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. Hecouldn’tinterrupt. It might break her connection to Jenna. Theironlyconnection 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 thefuckhad 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 gonow!”
SIXTEEN
JENNAlay limply on the cold, hard floor in the room where she’d been carelessly tossed an hour ago, her hands and feet bound so tightly that she’d long lost feeling in them. She drew her knees up, her movements stiff and awkward as she tried to infuse any warmth possible into her numb body.
Her head ached from the harsh blow she’d received, but thankfully they’d been more concerned with ensuring her captivity so they could plan to move to a more remote location. One not very far from where she’d been with Isaac and the other DSS members.
Tears stung her eyelids but she refused to give in to the urge to cry. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing they had the power to make her crumble. She was just grateful that for the time being, at least, they were leaving her alone as they made their preparations to move out. They were expecting retaliation from Isaac and the other DSS members, but she wasn’t about to tell them that Isaac had no idea where she was. If they were focused on a nonexistent threat, then that meant they wouldn’t be as focused on her. Yet.
Even as grief consumed her at what she’d done, that she’d left Isaac to think the worst of her, she knew she’d done the right thing the moment she’d caught sight of her temporary prison. What appeared to be dozens of armed men patrolled the grounds and inside the building. This was nothing like the cult. This property had barbed wire along the gated wall, there were multiple televisions in every room they’d passed showing other areas, and all the men spoke into tiny devices that appeared to go to speakers in their ears. And this was only a temporary holding place! Wherever they were taking her was even more heavily fortified, according to the maniac who’d informed her that she was his property now and that the sooner she accepted it, the better things would go for her.
Even as grief stricken as she felt for the things she’d so briefly enjoyed that were now forever gone, she knew she’d done the right thing. Isaac and his men were no match for the heavily armed guards who patrolled her temporary prison. They were outnumbered, and the only result if they attempted a rescue would be their slaughter. Jenna would never survive if people who’d been nothing but kind and protective toward her had been repaid by death.
It had taken her years to escape the elders, and these men were far better prepared to keep her a prisoner. She knew she would never be free again, but at least she had the memory of a few stolen days to lose herself in when before, she’d known nothing but what the cult had chosen her to know.
Even now she closed her eyes and sought the solace of the beautiful memories she’d made. The new and amazing world she’d discovered. The kindness shown to her by the wives of the DSS members and how by watching them she’d realized that what she’d shared, albeit briefly, with Isaac had been so very special.
Kissing. Different kinds of kisses. Lips pressed to her head by someone who actually cared about what happened to her. And then the kisses to her lips by someone whowantedher.Her.
Remembering Isaac’s kisses, how very many different kinds he’d shown her in such a short time, was simply too much, and she finally lost control over her battle to keep her tears at bay. They trailed down her bruised cheek, and she realized that not all men were like the elders and the evil men who dealt in drugs and death who’d bought her from the cult like she was nothing more than an object.
Men like Isaac, like the men he worked with, had revealed a whole new understanding of men and relationships and how very wrong all of the examples were that she’d been witness to in the past. Her heart ached for the loss of something as beautiful as what she’d been given during those days. For the briefest of moments, regret stole over her, but she shoved it forcefully away, knowing it had no room in her mind or her heart. The men hunting her had been so very close to the safe house. If she hadn’t left when she did, they would have come for her and the result would have been a massacre.
No, she’d never be free again and she’d never again experience the love Isaac had so selflessly shown her, but she would survive the loss because as long as she wasn’t free, Isaac and all those associated with him would be alive and safe. For that, she could take whatever her captor had planned.
