Willow (19 page)

The walls on either side of the glass door were shelves were filled with books. Paperback and hard backs, romance and science, there were even a few texted books in amongst them. Jared himself was an eclectic reader and was happy to see that she was too.

The fourth wall was covered in pictures. Photographs and drawings fought for space on the huge wall. The only free space was the massive fireplace that had the biggest mantle he’d ever seen. Carved stone, it was at least seven feet long, ten inches thick, and it had to be, at the very minimum, fifteen inches wide. It too was covered in photos, as well as crowned with snowmen.

They were as varied as her book collection. Stuffed, ceramic, tall and short, there were hanging ones and standing ones as well as several sitting in a row all together around a basket of what appeared to be hundreds of small ornaments ready to hang on a tree, all snowmen in every color of the rainbow and patterns of material known to man. Jared walked over, picked up one from the basket, and held it up.

“
She gets those as gifts every year from the homeless shelter. They try to outdo the year before. Wills must have over a thousand of those ugly things. She’s fixing up one of the rooms here to hold them all.” Edgar looked around the room before he sat down. “This isn’t even a drop in the hat of what she has. She’s been collecting them since she was a kid. Snowmen, of all things.” Edgar shook his head, pride in his voice.

Jared sat down next to the man. Neither man sat in the chair behind the desk, knowing that they didn’t belong there, Jared assumed. He waited until the man looked at him before he spoke.

“
I love her. I know that I hurt her, but I do love her. And if she’ll have me back, I’m going to marry her.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew it was true. He wanted Willow for his wife.

“
She’s my baby girl. And you hurt what’s mine. And in my book, that makes you responsible for her being gone.” Edgar looked at him for several seconds before he continued. “I’m a fair man, a good man, I think. So, just so we’re clear, if she doesn’t forgive you, I’m having you killed.” Edgar got up from the seat and left Jared sitting there.

That had been several hours ago and they had since formed a sort of truce. Then this happened. Willow had been kidnapped and he knew it was his fault.

There were all in the living room now. No one was saying much, but it was obvious they were worried and upset. Jared looked over at Amanda when she sat next to him on the big sofa. He was sure she was going to ask him to leave.

“
Your parents are very nice, Jared. I like them.” Jared looked over at them when she did. “You look a great deal like your father.”

Jared had been told that before. He only wished he was as good a man as his father—both his parents really. They were what his grandda had called good peoples.

“
Yes, ma’am, they are. They’re the best.” He looked at her now. “I’m sorry, Mrs. James. I never meant to hurt Willow. And I will never forgive myself because she’s hurt. I love her very much. I want you to believe that.”

Of course I do. You’re not responsible for that lunatic taking her. He is a sick individual and should have been shot a good many years ago. Your mother tells me he has been that way since childhood.”

Jared nodded. “Yes, ma’am. But I should have—”

“
Do you think in all the years we’ve been married that I haven’t hurt Edgar or that he hasn’t hurt me? We both have, and sometimes on purpose. You should have done just what you did. I have to tell you, Willow can be a tad stubborn. She gets that from her father.” Amanda smiled. “Me too, if truth be known. But if you tell, I’ll deny that I said that. And I know Willow loves you. She would never have given you her virginity if she hadn’t.”

Jared felt the world tilt on its axis. He was both embarrassed and surprised by her bluntness. Before he could make any sort of reply, Alexander came rushing into the room.

“
They found her truck. It’s at the Starbright Hotel on Broad Street. The FBI are there now.”

Not only did Jared’s world tilt again, but this time it rotated a whole three-hundred-sixty degrees. She’d been at their hotel.

~o0o~

Willow woke slowly then wished that she hadn’t. Every part of her body hurt. Some places hurt that she didn’t even know she had until then. She tried to move, but found she was tied up. That’s when she remembered Talbor.

She couldn’t see much. It was dark and things wouldn’t come into focus well. Every time she tried to grasp what she was seeing, sharp pains exploded in her brain. A flare of light hit her in the face and she wrenched back from it only to cause herself more pain. A moan spilled from her mouth.

“‘
Bout time you woke up. You think I got all day to wait on you during your nappy time? I have things I gotta take care of.”

Talbor stood over her, shining the light in her face. When he shone it around the room, she could make out objects now and it took her several seconds to realize they were at the job site. They were on the third floor. She knew this because they had moved all the equipment up there to make sure that no one could take it before it was to be moved to the storage lot. Looking down, she could see that he had put bungee cords around her wrists and ankles and they were biting into her skin.

“
Don’t try anything stupid or I’ll kill you.” He made a production of showing her the knife he had in his hand. “I want them keys. Give ‘em to me and I’ll kill you real quick.”

Keys? She didn’t know what he was talking about and couldn’t answer him anyway. The gag in her mouth prevented her from asking him. But he either thought she could speak telepathically or around the fucking rag because he came at her again.

“
Fucking bitch.” A kick to her ribs made her see stars. “When I ask you something, you’d better fucking answer.”

This time, he kicked her twice in the ribs then once more in the belly. Crying now, she felt her ribs were broken with every breath she took.

Flashing the light over her, he stopped at her face. “Oh fuck, I tied your mouth up. Your fault. Yep, all your fault too. You were moaning everything I had to pick you up so I had to do something to shut you the fuck up. You’re a heavy bitch, ain’t cha?”

He jerked the rag from her mouth and tore her lips open again. She rubbed her cheek on her shoulder and screamed out at the pain it caused her. She started sobbing again.

“
You keep that up and I’ll gag you again. And don’t think ‘cause I lost my notebook don’t mean I don’t remember what you’ve done.” He crouched down to her level. “Give me the keys. I only got an hour and time is money.”

“
What…what keys?” Her mouth hurt to speak. “I don’t know—”

The pain hit her leg so quickly she screamed again. Which earned her another slap. She couldn’t even see what he’d done, but his next works sent a chill down her body.

“
You made me lose my gun so I had to improvise.” he held the flashlight on his “gun.” “Yep, nice and handy, this here.”

The air compressor nail gun they used fit in his hand; the air hoses that had been put into each room had been coiled up and put in this room too. He must have gotten some of them out and hooked the compressor up to it while she’d been out.

The second nail made her sick. She was sobbing now from the pain and was afraid she would pass out. She was sure if she did, he’d kill her.

She couldn’t even speak to him now, not even after he kicked her several more times. It wasn’t until she saw the other man that she realized that she must have passed out. Talbor had dropped the gun next to her in his haste to see the other man.

“
It was all her fault. That stupid bitch, it’s all her fault.” Talbor pointed at her.

Willow tried to focus, but simply let the pain take her away. Her last thought was that she was going to die and she hadn’t told Jared she loved him.

~Chapter 20~

Daniel looked at the woman on the floor in a pool of her own blood. He stepped toward her and with a flick of his gun, Talbor backed away. Daniel leaned down and felt for a pulse. Weak. She’d be lucky if she made it to sunrise. If he was inclined to let her live that long. Which he most certainly was not going to do.

“
She did this. It’s all her fault that I don’t have your drugs. I—”

Daniel shot him in the gut. Talbor went down quickly and started screaming. Daniel wasn’t in the mood and walked over to the man to couch down to him. “Shut up or die.” his voice was calm; it was something Daniel had worked very hard on. Not showing his anger in his voice. It worked too, most of the time. He put the gun in Talbor’s mouth. That worked wonders, too, at shutting him up.

“
Now, you and I are going to have a conversation about my merchandise.” Daniel enunciated each syllable so that Talbor would understand that the “D” word was not to be used. “What are you going to tell me about the girl over there and her involvement?”

If Willow James was involved then not only was she dead, but her family as well. The powers over his head were demanding that he make everyone aware of him being in charge now. Daniel didn’t care so long as nothing came back on him. He pulled the gun out enough so that Talbor could speak.

“
She hid the keys from me. Wouldn’t give ‘em to me even when I asked her real nice like. You can see what I had to do. That’s all on her. You gonna call me an ambulance? I think I’m hurt real bad.”

Daniel ignored the request. There was no way this man was going to be going to the hospital. And if he did, it would be in a long black bag in the back of the coroner wagon.

“
Did she know about my merchandise? And if you lie to me, I’ll shoot your fucking dick off.” Daniel laughed when Talbor cover his dick with his bloodied hands. Like that would stop him.

“
She didn’t know about the dru…merchandise. But she’s been fucking with me since I hid them. And she slept with every one of them cocksuckers that works for her but me.”

Daniel looked over at the girl. She was going to die because she had the good sense not to sleep with Talbor. He shook his head and turned back to Talbor.

There was no way Daniel could get to his merchandise now. He was sure that the place was being watched at the lot. Hell, this fool had killed a cop here not twenty-four hours ago. He was glad that he had men he could trust keeping an eye on things while he was here taking care of business. Now all that was left was to take care of this loose end. Well, now there were two counting the woman.

“
You’ve reached the limit of your usefulness Talbor. And I’m not so sure why you were hired in the first place, to be honest. If I hadn’t already killed my predecessor, I’d hunt him down and do it again for having the stupid nerve to hire you in the first place.” The silencer made the shot to Talbor’s head sound like a soft pop. “You cost me much more than—”

The shot knocked him over Talbor and onto the floor on the other side of him. Pain exploded in his back as he dropped the gun and flashlight. He couldn’t see shit now and tried to remain as still as possible, thinking if he couldn’t see them, then they couldn’t see him either.

Daniel cried out when the second shot hit him in the knee. He felt it shatter from the impact. The blood running down his leg was making the floor slick beneath him and he was having a hard time trying to get away from whoever it was.

He couldn’t think where the fuck his men were. They were supposed to back him up and warn him when someone showed up. He kept searching for the light or the gun when he wrapped his hands around the handle of something. The flashlight. He held it up and had to bang it twice in his hand before it flared to life again.

“
Mother fuck.” The girl was pointing the nail gun at him. Her eyes were closed and he thought maybe she had finally passed out or was dead. Either way, the fucking bitch was going to pay for this.

He couldn’t stand. The nails, he knew what they were now, had hurt him badly. He dragged himself over to a stack of drywall and tried to get his good foot under him. The third nail caught him in the shoulder and knocked him back a bit. He was in agony and he was starting to get dizzy. Looking down, he could see a good bit of the nail in his knee still sticking out and that made his belly roll. She was going to pay.

The nail gun lay in both her hands and rested on the floor. Her eyes were closed again, but there was no way he was going to take the chance of her being passed out. He wondered how she could even see him with her face swollen like it was.

There was also a large cut on her forehead that he’d noticed earlier and her lips were cut and bleeding. By all rights, the fucking bitch should have been dead by now. He wondered how she could see him when he realized the moon was shining directly behind him, making him a perfect target for her.

Using the light, he searched for the gun. He wasn’t going to fuck with her any longer. As soon as he wrapped his fingers around the butt, another nail hit him in the belly. He covered his hand with it only to discover no nail protruded from this wound. It had gone through and through.

Daniel couldn’t lift his right arm, and he knew he couldn’t fire worth shit with his left. But he knew she had a near endless supply of nails and he was losing blood fast. He was already feeling weak.

“
I’m going to hunt your family down, Willow James. I’m going to kill them all slowly if you don’t put that fucking gun down now.” he struggled to stand again. “Then I’m going to laugh my ass off. Do you want to know why, Willow? Because I win.”