Chapter Fifteen
Their men had taken everyone inside the house out except for Lulu, Luke, and Helena. As Johnny and Jason entered the back room they saw Helena raise the gun in her hand. Without blinking an eye, Johnny fired two shots between her eyes and watched with grim satisfaction as she fell back and out the window.
Jason moved over in front of Luke and placed his Golck to the older man's head. "Where is my son?" he demanded in a cold, lethal tone.
"You mean the bastard that you couldn't be bothered to claim?" Luke taunted, knowing that his time was up. "Why should I tell you? You killed my cowboy!"
Chuckling, Johnny stepped forward. "That was actually Zander that took Lucky out. He did so on my and Franncis' orders. Morgan had nothing to do with that. We did that for Elizabeth, for all the years of pain and misery that he put her through."
"How could you?" Lulu screached as she charged at him. "I hate you! Both of you!"
Quickly sidestepping her, Johnny snatched her by her long hair and pulled her in front of him so that she was facing her father. "You really might want to reconsider telling us where Jake is, Luke. I will make her death painful otherwise."
"You can't kill me! I am a Spencer!" she raged as she fought against his unbreakable hold.
"You stupid little bitch, I ordered your brother killed and he was an ignorant Spencer too." Tightening his hold on her neck until she could barely breath, he snapped, "Shut up!"
Jason's eyes never wavered from Luke's as he watched Johnny almost strangle Lulu. "Now! Where is Jake? Helena is gone. Lucky is gone. Lulu here will pay as well as you. How long you make me wait to see my son will determine how much you suffer."
Defeated, Luke moved his head toward the stairs. "He is locked in the attic."
"Go check and get him. I will stay with these two," Johnny told him.
Running up the stairs and praying that Jake was unharmed, Jason began to shake. Slowly opening the door after picking the locks he came face to face with his son. His blonde hair was filthy and his clothes hung on his small frame, but he was alive and staring at Jason with wide, fear filled eyes. Dropping onto one knee, Jason slowly reached out a hand.
"Jake. Do you remember me? I am Jason. I am going to take you to your mommy."
His head snapped up. "Momma? I want my momma!"
Patiently holding out a hand, Jason nodded as his heart broke at seeing the fear and hope mixing on his son's face. "Take my hand, Jake. I will take you to Uncle Nik and then we will take you home. Your mom and Cam are looking forward to seeing you."
Rushing into Jason's arms and sobbing for his mom, Jake clung to him. "Mommy! I wants to see my mommy!"
Relief coursed through Jason's body as he held the trembling Jake. "I know, buddy, I know. Let me get you to Nik and we will leave just shortly ok." Slowly making his way back into the room where Johnny was holding Luke and Lulu he nodded at Johnny who reached into his pocket for his phone to informed Nik to meet Jason at the front door.
Spotting Nik at the door, Jake released Jason and climbed into the Greek's waiting arms. "Mommy? You takes me to Mommy."
Feeling the young boy's ribs through the filthy clothes Nik was sick to his stomach. His family had stolen Elizabeth's son and almost starved him, let alone the emotional trauma that surely had inflicted. "Yep, buddy, we will go to your mommy real soon. Why don't you come to the truck with me and I will see if I have a candy bar in my pack." Sparing a meaningful glance to Jason who was waiting, he took a deep breath. "Finish it!" he snarled before carrying the little boy out of his prison.
"Why would you even do this, Luke? What had Elizabeth ever done beside help you and your worthless son?" Johnny was demanding when Jason returned back to the room.
"She never could stay faithful to my cowboy!" Luke snarled. "She pretended to better than everyone else."
"Your son cheated on her first, but that is besides the point. Infidelity is not a reason to fake a child's death and kidnap them while letting everyone mourn." Jason took a step closer to the older man and placed the gun to his head. "You and your family will never hurt them again"
Lulu screamed as Luke collapsed on the floor after the bullet tore through his head. "How could you! I hate you! The bitch deserved everything that she got! She hurt my brother over and over!" Her screaches were abruptly caught off as Johnny snapped her neck without warning.
Dropping her body to the floor, he looked over at Jason. "She was pissing me off," he answered the unspoken question. "Is Jake ok?"
Scrubbing a hand over his face, he nodded. "He is filthy and extremely thin. We need to get him cleaned up and fed pretty soon. All he will say is to ask for Elizabeth."
"Of course it is, Jason. Not saying this to hurt you, but Liz has been his only parent that he knew that he could depend on. She was always there. He misses her and Cam." Turning toward the door, he looked back over at the quiet man. "You can get to know him now. You still have that chance because we got him back."
Thinking about that brought a slight smile to his face. "I regret ever passing that up."
"You have another chance to know your son, don't make a mistake and blow it." Johnny looked around as they exited the house and turned to Victor, one of the Alcazar men. "Level this place as soon as we are in the air. I am taking him to the jet after we grab some food."
Inside the vehicle Nik was holding a quiet Jake as he scarfed a third candy bar. Both looked up as Johnny entered the vehicle followed by Jason. "He needs to get some real food in him. He is dehydrated too," Nik informed them.
After a quick stop to get stop to get some take out for Jake they arrived at the airport. Nik carried the sleeping little boy onto the jet as Jason and Johnny stood beside it talking to the pilot. They were just getting to board when an SUV roared onto the strip heading toward them. Pulling their weapons and starting to make their way on the plane, neither were shocked as gunfire sounded.
Jason had made it halfway up the plane stairs when he heard Johnny's muffled groan. Looking back he saw the other man collapse as blood began to spread across his chest. Without hesitation, Jason grabbed and lifted the man who had given him another chance to know his son and hauled him onto the jet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam stared at A.J. and wondered why he had helped her escape. As far as she knew he had been on St. Elizabeth's side. When he had shown up and bribed a guard to get her out of the prison she had been estatic, now she was concerned. The longer that they traveled the more remote he become. Over the last hour he had been short with her when she tried to speak to him.
A.J. smirked as he turned onto the gravel road. She had no idea the real reason why he had helped her. When Zander had called to tell him about Jake and Helena he had come up with the plan. His only regret was that he had not been there to help when Helena's small hired army had attacked the house because he had been getting Edward to help with his plan.
He knew that the others were thinking that he had turned on them, but he felt that this needed to be done and knew that Johnny and Francis would have never agreed because of the risk of Sam escaping. He had to do this. A.J. may not like the way that Jason lived his life and hated the way he had handled the situation with Elizabeth, but he knew that this was the right thing to do.
As the building came into view and Sam caught sight of the sign with the name of the place. She turned and looked at him questioningly with wary eyes. "Why here?" she demanded in a high voice.
Parking the car, he turned and laughed as he saw the prearranged men coming there way. "Did you honestly think that I was going to help you? You repeatively tried to kill my nephew. Did you know that he is alive and that they are going to get him right now?" Seeing that she wasn't shocked, he nodded. "Francis and I figured that you were in on it too. What better way to break the bond than let them think that their child was dead."
"You can't do this! I will not allow it!" She yelled as the men opened the door and drug her out, starting to place her in the straight jacket.
A.J. got out of the car and donned a concerned face. "My family and I thank you so much for taking in my sister, Dawn. Grandfather and I are concerned that she will harm the baby that she is carrying." He pulled the admission papers from his jacket pocket that Edward had paid good money for. "Here is the admission orders from Dr. Kevin Collins. He will be here every three days to work with her about the delusions that she is named Sam something or another and married to the mob."
As two of the men forced Sam into the Institute for the Insane, the third man shook A.J.'s hand. "Don't worry, Sir. The doctor has already called and informed us of Dawn's delusions. We will make sure that she is kept safe from harm and unable to escape. The private guards that you paid for have already arrived."
A.J. got in the car and chuckled. While Sam would pay for her part in all this, the baby she was carrying was innocent. She could die after Jason had his child born.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How bad is it?" John demanded while watching Elizabeth's face drain of color. He knew that she was worried but he needed facts before telling her what he just been told. "Ok, I will. Keep us informed."
Hanging up the phone, John stood and walked over to kneel in front of her. Taking her shaking hands into his, he offered a small smile. "They got Jake." He nodded when she let out a gasp. "He is ok, just a tad underfed and scared. Jake was asking for you and Cam."
Confusion warred with happiness over her son being alive. "What happened? If Jake is ok and they got him safely, what happened, John?"
"They were ambushed at the airport, Liz. Shots were fired before the jet could take off. O'Brien was hit." He pulled her up and held her as she started to sob. "He is alive but it's bad. He was shot in the chest. They are doing everything that they can until they can land, Liz. But Jason and Nik said that it looks bad."
"Dammit, no! NO!" She collapsed against him and clung to him as she cried.
He looked up and saw Emily standing in the doorway with tears running down her face, looking at him questioningly. Shaking his head at her unspoken question, she closed her eyes and slid down the wall. She understood that Johnny's chances were slim and knew that Elizabeth could not handle much more.
John tightened his grip on her and just let Elizabeth sob, praying against all odds that O'Brien could hang on and pull through. But Jason's voice had been grim and not given much hope.