The TAKEN! Series - Books 9-12 (Taken! Box Set Book 3) Read online

  THE TAKEN! SERIES – BOOKS 9-12

  BY

  REMINGTON KANE

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  THE TAKEN! SERIES - BOOKS 9-12

  First edition. February 24, 2014.

  Copyright © 2014 Remington Kane.

  ISBN: 978-1498929752

  Written by Remington Kane.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  TAKEN! – SERIOUS BUSINESS | By | REMINGTON KANE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  TAKEN! - THE COUPLE THAT SLAYS TOGETHER | By | REMINGTON KANE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  TAKEN! – PUT ASUNDER | by | REMINGTON KANE

  DEDICATION

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  TAKEN! – LIKE BOND, ONLY BETTER | BY | REMINGTON KANE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  A PLEA

  THE BOOKS OF REMINGTON KANE

  LEARN ABOUT NEW RELEASES FROM | REMINGTON KANE

  Further Reading: The TAKEN! Series - Books 13-16

  TAKEN! – SERIOUS BUSINESS

  By

  REMINGTON KANE

  CHAPTER 1

  They were in Texas, at the home of Dr. Emile Harven.

  The previous week had been the most difficult and strained time of their entire relationship.

  Jessica had confronted him with her knowledge of the hidden chamber beneath his workshop, and flatly refused to believe him when he told her that he wasn’t keeping it hidden, but had as yet failed to reveal it to her.

  He claimed that the space had been created to serve as a “safe room”, a refuge where she and their future child could flee if their home ever came under attack again.

  Jessica refused to believe him, told him that he was lying, and even threatened to leave him if he didn’t commit to doing everything he could to restore her trust.

  In the days that followed, she barely spoke to him and the only affection she showed him were perfunctory kisses of “good morning,” or “good night,"

  Dr. Emile Harven was a tall, white-haired man in his eighties who seemed as vital and aware as many men who were only a fraction of his age.

  Over the years, he had interviewed scores of sociopaths and serial killers, and had been a recognized expert in the psychology of criminal behavior for over half a century.

  His home was located on an isolated ranch in central Texas, and resembled a compound, as a number of barrack-like buildings sat behind the main house, which contained Harven’s office, a well-appointed rectangular room with tapestries and paintings decorating its high walls.

  Minutes after their arrival, they were ushered into the office and offered something to drink, once they both declined, they were joined by the doctor, and after greetings were exchanged, the doctor bade them to talk.

  Jessica spoke first, and for a long time. She started at their beginning, with her husband’s abduction of her, of his plans to rape and murder her, and of his decision to free her, his change of heart and mind, and the underlying core of goodness that she knew he possessed.

  As she spoke, Dr. Harven asked few questions, and instead listened attentively.

  When Jessica began describing her husband’s struggles, his occasional slips of predatory behavior, such as the times he would follow a woman to her home, the doctor straightened in his seat and began taking notes.

  Once Jessica had finished speaking, Harven looked over at him and asked a question.

  “Was anything she just relayed to me an untruth?”

  “No.”

  “Are there other incidents that she knows nothing about?”

  “No.”

  “Do you want to be here?”

  “No.”

  “Then why are you?”

  “Because she wishes it,”

  Harven paused at those words, but then continued his questioning.

  “What were your plans for the hidden space beneath your workshop?”

  “I built it to be a safe room, a sort of panic room. We’ve had trouble at home before and I wanted to be better prepared.”

  “Then why keep it a secret from her?”

  He looked at the doctor, and then over at Jessica.

  “I don’t know why I hadn’t told Jessica about it yet, but I never thought of it as anything other than a safe room.”

  “On those occasions when you followed women, what were your thoughts?”

  He shook his head slightly as he answered.

  “There were no conscious thoughts, simply... desire, a need to know more about them.”

  “And once you followed, once you knew where they lived, did you then feel a sense of power?”

  “Power?”

  “Yes, you watched them without their knowledge, their consent, and once you followed them home you knew where they lived, loved, ate and slept. The place where they were at their most vulnerable, most at ease, most easily attacked, to what purpose did you acquire that knowledge?”

  “There was no purpose, no intent, just an... impulse, a desire to learn more.”

  “These impulses, do you fight against them?”

  “Yes, and often they go away,”

  “And sometimes they don’t, no?”

  “Yes.”

  “What do you think will happen when simply following women is not enough?”

  “Nothing, I would never hurt them.”

  Harven smiled slightly,

  “Oh my friend, impulses are dangerous things, things that can overpower even the strongest man. What if someday you had followed a woman when Jessica wasn’t home, had discovered that the woman was intoxicated, easily preyed upon? That’s when that secret room would have come in handy. You could take a woman down there and do whatever you pleased, with your wife and the authorities none the wiser.”

  “I would never do that!”

  Harven’s smile widened.

  “You would, under the proper impulse,”

  Jessica spoke up.

  “Doctor, I share your concerns, which is why we’re here, but I want to say that I don’t believe that my husband is capable of wanton evil. I don’t seriously believe that he would ever kill an innocent woman for pleasure.”

  Harven pointed across the desk at her husband.

  “This man once drugged you and tied you naked to a bed, he then threatened you with a knife and was prepared to rape and murder you, am I
correct?”

  “Yes, but he’s not evil, which is why I sit here before you today. Were he capable of following through with such acts, he would have killed me.”

  “Really, then how do you explain Claire and Robert Rothman?”

  Jessica fluttered her hands uselessly before her.

  “I understand that our story mimics theirs, but my husband is a better man than Robert Rothman, a far better man.”

  “If that’s true, then he will answer my next question truthfully.”

  “Ask,” he said.

  “Do you ever fear that you’ll lose control someday?”

  “...Yes, but, I don’t expect to ever do so.”

  “And just what do you think will prevent it?”

  He hesitated in answering, and when he finally did answer, he avoided the doctor’s eyes.

  “I’m too good a man to be that bad, and I have my wife to thank for that. I would die before betraying her trust in me. If I ever felt myself losing control... I would end my life.”

  Jessica reached over and took his hand as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “It will never come to that,” she said.

  The three of them sat in silence for a few moments, but then the doctor broke it.

  “I would like to talk to each of you separately, beginning with you Dr. White.”

  He stood. “Where would you like me to wait?”

  The doctor pressed a button on the desk and a large man entered. The same man who had escorted them to the office.

  “Victor,” Dr. Harven said, “Please escort Dr. White’s husband to the kitchen, and while you’re there, please start a pot of strong tea.”

  The man named Victor straightened at the mention of the tea, then simply nodded to the doctor in understanding.

  “Please follow me sir,”

  He stood, kissed Jessica on the cheek and followed Victor out of the room.

  Once the door was closed, Dr. Harven stared across the desk at Jessica with a grave expression on his lined face.

  “The next twenty-four hours may be the worst of your life.”

  CHAPTER 2

  Dr. Harven’s home was a long, ranch styled house with an extension at the rear, which went both right and left. From the air, it looked like a T.

  He and Jessica had arrived by small plane at a nearby airfield. Given the home’s secluded location, a trip by air was the best method of travel, and the airplane belonged to the doctor.

  He disliked being without a car, but if they had driven to the ranch it would have taken half a day, and despite it being October, the local weather was hot and dry.

  He followed along beside Victor without speaking and noticed that Victor seemed content to do the same. Victor was about his age, and nearly as tall, but outweighed him by a good thirty pounds, not all of which was muscle.

  Victor paused at the entrance to the kitchen and gestured him through the doorway. When he had taken six steps into the room, two men approached him, one from the right, and the other from the left, as Victor now blocked the doorway.

  “We don’t want to hurt you, but we will if you give us a reason to,” Victor said.

  He looked away from Victor and studied the other men who were both about Victor’s size. None of them seemed to be carrying a weapon.

  “The doctor told you to start a pot of strong tea; was that some sort of signal?”

  “You caught that, did you? Good, that means you’re smart, smart enough to cooperate,” Victor said.

  “What’s happening to my wife?”

  “Nothing, the doctor is simply filling her in on our plans for you.”

  “What plans?”

  “Apparently, Dr. Harven thinks you’re a danger to others. So my friends and I are going to lock you up so you can’t leave.”

  He looked from face to face.

  “I’m going back to my wife. Attempt to stop me and I’ll hurt you.”

  Victor shook his head.

  “No partner, that’s not a good idea. There are three of us, we’re all ex-military and used to trouble. We don’t want to hurt you, but we will if you resist.”

  He started towards the door and watched as the men at his sides moved in to stop him. After taking three steps, he stopped and sent a roundhouse kick into the chest of the man on his right. As the man stumbled backwards, he pushed past him and began running down the corridor that the man had entered from, with Victor and the two men in pursuit.

  He was faster than they, but at a severe disadvantage as he had no idea where he was running to. When a door opened on his left, he ran inside, bowling someone over, and then locked the door behind him.

  “Ow,” said a small voice.

  He turned and saw that he had knocked down a teenage girl. She was petite, with blond hair and a face of pure innocence.

  He reached down to help her up, as Victor began pounding on the door.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  She nodded, but scurried away from him as if he meant her harm.

  “I won’t hurt you.”

  “You’re one of grandfather’s patients, aren’t you?”

  “Not if I can help it,” he said, even as he headed for the window.

  “Stay away from me!” the girl cried, despite the fact that he was already moving away from her.

  Victor’s voice boomed through the door.

  “Open the door, Cindy, that man is dangerous.”

  Cindy rushed to the door and fumbled at the lock.

  “Help me, Victor!”

  He sighed in frustration, but then leaped to the ground, as he heard the door swing open behind him.

  All was quiet outside, as the heat kept everyone indoors, and so there was no one to impede his race to the front door. He made it there just as Victor opened it and without even slowing down, he ran into him while jamming his forearm against the man’s face.

  Victor went down hard, but the two men with him each grabbed hold of his shirt. He kicked the feet out beneath one man, while head-butting the other and ran towards the doctor’s office with half his chest exposed beneath the torn shirt.

  As he flung open the door, he found Jessica standing all alone in the center of the room.

  “There’s something wrong here. They’re trying to take me captive.”

  Jessica let out a sob, as tears began rolling down her cheeks.

  “It’s all for the best,”

  “What?”

  He started towards her, but before he could take two steps, Dr. Harven emerged from behind the door and jammed a needle in his neck.

  He reacted first by yanking the syringe free, but as he went to give the doctor a backhanded blow, his legs gave out and he found the carpet rushing up towards him.

  As the world faded away, he stared up at Jessica and slurred one word.

  “Why?”

  She bent down and stroked his face.

  “I’m so sorry,”

  And then, blackness,

  CHAPTER 3

  When he awoke, he found that he was lying on a soft bed, with a change of clothing folded neatly beside him.

  For long moments, he simply lay there, as the lingering effects of the drug slowed his mind. Just as his eyes began to close again, a voice called out to him.

  “Wake up, dude!”

  He rolled his head towards the voice and found a teenage boy staring at him.

  “Don’t go back to sleep. I know that the shit they stick you with keeps sucking you under, but you’ve already been out most of the day.”

  He rubbed his eyes and then sat up on the edge of the bed, and just that little bit of exertion made his head swim.

  “Where are we?”

  “You’re still at the Harven ranch. As you can see, the doc’s not much for hospitality.”

  He looked around. Essentially, he was in a bedroom. The bed he sat on was queen-sized and the floor was carpeted. There was an overhead light with a pull chain and a lamp on the bedside table. A small bathroom ran half the le
ngth of the wall on the opposite side of the bed, and had a curtain for a door. If not for the iron bars comprising two of the walls, he would have thought he was in someone’s spare bedroom.

  He stared over at the kid through the bars.

  “Who are you?”

  “Me? Hell, I’m just like you. I’ve been deemed a danger to society.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Old enough,”

  He stood and nearly fell back onto the bed, but a few deep breaths made him feel better, and he began to pace in the small area.

  “If this is a jail, then, there’s a jailer. How do you contact him?”

  The kid pointed up at the ceiling, which was twelve feet high.

  “There’s a shitload of cameras, by now, they know you’re up and about.”

  “Have you seen my wife? She’s a blonde and several months pregnant.”

  The kid sent him a wide grin.

  “So that’s your bun in that sweet ass oven. Congrats! She’s hot as shit for a woman that old.”

  “You’ve seen her? Is she all right?”

  “Hell man, she’s good, she’s the one who had you locked in here. My guess is she’s headed back home by now. I know my mother couldn’t wait to get away once they grabbed me.”

  “Your mother put you in here, why?”

  The kid rolled his eyes.

  “Dr. Harven said I have an aberrant personality, whatever the hell that means. All I know is that once I get out of here I’m gonna get aberrant all over his ass, that dickhead Victor too.”

  The sound came of a door opening from somewhere down the hall. He went to the front bars of the room and pressed his face against them, straining to see.

  A moment later, Dr. Harven came into view with Jessica by his side.

  “Jessica, what’s going on?”

  Her face appeared puffy from crying, but he took note that she didn’t appear to be under duress.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, in a voice little more than a whisper.

  Dr. Harven spoke to him.

  “What is happening, sir, is that your wife’s eyes have finally been opened. You are not only a danger to her and your unborn child, but to humanity as well.”

  He gazed at Jessica.

  “Is that true? Do you really believe that I would someday hurt you or the baby?”