"He has enough money to dick around for forever," Ronan reminded his boss. It was something else Tierney had warned him about. "If he wants it, he buys it. If he needs to do something, he has all the time and money to make it happen. And he has more than enough to hire out any job he wants done but doesn't want to get his own hands dirty."
"You think he didn't do the rats himself?"
"I don't know about that." Ronan truly didn't. A normal person would hire that one out, but he was learning that Elliot Vander clef was far from normal on many measures. He was beginning to think the man wasn't just misunderstanding what love was, he might be an honest-to-God psychopath. But he wasn't sure he needed to tell the Chief that.
They finally pulled into the back lot, where the Chief kept his small pickup out of the way of the engines. They slammed their way out of the vehicle and burst into the station. But found nothing amiss.
Thirty minutes later, the rest of the crew rolled in. They all took turns in the showers. Rex made chicken with green beans and rice for dinner. And all around him, Ronan watched the evening roll on as normally as possible.
One by one, the guys peeled off for the night, leaving him and Rex in the main room watching old game shows and trying to outscore each other. It was well after midnight when Ronan admitted that he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling. He'd thought it would dissipate as the day seemed more normal, as there were no further signs of Vander clef, but it had gone the other way.
He was still awake long after most of the guys crawled into their bunks. Ronan normally would have been with them, but tonight he simply couldn't sleep. He'd probably stay awake for the full twenty-four hours. Someone usually did, tonight it would be him. He could claim it was just because he was glad to be back.
An hour later, Jordan hollered out from the bunk room, "Holy shit!"
Ronan jumped from his recliner, almost falling on his ass in his haste. But he was out and aiming toward the short hall even as he heard other voices. "Have you got it?"
"Hold on."
"What the hell is that?"
Right behind him, Rex came barreling down the hall, too. He'd been on the couch and only a moment slower because he'd actually fallen asleep.
They saw the oddly colored smoke streaming from under the door as it flew open and most of the crew came stumbling out coughing and grabbing at their throats.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
The sound of his phone ringing in the most obnoxious tone he'd been able to find dragged Ronan from a deep sleep.
Reaching out, he smacked at it as though it were an alarm clock. But as his eyes opened and he took in the world around him, he realized he was in bed in the cabin. His house would be repaired enough to return soon, and he was tempted to take both himself and Tierney back to it. Hers was getting razed and the owner would rebuild. There was almost no way Tierney would ever live there again. She'd lost most everything.
Ronan had held her while she cried on his shoulder and eventually consoled herself that Sean would be at least six inches taller when he returned soon. She would have had to buy him all new clothes anyway. They still hadn't figured out how they would break the news to him. Ronan liked that they talked about it in terms of 'them.' But first they had to get Sean back, and before that they had to figure out how to make Elliot Vander clef stay away forever. That was proving difficult.
His eyes drooped and he tried to pick up the phone. He'd stayed awake for the entire twenty-four hour shift. None of them had been able to sleep after the smoke bomb had been thrown into the bunk room. This time, the room had been occupied and the guys had been asleep. No one knew how long the device had been there before it went off. The timer on it appeared to only go to one hour. Which meant someone had planted it while the men were in the house, while some were asleep in the room it had gone off in.
Officer Harris had caught the case and Ronan had pulled her aside to suggest she confer with Gomez about Tierney's stalker. He'd been assured she would, and confident that Vander clef had cleaned up his tracks or bought off enough cops to make sure it didn't connect.
The guys had coughed themselves awake. Ronan and Rex had run in, each clutching extinguishers which didn't quite work when there was no fire. Noxious fumes had been released into the room and eventually they'd all looked at each other. Ronan hated knowing that Elliot Vander clef had once again proven that he could get to Ronan's friends.
As the memories forced him awake, and the fear of what might be happening now dragged him fully from sleep, he sat up in the bed alone. Tierney was at the bar, he remembered. She had not worked twenty-four hours the day before and had gone back today for another shift. Both of them still needed their jobs and their income, unlike Vander clef, who could afford to spend his time thinking of the best ways to torture them.
Looking at his phone and finally clearing his blurry vision, Ronan saw that it had been his mother who called. Did he need to call her back? Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes she just liked to chat. She would know he wasn't on shift today, but also likely knew that he was asleep. So if he didn't answer, she wouldn't bother him again. She couldn't have known that he'd turned the ringer up so that he would be bothered by every text and notification.
After staring at the phone for a long silent minute, he took a deep breath and decided that if it was important, she would have called back. Setting it onto the nightstand, he snuggled back under the covers trying to stay warm. Though he and Tierney had cranked the heat, the little cabin leaked like a sieve. Burrowed deep was the only place to really stay warm.
Just as he was falling back asleep, the phone rang again. This time he managed a better reaction, reaching over and grabbing it as he opened his eyes. It was his mother again and his heart rate kicked up. This was important. This was something that was worth her calling back, he realized, wondering what he might be dealing with.
Dread settled into the marrow of his bones though he told himself it would be fine. This time, he didn't fumble but hit the green button accepting the call.
"Hey, Mom," he answered, hoping the tremors didn't show in his voice. Because that was what Elliot wanted—Ronan and Tierney on edge. It didn't matter if anything was actually wrong. It only mattered if they worried that something was.
"Hello, Mr. Kelly."
That was not his mother's voice. Only then did Ronan realize he'd never heard Elliot Vander clef speak before.
He held his reply, waiting.
"I'm going to assume that you're there, Ronan?"
This time his name was spoken in the informal and with a touch of disdain. Vander clef wanted to be sure that he knew he was being spoken down to, that he was not in charge here and he was not the better man.
"Why do you have my mother's phone?" It seemed the obvious question. And, given its obvious threat of the very call, Ronan worked to hold his tone together and not simply cave. This was already different from the picture that Tierney had quickly debunked.
"I don't have your mother's phone so much as I have your mother. She's right here. Say Hello, mom." Again, the tone was deriding, and Ronan felt the fear sinking deeper when he hadn't thought that would be possible.
"Say hello!" Elliot demanded again.
For a moment, Ronan was of two minds. Possibly his mother wasn't there and this man had simply managed to get a hold of her phone and was trying to make it appear as a way that it wasn't. That was exactly what he'd done before. Or else his mother was already fighting back.
It turned out to be the second option. His mother's voice came across the line sure and steady. "Hi Ronan. This asshole has my phone."
He had never heard his mother swear before. The very word out of her mouth made him wonder if Vander clef had already pulled her fingernails or cut her or threatened something more.
"What does he want?" Ronan tried to speak directly to his mother but wasn't surprised that it didn't work.
"Let me tell you what I want." Elliot sneered.
Ronan, inspired by his mother's resist
ance replied, "Fuck off, asshole. I'm talking to my mom."
He could almost see his mother's eyebrows lift. She had taken him to church every week. Though she still attended regularly and went to her book club, and drank wine with her friends, she'd always admired a snappy comeback. She and his dad had trained their boys that loyalty and strength in the face of danger were some of the best qualities that people could have. Now, she was proving it.
Her voice came over the line again, only this time she managed to sound bored. "He wants to know where Sean is. And I want to know why he’s so stupid as to think I would know that."
There was an unspoken suggestion that he was after the wrong mother. Not that Ronan wanted him to go after Tierney's mother either, but clearly, Elliot was willing to take anyone that got in his way. Use any leverage that he could find.
Vander clef's next words made the reasoning obvious, "Bring me Emily or lose your mother."
The last thing he heard as the phone went dead was his mother's terrified scream.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
The door to Snafu slammed open, as though blown by the wind. As Tierney looked up she saw that it wasn't the wind, but Ronan.
He'd already covered the distance between the door and her spot behind the bar before she even recognized what was going on. Her heart dropped and so did the glass she'd been holding. But as it bounced on the floor mat at her feet, she ignored it and dropped the hand towel, too.
This was no frantic panic, but clear focus. His stance held only determination lead by utter fear.
What had Elliot done? She had a feeling she was about to find out.
Reaching across the bar, Ronan grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. Tierney didn't fight it. She simply followed the motion, climbing up and over, yelling backward. "Carter! Take over."
Her eyes were wide, her throat closing as she let Ronan drag her right out the front door. He chucked her into the passenger seat of his car and she barely got her feet inside before he closed the door, shutting her in. It was difficult to wait even the few short seconds it took him to cross the hood of the car, open his own door, and slide in next to her. He sucked in a deep breath as if needing it for strength, but even then she wanted to throttle him and make him talk. Something was clearly very wrong.
"He has my mother." Ronan's conviction was solid, even though it hadn't been the time before.
Tierney wanted to ask if he was sure but didn't want to insult him. So she asked, "How?" But it only came out as the slightest whisper.
"I talked to her. She screamed, Tierney. She screamed, and I don't know what he did."
"You didn't ask?"
"I couldn't." He shook his head, silent tears making tracks down his otherwise stoic face. "It happened as he was hanging up on me. And no one will answer when I call back."
Her eyes fell closed. She’d hoped it was a ploy, but this time it wasn’t. Her chest caved in, her breath left her body. For a moment, she thought it might be easier if she just didn't breathe in again and let it all end here. If she died right here in this car, Elliot would have nothing to come after. He could just leave the town.
Still, she knew that wouldn't work so she gulped in air. Because Elliot wouldn't do that. He would be mad at everybody she'd ever known and her death would send him into a rage. He would destroy them all in his anger at losing.
"What did he want?" She asked it quietly. Elliot always wanted something, and she suspected she knew the answer.
"You." It came out as a single long sound, his voice almost cracking as he said it.
She nodded, the dread now somehow replaced with calm. She’d always known that it would come to this. "He wants you to trade me for her?"
Ronan nodded.
"He wants to make you choose." Tierney said it into the air as a statement and Ronan nodded again. Elliot would get his prize and Ronan would get tortured in the process.
He'd done it to her parents, too. Her parents hadn't chosen her either. Tierney said softly, "Take me to him."
She knew it was the right thing to do. She had brought this here and Ronan shouldn't have to lose his mother because of Tierney’s mistakes.
"No, Tierney!" he protested, this time turning sideways in his seat. Reaching out, he grabbed both her hands and held tight. "I can't do that. I can't hand you over to him."
Her lungs sucked in air, the sob breaking out of her throat. Her parents hadn't chosen her. They had handed her over willingly, and only eventually had they agreed to do their best to help her escape when they were literally held at gunpoint. But Ronan—whose mother was already in Elliot's hands, who'd already been hurt in some way—was refusing to do the same.
How could he do this to her now? How could he love her more than anybody else ever had? How could he choose her in this impossible situation?
Tears streamed down her face. Her breath came short and choppy. She knew she would never see Sean again. The dream she'd had for herself—a life with Ronan—would have to be satisfied by the last few days. He had chosen her and that was more than enough.
She squeezed his hands, breathed in a ragged gulp, and told him, "You have to trade me. Take me to Elliot."
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Ronan had driven to his parents’ house, his foot heavy on the gas, but his heart torn in two directions.
He kept telling Tierney, "You don't have to do this."
She looked at him as if he were stupid, as if of course she had to do it. But he didn't want her to. He'd just found her.
But how had he found her? Was he just lonely? Or using her to be the better version of Siorse, now that he knew what Siorse had been? But when he asked those questions, he kept coming up with only one answer. No. He'd known Tierney for a decade and he'd loved her for a long time now.
Ronan had denied the spark of feeling, because she was his late wife's little sister. Now, finally out in the open, it was fierce and strong. Though it had barely been a few days that they'd actually admitted what they could be, it was far, far too soon to imagine a life without her. And he had no doubt that Elliot Vander clef fully intended for Ronan to live a life without Tierney, one way or another.
His ribs ratcheted down, constricting his heart. His knuckles tightened on the steering wheel. Every bone turned to steel as he pulled into his parents' driveway. He told himself that he was coming here, but he would make the decision only when he arrived. And he had.
Now, turning to Tierney as she put her hand on the door handle—ready to open it and hop out to exchange herself for his mother—he grabbed her and held on tight. "No."
"I have to, Ronan. This is my fight, not hers."
Still, he didn't let go. Even though Tierney was now standing outside the car, her hand held back in the car where he still clutched at her. This time though, she let go with her own hand, leaving him holding her by her wrist. "Ronan, you have to let me go."
Was that the hardest thing in the world to hear?
"I'm going with you," he demanded. "We go together. We get him to release my mother—"
"He doesn't want both of us," Tierney said again, shaking her hand as if she could shake him off.
Ronan only let go because he was coming out the other side. But even as he bolted out and ran for the front steps, he saw Tierney was far ahead of him, already slamming through the front door. As he fought to catch up he realized how stupid they had been.
They came with no weapons except what they had on them. They hadn't planned ahead. His mother was being tortured and he reminded himself of what firefighters always did when they faced a fire: What was gone was gone. You could only ever save what was left.
If he ran in here, and Vander clef killed his mother anyway, what would he have accomplished? Because he did not expect this man to make a fair trade.
Even as the door hit the wall and he watched Tierney racing down the short hallway, he heard his mother scream again.
It ripped his heart out, the pain in that sound. But it was followed immediately
by her angry words. "You fucking son of a bitch!"
He couldn't help it, he almost laughed. His mother would not take anything from this man that she didn't have to.
"Elliot!" Tierney screamed as she came running in. "You fucking stop this moment!"
As if Tierney's words would have any effect on him. The man was truly a psychopath, pulling strings and playing everyone like a fiddle.
Ronan slammed into the room behind her, almost smacking into her. She'd stopped, her eyes wide open and Ronan did, too. Blood covered Mrs. Kelly's forearms and her legs. Ronan froze before forcing his professional self to take over.
Vander clef had stuck a knife into his mother's leg, slicing her thigh open, where it bled freely. But it didn't appear that he'd hit an artery. She was still awake, anger radiating from her face. Her forearms, too, had been slashed, but again away from the artery. The man was going for pain, but it was survivable.
Without thinking about it, Ronan pushed past Tierney. Moving forward to where his mother was tied to the chair, he ignored Elliot, probably his biggest mistake, he leaned forward and looked at her. "I've got you now."
His thoughts were torn between his mother in front of him, obviously wounded, obviously needing help, and Tierney behind him, so far, hale and healthy, but probably under a bigger threat from Vander clef.
They all wanted Tierney as a prize, but Elliot wouldn't hesitate to kill her if it didn't work out. And the things that he would do to her in the meantime, while he worked at breaking her, Ronan had always tried not to think about. Now he'd brought her here, probably placing her directly into that man's hands.
He reached for the bindings at his mother's wrists, starting to free her as Elliot's hand landed on his shoulder. This was the first time Vander clef had dared to touch him and Ronan burst like a bomb going off.
He spun around using the backside of his fist to catch the asshole upside the cheek and across his nose. "Get the fuck off me!"
Down in Flames (Wildfire Hearts Book 5) Page 21
