might be doing to her. If you all go in there, guns blazing, she’s going to be terrified and fight you every step of the way. If I sit here, I’m just going to develop an ulcer. I need to come. I need to face it all. I can’t keep running and I need to be there for her. We need to end this once and for all.”

I nodded. I was no different than Hawk. I would have preferred her to stay here where I knew Fang and War and a couple of the other guys would stay behind to watch over everyone. Behind the Slayers’ gates felt like the safest option right now, not driving ourselves for hours, right into a situation that might be a one on the danger scale…

But was more likely going to be a ten.

I didn’t need to have met Josiah in person to know he wasn’t going to give up easily. He wasn’t going to let us just walk in there and bring back any woman who didn’t want to be there, which was Kara’s aim.

I was scared she was going to be bitterly disappointed. But if we got Jacqueline out, that was the main thing.

Even if Josiah wasn’t doing anything else, taking photos of her like that, using them to attract the sick fucks who liked that sort of thing, meant she was in grave danger of so much worse.

That couldn’t be ignored. Not even for another day. We were leaving and not coming back without her.

Thirty minutes later, Kara hugged Queenie and Hayley Jade goodbye. Queenie left to take Hayley Jade to school, Hawk already having drilled Queenie on all the security procedures that needed to be followed for him to feel like Hayley Jade was safe away from him. I waved at the kid until her face disappeared from view. My heart was torn in two, half of it here with her, the other half beating for her mother who needed me more, at least for today.

The quicker we left, the quicker we could get home. “Let’s get this show on the road. We’ve got a very long day of driving, and probably an even longer night ahead of us once we get there. We all good?”

Everyone nodded. Ice and Aloha went to their bikes. Grayson’s murder squad had brought a van that the five of them piled into. Scythe or Vincent, I had no idea which, drove a black Jeep with Kyle riding shotgun.

Hawk, Grayson, Kara, and I had decided to take the Slayers’ club van, since it had enough seats to bring home Jacqueline plus anyone else we could get out.

We all rolled out of the Slayers’ compound in a single file of vehicles, with a heavy somberness in the air that was reminiscent of going to war.

That’s exactly what it felt like, right down to the guns in the black duffel bag at Hawk’s feet, that I didn’t want to use, but knew we’d probably have to.

I took the first driving shift, but it was a quiet one, all four of us lost to our thoughts. I rested my hand on Kara’s leg beside me, rubbing it while she stared out the window. Hawk slept in the back, and theclick-clackof Grayson’s laptop keyboard could be heard above the soft music playing through the speakers.

“What if we can’t get her out?” Kara asked quietly.

“We will.”

“She might not come willingly, even with me there. I think she wanted to come when we left the first time, but if Samantha and Naomi have been in her ear, telling them what a wicked woman I am for leaving, and how my sins will rub off on Jacqueline if she associates with me, then she might be too scared. She’s just a kid.”

“We can’t leave her there. She’s being abused.”

“I know. No matter what happens, what she says or does, you have to promise me we’re bringing her home.”

I glanced over at her to find her staring at me. There was nothing else for me to say. “I promise.”

We stopped a couple of times for food and bathroom breaks, but the entire day was more of the same. Filling up the van while Vincent and Whip quizzed Kyle on every detail of the compound. Hawk and Ice checking the guns, making sure everything was loaded and ready to go if we needed them. Kara scratched at her arms absentmindedly, the way she had the tendency to do when she was stressed, until I walked her into the gas station and started putting all her favorite snacks in a basket.

“I can see what you’re doing.” She tugged at the sleeves of her sweatshirt. “Stress eating isn’t a productive way to pass time either.”

I grinned at her. “Who says any of this is for you?”

A little smile crossed her lips. “You’re cute. You don’t even like Doritos.”

“But you do. You’re going to rip a hole in your arm if you keep scratching it like that. Eat the chips, Kara. Or do sudoku. Or scroll your phone. I don’t care. But I’m also buying duct tape and will tie your hands behind your back if I have to.”

She laughed. “So everyone we pass on the highway reports you as a kidnapper?”

“I’ll just explain to the cops that after you rejected all my other offers, it was tie you up or park on the side of the road and distract you by making you come. Somehow, what with the indecent exposure laws, I think they would choose tying you up too.”

She plucked the bag of chips from my hand and then pulled a scarf from a rack that also held ladies’ sunglasses and hats. She waved it in my face so the material skated across my cheek. “I prefer something soft and silky when I’m being tied up, thank you.” She winked and went to put the scarf back.

I plucked it from her fingers. “I’ll take that then.”

She stopped. “I was joking.”

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