Chapter 19 #2
In response, Pipe let go of her and headed for the bathroom.
He returned seconds later with a wet washcloth and handed it to her without a word.
Cora went to the other side of the bed and began wiping her friend gently.
Owl and Pipe turned their heads when she lifted the nightgown, once again giving the almost comatose woman the respect she deserved.
Cora did the best she could and felt marginally better when there were no more traces of what someone had left behind on Lara’s skin.
She couldn’t help but lean down and whisper, “Wake up, Lara. Please. It’s Cora.
I’m here. I’m with some friends and we’re going to get you out of here.
But you have to wake up and talk to us. Okay? ”
To her surprise, Lara’s head slowly turned her way…and Cora swore she saw recognition in her eyes.
“It’s me,” she told her friend. “We always said we’d be there for each other through thick and thin, right? Well, I’m thinking this is some pretty serious thick, huh?”
Lara blinked.
“Can you talk to us?” Owl asked.
Lara’s head rolled slowly on the pillow, turning toward Owl. She stared at him without saying a word.
“That’s Owl. He’s with me. His real name is Callen, but people call him Owl because he’s got such perfect eyesight,” Cora told her.
“Stalker,” Pipe said with a small grin from behind Owl.
Cora wasn’t ashamed of the research she’d done on the men of The Refuge. Besides, it wasn’t as if the information wasn’t out there for anyone to find if they looked hard enough.
But at the sound of Pipe’s voice, Lara whimpered.
“Easy, it’s okay. That’s Pipe,” Cora told her. “He’s mine.”
Pipe made a small sound, and Cora looked up at him. He seemed surprised at her words.
She wrinkled her nose. “Too soon?” she asked sheepishly.
“No, not at all,” Pipe told her. The bed was between them, but for some reason it felt as if they were the only two people in the world.
“You’re scaring her,” Owl told Pipe. “Step back.”
Pipe immediately took a step away from the bed.
“You’re okay,” Owl told Lara. “No one’s gonna hurt you again. Do you hear me? I won’t allow it.”
To Cora’s surprise, Lara’s tongue came out and she licked her lips before croaking, “Hurt.”
“I know, and as soon as we can, we’ll do something about that. Pipe’s gonna figure out how to get us the hell out of here and we’ll get you all fixed up. Okay?”
Cora held her breath. She felt no jealousy at all that Lara had responded to Owl and not her. She was thrilled she was talking at all.
In response to Owl’s words, Lara’s arm inched across the narrow bed. She grabbed hold of his wrist. “Don’t leave. Rather die…”
Her voice was thready and weak, but they could all hear the desperation in her words.
“I’m not leaving you. Not a chance in hell. And no one is dying. Hear me? But I need you to fight, Lara.”
“Tired,” she said, closing her eyes.
But Cora noticed that she hadn’t let go of Owl’s wrist.
“I know you are,” he said gently. “Rest for now.”
Lara nodded and let out a long sigh.
Cora pressed her lips together as she lifted the blanket back up and over Lara’s body.
Lara’s head moved her way, and her eyes popped open again. She still looked out of it, and the thought of someone drugging her friend made the murderous anger return. But Cora did her best to remain calm.
“Knew you’d find me. But…you should’ve stayed away.”
Cora leaned down so she was almost nose to nose with her friend. “No way in hell. You saved me when we were fifteen. I would’ve moved heaven and earth to save you back. I love you, Lara.”
In response, Lara closed her eyes and turned her head away.
Cora wasn’t upset. She had to be confused right now. And traumatized. Nothing she said or did would surprise Cora, under the circumstances.
“You guys okay?” Pipe asked.
“Head hurts, and I feel a little off, but okay,” Owl said, not getting up from the bed because doing so would mean Lara would have to let go of him.
Cora fell a little in love with him then. Not a love like she had for Pipe, but a huge, grateful love that he understood Lara needed an anchor right now. And because he was perfectly willing to be that anchor.
“Cora?” Pipe asked.
“Same,” she told him. “What’s the plan?” she asked before she could think twice about it.
It wasn’t fair to put that kind of pressure on Pipe, but she honestly had no idea what to do now.
They were in a basement, with windows too small to climb out of, and with a half-dressed woman who was mostly out of it.
She had a feeling their options were limited.
Pipe opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of his phone vibrating.
“Wait—they didn’t take our phones?” Cora asked as she reached for her own in her back pocket. Sure enough, it was still there. “Do you have your gun?” she asked Pipe urgently.
He’d pulled out his phone and was scrolling down the screen, but he shook his head and said, “Nope. Gun’s gone.”
“Of course it is,” Cora said with a sigh.
Then a voice Cora recognized came from the speaker of Pipe’s phone.
Stone.
“Talk to me,” Pipe ordered.
“Fuckin’ shit! Thank God you finally answered. What’s going on in there?”
“We were locked in a room, gassed, and now we’re in the basement with a drugged Lara,” Pipe summed up quickly.
“Fuck. Right, look, they jammed the cell signals, which is why I couldn’t get in touch with you earlier,” Stone said.
“I know. We realized that when we were locked in that first room. Did they fuck up and unjam it for some reason?”
“No. You know that unknown person who helped us find Jasna and Reese?”
“Yeah?” Pipe asked suspiciously.
“He messaged me after you three had gone to the house and told me some shit. Warned me that you were all in danger and to tell you to get out.”
“Yeah, got the forty-seven messages with you saying that. And we would’ve if we could’ve. So what’s up with the jammer?” Pipe asked.
“Unknown unjammed it. Which is how we’re talking now.”
“Holy shit,” Cora whispered. She moved from around the bed toward Pipe. She put an arm around his waist as he held his phone in front of them, and they listened to Stone.
“Anyway, listen, that Grant guy? He’s wanted by the FBI. For multiple murders, among other things. He’s got aliases a mile long. He’s dangerous, Pipe,” Stone said unnecessarily. “He hurts women. Gets off on it. Then eventually kills them. You guys have to get out of there right now.”
Cora blinked in surprise. Creepy Guy really was creepy. She was kind of glad her internal radar hadn’t failed her, but the knowledge was a little too late.
“Gonna need your help, Stone,” Pipe said.
“Need you to do some reconnaissance. We’re in a basement of some sort.
There are windows, but they’re small. Too small for us to get out of.
There’s a door to the room we’re in, but I’m guessing it’s locked and reinforced like the one upstairs. We can’t get out without some help.”
“Right. Okay, I’m gonna go over the wall and check out the property and see what I can find. Oh, shit!” There was rustling, then silence.
Cora held her breath. This was so nerve-wracking. It was easy to hear the worry in Stone’s tone.
“What? What’s wrong?” Pipe asked.
“Someone’s coming down the street,” Stone whispered. “I had to jump over the perimeter wall. I don’t think they saw me.”
“Lay low. Can you get eyes on them? Who is it?”
The seconds dragged by as they waited for Stone to speak. He was still whispering when he responded.
“It’s not Michaels. This guy is stocky. Blondish hair. Tall. He’s headed straight for the Jeep. Shit, he’s slashing the tires.”
Cora closed her eyes as she leaned against Pipe. He was her rock right then. With every minute that passed, things seemed to get worse and worse. With the car out of commission, they wouldn’t be able to get away from the house quickly.
“That’s Carter,” Pipe said.
“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” Stone said.
“What’s he doing now?”
“Preparing a distraction,” Stone told them. “He opened the gas tank and stuffed a rag in there.”
“He’s gonna blow it up,” Pipe said.
“Probably. Wait…huh. That’s interesting.”
“What?” Pipe asked, impatience in his tone.
“He’s making a call. Do you think…maybe he doesn’t know the jammer was disabled. If he’s out here using his phone, maybe he thought it wouldn’t work in the house.”
“It’s possible,” Pipe agreed.
Then they all heard a sound in the background that made Owl’s head jerk up from where he’d been staring down at Lara.
“What’s that?” Pipe barked.
“Chopper,” Owl and Stone said at the same time.
“That’s our way out of here,” Pipe said firmly. “You need to get to that chopper, Stone. Lara can’t walk, so extraction’s gonna be tricky.”
For the first time since the call had started, Stone sounded confident. “Ten minutes,” he said. “I’ll be waiting. Owl?”
“I’m here,” he said.
“Remember what we did when we realized help had finally arrived for us?”
Cora watched Owl sit up straighter on the bed. “Yeah.”
“That’s your way out. I wish I could be there to help, but I’ll be in the cockpit waiting for you to be my wingman. Okay?”
“Deal,” Owl said.
“Ten minutes,” Stone repeated. “Do what you have to do, Pipe, to get out of there. If you don’t…” His voice trailed off.
Cora looked up at Pipe. His lips were pressed together tightly and he nodded. “Right. Ten minutes.” Then he clicked off the phone and looked at Owl. “What’s the plan?”
As soon as Owl explained how their rescue had gone down several years ago, Cora wasn’t sure it would work. But they literally had no other choice.
“You okay with taking her?” Pipe asked as he nodded at Lara.
“Absolutely,” Owl said.
Cora watched as Owl carefully slid his hand from Lara’s and took his shirt off. Before she could ask what he was doing, Owl pulled back the blanket and carefully started to put the shirt over her friend’s head.
“Listen to me, love,” Pipe said, grabbing Cora’s shoulders and physically turning her toward him. “No matter what happens, know that the happiest I’ve been in a very long time was last night with you. Understand?”
Cora nodded.
“And if this goes right, I’m gonna give you that family you’ve always wanted. You have a problem with that?”
Did she have a problem with Pipe being her family? Hell no. She shook her head.
“Good. Let’s do this.”
Taking a deep breath, Cora walked over to the door—then started pounding on it and screaming at the top of her lungs.