Safer With You (30 page)

I take a glance behind me, hoping someone will see, will help, but the only thing I see is Luke’s body and blood.
 

Chapter Thirty

Jase

Of course, Samantha has taken this moment to make her contribution speech and to announce that our engagement is back on. I keep telling myself I will only be gone for a few minutes, then I can get back to Nora.

God, I hope she listened and stayed in that room.

My eyes roam while I’m up on stage at Samantha’s side. Everyone is where they are supposed to be, except Nora and Tucker are missing. I hope they’re together as I glance over the three exits of the room to check on the security personnel standing at attention.

At Nora’s table, Jenny and Max are lost in their own conversation, and more notably, Luke is missing.

This isn’t right; he would never miss this. Panic hits me like a bullet. He must have found Nora.

Samantha has a death grip on my arm while we stand on the obnoxious stage with dozens of banners praising Senator Malone. I need to see if Nora is alright. I should have never let her come tonight.

I rip Samantha’s claws from my arm and whisper in her ear, “I need to go.”

With a fake smile plastered on her face she says, “No, you stay, or I won’t hand over the check.”

Within seconds, I hear, “I want to thank the future Mrs. Jase Madsyn. She, along with the Harris family, are making a very generous contribution to this campaign.”

The crowd breaks into applause. She lets go of my arm to have her time in the spotlight. My eyes land on the senator watching me with narrowed eyes. He mouths the words, “Where is Michael?” then breaks into an evil grin.

No questions asked, nothing needs explaining. Luke has Nora. Luke was always going to give her over to Isaac.

I dash off the stage without caring if I’m a distraction or not. Passing the tables, I see Max; he immediately stands and follows at a fast pace behind me.

It seems as if it takes forever to reach the storage closet, but as I do, all the air from my lungs ceases. It’s open and no one is inside. She’s gone.

I rush from the vacant room, stumbling down the hall, rushing to find her. My eyes roam, looking for any signs for which direction she might have gone. When I reach the exit, it won’t open.
 

Something is in the way. Max helps me push the door, and on the other side is Tucker, out cold, face first on the concrete. “Tucker!” I kneel down to roll him over. He is bleeding from his forehead. Luckily, he’s breathing. Luke must have taken Tucker down, and now he has Nora.
 

“Fuckkk!”

“Jase, over here!” screams Max.

Jumping up and facing his direction, I see another body lying on the ground with a pool of blood around him and a crimson stained chest. Although I’m running as fast as I can, my world is playing in slow motion.

Luke lays before me. For the second time in minutes, I kneel down next to a body.

Luke moans in pain and his eyes grow wide when he sees it’s me.

“Isaac…Nora—he has her.” His words are barely audible.

“Luke, do you know where he took her? Are you in on this too?” I say with a fury I’ve never felt before, ready to kill.

“SUV, headed south.” He croaks as I pull out my cell and throw it to an ashen faced Max.

“Call an ambulance. Then get Uncle Joe on the phone and everyone who is available.”

I take my gun from its holster under my tux jacket, cock the gun, and hold the gun to Luke’s temple. “If you know anything, you better tell me now. I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

“I…I don’t know anything. She was yelling…at me…then he shot me.” His coughing interrupts his words, but he finds his voice as I push the gun harder into his temple. “I swear, Jase, I don’t know anything.”

“The senator said you were going to take her to Isaac. Did you? Did you fucking hand her over to him?”

Tears flow down Luke’s cheeks, “No! I swear, I don’t know anything. I love her too.”

I believe the sorry piece of shit. The tears in his eyes tell me he’s sincere, or at the very least, doesn’t want to be killed.

“Any idea where he’d take her?” He’s my only hope to find her.

“No, but my uncle has a house south of here. Maybe he’s taking her there.”

“I know it. Max, go get the car, have it waiting for me. I’ll be right back.”

“Jase, Jenny. I need to check on her.”

“Go! I’ll call if I need you.” He doesn’t hesitate and is gone before I can move.

I can’t feel anything. I’m stunned and ready to kill. Not sure what to do, I run back into the hotel and see that Tucker is now awake with another member of the security team helping him. Tucker wobbles to his feet.

“Sir, I’m sorry. That bastard hit me with a Taser.” Tucker has a white cloth pressed to his forehead. “Pussy mother fucker, if he faced me like a man, he’d be dead.”

“Come on, let’s go see where the senator is,” I order.

Samantha waits for me in the ballroom. “Where’s Nora?” I ask. I can tell by the smug look on her face, she was in on it too.

I see the knowing look on her face. Walking closer, she leans her vile lips close to my ear. “Maybe I know, and maybe I don’t,
fiancé
. Let’s put on a show and maybe I’ll give you a hint of where you can find her.”

“I’ll give you five minutes to tell me where the fuck she is before I walk out of here. Remember, I know all your dirty secrets. I know who your real father is, and I know he isn’t loaded.”

Her devil eyes widen. “How did you know?”

“I fucking know everything. Tell me where she is.”

She looks around the room and spots the senator. She smiles and gives him a quick wave. “Fine, Jase, but you will marry me. You owe me.” She turns her back to the senator and urges me back towards the exit. “Before I give you any information, I will make sure you marry me, and Nora will be out of your life.” Her venomous eyes narrow on me.

“Fine, I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll marry you when I find Nora, safe and sound.”

Whatever the fuck she wants, she can have. I’ll ruin her later. She’s forgetting who she’s negotiating with.

“Good. I’m glad you are so cooperative. The senator has already signed our marriage license. All you have to do is sign, and I’ll tell you where she is.”

Samantha whips a piece of paper from her purse. Destroyed, they will all be destroyed by the time I’m done with them. I take the pen she offers and sign my name.

“Thank you, Jase. This ensures your money and the power your name holds are now mine. I won’t need my family anymore, so your threat about telling my dear old daddy that he isn’t my daddy, is irrelevant.”

“Just tell me where the fuck she is.”

Samantha shrugs her shoulders and casually says, “Your girl is at the senator’s property and there is some kind of shed or room or whatever where Isaac has her. I’d go prepared for a fight. For whatever reason, he’s obsessed with the girl.”

I don’t give what she says another thought. Tucker is behind me as we head out to find Nora.

The black SUV pulls up, and I jump in the passenger side and Tucker slides in the back.

“Tucker, how do you feel?” I ask.

“My head hurts like a bitch, but I’ll be fine. Luckily, the bleeding stopped. Never thought a Taser would take me down.”

“You’ll have your chance for payback. Head to the senator’s property,” I order Roger, Tucker’s right hand man.

I fill them in on my conversation with Samantha. We sit in silence. I’m trying not to think the worst, but Isaac is a loose cannon. He flies off the handle easily, and if she’s his target, God only knows.

My legs bounce up and down with the anticipation of finding her. I can’t sit still, and there is nothing I can do to get us there quicker.

I promised to keep her safe and I failed. I prepared myself and my guys for worst case scenarios, but it was me who failed. I left her in that storage closet furious at me. I kept secrets from her, and now I may have lost her.

I’m holding my cell phone when it rings from an unknown caller.

“Madsyn,” I say.

“She is beautiful when she is sleeping. I’ve seen her still with beauty on two occasions now. I hope you are on your way alone,” Isaac’s voice punctures my ear.

“You’re dead, fucker; if you touch one hair…”

“Hush. She’s just fine, but I won’t be able to say the same for you.”

The phone goes dead, and so does my future.

Chapter Thirty-One

Nora

My eyes open and I have a headache. I groggily look around. Nothing looks familiar and my brain kicks in. Isaac.

He brought me to a shack in the middle of nowhere. My hands were tied behind my back, my mouth taped, and I was blindfolded while we drove here. Wherever here is. He graciously took off the blindfold and retied my hands in front of me, so that I could crawl down the ladder that led to this dim little hole in the ground.

He called it his dream room. I call it a dungeon. It’s a dingy cement block room. The room is sparse with only a folding table and two chairs in front of it. The table has several knives and a gun, but what I find scarier is that the table is covered with a lovely pink tulip table cloth and a tray with soda, sandwiches, and cake…beside the weapons.

Maybe this is for my last meal
. Tears spring to my eyes. I can’t think like that, not yet. Jase must know I’m missing by now, and he’ll find me. I was so stupid for not doing what he said, but he pissed me off by keeping what he knew about everyone from me.

My mouth is taped again and my hands are tied behind my back while I’m sitting on a hard wooden chair. Thankfully, he took off the blindfold.

I’m alone.
Thank God.
I take a deep breath of relief.

The room smells like Clorox and is burning my nose.

I have no idea where he went, but I’m hoping he stays gone for a while. I move the rope on my hands over the corner of the wooden spoke on the chair, hoping that maybe it will weaken with every pass.

I have no idea how long I’ve been down here. I wonder what I will do if I actually get my hands untied. Coming up with a plan is the only thing that’s going to save me. Before I can think of anything, I hear the door’s latch open and the clunk of boots on the wrought iron steps.

“Nora! My beauty is finally awake.” His sickly sweet voice sends shivers through my whole body. My stomach rolls at every syllable he speaks.

With the tape over my mouth, I can’t speak, but his dark soulless eyes drill into mine.

Then he grins like the devil he is.

“You really are quite beautiful. Even in your ripped gown, bruised face, and mussed up hair. I bet Jase will love that look.”

He releases his eyes from mine, stands taller, and walks towards the table. I’m sitting helpless in the middle of this concrete hell, racing with thoughts of what exactly he plans to do with those weapons.

His back is facing me. He’s wearing a red, blue, and black flannel shirt, dark denim jeans and brown work boots. His long black hair is pulled into a ponytail. As I sit here, I remember Miami. I always thought Zack was an attractive guy, polite but quiet. He never said much to me, and I didn’t have much to say to him. Mostly because I blamed him for Luke’s behavior.

“You know I always liked you, right? I know it probably didn’t seem like it, but it’s true. I never intended to hurt you. I think you are exquisite and beautiful.”

He continues, but this time he turns to face me. His face is harsher and darker than I remember. His dark eyes narrow in on mine. My eyes wander down to his hands, and I notice he’s holding a knife. My stomach lurches at the sight of him. I keep calming myself by repeating Jase’s name over and over again in my head.

“I know you think I hurt you because of what you saw in Luke’s office, I mean Michael’s. He is a lying bastard, isn’t he? Couldn’t even tell you his real name. I lied about my true identity for my father.” He takes the stool, sets it in front of me, and sits. I can smell his cologne and bile rises in my throat.

“Anyway, I was just going to scare you. I wanted you away from Luke, and if I told you his dirty secrets I hoped you would run to me. But that didn’t happen did it? NO!” He screams. His voice radiates throughout the small room.

“At the wedding, I had a plan. I was going to tell you about Luke, my feelings for you, and how I was planning on leaving Miami to be with you. I would have taken you anywhere you wanted to go. But, no.”

Isaac emphasizes the no and his face comes closer to mine. I can smell the alcohol emanating from his breath.

“Jase fucking Madsyn! You left to go and whore yourself to Madsyn. That fucker wants everything that is mine!” Isaac slams his fisted hand on my leg, causing me to muffle a scream.

I start to move my arms and my feet, so that maybe I’ll get an inch free.

“Darling, I see you squirming; you cannot be freed until I say so.”

His devil smile returns and he continues to talk.

“Now, we have a guest coming soon. I’m sure he’ll try to save you, but he’ll be dead by the time you see him. Or maybe I’ll have you watch as I kill him. It doesn’t matter, as long as he’s dead, does it?”