Off the Air

by L.H. Cosway

  I shook my head and chewed my lip. “Not yet.”

  Paul turned to me, his expression serious now. “Well, whatever you do, be careful, and try to make sure nobody else finds out. Not until you can figure something out about those contracts you both signed.”

  “What is there to figure out? I can’t wait a whole year to be with him.”

  Paul squeezed my hand. “Then I guess you’re going to have to make a tough decision. Just remember I’m here for you, whatever you need.”

  “Hey! Get over here you two!” Trev shouted, interrupting our talk. He stood at the far side of the roof, on the very edge of the outer wall.

  “Guess we should go do our jobs,” I said, nudging Paul then launched myself diagonally through the air before landing on the wall. I looked out then down. Heights didn’t typically faze me, but I still got a faint wobble in my belly thinking how high up we were. It wasn’t unpleasant, in fact, it was part of the thrill, the danger.

  Paul captured us as we ran, jumping from one wall to the next. The view up here was panoramic, the city lights twinkling below. When it was time to leave we’d almost made it back to the ground floor when I saw a flash of light. Someone shouted in heavily accented English, “Who’s there?” and my stomach dropped.

  “Fuck,” Cal swore, his arm going protectively around my waist.

  “Looks like those security guards sold us out to the coppers,” Trev said.

  “Everyone turn off your flashlights,” James whispered.

  Footsteps sounded as we turned in the opposite direction to find another way out. My heart pounded, palms sweaty. We were breaking the law by being here and I did not want to get arrested in a foreign country.

  Without any lights to find our way, the place was a dark maze. I stayed close to Cal, James on the other side of me, while Trev, Isaac, and Paul were ahead of us. The shouting and flashlights behind us drew closer. We entered what appeared to be a storage closet. There was only one small window close to the ceiling. Trev reached up and miraculously, it opened. He gestured for Isaac to climb through, followed by Paul, then James. By the sound of how close our pursuers were, there wasn’t going to be enough time for everyone to get out.

  My heart pounded as I made a rash decision.

  “I’m too short to reach the window. You go first then pull me up,” I said, pushing Cal forward. I didn’t give him a chance to argue, and just as he climbed through the window, the room was illuminated in cold, white light.

  I slammed the window shut and turned over the lock.

  “Leanne! What are you doing?!” Cal yelled and banged on the glass at the same time a policeman ordered, “Stop right there.”

  I met Cal’s furious gaze. “Go and get help!”

  He looked like he wanted to strangle me, but I’d locked the window and I wasn’t going to let him back in. If this was what I had to do to prevent Cal from being arrested, then so be it. This was my chance to prove that I deserved him. I’d take the fall so he didn’t have to.

  “Well, fuck,” Trev swore.

  It was just me and him left and the two policemen had their guns trained on us. Icy cold fear seized my veins. I hadn’t actually seen a gun before in real life. Most police back home didn’t carry them, so it was shocking to have one aimed right at me. There was something about staring down the barrel that sent a horrifying tremble through my entire body. My life didn’t exactly flash before my eyes, but I definitely had a thought like, this could be it for me.

  “Put your hands in the air,” one of them shouted, still aiming at us while the other one came and handcuffed Trev first, then me. Trev wasn’t half as freaked out as I was, but then again, he’d had many brushes with the law in his previous life as a car thief.

  It gave me a small measure of relief that the others managed to get away. At least they could go get help. And Cal, well, I was sure he’d thank me when I finally explained my reasoning for saving him.

  Trev and I were escorted out of the building and loaded into a police van to be brought to the station. I saw someone charging towards us just as we pulled away. It was Cal. He’d made a mad dash from the back of the building, but he wasn’t fast enough.

  “Why did you do it?” Trev questioned, eyeing me curiously. I knew what he was asking. He wanted to know why I’d made Cal go first.

  I exhaled tiredly. “I’ve treated him really badly this last year when he didn’t do anything to deserve it. Taking the fall tonight is part of my penance.”

  “I’m not sure he’ll see it that way,” Trev said and my stomach twisted. Had I just made an epic mistake?

  A few minutes went by before I asked, “What’s going to happen to us?” I was nervous now, the full weight of my actions suddenly dawning on me.

  Trev scratched his jaw. “Not sure how things operate over here, but we should play it cool. I’m hoping the police are corrupt enough that Barry will be able to pay them to let us off.”

  I gave a flat laugh. “Do you know him at all? Barry will probably leave us in jail to stew for a few days just to teach us a lesson.”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  A short while later, the van came to a halt. I listened as someone climbed out then the back door slid open abruptly.

  “Hey, thanks for the ride,” Trev said jovially. “We can make our own way home from here.”

  The policeman stared at him, unamused, as he hustled us out of the van.

  “Well, that went over like a lead balloon,” Trev bent to whisper to me as we walked into the station, still in cuffs. “You can tell the seriousness of the situation by how much banter a cop will indulge in. This guy didn’t even crack a smile.”

  “So, you’re saying we’re screwed?”

  “Let’s just see how this plays out first before we start to panic.”

  Inside, the station was big and there seemed to be a lot of people waiting to be processed. After they booked us, taking away our phones and personal belongings, I was separated from Trev to be put into the women’s section.

  “Just keep it together,” he said in a reassuring voice. “We’ll be out of here in no time.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that.

  I was put in a large cell with a bunch of other women. It was crowded, hot, and humid. Some women were visibly distressed while others didn’t seem too bothered. I found a free spot on the floor and sat down, holding my knees to my chest and trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

  I was all for new experiences, but this was definitely past my comfort level.

  Swallowing hard, I took a deep breath in and out and hoped I got out of here soon.

  Twenty

  Leanne

  It was almost morning. There was still no sign of anybody coming to get me and panic truly began to set in. Was Trev still being held or had he been released? The stress of not knowing was killing me.

  The walls had definitely started to close in a little and a wave of nausea hit me.

  Every time I tried talking to the police officers on duty, they wouldn’t answer my questions. I also wasn’t given an opportunity to make a phone call.

  On the plus side, it wasn’t like in the movies, where you were stuck in a cell with some psychopath who’d killed people and decided you were next. We were just a bunch of women who’d ended up here by doing something bad or dumb, possibly both.

  Anyway, I kept my mouth shut and stayed to myself until I came up with a way to get out of here.

  My thoughts meandered to paranoid, fearful places, as I concocted hellish scenarios in my head. What if everyone had gone home and decided to just leave me here?

  Leanne’s a resourceful girl. She’ll figure something out, they’d say as they hopped into cabs to the airport.

  Traitorous bastards.

  Okay, I was officially losing it.

  I smelled terrible and probably looked even worse. I held my head in my hands, feeling sorry for myself. Stupid Trev and his risky ideas. Sometimes it didn’t always pay off to
take chances.

  I was deep in a pit of self-pity when I heard someone shout, “Where is she? I need to see her!”

  Callum.

  Just like that, my spirits lifted. They hadn’t forgotten about me. I jumped to my feet and ran to the bars, going up on my tiptoes to try and see what was happening. A second later a policewoman appeared in front of me and unlocked the cell.

  “You’re free to go,” she said before letting me out and escorting me down the corridor. My legs and butt ached from sitting on the hard floor for hours and I felt sweaty and gross, but the sheer relief of knowing I was getting out of here rushed through my veins. We reached the lobby area and Cal came barrelling toward me. He knocked the wind out of me when he pulled me into his arms, lifted me up and held on tight.

  “If you ever do something like this again, I’ll kill you myself,” he growled, lips pressing into my hair. The comfort of being in his arms flooded me, and tears leaked down my face. “I thought you left me.”

  Cal swore and took my face in his hands, his expression fierce yet tender. “I’d never leave you. Not ever.”

  I swallowed and he wiped a tear from my cheek. “Oh, Leanne, come here,” he murmured and pulled me to him again. I breathed him in, savoured the feel of him, his reassuring warmth. When I looked over his shoulder, I saw the others. Trev, Paul, James, and Isaac gathered round, Neil and Michaela too, all of them looking relieved to see me. Jimbo stood nearby, filming our reunion. Barry was nowhere to be seen. I imagined he was already on his first-class flight back to London, stewing over what we’d done.

  “Hey, you’re not the only one who needs to hug her,” Paul complained, and Cal grudgingly released me from his hold. I hugged my friend and he gave me a firm squeeze. “We’ve all been scared half to death. The police who arrested you caught wind that you and Trev were on TV back in the UK and said they’d let you go if we paid them twenty grand,” Paul rambled. “Can you believe that crap? And after we already paid off those security guards, too. They’re obviously running some kind of scam.”

  My eyes widened. “What the hell?”

  “Yeah, we didn’t know how we were going to pull the money together on the quick—”

  I held a hand up, cutting him off. “Hold on a second, you paid twenty grand to get Trev and me out of here?”

  “Well, technically, Cal paid it. He had the money wired directly from his account.”

  I turned to gape at him. “You did what?”

  He put his hands on my hips, pulling me back into him as he shot Paul an annoyed glare. Clearly, he hadn’t planned on telling me about the money. “Don’t worry about it. We got you out, that’s all that matters.” His voice lowered to an almost threatening whisper. “Although you better believe we’re going to talk about you locking that window.”

  I ignored his threat, instead arguing, “It’s too much. I’m paying you back.”

  “Like fuck you are.”

  I swiped him on the chest. “Cal, I’m paying it.”

  His eyes gleamed in challenge. “You can try.”

  I looked around at my friends, feeling misty-eyed again. “Did you all miss your flights home to be here?”

  “We were hardly going to leave when you were still in jail,” James said.

  “We’re family,” Paul added, coming to give my hair a ruffle. “Besides, I don’t think any of us wanted to share a flight home with Barry. I swear he almost popped a blood vessel when he heard what happened.”

  I chuckled, a feeling of love and affection for all of them swelling in my chest. I was having a serious Finding Nemo reunion scene moment. “I love you guys, do you know that?”

  “Well, we are pretty amazing,” Isaac said with a grin.

  Okay, now I was crying again.

  “Come on,” Cal said, his arm firmly around my waist. “Let’s go get something to eat. You must be starving.”

  I smiled up at him. “I could eat a horse.”

  His face was full of tenderness. “That’s my girl.”

  Back at the house, I took a shower and changed into some leggings and a loose T-shirt. I was too wired to sleep, so I went out to sit by the pool, the sun warm on my skin.

  Michaela and Neil were booking new flights home for everyone tomorrow, so at least I could take the day to rest and forget about the stress of spending a night in jail. It was almost ten o’clock, but after being awake all night, everyone had gone to bed.

  “There you are,” Cal said. “I’ve been searching all over the house for you. Aren’t you exhausted?”

  My chest tightened at the sight of him. I traced his features; masculine lips, strong jaw, a deep scar over his left eyebrow that he got from a bike accident as a kid. I longed to press my lips to it, taste his skin on my tongue.

  “I’m too wired to sleep,” I replied and he came to sit next to me.

  His hand caressed my cheek and I looked up, recognisable heat in his eyes.

  “This is probably going to get me into a world of trouble, but fuck it, after last night I can’t stay away from you anymore.”

  He pulled my face to his and kissed me. His mouth was hungry, his tongue melding with mine. I was frozen, shocked by the taste of him after all this time. It felt like it had been both seconds and an eternity since we last kissed and the weight of how much I’d missed him fell on top of me at once.

  I love you.

  The thought came unbidden. I needed to tell him. I just had to find the right moment.

  My hands fisted in his T-shirt. I gasped when Cal picked me up and instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his waist. He groaned when I ran my hand up the back of his neck, scratching my nails into the base of his skull. Fire burned between us and I almost lost myself when my brain won the battle over my heart. Breaking the kiss, I drew away from him. I had a confession to make.

  “I watched the video,” I revealed then covered my mouth with my hands.

  Cal’s expression was questioning, his voice breathless from our kiss, “What video?”

  “The one on your diary cam. The one where you said you love me.”

  Twenty-One

  Leanne

  Cal frowned and scratched his neck in confusion. “But…I deleted that.”

  “You didn’t. I watched it. I’m sorry.”

  I saw his face run the gamut of emotions as it dawned on him that he really hadn’t deleted the video. A video where he’d revealed his true intentions with our bet, where he’d poured his heart out thinking no one else would ever see it. When he didn’t say anything, I worried I’d messed up royally.

  “Are you mad?” I chewed my lip, nervous.

  A frown caused a line to deepen between his eyebrows. When he finally looked at me, his eyes were wild. “Fuck yeah, I’m mad that you watched it, Leanne. I’m also mad that you made me climb out that window last night so that you’d get arrested instead of me.”

  “But don’t you get it? I did that because of what you said in the video,” I explained, my voice desperate. Cal’s frown intensified. My nerves caused me to ramble. “You said you made the bet with me because you planned to lose. You wanted to show me you’d give up any victory to prove that I was more important.”

  “You are more important.” Cal’s voice was gruff.

  I stared at the ground, shame eating at me. “I’ve pushed you away for an entire year for something you didn’t even do. Hell, I pushed you away the first time, and all you’d wanted was to help me through what happened. I’m a horrible, mistrustful, selfish person but you still went out of your way to fight for me, for us. So I took the fall for you last night as a way of saying sorry. I did it to prove that I can be selfless too.” I paused as I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “I still have a long way to go, but I did it to prove that I deserve you.”

  Cal shook his head. He was pacing now, shoulders tense. “You don’t need to prove anything. Yes, you pushed me away, but I’ve hardly been perfect. I’ve been jealous and possessive. Christ, Leanne, I accused you of sleeping
with Paul. Paul! Even now I know there’s nothing between you, but I still feel crazy when you two are close.”

  I rose and took a step towards him, reaching out to touch his hand. “But you’ve spent the last few weeks actively trying to be better. I see that now.”

  He gave a faint shake of his head. “Honestly, half the time I can’t even tell if I’m succeeding or failing.”

  “You’re succeeding.”

  His breath left him all at once, his expression tortured, eyes penetrating. “I’ve missed you.”

  The simple sentiment hit me like a sledgehammer, my heart going a mile a minute. “I’ve missed you too. And I’m sorry. For pushing you away. For watching the video. For everything I’ve ever done to hurt you, I’m truly sorry.”

  His fingers linked with mine, his tone self-deprecating. “Like I wouldn’t have watched your diary cam given half the chance.”

  Our eyes locked and we stood in silence before I whispered, “Is it true what you said?”

  His eyes turned fierce. “Of course it’s fucking true.”

  My heart caught in my throat, my voice tiny. “I need to hear you say it.”

  Cal moved closer, his voice a dark caress. “Leanne, I think I’ve loved you since the day we met. You challenged me to outshine you and stole my goddamn heart right there.”

  I blinked and a tear fell down my cheek. Cal reached up to wipe it away, his voice scratchy, emotion lacing every word. “We’ve always been so busy loading our bullets we never realised we were already covered in battle scars.” His hand moved down over my shoulder to my neck, his fingertips brushing my collarbone. “But I always took every bullet you wanted to shoot at me, because being hated by you felt better than being loved by anyone else.”

  “I don’t hate you,” I breathed. “I never have. The truth is I…” my voice broke and another tear fell. My throat was clogged, but I finally managed to push the words out. “The truth is I love you too.”

  Cal stole the air from my lungs when he grabbed my face and crushed his lips to mine in a fierce, heart-stopping kiss. He broke away to push me down onto a sun lounger then knelt before me, eyes bright with passion.