Entangled By Him

CHAPTER 5

Anna

I watch as Jax has the different teams made up of small groups, navigate throughout the warehouse district. There’s no signs of anything or anyone.

Mason and Colt stood next to me as we observed what was happening. Jax goes around with one of the teams, he likes to be involved in the field. Mason usually does, too, but I have a feeling he’s helping to protect me.

We continue to watch as Mason starts to walk around and look at the outside of the building. He quickly sends a message off to Jax and then heads right back for me and Colt. He must have spotted the cameras.

“Let’s get to the Jeep,” Mason tells me and Colt but doesn’t give any further explanation.

During an op, you never really argue. It’s kind of like that saying, you choose your battles so later you can win the war. It would take longer for Mason to explain why he wants us out of here, than for us just to oblige and stay safe.

Jax and all the men quickly come back and load into their respective vehicles.

“Dammit,” Jax snaps as he slams his hand against my steering wheel.

My arm instinctively lifts up as I want to cry out for him not to hurt Wilma. Colt nudges me in the side and shakes his head.

“This was a fucking set up. How did they know we were here? How did they know that we would find and choose this place?” None of us say anything as we listen to Jax vent. Shit, I thought he saw the camera’s. I believe my brother is distracted.

Mason starts to talk after a couple minutes of silence. “There are cameras, there has to be someone on the inside. Possibly directing us to this place or Maxim has multiple places set up like this.”

“It could just be a coincidence,” I chime in. All my brother snap their heads in my direction. “It seems almost impossible for him to know what direction we were going.”

Jax starts to open his mouth in response as a call comes in. He answers the call and then quickly places it on speakerphone.

“Cruz,” Jax says in a low voice.

“Hey man. I told you I was on your side. I’m just paying my dues.” Cruz pauses for a minute before he continues, “I overheard a conversation between a couple of my guards about a week ago.”

“Continue,” Jax snaps.

I can tell he doesn’t have the patience for Cruz today. “One of my guards was contacted by Maxim looking for somebody that he can get inside the Moretti’s. Someone he could basically win over.”

We’re all quiet for a few seconds. I think Cruz was just waiting for a response, when he gets none he continues. “He found one. Apparently the guard has a distant cousin, like second or third, twice removed or once fucked over or whatever works for you.”

Jax still has the phone in his hand on speaker, his grip starts to tighten on it, making his knuckles go white. He opens the door and jumps out with the phone and slams the door shut.

The phone was taken off speaker and put up to his ear. I know he doesn’t want everyone to hear about the guard that betrayed us. I’m very curious who it might be since I know most of these men. I’ve known most of these guys for years. We have some new hires, but they’re not given access to upper stuff with us.

None of us say anything as we watch Jax pace outside the Jeep. Mason’s breathing is getting deeper and I know he’s just as mad as our older brother. Colt grabs my hand and squeezes it reassuringly. I’m not afraid of my brothers or their tempers. I just don’t want him to have to go through any of this.

Jax goes back over to the Jeep after pacing around the parking lot of the warehouse. He’s on the passenger side, as Mason manually rolls down the window. The Jeep is old, it doesn’t have power anything.

“It’s Jason Vera.” Jax curses after he gives the rest of us the name and pulls out his phone to send one of his higher guards a message.

All of us just sit quietly. I really don’t know Jason that well, I met him a few times. It’s still a big shock.

The commotion starts over by the SUVs as we all snap our heads to the left looking through the windows. Four of the guards yank Jason from the third SUV and then surround him.

His face looks grim, he knows that he’s been caught. Mason gets out of the front seat and with Jax, they walk over to Jason. I’m too far away to hear what was said but there’s a few high voices and what sounded like, ‘I’m sorry.’

Jax hits Jason hard on the side of the head, knocking him unconscious. His body crashes to the cold, unforgiving cement. He then points to the guards that originally grabbed him out of the SUV. They immediately pick him up and tie his hands behind his back.

Mason and Jax get in the SUV with the guard that they threw in the back. Two other men come over to the Jeep to ride back with us. There is no way they’re going to drive my Jeep.

Colt and I jump out and we let them into the back seat as we both climb into the front.

I let Colt drive, I need to think, and when I think I don’t pay attention. Maxim is up to something, something big.

We start to drive back in the same order that we came in. Now we just have to get information out of this guard and hopefully figure out what Maxim’s end game is.

I have a nagging feeling deep inside my gut. I pull out my phone and send a quick message to Finn.

I look over to Colt as he drives, he’s deep in thought just like I was. “Have you heard from Finn in a while?”

“No, why?” He turns to me and asks before refocusing on the road in front of us.

“I’ve got a bad feeling,” I say as I recheck my cell phone hoping that Finn got back to me, he didn’t.

Cole glances at me, “he’s up to something. You need to be very careful. We can all guarantee that whatever he’s planning, it has to do with you.”

I look out the window and watch as the scenery goes by. We ride the rest of the way in silence. The guards never even acknowledged us or said anything.

They’re probably just shocked about this whole situation as we are, this was one of their own and he turned into a traitor. All in the name of money. Jax pays very well, usually almost double what most other guards would make. It honestly makes no sense.

Colt starts to chuckle as we pull into the driveway. “Did you see Jax as we were leaving?” I shake my head no. “He flipped off the camera on our way out.”

That makes me start to laugh and Colt joins in. Our brother is normally not like that, he’s very conservative, very relaxed, very deadly.

We exit the vehicle and watch as the original four guards pull out a whimpering Jason from the back of the SUV. Damn, I bet his head hurts. He’s got a slight red splotch from where Jax punched him. If he makes it out of this alive, he’s gonna have one huge ass bruise.

I watch as they drag him through the house and down to the basement. I knew he was gonna go down there. The basement in the main house is a gym but on the guard section is an area for people we have an issue with, I guess you could say. I hate seeing prisoners.

We’ve had multiple people down here, not as much one would suspect being in our line of work. We’ve had a couple rapists, few murderers. We even had a congressman one time. The most we’ve used this area, though, is for the people that have betrayed us.

Jason whimpers louder as they start to make their way down the stairs. He knows exactly where he’s going. He was probably involved in at least a couple of the cases that we had down here.

I work my way back to the kitchen area in the main house. I know they won’t let me down there, they usually never do, but Colt always joins. It will be hours before we know anything. Unless the guy snaps right away, but that rarely ever happens.

My brothers aren’t as sadistic and torturous as others are. They give them a chance to build up fear, maybe let their victim decide they’re going to talk on their own. Most of the time, that works.

They have had to beat the shit out of several guys before, but it rarely ever happens. We’d rather use our knowledge over our fists. We find it an easier and less deadly way to do things. When we have to hurt someone, that shit eats away at your soul over time.

I start to make lunch for everyone. It’s just gonna be a huge thing of soup and sandwiches, nothing more. I’m preparing for a long afternoon and I want us all to at least have energy to get through it.