In fact, Lakeshore Drive went right down the middle of his family’s property. The orchards sat on one side, and the cabin rentals and the beachfront property sat on the other. Could Devon have been so close to them all this time?
At the junction, Phoenix looked east toward his family’s land. If the little white house was that way, it would be quite far up, because the orchards and cabins stretched for a couple of miles.
But to the west…He yanked the wheel to the left and pressed the accelerator down as low as he dared. He didn’t want to miss a white house if it sat back off the road a bit, and while there were some street lamps out here, everything felt dark and foreboding.
The lake lapped almost right up to the highway on this side, and he thanked his lucky stars that he only had to search one side of Lakeshore Drive.
After about ten minutes of driving slower than he wanted but faster than was probably prudent, his fingers ached, and he still hadn’t seen a white house. The homes were starting to thin out now too, as the land up here was pricey and the township ended.
He flipped around and went back, having to look across the car this time. Driving slower made his nerves crackle, but he forced himself to do it.
And he saw it.
He braked and stopped right in the middle of the road several feet before he’d have passed the house. A little white house set back from the road a bit, and there was not a light on anywhere near it. Not inside it. Not outside. Nowhere.
That was why he’d missed it the first time. All the other houses drew his eye, because they had lights on.
This one didn’t, and he knew immediately that he’d found Allegra. His first instinct was to back up the road a few thousand feet, and then gun the engine, get going fast, and ram right through the front of the house.
Jump from the SUV and find Allegra and get out of there.
But if he did that, he could go to jail for real this time. The SUV might stop functioning, eliminating their escape vehicle. And he really didn’t need Mia down his throat about crashing her car.
He decided to take a more careful approach, the same way he had with the carport, the alarm, and the padlock. He backed up, yes, and pulled into the driveway of the house next door. He couldn’t see the white house from here, which meant Devon wouldn’t be able to see his car.
Phoenix got out of the SUV and locked it, hoping the owners of this house wouldn’t call the police. Sudden realization had him calling the police and standing at the corner of the house, whispering the address to them.
He explained why he’d come there, and that he thought they’d find Allegra inside.
“Stay put,” the dispatch said. “I’m putting everything through to our teams.”
Stay put. Phoenix almost scoffed, but he was too scared to do so. He hung up with dispatch and queued up his phone to call his brother Liam. He wouldn’t answer, Phoenix knew, because evenings were family time with his daughter, and Phoenix would be able to have his voicemail record whatever happened once he was at the house.
He crept down the slight decline to the white house, scanning for motion through the windows. But he couldn’t see inside. Everything was blocked out, draped up tight, without even a pinpoint of light coming through.
With the aid of the lights on the neighboring house, he saw window wells. This house had a basement.
Phoenix went right up to the house and pressed his back into it, looking down at the window well beside him. He couldn’t see anything. He circled around the back of the property, praying Devon didn’t own any dogs—when, sure enough, a dog barked.
Once, twice, three times.
Phoenix ducked back around the corner of the house, his heart beating like hummingbird wings in the back of his throat. Shut up, he thought.
No lights came on, but Phoenix detected that a door had been opened. A slight, almost silent creaking sound confirmed it. He pressed the phone icon on his device to connect the call to Liam’s voicemail.
And just like in the courtroom, Phoenix existed outside of his mind. He ducked around the corner and bolted for the back door, sensing that if he didn’t get inside now, Allegra wouldn’t be coming out alive.
Chapter Fourteen
A loud banging sound overhead had Allegra pausing once more in her assembly of a weapon. A dog barking had forced her to stop a minute ago.
The skin along her arms prickled, and not just from the cold. This room had no windows, but she felt certain she was in a basement somewhere, if the dank, almost earthy smell was any indication.
Another crack above her indicated that something very heavy had just hit the floor, and her heartbeat almost drowned out the yell that followed.
Someone else was in the house.
It just had to be Phoenix.
She tied another strip of sheet around the mattress spring, hurrying now and not bothering to be quiet. Her whole body still hurt, but nothing more than her hand, which she’d sliced wrenching the clothing rod out of the closet.
The whole room was empty except for her, a thirty-year-old mattress, the sheets, a blanket, a pillow, and the clothing rod. So she’d started making a spear, and she’d been planning to stand beside the door all night if she had to, so she could strike Devon when he entered the room next.
But Phoenix had come for her. How he’d found her, she wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was here—and that he knew she was here.
She climbed up on the bed, careful to stay away from the hole where she’d been ripping springs out of the guts of the mattress. She didn’t need a cut foot on top of a sliced hand and an aching head. She couldn’t run with an injured foot.
“Hey,” she yelled, banging the end of the clothing rod that didn’t have springs tied to it against the ceiling. “Phoenix, I’m down here. Down here.” She continued to bang and yell, call and hold out her words for what felt like a long time. She finally fell silent, unable to tell when the commotion from upstairs had stopped. But it had definitely stopped.
Her blood ran cold when she heard someone at the door, fitting a key into the lock. She leapt off the bed and darted over to the door, flipping the makeshift spear around only to find the springs had all fallen off.
Didn’t matter. She had a four-foot metal rod in her hand, and she was going to use it if she had to. Her heart raced at a speed she’d never known, not even when being chased through the woods those few months ago. So much adrenaline flowed through her that she almost couldn’t get her mind to work at all.
The door inched open and a primal scream ripped through her throat. She couldn’t lift the rod very high because of her shoulder, but she felt certain her rage would make up the difference.
“Allegra,” Phoenix said, and that voice—that clear, deep voice—cut through all the pain and all the confusion in her brain.
And she knew she was in love with him. Tears spilled down her face, and she collapsed into his arms.
He shook too, and he whispered something in her ear.
“What?” she asked, her voice so loud now that the door had been opened. A rectangle of light spilled onto the bare concrete floor from a staircase that seemed impossibly far away, and a chill went through her again when she saw someone step into the light.
“Phoenix,” she said, panic coloring his name. “He’s here.”
“I know,” he said. “That’s what I just told you. He has a dog and a gun.” He took the rod from her and held it behind his back, pushing her behind him too as Devon came closer, a lantern that gave off a weak, yellow glow illuminating his face.
He looked crazy and yet utterly in control, which only sent another shot of fear into Allegra’s heart.
Phoenix backed up a step, sealing their fate of staying in the room, and he limped doing it. He already had a bad back, and Allegra couldn’t stand the thought of him being hurt. “The cops are on their way,” he whispered. “We just need to buy some time.”
The light glinted off the silver, metal end of the gun, and
Allegra didn’t think they had much time.
There was nowhere to hide. Even if she got under the bed, that dog wouldn’t let her stay there. It looked as menacing as Devon as they both came closer.
Too close.
And she wouldn’t let him lock them in this room again. Number one, she didn’t believe for a moment that he’d allow them to stay in the same room. Number two, he looked loony enough to use that gun, and she suspected it wouldn’t be on her.
“Devon,” she said, wrenching her arm out of Phoenix’s tight grip. “What is he doing here? You let someone in?” She strode out of the room, the air out here somehow clearer.
Devon blinked at her, clearly confused.
“And you gave him the key.” She shook her head as she pulled the key out of the doorknob and reached back into the room to bring it closed. Her eyes latched onto Phoenix’s, and he wore a look of defeated determination in the brief moment they had.
She made sure the door wasn’t locked before she brought it closed and turned back to Devon, alone with him again. “Why would you do that?” She slipped the key into her back pocket and moved toward him, forcing a smile to her face.
He simply stared at her as if he wasn’t sure who she was. Tasting something acidic and bitter on the back of her tongue, Allegra slid her arm through his. “Come on. We shouldn’t be down here with him.” She tossed what she hoped was a disdainful look toward the bedroom door.
“My arm hurts a little,” she said. “And you said you’d show me the house when I woke up.” She guided him gently back toward the only light in the basement, relieved when she saw stairs going up into an actual home. It was still somewhat dark upstairs, especially with everything covering the windows.
She gazed at the heavy, dark green curtains on the window above the sink in the kitchen, pretending to admire the stainless steel gas stove. In the dining room, she couldn’t even see the windows, as he’d covered them with more heavy drapes—these made out of denim—and then moved a huge chalkboard in front of them.
“I brought my grandmother’s table over,” he said, his voice sending shivers through Allegra. “So our children can eat breakfast here.”
“Mm,” she said. “Two boys and a girl, right?”
He looked at her then, such bright hope on his face. “That’s right. You remembered.”
It took every ounce of self-control Allegra possessed to smile at him. “I remembered,” she said. “It took me a while. I’m sorry about the restraining order.”
His features hardened, and she started scanning for an escape. He was definitely crazy, and she couldn’t stomach the thought of being so friendly with him for much longer.
“That was an unfortunate bump,” he said. “Just like your boyfriend in the basement. He has to go.”
“Oh, he’ll go,” she said. “And he never comes to town, so we’ll just send him back out to that horrible cabin.”
“No.” Devon shook his head and cocked the gun. “He has to go now.” He withdrew his arm from Allegra’s and turned back to the stairs.
“But you haven’t finished showing me the house,” she said, fisting her fingers so he couldn’t see the wound she’d acquired from the clothing rod.
Devon’s midnight eyes glittered with malice now. “You don’t care about the house, Allegra.” He practically spat her name at her. “I’m going to go take care of him, and then you and I are going to have a little fun.” He turned away, and she almost started after him. But maybe if she could get out of the house, she could run to one of the neighbors for help.
Because she knew where she was now—the house Devon had shown her all those months ago. The one he’d wanted to buy so they could build a family together.
“Don’t bother trying to leave,” he said. “Everything’s locked, and only I have the keys.” He started down the steps and uncertainty and anxiety tornadoed inside her.
She took a step toward the basement and then looked at the front door behind her. Just across the living room.
The loudest noise she’d ever heard descended on her then, and she dropped into a crouch, both hands covering her ears. The very planet had exploded, and men streamed into the house from both the front door and the back.
Not only that, but Phoenix came roaring upstairs, the clothing rod still in his hand—only now it shone with a hint of redness along the silver length.
Someone grabbed her, and towed her out of the house, Phoenix right behind her. She sucked at the night air, not even caring that it was like ice in her lungs. Her tears flowed down her face freely, and she felt near hysterics as she got passed from one cop to another.
She’d lost sight of Phoenix, and she could only say his name to one sandy-haired cop before she bent over and kept trying to breathe through her sobs.
Finally, finally, Phoenix found her, put his arms around her, and said, “It’s over, sweetheart. It’s all over.”
* * *
Hours later, she still sat in the hospital. “I’m okay,” she insisted, but the doctor had refused to sign her release papers.
“Allegra,” Phoenix said from her bedside. “They just want to make sure that cut isn’t infected, and he wants to monitor your shoulder. It was dislocated.”
As if she couldn’t remember. “But I can’t stay here tonight, Phoenix,” she said, the panic rising through her again. “Can’t we please go out to your cabin?”
“No, sweetheart.” He glanced at the two nurses still in the room with her. “We can’t. Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow, okay?” He took her good hand in both of his. “I’m not going anywhere, and Devon’s in jail. You’re safe.”
Safe. The word felt like it only applied to other people. She hadn’t felt safe—truly safe—in so long. She nodded and closed her eyes, a sigh drifting out of her mouth.
The two nurses finished their work and left, and Phoenix whispered, “Is there room in that bed for me?”
“Probably not,” she said, but she managed to slide over as far as possible.
“Looks bigger than my couch,” he said as he slipped in beside her. He sighed too, lifting his arm around her so she could cuddle into his side. “Yeah, this is great.”
“How did you find me?” she asked. He’d been separated from her and they’d both endured long questioning sessions by the police while their injuries were attended to. Hers were more severe than his, but he’d been released because he’d gotten a rabies shot and his calf all patched up in record time.
He told her about going to her apartment building and then remembering the white house. He’d found it, tangled with Devon, who had a remote control on the dog’s kennel and had managed to get it open, getting bit, and then coming downstairs to bring Allegra up to Devon.
She lay in his arms silently for a long time after he finished, her eyes out the sliver of window in the corner of the room.
“I love you,” she finally said, not quite sure why she needed him to know in that moment.
“About time you admitted it,” he said in a teasing voice, moving his head slightly to kiss her. But there was nothing teasing in his touch, and Allegra knew he loved her too.
Chapter Fifteen
Phoenix pushed through the gate, sweat trickling down the side of his face. He’d been hiking all over the State Forest today, and it was one of the hottest days of the summer. He couldn’t wait to get back to his cabin and get a drink.
He’d gone out that morning with plenty of water, but with the temperatures the most brutal he’d seen in years, it hadn’t been enough. The orchards were suffering a bit from the heat, and his father had called an emergency family meeting for that night.
Dozer barked from the porch, and Phoenix looked up to see Allegra standing at the top of the stairs, her arm wrapped around the pillar there. “Hey,” he called, bending to scrub Dozer along the back when the dog arrived to greet him. “What’s she doing here, huh? How long has she been here?”
It had been four months since her abduction, and Devon had pleaded guilty
to all the charges. For a terrifying few days, he thought the other man might try to plead insanity, but in the end he hadn’t.
He was set to be sentenced next month, and then he’d be out of their lives forever.
Dozer didn’t answer his questions, but he did turn and trot back to the shady front porch, where Allegra had a fan blowing. The dog sat down in front of it, practically flopping on top of Sally, who gave the Great Dane a perturbed look.
“What are you doing here?” he asked as he came down the sidewalk to the porch.
“I got off early and just wanted to see you.” She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck as he came to stand a couple of stairs below her. She kissed him, and Phoenix’s blood warmed though he certainly wished it wouldn’t. He was already so hot.
“I’m sweaty,” he said. “Twelve miles today.”
“I brought pizza. The kind you cook at home.”
“Great,” he said. “Remember I have to go meet with my family tonight?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“So you’ll come hang out?”
“Yeah.”
Allegra still didn’t like being alone, and she never had gone back to her apartment building. Phoenix had taken all of his siblings, and they’d gone to clean everything out, get her cats, and move her into one of the cabins in his family’s row.
He’d introduced her to all of them, confessed to having her live with him for a while—“just for protection,” he’d told his mother when she’d started lecturing him—and she got along great with his sisters and his niece.
Of course, a lot more had happened while Allegra was his secret cabinmate, and everyone would know it on Sunday night.
Because Phoenix was going to propose. He wasn’t entirely sure if Allegra was ready for him to do that, but he hoped she was. She hadn’t brought up anything regarding Devon, the chase, or the kidnapping in several weeks now, though she still went to therapy. But she’d reduced her appointments to once a month, and he believed she was healing well.
Taking A Chance (Rebels 0f Forbidden Lake Book 2) Page 9
