Independence & Consequences, M J Marlow [read out loud books .txt] 📗

completely different earlier.” “You bastard!” Gordon hissed as he realized what the man was saying. He pulled at the chains holding him to the bulkhead. “I’m going to kill you!” “I am going to give your darling niece a very fine life, Talbot,” Jake said calmly. “As Lang Tolliver, I will be able to give her anything she could ever wish.” He handed the whip to his man and pulled Nell to her feet. He moved up behind her and his hand went under the robe. He watched as her eyes blazed with anger. “She will learn to enjoy my touch,” he laughed at Gordon. “With a little judicious application of certain drugs, she will do whatever I want.” He turned to his men. “Take them to the upper deck in half an hour. We’ll have the wedding there.”” “No!” Nell cried as he yanked her away. “You can’t do this!” “That was magnificent!” Jake laughed as he dragged her back to their stateroom. He shoved her towards the bed. “I want you, Nell.” A half hour later, Nell accompanied Jake out onto the deck where her ‘uncle’ and Lang were waiting. The Captain was standing nearby with a Bible in hand. He began to read the wedding service as Jake led her forward. Nell felt the man’s hand gripping her arm painfully, and looked over at the real Isabel’s uncle. The guard behind him smiled and raised the gun in his hand so she could see it. Nell looked at the pen Jake put in her hand and she signed the marriage license. Gordon and Lang were put inside a launch and it was lowered over the side. Nell would not move until she saw it heading back towards the mainland. Only when she felt certain that her act was accepted, did she accompany Jake back to the stateroom. They fell asleep in each other’s arms. He woke up as he heard a sound in the stateroom and turned to see Alejandra seated in the chair nearby. He followed her into the lounge. “What are you doing here?” He asked as he went to get a drink. “I thought it was agreed that we would meet back on the mainland.” “I was growing impatient to see how you were getting along with things,” Alejandra told him. “From what I saw, you are doing quite well.” She laughed at his expression. “Don’t go soft now, Jake. You still have to destroy the Tollivers. Once you have accomplished this, you and your pet are free to do whatever you wish.” She finished the drink he brought her and got to her feet. “I’ll expect you back in Baltimore tomorrow, Jake. If you keep me waiting, I will expose you.” She frowned as she felt her head spinning. “What did you do?” “Just giving you a taste of your own medicine, my dear,” Jake laughed as she fell to her knees. “Did you really think you could order a man like me around, girl?” He yanked her up onto her feet and held her by the shoulders. “You are going to experience everything you wanted to put dear Isabel through this past month.” “You can’t do this to me!” Alejandra screamed as he hefted her over his shoulder and carried her down the passageway. “My father made you! He’s given you a chance to pay Jeff Tolliver back for what he did to you…” “And I thank him for that,” Jake broke in coldly as he dumped her on the bed and cuffed her to it. “But what neither of you seems to remember is the reason why I was in Leavenworth.” He ran his hand down her leg and his eyes grew warm. “I like the girls, Alejandra. A lot.” “You do this and there is no place you will be safe from my father’s vengeance,” Alejandra snarled. She pulled at the cuffs holding her. “Let me up this minute.” “Eventually,” Jake smiled back at her as he enjoyed the sight of her struggling. “Once your father has suffered for what he did to my wife!” He took a knife out of the nightstand and sliced her arm. He went into the bathroom and returned with a towel that he used to stifle the flow. Then he tended the cut on her arm. “He is going to suffer some of what he has put his brother through this past week. But unlike Isabel,” he smiled at her nastily, “your captors have no orders to keep their hands off of you.” He laughed at the expression on her face as he gagged her. “Enjoy the cruise, girl!” Jake returned to the stateroom and smiled at Nell warmly. His wife! When he had been sent to Leavenworth, his wife had gone to Enrique Alvarez on his behalf. The monster had brutalized her, kept her chained in his bedroom like an animal. Well, his daughter was going to go through that same agony for what Nell had suffered. He liked the thought of it. His only regret was that he couldn’t be the one to abuse Alejandra. They went to the top deck where a helicopter was waiting on the pad on top of the yacht. Nell strapped herself into the co-pilot seat and put the headphones on. Then he got behind the controls and flew off, smiling at the thought of the haughty Alejandra in the hands of the men he had hired to crew the yacht. He had picked them especially for this part of his vengeance plan. * Dennis entered the hospital with his wife and went to see the man himself, leaving the team to question the doctor and nurses. He entered the room and stopped short at seeing the man sitting up with hardly any sign of injury. In the bed next to his, Lang was sleeping. The younger man had obviously had the worst of whatever ordeal they had just survived. “God, Gordon!” Dennis hissed as he saw the man alive and quite well. “We thought the worst when we heard the report.” “It was a necessary lie.” “What is this all about, Gordon?” Dennis asked as he sat down in the chair by the bed. “This is getting weird.” “There were at least two different agendas going,” Gordon told him. “Someone took Isabel to use her to force me to turn files over to them. They went so far as to hire someone to take on Lang’s face and replace him at the Agency. But when I went to make the drop,” he continued, “I was ambushed. I found myself facing Lang’s doppelganger. He turned out to be an old army buddy of Jeff Tolliver; a man Jeff had testified against when it was discovered that he was brutalizing young women over in Bosnia.” “Jake Armstrong?” Dennis hissed. He saw Gordon’ look. “Jeff told me about that bastard. He was supposed to be doing life at Leavenworth.” “Someone gave him an early out,” Gordon frowned, “a new face, and a means of going after the man he blamed for destroying his life.” He ran his hand through his hair. “The maniac forced Lang to sign a marriage license. He has Isabel now as his hostage-wife.” “So,” Dennis frowned as he began to see the plan, “you’re hoping that he will come after you when he hears you’ve both been found alive?” “He has to,” Lang said softly, his throat still bruised. “He can’t take my place if I’m alive to debunk his claim.” He closed his eyes a moment as a twinge of pain shot through him. “That poor girl! She doesn’t deserve to be involved in this.” “I’ll put my men in position to keep an eye on you,” Dennis decided. “I have an idea. It might not pan out,” he continued as he saw the hopeful look in Gordon’ eyes, “but it’s worth a shot. Armstrong has quite a few associates that may be worth looking up.” “Go for it, Den,” Gordon nodded. “We’re fine. It’s Isabel we need to help.” Dennis nodded and hurried out of the hospital. He filled his men in briefly and left them to work out the logistics with the hospital administration. Dennis got in the car and drove back to the airfield. He didn’t waste a moment with what he needed to do. He sent out the call to all the agencies up and down the East Coast for any information on the whereabouts of several women he knew had been associated with Armstrong. The reports came in almost as soon as the last call was made. He went over them thoroughly and smiled as he saw one that seemed quite promising. “We’re headed to Salisbury,” he told the pilot. “There is a gated community on the sea coast east of there that might be just what we’re looking for.” He sank into the co-pilot chair and put on the headphones and microphone. He called a friend in the Coast Guard. “Blake,” he said once he was connected, “it’s Den. Need your help, my friend.” He quickly told him what was needed and smiled as the man agreed to help. “Thanks, bro! If this all goes down as planned, a very frightened young woman and her family are going to be quite grateful to us.” “You going in on your lonesome, Den?” the pilot, Mark Winters, asked. “Not a smart move.” “Only move we have, Mark,” Dennis told him, frowning. “Gordon, and Lang, are in the hospital. The rest of my team is in position in case the lunatic comes after them.” He closed his eyes a moment. “I have a feeling that he is more apt to take out his anger at being kept from his goals on them. This means he isn’t in the way when we go find the girl.” “Then let’s get there,” Mark nodded. He accelerated. “I’ve always wanted to be there to save the damsel in distress.” * Isabel fell into a strange acceptance of her horrific imprisonment. She could not convince Liza that this marriage to Guerrero was wrong. She quit trying when she realized that Liza was actually happy. Sebastian warned her not to do anything to prevent their happiness, or he would return her to bonds and injections. He said this in front of Liza, and Isabel could see she would get no help from the woman if he followed through on the threat. She bowed her head in defeat and let the play unfold as it would. There was nothing she could do to prevent what was happening. So the next night, she found herself at a party celebrating her mother’s engagement to Sebastian Guerrero. “Isabel,” Liza smiled after it was over, “I am so happy!” She looked up at her fiance adoringly. “Would you do us the honor of seeing you dance?” Isabel looked at her as if she was crazy, but she nodded. She watched as the chairs were moved aside and heard the music of a familiar piece being played as she warmed up. She looked over to the piano and saw Olivia there. Standing at her side was a tall, dark-haired man, who reminded her of Rafael. The hand on Olivia’s shoulder was very possessive. She finished warming up and Olivia hit the opening chords of the solo she had performed. She lost herself to the music, forgetting what her situation was, and what had just happened to Liza. When it was over, she looked up as a hand reached down to help her up. Rafael Alvarez smiled down at her, warmly. “As divine as ever, perhaps cousin,” he said as he helped her to the reception. He kissed her on the cheek and pulled the chair out for her and then sat down next to her. “Are you all right? You do not look at all pleased at this union.” “I wouldn’t have wished him on Liza,” Isabel told him honestly. “She says that