Chapter 15
“I’m just so glad you worked things out,” Danny breathed in relief as we strolled the aisles of the grocery store. It was the end of the week, and Travis and I had invited everyone over for a barbeque. The fact that we were joint hosting was still a bit surreal.
Olivia bounced in excitement in the cart as she drooled all over a cracker.
I nodded my agreement, my eyes on Livie. “Sweet girl,” I murmured, dropping a quick kiss to her dark head of curls.
“And project home-ify Trav’s place is in effect tomorrow?” she verified with a grin.
“Home-ify?” I laughed. “Well, I guess that’s about right. Yeah, I told him it would probably take all day, but he seems game.” I shrugged.
She snorted. “Text me after the second store. I’d be shocked if he still feels that way.”
“Normally I would agree with you.” I nodded as I grabbed a package of chicken. “But I really think he wants to make some changes to his place. Not just for me,” I added quickly.
“But without you he’d never be doing it,” she put in.
“Maybe not,” I allowed. “You think chicken and sausages?”
She nodded, throwing in a pack of buns. The guys were off carbs for the moment so we only needed enough for the kids and us girls who didn’t mind a little starch now and then. We steered our packed cart toward the checkout. As we waited in line, the hairs on my neck rose as though someone was watching me. I looked around but saw nothing.
“What is it?” Danny asked absently.
“Nothing.” I waved the feeling off, diving in to help unload the cart.
We walked out to the parking lot, toward her car, the sun just beginning to dip past the horizon.
“I’ll meet you at the house?” she asked as she put Liv in her car seat.
I slammed her trunk shut. “Yep.” I waved, walking over to where my own car was parked. “See you in a few.”
The same prickle crept up my spine as I dug my keys out of my purse.
“Ms. Greer.” A vaguely familiar voice spoke from behind me.
I turned, surprised to find Detective Morales standing there in plain clothes, keys in hand. I’d always been more comfortable with him than Detective Harris, but something about his expression had me immediately on guard.
What if we’d been wrong about Harris? What if Morales was the bad guy?
“I need to talk to you for a minute,” he said, cocking his head toward his car.
His request struck me as odd, and I debated how to respond. I dug around in my purse as though fishing for my keys, intent on grabbing my phone. I sent Travis an SOS text on the sly, using the single number code he’d programmed in my phone in the event of an emergency. I added “M” to the message, hoping he’d understand what I was trying to say. I sent it off and looked back at the detective. “We can talk right here,” I replied calmly, leaning against my car, wishing darkness hadn’t fallen and that there were people around.
He stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. “I need to take you in, there have been new developments.”
“Okay, I’ll take my car and meet you there,” I replied without delay. “Travis is waiting for me, he’ll be worried,” I added. wanting to make it clear that Travis would note my absence.
He took another menacing step toward me, and it was in that moment, in the way his jaw ticked and his eyes narrowed, that I knew I was in real trouble. “I didn’t want to have to do this,” he growled, producing what looked like a syringe from his pocket.
I let out the loudest scream I could muster, trying to break away, but he had me cornered against my car. A second later, when the needle dug into my neck, my last thought was of Travis.
For the first time in my life I’d been truly happy. It hadn’t lasted long enough—I hadn’t had nearly enough of Travis. I never would. I wanted my forever. I’d be damned if that was taken from me.
****
My first awareness was of an excruciating pounding in my head, unlike anything I’d felt before. It was as though my entire head had its own heartbeat, complete with a hammer to compound every beat. There was a bitter, chalky taste in my mouth, and swallowing felt nearly impossible.
I forced myself to remain still, to feign sleep as I lay on my side in the back of his car. By the sound of the engine and the whir of the tires, I guessed we were on a freeway, though which one I couldn’t be sure. I had no idea how long I’d been out for. We could be anywhere.
I wanted desperately to sit up; lying in this position was only making my head and ability to swallow worse, but something told me to lie still. Aside from an occasional sound of Morales shifting his body in the driver seat or clearing his throat, the car was quiet.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the car slowed and veered right. My heart hammered in fear. A moment later, the smell of gasoline filtered through my nostrils. He was stopping for gas. I never thought anything could smell so good, as hope slammed into my chest. This might be my shot, my only shot to get away. Could my legs even move? I felt off-balance even lying down, but I had to try.
The car slowed and then stopped, and I heard the driver-side door open and slam shut. My eyes snapped open a second later, and I assessed the situation as quickly as I could.
There was no cage separating the back seat from the front. I assumed the back doors were locked from the outside. I’d have to crawl over the console and get out through the front.
I saw Morales move away from the car in my peripheral vision. A stroke of luck. I waited a beat, took a deep, fortifying breath, and scrambled up, knowing I’d have to move fast. I crawled awkwardly over the console and opened the driver-side door. My first few steps, I felt like a newborn fawn, all knees, but I soon found my footing and picked up speed.
A quick glance around proved we were at a standard freeway exit; the streets were lined with fast-food restaurants and gas stations. My instinct told me to hide, that Morales would use his position as a detective if I sought help. I sprinted off into the trees beyond the station, forcing myself not to look back. I couldn’t tell if he followed, and I didn’t want to risk losing my stride. The darkness provided protection but was also dangerous. I could barely see what was in front of me, but my adrenaline had me pressing on. I tripped over a tree root, flying through the air and landing hard on my hands and knees, but I was up and running again before I could give it a second thought. That happened twice more, but I pressed on.
My lungs burned from exertion, my throat screaming for water, but I didn’t stop, grateful I was in good shape and had always been fast. When I couldn’t run anymore, when I knew my legs would give out if I tried, I risked a glance behind me.
Nothing. Not that I could see anyway.
I didn’t trust that I was in the clear yet, and aimed my gaze skyward. Ryan and I had spent many an afternoon climbing trees, and I aimed to do just that. I hoped the large oak a few yards away would offer the perfect cover. I hoisted myself onto the lowest limb, forcing myself to go slow, and blindly reached for the next branch, hoping it was big enough to support me. I knew there was no way I’d be getting down without daylight. I climbed one branch at a time, moving far enough up the tree that I was deep within the leaves, where I hoped to be out of sight.
Finally, I stopped. I straddled a wide branch, leaning my back against the trunk, and waited.
I sat listening to the whir of cars on the freeway to my left, of distant car horns and sirens. I was freezing and exhausted, but didn’t even think about moving. What if he’d crept into the woods quietly? What if he was down there waiting for me?
My entire body ached from whatever he’d injected me with. I’d never been so thirsty.
I had no idea how much time had passed, which seemed to be a theme for the entire evening. There was no light to the sky, which led me to believe it was still dead of night—maybe we weren’t so far out of Los Angeles after all.
I winced, thinking about how worried they must all be.
At first I thought I was hearing things when a familiar voice called my name in the distance. My heart picked up to triple time as I sat up, trying like hell to hear more clearly. Then I heard it again, clear as day.
Travis.
“Travis!” I screamed, my voice a hoarse rasp. It was like one of those nightmares when you can’t speak, or your legs are in quicksand. I tried again and managed to get my voice a little louder this time.
I breathed a sigh of relief when the beams of several flashlights turned in my direction, and Travis shouted my name again, his voice drawing closer.
“I’m up here!” I half choked, half hollered as my voice began to truly desert me.
“Em! Where are you?” he bellowed from somewhere down below.
“I’m up in an oak tree,” I rasped. “I don’t know if you’ll be able to see me, and I’m losing my voice,” I warned worriedly.
“It’s okay, babe. We’ll find you.” His confidence had me relaxing a bit. I trusted him to take care of me.
It was another minute before I heard rustling in the tree below. “You up here, babe?” Travis asked as the distant light of a flashlight became brighter.
“Y-yes,” I answered, realizing for the first time that my teeth were chattering.
“Damn, Em, didn’t know you could scale trees like this.” He grunted as the leaves rustled beneath me, heralding his arrival. A moment later, Travis’s head appeared, obstructed by the headlamp he wore, which shone so brightly I had to close my eyes against it.
“Sorry,” he apologized. “That better?”
I opened my eyes cautiously and bit my lip hard against the tears that wanted to overflow at my first sight of him.
He stood on the branch beneath me and leaned in, kissing me harder than he ever had. “Christ, Em. Are you okay?”
“I think so.” I nodded. “Do you have any water?” I asked, hearing the desperation in my voice.
He looked at me regretfully. “No, I don’t. I’m sorry. But we have some in the Jeep. Just need to get you out of here.”
“I don’t know if I can get down,” I fretted. I’d scaled the tree with adrenaline coursing through my veins. Now, hours later, I was exhausted, starving, and so thirsty I couldn’t think of much else.
“I’ll help you,” he assured me. “I have an extra headlamp for you, and I’ll talk you through it.”
I looked at him doubtfully.
“Em, swear to God—if you want to stay up here, I’ll stay right here with you for the rest of the night.”
As much as I appreciated the offer, and knew he meant it, I shook my head. “I need water,” I rasped. It was my main motivation at the moment. “Let’s get this over with.”
He reached toward me, placing the headlamp across my forehead. “You’re not hurt anywhere?” he verified, the worry more prevalent in his gaze now that I could see him more clearly.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” I assured him.
He leaned over, kissing me soundly once more before breaking away to holler, “Armstrong! Shine your light up here!” A moment later Theo’s faint light shone into the branches from below.
“It’ll get brighter the lower we get,” Travis explained. “You’re pretty high up here, and the leaves are dense. For now, we’ll use our headlamps. I’ll go first and walk you through the steps.”
“’Kay,” I replied. I was too tired to say much else, and I needed to preserve my strength for the climb down.
It was an agonizingly slow process as Travis walked me through every step. My limbs were shaking from exhaustion, my knees and palms bloody from falling earlier in my haste to escape Morales.
“You’re doing great, Em,” Travis praised as the lights from below began to shine brighter, helping to guide our passage. “Almost there.”
The ground couldn’t come soon enough.
Finally, I could see Theo and Declan clearly as they watched our progress with evident concern.
“There’s a branch six inches below you,” Travis directed in much the same way as he had since we started down. “Good,” he continued when I’d stepped on it. “The next one is a bigger drop, take your time.”
I followed his instructions, lowering exhausted legs one by one as I clung to the branch above me. When I thought I couldn’t take another step, that I’d have to hang there indefinitely, strong hands gripped my hips from behind.
“I’ve got you, baby. I’m going to lift you down.” Travis’s words, which meant he was at the bottom and so was I, offered a respite to my exhausted mind. I let go of the branch I’d been holding as he pulled me down and into his arms.
My job was done; I’d managed to somehow make it down that damn tree. Almost immediately, secure in Travis’s arms, I could safely float into oblivion.