Chapter 15 #2
Serena lowered her hands, and her face fell with them.
Tears brimmed her lashes as she tucked the satchel into her pocket.
She stretched her arms out to him like someone lost in a maze.
He wanted to pull her to his chest, drop to his knees, promise he would move heaven and earth to get Dani back—and kill everyone who had stood in their way. He couldn’t do anything.
Footsteps came from the direction of the house.
“Go!” He jerked her in front of him, and she charged for the spot in the brush where he’d hidden the vehicle.
“You have the keys!” Brock yelled. He and Peyton caught up with them and gestured at Serena. She fumbled in her pocket, and the lights blasted as she unlocked the doors. Serena yanked the passenger door open.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Milo shoved her inside as the beasts tore down the path toward them, and she threw the door shut. Milo froze as he stared at their advancing sharp teeth.
“Get in!” Brock called from the driver’s seat.
Milo opened the rear passenger door and got in next to Peyton.
He shut the door as the animals collided into the metal, shaking the panel.
Brock tore out of the brush, and the truck shook and bumped over the terrain.
Milo caught the handle on the door and wrestled the seatbelt across his chest.
“Do you hear that?” Serena’s high-pitched voice squeaked against his eardrums. “Sirens,” she said on a breath. She swiveled in her seat, and the whites of her eyes glowed in the darkness. “Are you okay? Did you get bit?” Her gaze roamed the lower half of his body.
“No, I’m fine.” His arm still throbbed from where the first dog had bit him, but he didn’t take the time to check it out.
Her teeth formed a line across her bottom lip. Though she didn’t say it, she was still reeling from the implications of what the loss of the diamonds meant for Dani—fuck, so was he. He stretched as far as the seatbelt would allow and cupped her shoulder in his hand.
“This isn’t over.” The truck pitched as Brock went over a rut and came to a stop. “I promise.”
Her fingers ran over his knuckles before she turned around.
“We need to get out, but they could have every entrance to the subdivision blocked,” Brock said, bringing Milo’s attention back to their escape.
“If we don’t try, we’ll be caught for sure.”
Brock made an impatient sound. “No shit. If we’re seen leaving this area it will be a huge red flag.”
“Make a left,” Serena said.
Brock frowned. “A left? That will take us further into the subdivision.”
“I know, but there’s another way out, on the east side of the hill. It will send us on a detour, but they’ll seal the entrances on this side before those.”
“She’s right,” Milo said, not missing a beat.
Brock nodded and turned left. The sirens grew louder, screeching through the night.
Milo shifted in his seat as three cruisers sped into the subdivision toward Titus’s house.
Thankfully the trail they idled on sat far enough from view of the main street.
He swept his fingertips over his hairline, mopping up the sweat dotted there.
Any minute the call to meet Dani’s kidnappers would come in.
And they didn’t have the diamonds.
The constant whip of headlights and cars on the interstate made vomit creep up Serena’s esophagus. Too much. It was all too much. She closed her eyes and dragged a breath from the fresh air rattling through the cracked window next to her. The scent of trees and earth didn’t wash away the nausea.
“We killed someone,” she choked out. The scene on the balcony was branded into her brain. Silence met her words, but she felt everyone’s stares burning into her head.
Milo’s warm fingers landed on her neck, and he broke the silence. “He saw you, Serena. Even if we’d managed to escape, he would have given your identity to the police—and Titus.”
She tightened her arms around her belly, digging her elbows into her ribs. “I know that.”
“You saved my life, Peyton.” Milo swiveled to face her. “His gun was right at my side, and he would have pulled the trigger seconds after you did. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Peyton said. “I was worried he’d shoot you or Serena first. I didn’t want to kill anyone.”
The thread of remorse in Peyton’s words wound around her heart. Peyton wasn’t a murderer, and had she not come to their aid when she had, they never would have escaped.
“Thank you for stepping in. I just . . . I wish it had never come to that.” Serena swallowed.
Ring! Ring!
Serena bolted forward. The seatbelt snapped her back into place. She read the number on her phone and adrenaline fired through her veins. “It’s him,” she whispered.
Milo leaned close and grabbed her hand that held the phone, probably so she wouldn’t shake and drop it.
“Answer it,” Milo said. “Tell them we have the diamonds.” He’d sandwiched himself between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. She sucked in a deep breath, inhaling his scent. It gave her strength.
She cleared her throat and hit Talk. “Hello?”
“Do you have the diamonds?” The gruff voice lashed out the words.
Serena looked at Milo. His head hovered near the phone at her ear. He gave a sharp nod. Panic prickled her skin like static electricity. She cleared her throat and tightened her hold on the device. “Yes. Everything went as planned. We’re out.”
“Good. I knew you could do it.” He rattled off the meeting point, which she recognized as one of the lookouts outside San Diego. “You have forty-five minutes.”
“Wait—” she said, twisting in her seat.
“Don’t worry, your sister will be with us. We can’t wait to be rid of her. She’s a pain in the ass.” The line went dead.
“Serena.” Milo shook her shoulder, snapping her gaze away from the footwell.
A warm tear slid out of the corner of her eye, and she dashed it away before returning her phone to her bag.
“Everything will be okay, I promise.” He dragged a piece of her hair behind her ear, and she lowered her gaze from that intense stare that both made her heart race and cloaked her in comfort.
“That’s an impossible promise given the circumstances, but thanks for saying it.” She shrugged as if he were offering her a piece of pizza and not speaking about the life of her sister—which would surely come to an end any minute.
“Nothing is impossible. We’re not dealing with rocket scientists here. These are dumb, greedy bastards who fucked with the wrong people.”
She snapped her teeth together and turned in her seat. “What’s your plan?”
He smirked. “Easy. We hand over the diamonds.”
She wrinkled her forehead. “I think they might put two and two together when we don’t produce them.”
His thumb inched across her face and flicked her bottom lip.
His gaze stayed trained on her mouth. Heat flared in her cheeks, sending a lick of desire through her core.
She pulled her head back, breaking their contact.
Now wasn’t the time. His eyes finally met hers, and all the want that had blazed there vanished.
“Trust me.”
Trust him. Well, she didn’t have much choice.