Leather and Sand (Riding the Line Series) (26 page)

“He owns a shipping company, Rina.” Turtle explained, his voice shaking with conviction. “We’ll get him. We’ll get Sirena back. I swear it.”

Rhee nodded, the fear in her heart flickering into a burning rage—the likes of which she had never felt before.

“Where’s Dax?”

Dax would kick this asshole Vidal into next week. He would rip his heart out….and maybe he would give Rhee the small pleasure of kicking the man in the balls…repeatedly.

The look the three men exchanged didn’t escape Rhee. “What? Well, where the hell is he?”

“That’s the thing, Rina,” Turtle sighed. “We have no idea.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

From his vantage point behind the small metal desk, Dax could hear the commotion, but he didn’t dare look up, lest he give away his position. He had kicked out the office window but there was no way he could fit through it—not for lack of trying. His sides chafed from where he had tried to force his large frame through the small square. He placed the upturned chair and his loosened bonds just in front of the doorway, just visible from the tiny window in the door, where it would provide a two second obstacle if someone entered the room.

Fuck, the stench alone in this place was enough to cause a distraction.
A fucking tuna cannery?
Really?
Dax wrinkled his nose in disgust. The place was obviously abandoned. All in all, he supposed it was a good site to commit a crime, but for some reason, his anonymous villain’s choice of venue reminded Dax of an episode of
Scooby Doo.

“Pesky kids,” he muttered to himself. “Where are the pesky kids when I need them?”

Dax closed his hand over the switchblade he kept in his boot. Whoever had done this was going to pay. He was no match for a gun, but at close range, Dax Jamison was fatal with a blade. The element of surprise was on his side. With any luck, his captor would open the door, see the broken window, and think he had escaped. If there were more than one kidnapper, well then Dax would send at least one of them straight to hell before he met his maker.

The shouting got louder. “Take the bitch in there. I want him to see her first. What’s wrong with the kid?”

“She’s in shock, you sick bastard!” A desperate female voice, one that sounded vaguely familiar, bounced off the high walls to echo around the room. “Just…let me put her down over there. It’s not good for her to see all of this…”

“Shut the fuck up!”

Dax paused, letting the voice echo in his mind. The red haze was coming back, sinking into his very bones. He recognized that voice.
Vidal.

“Boss? Jamison ain’t here…”

“What the fuck?”

The office door slammed open so hard that Dax jerked under the table. He was positioned in such a way that unless someone looked beneath it, they wouldn’t see him. He would only have a few seconds. He meant to make them worth his while.

“Boyle! Get in here! How the fuck did that piece of shit get the ropes off?”

“Hell if I know! How’d he get out the window?”

They were so close he could practically feel them. Dax’s entire body tensed as he prepared to pounce.

“There’s no way he coulda fit, boss! He’s bigger than me and I couldn’t—”

There was a pregnant pause. It was now or never. With a feral cry, Dax rose up from his makeshift hideaway. The table flew across the room. His targets were blurs of motion, turning towards him. The red haze took over as he wielded the blade with surgical precision. Dimly, he was aware of a guttural scream as he stuck Vidal’s guard in the lung. There was a whoosh as it collapsed, and the man fell to the ground, gasping for air.

He could sense the other man behind him. Dax threw himself backwards, feeling the cold steel bite into his shoulder as he knocked Vidal to the ground. There was a clatter as his weapon fell from his hand. Then, Dax’s hands went around Vidal’s neck and he began to squeeze.

A lethal voice cut into Dax’s rage, stopping him in his tracks. “Jamison! Stop, or your girl dies.”

Dax looked up, sweat dripping from his brow, as he followed the voice to an image that would be forever burned into his brain. Vidal’s second had his arm wrapped around a petite brunette, a gun to her head. He was confused. The girl looked familiar, but she wasn’t Rhiannon. She clutched a small bundle to her chest. As his eyes fixated on the nonsensical picture, Dax felt his heart stop.

Sirena.
God, no.

***

“Don’t even think about telling me to stay in the car.”

“Rhee…”

“Rina…”

“Miss Blake…”

“She’s my daughter.”

Something in her voice seemed to give the men pause. Agent Marino had guided them to the location where he believed this Vidal character had Sirena. And maybe Dax. The officer had been tight-lipped about why exactly the man took Sirena and that girl, Alanna. Some kind of leverage, he had said. Rhee looked around at the men in the car. She had her own kind of leverage.

No one messes with my baby, Vidal.
Or my…man.

The plan had Marino going in the front. Turtle and his crew would bring up the rear. Marino would go in first, since he was on the inside. Vidal didn’t like him, but wouldn’t suspect him. That left Rhee with no role.

“I’m going in with Marino.”

“No.” Four male voices barked.

“Listen up. All of you. I am going in there, whether you like it or not. So, give me a goddamn piece and tell me what to do!”

Glances were exchanged. “She’ll be safest with me.” Turtle offered.

“I’m going with Marino.” Rhee said firmly. “Now hand me that spare gun you have stashed in your pants.”

A deep reek permeated the air as they crept from the car and approached the place from a distance. Ugh. The place smelled as toxic as this Vidal character’s soul. The abandoned cannery was situated on a wooden dock that stretched out into the sea. Marino froze as sounds erupted from the dilapidated warehouse that Rhee assumed had housed workers years ago.

“Get back, Miss Blake.”

Rhee complied. The pungent stench became stronger the closer they got. Rhee fought the urge to retch. Stacks of old, rusted containers, presumably used to pack and ship fish, lined the walkway. They made for good cover. She and Marino picked their way to the main entrance, which was adorned fittingly with decayed-looking image of a tuna. The sign creaked in the gentle breeze. For a moment, Rhee could almost convince herself that all was well. That nothing sinister was happening inside the rickety old building.

Then, she heard someone scream.

“Stay here!”

She didn’t. She followed Marino inside. But when he went right, Rhee went left, ducking behind some old boxes. Following the sound of voices on her hands and knees, until she was staring at a scene that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Two men, their backs to her. A thin girl with dark hair holding something that Rhee couldn’t see. And as her eyes came up to cautiously see what these people faced, her breath caught in her throat.

Dax. Blood dripped from his cheek. A bruise was darkening over his left eye. His fists were clenched as though he were desperately trying to control himself. The look of fury that he directed to the people who stood across from him made her cringe. Rhee swallowed hard.

What do I do?

“Well, Jamison? Which one of your lovely ladies gets it first?”

The voice was unfamiliar but there was no mistaking the malice that laced the man’s words.

“You either give up your supplier, or my guy starts shooting.”

With horror, Rhee saw that the shorter man had a gun trained on the brunette. As Rhee looked closer, she recognized the girl as the one from the hotel.
Alanna?
What is she doing here?

Dax spat on the ground. “You want the supplier, you fucking coward? Let the women and children go. Then, we’ll talk. Man to man.” He took a menacing step forward. Alanna gasped as Vidal aimed his own weapon at Dax’s head.

“Fuck you. You think you’re better than me? You think you’re a man?
I’m
the real man here! Who got your kid and your woman here, huh?”

Rhee failed to stifle the gasp at the man’s implication. Sirena was here. Unfortunately, the sound caught the attention of the big oaf that stood to Vidal’s left.

Rhee scuttled back as he approached, falling square on her behind as the boxes were kicked away and her hiding place was revealed. Looking past the grinning henchman, her eyes flitted from the horrified look on Alanna’s face to the equally shocked and dismayed pair of blue eyes trained on her. The man grabbed her roughly by the arm and hauled Rhee in front of Vidal.

“Who the fuck are you?” he shouted, a spray of disgusting spittle landing on her cheek.

“I-I’m nobody. A tourist.” she stammered.

“A tourist? Yeah, and I’m Mother Teresa,” Vidal quipped, yanking Rhee back by her hair.

It was then that she saw what Alanna had cradled in her arms. “Sirena!” she cried, moving towards her. The man who held her pulled her back and she struggled in his grip. Sirena chose that moment to open her dazed eyes. She fixed them on Rhee.

“Mama!” Sirena wailed. She began to struggle in Alanna’s arms.

“Well, well. Isn’t this interesting.” Vidal commented, looking from Sirena to Rhee to Dax.

“So you’re the old lady.”

“Let me hold her,” she begged the man called Vidal. “Please.”

He shrugged at Alanna. “Let the kid go.”

Alanna set Sirena gently on her feet and she wobbled. Rhee swept her up in her arms, soothing her with comforting words that she wasn’t entirely sure were true.

“This makes me wonder…who the fuck are you?”

Alanna looked wildly from Vidal to Dax. “I’m nobody.” she whispered.

Vidal’s smile scared Rhee to the marrow of her bones. “Then we have no further use for you, do we?”

At first Rhee thought the madman would shoot Alanna on the spot. She buried Sirena’s head in her chest to shield her from the awful sight.

“Wait!” Alanna cried. “I have information. It could help you take down the whole crew, not just Dax. If it’s leverage you need, I have it.”

Shocked, Rhee glanced at Dax. His eyes met hers and he shrugged almost imperceptibly.

Vidal seemed to consider. He gestured to his henchman. “Find out what she knows.”

He dragged Alanna back and swiftly bound her hands behind her back. Vidal watched, his gun still trained on Dax, a sick gleam in his eye. In the split second the man’s head was turned, a slight movement caught her eye. Someone was slinking ever closer. Oh, God, all she wanted was to get Sirena away from here, away from these awful men.

The henchman conferred with Vidal, nodding at Alanna. Rhee met her gaze and she looked away, a flush of perhaps guilt appearing on her otherwise pale face. “Looks like you earned yourself a pass. For now,” Vidal called to her.

“Now, where were we? Oh, yes. You were about to name your supplier.” Vidal waved his gun carelessly.

Dax clenched his jaw. Rhee knew as well as he did, that the moment he gave the deluded shipping magnate what he wanted, they were as good as dead.

“Okay, then.” Vidal sounded almost gleeful. “I think maybe I’ll have some fun with your girl before I start taking off pieces of her.”

The gun was now trained on Rhee as she cradled her daughter in her arms. Her heart was pounding. “You! Put the kid down and take off your clothes.”

Rhee froze, horrified. There was no way she was relinquishing her daughter.

“Vidal. You’re shaming your father’s memory.” Marino’s voice rang out like a sword, slicing through the tension in the air.

Vidal looked startled, swinging his gun wildly toward the voice. “Marino. You worthless piece of shit! I knew I couldn’t trust you. Show yourself!”

What happened next—Rhee wasn’t so sure.

***

At first, Dax was incredulous. He had seen a lot of shit in his day, but never had any foe been so bold as to use a
child
to get what they wanted. The fact that it was
his
child caught in the crosshairs of an arms deal gone wrong made the situation seem even more insane. Reality set in when Vidal started threatening the girl who held his daughter. The wide, scared look on her face chilled him to the bone. He squinted at her through the trickle of blood that left a warm, wet path down his face. The dark-haired girl looked vaguely familiar. But, she wasn’t Rhiannon. Clearly, Vidal and his goons thought they had a double advantage taking his woman and his kid. Although it was brief, Dax allowed himself a small moment of relief that Rhee had been spared this horrible turn of events.

Then, like a nightmare that just kept getting worse, Rhee was there. Staring down the barrel of a small, snub-nosed revolver. The other girl spoke in low tones, pleading with Vidal’s man. Dax knew the man was a poor shot. From experience, he knew that a poor shot with a case of the crazies could be just as dangerous as a sharpshooter. Then, Marino created a diversion, launching a spray of bullets at the ceiling. Dax launched himself at Vidal, processing several things at once.

Turtle materialized from the shadows and without a word, scooped up Sirena. He was gone so fast that Dax wondered if the man had been there at all. His sense of relief was short-lived as Vidal let out a roar and bullets began to fly. Rhee screamed. A hot sunburst of pain exploded in Dax’s right shoulder as he shoved Rhiannon the direction Turtle had come from.

“Run!”

Damn her for trying to drag him along with her. “Go! Sirena needs a mother, Rhiannon. For God’s sakes, go!”

The anguished look of horror on her face before she turned away burned an imprint into his soul but there was no time to ponder his feelings. Sounds exploded from all sides. Dax hit the floor, pulling a stack of crates onto himself in his effort to get out of the line of fire long enough to figure out what to do. He watched as Rhee hastened There were harsh grunts and shouts, zings of bullets whizzing through the air, and then a sound that rattled Dax to the core—a high-pitched shriek from the girl bound to the chair.

Dax had no idea what had happened, but when the smoke cleared, Marino and one of Vidal’s goons were lying motionless on the floor. The girl in the chair slumped forward, a bright red rose blooming on her shirt.