by Unknown
Chills prickled Abbey’s skin as the burn in her thigh got worse. More blood seeped through the cotton gloves the longer she stayed crouched.
“Take another pass. When we find her, she’s going to wish she’d never tried to run. And we’d better cover our asses, so have two of the guys move the merchandise to the other location. I’m not going over the border with half a load.”
Abbey bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. She couldn’t afford to move anywhere. Breathe. Breathe. She kept Blake in her mind’s eye, kept seeing his concerned face as he helped her by breathing with her. In and out. Slow and steady. She concentrated on the sound of his voice, his gentle tone.
New footsteps pounded forward. “I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find his phone. If she’s called for help, then we’re busted.”
“Move, now!” the first guy ordered. “Take one last pass where we lost her, then meet up front.”
Footsteps faded and Abbey checked through the crack in the trash cans to see the men had moved out of sight. She slowly eased up and bit back a groan as fresh pain streaked through her leg. She tightened the knot again before hopping up to the top of the closed plastic bin. She quickly stood on the lid and jumped for the top of the wall. After hauling herself up, she threw her good leg over the top and edged over the other side. She didn’t have anything to break her fall on this end. It was a good eight feet from the top of the wall to the hard packed earth below.
It was going to hurt.
“Do it, Washington,” she gritted between clenched teeth.
Abbey let go.
She tried to roll as she landed, but her right leg crumpled and the pain ripping through her seemed to come from everywhere. She lay on the ground, her breathing ragged as she tried to get her bearings. “Get up, get up,” she told herself, her jaw clenched tight. Run. She wasn’t anywhere close to being in the clear.
Abbey rolled and got to all fours, taking another few deep breaths before she tried getting to her feet. Looking up, she saw a massive hedge that outlined something on the other side. Maybe a road or a building, she couldn’t tell from her angle. If she got on the other side of the hedge she’d at least be hidden from searching eyes from this direction.
Using her good leg and the wall for support, Abbey stood up and held back a groan of agony. She couldn’t risk being seen so she had to go through the hedge.
“Just some branches,” she whispered aloud. “Big deal.” But she soon discovered, it was a big deal. The hedges were packed tightly together. She was just too big to get through them without some type of cutter to open a hole. Tears pricked her eyes and she wiped them away furiously.
Limping, she made her way along the hedge until she came to a weak spot. The leaves were dry and brittle and Abbey broke apart the dry branches and forced her way through. Twigs tore at her skin and clothes, but she kept going. It was only a couple of feet. Not even twenty-four inches.
The beam of a flashlight hit the spot next to her and she froze. Her black jeans and green shirt were perfect camouflage, but they’d catch her if they found her now. With her ass nearly hanging out the back of the hedge, she had no clue if they’d seen her or not.
The bushes shook a few feet away and her adrenaline soared. Something was next to her in these bushes!
“Hey, I hear something,” one of the men shouted from the behind her.
“Shoot it!”
A bullet slammed into the space a few feet away and the creature living in that part of the hedge scrambled for safety. Abbey did the same. She lurched forward and took the brunt of the branches on her head and shoulders as she powered through. Hair ripped out of her skull as it caught on larger twigs. More shots were fired and the animal near her raced for freedom.
“It was only a fucking possum,” the guy said. “A fucking family of possums.” His voice faded as he moved away from the wall.
Abbey let three silent sobs escape before she wiped her eyes and got to her feet again. Stinging pain arched up her leg. She wanted a phone. Wanted to hear Blake, needed his voice in her ear. Needed it like the air pushing in and out of her lungs.
Looking around the property, she made out an unfinished house and giant palm trees lining the street fifty yards away. With renewed hope, she limped toward the street. The chain link lock on the gate had just enough length for Abbey to slide through. After one more look to the house of horrors next door, Abbey took off in the other direction. Screw the pain. She got about a hundred yards before two police cars came screaming around the corner with their lights flashing. Abbey nearly passed out with the relief burning through her. She slowed and waved both hands flagging them down with the last of her energy.
Blake took the exit leading to Bob Hope Drive and floored the SUV. The fact that a haze of smoke wafted from his engine just added to the list of shit he had on his plate tonight.
Troy had already called with the address of the hospital Abbey had been taken to. Knowing she was safe hadn’t made his foot any lighter on the pedal. Having to hang up on her earlier had just about killed him, but now a whole lot of hope raced through his system.
Blake pulled to the E.R., cut the engine and headed in. Troy had used his considerable weight with the Los Angeles police to clear the red tape on this end, so getting in to see Abbey wasn’t a problem after Blake showed his ID. One of several cops loitering in the waiting area took him back to a treatment room.
He gestured toward the last curtain on the left. “She’s okay,” he said. “Scared and a little beat up, but okay.”
“Abbey?” Blake eased back the curtain and peaked in.
Abbey.
His chest tightened up at the sight of her. God she was a mess. Florescent lights illuminated scratches and welts marring her smooth skin and a particular bruise on her cheekbone came from a hand. A new surge of anger pummeled Blake. A hospital gown and thin white blanket covered most of her with the exception of a bloody bandage over her exposed thigh. Her shredded clothes lay in a heap in the corner of the room.
Her face crinkled up and tears welled in her eyes as he moved closer. She wrapped her arms around his waist, crying into his shirt, her body shaking in his arms. Bits of dried leaves stuck in her wrecked hair.
Blake held her tight. Didn’t give a shit about the residual soreness in his ribs. He’d never been happier in his life to feel a little pain. Kicking a stool closer, he sat down and tucked his head next to hers, breathing in the scent of her. Finally, he leaned back to look at her.
It took a minute but she pulled herself together. “I’m okay. I’m okay.” Her eyes looked anything but okay as she dabbed them with a crumpled tissue. Blake wanted to kill the men responsible for putting that fear there. He brought her close again just to feel her warmth.
“Thank God,” he whispered, stroking her back and willing his pulse to slow down for the first time in hours.
Finally he moved away and gestured to the bandage. “Did the doctor fix you up yet?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. I just asked and the nurse said I’m next on the list. The EMTs thought I need two or three sutures to be safe. It’s really not bad. They thought a few stitches would keep it from being a nasty scar.”
That news just burned Blake up more.
Her gaze softened as she reached up and stroked her thumb under his cheekbone. “What happened here?”
“I was ambushed by a second guy before they took you out of the casting building. I’m okay.” He took Abbey’s hand and linked their fingers, needing to know what happened after the phone call.
“What did you do after we hung up?” he asked.
She told him about scaling the wall and running down the street. “I got a few houses away when the police showed up. I flagged them down. They called the ambulance.” She gestured toward the officer at the door. “They’re still searching the place as far as I know. I think the guys must have cleared out right before I reached the street because they were there when I first got over the wall. They must�
�ve been worried that I’d called for help with their friend’s phone. I thought it was mine when I ran, because it was next to my purse.”
“They tossed your phone into a van headed in the other direction. The diversion worked for a while. If you hadn’t texted us, we wouldn’t have found you.” Blake swallowed back the lump in his throat.
“You just missed the officer in charge. He was really nice. He rode with me in the ambulance and said he didn’t want me to have to come into the station if he could avoid it.”
“I think we have Troy to thank for that. I’ll have to send the guy a thank you note.” That got a whisper of a smile and Blake squeezed her hand. “Are you going to be okay telling me what happened? Because Troy and I need to know too.”
She nodded. “I know. Can it wait until we get out of here?”
Blake nodded. “Sure. Not a problem.” He didn’t want to rush her.
The doctor entered the room and Blake stayed as Abbey got three stitches to close the gap from a bullet. Blake didn’t think he could ever be as angry as when he’d seen his brother get cut in front of him, but he’d been wrong. Because he was pissed. Really pissed. He wanted these guys to pay for what they did to her. He wanted them behind bars for a good long time.
Abbey left the hospital in a set of green scrubs that made her eyes pop like dark gems.
Blake helped her into the Explorer then checked his watch. Way past midnight. He cranked the engine and started out. A mile down the road, he spotted a motel with a vacancy and pulled into the lot.
“Why are you stopping?” Abbey asked, concern evident in her voice.
“The Explorer was about to overheat when I pulled up to the E.R.” That was bound to happen after pushing the seventeen-year-old truck so hard. “The engine’s got to cool down if we plan on going anywhere. I’m afraid it’s not going to get us home tonight.” At least they’d both had food at the hospital when a nurse brought them sandwiches.
“Oh.” She nodded, but he saw her reluctance.
“It’s okay. C’mon,” he whispered. “Let’s crash for the night. I promise I’ll keep you safe, Ab. I’m not letting anything else happen to you.”
Swallowing, Abbey nodded and Blake hustled to open her door. She eased out of the Explorer, grimaced when her feet hit the ground and grabbed his arm for support.
Blake snatched his athletic bag from the back seat and tossed it over his shoulder, then took Abbey’s hand and led her inside. He checked them in while Abbey stopped in the ladies room. Five minutes later, he ushered her in their room and flipped on a light. No frills, two double beds, navy and maroon, but it was clean.
Abbey stood at the end of one of the beds as if she didn’t know what to do first. Blake set his bag down, moved in front of her and took her in his arms. Under the sweat and fear he caught the faint citrus scent of her. Her arms came around him tight and her shoulders trembled.
“Can you tell me what happened back at the audition?”
She pulled away, inhaled and exhaled, her forehead creased with the memory. “He was waiting for me at the callback. I never even made it up the stairs. He told me we were in a different room downstairs and when I walked in he…he—” She took in a shaky breath. “He grabbed me. It was the guy with the knife from the Sports Center, but I didn’t recognize him at first. He’d shaved off his mustache and he didn’t have the cap on. I tried to fight him, but he put something over my mouth and I couldn’t breathe. I don’t remember what happened after that. I woke up in the trunk of a car. We were moving. He tossed me in a room when we got there and a few minutes later he came back with the other guy from the Sports Center. The guard.”
Kwami.
“Did you get names? Anything that might help us identify them?
“Y-yes,” she said. “Damon. He was the one who knifed the man at the Sports Center.” Her chin trembled, she took another deep breath and his fucking heart broke at the catch in her voice. “The guy who tried to… The guy I hurt.” She closed her eyes tight. “There were three more…” She pressed her lips together as she thought harder. “Benz, Herrera and one other guy that no one named. He’s Damon’s brother. I told the police officer.”
A fresh round of rage sizzled through Blake and close on its heels was that same pulse pounding fear. “Ab?”
Her green eyes met his gaze.
“Did he, did one of them…?” He couldn’t even put it in words.
“Not the way you think,” she said softly. “It was close, but, no. I got out.”
Blake’s relief came out in a rough exhale. He wanted to help her, comfort her, do something and he felt so impotent, because this was Abbey who never let him in, never let him get close.
She finished telling him everything and the story tore him to pieces. The fact that he hadn’t been able to prevent it, that she’d had to go through it… He wrapped her in his arms again and held her close. That she let him meant more to him than anything else in the world.
Blake fought back his own emotion, but his unsteady breaths were a dead giveaway. “I was so fucking scared,” he admitted quietly. He ran his hand down her hair, cupped her head against his shoulder.
She hiccupped a breath and nodded. “Me too.”
He barely heard her. She was so fucking brave and he was so proud of her. “You did good, you know?” She needed to know. Needed to realize that no matter how she got out, she’d been justified. “I’m so proud of you,” he said quietly. “I mean, I’m pissed that you didn’t wait for me, but I’m so fucking proud that you got away.” His answer came in a sniff and subtle nod. “Let’s get you to bed okay?”
Pulling away from him, she wiped her eyes. “I need to take a shower and get this—” she shuddered, “—off me.” She wasn’t referring to the clothes and his anger boiled hot again. Moving around him, she headed for the bathroom.
“I brought my bag in,” Blake said. “I’ve got a T-shirt and sweats in there. You can wear them if you want. They’ll be big, but they’re clean.”
She gave him a shy smile and it was like a rainbow after a hurricane. “Troy is rubbing off on you.”
That made him grin. “Really? You think so?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I think so.” Her smile faded and she moved into the bathroom as Blake got fresh clothes from his bag.
Chapter Fifteen
Abbey had wanted to take a shower and scrub off the grime from that filthy man’s hands, but the spray was too hard on her skin so she’d settled for a shallow bath since she couldn’t get her stitches wet. After eating an apple that Blake had snagged from the front desk, she felt marginally better. Nearly every inch of her hurt. The livid bruise on her cheek made the scratches look like nothing. The welts had gone down and Blake had made two trips to the ice machine so she had ice packs on the worst of her bruises and her ankle.
Blake’s sweats sat on the counter, but she’d thought long and hard while cleaning up in the tub and she’d come to a decision. If she didn’t make the choice to move on with her life and overcome her fears, she faced the terrifying prospect of losing the choice completely.
How could she have thought that being a victim once already meant she was free of it happening again? She’d been living in a bubble of her own creation, tiptoeing through life in the hope that if she didn’t acknowledge other people, they wouldn’t notice her.
Dancing gave her the freedom she craved. Music lifted her spirit, and letting the music flow through her kept her sane. When she danced, she was no longer a victim. When she danced she was free of the fear and shame she always battled. She was the music. She was in control.
She never pictured this moment. Never imagined reaching the day when she’d let someone inside of her. Sure, she’d been attracted to Blake from the first day she’d met him, but attraction never had her thinking about sex. Very little had her thinking about sex.
Abbey brushed her teeth and combed out her hair with new purchases from the front desk. Her face was a lost cause. Blake might not even want wh
at she had planned for him tonight, but maybe he’d do it—her—as a favor. She’d rather lose her virginity to a friend and someone she liked than face the alternative. With these men after her, she couldn’t waste time wondering if they’d catch her again. Because if they did, they wouldn’t let her go a second time. She knew that deep in her soul.
Coming out of the bathroom, Abbey spotted Blake in the far bed, holding one of those emergency kit ice bags to his cheek. He sat up against the headboard wearing his same T-shirt with the sheet pulled up to his waist. His folded jeans took a spot on the chair in the corner of the room. He’d turned down the blankets on the second bed. The gesture put her heart in a vise. He knew her well enough to know she liked her space, needed it. She wasn’t good at being touched unless she instigated it. Extreme highs and lows prompted those times and he knew it.
“Did you call Troy?” she asked, placing his sweat bottoms on the bed.
His gaze lifted from her legs to her eyes. “Yeah. He said the police are searching the estate now. I told him we were crashing here for the night.” He set the ice pack on the end table. There was something else he wasn’t telling her, but at the moment she didn’t care. Walking past the readied bed, she slid into the sheets next to him. He tried to hide the surprise on his face as he scooted toward the other side of the bed, but she saw the question in his eyes.
What the hell is she doing?
Abbey turned on her side, on her good leg and faced him, tucking her hands under the pillow as she watched him. “Can I sleep with you tonight?”
He nodded, his eyes full of emotion she couldn’t name. Worry, compassion, all the things she’d seen already, but something else too. He didn’t seem to get what she meant though, so maybe she’d have to show him. If she only knew how. Or where to start…
