Chapter 20 #2
If Cora could’ve, she would’ve jumped Pipe right then and there.
His hair was sticking up all over his head, his T-shirt was torn, he was breathing hard, had blood on his arms—Cora really hoped it was Creepy Guy’s blood and not his own—and his lip was also bloody and swollen from where he’d been hit in the face several times.
But he was literally the sexiest man she’d ever seen in her life.
“Cora?” he asked as he took two steps toward her. He knelt down and his eyes raked down her body, as if he could see through her clothes to see if she was hurt. He inhaled sharply when he saw her arm.
“I think it’s broken,” she said, not recognizing the sound of her own voice.
Pipe reached out a hand and palmed the back of her head before resting his forehead against hers so gently, it was as if they were in the middle of some romantic night out rather than in the basement of a kidnapper’s house, after being drugged and injured.
“Bloody hell,” he whispered.
“I did what you told me to,” she whispered. “I went for the soft tissue.”
“You did good, love,” he said.
Those four words meant more than Cora could express.
She half expected him to get mad that she’d put herself in danger, getting hurt in the process.
But instead, he understood that they’d all been in deep shit, and she’d done what she needed to do in order to give him and Owl a chance to overcome the threat.
“Is he dead?” she whispered.
“No.”
Cora blinked at that. “Why not?”
To her surprise, Pipe drew back and looked at her with a serious expression. “Because unlike that arsehole, I’m not a murderer.”
“But we can’t let him get away!” she protested.
“We’ll call the police as soon as possible. My main concern right now is getting you and Lara away from here and to a doctor.”
Cora couldn’t argue with that. At least the part about making sure Lara was safe. As for herself, she didn’t like doctors. Never had, never would.
“Speaking of which, it’s been twelve minutes. We need to go,” Owl said.
Pipe nodded but didn’t look at his friend. He stood, then reached down for Cora. She stood with his help and promptly swayed.
“What hurts?” Pipe asked urgently.
“Um…everything?” Cora said without thought.
To her surprise, Pipe picked her up as if she weighed nothing at all. She let out a screech and wrapped her good arm around his neck.
“I’ve got you,” he soothed. “Owl, you okay with her?”
Looking over at the bed, Cora saw Owl was holding Lara in his arms. They were about the same height, so she looked a little awkward in his arms, but with the amount of weight Lara had clearly lost, Owl seemed to be able to carry her without issue.
“Yes,” he told Pipe curtly.
Without another word, Pipe headed for the door.
They were indeed in a basement. The room they were in was at the back of a larger space.
The rest of the basement was filled with boxes upon boxes.
No wonder no one knew Lara was there, it didn’t look as if anyone had been down there in ages.
They went up a flight of stairs and exited into a hallway.
It was eerie how they didn’t encounter anyone. The house was completely silent and seemingly empty.
Until a woman holding an honest-to-God feather duster, and wearing an apron, stepped out of a room in front of them and stopped dead in her tracks.
She stared at them in astonishment, her mouth open in shock.
It was confirmation in Cora’s eyes that most of the employees had probably been kept in the dark about what was happening in the basement.
That they didn’t know Ridge Michaels and his bodyguard were up to no good right under their noses.
“Where’s the helipad?” Pipe barked in a low, mean tone.
The woman jerked in surprise at the menace in his voice and pointed down the hall.
Pipe brushed past her. Cora’s legs almost hit her in the face, but she stepped back into the room she’d just exited.
Looking over Pipe’s shoulder, Cora saw a shirtless Owl right on their heels. Lara’s bare legs bounced as he walked, and while his shirt was big on her friend, it wasn’t nearly long enough.
Hatred welled up within Cora again. Lara had been through hell, and she didn’t know if she hated Creepy Guy or Ridge Michaels more as a result.
“Bloody hell,” Pipe swore.
Turning to look forward, Cora saw what had Pipe so upset. Sometime between when they’d arrived at the house and now, a storm had moved in. The wind was blowing so much sand around, they could’ve been in the middle of the Sahara Desert instead of Phoenix.
“Can Stone fly in this?” Cora asked worriedly.
It wasn’t Pipe who answered, but Owl from behind her. “Piece of cake. Come on, move.”
Pipe leaned down and managed to open the door without dropping Cora, then stepped outside into the maelstrom.
Cora immediately shut her eyes, the sand hitting her face like little pieces of glass. She huddled into Pipe as well as she could.
Over the sound of the wind screaming around them, she heard the familiar chuff of helicopter rotors. She squinted her eyes open and was surprised to see the large aircraft so close. The rotors blades were kicking up even more sand all around them.
Before she knew it, Pipe had placed her inside the chopper on a back seat, then leaped up without seemingly any effort next to her.
He helped her scoot over before turning back to the door.
He took Lara from Owl’s arms so his friend could jump into the chopper.
Pipe sat beside her and, as gently as possible, propped up Lara on the remaining seat to his right, buckling her in, then wrapping an arm around her to keep her steady.
“You’re late!” Stone yelled from the pilot’s seat.
“Sorry, had some trouble!” Pipe yelled back.
Owl turned in his seat next to Stone to stare at Lara for a moment, then met Cora’s gaze.
“She’s gonna be okay,” he told her firmly.
It felt as if there was more he wanted to say, but Stone yelled at him to get his “ass in gear” so they could get the fuck out of there.
Without another word, Owl turned and faced forward. And before her eyes, the man who seemed so uncertain at times morphed into someone Cora had never seen.
Even shirtless, he oozed confidence as he donned a set of headphones and began to flick switches and buttons.
“Hang on!” Stone called back to Pipe and Cora. “This isn’t going to be a smooth takeoff!”
Movement in her peripheral vision made Cora turn. She saw several men waving their arms and yelling something, but she couldn’t hear them. They were running out of the house, toward the chopper.
It was the man at the back of the group who she couldn’t take her eyes off, though.
It was Creepy Guy. He wasn’t yelling. Wasn’t running toward them. He was simply standing at the door, staring at the helicopter as if his gaze alone could make it crash and burn.
Blood still ran down his face but his expression was blank.
He was literally the coldest, creepiest man Cora had ever seen in her life.
The thought of him anywhere near her, or Lara, made her blood run cold.
No wonder the FBI had him on their most wanted list. He was a menace to society, and any woman unlucky enough to come into contact with him was in extreme danger. She knew that down to her bones.
“Here we go!” Stone yelled.
The chopper lurched upward, and Cora yelped as she reached for something to hold on to. She found Pipe.
“Holy crap, this thing sucks,” Owl said, almost conversationally as he struggled to help Stone fly the chopper.
“When we talk to Brick about getting a helicopter for The Refuge, we’re getting a Bell. Maybe a 505. This R66 is fine in calm weather, but shit for conditions like this,” Stone replied.
Pipe had motioned to her before they’d taken off to put on a pair of headphones so they could all talk to each other, but at the moment, Cora wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what else the ex-Night Stalkers had to say.
The two men continued to bitch about the small private chopper they’d “borrowed” as they fought against the wind and sand.
Pipe wrapped his free arm around her, and Cora was relieved.
Having him next to her somehow made everything a little less scary.
Cora only had one arm she could use, and she grabbed hold of Pipe’s hand on her shoulder when the helicopter shuddered.
She’d never been in a helicopter before, and this flight was terrifying.
She had confidence in Stone and Owl, she’d read about the famous Night Stalker pilots when she’d researched The Refuge, but how the hell they were still in the air with the wind and sand whipping so hard, was beyond her.
When she looked back at the house they’d just escaped, as they rose higher and higher, Creepy Guy wasn’t there anymore. He’d disappeared from view—and a shiver ran through her.
She suddenly wished Pipe had killed him. Had made sure he wouldn’t be around to haunt them ever again.
Pipe leaned toward her slightly, and Cora turned and buried her nose in his neck, breathing in his familiar scent.
So much had happened so quickly, but this man had yet to let her down.
When it meant the most, he’d done everything in his power to make sure she was safe.
That was more than anyone in her entire life had done for her.
She figured some psychologist somewhere would caution her, tell her that what she felt for Pipe was some savior complex, because of her lack of affection growing up.
That there was no way she was truly in love with him… but they’d be wrong.
Feeling sick now from the way the chopper was swaying and jerking in the storm, she squeezed her eyes shut. Her arm was screaming in pain, her butt hurt from where she’d landed on it, and her head throbbed from hitting the wall.
But she was alive, and they had found Lara. She’d go through it all again if it meant being where she was right now. Scared out of her mind, but safe.
As if he could read her thoughts, Pipe spoke softly. She barely heard him over Owl and Stone’s conversation about getting them out of there without crashing.
“You’re good. I’ve got you.”
Yeah, he did. She was hurt, Lara was obviously traumatized, and they might still die in a horrific helicopter crash, not to mention they might be prosecuted for stealing the chopper…
but Cora didn’t care. They’d deal with the fallout from the last few hours later.
For now, she was content to be alive and with the man she loved.