CHAPTER FORTY
Stay Alive
SERENITY
Stay calm. That’s all I need to do is stay calm.
Dom is seething, practically foaming at the mouth. He’s typing out yet another raging message, but he can only do it with one arm, because I stabbed him in the other one.
Earlier, he went to grab me, but he got distracted by his phone. Whoever keeps messaging him is ticking him off. I slithered around him while he cussed, but the moment my fingers brushed his knife, he caught me. My entire body went numb from fear. I tried to gain control, and somehow I did. I wrapped my hand around his knife, and I slashed him right down his arm.
For a moment, the desire to protect my life disappeared. My only worry was that I might’ve killed someone. When I realized he was okay, I feared that not killing him would cost me my life.
Instead, he tossed the knife aside and tied my wrists behind my back. He pushed over after, and now my butt is on the floor, just at the dining toom entrance. Half of my body, my legs, are still in the kitchen.
His wound isn’t very deep, but it’s enough to hurt and bleed. He’ll need to get it wrapped soon or it’ll get infected.
Based on everything I know, Dom isn’t as insistent on hurting me as he is on punishing Lake. He’s also waiting for his partner, so my life isn’t in total danger. Yet. I could use the spare time and mercy to escape, but I don’t know how. I have no plan.
If Dom gets distracted, I can weasel deep in the dining room, somehow free my hands, and grab my phone from the table. Or, it might be better if I booked it. That’s another possibility. I’ll run for the front door and hope a neighbor will spot me. Although, I probably won’t even make it outside if my hands are still linked behind me.
“Why, why would you do this to me?” he shouts at his phone screen. Halfway through his sentence, he redirects it at me.
I’m tired of him trying to victimize himself. I haven’t even been his hostage for an hour yet, but I feel like I’ve been listening to his crap for years.
“Why?” he repeats.
His eyes are beady and cold, and I wonder if that’s how he used to look at my sister. It’s nice to know she didn’t kill anyone, even though the framing part is true. She attempted to use my kindness against me for the millionth time, but I still hope he didn’t look at her how he’s staring at me.
“Nobody did anything to you, Dom. You did this to yourself.”
He jumps up and down on his toes, pulling at strands of his hair. “You little bitch, you’re so lucky I can’t just shoot you.”
My eyes struggle to not roll into the back of my head. While he’s throwing his fit, I massage my wrists together and attempt to loosen my zip ties, but nothing is happening. I don’t think I’m doing it right.
“Na?ve and stupid, just like Delilah,” he adds.
Dom spikes up and I jump on the ground when there’s a pounding knock at my front door. He snatches the knife, gives me a nasty glare, and disappears down the hallway.
I could scream for help, but I know in my soul it’s his partner pounding on my door. There’s not much time left. I’m more likely to die if they transport me to a new location. I squeeze my fingers and shift them around faster.
“Crap,” I whisper.
Cut them. I can try to cut them.
I spin onto my knees and shove my side against the wall, using it to stabilize me as I push myself to my feet. It takes a second, but I’m able to stand. Then I stumble to the knife drawer, wriggling my fingers on the knob, tugging it open. But even with that effort, that small fragment of time is all Dom needs to answer the door and return.
He comes back around the corner before I cut my ties, and most likely my hand, but then more footsteps follow him. Tears haven’t swarmed my eyes this entire time. I kept myself sewn tight. Even with my life on the line, it didn’t rip my heartstrings.
What does pluck my strings is my husband appearing behind Dom, a gun pressed to his temple, and his hands zipped behind his back. Then that fear mixes with anger, and shock, because the man holding a loaded gun to Lake’s head is my ex boyfriend. My creepy boss that’s been stalking me. Stupid Caleb Fletcher.
“I got you daffodils, but this idiot wouldn’t let me grab them.” Lake nudges his head at Caleb. “I’m sorry, Angel. Clearly I should’ve come home sooner.”
“You were coming home?” I croak.
He gives me a gentle smile, soothing me from across the room.
Caleb points at Dom. “Why is your arm bleeding?”
There’s dry blood crusting to his fingertips, and blood continues to seep from the gash. The more I see the cut, the deeper it looks. The knife took quite the munch out of his skin.
“She stabbed me.” Dom points to me.
“Good job, Angel.”
I struggle to process what’s going on, so I suck in a breath. “Thank you. But I’m really confused—”
Dom struts over to Lake, a sinister grin on his lips. “You thought you’d get away with snitching?”
Lake says nothing. Instead, with a gun against his skull, he rears back his neck and slams his forehead right into Dom’s nose.
I gasp, trying to cover my mouth with my hands before remembering I can’t, and Dom stumbles backward, groaning, then screaming, sheltering his nose, trying to repress the pain.
“Fucking hell.” Caleb throws Lake onto the ground, and another gasp leaves my lips. “Come here, Serenity.”
Lake rolls onto his butt as fast as he can, switching his gaze between our captors. Dom is shouting curse words over and over, swiping blood from his nose, but more keeps pouring out, and Caleb is charging for me.
The drawer behind me is slightly open. My fingertips brush against sharpness, but there’s no time to retrieve it, and there isn’t a point in trying if my hands aren’t even free.
“Come here,” Caleb says again, motioning with his empty hand and walking towards me, reaching out to grab me.
“Don’t fucking touch her. She can walk over here by herself.” Lake nods at me. “Come here, Angel, it’s okay.”
I steer my body away to avoid Caleb’s hand and step back to the dining room entrance. I stay on my heels, peering down at Lake. His features are healing well. The only obvious damage is the cut on his nose from Jimena’s nail.
“Sit down.” Caleb sighs.
“Get Lake to tell her.” Dom swipes blood away from his nose. “She’s his bitch. Only takes orders from him.”
“She’s not my bitch.” Lake snaps back. “She’s a person, and she can listen to whoever she wants, and stab every idiot she wants to stab.”
I take a minute to decide if I’m better off standing or sitting, and I end by plopping myself next to Lake. It’s easier to not cause trouble until I understand what’s happening, and it’ll be easier to communicate with one another. Also, I miss having him next to me.
“Are you high, Dom?” Caleb shifts back around the kitchen island. “Why the hell did you break into her house? You’re high, or you’ve lost your damn mind.”
Dom rocks his head. “I’m not high.”
They stand by the island stools. Caleb covers Dom’s lean frame, and his back is to Lake and I. He lowers his voice to a whisper, and Dom certainly doesn’t like what he’s hearing. The sliver of Dom’s face that I can see is growing into pure rage.
Lake leans over, his lips caressing my ear. “Caleb and TC are running a drug ring together.”
Well, since he’s here, that makes sense, but what the hell? Has he been running a drug ring the entire time I’ve known him? That would explain why he’s so grouchy, rude, and uncaring every second of his life.
If Caleb’s working with Dom—TC, is he connected to Mancini’s death?
“Angel.” Lake keeps his eyes on Caleb and Dom. “I know you’re anxious. It’s okay, alright? I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”
One of the thousands of knots in my heart un-tie, and I say a small, “okay,” under my breath. “How are you involved in this, Lake?”
He gives me a look full of sorrow. “TC was my dealer. Brooks, Jimena, and I figured all of that out. Turns out you and me almost met a long time ago, Angel.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
He goes to speak, but both of us turn our attention to Caleb’s sudden shouting.
“Because you’re strung out! You’ve snorted enough coke to cost me twenty thousand. It’s only getting worse.” He taps his chest. “We’re running a business, Dom. You screwed it up because you’re high!”
“No, I didn’t.” Dom stabs his finger at Lake. “He messed it up because he ratted on me, and she’s the reason he turned.”
Caleb lifts his head from his hands and groans. “That’s not true. Did you forget when I dated Serenity to monitor you and your perchead girlfriend?”
For the second time in my whole life, anger bubbles up my esophagus. “You only dated me because of your secret drug ring?”
“Yeah. Why else would anyone date you?” Caleb spins around and shrugs. “Pretty isn’t enough, sweetheart.”
Lake cuts in. “The second I get the chance, I’m killing both of you.”
I scoot closer to my husband. “You’re not killing anyone.” I whip my head back to Caleb. “Especially not someone I took pity on when he begged me to go out with him for weeks.”
Caleb laughs. “It’s not like I bowed to your feet. You were just convenient.”
Whatever energy is pumping through Lake reaches me, and I’m not backing down until I see a shattered ego. “Well, it wasn’t convenient for me. It was nothing but a waste. You’re as bad a partner as you are a doctor. Less than mediocre.”
I watch the smirk crumble from Caleb’s lips, and Lake giggles next to me.
Dom's eyes almost fly out of his skull. “These two are annoying me!”
Caleb twists back, attempting to shush him with hand motions. “Dom. I know, but you’re not killing anyone, not here.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t remember sooner,” Lake whispers, and his lips return to my ear. “The night Mancini was killed, Dom was selling me drugs. I got into a car that wasn’t his. It was your car.”
My jaw drops to the floor, and I slowly turn my head to look Lake in the eyes. “Seriously?”
He nods. “I was so out of it. I remembered nothing until the other day. So I pretended I was gonna go buy H to get a confession out of TC. It worked.”
“That’s why he’s here to kill you, too?” I croak.
“Don’t worry about that.” The corners of his eyes crease. “I wasn’t gonna let anyone take a good life from my wife.”
There is so much going on. Way too much for me to be softening from Lake’s words, but I am. He’s home, and not in any way I ever imagined, but he’s home and being sweet to me.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve never left.” He shakes his head. “Honey, I thought I wasn’t good for you, and I’m not, but if you’ll let me, I’ll wake up with you every morning, and I’ll keep trying until I am.”
What a weird time for my whole being to flourish with love. There are neon zip ties binding our wrists, two psychotic men arguing in the background, one of them has a gun, and they’re both not happy with us.
Nevermind. I guess there’s no better time to feel love. I smile. “I love you, Phoenix.”
“I love you too, Angel.” He presses his forehead against mine. “We’re getting out of here, safe and sound.”
I attempt to kiss him, but again, we’re drawn back to these two screaming at each other. “We don’t have the time for this, TC. The cops are on your ass. Do you get that? I told you to wait for my call. Not hold her hostage.”
“Can you two shut the hell up?” Lake groans.
Dom doesn’t appreciate that. He rips Caleb’s gun from his hand and aims it at Lake. “You wanna say that again, bigshot?”
“Shut—”
I kick Lake’s leg, and he zips his mouth shut. He is not getting shot in the head on my watch.
“Give me my gun.” Caleb tries to steal it back. “What are you trying to do? Get another life sentence?”
Lake stops paying attention to them. He glances around the room, stuck in deep thought. I, however, can’t focus on anything but their conversation. The burst of information is overwhelming and scary. So I watch as Dom struts off into the living room, muttering under his breath, and pacing the space back and forth.
Caleb makes a face, ignoring Dom, and he yanks his gun out of his palm. Dom doesn’t even notice, he just continues rambling to himself.
“What are we going—”
I stop speaking as Lake gives me a look and his handsome eyes state one thing; be a distraction. My eyes widen, and I want to protest, but Lake reassures me by kissing my cheek.
I swallow the sharp lump in my throat and raise my voice. “Is this why you’re so rude to our overdose patients?”
Caleb grins, taking steps back to the kitchen. “They never know it. I work in the shadows, gathering supplies. Dom’s the one who sells everything, but those are my customers. Why would I want them sober?”
I furrow my eyebrows. “That’s a nasty thing to do, Caleb.”
He shrugs his shoulders. “It’s worked this long. I’ve been filing fake prescriptions and using all that income to hire chemists.” He flows his arms out beside him. “It started with the pills. Now it’s everything anyone could ever want.”
There’s a huge knot forming in my stomach. This is disgusting, and he’s proud of himself. He’s smiling because he believes this entire scheme is praiseworthy.
“Until this one screwed up, and he didn’t tell me about it until after Delilah was dead.” He gives Dom a dirty look. “Which is when I started watching you.”
My ears are picking up on a hushed noise. Lake is doing something with his zip ties. I’d love to know what, so I could escape mine, but I need to hold myself in the spotlight until Lake does whatever his next move is.
I scoot on my bum, shifting away from Lake, but keeping my movements as subtle as possible. That way, it appears like I’m simply adjusting. “So that’s why you started trying to get back together? Or whatever that was.”
He tilts his head. “Not exactly. At that point, I wasn’t as worried about it. I knew Dom was framing you, so I just wanted to make sure it went smoothly.” He pauses for a moment, grinning freakishly and pushing his blonde hair back. “It only got alarming when Phoenix died in our ER, who I knew was there that night, and then you, being you, you just had to save him.”
Oh, my goodness. He knew this the whole time. That’s why he never wanted me near Lake. He cornered me in the breakroom to stop me from getting closer to Lake. It had nothing to do with our history.
“So your insistence on letting Lake die wasn’t just to do with him being your customer. It was because he was a loose end.” I tuck in my bottom lip as everything sets in.
“Yeah. I had no clue you two ran off and got married until recently, though.” He laughs. “I was betting on the hope he’d relapse, and never remember.”
I’m close to vomiting from all this horrible information. He almost forced my hands away from Lake’s heart, and not because of hospital restrictions. It was selfish, and if I didn’t insist on trying, Caleb would’ve won. He would’ve gotten away with all of this.
Dom sits on my couch, and he rocks himself back and forth. “Jail. I can’t go to jail. I can’t be in a cell. He should’ve paid me. I’m not going.”
I blink and return to the conversation. “Why would you tell me all of this if you’re not going to kill us?”
“Who said I wouldn’t kill you? Dom just screwed up our plan, cause he’s having an episode.” He snarls at him. “You’re both loose ends. I can’t be screwed over, Serenity.”
There’s a tiny crunch only Lake and I hear. My husband stares at me. This time, he knows he needs to use his words in order for me to understand, to express the severity and make me listen.
“Get behind the wall,” he orders.
Caleb glances between us, panic rising through him from Lake’s words, and he tries to stabilize his hand on the trigger. He aims the gun over me, then Lake, but his focus settles on Lake when Lake brings his free hands into view.
Those hands take hold of a fallen picture frame I knocked over when Dom pushed me, and Lake throws it in Caleb’s way. The toss creates an opening. It’s just enough time for us to find cover. Lake dives behind the kitchen island, and I roll my way into the dining room, slipping behind the wall. I tuck my body right into the corner, shielding myself.
The gun goes off, and I’m too scared to look around the corner.