Hijacked (A Retribution Novel) (16 page)

Saturday at the shopping center was a crazy, chaotic place. Eliana had done as Christian had asked and taken the bus, the train, and then another bus to get there. She’d left everything but simple clothing and her house key at home. No purse where a listening or tracking device might have been hidden. No phone where someone might be able to hack in and track her. She felt naked and vulnerable without ID and her phone, but she’d do what was necessary to get away unobserved.

She headed inside the planned department store and stopped to inspect a beautiful lavender blouse. She flicked quick glances to her surroundings to see if anyone followed her inside or if anyone watched her. No one seemed the slightest bit interested, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

She moved through the store toward the back, stopping occasionally to notice people around her. When nothing seemed amiss, she entered the customer service area at the back, arranged her features to look like she was nervous, and approached a young woman with long blond hair.

“Excuse me. I need your help. There’s a guy in the store, someone who used to stalk me. I don’t want to risk running into him. Is there another entrance back here that I could slip out?”

The girl widened her eyes in alarm. “Do you need me to call the police?”

“No.” Eliana adamantly shook her head. “I don’t want any contact with him whatsoever for fear that he’ll start his tactics again. If I could just go out the back way…”

“Of course. Follow me.” The young woman led her through the stock room to a back entrance where they accepted deliveries. “Here you go. I hope he doesn’t find you.”

“Me, too.” She glanced back over her shoulder to make sure no one had followed them. “If a man asks if you’ve seen me, please tell him no.”

“No problem. Stay safe.” With a nod, she closed the door between them.

Bright sunshine once again greeted Eliana, and she glanced around the back alley behind the store. Two dumpsters and a semi-truck occupied the area. Down the way, a silver sedan started its engine and pulled forward.

Eliana’s heartbeat escalated until the car was close enough for her to see a woman with blond hair inside. The woman lowered her window and smiled. “Eliana?”

Welcome relief washed through her when she recognized the driver. “Oh my God, Janie?” She hurried around to the passenger side and climbed into the car.

The blonde reached over and hugged her. “I had no idea you knew Christian. My husband and Christian are very good friends. Brothers, really. He’s also like a brother to me.”

“It’s such a small world,” Eliana said. “I don’t know how much Sam has shared with you, but I also know him quite well.”

Janie gave her a quiet smile. “I know that he once had a crush on you.”

“He did?” The knowledge that the attraction hadn’t been one-sided brought a smile to her face. “But he has you now.”

“He does.” She slanted a glance at her. “If you hadn’t helped to save my life, I might have to hate you.”

“What? Why?”

“No one wants their husband to have a gorgeous, still-single ex-girlfriend.”

“I was never his girlfriend.” Eliana laughed. “Trust me. Once he saw you, he never looked at me again.” Who could blame Sam? Janie’s brilliant blue eyes and friendly smile had drawn Eliana in immediately, too.

“Better duck down while we drive around the front of the store. Someone might be watching.”

Eliana tilted her seat all the way back. She’d liked Janie immediately when she’d first met her. At that point, Janie had been beaten pretty badly by her abusive, now ex-boyfriend, and Eliana had stepped in to help. The case had never gone to trial, so she hadn’t gotten to know her as well as she would have liked, but she’d admired her spirit. “Looks like you’re coming to
my
rescue now.”

Janie laughed. “Why can’t trouble find the bad people instead of the nice ones?”

“Actually, I went looking for it, hoping to find my brother.” She snorted, wondering if she was insane.

Janie’s expression dropped. “Christian said you did find him, except he’s still a little lost.”

That part killed her worse than anything. “Yeah.” After what he’d said to her and how he’d hurt her, she wished she could walk away and not care. But she couldn’t.

“Have faith. If these guys can save me from a crazed man, they can help you. I’ve seen them do it many times.” Janie glanced in the rear view mirror. “We’re clear now. I don’t think anyone followed us.”

“Thank you for doing this.” Christian hadn’t given her much information about his friends, other than they were people she could trust.

“Oh, heck. No problem at all. I like it when I can help.” She gave Eliana a quick glance. “Christian once took a bullet because of me. This is the least I can do.”

“He’s been shot before? When did this happen?” The thought alarmed her.

“Back, before. When Paul was after me. Paul worked for Hardy, too. Did you know?”

“No.” She shouldn’t be surprised, though. “God. Christian’s taken a bullet?” She couldn’t get past it.

A troubled look crossed Janie’s face. “I don’t like it, either, but I promised myself I wouldn’t bring my worries to Sam. Heck, he’s a cop. He’s in the line of danger every day. But he loves to help people. I can’t take that from him. I do spend a lot of time worrying though, but I’m getting better at it.”

Eliana had picked up enough hints from what Christian and Janie had said to haphazardly piece together this unofficial family that Christian claimed. “You said they were like brothers, and it sounds like they’ve helped more than a few people.” She could admire that. She’d done the same in her own way.

Janie nodded as she turned another corner. “Normally, I don’t talk about their activities to other people. It would put them all at risk. But since Christian seems determined to bring you into the fold, I’ve been told it’s okay.”

“It sounds like they belong to a secret society.” Eliana added a laugh because it seemed so absurd.

Janie shrugged. “You’re not far from the mark. There are only five guys: Sam and Christian. Xander who’s a financial analyst. He married Nicole who works at Christian’s bar. Ryan is ex-military. He lives along the coast in Seaside with Violet, and then Hunter who’s still sort of an enigma to me. Nice guy. Don’t get me wrong. But there’s a dark side to him, a wounded side I would say.”

Eliana lifted her brows. “Sounds like there’s a story there.”

“There is, and from what I know, it’s a sad one.” She briefly met her gaze. “Someone murdered his wife and child a few years ago. He blames himself and thinks he should have died instead, but life wasn’t so kind. Now, he’s sought solace in the form of vengeance.”

“That’s…beyond horrible.” Her life had been tainted by a loved one’s death, but she couldn’t imagine something as excruciating as Hunter’s pain. “I get the vengeance part though. Does Hunter believe Hardy was involved in his family’s murder?”

Janie turned onto a tree-lined street with an incline. “I believe so, Eliana. Though I don’t know all the details. From what I’ve pieced together, he and a man named Georgio Donati are the main reasons we’ve come together, how we’re all connected. They’ve destroyed so many innocent lives, and we’ve all been touched in one way or another. The guys are determined to bring them down.”

More pieces clicked into place. “So that’s why Christian was hanging out with his brother, trying to infiltrate just like I was.”

“Yes,” Janie confirmed. “That’s also why I’m the one to pick you up today. As we speak, he’s at Gideon’s bar hanging out. He’s hoping to learn more information, but he also needs to be seen when you disappear for the day so it doesn’t appear he’s with you. You two can be lovers, but we don’t want it to appear more than just sex.”

Unexpected heat rushed to her cheeks. “Uh, awkward. Is our love affair common knowledge?”

Janie’s amused laugh filled the air. “Oh, honey. Love affair? Really? I’d say this has gone beyond a love affair.”

She released a small snort of surprise. “How so?”

Her friend pulled into the driveway of a gray rock house surrounded by pines. “If Christian is bringing you here to meet the group, that’s the equivalent of a full-blown commitment.”

Happiness and nerves collided inside her. “It is?”

“There are now nine of us, including you, who know about their informal vigilante organization. Nine. Five brothers. Three wives…and now you. What do you think that means?”

“Oh, shit.” Her heart thudded inside her chest. “I don’t know what to say.”

Janie gave her a kind smile. “I hope that’s good news to you. I would hope Christian has considered your feelings before dragging you into this.”

“We haven’t exactly talked about our relationship. I mean, I do feel this deep connection to him, and it strikes paralyzing fear into me when I think about losing him, but... I don’t know what else to say.” She needed more time to think about this, about him. She hadn’t considered a future because, up until the previous night, she hadn’t been able to see beyond saving her brother. Her choices and the resulting consequences could very well mean her life. What was the point in making future plans?

Janie opened the car door. “My best advice? If you love him, trust him. I think he’s determined to be the man you need him to be. He’ll help you save your brother, Eliana. Let him.”

A sweet feeling of hope exploded inside her, threatening so many walls of pain. She’d never had anyone truly on her side. A few people had cared about her, no doubt. The café owner from her youth and Howard. Obviously, her brother had at one point. But those were nothing like what this might be.

Did she dare to believe Christian might be the one she’d searched for her entire life? It was a crazy thought. One she’d never believed in…until now.

The thought overwhelmed her, and her first instinct was to hide. But if she did, if she refused to open herself up to the possibility, she’d never find what she’d always desperately wanted.

“Ready to go in and meet the family?”

A shiver raced over her. “Yes, I’m ready.” For whatever the future held in store.

Christian checked his rearview mirror for the hundredth time before parking his cherished Mustang at the bottom of the block at the very end of a concealed dead-end street. Dusk had arrived, providing him with extra cover as he took off on foot, hiking up the steep street to an obscure house hidden behind a shield of trees. He was certain no one had followed him, but after the disaster with Janie and her near-death, he wouldn’t take any chances.

Georgio Donati and Angel Hardy had a lot at stake, and he wasn’t about to tip their hand and allow them to learn any information about what he and his brothers had planned. Not to mention jeopardize Eliana or any of the other women. His precautions might have been over the top, but he considered them necessary.

Christian crept around the back of the house and unlocked the door into the kitchen and dining area. As he stepped inside, scents of Janie’s delicious cooking assaulted him, along with voices and laughter from all of his friends. A warm glow from the overhead lights added to the ambiance and appeal. He searched for and immediately found Eliana sitting amongst the group. She’d taken a seat at the dining room table, her gaze now flitting from Xander to Nicole to Violet.

From the looks of things, they’d all eaten without him, and everyone in the group was too caught up in one of Sam’s dramatic work stories to have noticed his arrival, so he hung back and appreciated the scene for a moment. Eliana looked right at home with his stronger-than-blood family, and the discovery was a precious tendril that curled deep into his heart like a lazy kitten on a cozy afternoon.

Then suddenly, she focused on him as though she’d sensed him, and he smiled. “Are you going to let anyone walk in the back door?” he challenged the group as he stepped forward.

Immediately, clicking sounds filled the air as five guns pointed in his direction.

Christian lifted his hands, palms forward. “Take it easy. If I’d wanted to kill you, I would have done it already.” He turned a disapproving look in Janie’s direction. “Really, Janie? I expect it from the guys, but you, too?”

She snorted and shrugged, but gave him a heartwarming smile as she set her weapon on the table in front of her and stood. “You won’t find me weak and unprepared any longer. Give me a minute to heat your dinner.”

He nodded in appreciation as she left the room and then he widened his eyes as Eliana laid her 9mm on the table in front of her. “You, too?”

Eliana grinned. “Don’t think I don’t know how to use it, either.”

“Looks like you’ve met your match,” Xander replied with a laugh. He’d loosened the purple tie around his neck, and his dark hair was rumpled as though he’d dragged his fingers through it a few times.

Christian nodded his head at the friendly barb. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Xander agreed as he draped his arm across the back of his wife’s chair, earning a smile from her. “Then you couldn’t give me anymore shit about hooking up with this one.”

“Really, Xander?” Nicole said. “Hooking up?”

“It makes us sound cool,” Xander replied. “Everyone wants to hook up.”

“Are you open for bribes, Eliana?” Ryan asked with a mischievous grin. “I’d pay good money for you to shoot Christian in the foot. I’m still pissed about my Jeep.”

“I am, too,” Violet said as she turned her smile into a scowl. “Ryan could have been killed in that crash.”

Ryan snorted. “I’m tougher than swamp water. My Jeep, not so much.”

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am about that.” The fact that Christian might have caused serious injuries to two of his brothers sat in his gut like rancid meat. “You got my message about covering the costs?”

“I already covered the repair with funding from our activities,” Hunter said from where he sat apart from the group at a corner desk with headphones over his ears. The glow from his laptop cast a white hue on his face as he studied the screen. “What I need is to find that one small chink in Donati’s armor. We’re close. I can feel it.”

Christian nodded. “I agree. I don’t think we’ve ever been closer.”

“The bugs you planted in the backroom of Gideon’s are proving fruitful, but Hardy’s good.” Hunter clicked his mouse a few times. “He gives bits of information, but most of it in code. If I could just break that.”

“If anyone can, you can,” Xander said.

Christian agreed. Hunter had spent years writing encryption coding programming for computers. He’d protected a multitude of companies, including the United States government. If he had the logical mind to write it, he could break someone else’s, given enough time and energy. With the losses that fueled him, he certainly had the energy.

“Any new info on that sighting?” Christian more or less mouthed to Xander.

“I heard that,” Hunter answered without looking up.

Xander shook his head. At first, Christian had been shocked to see the photo that looked exactly like Hunter’s girlfriend who’d also been murdered. But no one could deny that the mole on her face was in the exact same spot as Danielle’s. Not only that, but what were the odds someone would murder his wife and then his girlfriend?

Hunter believed the seemingly random acts weren’t connected and that he was cursed. Christian held a different point of view altogether.

Others in the room began discussing possibilities and tactics concerning Hardy and Donati, but Christian only had one thing on his mind. The same thing he’d been thinking about all day.

He moved farther into the room and headed directly toward Eliana. She glanced up at him with a smile, and that was all it took. With a swift move, he pinned her in her seat and claimed her mouth. She responded with equal verve, igniting a wicked desire inside him.

Someone cleared his throat, but Christian didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop.

“Get a room, dude,” Ryan said, his southern drawl cutting through the haze Eliana’s kiss had erected around them.

Christian pulled back and licked the tantalizing taste of her from his bottom lip before he bestowed Ryan with a smug look. “Don’t worry. I will.”

Everyone chuckled, and he wrapped an arm across the back of Eliana’s chair as he sat next to her.

Janie returned with a hot plate of pork and rice that she placed in front of Christian.

“Damn,” he said as the divine scents reached his nose. “I love your grilled pork chops with that special butter.”

“Grilled porterhouse pork chops with
chipotle cilantro
butter?” She grinned at him.

He returned the gesture. “Yes, that.”

“I brought cards and poker chips, too,” Janie said. “I know I think better if I’m slightly distracted.”

“Not that kind of distracted,” Xander said to Nicole as though she’d caressed him under the table, and she gasp as though offended.

“You’d better watch it,” she said with a laugh. “Or I’ll let Stormy and Apollo sleep in the bed with me tonight.”

“And you’ll be in the dog house.” Ryan laughed. “Get it?”

Violet rolled her eyes as she laid a hand across her baby bump. “Don’t listen to these guys, Eliana. They’re all crazy.”

Christian laughed and caught the happy smile creeping across Eliana’s lips. “We have to be to put up with each other.” He glanced around the table knowing he couldn’t be more blessed.

Janie sat next to Sam and passed out chips before she began to shuffle the cards. “Hunter? Are you coming?”

He mumbled and shook his head.

“Looks like just eight of us then,” Sam said to his wife and then turned to Christian. “While we’re on the subject of people sitting out, what’s your plan for hiding Eliana?”