Kidnapped Hearts (30 page)

Free falling a few yards, Jake tapped his
feet lightly against the side, shoving off and falling some more.

The railing creaked and groaned.

Their only chance of getting to Pamela
and removing Sanjar was a sneak approach. At this rate, they’d be surrounded by
Black Scorpions any second. His feet touched the rusty side once more. The
deteriorating rail moaned as the clouds slid over the moon. He held his
position, waiting for a sign to continue.

Steve grasped the rope, holding it like
an anchor. He tugged on the end, giving the okay to move forward.

Jake shoved off. The rail snapped.

Larry lunged, grasping Steve’s ankle, as
he dangled over the side.

Jake crashed into the metal, a clattering
sound echoed.
Fuck.
His gun fell into
the water
.

Not wasting time, Jake pushed off from
the side and slammed feet first into the wide window. Glass shattered.

Gaining his footing, he focused on the
inside of the room, as the weight of the rope pulled against his waist. Steve
had released it. He wound it around his arm, tossed it on the floor, and
slipped off his harness before sliding on the headlamp.

A few pieces of broken down furniture
scattered about the room. He saw a bowl with some sort of mush and a glass of a
light brown liquid sat on a nearby table, evidence that someone had been in
residence. He proceeded farther into the room, his light landing on a wooden
door.

Footsteps approached. He clicked off the
light and bumped his back on the wall behind the door. It creaked open,
bringing in a ray of light.

“Get in there.” The door clamored shut.

Pamela’s body hit the floor.

The footfalls faded.

“I’ll kill the bastards.” Jake knelt next
to Pamela.

****

“Ohmygod, Jake!”

“Shhh.” The light from his headlamp
illuminated the small room, and he crouched beside her.

Everything
would be okay. Jake was here.
She released a long,
suffering sigh.
He’s here.

A gash an inch wide sliced her right knee
from the broken glass on the floor. He brushed a kiss to her lips and her
forehead as he held her to him, then withdrew the pack from his back, pulled
out the first aid kit, and applied several butterfly bandages.

“Sweetheart.” He helped her stand then
wrapped his protective arms around her. “We’ve got to get you out of here.
Steve and Larry are here. Though, I don’t know where.”

“How are we going to leave? The door is
locked.”

The light on Jake’s head moved to the
window. Pamela’s eyes went wide. “No, uh-uh, I can’t do it!”

“Hang on to my back.”

Pamela marched to the window and looked
down at the choppy water below. A lightning bolt brightened the sky. She
jumped, and one hand flew to her neck while the other grabbed Jake’s arm.
Thunder shook the metal container. “Not again.”

Jake bent in front of her. “Put the
harness on.” Holding on to his shoulder, she stepped into the safety equipment,
and he buckled it, then he hooked the end of the rope to the harness. The other
end, he looped around a spike that had been driven into the floor.

“You don’t have another harness.” She
looked out at the window again. “There’s Steve.”

“Good, he’ll catch you.”

The door boomed open. Jake blocked Pamela
with his body. “Jump.”

Ohgawd,
ohgawd
. She closed her eyes and took the
plunge.

****

Jake faced down the three men, standing
in front of him.
No guns?

“
The
Warrior
. I’ve waited a long time to avenge my brother’s death.”

Clenched jaw, hands fisted, Jake scowled
at the man who had killed Jennifer. “Cow.”

Bull
glared at Jake for using the name Sanjar had
called him when he was pissed. “That’s not my fucking name.” Bull closed the
gap.

Another man with a scar down the side of
his face grabbed his arm. “You can’t. The boss wants him alive.”

Bull shrugged off the other man’s grasp.
“That don’t mean I can’t beat the shit out of him.”

Bull rushed forward, fists flying. With
each punch, Jake blocked the blow with his arm. Gaining a free moment from
defense, Jake slammed a fist into Bull’s stomach. The other two joined in.

A kick to Scarface’s midsection and the
man slumped, going down as Bull did a second ago. The last one, stood facing
Jake, a knife clutched in his hands. Jaws. The peeping tom Pamela the first
night he met Pamela.

Jaws swung his knife, nicking Jake’s arm.

A blow connected to Jaws’ chin, making
him stumble, but the son of a bitch didn’t fall.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched
Bull slowly rise. Shit, he didn’t want to fight three of the bastards at once.

Jaws swung the knife, missing Jake by
inches.

A whack to Jaws’ wrist sent the knife
sailing across the room. A wallop to the ribcage and Jaws weakened. Jake’s arm
pressed into his windpipe, shoving the Scorpion toward the open window.

Bull rose and grabbed Jake’s shoulder,
shoving him backwards into Scarface.

An elbow to Scarface’s stomach, a backhand
to his nose, and Scarface slumped away.

Jake grabbed Bull’s arm and threw him
over his shoulder. The lighthouse shook.

Scarface looped his arms under Jake’s
shoulders and locked his hands behind Jake’s neck. “I gottem.”

Bull put out his hand, halting Jaws near
the window, and moved toward Jake. “Not so bad now.”

“Have your dog release me, and fight like
a real man, Cow.”

One fist landed in Jake’s stomach, while
the other hit his face. Blood trickled into Jake’s mouth as Cow snickered at
his handiwork.

“I want a chance at him,” Jaws wheezed.

“Not happening,” a voice said from the
window. Hanging from a rope, Larry wrapped his legs around Jaws’ neck,
squeezing and twisting.

Jaws gasped and coughed.

Scarface leaned close to Jake’s shoulder.
“Fight back!”

Jaws grasped Larry’s legs, trying to pull
them away.
Snap.

Jake thrust his head backward. Skulls hit
like animal horns crashing. Scarface released Jake’s shoulders and crumbled to
the floor as Jaws’ limp body sailed out the window.

Larry jumped inside, and both of them
squared off with Bull. “Where’s Sanjar?” Larry demanded.

The corner of Bull’s mouth rose. “We’ll
meet him on your death bed.”

“You won’t.” Jake socked Bull’s cheek,
then punched his stomach. Bull slumped. Larry propelled, swinging his leg,
connecting with Bull’s chest. Bull stumbled backwards. Jake placed his hand on
his chest. “Time to be reunited with your brother.” And then he shoved.

Bull fell out the window.

“Crap, Pamela’s down there.” Jake looked
down at the water below. A storm had commenced. Rain pummeled the ground. One
body bounced over the waves in the water, and the other bloodied the deck.

“Up there.” Larry pointed to Steve
waving, then giving a thumbs up. “He must have Pamela inside the lantern room.”

Jake nodded. “I wonder how he got her up
there.”

“Better there than below.”

Larry had a point. “Time to search.”

Jake ran downstairs searching, while
Larry checked that floor.

Nothing.

They moved to the next two levels, each
taking a floor.

No one.

They reached the widow’s peak and walked
into the lantern room to find Pamela and Steve huddling on the bench.

Pamela jumped up and flung herself into
Jake’s arms. “I was so worried.” She clutched him with one arm, then looked at
him. The small lantern in the room put a glow over his face. “You have bruises
and cuts everywhere.”

He touched her cheek. “You should see the
other guys.”

Pamela closed her eyes, leaning into his
hand. “I already did.”

“Let’s get you home, then the three of us
find Sanjar,” Steve said, straightening.

“Not surprising the coward has
disappeared. It seems to be his MO,” Larry said, opening the door and grabbing
his pack.

Steve slipped his onto his back, then
headed downstairs. Pamela and Jake followed while Larry brought up the rear.

“When we get to the bottom, Steve and I
will get the boat and come back for you two,” Larry informed.

“How’s your shoulder?” Jake asked,
holding her good hand.

“It hurts, but I’ll live.”

At the deck, Jake enfolded her to him as
they watched Steve and Larry dive into the water.

“Damn it. I forgot my pack.”

“I’ll wait here.” Pamela smiled. “Steve
gave me a gun.” She lifted it, showing it to Jake. “No way am I going back in
there.”

The storm had passed, and the moon was
easing out from under its cover, and a soft beam surrounded Pamela. She looked
tired, but she had a strength to her that she hadn’t possessed previously.
“You’re gorgeous.”

“I look like dog poop, but thank you.”
She laughed.

Jake grinned and took the stairs two at a
time to the room where Pamela had been held.

“What do you know,
The Warrior
came back.”

Jake froze. Pamela was unguarded, and he
had no weapon. “Scumbag.”

A low chuckle escaped Sanjar. “Always the
fighter, Agent Jake Gibson.” He twirled a gun around his finger. “Imagine my
hurt when I found that my confidant was screwing my girl, in essence me.”

The door banged closed behind him.
Scarface stood behind him. “Damn, I thought I’d put you out of your misery.”

“Tough guy,” Sanjar said a second before
Jake saw stars. Scarface tossed the club aside and shoved a weak-kneed Jake
into a metal chair.

“How to repay the favor you’ve done me.
You got Jennifer out of my life, which was long overdue. She was too much
trouble. Before that, you rid me of the leader that I’d handpicked for the
Black Scorpions. That stung a little, but not too much, since he was easily
taken out. He wasn’t as strong as I’d thought. The favor I need to pay back is
the one of trust. In our line of business, if you don’t have trust, you have
nothing.”

Jake groaned.

“Just think, if it hadn’t been for Agent
Lever telling me your real identity, I wouldn’t be talking with you now. Yes,
trust is everything.”

Sanjar faced the window, and Jake eyed
his pack behind the table. Scarface’s hands felt like bricks on Jake’s
shoulders. Sanjar must want something; otherwise, he’d be dead already.

“I find myself in a precarious situation.
I need something from you, Agent Gibson.”

Jake glared, yet remained silent.

“Bearer bonds are in the possession of
the FBI. I need them back.” He turned away from Jake again. “Send a boy to do a
man’s job and what do you get? Trouble. Threaten a boy with something he loves
more than his own life and what do you get? A killer.” He faced Jake. “The
bonds for Pamela Young.”

Jake groaned. Pamela had to be
downstairs. Steve and Larry should be back any second. However, he hadn’t heard
a motor.

“Ah, you’re wondering when your friends
are going to save you. They’re being detained. It seems their boat sank.”

The pulse in Jake’s neck ticked.

“You’ve taken out several of my best men,
but I have more. I think we’ll wait for the others to arrive. Once they find
that tender morsel on the deck, they’ll have a field day. She’ll never be the
same when they’re done with her.”

“The hell you will!” Jake slid out of his
chair, picked it up, and slung it at Sanjar. His elbow hit Scarface in the
neck.

Sanjar’s gun fired.

Chapter
Twenty-Five

Pamela started. What was that? Someone
was inside with Jake. She looked out across the water, trying to see through
the dark. Larry and Steve were nowhere in sight.

Bang.

She looked down at the gun in her hand,
drew in a breath, and ran upstairs. As she neared, voices yelled, but not
Jake’s.
What to do?
She had to help.
How dumb would that be?
More scuffling
and she turned the knob. Whenever people did this in the movies, they did it
fast to catch whoever off guard, so … she flung the door open, pointing the gun
in front of her with her good hand. Pain still shot through her shoulder. One
man lay flat on his back on the floor. It took a second to register. It wasn’t
Jake. Her eyes lifted.

A gun pointed back at her. “Now, this
isn’t how I wanted to meet you, Pamela.”

“Leave her alone, Sanjar,” Jake growled.