“I love you so much,” she whispered.
He ran his hand down her hair. “It’s going to be all right. I’ve got you now.”
A tear fell from the corner of her eye. It was far from okay, but she appreciated that he wasn’t only willing, he wanted to stand by her against such a man as Boyd. Taryn had known that Jace was a different sort of breed from the other men she knew. He had been through Hell and back, and yet he hadn’t allowed that horrible time to define him.
It hadn’t been an easy road. She had been there during the nightmares and occasions when the memories were too much for him to endure. Somehow, Jace always managed to pull himself back from the brink. Partly because he was that strong mentally, but it also had a lot to do with the close connection he had to his family and friends.
Jace was the driving force for her to keep fighting every day that Boyd held her. There had been decent days, and there had been bad days. But every night when she closed her eyes, she thought about Jace and the life they had shared together—however briefly.
Now that she had returned to Clearview and Jace, there was no way she could go back to the life she’d led the last few years. She wished she could say that she was done with Boyd and his demands one way or the other, but that wasn’t an option. Not as long as Boyd held Payton. Her sister was the only thing that kept Taryn doing whatever Boyd wanted.
And it made her hate him all the more.
“You’re shaking,” Jace whispered.
“I’m thinking about how Boyd has used Payton against me. I don’t know if she’s been raped or abused. He assured me that isn’t the case, but I’ve never believed him.”
Jace’s chest rose as he pulled in a long breath. “We’ll be able to get to Boyd because he’s going to want to be there to take the money.”
“Oh, he will.”
“We don’t want to alert him that you’re planning something, but we need to ensure that Payton is there so we can get her out with you.”
Taryn rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling. “I always ask to speak to Payton, and he always refuses. I need to push more this time.”
“Don’t be too aggressive. It’ll raise suspicions. Are you supposed to call in before you return?”
She turned her head to look at him. “Yes.”
“When you do, tell him that you’ve got the money, but you want to have your sister there to finish the transaction. He shouldn’t object because he did agree to your deal.”
Taryn nodded. “I know exactly what I’ll say to him.”
“He’s kept a tight hold on you. If you suddenly begin acting strangely, he’ll know something is up. That could make him bolt and take Payton.”
“I’d be free then, but my sister wouldn’t.” She blew out a frustrated breath.
Jace rolled onto his side to face her. “There are five of us, and another that I’ve asked to help. I know how good a small team of highly skilled men can be.”
“It won’t be enough. You saw the schematics of the warehouse. It’s a huge area. And he has men everywhere.”
“It won’t be the first time we’ve gone in outnumbered. It’s how we operate. You saw the plan. Two teams of three coming in at different points. The main goal is to get you and Payton out.”
She frowned. “And what of Boyd? If something isn’t done about him, he’ll come after us.”
“Don’t worry about him. We’ve got that covered.”
Taryn wished she knew what they planned for Boyd, but perhaps it was better she didn’t. The more she knew, the more she would worry about Jace. In order for this to work, she had to trust him completely.
She threaded her fingers with his. “I know all of you are trained, but that doesn’t stop my concern.”
“I need you to concentrate on two things,” he told her. “Yourself, and your sister. Get to her and get somewhere safe. That’s all I need you to do.”
“I could help with Boyd and his men.”
Jace shook his head and gripped her fingers tightly. “Just get Payton and take her out of the line of fire. You need to think up two places you could go to and wait for me to find you and Payton.”
“I can do that. Talking now, everything sounds so easy, so simple. But it won’t be.”
His lips curved into a grin. “It’ll be far from easy. It’ll be loud, chaotic, and scary. It’s easy to get disoriented, which is why you need to be the one to choose the places in the compound you can get to without too much difficulty.”
“Why not just one?”
“Because something may prevent you from getting to that spot. You always need at least one backup.”
She licked her lips, trying to take it all in. “I never would’ve thought of that.”
“That’s my skill set,” he replied with a wink. “Yours is making Boyd think you’re coming back to him for your sister’s sake like you always have.”
“I wish I never had to set eyes on him again.”
Jace brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I know, darlin’. We’re going to get there. Promise.”
“Do you think I made a mistake not going to the authorities?”
“Don’t do that. Don’t second-guess yourself. You made a decision—which was valid, by the way. Stick with that and look forward. If you start wondering about things or changing your mind, it only confuses the issue.”
She knew he was right. Her gaze briefly lowered to their hands. “What if I can’t get to Payton?”
“Then you get safe. I can’t do what needs to be done if I’m worried about you. It’s bad enough you’ll be there at all. Frankly, that scares the hell out of me. But I know that none of this will work unless you’re there.” A frown pulled his brows together for a heartbeat. “There’s a good chance you won’t be able to get to Payton. We talked about that last night when you were dozing. Our plan factors in that Boyd will have her held, possibly by that Brick you spoke about. We’ll extract her like we would any high-value target.”
She swallowed loudly. “As long as I’m out of the way.”
“When the attack starts, Boyd will likely have one of his men try to take you.”
“No.”
“Sweetheart, I’m not going to let that happen,” he assured her before he pressed his lips to her mouth.
Chapter 20
Ryan stared out his office window as the sun came up. He’d decided to come in early and get some paperwork done, but he couldn’t stop thinking about his conversation with Brick.
Or what he knew his friends were planning.
He was being pulled in too many different directions, and he didn’t like it. Helping Jace and Taryn seemed like a no-brainer, and yet his position as the police chief put a halt to that. Then there was Brick. While his friends knew an undercover agent had infiltrated Boyd’s organization, they didn’t know it was Brick. And they didn’t realize that Ryan knew about Brick, or that Boyd was the man who had Taryn’s sister.
“Fuck,” Ryan said and slammed his hand on the desk as his frustrations continued to mount.