CHAPTER EIGHT

Jamie was in his basement gym punching the life out of his opponent when Kieran ran in and asked to see him in his office. Knowing that the only reason Kieran would dare to interrupt him during one of his rage sessions is that he had news about Phoebe. And about time too, it had been almost two months since she had gone MIA. Her friends had been moved into his mansion, they hated him now. He tried as much as possible to explain to them, leaving more sensitive information out, of course. They had told him in no uncertain terms that he had better bring back Phoebe or else…

Kieran was getting too cozy with the crazy one. Hailey. She was a real nutcase, but then again, that's how Kieran loved them. Crazy and hot. And from the look of things, she fancied him too, if the slight blushes and seemingly innocent brushes were anything to go by. Jamie knew the only reason Kieran was holding out was to concentrate on finding Phoebe, and he was grateful for that. Kieran has been there from day one.

The second Jamie entered the office, Kieran went out to the hallway and made sure there was no one around, he always did that so Jamie thought nothing of it. Jamie just sat down quietly on the sofa after getting a bottle of water from the mini-fridge in his office.

"We have a rat."

Jamie almost choked on the water, he quickly replaced the cap and focused fully on Kieran. Kieran sat beside him on the sofa and handed his laptop to Jamie to go through some CCTV footage.

"How is this possible?"

"You know how we sent people down to Queens, to keep an eye on all gangs and mafias in the region?"

"Yes…"

"They've been dying one by one. I called back the rest for now."

"Shit!"

"It's not possible for anyone to connect them to us except the inside. This inside."

Kieran raised his hands, waving them in the air to indicate the building he was referring to.

"I have a traitor under my own roof…"

Kieran nodded and Jamie took a moment to digest all the information given to him. As regards Phoebe, he had made sure to be as discreet as possible about her welfare. He had assigned people to sit out in the front of the house and another group was hidden but somehow, they all died…and without a fight too. It's like they were killed in their sleep…if there was someone on the inside, it would be very easy to kill them before they even knew that they were there.

"And there is also the issue of the shipment. It was top secret, very few knew about it."

"And I'm guessing you have some suspects?" Kieran smiled and took the laptop from Jamie, pulled up a file, and handed it back to him.

"Of course, I do. What do you take me for?"

"So, who is he?" Jamie knew he was going to spend a considerable amount of time going through this particular document but for now, he just wanted Kieran to update him orally. His head ached from all the thinking he had been doing in the last month.

"That is Jeremy, he is who I usually assign to watch the shipments. One of our most trusted men…at least, we thought he could be trusted. I sent eyes to watch his house and his family, they reported unexplained disappearances and suspicious movement. Also, they noticed some extraordinary spending."

Kieran took a deep breath and got himself a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. This was getting really messy, really quick.

"What about Phoebe's father? Anything?"

"No, not yet. I got people there too, and they say to the best of his knowledge, his daughter is over at UCB and enjoying school life. So, we're clear on that front."

Jamie nodded and heaved a sigh of relief. The last thing he needed for another mafia to put a target on his back, there was so much going on. He could only imagine what would happen if he found out Jamie was getting a little feely with his daughter.

"Okay…this is what we're going to do."

Kieran immediately took a seat and listened attentively. There was no room for mistakes. Phoebe's life was at stake.

***

It was the day…

The day that has been carefully scripted by both sides, but of course, only one can happen. The shipment had arrived some days prior and he had involved the bastard holding Phoebe and they had set up a meeting by the same port the goods is meant to land.

Phoebe on the other hand was a mess inside. She was scared. She had been removed from her cell and was taken up to one of the rooms, given a thorough and a fresh bath, her first in more than a month and a change of clothes. Phoebe sat by the window and watched the bustle of the men moving and working.

Phoebe took a deep breath and kept the tears from flowing down. She was hurt, she felt betrayed. She felt dirty, she just wanted out.

Phoebe eyed the bed in the middle of the room, pushed against a wall. She decided that if they were going to get rid of her, she might as well get some good night's sleep. On cue, she yawned and made her way straight to the bed, she moaned and rolled in the bed, it was quite soft and very comfortable.

Phoebe's eyes shot wide open at the sound of gunshots and explosions. She carefully got out of bed and crept to the windows, there was some serious fighting going on. Complete with guns and knives and everything. An idea immediately sparked in her head; she could slip out now.

Phoebe got to the door and it was locked, as expected. She looked around the room and found a pin with a sharp tip. She took a deep breath and dropped down to her knee. Phoebe fitted the pin into the keyhole and moved it around, she almost screamed when she heard a telltale click.

"All those movies didn't go to waste."

Phoebe knew there was no time to celebrate her newfound criminal skill, she poked her head out the door and stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind her. No need to alarm them just yet, they would soon begin to look for their important guest. She kept to the shadows and began making her way down, when she was brought up, she had spotted the entrance. Soon enough, she was really close to the entrance, now all she needed was the perfect opportunity to run past those guards and out to freedom.

That perfect opportunity came when she heard a shout coming from upstairs, looks like she had been discovered, she quickly squatted down behind a statue and waited as men ran across her upstairs. She waited till she could only hear shouts and footsteps from upstairs.

Phoebe dashed across the lobby and made it out the door just in time. The second she stepped out the door, all eyes fell on her.

"Well, that's awkward."

"Get her!"

Phoebe knew that was her cue to run, and for a girl with curves, she was pretty athletic. Seeing as she did a little track in her high school days, which proved to be more than her captors have ever done. She ran straight for the woods, and kept running, she didn't stop even when her feet began to blister and hurt. She kept running.

Phoebe knew she couldn't run anymore, and the men after her kept up the chase even though they clearly couldn't catch her. It would take some time to reach her so she did the one thing she could think of. She hid behind a fallen log in a darker part of the woods, the taller trees casting many shadows over her. She rubbed the moist earth all over her body, making her darker.

It wasn't long before she heard them begin to catch up with her, she held her breath when she heard a footstep stop just behind her and began to pray that it was going to be enough to save her from these men.

"You find her?"

"No. let's split up. You go that way; I'll go this way."

Phoebe heard the other man grunt in reply and footsteps moving away. The other man began moving towards the other side of the woods and then the most terrible thing happened. A spider landed right on Phoebe's forehead, startling her, she let out a squeak and shook the spider off her head and then realizing too late what she had done. She held her breath and closed her eyes shut, listening for the man's footsteps, she slowly opened her eyes when she didn't hear any and was met with his face right over hers.

"Well, look who we have here…"

The man looked in the direction the other man went and opened his mouth to announce his most prized finding and Phoebe did the first thing she could think of. She grabbed a fistful of sand and threw it into his eyes, stood up, and made a run for it. She ran straight into the hands of another man, Phoebe tried kneeing him in the balls but he easily blocked it and had her hands behind him in one of his.

He began leading her out of the woods and towards a black van, she could see in the distance. Just as they got to the clearing, she heard the voice of the guy she had thrown sand into his eyes, they both turned but while she was scared, the man holding her just pulled out a weapon and shot him.

Phoebe averted her eyes immediately. It all happened so fast, she tried her best not to dwell too much on his death, because it looked to her that the second leg of her captive journey was about to begin…and she needed to focus. She was thrown in the van and it sped off, Phoebe tried her best to maintain her balance as the driver made turns.

Phoebe looked around her and tried to memorize the faces of the men in the van. They all kept silent, also silently regarding her.

"Hey, Miss Whitman. Do you need anything? Water, food? We got some beef jerky in here."

"Oh, no…I'm good. Thank you."

The man nodded and silence reigned again. They finally reached their destination and the van pulled into a gated estate. The men got out first, then they helped her down. She looked around the compound. She has never been here before; she had no idea where she was. These guys had been incredibly nice to her, and she didn't know whether to be afraid or not.

"Miss, if you would please come with me. The boss is waiting to see you."

"Who?"

"You'll see."

And see indeed she did. Her escort opened the door to an office and waved her in, closing the door behind her. Standing before her was none other than the one and only Jamie. At first, she didn't know what to say or do, and then it was like something inside her snapped. Phoebe ran to him and began swinging her fists wildly, kicking at any part of his body her legs could reach, and began to swear profusely.

Jamie managed to hold her down and did what he had wanted to do for the last two months. He kissed her. It wasn't a hot, steamy kiss like most of the ones they usually shared. It was soft and it was gentle. Phoebe held on to him even after the kiss, she didn't know why, she felt she would rather find a gun and shoot him right between the legs.

"I've missed you so much, Phoebe. I'm so sorry, princess. For everything."

A dam burst in Phoebe and she began to cry, she just wanted to let the thoughts and the memories die. Jamie picked her up and took her to his room, he took off both their shoes and lay on the bed with her, still holding her in his arms. Soon, all the shaking and the sniffing stopped, Jamie looked down at her face and saw that she had fallen asleep. It was as though seeing her safe and asleep made him tired too because he too wasn't far behind.