Protecting My Hart (Protectors Series Book 1) (26 page)

I’ve been away from home for a few days, and I hate it. I need to hold my girl and hug my son. My bike coasts up the driveway, the tension leaves my body, and a smile appears on my lips knowing my family is waiting for me inside my house. Stepping inside, my smile fades and the tension comes back full force. Something is wrong. Instantly reaching for my gun, I step further into the house.

“Hartley? Ethan?” I call out and there is silence. The juice container is left on the counter, along with the bread left open. Moving quickly but quietly, I search the house, no sight of them. It’s not uncommon for them to leave, but the fact that food is left on the counter, and toys in the living room, tells me they didn’t leave willingly. Hartley never leaves a mess and has taught Ethan to do the same. Sliding my phone from my pocket, I dial Beamer.

“Hey, man,” he answers

“Hart and Ethan with you?”

“No. Why?”

“They aren’t here, and I was hoping you or Kash got back early and came by.”

“No, man, we literally just got back. Mason was on today. I’m on my way.” And he hangs up. Ten minutes later Kash and Beamer are at the house. I have been calling Mason and nothing.

“They haven’t been gone that long, the juice is still a bit cold. She didn’t leave on her own, there wasn’t a threat. I checked in, no hits on her name, no threats made. No word from Mason. I knew that bastard couldn’t be trusted,” I nearly shout. Fear mixed with panic start to consume me. I don’t get scared, but the fact that my family is missing has me scared shitless. Somebody is going to die for this.

Kash suggests we check out the park first, Hartley likes to walk Ethan down there in the afternoons. I’m out the door running to the park as quick as I can. The park comes into view and I scan for them. I continue looking as I get closer. The panic continues to increase, she wouldn’t just leave, and she knows she’s safe, or was.
Fuck!
I promised her I’d keep her safe and something happened to her. After what we have been through and talked through, after the understanding we have reached I know for a fact she wouldn’t just leave.

“Hartley! Ethan! Ethan! Hartley! Ethan!”
I continue calling out for them but no responses, and I feel like I can’t breathe. I’m standing in the middle of the playground watching Kash and Beamer running along the outskirts of the park.

“Daddy?” a small, soft, terrified voice calls out, and I spin around seeing Ethan curled up inside the tunnel crying.

“Ethan! Hey, buddy, come here.” I reach up for him as relief that he’s safe fills me. He moves to me quickly, still crying, and I can see he’s shaking too. Ethan finally makes his way out of the tunnel and practically dives into my arms. His arms wrap tight around my neck, his legs around my waist. I wrap him tight, one arm under him, the other around his back and cupping the back of his head, keeping him pressed to me, his face in my neck as he continues to sob.

“Shhh, buddy, it’s OK. You’re safe, my son.”

“He…He…He…ttttttook….M...M...Mom…Momma,” he sobs.

Kash and Beamer have reached us, both of them shaking their heads letting me know that there is no sign of Hartley around. My arms stay around Ethan as I walk back to my house in silence, both Kash and Beamer following me. Kash is on the phone with Mack, Beamer is on the phone trying to see if he can track where she is. I’m focused on my son who is shaking and crying in my arms. His mother is missing, and I have no idea what’s been done to him. I’m going to find her, and then I have some choice words for Mack about Mason. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but this shit needs to end soon and until then, Kash, Beamer, or myself is at this house at all fuckin’ times. I have to figure out where he took her and pray that it’s not too late, and he better fuckin’ hope that I don’t catch him or his life is going to end. Ethan has calmed down some by the time we get home, and his sobs are mostly hiccups and hitches. Sitting down in one of the chairs in the living room, I rub his back gently and leave a kiss on his head, constantly reassuring him he’s safe.

“Here you go little man.” Kash is crouching down next to us offering Ethan his bear. Ethan sits up a little bit and takes his bear hugging it to him before snuggling back to me.

“Ethan, can you tell me what happened?” I ask him softly. Ethan’s eyes meet mine; they fill with tears again, and his lip begins to tremble. “I know what happened was scary, and that you’re still scared and want Momma, but I need you to tell me what happened so I can go find her. I promise you, son, you are safe again, and I promise, me, Uncle Kash or Uncle Beamer will be here all the time. OK?”

Ethan nods his head a little before he starts to speak. “Momma was makin’ lunch, Mr. Mason came in and he said we had to leave and didn’t have time for anything. Momma told him no and he got mad. Momma screamed and cried. He held my arm really hard. It hurt and made me cry, he told Momma he would hurt me, and she took us both out to the car. He tied Momma, her hands and feet and mouth. He took me to the park and told me to stay in the tunnel, and if I came out he would hurt Momma really bad. I stayed there, but now I came out, is he gonna hurt Momma?”

“No, buddy. If he hurts Momma it’s because he is a bad man and not because you came out of the tunnel, OK?” I explain to him, and he gives me a nod and then falls back down against me. I can feel the tears soaking my shirt and the quiet sniffles. “I’m going to find her, Ethan. I promise I’m going to bring Momma back to you, OK?”

“OK, Daddy.”

“Ethan, did he hurt you any other places other than holding your arm too tight?”

“No. He just wanted Momma.”

“OK, little guy. It’s gonna be OK,” I soothe him and comfort him. I can feel Ethan beginning to relax, and I keep rubbing his back as my mind filters through all the possibilities of where Mason could have taken her. Ethan has fallen asleep against me; I can tell because his grip is loose and his breathing has evened out. Standing carefully, I take Ethan to his room and tuck him into bed. He lets out a small whimper, and I leave a kiss on his head. I made a promise to him, to keep him and Hartley safe. I failed. I told him I would bring his Momma back to him, I won’t fail him again.

Walking back into the living room, Beamer is talking to Kash; I can tell from his face that he’s found something and that something, isn’t good.

“Where is she?”

“They were able to track her cell phone; she never leaves without it. It hasn’t been used but the signal has been narrowed to a small area.”

“Where the fuck is she?”

“JD’s got her,” he states evenly.

“
Fuck!”
I bite out. “How in the hell did he manage to get her?”

“I don’t know man, but we need a plan. If Mason is working with JD then you are in danger too, the whole operation is gonna crumble.”

“Mason isn’t smart enough to be working with JD. Besides I don’t see how he would keep that from me. If JD knew who I was, there’d be no way that I would know all that I do or that I’d be trusted to handle any of the jobs. I’d be dead already, and honestly, I don’t give a shit about this operation anymore. I’m going to get my girl.”

“I’ll stay,” Kash offers. “Beamer is going with you.”

“No.”

“Yes, I am. You can’t go alone, you need cover, backup.”

“Beamer, no. I got this.”

“Look, man, I know you’re going in there to get her. I’m not talking you out of it, not even gonna try. All I’m sayin’ is that you’re not going in there without cover. I got your back, so tell me the fuckin’ plan.”

Glaring at Beamer and knowing he’s just as fucking stubborn as I am, he’s not gonna back down. As much as I try to make this not his problem, it doesn’t matter, he has my back—always has, always will. Truth be told if I have to go in there shooting to get Hartley back safe then there is no other person I would want to have my back than him.

“As you know, the house is secluded. We have to park further away, probably in the back woods by the creek. I’m not exactly sure where he will have her, but I want to check the room that was hers when she lived there first. It’s on the bottom floor and toward the back, out of the way. There is a decent sized window. If she’s in there, I’ll go in through the window, get her, and leave again through the window. You stay outside and keep watch. If she’s not in that room, then we go back to the truck, unload my bike, and I head into the house like normal. I’ll find her and get a message to you on how we will get her out. I can’t just leave her in that house. I know what he had planned for her before she vanished, no doubt that those plans haven’t changed. He’s a sick son-of-a-bitch, so I’m sure he’s used her as a punching bag. The longer he has her, the worse it will get. Wretches my gut to think about what kind of condition she will be in, what that fucking son-of-a-bitch bastard is doing to her right now.”

“If they catch you tryin’ to sneak her out?”

“I’ll die shooting! They can’t have her. If they catch me, you have to promise to get her out safely and protect her. Everything I have goes to her. You make sure of that.”

“Slyde, don’t go there.”

“Beamer. Promise me. You take care of her and Ethan.”

“Dude…”

“Promise me.”

“OK, man, I promise, but you are coming out. You and your girl, you hear me?”

“Yeah.”

With Beamer at my back, both of us armed and alert, we sneak our way to the window of what used to be Hart’s room in this hell hole. I’m doing everything I can to keep a clear head. I have to be alert if I’m gonna save her. Carefully looking in, my pounding heart races faster. The fucker has her tied to the bed, and has given her a good beating. I can see the bruises and blood from here. Rage takes over my body, and I’m desperately fighting for some control here, otherwise I’ll end up going through the front door shooting anybody I see.

“Slyde! Is she in there man?” Beamer snaps my attention back to him.

“Yeah tied to the bed. Beaten badly.”

“Fuck!”

“Got that right. I’m goin’ in. Cover me.”

Slipping my gun in the back of my pants, I push the window up quietly then climb inside. I stand still for a moment assessing the sounds in the house none are close and they sound like the usual nightly shit that goes down here. I reach the bed and feel relief that she is still breathing.

Keeping my voice quiet I reach for her face and call her name. “Hartley. C’mon, Hart, wake up for me. Hartley, wake up.” Stroking her cheeks she wakes with a jerk and starts thrashing on the bed, calling out through her gag.

“Shhh, Hart, it’s me, Tesoro.” She freezes at the sound of my voice. “I’m here, Tesoro, I’m gonna get you out of here, but I need you to be quiet.” Her body starts shaking with silent sobs but her eyes never leave mine. So much fear and pain in them, I can feel it shoot through me. Slipping my knife from my boots I cut the ropes at her feet freeing them from the bed, then slide the knife against her cheek to cut the gag loose, her eyes still don’t leave mine. Her hands are last. Quickly putting my knife back, I pull the ropes off her body and then gently lift her in my arms. Hartley moans in protest as her body jostles slightly and her arms go around my neck. At the window, Beamer is ready to take her so I can climb through, but Hartley refuses to let me go.

“Tesoro, it’s OK. It’s just Beamer, he’s gonna take you for just a second so I can get through the window. Just a second, Hart.” I feel her loosen her grip, and I pass her to Beamer, then jump through the window, taking her back in my arms as soon as I hit the ground. Hartley’s grip around me is tighter than before, and with each step I feel it getting tighter. She whimpers, and I have no idea how bad her injuries are, but I know she’s in pain. Her body is shaking as she fights hard to not to burst into tears. Beamer and I keep our eyes and ears open for trouble as we make our way back through the woods to the truck, but thankfully nothing happens.

Beamer jumps into the driver’s side while I settle in the passenger seat with Hartley still in my arms curled into me. “You’re safe now, Tesoro. I’ve got ya and it’s going to be OK.”

“Ethan,” she chokes out barely.

“Ethan is perfectly safe, he’s at the house with Kash. He was left at the park, but he’s unharmed. He’s missing you. I promised I’d bring you home to him. He’s safe, Hartley, you both are.” With those words she breaks in my arms, her grip still tight around my neck and on my shirt, her face against my chest, she sobs. Never letting go, I hold her tight and let her cry.

“I got a message from Kash. The word is out to look for Mason, and Mack is on his way to your house.”

“Fuckin’ fantastic, I have some choice words for Mack.”

“Keep your head bro. Kash and I agreed we don’t care what Mack says anymore, one of us will be with them at all times when you’re gone.”

“Thanks man, but I’m not sure how often that’s going to be anymore. I don’t think I can go back there and not kill them all.”

“Well you’re gonna have to find a way; we are almost there, man. I know you want your revenge and justice. You’ll get it. The meeting is right around the corner; you can do this. I know you better than most Slyde. You can do this.”

“We’ll see.” I cuddle Hartley closer; she whimpers and her body tenses slightly. Fuck, she’s in pain. “I’m sorry, Tesoro, so sorry. You’re going to be OK, I promise. I’ll take care of you, and I’ll have you back with Ethan soon, Hart.”

“Slyde,” she chokes out. “Love you.”

“I love you too, Hartley.”