JACE (Lane Brothers Book 3) (14 page)

Trace

It’s been two days since I married my man and I feel so joyous that it’s almost embarrassing to go down to breakfast or even really just get out of bed in the morning, because I know I have this goofy grin on my face that just won’t quit.

It’s dumb, I know it is, but I feel so loved that I can’t even remember a day when Jace wasn’t mine and I wasn’t his.

It’s just as I’m thinking about skipping breakfast to avoid Miah and Wyatt’s knowing glances and Jace’s grin when my cell phone rings and I answer with a chirpy hello.

“Trace?”

My heart stops beating and I’m lightheaded with relief when I hear her sweet voice over the line.

“Paulie? Is that you, sweetie? Where are you?”

I have so many questions right now, and since it’s been brought to my attention that she might be a two-timing bad girl, I should really consider feeling less giddy, but right now all I know is that I’ve been worried and I’m elated to be hearing from her.

“Trace, I-I’m in so much trouble right now,” she says and I hear the sob catch in her throat as the last word leaves her lips.

I can’t ignore this. I hear the muffled sounds of a her cries and feel her fear even from this distance.

“Paulie, honey, where are you?” I ask as she struggles to get herself under control to answer me.

This woman is my best friend and I love her like a sister. She’s in trouble and she needs me, and I swear to God, if anyone has harmed her in any way, I’ll murder them without a thought.

Even if it does turn out that she’s not who I thought she was.

“I need you to come get me, Trace. Please.”

“Uh, okay. Let me just get, Jace, and—”

“No! No, you can’t tell anyone, Tracy. Please, I’m begging you. They all think I’m one of them, and I can’t…please, just come and get me and I swear I’ll tell you everything.”

I already know I shouldn’t do it, but my friend needs me.

“They said that if you don’t come and get me, if you come with anyone else and they see you…they’ll kill me, Trace. I‘m so scared.” She sobs again and I feel my blood turn to ice in my veins at her words.

That’s the point when my training kicks in and I’m already running out of the room and for the stairs when she starts crying for real.

Jared. I need Jared right now before I lose this connection
, I think, almost falling my way down half a flight of stairs when I trip over my shoelace.

“Paulie, just calm down, honey. Who are
they
? Are you in trouble or something, babe?”

I need to stall for time as I fall three steps to the bottom and come back to my feet, running full out for the dining room and the people sitting there.

The moment I get through the door, Jace is on me as if sensing my anxiety, and I collapse against him while wheezing and mouthing Paulie’s name.

That brings Jared out of his chair so fast, the arm shatters when it hits the ground.

“Paulie? Honey, are you still there?” I ask, struggling for breath as the Lane brothers start running for Jared’s rooms while Jace hoists me up and follows at a fast clip.

“I-I’m here, Trace. Please help me. They’re going to kill me if you don’t come and meet me. Ow! Ahh!”

“Paulie! Who are they? What the hell is going on?” I yell when she screams and starts crying uncontrollably.

“Trace, hello, Miss Mayfield,” an electronic voice says suddenly as Paulie cries out again, the cries muffled this time as I hear the sound of flesh meeting flesh.

“Wh-who is this?” I ask, my voice trembling as I watch Jared scramble to his computer and start typing furiously as Miah rolls his hand, gesturing for me to keep them on the line as long as possible.

“Who I am is not important, Miss Mayfield. It’s what I will do to your little friend you should be worried about.”

“Please don’t hurt her,” I plead, cringing when Jace hits the speaker button and the sound of Paulie crying out in pain echoes throughout the room.

I hear Jared growl and can almost feel the violence coursing through the air when Paulie cries out again and starts sobbing.

“She’s been a bad girl, Miss Mayfield. She started asking questions that are better left unanswered. You can have her back, though—for a price, of course,” the tinny voice drawls, making me clench my teeth against the need to tell this animal to go fuck himself.

“What do you want?”

Laughter follows and I feel Jace tense against me as his arms come around me to hold me up when my knees threaten to buckle at the sound of more hitting and Paulie’s pain-filled cries.

“You tell me where she is, Tracy, if I can call you that…”

“Fine,” I grit out between my teeth, watching Jared go crazy on his computer when Paulie cries again, louder this time, and after the unmistakable thud of a fist striking again. “Who is she?”

More laughter follows and I close my eyes as shivers track down my spine.

“You know who, Tracy. Do not play dumb or I’ll take my mood out on your pathetic little friend here. She’s a screamer, Tracy. Would you like to hear?”

“No! No, please, don’t hurt her anymore. I’ll do whatever you want, just leave her alone,” I scream, going to my knees as tears course down my cheeks.

“I want to know where she is.”

“Who?”

“You know!”

“No, I—”

“You have an hour to decide whether your secrets are more important than your friend’s life, Tracy dear. I’ll give you that time to decide while I have some fun with Paulette. I’ll call back in an hour.”

“No! Wait!”

I’m screaming and crying hysterically as the line goes dead and I hear Jared yell out a curse before something heavy goes crashing into the wall.

“Babe.”

“They have her, Jace. They have Paulie and she sounded so scared and they were hurting her,” I sob, completely falling apart as the gravity of the situation hits me.

She’s been gone for days now, and if they’re having that much fun hurting her, how long has she had to endure that treatment?

Jace closes his eyes and pulls me closer, keeping a tight hold on me as I struggle to stem the flow of tears.

“They know about Lynn. How do they know about Lynn?” I ask, finally calming enough to take a deep breath and pull away with only a few hiccups.

Miah and Wyatt are standing off to the side and are completely silent. I wait for some answer while Jared seems to be on the verge of a breakdown.

“I don’t know, babe. No one knows. Just the family,” he answers, looking at Jared with raised brows.

“It’s only us. Not even Ma and Pop know yet. It’s just us,” he snarls, throwing a fist through the drywall.

“That is obviously not true anymore so let’s try to think here, guys. They want that crazy person back and will obviously not stop till they get her. Paulie is in trouble here and we need to get her before they do something terrible to her, so think!”

Yelling is not a good idea now. Emotions are high and extremely volatile, especially with Jared looking like he could happily rip someone’s head off with his bare hands, but I’m wound so tight right now that I feel like I could snap at any moment, too.

We need to go get Paulie and start looking for Roman and that Goddamned safety-deposit box before these animals start pulling out the big guns.

“We can’t tell them,” Wyatt finally says, shrugging apologetically. “We can’t have that woman leading her people again. We may not survive it this time. With her resources and God knows who behind her, she could get to us all. I have a wife and child to consider here, and I won’t risk them for—”

“She’s mine! And you want to just leave her in their clutches? They will fucking kill her, Wyatt!” Jared roars, stalking towards Wyatt with blood in his eyes.

“Whoa, Jared, calm down, bro. Wyatt is not saying that we should leave one of ours to those animals, are you, Wyatt?” Miah grits out, holding Jared at bay with a hand to his chest.

“No, you assholes. What I’m trying to say without risk of being ripped limb from limb is that we need to put some measures in place before we give Lynn’s location up! Jesus, Jared, do I look like a fucking monster to you, bro?” he yells, shoving a hand through his hair as Ma and Pop come through the doors with Ellie and Clari hot on their heels.

“What the hell is going on here? Tracy looks ready to pass out and Jared…boy, what the hell is going on?” Pop demands, as Ma goes to Jared and tries to calm him.

“They have Paulie and they say they’re going to kill her if we don’t give Lynn to them,” Jared grits out, shaking his mother off with an apology.

That makes them all pause and I see both Pop and Ellie pale at the words.

“Lynn?” Ellie squeaks, looking ready to pass out.

Wyatt is there in a heartbeat and I watch as he wraps his arms around her and starts crooning and whispering softly to her while Pop frowns darkly and Ma just looks confused.

“She’s dead. What the hell could they want form a dead woman?” Ma demands.

I share a look with the brothers and we all shrug before Miah sighs and turns to his parents while Clari takes his hand.

“Lynn didn’t die at the cabin like I told you all. She was badly injured after I shot her, but she survived it,” he admits, rubbing at his eyes in misery when Ma gasps and Pop staggers before falling onto the sofa.

“She’s alive? Where?” he demands, turning a shade of red that has poor Ma rushing to him to calm him.

“We had her in a mental hospital in Texas. She’s been there for months after she survived my bullet. Only Roman and I knew till recently, and I made the others swear not to breathe a word after they found out. Pop—”

“Christ, Miah! You couldn’t tell me this? What the hell is wrong with you, boy? Don’t you know that she’ll stop at nothing to destroy us? This whole mess is her making and now, now they want her back. By God, if she’s free we’re all dead,” he roars, patting Ma’s hand when she starts crying.

Miah blanches and I feel his pain when he turns to his parents with regret shining in his eyes.

“I was a fool to let her live and I know it now, but at the time I just wanted her to suffer what Ellie did. I am so sorry,” he says, looking at Ellie with so much regret and angst. “I should have just left her there to bleed out.”

Ellie shakes her head and untangles Wyatt’s arms to go to Miah. She hugs him, and I see her smile sadly before pulling away to look at them all.

“She doesn’t deserve death. And I don’t care who thinks I’m wrong. You saved me and shot her even though she’s your blood. That makes you my hero. What do we do?”

Hot damn. If I was into women, I think I just fell in love with this little spitfire.

Wyatt chuckles and Pop shakes his head as if we’re all insane.

“We tell them where she is and get Paulette Hayes back is what we do. Wyatt, get eyes on that place Miah has her in and make Goddamned sure no one is in or out without us knowing. Jared, calm down before you give yourself or me a fucking heart attack, and Miah, son, stop looking like the world’s about to end. We have work to do, so you all better get your shit together. Judy, hand me the phone, babe. I have some calls to make.”

Jace

The way my pop just jumps in and starts barking orders as Miah gathers the women together and Ma jumps into action is so amazing that it takes me a minute to realize that Trace is still quiet and shaking beside me.

Gathering her up in my arms, I stand and walk over to the sofa, pulling her over and onto my lap as I sit down and just take it all in.

This is really happening, and while I know I should be worried and coming up with a way to avoid Lynn getting free of her chains, all I can wonder is how they know she isn’t dead.

The easiest answer is usually the best one, and when I look up and meet Miah’s eyes, I know that he’s thinking the same thing. The anguish and hatred I see in his eyes is heartbreaking, but all I can think is that Roman, our Roman, has betrayed us all.

He’s the only one besides us who knew. Hell, he helped Miah put that bitch in her hole over a year ago, and he kept Miah together when he got so wild about just killing her that it took Roman two days of never leaving the guy’s side to talk him out of going to Texas to rectify his mistake.

“Jace?”

“Yeah, babe?” I respond, looking down to see Trace staring back at me with pain and regret.

“Do you think it was him, Jace?”

Shit, I should know by now that Trace is way too smart not to have realized that right off the bat.

I want to lie and say hell no, of course Roman wouldn’t betray us this way, but right now all I can think is that he is the only one who knows. He’s the only one.

None of us have breathed a word, and Trace hasn’t even mentioned Lynn’s name since we got back from our little trip to the west.

She knows, and it breaks my heart that Miah and I aren’t the only ones to suspect this.

“I hope not, babe. I really fucking hope not. He’s my brother and I’d trust him with my life, but…”

“I know this looks bad, Jace, but don’t lose your faith in him. If he spilled his guts it must be for a reason. They could be…”

Torturing him,
I think when she doesn’t finish the thought. Yeah, that crossed my mind, too, and I almost hope that is the answer, because if Roman went and blabbed about Lynn, if he’s a traitor, I’m afraid of what Jared will do to his own brother if he finds out.

I’m not saying a word right now, and thank God the guy is too wrapped up in worrying about Paulette to have given anything else much thought.

Pop and Wyatt are handling damage control while Ma makes a breakfast we never go to, and I’m almost at peace with this shit when Trace’s cell phone rings an hour later. I jump at the sound.

“Hello?”

“Have you made your choice, Tracy?”

I feel her tense and rub her back soothingly as Miah nods slowly, letting her know that it’s okay.

“Yes. I’ll tell you, but how do I know you won’t go back on your word and keep Paulie after I tell you?”

The mechanical laughter echoes over the line, and I feel Trace shiver and tremble at the eerie-sounding cackle.

“You don’t, I suppose. You’ll just have to trust me, little Trace. You tell me where she is and I’ll leave your friend somewhere you can get her. Scout’s promise.”

Trace looks ready to start cussing and I squeeze her thigh in warning, letting her know that it’s okay. Antagonizing this prick is not a good idea right now.

We need to get Paulette out safely and then we can worry about the repercussions and keeping Lynn locked away.

“She’s a resident of the Briarview Mental Hospital in Austin, Texas. Now tell me where to get Paulie, asshole,” she hisses into the phone, her eyes closing in relief when a text comes through with an address.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Tracy. I’ll be seeing you soon.”

The line dies with a click and I’m not even halfway up and off the sofa before Jared sprints out of the room, Miah and Wyatt hot on his heels.

We all hit the drive and dive in after Jared, just barely avoiding being run over when the idiot just starts the engine and puts his foot flat before we’re even in the damned car.

“Jace!”

I look back as Trace comes flying out the door and wave with regret, knowing that she’s likely to be pissed that she’s being left behind.

“Jared.”

“Not yet, Jace. Just let me get my girl first. Just let me get my girl.”