Jackson's Way

Jackson's Way Ashlynn Mills Copyright©2023 @Ashlynn Mills All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any oriented or electronic form without permission. This is a work of fiction. Names and characters have been made up, and the story came from the authors imagination. Any resemblance to real life events or people is pure coincidence. Cover: Covers by Jo Editing: Jennifer Griffin Proofreading: Abrianna Marchesotti Betas: Courtnay Gray, Tammy Jones and Mariansen. Contents Warnings Prologue One Two Three Four Five 1. Six Seven Eight Nine 2. Ten 3. Eleven 4. Twelve Thirteen 5. Fourteen Fifteen 6. Sixteen 7. Seventeen 8. Eighteen Nineteen Twenty 9. Twenty-one Twenty-two 10. Twenty-three Twenty-four Twenty-five Twenty-six Twenty-seven Epilogue Author note Warnings Mentions of sex trafficking, mentions of parental abuse, mentions of sexual assault, mentions of drugs, on page killings with a bow and on page torture with lye. These men were kidnapped as teens and during rescuing his brother, Jax finds his seventeen year old brother caged in a trafficker's home. If this is all something triggering for you, please skip this book. All books will have similar content since this series is about men who were rescue finding peace, healing and vengeance while working for the cartel. Prologue Jackson Running with my bare feet pounding hard into the gravel, I head for the trees. The rocks cut into my heels and I wince, increasing my speed as much as my aching body allows. Dodging low to the ground, I hide behind a large rock and slide my hand over my mouth to mask my heavy breathing. “Come out, come out wherever you are, pendejo. I'll catch you eventually.”Closing my eyes, I press my back to the sharp edges and pray—to any guardian angel I might have, to God, and to whoever else might be listening.It doesn't stop the man from pressing the barrel of a gun to my temple. “I knew I'd find you. Don't think there won't be repercussions for the little games you've been playing either.” Yanking me by the ear, he pulls me to my feet and drags me behind him so fast, I struggle to keep up. When I tumble to the ground, sharp blows are sent to my stomach and I bite my lower lip to keep from screaming. My eyes well and the man laughs, kneeling down to swipe my falling tear. “You want something to cry about, guerco? I'll gladly give you something to cry about. This way I'll get something from it too.” Shoving me to my stomach, he undoes his belt and spreads my legs apart. Bile crawls up my throat as he slides between my thighs, and my mind is pulled to somewhere else. A light. I reach out to it, trying to escape the dark. I keep losing my hold and falling backwards before crawling toward it again. Gripping the sheets beneath me, my eyes flash open and nothing but my heavy breathing fills the room. Sitting up in bed, I switch on the nearby lamp and place my head between my legs, taking deep breaths the way I've learned from the sanctuary's therapist. In through my mouth and out through my nose until my heartbeat steadies in my chest. The tightness doesn't fully loosen, threatening to rip a hole through me.It's not real. Not anymore. I'm far away now. Safe. My brain has trouble catching up with reality at the moment, though, unable to leave the woods. I can still smell the trees and feel the dirt caking under my nails. The dreams always end in different ways and never start in the same place twice. Sometimes I'm running in the woods, others I'm trying to crawl my way out of a hole in the ground or I end up in the back of the white van I was first shoved into when I was taken months ago. I see it every time I leave the building, and there's a heavy feeling of someone following me whenever I'm on the road. Some of the others from the sanctuary have convinced me to grab snacks with them at the nearby convenience store more than once. Wanting to push through my fears, I agreed to go, but I held my friend Trenton’s hand the whole time—he hadn’t wanted to let go either. We both lost so much recently. Pieces of ourselves we can never have back. What innocence we once had has been stolen. All we are left with are nightmares, choking memories, and family to mourn. They killed Trenton's brother and took mine. I don't know where Louis is or if he's alive. Joey, Carlos, and Isaiah, the men who we owe our lives to, promised they'd help me find him. My heart will continue to break until they do. We were all each other had. I have no other family to return to and don't know how to even carry on living. The sanctuary is still so foreign to me, filled with so many people I don't know. It took weeks for me to view it as safe and leave my room. I've lain in bed many times, carefully watching my various roommates who've come and gone, making sure they kept their distance, trusting only the boys I'd spent days holding in the back of vans and cold basements—AJ, Jacob, and Trenton. We went through hell and back together, all traveling similar paths.I don't know when I'll stop jumping every time someone enters a room or not be struck with panic when others approach me too fast. My heart races in my chest and I break out in a sweat when I sit too close to strangers in the lunch hall. It's not fair. The men responsible are out there living without consequence while I'm in here struggling to face each day. Trenton shuffles under the blankets in the bed on the other side of the room. His face peeks out and he blinks at me.