Aria groaned. He caught up to her and found her with her phone in her face. “What is it?”
“I missed a text from my mom again. She’s losing it. I’m sure she’s not getting any sleep. She walks a tight enough line as it is. I keep trying to text her back, and it keeps failing.”
“Network down again?”
“Or my phone has too little a charge to hold the signal.” She held it up and he saw the small sliver of red left. Then it went black. Her shoulders sagged. “Great. Now I have no phone.”
“Do you want me to try?”
“No.”
He frowned. If it was that important then why didn’t she want his help? “Would it upset your mom more if it came from me?”
“Probably.”
For reasons he couldn’t explain, his heart rate increased. He added up everything she had told him about the past two years. “So, you had to break the news to your mom, she wouldn’t go home...did you have to call the movers too? Arrange for the house to sell?”
She waved a hand at him. “I don’t think we have time for this right now.”
“You check in with her three times a day... Aria, did you abandon architecture so it wouldn’t remind your mom of your dad? Did you leave everything behind that could possibly remind her of him to keep her from pain?”
“I don’t expect you to understand,” Aria said.
“I think I’m beginning to understand. You never grieved,” he proclaimed. “You were never given a chance.”
She spun around so fast on the spot his hands rose up in a defensive position. “You have no idea how much I’ve grieved.”
“That’s just it,” he answered. “How can you possibly work through it if you’re avoiding everything that reminds you of him? I was so wrong. You’re not running from risk, you’re running from grief, but instead of offering escape, it’s trapping you there.” David could relate a little, only because he remembered how he felt after their relationship ended. “Do you know why I went to that two-year construction management program? It wasn’t because I needed it. After we broke up I couldn’t stand to interact with any architect. And you know why? Because they reminded me of you. Dad said he couldn’t let me take over his business when I was too busy losing it for him. He was going to have to fire me, until Mom talked me into going back to school. To give me some time away, some time to heal.”
“This—” she pointed her finger “—this is why I couldn’t talk to you.” She shook her head. “I knew... I just knew you wouldn’t let it go.”
She twisted away and stomped off. David clenched his fists. There he went again—his pride had to find a reason that made sense to him why she didn’t want to be with him and he kept pushing. His mom always said he could use his stubborn persistence for good or bad. Seemed to be erring on the wrong side lately.
He ran to catch up with her. “Aria, please—” he put a hand on her shoulder “—I’m sorry. You’re right. I overstepped and wasn’t respecting your wishes. I can’t seem to accept what-ifs and fear as a reason we can’t be together.”
“But when I didn’t respond to your card in the right way, that seemed to be enough for you—”
“Because I thought you didn’t love me! But now... I mean, if there was someone else I could understand—”
“Let it go, David.”
His heart twinged. Yet something seemed off. “I will, but just tell me this. Why’d you kiss me?”
Aria released an exasperated sigh. “I did not kiss you. It was all you and your misguided mistletoe thoughts. And we’re getting closer. Could you lower your voice?”
David crossed his arms over his chest and remembered her gentle kiss. He knew he hadn’t imagined her reaction to him, but in the end, did it matter? She didn’t want to be with him. He had to accept it, even if it required that she beat him over the head until it sank in. He nodded. “No problem.”
Ten minutes later, they stepped out of the forest clearing, away from mulch and onto asphalt. He heard the surf crashing against the rocks down below. “At the first sign of a car or a house, it’s off the trail and back into the forest. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
The curve revealed the first house. He peeked around an especially tall fern and sighed. From the seven or eight looming shadows he assumed were houses, only one had a light glowing from within—presumably a lantern or flashlight. “She’s either not the brightest bulb—excuse the pun—or this is most definitely a trap.”
“We don’t know for sure it’s the address yet,” Aria said, her voice light. “Maybe it’s a local who actually stuck around, although I’d be surprised.” They crept closer, and he squinted until he could see the numbers. “It’s the house,” she groaned.
The brown shapes to the right caught his attention. “Look. The rest of the line seems to be in the middle of construction.”
“Luxury condo rentals for tourists,” she interrupted. “Judging by the design of the framing.” She shook her head. “Not that it matters.”
As much as this woman claimed to be done with architecture, the little bit of longing in her voice said otherwise. It was a shame she couldn’t see it. So far, they hadn’t spotted any cars.
Since the garage had no windows, he couldn’t peek in there to look for the Hummer. He studied the small Victorian house—it looked half the size of the house they’d chosen to hide in. Two stories for sure, but the way the roof slanted meant the top floor only had one or two bedrooms at most. If he had to hide there, where would he pick? There wouldn’t be many options unless it was filled with furniture of the time period, or they abandoned the theme and put in walk-in closets.
He supposed they should alert Valentina so she would know they were there, but only if they took care of the gunmen first. The bad guys could have her phone.
“Stay here,” he told Aria. “I’ll set the smoke bombs. If the gunmen are here, wait until I’m able to disarm them, then go in after Valentina.” He held up a hand as she inhaled, knowing she was about to argue. “I promise I will try not to shoot their actual legs but, Aria, I’m going to do what I have to do.”
“That’s great, but I’m not waiting here for you to go be an action hero and get yourself killed. We’ll have a better shot if we do this together. When it’s two guns versus rapid-fire nails, timing will be everything.” She pointed to the center of her chest. “I’ll light the smoke bombs while you hide and wait to catch them off guard. If you get behind them maybe you could talk them into dropping their weapons before any violence. And if that doesn’t work, what if you released thirty seconds of rapid succession nails as a warning shot? Right down the middle?” She blinked up sweetly at him. “I’m sure at that range you can’t miss.”
He tilted back his head and laughed silently. Her feistiness always caught him off guard. “Good one. Fine. We’ll do it your way, but with a little bit of variance. Since the smoke bombs don’t make any sound, set them up below the front bay windows. I’ll shoot out the window, then run to the porch and wait for them to exit. You go around the back and sneak into the house and find Valentina.” He pulled the cables from his tool belt. “I’ll restrain our new buddies with these.”
“Zip ties? Where’d you get those?”
“The garage, when I was loading up extra nails. I thought they might be useful.”
Aria bit her lip. “It’s a great plan, unless Valentina is the one who runs out the front...all by herself, and in that case, we’ve just shot out a beautiful window for no reason.”
David lowered his voice. “No, it’ll be for a reason. It’s my best idea at keeping you safe. I don’t want to see a man shoot at you ever again, Aria. I’ve never been so scared in my life as when I had to drag you out of that lobby. If it turns out Valentina is all alone, then all the better. I’ll gladly accept the consequence for the broken window.”
Heat ran up his arm. He desperately wanted to be in that place where he could pull her into his embrace at a moment’s notice. He missed her so much his heart ached. It hurt as much as when he thought she didn’t love him. He pulled away from her touch and steeled his jaw. “Promise me, if things go south, you’ll run back to one of the houses on the other side and wait until the authorities find you.”
“That’s not going to happen, David, because everything is going to go as planned.”
“Aria, promise me.”
She flung her hands up in the air. “Fine. I promise.”
He pulled his shoulders back and lifted the nail gun. “Then let’s do this.”
EIGHTEEN
Aria fought to focus on the task at hand. Her mind was still warring between rage and shock at David’s analysis in the forest. Did his words hold any truth? Was she running from grief?
“What are we waiting for?” David asked.
The wind brushed against her face. “Nothing.” She darted out of the woods and toward the window. A white sweater was the worst possible thing to wear when trying to blend into the night. She felt David’s presence beside her until she knelt down onto the rocky landscape in front of the bay window.
She looked up, and he was gone. Hiding. Suddenly every cracking twig and swaying branch in the area screamed danger. The wind teased her hair up as she fumbled with setting the bombs in such a way that they wouldn’t tip over the moment she let go.
Aria shifted so her back would shield most of the wind.
“Hurry,” David whispered urgently. She couldn’t see him but knew he had picked a spot where he could keep an eye on her.
The plan was to avoid a lungful of smoke, but she needed to stay close until she was sure the flame had taken effect. Please be with us in this, Lord. She cupped her hand and lit the smoke bomb fountains, one by one.
While the wind didn’t halt, it did lessen. She crinkled her nose. If breaking the window wouldn’t get anyone’s attention, the smell of the smoke bombs certainly would. It smelled like a dozen rotten eggs went to a party with a scared skunk as an escort.
The foil wrapped around the bottom would force the smoke to shoot higher and higher, and she wasn’t waiting around for that. She darted down the side and around the house, inhaling copious amounts of fresh, salty air.
Crash.
David had shot out the window. So far, everything was going to plan. Please let this all be for nothing. Let Valentina be inside and the gunmen far, far away...
She halted at the corner. Now that she was away from the trees, the moon illuminated the sharp drop-off on this side of the outcropping. It wasn’t a cliff but more like a steep hill covered in mammoth black boulders that usually led down to the beach. Instead she could make out the ocean more than halfway up the hill. Aria was almost sure there used to be more rock and land directly behind these structures. Room enough to set deck chairs and enjoy the view.
She inhaled sharply. Which meant there had been landslides. It wasn’t too shocking given the earthquake and tsunami. She just hoped she was standing on solid ground. Her hands pressed up against the siding, even though there was nothing she could grip. She sidestepped her way to the back deck steps.
A series of thuds reached her ears. “You take the front, I’ll go out the back.”
Her feet slipped on the landscaping rock. She regained her equilibrium in time to flatten herself against the side of the porch steps. Her heart pounded so hard it made her rib cage ache. No, no, no. There was no contingency plan for this. No one was supposed to go out the back. The smoke and noise was from the front. Follow the noise, she wanted to yell.
But she was out in the open, wearing a white sweater, without any weapon. She wasn’t sure what to do. The story of David and Goliath came to mind, but she didn’t think that was pertinent, except...rocks. She didn’t have a sling, but she had an arm, and hopefully adrenaline would help her throw better than she pitched. She never thought she’d live to see the day that she’d regret not going out for the community softball league. There was no time to sort rocks and pick the best ones. Aria bent over and grabbed two of the biggest ones she spotted and straightened.
The man ran down the steps, shaking the foundation she had pressed up against. His back was to her as he ran toward the very corner she’d just come from, gun out and up. The temptation to let him run past her was strong. After all, he didn’t seem to have seen her, but he was also running right to David.
It was now or never. She pictured David surrounded by gunmen and that was all the motivation she needed. She would not let another loved one be killed when she had the power to stop it.
She inhaled as she pulled the rock behind her neck, then exhaled as her hips twisted with power. She put every bit of strength into the baseball-sized rock’s projection. The moment it left her fingertips she held her breath. The rock sailed in an arc and slammed directly between the man’s shoulders.
He didn’t fall or drop unconscious—as she had hoped—but he bent over, hollering so loud she prayed David could hear him. It was as close a warning as she could give. She didn’t wait for the man to look for his attacker. She sprinted up the steps with one rock remaining in her hand in case she needed it.
She flung open the back door, trying to shut it behind her quietly. She didn’t think the gunman had seen her or he’d have likely shot at her. Aria flipped the dead bolt for good measure until she remembered they’d already broken the front window. Yeah, so locks were useless. “Valentina?” she tried to yell in a whisper. There was no sense alerting the men back inside. If they had any chance of rescuing her and getting out aloud, she needed to play it fast...and smart.
Aria tiptoed at a runner’s pace through each room, searching for any sign of George’s wife. She saw through the broken window where David was hiding, waiting, except he wasn’t seeing the gunman taking aim at him from the opposite corner. Without thinking she threw the second rock straight through the broken hole in the window, directly at the gunman’s head. Her heart sank when she thought she’d missed until she saw the man’s shoulder jerk back with a howl. David spun and aimed the nail gun at him. “Lay down your weapon.”
Unfortunately the gunman had his gun still pointed at David and just growled back at him. “Not on your life.” They were at a standstill and looking so hard at each other they weren’t paying attention to her, which meant she needed to hurry and find Valentina and go help him before the other gunman joined him.
She eyed the wooden stairs and approached with trepidation. The second level wouldn’t have any exits. But Valentina wasn’t on the first floor so there wasn’t much choice. She took a deep breath and sprinted up the steps. She wished she had one more rock left, but instead she was defenseless.
The first bedroom and the bathroom were empty but the second bedroom was located in the back. It had two large windows facing the ocean-side view. The moonlight’s beam pointed directly at the full-size bed. On it lay a woman’s body—still and unmoving—with black hair spilling over the pillow. Aria flung a hand to her mouth. In jeans and a dark sweater she recognized as one of George’s favorites, this had to be Valentina. Aria rushed to the bed. Her fragile form made Aria wonder if she was too late. Had they already killed her?
“Valentina?” When she put a hand on her wrist to search for a pulse, the woman’s blank face turned toward her. Aria exhaled. “You’re alive.” Valentina’s eyes didn’t betray any emotion. It was the look of devastation, of loss. She knew that look all too well. Her mother had been wearing it daily for the past two years. Valentina was a broken woman, a wife in mourning. All doubt
s that Valentina could’ve been behind George’s murder faded.
“You know about George,” Aria whispered. It wasn’t a question. His murderers were sure to have bragged about it. Aria’s blood pumped hotter and faster, furious.
Valentina blinked and turned her face back to the window, staring at the moon. Aria grabbed her arm. “George wouldn’t want you to give up and die. You have to fight. You have to get out of here. Come with me!” Valentina cooperated, although wordlessly.
Valentina stood up and shook off Aria’s grip. “He always said he wanted his last breath to be at that place.” Her voice was cold and monotone.
Aria jerked to a stop, the memory of George being shot hitting her full-force. She blinked rapidly, her eyes stinging. She could mourn later. She’d said that to herself so often she wondered for a split second if David was right. Was she stuck in a trap between holding on to grief and not being able to fully experience it? David...“We have to get you out of here now. David is in danger. I need to help him.”
She nodded and followed Aria down the stairway, albeit at a slower rate than ideal. The woman was probably still in shock. “Did the men tell you why they were keeping you here?” Aria whispered.
Valentina didn’t answer. Aria reached the landing and started looking around the foyer for a weapon to help David out. “Well, don’t worry. Because once we get out of here, I have enough evidence to put these guys behind bars forever.”
Aria unplugged the lamp at the entry table. It would do in a pinch. She peeked out the broken window but didn’t see David and the gunman, though it was possible they’d moved to the other side of the porch.
Valentina hadn’t followed her, though. The woman was paralyzed, one hand on the banister, but her stone face had morphed into surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Huh? Oh, just trust me.”
“Are you sure? What kind of evidence?”
Aria wished she hadn’t opened her mouth at all. A wife in mourning can only think about her husband, not other more practical matters, apparently—like avoiding getting killed. She tugged on the sleeve of Valentina’s sweater. “I’ll explain if you keep moving.” Valentina complied and stayed at her side as they snuck back to the rear exit. “George kept records and did his own sleuthing when he started to suspect something. I haven’t gone through it all yet, I just know he has enough to take down whatever scam these guys were running.”
Surviving the Storm Page 13
