Kindred: Kingpin (The Kindred Series Book 1) Page 12

  Lucas nods. It’s silent for a moment before he speaks up, “You know I didn’t mean it, right?” he begins, “What I said earlier, I didn’t mean any of it. It’s just,” he inhales a shaky breath, “Not knowing if she’s okay is making me crazy.”

  “I understand,” June tells him with a soft smile but it doesn’t reach his eyes, “She means a lot to you, I know. I won’t rest until we find her.”

  A moment of silence passes before, “We’ll find her, right? She’ll be okay?” tears collect at the corner of June’s eyes,

  Lucas feels his chest clench at the sight before him, June reminding him of the little boy he met all those years ago, lost and scared.

  Lucas rushes over to him, pulling June into his chest and cradling his head tightly, “Of course we’ll find her. And we’ll end whoever took her.”

  Just a little over two weeks that Tara’s been missing, June finds a package outside his club. He hasn’t been here in days, the place not safe everything that’s happened.

  The package is wrapped in ordinary brown paper, with his name tagged onto the stamp. He picks it up warily and takes it in with him. Setting his coat over the arm of the couch, he sits down slowly and begins to unwrap it.

  Inside is a little black box and in the black box is a cell-phone. He turns it on with shaky fingers. There’s nothing on it, save for a note with co-ordinates and a video. Something in him tells him that he doesn’t want to see the contents of the video but he clicks the play button and watches as the camera focuses on a body on what appears to be a cellar floor.

  It takes him a moment to recognize that it’s Tara and when he does, his eyes widen, tears springing forth subconsciously. He hears Jenkins’s voice, hears the man demean her and his blood boils. She barely looks alive, hair a mess and cached into clumps around her face. She’s covered in dirt but appears to be unharmed. The thing that really strikes him is how sickly she looks, extremely thin and ashen, like she barely has any life left in her.

  His anger only worsens when Jenkins walks up to her, picks her up and slaps her around. White hot rages stirs in him and his hands clench around the phone so tightly that he fears he’ll break the screen.

  Jenkins walks over to the camera then, telling him he has one day to come get her and explaining that the co-ordinates on the phone is where they’re located.

  “Bring anyone else and I’ll kill her before you even step foot near us,” Jenkins warns him and the screen goes black, the video ending.

  At first he doesn’t react, his body still trying to process the video’s contents. Then he cries. Hot, angry tears stain his cheeks as he sweeps a hand over the desk, shattering everything on it.

  He doesn’t think, just lets his body rage about the office as days of worry and frustration surface, culminating with what he just witnessed. When his head clears, the grief and anger simmered down; his office is a mess. Broken pieces of glass and furniture are strewn across the floor, and his shoes scrunch on pieces of broken glass and wood as he grabs the phone and rushes out the door.

  When he shows Michela the video, Soran is also there. Once the video ends, the man rushes up to him, landing a punch across his jaw.

  “This is your fault!” Soran bellows, “If you hadn’t come into her life, none of this would have happened!”

  June doesn’t react, simply taking hit after hit. He knows Soran is right, knows all of this is his fault. It takes four men to pull the detective off of him and when they do, June bows his head.

  “I’ll bring her back,” June vows, “And then I’ll leave her life for good.”

  “You can’t go in by yourself,” Michela admonishes, “It’s obviously a trap.”

  “I have no choice!” June hisses, “He’ll kill her otherwise!”

  “At least take a few men with you,” Ren pleads, “Let us come with, back you up while you save her.”

  “It’s too risky,” June shakes his head, “No. I’m going in alone.”

  “You’ll die,” Lucas stresses, tears in his eyes.

  “So?” June asks, tone challenging and everyone falls silent, “I won’t let her die because of me.”

  His family watches helplessly as he grabs the phone and storms out the room.

  When he finally finds the place, it’s surprisingly unguarded. Jenkins’s locked her in some abandoned warehouse. He takes out eight guards while he scouts the area, finding at least fifteen more guarding all the entrances.

  Judging by the lack of windows in the video, June assumes Tara is somewhere underground.

  He climbs in through a window near the back of a storage room, taking out the guards there.

  Navigating through the warehouse undetected is almost impossible and after a few minutes, more guards discover the bodies outside. His chances are slimmer, all of them alert now and searching for him.

  Years of working and training have equipped him to be as silent as he needs and Jenkins’s men aren’t the brightest. He gets to the lower floors quite easily but then a row of guards come his way and June has just enough time to dash into a room before he’s caught.

  “June?” a familiar voice calls out and he turns around in surprise.

  Nona lays on a dusty four-poster bed, her one arm shackled to one of the poles.

  “What’re you doing here?” he asks her with wide eyes, immediately going to her and analyzing the lock on the handcuff. He nods once, pulling out a tool kit and attempts to pick it.

  “Jenkins had me taken in for questioning when I went to that reporter,” she scoffs, “He’s had me hear ever since.”

  “I’m glad you’re alright,” June sighs, giving her a tight hug once he frees her.

  “I’m not,” she grimaces, “I’ve done less than dignifying things to make sure he still wanted to keep me alive.”

  “Good,” June tells her, “Jonathan still needs his mom. You were smart about the situation; no one will judge you for that.”

  “How’s my baby?” she asks, tears streaming down her face as he helps her off of the bed.

  “Your mom’s been looking after him. Sola and Ren help out, Tara too,” his voice trembles as he says her name.

  “Tara?” Nona asks, brows furrowed in confusion.

  “The reporter,” June explains, “She visits your mom a lot. Brings her biscuits and stuff.”

  Nona’s eyes fill with tears, “I’m glad,” after a beat “How’d you find this place?” she asks and when she does, June gives her a pained look.

  “Tara’s here,” he tells her in a trembling voice, “Somewhere.”

  “Oh God,” Nona gasps and a fresh wave of tears stream down her face, “So she’s the girl the guards are talking about.”

  “What do you know?” he asks in a rush, “Do you know where we can find her?”

  “No,” she shakes her head in apology, “But I know she’s somewhere on the lower levels. I can help you get down there.”

  Navigating the hallways silently with Nona is almost impossible and for a split second, June contemplates just leaving her there. He feels horrible almost instantly, knowing Tara would never even look at him again if he did. So he guides her down at a slower pace than he wants to.

  He knows when he’s found Tara’s room because over twenty guards stand outside it, “Go,” he tells Nona, “Try to get out while I keep them distracted.”

  “What about you and Tara?” she asks with a worried frown.

  “I’ll get her out,” he tells her.

  “June,” she chastises, “Getting through that is impossible.”

  “Go!” he snarls, “You’re wasting time arguing with me!”

  He doesn’t wait for a reply, simply loads a new round of bullets before he storms into the hallway.

  It’s a chaotic mess for a few minutes and June doesn’t know how he makes it out alive. He has at least two bullets in his body and countless other wounds but he manages to get through and pushes back the door they were guarding.

  Tara lays lax by Jenkins’s feet, the ma
n seated on a chair and holding a gun to her head.

  “Welcome,” he ushers June in with the other hand.

  “Let her go,” June snaps in a commanding voice. His gun is raised towards the man but he knows it’s useless with Jenkins’s gun aimed at Tara.

  The woman in question looks up at June’s entrance and he expects her to look relieved. She only looks terrified, like seeing him is the last thing she wanted.

  “Idiot,” she rasps out in a barely there voice, “Now he’ll kill us both.”

  June drops his gun and falls in front of her, knees hitting the cold floor harshly. He pulls her against him as gently as he can, wrapping warm arms around her as he whispers in her ear, “I won’t let him hurt you.”

  She tries to pull out of his hold, protestations about her undignified state falling from her lips but he shushes her with a harsh bark, “I don’t care,” he grips her to him, “I don’t care about any of that. You’re alive, that’s all I care about.”

  “How touching,” Jenkins quips from his seat and when June looks up, the older man is staring at him with his face scrunched in disgust, “The star-crossed lovers, finally reunited. Just in time to die.”

  “Let her go,” June pleads, “Keep me here but let her go,” he pushes Tara behind him so that Jenkins’s gun has no choice but to point towards him instead.

  “And why would I do that?” the man asks with a raised brow.

  “You want more power,” June tells him, “I’ll tell you how to take down the Frye’s.”

  “No!” Tara gasps, tone angry and with more life than it’s managed in a few days, “You can’t!”

  “Shush,” June barks, “If it means getting you out of here alive, then I will.”

  Jenkins seems to contemplate his offer for a moment, “See,” he begins, “If you’d offered me this three months ago, I’d have jumped at the offer. But now,” an unnerving smile spreads across his face, “Now I just want the both of you dead.”

  June lunges for the gun, Jenkins managing to pull the trigger just before June can pry it out of his hands. The bullet hits his abdomen and he’s never been so grateful for bulletproof vests as he feels it crush against him without penetrating skin.

  The gun skids across the floor but there’s no need for it. When he glances up, Tara’s holding his previously discarded gun in her hands, cocked and aimed at them.

  “That’s my girl,” June smirks, vicious pride stirring in his chest at the determined look in her eyes.

  “Lift his head,” she orders and June does as instructed, gripping Jenkins’s hair and tugging him up harshly.

  “Do you even know how to use that?” Jenkins scoffs as he gives Tara a haughty grin.

  She narrows her eyes before pulling the trigger. It goes straight into his chest and when June looks down, it’s pierced right into Jenkins’s heart.

  “Yes,” Tara quips, “I do,” she clicks the safety back on and falls to the floor, her legs finally giving up.

  June dashes over to her, catching her before she hits the cold concrete, “It’s okay,” he tells her, brushing her hair aside so he can look into her eyes, “I’ve got you.”

  She glances up at him and tears pool at the corners of her eyes. A hand lifts up to stroke the bags under his eyes, “You look like crap.”

  June chuckles, ducking his head into the crook of her neck and dropping gentle kisses onto the skin there. He picks her up, depositing both guns onto her lap as he carries her out the room. He gives her one, the other he keeps in one hand, “Be ready. I’m not sure how many more guards are left.”

  When he rounds the corner, he’s surprised to find Sola and Soran leaned against the wall, “Took your sweet time,” Sola scoffs as she pushes herself off of the wall and strides over to them.

  June looks at her wide with, questioning eyes and Sola rolls her own eyes, “Did you really think we were leaving Tara’s rescue up to you alone?” she scoffs, “Not even you’re that good.”

  “How did you know when to come in?” June asks.

  “Your phone’s been bugged for months now, you idiot,” Soran scoffs, “All we had to do is hack into the microphone and wait until you were with Jenkins. We figured, once you were with him, he’d be too preoccupied to call for backup.”

  “Didn’t you find it suspicious that no guards came in while you were in there?” Sola asks.

  “I thought I took care of them all,” June shrugs and the older woman scoffs.

  “This guy,” she rolls her eyes. They narrow in on Tara then, “And you,” she scolds, flicking the girl on the forehead, “I’m not letting you out of my sight, ever again,” relieved tears stream down her face.

  “That’s going to make going to the bathroom a little difficult,” Tara tells her with a grin but she’s also crying, relieved tears streaking down her face as she clings to the older woman.

  When they finally get outside the warehouse, a litany of vans surrounds the place. For a moment, June thinks they’re Jenkins’s men but he sees Lucas and Jasper speaking to one of the groups and his shoulders fall in relief.

  When Lucas sees Tara he runs up to her, checking her over and a stream of questions pouring out of his mouth. And then he seems to reach his limit, the little tremble in his voice the only thing giving away his impending breakdown.

  “Don’t you ever do that again!” he scolds, “I’m never leaving you alone! Do you know how worried I’ve been?” he continues berating her until Tara lifts a hand and squishes his cheeks together in between two fingers. It effectively stops him and he stares at her with wide eyes.

  “It seems like I’m going to have a whole troop of bodyguards with me to protect me even when I pee,” she jokes and Lucas narrows his eyes.

  “Please let me take her to a medic before you all begin shouting at her?” June scoffs, taking her over to one of the open vans and laying her onto the bed.

  He wanders over to Michela, his chest lighter than it’s been in ages.

  “You did well,” she tells him, clapping him on the back, “But if you ever go in like that alone, I’ll cut your toes off myself. Then you won’t be able to storm off and disobey my orders.”

  “If it was Jasper they kidnapped,” June begins, “Wouldn’t you have done the same?”

  Jasper laughs next to him and Michela pouts in reply, “Yeah. Yeah, I would.”

  They’re silent for a moment as they watch the medic check over Tara. Michela takes a deep breath, “So you’re really just going to leave her like you said?”

  June’s chest aches at the prospect of having to be parted from her, but he finds his resolve when he watches her yell at the medic for being too rough, “It’s what she wants.”

  “Are you sure that’s what she wants?” Michela asks. June doesn’t reply.

  They stop at the medic house, booking Tara in for a few days so that they can properly check her wounds. Jin is in and out of the ward constantly, flitting between checking up on her and the rest of June’s men. He doesn’t fail to notice the presence always outside her door, standing guard but never going in.

  “You should tell her, you know,” Jin tells him one day.

  “Tell her what?” June snaps angrily.

  “That you’re in love with her,” he chuckles. He still vividly remembers the panic and rage June had been in when they’d found out that Tara had gone missing. He’s never seen his boss so shaken and upset.

  “No,” June huffs, “There’s no point. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

  Jin stares at him for a moment before speaking, “Can you blame her?”

  June looks up with an angry glare but Jin continues, “Don’t look at me like that. You know it’s the truth. You’ve treated her with nothing but contempt and abuse. For a good three years, you’ve flaunted other girls in her face while knowing that she was your soulmate. You don’t really deserve her, if I’m being honest.”

  He knows his words are harsh and he feels instantly guilty about them, remembering how June had
been fretting over the girl these past few days. Only, he knows they’re true and he won’t subject her to someone like June, regardless of how much the man might love her.

  June looks like he’s going to argue for a moment but his shoulders droop in defeat and he lowers his head dejectedly, “Yeah, you’re right.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Tara’s released from June’s contract once she’s well again. She hasn’t seen him since her kidnapping, June going away on important business, but Lucas tells her that everything’s finalized. Ren pouts when she finally packs up her things, vowing to meet up as often as possible.