Seventeen
“I’ve forgotten why I thought this was a good idea,” Norah said as they approached the front entrance of Dutch’s. The lot was full, forcing them to park on the street a block away, and there was a short line of people waiting for the bouncer to check their IDs at the door.
“I never thought this was a good idea,” Dash grumbled, his gaze moving around them, scanning the shadows as well as the people scattered around.
Norah ignored his mutterings, too occupied with trying to see who the bouncer was. “Think we’ll not get in?”
“Don’t think we’ll be that lucky.”
His persistent grumpiness was almost funny. “Well, we did almost get kicked out last time. And the bouncer gave me the I’m watching you fingers.”
Dash’s attention shifted back to her as his brows rose.
“You know.” She demonstrated.
His huff of laughter quickly disintegrated into another growly mutter as they joined the end of the line at the door. “No one gets banned from Dutch’s. One of these days, I’m taking you on a date to a nice place.”
“We’ve been to nice places.” Standing on her toes, she could see the bouncer’s shaved head, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was the same guy. Although her experience with bouncers was limited, she was fairly certain having a shaved head was part of the traditional uniform. “I liked our run.”
The look he gave her was hot enough to light her hair on fire. “I liked how our run ended.”
“Me too.” She knew she had to change the subject before she jumped him in Dutch’s parking lot. “I love that Thai restaurant we went to. And your apartment is nice… was nice.” She corrected herself with a pang.
“It doesn’t count as a date if the cops or fire department has to be called.”
Giving up on trying to get a glimpse of the bouncer, she turned to him, honestly interested. “Do you think so? I was wondering about that same thing, but I figured what constitutes a date has more to do with the intentions of the parties involved rather than if there’s a violent interruption or not.”
His expression had lightened a little. “You deserve every date to be nice and nonviolent.” His frown returned as he scanned the lot. “With no stalkers.”
She smiled, imagining it. “That’d be nice.”
With the sun long gone for the night, the temperature had dropped. Although Norah had dressed in pants—just in case she needed to knee someone in the face again—and a jacket over her blouse, she still shivered a little from cold and anticipation. Without dropping his gaze from the people around them, Dash wrapped his arm around her and tucked her against his side.
She stiffened, not expecting to be touching him so suddenly. It was different in public than it had been in the privacy of her bedroom. After a few moments, she began to relax. He was extremely warm and, despite his rocklike conformation, surprisingly comfortable to lean against. As they slowly advanced toward the front of the line, Dash kept her close. Norah would never have guessed that in-line cuddling would be a perk of dating that she enjoyed, but she didn’t want to pull away from him, even when they reached the bouncer.
It was the same one, and Norah immediately looked at her feet as she held out her driver’s license for him to see. She was sure the bouncer was about to pick her up by the scruff of her neck and physically toss her out of line, likely combined with shouted warnings to never return, and then Dash would have to kill him for touching her, but all the bouncer did was grunt in a displeased way.
Handing back her ID, he warned, “No trouble.” But that was it. No tossing or shouting at all. It was almost anticlimactic.
When Dash was allowed through with the same treatment, Norah had to admit that he’d been right—apparently, no one got banned from Dutch’s. That was both a relief—since she hadn’t looked forward to being tossed across the parking lot—and a little intimidating. Who knew what kind of troublemakers frequented a place where literally anyone was allowed to go?
Dash tugged her behind him, pulling her out of her musings, and she latched on to the back of his belt. Even when she had a firm hold of him, he didn’t move his hand, keeping it resting on her hip as if to reassure himself that she was still with him.
Dutch’s was packed, busier than she’d ever seen it before…although this was only the third time she’d been at the bar. She looked around, searching for a glimpse of Laken, but she was too short to see much of anything. Dash must’ve spotted someone though, since he made a sharp left and worked his way through the crowd, plowing a path for her like one of those ice-crushing boats in the arctic.
He stopped by a table, and she moved to his side.
“Norah! You came!”
Dash had indeed led her right to Laken. Part of her—a very large part of her—wished that Dash was just barging his way to the dance floor or something. Forcing a smile, she gave Laken a little wave in response to her enthusiastic greeting.
“You remember Kenslee, Carson, and Pike, of course!” Laken made a sweeping gesture toward the three sitting with her at a high-top table close to the bar.
Losing even her weak attempt at a smile, Norah just nodded stiffly at her three former classmates. They didn’t look much different from when she’d last seen them five years ago, except Carson was currently trying out a very strange facial hair arrangement. The two guys offered her chin lifts while Kenslee gave her a wave and her trademark pageant smile.
This was a bad idea. Norah couldn’t argue with the voice in her brain, but she was determined to get this over with. She needed to find out exactly what Laken wanted—although she had a pretty good idea it had something to do with the necklace her mom had stolen—and somehow convince the woman there was no way Norah could help her.
“Who’s this?” Kenslee asked, giving Dash a slow once-over that made Norah want to smack her.
It was such a strong urge that she grabbed her right hand with her left to keep her body from overruling her common sense. This is a nonviolent date , she told herself, repeating it like a mantra. This is a nice, nonviolent date.
When Dash just gave Kenslee one of his typical scowls, Norah figured it was up to her to introduce him. “Dash,” she said, but it was lost in a surge of crowd chatter. Raising her voice, she tried again. “This is Dash.” When Kenslee gave him another heavy-lidded look, she added, “My boyfriend.”
That earned her a sideways half smile from said boyfriend. She could feel her cheeks warm slightly, but she straightened her shoulders. Even though they hadn’t specifically defined their relationship, he felt extremely boyfriend-like to her. Also, he was the one who said they weren’t fake dating.
“Here!” Laken shoved a drink toward her. “It’s on me! You have some catching up to do.”
Occupied by claiming Dash as her own, Norah hadn’t even noticed Laken leaving the table, but she’d obviously made another trip to the bar. A little of the bright pink liquid sloshed over the rim of the glass, and Norah shifted back against Dash, both so she didn’t get splashed and also because she really didn’t want to take the drink. She wasn’t a big drinker in the first place, and she didn’t trust Laken enough to accept anything from her.
“No, thank you.” She held up a hand as if to physically block the drink from entering her body. “You enjoy it. I’m just going to have water.”
Although she pouted, Laken stopped shoving the drink at her and put it down on the table in front of her own seat. “I’ll get you a water then.”
“No, I—” It was too late to protest, since Laken had already darted toward the bar again.
Reluctantly, Norah turned back to the others. Even though Laken was annoying, she was chatty and could’ve served as a bit of a buffer between Norah and the remaining three. She sent a quick glance at Dash, but he was keeping an eye on the crowd around them. It looked like there was an argument building between two guys three tables away, and she could tell most of Dash’s focus was on them.
Except for Laken’s, all the available seats were taken, so Norah just stood awkwardly next to the table. Dash took up the space behind her, close enough that she could feel his body heat but not touching. None of the others said anything, so Norah searched her brain for something to talk about. It was interesting how awkwardly quiet things could seem even in a noisy crowd. She finally settled on an innocuous question she was fairly sure wouldn’t be considered strange. “Um…how long are you going to be in Langston?”
“Just tonight,” Kenslee answered, although her gaze kept flicking to Dash as she stirred the remains of her cocktail. “I live in Colorado Springs now.”
“Oh.” What is there to say about the Springs? Scrambling for a response, Norah just said, “That’s…nice.”
“What’ve you been up to?” Pike asked. “Heard you’re a bounty hunter now. You must have some interesting stories.”
There was an odd note to his voice, but Norah wasn’t sure if it was amusement or derision or possibly horniness, so she ignored it and just nodded. At least some of Dash’s attention must’ve been on their conversation, since he stiffened. When Norah glanced up at him, she saw he was glowering at Pike. Either the man didn’t notice or he ignored it, because Pike’s gaze stayed fixed on her. The other two at the table were watching her closely as well. It was more than a bit unnerving, and she found herself leaning back against Dash, finding courage in the press of her back against his front. He ran his hand over her upper arm, and that was very nice too.
Despite the comfort of Dash’s touch, Pike’s question rankled. Not this again. Laken had been all about the “interesting stories” too, making Norah think that it was code for “tell us the one about your mom stealing a very expensive necklace, and make sure to include the part about where she hid it.”
“Not really.” Norah gave her standard answer, knowing that she was a beat or two too late. “I’m just a researcher. No fieldwork for me.”
Pike and Carson exchanged a look while Kenslee studied Norah like she was a particularly interesting bug she was about to squash with her very expensive heel.
“I heard about your mom,” Carson said. When his lips moved, so did the weirdly caterpillar-like hair above and below his mouth. It was both disconcerting and distracting, making it hard to concentrate on what he was saying. “The whole stealing that necklace and taking off thing. That must suck.”
Kenslee slapped his arm. “Rude! I’m sure she doesn’t want to talk about her loser mom.”
Blinking, Norah wasn’t sure whether she should thank Kenslee for that save, since it was also kind of a kick in the face.
“It’s not good to hold things in though,” Pike offered, taking a drink without looking away from her. “Maybe she wants to vent.”
She felt Dash’s chest move with either a chuckle or a grunt. Knowing him, it was almost certainly a grunt of derision directed at the three in front of her. She glanced up at him, but she couldn’t get any idea of his thoughts from his expression. The arguing pair at the other table was getting loud again, and he was staring in their direction, his usual scowl in place.
“The line at the bar took forever .” Laken slid back into her seat. Twisting off the cap of a water, she held out the bottle. “Here.”
Norah accepted it, although she gave the cap in Laken’s hand a confused look, unsure why the woman had opened it for her.
Following Norah’s gaze, Laken gave a little laugh and held out the cap. “Sorry. Mom habit. I have a three-year-old, so I’m always opening drinks for her—although that usually involves poking a straw into a juice box.”
Hearing that Laken had a daughter made her seem a bit more human. “What’s her name?” Norah asked, taking a sip of water. It was cold and made her realize how dry her mouth was, and she gave Laken an honestly grateful smile before taking another long drink.
“Isla.” Digging in her bag, she pulled out her phone and held it out so Norah could see the picture on the screen.
“Cute.” It was true. The little girl looked like a miniature, sweeter version of Laken. Norah looked at the other three, Laken having unknowingly gifted her with a conversation topic. “Do any of you have kids?”
“No,” Kenslee said quickly, looking so horrified by the idea that Norah almost laughed.
“Two.” Pike was the next to answer, although he didn’t elaborate. Seeing the grim set of his mouth, Norah decided not to ask.
Carson shook his head. “None that I know of at least.” He laughed as he said it, making Norah stare at him, trying to tell if he was truly joking or if there really was a chance he’d left fatherless mini Carsons all over Colorado.
“Enough about us though,” Laken said before Norah could ask Carson to clarify. “We want to catch up with what’s going on with you .”
“Not much.” Norah’s brain instantly froze, deleting any ideas for innocuous replies to Laken’s question. The only thing she could think of was Dash, and she had a sudden flash of terror that she’d blurt out we had sex or Dash washed my hair and then we had sex or Dash washed my hair and then we had sex and I really liked it. Her fear was so strong she clenched her jaw so none of those words could escape.
“Come on.” It sounded as though Laken was clenching her teeth as well. “You have the most interesting job of all of us…and the most interesting family. You’ve got to have some stories to tell.”
“No.” Relieved she hadn’t allowed anything embarrassing to slip out, Norah was emboldened to continue. “Dash is the one with the interesting job. He owns an MMA gym.”
“Yeah?” Carson sounded intrigued, and Norah gave a sigh of relief as his attention focused on Dash. “You fight?”
Dash gave her a teasing gentle pinch on her hip, most likely for throwing him under the conversational bus. “Used to. Now I just train.”
Norah was surprised he’d answered in actual words, since she expected a glare from him at the most. She realized he’d spoken to take some of the pressure off her, and she melted at the sweetness of that gesture. She gave the hand on her hip a squeeze of thanks.
Carson started talking about his gym, and Pike and Kenslee joined in. Only Laken didn’t contribute to the conversation, instead listening with no sign of irritation. As the minutes ticked by, however, Laken began tapping her perfect nails against her glass. She wasn’t drinking, and Norah wondered if she was the designated driver for the other three, who were tossing their alcohol back freely.
“We still haven’t heard about you , Norah.” Laken interrupted Carson’s literal blow-by-blow story of a boxing match he’d won. “How’s your mom holding up? Is she still living with you?”
Norah was suddenly tired of all the fake smiles and stilted conversation. Her stomach was beginning to feel queasy, and she was pretty sure it was from all the anxiety this forced socializing had caused. All she wanted was to go home and sleep, preferably with the big guy she was currently leaning against. She took a drink of water, sad to see the bottle was almost empty. There was no chance she was going to endure the crush at the bar to get another, and she doubted Laken would get it for her after what she was about to say.
“I don’t have the necklace,” she stated bluntly. “I don’t know where it is. It’s probably with my mom, but I don’t know where she is either. I can’t help you find it.”
All four froze in place, and despite Norah’s discomfort at being so confrontational, she was fascinated by a glimpse of honest emotion from Laken. Anger, frustration, and—oddly—fear flashed across her face for just a split second before she recovered and plastered on a look of offended innocence.
Dash gripped Norah’s upper arms, giving her a squeeze of support. When she glanced up, she saw his crooked smile, telling her as clearly as words that he was proud of her. It bolstered her, giving her the strength to deal with the instant chorus of denials from the other four. In fact, she ignored them altogether as he leaned down, close enough for his breath to brush her ear.
“Ready to go?”
“Very ready.” A flush of nausea engulfed her, and she felt a bit dizzy. It passed after a few seconds, but it left her exhausted. The thought of bed was even more tempting now.
“You okay?” he asked, his fingers tightening as if he was preparing to hold her up if needed.
“I’m fine.” She would be as soon as she left her current company and the hot, crowded bar. Finishing off her water, she said, “Just let me run to the bathroom, and then we can go.”
“Want me to come with you?” he asked.
She laughed at the thought. “Thanks, but you’d probably get beaten and then kicked out.”
Although he didn’t look happy about letting her go off on her own, he stepped back enough to let her skirt around the table.
“Bathroom?” Laken asked, hopping off her stool, as chipper as if she hadn’t just been acting horribly hurt that Norah would ever question her motives.
“Oh, me too.” Kenslee joined them.
Norah gave a resigned sigh. It looked like she’d have to put up with a group bathroom visit before she could escape. She was tempted to skip it altogether and wait until she got home, but she didn’t want them to think she was running away, not after her show of bravery. Besides, she was thirsty and planned to refill her bottle with tap water. Turning, she headed toward the bathroom.
Just as she reached the hallway where the restrooms were located, she heard a shout that escalated to a roar. From the sound of it, there was definitely a fight happening. Looking behind her, she couldn’t see Dash, and she hoped he wasn’t in the thick of it. Even though she knew he could take care of himself, there was always the danger he could get hurt in the melee.
“Every time,” Kenslee said, rolling her eyes as she took the lead, pushing open the door to the ladies’ room. “I don’t think we’ve ever come here when there hasn’t been a fight.”
Laken gave a little shrug, entering behind Kenslee and holding the door for Norah. “It’s Dutch’s,” she said as if that explained everything.
Norah muttered her thanks before heading for a stall. The bathroom was busy, but thankfully there wasn’t a line. As she peed, she felt sweat beading along her hairline, and nausea rose in her again. She swallowed, really not wanting to get sick here. Laken and Kenslee would fake fuss over her, and it would be awful.
As she straightened, pulling up her pants, her head swam, and she flattened her hand against the side of the stall to catch her balance.
“You okay in there, Norah?” Laken asked, sickly sweet.
Norah had to swallow again before she could speak. “Fine.”
Her head cleared enough for her to let go of the wall. She took a few deep breaths, and by the time she left the stall, she felt mostly fine, although a little lightheaded. Mentally, she ran over what she’d had to eat that day, wondering if her blood sugar was low. She really hoped she wasn’t coming down with something, not when she’d just discovered the joys of trading germs with Dash.
Laken and Kenslee were touching up their makeup in the mirror, talking together in low tones that Norah couldn’t hear over the chattering of the other women. Norah made her way to a sink and washed her hands before clasping her wet hands to her cheeks. The cold water felt good against her flushed skin, but she noticed the two women looking at her strangely, so she reached for a paper towel.
Another dizzy spell hit her hard, making her stagger. The room spun around her, voices rising and falling but not making any sense.
“Are you okay?” The question made it through her confusion, and she tried to focus on the person who asked. Norah tried to shake her head, to ask for someone to go get Dash, but it was hard to tell if she was just thinking things or actually doing them.
“…Daaash,” she heard herself slur, and the helpful stranger just looked confused.
“Oh, Norah.” That voice she knew. Laken laughed that awful, beautiful peal of sound as she gripped Norah’s arm. “I told you not to do that last tequila shot.”
Kenslee appeared on her other side. “Don’t worry, sweetie. We’ve got you.”
The stranger’s face immediately smoothed, the worried lines disappearing. Norah tried to say they weren’t her friends, and she wasn’t drunk. This was something so much worse. Her thoughts spun, and words wouldn’t come together coherently. All she could manage to say was Dash’s name, and that didn’t help.
With Laken and Kenslee each holding an arm, they led her out of the bathroom. Good , her bleary mind thought with relief. Dash is out there. They’ll bring me to Dash. Instead of turning left toward the bar and Dash though, they turned right.
“Nooo.” Norah tried to turn, but her muscles seemed to have lost all coordination and strength. Just staying upright was an effort, and she couldn’t manage to pull away from the two women guiding her the wrong way down the hall. “Dash…that way.”
The words didn’t sound right out loud, but her sense of hearing was distorted, so Norah hoped she’d managed to speak clearly enough to be understood. Either she’d failed, or the two escorting her were ignoring her, because they continued hauling her toward the emergency exit.
“What you need is some fresh air,” Laken said.
Norah tried to struggle, but nothing was working right with her body. Her distorted gaze fixed on the “alarm will sound” warning plastered across the door. Alarm , she thought. Alarm is good. Dash will hear, come running.
Her hopes were quashed as Laken shoved the release bar down, and the door opened with barely a sound. Time started skipping, slowing and then speeding up again. Suddenly, she was in the darkness of the alley behind Dutch’s, her back pressed against the wall. Laken and Kenslee were right in her face, their happy pageant masks gone. They glared at her, spitting questions she couldn’t make sense of. They were just scattered words, skipping through her brain without letting her catch them.
“…tell us…necklace…know…” Kenslee bared her teeth in what looked like frustration when Norah just stared, having a hard time focusing on the other woman’s face.
Laken started talking again, and Norah turned her head. The entire alley spun around them, and she forced her gaze to lock on Laken’s before the whole universe spun away. “Try…remember…” Her voice was a little gentler, but her eyes hardened when Norah just looked at her. “Where…necklace?”
Norah choked out a laugh even as everything did a pause and restart that made her feel like she was under a strobe light. “Told youuu.”
“What?” Laken asked urgently, Kenslee leaning even closer as if not to miss Norah’s answer.
“Told you…you were after…the neck-a-lesssss.” She spread the word over three syllables, playing with it with her tongue. It was a funny word, necklace . Her mouth wasn’t working right, so it felt even stranger on her lips. Everything suddenly slowed down. Rather than losing bits of time, now it dragged, each second stretching like taffy, the other women’s voices disturbingly distorted, although at least now she had time to hear every word.
Kenslee gave a muffled shriek. “This is useless ! You gave her too much.”
“How did I know she’d drink it all?” Laken retorted. “I thought she’d just have a few sips.”
“Well, obviously not.” Kenslee threw a hand toward Norah as if indicating exhibit A. Norah snickered at that, which seemed to make Kenslee even more livid. “See! She’s not even capable of telling us her name, much less where the necklace is.”
Laken’s chin jutted as she faced down Kenslee. “We’ll just wait a few minutes until she comes down a little. We need that information. Do you have any idea how much my divorce lawyer costs? There is no way I’m losing custody of Isla.”
At least her motive isn’t terrible , Norah thought. She just wants to keep her daughter. Her calm thoughts bothered her. Norah knew her reactions weren’t normal, that she should be freaking out and fighting to get free, but she just couldn’t work up the urgency. Besides, now that they were arguing with each other, it was almost comical.
“Quiet,” a new voice—a male voice—commanded. “I could hear you two halfway down the alley.”
Norah forced her head to turn to see the newcomer, and the anxiety she couldn’t feel a moment ago bubbled up inside her at the sight of his too-familiar face…a face marred by a swollen nose and two black eyes. Time snapped back into place, fear giving her a clarity she didn’t really want.
“Leifsen,” she said, still slurring but feeling suddenly much more awake.
“ Norah .” There was a false intimacy to the way he crooned her name that made her stomach lurch. “You can call me Devon.”
“Laken gave her too much,” Kenslee hissed. “She can’t even talk right now. We need more time to get information out of her.”
“This isn’t the place,” he snapped. His gaze was fixed on Norah’s, making her feel like a mesmerized mouse, unable to move away from a snake. “I’ll work on her.”
“You need to tell us what you find out,” Laken insisted. “That was the agreement. We get the necklace’s location, and you get her.”
“I’ll tell you. I don’t want that necklace.” Moving to Norah’s side, he slid an arm around her.
She tried to scream, but all that came out was a pathetic squeak. A mouse noise. Crouching a little, he swung her up into his arms. Bridal style . The term for the hold ran through her head unbidden, and she fought to shake the thought loose, since it only increased her horror at the situation. There was nothing romantic or caring about this.
“I just want Norah,” he said softly, almost fondly.
Panic roared through her, cutting through the muffling layers that’d been protecting her from what was really happening. She tried to kick and squirm, but he subdued her weighted limbs with embarrassing ease. He even chuckled as he held her close in a parody of a caring partner.
“Dash!” Again, her attempt at a yell barely made it to her ears, but the name did make Leifsen frown. He gave her a shake, making her head loll over his arm as the world spun around her. She felt her gorge rise, and she didn’t attempt to swallow it back, hoping that would get him to let her go. If vomit was her only weapon right now, she would use it.
Nothing would come up though. Even that bodily function failed her. Frustration made a tear slip over her temple, tickling as it ran into her hair. She tried to master her wobbling limbs, wishing for just one solid elbow or heel strike or kick, but her muscles wouldn’t cooperate, and their surroundings wouldn’t settle long enough for her to get her bearings.
His footsteps got quicker, and she focused on turning her head. A car was parked twenty feet away, and he seemed to be heading for it. Even though it was shadowed and blurry, she knew it was a 1999 green Toyota Corolla. She’d done her research on him after all.
The sight of the car made her renew her struggles. She did not want him to put her in that car. If he did, she knew her chances of making it back to her sisters, back to Dash, back to their beloved house at the edge of the forest, would drop dramatically. Forcing her weighted arm to swing at his face, she managed to shove his chin, knocking his head to the side.
“Stop it.” He gave her another shake before hefting her higher. His breathing was heavy, and her hazy mind took a little satisfaction in the fact that either carrying her or her struggles were causing him to have to exert himself.
“Dash…” She tried to organize the words in her mind. Drugged as she was, it was a hundred times worse trying to sort through her spinning thoughts than normal.
“Stop saying his name.” The falsely tender note was gone from his voice, she noticed with another zing of fierce pleasure.
“Dash…wouldn’t be…” The right words came close but then darted away like shy fish when she grabbed at them. Finally though, she managed to cobble together a sentence. “Dash doesn’t…suck air like you…when he carries me.” The words were rough and slurred, but she knew he understood them when his arms tightened painfully around her. She didn’t mind the hard press of his hands. It helped keep her from drifting off. “Dash’s…sssstrong.”
“Don’t say his name!” His words were raised, not quite a shout but loud enough that she gave an inner cheer.
“Yurrr jealous.” Her tangled brain struggled to come up with a plan, any plan, but she could barely think in a straight line, much less strategize. “That…why you…burned down his…his gym?” Even though her mind wasn’t producing a workable plan, it did make the connection between the damage to Leifsen’s nose and the memory of her knee hitting a wannabe abductor in the face.
“I’m not jealous of that meathead.” Leifsen gave an offended huff that made Norah want to laugh for some drug-induced reason. “And I wasn’t responsible for the damage to his place. That was all Fridley.”
Her scoff sounded off, but she didn’t know if that was because her mouth or her ears were malfunctioning. “So there’ssss…” She stalled out on the s sound and had to refocus to get the rest of her thought out. “Some other…some other stalker with a noken brose?” A snort of laughter escaped her, that false happy, floaty feeling threatening to overtake her again. She forced herself to focus on getting the words out correctly. “I mean…broken nose.”
“I was there watching you when Fridley started playing with fire,” he said, sounding smug again. “Couldn’t let such a great opportunity pass by, now could I? It didn’t quite work out, but that’s okay. I’m a try, try again type of guy, and look at this.” He jostled her in his hold. “Success! Now there’ll be nothing stopping us from getting to know each other…really well.”
Her stomach lurched, and she rolled her head to the side in case she was finally able to vomit. Her heart immediately plummeted when she saw they were just steps away from Leifsen’s car. “Daaaash!” This time, she almost managed to yell. “I need a rescuuuue.”
She decided she wasn’t even going to try to pretend she wasn’t a damsel in distress. No, she was fully tied to the railroad tracks as Leifsen curled his nonexistent mustache. After all, what good was a very strong boyfriend who knew how to fight if he couldn’t rescue her once in a while? Even as the thoughts played out in her head, a heavy ball of dread collected in her belly. A rescue would be wonderful, but it was looking less and less likely the closer they got to Mr. and Mrs. Leifsen’s 1999 green Toyota Corolla.
Her teeth started chattering as he stopped next to the car and shifted her weight. Maybe if he put her down to open the door, she could belly crawl away or even underneath the car. Anything to delay her kidnapping long enough for the drug to wear off a little more.
Instead of setting her on her feet though, he managed to open the driver’s door without relinquishing his hold. Crouching, he fiddled with something on the floorboard. She heard a heavy click before he straightened, and her skin went clammy.
She knew what that sound was. He’d opened the trunk.
Twisting and flailing as wildly as her uncoordinated body could manage, she put up a desperate final attempt to save herself. “Not the trunk! Not the trunk!” The plea echoed loudly in her head, but she didn’t know if she’d managed to say the words out loud. Despite everything she was doing, his slow, methodical steps continued to move to the rear of the car and its gaping black trunk.
“Norah!”
The roar echoed through her head and the air around her. Leifsen stiffened, letting her know it wasn’t just a figment of her drugged imagination. Then she was falling for what felt like forever before she hit the pavement with a thump. She lay still for a long moment, feeling the impact of the hard surface vibrate through her, not even hurting so much as stunning her into stillness.
The sound of a scuffle—grunts and smacks of knuckles on flesh and shouts and growls that made her smile because they sounded just like Dash—seemed close but still remote. A pebble dislodged by someone’s skidding boot flew in the air before it stung her cheek. The tiny pain was sharp enough to remind her that she needed to move. She couldn’t just lie there until Leifsen picked her up and stuffed her in his truck.
Moving was incredibly hard though. It felt like she had to force each muscle to work with the others to drag her inch by inch across the pavement. Her fingertips bumped something—a tire. That was good. She needed to get under the car, and that meant she was close. Pushing herself forward with her knees and elbows, she managed to get her head and shoulders under the Toyota before hands caught her waist.
She kicked out, more from muscle memory and reflex than from actually directing it. Her foot connected with something, and she heard a grunt. The sound made her go still. She knew that grunt.
“Dash?” Her voice shook as she told herself not to hope, not to be an idiot. She needed to get under the car, not have audio hallucinations. She couldn’t make herself move a muscle though. Not until she knew if Dash was there.
The hands around her waist tightened, lifting her slightly before pulling her clear of the car. Part of her wanted to wail that all her slow, hard, painful work was for nothing, but another, larger part recognized those huge hands and that effortless strength.
Once she was out from under the car, he rolled her over. She stared at the man towering over her, backlit by a streetlight that made his silhouette look even larger.
“Dash…” She could still hardly let herself believe he was there. “You look like Thor.”
That choked bark of a laugh though…that was all Dash. It wasn’t until he lifted her up and cradled her against his chest and she smelled his slightly sweaty but so wonderfully familiar scent that she knew for sure. Her arms clumsily tangled around his neck.
“Thanks for coming to find me.” Her voice was still slurred, but her thoughts were slightly clearer. “I owe you a rescue.”
Wrapping those thick arms around her, he pressed his face into the spot where her shoulder and neck met. Squeezing her tightly but ever so gently, like he was holding a precious egg, he said right against her skin, “Let’s never do this again.”
“Deal.” Even in her semi-lucid state, that seemed like a no-brainer. She could’ve stayed locked against him forever, but then she remembered they weren’t alone in the alley. Pulling back a little so she could peer over his shoulder, she asked, “Did you kill him?”
“No.” He sounded a bit put out by this. “I wanted to, but I didn’t know if you’d get the bounty if he was dead.”
As fuzzy and tangled as her thoughts were, she honestly didn’t know the answer to that at the moment, but she made a vague mental note to check later. It seemed like something she should know—and probably Dash should too if he was going to continue to be her boyfriend and regular rescuer.
With a heavy sigh that blew hot breath across her neck, Dash released her, although he kept his hands on her arms as he looked into her eyes. “Can you stand here for a second?”
She honestly wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want to cause any more problems for Dash that night, so she said, “Sure.”
As if he doubted her answer, he slowly released her but kept his hands close as if to grab her if she started to drop. Norah concentrated on standing upright without swaying, and she managed to do an adequate enough job that Dash took a step back, although he was frowning heavily.
While she watched, he grabbed the limp shape she recognized as Leifsen’s unconscious form, and she took a brief but fierce pleasure in how helpless he looked. Dragging Leifsen across the pavement to the car, Dash crouched and got a good grip on the other man. With a grunt, he lifted Leifsen and dumped him into the still-open trunk. He slammed the trunk with more force than really necessary, but Norah didn’t begrudge him the satisfaction he obviously got from locking her would-be kidnapper in his own trunk.
Dash returned to her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his side. It was a relief to lean into him and not have to concentrate on balancing on her own feet anymore. He pulled out his phone with his free hand, tapping at the screen with his thumb.
“Who’re you calling?” The slur was back, worse than ever, and Norah wondered if that was because she was safe, so panic wasn’t fighting the effects of the drug anymore.
“Dispatch. We need a deputy.”
“Why not the coppers?” She giggled at the term, feeling like a mobster from the thirties. “The po-po?”
“I’ll ask for them too.” His voice sounded amused, and she liked that she made him happy. “The deputy’ll pick up your skip.”
“Ohhh.” As he talked to the dispatcher, she remembered she had a call to make too. Digging out her phone was complicated, but she finally succeeded, only to have it plucked from her fingers. “Hey!”
Dash must’ve finished his conversation with dispatch, since his phone was nowhere in sight, and he held hers out of reach above her head. “I’ll call your sisters for you. Right now, you’ll just freak them out.”
She pouted for a second and then shrugged. Even with her brain not functioning on all cylinders, she knew he was right. She held up her thumb, and he touched the phone to it. Once it was unlocked, he made the call.
“No, it’s Dash.” There was a pause before he added, “She’s fine now. Just not fully coherent yet. No. Drugged.”
Norah was glad she had gotten out of making the call, as Molly’s voice on the other end got louder and higher pitched the more Dash told her. “Thought the plan was not to freak her out,” she muttered, making him give her a sideways look.
“Laken, working with Leifsen.”
Molly’s voice said something Norah couldn’t make out, but she could tell that her sister had switched from frantic mode to straight-up rage.
“He tried to take her. I stopped him.”
Molly asked a question.
“Not dead. Unconscious. Stuffed in his trunk.”
Norah was starting to feel impossibly exhausted, so she leaned heavily against Dash. He took her weight, pulling her closer without missing a beat of his phone conversation.
“Alley behind Dutch’s.”
She tipped her head up and saw his eyebrows quirk.
“No explosions. Why?”
“She’s always getting almost blown up,” Norah tried to explain, but that didn’t calm down Dash’s eyebrows.
“Yeah. Okay. We’re closer to Petunia Street.”
Something about Dash saying “Petunia” struck her as funny, and she started to giggle. He looked at her with an odd look on his face as he ended the call.
“Thanks for doing that,” she said, trying to stop laughing but only succeeding in giving herself the hiccups. “If I’d called— hic —it would’ve been a disas- hic -ter.”
“Yeah, pretty much.” He was half smiling as he said it, and she stared up at his interesting, fantastic face, her feelings striking her hard.
“I love you— hic —so much.”
His half smile turned into a whole one. “Love you too.”
Completely contented, she burrowed closer into his side. “Now that that’s sett- hic -led, is it okay if I pass— hic —out?”
Without waiting for permission, she let her eyes close and darkness drop over her, knowing that Dash was there to keep her safe.