Obsession: Loving An Alpha Male (34 page)

“It seems you have company. Didn’t I tell you not to call the Feds?”

“I’m not the Feds. Who I am, though, isn’t of your concern. You want two point five million dollars. I can give it to you right now for the life of the girl.”

The man spoke in rapid Spanish, announcing to someone that wasn’t in view what he saw on his end. Josh replied in kind, asking for him to remove the mask and quit playing this fucking game. Josh could only see the eyes of the man, and he could tell he was surprised.

“Look, I don’t have time for this shit. I want Kenya back, you want money. Let’s make a deal. You’re going to sell her anyway, why not sell her to me?” Josh barked.

“You seem so eager to have her back. Where’s her husband? He’s the one that sold her to me to pay off a debt that he owed.” The man asked, his eyes falling on Noah’s father.

Josh said, “She was never married. As a matter of fact, she was never his to begin with to bargain for. The intel you got was a rouse by the CIA in order for them to apprehend you. She is no one’s responsibility in this room but mine. Tell me what you want so I can get her back, the sooner the better.”

Josh heard a voice in the background, and the man on the screen nodded, “The amount of money I will make on her is something you can’t pay.”

“Why don’t you stop fucking talking shit and tell me how much?”

“Five million dollars is what you will pay to get her back.”

Josh looked incredulously. “You want five million dollars right now?”

The man shrugged. “It’s not our fault you came to the party late.”

Josh waited a beat as if he was thinking. He knew he had the money. That wasn’t the issue.

He said finally, “Before I agree, I need proof of life. I saw what you did to her, and before I pay you shit I want to know she’s still alive. And you better not lay a hand on her from this moment on, or I’ll hunt each and every one of you down and kill you slowly.”

The man laughed. “That’s colorful. We can provide proof of life.”

Josh folded his arms.

“Show me now, and I’ll wire you half now. We then work out a swap, and I’ll forward you the rest at the same time as the exchange.”

“No, all of the money. I show you she is alive, and we work out an exchange,” the man replied back.

Josh shook his head. “Listen, pendejo, I really don’t give a fuck about you or what you have going on with these fucking people behind me. I want my woman back now. So if you want this money, we can do business. I don’t give a shit about the money. I need assurances you will hand her over to me and not kill her or sell her to someone else.”

The man remained silent as he obviously was listening to someone else in the room.

Finally he said, “Fine, wire three million now, and we’ll show you proof.”

Josh turned and looked at Junior. Junior opened his computer and hit a few keys. He looked at Josh when he was ready.

Josh turned to the screen, “Give me the routing numbers to the bank you want the money sent to.”

The man read off a series of numbers, and Junior typed them in, and when he had successfully wired the funds, he looked back up at Josh.

Josh turned back to the screen. “Check to see if you have the money. Then show me that she’s still alive. I want live feed and not some picture of her. I want to see you prove she is still breathing.”

“Alright, we can do that as soon as we confirm we have the money.”

Josh waited a beat, hoping that the trace they had on the money was working. He knew he kept this guy on the line long enough for Nickels to get a trace. But he would keep him on as long as possible to make this happen.

Finally the man nodded. “Okay, ready to see your lady?” He laughed and covered the camera.

It didn’t matter to Josh either way. He stood stock–still and waited. After a few minutes, they removed the covering, and he found a figure not moving lying on a dirt floor.

“Hey you, are you still alive?” a voice asked.

She didn’t move.             

“Kenya!” Josh called out. He figured there was audio still set up, and he hoped she would respond. When she didn’t, he tried again. This time he said her name louder, “Sweets, baby, it’s me!”

He heard her moan again, and she tried to move.

“No, Sweets, don’t move, just hold on for me, okay? I got your message, and I’m coming to get you. Did you hear me?”

He didn’t hear a sound then the next thing he saw was a hard kick to her leg. She screamed out in pain, and it racked not only her body but Josh’s.

He heard rapid Spanish, and this time he heard what was said, and he knew the voice wasn’t the man he’d been talking to.

“So you see she’s alive. We will call in thirty minutes with a place to meet us. You will wire the funds the moment we call.”

The call ended, and Josh stood there not moving. He was trying to calm his breathing. He wanted to murder them. He couldn’t wait to get his hands around their throats and watch the life leave their eyes.

Josh turned to Junior. “Tell me you know where they are?”

Junior didn’t answer. He kept punching keys.

“Junior!” Josh yelled.

“Give me a second, damn it.”

“We don’t have a second.”

“So what do you think you’re going to do? Go in there guns blazing?” Noah’s father scoffed.

“If need be, yes.”

“And how do you think that’s going to end for her. You’re out of control, and you’re going to get my daughter killed.” Kenya’s father added.

“I agree. We will contact the police once they name where she will be dropped, and they will take it from here.” Noah’s father exclaimed.

“The last thing you will do is, call the police. You will stay out of it and out of my way. If I said I’ll bring her home then that’s what I’m going to do,” Josh replied.

Wayne stepped up and said to Josh, “How do you expect these people to trust you. You came in here attacking that man, dropping millions of dollars then tell her family to stay out of it. You seem to be unstable and out of your fucking mind. Why don’t you let us handle it from here? Clearly we know and love her more than you could ever do.”

Josh’s eyes fell on Wayne. He expected to see more from the man, a presence or something, but he saw a lost soul with the same pain in his eyes as he saw in Kenya.

Josh knew he was running out of time, so he made what he said brief and to the point.

“The woman that you knew is still missing. She was lost to you and this family. You actually let her go. You let that son of a bitch, come here,” he pointed to Noah, “and take her without a fight. If anyone in this fucking room gave a shit about her, she would be right here with you. That useless son of a bitch wouldn’t have had the opportunity to touch her.

“So instead of coming to you for help, she decided to run away and never speak or see you all again. How does that feel? She had to leave you in order to survive and live, and it’s crazy. No matter what she did to save herself, she’s still wrapped up in your shit, and some sick fuck has beat the shit out of her because of something you all are in. And what the hell have you done to try and get her back?” Josh pointed to Noah’s father. “You’re listening to the very son of a bitch who’s got her in this situation in the first place. All of you gave up your rights to fucking care. You didn’t fight for her, but here I am fighting for the woman that means more to me than my fucking life. I’m going to get her back and in one piece. I will not fail.”

Josh looked at his team. “Let’s go.”

Just when Josh moved to leave with his team, more people arrived. Diane, Jacks and a few of her team members stood in the way of the front door.

“You aren’t going to do anything, Cooper,” Diane barked.

Josh didn’t look at her, instead he looked at Jacks.

Misty walked up to Jacks and asked, “What the fuck are you doing with this bitch?”

Jacks kept his eyes on Josh. Josh could still see the bruises left on his face. Misty however, wouldn’t let Jacks ignore her, so she punched him in the chest.

“I went to back for you, you fucking idiot.”

Jacks frowned and looked down at Misty. “You know damn well he’s out of control, and for what? Someone else’s wife? He’s going to get this woman killed for his selfishness. I’m here to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

Misty shook her head and stood back and looked at Diane while saying to Jacks, “Wow, her pussy must be stellar to have you wrapped around her little pinky. But I’m going to let you enjoy her shit. When you find out the truth, you’re not fucking welcomed back, in my opinion. No matter what you feel or how fucked up a situation is, you don’t side with the enemy.” Misty looked at Josh. “Let’s go get Kenya.”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Diane said again. She looked at Josh. “Let us do our jobs. We will find her.”

Josh breathed out. “We’ve already found her. And I’m going to go and get her.”

Diane shook her head. “You don’t understand, Josh.”

Josh, growing frustrated, said, “No Diane, you don’t understand. Your fuck up is the reason why she’s there. She got kidnapped and beaten because of you. You placed her in harm’s way when I clearly told you not to. You involved her in this shit storm, creating a fake marriage license and practically pointed them to her. Again your fuck up, and I’m going, like always, to clean up your shit.”

Josh and his brothers moved to the exit, and some of Diane’s boys moved to meet them.

Josh kept his eyes on one of her men and said, “Let me tell you how this is going to go, Diane. You’re going to tell your men to move and let us go, or it’s going to get messy, and you know I don’t mind messes.”

“Josh, be reasonable.”

“Fuck reasonable, Diane. I was reasonable back in Pittsburgh when I told you not to bring trouble her way. I was specific, I didn’t hesitate, or did I speak in a language you couldn’t understand?” Josh turned and looked at her, “Tell you what, if you get there before me, you can have who you want. But there are two that I know for sure belong to me. Now it’s your choice.”

Junior stood. “Josh, we have to go now.”

Josh moved to the door and just as he was about to hit the man in front of him in the throat, he moved.

Josh and his team filed out quickly with Junior saying, “It will take us twenty minutes to get there.”

“Hey, Cooper…”

Josh turned around to find Curtis and Jesse running up to them.

“I want to go save my sister.”

Josh shook his head. “This isn’t a fight you should be getting into before you even get your feet wet in the unit.”

Curtis frowned. “I don’t care about that shit. I care about my sister and getting her back safe.”

Shane rolled down the window. “We don’t have time for this shit, bro, we gotta go.”

“Fine get in. Junior, I want that phone call to come to my phone.”

“You got it.”

The moment they arrived where they were holding Kenya everything happened so fast. His phone rang, and he was informed where to meet and when. Josh told them the moment he saw her face he would send them the funds.

Of course they weren’t happy with that, so he offered majority of the money to be sent then the rest once he saw her face. They reluctantly agreed, and Josh sat there waiting for any movement from the large house, and nothing happened. The meeting place was a half an hour away, and they hadn’t moved in ten minutes after the call.

Josh called Junior. “What does the layout look like? Can you see where they’re holding her?”

“I’m using the heat recognition satellite that the NSA just put in space. So far I can’t be certain,” Junior told him.

“On the tape she indicated she was underground. She saw a few rooms but no windows. She also called out the number of guys she saw.” Josh offered.

Curtis, who was sitting behind him said, “You heard that too? I thought it was weird when I heard it.”

“She plays this virtual reality game with a friend of hers from college. She always asks me questions about operational strategy and tactics. I told her it’s important that if you get captured and you’re able to get a hold of someone to help you, you tell them everything you can as quick as you can to help them find you.” Josh turned and looked at her brother, “She listened.”

“Coop, I think I found her. There’s a lone figure in the southeast corner. No one’s surrounding it though, so I don’t know if it’s her or not.”

Junior sent picture to his cell phone.

“It’s her. Let’s move.” Josh looked at Malcolm, and he nodded.

One of the tactics Josh told Kenya when ambushing a building was the element of surprise. The way they hit this house was no surprise. They hit the building on three sides and hard. Josh went through the house with swiftness and without prejudice. Shooting his way inside, and after that, doing and using whatever necessary to bring anyone he came close to down. He didn’t bother with a body count as he moved, his primary focus was on one person, Kenya.

Everyone split up in teams, and Shane went with Josh in search of Kenya according to the directions Junior gave them. Ivan, Misty, and Jesse went to the left of the house to clear that section, and Stan, Malcolm, and Curtis went right to do the same. Once Josh and Shane made it to the bottom floor of the house, they searched every room and door they could find, but they couldn’t locate her. Just when he was about to call Junior, Shane found a small door with a pad lock, and it looked to be booby trapped with C4 and a mechanism attached that Josh hadn’t seen before.

Josh got close to the door, and it was that moment the timer on the trigger started counting down.

“Fuck!” Josh yelled.

He knew once he got out of here and got Kenya to a safe place, he was going to kill every last person associated with this Cartel.

“Start looking,” Shane said quickly.

They had less than two minutes now, and they both moved out in search of some other place they could have put Kenya. Josh called Junior. They were running out of time.

"Are we close to her?"

"Yeah, you’re like right on her man. Also, we got company," Junior replied back.

“Shit!” Josh looked at his brother and hung up the phone. Josh met the questioning look from Shane, but his question was answered when he heard commotion and yelling to put down weapons. Josh said to his brother, “Junior says we are right on top of her."
Josh and Shane looked around the room then Josh looked down at panel under his feet. Time was ticking away.

The tiles underneath him seemed normal to him. They were long panels with screws in all four corners of each panel. He was running out of time in more ways than he knew it, he could feel it.

“There.” Shane pointed.

There in the far corner was a panel that looked the same to the eye, but when you moved closer, it looked slightly different than the others. He moved quickly and tried to figure out a way to open the panel. It was sealed tight. Josh quickly studied the screws and noticed those too seemed to be new compared to the other panels.

“Stand up and put your hands in the air.”

Josh and Shane looked back to see Diane and her team, along with Jacks standing behind them.

“Don’t even think about moving, Josh,” Diane barked.

“Listen to me… There is a bomb that’s set to go off any second. I’m not leaving here until I have Kenya, and she’s buried underneath that panel. You are going to have to shoot me because I’m not leaving her.”

Jacks moved to the area Josh signaled and found they had less than fifteen seconds.

He called out, “We are toast no matter what we do.”

Jacks looked closely at the bomb and the wires coming from the trigger. His eyes followed the wires as he pulled the switchblade from his pocket.

“Josh, no matter if you can get to that panel, we all will be dead anyway. The panel is wired as a second trigger, and once we move this panel the bomb will start again. We have to do this quickly or we’re done.”

Josh nodded and moved to the panel. Jacks resumed looking at the bomb. He disarmed it in less than three seconds left. Then he moved quickly to the panel.

“Slowly and carefully loosen the screws, yeah?” Jacks told him.

Josh nodded, pulled out his Ka–bar knife and did as he was told. Jacks was an expert in bombs, setting them and disarming them. Josh knew Jacks had everything under control. Despite what happened between them, the man knew his job.

Both men worked together to unscrew all four of the screws. Then Jacks slowly moved his fingers in the grooves of the panel to find the wires.

He found one and followed it to where he hoped the trigger was.

He looked up at everyone in the room and said, “We only got three seconds before this blows, I need everyone…”

Suddenly, Jacks was cut off by a huge explosion that rocked the room. The shudder of the blast threw everyone to the ground, and debris fell on top of them.

Josh was knocked to the floor, ears ringing and his head on fire. He called out to his brother and didn’t move until he felt his brother grab him on his leg.

“Shit Josh!” Jacks exclaimed but realized if he couldn’t hear himself think, Josh couldn’t hear him either.

Jacks pushed some falling debris and a ceiling beam from his legs and crawled to Josh. Josh saw him coming and was about to ask what happened when he pointed to where the panel they were about to move used to be.

“Sweets!” Josh yelled and crawled to the large hole in the floor.

He couldn’t see in the darkness, but he didn’t care. Because of the debris from the roof, he was able to use that to climb down in the darkness.

Lead me to her, God, please.

He saw a small pin light behind him and saw Jacks had followed him down. He turned back, and that’s when he saw her. She wasn’t moving. Some debris had fallen all around her. He moved some items out of his way so he could get to her.

He crawled over to her and gently called her name, “Sweets.”

She didn’t move. She had her back to him, so he climbed around, and the moment his eyes fell on her face, he felt like his whole world collapsed.

“What did they do to you?” he said softly. He moved her hair away from her sweat soaked face and forehead just to have a reason to touch her. “God, baby, do you hear me?” He asked again.

He leaned closer to get a feel of her injuries.

Her face was so swollen if he didn’t know her intimately he wouldn’t have been able to recognize her. One of her eyes was closed shut and swollen. The other eye was just staring out into nothing. Blood was caked up on her face, arms, and her nose looked as if it was broken. Her breathing was labored because of her nose, and no doubt the way she was kicked, he knew she had some internal injuries. As Josh laid down on his side next to her, he could see the life leaving her with every breath she struggled to take.

“Fuck me!” he heard Jacks whisper behind him.

“We can’t move her. Go and get fire and rescue down here,” Josh said to him but kept his eyes on Kenya.

“I’m on it,” Jacks replied back and moved back up to the debris to the level they came down from, seeking help.

Josh reached for her hand and caressed it lightly. “Sweets, baby, it’s me. I’m here. You’re safe…”

He heard her whimper, and it seemed as if she was trying to move away from him.

“No, no baby, don’t move okay. Stay very still.” He finally saw her eye move. He touched her arm, trying to sooth her, letting her feel him. “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you. You’re safe, Sweets.”

She groaned and whispered over and over again, “I’m sorry.”

Josh had to move closer to her in order to hear, and once he did he shook his head.

“No, baby, you have nothing to be sorry for. This isn’t your fault. Do you hear me?” He touched the top of her forehead. “It’s my fault baby, not yours. I shouldn’t have left you that night. I shouldn’t have…”

His words caught in his throat as his emotions finally got the better of him. He wanted to hold her, to make her pain go away, but he couldn’t. Helplessness was never something he handled well, and it was eating away at him.

“Josh…” she whispered.

“I’m here, baby, I’m not going anywhere. Do you hear me?”

He moved closer to her and lightly kissed her on her forehead. Her whimpers of agony and pain were breaking his heart bit by bit. When he saw her eye closing he spoke a little louder, panic lacing his voice.

“No baby, stay with me. Help is coming… Okay, don’t give up on me, baby, do you hear me? Don’t give up… Shit, Kenya, please…”

He lightly touched his forehead with hers.

“I love you, Joshua…” he heard her whisper and panic settled in…

“Sweets, please just hold on for me. If you do love me, you’ll hold on okay… God, I need you baby please…” he whispered, letting go, and for the first time since he was a child, tears began to fall from his eyes. He didn’t stop them. “God, I love you so much… you’re breaking my heart. Baby, please stay with me.”

Josh took a deep breath, and trying to think of something to keep her with him said softly, “I… I met your parents…but uh… I don’t think they like me very much…” he chuckled when he heard a soft hum come from her lips. He knew she was still with him. He continued. “I met your brother though, and well, he seems to like me somewhat. He’s actually upstairs, a little bit of a badass but a good man. He loves you. I can see it.”

She hummed again. This was a huge encouragement that he needed.

He said, “You have no idea who else I met… your grandparents…” he waited for a hum or any type of response but didn’t get one. He continued though and said, “They actually sought me out. You wouldn’t believe where they work…”

Jacks stood quiet while he watched one of the toughest, fearless and ruthless men he knew fall apart. He had to admit he was beginning to do the same. He realized the moment he fucked up was when Josh left Kenya’s family home. He was played and ended up losing two very good friends, and family, and he would never get that back.

But watching the agony Josh was going through right this moment, he had an idea that would at least get him on speaking terms. He climbed back up the debris, giving Josh his time alone with his woman and started searching for the very man he would employ to help.

The paramedics finally arrived, and Josh moved back giving them just enough room to work. He wouldn’t move too far away from her, and he didn’t let go of her hand. He figured as long as he held some part of her she would know she wasn’t alone.

It was tricky getting her back up the blown out hole, and even trickier getting past the debris from the bomb blast and a few bodies of members of Diane’s team. Josh helped with the gurney, and when they were on level ground, Josh’s brothers joined him at his side. They didn’t say a word, just followed him, waiting to be there for him just in case he faltered.

The paramedic told him where they were taking her, and he nodded.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear, “I’m going to be right behind you. Just concentrate on getting better, beautiful.”

He stepped back and watched as they lifted her up into the ambulance. He didn’t move when they closed the door or when they drove off lights and sirens.

He said to no one in particular, “I want a body on her when she gets to the hospital and at all times, even if I’m there or not.”

“Already handled bro… I’ll let you know when I’m settled and keep you posted until you get there.” Malcolm walked in front of his little brother and placed both hands on his shoulders. He looked deep in Josh’s eyes and said, “I will guard her with my life. No one will ever get close to her again. You have my word… She’s family, and we take care of family… You go do what you need to.”

Malcolm squeezed his shoulder once then walked away with Misty at his heel. Josh gave her a questioning look, and she smiled and gave him a thumbs up confirming she was fine.

Josh took a calming breath and nodded. His head was killing him from the debris that fell, so he knew he needed to get checked out. But after that… he was going hunting… He looked in Shane’s eyes and saw he would definitely have company on this hunt, and he welcomed it…