Chapter 26
26
MAY
“ I know I’m right.” I take Carson’s hand as he helps me down the stairs. “I just know it.”
“I don’t doubt you, babe. I never will.” He squeezes my fingers.
Mousey jumps onto the tarmac and runs to one of the waiting limos, jumping in quickly.
“Diva,” I laugh, then squeal as Carson takes my waist and sets me down onto solid ground.
“Let’s get you in the car. It’s too cold.” He hurries me forward.
“Carson!” Mrs. Farrol chirps. “A moment?”
“Get in. I’ll be right back.” He drops a kiss on my head then trots over to Mrs. Farrol’s car. “What do you need?”
I follow Mousey’s path into the back seat of the warm limo and scoot over to leave room for Carson. The driver closes the door before I can protest, then he slides into the front seat.
“ Get out! You have to get out !” Mousey’s muffled cries come from somewhere up front.
Alarm raises my hackles. “Where are you?” I lean between the seats and see her fur poking out between the seams of the glove box. “Mousey!”
“Let’s go for a ride,” the driver says in a distinctly non-French accent.
“Let her go–Oh!” I yelp and fall backwards into the seat as he floors it and turns the limo hard to the left. Then, he’s speeding away from the plane, away from Carson.
“It’s the greaseball from–” Mousey hisses as the driver takes another hard turn and I’m thrown across the back seat.
“Lennie!” I grab the doorhandle and hold on as he speeds onto a roadway and really floors it.
“You remembered. How sweet.” I can hear the grin in his voice.
“Carson’s going to–”
“Carson isn’t going to do shit, so I suggest you sit down and shut up. Might want to buckle up, too, if you want to arrive in one piece.” He passes cars right and left, weaving through traffic without any regard for the danger.
I buckle up–not because he told me to, but because I don’t want to die. Maybe Mousey’s safer in the glove box at this point.
“Why are you doing this?” I cry over the revving engine.
“It’s my job.” He shrugs and tosses his chauffeur hat onto the seat next to him.
I try to fight down my fear, the rising terror that threatens to close my throat and drown my eyes. I need to stay calm. Not just for my sake, but for Mousey’s. She’s completely trapped. I have to make sure I get her out of there.
“Where are you taking us?”
“Enough questions. Just enjoy the ride.” He glances at me in the rearview. “I can give you another ride, free of charge, once we reach our destination.” He winks at me, and my stomach turns.
“Is it Sorcha? Did she hire you?” He gives me another quick glance, then returns his attention to the road. No response from him, but that glance told me enough. He knows who Sorcha is. She must’ve sent him to Carson’s place to spy on us, and now she’s gone farther and had him kidnap me and Mousey.
“ I’m going to claw his eyes out !” Mousey shrieks. “ Let me at ‘im !”
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Who the fuck you talking to?” Lennie smirks, then his gaze flickers to the mirror. “Fucking hell. Shit!” He swerves hard onto an exit, blows through a traffic light, then roars back onto the highway. “Fuck!” he yells again and hits the accelerator.
“ What ?” Mousey cries. “ What’s going on out there ?”
I turn and look out the back window, hope blooming in my heart as I lock eyes with the one my soul already calls its own. “It’s Carson. He’s coming for us, and he doesn’t look happy.”
Mousey lets out a peal of laughter. “ Tell this Lennie prick to bend over and kiss his sorry ass goodbye .”