Bloody bastard had been so focused and intent on getting his hands on Evie, that no one, not even me, had thought I would be in any danger. What a colossal mistake that was. My heart ached for Evie and my brothers when they realised I was gone. Last night without Evie had been a nightmare.
I tugged at my arms but they were bound together behind my back, and I couldn’t move. This a**hole was not going to live to see another day if I had my bloody way. I mentally slipped on my big girl panties and sucked it up. I wasn’t some defenceless little twat. I was a goddamn Valentine, and this wanker had picked the wrong bitch to mess with.
We eventually pulled into a driveway, Jimmy reversing in so the neighbours wouldn't see. I managed to take in my surroundings: a clapped out little white weatherboard house that looked like it was built before the war and had never been cleaned since.
My eyes followed Jimmy as he slammed the car door and came around to the back of the SUV, looking left to right, before he opened the back door.
“Right,” he said with a grin most evildoers somehow seemed to master. I wondered if there was some kind of Dummies Guide to being an Evil Murdering Asshole being sold on the black market where he learned his craft. I could see it now: 1. Kidnap victim. 2. Grin evilly, etc.
“Make sure you take in the sunshine and the smell of fresh air, Miss Valentine, because when I get you inside that house, you ain’t gonna be walking out alive. I’ll be delivering you home in pieces.”
I glowered at him fiercely, wishing that my eyes were able to shoot laser death rays at his head. For one moment, the bastard had actually managed to leave me feeling scared, and I hated to be scared. It made me feel weak and useless. One time in primary school, when I was eight years old, some fat little punk had locked me in the supply closest because I’d deliberately tripped him for bullying a friend. It was a sneak attack, so no one knew I was there. After being locked in there for hours, I hadn’t been scared at all because I knew Jared would eventually find me, and he did.
This time I was scared because I knew that Jared wouldn’t find me, at least not before it was too late. They’d been out, along with a huge Sydney task force, working on finding Jimmy for months. The likelihood of it suddenly happening in the next few hours was really f**king unlikely.
Jimmy reached in, a knife in his fisted hand, and I flinched. He chuckled as he leaned down and sliced neatly through the ties that bound my ankles together.
Not wasting any time, I rolled onto my back and kicked out with both legs. He grunted as I caught him in the gut, and I struggled as he pinned my legs down and rolled me over on to my stomach. He grabbed my bound hands and yanked me out of the car so hard I felt my shoulder wrench and my stomach roll as tears burned my eyes.
I stumbled as he took hold of my arm and jerked me up the three steps onto the patio and through the front door, shoving me so I fell to the floor. He reached behind and whipped out a gun, pointing it at my head. I whimpered as I lay panting on the floor, trying fiercely to breathe through my nose because of the gag.
He flicked off the safety and loaded a round into the chamber. “Ready to die?”
My vision blurred with tears, and I shook my head frantically. No, I wasn’t ready to die, fucktard. As I fought to get to my feet, he backhanded me with the butt of the gun, and I went sprawling face first on to the floor. Black spots swam in my eyes, and I could already feel red oozy blood dripping down my brow.
Jimmy yanked me back up by the arm and dragged me to the left and through a large archway, into what I deduced was the lounge slash dining room of the humble abode. There was no furniture to speak of except for a solitary chair that sat in the middle of the room. Mould riddled the ceiling, paint was peeling off the walls, and the wooden floorboards looked filthy and half rotted.
The chair teetered as he threw me down in it and proceeded to tie my ankles to each leg while I struggled. He then re-tied my arms so they were bound around the back of the chair.
He stepped back with a smile to view his handiwork. “Now, maybe I might be ready for you to die, but first, you have chores to deal with.”
I eyed him warily and he reached over to yank out my gag. I wanted to rub at my jaw, but the most I could manage was to suck in a few deep breaths.
“Nice digs, wanker,” I spat out. “Save your whole pathetic life to afford this little palace?”
“Mouthy little piece, aren’t you? I knew you would be. It’s not only Evie I’ve been watching, but you too. You’re a real bossy little bitch. I hate bossy bitches, but that’s okay because you’ll be dead soon anyway.”
“Why are you doing this, Jimmy?”
He laughed as he tucked the gun into the back of his pants, moving to the window to look up and down the street. He turned back to me and folded his arms.
“Come on, Mac, I can call you Mac, can’t I?”
“Oh be my guest, please,” I said sarcastically.
“Your brother Jared obviously. He killed my brother Joe. So it’s only fair that you should die. I’m sure you can see that. You know, I was originally only going to kill the little songbird but, you see,” he sighed before continuing, “my brother Joe was a hell of a man, worth more than the two of you combined. So I decided it was in my best interests to kill the both of you, out of fairness of course. The only trouble with that plan was I could never get Evie alone. You on the other hand, well, they must not care much for you if they left you to fend for yourself. I realised that all I needed to do was get to you, and then Evie would come. It’s that simple really.”
I forced myself to adopt a casual attitude but inside I panicked. Evie was like my sister. Of course she would come the stupid bitch. God, I would kill her myself if she did.
I snorted. “Evie isn’t going to come. She’s not stupid, unlike you, a**hole.”
“Oh, but you’re very much mistaken, Mac. She will, with you as bait. All I need to do is get her on the phone and tell her where you are. She’ll come running like the good little friend she is, and then I’ll have the both of you. I’m going to be generous, though, and let you know that I’ve decided to let Jared live. Hell...” he spread his arms wide “...I’ll let all your brothers live. Do you know why I’d do that for you?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
He smiled at me in mock sympathy. “Because then they’ll get to live without the two of you. Can you imagine that? I wonder what will happen to them knowing that you both died and it was all their fault.”
I closed my eyes as my heart sank. The goddamn f**ker was right. I couldn’t imagine how my brothers would deal with Evie and I gone. I didn’t think Jared would survive it.
“So, tell me, Mac, because I’m really interested to hear, what do you think of my plan? It’s good, right?”
I took a few deep breaths before I opened my eyes and shrugged. “I think your plan is kinda lame really. I mean, sure, they’re my brothers, but life will go on, won’t it? They’re strong and capable, quite unlike you, so they’ll deal with it and move on with their lives. Can’t say you’ve managed to do the same, but hey, you can’t win them all can you, Jimmy?”
His face fell. What did he think I was going to say? That he was some kind of evil criminal mastermind genius? Fucktard.
“Well,” he said with a smirk, “I hope you’re comfortable, Mac, because it’s a long night ahead of you. I think we might just give young Evie a call in the morning. You know, let your brothers freak out and search all night long for you. That will be fun, I think. Then, early in the morning while they’re still out chasing their tails after not having slept for days, Evie will be left all on her lonesome. We’ll give her a call then, see if she feels like stopping by for a cup of coffee. Whadda you say, Mac?”
I pressed my lips together and glared.
He chuckled and checked my ties to make sure they were secure before leaving the room.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Evie
I grinned and clapped my hands high thanking the audience for the thunderous ovation. Unfortunately, revelling in the sensation was entirely impossible thanks to my current state of emotional retardedness.
Damn you, Jared. I should be furious at the conclusions you jumped to, but how could I when I would have done exactly the same were the situation reversed? It looked pretty damning, and despite outside sources informing me of Jared’s feelings, love was the last thing I was rolling in when he took off this morning.
With a last wave at the crowd, I hit the side of the stage and was immediately smothered in my brother’s arms. He lifted me off my feet and spun me around as laughter bubbled out.
“My famous little sister,” he murmured close to my ear.
“Not quite, but we’re on our way.” I grinned as he set me on my feet, teetering a little in the skyscrapers Tim insisted I wear.
“Where’s Mac?” I’d seen her disappear just before our last song and it looked like she hadn’t returned.
Coby frowned as he glanced around. “Not sure. She’ll be about somewhere.”
Travis was on the phone, so Coby followed me back to the dressing room where Cooper was handing out beers. In light of last night, I opted for a water before shouting at the boys to listen up. “I have some housekeeping issues to discuss. As we now have two weeks off, we need to re-charge properly, which means no partying.”
Frog groaned and flung his beer top at me as protests rendered the air.
Jake in turned threw his at Frog. “This is serious shit, Frog.”
I ignored the whining and continued. “Come on. If I can do it so can you. Also, the rumour mill informs me that dinner at our place tonight, before the after party, is being catered for by none other than Mr. Chow himself.” Coby gave me a wink, and I held up my beer in salute, unwilling to visualise the lengths he would have gone to in order to arrange that particular feat. “So here’s to Jamieson. You might all be riding my coattails like a bunch of rockstar wannabes...” I laughed and had to speak louder over the shouts “....but I love you all like brothers. Now hurry up and drink your beer before I start hugging you all as though you actually deserved it.”
They cheered loudly. “To Jamieson.”
When I stood up to face the mirror and began wiping the heavy makeup off my face, exhausted and ready for nothing more than bed, Travis stuck his head in the door, frowning as his eyes scanned the room. “Where’s Mac?”
“We don’t know,” I answered. “She’s not out there?”
He shook his head. “When I got off the phone, one of the roadies was asking me where she was because they’re doing the pack up, and they need her.”
“Have you tried her phone?” Henry interrupted. “She mentioned a few industry bigwigs were stopping by tonight, so maybe she’s caught up schmoozing.”
I picked up my phone and tried ringing her but there was no answer. Mac always answered her phone. She was as dependable as chocolate was in fixing a shitty day.
Travis opened the door wider and moved into the room.