"If all the players were out of the game, how did it start up again?"
"Peter Lundgren—Neil's son," her father replied. "He took over his father's company after Neil's death, and I'm guessing he got some of the band back together, including Litton's son Eric, only this time it was the next generation. I was watching the news one day, and I heard about a fire in the south of Market area, an empty warehouse in a rough neighborhood, and it gave me a bad feeling. I did some digging and found out the company was owned by Lundgren. That's when I came back to San Francisco."
"To finally write the story you wanted to write seventeen years ago?"
"And to stop them. Another fire in a small house in the middle of a commercial zone confirmed my theory that the game was back on. I tried to work it on my own for a couple of months, but I didn't have enough resources or access to information, so I reached out to someone for help."
His words surprised her. "Who?"
"A man I'd worked with briefly at the Herald. He was a young, hotshot reporter back then, and he reminded me of myself. I thought I could get him on board with the lure of a potentially huge story, and I was right."
Her stomach flipped over. "Are you talking about Jeff Crocker?"
"Yes. You're incredibly astute, Tori."
"No. It's just that the pieces of the puzzle are finally falling into place. Is that why they hired me? Because you reached out to Jeff?"
"No, I had nothing to do with that. In fact, I was shocked when I heard. I wondered if Jeff was playing some game, but he assured me that his boss hired you, that you'd sent in a resume on your own and said that you wanted to move back to the city."
"Well, that's true."
"He told me that he would keep my secret and that he'd keep an eye on you. He said he would let me know if he thought you were in danger."
She didn't know what to make of that, but she decided to leave it alone for the moment. "All right. So how did Jeff help you?"
"Last week, he told me that he'd come across a building in his research that looked like the perfect target—the abandoned residential hotel. It had just been condemned. I did some research and discovered it was owned by Galaxy Ventures, which I knew was connected to Litton Capital. Jeff told me it was going to be knocked down the next day. If something was going to happen it would be before that. So I went over there."
"And ran into Robert Walker."
"Yes. I learned later that night that Walker was dead. I figured no one else would know I was there. I didn't realize you'd followed me until the next day when I made contact with Jeff. He told me what happened."
"Why didn't you come to me then? You knew where I lived, where I worked."
"Mitch and I talked it over, and we decided to wait until after the wedding, so Mitch put the warning note on your car, thinking it would buy us some time. I didn't think you were in danger. You were asking questions as a reporter, but Jeff assured me you weren't close to figuring anything out. I believed him."
She saw the flash of anger in his eyes and suddenly knew where it had come from. All of her conversations with Jeff in the last few days ran through her head: the questions he'd asked her, the information he'd fed her on how to find out what her father was working on. It suddenly all made sense. "Jeff was playing you, wasn't he?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, I didn't figure that out until a few minutes ago," her father said heavily. "Jeff told me to meet him here, that he had finally gotten the evidence that would nail Lundgren to the wall, but when I arrived, I was jumped by a big guy I didn't recognize. He shoved me through that door, and when I saw you, I knew I'd been duped. I'm sorry, Tori. I should have stayed dead. I shouldn't have tried again to take them down a second time. They beat me once. And they beat me again."
She paced around the room, needing to move so that she could release some of the adrenaline running through her body. Then she paused, listening for sounds from overhead.
"Why is it so quiet? What's the plan?" She looked into her father's eyes, and she knew the answer without needing to hear him say the words. "Of course. I wondered why they didn't tie me up. They didn't need to. There's no way out of here, and there's no one else in this building, is there?"
He shook his head. "I don't think so."
"There's going to be an explosion, but this time we're not getting out." Her mouth trembled as the truth hit her hard. "Does anyone know you're here? Did you tell Mitch or Jim?"
"No. We agreed not to communicate."
"Then we have to find a way out of here on our own."
He looked around the room. "There's nothing down here." His gaze fell on the stick still in her hand. "Were you going to stab someone with that?"
"I wasn't going to give in easily."
He smiled. "That's my girl."
"I have not been your girl in a long time." As she finished speaking, she heard footsteps overhead, and she froze. When she took her next breath, she smelled gas. Someone was pouring gasoline.
All it would take was a match…
Her stomach heaved at the thought of what was coming next.
Her dad reached out his hand to her. She hesitated, but then she took it. It felt right and wrong to hold on to him, but she couldn't seem to let go. The tremendous love she'd once felt for him overwhelmed her. When she was a kid, she'd looked to him to protect her. But he couldn't save her from this.
"You have to know how much I love you, Tori," he said. "You and Scott and your mom—you were my life. I never married anyone else. I never had other kids. You were the only family I ever wanted. I wish your mother and Scott could know that."
"We can't just give up," she said defiantly. "Maybe we can break those windows, let some air in. Maybe the fire department will get here in time."
"Maybe they will…" he said, squeezing her hand. "It's going to be okay, baby."
She'd always believed him when he'd told her that as a child, and she really wanted to let the words reassure her now, but she wasn't a little girl anymore, and she didn't know if either of them were going to make it out alive.
She tried to tell herself it was good she'd had the chance to see him one more time, but knowing what her mom and Scott would go through when they found out the truth made her heart hurt. There would be so much pain, so much confusion.
Dylan would try to explain things to them. He'd be the only person who could really put the pieces together. But thinking about Dylan brought more tears to her eyes. She'd been trying to play it light and easy with him so she wouldn't spook him, wouldn't make him think she wanted more than he had to give. Now, she wished she'd been more honest. Now, she wished she'd told him she loved him.
* * *
After following a pizza delivery guy into Tori's building, Dylan found her bag lying outside her apartment door. He grabbed her purse and seeing that her door was ajar, he pushed it open, calling out her name.
There was no answer.
He jogged into the bedroom and checked the bathroom, but Tori wasn't there, and he knew there was no way she would have left her purse on the floor in the hallway. He dug through it.
Her phone was inside, flashing with the texts he'd sent. So were her keys.
She hadn't left the building under her own steam. Someone had taken her.
He felt sick to his stomach. He should have told her he'd come and get her and take her to the hospital. He'd been so worried about Emma he'd dropped the ball when it came to Tori.
He wanted to call Max, but he was at Emma's bedside. Calling 911 would bring officers here, but he'd have to wait for them to arrive, and what were they going to find when they got here? Nothing.
He looked around the room again. Her apartment was in the exact same condition as when he'd left that morning. The night they'd spent together seemed like a million years ago now.
Since there was no sign of a struggle, it was clear that Tori had been taken from the hallway. He was a little surprised her purse had been left behind, but he doubted she'd gone willingly.
&nb
sp; Terror ran through him at the image of Tori fighting for her life.
He forced himself to breathe, refusing to let fear overwhelm him. He had to stay calm, focused, and work the problem.
Running a hand through his hair, he paced around the room, going over what little he knew.
First Emma was attacked while looking for information in Kruger's office. In his gut, he believed that Kruger had shoved Emma down the stairs. Whether he meant to hurt her or just get her out of the way, he didn't know, but Kruger was the best suspect, because he had access to Emma's building, which the general public did not.
Kruger didn't seem like the person most likely to have grabbed Tori, although he did know where she lived, because he'd gotten her personal information as a witness.
Still…it didn't quite ring true.
Kruger had probably taken off after attacking Emma. He'd know he couldn't get away with it. There were security cameras in the building. He'd probably left the city as fast as he could.
So who else…
Mitch? He was allegedly out of town.
The mysterious Neil Hawkins? But he'd had opportunities to grab Tori long before this. Still he couldn't discount him.
Or was it one of the guys involved in the real-estate insurance scam they were trying to unravel? Lundgren or Litton or God knows who else?
His gaze moved back to her bag. He pulled out her computer, and as he did so, two pieces of paper fell out. One was a handwritten chart. Like her father, Tori had tried to make sense of the clues by laying them out. There wasn't much they hadn't talked about the night before.
He flipped to the next paper. Tori had printed out a map of the city and on it she'd circled several buildings. He knew two of those buildings: the hotel and the pawn shop. But the third one was new. It was a printing company. Tori had written next to it: Out of business. Owner Litton Capital.
He knew what that meant. The building was a perfect target for a suspicious fire. No people to worry about.
Unless…
He suddenly knew where Tori was. What better way to get rid of her?
He almost threw up at that thought.
Tori was fine. She had to be. He couldn't lose her.
So he would find her. He would save her. He would be her hero.
There was no other option.
He ran out of her apartment and down the street to his car. The building wasn't too far away, but despite the short distance, it took him ten minutes to get through the traffic.
He thought about calling 911, but he wasn't completely sure she would be there when he arrived.
After a lot of swerving and swearing, he finally made it through the traffic, turning down an alley and parking by a dumpster. He ran down the narrow alley, seeing a sign for Value Printers.
He was almost to the entrance when a blast rocked the air, and he was blown backward.
He landed hard on his ass as plaster and glass rained down on top of him. His ears rang from the explosion. Disoriented, he tried to get up, then fell back down again. But the heat of the blast, the now crackling flames, drove him to his feet. He had to get to Tori.
He looked around for his phone to call 911, but while it had once been in his hand, it was long gone. At the end of the alley, he saw people stopping to look. Someone would call for help. He needed to get inside.
He ran into burning buildings every day on the job, but this was different. Tori might be inside. Could she have possibly survived the explosion?
The front door had been blown off, so it was easy to get into the building, but the fire was blazing and the smell of gasoline was incredibly strong. He took a step forward, dodging quickly to avoid a falling, flaming beam of wood.
The downstairs was in rubble, and the stairs going up to the second floor were engulfed in flames.
His heart pounded against his chest, as he moved forward, calling out for her in the brutally hot, smoky darkness.
"Tori," he yelled. "Where are you?"
His chest began to burn as the smoke thickened. He pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose and got low to the floor. The last thing he needed was to go down from smoke inhalation before he could find her.
He took a few more steps, seeing a solid door to the right. He ran toward it, putting his hand on the handle, but he couldn't open it. The lock had been broken off.
"Tori," he yelled again.
"Dylan?" a faint voice said.
His heart flipped over. She was alive!
Anger and desperation sent him two steps back, then he launched himself forward, kicking his way through the door. He ran down the stairs and Tori fell into his arms.
"You're okay," he said, holding her tight.
"My dad," she said. "Help me."
"What?" he asked, confused by her words.
She moved toward a pile of rubble. "I can't get him out. He's pinned, and he's not moving anymore. I don't know if he's still breathing."
"Your father?" he asked in shock.
"I'll tell you later. Help me."
Fire was racing toward them, coming through the shattered ceiling that had fallen in on Tori's father. The older man was pinned under a beam, blood coming from a gash on his head, and his eyes were closed.
He knelt down and checked his pulse. "He's alive. Get out of here, Tori. Go for help."
"I'm not leaving either of you," she said, grabbing the beam. "We can move this together."
He had no time to argue, and he knew it wouldn't matter anyway. If they could move the beam even a little bit, they could rest it on the pile of debris and hopefully make enough room to pull her dad out.
"Hurry," Tori said, coughing at the end of her words.
He moved to the other side of her father. "On three," he told her. "One, two, three…" With a deep groan of effort, he pulled with all of his might as Tori did the same. They managed to slide the beam about six inches to the right, freeing her father's chest. He grabbed her dad's shoulders and pulled him free.
He still had a pulse but he wasn't moving.
"He's alive, isn't he?" Tori asked with fear in her voice.
"Yes. Let's get out of here."
With Tori's help, he was able to get her father up and over his shoulder. He moved toward the stairs, urging Tori in front of him. He just needed to get them out of the building.
Tori took one step and her foot crashed through the wooden stair. Flames were licking at the railing. In another minute they might not be able to get out.
"Stay to the right," he told her.
"I can do it," she said, finding enough solid wood to make it up to the landing.
He followed in her footsteps.
They'd just stepped through the doorway when the floor began to buckle under them.
Tori screamed. He pushed her forward, managing to get them both to safer ground as the floor behind them fell into the basement and the fire burned hotter from the added fuel.
Sirens blazed through the air and relief ran through him as they struggled through the thick smoke, trying to find the exit.
Yells suddenly lit up the air. "Fire department, call out."
"Here," he yelled.
A firefighter came through the smoke—Tom Franks, one of the men who worked the other shift at his house.
"Dylan," he said in shock. "What the hell? You need help?"
"I've got him," he said, not wanting to move Tori's dad any more than he had to. "Get her out."
Tom helped Tori to the door, and he followed close behind.
When they got to the street, two other firefighters came over to help. Together they placed her father on a stretcher and took him over to the ambulance where paramedics were waiting.
"He was pinned under a beam," he told Rachel, one of the paramedics who often worked his shift. "He might have a concussion, possible internal injuries."
"Got it," she said. "Are you two okay?" she asked, as her partner began work on Tori's father.
"We're fine," Tori said. "Just take care of my dad.
"
"We will," Rachel promised.
As Rachel went to work, Tori turned to him, her face covered in ash and smoke, her eyes wide with fear. "You think he has internal injuries?"
"I don't know, but that was a heavy beam on his chest."
She drew in a breath. "You're right. Oh, God." She put a hand to her mouth. "I can't lose him again, Dylan. I just got him back."
"Yeah, and I want to hear all about that."
"I want to tell you, but—"
"Not now," he said, cutting her off. "Just breathe, Tori." He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her trembling body next to his. She was shocked, but she was whole. She was alive. He'd never felt so relieved in his life. "It's going to be okay," he added.
"That's what my dad said, right before everything blew up. He has to make it, Dylan. He has to survive. I have a lot more questions for him."
"I'll bet."
"We're taking him to California Lutheran if you want to meet us there," Rachel said, as her partner and another firefighter loaded Tori's dad into the ambulance.
"Should I go with them?" Tori asked.
"I'll take you." He didn't want Tori in the back of the ambulance if things went south for her father.
As the ambulance raced down the street, she lifted her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, and he saw blood on her fingers.
"You're bleeding."
She looked at her hands in bemusement. "I didn't even realize. They don't hurt."
"Because you're in shock. I should have had the medics check you out."
"No, it's nothing. They're just scratched from trying to get my dad out. My father pushed me out of the way when the ceiling came down. I've never been so scared. I didn't think we were going to get out. I thought we were going to die down there. That damned locked door was the only thing that didn't break when the explosion went off."
"You're safe now."
"Because of you. If you hadn't broken down the door, we wouldn't have gotten out before the rest of the ceiling fell down. The firefighters might not have even known we were in there."
He didn't want to consider that possibility. "You're out now. That's all that matters."
Once You're Mine Page 24
