Taken! Alphabet Series - 26 Original Taken! Tales (Donald Wells' Taken! Series Book 14) (12 page)

“Will your brother come after you?”

“He will. Not only did I conspire to kill him, but I cleaned out his accounts earlier and transferred them offshore to an alias, including the restaurant accounts. Hell, I even emptied the safe before I left. Yeah, he’ll know it’s me for sure.”

“You and Jenna were planning this for some time, weren’t you?”

“Our ‘great escape’ we called it. I was to disappear and establish our new life, and once all the dust settled, Jenna was going to join me and never be heard from again.”

“But you didn’t count on getting caught leaving the scene.”

Richie shook his head.

“You could testify, you and Jenna both, and that way Vinnie will still go away for years.”

“I killed a man, Dr. White, and so I guess I’ll be joining him... and Jenna will be charged as well.”

Her husband stood and headed for the door.

“I left my phone in the car, but I’m going to make a call and find out what’s happening.”

He returned a few minutes later and sat on the side of the bed beside Jessica.

“Your brother is being charged with murder and assault, Richie. It seems Jenna had fresh bruises on her face and is claiming that Vinnie tried to rape her. He also has gunshot residue on his hands.”

“Bob gave her those bruises; the bastard was beating her when I snuck in the back door earlier, and the gunshot residue is there from when Vinnie fired at your car this afternoon.”

“The detectives say his two thugs are verifying that Vinnie threatened Dawson and wanted Jenna for himself. They think the case against your brother is a slam dunk, but of course, Vinnie is shouting his innocence.”

Richie sighed.

“What did they say when you told them about me?”

“I didn’t mention you.”

Jessica jerked her head around at those words.

“What is it you’re thinking?”

“If Vinnie is cleared of the murder, he’ll walk free. Think about it. The two cops that have been hounding him for years just happened to be there to arrest him when he was being framed by his brother for murder? I doubt a jury would buy that, I think it’s more likely that they’ll think the frame was larger and involved the cops as well, which will ruin their careers. Also, Vinnie now knows that he can’t trust his men, and he’ll soon know that Richie stole his money. He’ll be out for blood once he’s freed, and I doubt he’ll scratch our names, or Jimmy’s, off that list.”

Jessica got up and paced in front of the bed, and when she stopped, she looked at Richie.

“We never saw you. Follow your plan and leave town.”

Richie looked back and forth at them.

“You’re really letting me go, knowing that I killed a man?”

Jessica gave a little shrug.

“You’re the lesser of two evils, and my main concern is to keep my brother safe, and your leaving accomplishes that.”

Richie stood.

“Dr. White, sir... thank you, for Jenna and I both, thank you.”

“Take care, Richie, and take care of Jenna too,” he said.

After Richie left, Jessica stared at him.

“We’re helping to frame a man for murder, aren’t we?”

“No, we’re keeping Jimmy safe.”

“Then why do I feel conflicted?”

“Because you’re a good person,”

“And what about you, do you have mixed feelings about all this?”

“No, but then, I’m not a good person.”

“You’re not a bad person, you’re just...”

“A lesser evil?”

Jessica hugged him.

“You’re my husband, that’s what you are.”

He smiled as he hugged her back.

“Maybe I’m not so bad after all.”

(The events in
TAKEN!
V took place nine years prior to the events in
TAKEN!
)

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Y
ears ago, when he was only eight, he found his mother passed out at the kitchen table with an overturned bottle of whiskey beside her.

“Mom.”

She didn’t respond, and as the breeze outside the window fluttered the branches of a tree, a shaft of sunlight drifted in and caused the spilled amber drops to sparkle.

He studied the liquid, the whiskey, and saw that there were still droplets falling off the edge of the table and mixing with the puddle on the scarred linoleum.

After checking to see that his mother still dozed, he leaned over, stuck his tongue out, and caught one of the droplets in flight.

His face immediately pinched up in disgust at the foul taste, and he licked his arm to rid his tongue of it.

The pale liquid had always been kept away from him, while his mother seemed to never tire of it, and he had thought that it would taste like ambrosia, and now that he had sampled it, he wondered what strange force compelled his mother to consume it.

“Mom?”

He shook her, and then shook her harder, and a third shake caused her to open her eyes.

“What do you want?”

“I’m hungry.”

“I gave you breakfast.”

“That was yesterday,”

“Oh, well, go watch TV and I’ll make you something soon... just need... a little more... sleep...”

She was out again.

He walked over, looked inside the refrigerator for the third time, and confirmed that it was still empty.

After his mother began to snore, he went outside and sat on the creaky porch steps.

He was hungry, but had known worse, and because it was summer, he couldn’t get a meal at the school. He was about to begin knocking on the neighbor’s doors when he remembered the man his mother had taken him to see.

Number Twenty-eight.

He rose from the porch and headed east. When he came to the wide avenue near the
McDonalds
, his stomach growled and his mouth watered from the aroma of cooked meat.

Once he reached the other side of the boulevard, he went two blocks south, turned down the street, and began counting.

16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28!

***

R
afe Owens was wiping his hands on a rag, after having changed the oil in his truck, and that’s when he spotted the boy coming down the block.

The kid was thin as a stick, and he cursed his sister and brother-in-law for treating the boy so shabbily.

The boy, Jace, his sister had said his name was Jace, the boy was counting house numbers, and when he reached number twenty-eight, he gazed up the driveway at Rafe and smiled.

“Hi.”

“Hi yourself, kid, I see you remembered where I’m staying.”

“I’m hungry.”

“I don’t doubt it to look at you, but give me a minute to wash my hands and I’ll take you to
McDonalds
.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and hey, come here,”

The boy approached slowly, warily, he had only met his Uncle Rafe once, just days earlier, and the tough-looking man scared him a bit. When he finally stood before him, his uncle lowered himself to eye level and smiled.

“Anytime you’re hungry come see me, okay?”

Jace nodded, and then saw his uncle staring at the faded bruises on his arms.

“Your daddy do that to you?”

“Yeah, but he ain’t been home for a couple days.”

Rafe sighed and shook his head.

“Jace.”

“Yes sir?”

“You ain’t alone, boy, you hear me. I’ve been away, but I’ll be around from now on.”

Jace smiled.

“Thanks.”

Rafe straightened up and tousled his nephew’s hair.

“Stick with me, kid, and you’ll be able to take care of yourself someday.”

And although he was very young, Jace knew that he wanted to grow up to be just like his Uncle Rafe.

(The events in
TAKEN!
W took place before the events in
TAKEN!
)

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G
EORGIA 2012

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T
he young woman pounded the steering wheel in frustration as her new car died without warning.

“You piece of crap.”

She had paid $70,000 for the sports car just a week earlier and could not believe that it was giving her trouble the first time she took it out for a scenic drive.

She looked around and saw nothing but empty fields beyond the wooden fence she was parked beside.

When she took out her phone, she found she had no service.

“Great, just great,”

She got out of the car and gazed about again. She was tall and slim, but sensuous, and her long, dark hair fluttered in the breeze. She began following the fence, in the assumption that it must lead somewhere.

She had only gone a short distance when she heard a male voice call out, “Hello!”

When she turned around, she saw a man in his mid-thirties, of average height and size with dark hair and pale blue eyes.

He was on the inside of the fence. He wore Chinos, boots and a blue chamois shirt.

It wasn’t until the man smiled back at her that she realized she had smiled first. Smiling did not come naturally to her, and she wondered what it was about this man that prompted it.

“Hi there, you have car trouble?”

“Yes, it just cut off for no reason.”

“And let me guess, your phone doesn’t work either, am I right?”

“Yes, you are,” the woman said, and the smile left her face.

There were people who would love to kill her, and she was beginning to wonder if this was some elaborate plan to do so. She immediately put the thought out of her mind though, once she remembered that she had been unaware of the man’s presence until he called out to her. Had he wanted to kill her, he could have just shot her in the back.

“My house is just about a mile that way across the field; why don’t you hop the fence and follow me back there to use the phone.”

She looked around.

“Why are you out here?”

“Oh, I walk the fence line every day, it’s good exercise, and that way I know if there are any fence posts that need fixing.”

“You’re a farmer?”

“My daddy was a farmer; I’m just a guy who owns a farm.”

He smiled, and the woman found herself grinning back at him, even as she felt her heart beat faster. He was a good looking man, but the last thing she needed was a relationship. She was on the run and might have to move fast. Still, she found she couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

She studied him with more scrutiny and noticed the watch on his wrist. If it was real, he was one rich farmer.

“That accent, you’re from Brooklyn, aren’t you?” he said.

She nodded. “Yeah,”

“I love the way you talk.”

“And you were definitely born and bred here, I hear The South in every word you say.”

Again, they smiled at each other, as a comfortable silence grew between them.

The man pointed back at her car.

“She looks too new to be giving you trouble.”

“It’s a week old.”

The man looked lost in thought for a second, and then asked a question.

“Did you stop for gas recently?”

“Yes, only about twenty minutes ago.”

The man climbed over the fence.

“I think I know what your problem might be.”

He approached the vehicle with the woman following and began unscrewing the gas cap.

“There’s this condition called vapor lock, see, and if the fuel lines supplying gas to the engine become too hot, they’ll boil the gas in the line and turn it into vapor, and then the car stalls for a lack of real gas to burn.”

“But isn’t that only in cars with fuel pumps? This car has a fuel injector.”

“You know cars?”

“No, but I know a little about a lot of things,”

He screwed the cap back on.

“Well, vapor lock is rare in a car with a fuel injector, but what the heck, it’s worth a shot. There, if there was any vapor, it’s gone now, give her a try.”

She got back behind the wheel, turned the key, and nothing happened.

“Try her again,” the man called.

She did so, and the engine roared to life. She lowered the windows and grinned at him.

“Thank you, you saved me a ride in a tow truck.”

The man nodded, while suddenly looking sad.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I’m an idiot, that’s what’s wrong.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We were getting along so well, and then I had to go and play Mr. Goodwrench, and now you’re going to drive off and I’ll never see you again.”

She laughed, she couldn’t help herself, she liked this man, liked him, and wanted to know him better.

“What were your plans after you finished walking the fence?”

“I was gonna head back to the house and have lunch.”

“Hop in and I’ll buy you lunch, it’s the least I can do to thank Mr. Goodwrench.”

The man grinned and climbed in the car.

“I’m George, George Carver,”

“I’m Lena, George, and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

(The events in
TAKEN!
X took place in the days after the events in
TAKEN!
25)

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R
onny Neth studied the naked body of Victoria Belle and felt his pulse race. He then took her picture with the cheap cell phone he’d bought that morning at a 7-Eleven.

He had found her two nights ago, lying on the bank of the swollen stream, and had thought she was dead.

She was alive, alive and wanted for murder, just as he was.

He’d no sooner carried her down into his fortress when the government troops trampled about the area. He watched them from an escape hatch he had dug out beneath a massive fallen tree, as they searched for Belle, then later chuckled as they called off the search the next day.

According to the propaganda channel that was playing on the TV at the store, the young woman before him was a mad killer.

Bullshit!

Ronny knew the truth, knew it because he lived through the same thing just ten years before.

While hitchhiking through Texas, he had come across a man bleeding to death in a car. Ronny had been a medic in the army before getting kicked out, and so he tried to help stop the flow of blood from the knife wound in the man’s chest, but it was useless, and the man died.

Ronny wasn’t a thief, but dead is dead and so he took a fresh set of clothes from the man’s suitcase, along with the envelope of money he’d found hidden between the underwear and socks. He had washed off the blood in a river before putting on his new clothes, but missed the smudge that a sharp-eyed cop had noticed, and before he knew it, he was charged with murder.