Jax (The Protectors Series) Book #8 (18 page)

Chapter 28

Caroline paced around her house with her phone in her hand. She was a nervous wreck and didn't know what to do with herself.

She had gotten her gun, actually put her clip in, but kept the safety on and had it within reach. A knock on her door scared her to death. Snatching the gun carefully, she clicked the safety off—she could thank Jax for yelling at her repeatedly for that—and went toward the front door.

"Who is it?" she called out, wishing she had a peephole. It was something she would ask Jax to organize for her.

"It's me." Her dad's voice was clear and calm.

Caroline clicked the safety back on and opened the door. "Dad." Caroline hugged him. "Where's Mom?"

"She went home." Her dad let her go quickly and then closed the door.

"Why didn't she come with you?" Caroline found that strange. Her mom, especially with Jamie possibly missing, would be glued to her dad's side.

"She's so upset about Jamie that she…" A strange smile spread across her dad's face. "Ah, fuck it! I don't have time for this shit."

Confusion left Caroline wide-eyed and asking, "What?" Gasping for breath, she felt the color drain from her cheeks as her dad changed before her into a man she'd never laid eyes on before.

She raised the gun, but had no chance to switch off the safety before he took it from her, bending her wrist at an odd angle. She heard the crack before the pain overwhelmed her, radiating throughout her whole body.

"Who are you?" Caroline cried, backing away from him. It was no use, he stalked her until she was up against the kitchen counter. She held her wrist protectively against her chest.

"It doesn't matter." The man pulled out rope from under his jacket. "I'm just here for a paycheck. After all the bullshit I've had to put up with I should have asked for more. After figuring out who in the hell your dad was and shifting into him to fool you, which wasn't hard at all by the way, I had to hurry over here before the boss man called them. Seeing the Warriors leave was my cue. It was go time."

"Why are you doing this?" Caroline watched his every move, wishing she could do something to get away, but it looked hopeless.

"As I said, for a paycheck." The man seemed to be more than happy to talk about the plans that had been made. "Mika grabbed your sister. He's in the process of making a trade with the Warriors. You for her."

Caroline tried not to scream when he tied her hands behind her. The pain from her broken wrist almost made her pass out. "They won't do that," Caroline finally gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Obviously since they have already left you, they have." He chuckled with a snort. "He knew all along the Warriors would ride off to save the day thinking they had us, but in truth, we got them, or should I say
you
. He really wants you dead in a bad way."

A small flicker of hope found its way through the pain. This man had no idea that the Warriors hadn't left because of Mika's plan. No, they'd left because Adam was reading Mika and knew his exact location. She prayed that Adam was still reading him and would be clued in to what was happening with her.

Next he tied her feet and then forced her to sit in a chair he'd moved into the center of the house. He tied her to it and then left the house. He returned with gas cans and started spreading the fluid everywhere, the pungent smell making her eyes and nose burn. Fear gripped her. She opened her mind, screaming for Jax, not having a clue if it would work.

"You'll never get away with this," Caroline hissed, trying to move in the chair, but he had her tied too tightly. "The Warriors will hunt you down. Remember Jax Wheeler's name because he's the one coming after you."

The shifter started to back out of the room, pouring gas as he went. "I'll be long gone before they even realize what's happened. My job was to kill you, and that's what I'm going to do." He stopped, giving her a look. "No hard feelings."

"Please, don't do this," Caroline begged, dread filling her. He had left the door open and she could see him ignite the gas, the flames racing toward the house, come up the front steps, and then she felt a breeze. She turned and saw Alisha kneeling next to her, anguish on her face. "Help me, Alisha. Go get Lana, please."

When Alisha just bowed her head, Caroline knew it would be too late for help and began to cry for things that would never be. She was more worried about how Jax was going to feel when he found her. That Mika had once again taken someone he cared about from him.

Leaning her head back, she opened her mind as wide as she could. "Jax!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as the heat became intense, the smoke thick.

******

Everyone followed Adam. It was late, with hardly any traffic at all, and if they ran into any, they got around it any way they could. Jax prepared his mind for what was to come, as he was sure everyone else did.

Suddenly, Adam swerved his bike, skidding it to a complete stop in the middle of the road and looked directly at Jax. Everyone came to a screeching halt, bikes sliding sideways to avoid hitting each other.

"Get back to Caroline's, now!" Adam screamed, a look of horror on his face.

Jax didn't hesitate as he turned around and took off. He didn't ask questions, but the look on Adam's face told him everything he needed to know. Caroline was in danger. Half followed Adam while the other half went with Jax. They hadn't gotten very far before Adam had stopped.

The smell of fire rode on the wind as he reached streets near to Caroline's. He opened his bike up, scanning the area. Pulling into her drive, he barely had time to register the flames fiercely licking at the building, too focused on the echo of his name. It was Caroline.

Through the open door and the dancing flames, he spotted her tied to a chair. He slowed but didn't stop as he rode his bike through the burning flames and into the house, bursting through the burning wood. He jumped off his bike as soon as he was near her, letting the bike go out the other side of the house through the flaming wall.

Caroline coughed, not a racking cough like he would have imagined. Instead, she drifted in and out of consciousness. He grabbed the rope at her wrists, giving it a snap to break her free. Her scream ripping through the building tore through him. He looked down and saw her wrist was clearly broken. He couldn't worry about that until he got her to safety. Once he had her out of the ropes, Jax picked her up, but as soon as he headed toward a spot to make a run for it, the ceiling collapsed, making escape impossible. He would be fine, but Caroline would be burned severely.

Anger and panic rode him hard as he turned, trying to find a safe way out for Caroline, but they were trapped. He turned again, this time seeing Blaze walking through the flames, as if there were a shield around him. The flames leaped away from him, clearing a path.

"Give me Caroline," Blaze ordered, taking her quickly.

Jax wanted to refuse. She was his responsibility, but knew his actions would cost her life. He watched as the same shield that surrounded Blaze encircled Caroline, and he wanted to drop to his knees with relief. Blaze headed through the flames with Caroline. Jax followed closely, his eyes never leaving her. He didn't care that his skin sizzled; he would be healed within minutes.

Fire trucks had pulled in and were getting set up to tackle the fire. Blaze bypassed the group of working firefighters and then carefully handed Caroline to Jax.

"Thank you." Jax had never been more relieved to have another in his arms until that moment. He'd almost lost her.

Blaze nodded, his concerned eyes still on Caroline, who was coughing and choking nonstop. "She needs oxygen."

Slade was already directing the medics their way. He hurried toward them. "Get her in the ambulance so they can start oxygen on her."

Jax did, laying her on the stretcher carefully. Slade got in beside her, taking over and positioning the oxygen mask on her. Jax wanted nothing more than to pull her away and hold her, but he stopped himself, getting his protectiveness under control.

"Her right wrist is broken," Jax informed him. His voice hitched with anger and fear.

"Is she burned anywhere that you know of?" Slade asked as he looked at her eyes, then adjusted the oxygen.

"No, I don't think so," Jax replied, his eyes not leaving her pale face. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I won't let her be any other way," Slade promised.

Jax stayed out of the way, but close enough to touch her. The horror of seeing her inside her burning house had terrified him. He would have burned alive to keep her safe and had felt so helpless until Blaze had stepped in. He could never repay the Warrior for what he'd done tonight.

She began coughing again, but not as bad. Slade once more adjusted the oxygen as the medics stood back, watching. Slade obviously didn't care he had taken over their jobs and Jax was glad he had. He trusted no one other than Slade with her life.

Jax took his eyes away from her long enough to look at her house. It was almost completely burned to the ground. Next to the building, he spotted four gas cans and his rage knew no bounds.

"My sister?" Caroline's voice reached him through his rage.

"They're going after her," Jax promised. He then glanced at his phone. No messages yet. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, her eyes looking past him to her house. "My guitar," she whispered, but loud enough for Jax to hear. Tears streaked her dirty face. "My house. No, not my house."

Jax tried to block her view of the fire, but he couldn't conceal the flames leaping at the darkening twilight sky.

"It wasn't Mika." Caroline pulled the mask off her face, her voice low and raspy from smoke inhalation. "Someone knocked on the door. I asked who it was and it was my dad, or I thought it was my dad." Caroline began coughing again.

"Caroline, you need to stop talking and keep the mask on your face," Slade ordered with a worried frown.

Caroline pulled it off again. "Mika wanted you away from me so he could kill me and it didn't matter who did it. He paid someone to do it."

Jax vowed then and there that whoever else was involved in putting Caroline in danger would be hunted by him personally. He carefully put the mask back on her face. "We'll talk about that later."

Jill came up to the ambulance and leaned in toward Jax, whispering, "They have Jamie and she's uninjured." Jill looked toward Caroline, then back to Jax. "They also have Mika."

"Where?" Jax growled, keeping his voice low. He didn't want Caroline upset.

"They just pulled in," Jill replied, then jumped out of the way as Jax quickly exited the ambulance.

His eyes searched for and found the van, knowing Mika was inside. Before he reached it, Sloan stepped in front of him. "Is Caroline okay?" His worried voice broke through to Jax, but his eyes stayed zeroed in on the van.

"Slade is working on her now, but yeah, she's going to be okay," Jax finally answered, his voice sounding inhuman.

"I'm not letting you anywhere near that van. We need answers from him." Sloan's voice hardened. "And there are too many human police around to do what needs to be done with your brother. We only stopped to offer you backup since we didn't know what the fuck was going on."

Jax knew what Sloan said was true, but to let Mika leave alive when he was right there within his grasp was almost too much for him to handle. His mind and body demanded it be settled immediately by killing the son of a bitch. The sound of Caroline coughing urged those feelings, but something else also came over him. She was what was important at that very moment and he needed to be by her side.

"You will have your day with him, Jax. No one touched him other than restraining him. He's yours to deal with." Sloan put his hand on his shoulder. "Trust me on that. No one will touch him. You have my promise."

Torn between knowing what he wanted to do and what he needed to do was a war that raged inside him. Sloan may think he could stop him, but he'd have a fight on his hands. Then he heard his name. It was Caroline calling him.

"Go." Sloan nodded toward the ambulance. "Take care of her so your mind is right when you take care of your brother."

Jax's black eyes shifted from the van, where he knew Mika sat, to Sloan, who watched him closely. With a growl, he nodded, then turned and walked away. It was one of the hardest things he had ever done.

Jax got back in the ambulance and looked down at Caroline. With a shaking hand, she touched his cheek. "I heard Jill. Go, Jax," she said, this time without removing the mask. "I'm fine."

There it was. Her permission to go, take care of his brother. He knew the van hadn't left yet. Knew his brother was only a few feet away, but yet he stared into her bloodshot eyes and knew without a doubt that his life had just changed in that instant.

"I'm not going anywhere," Jax replied, kissing the palm of her hand. His priority lay before him, injured. At that exact moment, he knew the devil himself couldn't pull him away from her.

Chapter 29

Jax sat in the waiting room waiting for Slade. It was determined that Caroline had to have surgery on her wrist. He had offered to give her his blood for healing, but Slade was afraid the break was too complex and wouldn't heal correctly.

Her parents, and Jamie, along with Lana, Sid, Jill, and Steve also waited. Slade entered the waiting room. "She did great." Relief filtered through Jax, calming his pounding blood and the knot in his stomach. "She's already been in recovery and has been placed in a private room. She needs a couple of days with oxygen so she's going to have to stay."

"Her wrist?" Jax closed his eyes at the news, embracing the welcome reprieve on his nerves.

"The surgery went extremely well and it should heal with no problems." Slade focused on Jax. "She wants to see you, Jax. Then she wants to see everyone."

Jax followed Slade to the room, barely able to restrain himself from rushing in. Caroline lay with the oxygen mask going full blast. Her face remained pale. She was hooked up to monitors and IVs, and as much as he absolutely hated seeing her like this, he was so relieved that she was breathing.

"Hey." Her voice was weak and hoarse.

Jax walked next to the bed and carefully placed a kiss to her forehead. "How you feeling?"

"Actually, pretty darn good." Caroline smiled with a chuckle, making her muffled voice more difficult to understand. "They pumped some pain meds in me and I'm liking it… a lot."

Jax laughed, brushing her hair off her face. His laughter died. "I'm sorry, Caroline."

"You hush," Caroline scolded him. She tried to remove her mask so she could speak more clearly, but he prevented her. Undeterred, she continued, "You've nothing to be sorry for. Now I'm probably going to sleep the rest of the day. I'm fine, Jax, but I need you to do something for me."

"Anything." Jax leaned down to hear her, her voice growing so low.

Her eyes opened wide and looked totally clear. "I want you to go take care of your business with Mika." When he started to say something, she hushed him again. "I want this over as I know you do. Do it, Jax. I want a life with you. With Mika still in the background, I don't feel that's possible. Do what you have to do, what needs to be done. If you don't…"

"If I don't?" Jax frowned.

"No sucky-sucky for you." She barked out a laugh at the shocked look on his face. "Sorry, it's the pain meds talking."

"Sure it is." He chuckled.

"Seriously, Jax." Caroline again opened her eyes to stare at him. "I love you, but you need to take care of this and then come back to me. Now, go and send in the rest of the crew so they can make fun of me while I'm on these pain meds, but please don't let them post any videos on Facebook or YouTube. "

Jax carefully kissed her on the lips. "I love you." For such a long time he couldn't even say those three words, now he couldn't stop staying them. That single moment in the ambulance when she urged him to leave her to take care of his brother told him everything he needed to know. She understood him and accepted him for who and what he was. Yet, even with her blessing of letting him go, he couldn't leave her until he knew she was going to be okay.

“Just promise to come back to me.” Caroline whispered her eyes fighting to stay open. “Please come back to me.”

“I’ll always come back to you, Caroline.” Jax leaned over and kissed her forehead. She had already dozed off so he stood, staring at her for a few minutes before turning and leaving the room. Emotion so powerful flooded through him, ready to choke him. He went to the waiting room to send in everyone else, but stopped Slade.

"Can I borrow your car?" Jax glanced between Slade and Jill.

"You good, or do you need me to drive you?" Jill asked helpfully.

"I'm good, thanks." He quickly replied, remembering the driving lessons he gave her. Yeah, he was good. He turned, walking away. "I'll bring it back soon."

"We’ll meet you there," Slade called out, the hidden meaning behind those words plain to Jax.

******

After leaving the hospital, Jax went directly to Sloan's office. After being briefed about everything that had happened from the point of them finding Jamie to his incarceration, Jax anxiously left Sloan's office and headed straight toward the interrogation room where Mika had been kept as uncomfortably as possible. He nodded at Damon, who stood guard outside the room, then opened the door. He knew the rest of the Warriors were nearby for what was to come.

He walked in, observing Mika sitting at the table, chained to a chair.

"Hey, brother." Mika grinned. "Heard the little cunt made it out of the fire. Way to go, hero."

Forcing his face to remain impassive, Jax walked over and punched Mika in the mouth. Feeling slightly less ready to rip Mika apart that second, he pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Okay, that hurt a little bit." Mika spat blood, then ran his tongue along his teeth.

"Who did you hire to set the fire?" Jax asked, his tone level, without even a hint of hate edging his voice. He was past hating his brother.

"Fuck you!" his brother spat, but instead of blood, his hatred spewed forth.

Jax reacted quickly, punching Mika in the throat. "Wrong answer."

Once Mika was able to talk, which he had to try to do three times, he continued to be a bastard. "You know this has nothing to do with the bitch or her sister." Mika rolled his head back and forth. Pausing, his gaze zeroed in on Jax, his eyes filled with contempt.

"Who did you hire to set the fire?" Jax repeated, not falling for his goading.

"My goal has been and will always be to see you suffer," Mika sneered. "I want you to live forever and watch every person in your life die knowing it was your fault. Just like Alisha, who died because of you."

"Send Adam in," Jax called, his eyes never leaving Mika.

"You were always pathetic," Mika hissed in agitation that Jax wasn’t taking the bait. "Father didn't want to banish me, but because of you, he had no choice."

Jax ignored him, knowing it was a lie that he wouldn't fall for, and waited for Adam. He was not playing Mika's games.

Adam walked in, closing the door behind him. He stared at Mika without saying a word. "The guy's name is Tarvin McMann."

"Pretty impressive." Mika stared at Adam. "Tell him what I'm thinking now."

Adam laughed, then looked at Jax. "Please tell me you're going to kill this son of a bitch and soon."

Jax didn't respond, just stared at Mika.

"Oh, and Tarvin drives a black Ford Ranger. He's supposed to meet up with this asshole tomorrow at the bus station for his money at… 6:00 p.m. He was going to stand him up anyway." Adam gave him an evil grin. "The harder you try to block, the easier you are to read… fucker. And yeah, I'm the one who fucked up your plans."

"Oh, I have many more plans," Mika spat toward Adam. "You young fuck. Just wait, I'll make you suffer right along with this piece of shit."

"Thanks, Adam," Jax dismissed Adam. He had every intention of being there to meet the fucker, Tarvin. For now, his main focus was on Mika.

"No problem." Adam gave Mika a knowing grin as he left the room.

"Guess that's all I need from you." Jax stood and started to remove the silver chains holding him to the chair.

"Oh, great." Mika stretched. "Where to now?"

"Hell," Jax responded, stepping away to give him room to walk by. The flash of fear in Mika's eyes gave Jax some satisfaction, but not enough.

Sloan opened the door, pulling Mika out of the room. Sloan and Duncan were on each side, with Damon in front and Jax behind. They headed into another room where Damon hit a button on the wall. The wall slid open, exposing a hidden elevator. The men stepped inside. Damon hit the down button and the door closed.

"What, no music?" Mika responded. His fear couldn't be disguised by his bravado. It filled the elevator, sending a spark of satisfaction through Jax. 

The doors opened into a large room. Slade, Jill, Steve, Jared, Adam, Blaze, and Sid were all present. Sloan and Duncan shepherded Mika to the middle of the room and then moved away. Jax walked up and stood in front of him.

"What is this?" Mika looked around, his gaze once more landing on Jax.

"You and I are going to settle this once and for all." Jax looked toward the Warriors. He'd made a promise to Caroline that it would be finished today. She had been right. With Mika, there was no future for them and today, that would change, one way or another. "I don't care what happens. I do not want anyone stepping in. What will be… will be."

Each Warrior gave a nod of acceptance, but didn't say a word—well, except for Jared.

"You hear that?" Jared glanced at Damon. "No decapitations."

"We'll see," Damon responded, still staring straight ahead.

"You against me?" Mika laughed nervously. "I've beaten you at everything."

Jax took off his shirt, tossing it aside. "We've never paired up in a fair fight. Today we will and you will lose." Jax took a step forward. "Each name inked on my skin is a person you killed. Today, each will get their revenge from your flesh."

"Oh, you want to play that way?" Mika tilted his head. "Okay, I'll play."

Everyone watched as Mika shifted into an older Indian man. "Son, you failed us."

"Your games won't work." Jax cut him off before he could say anything more. Instead, he moved into his space and punched Mika in the face. The contact forced Mika to shift back. "So step up and fight like a man." Jax shoved him across the room.

Mika's roar echoed as he charged Jax, but Jax stepped completely out of the way, punching Mika in the back of the head as he passed. Mika turned, his face flamed with rage.

"Who you going to turn into next?" Jax cracked his neck back and forth. "How about Alisha? Go ahead, Mika, shift. You owe her flesh and I'll be happy to collect on her behalf."

This time when Mika rushed him, Jax took the hit, then flipped his brother over in a body slam, landing on top of him. Jax pressed the heel of his hand against Mika's throat to push himself up.

"Seems without your tricks, you're just a little pussy. Without your band of renegades to slaughter innocents, you are nothing," Jax hissed, then spat on him. "You are nothing, Mika. Get up and face me."

Weapons decorated the room and Mika spotted them. He crawled to a knife and grabbed it. Jax allowed him to take it, unconcerned by the coward before him. Mika stood and rushed toward Jax, slashing wildly. Jax took a slash on the arm as he used both hands on each side of Mika's wrist to dislodge the knife from his grip. Jax caught the knife in midair, flipped it, grasped the handle and buried it in Mika's shoulder. "That was for Alisha, you son of a bitch."

Mika's scream of pain reverberated around the room. Jax had slammed it down so hard that part of the handle was buried in his shoulder.

"Here, let me help you." Jax knocked Mika's hands away from the knife, put his foot on his crotch, and pushed with his foot as he yanked the knife out, making sure that it moved as much as possible. Jax tossed the knife away. "You want to try the sword next?"

"That's it." Mika dropped to his knees. "I give."

Unmoved by Mika's pathetic attempt for leniency, Jax's laugh was bitter. "Did you give mercy to the innocent women and children who you murdered, or the elders who you scalped?" When Mika remained silent, Jax grabbed him by his throat, lifting him to face him. "No, you didn't. So I will show no mercy to you. I could have killed you outright and no one here would have said a word, but I'm giving you a chance to win the fair way. That's why you will lose. You don't know the fair way."

Mika's hard stare was filled with hatred. "I enjoyed killing every one of those traitors. None of them stood up for me," Mika wheezed. "I would do it all over again if I had the chance. And as for Alisha, she only loved you. She hated me. I hope the bitch burns in hell."

Powerful fists met warm flesh as Jax unleashed his pain as well as justice on Mika. The bastard had been in this world long enough. When Mika was close to passing out, Jax forced him on his knees as he grabbed a hand full of hair tilting his brothers head back so he had to stare up at him. Reaching behind him with his free hand, he removed the knife he always carried.

“Many of our people went to meet death in shame because of your disrespect.” Jax gripped the knife handle tightly. “It is time for fate to claim you in death, but I am your reaper.”

“You would do this to your own brother?” Mika stared up at him, his mouth set in a hateful sneer.

“You are no brother to me.” Jax replied evenly. The sound of chanting echoed in his head and for a slight moment, he wondered if it was his ancestors giving their blessing on what he was about to do, but his eye rose from Mika. The Warriors watched, their voices in time with each other as they chanted in the old language, their fists slamming against their chests. They were his true brothers.

Jax began a chant of his own, loud enough that Mika heard him. It was the death chant of their ancestors. For just this moment, he was not a VC Warrior, but a Native American from old. Lifting the knife, he yanked hard on Mika’s scalp with his other hand as the knife slid across Mika’s skin like butter. Yeah, he kept his knife that sharp.