Blind Loyalty by M J Marlow (ebook reader wifi .txt) 📕

was being held in Mikhael’s arms and she was out cold. Sarah told Adam she had just cried out in pain and collapsed. Adam carried his daughter upstairs to her room and laid her down. The phone rang and Rachel called him downstairs, her voice filled with anger. “It’s Leighton,” she said as she held the receiver out to him. “What did you…?” Adam quieted as he was told to just listen. His expression grew darker and colder as he did so. “There is no way I am turning my daughter over to you, Leighton. Do you hear me?” He hung up and sank down on the chair near the phone table. “That bastard!” “What is it, Adam?” “He added several special controls to the transmitter in Joanna’s ear,” he told his wife as she clasped his hand. “He can trigger them at will he says. If we do not let Joanna go to him, he will show us all of them in turn.” He ran his hands through his hair. “This one knocks her out for a brief period of time or hours as he chooses. Others can paralyze her or render her blind, mute, or deaf temporarily as he chooses.” “So we remove the vile thing,” Rachel told him. “We can’t,” Adam told her. “Leighton says any further attempts to remove the device will paralyze her permanently. She will be a vegetable.” He saw Stefan coming down the stairs. “He knows someone removed it earlier, Stefan. He says that is what triggered the additional controls.” “Even he couldn’t be this vile,” Rachel protested. She saw her husband’s expression mirrored on Stefan’s face. “Why can’t he leave her alone?” she sobbed and ran up the stairs to be with Joanna. “We are going to turn her into a homing beacon, Adam,” Stefan said to his friend. Adam looked at him in horror. “There is no other choice. He has beaten us this round. If we do this, we can track her wherever he takes her. We will have him!” “At the price of my daughter?” Adam frowned as he realized his friend was right. It had to be done if there was any chance of getting Leighton. Hopefully they would be able to help Joanna then and the nightmare would end. He went upstairs and picked Joanna up. He and the three Russians drove to the Aerie and handed Joanna over to Schneider. She woke up as the anesthetic was applied for the surgery. Joanna had hoped he would find another way to free her from Leighton. Instead he had betrayed her and was turning her over to the monster. She had no idea what they had done to her at the Aerie; no one would tell her. But she hoped it was something that would end Leighton’s reign of terror. She could die happy if they finally took the bastard down. They sat in Adam’s jeep and watched as Leighton’s private jet arrived. The jet landed and the hatch opened. “If I could have found another way, Joey,” Adam told her as she got out; “you know I would have.” He laid his hand on hers and she nodded stiffly. “He is holding all the cards, baby.” “It would have been better,” Joanna sobbed, “if you had just stayed out of my life.” She walked away then and did not look back. She got aboard the jet and James was waiting for her with a strange stick in his hand. He passed it over her and it did nothing. Satisfied, he had the hatch closed as he took Joanna to the back cabin. He brought out a familiar object. Joanna kneeled down between his legs and he put the slave collar on her once more. “There we go,” James smiled as he stroked her cheek. “You’re back with me where you belong. You know that now, don’t you, my pet?” “Yes, my lord,” Joanna sobbed and hung her head in defeat. “I will never be free of you.” “No, my darling,” James smiled and ran his hand along her throat; “you won’t.” He brought her hands up to her blouse. “Remove your clothes, my pet. Let me see you.” Joanna did as she was told and he ran his hands over her, smiling in joy. “So pretty. This past year has only made you that much more desirable.” He went to the nightstand and got out a pair of tweezers. “Hold still, my darling pet,” he said to her as he shone a light inside her ear. He removed the tag and threw it in the wastebasket. “We won’t need that anymore will we, my pet?” “No, my lord,” Joanna said softly, her head remaining down. She pressed a catch on her ring and slammed it into the side of his neck. “Just like you won’t need to move.” She got up as he collapsed in disbelief and she put her clothes back on. She yanked the collar off and threw it at him as he collapsed to the floor. “Did you really think my father was going to turn me over to you without a fight?” She flung open the door and Adam was standing there. “He’s all yours now, Father.” “That’s my girl,” Adam smiled proudly and kissed her on the cheek. She watched him put the cuffs on Leighton and watched the man being dragged out to a waiting van. She recognized the men in charge of him but she had a feeling something was wrong. She saw a gun a split second before it fired and she threw herself in front of her father, shoving him to the ground. She whirled with her father’s gun in her hand and fired back at Leighton and his men. She watched him fall with a red circle in the center of his forehead. After that, the men who had helped Leighton surrendered. “I guess those marksmanship lessons paid off,” Joanna choked as she fell to her knees, her body shaking with pain. She looked down to see red staining her blouse at her side. “Damn! I just bought this blouse.” “Joey!” Adam cried as she collapsed at his feet. He saw the injury and checked her vital signs. She was in distress. He roared for the medic and Schneider came running. He got Joanna stabilized and put her in the ambulance with Adam. They drove directly to the Aerie with the wounded girl and their prisoners. “She saved your life, Jeffries,” Braxton said as he joined Adam at the viewing window outside of the surgical unit. Schneider signed to Braxton. “Just a graze, Jeffries. No bullet entry.” Schneider gave them the thumbs up and Adam collapsed on the bench nearby. “She’s a fortunate girl.” “She shouldn’t have had to be,” Adam said softly. “At least Leighton is down.” He looked almost proud. “She hit him dead center in the forehead. She couldn’t have had time to aim in that split second of movement.” “Your daughter is a very gifted child, Jeffries,” Braxton replied. He remained watching the surgery. “When she has had a life, perhaps she might think of joining the sanctuary system.” He saw Adam bristle. “Not for some time yet, old friend. She is only a child, after all. She deserves to have a childhood.” He thought about this situation. “You’re going to have to tell people she broke her rib falling.” “My wife would kill me,” Adam agreed, “if I told her I got our daughter shot using her as bait for that madman.” He sighed as he thought of Joanna. “But my daughter is an honest person; she may feel it best to tell Rachel the truth.” “Then you will have to convince her,” Braxton replied, “that it would be best for your very pregnant wife if she did not hear all the details, yes?” “Did that ever work with your family, sir?” Adam asked him pointedly. Braxton shook his head and Adam frowned. “Then I guess I will let Joanna decide for herself how much her mother should hear about tonight.” He shook his head. “Poor kid. She’s going to be in a lot of pain for a while. Just when she was chosen co-captain of her squad, too.” “I have a feeling,” Braxton told Adam and saw him cringe, “that Joanna is not going to let this scratch keep her down.” He saw the Russians coming into the observation lounge. “Just a scratch. She’ll be on her feet in no time.” “That is a relief,” Stefan smiled and nodded. He looked uneasy and Braxton steeled himself. “My brothers and I have some time off stored up. We would like to spend it here in Maverick as the exchange students.” He looked at Adam. “Just in case there are any repercussions for your pretty child.” “You don’t fool me,” Adam laughed. “Dmitri wants to be here when Chef Scarlatti arrives to give cooking lessons to the family.” “Scarlatti is coming here?” Braxton choked. “How in heaven’s name did you arrange that little miracle?” “The judge is fed up with eating out of take-out cartons,” Adam smiled mysteriously. “So he broke down and invited the man. Seems none of his family knows their way around the kitchen.” “You didn’t?” Braxton laughed until his sides hurt. “And he fell for it?” “It helped that he believes my daughter was raised to be one of the idle rich,” Adam said. “Poor Alex! He never knew what hit him.” “I don’t understand,” Dmitri said as he looked at the two smiling men. “This was all a set-up? You are not hopeless in the kitchen?” “I was cooking for my parents when I was seven,” Adam told the man. “I taught my younger sisters to cook. Even Joanna can whip up a first class omelette.” “You deliberately made him think you were all inept around the kitchen,” Stefan laughed, “so he would forget his stupid feud and invite his brother-in-law into his home?” Adam nodded and Stefan roared with laughter. “My Mikhaela is right. Her Uncle Major is smart.” “No, her Cousin Joey is smart,” Adam said, as he got up and looked at his child. “It was all her idea.” He saw her eyes opening and he went in to take her hand in his. “You’re going to hurt for a while, baby…” “I’ll survive,” Joanna smiled up at him. “He’s really gone this time, isn’t he?” “Yes, baby girl,” Adam said as he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “He’s really gone this time. Ready to go home?” “Am I, Dr. Schneider?” Joanna asked the medic. Carl nodded and she sat up slowly. “Ow!” She bit her lip as the pain struck. “Mom’s not going to believe this one, Father. Imagine hitting my side against the bar as I fell after he slapped me. I am so clumsy!” Adam squeezed her hand and she kissed him on the cheek. “You really think I’m going to tangle with the hormone monster over a scratch?” “That’s my girl!” Adam laughed as he picked her up in his arms and carried her away. He looked at the Russians. “How do you feel about keeping these three for a while?” “They are housebroken,” Joanna smiled at the triplets. “I have no objections, but their boss might have something to say about it.” “Their ‘boss’ is their mother,” Adam told her and saw the surprise on her face. “I have a feeling we’re going to have her visiting us when she hears about Scarlatti.” He made a face. “We’ll have the entire tribe over here!” “Then I guess we’ll need to let them use the ‘guest’ house,” Joanna smiled and leaned against her father’s chest. “It’s just sitting there not being used.” She saw his look. “It is my house, after all. I should be able to use it as I want.” “That’s right, baby,” Adam nodded. “But I thought you wanted to sell it?” “Later,” Joanna replied.