Jason's Princess: A King Brothers Story (23 page)

“Maybe, Jason, but she’s still a part of it, isn’t she?”

Unbelievably, Jason’s cell phone began to ring.

Billy laughed. “Go ahead, answer it.”

Never taking his eyes off Billy, he dug the phone out of his pocket and slid his thumb across the screen.

“Hello?”

“Christina Mason just gave her statement. Billy has a warrant out for his arrest,” Jarod said without preamble.

And that’s why Billy has flipped his lid. Great. He has nothing to lose
.

Storing that information for later, Jason answered calmly, “That’s good. When will they pick him up?” Jason watched Billy’s oily smile and knew Billy was cornered.

“My boys are on their way to his last known address, which is his father’s house.”

“They won’t find him there.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because he’s standing in front of me at the campsite.”

Jason didn’t hear anything for a few seconds before Jarod said, “I’m on my way,” and hung up. He calmly returned his phone to his pocket.

Billy grinned a sick smile and asked, “Well? Is big brother on his way?”

“Seems so,” Jason said, still maintaining eye contact with Billy.

Julie kept a death grip on his waistband while she whispered, “What’s going on?”

Billy’s eyes flashed as he said, “Yeah, Jason. Tell us what’s going on with the sheriff.”

Jason didn’t want to play this game, he just wanted it over with. He hoped Jarod arrived with the calvary before the fight occurred, because the look in Billy’s eye told him that was exactly what he came here for; and Jason was itching to fulfill his need, so….

“Jason?” he heard Julie whisper. Her shaking voice reminded him that she was who he was there to fight for, who he was supposed to protect. He had to remember that she was the least confrontational person he had ever met and didn’t understand what was happening. He had to play this smart.

So, he opted to keep the dipshit with the sly smirk on his face talking.

“You first, Billy. Why would Jarod issue a warrant for your arrest?” Jason thought he might turn the tables if he could get Billy to lose his cool.

“Maybe because you guys have always hated me, always been jealous that you just don’t come up to scratch?” A vein was popping on the side of Billy’s temple. He was visibly shaking. It was only a matter of time before he broke.

“That’s not a reason for an arrest warrant.” Jason said quietly. Shaking his head from side to side, he continued, “No, I think you’ve been caught red-handed, Billy. Tell Julie how you know Christina Mason.”

“Who?” He truly looked like he didn’t know her.

“Candy? Does that name ring a bell?”

You asshole
.

He watched Billy’s expression go slack for a split second before he said, “She’s one of my favorites.” He looked at Julie and smiled. “She’ll do anything I ask her to.”

“Then why beat her up?”

“Because some people need a reminder to keep their big mouths shut.”

“How could you?” Julie asked, complete disgust in her voice.

His face split into that maniacal smile again and a chill ran down Jason’s back. “Oh, Sweetheart, you have no idea what I can do. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure you enjoy everything I have to share later.” He winked at her.

Jason’s muscles bunched up as Raymond Hicks, Gerald Brown and Sean Davis, the men they’d just identified at the station, stepped out of a van. Jason grimaced that he hadn’t heard the vehicle approach.

“‘Bout time you guys showed up,” Billy said amicably to his posse. “No trouble getting out?” Billy asked them as the men formed a semi-circle around them.

“Your dad’s lawyer came through just like you said he would.” Jason thought it was Hicks who answered.

Billy smiled and said, “Good.” Then he looked at Julie. “Get in the van, Sugar.”

“No.”

“You can either get in the van or you can watch us have some fun with Jason.” Billy drew his knife at the same time that his goons moved in closer.

Jason pushed Julie behind him. He assessed every man there before he whispered to her, “When you get a chance, I want you to run, and don’t stop until you’re safe.”

He watched her eyes drop to his ankle briefly. He hoped she wouldn’t give anything away to the men. Wearing an ankle holster alleviated the worry of someone disarming him while he threw punches, but it’s a difficult draw; he had to be already down in order to surprise an adversary when he retrieved it. However, he practiced the draw for hours and he’d already fought these dicks before; none of them presented a real challenge even with the knives. He may not need to draw at all.

“What is this all about, Billy? This is ridiculous!” Julie shouted.

“It’s about a little payback and a whole lot of silence, Sweetheart. Now, get that perfect ass of yours in the van!” Spit flew from his lips as he screamed.

Jason tried to position himself in front of her so she could run around them, but as the men began to close the circle she lost her chance to flee. He was going to have to keep all of them busy if he wanted Julie out of the melee.

“You’re not making any sense, Billy. Payback for what? Silence about what? You haven’t been around in years. What could we have possibly done?”

Jason knew she was stalling. She kept his attention on her while Jason could lure the other three away.

“Don’t play coy with me, Julie. You know what happened to your parents. That’s why you had Candy investigated. And that’s why you are going to get in that van!”

She sucked in a breath before she said, “My parents? What about my parents?”

“Shut up and get the van. Charlie is waiting for you.”

“No!”

As Julie ran to the van, the goons moved in on Jason. He heard Billy’s snort of disgust, “So easy”, before a fist hit him in the face.

∼∼∼∼∼

Julie ran as fast as she could to the van. She didn’t want to leave Jason but if Billy had somehow gotten Charlie she had to know that her brother was alright. Before she could reach the door handle, rough hands spun her around. Ice-blue, empty eyes stared into her face.

“I changed my mind, Sweetheart. I want you to watch Jason get what he deserves.” Billy turned her back around as the two smaller men held Jason’s arms while the big one, Raymond Hicks, punched him in the stomach. She watched in horror as Jason bent at the waist on impact of the huge man’s fist.

“STOP IT!” she screamed but it only made Billy laugh.

Her mind swam. She didn’t know how to help Jason and she desperately needed to know that Charlie was ok.

“They won’t stop ’til I say so. Don’t worry, though; they know to leave enough for me to finish him off.”

She wasn’t going to acknowledge the threat against Jason. It was what Billy wanted. However, she couldn’t stop the cold dread that seeped into her voice. “Where’s Charlie?”

“I told you, he’s in the van. You’ll see him in just a minute. We’re almost done here.”

Just when Julie didn’t think she could stand one more minute of this, one of Jason’s shorter captors stumbled to the ground, releasing his hold. In the next instant, Jason shoved the big man far enough away for him to punch a fist into the other man’s temple, knocking him out cold. She noticed now that the man who stumbled was screaming on the ground, holding his kneecap.

“That son of a bitch was always fun to watch in a fight,” Billy chuckled in her ear. He was holding her tighter now and yelling encouragement, “Watch him, Hicks. YOU don’t want him to connect with that left,” Billy yelled.

Julie readjusted herself, trying to loosen Billy’s hold on her but he just gripped her tighter and whispered in her ear, “Don’t move, Sweetheart, or I’ll remove your kidney.”

She felt the tip of his blade in her back and stilled.

“That’s better, Sweetheart.” He whispered, “I forgot how good you feel.” He chuckled when she gagged, nuzzling into her neck.

She felt her eyes well with tears as Jason’s fight escalated. Round and round they went; Hicks had finally drawn his knife and Jason had a couple of defensive wounds, blood covering the tattoos on his forearms. She wasn’t sure why he hadn’t just shot the monster with his pistol.

Just as the bruiser was going for Jason’s throat, he grabbed the man’s wrist with lightening speed. He brutally twisted his arm to an inhuman angle, then she heard the snap of bone as the knife fell to the ground. Hicks’s arm hung at an odd angle while he screamed bloody murder. Jason took the opportunity to shove his fist in his mouth to shut him up. With his infamous speed, he repeated the process until Raymond Hicks was nothing but a bloody mass on the ground.

Jason stood up and turned to Billy.

“It’s over. Let her go.”

Julie felt Billy’s body shaking but his voice was as slick as oil. “I can’t. She’s coming with me. Her and her brother.”

Jason made to walk toward them when Julie felt a sharp pain in her back.

“Augh!”

“Julie!” She heard him say but her eyes were closed in pain.

“Let her go, you bastard! It’s me you want. If you’re a man you’ll let her go, Billy!” Jason shouted.

“Why? So you can hand me over to your brother? No, I’m not going to jail. If it weren’t for you, I’d be where I should be, living the good life. But you had to ruin everything!” he screamed in the high pitched tone of a man who had lost his mind and had nothing left.

From behind them, she heard Jarod say, “Let her go, Billy. You’re surrounded.”

She felt the sharp stab of the knife in her back and warm liquid dripped down her pant leg. “Shut up or I swear I will kill her!”

The pain in her back was excruciating. Billy kept pulling her closer and forcing the point deeper. She need to hear Billy’s confession before she passed out from the pain. Taking a deep breath she asked, “What happened that night, Billy? I need to know.” She hoped that if she seemed weak, which she was, that he would bestow the information on her like the royalty he felt that he was.

Before he could answer, Jarod spoke up instead. “He had to leave before we put the pieces together about the hit and run. Isn’t that right?”

Billy shifted them around so that Jarod and Jason were in front of them. Jason had drawn his weapon, mirroring Jarod. She could hear the crunch of more vehicles coming up the road. This was a no-win situation for Billy. She was terrified that she’d lose a kidney before Jarod’s deputies could make the arrest.

CHAPTER 22

AMBULANCE

Relieved that the calvary had arrived, Jason focused his attention on the knife that was currently tearing through Julie’s flesh.

He should’ve disarmed Billy first before taking out the other losers. They were no match for him and he had only allowed them to capture him so that Julie could get away. Jason wasn’t sure if Charlie was in the van or not, so his only priority now was to see Julie to safety.

A confession out of Billy would be nice. Maybe he could get the bastard talking before Jarod let him beat the shit out of him.

“What’s in the statement, Jarod?”

“In a nutshell, she claims that she was with Billy the night he ran a vehicle off the road and into a ditch. She claims she hadn’t realized that anyone had been hurt because Billy left the scene. She also claims that she begged to go back and help whoever had crashed but Billy was adamant that they were fine. Billy beat her up when she tried to talk him into turning himself in after hearing about the Armstrongs’ deaths on the news.”

Jason watched Billy tighten his grip on Julie. Her eyes were scrunched up tight, pain marring her beautiful face. This had to end now. The other officers had arrived, and Josh and his father had just pulled in.

He called out to them, “Check the van! He claims that Charlie is inside!”

They didn’t act surprised, but relieved which had the hair on the back of Jason’s neck standing on end. He hoped to God the kid wasn’t in that van.

He turned to Billy, “It’s over but I can see you’re going to play this out to the bitter end. So, let’s get to it, shall we? I’ll put down the gun, you let go of Julie and then you and I can finish this once and for all.”

Jason knew the moment when Billy let the idea sink in his demented head. They both knew that in a face off that Jason was a far better fighter. He was banking on Billy’s ego to win out.

Billy sneered, “Yeah right. Like Jarod will go along with that?” His eyes were wild as he tried to keep everyone in his line of sight, jerking Julie with him every way he turned. Jason wanted to act now but was afraid Billy would jam that knife all the way home. So, he sweetened the deal.

“I’ll even let you keep your knife.”

“What about them? You think I believe that they’re just going to let us fight it out? No, as soon as I let her go they’ll take me down.”

As much as he would love for that scenario to play out, Billy wouldn’t let her go if he thought that was the plan. The blood running down her legs was getting worse. They were running out of time.

“Jarod, tell your men to back off, will you?” he asked as calmly as he could through his gritted teeth.

Jarod seemed to think about it before he ordered, “Stand down.”

“Well? What do you say, asshole? Are we going to do this or what?” Jason asked as he put his gun at his feet.

Billy’s eyes roamed the area before he said, “Why not?”

Before Jason could fully stand up, Billy flung Julie into him and then charged them both with his knife. Jason had been expecting the move so he quickly brought Julie to the ground and rolled her in Jarod’s direction while kicking out at Billy’s feet. The move brought Billy to the ground but, just as quickly, the bastard was on his feet again.

Now that Julie was no longer being threatened he could concentrate on his prey. They circled each other, gauging the best plan of attack. He followed Billy’s eyes as they swept the area. From his peripheral vision, Jason could see that Hicks,

Brown and Davis had been either taken into custody or put in an ambulance. Billy would find no help there.

“It’s just you and me this time, Billy. What are you going to do about it, huh?” he taunted.

With a growl of anger, Billy lunged with the knife. Jason kicked out with his steel-toed boot and removed the problem, the knife sailing out of Billy’s hand leaving him to rely on just his fists, which was no match for Jason.