Graham, Jan - Finding Angel [Wylde Shore] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (66 page)

“I’ll call him and tell him what’s going on. He might hold back until we get Kathy out of the house if he knows what’s happening?” Angel spoke calmly and dialled Christian number.

Steve remained silent as Angel explained to Christian what had happened and the plan they had worked out. Angel had to agree with Christian that it wasn’t much of a plan, but they were committed to carrying it through now. Christian wasn’t happy but agreed to stay out of sight unless needed. Angel explained the floor plan of the house, including entrances to the house and windows that may be able to be used as access. She agreed to phone Christian’s mobile and leave the line open while they were inside the house so Christian and his team could hear what was happening. They would move in if Christian thought things were turning bad. Angel made sure she told Christian that she loved Daniel and him too much to let anything happen to her, and with that, she hung up.

Chapter Thirty

Steve parked the car down the road from the house and walked with Angel to the front door. He knew it wasn’t an ideal way to enter, but they had to appear that they were complying with Markham’s demands. Angel gripped the ledger in her hands, and since she didn’t have a pocket, Steve slipped the mobile into the pocket of his leather vest. A tall, dark-haired man opened the door, and they entered to the sound of Markham’s gloating voice.

“Look, Kathy, darling, our visitors are finally here.”

Steve looked around the room. Markham had Kathy held against him, a gun resting in her back. The man who opened the door moved quickly to pat Steve down and removed his gun from its holster. He didn’t find the blade Steve kept tucked into his boot. Steve watched Angel squirm and slap at the man as he tried to pat her down as well, although Steve could tell it wasn’t weapons the creep was feeling for. At this point, the other men, if there were any, weren’t in the room. Apart from the front entrance, there were two doorways to the area they stood in. One at the centre of the room which, based on Steve’s previous visits to the house, led to the kitchen and then a hallway to the back bedroom of the house, the laundry, and a bathroom. The doorway behind them at the end of the room led to Angel’s bedroom. The large, floor-to-ceiling, double window at the front of the house had the curtains drawn, but it was a possible route of escape, if the women didn’t mind jumping through a large plane of glass.

“Let’s get this over with.” Steve was straight to the point.

“Here’s the ledger,” Angel said, throwing it onto the floor just in front of Markham. “Can we take Kathy and go now please?

“You really are a waste of space that should have been drowned at birth, aren’t you?”

Steve saw Angel freeze as she heard the voice coming from the kitchen. When she turned toward the kitchen door, Steve thought for a moment she was about to pass out at the sight of the man who stood before her.

“Hello, Jarrod.” Angel greeted her brother nervously. “Is it just your face I’ll have to look at today, or is Justin lurking around somewhere waiting to jump out and surprise me?”

Jarrod Wylde looked at his sister with malice, stalking over to her and glaring at her with hate as he spoke.

“He’s around here somewhere. You know how Justin likes to climb trees and hunt defenceless little animals…Want to go and play out in the backyard and see how long it takes him to target you with his rifle?”

Angel shuddered. “So he’s progressed from hiding in a tree or behind the shrubbery waiting for me to wander into the yard so he can shoot me with his slug gun. Today’s weapon sounds much more deadly.”

Steve saw Jarrod sneer with satisfaction as his sister tried to remain composed in the face of the threat he had just levelled at her. If it wasn’t for the vulnerability of the situation they were all in, Steve would have knocked Jarrod Wylde out where he stood.

“Don’t send her out there just yet. I want to play with her in here first. Let me see if I can get her to come like Hastings did.” Markham laughed as he pushed Kathy down onto the floor and moved forward to pick up the ledger.

Steve stepped in front of Angel as Markham eyed her up and down. His eyes moved toward Kathy, and he gave her a reassuring smile. Steve was relieved that Kathy didn’t appear injured. He remembered the blood on the bed sheets at the house and the broken bed lamp, but Kathy showed no sign of any injuries that he could see. Markham, however, appeared to have a gash on the side of his head.

“So why are we all here?” Steve asked calmly.

“A means to an end.” Jarrod laughed.

“Mind if I take your sister somewhere private while you two chat?” Markham asked Jarrod, already reaching for Angel as he spoke.

“I mind.” Steve spat out the words.

He grabbed Markham by the shirt and began to move him back away from Angel, only to have Jarrod swiftly point a handgun at Steve’s temple.

“Let’s play nice, Mr. Jax. I’m sure you’ve had your fill of her over the last few weeks. Let someone else have a go.” Jarrod motioned for Steve to move toward the sofa and Kathy, who remained seated on the floor. Jarrod directed his next comment to Markham

“Do whatever you like with the little slut, just make sure she stays quiet.”

Steve looked on helplessly as Markham proceeded to drag Angel kicking and screaming toward the back of the house. He knew from experience that Angel had the ability to do some damage, particularly if she could get a good knee shot in. He sat down on the couch near Kathy and gently stroked a reassuring hand down her cheek, maintaining eye contact with Jarrod Wylde as he did. Hastings had been right when he’d referred to the Wylde men as despicable.

“So back to your question, Mr. Jax. You see it appears that Mr. Hastings isn’t quite the leader he once was, so my brother and I have decided to usurp him. We need the ledger to do so. In order to get the ledger, we needed Angel to hand it over. To assure that Angel would comply, we needed to threaten someone she held dear to her heart. I realised we couldn’t get to you and thereby threaten the man she loves, but we could get to your wife…Blah, blah, blah and you’re all here.”

“Now, in order to keep your two lovely women safe you are going to tell me exactly what evidence the police have on the organisation I’m about to head, and then we might do a deal. Unfortunately, if we can’t come to some sort of happy arrangement or deal, then you and Angel, along with your very pretty wife, will have to become the first members of the collateral damage club under the new regime.”

Two armed men entered the room and walked toward Angel’s bedroom door. They quietly began to speak with the man who had initially opened the door. Steve didn’t like the fact that they carried handguns. He also didn’t like the fact that since Angel had been dragged out of the room he hadn’t heard any noise coming from the back of the house. Jarrod Wylde continued to ramble about the power he would hold as head of the organisation, until he was interrupted by a commotion of voices out the back. Angel walked back into the lounge room. Her dress had blood on it, but apart from that she appeared unharmed. She glanced at Steve and began to move slowly toward the couch he was sitting on. To Steve’s surprise, Adrian Hastings followed her, accompanied by a man with a sniper rifle. The barrel of the rifle rested under Hastings’s chin.

“What the fuck?” Jarrod didn’t hide his shock.

Justin Wylde released Adrian, who walked over to Angel, manoeuvring her closer to Steve and the couch. Adrian smiled at Steve and winked. He placed Angel on the sofa between himself and Steve before relaxing back on the couch as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Steve didn’t know from the assured look on Hastings’s face whether he was happy everything was going to plan or whether he was putting on a brave face even though everything had just gone to hell.

“Why the fuck are you all in here? We now have no outside scouts because of you idiots,” Justin yelled at the men congregating at the end of the room.

He then proceeded to scream insanely at his brother, telling him what had happened. Steve tried not to laugh as Justin had his minitantrum in front of everyone. Justin had been toppled from the tree he had positioned himself in. The other man on watch was dead. Hastings had entered the house, and after fighting off another of Adrian’s men, Justin had no choice but to enter the house to capture Hastings. Steve could feel Angel fidgeting next to him. Hastings had obviously offered her his suit jacket, and she was adjusting the coat to neatly fit around her, or so Steve thought. Something hard slipped under his thigh between the couch and him as Angel continued to fidget.

Where the fuck had she found a gun?

“Well, at least you didn’t come inside to save our sister’s virtue.” Jarrod stared at his furious brother who had just thrown the rifle against the lounge room wall.

“No, that would be me,” Adrian replied, patting Angel on the leg.

“Where’s Markham?” Jarrod snapped, ignoring Adrian and directing the question to his brother. The look of surprise on Jarrod’s face was priceless as Adrian Hastings answered the question posed.

“Yes, I must apologise for that. I think he’s out the back with something lodged in his throat,” Adrian stated, then directed his next comment to Steve. “Remind me to get that knife back before we leave, will you, Steve? I use it for hunting stray pigs, you know.”

“Well, Markham is one stray pig no one will miss where I’m from.” Steve smiled back, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

“Now why don’t we all have a nice cup of tea and see if we can come to some arrangement about how to sort this out. Why don’t you make one of your goons over there useful and send him into the kitchen to make us all a cup of something.” Adrian once again directed his statement to Jarrod.

“I’d prefer scotch if you can find any.” Jarrod waved the handgun at the doorman who slowly walked toward the kitchen.

“Alcohol, that’s perfect. I’m glad you gentleman aren’t going to be uncivilised about this.” Adrian smiled. “Now tell me, I believe I heard something about not doing my job as well as I should. Forgive me. I was a bit distracted. It’s hard to hear over that gurgle noise people make as you slit their throat.”

Steve noticed Angel adjust the dinner jacket once again. She appeared to position the hem and pockets of the jacket so they spread close to both his thigh and Adrian’s. He leant forward and asked if she was all right. Angel kissed his cheek and whispered, “Adrian says to get ready to dance.” Steve ran his hand down the side of his thigh and underneath the jacket. He repositioned the weapon under his thigh and grinned.

“No discussion, it’s simple. You’re out, and we’re in. You no longer run this organisation, Adrian. We do. And apart from getting caught trying to be some kind of hero today, all you’ve accomplished is making it easier for us to kill you.” Jarrod smiled at Adrian.

“Is that what you think is happening, Jarrod?” Adrian said the words compassionately, but his cold, hard smile reflected anything but.

Suddenly there was a loud roar accompanied by a scream from the man in the kitchen. The kitchen had erupted into flames. The Wylde brothers and their companions spun around in surprise, turning toward the flames, distracted at what had just happened.

“Let’s dance,” Adrian called out to Steve as he drew a weapon from under his leg.

Steve joined in the same action as he pushed Kathy onto the floor.

Angel was already on the ground and grabbed Kathy’s arm as smoke began to fill the room. At the first sound of gunfire, Angel heard the large window shatter, Adrian had told her he would shoot it out and all Angel needed to do was to get Kathy outside. She covered Kathy in Adrian’s jacket and began to crawl with her toward the window. She dragged the curtain open and started to usher Kathy through the large opening. Kathy appeared to trip as she climbed over the broken glass, pushing Angel against the shard-filled frame of the window. Angel righted herself but felt the wetness of her blood begin to spill from her side. Adrenaline kicked in as she dragged Kathy into the yard. Angel suddenly realised Kathy had been shot, her back now slippery with blood as Angel tried to support her and keep the two of them moving away from the house, which was quickly becoming engulfed in flames.