Jonny's Redemption (Gemini Group Book 7) by Riley Edwards (audio ebook reader TXT) 📕

stare was disconcerting; Jameson Grant saw too much and Jonny didn’t have time to be analyzed. He needed to get to Bobby.

Though something was nagging at the back of his mind, telling him he was still missing something. There was something about the way Dick moved, the careful way he’d handcuffed Bobby, the way he’d stopped her from kicking him but he didn’t hurt her when he very well could’ve. Hell, Dick could’ve taken her out at the office and left before any of them could’ve gotten there.

Obviously. He had taken Bobby before Vaughn had arrived and he was less than five miles from the farm.

Five miles.

Vaughn was at the scene where Baker had been shot on the side of the road after stopping Clifford.

“What was Clifford doing out by the farm?” Jonny asked. “He lives on the other end of the county. Candy lives in the opposite direction. So what the hell was Clifford doing five miles from the farm?”

“Fuck,” Jameson clipped. “Did Vaughn say which direction Baker’s SUV was pointing?”

“What does that—”

“It matters because if Baker was traveling west when he pulled Clifford over, he was headed in the direction of the farm.” Jameson beeped the locks to his truck and announced, “I’m driving.”

Jonny wasn’t about to admit his head was too screwed-up to drive so he didn’t. Instead, he silently climbed in on the passenger side, which was an admission of sorts.

What else was he missing?

Vaughn answered on the second ring and launched right in, “Alec called it in. Units are en route to H&C’s.”

“Which way was Baker’s vehicle facing?” Jonny inquired.

“Come again?”

“Which direction was Baker traveling when he pulled over Clifford?”

There was a beat of silence before Vaughn caught on. “Jesus Christ, Clifford was going to the farm.”

Yeah, Jarrod Clifford was going to the farm to pick up Bobby but Dick had gotten there first and taken her without waiting for Clifford.

Why?

“See you at H&C’s.”

Jonny disconnected and looked over at Jameson.

“What the fuck are we missing?” Jonny asked.

“He went easy on her,” Jameson noted. “Bobby was kicking the shit out of him and he still set her in his truck gently.”

There could be a variety of sick reasons Dick wanted to deliver Bobby uninjured. Visions of Bobby beaten and bloody on the dirty floor of the trailer assaulted Jonny. No, not visions, memories. Vivid, cruel memories that had never subsided. Never would. And he’d promised himself no one would ever harm her again. Fucking shit.

Trailer.

There was that nagging voice in the back of his mind. Answers floated just out of reach. It made sense Clifford would take Candy to the salvage yard, the former site of Teddy’s—poetic justice in his sick mind. And practicality. Jonny would bet they’d find Anderson’s dead body either buried somewhere on that property or he’d be in the trunk of one of the scrapped cars with a bag of calcium hydroxide poured over him. There were thousands of cars in that junkyard.

Jonny engaged his phone and called Nixon.

“On my way,” Nix grunted in Jonny’s ear.

“Was Dick’s pull-behind at his house?”

“Shit.”

“I take that as a no?”

“No, his camper was not there. What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know, but nothing’s adding up. Clifford was on his way to get Bobby. Dick gets there first, snatches her, then Clifford changes direction and gets Candy to take her to H&C’s. And he does that in Anderson’s car, not his truck.”

“The last part’s easy. There’s an APB out on his truck. No one would think to look for Anderson’s Honda.”

Okay, Jonny could buy that. It was actually smart if it weren’t stupid. Clifford had to know they’d look in on Candy. Unless he didn’t care anymore.

“Gotta go, McKenna’s calling in on the other line.” Nixon didn’t wait for Jonny to respond before he dropped the line.

“Dick’s camper’s not at his house,” Jonny relayed the information.

“You think Dick stashed Bobby in his camper?”

“Yeah. I think he took her before Clifford could get to her.”

“Playing hero?”

Jonny inhaled a sharp breath and the anger he’d been keeping in check finally spilled over. Stupid fuck, Dick was playing some sort of twisted game. Jonny used the rest of the drive to the junkyard plotting all the ways he was going to torture Dick into telling him where Bobby was. It was highly debatable if Dick would be left breathing.

Unfortunately, as life was wont to do, the curveball came fast and sharp.

They heard the first gunshot from inside the cab of Jameson’s truck. Jameson hadn’t even rolled to a stop before Jonny jumped out and took off running across the parking lot of H&C’s. He noted Dick’s pickup was in the lot as was Anderson’s Honda. No other cars. Jonny and Jameson were the first to arrive.

The second gunshot was louder and when Jonny rounded the office building he knew why. Clifford and Dick were in a standoff. Candy was on the ground, blood oozing from her stomach.

“Stand down!” Jonny shouted and he couldn’t believe he was doing what he was doing but the barrel of his weapon was pointed at Clifford instead of the man who’d kidnapped his woman.

He needed to keep Dick alive if he wanted to know where the fucker had hidden her. Kent County wasn’t big by any stretch of the imagination but there were thousands of acres of woods where he could’ve parked his small pull-behind. That was if Jonny was even correct.

Dick looked his way and smirked. “Got here faster than I thought you would.”

Sick motherfucker planned this.

Forced Jonny to protect him.

“You had one job,” Clifford yelled at Dick. “One goddamn job.”

Sirens wailed in the distance, radically cutting Jonny’s time to get the situation under control.

“No, dumbfuck, you had one job and that was to move on. You got away with it, then you had to push it.”

“He killed my brother,” Clifford returned.

“No, he didn’t. Mark was just as lazy as you are and he didn’t take care—”

Jonny’s body jerked when the bullet exploded from the end of Clifford’s weapon.

Everything slowed as he watched Dick