Runaway (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 4)

“Jasper.” Molly looked at the closed expression on his face and knew that pleading with him was hopeless. Jasper had clearly made his mind up that she was guilty of, well, something and that was that. “Damn you,” she hissed.

Denzel, now that his friends and associates were starting to step out of the shadows as well, became bolder.

“You are going to come with me,” he snarled.

“Get off me!” Molly protested, stepping away when he reached out to grab her.

Jasper made no attempt to protect her and stop him. He merely studied her as though he had never seen her before in his life.

Molly wondered, albeit briefly, if he was working on behalf of Denzel and had fooled her completely.

“God, I hate you,” she whispered when he remained cold and aloof before her even when Denzel tried to grab her again. When he drew close enough to make a grab for both of her wrists, Molly uncharacteristically lifted a hand back and slammed it hard against Denzel’s jaw.

Something cracked in her hand. Pain exploded and shot up her arm, but she didn’t let it thwart her. Deep within, something broke within Molly. She stepped away from both men while she glared malevolently at Denzel, who was clutching his painful jaw.

“Try to touch me again and I will not stop,” Molly hissed at him.

“Molly,” Jasper warned when she began to back away. “Don’t.”

But he knew she didn’t trust him now any more than she trusted Denzel. When she spun on her heel and raced off down the street, Jasper intervened and stopped Denzel from following in the only way he kn

ew how. Slamming a fist into the man’s jaw brought him only a small measure of satisfaction. Kicking him in the stomach and watching the man fall to the floor brought him a little more. His satisfaction was complete when he grabbed a hold of the man’s hair and yank his head back until Denzel had no choice but to look him in the eye.

“Tell me where to find Oscar,” Jasper snarled.

“I wish I knew,” Denzel replied. “She is a liar and a thief. You would be a fool to trust her. When you are sick of her services, send her to me over at the lodging house on Underhill Road. Until then, watch your back. She will take advantage of your generosity just like she did her aunt’s.”

Denzel then yanked his head out of Jasper’s gasp, pushed to his feet and, still hunched over with pain and clutching his jaw, staggered off down the road to join his cohorts. Jasper’s gaze slid over them. He cursed when he recognised several from Rigley Row, others were criminals who lived elsewhere but were also known to the Star Elite.

“But what are you guilty of, Denzel?” Jasper murmured to himself.

As if to prove that Denzel was indeed up to something, the thugs who had been watching him and Molly only half an hour earlier silently stepped back to allow Denzel to pass. Jasper knew that if anybody else had approached them they would have had their pockets felt before they were allowed to go on their way.

“We are in trouble,” Niall murmured from behind him.

Jasper nodded. “We need many more reinforcements if we are going to solve this case.”

For the first time in his Star Elite career, Jasper began to wonder if they could solve the mystery of who was behind the kidnappings. More importantly, on a more personal level Jasper wondered if he would ever get Molly to trust him enough for him to find out who she really was.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Molly glared at Oliver who adamantly refused to release her. She shivered beneath the depth of emotion that battered her senses. While she waited for the men to decide what to do, Molly stared blankly at the ground.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Jasper growled.

“Which route do we take?” Niall asked. “We can’t go that way and fight our way through that lot. If we go back, we will end up in Rigley Row again.”

Jasper looked in the direction of Niall’s pointed finger and cursed bitterly when he saw Denzel waiting with his thugs a little way down the street.

“We have to go back but can skirt past Rigley Row,” he sighed. As he turned back around, his gaze fell upon Molly, who looked thoroughly miserable. He wanted to talk to her but didn’t know what to say. What he wanted to say needed to be said in private, not out in the middle of a street and most certainly not in front of his colleagues. Jasper didn’t ask, but he suspected his colleagues had all seen him kissing her. It complicated life more than Jasper needed right now, especially given everyone was now aware of just how young Molly was. Despite everything, though, Jasper couldn’t quite bring himself to regret what they had shared.

“We can go round this way and take a right at the end of the road. It will take us away from Rigley Row. We should be safe enough, but don’t relax,” Oliver warned.

He nudged Molly ahead of him. She glared and stumbled forward only to heave a sigh before she dutifully fell into step a little way behind Jasper.

When he felt her behind him, Jasper looked over his shoulder at her. Instinctively, he shortened his stride until she caught up with him and had no choice but to walk beside him. It galled him now that they had been stupid enough to bring her with them. While they knew she would have been safer at the Star Elite’s safe house, they needed her to speak with her brother if they found him. The last thing they wanted to do was have to snatch Oscar off the street. Now, though, Jasper knew they had put her in the middle of a dangerous situation they would need a miracle to escape from.

“Just stay close to me. Do not do anything I don’t do. Do not make a sound or talk unless you absolutely have to. We have to do this as inconspicuously as possible,” Jasper warned her.