by Tia Siren
The phone was still opened to his last message. It was like a little gift. I managed to send a location pin to Luke before I heard Sherry’s footsteps on the stairs. I put the phone back on the crate and hurried back to where I’d been, but the door opened and Sherry caught me halfway.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “What did you do?” she asked.
I shook my head. It hurt like a bitch, so I stopped doing it.
“What did you do?” she asked again, her voice rising. She looked at the phone, and I felt my heart in my throat. If she found out, they could move me or do something else to stop Luke from getting here to get me out.
“Oh, I get it,” she said. “You were trying to get to your phone, weren’t you? Pity you didn’t think of it soon enough.”
“Yeah, pity,” I said and swallowed.
Sherry laughed and shook her head. “You’re so pathetic.”
I sat down, and Sherry walked to the crate. She picked up the phone and sat down. I hoped she wouldn’t keep going through my messages. She would see the location I’d just sent and I would be in shit.
“God, your phone is so much more boring than I thought it would be. And that’s saying something.”
I ignored the comment. She studied the phone, and I was scared she would start looking at it again.
I hoped the message had sent okay. I’d had to do it so fast, it might not have worked. And if it did? I was suddenly worried that Luke would reply, that he would try to phone me. If he did that, Sherry would realize something was up and I would be in shit yet again.
I hoped he was the type of guy that would figure it out and not reply. Of course, Luke was that guy. He would know what to do and wouldn’t reply to put me in more danger. I would cling to that, cling to the hope that he would come for me and I would be okay. Luke would save me.
“How long have you and Koby been together?” I asked Sherry. I wanted her to start talking again. I wanted to distract her. She looked at me, her eyes suspicious.
“What do you care?”
I shrugged. “You just seem…happy.” I groaned inwardly. “I was wondering how you did it.”
I would rather die than have the kind of relationship she had, but as long as she wasn’t looking at my phone, I would say anything just to keep her talking.
“A little over a year, I guess,” Sherry said.
“He’s a lot older than you,” I said.
“So? He says I’m mature for my age. We understand each other.” She smiled. “We have a connection.”
Right. How many girls who dated older guys said that?
“It’s not often you see guys like that single,” I said.
Sherry shrugged. “He’s divorced. Apparently his ex-wife was a bitch, which is why we get along so well, too. I let him live, you know? They usually say that in your second marriage, you’re the happiest because you’ve made all your mistakes in the first one.”
She started talking about how they met, how she’d always been attracted to bikers and how Koby was the prefect bad boy. My phone was completely forgotten, and that was all I cared about. I was hoping, holding out for Luke to find me, to not reply, to be my hero and come for me like a shining knight riding a white horse.
My head throbbed something terrible and waves of nausea came and went. I felt incredibly sleepy. That was wrong. Even though it was late by now and light wasn’t coming in the window anymore, the only light being from a naked bulb hanging from the ceiling, I shouldn’t have wanted to sleep.
I was pretty sure I was concussed. That just made me feel worse about my whole situation, about Dalton and Luke and everything that was going wrong in my life.
Chapter 27
Luke
I was about fifteen minutes away from the farmhouse when my phone pinged with a message from Alexa. I pulled onto the shoulder right away and switched off my car. God, I’d been worried that something had already happened to her. I willed the message to be something that told me she was safe, that this was all over and I could go home.
What I got wasn’t quite as reassuring, but it was better than nothing. Her name popped up with a location and nothing more. It was unlike her to send something without adding anything to it.
I dialed her number and I was about to press send when I stopped myself.
This message was unlike her, which meant that it might not be from her. What if this was a trap? What if whoever had her had taken her phone and was using it to lure me in? But the voice on the phone had told me they wanted me instead of her. They expected me to come anyway.
So what if Alexa had sent this message after all, but she was in trouble so she couldn’t send anything else? It would be idiotic of me to phone her then. I would just be making things worse, and worse was the last thing we needed.
I cleared her number and took a deep breath. That had been so close. I put the location she’d sent me into my GPS. It looked like it was the same place I’d been going to, the farmhouse. That was a good sign.
But I couldn’t do this alone. I was over not getting the police involved. I wanted both of us walking out of there alive, and if I did it all by myself, that might not happen. I had no idea how many people were there waiting for me. I was strong and fearless, but I was still just one man, and of all things I was, stupid wasn’t one of them.
I called the police. I told them my girlfriend was being held against her will and that I had an address. I told them it linked to the murder of Dalton Starr. I half expected them not to believe me, but when I mention Dalton’s name, the person on the phone told me they would send an officer to check it out. Send them all, I wanted to say. Storm the high tower. But that wouldn’t do.
I gave the address, and when the line went dead, I hoped for the best. I would just have to trust the system. I had to believe that whoever was coming out to help me would be enough to make everything right again.
I pulled back onto the road and continued on my way to the farmhouse. I wasn’t going to wait for a police escort. Alexa needed me.
The farmhouse was in a terrible state. I knew I was at the right place—I recognized it from being here before—but in the years since I’d picked Dalton up from here, no one had done anything to maintain the place. The house was squat in the dark, looking like it had sat down on itself, given up. Dark windows gaped like soulless eyes. Only one window on the side had light coming through it.
“Mason!” I shouted. I wasn’t going to go in there not knowing what was waiting for me.
For a moment everything was silent. I saw a curtain stir as if someone was looking out, and then the front door opened.
“If it isn’t the Lone Ranger,” Mason said with a chuckle, stepping out of the house.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“Are we back to that?” Mason asked. “I thought we already walked this road. Do you think that if you keep asking, the answer will change?”
He was mocking me.
“We had a bargain, Mason,” I said.
“What bargain is that?” he asked.
“Me in exchange for Alexa. I know you’re behind this.”
Mason shook his head, folding his arms over his chest. “It sounds to me like you’re just looking for someone to pin the blame on. Don’t you know someone else you can drag into this? I’m getting tired of it.”
I was getting angry.
The front door opened and a woman walked out. She was young, close to Alexa’s age, with auburn hair, jeans that were too tight, and a top that showed off her stomach and a belly ring.
“What’s going on, baby?” she asked.
“Get inside, Sherry,” Mason barked.
Baby? “Oh,” I said. “Is this your side dish?”
Mason glared at me.
“I didn’t know that Mrs. Mason was a fan of sharing. Although, with your ugly mug…”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Mason sneered at me.
Sherry blinked. “What’s he talking about, Koby?” she asked.
“Hi
s wife,” I said at the same time that Mason said, “Nothing.”
Sherry blinked, looking from me to Koby and back.
“I said get inside!” Koby shouted, and Sherry jumped. She turned around and walked back inside. I guessed this happened often.
Mason turned his little pig eyes on me, and he was righteously pissed.
“I’m guessing she doesn’t know,” I said.
Mason took a step closer to me. “What she doesn’t know won’t kill her.”
“Was that what you said about Dalton, too? Because it killed him.”
Mason narrowed his eyes at me. I knew I was playing with fire, but I was past the point of fear or respect. I was pissed off. My friend was dead, my girlfriend had been kidnapped, and this asswipe stood in front of me looking like he owned the fucking world when he was nothing more than a piece of shit who had delusions of grandeur.
“I was just wondering how she would feel about S—”
Mason hit me before I could finish my sentence. His fist clipped my jaw. Rage flared up inside me, and it took all my self-control not to cut into him.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I asked. “Pussy.”
Mason swung again. This time I was ready for him, and even though he still hit me, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. I chuckled at him. There was nothing more infuriating than someone laughing at you when you were trying to do damage.
“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way,” I said in the same mocking tone he’d used on me, “are you going to tell me where Alexa is?”
Mason frowned at me. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. He was fucking lucky I hadn’t punched him right back. I trained almost every day. I was fit. I was young. I didn’t smoke. I had a hell of a lot on him, and if it came down to blows, I would fuck Mason up.
“How did you know where to find me?” Mason asked, changing the topic. He was starting to doubt himself if he was asking questions like that.
I shrugged. “Rumors make the rounds. Didn’t you know?” I wasn’t going to burn Alexa for that message. Mason not knowing how I’d gotten here was a sign that Alexa had sent it after all.
“Tell me where she is,” I said. “I’m not going to ask again.”
Mason smiled at me, and I didn’t like the look of it. “It’s too late, Luke.” His face was pure evil. My stomach turned to stone. I didn’t believe him.
“Alexa!” I shouted.
“Shut the fuck up,” Mason said.
“Alexa!” I shouted again.
“Luke!” Her voice came from somewhere in the house. It was muffled, but it was her voice. I headed toward the house, shouldering Mason out of the way. I had to get to her.
Mason grabbed me by the arm and yanked me back.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I should have gagged the bitch.”
There was no reason for me to hold back now. I pulled back my hand and threw a punch at Mason’s face. I hit him so hard that I had no idea how he didn’t see stars. Mason cried out and went for me, grabbing me by the shirt to punch me back. But I was stronger than him, faster than him. I elbowed him in the face, and it threw him off so that the punch landed on my shoulder. I kneed him in the stomach and he doubled over. He screamed and grabbed me around the waist, trying to tackle me to the ground. I didn’t go down that easily. I hit Mason on the back repeatedly, and he grunted and groaned but didn’t let go of me.
I did the only other thing I could do. I fell to the ground, pulling him down with me. I was heavier than he expected, and he went down as I had planned. We wrestled on the ground a moment. I got sand in my mouth but didn’t care. I managed to get on top of Mason and hit him in the face.
Someone screamed behind us. Sherry must have come out when she heard our fighting.
Everything happened at the same time. A cop car pulled up as Mason pulled out a gun. I hadn’t known he’d had one. It said something that he’d tried to fight me hand to hand. There was honor left.
“Freeze!” the police officer shouted. Mason didn’t freeze. He pointed the gun in the direction of the police office and pulled the trigger. Sherry screamed again. I hit Mason as he pulled the trigger, and he missed the cop, who fired into Mason’s leg. Mason dropped the gun. It had been so close to my own leg; I couldn’t believe it.
“Don’t move,” the cop shouted again and moved closer to Mason. I got up and kicked the gun away.
“I’m Luke King,” I said to the officer. “I made the call.”
The cop waved me away. I turned and ran into the house. Sherry stood frozen next to the front door, her eyes wide, staring at Mason while he was arrested.
“Alexa!” I shouted.
“I’m in here,” she called, and I followed her voice down a staircase that smelled like mold. I kicked open the door and found Alexa in front of me, cowering on the floor. She had a black eye, her hair was a mess, and her hands were tied behind her back.
“I’m here, princess,” I said to her and kneeled in front of her. She started crying.
“Please get this thing off my wrists,” she said through her tears. “It hurts so much.”
I broke the cable tie with my bare hands. She rubbed her wrists. A deep purple line around her wrists showed, and she held her hands very still.
“It hurts,” she whispered.
“Let’s get you out of here,” I said, helping her up. She nodded and winced.
“My head,” she said.
“I see. We’ll get you looked at, okay? Let’s just get out of here.”
I helped her up the stairs and out of the house. When I stepped outside, another two cop cars were there, the blue and red lights flashing against the house. Sherry was in cuffs now, too, and Mason was on the floor swearing about his leg. An ambulance arrived moments later. Someone tended to Mason while another guy came to us.
“Can we have a look at you, ma’am?” he asked.
“Please,” I said, and I walked with them to the ambulance. It turned out she had a concussion, a few bruises, and bad circulation in her hands. She needed bed rest, no drama for a while, but she was okay.
Alexa was safe.
“You came for me,” she said when they were done with her.
“Always,” I said.
Chapter 28
Alexa
By the time Luke finally got me out of that house, it was almost sunrise on Saturday morning. We didn’t have time to go home, to recover, to sleep. We had to go to the police station to make our statements, and it took the whole day.
We had to explain what had happened. We were taken into separate offices where we spoke to police officers who asked questions and took note of everything that was said. I struggled to think with my head aching so badly, and reliving the whole kidnapping when all I wanted to do was forget it made me shake uncontrollably half the time.
Luke found out that I had gone to see Sherry—or at least that that had been the plan—and he was unhappy with me.
“You can’t go around behind my back when it’s so dangerous,” he said. “Look at what happened.”
I shook my head. “It’s not like you were being open with me,” I said. He sighed and nodded. I was right. He hadn’t been open with me.
At least it was getting sorted out now. Dalton’s case was reopened after we pointed out Mason as the killer. Sherry was being detained as well for abetting and aiding kidnapping and manslaughter. I doubted either of them would see the light of day for a while, but there would be court cases and it was far from over.
With the whole thing being so much bigger than just a little spat, the news agencies caught wind of it, too. I wasn’t sure who tipped them off, but before long there were vans outside the police station and news reporters trying to question us when we finally got to leave the police station.
Luke helped me get into the car without having to say anything, but by the time we were finally on our way home, my head was killing me and I felt like I’d been worn to the bone.
The police had asked me if
I wanted to join witness protection, a program where I would be safe, because of the other gang members still out there. I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted. I wanted sleep. I wanted food. I wanted to recover from this godawful headache and have Luke hold me until this nightmare passed before I had to think about it again.
We still didn’t know what had happened to Sam, but Mason was being investigated for the possible murder of Samuel Thomas as well. I hoped he had never gotten to Sam, but I was worried that he might have. If Sam had gotten away, he would be the lucky one.
I would worry about all of that later.
The drive home was almost surreal. It felt like I’d stepped from one world into another, with the one a prison world and the other so normal it felt like nothing had happened.
When Luke pulled into his parking space, he took a deep breath.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I will be,” I said without nodding or shaking my head because it hurt too much.
“Let’s get you inside,” he said.
When we walked up to his apartment, my mom was waiting for us.
“Oh, thank God you’re safe,” she said, and she threw her arms around me. I whimpered, my headache flaring. “I saw you both on the news,” my mom said, crying now. “I thought I was going to lose you, too. I don’t know what I would have done.”
“I’m okay, Mom,” I said, and she finally let me go. “Luke helped. I don’t know where I would have been without him.”
I looked at him and smiled. He stood towering and strong next to me.
“Come inside,” Luke said, unlocking his apartment and leading me in. He got a pillow and a blanket from the bedroom and settled me on the couch. My mom sat down next to me, holding my hand, while Luke walked to the kitchen to put on the kettle for tea or coffee.
“Are you hurt badly, sweetheart?” my mom asked, looking at my black eye.
“I have a concussion and some bruising, but it’s nothing too serious,” I said. “Apparently getting kidnapped is a rough sport.”
My mom tutted. “That’s not funny,” she said.
