Last Escape

by Pauline Creeden

  Last Escape

  Pauline Creeden

  Contents

  To find out about Pauline’s next release,

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  About the Author

  To find out about Pauline’s next release,

  Last Escape © 2018 Pauline Creeden

  Cover Art by Melody Simmons of BookCoversCre8tive.com

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  LAST ESCAPE

  Who’s afraid of the big bad Wolf? Not Scarlet.

  Crystal City has a solution to its overpopulation problem. They have enacted “the purge.” No one quite understands what that means, but most residents don’t care—it doesn’t affect them.

  Unfortunately, the purge hits too close to home for Scarlet Roma. When members of the Wolf gang terrorize her and the ones she loves with the backing of the government’s authority, she knows she must do something about it.

  Will the wolves come for her before she can escape the city, or will she bring the fight to their house instead?

  Prologue

  Eighteen months ago…

  Like the screech of nails on a chalkboard, a screaming yowl pierced the night air. A shiver went down my spine. Rain fell around me in buckets, roaring as it beat against the tops of cars, dumpsters, and even the concrete under my feet. Horns honked a little way up the street, and cars splashed through puddles nearby. A cacophony of sound flooded the area, and I would have missed the cry for help altogether if I hadn’t been passing by the alley at just that time.

  I peered around me. Neon lights lit the darkened street, but no one was stupid enough to be running around the city by foot in this kind of storm. Not a police drone in sight, either. Although I’d expected rain, I hadn’t expected the deluge. I pulled my red rain jacket’s hood strings tighter around my face, debating on whether I should head into the darkened alley and help, or mind my own business and walk away.

  A moan and cry came from behind the dumpster in the darkness. It twisted my heart. There didn’t appear to be anyone else but the injured one making the noise. It sounded like a child… or maybe an animal. And I was never any good at minding my own business anyway.

  Yeah, I know. Stupid.

  But I had my short sword attached to my side and placed a hand on the hilt. I’d have preferred a gun in a situation like this, but the city had just banned the ownership of firearms about the time I was born. Like most people who took self-defense classes, I’d learned the art of swordsmanship. It wasn’t like I could rely on a police drone to be around when I needed one.

  “Hello?” I called cautiously into the alley as I skirted a deep puddle and drew closer to the trashcan. With the walls of the buildings close in, the percussion sound of the rain against the dumpster amplified, and a ringing in my ears added to the music.

  Two more yips. An animal?

  I kept my gaze darting around, taking in the entire alleyway, my grip on my sword growing tighter. My jaw flexed hard, but I relaxed it when I realized I was grinding my teeth again. I came around the side of the dumpster, pulling my sword a few inches out of the scabbard so it would be easier to draw.

  The yips turned to a growl, as the reflection of night shine in two glowing eyes glaring at me over a row of white teeth from the shadows.

  “Easy now, buddy.” I tried to keep my voice calm and soothing. My sword slid back into the scabbard as I placed both hands out in front of me in a position of surrender.

  The black dog sat in a pool of blood I could only assume was its own. It had backed itself into the corner between the wall and the dumpster. Its eyes darted from me to the side, which would be its only direction of escape. Fear filled its expression more than fight. It didn’t want to hurt me. It only wanted to protect itself.

  The rain around me slowed and the massive drum beats we’d been subjected to a moment before became a gentle pattering. I didn’t want to take my eyes from the dog. If I pulled my gaze away from it, I knew it would bolt. It was almost as if the force of our gazes kept the poor dog rooted to the spot where it sat.

  “Easy now,” I said again, kneeling down slightly so I was level with the dog.

  It blinked at me and licked its lips. The ferocious snarl it had a moment before became half-hearted. The dog stood large than almost any I had seen before, but it cowered, making itself as small as it could.

  “Are you okay, little guy? You’re a good dog, right?”

  It flicked its ears toward me as I said those two words.

  “Oh, you liked that, huh? Good dog?”

  The black dog stopped growling all together, and broke eye contact with me itself. It licked its lips in submission and then began panting and looking around in all directions. Then its gaze slid past me as it took a deep breath and let out a low whine.

  I scanned the alley myself. The rain had slowed to a light trickle, barely tapping against the dumpster now. Inside my jacket, I’d begun to sweat. It was too bad that the rain didn’t bring some coolness to the summer heat instead of just making everything muggy and uncomfortable. I returned my gaze to the dog and stood up slowly again. “It’s okay, little guy. Good dog.”

  I unzipped my red jacket and pulled the hood from my face. A light breeze blew through the air and licked the sweat from the back of my neck. But with it came the overwhelming odor of the tar from the streets. The typical wet, city smell now mixed in with the scent of wet dog.

  The dog in the corner whimpered again, its eyes fixed on me once more.

  I returned to my kneeling position. “Good dog. Are you doing okay?”

  Slowly, the dog stood and limped toward me, keeping one of its hind legs up, barely touching the ground. As it pulled out of the shadow into the light, I noticed three things. One, there was a huge gash along its side that reached down its back leg. Could it live with so much blood loss?

  Two, the dog was distinctly female. And three, she had on a leather collar. A blue dog tag dangled from her neck as she drew closer to me, wagging her tail the slightest bit.

  I offered her my hand, palm up as she drew near. She sniffed it, her eyes almost becoming crossed as she studied my hand. Then her gaze met mine once more, and she licked my hand, just barely letting her tongue graze my skin. “There’s a good girl.”

  She limped closer to me, and I reached out to flip her tag over and read it, hoping that I’d be able to text the owner if they left a number on there for me to reach them, but the tag only had one number on it, big and bold and etched into the metal. “Seven. That’s strange. Is that your name?”

  I met eyes with the dog and found them to
be the lightest shade of brown, hazel even. I thought they were going to be yellow because of the night shine, from the way they’d glowed before. She pulled in another breath and whined a little.

  “You’re a good girl. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  I eyed her, wondering if I’d be able to carry her back to my apartment to take care of her. As a geriatric nurse, I had everything I needed at home to patch her up. But if she’d been hit by a car or broken a bone, I’d need to get her an x-ray first.

  The wet dog snuggled up closer to me.

  “You’re a real darling, aren’t you? What a good girl.”

  Her tail wagged a few weak swings in response.

  I pressed my hand against her side, and she let out another low whine. I couldn’t carry her like this either. I pulled out my phone and hit the redial. I didn’t make many phone calls on my cell, because most of my patients called me, or I just stopped in and visited them.

  “What do ya need, sweetheart?” a gruff voiced answered after two rings.

  My heart fluttered a little at Dean’s Boston accent. Even though I knew that he called all the women by the moniker, I couldn’t help but wonder if he might think me special, too.

  “Hi, Dean. I need a ride for me and a… friend. Can you pick us up on the corner of Seventeenth and Main?”

  “Anything for you. I’ll be there in two shakes.”

  I had to laugh a little as I hit the end-call button and shoved the phone back into my pocket. I stood up once more, slowly, hoping that the dog wouldn’t be scared off by my movement. Instead, she cuddled up closer to my legs. I needed to give her constant encouragement so that she’d have faith that I was here to help her, so I gave her a pat on the head and a little scratch behind the ears. “There’s a good girl.”

  Hoping she’d follow, I pulled away from her and took a single, half-step backwards. The dog looked up at me a little and sat where she stood. I frowned. I needed to get her to the corner, and we’d need to walk about half a block to get there. I took another step back and patted the side of my leg. “Come on, girl. You can do it. I know you’re hurting, but we’re going to get you taken care of.”

  She sat there panting and staring up at me.

  I needed her to do this if we were going to get her fixed up. I took two more steps backward.

  She tilted her head at me and whined again.

  “You can do it, girl. Good girl. Come on.”

  She stopped panting a moment and stood up, limping toward me once more.

  Warmth washed over me, and tingles ran over my arms. I backed up more to keep the distance between us and it worked. She continued limping toward me, following my lead as I brought her fully out of the alleyway. I stopped and knelt down, praising her and running my hands through her wet fur.

  A horn honked behind me.

  The electric whir of a window motor sounded out, and then came Dean’s voice. “No way, Scarlet. You said, ‘a friend,’ not a dog.”

  Slowly I stood up again and turned toward him, eyes pleading. “She’s injured, and I can’t carry her over to the vet’s for the x-ray. It’s just a couple miles.”

  The yellow checkered taxi-cab Dean drove was a relic from the past. It had to be well over twenty years old and was a wonder that he could ever get it to pass inspection. But it was still his life’s blood. He treated the old cab like his pride and joy.

  He opened the car door and stepped out of the cab.

  Seven growled, her eyes now fixed on the stranger.

  Dean stood tall and thin. He towered over most. I figured he was a few years older than me, even though I’d never asked him. We had a strange relationship. He was there if I need him to give me a ride and had even given me his phone number after a bad incident I’d had with one of those drivers I’d contacted from an app. Dean was protective and strong, and he even occasionally stopped at a drive thru when he’d found out I’d forgotten to eat dinner. He was more than just a driver to me, even though nearly all of our time together was spent in his cab.

  He pushed a hand forward and lifted an eyebrow up toward his dark, wavy hair. “That’s not even a dog, sweetheart. I’m pretty sure that’s a wolf.”

  I glanced down at Seven. Her hair stood on end as she’d raised her hackles. The snarl on her face gave her a wild look. She was black from nose to tail but her hair was thicker than any Labrador Retriever I’d ever seen. Honestly, I couldn’t tell what breed of dog she might have been. I shrugged. “I doubt a wolf would have a dog collar and tags, though.” I blinked at him through my lashes. “Regardless. She’s hurt, so we can’t just leave her here.”

  He studied me for a moment, his blue-gray eyes narrowed. “You can’t be serious. That thing looks like she’d be more likely to take my arm off than get in my cab… and she smells, too.”

  I scratched Seven behind her ears, and she slowly grew calm. “I’ll take my jacket off and she can lay on that. I promise she won’t get your seats wet.”

  As if on cue, Seven did a full body shake, tossing droplets of water in every direction. I pulled my jacket closed and cowered in it as the spray headed my direction. It narrowly missed my face. Dean jumped back, staying just out of the reach of the spatter. When she stopped, I offered a self-deprecating giggle, hoping this last action wouldn’t be a deal breaker with Dean.

  He glared at me a little and then sighed, shook his head, and scratched the stubble of growth on his cheek. “You’re lucky I love you, Scarlet.”

  My heart skipped a beat in my chest. Again, I knew I wasn’t the only girl he called sweetheart, and that when he said he loved me, he meant it as a friend. But I still couldn’t help but be moved by his charming smile and easygoing, comfortable manner. He was charismatic and handsome. All the girls’ hearts must have gone aflutter when he talked like that.

  Regardless, I never told him I loved him back. I wanted that moment to be special, and to have more meaning than the way he threw the word around.

  I cleared my throat and offered him a wide smile while he opened the back door of his cab. When I started to pull my jacket from my arms, he reached out and set a hand on my shoulder to stop me. Shaking his head begrudgingly, he shrugged out of his own jacket and shoved it in my arms. “I don’t think your jacket is big enough. Better use mine.”

  My smile grew wider as I accepted his jacket and laid it out on the seat of the car, stepping in to make sure it covered as much of the area as I could get. When I turned around, I found Seven standing at the door of the cab peering in at me. I scooted to the far seat and then patted a hand on the jacket-covered seat in front of me. “Come on, Seven. Let’s go.”

  Without another word needed, the dog jumped into the cab with more energy than I’d thought possible considering her injuries. Maybe we’d get lucky and she wouldn’t have any broken bones. I could only hope.

  Dean shut the door behind us and Seven laid across the seat, resting her wet head in my lap. Her hazel eyes latched on to me completely. The car moved a little as Dean sat back down in the driver’s seat. He met eyes with me in the rearview mirror. “I suppose we’re going to the vet clinic over on twenty-first?”

  I nod to him. “That’s the closest. And they close in about fifteen minutes. Think we can get there in time?”

  “Buckle up. Of course, we can.”

  I shook my head as I pulled the buckle over my lap. “Don’t drive like a maniac—Seven’s not buckled in.”

  He winked at me in the mirror, making my stomach flip. “No problem, sweetheart.”

  I turned away, feeling the burn in my cheeks, and kept my eye on Seven. I leaned closer to her and ran my hand through her fur. It was already drying. She looked up at me with her liquid brown eyes and I knew our relationship was just getting started. Of course, Dean and I would try our best to find out who owned the big black dog, but if Seven needed a home, she wouldn’t need to look far.

  Chapter 1

  Eighteen months later…

  Seven trotted beside me as we rushed dow
n the alley to take a quick shortcut. I didn’t want to get late on Granny’s medication. She had been diagnosed with an aneurysm a little over a year ago, and the last thing she needed was to be late on her blood pressure medication. The bulge in her abdominal aorta was like a ticking time-bomb in her chest. And I couldn’t help but kick myself for letting her medication run so low.

  We passed the familiar dumpster where I’d found Seven that fateful day almost two years ago. I patted her head, and she looked up at me with her happy brown eyes and her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth. She gave a playful yip, wanting me to push harder and run faster. I smiled down at her and picked up my speed through the alley, knowing we had the momentary space for the freedom of movement. She ran ahead of me a few feet, but ever since our first day together, she’d never let me get more than two yards away from her if she could help it.

  When we reached the next street over, I slowed down, catching my breath. Seven jumped up at me, barely knocking her paws against my hip before bouncing off and landing as if she’d never jumped at me at all. The vet had told me she was only about two years old when I’d found her, and Dean had been right, she was a wolf-hybrid. An unusual dog to find lose in the city, but no one claimed her, and she had no chip embedded in her skin.

  So of course, I adopted her and let her live with me in the same apartment building as Granny lived. I clutched the bag holding Granny’s blood pressure medication. I needed to get a pill in her before breakfast. The morning sun shone down over the city, giving it a hopeful glow. It was nearly eight a.m. and I had run to the pharmacy to pick up Granny’s prescription first thing this morning, so she didn’t miss her medication. Unfortunately, I hadn’t realized she was out of it until last night.