JARED (Lane Brothers Book 4) (12 page)

“Who was it then, Jerry? The only other person sadistic and cruel enough to want something like that done is Cleo, and she’s…” I leave the sentence trailing, watching both Jerry and Roman for some response.

Jerry shakes his head and Roman’s eyes seem to glow as he looks around the room before sighing, as if bored, and turning back to me.

“Back to business since no one wants to take credit. What would you need to have Rydell and Huley’s votes for if you aren’t even aware of the topic?” he muses softly, leaning so close I feel his warm breath touch my cheeks.

“Hedging one’s bets is never a bad idea. They’re simply, well, they
were
simply just insurance, if you will. I take it you’ve caught them and the council wants a vote on their fates?”

That seems to satisfy him and the twitching in my left arm stops the minute he turns and walks back to the other end of the long table, taking his seat with an amused smile.

“Please sit, Miss Hayes, we would like to commence the voting since you’re just dying to go shopping.”

Did he just say
dying
and smile at me sinisterly?

I wanna scream
mayday
and have a magical pick balloon crash down to spirit me away to safety. Alas, that is not my lot. I’m in this till I hear from my Jared and I know it. I sit with a baleful glare and almost have a hernia when he announces the topic.

“Everyone in favor of releasing dearest Cleo from her onerous mortal toil say aye.”

Nay, nay, nay!

The ayes are resounding and I turn to Jerry in horror.

“Why?”

He shrugs and pulls at his tie with a grimace.

“She’s as good as dead anyway.”

“That’s not true!”

“Come on, Paulie. She needs to make way for new blood and you know it.”

But the only new blood is me! Or is it? I suddenly recall my conversation with Jared about Lynn. That she-
thing
is on her way here as we speak, and for all I know Jerry could be clearing the way for her.

But no, Cleo is one of Lynn’s friends, and I do not see her playing this dirty. Lynn may be crazy, but the woman has some honor, and I know that if she’d been here days ago, I would never have been harmed the way I was.

“You’re trying a takeover before you can get Lynn back. Aren’t you, Jerry?” I ask, laughing derisively and shaking my head. “She’d kill you first and you know it.”

That has him spluttering and I almost jump with relief when I hear Jared’s voice again through what sounds like static or almost as if he’s underwater.

“Don’t piss him off, Cupcake. Just vote and get the fuck out!”

I want to, but this is all so much more than what we knew before, and it could help the Lanes end this once and for all.

“I don’t want power here, Paulie. I’m a follower and you know it. I just don’t want her coming back and ruining the deals we’ve made because of some stupid vendetta she should have dropped years ago. Bolton got what was coming to him for what he did.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I see and hear him sigh tiredly, and for a second I think that maybe he’s not so bad after all.

“You did try to save Ellie.”

That gets a laugh and another shake of his head.

“I was trying to salvage something from this whole situation. I knew Miah and the others were getting close, and I wanted to lay low and let it all blow over. But she couldn’t help herself when Wyatt brought Ellie home. She just had to go nuts on me.”

“I’m surprised you all want her back then, Jerry. Seems to me your lives are easier without her.”

Another laugh, this one bitter, and I see Jerry’s eyes go hard. I know instantly that I’ve underestimated him.

“She has information we need, Paulie, nothing more and nothing less. Once we get what we need from her, I will personally hand her crazy ass over to the Lanes for extermination.”

Oh cripes.

“Now vote.”

Jared

The sound of my brother’s voice over the earpiece is so foreign in its coldness that I’m almost tempted to take aim and just pull the trigger.

That is until he says the words
Punch and Judy
and I feel the world right itself once again. That’s code, one we’ve used since we were snot-nosed little kids running around playing spy with our walkie-talkies and spy comics to help us complete “missions.”

It means “trouble is coming, but wait for my signal before you shoot,” and I’d remember it any day. My brother just confirmed a lot to me, including the fact that I have nothing to worry about where my baby is concerned, because he will protect her with his life, if need be.

I rip out my earpiece, replacing it with another, as I spot movement on the east corner, near one of the back entrances, and I squint through the scope, seeing that bitch Rydell stumbling out, bloody and hurt but most definitely too alive to settle my heart.

“Jared.”

“I see him, Jace. I’m going down. Keep your sights on Paulie and Roman. If anyone so much as looks like they’re making a move to hurt her, you shoot first and ask later.”

That gets me a
hell yeah
and I feel a hundred times better as I slowly creep down from my hiding spot and make my way closer to Clyde. I move swiftly and silently, and though it’s daytime, I know that no one can see me because my movements are that slick.

I grin when Jace mutters a few choice words into my ear.

“No wonder Bronx calls you Phantom, bro. Where the hell are you?”

I grin move closer, taking out my knife with a hiss.

“Look to your one o’clock.”

A low whistle reaches my ears minutes later as I crouch and watch Rydell fall against the wall and stumble as if…oh shit.

I look closer to see that the blood coating his face is not from a busted nose or a bleeding mouth, but from his eyes—ones that are no longer in their sockets. Now I understand why he’s still stumbling around in circles.

The realization would be satisfying if not for the fact that I know Roman did this….

“You see what I’m seeing, bro?” I hiss, wincing when Rydell falls over an old tire and goes crashing to the floor, making enough noise to wake the dead.

“I see it. You think he’s finally snapped and gone rogue, Jared?” Jace asks somberly, making me cringe at what Roman may have done here.

I’m a SEAL and sought after for the tough missions because I’m silent, deadly, and so quick that you will never see me coming. But I am no monster, and that is not up for discussion.

I would never torture another human being this way, no matter what he’s done. I hate Rydell, I do, but I would have put a bullet in his head and walked away satisfied.

Has Roman finally lost the plot after years of struggling with his demons?

I don’t even want to know at this point, and that’s the cold, hard truth of it. All I want is for Paulie to get the hell out of here so I can get her home and hand all of this mess over to Miah.

Then again, he and Roman are soul brothers, best friends, and partners. There’s no way I could let Miah struggle and wrestle with this, because I know it would hurt him.

I’ll have to call Wyatt and have that cold sonofabitch come out of retirement. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do, and if Roman is off the reservation, I know that Wyatt will do what needs doing without overthinking things like the rest of us do.

Wyatt may be a businessman now and have his own family, but I won’t ever forget that my big brother is still a fucking pro when it comes to black ops. Hell, Uncle Sam still calls him and tries to get him to go on missions that are tricky.

“Jared.”

I hear the warning in Jace’s voice and turn to see the door open and a guard step out, laughing when Rydell whimpers and starts crying.

“The boss is still playing with you, boy. Come on back inside.”

“No! No, please just kill me,” Rydell begs and I could almost feel sorry for the poor asshole but for the acrid memory of that video I saw not too long ago.

“Don’t do it, Jared. Stay alive, remember? You promised Paulie.”

I keep low and catch the door just before it clicks shut.

“Stay on my girl, and whatever happens, you make sure she gets out of there alive and unharmed.”

“Jared.”

I pull the earpiece out to the sound of him hissing my name and enter the warehouse on a roll, checking my surroundings in a second before following the sounds of voices and a muffled cry that I recognize as Rydell’s.

What I see minutes later when I get to the little room they take Rydell to turns my stomach and I swallow the bile trying to wind up my throat.

Andrew Huley is tied to a chair and so beat up, his face isn’t a face anymore but a pulpy, bloody mess. The guy looks dead, when a low moan bursts free of his lips and I hear him praying softly.

“Andy.”

The gasp comes from Rydell where he’s lying on the floor, broken and spent and in no position to go anywhere without his sight or the will to live.

Andrew moans again and I see tears course down his bloody cheeks at the broken plea in Rydell’s voice.

These two will be lucky to die today, I think when I see an unknown man walk into the room, his designer suit and perfectly coifed hair screaming at me.

I feel like I should know this guy, and yet as he strolls over to Rydell and bends down with a smile, I know that I have never met him before in my life.

“Oh Clyde, you should really have kept your grimy little paws to yourself, man. Father is very disappointed in the way you’ve been cheating your own brothers out of their hard-earned money.”

Who the hell is this guy?

I take out my phone and keep completely still as I snap a few photos of the scene taking place and send them to Miah with an apology for the gruesomeness of it all.

I can do nothing else here, so instead of doing Huley and his lover the kindness I want to by just killing them, I turn and make my way silently to the back door, replacing my earpiece with a grimace.

I actually want to go farther down the hall and get to Paulie, but it’s a no-go and I have to trust that she’s safe with my brothers right now and keep my head in the game.

“Jace. Door.”

“All clear, bro.”

My exit is silent and I make it back to my vantage point minutes later, not even breaking a sweat as I retake my scope and lock eyes on my girl. She seems calm now and sits sneering at them all just the way I taught her. I tune back in on the meeting with a grimace.

“I don’t give a shit if you’re the freaking pope, Jerry, I refuse to hand down a death sentence to a woman who is crippled and defenceless! I may not be one of Cleo’s biggest fans, she saw to that the day she threatened my family, but I will not do this. This is murder!” Paulie hisses, making me swallow when I see Jerry turn red and sneer her way.

“She’s useless to us right now and you know it. We have to make a move before that crazy bitch comes back! I will not have the Lanes tearing down this organization for revenge, Paulette. I have worked too hard to get to this point. Now cast your Goddamned vote!”

Paulie stands to her feet with a sneer of her own and I see her lean closer to Jerry as if her attitude alone can negate her small stature and the slight trembles that are working their way down her body.

I recognize the signs of an oncoming attack and go to tell her to get out now when she surprises the heck out of me.

“My vote is and will always be
no,
you simpleton! Now get that through your thick skull and move on! As proxy to Cleo and your dear wife, I hold the deciding vote and I’m throwing this issue right off the table. That’s final.”

Oh sweet Lord, that woman is so getting hammered when we get home and I have a bed under her sweet ass. She’s fierce and brave and I can’t hold in my proud grin when she faces down Jerry before turning to Roman, who looks bored as hell.

“Is this all? Like I said, I have somewhere to be before my man realizes I’m not visiting some friends.”

“You realize that by voting this way, you’re keeping yourself in the mix. If Cleo dies we can call a council meeting to replace her seat with another member. You’d be free of this, Paulette.”

I close my eyes as my cousin puts it all out on the table and at least tries to help my girl out of this mess. I’m so grateful right now, I could kiss the asshole, but I know, before she even shakes her head, that she won’t go for it. That makes me equally proud and pissed at the same time.

“I will never free myself by murdering another person, Roman Lane. Never. I know you won’t understand it, and from the way Jerry keeps grunting, he doesn’t, either, but it’s not something I will ever do. I’ll stay in for as long as it takes Cleo to either wake up or die naturally.”

Roman nods and I see Jerry frown darkly.

“You will be keeping this to yourself, of course, or we will have no choice but to convince you of the error of betraying us.”

His threat is clear and I have to grind my jaw against the need to go in there and plant my fist in his face. I love my brother, but no threat to the family is appreciated, even if I know he’s just playing a role.

“Of course.”

I breathe out a sigh of relief when Roman simply nods and stands to his feet, ambling over to Paulie with a slow swagger that twists my lips.

“I’ll walk you to your car. Wouldn’t want the proxy to die before Cleo has a chance to kick the bucket. The council would be in turmoil. Gentlemen, ladies, this meeting is adjourned.”

Paulie tenses the minute Roman touches her and I growl into the headpiece, getting a soft giggle for my efforts when Roman escorts her to the stolen Aston and opens her door, handing her in with a cold smile.

“Check under the hood,” he says before he closes the door softly and stands back for Paulie to start the engine and pull out.

“Fuck. Run!”

I’m up and running for our meeting spot before Jace has the chance to finish his yell and I get there, breathless and shaking just as Paulie pulls in and dashes from the car and into my arms.

Case is there in a second and my fears are confirmed a minute later when he crawls beneath the car and starts cursing.

“Bomb. It’s set for thirty minutes, bro. You want me to remove it?”

“No! No, you can’t. They obviously want me dead and they’ll know that I’m not alone if that thing doesn’t go off,” Paulie yells, burrowing deeper into me with a muffled cry. “This could be a test, Jared, one for Roman.”

Shit.

“Goddammit, she’s right. Case, leave it,” I say, starting to pace when Paulie pulls away and stands staring at the car with wide eyes.

“Bro, we can’t allow that thing to go off. It would kill or injure innocent people,” Jace points out, making me curse anew.

“Dammit. Here’s what we’ll do. Paulie, you and I are in the Aston, baby. I’ll stay low while you get us to that abandoned gas station we saw driving in. we’ll let the bastard blow there and get the hell out of Dodge. If Jerry calls you, you tell him you stopped to use the restroom and the car exploded. Tell him you think it’s Rydell or Huley.”

“But, but he’ll know.”

“No, he won’t. The man is an imbecile and a cheat. All he’ll see is that you had a near miss. Case, I want you and Jace to hang back and follow at a discreet distance just in case they’ve got someone on Paulie. Come on, baby, we need to get going, the clock is ticking,” I say, feeling rabid at the thought of putting my girl back in that hunk of metal.

She obeys and I slide the front passenger seat forward and jam myself between the floor and the dash, wincing when my knees knock together. I’m a big guy, way too big to be doing this, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting her drive alone.

Like I told her before, if she dies, I die. It’s that fucking simple. If her participation in this thing takes her from me, I’ll go in there guns blazing and take as many of those animals with me as I can before they shoot me to hell.

“I’m scared,” she whispers after putting the car in gear and pulling out slowly.

Her knuckles are white from the way they’re gripping the wheel and I’m so furious at the look of sheer terror she’s sporting as the precursors to an attack quake through her muscles that I want to yell and fuck something up.

I nod instead and pretend not to be worried at all.

“Nothing to be afraid of, baby, I’m right here and you know I would never let anything happen to you, right? Now let’s stop focusing all our energy on this shit and talk the real deal here.”

That gets a smile and she casts me a sideways glance from the corner of her eye as she puts her foot down.

“Real deal? This wasn’t real enough for you, Sugar Bear?”

I shrug and give her a “meh.”

“It’s just a job, baby. What I’m wanting to talk about is the real stuff, the stuff that I want us to have from here on out. Like babies. And maybe if I’m a really lucky sonofabitch, you’ll let me finally marry you and put my ring on your finger, huh?”

“Yeah? You trust me not to skip out on you again, Lane?” she asks hopefully and I see the fear she’s been carrying around for hours.