Truth or Dare; The Dominator II (35 page)

A moment later Dare came out with a black knapsack, spoke into the window of the blue pickup for a moment, and then returned to his SUV and went to get in. I unfroze as he jerked his chin at me to get me to unlock the door. He got in but said nothing. As we pulled away I saw the blue pickup truck leave and as he drove away I saw it was Eddy. We were back on the road.

Tommy

I climbed into bed, rolled Tia onto her side, curled against her back and then put my lips to her head. My arm was around her. She stretched and then lifted my hand and sleepily asked, “What happened? Your knuckles are all bruised.”

“Mm,” I grunted, surprised she hadn’t noticed on the drive up.

“What’d you do?”

“Mm.” I closed my eyes. She rolled to face me.

“Don’t Mm, me. What happened?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Husband?” She poked my chest.

I smirked and kissed her nose, “Shh. Let me sleep, wife. You wore me out.” I gave her ass a swat.

She snuggled in. We slept for a while and then my phone was making noise again, waking us, so I grabbed it.

There was a text from Zack.

“Talk to your brother?”

I replied, “Not yet today.”

“Where are you?”

“Farm.”

“Good. Stay there if poss. Check your messages from Dario then call me. Btw, in addition to what’s going down with Dario (Thai drama) cops are looking for you.”

“Why?”

“Nick Gordon is in hospital. Told cops you beat the snot out of him at 4:00 this morn.

“Thx. I’ll deal when we’re back.”

“Call me after you chk msgs with your bro on conference. We need to talk.”

I wasn’t sure how Zack knew that the cops were looking for me. But he regularly proved he was worth his hefty retainer.

When I woke up from a nightmare last night, a nightmare that Tia was gone, that the punk had kidnapped her, I got into my car and drove to the punk’s apartment, busted down his door and hauled him out of his bed and busted his face. Then I came back and crawled into bed beside my wife and slept for 3 hours before waking her up to drive here.

I texted Dex, “Nick Gordon, Tia’s ex, is in the hospital after getting a much-deserved beating. He needs to drop the charges. Bring Tino with you.”

Twenty seconds later Dex replied, “I’m on it.”

The Dex and Tino team worked well in terms of persuasion. Dex was the baby-faced fast talker and Tino was the intimidating muscle. I wanted to curl back into Tia. The nap hadn’t been enough considering I’d barely slept but I had to check my voicemails.

Two minutes later I was outside, walking by the pond, on the phone with Dare, ready to conference in Zack.

“I’m on the road, man. Can’t talk but will call you back in 10 minutes when I’m at Ed’s family’s cabin. You still at the farm? If so, stay there.”

“Got it. Yeah, I’ll stay put.”

Dare

I got us into Eddy’s family’s cabin. It was remote, wooded, and a nice little place on a great piece of property. Ed’s dad used it as a hunt camp years back but he’d died and Luc and Ed had since done some work, put on a second story plus an addition, and made it into more of a cottage. It had a wood stove, big back deck overlooking a forest with a stream, three bedrooms. It was close enough to get to the city in a hurry but away enough to feel like a haven.

I’d stopped at our storage unit and got a bug-out bag and keys from Ed on the way. Tommy and I each had bug out bags there, one for each of us, plus a bag covering the whole family should the shit ever hit the fan in a way where we’d all need to be gone. I needed to update that bag to cover Angel now, too.

We got our things inside and then I told her I had to step out to make a call.

She was looking a little hurt, probably because I was keeping her in the dark but she was keeping as tight a rein on it as I guessed she could manage. I didn’t wanna keep her hanging for long but I needed to brief Tommy and follow-up with Zack before I could take the time to sit down and talk to her. If she had a flip out I needed time to devote to getting her chilled out so if I got these calls out of the way first there was more of a chance of me being able to give her whatever time she needed.

Suddenly a sick feeling crawled up my spine and I texted Zack.

“Just dawned that Angel’s got a fucking chip. They put a tracker in her so if there are bad intentions then this place isn’t gonna be safe for long so I’m adding security. What’s the status on everything?”

I had a few guys I could use. I’d need a few more to make sure the house back home was safe, too.

I texted Eddy, “Get Luc and the kids to Pop’s house. We need to go on lock down. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Got it,” Eddy replied a minute later.

I called my brother. As soon as he answered I launched in:

“We have people on their way from Thailand, including Gan Chen. We’ve got another visitor who’s here already, Jason Frost, Angel’s ex, an ex who’s looking like  the reason she was at Kruna, the ex who I just found out is related to one of the former big wigs from Kruna, a now dead former bigwig who fucked my Angel up royally. Angel saw Jason this morning and he didn’t approach, he took off, so he was stalking us. Zack confirmed it’s him and he’s been on radar after being off for a bit so something’s up his sleeve. I’m at Ed’s family’s cabin but Angel has a tracker implant so if we’re on Kruna’s hit list, we’re not safe. I’m getting supplies dropped here by Nino or Dex soon and I need to get some security here.”

“I mobilized Dex already,” Tommy said, “I had to get him to visit someone at the hospital and get them to drop assault charges.”

“What?”

“Tia’s ex. More later. Not important right now.”

“Alright, so I’ll get Nino here with supplies. I need security here in case they track us down. I’m gonna call Nino and get a couple guys here and get a couple to watch the girls. Ed’s taking Luc and the kids to be with the girls. Is Lisa home from the hospital yet?”

“Tino’s going with Dex. Hospital?” he said, “Did she have an appointment?”

“Shit. You don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

“Tess messaged me this morning to say she was at the hospital with Leese. She miscarried, man.”

“Shit,” Tommy replied, “I haven’t read my texts from her or Luc yet. They’ve both texted. Okay, you call Nino back, I’ll call Tess and make sure she and Leese are home. If not, I’ll get Dex and Tino to escort them after dealing with the punk. It’s probably the same hospital. Same neighborhood.”

“Got it.”

“Call you back soon.”

I got a text to Nino and then I went back inside. Angel was looking out the window at the forest out back. I stepped in and took her into my arms,

“Okay, babe, come sit down. I had to get a few things done first and now I can tell you that we need to chill here for a bit while I see what’s what.”

We sat on the sofa and I kept her close, “You did see Jason this morning. He’s in town.”

Her eyes went wide and she started to shake her head in a No.

“Yeah. There’s more but that’s all I’m saying this second because I don’t want you to freak out. What you’ve gotta know right now is that I’m taking care of you, I’m keeping you safe. How dangerous is this guy?”

She stared off into space for a second.

“Baby?” I prodded and stroked her cheekbone with my thumb.

“I don’t think he’s very dangerous. But I don’t know.”

“No?”

She shook her head, “He didn’t ever seem like he’d
really
hurt me or anything but I don’t know. I saw him shoot someone once but it wasn’t a … it didn’t seem like his usual thing. But I didn’t know him long. I don’t know…”

“No?”

She shook her head, looking like she was shaking off a trance, “Why would he be here?”

“That’s one of the things I need to find out. Who did you see him shoot?”

“How did you know it was him?”

“Zack has been digging.”

“Digging?”

“Yeah. We need to pull together an exit strategy for Kruna. Zack’s digging around, getting intel, so we can figure out the best way forward. Who did Jason shoot?”

“Do you have a lot of intel?” she was looking at me with huge eyes.

“I don’t yet. Zack does. Who did he fucking shoot, Angel?” I snapped.

She started to shake.

“Hey?” I pulled her closer and put my hands in her hair, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Nothing. Do you believe that? Do you trust me?” I caressed her face with both thumbs and she nodded and sank into me.

My phone made a text sound so I reached for it. It was Zack.

“Chen arrived and is checking into a hotel now. Stay tuned.”

My phone rang while I was replying to Zack. It was a local number but not one I recognized. I answered it.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Ferrano?”

“Yeah?”

“Gan Chen. I’m in town. We need to meet.”

I let go of Angel and stepped outside.

“Where? When? Anything I should know before we do?”

“I’m staying at the Hilton downtown, near your office. We can meet in my suite or in your office.  You should know we have a minor problem with someone from Felicia’s past. I’m here to ensure, personally, that it’s dealt with. Our relationship is important to me, Mr. Ferrano, and I wanted to make sure I spoke to you personally to notify you of the problem as well as to assure you that it
is
in hand.”

“I see. Okay. I’m a little out of town. Do we need to meet immediately?”

“We can meet tomorrow. I can work on the situation in the meantime.”

“Alright. How about noon at my office?”

“Perfect.  I want you to know, Mr. Ferrano, that I will ensure the situation is handled.”

“Just call me Dario, Gan. And good. You need help with this situation? You need manpower?”

“No. If I do, I’ll let you know.”

“Gan, Felicia told me when we were out earlier that she thought she saw someone she knew. Is the person you’re here to apprehend named Jason?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Well he was seen in a restaurant on Canal street but he disappeared as soon as she saw him. You sure our meeting can wait? I can come sooner.”

“It’s fine. It’s in hand. I just wanted you vigilant. Jason was a little put out that Felicia left Thailand and based on his reaction I had him watched. I found out he’d flown to your city so I’m having him apprehended. I recommend you have someone watch Felicia until I update you.”

“She’s safe. And alright. See you at noon tomorrow. You need anything in the meantime, you call me.”

“Thank you, Dario. All’s well with your Felicia?”

“Exceptionally well,” I replied.

“Good. Until tomorrow.”

“Right.” I ended the call and then I let out a long breath and phoned Tommy and conferenced Zack in. I informed them of the latest and Zack told me he had Chen under surveillance by someone on his team. He said they were working to track Frost down, too.

I reached into the truck and got another pack of smokes out and as I lit one I got another text from Tommy telling me that Dex was escorting the girls from the hospital back to the house. I got a text from Sarah that she’d just helped Nino load his car with groceries and now Nino was on his way with supplies for us.

I had just a few drags and then went back inside and she was sitting on the sofa looking lost.

“It’s all okay, baby.” I tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. She’d been wearing it straight in order to keep herself together and while it looked beautiful, sleek, shiny, and gorgeous, it was the hair of “Felicia”. When it was wavy it gave me the promise of who she was before she was broken. One day soon I hoped we’d be able to toss that fucking flat iron off my balcony. Together.

She snuggled into me and it started to rain and it was heavy, coming down in buckets.  We sat quietly for a while, watching the rain out the big picture window. I rubbed her back and rained kisses all over her face. She made contented sounds, arms around me. I was gonna ask her about Jason Frost and the shooting again but before I could, I heard a car. I jumped up, pulled a gun from my knapsack, and stepped out with it, catching her face as she saw and watching a horrified look spread across her face, “It’s probably Nino with our supplies but stay here.”

She nodded and I stepped out. It
was
Nino. He and I unloaded about a dozen grocery bags into the kitchen and she started unloading food from bags into the fridge and pantry.

“Sarah must’ve shopped for a month instead of a few days,” I muttered, carrying in two stacked cases of bottled water. Nino followed with the last of it, a case of 24 rolls of toilet paper and case of 12 rolls of paper towels.

“If you don’t need to be up here that long, me, Bee, and little Joe’ll come spend a weekend and finish up the food,” Nino joked, “Been a while since we had a getaway.”