Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
Liam’s words bounced around in her mind. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you.
So much said in so few words. And she’d just admitted she felt the same way.
This man had come in and upended her whole life. Challenging everything she thought she knew and everything she thought she wanted. She’d let him in, and now she wanted things she’d never thought possible.
But right now, Isabella and Sophia needed her, and she was going to do everything she could to get them out safely.
It had been a stroke of luck that a Renegade Rides vehicle was in the hospital parking lot when she walked out. Now she was standing in the dark, abandoned parking lot at the industrial park.
She walked across the lot and toward the slaughterhouse. Graffiti covered the building, windows were boarded up, and overgrown weeds pushed up the side of the building. It hadn’t been operational in decades, but she could still smell the metallic scent of blood. A shiver raced down her side.
How was she going to be able to stall until help could get here? The risk of losing the girls was far too great to just stand here and do nothing. Enough she felt the urge to pray.
Suddenly, something hard was shoved into the back of her head. “Don’t move.”
Nausea filled her stomach and her vision blurred. It couldn’t be. She knew that voice. Knew that the hard thing was the barrel of a gun pointed at her skull.
She knew who had taken the girls.
“Why, Dean?”
“We’re going to walk up to that door, and you’re going to toss your phone inside. Do you understand?” Dean said from behind her.
She gasped. “Why did you do this?”
He shoved the gun farther into her skull, causing pain to radiate through the cut.
“Where are the girls?”
“You think you have the upper hand here, but you don’t. I know it’s only a matter of time before your boyfriend shows up. So you can either die here in the parking lot, and I’ll take care of the girls, or you can do as you’re told, quickly, and be with them.”
“Okay.” She’d known going into this that the odds they all made it out of this alive were slim to none, but she had to try. She’d give her life as long as Isabella and Sophia lived. “Don’t hurt them.”
Her heart ached at the thought of her sister being alone in the world, but that was so much better than being dead. She marched forward.
“Good. Now open the door,” Dean barked.
She pushed open the rusted metal door to gaping darkness. The pungent smell of gasoline assaulted her nose.
“Now. Throw your phone inside.”
Her hand shook. The phone clattered across the floor. The flick of a lighter sounded behind her.
“No!” She spun around just as Dean tossed a metal flip-top lighter to the ground.
Fire whooshed to life, following a trail through the entryway and deep into the building. Toward where he said he’d stashed the girls.
Sam cried out.
Dean grabbed her around the throat with his free hand and turned around. “Let’s go.”
“What?”
“Let’s go.” He released his grip on her throat, grabbed her arm, and dragged her away from the building.
Liam and the authorities would be busy looking for them in the fiery blaze, and the whole time they’d be somewhere else. She gasped, coughing and stumbling as he dragged her.
Dean marched her across the parking lot and toward the cold-storage factory.
“Why did you do this?” If she could get him to talk, perhaps she could delay him a bit. “You have a family. You’re a good man.”
“You know nothing.” He shoved her forward. “Shut up and walk.”
She stumbled but managed to catch herself before she could fall. The gun jammed into her back.
“If you’re going to kill us, you at least owe me the truth. Why are you doing this, Dean? I trusted you! Cass trusts you!” She clenched her fists.
This man had been family. She’d been there for the birth of his twins. Babysat them. They’d taken her in when her life fell apart.
And then someone had shot up the house when his family was out.
“I don’t owe you anything,” he said.
“Think about Bella.” Could she play on his emotions? “She’s a kid, just like your boys. You wouldn’t hurt them.”
“I am thinking about her. And the marshal’s kid. They’ve messed everything up, telling the authorities about my Rebels.” He swore under his breath. “Now it’s up to me to handle the situation. Just like Aiden.”
She gasped. Had he been the one to put the bullet in Aiden’s head? If so, he might also be responsible for Dr. Torres’s death. “Why drag me into this?”
“Why me?” he wailed, then dissolved into ugly laughter.
“It doesn’t have to end like this.” Sam stumbled. “This isn’t you.”
“Shows what you know, Sammy.” He grabbed her arm and jerked her upright. “Loose ends always need to be tied up.”
“We can keep your secrets. We won’t tell anyone.” She gasped. “You have no idea what I’ve been keeping from you and the rest of the department. We can go. Let us go and we’ll disappear. You’ll never see us again.”
Could she overpower Dean? She knew he was strong. They all had to be to do their jobs. She’d learned to defend herself, but she’d never tried to go on the offensive. And with a man she’d cared about…
A man she’d thought was good.
If she’d been wrong about Dean, what else was she wrong about?
If she could just keep him out here long enough for the police to arrive, the girls would be okay.
He’d be too focused on her to hurt the girls.
Except, the police didn’t know where the girls were.
What if he was working with someone? Wait, he was.
His Renegade Rebels. He wasn’t running around setting fires alone. He was using the high school kids.
“How could you do this?”
“Keep walking.” He shoved her forward. They neared the cold-storage facility. Broken windows with jagged glass lined the exterior. “Get inside.”
She opened the door and immediately smelled the gasoline. Everything in her tried to retreat.
He held up another lighter. “I’ll start a fire here too, don’t tempt me.”
“You have me walking to my death. Why wouldn’t I try to fight?” She ground her teeth.
“Because believe it or not, I care about you. I don’t want you to suffer. This way will be easier. You’ll just go to sleep and never wake up. No pain. No agony. Just sleep.”
He leaned in suddenly, his breath far too close to her face and a container of gasoline poised over her head. “Or I light you on fire here and now, and the last thing those girls hear is your screams.”
This wasn’t the same man she’d trusted with her life the last six years. This was a desperate man. A monster.
“Okay. I’ll go.” She walked slowly forward. “You’ll never get away with this.”
“Don’t worry about me. They’ll be so worried looking for you, they won’t notice the fireman on scene. Now shut up, or I light you up.”
She didn’t want to test him.
He directed her through several hallways and into an expansive room lined with walk-in freezers. All of the freezers had two-by-fours jammed under the handles to keep the doors locked.
Even if Liam was able to determine they were in this building, he wouldn’t know which freezer they were in. Was he going to be able to save them? Assuming he even made it in time.
Until then, it would be up to her to save them.
“Where are the girls?” She scanned the room, determining the layout. Desperate to find a way to stop him.
“I know what you’re doing. I’ve already done the assessment. Distance. Airflow. Vapor weight.” He lifted the gasoline container. “I can set you ablaze and be gone before you hit the ground.”
She knew how gasoline vapors behaved. They didn’t rise. They sank. Three to four times heavier than air meant they were pooling on the floor. Waiting for the slightest spark.
“That one.” He pointed to the third door from the left. “Move the board and get in.”
She stepped forward and grabbed the board. A tiny bark sounded from inside the freezer. Sophia must have had Blossom when they were taken.
She gripped the board. She could use it to knock him out. Then she could grab the gun and hold him until help arrived. Except he’d been smart enough to bring a lighter he could simply toss at the gas. If he dropped it, the fight was over.
She’d just have to hope Liam made it on time.
And perhaps pray that the Lord would be with her the same way he had been with Joseph.
Right there in the middle of her troubles.
She opened the door. Light filtered across the space, revealing two figures huddled in the corner.
“Get in there.” Dean shoved her, and Sam hit the floor, causing pain to radiate through her body.
The door slammed shut behind her, enveloping them in darkness.
She stood up and pounded on the door. It was no use. Dean had already wedged the two-by-four under the handle.
“Sam!” Isabella yelled.
Sam turned and kneeled down. “I’m coming.” There hadn’t been enough light or time for her to make out everything in the freezer. She crawled toward the scared teenagers a foot at a time, swiping her hands out and feeling for things as she went. “Talk to me.”
If they talked to her, she could follow the sound of their voices.
“I’m sorry, Sam,” Bella cried.
“We’re going to be okay.” She wished she believed what she was saying. She needed to keep the girls calm. Freaking out wouldn’t do them any good.
“You were in the hospital, and Liam had been attacked,” Sophia croaked.
“Dean was at Liam’s house,” Bella sobbed. “He said Liam had called him and that he was supposed to take us back to the hospital. We didn’t know he was the one behind all of it.”
“None of this is your fault.” Sam continued her crawl. She reached out her hand and felt denim material.
Her best friend was an arsonist and murderer, and he’d been grooming teens to do his bidding. Was he trying to distance himself from the crimes they were committing? Using kids like pawns?
She wanted to be sick.
Hands reached out and grabbed her. She crawled closer and pulled the girls to her. “I’m here.”
“Where’s Uncle Liam?” Sophia asked.
“He’s on his way.” But would he get here in time?