Blyssfully Undone: The Blyss Trilogy - book 3 (10 page)

I hold up my index finger, indicating for her to give me a moment. Valuable minutes are ticking by, and I don’t have time to explain things to her right now. I need someone with know-how, and who can provide a solution. I pull out my cellphone and call Quinn.

“Trav?” Quinn questions with consternation.

“Quinn, we’ve got a big problem.”

“Let it roll, man.”

“Just found a GPS tracker in her hip.” Jules lets out a loud gasp, and I turn to look at her as she covers her mouth with her hand. Her sweet blue eyes are drowning in foreboding terror. I try to stay detached from her emotions, and continue, “It’s brand new technology, hot off the press, and it wasn’t supposed to be on the market for another month or two, but I guess Nick pulled some strings to get his hands on it early.”

Quinn whistles low into the phone. “Well, that is one hell of a monkey wrench thrown into the mechanics of our plans, isn’t it?” Despite Quinn’s muscle power, out of all of us, he’s actually the best technical guru to handle all electronic devices.

“I thought you said incoming signals were damn near nil out at the cabin.” I grow irritable with an accusatory tone while I walk toward Jules and sit down beside her. I grab her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, trying to give her some level of comfort while I work this out with Quinn.

“With that type of new technology, Travis, I’m sure they received a lot of false positives over the last few weeks, meaning those signals had to have been extremely weak, especially given where the cabin is located. I think maybe that’s why it took them so long to find you.”

“So what now?”

“I’ll let the other guys know, and we’ll reassemble while you calm your woman down. I’m sure she’s a wreck over the news.”

“Yeah, shock is more like it right now.”

“You know, since we did want to draw them out, knowing what we know now…well, it can give us the upper hand. We’ll just have to be more vigilant, because once you step out into the streets, it’s fair game. I can only imagine this will unfold very quickly.” He pauses for a brief moment, saying something in the background to Stryker before he returns to me. “This does put her at more at risk, you know. Are you willing to expose her like that?” A deep sigh escapes me as I close my eyes and think for a long moment. “Travis?” Quinn prods, trying to get me to respond.

“I’m here,” I reluctantly reply. I force myself to come to a hard and fast decision, one that will put Jules back in the line of fire, but it’s the only way. “Let’s do this,” I say with resolve. Quinn and I talk for a few more minutes, working out a few semantics. Some of what we say is in code, so Jules can’t decipher all of the conversation, and by the time I hang up, her face has drained of color.

She pulls her hand out of mine and stands up, clutching her robe tightly around her body for false security. She stutters in dazed shock, “I’ve got something in me?” Her voice escalates in panic, and all I can do is give her a quick nod.

“Oh, God!” She goes weak in the knees, and her legs lose control as she slinks to the floor with a stunned look on her face.

Rushing to her side, I kneel down on the floor in front of her and cup her cheeks with both of my hands.
My poor Jules.
I lean forward and slow my speech, wanting her to comprehend my every syllable. “I need you to listen to me, and pay close attention to my words.” The pleading in my voice matches the desperation in my eyes. “I need you to trust me, Jules. I’ve got you,” I implore. I don’t know what else to say to convince her of this. I’ve already shown her that I’d take a bullet for her, and I’d do it again without hesitation.

She breathes short, tight breaths, indicating the beginnings of a panic attack, and if I don’t find a way to calm her down, she’ll be on the brink of having a full-blown meltdown within seconds. I rest my forehead against hers, and softly assure her, “Baby, to the best of my ability, I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you. They will have to pry you from my dead fingers if that has to be the case.”

I lightly kiss her lips and whisper, “I’m here, baby. I’m not going to leave your side for a split second. The guys and I have put a game plan into motion, and you need to calm down so we can go over it together. I need your head on straight.”

Taking her by both hands, they tremble in my hold as I carefully lift her to her feet.

I guide her to the edge of the bed and have her sit down as I squat in front of her. Poor thing looks like a zombie coming off crack cocaine. A tear slips from the corner of her eye, and my chest constricts from the sight of her distress.

I don’t know how to calm her frayed nerves, and I have to be careful how I approach the sensitive subject of the man chase at hand, but I can’t sugarcoat the severity of what’s going on either. Shit’s getting ready to hit the fan at warp speed, and there is no hiding that fact.

Speaking in a gentle, yet serious tone, I tell her, “Jules, I need you to listen to me, and do everything I’m fixin’ to tell you to do. I have protective gear here, and both of us are going to wear it, okay?” She squeezes her eyes tightly, which forces two more tears to leak out the sides of her eyes. She takes in a deep, shaky breath while making the most God-awful face, as if she’s in pain.

“Shit, baby,” I quickly explain, “I never wanted you to be in harm’s way. I promise. I knew the cost when I took you, and to be honest, I expected this shit storm, but I thought I could at least tuck you away somewhere safe while I dealt with the repercussions.”

“Travis, get it out of me.” Her voice quivers as it pitches to a high note as she pleads, “Please, I don’t care if you have to use a pocket knife; just get it out of me.” Her hands ball into tight fists, expressing her extreme anxiety.

“Unfortunately, now is not the time,” I state calmly as I shake my head. “We have a window of opportunity to gain the upper-hand on these guys, and catch them off guard.”

“No…no…no…” she chants, not understanding what I’m trying to say.

“Listen to me,” I urge, cradling her face in my hands. “If they suspect we know nothing and we act oblivious to the tracker, they will think they’re still in control. In fact, the more natural we act, the better. I guarantee you they’ve already located us, sweetheart, and it’s simply too late in the game to change what we’re doing.”

A visible shiver rolls over her entire body, and I pull her into my arms. All of her extremities tremor with fear. I kiss the top of her head as I whisper over her, “Please believe me. It guts me to have to drag you into this. I will guard you with my life.” I pull back and search her misty eyes. “Do you believe me…that I would protect you with my very life?”

I wipe away a stray tear with my thumb, her lips quivering as she replies softly, “I do believe you, Travis.”

I close my eyes and savor her words. I lay my head against her chest, pulling her into me for a tight embrace. I inhale the sweet scent of Jules into my lungs, wanting to commit everything about her to memory should this day go awry. Her trembling fingers thread through my hair as she holds me in the comfort of her bosom.

Her voice softly drifts over my head. “I’m really scared, Travis, and I don’t know why, but a large part of me believes you are really trying to protect me.” Her voice cracks as if she’s in agony, and her fingers tighten in my hair. “I’m running on blind faith here. You can’t even begin to imagine how hard this is for me. I didn’t see so many things coming at me—from the kidnapping, to the car wreck, and then the invasion. The element of surprise has always been against me. I’ve been blindsided at every turn, and quite frankly, I’m tired of life taking
me
by the horns.”

I lift my head from her chest and look into her eyes with all seriousness. “It’s too dangerous for you to know anything,” I stress emphatically. “You don’t understand; you already know too much as it is. I can’t…you can’t…afford to know any more than you already do if they capture you.”

“Travis, I’m already as good as dead.”

My eyes bolt open wide. “No, baby, they want you alive. It’s me they want dead. What you need to understand is you will pay the price for being with me. A
big
price.”

“But
you
took
me
, Travis.”

“That simple fact doesn’t matter to them.” If Nick were to get her again, she has no idea what her life would be like post-capture, and I’m on edge just thinking about it. I pray I’m wrong, but I’d fear he’d torture her, trying to extrapolate information out of her, especially if she didn’t satisfy his curiosity.

“When this is over—” she starts off, but I interrupt.

“When this is over, I will tell you whatever you want to know, and some things you’ll wish you never knew…if that’s what you want.”

“I’m just sick of being in the dark and thrown in harm’s way at every turn. This is just too much.”

I cup her cheeks and search her eyes. “Sweetheart, this is the last thing on Earth I want to do; believe me. They are tracking you, and they will always be tracking you, unless we put an end to it. Right now, we have serious backup. I have better protection on you than the Pope, and I promise not to leave your side for a single second. Don’t you want to put an end to this chase? Put an end to the people who are after you once and for all?”

She closes her eyes and remains silent for a moment, thinking about everything I just said. “What do you want me to do then?” she asks in a voice of resignation.

“Your job is to stay within inches of me at all times. It’d be nice if you were to hang all over me too,” I say with a sheepish grin. “Maybe even act like we’re in love. That’s all I need you to focus on. I’ll handle the rest.”

With her eyes downcast at the floor, she knots her hands in her lap, and mumbles, “Yes, well, that won’t be so hard to do.”

“What did you just say?” I ask with incredulity lining my voice as my heart hammers in my chest. I lift her chin to search her eyes for the truth. “Say it again,” I softly demand.

Her eyes are rimmed in red as she stares at me dead-on, full of genuineness. “I think I
had
fallen in love with you, Travis, and I don’t know whether or not it’s a Stockholm thing, or if I’ve truly lost my mind.” A couple tears of frustration spill over her cheeks as she hoarsely whispers, “How can I love and hate someone so much, all at the same time?”

“Oh, baby.” I lean in and give her a gentle kiss on the lips. “I don’t like to hear the past tense of
had fallen in love
, but soon, real soon, I plan on hearing nothing but the present tense. You can’t hate me, Jules; you just can’t. I’m not the enemy here,” I whisper the last words on a plea.

“I don’t know anything anymore, Travis.” She sounds so downhearted and unsure of herself. I pray to God she can find it in her heart to forgive me, and truly love me one day.

“Soon, I promise you…very soon, there will be no more lies.” I look at the stone in her necklace, which glistens in the morning light. As much as I want to, I can’t tell her this necklace is her lifeline should our plans go south and she gets captured. I need this secret to be mine, because hell if I know where her head is right now. She’s been through too much for me to be able to predict her thoughts and next moves anymore. Shit, for all I know, if she knew what was in this necklace, she could decide to ditch the medallion and take off to God knows where. Of course Nick would be the one to find her then, since he’s on the other end of the GPS tracker in her hip.

These bastards need to be dealt with now while the chase is hot; otherwise, I’d take the damn tracker out myself this very minute. The device will be like drawing bees to honey, and as soon as they expose themselves, my men and I will take them out. I’m certain Jules will survive the war. It’s surviving the aftermath I’m concerned about.

Jules

“Relax, baby,” Travis nonchalantly says, as if there's not a team of killers tracking us down, ready to pop out in front of us at any moment.

“That's easy for you to say. Not only are you a very skilled marksman, you're also used to this type of villainous lifestyle.” I’m not being a smart ass. My nerves are wrecked, and he makes walking the plank look so easy.

He arches one of his brows as a half-grin easily spreads across his lips. “You’re not doing so bad surviving in this lifestyle yourself. Now, do you want to start smiling, or do I need to kiss you stupid again so you can start relaxing?” he asks, then he glances to his left, noticing an alleyway. “Mmm…I wonder how many kisses it will take before you’ll be willing to have me right in this alley.” He looks at me out of the corner of his eye, wearing a cocky smirk.

Immediately, I blush and look the other way. A deep chuckle escapes him, and I just want to smack him for being so relaxed and carefree right now. Apparently, my non-answer is unacceptable, because when I don’t respond fast enough for his liking, he makes a move. I squeal and lose sight of the sidewalk beneath my feet as he wraps his arms around my body, lifts me up off the ground, and then twirls me around.

“Travis, put me down,” I giggle. The man must have a death wish. How can he look at the perils of danger and laugh in its face? He couldn’t be any more unaffected by what lays around the corner. “Stop. This is not the time for playing.”