Killer Love (30 page)

They stumbled from the mine. Bryce stood outside the entrance, clapping his hands as he watched them emerge. “My, my. You’re a much braver woman than I thought. I never dreamed you’d go into a dark, scary mine, even to save the girl. She must mean a lot to you.”

“Let her go, Bryce. I’ll stay with you. Just let Ashley go.”

“I’m sorry, dear. I can’t do that. You see, Ashley is never going home.”

For a moment, rage and terror froze Jade’s vocal cords. Then, she found her voice but her jaw ached with the effort of speaking without screaming out her fury. “What are you going to do?”

“Just to show you I’m not such a bad guy, I’m going to give the girl a choice. She can choose to die right now. Or, she can go to a whorehouse in Mexico. As you know, I have connections there.” His white-toothed grin gleamed in the semi-darkness.

“You sorry bastard.”

“Name calling won’t help anyone.” He looked over Jade’s shoulder at Ashley. “You don’t have much time to decide, little girl. What’s it going to be? Die an easy death now or live your life as a whore?”

Jade’s panicked mind raced. She wouldn’t let him kill Ashley. That was out of the question but could she stop him from selling the girl to a whorehouse? What kind of sick freak was he? She knew what kind of sick freak he was, knew what he was capable of. Dear God.

Jade turned to Ashley. She took the girls cold hands and looked her in the eye. She raised her eyebrows and gave a slight nod.
Go along with me,
the look said. Jade hoped she understood.

“It’s up to you, sweetheart. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do. You have to make the choice. Either way, you won’t be there for your brother. Jon is on his own with your mom. You know how angry the wheelchair makes her.”

As soon as she spoke the words, it occurred to her that Bryce might have seen Jon. He might know Ashley’s brother was not in a wheelchair. She’d come too far now, though. She had to see it through. Taking a deep breath, she went on. “You’re the only thing that stands between him and your mother’s horrible temper. At least in Mexico you might someday escape. Maybe it won’t be too late for him.”

“Wheelchair?” Bryce’s voice cut across her words. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Jade turned to him as if annoyed by the interruption, praying he hadn’t seen Jon. “Her little brother is crippled. Her mother’s a drunk and takes her anger out on him. Ashley takes care of him. Or at least she did.”

Uncertainty crossed his features. The gun lowered. “Shit.” He brushed a hand over his eyes. He scowled, then pulled a cell phone from his pocket. He dialed a number and in a few seconds, began speaking. “I need you to come back to the mine. There’s been a change of plans.”

****

Luke shifted in the back of the car, panic crowding his brain. Darla called Madsen and put him on speakerphone.

“Butler, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Madsen’s voice boomed in the confined space.

“You have to let me go, Madsen. Give me twenty-four hours. I’ll answer whatever charges you have but Jade DiMarco’s life could be in danger.”

“You can’t pull this shit, Butler. The authorities in Salina found a guy in a motel room who said you tortured him.
Tortured him.
What the fuck?”

“He’s one of DiMarco’s men. I tried to get DiMarco’s location but I didn’t hurt the asshole.”

“Did you get the location?”

Luke blew out a breath and didn’t answer.

Madsen’s voice came over the speaker. “I didn’t think so. Get your ass back here, now!”

There was a click and Madsen was gone. So much for that.

Darla finally looked at Luke. He could see the uncertainty in her eyes.

“Darla, I can find the bastard that killed Delia. I just need a little time. You have to talk some sense into him.” He jerked his head toward Cummings.

“Forget it, Butler,” Cummings spat. “I’m doing what I was told to do. Neither of us is risking our asses to help a loose cannon like you. Just shut the hell up.”

Luke looked behind them. Wayne was there. Maybe he should have sent him after Jade. He couldn’t have told him in front of the agents. Now it was too late. Shit.

A choking sound brought Luke’s gaze back around. Darla’s head was thrown back and she clutched her throat, making gurgling noises and thrashing in her seat.

Luke leaned forward. “Darla, are you okay? Cummings, for God’s sake, help her.”

Cummings looked helplessly at his partner, then at the road. “What the hell’s happening?”

“How the fuck should I know? Looks like she’s having a seizure. Godammit, help her or uncuff me so I can.”

Cummings whipped the car to the side of the road and jumped out. As he headed to the passenger side, Darla’s seizure stopped and she turned perfectly lucid eyes to Luke. “As soon as he’s distracted, get the hell out. Find the motherfucker.”

“What the...” Before Luke could form a complete sentence, Darla was back in seizure mode. Cummings threw the car door open and bent toward her.

“Air...” Darla choked through the gags. She pushed Cummings away and stumbled from the car, still clutching her throat. Cummings followed, frantically attempting to help the writhing woman.

Luke opened the door with his cuffed hands. Wayne had stopped behind them and was rushing to the agents when he saw Luke. Luke motioned with his head back toward Wayne’s car. Wayne followed.

Still not quite believing what had just happened, Luke said, “Darla faked a seizure so I could escape. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Jesus.” Wayne shook his head and opened the passenger door. Luke stumbled inside and slammed the door shut as Wayne got in the driver’s seat and shifted the car into drive, nearly sliding on the ice as they took off.

“Did you get the trace?” Luke asked after Wayne unlocked the cuffs with one hand while holding the steering wheel with the other.

“Yeah. It’s somewhere by a lake. We should be there in less than half an hour.”

“Thanks, partner. I owe you.” Luke’s panic had eased but not abated completely. There was hope for Jade now. But it all rested on his shoulders. He’d failed too many times before. He couldn’t live with himself if he failed now.

“You owe me big time,” Wayne warned. “After this shit, I can see my retirement turning into a stint in federal prison.”

“I’ll take the fall. I’ll tell them I took you at gunpoint.”

“Fuck that. If we go down, we’re going down together.” Wayne glanced at Luke. “You know, it’s not your fault that she’s in danger.”

“I told him where to find her. How the hell could it not be?”

“He was working his way to her anyway. He had to be stopped. You were just trying to protect her and you could’ve done that if she hadn’t shot you.”

Luke shook his head. “Don’t blame her. I’m the one who made the call. You know, it doesn’t even matter whose fault it is. If anything happens to Jade...” The image of Delia’s crumpled body flashed in his mind. The feel of her lifeless weight in his arms...ah, hell. That had been hard, gut wrenching, but to find Jade that way... No. He wouldn’t think like that.

The main lake road wound through the mountains with smaller gravel roads every mile or so. The trace showed the car was just east of the road they were on.

Wayne turned on Sailboat Road, driving slowly as they searched through the ice-laden trees for some sign of something…

“Here it is,” Wayne said.

They took a dirt road and had only gone about thirty feet when Luke saw it. His car, parked at the end of the road. His heart lurched. He didn’t see anyone inside.

Wayne slammed the car in park. Luke jumped out and ran to the driver’s side. He jerked the door open. No sign of Jade. No sign of blood either. Jade’s cell phone lay inside. She hadn’t gotten his calls. Maybe wouldn’t have answered them anyway. She still didn’t think she could trust him.

What to do now? Luke had no idea where DiMarco had taken her but he knew he had her. His shoulder ached but nothing compared to the ache in his heart. “Fuck.” He Luke kicked the tire and leaned on the hood. “What the hell are we going to do?”

“I’m sorry, man. We’ll find her. Don’t worry.”

“How the hell will we find her? They could be anywhere by now.” Luke’s voice cracked. He felt tears at the back of his throat. “She could already be dead.”

Wayne put his hand on Luke’s uninjured shoulder. Neither of them spoke. There was nothing to say. He had DiMarco’s number but there was no way Wayne could call for a trace. He couldn’t take the chance. The bureau would be all over this by now.

****

Several minutes after Bryce’s call, Jade heard the hum of a motor, then it switched off and in seconds, a bald, muscular, Asian man walked out of the trees.

“Take the girl.” Bryce instructed. “I’ll call you when we’re safely away and you can release her. Don’t let her out of your sight until I give you the okay.”

“Sure, boss.” The guy smiled, revealing the glint of a gold tooth.

Jade shuddered. How could she let Ashley go with a man like this? The question was, how could she stop it? And, would Ashley be safer with him than with Bryce?

Ashley clung to Jade and sobbed. “Please don’t make me go, Jenna.”

With all the will she could muster, Jade pushed her away. “Go on. You’ll be fine.”

“Hey, better than being dead, right?” He turned to the Asian. “I’ll call you every hour. If an hour goes by and you don’t hear from me, kill her.”

“No,” Ashley gasped.

Jade gave Ashley what she hoped was a reassuring smile but with the tears stinging her eyes, she had her doubts. “You’ll be okay, honey. Just do what he says.”

Ashley swiped at her tears, leaving a caked smudge of black dust on her cheek. She smiled and nodded but her lower lip trembled.

The Asian grabbed Ashley by the arm and jerked her toward the direction he’d come.

“Hey!” Jade cried. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”

“Take it easy, Chang,” Bryce told the man.

“Sure.” His hold eased as he led Ashley away.

Jade suddenly felt bereft. As if her last link to hope had vanished.

Bryce walked over and jerked Jade’s hands behind her back, tying them so tightly, she felt her circulation slowly leaving.

He put the gun away and led her through the trees to a clearing where a silver Audi was parked.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, her voice strong in spite of her terror.

“Somewhere warm and cozy to wait until our transportation arrives. You’ll like it, I promise. It’ll give us time alone to catch up, get reacquainted.”

“Don’t let him hurt Ashley.”

“As I said before, darling, that all depends on you.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Luke’s mind wouldn’t function. Wouldn’t give him a way to find Jade. He stood by his car, head bowed, alternately cursing and praying. Neither of them were helping.

“Let’s go. Nothing more to do here,” Wayne said.

“I have to find her.”

Wayne turned and scanned the area. “We have no idea what happened here. No idea if he has her or what direction they’ve gone.”

Luke lifted his head. “No, but it’s pretty certain they wouldn’t have gone back toward the main road.” He pointed north. “You head that way and I’ll head east.”

“We probably shouldn’t separate.”

Wayne was right. If either of them found something, they’d have a hard time letting the other know. “Okay. We’ll both head east but we need to keep a wide gap between us. Give a yell if you find anything.”

“Right.” Wayne nodded and the two of them set out through the wooded area. Wayne kept to the path while Luke searched through the drifts of snow among the shrubs.

Luke searched the ground for footprints, broken twigs, anything to indicate someone had been through here recently, although the chance of finding footprints was slim. Snow had been falling off and on throughout the evening.

After several futile minutes, he heard a branch crack nearby. He lifted his head and looked around. “Wayne?” he called.

No answer.

Luke headed toward the sound. He stepped into a clearing and came face to face with a man holding a gun. He pointed it at Luke’s chest.

“Who the hell are you?” the man demanded.

Slowly, Luke raised his hands and purposely made his voice quiver. “Just a hiker, man. Please don’t kill me.”

The man’s gaze moved up and down Luke’s jeans and leather jacket. And lack of a backpack. “You’re no fucking hiker.” He raised the gun. “Put your hands on top of your head.”

A shot sounded. The guy fell to the ground, clutching his leg. Blood leaked from beneath his fingers.

Wayne came out of the woods. “I didn’t want to kill him. We need information.”

“Right. Thanks, buddy.”

The man rolled around in the snow, clasping his injured leg, howling with pain.

Luke pulled his Beretta from his pocket and knelt with one knee on the guy’s chest. He pressed the gun to his forehead. “Tell me where he is or I’ll blow your fucking head off.”

“Who?”

“You want another hole, motherfucker? I know you work for DiMarco. You’ve got two point five seconds to tell me where he is.”

“Shit.” The guy groaned. “I’m fucked either way.”

Luke pressed the barrel into his mouth. “You’ve never been fucked until you’ve been fucked by me. You’re going to tell me where to find DiMarco. The only question is, how much I’ll make you scream before you do.”

****

Jade trembled in the passenger seat, even though Bryce had the heat on high. She was still cold...and the numbness in her hands had traveled up her arms.

Bryce looked at her and shook his head. “I still can’t believe we’re finally together. After all the searching. All I went through to find you. It’s almost like a dream.”

‘More like a nightmare’ would have been way too trite, so she didn’t say it. She didn’t want to talk at all. She wanted to figure a way out of this mess. A way to rescue Ashley. Maybe when they reached their destination...

At that moment, they did. Bryce slowed the Audi, the tires crunching over the snow as they came to a stop in front of a small cabin. It wasn’t far from where she’d met up with Bryce, but it was a thousand miles from safety...a million miles from hope.