The Reaper's Daughter (Book 1 Soldiers Series)

4

Her father gone Jess made the most of her time, she quickly changed and prepared for Jake’s arrival. Jess placed her brush on the dresser and stood sideways admiring her outfit in the mirror. Her flat tummy exposed to show off her new belly button piercing. It amused her how it drove her father insane. She loved it; the tiny little yellow bead was worth every penny. Her brown leather skirt was short, and her pale-yellow baby-t was tight.

Jess cupped her breast and frowned. She wished she could have had bigger breast, she was smaller than all her friends, and she could not fill out the really cute tops in the stores. Oh well, when she was old enough, she would get them done. Her hands went up to her hair trying to fluff in somebody to the long limp locks. Maybe she would cut it all off and dye it; she smiled mischievously. Maybe purple or green that would send her father up the wall she mused.

Faint footsteps from outside caught Jess’ attention; there was someone on the porch. She grinned and rushed out of her room. Jess had called Jake to come to pick her up when her father had left. He was early, but it did not matter she was ready to go regardless. Jess flew down the stairs and tore her coat from the hall closet. Stepping into her high-heeled boots, Jess pulled on her coat, threw open the door, and stopped dead in her tracks. Her face paled with fright.

“`Ello princess.” Snarled a tall red-haired Irishman, his brawny build blocking the exit completely. Jess’ eyes travelled from the evil snarl on his scruffy face down his thick arm to the knife he held in his hand. Swinging the door shut against him with all her strength Jess turned and ran through the living room into the kitchen to escape out the back door.

She skidded around the corner into the kitchen and moved quickly around the table in the middle of the room heading for the backdoor. Only feet away from her escape the back door crashed open breaking the frame off the wall and hanging by the door’s one hinge. In stepped two intimidating-looking men. One was tall and gangly with scruffy spiked hair, and the other was a fat mean looking Latino. Jess skid to a stop, the soles of her boots leaving long black lines across the tile. They lunged at her, and she ducked pushing over a chair in the hopes of slowing down the intruders.

Jess bolted back through the living room only to find the Irishman had come in and was waiting for her with a cocky grin. A man in front of her and two men behind Jess had nowhere left to run. Cornered Jess summoned her courage and charged the Irishman, pulling the knife her father always insisted she carried from her coat Jess flipped open the blade and dropped to her knees. She slid across the floor and between her assailant’s legs driving her knife into her attacker’s upper thigh when he reached down to stop her.

Cursing in pain, the Irishman grabbed his leg and gripped the handle to remove the blade buried deep in his upper thigh. Jess grabbed the banister of the stairs and heaved her small body over. Landing on her feet, she took a second to regain her footing and rushed up the stairs. Jess slammed her shoulder against her father’s bedroom door pushing it open, her heart pounding loud in her ears, her thoughts solely on escape.

Jess ran to the nightstand and opened the drawer. She grabbed the gun he kept inside and the clip. Quickly loading the weapon, she turned around just in time to see the gangly man enter the room. Jess fired, the noise was loud. She saw the man spin out and hit the wall behind him. She had winged him. Jess aimed again but not before he hit her and sent her stumbling back onto the bed. She dropped the gun, and in seconds he had it.

Jess scrambled across the bed and out the door running across the hall into her bedroom. She ran to the window and lifted the window wide open pushing out the screen as she did on so many nights when she would sneak out to meet her friends. If she could get far enough up the driveway, she may find Jake coming down the road to meet her. She only had to hold on a little longer.

Jess swung her leg over the sill and then the next. Bringing her arms out to her side for balance Jess placed one careful foot in front of the other and walked slowly across the garage roof. The fat man from the back door was already leaning out her window calling to the others. Swinging his clumsy beefy limbs through the small window, he tried to follow. Jess smirked as she reached the end of the roof glancing over her shoulder at the man trying to follow the nimble teenager.

“Follow this fat boy” She giggled to herself dropping down off the roof into the bushes below. Her legs scratched by the branches but none the worse for wear Jess climbed awkwardly from the bushes and bolted down the driveway. In the end, she saw two bright lights.

Headlights.

It was Jake!

Jess ran harder trying to reach the car before the men behind her caught up; the sound of heavy feet pounding the dirt and snow behind her urged Jess to move faster. She reached Jake’s Camaro and stopped a few feet away. Something was wrong. Why was it sitting there? The headlights made it hard to see inside. Pacing cautiously around to the driver’s side her question answered. Jake sat slumped against the wheel dead. Blood dripped down his face onto the wheel. Someone had shot him. The sight made her nauseated. Oh God, they had killed him.

Jess turned to run and slammed squarely into the Irishman. His fingers closed around her throat cutting off her air supply. Furious he lifted her off the ground, her legs kicking and dangling as her nails clawed viciously at his hands and arms. Feeling dizzy Jess drove the spiked heel of her boot hard into the wound in his thigh. He screamed in agony and Jess dropped to the ground. Falling to her hands and knees, she rubbed her throat trying to catch her breath.

Scrambling to her feet, Jess was about to run when her body was forced against the hood of Jake’s car by the fat man from her window, his sickly-sweet breath in her face assaulting her senses. “I don’t like having to run.” He growled breathing heavily from the chase.

“It shows.” She coughed with a defiant smile. Placing his thick sausage fingers over her face, the intruder pushed hard and bounced her head off the hood. The pain blurred her vision momentarily. Jess’ hands flew down defensively when she felt him try to hike up her skirt. “Don’t touch me!” She screamed. Oh god, he was going to rape her. Thrashing under his hold, Jess was no physical match for his brute strength.

“If it pops out of your shorts I’ll cut it off myself.” A male voice came from the shadows bringing a halt to Jess’ pending assault. “The order was to bring her back not to play with her.” The voice said as a young black man stepped into the light. He strutted towards the hood and lowered his face to look Jess in the eye. She took a moment to memorize his face, should she get out of this alive she wanted to be able to describe the men who attacked her and killed Jake.

His face was well-groomed into a short moustache and goatee. His hair was done up in tight corn roles waving backwards and ending at the nape of his neck. His face was round with strong, commanding features. He was attractive his dark eyes hinted to danger. He was not a man to reckon with. He could not be more than twenty-one, younger than the rest of her attackers but clearly in charge.

“The b***h stabbed me.” Complained the Irishman who was holding his thigh in outrage.

“Is that so, did you stab him?” He smiled at Jess.

“And she shot Trey.” The fat man added.

“It would seem you gave my boys a bit of a workout back there. Bravo, I somewhat expected you to scream and cower. Didn’t think you’d put up that much of a fight. I am impressed.” He said with a sly smile.

Jess kicked the man restraining her in the groin and once his grip loosened she crawled up over the hood in an attempt to put distance between them. “So happy to entertain you.” She spat trying for another escape attempt which was brought to an immediate stop when the young man’s gun c****d and stared Jess in the face-stealing her breath away.

“Bullets move faster than you do Boo.” He smiled. “Just come quietly, and we won’t hurt you.”

“What do you want from me?” She asked quietly staring at him down the barrel of his gun.

“You… nothing. You’re a means to an end.” His gaze drifted down her body. Jess perched on the hood like an alley cat ready to pounce. “That’s a nice skirt Boo.” He grinned. “Why don’t you give me your panties?” He ordered with a wicked smile.

Lifting one dark brow in disbelief, Jess scoffed at his request. “You must be kidding.”

He waved his gun slightly signalling her that he was more than serious. Her face took on a scowl as she stood up straight on the hood; Jess carefully reached under her skirt and skillfully lowered her thong down her bare legs without lifting the small skirt an inch. His head c****d to the side with a wily grin, trying to get a look up her skirt without success.

Outraged Jess bunched the underwear in her fist and threw it at him with a scowl on her pretty face. Holding the small thong up and examining it with an approving smile; he tossed it to the fat Latino that had been holding her down. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a small dark blue disposable cellphone and tossed it to him as well. “Wrap her panties around the phone and leave it on the stairs for daddy. Now come down princess and let’s put an end to this unpleasant night.” He instructed holding his hand out to help her off the hood of the car.

Defiantly Jess refused to take his hand. She climbed down off the hood of the car all on her own. The gangly one she now knew as Trey came forward with plastic tie wraps in his hands. He meant to restrain her. The young man turned to the Irishman and barked an order. “Doc, go get the van, and tend to that leg before you bleed out.”

She watched as the Irishman limped away down toward the main road. The man with the gun looked back to the house to see if the fat one was doing his job. With only one man paying attention Jess took her chances. Trey reached out to bind her hands, and Jess punched him hard in the face snapping his head back. He cursed, and she ran for the trees. She only made it a few feet before she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and lift her off her feet.

Jess screamed and clawed at his arms trying to free herself. The young man that held her stumbled forward and slammed her against the hood of the Camaro his body coming down on hers trapping her between himself and the car. “Tie her up now!” He barked. Trey came over his nose bloody; he yanked her arms forward tying her wrist tight with plastic tie wraps. He then crouched low and bound her ankles the same way. Jess was trapped. She could not fight, she could not run, she was completely at their mercy. The young man turned her over and tucked his gun behind him. “Now let’s try to behave. I would hate to have to shoot you.”

Jess looked over to see a dark unmarked van with tinted windows pulling up the drive when the fat man rejoined them. The man in charge lifted her into his arms and Trey opened the sliding door. The men climbed inside and placed Jess in the backseat. He shut the door and looked at the man driving. “Get us out of here.” The Irishman sat in the middle seat stitching up the gash in his thigh as he bit down on a knife. “Doc, when you’re finished tend to that bullet in Trey’s shoulder. We don’t need it festering.”

Jess looked out the window as the van tore down the road and farther from home. She was helpless and alone, worse they did nothing to conceal their identities from her. No masks, no blindfolds, they did not even care if she knew their names. That could only mean one thing. Eventually, they intended to kill her. She needed to get away from them as soon as she could.

***

“Chris is going to be pacing the floor all night, he was furious. Did you see that? ‘Come home and talk.’ Talk about what?” Sasha laughed enjoying her revenge.

“He wants to talk his way out of trouble. More than likely he’ll do all the talking and leave you feeling like it was somehow your fault and that he’ll never do it again. You’ll take him back, get married and he’ll keep screwing around.” Johnny offered his theory. He had seen it happen before countless times, even doing it once or twice himself back in his day.

“That’s a bit of a cynical way to look at it.”

“It is a cynical world. Let me give you a piece of advice if a guy can get away with something he’ll do it. You should have kept him on a shorter leash” Johnny informed her astounded by how naïve she was.

“That’s not true. Chris loves me.” Sasha protested realizing how ridiculous it sounded after she said it.

“Then why is he messing around on you?” Johnny asked. She sat quietly without an answer. “Yeah, he loves you, but if you plan to go back to him and buy his bullshit be my guest. I can drop you off if you like.”

“I’m not ready to go home yet.” She frowned. “I’m still mad.”

“Fine you can crash on my couch; I live just up the road.” He offered. Johnny turned in to the long driveway lined with trees and bushes. Living just outside of town had provided him with the necessary privacy to disappear from his prior life. Ahead of him halfway up the dirt driveway he noticed the car from the night before. Johnny shook his head annoyed; Jake never learnt his lesson.

Parking his car behind Jake’s, Johnny turned off the engine and pocketed the keys pulling the inside latch to pop the trunk. “Damn guy never learns. I told him to stay away from my daughter.” He growled. He would have to teach that boy a lesson he would not soon forget. Johnny retrieved a tire iron from the trunk and approached the car.

Sasha stepped out and followed him. “You’re not going to hurt him, are you?”

Johnny reached the driver’s door and saw Jake bleeding all over his dash. There was no doubt he was dead.

Panic instantly had him. Johnny’s attention snapped toward the house.

Jess!

Suddenly he shot toward the old house screaming Jess’ name. Even though his back was to Sasha, he was aware that she had glanced inside the car and almost vomited. She must never have seen a dead body before; he supposed it must be nauseating to those who were not used to it. Then she thought of Jess and ran after Johnny who was praying his daughter was alright. Sasha caught up to him on the porch. Johnny gestured for her to hang back while he made sure there was no one behind the door waiting for them. He entered the house and Sasha followed behind him; he noticed the blood drops and a stained knife lying on the floor.

Johnny picked up the knife, it was Jess,’ and she had put up a fight getting a good shot in on her attacker. Dropping the blade, he moved to the stairs. Resting on the third step was his daughter’s underwear, the very ones he hated her wearing. The thong tied around a small blue disposable cellphone. This, however, was not his nor Jess’; it had been left behind by whoever had invaded his home.

“Is that Jess’?” Sasha asked cautiously.

At that moment the phone rang startling them both. Johnny picked the phone up and tossed the garment aside. He stared at the device for a moment; no number came across the screen, no way to track the caller. He held his breath as he answered the call. Johnny pressed the button and held the phone with the speaker option on saying nothing.

“She’s very pretty.” Said a voice he did not recognize. It was young, confident, yet uncultured, and they had his daughter.

“What do you want?” Johnny asked trying to control his temper.

“To the point, I like that.”

“What do you want?” Johnny repeated.

“We want the Reaper to come out and play.”

The line went dead.

Johnny tossed the phone and went out to the garage. He returned with a five-pound sledgehammer in his hands and stalked into the living room. Sasha watched in confusion as he shoved the couch away from the wall and tore the pictures off; just letting the frames hit the floor, heedless to the shattering glass. Taking a step back Johnny lifted the sledgehammer and slammed it into the drywall, again and again, demolishing a section of the wall. Sasha carefully walked over to him; he was hysterical she decided, the shock and trauma too much for him to take.

“Johnny this isn’t…” She trailed off as he dropped the sledgehammer and pulled what was left of the demolished drywall away revealing a hidden closet. Sasha watched as Johnny opened the door and took out a huge black duffle bag. Unzipping the bag, he started going through the closet’s inventory. Sasha moved around the rubble to get a better look inside. She gasped to see many guns; he had enough artillery to outfit the local S.W.A.T team.

He was engrossed in his task of selection, the loading and inspection of the weapons, stuffing each he chose into the bag. Johnny picked up a pistol and looked down the sight, balanced the weapon in his hand then gripped the handle, popped out the old clip and stuffed in another. It was clear that he knew his way around weapons he did not even try to hide it, he hadn’t the time; he was strangely calm for a man with a dead body in his driveway and his daughter missing, but he hadn’t the time to explain.

Sasha slowly inched her way to the door, trying to get away, this whole situation was all too strange he knew, there was something not quite right with Johnny, and she no longer felt safe. The expression on her pretty face revealing exactly what she was thinking. Who knew what this armed man was capable of? He was sure Sasha now regretted not going home with Chris and talking, and Johnny regretted bringing her home with him.

“Sit down,” Johnny ordered without looking up from his task.

“You look like you have a lot on your mind, I should go,” Sasha said nervously trying to reach the door.

“Sit down.” He repeated calmly.

“I can go get help; you need to tell the authorities…”

His arm straightened, the newly loaded gun pointed directly at her. His hand was steady and his expression indifferent to her anxiety. “I said… sit.” Sasha dropped instantly onto the armchair in the corner of the living room. She was seated stiffly on the edge of the cushion with her hands clasped tightly in her lap. He returned to loading up his bag with weapons. She watched as he pulled out a metal locked box and taking his keys from his pocket opened the box. He removed a large sum of cash and many ID’s. Stuffing most of it into his bag and the rest into his pocket Johnny discarded the locked box and zipped up the bag.

Ready to leave Johnny now addressed his other problem. Sasha, she had been a witness to the scene and the body outside. She could describe him and Jess to the authorities. He needed a few days head start before the cops found out that anything was wrong. His place was secluded enough that no one would drive by and get curious. The tall trees and dense bushes blocked the place form view. Someone would have to come a considerable distance up the driveway before they became suspicious. With Jake’s typical behaviour of taking off for days, his family and friends would not report him missing for two or three days and then it would be at least another day before the inept local cops started looking for him.

Sasha had taken off on her fiancé; it would be a day or two before he started worrying about her. Until then he would assume she was blowing off steam. He could easily get two or three days head start before anyone discovered the scene, but if he just let her walk out of here and go home, she would tell her policeman boyfriend everything. Johnny would be forced to deal with a task force as well as try to find Jess. It was not imposable for him to do so, but it would slow him down considerably.

What to do with her? In the old days he would have simply shot her dead where she sat, problem solved. Could he tie her up and leave her to be found? No, it could be days if not a week before someone found her, dehydration and starvation would have claimed her life. He could take her with him and dump her off in the middle of nowhere in a state she did not know and let her wander around to find help. By then he would have gotten far enough away, and it would be no more than a frightening inconvenience.

“Are you going to kill me?” She asked fighting the urge to cry.

“Nineteen years ago, and I wouldn’t have hesitated, but no you’re going to come with me, get up.” He waved his weapon toward the door. Sasha stood, and he ushered her out the door and down the driveway to his car. Opening the door for her, Johnny waited until Sasha got into the passenger seat; then reaching down to the inside of the door Johnny snapped off the door handle with brute strength. He tossed the broken handle into the bushes and smiled at her. “Just making sure you don’t run off at a red light.” He shut the door, and he could see Sasha’s heart sink with fear. With the handle broken there was no way to open her door from the inside. She was trapped until he let her out.

Johnny walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in tossing the bag of weapons into the backseat. Starting the car, he placed his arm behind Sasha’s head and twisted around to look out the rear window. He drove backwards down the long driveway and spun the car around, so the nose faced west. Facing front, he stepped on the gas and the car shot forward. Johnny hated himself for doing this to Sasha, but he could think of no other suitable option outside of killing her to keep her quiet. It would only be a few days then he would drop Sasha off in Nevada, which should give him a decent head start, then he was off to Los Angeles. The city of angles and home of the Soldiers.

“Where are you going?” Sasha asked choking back her tears. Her interest in self-preservation only.

“Home.”