“What? Why are you laughing?” Dominick asked him.

  Lionel began to cough. “Looks like I got the last laugh, asshole,” he said and began to teeter to his side. He was dying, and the agents were trying to get him medical assistance. He looked right at Dominick, his cheek on the concrete flooring.

  “Guess what, asshole? You sold Isabella, just like my plan was to do, and do you want to know why I was selling her and didn’t care, and focused on the money?” Dominick stared at him. “She’s your daughter, not mine,” he whispered, coughed and then closed his eyes and died.

  Dominick felt the instant strike to his heart. My daughter? Isabella is mine? Holy shit, Gale was pregnant with his child. That’s why the girls were so close in age. They were having an affair. Gale never told him because she was too afraid of what Lionel might do to her if he found out. “No!” No!” he roared and fell to his knees.

  One of the guys grabbed him. “Where is she? Where did you send her?” the guy asked him.

  “Tell us now. You can save your daughter. She’s our woman. We can get to her. Tell us,” one of the men said.

  Dominick thought about what he had done. How he sent her to become Habib’s new toy. He would rape her, beat her, keep her drugged up. He sent her to a monster and she was his own flesh and blood. A love child between him and Gale. “She’s my daughter. Gale didn’t tell me.”

  The guy lifted him up and shook him. He was fierce and intimidating. “You listen to me, asshole. She doesn’t deserve this. She’s innocent in all of this. Now make things right. Tell us where she is.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know where he took her.”

  “Where who took her?” the agent asked.

  “Habib Cabul. I gave her to him as a gift with the weapons.”

  “Oh fuck,” the agent said and then looked at the men. Dominick fell to the ground as the men explained who Habib was and then they raged in anger.

  Finlin, Wesson, and Colt were in a panic. The more they learned about Habib, the less their chances were that they could find Isabella and get to her in time. “I got some information from Dominick. He said Habib’s men took her on a helicopter. He has a feeling that Habib is in the United States and more than likely in Louisiana. We have men in contact with air traffic control. Anything flying in the air, any small aircrafts have to check in to the towers. They have to give a flight plan and where they are landing,” Finlin said.

  “There could be multiple helicopters out there,” Wesson said.

  “Not heading into the area Dominick just gave us. He said that Soto, Habib’s main guy, mentioned remaining in Louisiana for a few weeks while everything went through accordingly,” Kever told them.

  “That doesn’t mean Habib is here or that they won’t ship Isabella off to the Middle East to meet up with him. They get her on a plane out of the country and that’s it. We won’t be able to find her,” Wesson said to them.

  “Fuck,” Kever stated and then his cell phone rang. “Hello?”

  Wesson listened as Kever gave one-word answers.

  “That’s not far from here. Okay, this is what I want you to do. Just wait for us to get there. Do some aerial surveillance and see what we’re up against. My friends have people on the ground ready to help. Okay. Got it.” He ended the call. “Ferrion,” Kever called Ferrion’s name and he and his brothers walked closer. “We have a location on where that helicopter landed. We also have a potential location of where they could be holding Isabella. It’s remote. We need to go through the bayou, the swampy areas. The house is surrounded by water,” Kever said to them.

  “That’s right up our alley. How far is it from here?” Ferrion asked.

  “Thirty minutes,” Kever told them.

  “We can go by boat, or in the water, but the local wildlife could be a problem, and especially at night,” Wesson said, referring to the gators.

  “We’ve all done it before in our military careers. Let’s get the eyes in the sky on our target. See what we’re up against,” Ferrion told them.

  “Got it. Let’s move,” Wesson said and they all headed out to the SUVs.

  Wesson sat next to Finlin and Colt. Ferrion and his brothers were across from them.

  “Doc said Prime is in and out of consciousness. He keeps asking for Bella,” Colt told them.

  “We’ll get her home to him as soon as we can,” Finlin said.

  “We handle this like a military operation. No feds. Sorry, Kever.”

  “Listen, Ferrion, I get it. I do. And the government doesn’t move as quickly on decisions and missions like military does, but we have to comply. They say hold out and wait for confirmation of Habib’s involvement, then we wait. They want those weapons,” Kever told them.

  “Fuck them and their weapons. We have one purpose only for being here, and that’s to save our woman,” Finlin said to them.

  “We’ll need a little time to pull supplies together. Kever, can you help with that?”

  Kever looked at Ferrion, then Finlin and his brothers. “Whatever you need. I’ll help you. If we wait too long, she could wind up dead. God knows Isabella won’t go down without a fight. Habib is a monster, and evil when it comes to women,” Kever told them and the SUV got silent. They had to get to Isabella before it was too late.

  Isabella felt the cool tile flooring against her cheek. Her body was numb, and she was cold. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, she absorbed her surroundings, and the fact that she was almost naked. She lay there in her panties and bra. Blinked several times, as moonlight barely penetrated the window. There was broken glass around her, a shattered mirror and blood. She tilted her head, saw the syringe on the floor, and a trail of blood through the doorway. She shifted her weight. Something pinched her skin. Was she cut? She could hardly lift her body or move her legs. As she did she heard moaning. “Help me.” The deep voice came from the other room. She lifted herself up, crawled forward. Each move cut her skin on her knees and thighs. She was making her way across the glass.

  “Where am I?” she whispered aloud. Her heart began to race. The room spun, the doorway shifted before her eyes. She pushed forward, got through the moving door somehow and then she saw more blood.

  Tears spilled from her eyes. She was shaking when she caught sight of the running sneakers, then the body. A hand reaching toward her across the floor. “Help me.”

  She paused. Lost her breath. Prime lay dying in a pool of blood on the floor. “Prime?” she cried out his name.

  His eyes narrowed. “You killed me. I’m dead because of you.” Colt, Wesson, and Finlin glared at her with anger for getting their brother shot. She sobbed uncontrollably and screamed at the top of her lungs over and over again.

  Then suddenly she felt the smack against her cheek. The room spun, Prime disappeared. A darkened room took his place. There was no more blood. The room shifted and pain radiated in her head. She gripped her head and fell to the floor.

  “Give her something to counter it. You gave her too much. Look at the size of her. Fuck.” She heard the male voice, deep, and something with an accent. Hands slid across her belly and a strong arm lifted her up.

  “No, let me die. Prime is dead, let me die,” she moaned and then felt the person carrying her drop her. Her belly felt as if it lifted to her throat as she hit a mattress.

  “Look at me.” He smacked her cheek. She blinked and he came into focus. An older man with no shirt on, a black beard and dark grey eyes stared down at her. He pressed between her legs. Glided a palm up along her thighs to her hip and panties. “Tonight I give her less sedatives for you, Habib.”

  She heard a deep, low chuckle. “I will enjoy her, I am certain.”

  Isabella began to put together what they were saying and where they were. She remembered being taken by Dominick, then handed off to some Middle Eastern guy. She flew in a helicopter, passed out and now here she was. Dominick, like her father, sold her to this man. To Habib. How did they take her clothes off? “What did you do to me?” she asked the man leaning over her, exploring her body with his hands and now his mouth.

  “Not nearly as much as we will do tonight.” He pressed kisses to her belly. She wanted to react but she would be no match for this huge man in front of her or his friend, Habib. She needed a weapon. A plan. God knew her men wouldn’t even know where to find her. She didn’t even know where she was, but wherever it was, it was hot. She was perspiring and they were, too. That’s why they didn’t wear shirts.

  She pushed at his head as he trailed his mouth lower. He gripped her wrists. “You do not resist or I will shoot you with more drugs and tie you to the bed. This is your new life. We leave the state in the morning,” the man told her.

  She wanted her men. She wanted to know if Prime was alive or not. She had gotten him killed. He was innocent and these men had hunted her down and killed him to get to her. The anger filled her belly. She would rather die than become their victim.

  “What do you want from me? Why am I here?” she asked, buying more time to help the drugs leave her system. She needed to escape from here.

  “You are a gift from Dominick, and I must say, he outdid himself this time,” the other man said. He approached the bed and the first guy stepped from between her legs. Habib took his place. He slid his palms up her legs from her ankles and jerked her down hard. She gasped. Reached up to press her palms against his chest. He gripped her ass cheeks and thrust against her.

  She shoved at his face. “Let go of me!” she screamed. He growled low and pressed over her with all his weight. She screamed for him to get off of her when she heard men yelling. He lifted up to look toward the doorway.

  “Soldiers,” the other man said, and looked at her.

  She punched Habib in the face. Struggled to get out from underneath him. He punched her, then forearmed her in the throat. He was going to kill her. She shoved her knee up hard, hit him in the balls and he lifted up, lost his breath. She clasped her fists together and swung up at his face. She broke his nose. Blood splattered and she scrabbled from underneath him. She fell to the floor and the strike to her side made her lose her breath. The guy with Habib kicked her in the ribs. She had to fight him. She had to get out now while she could. She scrambled across the floor. Habib struck her and she fell down.

  “They said they can’t see anything. Five of the men are dead. Someone is on the property. They must have come across the water,” the one guy yelled.

  She screamed out as Habib grabbed her by her hair and yanked her to her feet. She was battered and bruised but determined to live. Someone was coming to rescue her. Was it Kever? Her men? Oh God, did they forgive her for getting Prime killed? Tears fell, and the pain she was in made her want to fall to her knees and just beg to be left. As he shoved her face up against the wall he readied his weapon. She saw the semi-automatic gun. He pushed her through the open doorway and down a hallway. She caught a glimpse of something through the window. A shadow of black, the white around eyes. She made a move, lowered and slammed her arms against Habib’s back. He faltered as the windows shattered and gunfire filtered around them. She screamed out as the guy who was with Habib fell to the rug. He was shot. She struggled to get the gun from his hands. He raised his arm up as he roared and struck her in the head with something She felt the blow of the weapon and fell forward. He released his weapon. She grabbed it, turned and fired it at Habib. Habib went down with a roar, shooting his gun. Somehow he missed her. The power of the automatic weapon made her shoot erratically, but she held on tight. She moved it around the darkness of the room and hallway. The gunfire outside slowed down. She held on to the weapon as more gunfire erupted outside. Her head felt fuzzy like she might pass out. The pain made her moan and lean against the wall. She didn’t know if she should stay right here or move, if she could move.

  The door burst open and two men came running inside, yelling in another language. She locked on to them as they noticed her then the dead bodies. She fired her weapon and then went fell down, the men firing theirs and she screamed and screamed in terror. She was shaking so hard. She was losing her strength. She looked down at her body, bloody, bruised and battered. She didn’t want to die here. She didn’t want this to be her grave. She looked at the tattoo, and thought about Caroline.

  She moved from the wall, made her way down the other hallway. How could she escape? She heard some more gunfire. Then glass breaking to the right. Another man came running in, turned around, his back to her and she shot the weapon. She knew he was bad, she lifted her gun just as she saw the figure in black in the doorway and she shot at them both. The guy in black disappeared and the man in front of her fell to the ground. The gunfire stopped. She heard yelling, but her head pounded, tears streamed down her cheeks. She stood up, barely able to keep upright. She leaned against the wall, and made her way toward that black figure that disappeared when she heard her name. She was shaking, crying, begging to live.

  “Isabella, don’t shoot. It’s us. It’s Finlin!” he yelled from the darkness. She kept the weapon pointed toward the doorway.

  “Put down the gun.” It sounded like Wesson.

  “You’re safe. It’s us. We came to rescue you. Put it down,” Colt said and then she saw Finlin in the doorway, mask off his face, his expression fierce as he looked her over. She dropped the gun, fell to her knees and cried.

  A moment later she was in his arms, surrounded by her men, except for Prime. “Prime?” she asked, sobbing.

  “He’s alive and missing you, baby,” Colt told her.

  She couldn’t even open her eyes. Felt the hand against her head and then a blanket cover her body.

  “She has a gash back here,” someone said. Was that Kever?

  “Kever?” she whispered.

  “Yeah, sweetie, it’s me. You did amazing. You’re so brave. Jesus, this is a fucking mess.”

  “She is amazing. Took out all these men and Habib and Soto, too. Holy shit.” She blinked her eyes to see who was talking and was shocked to see Ferrion. “Hey, tough girl,” he said.

  Finlin held her close. “Let’s get her to a hospital,” he said.

  “We’ll take care of everything,” Kever told them.

  She could barely comprehend the rest of their conversation or even absorb who kissed her cheek and rubbed her back, or how she wound up in the hospital. She focused on the fact that Prime was alive, and to her nothing else mattered right now.

  Epilogue

  Isabella opened her eyes and saw Prime lying there next to her, sleeping. His arm was still in a sling, his shoulder still in pain, but he would make a full recovery. His injuries also didn’t stand in the way of him making love to her. She stared at his chiseled face of steel, such a sexy, macho deputy and he belonged to her. She smiled as she thought of the others. Of Finlin, so tough and never showing emotions, except behind closed doors, when he held her close and just inhaled her scent. Wesson, who was holding it together for everyone and catering to her and to his brother Prime, trying to help them both recover. Colt was hoping they would make it to the game today. They missed several of the first games of the season and this one was a big one.

  She leaned closer and kissed Prime’s bare chest. She was finally home. Finally had a family to love her, and a place to live and start her new life. Lionel was dead, and she finally got the closure, the understanding of why he would have sold her to Serpen and Portino, who were in jail for a very long time. To learn that her real father was Dominick Rathers, that he had a long time affair with her mom, Gale, and that Lionel killed her because of it, answered a lot of questions she had. Dominick had aided in helping to find her because he didn’t know either that she was his daughter. Not that she planned on having any kind of relationship with the man, but there was something to be said about his change of heart once he learned she was his daughter. He was going to be in prison for a while, but Ferrion said with his connections and his amazing lawyers, he wouldn’t be surprised if Dominick was out early or got a lesser sentence. She didn’t care either way. The danger was behind her. She fought to survive to get back to her men, and they fought to find her.

  She snuggled up closer to Prime just as Wesson and Finlin walked into the room. “Are you two planning on missing the game? We need to leave shortly,” Wesson said to them.

  Prime laid his palm to her hip and pulled her closer. His hand was on her ass under the skirt she wore, and he used fingers to tease her pussy. “Come on, Deputy Jameson, we’ve got a coach and a football team to cheer on,” she said and lifted up to kiss him. She slid down the bed and Wesson pulled her into his arms to kiss her next, then Finlin, before she and Prime freshened up and headed out the door to the football game.

  As she walked toward the fence, Finlin whistled that special bird call. Colt turned to look, walked right over and she leaned up to kiss him. The football players cheered him on, and she laughed. “Good luck, coach.”

  “With you right here, my little lucky charm, we’ll win,” he said and winked.

  They walked up to the bleachers, where she saw her friends from Harper’s and some of the people she knew from town, including Doctor Shelton, who asked how they were doing. She smiled wide, and absorbed the feel of this moment. The realization hit her instantly. Cherry Hill, a town so special it changed her life forever, and brought her and her men together for their very own happily ever after. The whistle blew and the players lined up for kickoff. “Go, blue!” she yelled out, and her men smiled and she knew that life had just begun.

  THE END

  WWW.DIXIELYNNDWYER.COM

  

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  www.SirenPublishing.com

 

 

  Dixie Lynn Dwyer, When Does Life Begin

 

 

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