Chapter 21

Tina's POV

Stephanie turned to take a call, and trying to give her some privacy, I turned to take in the sights of the boardwalk. The smoothie was just as good as the last one I'd had, and the babies were practically doing dances in my belly they were so excited. Something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I froze. In slow motion I turned, the happy feeling changing to dread as I knew what I was going to see, but it was like watching a train wreck. No matter how much you told yourself you didn't want to see, you couldn't help but watch.

The sight of the clown walking toward me had me in full panic mode. The cup in my hand dropped, and I was frozen in place for a couple of heartbeats, and then suddenly I was able to move and I was booking it the hell out of there.

I had no idea where I was going. It just needed to be away from that clown.

When I was four, my parents took me to a circus, and while we walked around at the concession stands in the area, a mean-looking clown came by and snatched me up and then took off with me. If it hadn't been for Cam giving a shout and taking chase, the clown probably would have succeeded in kidnapping me.

Looking back to see if I'd gotten away, I saw that the clown was following me and there was an intense look on his face, as if I was the one he was following. My heart started racing, and I redoubled my efforts to get out of there.

All of a sudden, a hand took hold of my arm, and I felt myself being pulled to the side. A high-pitched giggling had chills racing down my spine. I remembered that giggle, but it couldn't be… He was dead.

I turned and opened my mouth to scream, but in that instant a hand covered my mouth and the scream was muffled to the point that I doubted anyone could hear it.

Stephanie's POV

Zip and I followed in the direction Tina had taken, but there was no sign of her. All of a sudden, I saw a body on the ground, and we slowed as we moved toward it. By now my gun was in my hand, and I could see that Zip was armed as well.

When we reached the body, he knelt down to check the vitals and swore. He looked up at me and said, "It's Steve. He's alive, but he's out cold. Looks like someone hit him from behind."

Scanning the area, I pulled my phone from my bag with my left hand as I covered Zip with the gun in my right. There was no hesitation as I hit the panic button. We needed help, and we needed it now.

The sound of running feet nearing our location had Zip and me taking up a stance so that we could defend ourselves if necessary, but the sight of Ranger and Lester racing into the alley had us relaxing just a bit.

There was a slight easing of tension on Ranger's face, but Lester's look turned fierce as he demanded, "Where's Tina?"

"I'm sorry, Les. I turned to take Cam's call, and when I turned back she was gone."

His jaw clenched, but other than that he showed no reaction. He seemed to be holding himself firmly in check, as if he'd fly apart into a million pieces at any moment.

Zip spoke up to say, "She took off, and Steve followed her while I stayed with Steph."

Lester looked at me, and the pleading look in his eyes told me he had a million questions but he was afraid to voice them.

Holstering my gun, I moved over next to him and placed my hand on his arm. "Zip said that she seemed to be running away from a clown."

He paled even more, and his voice was a hoarse whisper as he said, "She's afraid of clowns. One grabbed her at a circus once."

My eyes widened. "I never knew that about her."

He nodded. His voice was barely a whisper as he said, "We were watching a movie, and there was a clown in it. She freaked, and when I finally got her calmed down, she told me about what had happened."

Tank lifted a bag as he said, "We found this over there." He pointed to a dark corner near where we were standing.

The guys went into action looking for clues, and I was about to join them when my phone rang. I retrieved it from my bag and connected the call. "Hello?"

"Steph, this is Kye. I know where they have her."

"Who?"

There was a pause before he asked, "What do you mean, who? Cam said he called you to tell you about Alex."

"Yeah, he told me, but Tina has just disappeared."

He swore and then gave me an address. "We're on our way. The place is closer to where you are. Maybe by some miracle that's where they took Tina too."

Just before he disconnected the call, I heard Cam's raised voice demanding to know what was going on.

Kye's POV

I couldn't believe what I was holding in my hands. What were the chances that the person I was looking for was someone I actually knew? When I called to explain the situation, I was told they were on their way and to pick them up at the airport.

Hector and I'd left straight away, and now we were on the way back to Trenton. It was a silent ride for the most part, but as we were nearing the outskirts of town, my name was called.

I turned as our passenger asked, "How do you want me to play this?"

Shaking my head, I said, "We'll leave that up to you. We just need to know why he's doing this."

I got a nod for a reply.

Three minutes later, Hector pulled into the RangeMan garage, and the three of us got out. We led the way to the holding cells where Bear was located.

Our guest stopped at the first glimpse of Bear through the two-way mirror.

I watched as he took a deep breath and then moved toward the door with purpose.

The look on Bear's face when he saw the newcomer said a lot. For a fraction of a second, I almost felt sorry for Bear until I remembered how he'd played me.

Bear scowled as his gaze went to the mirror. "What are you doing here? I thought you never wanted to set eyes on me again?"

"You cheated on me. How did you expect me to feel?"

There was a softening on Bear's face. "I didn't. It was all an illusion."

"I know that now. At the time I was crushed. I loved you more than I've ever loved anyone, and you did that to me…why? What was so important that you had to throw away what we had?"

Bear ran a hand through his hair. The frustration he was feeling was written all over his face. "I didn't have a bloody choice! It was either get them the one they wanted, or they'd destroy someone I loved."

"Right! And you expect me to believe that?"

Bear stood with leashed violence. "My own brother set me up to be raped because I told them I wouldn't do what they wanted! It was a lesson in doing what you're told…or so I was informed."

I could see the softening in our guest's face as he looked at Bear. "You were raped?"

Bear turned away and once again ran his hand through his hair. His voice was gruff as he said, "Raped, beaten, and left for dead."

Jason took a step closer. "God, I'm sorry." He looked down at the ground for several seconds before he asked, "Why didn't you tell me? Maybe I could have figured a way out."

Bear shook his head. "Father wanted Agents A and J. There was no reasoning with him. J had found a couple of his followers and got the evidence to put them away. Father was furious and wanted to make an example of them."

Jason's eyes widened, and then he frowned. "So why were you trying to grab the other woman?"

Bear turned so he was facing Jason. "Because I convinced him it would hurt J more if he went after Tina instead."

Now it was Jason's turn to look furious, and he moved forward so he had Bear by the throat. "What the hell did you do to Tina, you bastard?"

Bear shook him off. "Nothing! Someone got to me before I could grab her."

Jason seemed to calm down a bit.

Bear glared. "Why do you care?"

"Because she's my friend. She helped me pull myself out of the funk that I was in after we broke up."

Bear stilled. He started shaking his head and dropped into a chair. "Damn! It was going to be so simple. I could use her, and then I wouldn't have to hurt Kye."

Jason turned back to face Bear. "You sound like you care."

Bear laughed harshly. "I did…do. Oh, he's not the love of my life, but I did come to care for him. As a matter of fact, I was going to tell him everything after what happened, but Critter showed me a video of him making a pass at Kye. He said if I didn't go away and keep quiet, he'd make sure the same thing happened to Kye. I couldn't let that happen."

"Looks like you're in a royal mess."

"Tell me about it. Father is a vicious man. He has ways of making you do things you never thought you were capable of."

Jason looked at Bear. "So tell me where he is so that we can take him out."

Bear looked at him and shook his head. "I can't let you be hurt. If keeping quiet will ensure that, then that's what I'll do."

Jason shook his head. "He's lying to you. Once he's killed Tina, he has every intention of going after A and J…and me. He has to. The only way he can keep control of you is to make sure that we're all dead."

Bear looked at Jason with such longing that I actually hurt for him. He took a deep breath and then let out a sigh. "I'll tell you…on one condition. I want to go with you."

Hector moved toward the door and into the room where Bear and Jason were. He came to a stop when he reached Bear and they were standing toe-to-toe. "You come. You mess up, I kill you."

Bear nodded and then rattled off an address.

I called Stephanie because it was closer to where she was. When she told me Tina was missing, a knot formed in my gut, and I just prayed that we'd get there in time.

Rina's POV

I paced back and forth in my bedroom, wondering how much longer I was going to be forced to stay here with Simon LeGree. One minute he was decent, and the next, for no reason, he'd be cold as ice and all his venom was directed my way. The latest incident occurred when I got out of the pool.

I'd just wrapped the towel around myself when Thor came stalking out of the house asking what the hell I thought I was doing.

I turned to him and said, "Taking a swim. Like I've done every day at this time without any issues, so what the hell is your problem now?"

He continued forward until our bodies were flush and his voice was a low growly menace as he said, "That was before we started having intruders trying to get into the house. I told you we needed to keep a low profile in case they were watching. I don't see this as staying out of sight, princess!"

I rolled my eyes and went to brush by him, but he took hold of my arm and refused to allow me passage. I brought my knee up, but before it could connect, Thor had me over his shoulder and was storming back into the house. I squirmed, and he had the audacity to swat my bottom.

Although it stung, I knew he'd pulled the force of the swat or I would have been in a lot more discomfort. Still, I was pissed and didn't plan to be forgiving.

When he set me down in my room I was ready but the big oaf countered my movements, and the next thing I knew I was locked in my room. I let loose with a frustrated scream. There was a chuckle from the other side as he said, "I'll be back once you've had a chance to calm down."

That had been three hours ago.

I turned to walk back over to the bed, and the sound of a gun going off had me looking around for a weapon. Before I could do anything though, the door was forced open and three men rushed in. I tried to fight them off and managed to knee one of them before I felt the sting of a needle in my arm and the world went dark.