Chapter 13
I had to get out of here. I didn’t know if I was being brainwashed or if he was truly trying to keep me safe.
“We’re beginning our descent. Please ensure your seatbelts are securely fastened.”
I made sure my seatbelt was locked in, then turned to look out the window as the plane made its descent. I didn’t know what I planned to do when we got on solid land, but all I knew was I needed to get back home. This was not how my trip was supposed to go. I was sure my friends and family were tripping. Not to mention, Jim was supposed to be picking me up from the airport.
“Why am I in danger?” I asked. I returned my attention to him to wait for an answer, but he seemed hell bent on keeping whatever the reason was to himself. “If you want me to trust you and not make this harder, I need answers, and I damn well deserve them. I wasn’t in danger until I bumped into you at that damn resort, so how did I get into this shit?”
He released a deep sigh, then looked me square in the eyes. “You’ve been in danger long before I ever met you, but I can be honest and say I didn’t make it any better.”
I sat up straighter in my seat and lifted a brow. “I don’t know what you know, but you’re talking in circles. What the hell is going on? What do you mean, I have been in danger long before I met you?”
“That’s not my story to tell,” he said, then looked away.
I could tell he was through with the conversation, but I wasn’t, which made my miraculous plans for a getaway a thing of the past. If I was being real with myself, I didn’t even know how far I was from home, so I was going to have to wait it out.
I closed my eyes as the pressure within the cabin pressed against my temples. It was always that way with me whenever I was on a plane. I counted down for a moment until the plane’s wheels hit the tarmac. I peeled my eyes open to see Brodrick or Knox, whoever the hell he was, staring intently at me.
“Can I help you?” I asked, then rolled my eyes.
He chuckled and then covered his mouth with his hand. I looked over to the right out of the window. I wanted to see if I noticed anything that would tell me where the hell we were, but there was no such luck when the door to the plane opened.
“Do I need to carry you out of here or are you going to act right and walk?” he asked.
I lifted a brow as I unbuckled my seatbelt, then stood. “My legs work just fine, and you can bet you will never get to touch this ass again.” I threw over my shoulder as I made my way to the door.
“Mhm,” he mumbled behind me.
I ignored him and then carefully walked down the steps to make it to the blacked out SUV waiting on us. I pointed toward the opened back door and he nodded. Without question, I slid into the backseat of the truck, then closed my door before he could slide in next to me. When I looked up, a stranger sat in the driver’s seat. He looked as if he worked out regularly. I could tell from back here he was a looker, too. Although I hated to admit it, he had nothing on my kidnapper.
“Sir, can you tell me where we are?” I asked, hoping he would respond.
“In a black SUV, oh and outside of an airport,” he answered smartly.
I released a frustrated breath and sat back against the seat. I decided I would put on my seatbelt and mind my business before they pissed me off. Brodrick opened the passenger door and slid in beside me.
“Knox, you haven’t told this damn woman where we’re taking her?” the driver asked.
He looked in my direction unphased and shrugged his shoulders. “Didn’t have time for all that. I’m too busy trying to keep her ass safe, and she is fighting me every step of the way.”
“Maybe I’m fighting you because I’ve only known you for less than a week. Oh, and get this! I am just now figuring out your real name. I almost forgot this last thing. You drugged me, then kidnapped me!” I yelled.
The driver chuckled with a shake of his head. “Same ole Knox,” the driver said.
“Fuck you, VC. Just drive the damn truck.”
I almost snapped my neck at how fast I looked back toward the driver. I turned my wrist over that adorned the watch Knox left behind. I stuck my hand between the seat and showed him the watch.
“You’re this VC?” I asked.
He finally turned around enough that I could get a good look at him. He had brown hair and freckles that peppered across the bridge of his nose. VC lifted his brow as he looked in Knox’s direction. Then he nodded back at me with a smirk. I could tell was a lot friendlier than Knox was or at least what Knox was now. This was not the man I spent all that time with in Fiji.
“That would be me. It’s nice to meet you finally. I’m his best friend. We’ve known each other for the majority of our lives—” he started before Knox interrupted.
“Would you get us out of here or do you plan to host a talk show out here in the truck?” he asked.
“It’s amazing how moody someone can be when they kidnapped someone else and also put their life in danger.”
VC shook his head and pulled on his seatbelt before finally driving the car out of the area and onto a road. I still didn’t see any landmarks that would tell me where we were. Usually I would see signs, but I had yet to see a damn thing.
I figured I wouldn’t get the answers I needed until we made it to wherever we were going, anyway, so I took a nap for a moment until I felt the car jerk to the left, then the right. My eyes popped open.
I glanced over at Knox to see he was placing bullets into what appeared to be a pistol.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked.
He glanced over his shoulder out of the back window, and sure enough, there was a car speeding up to catch up to us. They were weaving through traffic at an alarming speed. I closed my eyes and immediately prayed. Even if I had to swear off men, I would. I just wanted to make it back to my annoying family in one piece.
Soon after, bullets rang out, hitting the truck. Knox quickly pulled me down until my head was in between my legs. Then rolled the window down. I couldn’t help the screams that erupted from me as the sounds of the gun going off continued.
“Rico Suave, I’m gone need you to handle this shit before they kill my ass!” VC complained as he continued to expertly maneuver the car.
Knox never said a word, but once he was positioned by the open window, he shot at the grill of the car tracking us until smoke came from the car.
“Oh my God!” I screamed.
Knox pushed me back down into my previous position, then continued to shoot out of the window. I just knew this damn man was going to get all of us killed. I didn’t have a doubt about it, but I knew if I was going to die, it would not be as a damn wallflower. I moved from beneath Knox and grabbed the gun laying in the passenger seat. I quickly removed the safety, then rolled down the opposite window. Without a second thought, I aimed for the man in the driver’s seat, hitting him square between his eyes, causing the car to swerve off the road.
I rolled up the window, then placed the safety back on. I could feel both of their eyes practically burning a hole through me. I glanced up at them and rolled my eyes. “What? Was I supposed to just sit here?” I asked.
VC looked back at Knox with a shake of his head and a smirk before returning his attention back to the road.
“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” Knox finally asked.
“My parents. My siblings and I were required to know how to handle ourselves. Turns out I’m the best shot in the family. Once I got a handle on it, I’ve never missed my target.”
I shrugged, then leaned back into my seat as the reality of the situation set in. I just killed someone, granted they were chasing us, but did I really have the full story? I had every intention of finding out. For the rest of the ride, I sat in silence. It seemed as if everyone else was comfortable with the silence as well.
We seemed to drive another hour before we were pulling into the parking lot of an old motel that appeared as if it had seen better days. My skin crawled before we got out of the car. VC parked the car and hopped out, leaving Knox and me alone.
I turned to face him because I needed answers. I was certain he probably didn’t want to answer or show a moment of vulnerability. He kept his eyes trained, looking around the car. I was sure anything to avoid me.
“I need answers, and I need them now. Why did you lie about what your real name was? What did you think I was going to do? Look you up?” I asked.
He released a sigh, then looked in my direction for a moment. “I didn’t expect to run into you, let alone build a connection. This is my life, Skye. I have rarely ever gotten to be Knox with anyone. But with you, that was the closest I’ve ever gotten to feeling human. Even though my name was Brodrick to you.”
“I still don’t think you fully grasp the situation. I just killed someone back there. I need to know what kind of danger am I really in? Who is after me?”
Knox leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of him. I waited briefly for him to answer me.
“I can’t tell you out here. Give me some time to get us into an enclosed space that we can control. I promise I will answer anything you want to know, at least the things I can tell you without putting you in more danger than you’re already in. Just give me a chance to make this all make sense.”
I wanted to give a rebuttal, but the pleading look in his eyes stopped me cold. For the first time, I was at a loss for words. So, I sat back against the seats and waited for instructions on what to do next. I just wanted to get back to my normal life and if playing it their way for a moment was the way to do that, I was willing to do it.
Finally, VC knocked against the window, alerting us of his presence. Knox then reached back into the truck to grab a black duffle bag. I watched as he unzipped it, then pulled out a baseball cap and a large oversized sweatshirt. He handed them over to me.
“Put that on.”
I rotated the cap in my hands, because I would never wear this normally. I figured he had a good enough reason for me to be putting it on, so I quickly stuffed my hair into the cap, then slipped on the sweatshirt. Once we all had on what we needed to wear, they drove the truck around the parking lot to the darkest corner of the lot.
We got out of the truck and both of the men blocked me from a view of anyone seeing me as we walked to the room we would stay in. My eyebrow rose as I thought spending the night with both of them. I barely knew Knox, and I damn sure didn’t know a thing about VC, but I didn’t want to complain and make things harder.
The moment we stepped inside of the room, there were two full beds dressed in the usual motel floral sheets. My eyes fell upon every stain this room had. I could only imagine what the damn bathroom looked liked. I looked up at the popcorn ceiling and said a silent prayer.
I walked further into the room and pulled back the sheets of the bed to check the headboard for bed bugs. If I was going to have to lay in this nasty ass motel, I wasn’t coming back with bites too. I shivered at the thought.
“What are you doing?” Knox asked from behind me.
I turned to look over my shoulder to see VC staring with a smirk along with Knox, looking beyond confused. I stood up straight and gripped my hips.
“I’m checking for bed bugs. Please don’t tell me you were going to just lay down and act like it’s super clean in here?”
VC chuckled before covering it with a cough and pulling another room key from his pocket.
“I’m going to leave y’all to it. I have my own damn room. Plus, I have some damage control to do. Today was too damn close, and I’m not trying to wake up with anymore surprises,” VC said before leaving the room.
Now it was just us.