Race the Storm

Chapter 6

So they knew Jax. He wasn't some guy off the street. Well, yeah, he couldn't be, not if he had gotten into the Estate in the first place, but...this was weird. Without answering them, Jax reached up and pushed the garage door button, causing it to start lowering.

"Sinclair!" the woman shouted again before she started calling out directions to the people who had come with her. More darts pinged off the garage door or skittered across the floor.

Jax took Willa's arm. "We have to move."

"No," Willa said, trying to pull her arm out of his grip, "Look, I know this looks bad--"

"You still think they're the good guys?" He gave her an incredulous look, his grip loosening. "Willa, they just want this baby because they think it'll be like me. And if it is, they're going to want you, too."

"You're not making any sense," Willa said, but she straightened up as the garage door finished closing.

"This isn't exactly a good time to talk," he said, looking around the garage. Gently but firmly, he pulled her to his side and started for the back door, making their way around toolboxes, spare tires, and jacks.

As they reached the back, the mechanic peeked out from her office. "You, you can't take her."

Jax immediately shifted and put himself between her and Willa. He leveled a glare at the woman and didn't answer her.

Willa didn't know what to do with this situation, but she guessed at least it seemed like Jax was protecting her from harm. If you had to get kidnapped, might as well get a kidnapper who wanted to keep you safe, right? "Jax, she's just trying to help me, it's ok." After all, Willa had just told the woman the story about being kidnapped.

"Who did you call?" Jax asked, eyeing the phone still being held in the woman's hand, the cord trailing back to the phone cradle sitting on her desk in the office.

"She was getting..." Willa frowned as Jax shot her a stern look.

"Looks like you already know," the woman said, setting the phone down and stepping out of the office. "Leave her here and the Estate will take her back. You know she won't be harmed. And you're more likely to get out alive."

"Alive?" Willa choked out. But they'd been using tranqs. Everyone would get out alive.

The woman didn't even look at her, but Willa noticed her hand inching toward a wrench. Apparently Jax noticed it too, because in a few seconds he was over there, wrestling the woman into a choke hold.

"Jax, don't kill her!"

"I'm not," he ground out tightly, glaring at her. "She's just going to go unconscious. See if there are any car keys in her office."

Willa hurried in, all too aware of what sounded like a jackhammer going at it with the garage door right now. She didn't know who to trust, because at this point, the Estate was acting kind of crazy too. But since she was stuck with Jax at the moment, and he could apparently choke her into unconsciousness if he wanted, she'd do what he wanted for now.

"Umm..." she paused at a wall that displayed several keys, then glanced at the desk, where another pair sat.

"Try not to get ones for a car being serviced." She swiped the ones off the desk, hoping that was a good bet since the ones on the hooks were all likely in the shop right now. Turning around, she almost ran smack into Jax's chest, as he'd apparently entered the office right behind her.

"Good," he said approvingly, taking the keys from her hand. He grabbed a few other keys off the fall. "In case we can't find that one." Stuffing them into his pocket, he reached out and took her hand, pulling her toward the back of the shop now. She could see a back door, likely locked based on the fact there was a hammering sound coming from it too. But he didn't take her there--instead he went to the side that was up against the gas station.