Easy Sacrifice (12 page)

She’s pregnant. I lost my fucking chance because of fucking Marco. I thought we’d have time when he finally was locked up. Thought we could make a life together. Not only did the piece of shit kill my mom, but he’s also ruined my chance to be with the one woman in the world who makes me have a purpose.

I continue to drown my sorrows in the bottle until I pass out, surrendering to the familiar darkness.

* * *

A pounding on my door wakes me, but I ignore it and pull the pillow tighter over my head. The sound doesn’t go away for another few minutes, but then I hear footsteps, and I reach under my mattress and pull out my gun. I point it at my door, and when Jay steps in, I lower it.

“What the fuck, man?” He turns on my light and yanks the covers off me.

“I’m done,” I tell him, rolling over onto my side.

“You’re done?”

“Out. Gone. Done. I fucking quit.”

“You can’t quit.”

“Yes, I can.”

He sighs and tugs on my blinds to let more light into my bedroom. “You like bein’ a martyr?”

“She’s pregnant.”

His hesitation is palpable. “Damn.”

“So like I said, I quit.”

“Ty.”

“Do you have any fucking clue?” I sit up in bed, ignoring the dull ache behind my eyes. “Any clue what it’s like to grow up like I did. To see the things I saw. To not even understand what normal is. Then to have this girl, this fucking angel, look at you as if you matter, as if you actually belong. Then to have her life endangered because of you. And just when you can feel freedom within your grasp, it’s ripped away from you.”

“Ty, I—”

“You don’t. You grew up in suburbia with a white picket fuckin’ fence. I’m not mad at ya, but you don’t fuckin’ get it.”

“No, I guess I don’t.” He leans against the wall and opens his mouth to speak, but stops when his phone rings. His brows scrunch when he sees the name, but he quickly puts the phone to his ear. “What’s up, man?” I watch as his face pales, and he glances at me. “I’m with him now. Yeah. Where? Right. We’ll meet up to discuss recon and extraction in ten.”

All it takes is the uncertainty in his eyes, and I’m out of bed and pulling on a pair of black jeans and t-shirt. “When?” I ask, as I rush around my room to find a pair of socks. He doesn’t answer, so I try again, a little louder this time. “When did he fuckin’ take her?”

“A few hours ago. Neil went to bring her a donut and found her detail with a bullet in his head.”

“Fuck. Fuck! Was there a struggle?”

“Not from what Neil said.”

He fucking took her. Marco fucking took my girl. “Let’s roll.”

I follow him outside, and as I’m driving to our location, I pull my badge out from under my visor and slide it around my neck, then put my aviators on. I’ve been working for nine years to catch Marco, and today is going to be the fuckin’ day. I’ve waited too long to have this shit end, and even if she’s with someone else, it’s time she learns the truth.

Chapter 14

Jessa

Marco stands across from me. I don’t blink; I don’t breathe. He finally smiles. My eyes sting from the tears blurring them, and he chuckles.

“Now, now. We don’t need any crying.”

A lone tear rolls down my cheek, and he leans forward and wipes it with his thumb. I pull back, and he ‘tsks’ me. “Get used to me touching you, Ms. Crew. We’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

Bile burns in my throat like acid. “What do you want?” I whisper.

A knock on the door interrupts him just as he’s about to speak. He licks his lips before he leaves, and I remain on the bed. With my ankles shackled to the ground, the metal bites into my skin. I sit upon a worn mattress with one sheet on it. No pillow. No windows. No running water. Just a bucket in the corner.

As time goes on, my fear escalates, and my bladder fills. I reluctantly drag myself to the bucket, the chains just long enough to reach, and relieve myself then return to sit on the bed. I’m cold, I’m thirsty, I’m hungry, I’m tired, and I’m terrified.

I was ripped from my bed at three in the morning, hours after Ty was with me, and as I was being thrown into the backseat of a black SUV, Marco’s face was the first thing I saw. He sneered at me, and I knew that this was it, but when his hands palmed my breasts then went down to my stomach, he paused.

He lifted my nightgown and shook his head. “Well, this is unexpected … but delightful. Does he know?”

I shook my head and feared for my life. My baby’s life.

“Even better.”

He handled me with as much care as you would expect from a kidnapper. When we pulled up to a house, I was surprised to see how beautiful it was. The scenery was breathtaking, and I’d appreciate it any other time, but the dense trees only meant obstacles for me to make my way through if I were to escape.

He led me through the immaculate house and down to the basement, where it was the opposite of the expensive furniture and paintings upstairs. Instead, I found wet cement floors, spider webs, and darkness.

Now, I sit and try to listen for any sound. Footsteps scatter above me. Voices, laughter. A door opens and closes. But nobody comes for me.

Hours, at least, have to pass. My eyelids become heavy, but I shake my head and smack my face to try to stay awake. He was able to get to me when I was asleep, so I’m afraid of what would happen if I fall asleep here.

The dim light hanging from the ceiling gives me no indication as to how much time has passed in the windowless room. Silence descends upon me and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, my internal instincts preparing me for something.

But nothing happens. I urinate in the bucket two more times, and somewhere between, I fall asleep. I’m thirsty. So thirsty. My mouth is like sandpaper, and my stomach rumbles with emptiness. I rub it and talk to my baby, ensuring her that everything will be okay. I try to tell her that her daddy will save us, but I’m beginning to think it’s not going to happen.

I shake the shackles, cutting open the flesh on my legs, and I pull so hard one of my fingernails breaks off. I scream at the excruciating pain and fall back onto the bed, clutching my hand as blood trickles down my finger.

My body shakes as sobs tear through me, pain from hunger and thirst along with my finger force me to scream at the top of my lungs. Fear of dying here chained up like an animal makes me pound on the mattress.

I don’t hear him come in, but when the door slams against the wall, I scream even louder. His hands grab my hair, and he yanks me up. “Shut up.” He slaps me across the face, and I fall to the bed.

“Fuck you!” I shout and push myself up again. When I try to stand, I’m so weak I fall to the cold cement floor. “Please,” I beg, when he makes no attempt to help me. “I’m so thirsty.”

I look up at him, and the evil glint in his eye causes a chill to run down my spine. He unzips his pants and pulls out his dick, the uncircumcised head pointed right at me. “You drink it down, and I’ll get you some food.”

I gag at the thought. “There’s a baby inside me. Don’t you have a fucking heart? I’m starving.”

“If it weren’t for that bastard’s seed growing inside you, I’d already have broken you in like I’ve wanted to. But, as they say, patience is a virtue. You’re a fun pawn to have. And I’m a patient man, Jessa. I’ve waited this long. I can wait a few more months until that thing is out of your belly.”

“No, don’t hurt my baby,” I plead, grabbing my stomach like a lifeline.

“I’m not going to hurt it. I’ll just make a pretty penny off it. What happens after that isn’t up to me. Now, enough talking.” He begins jerking himself and uses his other hand to pull me up by my hair. I screech at the contact and then close my eyes as he pulls my face closer to him. “I have no heart, Jessa. But I do have food and water, so if you wanna live and have that little spawn of yours survive, you’d better open up and swallow every last drop.”

My lips plaster together, and I shake my head erratically.

“No?” he grunts.

I dare not open my mouth to speak, but he slaps the side of my face. “I’ve dreamed about having your pretty lips around me since the moment I saw you. So, let me rephrase. Open your mouth.”

My head shakes so hard my brain hurts. He grips my chin with one hand and forces my head up. I push at him, and he steps back.

“Rico!”

Four seconds later, another man enters the room. I recognize him as the driver. “Yeah, boss?”

“Hold her arms back for me.”

“Sure thing.” He starts walking toward me, and I try to fight. “Stop fighting, Jessa,” Rico whispers.

I scream and shake and do whatever I can, but I’m no match for two men. Especially since I’m dehydrated and starving and trying to protect my baby at the same time.

Marco grabs my chin again as Rico holds my arms behind my back. He sits behind me and squeezes my head between his knees. Marco’s hand moves faster up and down his shaft, and I try to hold my mouth shut, but he squeezes so hard I’m forced to open it. Just as another scream is about to come out of me, he grunts, and his semen hits my tongue. I gag and spit as he tucks himself back in his pants, vomit creeping up my throat and landing on the floor as I cough.

Rico chuckles as he pushes me forward.

“Get her a slice of bread and water.” Marco pats my cheek before he walks out.

My tears mix with his disgusting bodily fluid, and I wipe my face on the sheet, ready to just give up and shut down, but then I feel it. A kick. My baby. She’s telling me not to give up. To keep fighting.

So I decide to do just that.

Once Rico delivers my bread, I scarf it down and sip the water, not wanting to upset my stomach more than it already is. I save half of the bottle and set it on the floor then fiddle with the locking mechanism. Like every other time, it won’t budge. I’ve pulled, tugged, and yanked to no avail. Instead of wasting my energy on trying to escape the industrial strength chain, I save it for when I’ll need it … which I fear will be sooner rather than later.

I stare at the ceiling for what feels like hours. I’m so tired that when I fall asleep, it feels like I’m drifting in and out of consciousness. While I’m dreaming, I make plans. What I want to do to Marco. What I picture Ty doing to him when he comes to rescue me.

But of course, when I wake up, I’m still alone. And cold. And scared.

Finally, footsteps get louder, and when Marco opens the door, I realize that Ty isn’t coming … Nobody’s going to save me.

“Do I need assistance this time?” He doesn’t waste time and starts unzipping his pants.

My temporary courage vanishes, and I hang my head, emotion clogging my throat. “Why?”

“That’s a good question, isn’t it?”

I nod in answer.

“It started out as something different. Revenge. Vengeance. Retribution. Oh, but it’s changed now. He thinks I don’t know. This is his reminder that I know everything. Everyone.” He yanks my head up by my hair. “Nobody betrays me. And he betrayed me, so now, he must pay.”

He presses his penis to my lips, and I open my mouth. The moment the tip of his dick slides over my tongue, I bite … hard. Marco screams and punches me in the side of the head, causing me to really lose consciousness.

Chapter 15

Ty

“It’s been three fucking days, Jay. I’m not waiting a second longer.” I pace his office and squeeze my fists together so I don’t break something else. I’ve already put a hole through this wall, and he told me if I broke anything else, he’d throw me in a cell until they found her. I can’t let anyone else be the first person she sees when we finally find her.

I can’t let myself think about what Marco’s doing to her. I’ve seen him in action … He’s ruthless, heartless; the man doesn’t have an ounce of feeling in his body. He wants me, not her, so my only salvation is that he’s keeping her alive until I show up.

He’s figured it out.

And in order to pay me back for betraying him, he’s taken the only thing in the world I care about. With that thought, my jaw grinds so hard I’m surprised I don’t break my teeth.

Jessa’s going to need me. So, for her, I’ll keep my temper in check.

I’m just about to leave his office when Neil comes barreling through the door. He wasn’t part of our operation until recently. He tried to prove that we could trust him, and for all intents and purposes, he passed. But I’ve never fully trusted him. I didn’t meet him until the night of her kidnapping because I didn’t want to see the man who is with my woman. Who was where I should have been. Where I belong.

But then he told me. He explained it. Their relationship. About the baby.
My
baby. She was trying to tell me, and I fucking ran away like a little bitch. And that night, Marco fucking took her. It’s my fault. All of it. Everything’s my fucking fault.

But I will make it up to her. I promise that.

“Got a location,” Neil says.

We jog out of Jay’s office, and as we’re making our way to our vehicles, Neil shouts out an address.

I speed all the way there, and when I pull up to a large, pristine house, I don’t even have the car in park before I’m running to the front door.

In the distance, I hear Jay and Neil yelling at me to wait for backup, but I ignore them, and when one of Marco’s goons opens the front door, I don’t hesitate to shoot him in the neck. Blood shoots out of his jugular, and I step over him and walk in the open door.

More men come at me, but I’m lethal. So fucking determined. My aim is dead on, and by the time I’ve killed four more men, Jay and Neil catch up. “Fuckin’ a, Mitchell, we told you to wait. Backup’s two minutes out,” Jay chastises.

“That’s two minutes longer that she’s not with me.”

My feet pound down the stairs, figuring he’d be cliché and put her in the basement. I kick open the last door on the right.

Sure as shit, they’re in here. He’s holding her in front of him like a damn shield, her head fallen forward, her once beautiful, shining blond hair covering her face. Dirt canvases her entire body, and I growl at her bloody ankles tied to the fucking floor.

“Let her go,” I demand, training my gun at his head. But he’s smart, so he keeps himself just close enough that I can’t get a shot.