Chapter 54

Once Rossalyn had disconnected the line, Josiah immediately rallied the men. It was around three in the morning but he still hadn't been able to sleep through the worry for Rossalyn. He'd already dispatched men on planes to every area he could think George would have taken her. The hotel she'd given him had a Houston Texas address. He'd managed to get from Arizona clear the other side of Texas with Rossalyn, but that told him that he was probably headed to his North or South Carolina houses. If he was going to Chicago, he'd have taken her north. But further to the point, he hadn't dispatched anyone to or through Texas. He'd had everyone fly to their respective look out posts. As he packed a bag for them both, as he fully intended on retrieving his wife, he called ahead to the air strip that his private jet was kept.

"Boss, we're ready to head to the air strip." Bart informed him as he made it to the bottom of the stairs with the travel bag slung over his shoulder.

"Great. They're getting the plane ready to go as we speak. Once we arrive, there won't be any delay in take off. I want vehicles waiting on the other end. We're bringing her home today." Josiah said, his voice filled with determination.

Bart nodded and took off toward the line of vehicles waiting just outside the front door, his phone pressed to his ear and instructions being given in quick fire efficiency. Bart blamed himself for letting Rossalyn get taken, though he was the only one who did. Josiah knew that there was no way he could have predicted what happened and if he'd tried to get in between George's men and Rossalyn there was an excellent chance that Bart would have been killed, and Rossalyn put into even more danger. The only thing stemming his temper was the knowledge that George had no immediate plans of harming Rossalyn, even had told him that once the baby was born he'd have released her. He wouldn't get the chance to fulfill that promise. George had broken their peace agreement by kidnapping Rossalyn and intending to keep their baby from them. That was not done in their world. A family couldn't steal the child they had promised to them from their family. It was an act of war, and Josiah had already started the calls to other Dons for support in putting George and his entire operation down.

The drive to the air strip felt like it had taken forever, but in reality only twenty minutes passed before they were pulling up next to the plane that had his name painted across the side. Within minutes, Josiah and twenty of his men were on board and the door was sealed for take off. The flight would take around a hour and a half, but that just gave the men time to plan the attack once they arrived to the hotel. He was seething with impatience, but he needed to be sure that whatever moves they made did not put Rossalyn at risk.

Two hours later, Josiah and his crew walked into the lobby of the hotel that Rossalyn had called him from. There was a bustle of activity in the lobby as early breakfasters ate and chatted over cups of coffee and orange juice. Josiah walked up to the desk where there were two clerks chatting. They smiled at them as they approached and Josiah gave a friendly smile back, though inside he was seething with impatience. He knew his wife was on the property still, he could feel it.

"Around three or four this morning, you had several rooms rented by a group of men. I need to know which rooms they were." Josiah informed her, foregoing small talk and niceties.

"I'm sorry sir. I can't give you that information. Our guests are guaranteed privacy." The clerk said politely, though gave a nervous glance at her partner.

Josiah slipped a bundle of cash out of his pocket, not bothering to count it. He didn't even care about the amount but the clerk would see a thick roll of bills with a hundred on the outside of the bundle. "I'm sure that you could make an exception, just this once?" He bribed, his tone remaining polite but he let a glint of steel enter his eyes.

The clerks' eyes went wide as they both looked between the money and him then each other. Josiah seeing them tempted pulled another bundle from his pocket and put it on the desk. "Ladies, my wife's life depends on your answer. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. But she called me from here. I know they're here. Tell me where." Josiah demanded then gave Brad a nod.

Brad let his jacket flop open to the side a little revealing the hilt of a weapon in a holster so that the clerks could see it but no one looking from the lobby would be able to see what was being shown. Josiah watched them give each other a panicked glance then one pulled a piece of paper out and started writing room numbers down. She handed the paper to Josiah without a word and Josiah stared at her for a moment longer with a raised eyebrow. Taking the implied message, she handed keys over to the rooms as well.

"Thank you ladies for your help. Now I'm going to leave one of my men here with you. There will be no need to make any phone calls until we have left the property." Josiah gestured for one of his guys to step over to the side of the desk that was their only way around and stood there as if he was guarding them from danger.

Josiah took the keys out to the vehicles and led the way to the back of the hotel where all five of the rooms were located. It was only about seven in the morning so with any luck they'd still be asleep and the overtaking would go smoothly. All five of the rooms were located right next to each other and no one was standing guard outside. They sat in the SUVs for a few minutes, watching for curtain flicks or any movement from any of the rooms. When nothing moved and no one came outside, Josiah decided to put his men to work.

They all got out of the vehicles and stood around Josiah to receive instructions. Josiah handed the keys to five of his men and assigned four men to each room to go in and secure everyone inside. He'd wait and once Rossalyn was secured he'd get her into the vehicle then deal with George. He fully intended on taking everyone back to Arizona to answer for the crime of kidnapping his wife and child. Not to mention his sister-in-law and niece and nephew. Roger, he couldn't care less about, but he had a feeling Rossalyn would have her own vengence on him.

The men lined up outside the rooms and coordinated their entrance to be simulatanous. All at once, the keys were put into the door and the handles turned. Shoulders against the door to push inside through the bars and all five front men entered all the rooms at the same time, quickly followed by their back up. From the sidewalk, he could hear yells and grunts as men were engaged. Within a few minutes everything fell quiet again and he heard his wife's voice calling his name as two men led her from the room.

"Ross!" He called back, hurrying to her and pulling her into a crushing hug as relief crashed over him.