CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

 

The lights were out, and the power had been killed. Jax kept his night-vision goggles on as Bishop signaled they were inside.

"First floor, secure," Winters responded.

"West wing, clear," Sugar said.

"Nicola? Locke? Status update now," Brock demanded.

A rustling noise crackled through Nicola's mic piece. "Working on it—second floor, east wing, third door down after the sitting room. I see the two packages."

See? Are they safe? Alive? What does that mean?

"Nicola?" Brock followed up.

"I'm going to need a minute. By myself, please," she quietly whispered.

"What?" Jax hustled to the closest set of stairs in the giant residence.

"Who has eyes on Nic? Now, goddamn it," Jared ordered. "Cash? Roman? Ryder? Any snipers?"

No response, and Jax's panic surged.

"My name is Nicola, and I know your mommy," Nicola said in a sing-song voice so sweet, it made Jax run up the stairs faster. "I'm going to bring you home. But the first thing we're going to do is play a game. Want to?"

No response, but they had to be alive…

"Don't move, chickadee and chickadude. Like a statue—no. Don't move."

"I know how to hold this," Bianca said.

Jax faltered. This?

"Nic," Jared calmly said. "Sing a song if they're armed."

"Before I bring you home to Glamma and Victoria, can I sing you my little boy's favorite song. It's Twinkle, Twinkle."

The earpiece was eerily quiet; Jax had never heard it like that before. No one was muted, but everyone was silent.

"It goes twinkle, twinkle—"

"Are you a good guy or a bad guy?" Nolan asked.

"They all lie," Bianca said.

"Don't move, honey." Nicola drew in a quick breath. "I'm good. So very good. And I promise you, from the bottom of my heart, that I'm telling you the truth, and I know your mommy wants you to put that gun down. Would you do that for me?"

"Ohfff. Hi, Nolan, thank you for the hug. You're very strong, but I need you to stand behind me. Bianca, move your fingers, baby. Like this."

"No, thank you," faintly came through the earpiece, and Jax died inside.

Nicola tried again. "I promise it's okay. I'll trade you my cell phone for that, and you can call anyone. They'll tell you to trust me."

"She knows Glwamma and Vwictorwia," Nolan said. "I'm hungrwry."

Jax reached the threshold of the third door and held his breath as he peeked around the corner. Nolan hugged onto Nicola's back. She had one arm outstretched to Bianca while she firmly held the little boy in place against her back and body armor. Bianca cradled a handgun haphazardly in both hands. All his faith was placed solidly in Nicola's hands. His teammate could get them through this. He had to believe that like he'd never trusted Titan before.

His heart raced. He covered his mouth and whispered into his mic piece, "Say my name. You know me."

"Jax is my friend."

Nicola trusted him, no hesitation. Jax held his breath, praying as he inched closer to the edge of the door, catching a glimpse of the squirming boy who Nicola desperately tried to keep pinned.

"He is?" Nolan's excited voice wrapped around him.

"He's here and wants to see you. Freeze like a statue so I can take that from you."

"Okay," Bianca said.

Relief rolled through Jax that Bianca had stopped fighting. But until that weapon was out of her hands, uncertainty still had him hanging by a thread.

"You're now a statue," Nicola said. "Do. Not. Move. A muscle or a finger."

"Can I breathe?"

"Yes."

"Can I blink?"

"Yes, sweetheart. One second. Your brother gets a game too, and I have to move, Bianca. So don't be surprised if I'm moving a tiny bit. Okay?"

"Okay."

"What a good statue."

"Nolan, your part of the game is to lie on the floor like a piece of paper, and I'm going to cover you with my hat and my coat—"

"Nicola…" Jared's only warning came, and Jax knew that she would ignore it and he wouldn't say it again.

She slipped off her body armor and covered him. "Okay, you're still a statue. Don't move a muscle. No fingers, no toes."

Jax watched Nicola cross the fifteen feet, and it felt like an eternity until she had the gun in her hand. "Any other weapons on you, my little statue?"

"No."

He moved into the room, taking his face covering off. "Hey, you two."

Both kids did exactly what he and Nicola had feared. Jax caught sight of Nicola leaning against a wall, shaking her head as though she were catching her breath and maybe reliving the hell of the last few minutes.

Nolan jumped up and down, waving his arms, and ran, launching into Jax's outstretched his arms, while Bianca rushed, her arms crossed to her chest, hands clasped under her chin, and burrowed for hugs. If that little girl had had a gun in her hand when he'd walked in, no safety and set to semi-auto, there was no telling the damage she would've done to her brother and herself.

He squeezed them even tighter. "I heard you went on an adventure."

"It wasn't very fun," Bianca reported.

He chuckled. "I know, kiddo. Now let's go get your mom."

"But"—Nolan's bottom lip quivered—"I thought they sent her away."

Jax dropped to his knee as a firefight broke out in his earpiece and out the window.

Nolan threw his hand wide. "Thwre were bad guys with guns—"

"We're going to talk about guns later," Jax interrupted.

"And thwey were like thwis and thwat." He chopped his hands. "And Victwria said lots of bad words."

"A lot," Bianca added with a tiny scowl.

"Then Glamma—"

"No sign of Seven," Winters said in his earpiece.

"Hey, my little team. Where's your mama? Do you know where she stays?"

"She has to leave every night." Bianca leaned against him, and Jax put an arm around her waist.

"In a rocket humvee."

The kid knew his vehicle, and Jax's stomach dropped at the thought of Seven in a MRAP. The chance that Suarez militia would bring her on-site during a hostile takeover was slim. They didn't know who was there even if a safe assumption could be made about the kids. But a man like Hernán Suarez had many enemies.

"Checking the MRAPs," Sugar said as though she were discussing mail call and not a body search.

Nicola walked out of the room, her gaze meeting his. "You want to go or stay?"

Jax needed to find Seven like he needed to take another breath. "You met my friend Nicola. Do you want to hang out with her while I go get your mom?"

Neither said anything as they turned to study her. Bianca grabbed on to his forearm, and Nolan leaned against his chest as, warily, they watched her drop to her knees also.

He gave them a squeeze that he prayed conveyed his faith in Nicola. "You know what my favorite thing about Nic is?"

Bianca turned. "What?"

"She's like a machine. You can tell her something in English, and it comes out another language. Watch." He tapped his head. "I want a cheeseburger."

"Ich will einen cheeseburger," Nicola offered.

"German?" he asked.

"Yup. Good guess."

Jax hugged the kids close. "How about… I love ice cream?"

"Somebody's hungry." Nicola came closer with her most disarming grin. "Eu amo sorvete. Portuguese this time. You want to try, Bianca?"

She shook her head.

"Nolan?"

"Say… My shoes smell. Eww, eww, eww!" Nolan jumped and danced, sticking up his feet.

"Mój zapach buty. Eww, eww, eww!" Nicola scrunched up a silly face, waving her hand. "Polish. But next time I'll try for Pig Latin. Much more fun."

Both kids fell apart in giggles.

Jax gave them one last squeeze. "Go with Nic. I'm going to get your mom, okay?"

Nolan waited for Bianca's reaction. Then the little girl took a step forward. "I'm sorry I picked up that gun."

Nicola signaled for them to go. "Thank you for listening when I asked you. Let's go get Jax a cheeseburger and ice cream. You too if you want."

"I'm coming in for your back up," Winters added.

"Same," Sugar said. "Seven wasn't in the vehicles. But Jax, I left you someone tied to a tire axle if you'd like a Suarez bitch ready to cry uncle."

"See you two soon." Then Jax hustled out the way he'd come, mentally slipping back on his warrior mask.