Jay stared helplessly at the churning waves as the speedboat ate up the distance between him and the men that had Allie. The stiff set of his shoulders invited the two other men present and the driver to keep their distance for now. He could hear them strategizing behind him. Good. They were dockyard security, they would probably have a better idea than him how best to get Allie back while taking the fewest risks. Jay would content himself with imagining the most painful ways his Triad friends would pay for this infraction. The trick was going to be keeping his temper in check so he could keep them alive long enough to do justice to what he had in mind.
It had been nine minutes since she was taken. Six minutes since Greg’s agonized and muddled call to him, which was second only after calling to house security. Jay could feel worry for his old friend clawing at him, but knew he would have to table it until he retrieved Allie. Greg would do what had to be done or die trying. He was a tough old buzzard. Thank fucking god Greg got into the habit of wearing a vest under his shirt as part of his daily outfit when on the job. The loyalty he’d shown today would ensure his comfortable retirement.
“How close is the Predator?” Jay growled impatiently.
No one was stupid enough to comment that they were virtually still in sight of the dockyard. They’d activated the GPS on the Predator the moment Allie was taken on board. Jay was certain she would be moved, but he knew his Asian colleagues would prefer to move out into the bay before disembarking.
“We’re ten minutes out, boss.”
“Go faster,” Jay snarled.
No one bothered mentioning they were going as fast as they could without flipping the speedboat. It was light so it would move faster than the yacht, but it’s lightness would make it vulnerable to the churning ocean waves. The man at the helm maneuvered them skillfully through the waves and increased the speed as much as he could, ducking his head low and squinting into the wind. The two security guys checked their weapons and filled a silent Jay in on their basic plan. He nodded in approval. His guys knew him well. Far from keeping him out of the line of fire, their plan involved covering him while cutting a direct path to Allie’s position. No stealth, just simple smash and grab the girl.
“We think they intend to keep her moving, which is why they took her out on the water. If your most recent intel on the Triad is good then they probably transferred her to the Zheng He, which is good news for us. Its intended for cutting and packing product. There should be minimal guard, and capacity on the boat is around twenty-five to thirty people, but it’s unlikely Li Wei will want that many people involved in this shit. You’re not a name many people’ll want to cross.”
Jay rubbed a weary hand over his face, eyeing his guys. After a moment of thought he said, “Realistically we have no idea how many guys there’ll be. We have the element of surprise. They know we’ll be tracking the Predator. They’ll move her as quickly as they can and they’ll think they’re home safe once they’re away from the yacht. Hershel will have told them I removed Allie’s tracking device. He doesn’t know it was never in the bracelet.”
Allie didn’t know either. He’d let her assume it was the bracelet so she wouldn’t find out the actual tracking devices had been on her for ten years, in her earrings. It was one of the few comforts he’d had. Knowing exactly where she was at any given time. He thanked fucking god he had the presence of mind now to gift her with those ear studs on her eighteenth birthday, right before sending her away. They would save her life today.
“We’re with you boss,” his guy said solemnly. “You took me off the street and gave a chance to someone everyone else would’ve called trash. We’ll get your girl back.”
The others nodded their agreement. Jay jerked his head in acknowledgment. “Make sure you’re all wearing vests.”
“You too, boss.”
Jay wordlessly put on the vest his guy handed over. If anything happened to Allie he wanted to live long enough to burn Li Wei’s organization to the ground before following her into death. He accepted a sidearm and listened as they went over each detail again with deadly precision. Jay listened intently, his eyes never leaving the horizon, his tattooed fingers tightening on his weapon.
I’m coming for you, Allie. Hang on, love.
***
“Get up, bitch.”
Allie blinked in the harsh sunlight and moaned in pain as her arm was taken in a tight grip and she was jerked upright. She stumbled against someone. The world tilted and spun around her, nausea threatening to overwhelm her. Allie lifted a hand to her throbbing temple and groaned as her fingers brushed against tender skin. Vomit rushed up her throat and she dropped to her knees and heaved on the the deck of the yacht.
Someone swore viciously and quickly stepped away from her, out of the path of her regurgitated breakfast. Intense pain ripped through Allie’s skull and she realized right away that she must have a concussion from the blow to her temple. She huddled against the side of the yacht, dropped her head onto her knees and wrapped her arms protectively around her head. She hoped desperately that the punch hadn’t done permanent damage.
“Yídòng tā. Right fucking now,” someone close by snarled.
Hard hands wrapped around Allie’s waist and dragged her to her feet. She cried out and collapsed against whoever was holding her. She reached out blindly and held onto them for balance, still clutching her head with her other hand. She was drag-lifted from the Predator yacht onto another boat. Hands reached for her. She would have collapsed onto the deck, but someone stepped up behind her and took her firmly in their arms. He spoke rapid Mandarin.
Allie wanted to open her eyes, take stock of her surrounding and try to formulate some kind of escape plan, but the severe pain in her skull wouldn’t allow her to do more than crack an eyelid. Everything swam sickeningly around her and she whimpered desperately, shoving her fists against the man that held her.
“You throw up?” he asked her sharply.
“Yes!” Allie gasped.
He pushed her to the side of the boat with one hand between her shoulder blades and bent her over the railing. He gathered her long hair in one fist and held it off her face while she threw up into the bay. When she finished, her knees buckled and she sagged against the siding. He turned her so her back was against the railing and stared down at her face, brushing his fingers gently against her throbbing temple. Allie was finally able to open her eyes without feeling extreme pain. The man holding her was taller than her, with straight black hair and dark eyes. He was leanly muscled, like Jay, with tattoos covering his arms and neck where skin was visible. Allie could feel the deadly intensity surrounding him and knew without a doubt he would make a very bad enemy. Yet he was touching her with gentleness and she felt no ill intent, though he was clearly behind her kidnapping.
“Beautiful,” he murmured in accented English. He pushed her steadily down onto the warm deck until she was sitting with her back against the railing. He crouched next to her, his dark eyes steadily searching hers, and cupped her chin in his hand before standing.
He said something angrily in Mandarin before a man was shoved forward. Allie shaded her eyes and saw that it was the person who had punched her. Realization dawned seconds before her captor pulled a gun and shot the other man in the knee. Allie let out a hoarse cry that she cut off with a shaking hand, not wanting to draw attention back to herself as he went down onto the deck screaming in agony.
A swift angry, exchange of Mandarin took place between the men. Her captor silenced it with icily spoken English. “I do not care what my father said. His instructions to kidnap the Le Croix woman will fuck us all. This is useless revenge for a business arrangement he doesn’t like. I told you not to hurt her. It was our only possible chance at survival, and you couldn’t even get that right.”
His cold eyes swept over her, drawing a shiver down Allie’s spine. This man was smart enough to know that Jay was coming for her. Did that mean her chances for survival were exponentially worse, or better? She just hoped he would make it quick. If she couldn’t live through this, then she didn’t want to suffer. She didn’t want Jay to live with the knowledge that she’d suffered.
“Your father doesn’t care what happens to the bitch,” snarled the man from the deck.
Allie knew it was a mistake the second the words left the man’s mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head against the hot metal railing seconds before a bullet entered his brain. She bit her lip to keep herself from screaming in horror.
“Li Wei is finished. If I survive this day, I will be taking over his organization when Jay Le Croix has buried him.” His son spoke with deadly authority. Allie tired to flinch away from him when he approached her on the deck.
Ignoring her reaction, he took her arm and dragged it around his waist. He wrapped a strong arm around hers and pulled her off the deck, making sure she was leaning heavily against him. He led her through a door and into the shaded interior of the boat. Allie sighed in relief as the cool air caressed her heated skin and the pain in her head lessened by a degree. Her eyes widened in curiosity and terror as they passed tables of what could only be drugs and drug sorting paraphernalia. The tables were empty of people, having probably been cleared out for her presence. She also saw stacks of bills and a money counter. The dingy room with the fluorescent lighting could have easily been a scene straight out of a movie.
“I would not look too hard, little girl. The plan is to get you out of my father’s mess alive, if possible. I would prefer if you not take my secrets with you,” her captor’s amused voice said over her head.
Allie gasped and quickly unglued her eyes from the neatly stacked rows of white powder bricks. He chuckled at her discomfort and held her upright in one arm while punching in the code to a locked door with his other hand. He opened the door to a small, run down office that was clearly only used for basic business purposes. He helped Allie sit on the couch, where she curled into herself with a sigh of relief.
He strode over to the desk and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest. Allie eyed the tail of a dragon tattoo that popped out against his muscular bicep. He caught her eye and said, “I am Feng.”
She nodded slightly and shifted in her seat, trying to get comfortable. Between the itchy fabric of the old couch, her concussion and his flat, relentless gaze, it was difficult. He watched her with a little more interest than Allie was comfortable with. As though he wanted to know what made Allie tick. His next words confirmed his thoughts.
“I did not understand before, but now I start to see why a man who has made his name in the underbelly of this city and all down the coast would throw aside his lucrative trade for a morally superior woman.”
Allie frowned. Was he insulting her? Damn it. Between her naive self and her concussed head she couldn’t tell if he was making fun of her. He must have have seen some of the confusion written on her face.
“The drug boss relentlessly pursues and falls in love with the addictions worker?” he supplied. When he saw understanding in Allie’s eyes, he continued. “This is why my father is so angry. Your boyfriend has been steadily refusing his usual contracts with the intention of retiring from the drug trade.”
Allie gasped and pulled herself up straighter. “I… I didn’t know. I mean, I always suspected that was how Jay got so powerful, but I didn’t know he wanted out… because of me.”
His black eyes searched her face intently. “Yes. Very few of us discuss business with family. It is safer, of course. Involving family, as you have become involved… it is unusual.”
Allie understood. She should never have been taken. Jay took precautions of course, but involving loved ones within an organizational dispute was like declaring war. It was extremely rare. And it wouldn’t go unanswered. Any move against family would be avenged with swift and bloody results.
“Why is your father angry with Jay?” Allie asked quietly. “Why would he break the rules this way?”
“Li Wei has had to renegotiate his docking contracts with other yards, which will cost him millions. He is stuck in the old ways and not willing to look forward and try new methods, as I have many times suggested. He has been losing money for some time, since before Le Croix fucked him on the contracts. Instead of dealing with the losses, he has decided to take revenge and damn his organization in the process.”
Allie stared back at him, her eyes round. She was learning way more about organized crime than she ever wanted to. Her head gave an extra painful throb and she moaned, closing her eyes as the room tilted and dipped. She leaned back and curled her legs up, burrowing into the rough texture of the couch.
“Soon this will be over for you,” he said quietly.
Allie nodded slightly, feeling oddly safe in the small, cool office with him. He was unquestionably the deadly next-in-line of a criminal organization, but he had a still, calm element about him. If he said he would help her get out of this situation alive then she would choose to believe him. She had nothing better to do at the moment than place all of her hopes in this Triad’s basket until Jay showed up.
A sudden banging at the door made Allie cry out and clutch her head in pain. Her captor snapped in annoyance and jerked the door open to reveal an irate Hershel. She was pleased to see his suit looked slightly more wilted, though his stupid sunglasses were still in place. The look Feng gave Hershel spoke volumes on his feelings about the other man. Hershel had only enough self-preservation to somewhat moderate his angry tone.
“I… I want to discuss the bonus Li Wei promised if I delivered the woman,” Hershel announced, clearing his voice a little.
“What exactly, do you think to discuss with me?” Feng drawled.
Allie tensed, wondering if she was about to witness another close range shooting. Did Hershel not see what happened to the other guy that pissed Feng off? God, she was going to need so much therapy after today!
“And why the fuck aren’t we moving away from Jay’s yacht any faster. He’ll be on top of us before we can get out of here. You’re underestimating him if you don’t think he’ll come after her. He never let’s her out of his sight and when he does he never has less than five men on her. We lucked out today. If he catches up to us, we’re all fucking dead,” Hershel said angrily.
Allie closed her eyes and burrowed her face into the crook of her arm, certain Hershel was about to die. But Feng only laughed.
“And you underestimate me,” he said coldly, “if you assume I would share my plans with someone like you. Now tell me about this bonus?”
Allie lifted her head back up, curious in spite of herself. This conversation was like being forced to watch a train wreck. Only the train had no clue it was in the process of derailing.
“Li Wei promised me $50,000 on top of my usual salary if I could deliver the girl within three months. I did what he wanted.”
“Congratulations,” Feng said.
Allie didn’t think he was being sincere.
“Yes… well… I want her,” Hershel announced, his greedy eyes gleaming as he pointed at Allie.
She tensed, ready to again cover her eyes when Feng pulled out his gun and disposed of this ignorant dick. But once again, he did not. Allie sighed, unsure if she was relieved or disappointed at Hershel’s lack of deadness. Feng caught her eye and winked before turning his attention coldly back to Hershel.
“You could not handle a woman like her,” Feng said dismissively.
This, of course, infuriated Hershel. “I will take her as payment. Call Li Wei and tell him. He won’t refuse my request.”
Feng stared at him with such chilling intent that Allie was certain Hershel’s demise was imminent. When Feng spoke, his voice was a low growl. “I know how you do your girls, perverted child. Soon, your time will come. That is a promise.”
Allie shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Hershel’s jaw opened as he processed Feng’s words and the intent behind them.
“What is this, a fucking threat?” Hershel asked incredulously.
When Feng didn’t say anything, Hershel reached for his gun. Allie rolled into a tight ball on the couch, hoping she wouldn’t get hit by a stray bullet. She needn’t have bothered. Feng easily disarmed Hershel and kicked him onto his knees, wrenching his arm behind his back and over his head. For good measure, he broke two of Hershel’s fingers, drawing a scream of pain from the man underneath him. Feng nodded in Allie’s direction, indicating the extra measure was for her benefit.
Allie gave him a strained smile and decided she was extremely glad Jay kept her well insulated from this area of his world. She also hoped very much that Feng was correct and that Jay was getting rid of his illegal assets. Allie considered herself a tough woman, but this was a bit much.
Feng opened the door and handed Hershel off to one of his men. Another approached him and they spoke quietly while Allie strained to hear. She realized they were speaking in their native language anyway and collapsed back on the couch. Running her fingers over the fabric, she decided if she made it out of this alive she was going to buy Feng a new couch in appreciation of his ambiguous friendship. Because his current couch looked like something even crazy old lady cats wouldn’t throw up on.
Her eyes fell on something on the floor. It was Hershel’s gun. It must have fallen during the fight and Feng hadn’t picked it up again. Allie glanced at the door. Feng and his man were standing just to the side; neither would see her if she went for the weapon. Without a second thought, Allie slid off the couch and crawled quickly toward the weapon. Just as she was about to stretch out and reach for it, Feng crouched on the other side and scooped it up off the floor. Allie gasped and scrambled quickly back, cowering against the side of the couch.
Feng stood and strode over to her. Allie flinched as though he was about to hit her. Instead he dropped the gun into her lap. Her mouth hung open as the heavy metal weapon hit her thighs. She looked up at him in confusion.
“If it will make you feel better then keep it,” he said, his dark eyes piercing hers.
She nodded warily and clutched the gun tightly, careful to keep her fingers off the trigger. She had no idea how to use it, but if push came to shove she was going with point and shoot.
“Le Croix has arrived and my men are attempting to negotiate with him,” Feng told her. “He is very angry so it will take a few minutes, I think, before he is willing to listen to reason.”
Allie’s heart leapt in excitement and blood rushed in her ears as reaction to his words flooded through her. She had to breath through a wave of dizziness and concentrate on his next words.
“I believe his plan was to come in with… what is saying… guns blazing? I think he was going to kill everyone and bring you out. Like True Romance. You see this movie?” he asked.
Startled, Allie laughed. “Yes. Patricia Arquette and Christian Slater.”
“It is a good movie.” He seemed pleased she knew what he was talking about. His eyes held satisfaction as he watched her holding tightly to her gun.
Their moment was interrupted by a man yelling down the length of the corridor for Feng. He turned dark eyes on Allie and said calmly, “It looks like Jay Le Croix may be willing to talk.”
He stood and walked toward the door. Looking back toward her, he said, “You shoot anyone that comes through this door that isn’t me, Jay or one of your own people.”
She nodded, understanding. Until Feng had his organization under control, no one within was trustworthy. She hoped he would be okay. She wished he’d taken her out to see Jay so she could plead for his life. She understood why he hadn’t. The atmosphere on the deck would be fraught with tension as they negotiated. Things could go terribly wrong and if they did lives would be lost. Neither Jay nor Feng would want her to be caught in the crossfire.
Allie pushed herself off the floor and onto the couch, dusting her hands off in disgust and resettling the gun in her lap. Feng needed someone to sweep the floor of his office more often. She giggled and shook her head a little. Seriously, Allie? She thought to herself. The big, bad Triad boss needs a housekeeper for his dusty floating drug barge.
She jumped and squeaked in fear when she heard the sound of someone unlocking the door. She hadn’t heard shooting, did that mean the negotiations had been successful? Or did it mean the office was sound proofed? Where was Hershel? Was he free and did he have access to the office?
Allie lifted the gun in both hands and pointed it at the door, putting her forefinger lightly on the trigger. She shook hair out of her face and forced herself to breath steadily so her arms wouldn’t shake too badly. The door opened to reveal Jay and Feng standing together. Allie dropped the gun, letting it clatter on the floor, and gave a cry of relief. She opened her arms and Jay rushed forward, dropping to his knees in front of her.
Tears ran down Allie’s cheeks as she clutched his head to her breasts. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her forward and buried his face in her stomach. She bent her head over his and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and back, touching as much of him as she could. In that moment the years melted away and she knew she would love Jay forever. She only had one future and it was with the man kneeling in front of her.