Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Pandora found herself once again at a table at On The Rocks. She fiddled with her drink, staring out at all the people. The place was hopping. Then again, it was Friday night and happy hour. Everyone came out for the two-for-one drink specials.
That included Sully and his friends.
But it wasn’t Sully who had soured her mood.
It was Blaze who had done that.
All that talk of possibly staying in Fallport had been for nothing. It didn’t matter that she knew he still loved her.
Blaze would leave the second Sully had cuffs around his wrists and Blaze would not return. He might not stay in North Carolina with his nephews. He wouldn’t even head west and find a place to slowly die. For that, she was truly grateful.
But he wouldn’t return to be with her, something she needed to accept.
They were never meant to be together.
“You look deep in thought.” Haven pulled up a chair.
Pandora glanced around. Blaze was leaning against the bar with Brock, getting another round. He’d left her alone, in part to see if Sully would approach her, but that hadn’t happened and she’d been sitting there for over ten minutes.
“Did Blaze send you?”
“Yup,” Haven said. “He’s over there talking to Brock about taking you for a stroll to the ice cream shop and how the two of you walked here.”
“He really wants this to go down tonight.” Pandora pushed her drink to the side.
“Don’t you want this over with?”
“I do.” Pandora nodded. “But I’m also scared.” That wasn’t a lie. Allowing herself to get kidnapped or possibly attacked again wasn’t high on her agenda of things she must do. But she would do almost anything to stop Sully. And to be able to live her life without fear.
“I know. I would be too.”
“How’d you do it? I mean, you faced so much coming back to this town and you could have died.”
“But I didn’t, thanks to all the men who are helping you.” Haven reached out and took her hand. “Listen, I need to go because I’m a cop and me being here won’t help move this plan along. But no one is going to let anything happen to you. Blaze will be there with you, and Weston and the gang will be following. It’s all going to be fine.”
“I wish I could believe that. But Sully’s ruthless and you heard what Ethan found out. That man has possibly raped at least four other women. I, of all people, understand the shame that comes with that.”
“So do I.” Haven nodded. “And I know where you’re going with this. But some women just can’t come forward. We might not understand their reasons. Or even agree with them. But we have to respect them.”
“I know, but if they did, we might not have to go through with all of this.”
“Maybe, but then there would be a trial and Sully would still be out. At least this way, we have a better chance of locking him up and keeping him there while he awaits trial for this.”
Pandora lowered her chin. “You’re not supposed to know?—”
“Technically, I don’t. So don’t tell me anything. But I’m not stupid. Weston and I know enough that will make this legal,” Haven said. “Now, before I get the evil stink eye from Rocky, telling me I have to leave, why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you.”
“Because all of this isn’t enough?” Pandora let out a short laugh.
“Come on. We’ve been friends too long. Talk to me.”
Pandora sighed. “It’s Blaze,” she admitted. “When this is over, he’s leaving town. For good.”
“Did he say that?”
“Not in so many words, but he didn’t have to. I know him. He has unfinished business when it comes to the death of his brother and I won’t stand in the way of him healing that part of his heart.”
“That doesn’t mean he won’t be back.”
“He won’t be. He can’t. He believes he’s broken and I understand why. Even if he can get past what happened to Axel, which I don’t know if he ever can, he’ll make his life close to where his nephews are and that’s what he should do. His family is everything to him.” She laughed. “It’s funny. When we broke up twenty years ago, he told me he should have never asked me to choose between him and my parents. I cried for months over that. But he was right. If I had run off with Blaze, cutting off ties to my folks, I would have never forgiven myself for not being there when my dad died. How can I ask him to make that same choice? He needs to not only be there for his brother’s widow and her kids, but he needs to be there in order to make himself whole again. I can’t do that for him. Trust me, I’ve tried. I’m not what he needs. They are and I’d be one hell of a selfish woman to even ask him to stay.”
“There’s no reason he can’t have both.” Haven squeezed her hand. “The only thing I agree with is you can’t ask him to choose, but if you want him in your life, you need to tell him how you feel. Letting him heal his relationships with family isn’t asking him to choose,” Haven said. “I’ve got to go. Call me anytime if you want to talk.” She stood and disappeared into the maze of people.
There was no way Pandora would put that kind of pressure on Blaze. Not now. He was too fragile. Not to mention way too fucking honorable. When he loved, he did so with all his heart. And he did love her, something she felt to her core.
But in this case, love just wasn’t enough.
Blaze took Pandora’s hand and led her down the dark street. The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention. His senses were on high alert. He didn’t dare glance over his shoulder.
“He’s following you,” Brock’s voice crackled through the comms piece wedged in his ear.
“Game on,” Blaze whispered, releasing his hand, wrapping his arm around Pandora, and pulling her closer. “Are you ready?”
“God no, but I’m tired of this whole fucking thing. I want my life back, and I want you to have yours.”
He pressed his lips against her temple. “Let’s duck down this street. It’s even darker and no one should be on it this late at night.” There were so many things that could wrong with this plan it made his head spin. It all hinged on the idea that Blaze had pissed Sully off enough that he was willing to take Blaze out with Pandora.
So far, that part seemed to be working. The chatter in the bar from the few people in Sully’s circle had been that Sully wanted a piece of Blaze. That he wanted to put Blaze in his place. Teach him a lesson, whatever that meant.
“There’s literally no one around,” Pandora whispered. Her body shivered.
He ran his hand up and down her arm.
“He’s twenty paces behind you,” Brock’s voice bellowed. “Tim and Carl just got into Carl’s van. They parked one block away. West end of the street you’re on. We’re all in place. Be careful, man.”
Blaze stopped in the middle of the street. Quickly, he took out his earpiece and dropped it to the ground, crushing it under his boot. He cupped her beautiful face. How he wanted to tell her he loved her. That he’d always be there for her and take care of her. But he couldn’t. Not yet. Not until he could make things right with the rest of his life.
It wasn’t just about Brenda and the boys. That was one part. A huge part. He needed to see them. To love them. To show them he could be there for them too.
And then he needed to feel the pain of his brother’s death. To grieve.
Once he did that, he’d come back and be the man Pandora deserved.
“This is it. Sully is coming for us. Everything we’ve done for the last week has brought us to this moment. I need you to do exactly what we planned for. If that plan goes to shit, you need to follow my lead. I’m not going to let that man hurt you.”
She opened her mouth, but he hushed her with a tender kiss. One that should hopefully tell her how much he cared.
“Isn’t that sweet.” Sully’s voice grated on his nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Blaze turned, pushing Pandora behind his back. “What did I tell you about dark alleyways.”
Sully inched closer. He held one hand behind his back.
Gun.
Not surprising.
“I’ve grown bored with your harassment,” Sully said. “Time for you to put your money where your mouth is.”
“I’m not the kind of man you want to fuck with.” Blaze reached for his weapon, knowing it wasn’t going to help matters because he could hear the roar of the engine behind him, along with footsteps. He raised his gun.
Sully did the same. “Looks as though we’re at an impasse. I shoot. You shoot. What does that solve? Why don’t you put that down and we duke it out the old-fashioned way.”
“You’ll still lose,” Blaze said.
Pandora gripped his shoulders, digging her nails into his flesh. “Someone’s behind us,” she whispered.
“I know,” Blaze said.
“Just because you were a Marine doesn’t mean dick.” Sully continued to inch closer. He smiled.
Pandora gasped. Then screamed.
Her body jerked from Blaze’s.
He blinked, glancing over his shoulder. Fuck. Tim pressed a gun to her temple. While he expected it, he didn’t want to see it.
“Put down your gun, or my brother will shoot her,” Sully said.
Blaze set his weapon on the ground.
“Kick it over to me,” Sully said.
Blaze did as ordered. “You fucking do one thing to her, and I will kill you with my bare hands.”
“There we go with threats again,” Sully said. “All talk and no action, this one.” He bent over and picked up the weapon. “Now I want your phones.”
Blaze swallowed. That one did surprise him. He pulled his out and handed it to Sully, but he made sure he snagged his pocketknife in the process, pushing it up his sleeve.
“Pandora, where’s yours?” Sully asked.
“In my purse.” She dropped her bag to the ground.
“Tie them up and let’s go.” Sully waved his weapon in the air.
“Where are you taking us?” Blaze asked, keeping his gaze focused on Pandora.
She’d been quiet. Too quiet, and that scared the shit out of him. Her eyes were wide with fear. Or maybe shock.
He worried that this part of the plan had gone off too easily. Not a single hitch, except for the taking of the phones, which had been dumped in a trash receptacle by Sully, while Tim first tied up Pandora and then Blaze.
Never checking Blaze’s fist or sleeve.
Thank God for small favors.
“You take that asshole; this bitch is mine.” Sully grabbed Pandora by the hair and yanked her toward the west end of the street.
She gasped. Her body twisted as she stumbled.
Blaze growled, low and deep. “I promise you, once I’m out of these restraints, I’m going to strangle you until the life is sucked out of you for hurting her like that.”
“You’re not doing anything but dying tonight,” Sully said. “You’ve been a thorn in my side and I’m fucking tired of it.”
They reached the end of the street. Too far from where they had dumped the phones. Too far for the recording app to have picked that up to send in the cavalry.
Carl jumped from the van and opened the back.
Sully shoved Pandora inside with brute force. She groaned.
“I’ll get in myself,” Blaze said behind gritted teeth. Without the cell phones, there was no way to record the confession. No way to track his location.
He was flying blind.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
He rolled into the back of the van and scooted as close as he could to Pandora.
“You know where to go. I’ll meet you there shortly.” Sully shut the doors.
Tears rolled down Pandora’s cheeks. “I can’t go through this again. You have to get me out of here,” she said through guttural sobs.
“Shhhh. It’s going to be okay. You’ve got to trust me.”
“They’re going to kill you first. Then they’re going to… going to…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t do this. I can’t. I don’t know why I thought I could.”
“I’m not going to die today and no one is going to hurt you.”
She blinked. “But you can’t promise that.”
Fuck. No, he couldn’t. “Listen to me, Pandora. I know what I’m doing. This isn’t my first kidnapping. I’ve been taken hostage before, and I survived. So will you. Have a little faith in me, please.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
The van lurched forward.
Someone would follow.
The sound of tires squealing behind the van rang in his ears.
He sat up and glanced out the back window.
Shit. Ethan and Rocky had just been cut off.
Blaze just found himself in a lose-lose situation. Well, he wasn’t going to let anything happen to Pandora. He’d die first.