Chapter Forty-Eight

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

T he trussed up soldier on the ground looked miserable as sweat poured down his pain-filled face. With a shattered knee and a bullet hole in his shoulder, the man was hurting. Serena’s sister-in-law, Mina, a trauma surgeon, had patched him up and even given him a little something for the pain. Not too much, though, because he needed to be alert for the next part.

Xavier glanced behind him at Serena’s relatives, noting that just one of the men standing there would intimidate most people. Ten of them was a little much, but that was okay with him. These people deserved to be here, to hear what this man had to tell them. He, along with nine others, had invaded their territory, caused untold property damage, and terrorized their families. The other nine were dead. This man had survived and would bear the brunt of their wrath.

No one would outright kill him, of course. That wasn’t who they were, and Xavier knew the men behind him would not shoot an unarmed man. They were, however, prepared to scare and intimidate him until he gave up what he knew. Fear of torture and death was often much more effective than the acts themselves.

“Okay, I’m going to ask you some questions, and if I don’t get the answers I’m looking for, I’ll let my friends behind me loose. They’ll be more than happy to get the answers their way.”

“I don’t know anything, man,” the soldier said. “I’m just a hired gun.”

“All right,” Xavier said, “tell me what you were hired to do. Your exact orders.”

Blinking from the sweat stinging his eyes, he looked up at Xavier. “Grab the girl.”

“And which girl were you to grab?”

“They gave us a photo of her. It’s in my shirt pocket.”

Reaching into the man’s pocket, Xavier pulled out a photograph of Jazz. It was a still shot from the video of when they’d been at the restaurant the night Bass was shot. This confirmed everyone’s thinking that someone had recognized Jazz in that video online and set all of this into motion.

“What were you supposed to do with her?”

“Take her to a secure location.”

“And that would be where?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wrong answer.” He looked behind him, and all ten men, their weapons raised, stepped forward.

“Killing me won’t help get you answers.”

“Who said anything about killing? These men know exactly where to shoot to cause maximum pain without death. Not gonna lie—ten bullets, along with the holes in your shoulder and knee, are going to hurt.”

Sweat flew everywhere as the soldier gave a vigorous shake of his head. “But I’m telling you the truth, man. I don’t know where we were supposed to take her. After we grabbed and secured her, we were to call the guy in charge. He was going to tell us then where to take her.”

“Who’s the guy in charge?”

“I don’t know, I swear. Only one man among us knew, and he’s dead.” A small smirk played at his mouth. “Guess you’re screwed.”

It took every bit of self-control, plus a hand wrapped around his arm, to keep Xavier from smashing the bastard’s face to a pulp.

“Careful, son,” Ed said. “It’d be easier on him if you killed him. That’s what he wants. Don’t fall for it.”

Grinding his teeth, Xavier nodded, knowing the older man was right.

“You got anything else to say?” Xavier asked.

“No.”

“Very well.”

Turning, he looked at the men who appeared even more ravenous than before. If this guy knew anything, he’d be spitting it out soon.

“Guys, he’s all yours.”

“What? Wait! I told you what I know!” he screamed.

Looking over his shoulder at the horrified man, Xavier gave him a similar smirk. “I don’t believe you. So I guess you’re screwed.”

Striding toward the house, he held his breath, hoping to hear something, anything that could help them find this bastard. He heard the guy scrambling back as the armed men advanced. Finally, just as Xavier’s foot landed on the first porch step, the man shouted, “I know the number we were supposed to call!”

Xavier closed his eyes on a thankful prayer and strode back. “What were you supposed to say?”

“I don’t know. I just saw the guy in charge call a number. I’m good at remembering, so I watched him punch it in.”

They could play this out and, at the very least, get a location of where the soldiers were expected to drop her off. The OZ team could meet Xavier and Jazz there, and they could have another showdown.

Xavier stared down at the man on the ground, trying to determine if he was telling the truth or just spouting things that he hoped would save his skin.

“You do realize that if you’re trying to set us up, you’re going to be in a world of pain?”

“Listen, I’m just a guy who does this stuff for money. I have no agenda, no loyalty.”

That was likely the truth. Xavier had seen more than his share of mercenaries who went from one high-risk job to another. Not only did these jobs often pay well, some people got off on the adrenaline rush.

Pulling an unused burner phone from his pocket, he asked, “What’s the number?”

The man called out the digits.

“Any particular words you were supposed to use?”

“Not that I know of. Just that we had the package.”

Hearing Jazz referred to as “the package” infuriated him, but these people were soulless.

Punching in the number, he held his breath until it was answered. “Report,” a mechanical voice said.

“We have the package secured,” Xavier growled into the phone.

“Excellent. The client will be notified for pickup in two days.”

The line went dead.

His teeth grinding together, he went back to the soldier. “They didn’t tell me a location.” Pressing his gun against the man’s forehead, he growled, “What is it?”

His eyes wide, his mouth trembling, he said hoarsely, “I promise you, man. I don’t know where we were supposed to take her.”

Wanting to pull his hair out by the roots, Xavier walked away from the guy and holstered his weapon. If he didn’t get far away from him, he would take out his frustration on him. There had to be a way to?—

Striding to the house, he ran up the steps and called out to Serena, who was standing in the hallway, tapping out something on her phone. “Hey, did we collect all the phones?”

She scrunched her nose in a grimace. “Yes. They’re all burner phones with nothing on them. The men carried no ID.”

“Maybe facial identification will give us something.”

“It might, but that could take a while. And it won’t get us the drop-off location.”

“We still have eyes on Oscar Sullivan. Right?”

“Yes. I have Blue Cagney’s team out of Los Angeles on him.”

Cagney’s team was good. OZ had used them several times in the past. “Can you let them know to stick like glue to Sullivan? If he’s the culprit, chances are he’ll try to do the pickup himself.”

“What do you want them to do with him if he’s the one?”

“Just tell them to hold on to him until further notice.”

“Will do.”

“Where’s Jazz?”

“I think she’s still helping with the cleanup at the side of the house.”

The sudden need to have Jazz in his arms and assure himself that she was okay almost overwhelmed him. Until this bastard was caught and dealt with, having her out of his sight for more than a few minutes wasn’t something he wanted to risk.

“So you don’t know where they were supposed to take me?” Jazz asked.

Sighing, Xavier pushed his fingers through his hair, his frustration obvious. “No. Apparently, one of the men who died knew the location, and the idiot didn’t bother to share it with anyone else.”

Even as aggravating as it was not to know where to go to face the man who’d ordered her abduction, Jazz couldn’t find it within herself to feel major disappointment. No one in Serena’s family had been hurt. Yes, there was massive property damage, but the instant the shooting had stopped and they’d known everyone was safe, the cleanup had begun. With dozens of people pitching in, it had taken only a few hours. Windows needed to be replaced and a few outer walls needed repairs, but by the time the sun rose, it was hard to tell there had even been a battle.

The dead men had been transported to a barn a couple miles down the road, and Serena’s brothers were there now with someone from the sheriff’s office. Since two of Serena’s cousins were on the police force, they had the credibility needed to explain exactly what had happened, that Serena’s family had defended their homes from armed intruders.

The news that Xavier hadn’t been able to secure the drop-off location didn’t faze Jazz nearly as much as it might have. They had been so fortunate, because if Serena’s family had been any other family, untrained and unprepared, the devastation would have been brutal.

Xavier pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and gave her a tender look. “How can someone who fought in a war and has been up all night still look so damn beautiful?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You tell me. You look good enough to eat.”

He lowered his head, his mouth meeting hers in a kiss filled with passion.

Jazz groaned beneath his lips. She could spend a lifetime kissing this man. With that thought in mind, she pulled away from him and said, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Do you want a long engagement?”

“No. I’ve waited for years for you to be mine.”

Love swamped her, and she fought to keep her voice from cracking when she said, “I feel the same way. So, how would you feel if we got married here? Today?”

“Are you sure about that? You don’t want a big wedding with everyone from OZ there?”

She would miss having her OZ family in attendance, but she knew they would understand. And while she knew that a big wedding might be the dream of many women, she wasn’t one of them. Besides, she had learned that life was too short to wait for the perfect time or for everything to fall in line before acting on something.

“We’ll have a party when we get back home for our OZ family. But what I want more than anything is to be yours. And I’d like to make that happen as soon as possible.”

“I can’t think of anything that would make me happier.” Pulling her into his arms, he whispered against her mouth, “Let’s make it happen.”