Page 21 of Power and Possession

Chapter Fourteen

Steele

The second I was back at the house, I called Cooper.

“We have a situation,” I said, heading to the storage room off the garage. I had an entire arsenal at my disposal.

Cooper sounded sleepy, hungover, or both. “What the hell, Steele?”

“Ashlynn’s been taken.” I put my phone on speaker and threw it on the table.

“So? She was a big pain in the ass, let her father deal with her—”

“It wasn’t her father. It was the O’Leary’s.” I removed a set of keys from my leather jacket and unlocked the gun storage.

“Shit! How the hell did they get involved in this?”

I pulled a shotgun out, slinging it over my back, tucked a pistol into the waistband of my jeans, shoved a knife in each boot, and fastened a bulletproof vest around my chest. I hesitated, then grabbed a rocket launcher just to be safe.

“I don’t know, but I doubt Topher would work with them to get his daughter back. They are cruel men with the worst type of reputation, and she’s not safe in their presence. Even if he paid them to get her back, she’ll more than likely be attacked and raped before she even makes it to the border.”

“Then what’s their angle?”

“Who knows? Maybe Topher screwed them over too? If he was ballsy enough to fuck with me, he must be in deep financial trouble.” I hurried out of the storage room and got in the front seat of my Hummer. If they were taking her to Ireland, I needed to intercept them before they crossed the border.

Cooper yawned. “Steele, you lost the girl. It’s time to move on.”

“I’m on their tail,” I said, opening the tracker app on my phone and seeing Ashlynn’s tracker dot zooming towards the countryside. “They’re just heading out of the city. I’m sending you over some GPS coordinates. I need back-up.”

“What the fuck? Steele, it’s the middle of the night and the worst of the Irish mafia has your hostage. It’s time to let it go. Let them ruin and torture his daughter. Either way, it’s payback. Mission accomplished.”

I gripped the steering wheel harder, thinking of the words I needed to convince Cooper to do this. “I won’t let my hostage go free. It’ll…weaken my position.”

Cooper was silent on the line for several seconds. “Steele, do you have a thing for this…girl?”

I pulled out of the garage, and started down the street, my eye on the coordinates of the tracker I’d placed in Ashlynn. Time to try another tactic with Cooper. “Absolutely not. But think of this—we know where the Irish are. We can take them out—and move into their territory. Take control of their importing. Think of the money.”

It only took Cooper a split second to make up his mind. “Send the coordinates. I’ll call our men.”

Chapter Fifteen

Ashlynn

I knew Steele was a criminal, and ruthless, but he never seemed barbaric. The second these new men had me, they threw me in the backseat of the SUV. My legs were tied, and my hands were secured behind my back. The rough rope cut into my already tender wrists and ankles, and when I cried out in pain, they laughed and taunted me, then threatened me until I shook in fear. I thought about the elegant white room that Steele confined me in, and I found myself comparing it to my current situation, gagged and bound, crumpled up in the backseat of an SUV.

The man who had originally called out to me was on the phone. He seemed like he might be the leader, so I listened intently to his call, trying to figure out why he took me. Was there a chance they were working for my father? But, if so, why would they tie me up?

“We got her,” he said, his voice stern and his accent thick. “Make the call—tell Phillips that if he wants to see his daughter alive, he has twenty-four hours to pay up, or we start removing pieces of her.

I let my tears fall, truly frightened. I’d run away from a hostage situation just to be put in an even worse one. These guys made Steele look like the Easter Bunny. They were vulgar and spent the ride congratulating each other on the filthy deeds they had done, the grizzliest kills they’d made. Part of me wished they’d knock me out so I wouldn’t have to listen to what I envisioned was my future. Every bump in the road reminded me of the terrible situation I was in. Every cackle and maniacal laugh made my stomach twist and turn. The smell of thecigarettes they smoked added to it, and I nearly vomited inside the black hood.

I had no way to measure the time, but those were some of the longest moments of my life. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard some commotion up in the front seat.

“Fuck me, he’s got the road blocked.”

It was telling that my first thought was that it was Steele, not my father.

“Turn around, head back towards the city,” another voice called. “We’ll have to—”

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