Bear, page 20
“Shelby?” Brody called as he jumped out of his truck. Before Bear could round the hood, Brody said. “She’s not in the car.”
They both rushed to the house. The door hung wide open. As they bounded up the steps, Shelby came stumbling out, holding her side as blood ran from a gash on her temple.
“She’s not here.” She collapsed in Brody’s arms.
Bear kept going but came to a halt just inside. The state of Roxie’s entryway chilled him to the bone. The contents of her purse were strewn all over the floor, the small side table knocked over. A tiny sound came from the upturned plant, but he didn’t have to move it to know what it was.
Roxie’s cellphone.
He heard a scream, and he darted back outside, hoping Roxie had gotten away. The light of the afternoon sun did not reveal a fiery redhead running toward them, though. It was Xan.
“Babe, I told you to stay in the—”
“Scott and Chad missed the afternoon session. The officers at the field house can’t find them.”
Emotions raged within Bear, and he immediately locked them down just like his father had taught him in his boxing days. There was no room for error because the worst possible scenario that could’ve happened just did.
The Shadow hadn’t only taken the woman he loved, the mafia assassin who’d dodged authorities for years, had kidnapped the boys, too. With each passing minute, the odds of finding them dissipated.
His phone rang, and knowing it couldn’t be Roxie, he barked his greeting without checking the ID.
“Just got off the phone with Oz.” It was Gauge, and he sounded fucking grim. “We missed something huge. You’re not going to believe this shit…”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Roxie looked past the headrest into the interior of the van as she climbed over the driver’s seat and slid into the passenger’s. All she saw were two piles of blankets through the mesh barrier. “Chad?”
A groan drifted to the front as Thad got in the van. She faced him to ask what he’d done to them, but his furious gaze was focused on something outside her window. She glanced in the same direction just as he gunned the engine, and then screamed as they plowed into Shelby’s car. He knocked it on its side, moving it out of the way, and kept driving.
Roxie wrenched her head to the side, trying to see if her friend was okay, but Thad sped around the side of Roxie’s house, barely clearing trees as he drove into the woods.
“Where are you going?”
“We’re taking a shortcut.”
The sound of his voice sent chills down her spine. He hadn’t said but a handful of sentences to her since showing up on her doorstep, but listening to what little he’d said threw her back in time…and freaked her the hell out.
“Why are you doing this?”
He said nothing.
More groans sounded from the back. Roxie turned and saw someone rustling under one of the stacks of blankets. “Chad? Is that you, baby?”
“Roxie?”
“Scott! Are you okay? Can you reach Chad?”
He didn’t respond, and she shouted his name again.
The vehicle lurched forward, and her gaze darted through the windshield. Thad had almost crashed into a boulder.
Was talking distracting him? Hmm…maybe that was exactly what she should do. If he crashed, they could make a run for it, but was it a good idea to make him crash when there wasn’t a road in sight? She didn’t know what condition the boys were in, either.
With as recklessly as Thad was driving, they’d be lucky to make it out of all this brush and trees unscathed. He barreled toward another rock, turning right at the last second, efficiently. Expertly.
Oh, God.
Her stomach rolled and not because of the motion of the van. He hadn’t driven off course to get away from the cavalry. He’d driven into the woods behind her house on purpose. He’d planned this route.
They hit a bump, and Roxie’s bottom crashed into the seat. She saw a steam ahead in the clearing, but he wasn’t slowing down. Jesus! Had he gone through all this trouble just to kill them by driving into water?
“Stop, stop, stop,” Roxie chanted, her gaze flying to Thad as she grabbed the oh-shit handle beside her head. He ground to a stop just on this side of the stream, the water right outside her door.
“Get out.” Her mouth gaped open, her gaze darting around without turning her head away from him. “Now, Roxanne.”
A sick feeling slithered over her skin. He’d always called her by her full name, but it was more the way he said it now that made her queasy. In this moment, she felt as if she’d misinterpreted every time he’d chosen to use her given name instead of what everyone else called her, thinking at the time it was sweet he’d wanted to be different, but her hindsight screamed it’d been a sign of control. One of many.
Teddy’s face drifted through her mind. Had she done the same to him by referring to him as something other than what he preferred to be called? God, she’d messed up so much with him, and now, she might not ever see him again. Her regret was a living breathing thing, and the irony that this might be the last moments of her life was not lost on her.
She slipped out of the van as ordered, gripping the edge of the door to help balance herself and keep from falling in the water. The soil was squishy underneath her feet. She trailed around to the back of the vehicle to get on solid ground, hoping to get to the boys before Thad made his way around.
Reaching the back, she yanked the handle and cursed when it didn’t budge.
The van shook as the driver’s side door slammed shut. Should she make her way back to the front and climb in to look for a way to unlock it? Would it matter if Thad could control the dang thing with a key fob? She couldn’t get to the boys from the front with the mesh divider, so there’d be no plan B if she defied him by getting back inside.
Thad appeared beside her and unlocked the back door, quelling her scheming. The moment the mechanism disengaged, she wrenched the handle and shoved the blankets aside. “Chad? Scott?”
“Oh my gosh.” They were both bound, gagged, and blindfolded. How the hell had he managed that?
Thad grabbed Scott’s tied ankles and dragged him along the floorboard. Scott mumbled around the cloth in his mouth and bucked against Thad’s hold, but he was no match for the man who’d taken them.
“Let him go,” Roxie screamed and shoved at Thad, but he was a wall of unmovable steel, which belied his thin build.
He hoisted Scott over his should and looked at Roxie. “Untie our son.”
Hearing this man refer to Chad in any capacity as his made her want to throw up in her mouth. He’d been little more than a sperm donor. What in the world had she ever seen in him? Maybe she had daddy issues since hers had hardly paid her any attention growing up and Thad had been older. Hell, she’d probably looked past the warning signs since her ex-boyfriend, Gary, had stood her up the night she’d met Thad, and then she’d been too pregnant to think clearly.
In one swift move, Thad dumped Scott onto the ground, pulled a gun from the front of his pants that’d been hidden underneath his shirt, and pointed it at her. “Roxanne? You know how I hate repeating myself.”
Swallowing, she turned to Chad and pulled the blindfold off first. Her boy’s eyes frantically scanned their surroundings. “It’s okay, sweetie.” A lie. A big honkin’ lie. But the last thing she wanted was to freak him out even more. With trembling fingers, she loosened the knots on his hands. Once she got those free, she went to work on the one at his ankle while he worked on the gag tied around his head.
“Mom, what’s going on? Scott and I were heading into the field house when someone came up on us.” She took his arm and helped him scoot out. She knew the moment he spotted Thad because he stiffened beside her.
“Hello, Chad.”
He moved as if to rush him, but Roxie threw her arm up to hold him back…not that she could’ve physically restrained her massive son if he’d been determined to charge the man, but Chad hesitated at the sight of the gun. She stood in front of him to shield him like any momma bear, but not only was he a foot taller than her, he’d packed on a lot of muscle since he’d turned sixteen. Any barrier she could’ve provided was minimal, but she’d damn well do whatever she could to protect him.
Chad, though, he wasn’t having it. He easily wrapped his arm around her waist and shoved her behind him.
“How sweet,” Thad said.
Roxie glared at the asshole from around Chad’s arm. “Seems like you could learn a lesson or two in manners.”
“Still the same mouthy girl you always were.” His bored tone pissed her off, but that gun he had trained on them kept her from arguing.
“What is this all about, Thad?” She hoped her voice had lost the edge from before. She needed to be calm to try to reason with him.
“Family. Yours. Mine. Ours.”
“We were never family. You knocked me up and split, only to show up a couple of times a year until you couldn’t be bothered to do that anymore.” So much for staying calm, but who could blame her? No woman faced with a deadbeat father could maintain her cool for long.
“I’m not talking about our son, Roxanne. He’s not our only family.”
“The cheese done slid off your cracker. I’d know if I’d had any other children.”
In her peripheral, she saw Scott moving on the ground but didn’t want to draw any attention to him. He’d gotten his blindfold loose. She hoped to high heaven he was working on some of the knots around his wrists and ankles. She clutched Chad’s back in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture and stepped beside him. If she could keep Thad occupied, maybe Scott could get free.
“Everything that has happened has been orchestrated by me. From the moment I came into your life, to right now, all of it, was my doing. You weren’t just stood up. I gave that boy a hundred-dollar bill not to show up that night. I was ready for us to officially meet, so I could begin my courtship.”
Stunned, she stared at him, not able to fathom what he was talking about. “H-how did you even know about him? About me?”
“Cole Shepard.” He shrugged. “And Flint.”
She reared back. The first one she knew as Colonel, the former leader of the Bang Shift mercenaries. She wasn’t surprised in the least that piece of shit was somehow involved. But Flint? She remembered introducing Thad to him. “What the hell?”
He sighed as if it bothered him to explain himself. “Shepard was one of my connections with the mafia. He was the one to introduce me to the Collins family in Chicago. He also helped conceal my identity, which allowed me to negotiate the wet work and keep it separate from my real life.”
“So it’s true. You’re The Shadow.” She’d known he was the moment he’d tased her, but she’d held onto a smidge of hope that, maybe, he was just some deranged psycho ex who’d finally snapped. Hell, he was that, too.
He smirked. “What can I say? I like anagrams.”
“And Flint?”
Thad sighed. “He was always a pain in my ass. I never understood why mom loved him more.”
What? Blood rushed in her ears, making her feel lightheaded. “No way. He didn’t…I mean.” Yes, Flint did have a brother. A half-brother he’d visited out in California. With his mom. Their mom. “West?”
He smiled brightly and dangled the Wild Wild West key chain. He should’ve just slapped her with how bowled over she felt. “Couldn’t very well let you know my real name. That’s a tightly guarded secret.”
“But…but I introduced you to Flint.” Her brain rebelled at this possibility. “And he hated you, even more so after you skipped out on your responsibilities.”
“That wasn’t why he hated me. No, he didn’t appreciate me threatening to kill him and everybody he cared about if he ever told you the truth. He knew I had no qualms about eliminating people. Family, even. I killed our mother. That’s why he hates me.”
He’d said it so matter-of-factly that there was no doubt in her mind it was true. “Why?” she breathed.
“She left me to start a new family.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. Grandfather left the bulk of his estate to me since she’d abandoned me. It wasn’t about the money, but once mother was dead, I killed her sister, too. The rest of his estate found its way to me, eventually. It gave me something to hold over Flint as well. Another reason for his hate long before you ever came into the picture.”
“So you killed her out of revenge?”
He frowned at her like she was the loony one. “No, Roxanne. It was an excuse, sure, but I was always meant to be a killer. I learned from the best.” He looked at the water before turning his attention to Chad. “You know, this is the same creek where your mother told me she was pregnant. I thought it fitting you were born here, too.”
Was this Beaverdam Creek? She couldn’t tell since they weren’t in the recreational area. Regardless of where they were, he was wrong. “You know he was born in a hospital.”
“I’m talking about his true birth.” He bent slowly and retrieved another gun he had hidden on his ankle. “Come here, son.”
“No,” Roxie jumped in front of Chad again.
“Roxanne. I told you everything has been meticulously planned out. He is here because I want him to be. From the moment I saw the photo of you and Flint together, I knew you would be the mother of my child.”
“Because you’re fucked up brain thought, ‘Hey, lemme knock up my brother’s cousin?’”
“No. Because Flint could keep an eye on you while I was on assignment. I could control my brother. Therefore, I was able to control you. It was the perfect arrangement.”
“Do you even hear yourself?”
“It’s nothing personal, Roxanne. I did need an heir, but you are an attractive woman. If he chooses you, I will miss you.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
Thad motioned Chad over with the gun as he squatted slightly to put the other weapon on the ground. When he stood, he kept his aim on Chad. “Pick up the gun.”
Chad took a step, and Roxie grabbed his arm. “Don’t.”
“I have to.” She did not like that look in his eyes. He was scheming something. Her gaze darted to Scott who still sat on the ground. Had he made any progress with the ties that bound him?
Her son stepped closer to the man who’d helped give him life. They stood closer than they had in years, each carefully assessing the other. If she and Chad made it out of this alive, she’d have a lot of nurturing to do to help him heal from the emotional wounds his biological father was inflicting.
Chad flinched. Thad swung his aim at Roxie.
“Uh-uh. Lesson number one. You see this loaded chamber indicator? It means my gun is loaded. You do what I say, or I’ll kill your mother. First.”
Gritting his teeth, Chad lowered and retrieved the gun from the ground.
“If I hear that gun cock before I tell you, she’s dead.”
Chad nodded. He held the gun at his side, pointed to the ground. Slowly, Thad moved to stand behind him. He raised his gun and pointed it right at the back of Chad’s head.
Roxie gasped as her whole body began to quake. “Please, don’t do this.”
“I won’t if he does exactly as I say.”
She stepped closer, wanting to put herself between the gun and her son. “What, what do you want him to do?”
“To be just like me, of course.” He looked at the back of Chad’s head. “You see, son, my own father initiated me into the family business. Criminals who think they’re untouchable have mindless foot soldiers do their bidding, but trust is never truly earned within the ranks. That’s where we come in. Organizations hire us when they need someone eliminated. My father got sloppy, tried to have a relationship with the woman he chose to breed. I learned from his mistake and know you will learn from mine. Cock the gun,” he said softly.
Chad did as ordered. “What mistakes did you make?” For the first time since this ordeal had started, Roxie’s eyes teared up. The pain in her son’s voice wrecked her.
If Thad picked up on his son’s torment, he didn’t acknowledge it. “I didn’t kill the nanny Marco Collins hired to care for his son.”
Roxie’s hand flew to her mouth. Marco was Scott’s father. Xan had fled her mafia ex-husband with their son after he’d tried to kill her. Everyone in their close-knit circle knew the story, knew how Xan and Scott had moved here to start a new life.
“The bullet you just chambered is the only one in that gun. You have a choice to make. You can kill your best friend, the boy who was meant to be a mafia king, the young man who, in another life, would’ve ruled the Chicago syndicate but who slipped through my fingers all those years ago. Or you could initiate just as I did—by killing your mother.”
Oh, Jesus, he couldn’t make Chad shoot one of them, much less make him choose between his best friend and his mother. The emotional wounds he’d carry for the rest of his life would torture him until the day he died. No way would she let him make that kind of psychotic decision.
“Do it now, son. I know who I’d pick, but this isn’t about me.”
Chad’s shaky arm lifted in slow motion, seeking its intended target.
Scott shook his head frantically, and Roxie didn’t hesitate. She dove in front of Scott.
The sound of a single gunshot erupted in the air right before blinding pain stole her breath.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The brakes on Bear’s car locked up when he slammed on them just down the road from the address registered to West Hodah. The name was another anagram for The Shadow, but unlike Thad Howes, this one actually came with a history. One that seemed impossible but was somehow fucking true. West was Flint’s half-brother. Bear’s former buddy was related to the mafia assassin.
That psychotic killer’s finger had been on the pulse of this entire town and everyone in it from day fucking one. The revelation burned Bear. He’d learned a couple of years ago that Colonel was in bed with the mafia. They’d all known he was shady. He’d taken whatever steps needed to bring this team of would-be mercenaries together, but the level of this deceit had almost been beyond comprehension. Immediately after talking to Gauge, Oz had started grilling Flint, and whatever methods the new sheriff had used to make Flint spill his secrets had worked. The prick had sung like a canary.
