Society Rules (46 page)

“Your
kids,
Taylor!”
Shawn interrupted him, reaching out to give him a shake. “
YOUR
KIDS
! They are Society Members, too! Honest to God, Will, you really didn’t know, did you?”

Will felt his mind begin to shrink, pulling away from the sides of his skull and detaching from his body. The oddest feeling of disorientation was engulfing him, and he could feel blackness closing in around the edges of his peripheral vision.

Curious.

He had never passed out in his life. Only sissies and women fainted from the delivery of shocking news, didn’t they?

A tight squeezing sensation was radiating from the center of his chest, localized and persistent. He was unaware that he was staring back at Baker with a detached, unfocused gaze, as he attempted to reconcile his mind with reality.

Will began sweating profusely.

Maybe Baker would be merciful, and just put a bullet through his head right now. He allowed Shawn to pull him to his feet, although he couldn’t feel them. He couldn’t feel any part of his body.

As he continued to stare at Shawn, he was faintly aware that the man’s lips were still moving, but he could hear nothing above the rush of blood and his slamming heart, which seemed to have filled the vacant area in his head.

“
Taylor!”
He felt the blow to his face with a dull realization, but no pain. The second blow was sharper, jolting him ever so slightly from his out of body experience. He looked around as he tried to reach out and pull the parts of his brain back into place.

“My kids?” he whispered. “But they’re just . . .
kids
! Baker, why are you saying this? What are you doing?” The sensation in his chest was lessening, slightly.

He drew in a deep breath.

Shawn was looking at him with a pitying expression, and in that moment, he knew it was true. Now, he was going to lose them too.

He felt his body suddenly snap back together with a painful force. Well, he decided, it was going to have to be over his cold dead body! With the speed of a striking cobra, he had his forty-four out and under Shawn’s chin.

“Please Baker, don’t think I won’t kill you. I really do not want to, but I want my kids, and I want them now.”

Shawn was very still, looking at Will thoughtfully, seemingly oblivious to the gun screwed into his throat. Something very hard in his heart was beginning to soften. He didn’t know why, exactly, but he was starting to feel, well . . .
bad
for Taylor.

After all, how much could the guy lose before he went insane? He had to concede that Will had done nothing to deserve what was happening to him right now.

“Cassandra picked them up from your mother’s house.”

“I already know that, Baker!”

“She was going to take them somewhere out of town, and then call me. I don’t know where she was going. I told her to keep it to herself so I wouldn’t know.”

“Because Indie and the guy could read your mind, I suppose?” “Yeah, that’s right. Hey, look, Will, we don’t have to take the kids. I didn’t say anything to Lockhart about them being Members . . . .” Baker’s mind flipped backwards trying to remember if what he was saying was actually true.

“My kids . . . .” Will’s voice nearly broke. “They’re all I have left, Shawn!” He felt his throat constrict as a sob threatened to break out of his chest as he pictured the sweet and loving faces of his children, so helpless and small.

He didn’t care what the hell they were, they were still his kids. The twinge of pressure in his heart fluttered back to life, for an instant.

Shawn cleared his throat. Will never really called him by his first name before, preferring to use the standard military last name titles. This was fine with Shawn, as he did the same, but somehow, Will breaking protocol and using his first name brought everything down to a personal level. He felt a need, for perhaps the first time ever, to explain himself. Justify his actions.

“I hear you, Will. I . . . I’m not a bad guy, okay? I was just doing my job. We aren’t planning to hurt your kids, we were just . . .”

He swallowed hard at the sound of his words. They sounded so vile, spoken out loud. “Using them as . . . bait.”

“Using them as
BAIT
?”

“Uh, yeah,” Baker looked thoroughly uncomfortable. “We thought it was the best way to lure your wife and that guy out of the shadows. I was never sure about turning the kids in, Will. Honest. I was mainly going after the others.”

Will quickly reeled in his torment, shaking off the despair in order to function. Getting his children to safety was the priority right now.

He could have his wimpified breakdown later.

“Yeah, well I’ve had a change of heart. I don’t want any of them captured, and I’ve just decided that I really don’t care what I have to do to keep them out of the hands of you and our government, Baker. I might just have to kill Lockhart, you and myself, but hey, we all have to make sacrifices, don’t we?”

“I got you, man! Move that damn cannon out of my throat, dude. Let me call Lockhart, then we can figure out what to do, okay?”

Will appraised the man in front of him, warily. He didn’t dare trust him, but he knew that Baker needed to make the call to Lockhart. He lowered his weapon slowly, watching for any sign that Baker was going to try to regain the upper hand.

Will knew that in the frame of mind he himself was in, he was far more deadly than Baker could ever dream of being. He had made the decision that he was ready to die to save his kids, feeling the coldness of his fear drip through his torso and into his extremities.

Ready to die, but also sickened, because he couldn’t fathom a way out of this mess though, that was not going to require him to take the lives of his fellow agents.

He did not want to kill Baker. He didn’t even really want to kill Lockhart. Hurt her very badly, perhaps, but not kill. Unless she hurt his kids, or traumatized them in any way. If that happened, he might accidentally enjoy blowing her apart, starting at her toes and working his way up to her head. He felt a wave of nausea shoot through him at the horror of knowing that he was actually capable of such thought. And such a deed.

He stepped back and gestured for Baker to make the call. Shawn pulled his phone out of his pocket and squinted at the screen. There were six new text messages from Lockhart. He read the first, and rolled his eyes.

“Lockhart’s in a ditch, just off of US 2, right across from Highgate Cemetery. She hit a deer!”

“Are my kids okay?” Will’s stomach could not take much more. He stubbornly ignored the odd sensation in his chest. There was no time for whatever was ailing him now.

“I guess. She doesn’t say anyone was hurt. Let me call her, alright.”

“Yeah, go. That’s what you were
supposed
to be doing, isn’t it?” Baker threw him a withering look, and dialed. Lockhart answered before the first ring was completed. Baker held the phone in silence as he allowed Cassandra to release her pent up fury at her situation, finally cutting her off.

“Sorry, honey, I was a little
busy
, okay? I’ll be right there. Where are the kids?” he asked, responding to Will’s agonized expression. “They’re fine,” he mouthed back at Will. “Ok, give me ten minutes. I’m headed that way. Oh, yeah, I’ll be in Will’s truck, so don’t freak out, okay? Yes, I have everything under control. ‘Bye!”

He looked up at Will. “Okay?”

“Yeah, let’s go. You’re driving!”

“And Will? I really am . . . well, sorry for bringing your kids into this. I guess I was just focused on the job, you know. Doing whatever it takes to get it done!”

“Yeah, well, I guess we’ve all been guilty of that,” Will replied, not letting his guard down for one second. “Let’s get out of here.”

They climbed into Will’s truck, and Shawn backed up, his Nissan disentangling from the truck’s grill with a sickening metallic sound. He winced as he looked at what was left of his car.

“Did you really have to destroy it, man?”

“Just be glad you aren’t in the same condition,” Will retorted darkly, wiping away the perspiration now dripping down his face. He leaned against the window, keeping his eyes trained on the younger man, his fingers tightly gripping the handle of his 9mm in his pocket . . . just in case.

Baker looked at him curiously, then simply nodded and pulled out into the road in the direction of Lockhart and her prey.

Chapter 28

Jackson and Indie flew at ridiculous speeds through the back roads leading to Marie Taylor’s house. They made the two-mile trip in record time, and contemplated in silence how to approach Marie in a way that would not endanger anyone or upset the woman.

This was still unresolved when they reached their destination, and Indie decided, as she fell out of the car before it had completely stopped, that they would just have to improvise.

She nearly bumped into Jax, who much to her surprise, had beaten her to the walkway, and was leading the way up the path. “Jax, maybe I should speak to Marie. You are a stranger to her. At least she knows me.”

“This is true, but she is going to be wary of you now, in light of the circumstances. I’m not sure if it’s going to matter much, but you go ahead.”

They reached the porch and Indie rang the doorbell. Jax stepped back a respectful distance as Marie answered the door. Much to Indie’s surprise, Marie reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace, and began sobbing.

“Oh, Indie, I don’t know what’s happening, but I think something terrible is going on! The kids . . .”

“Marie, it’s okay.” Indie spoke soothingly as she pushed the older woman gently back into the living room, and down onto the couch. She sat down next to her and took her hands. “Now, tell me what’s happened.”

“Well, Will had asked me to keep the kids for the weekend, because of, well, you know . . .” Her eyes fell upon Jackson for the first time, and she gasped. “You brought this, this
person
here, to my house?” Marie’s voice was choked with outrage.

“Was this your doing, Indie? Did you send that dreadful woman here to pick up the kids, because you won’t get away with it. My son will get custody, and I’ll testify in court about this!”

“Marie, please!” Indie spoke beseechingly. “I had nothing to do with what happened. Nevertheless, the kids might well be in trouble. The woman who picked them up . . . do you know who she was?”

Marie looked at Jackson with accusing eyes, and then back to Indie. She had to admit that Indie seemed genuinely afraid.

“She showed some identification that said she was a Federal agent . . . a Cassandra Lockhart, or something. She said she worked with Will, and that he had sent her to get them,” Marie sobbed.

“I wasn’t going to let her take them, but then Cassidy told me that Will said he was sending someone for them, and that it was okay. She has never told a lie in her life, so I let them go. Then when I spoke to Will, he sounded like he knew nothing about it! I have been sitting here so worried; I didn’t know what to do. I almost called the police!”

“No, don’t do that, Marie. Will is going to have to handle this. We will help him if we can.”

“Why on Earth should I not call the police?” asked Marie, suspicious once more. “I mean, if someone has kidnapped the kids . . . .”

“No, Marie, you don’t understand. You will put them in grave danger if you involve the police.” Marie continued to look back and forth between Jackson and Indie, unsure of what to believe.

“Honestly, Marie, regardless of what you may think of me, do you really think I would ever put my children in danger, or scare them to death with some crazy kidnapping scheme, just to steal them away from their father? I would never do that to them, or to Will!”

Jackson spoke suddenly, startling them both.

“Mrs. Taylor, I am so sorry for causing distress to you and your family.” He spoke softly and compellingly as he stepped forward. “We will certainly explain everything to you about the situation between Indie and me at some point, but right now, our only concern is for the safety of the children. Can you believe me when I say this to you?”

Jackson’s voice held the tone of a master hypnotist, casting a spell over the woman. Her eyes became soft and unfocused.

“Yes,” she breathed. “I understand. I believe you.”

Indie watched in disbelief, as the older woman became ensnared in Jackson’s gaze. He knelt before her and spoke again, his voice soft and persuasive.

“Tell us when the woman left with the children, Mrs. Taylor. Please help us find them!”

“It was about an hour ago,” she answered in a dazed whisper. “They were headed north, toward the interstate.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Taylor.” Jackson’s voice was barely a whisper. “There will be no need to involve the police, don’t you agree?”

“Yes, no need at all,” Marie answered, dreamily.

“Just stay here and listen for the phone. We will call you when we have the children safe and sound; will that be okay, Mrs. Taylor?” Jackson’s voice was like silk, mesmerizing.

“Of course, you’re right,” she agreed, a little sleepily. “I’ll just wait to hear from you.” She settled back into the cushions of the couch and closed her eyes, as Indie looked on, fascinated. Jackson looked up at Indie and nodded. “Let’s go!”

They quickly made their way back to the car, and after they were on their way down the road, Indie looked at Jackson questioningly.

“Don’t ask!” He shook his head. “I didn’t know it would work like that, but I’ve always been fairly persuasive. Especially with the fairer sex, for some reason!” He shot a glance at Indie; the look on her face could have been funny if the situation were not so dire.

“What?” he asked, squirming with just a slight amount of discomfort at Marie’s reaction. “I felt that it just might be possible that my funny little ability may have become more pronounced now that we have fulfilled our Commitment. Looks like I was right, huh?”

“I would say!” Indie still wore her look of amazement at the way Marie had capitulated without protest. She decided that this was a good thing after all, as they were on their way without further incident.

Her face darkened as she thought of her babies, terrified and in the company of a stranger. She also thought of Will, and felt a surge of sympathy for him. What must he be going through, she wondered, knowing with certainty that he also had no part in the abduction of their children.

How she knew this, she had no idea, finally deciding to just accept her knowledge as the evolution of her gifts. She would not question herself any longer. Jackson reached out with his right hand and gripped her shoulder hard enough to break through her internal terror, and spoke with feeling.

“Indie, I swear to you, we are going to get your kids back. We will take them with us, and then we are going to grow very, very old together.”

Indie swallowed hard and nodded, gripping her seat tightly as he accelerated and shot down the road toward the interstate. She glanced down at the console and noticed her cell phone, and snatched it up, looking at Jackson.

“Go ahead, call him.” He answered her unspoken question, his voice gentle.

“We need to all get on the same page if we want to be successful, don’t we?” Indie impatiently wiped away the tears that inexplicably surfaced at Jax’s words, and nodded.

She dialed Will’s cell phone number, and put the phone to her ear, waiting for him to answer.