Page 37 of Stone Cold Bad
COLT
The steady vibration of the van and the drowsy feeling that was swarming my aching head, nearly made me fall asleep.I didn’t need to be a doctor to know that I’d gotten a concussion when I face planted on the dock.I’d had more than my share of them.In fact, sometimes I wondered how much of my brain was pudding because of it.I was half asleep and nearly pitched sideways when the van came to a stop.
The driver and passenger doors opened and shut, and the cargo door slid open.The light poured in causing a searing pain in my head.I was yanked from the van and into an empty parking lot that was more weeds than asphalt.I looked around but couldn’t pinpoint where we were.We were definitely inland.The air was warmer, and there was no ocean breeze.The building in the lot seemed to be in the middle of an abandoned industrial park, possibly some developer’s big plan gone sour.
Skull took me by the arm.My new buddies and I headed toward the abandoned building.The interior was just as I’d expected, dark cement floor, bare cinderblock walls and some hanging wire dangling from a mosaic of steel girders crisscrossing the room.
Gunman was on the phone the second they pulled the heavy drop down door shut behind us.Since the building was like a big empty cave, it was easy to hear his conversation.Not that he was trying to hide it.I was pretty sure I knew who was on the other end.
“Yeah, we’ve got him.All right.See you in a few.”
Gunman motioned up to the metal railing.“Secure him,” he ordered.I was outnumbered and armed with nothing but my strength and wits, both of which had been dulled by the swishing in my head.My vision was definitely blurry.I’d taken a harder knock than I realized.My arms were yanked up as skull threw the end of the rope over one of the steel girders.The loose end was tied to the knot around my wrists.It only took a few seconds before my hands began to tingle with numbness.Even with my legs free, I had no real way to defend myself.
Muscleman sneered up at me.“You’re not such a wiseass now that you’re strung up like a pig about to be gutted.”
I stared down at him.“Guess now you figure it’s a fair fight, eh, you thick-necked clown.It’s four against one, not including the hardware you dicks have shoved under your shirts.Yet you still felt the need to string me up.Cowards.”
He shrugged and turned away.Then he spun back around.He pummeled me like a fucking punching bag.Every blow hurt like hell and forced the wind from me.Through the flurry of punches, I heard the door to the building open.Muscleman stopped.
Ward stepped into view.He sauntered in like the king of the world.I half expected his crew to bow to him.
He stopped in front of me but out of kicking range.I badly wanted to throw a foot at his smirking face.“So, you’re Colt Stone.Guess you and I have something very important in common.”
“I don’t think so,” I grunted, still trying to pull back in the air that muscleman had pounded out of me.Every breath hurt enough to take my mind off the sizzling pain in my head.
“Really?And why is that?”Ward asked.
I was already pissed as hell but looking at this fucker and thinking about the marks he’d left on Jade was making my blood boil.“Because you had to drag her to your bed kicking and screaming.She climbs into mine with a smile.”
He stared up at me without blinking, but a tiny twitch in his jaw assured me I’d gotten to him.It was my only line of defense.It was probably going to bring me a lot more pain, but it was still satisfying.
Ward looked at the gunman.“Do you have the phone?”
The man pulled my phone out of his pocket.Ward swiped his thumb over the screen and smiled.“Ah, clever, you didn’t want to put her name on it.The One.How fucking cute is that?But she will be coming back to me soon, so I hope you said your farewells.”
“There’s no fucking way she’s going back to you.You can do whatever the fuck you’d like to me, I’m not telling you where she is.You should just move on and leave her alone, you goddamn psycho.”
“Can’t do that.Besides, I’m not counting on you to tell me a thing.My informant, the fool who thinks he’s in line for ten grand, told me you were like your name, a fucking stone.”He read Jade’s last text and held up the phone.“She wants to know how long you’ll be.What should I tell her?Wait.”He moved his fingers over the phone and pressed send.“I told her you were going to be awhile because we were beating the shit out of you.”He held the phone on his palm and tossed it up and down once.
Ward looked around at his men.“Don’t know what the hell you’re waiting for.Mess him up good, and keep out of the way so I can get some good shots.”He grinned at me.“See, I know Jade a lot better than you.That’s how I know she’ll be back with me soon.I don’t have to find her.She’ll come to me.”
Muscle was the first to take a shot.His fist plowed into my face, and once again, my jaw clamped painfully shut.My lip split and blood trickled from the cut.Skull man came up next.He worried me more.He had just enough muscle to make his shots more effective than his overstuffed friend.
Ward lifted the phone to get a picture of skull pounding me in the gut.I felt some ribs give way as I sucked the air to try and get a breath.He followed with a fist to my face.Blackness followed the explosion of pain.
TWENTY-SIX
JADE
Amy and I sat feeling utterly helpless and distraught.I knew Ray was ruthless, but I wasn’t sure if he was capable of cold blooded murder.That last night on the dock, when he’d grabbed my throat, it seemed that he would have killed me if I hadn’t kicked him.But that had been provoked by passion and rage.This was different.He didn’t even know Colt.
Amy’s phone buzzed.She read the text.“Slade and Hunter have a lead on the boat.Someone recognized it as a boat that is always moored off a private dock on Lander’s Beach.”
“That’s Ray’s beach house.It must have been his ski boat.I know the address of the beach house if that will help.”
Amy texted them back and sent them the address.She got up from the table.“I’ve got to take a pee.Remember, don’t open for anyone.Even if Charlie friggin’ Hunnam shows up on his Harley with his hot little white sneakers, don’t open the damn door.”
I smiled.“That’s asking a lot, but I’ll ignore him.”She was just about out of the kitchen.“Amy, thanks for staying here with me.”
