Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

JACOB

T hey waited until Mike left his post, and then they moved in. That's the only explanation of how they could've emerged from the trees so fast. The bastards. Was Mike watching the camera feeds properly? Maybe he was distracted, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him.

"In the house," I snap at Emma, aiming the rifle at Rafael as he uses Mike as a human shield. I didn't have a gun on me. I saw the men coming, darted in, and got a rifle. In the meantime, Rafael coldcocked Mike over the head.

Emma stands paralyzed next to me, but it's not her fault. She's a civilian and not used to this sort of madness. She never guessed she'd have to be ready for something like this, something so deranged.

"Now," I holler when two more men emerge from the forest, both holding rifles. "To the safe room, Emma."

She darts inside, taking Rusty with her. The men stand at Rafael's side. Mike slouches in Rafael's grip as if he's finding it difficult to stay upright. He's clearly struggling to focus. Poor Mike, man. Dammit. He sees the worst thing a father can and then runs headfirst into the lowlifes I brought to his door.

"Where has your little friend gone?" Rafael calls.

"She's got nothing to do with this," I snap.

"I could order my men to shoot you now. Two on one."

"Risk it," I say, aiming down the rifle, keeping my nerves calm… or trying to. It would be so much easier without my best friend at risk, without thinking of my lady shivering, alone, afraid in the safe room unless he's sent more men to attack from different angles on the property.

"I didn't come all this way to ruin the fun early," Rafael says, and then he grunts into the forest in English. "Come, dogs."

What the… Two women walk from behind the trees, wearing scraggly coats. One is young, on the more petite side, with blond hair. I don't have to wonder who she is for long. Fierce life fires into Mike when he sees her. He bellows and tries to move toward her, but Rafael holds him. It must be Angelica.

The other woman is older, with thin silver hair, wrinkled, and forgiveness in her eyes. Is it a trick of the light playing against the snow? I'm sure I see it there, a glimmer as if she's wordlessly telling me she wants to make amends. She doesn't look terrified. She looks more apologetic, like she hates herself for bringing more pain into my life. Or am I just hoping? I haven't seen her in years. It hits me too hard, considering what's at stake.

"Aren't you going to say hello?" Rafael says in Spanish, laughing. "You're a silly man, Jacob. Your big, bad ex-Army friend told his little whore where you were staying."

Mike doesn't understand what he's saying, and I decide never to tell him what Rafael just said. He won't be able to forgive himself. He's suffered enough.

"What's your plan?" I growl.

"My plan is for us all to sit down together and have a civilized conversation."

Here we go. He doesn't want to rush this. He wants to drag it out, make it last, so he can satisfy whatever warped, perverted thing inside him makes him risk his business for personal vendettas.

"You came to the States, risked capture, for… for this ? So you could feel?—"

"Don't ruin it," Rafael snaps. "If you're so eager to rush it, maybe I'll take you up on the offer. I'll gut your friend, and you can watch him spill out onto the snow. How does that sound? Would that be preferable?"

I grind my teeth, aiming the rifle, but what about the other two? And there could be more men in the forest. Dammit, I should've stayed awake and kept watch. Despite what I've done to him with my betrayal, Mike is a good man, but he's been out of the game for a long time.

"I asked you a question, Jacob," he snaps.

Like before, he sounds annoyed that I'm not playing along and giving him the response he wants. He's got me, though. It's not like last time when only my life was at stake. There's Mike and my woman. There's his woman. There's my goddamn mother. Rafael must really want to make me grovel before he ends it—the petty, pathetic idiot.

"No," I say.

"Would you rather invite me inside, then? It might be a good idea to lay that weapon down."

His two goons adjust their rifle grips. They hold their weapons like they know what they're doing, comfortably gripping them. I slowly put my rifle on the porch, knowing this won't end well, but at least Emma's safe. That's all that matters. The alert will fire off to one of my contacts in twenty-four hours. Maybe he'll have to walk past our corpses to set her free, but she will be free.

"Excellent." In English, he says, "Go on, dogs."

The two women trudge through the snow. The two riflemen follow them, and finally, Rafael pushes Mike ahead of him. Rafael is right to stay at the back, as far from me as possible. He knows what would happen if I got my hands on him. He knows I'd happily break his bones.

In the house, the riflemen stand in the corner, guns aimed, as Rafael forces Angelica, my mother, Mike, and me to sit around the table. Mike's got his head in his hands, clearly still woozy, looking at me with disbelief like he thinks he's going to wake from a dream.

"I'm sorry," Mom whispers from beside me.

"It's not your fault, Mom."

"Where's the other one?" Rafael snaps.

I shrug. "No idea. I told her to get into the house. I don't know where she went." I purposefully look at Mike. "Please get him some help. He's hurt."

There's genuine concern in my voice, of course. I don't want anything to happen to my friend. There's also the fact that I need Rafael to think I care more about Mike than I do about Emma. He needs to see Emma simply as just another person. If he knew how much I cared, he'd use it. Also, Mike seems recovered now, as if the shock of seeing Angelica has jolted him into an alert state.

Rafael turns to the taller of his men. He has a balaclava pulled up around his mouth. He nods and marches into the house.

"Do you think the police will help you?" Rafael snaps. "If she makes a little phone call? I'll be done by then. Done with you , Jacob. I'm not the scared little boy. Not me. Not ever."

"Is that what this is?" I snap. "Jesus Christ, Rafael. You don't want to feel like a scared kid?"

"Take that mocking tone out of your voice."

I shake my head in disgust, thinking of all the pain he's caused, all the suffering he's inflicted. Yet, somehow, he wants to be a victim in his head. It's all so twisted and wrong.

"There's a safe room," the goon says, entering again. "Hidden in the ground, but not well enough. There's a code." Suddenly, the cold barrel of a gun presses against the back of my neck.

Rafael glares at me. "What's the code, Jacob?"

"She's got nothing to do with this," I snap. "You've got what you want. My best friend. My mother. His lady, presumably so you can hurt him even more and hurt me. I get it, Rafael, but don't bring her into this."

"I think I'd like to," Rafael says, his eyes narrowing.

Suddenly, all the emotion leaves me. It's like a survival mechanism. Something hammers deep inside me, a war drum. Protect her, protect her, protect her , chants over and over in my mind.

"I think you might have an inappropriate crush on the girl," Rafael laughs, clapping his hands together, still speaking in Spanish. "Does your friend know?"

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about," I growl. "She's not part of this, understand? She has nothing to do with this. I'm warning you. Don't make this about her."

"Warning me?" Rafael chuckles. "Should I be afraid? I've beaten you. Look where we are. Look who won —me . In a matter of days, I hunted you down. The great Jacob Jennings."

"Yeah, and usually, I'd say you'd won this one, but you're not accounting for one goddamn thing."

"What's that?"

"How much I love my lady."

He laughs as if it's a joke, but then I go ice cold. I don't think anymore. I can't. I'm risking everybody's life apart from Emma. Even if we all die here, she'll survive. She'll go on living. Maybe she'll hate me for what I did, but when Rafael threatens her, nothing else matters.

Everything in me hones down to one impulse— protect her . She's the only person who matters to me when you get down to it. I care about Mike. I care about my mother. I don't want anything bad to happen to Angelica.

However, Emma is the reason my heart beats. She's the one who made me feel alive. She broke down my walls. Rafael is insane for daring to even think about threatening her.