“What’s going on?” Jameson asked, standing up, finally taking a deep breath.
“Someone just threw Mariana into a limo.”
“What?”
“Let’
s move.”
They ran toward the unmarked police cruiser, and one of their employees, Brendan, was talking to the driver. He waved them over.
“The limo is en route to the airport. It belongs to Clover Masters. So does the box truck filled with stolen art from the event tonight. He planned to steal it all. We’ve got men on it and Rangers, too,” Brendan stated.
“Let’s get into the car and head after that limo. I’m going to kill Clover if he hurts Mariana,” Jax said as they got into the unmarked car and the detective behind the wheel took off.
* * * *
“Let go of me,” Mariana stated through clenched teeth as the thug held her arms behind her back. He had her kneeling on the floor as he spoke into his cell phone.
“I have her. We’ll be there in five minutes.”
By the time the car stopped, her face was really throbbing in pain. She was going to have a swollen and bruised cheekbone. She didn’t know who was responsible for this situation, but she wasn’t going to go willingly with this man. For all she knew it could be Ellington James who was the mastermind behind this.
As the car stopped she lost her balance and he let her go. She fell to the floor of the limo, and when she tried to get up, he went to grab her and she swung at his face. She must have hit him just right, because his head shot backward, almost like some cartoon character as it appeared like his head hit his shoulders then sprung forward. He grabbed his face and nose with both hands.
“You brokeded my nose,” he said in a strange voice.
Brokeded?
Mariana crawled to the door, opened it, and fell out. It was dark outside as she tried to get her bearings, and then she heard his voice.
“Ahh, you’ve arrived right on schedule.” Some other guy grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up from the ground. She had seen him before. As soon as he turned her toward the second car, a dark BMW, the door opened and a man stepped out.
Clover Masters?
She gasped then tried to pry the hands off of her hair.
“Let me go. What do you want?” she yelled.
“You’re coming with me,” Clover said then smiled. He looked her body over and licked his lips. “Get her into the car, Buster. The decoy worked. The art is on its way and the cops are none the wiser.”
“You stole art from Darian?” she asked as she continued to struggle to get free. Buster was dragging her toward the BMW.
“I’m filthy rich now and you’re my grand prize.” Buster shoved her closer to Clover. Clover grabbed her face. “Looks like you didn’t come willingly.” He stared at her bruised cheekbone then leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth. She turned away, and Buster held her neck and head so that she was forced to stare into Clover’s eyes.
“I wish I could see Jameson’s and Jax’s faces when they find out I’ve taken you away from them. I never did like those two assholes.”
He placed his hand on her hip and then moved the palm of his hand up along her ribs to her breast.
“I’m going to enjoy having you.”
Mariana was furious to think that this jerk thought he could take her. The fact that spoke with revenge against Jameson and Jax really pissed her off. So when he cupped her breast and Buster loosened his hold on her hair, she made her move.
“In your dreams, shithead,” she exclaimed then rammed her knee up hard into his manhood. A quick back elbow to Buster’s gut and then a twist of her body and she shoved him out of her way. Thank you, Sensei Lee and Gia.
She started to run. She wasn’t sure which direction to go, but as sirens wailed in the background, she turned to look just as Buster tackled her to the ground.
Screaming, terrified that he might kill her, she instantly remembered the techniques she learned from Gia. A forearm to Buster’s neck, a kick with her heels into his calf, the man yelled at her. He tried to straddle her body. She wrapped her legs around his ribs and squeezed as hard as he could. Around them, she could hear tires squeal. The BMW was blocked in, and she kept trying to hit Buster.