Chapter 12 #2
“Which I’m grateful for…but you don’t understand. Finding out the truth about Ridge probably broke her,” Cora said, putting her forehead on her updrawn knees.
Pipe didn’t like seeing her so devastated.
He stood, then leaned over and put his hand under her elbow.
He gently helped Cora to her feet and led her back to the table, helping her sit.
Then he pulled his chair right up against hers and put a hand on her thigh.
He didn’t care if his friends saw his open affection toward her. He couldn’t not touch her right now.
“We’ll leave in the morning,” Pipe said. “Fly to Phoenix, go to Michaels’s house, see if we get lucky and he lets us in. If not, we do surveillance on the house, then go to the Blue Moon. Depending on the intel we get, we’ll go from there. Yeah?”
“I’ll email the satellite pics of the property and the addresses of the places where Lara’s credit cards have been used. Maybe you can go to the stores with pictures of both Lara and Michaels and see if anyone recognizes them,” Tex said.
“Yeah, that’s a good plan,” Stone agreed.
“Can you get us the addresses of the employees who work at the estate? Maybe we can approach some of them away from the house. See if they’ll talk to us about what’s going on inside,” Owl added.
“Of course,” Tex said. “I’ll send you a list of names and see what I can find out about each of them on my end.”
“Thanks for the intel,” Brick told him.
“Don’t thank me,” Tex said grumpily.
“Sorry, forgot you hate that shit,” Brick said with a small laugh.
“I’ll be in touch. Cora?”
Her head came up. “Yeah?”
“If your friend is being held against her will, the men around that table will figure out how to get her out of there,” Tex reassured her.
“She is,” Cora said firmly. “And I hope you’re right.”
“I am. I’m out.”
Silence descended around the room for a moment. Then Owl said quietly, “I don’t like this.”
“Agreed,” Stone said. “This situation stinks to high heaven. Would Michaels really kidnap Lara simply to use her money because his dad essentially cut him off?”
“There’s no telling. But I’m sure Tex will do some more digging and figure it out,” Spike said.
“You guys will need to get to the airport a little early, so you can check your sidearms,” Tiny told Owl, Stone, and Pipe.
Cora’s gaze flicked to Pipe upon hearing that. “You’re bringing weapons?” she asked.
Pipe nodded. “Of course we are. That bother you?”
“No,” she replied. “I mean, I’m glad. I just…I read that weapons weren’t allowed here on The Refuge, and with all the uncertainties, with you guys not really thinking that Lara was kidnapped, I wasn’t sure…” Her voice trailed off.
“Stalker,” Pipe accused tenderly.
He was rewarded with a small smile. He couldn’t wait for the day he could make her smile wholeheartedly. When her friend was safe, and she wasn’t so stressed out and could let herself completely relax.
“While we don’t allow guests to bring weapons onto the property, for obvious reasons, that doesn’t mean we aren’t prepared to protect ourselves. And there’s no way I’m going to Arizona to try to figure out what happened to Lara without some way to protect you in the process,” Pipe told her.
“Were you…did you have a weapon on you when we were in DC? I mean, I don’t remember you doing anything special when we flew here,” Cora said.
“I never go anywhere unarmed,” Pipe told her.
Her head tilted as she studied him.
“As if Pipe actually needs a knife or gun to protect himself. Or anyone else,” Tiny added.
Cora flinched slightly, as if she’d forgotten they weren’t alone. Pipe felt the same way. When he was with her, he wanted to give her his undivided attention. And here with his friends, he could do so. Could let down his guard and not be on alert so much.
She turned to Tiny. “Really?”
“Yup. I mean, we’re all fairly good at hand-to-hand combat. But Pipe? He’s the master.”
Cora studied him once again. “Huh.”
He grinned. “That’s all you have to say?”
“Yup. Oh, wait, no. Can you teach me?”
“Teach you what?”
“How to protect myself if I’m attacked? I mean, I’ve learned some stuff over the years, kind of had to, but I’d love to be trained by a professional.”
“Absolutely,” Pipe said without hesitation. “The main thing you need to remember is to go for the weak spots.”
“Like a guy’s dick?” Cora asked.
Pipe’s friends laughed, but he kept his gaze glued to Cora’s. “Yup. Although honestly, guys are used to people aiming there. I was talking about the soft-tissue spots. Eyes, especially.”
Cora wrinkled her nose.
“I know, it’s gross. But I guarantee someone will let go of you immediately if you stick your finger in their eye. That gives you time to get the hell away from him or her and get help. That should be your goal—not standing and fighting, but getting away.”
She nodded, not offended in the least. “Do you teach a class on this kind of thing here?”
“No, why?”
“You should. I mean, if people are here because of some traumatic experience, they might want to know more about how to defend themselves if they’re ever in that kind of situation again.”
“She’s right,” Brick said with a nod. “That’s a great idea, and I can’t believe we haven’t already thought of it. Thanks, Cora. I’ll talk to Alaska and see where we can fit it into the schedule. Maybe we can offer a class twice a week or something, to maximize the number of guests who can attend.”
“I’m not as good as Pipe with hand-to-hand, but I’m happy to help,” Spike volunteered.
“Same,” Tiny said.
“I’m in too,” Brick said.
“Don’t look at me,” Owl said with a self-deprecating chuckle. “I had some instruction in Basic Training, but the Army was more interested in teaching me to fly a helicopter than meeting the enemy head on.”
“Right?” Stone said with a shake of his head. “Maybe if they’d trained us more extensively in hand-to-hand combat, we might’ve fared better when our chopper went down.”
Pipe frowned. His friends were still dealing with the aftermath of their time in captivity, it was obvious, and it sucked that they hadn’t been given the tools they needed to maybe evade capture in the first place.
They might be some of the best helicopter pilots in the world, but that wouldn’t help them if they fell into enemy hands… something they’d learned the hard way.
“I’ll let you guys know if I hear anything back from Tex that might affect what happens in Phoenix. In the meantime, make sure you have everything you need for the trip, and if not, let me know and we’ll scrounge it up,” Brick said.
Pipe nodded. “Appreciate it.”
His friend sighed. “I’m beginning to understand why Tex doesn’t like to be thanked.
When I needed you guys the most, when that asshole came to The Refuge to get Alaska, you were all there for me, no questions asked.
So if you get to Arizona and find the situation is more fucked up than you expected, you’d better call us.
We’ll be there in a heartbeat. The women can keep things running here without us.
And you don’t ever have to thank me for doing what needs to be done for you and yours,” Brick said, staring intently at Pipe.
He nodded, gratitude swelling inside him. His friends didn’t ask what was up between him and Cora. They simply accepted what they could see with their own eyes, that she meant more to him than some random person he was doing a favor for.
Brick addressed Cora next. “You okay?”
“No. I’m overwhelmed. Angry at that asshole, Ridge. Scared to death for Lara. But also wondering what I’ve ever done in my life to be lucky enough to have you all on my side. And Lara’s.”
“I have a question…how hard would it have been for you to access Lara’s account to borrow money to use for the auction?
” Brick asked, leaning forward and studying Cora carefully.
“I’m only asking because I assume after everything you’ve said about your friend, about how generous she is and how close you are, she might’ve given you access to her money. ”
Cora’s cheeks pinkened. Suddenly, Pipe wanted to hear her answer just as much as Brick.
She shrugged, staring at the table, gaze only occasionally flicking up to Brick.
“I’m listed on her bank account…for emergencies.
She marched me down to her bank the last time I lost my apartment and had to move in with her.
Said she didn’t want me to be homeless ever again, and made me promise to use her money if I needed it for rent or to pay my electric bill or something,” Cora said.
After a beat, she raised her chin enough to look Brick in the eye.
“I never have though. I think knowing she was so willing to give it made me more determined not to use her money.”
“Wait,” Pipe said in confusion. “You sold all your furniture, every last dish and mug in your cupboards, all of your belongings to raise six thousand dollars to use at the auction…when you could’ve simply gone to the bank and taken what you needed? Enough to outbid that cow, Eleanor?”
“It’s not my money,” Cora insisted. “And I know that sounds stupid because I needed it to help Lara, and it’s her money in the first place, but I just couldn’t.”
“It doesn’t sound stupid,” Tonka reassured her. “It sounds like you’re the kind of person anyone would want to have at their back.”
Pipe was astonished by this woman once more.
If it had been anyone else—literally anyone—they would’ve used the money at their disposal without a second thought.
Especially in a dire situation. But not Cora.
She probably hadn’t even considered it. She simply did what she’d always done… relied on herself to solve a problem.
Well, never again. She had a complete tribe of people to support her now. Whether she knew it or not.