41. Melanie
CHAPTER 41
Melanie
Filled with fear and with smoke stinging my eyes, I raced down the uneven dirt road. For all I knew, I was heading toward the fire. Visibility was low, the trees shrouded by a thick haze of gray, and ash fell from the sky.
My throat was dry and scratchy. I wasn’t going to be able to run for long in the smoke. Should I turn off the road? Go into the trees? I had no idea if I’d knocked Roswell unconscious, and if I had, I didn’t know how long he’d stay that way. He had a car. He could catch up to me any second. Somewhere along the way—probably right outside the cabin—I’d dropped the fireplace poker, so I no longer had a weapon.
If I left the road, I’d probably get lost. Was lost in the woods in wildfire territory better than held captive by a man who wanted to keep me for his pet?
Yeah, it kinda was.
My throat tightened. Stopping, I ducked behind a tree before the coughing fit overtook me. The dry, acrid air was brutal on my airways, and it took me a moment to catch my breath.
A noise came out of the gloom. It sounded like the rumble of an engine. Bracing myself against the trunk, I took another ragged breath as I listened. Where was it coming from? Was it Roswell?
I was about to dart away through the trees, anything to get away from Roswell, when I realized it wasn’t coming from the cabin. Someone was approaching from the other direction.
Firefighters again? Would they come back?
I didn’t know, and I didn’t particularly care. I stepped out into the road so I could wave them down. Headlights gleamed through the smoke, and a second later, a blue muscle car appeared.
Tires skidded, kicking up dust into the smoky air as the car came to an abrupt stop. I froze in place, mid wave, and my eyes widened with shock.
It definitely wasn’t firefighters.
The driver’s side door swung open, and Luke flew out of the car. Without a second’s hesitation, he ran to me, scooping me up in his arms. My feet dangled above the ground, and his strong arms held me tight.
“Luke?” I asked, scarcely able to believe he was real. “You found me.”
With his arms still around me, holding me close, he set me down and pulled back just enough to look at me. “Are you hurt?”
“Not really. How did you find me?”
“It’s a long story.” He cupped my cheeks and planted a hard kiss on my lips. “We need to get out of here.”
The sound of another vehicle carried in the air. It was coming from behind me—from the direction of the cabin.
My eyes widened with fear. Luke’s narrowed with resolve.
Without a word, we raced to the car and got in. I tugged on the seat belt and fastened it while he backed up to turn around in the tight space.
“I hit him with a fireplace poker, but I don’t know if I knocked him out or what,” I said. “He had the car keys in his pocket.”
Luke nodded. He made a quick forward maneuver, backed up a couple feet, then cranked the steering wheel and got the car turned around. A second later, we were on our way.
His eyes flicked to the rearview mirror. I twisted to look behind us and saw the flash of headlights approaching through the smoke.
“Faster,” I said. “Go faster.”
He didn’t respond. He faced straight ahead, and his jaw was tight as his hands gripped the steering wheel.
I looked back. Roswell was catching up.
We bounced around with every bump, and Luke let go of the steering wheel with one hand to grab the seat belt and wrench it across his body. I took it and clicked it in place so he could keep driving. We hit another bump, and if we hadn’t been strapped in, we probably would have banged our heads on the ceiling.
My heart raced, and my throat still hurt from running in the smoke. Bracing myself with both hands, I tried not to shriek in terror every time a tree branch jutted out over the road or debris seemed to block our path. Luke handled it all with expert finesse, steering around every obstacle without crashing into anything.
A jolt hit us from behind, and I whipped around. Roswell had bumped Luke’s car.
“Is he trying to run us off the road?” I asked.
Luke kept his eyes straight ahead, and his voice was calm. “Yep.”
“He goes from chaining me to a wall so he can keep me forever to trying to kill me.”
“If he can’t have you, no one can.”
Luke was right. I could almost hear the words as if Roswell were whispering in my ear: You’re mine .
A shudder ran down my spine.
“Shit,” Luke said under his breath.
“What?”
“Hold on to something.”
I braced myself again as he took a sudden turn, then glanced behind us again.
“He’s still there.”
“I know. But if I went straight, we’d have to cross an old bridge with no sides or railings.”
My stomach dropped. And Roswell could have hit us from behind again and sent us careening over the edge.
No thanks.
“But there’s a problem with this road,” Luke said.
“Other than the man trying to kill us?”
“Yeah. I think we’re heading straight for the fire.”
“Get pushed off a bridge or drive into a wildfire. I don’t like these options.”
He cast a glance at me. “I’ll get us through.”
I nodded. “I trust you.”
Adjusting his grip on the steering wheel, he pushed on the gas, and we surged forward.
The smoke thickened, turning a darker gray, and the road curved, winding through trees and up and over hills. I’d lost all sense of direction, but I meant what I’d said. I trusted Luke to get us through.
Roswell hit us again. I jerked in my seat, but Luke maintained control. Another bump threw me forward, the seat belt digging into my collarbone.
“Fucker,” Luke muttered. “Hold on again.”
I braced myself as he took a hard right. Looking backward, I was hoping to at least see some distance between us and Roswell, but he was right there, bearing down on us through the dust and smoke.
The world seemed to go dark, as if the sun had set. The smell of smoke was intense, and my eyes felt the sting of it. When we rounded the next corner, it looked like we were heading straight into hell itself.
Massive clouds of black smoke billowed into the air, and the entire forest on both sides of the road glowed red. Flames licked the sky from the tops of trees in the distance, and the ground all around was scorched.
“Can we get through?” I asked.
“We can make it.”
Roswell bumped us from behind, and the car jerked to one side before Luke regained control.
“Asshole!” I yelled. Not that he could hear me. But I’d played the part of the damsel in distress for too long. I had a lot of pent-up rage. “I hate you and your stupid face!”
“There’s my girl.”
Roswell hit us again—harder—and we narrowly missed the smoldering remains of a tree.
We crested a hill, and as we started to come down the other side, the red glow intensified.
“This looks worse,” I said. “Sorry, I shouldn’t keep talking.”
“It’s okay. I’ll get us out.”
Pressing my lips together and keeping myself braced in case Roswell hit us again, I watched as Luke navigated the scorched road. Ash whirled in the air, and some of the trees were still burning, the flames bathing the forest in an eerie orange light.
Luke swerved to one side, then to the other. I looked back. Roswell kept surging forward, trying to smash into us. My heart felt like it might burst, and my stomach was sick with fear.
Roswell sped closer, and Luke veered aside just in time. The road took a sudden turn, and just as we darted around the bend, Roswell seemed to miss, his tires skidding on the uneven ground and spitting dirt behind him. I gasped as his car slammed straight into a burning tree .
My eyes widened, and I clapped a hand over my mouth as the tree broke, the tall trunk smashing the top of Roswell’s car.
“Holy shit,” Luke said.
Slowly, I turned around, my eyes still wide with shock. “I don’t think he’s making it out of that.”
“Probably didn’t survive the impact.”
I put my hand to my chest. I didn’t know whether to feel relieved, horrified, or just stick with abject terror, since we were still on the edge of a raging wildfire with no end in sight.
“Hang in there, baby,” Luke said. “I think we’re almost through.”
Another road branched off, and Luke took the turn. Around another bend, and over the top of a low hill, the trees returned to normal. Some showed signs of scorching on their trunks, but their branches were intact, and the worst of the smoke was behind us.
“Do you have any idea where we are?” I asked.
“Actually, yes. This should take us back to the highway. Probably south of the closure, but at this point, it doesn’t matter.”
Leaning my head back, I took a few deep breaths. Although the road was still bumpy, Luke was able to slow down, and it wasn’t long before we came to the highway. I’d never been so happy to see pavement in my life.
He stopped on the shoulder, unfastened both our seat belts, and hauled me across the bench seat into his arms. We stayed there for long moments, just breathing. Gratitude overwhelmed me until I found myself sobbing into his chest. Not the fake sobs of the damsel trying to manipulate her captor, but the relief of having survived and knowing that an evil man would never hurt anyone again.
It was over.
After a long embrace, Luke called Garrett to let him know they could call off the search—I was safe. I used his phone to call my parents. For once, my dad did most of the talking. My mom was too overcome to say much. I assured them I was okay, and I’d see them soon.
When I ended the call, Luke gently touched my face. I melted into him as he kissed me, slow and deep.
After more kisses and whispered I love yous, we set out again, this time heading for home.