Hidden Desires (The Hidden Series Book 5), page 19
“Apparently, they’re terrible kidnappers,” Wade stated as Addie cut through the ties around Danny’s legs. “Who doesn’t search someone for weapons?” Addie slowed, her fingers stilling as she answered him.
“Jenna.”
“What the hell?” Danny muttered, jerking his legs apart and snapping through the cut zip tie. “Hands,” he reminded Addie and she reached out blindly, her fingers landing on warm skin.
“Danny, why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” She asked, jerking her fingers away and bumping into his hands. She felt for the hard plastic zip tie as he chuckled mirthlessly.
“We were in a rush. I woke up when I heard Wade. Put my boots on and that was it.” His hands came apart as Addie made quick work of the tie around his wrist. “Thanks,” he groaned, rubbing his wrists where they’d cut in. “You need me to get Wade?”
“I got it. He trusts us about the same not to cut him,” she replied, a smile in her voice as Wade let out an exasperated sigh.
“It’s dark and I’ve seen you use a knife,” he muttered as she caught his hands and slipped the knife between them. “The only good thing is you can feel your fingers.”
“Yeah, man, mine are tingling.”
Addie grunted, the tie snapping as Wade’s hands fell. She patted Danny’s leg until his hand found hers and she slipped the knife into it. “At least they won’t be expecting us to have the full use of our hands.”
“So, Jenna didn’t check us for weapons?” Danny asked, the question anything but idle as Wade stilled.
“Nope. And you heard her thoughts. She was sorry.”
“Yeah,” Danny acknowledged slowly.
“So, maybe she’s not the enemy,” Addie offered.
“She still put us here and withheld information. Let’s not start forgiving and forgetting just yet,” Danny reminded her. “You okay, Wade?”
“Yeah, fine.”
“That’s a lie if I ever heard one,” Addie caroled, scooting back to miss Wade’s hand as he attempted to smack her. “Do you know where we are, Wade?” Addie asked, remembering their earlier dream. “I asked you in the dream.”
“What are you talking about?” Danny asked, lost.
“We dreamed this earlier. It woke me up. That’s why I was in the kitchen,” Wade explained.
“The drawing. On the fridge.”
“You drew where we are?”
“I drew what I saw when you asked me the question,” Wade corrected. “But yes, I might have drawn the location. One of the images was a plantation house.”
“That’s super helpful,” Danny said dryly. “There’s only about a hundred plantation houses in a fifty mile radius.”
“One of the images?” Addie asked curiously.
“Yeah, I saw three images when you asked. The plantation house. Three bodies in a room.”
“That would be us,” Danny interjected, leaving Addie to shush him.
“And –” Wade hesitated.
“And?”
“Jenna. Crying.”
Silence met his reply and Wade thumped his hand against the wall, the clang echoing though the small area. “I don’t know what to believe.”
“We keep an open mind,” Addie replied promptly. “Look what happened today….yesterday? Jenna found her father.”
“Do you think that’s real?” Danny scoffed.
“Yes,” Addie and Wade answered in unison. “We are clearly missing something here.”
“What are we missing then?” Danny asked bitterly. “We’re locked in a metal storage container on what we hope is the plantation Wade drew, oh, and no one is looking for us until the morning.”
“The hunt. Secrets and the desire for revenge.” Addie rubbed her forehead. “We’re not the only ones looking to bring down this organization.”
“You think Jenna is a part of that?”
“I know she’s a part of it,” Addie answered.
“That still doesn’t excuse her for kidnapping,” Danny snarled.
“Yeah, but it does give us hope,” Addie murmured, squeezing Wade’s hand as she kicked Danny’s shin. “Quit being a jerk.”
Danny sighed. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I don’t do well in enclosed spaces.”
“You’re claustrophobic?” Addie asked in disbelief.
“He sure is,” Wade laughed. “Sorry, that is funny.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Danny grumbled as the screech of metal against metal had them wincing.
“Up,” a voice barked as they blinked against the sudden brightness.
“Addie, what time is it?” Wade hissed under his breath.
“7 AM,” she whispered back, taking his hand to help her up. “You thing Jake and the others have figured it out yet?”
Wade shook his head regretfully. “No, we’re on our own.” He raised his voice. “Where are we going?”
“To see the boss.” The guy answered as he motioned them forward with the gun in his hand. “Just so long as we’re clear, the boss wants to talk to you, but he also doesn’t care if you live or die, so no funny business.”
“Guess I don’t need to ask if those are loaded with real bullets,” Danny muttered and Addie shook her head, giving the weapon a wide berth.
“The boss,” she whispered, waiting until they nodded. “He’s the old guy I keep seeing when asked about the organization.”
“JMG,” Wade replied grimly.
Chapter Eighteen
Jake pounded on the door of the office, and when there was no response, he peered through the glass. His heart thumped a little harder than necessary as worry trickled through him. He hit redial on his phone again, knowing it was going to go to voicemail. He prayed her phone had died and he was overreacting, but it didn’t stop him from jogging around the back of the building.
The sight of Danny’s motorcycle relieved him slightly, but when he didn’t spot Wade’s car or Addie’s, he found himself running up the outside steps to the apartment. He hammered his fist against the door to no avail, and was about to kick it in when he heard Connor shout.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Have you heard from Addie?” Jake grabbed the rail, leaning over it to look down at him. When Connor shook his head, Jake cursed, spun around and slammed his foot against the lock.
“Dude! What the hell?”
“I can’t find Addie,” Jake grunted, slamming his foot against the splintered door once again. “Her mom hasn’t seen her, her phone goes straight to voicemail, and Carly isn’t picking up either.”
“You think something might have happened to her?” Connor called as he ran up the steps.
“To them,” Jake grunted, giving one last kick to the splintered door. He reached through the gaping hole and unlocked it from the inside. “Can you send a patrol unit over to Carly’s dorm?”
“I’ll do better,” Connor answered. “I’ll send Jules.”
“Even better,” Jake mumbled, drawing his gun as he slipped inside. Connor stayed back, calling Jules as Jake checked out the apartment. “No one,” he called, holstering his gun again. “Where the hell are they?”
“Man, what I wouldn’t give to have Addie here,” Connor answered and Jake shoved him.
“No shit.”
“They didn’t leave a note or something? They didn’t mention anything last night,” Connor questioned, stepping over the pieces of the door as he came inside.
“I’ve got a bad feeling,” Jake shook his head. “Jenna and Carly picked Addie up last night and I haven’t heard from them since.”
“Why did they come get Addie?”
“Girl’s night or some kind of shit?” Jake rolled one shoulder and Connor frowned.
“They didn’t call Jules.”
“I don’t know what they planned,” Jake offered and Connor shook his head.
“Yeah, it just seems a little off. Addie always calls Jules and asks if she wants to join,” Connor said worriedly. “You might be right that something happened. But why would Wade and Danny be missing?” He nudged Jake’s shoulder. “Did you call the garage?”
“No,” Jake breathed. “No, I did not. Let me call them.” He moved to the side, searching for the number as Connor wandered through the apartment. He stood in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, skimming for anything out of place.
“They haven’t seen him and he was supposed to work this morning. It’s not like him to not show up,” Jake said, walking up to him.
“Do you recognize that?” Connor asked, a peculiar note in his voice. Jake glanced up, following Connor’s gaze to the refrigerator. “I don’t remember it being there last night.”
They walked slowly to the sketch displayed prominently on the refrigerator door. They could tell it had been drawn hastily, but there was no mistaking the content.
“Jenna,” Connor murmured tracing the crying girl.
“But who are they?” Jake tapped the three bodies barely visible in the dark room.
“And where is this?” Connor added, squinting at the plantation house. “I could almost swear I’ve seen it before.”
“Probably have. I don’t know what it means but we’re taking it with us.” Jake snatched it off the fridge, glancing over at Connor. “We have three missing people and three bodies. And Jenna is at the heart of it all.”
Connor’s phone ran and he answered it without glancing at the screen. “Hello?”
“I found Carly. She was in an exam. Jenna and Addie dropped her off last night. She hasn’t heard from them, but she had a missed call from Danny at 1 o’clock this morning,” Jules replied without introduction. “Have you found any of them yet?”
“No, it looks like we have four missing people.”
“You want me to meet you at Wade’s?”
“Jake, we staying here or you have another idea?” Connor asked, tilting the phone down as he spoke.
Jake held up the sketch in his hand. “I have an idea who can tell us more about this. Tell Jules to go to Addie’s mom’s house. Talk to Duke. Find out what she can about John Gautreaux.”
“You heard him?” Connor asked into the phone and Jules quickly agreed. “Love you.”
“Love you too, but now isn’t really the time,” Jake replied, headed for the door.
“I wasn’t talking to you, asshat,” Connor grumbled before paling. “Not you, sweetie!” He flipped Jake the bird. “I was talking to your brother.” He ended the call with a shake of his head. “Where are we going?”
“To see one Trey Gautreaux.”
***
Danny let out a whistle as they were escorted to the house at gunpoint. “You weren’t joking about the plantation.”
“This is what you sketched?” Addie whispered under her breath and Wade nodded shallowly.
Their guard eyed Danny warily as he continued to talk, the absence of any restraints making him cautious.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to take that little gun from you. Not until I meet the man behind the money,” Danny reassured him, flashing white teeth and causing the guard to back up a step.
“Answers,” Addie reminded him, prodding him forward with a poke. “Maybe he’ll have a shirt you can wear too.”
Danny rolled his massive shoulders, his eyes hard. “Not worried about the dress code, Addie girl.”
“Clearly. We can only hope he’s gay.” Danny shot her a look as Wade choked back a laugh.
“Danny can fake gay,” he assured her as Danny shot him a glare.
“I’m secure in my manhood,” he defended, flexing his chest as proof.
“We know,” they chimed together.
“Any chance Granny is around?” Addie murmured, scanning their surroundings as they walked. The place rivaled a museum, including the smell that always seemed to accompany old things.
Danny shook his head. “Haven’t heard a peep.”
“Jenna?” Wade asked, keeping any emotion out of his voice. He only shook his head in denial and Wade sighed. “We don’t have a lot of options, guys.”
“Well, we’re still alive so I’ll take that as a good sign,” Addie chimed in.
“For now,” Wade muttered, keeping Addie between him and Danny and out of range of the gun pointed at them. “If anything happens to you, Jake will bury us in an unmarked grave.”
“I would dismiss that as exaggeration, but I know for a fact it’s true,” Danny agreed as Addie stared at them in disbelief. “He’s got the site all picked out.”
“I don’t believe that,” Addie pooh-poohed and Danny lifted his eyebrow at Wade.
“You hear that. She thinks we’re lying.”
“I didn’t say lying. Exaggerating.”
“Is Danny telling the truth?” Wade broke in, the question silencing Addie as her eyes widened.
“Holy shit, he loves me,” she burst out. “Like kill my enemies and burn the bodies love.”
“Yep,” Wade agreed. “That about sums it up.”
Their steps slowed as they came to an open door. The room had probably been the gentleman’s parlor when the house was first built but now it was used as an office. The dark paneling went all the way to the ceiling and the enormous desk took up a third of the floor. The man seated behind the desk leaned forward eagerly, avarice gleaming from his eyes.
Danny stopped so abruptly, Addie crashed into him. “I know you,” he muttered, trying to recall from where.
“That’s him,” Addie agreed with a bob of her head. Wade scanned the room and it didn’t take him long to find her. She was wedged next to a bookcase, her eyes apologetic. He glanced away, unwilling to give in if it was one of her ploys.
“I’m so glad you accepted my invitation,” the man boomed. Addie peeked around Danny’s shoulder.
“You didn’t give us much choice,” she retorted icily.
“Ah, the truthseeker,” he said, his tongue darting out to lick his lips and Addie leaned back instinctively. Wade and Danny stood in front of her protectively and he eyed them with equal eagerness. “My dreamer and medium.” He clapped his hands as they grimaced. “The things we could accomplish.”
“We’re not your anything,” Danny sneered. “And we’re not helping you accomplish anything.”
“I doubt that,” he jeered, a cruel smile on his face as he stared at Addie hungrily. “I think with the right motivation, you’ll do anything I ask.”
“Now, I have a few questions. I expect honest answers or there will be consequences,” John Gautreaux said as the guard slammed his gun into Danny’s back, sending him to his knees before hitting him again in the back of the head. Wade grabbed Addie as Danny crumpled, shoving her behind him. He shifted into a fighting stance as the guard pointed the gun at his face.
“Now, now, children. Everyone gets a turn,” he chided, and Addie stared at him in disbelief. “If you can’t play nice, I’ll tie you up and let you watch while he rapes her.” Wade followed his finger to where Jenna stood, her mouth open in horror at the sight in front of her.
“Wade,” Addie spoke urgently, plucking at his shirt. “It’s okay. I’ll answer his questions.” Wade lifted his hands reluctantly, retribution written on his face as he allowed Addie to step in front of him.
“You hurt either of them and all bets are off,” he promised the smiling old man.
“Of course, of course,” he agreed with a wave. “Now, be a good boy and sit down.” Wade eased into the chair with a grimace as Addie stood there, her back straight as she stared the devil in the eye.
“What do I need to worry about with your little friends who might come looking for you?” He asked pleasantly and Addie’s eyes glazed over, her skin whitening to the color of bone.
“Death,” she answered without hesitation. “Death is the only solution.”
He rubbed his hands together as he replied, “I can handle that. Kill your friends. What else?”
Wade didn’t take his eyes off Addie as she spoke, knowing their captor had misunderstood. The only one who would die would be him. If Addie knew it, then it had been decided already. Someone was coming for him.
“Your empire will fall by your own blood.”
“I don’t like that answer,” he replied, his hands tightening to fists. “Who will betray me?” Addie remained silent and he shoved himself from the seat, leaning over his desk, spittle flying as he screamed, “Who will betray me?”
Shouting from the hall distracted him and Wade grabbed Addie’s hand, tugging her toward him as the doors burst open behind them. She blinked, her eyes bloodshot as she looked at Wade. “It’s happening.” He nodded, standing up and tucking her next to him. The guard raised his gun at the intruders, but at the sight of a furious Trey Gautreaux he quickly lowered his gun, glancing at the man behind the desk.
“Son,” John said cheerfully. The sudden reappearance of a jovial old man was stunning to witness, especially with Danny unconscious on the floor and the guard standing there with an AK-47. “What brings you here?”
Addie lifted her head, her lips parting to cry out a warning as Trey Gautreaux raised his arm and fired six rounds point blank into his father’s chest.
“Doing something I should have done a long time ago,” he answered, before turning to the guard whose gun hovered comically between the ground and Trey. “I suggest you drop that.” The guard nodded, lowering the gun to the floor and lifting his hands in the air. Jake and Connor rushed in, stopping to take in the man slumped over the desk as blood pooled underneath him, Danny on the floor and Trey standing there with a gun in his hands.
“Trey, I’m going to ask you to hand over the gun,” Jake asked quietly, his gaze verifying Addie was okay as he stretched his hand to Trey. “We can talk things out.”
Trey handed over the gun without protest, his eyes on Jenna. “No need to talk,” he replied. “He ordered Jasmine and Jenna’s deaths. He was responsible for Jasmine leaving me. He’d threatened her, not knowing she was pregnant. He thought she’d steal me away from the family business.” Trey paused, his eyes sad. “He was right.”
Jake nodded, accepting Trey’s answer. “I’ll do what I can for you,” he promised and Trey gave him an understanding smile.
