ISAAC woke with the immediate sensation something was wrong. He instantly reached for Jenna, needing the reassurance of her soft, sweet body. When his hand met with cool sheets he shot up in bed, his gaze darting around the room in search of her. The house was too fucking silent and Jenna not being where she should be immediately tripped his “oh fuck” button. He broke from the bed in a dead run, bellowing her name as the first strains of dawn began to lighten the house.
He charged into the common room and swore when he found it empty. He ran to the kitchen, a knot so big in his stomach he nearly threw up. Finding the kitchen dark, he roared her name again, and the sounds of movement all over the house could be heard as the other DSS members and their wives scrambled in Isaac’s direction.
“Has anyone seen Jenna?” Isaac barked as everyone spilled into the living room. Looks of dread filled their faces, giving Isaac all the information he needed to know. She wasn’t with any of them, and no one could have goddamn well snuck into the bedroom and stolen her right out of his arms. Which meant only one thing, and it was retold on every single one of his teammates’ faces.
“Fuck!” Shadow swore.
Isaac stood there in shock, not understanding what he knew had to be true. He was numb to his toes and he couldn’t form a single word to save his life. Dear God, why had she run? Had he been completely and willingly played? Had he been so wrong about her?
No way. He couldn’t—he wouldn’t—believe that she’d been one big lie, using him until she no longer needed his protection. He refused to accept that. There had to be another explanation.
He watched the others as a slow realization crept into their expressions and he wanted to punch something, wanted to tell them they were fucking wrong, until Knight quietly called his name.
He numbly turned to see Knight standing over the escape hatch in the common room, a grim expression on his face. “You need to see this, brother. The hatch isn’t fully closed, meaning someone used it since last night after we did a lockdown of the house.”
Isaac lost it. He slammed his fist into the wall, sheetrock shattering as a sizeable hole formed where his hand struck.
“Isaac, stop.” Eliza’s soothing voice sounded close to him, but he didn’t want to be soothed. He’d just had his fucking heart ripped out of his chest. Nothing was going to ease his pain or the tearing sense of betrayal that was like a knife to his chest.
But it was Ramie’s words he latched on to, turning to her the moment she spoke.
“I can find her, Isaac,” she said in her soft way, with eyes too old for her face. Eyes haunted by the grisly murders of the vicious predators she’d been victim to and played an instrumental part in bringing to justice.
“Ramie, no!” Caleb’s pained protest sounded. “Baby, please don’t do this to yourself, for God’s sake. You have no idea what you’d be walking into.”
Despite the brief hope that had beat in his chest when Ramie had first spoken, Isaac didn’t want her risking herself for a woman who’d betrayed them all.
“Caleb, if she left on her own, then what could I personally experience that would be so horrible?” Ramie asked, with the mild exasperation in her voice that often accompanied her responses to her husband’s concerns. “But at least I’ll know where she is, if she’s safe and why she left,” she said, directing the last at Isaac as if knowing all too well that he wanted answers.
Oh hell yes he wanted to know why, god damn it.
“I want to know even if he doesn’t,” Shadow said, irritation evident in his tone. “Not only do I owe her, but I don’t believe for one fucking moment that she played any of us. If she left, then she had a damn good reason in her mind to leave. I’d like to know what it is before we play fucking judge and jury on a woman we don’t have any business judging until we have all the facts.”
Knight shifted from his position in the doorway. “I agree. Not for a second do I believe she was playing us. We need to figure out what the hell scared her so badly that she ran, and we need to do it now. Where does the escape hatch lead to? For all we know, that’s where she could be now while we stand around wasting time.”
Isaac blinked, mentally kicking his own ass. While he was wallowing in fear, grief and disbelief, his teammates were demonstrating more faith in Jenna than he was. What kind of a fuck-up did that make him? It was his own damn fault she’d managed to sneak out of bed in the first place. She should never have been able to so much as get out of his sight.
Dane spoke as Isaac started moving toward the hatch. “The tunnel leads through a section of dense forestation and then into an opening about half a mile from the house. Shadow, you’re with me. We’ll check the tunnel and see if there’s any sign she went that way. The rest of you fan out and cover every possible escape route.”
His face softened slightly as he looked in Ramie’s direction. “A decision needs to be made quickly. The choice should be Ramie’s alone, and it’s worth saying, if we’d wrapped the ladies in cotton in the past like we keep trying to do now, Lizzie wouldn’t be with us today.”
There was grim acceptance on the faces of everyone gathered as Dane’s words settled over them. Caleb turned away, resignation clearly etched on his features, but pain and fear haunted his eyes. Beau and Zack exchanged uncomfortable glances, knowing Dane was right. Without the girls, Lizzie would have died in that fucking warehouse where she’d been tortured by the men who’d made Ari’s and Gracie’s lives a living hell. Isaac knew the sacrifice Ramie was making, and he hated it, but what other choice did they have? Would he ever forbid Jenna from using her gift to save a single one of his teammates—his family? Even knowing what it did to her? No. He wouldn’t, and now he understood Caleb’s terror and his fierce protectiveness toward Ramie much more than he had before.
“Zack and I will take the east exit,” Beau said, glancing at his wife, his stare a silent command for her to remain without argument. Ari rolled her eyes while Gracie followed suit when she received the same pointed look from Zack.
“You stay too, Tori,” Caleb said in a gentler tone to his younger sister.
Ari and Gracie immediately flanked Tori, each wrapping an arm around her slim waist, sending a silent message to Caleb and Beau that they would take care of the men’s younger sister. Caleb sent them both grateful looks before he turned back to his wife, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly, as if he already knew that she would do what she must to find Jenna.
Everyone quickly headed out in their search, leaving Isaac alone with Ramie, Caleb, Ari, Gracie and Tori.
Isaac waited, chest tight and heart hammering, as he watched the silent interaction between husband and wife. Then his attention focused solely on Ramie, knowing how selflessly she’d offered her talents time and time again, but also knowing the tension it caused between her and Caleb. She was watching her husband, determination in every line of her body, while understanding and love for Caleb’s concern clearly shone in her eyes.
“Caleb, I can do this. I’ll be okay. I can’t live with knowing I didn’t help Jenna. I have to do this and I need you to understand,” Ramie whispered.
Caleb drew in a deep breath, but he looked at his wife with so much love and worry that it made Isaac’s chest ache. He watched Ramie with every single emotion that Isaac was feeling for Jenna.
“I know you do, baby. I know.”
There was a hint of helpless frustration in Caleb’s voice even as he conceded that Ramie had no choice.
“But if anything goes wrong, anything at all, I’m pulling the plug immediately,” he said with steely determination. “I won’t risk you. Don’t ever ask me to risk losing you. I won’t even hesitate.”
He sent Isaac a look of apology, though his words were directed at Ramie, and Isaac got it. He did. He had no right to ask another man to risk his wife’s life for the woman Isaac loved, no matter how badly he feared Caleb’s interference and Ramie being unable to locate Jenna.
“Do you want us to step away?” Ari asked, nodding toward Gracie and Tori as well.
“No.”
The response came simultaneously from Caleb and Ramie.
“Just the usual instructions,” Ramie said wanly. “Don’t interfere and remain quiet. Listen to everything I say and for any useful information.”
Left unsaid was that if it was bad, Ramie not only would have little recollection of specific details, but she would be completely incapacitated. She could even die, and that was what scared Caleb to death every time she called upon her talents.
The women moved toward Isaac, their intention not lost on him. Gracie looped her arm through his while Ari wrapped her arm around his waist in a hug.
“We’ll get her back, Isaac,” Ari whispered. “You can’t give up hope. Ramie will find her.”
But at what cost? And the million-dollar question, what would she see? Would she be too late to save Jenna’s life if the worst had happened? He shook his head because he knew it did no good to entertain such hopeless thoughts. But hope was a vicious bitch as it clawed at his chest, warring with the worst-case scenarios that haunted his every thought.
This might not even work. Ramie might not be able to connect with her at all because it was too late. Or Ramie might connect with her only to find out Jenna really had betrayed him. Isaac slammed his mind shut to that possibility and fought for control. Once he’d found a shred of it and was reasonably sure he could speak without his voice breaking, he asked Ramie, “What do you need?”
“Whatever the last item was she touched that you know of,” she replied, her eyes hopeful.
Isaac hurried to the bedroom he’d given Jenna, frantically trying to think. What could Ramie use? Jenna had come to him with only the clothes on her back. And those were with Lizzie. Fuck. He spun slowly, trying to find anything that might work. His gaze fell on the shirt she’d worn last night—his shirt. A night she’d spent in his arms before she’d disappeared. He snatched it up. It would have to do. If it didn’t . . . He couldn’t go there. It had to work or his only option would be to hunt down a cult in an unknown location, break in, and try to find something that belonged to Jenna and steal it. Jesus, this was a total clusterfuck.
He strode into the living room and dropped into a crouch in front of the armchair where Ramie was now sitting. “Thank you for this,” he whispered, his voice rough. “I know I shouldn’t ask this of you, that it’s too much, but—”
“Stop,” Ramie said softly. “You didn’t ask. I volunteered. And it’s not too much if we can make sure she’s safe. I’ve been where she is, terrified and believing I had no one to turn to. I was proven wrong.” She shot a loving look at her brooding husband. “Let’s show Jenna she’s wrong too.”
Isaac swallowed the lump in his throat, hoping like hell Ramie understood the depth of his gratitude. He nodded, stood, then stepped away to give her space.
Ramie tentatively reached for the shirt, dread mirrored in her eyes despite her attempts to mask her expression. Then she sucked in a deep breath and closed her hands around the shirt, gripping it tightly as she closed her eyes. Long moments passed, Isaac’s fear and sense of dread building with every second that ticked past. Then he saw her eyes start to move behind her closed lids as her fingers clenched the fabric tighter.
The color drained from Ramie’s face, and it took everything Isaac had not to lunge across the room and start demanding answers. Only his previous experiences with Ramie’s process kept him restrained, because he knew it could take time before she was able to provide any useful information.
Adrenaline coursed through his body, his hands trembling, muscles coiling into tight knots as he forced himself to stand still and quiet. He couldn’t interrupt. It might break her connection to Jenna. Their only connection to Jenna.
Ramie’s eyes suddenly flew open, and fear unlike any he’d ever seen was reflected there. Caleb moved even closer as she gasped. Then she spoke, the speech pattern familiar but not Ramie’s. “Please, don’t hurt me. Please. I’ll do what you ask. Please.” The last was a whimper, and Isaac fought not to drop to his knees as he realized he was hearing Jenna’s words.
“Where are you, baby?” Isaac begged, no longer able to hold it in. “Just tell me where you are.”
But Ramie’s face remained strangely blank and he knew that his words were useless. Jenna wasn’t here. She was someplace where she had to beg people not to hurt her and he couldn’t stop it. He could only stand helplessly in the house where she should have been safe and pray that it wasn’t too late.
Then Ramie fell back, slamming against the back of the sofa with astonishing force. A cry of pain split the air and to the equal horror of both Isaac and Caleb, a large handprint appeared, bright red against the alarming pallor of Ramie’s face. She staggered to the side, tilting precariously as Caleb lunged forward to catch her, hauling her into his arms to cradle her against his chest. He began softly running his hands through her hair, telling her he was there and begging her to come back to him.
Isaac stood paralyzed in fear and rage. What the fuck had just happened? He stared in shock at the vivid mark on Ramie’s cheek. Was this what Jenna—his angel—was enduring while he stood here helpless to do anything but watch through the eyes of another? Tears burned like acid and for a moment, he had to look away from Ramie as she huddled, looking so fragile, in her husband’s arms, or he feared losing the tenuous grip on his sanity.
He forced his gaze back to her, so choked up he wasn’t sure he could even speak. He attempted to open his mouth to ask where the fuck Jenna was, but Caleb’s sharp glare cut him off.
“Not now,” he hissed, clearly incensed at the abuse his wife had suffered, even secondhand. His hands ran over her body as if checking for any hidden injury or evidence of pain and then he buried his face in her hair, tears glistening in his own eyes as he rocked her gently back and forth in his arms. “Just give her a goddamn minute!”
“No, we need to hurry,” Ramie said urgently, the fear in her voice sending shards of panic down Isaac’s spine. “She’s so scared. And she should be. I know exactly where she is.” She lifted eyes swimming with tears to implore Isaac. “It’s not far, but they plan to move her soon. We have to go now!”