Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Robinette buried her head into the ground, covering it with her hands.
“Tranquilo,” the man who had to be Garcia commanded. “Quiet, lady, or I shoot you next.” He pointed one gun at Davin and one at Chloe.
“Chloe, go,” Davin insisted in an undertone.
Chloe tried to listen to Davin and backed toward the laundry room.
“Stay, dama hermosa, or I kill him first and you next.” Garcia’s wide grin showed yellow teeth as he held the gun in his right hand steadily on Davin.
Chloe froze.
Davin looked from Adam’s inert body to Chloe and back to Garcia. “Take me. Let’s go. You can torture me, kill me, but you don’t want to hurt these ladies.”
Garcia stepped fully into the house and kicked the door shut. “I’ve been searching this section of the island, lady told me it’s where the renters are and look … all these big windows.” His smile grew to epic proportions. “We all get close now.”
Chloe’s body shook. Horror made her blood feel cold.
Adam was dead. Where was Jaxon? Was any help coming? She’d overheard him say there’d been a mud slide and accidents and Smith, Officer Griffin, and the firefighters were all delayed.
She prayed desperately but saw no hope of deliverance. She couldn’t let this monster torture and kill Davin.
“Why don’t you and I get … ‘close now’?” she asked, almost gagging as she tried to mimic Robinette’s skills. She felt stupid, but she had to try something. “We can go upstairs.”
Her voice shook, but she prayed a distraction would be the opening Davin needed.
He could shoot Garcia as he went upstairs with Chloe, or maybe Jaxon, or someone else, would come.
She knew Davin wouldn’t let Garcia hurt her, but she wanted to protect him.
She glanced down at Adam and her heart ached as her stomach pitched violently.
Garcia had no qualms about injuring or murdering anyone.
How was Cassie, Adam’s family, and so many that loved him going to handle his death?
“Chloe, no.” Davin’s voice was sharp.
Robinette stood and Garcia swung his gun on her. His eyes lit up as she stuck out her hip and chest again. “Let’s you and I go upstairs,” she purred.
Garcia’s grin grew. Chloe wanted to gag, but appreciated the help. Maybe Robinette could lure this monster.
“Chloe, get back,” Davin said in an undertone, his eyes gray and stormy.
“Okay, pretty ladies,” Garcia agreed. “I cuff Davin and we all go upstairs. Then I torture and kill him.” He nodded and licked his lips.
Chloe’s stomach tumbled. She met Robinette’s eyes. The woman was using her sultriness for something good, giving Davin a distraction and buying time for help to come.
“Let’s do this.” Robinette grinned as if she’d love nothing more. Dang she was good. Chloe would’ve been convinced, if she hadn’t seen an uneasiness in her blue eyes.
Lightening flashed and thunder crashed. Fear worse than any storm worked its way through Chloe. What would this man do to her and Robinette? Could they overpower him together if Davin didn’t shoot him?
She stepped closer to Davin and Garcia, praying that Davin could do something with the opening.
Garcia edged forward. He had to shove one gun in his belt, but he kept the other one steadily on Davin as he squatted down to take the hand cuffs off of Adam’s belt.
Chloe was afraid she would hurl. Adam was dead. If Garcia really handcuffed Davin and took her and Robinette upstairs before Davin could shoot him …
Davin’s finger tightened on the pistol. Would he shoot Garcia? It was a horrible thing to hope for, but it was their only hope. Yet Garcia was still watching Davin and had his gun steadily on him. If Davin fired, surely Garcia would return the favor, and they might both die.
“Where are you from, big boy?” Robinette purred.
Garcia took his gaze off of Davin and leered at Robinette.
Adam’s hand darted out and clamped around Garcia’s, yanking the pistol from his grip.
Garcia cried out in surprise. The gun went off, making Chloe jump a foot in the air. Glass shattered and the storm blew in as Adam slammed the pistol into the large man’s knee. He hit the floor on both knees, roaring.
Davin sprang forward and hammered the butt of his pistol into the man’s temple. He staggered but didn’t go down. He was a massive ogre.
Garcia drove his head into Davin’s chest. They slammed into the hardwood floor, Garcia on top of Davin. Davin’s pistol clattered to the floor.
Adam scrambled over, unsteady but determined. He grabbed Davin’s pistol off the ground and clocked Garcia in the back of the head with it again. The man roared and bucked back. Davin flipped him over onto his back and they struggled.
Davin wrapped one of the man’s arms between his legs and secured the other into his chest. When he flexed his back, it forced Garcia’s face into the floor. The crime lord still thrashed, though his arms were stretched near to breaking.
Adam stood above them and drew his Taser.
He looked unsteady on his feet, his eyes going in and out of focus.
The door sprang open and Jaxon rushed in, pistol drawn.
When he saw what was going on, he darted around to Garcia’s left side, shoved his knee into the man’s already twisted shoulder, and pointed his pistol at Garcia’s forehead.
“Give me a reason to shoot,” Jaxon growled.
“I’d love one as well,” Adam echoed.
Garcia finally stopped resisting.
Davin nodded. “I’d like to stretch him just a little farther, please.” He arched his back and Garcia grimaced.
Adam let out a pained grunt as he put an arm on a high-backed chair for balance. “Couldn’t tase him. Davin’s all wet… would’ve got tased too. If Garcia recovered first.” He blew out an unsteady breath. “I was in no shape for a fight.”
“We did it,” Robinette said, smiling as if all was well and she hadn’t pulled a gun on Davin earlier.
“You were impressive,” Chloe commended her. “Thank you for helping me out.”
“I didn’t know if he’d go for you,” Robinette said.
Chloe let out an unbelieving laugh. That was more the Robinette she’d grown up with.
Jaxon stared at her. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s a long story,” Adam said as he pulled out his cuffs and secured Garcia’s ankles. Davin and Jaxon took his arms and dragged them behind his back so Adam could secure them too. They weren’t taking any chances, and Chloe was grateful. He was a bad man.
“You’re all right?” Davin asked Adam.
“Knocked me out,” Adam admitted. “But I had my vest on. When I came to, I realized it could be to my advantage to play dead until the right moment. He bent down to take my cuffs and Robinette gave me a great opening.” He nodded to her.
“Least I could do.” Robinette winked.
Adam grunted and looked away from her.
“I’m so grateful you’re all right,” Chloe said.
“I am as well,” Davin echoed.
“It looks like I need to hear a lot of stories,” Jaxon muttered as the storm swirled inside.
“You do,” Adam said. “There are some good ones tonight. Maybe Davin can write about them.”
Davin arched his brows and nodded. “Maybe.”
“We’ve got him.” Jaxon nodded to the trussed-up Garcia. Thankfully, he wasn’t going anywhere. He tilted his head from Davin to Chloe. “You go.”
Davin straightened as Jaxon began reading Garcia his rights. Adam then cuffed Robinette while she shrieked in protest, “Not only am I innocent, you’d all be dead without me!”
Davin strode toward Chloe, determination in his stride and in his eyes. Wrapping her up tight in his arms, he lifted her off her feet and carried her into the laundry room.
“I like it,” Adam said. “The author knows romance.”
Davin smiled. He shut the door of the laundry room and they were plunged into darkness. He set her on her feet but held her close to his chest. “Chloe.” His body shuddered. “You’re all right.”
“‘You came for me. You’re alive,’” she quoted Robin Hood.
“‘I would die for you,’” he whispered.
A tremble raced through her. She arched up and kissed him.
The house shook with the sound of thunder. The cacophony added to the electricity in the air, and the storm outside and the joy of Davin’s kiss lit her up from the inside out.
Davin finally pulled back slightly. “There’s so much I want to work out with you. I thought I’d have to leave to keep Garcia from finding you, but now …”
“So you aren’t sorry?”
“Sorry?”
“You said you were sorry. I thought you didn’t want me.”
He released her and flicked on the light in the adjoining bathroom, closing the door partially.
“There. Now I can see your eyes but it’s still romantic lighting.
” He framed her face with his hands. “Chloe. I might not know much about romance, but I know you and I know that I want you. I want to be with you, get to know everything about you, make you fall desperately in love with me through my inept attempts at romance.”
Chloe smiled, relief and joy filling her. “I can teach you about romance, but your attempts aren’t inept. I love that you’re not some experienced guy.”
“I’m not, but I can’t wait to experience a whole lot of kissing. With you.”
“Now that was romantic,” she teased.
“Sorry, it really wasn’t.”
“‘Love means never having to say you’re sorry,’” she said, quoting Love Story.
His eyes widened at her throwing the L-word out there.
“No apologies,” she rushed to say. “Just kiss me.”
“That I can do.”
He kissed her as the storm worsened outside and Jaxon and Adam hauled two criminals out of the house—one deadly, one misguided and a little crazy. Soon after, firefighters arrived and boarded up the broken window.
An undetermined amount of time later, Jaxon pulled them apart for questioning and Chloe complained.
“‘This isn’t over,’” she quoted Terminator to Davin.
He smiled. “‘I am inevitable,’” he quoted Thanos from Avengers back. “It’s inevitable we’ll be kissing more. Very soon.”
Chloe smiled. She knew there would be much more kissing and romance in their future. She could hardly wait.