41. Rescue mission

**Doug**

"Jodie?"

I get up, feeling the cold bed beside me and I am alerted immediately. I have a bad feeling, and it starts creeping up my chest. *Fast.* I know something bad happened when I saw her jacket draped on the back porch sofa.

"Jodie?" I call her name again, getting more frustrated this time. I start to pace faster and my heart thumps harder when I still can't find her.

*Fuck! This is not fucking happening...where the fuck is Lester?*

I run back to the bedroom pulling my sweatpants over my boxers, then my t-shirt and frantically searching for my phone.

"Dad! Jodie's gone. She...fuck...she's gone, Dad. Her jacket is on the back porch. Where the fuck is Lester?" I ask stumbling as I hurriedly put on my sneakers and my jacket.

"Calm down, Son, he's on the move."

The second I realize that she's really not in the house, I open the front door and lock it up behind me. I have my car keys, wallet, and phone. I curse when my suspicion is confirmed, that Lester is not there. Jodie was bait and I am fucking furious at Dad that I hang up on him and speed up to his house.

Dad is on the driveway waiting for me the second my car is parked on his driveway. I know he didn't want me storming into the house, not when I had all of these emotions ready to burst the second I saw him.

"Why, Dad? Why didn't you warn me?"

"I didn't know. I mean I know it's a possibility, but I didn't know it was going to happen tonight."

"Bullshit!" I slam my car door and ready to get into his car.

"Calm down, or you're not coming with me."

"You gotta be serious?" I am so ready to blow when he rests his hand on my shoulder, instantly grounding me with his stern expression.

"I am, Son, it's late and I really don't want to wake up your mom and sister with the news. You know they care about Jodie and her twin brother."

The last words get me to hide my smile. Okay, I need to calm down. *Got it.*

"Come on, I have Lester's coordinates. We're following him." He rests his phone on the holder and connects it to his Bluetooth settings. Aside from the GPS that's instructing us where to go, the whole car ride is mostly silent.

My mind is on overdrive thinking about scenario after scenario. I keep on blaming myself for letting her feel the need to escape to the back porch. "She told me she felt suffocated. Jodie said she needed air, so she went to the back porch." I sigh and tell Dad about how someone had managed to abduct her.

"It's okay, Son, we have someone watching her. It'll only be time separating you two. We have her in sight and with this incident, by finding her father, she won't be in any threat from him in the future."

I let his words sink in while watching the screen on his phone as we get closer and closer to Lester. When we found him, the man was parked and sat in his car with a laptop on the empty seat next to him. I follow Dad as he gets into Lester's SUV and we sit behind him.

"Got our guy to hacked in his home CCTV system. His paranoia is our advantage. He got Jodie, and looks like he's alone in the house aside from the two men patrolling around the perimeter."

The house was medium size and it looked like he was still living a lavish life when his family was struggling financially.

*Fuck...I hated the guy already.*

"Has he been in touch with Colbert or Maverick?"

"We just managed to hack into his phone a few minutes ago. We didn't get to listen in. But yes, he had been in contact with them, boss. Hold on, we have an incoming call." He signals us as he taps an earpiece nestled in his ear and relays the conversation to the Bluetooth system connected to his car.

*"You're letting them go, I have Jodie with me. She has it. She has what you're looking for."*

*"After all this time, you still think we're that stupid, Hart."*

*"Meet me at the mausoleum, bring them. I did not run away to get my family killed."*

There's something off about his tone. The sincerity is not there and when Dad's eyes meet mine, I know he's thinking the same. There's something else that we don't know and it was pissing me off.

I look at Dad with confusion on my face, and Dad just shakes his head while I curl my fists as a wave of emotion floods through my body. I'm getting frustrated, and I can't contain myself when I open the car door, pacing by the side of the car, trying to get my composure back.

I hear the car door open and Dad joins me, giving me his pack of cigarettes. The man shrugs. "To take the edge off, no coffee and alcohol while on a stake out. We might get stuck for hours and don't have time for a potty break."

"Mom knows?"

"I'm sure she does, but I don't smoke often, and not in the house."

I took his pack of cigarettes and light one, the first drag filled my lungs with toxic smoke. But he was right, it calms me down, maybe our brains are messing with our nerves. I don't have a fucking clue. It's been a while since I smoked and it centers me. I pace myself slower and finally stop and rest my back against the side of the SUV.

"What's our plan?" I ask when Dad starts to move.

"You will stay in the car. Get ready for when we get Jodie back. I don't want to worry about you getting hurt while we're getting her back."

"Okay," I nod and take Lester's seat as he instructs me to do.

"Remember to hit the gas once you see us running your way. I don't want you to freeze. No matter how bad she looks, I want you to concentrate and get us out."

As much as I want to help my Dad, I know that he's right. I can handle a gun, I've been to the shooting range and trained myself for self-defense. But Dad is right, besides I need to be back up and be ready to drive us away from them.

It feels like hours, but when the time comes for Dad and Lester to infiltrate the house, I move to sit behind the wheel. I am still rattled from seeing the kind of guns that were hidden under the backseats of the SUV and how easily Dad straps them to his shoulder holsters and picks up what looks like a tactical knife, before sheathing it on his thigh. I'm pretty certain that Mom will go ballistic if she sees Dad like this, or maybe not...he is trying to save Jodie.

But then again, he was the one putting her in danger in the first place. He knows that she's bait and I'm still not sure how I feel about that.

"Son, look at me. You can do this. We're getting Jodie out and you're going to be strong for her. And...I intend to get her father. Dead or alive. I need you to be prepared."

*Fuck...how can he...*

"How are you so calm?"

Dad looks at me and puts a reassuring tap on my shoulder. "I've done this for decades. Everything will be okay. You will have Jodie in your arms before the day ends."

I nod and watch them go to the house while I memorize the route to the safehouse that Lester showed me earlier. The guard had input the address on my phone, which is now on the dashboard phone holder. Dad said a doctor would be waiting for us, no matter what the situation may be.

I've never had my heart racing harder than ever before. I don't want anything bad to happen, but I can't shake off the nervous feeling in my gut.

*Damn it. I'm so ready to end the day with her safely in my arms again.*