by Siera London
“Here,” she said handing him a bag filled with battery operated detectors.
“The faster we get started, the faster we can get back to the station.” Like most firefighters, Kendall lived for the flame. Community outreach was a part of the job, but running into the flames kept the adrenaline pumping in her veins.
Trace spotted Tori entering a bedroom on the first floor. He walked to the door and pushed it open, but he didn’t enter. Tori sat on the bed beside an old man. He was drugged beyond consciousness laying with his eyes open, but fixed on the ceiling.
“Daddy, it’s me, Victoria.”
Victoria. The name suited her, though she’d always be his Tori.
“Daddy,” she said again softly. “You’ve got to fight the pull of the drug. It’s your little spark plug…Daddy, please.”
When he just lay there. The organ in the middle of Trace’s chest ached for his woman. His eyes narrowed when Tori withdrew a small vial and a syringe. She expertly drew the liquid from the glass bottle and injected the man’s thin arm. So, she had a bag stashed somewhere else. Trace searched his emotional closet. Was he angry at her deception? No, he was impressed with her ingenuity. Knowing Tori, she used some of the pawn money to buy a drug reversal agent. She had anticipated her father’s condition. He really did love this remarkable creature who’d risked her safety for her father, for him.
The old man’s eyes fluttered and slowly focused. His gaze wandered before landing on his daughter.
“Tori,” he whispered. “Is it really you?”
“Yes,” she sobbed.
Her father’s eyes roved over her face before he surveyed her arms. “Oh no.” Her father’s voice began to quake, “he got to you, too.”
“Shh, I’m okay. I got away, but...”
Tears streamed down wrinkled cheeks. “I thought I was protecting you. Thought he appreciated how special you are… would help you once I’m gone.”
“He’s coming for me, Daddy.”
Trace had heard enough. Denton Drake would pay for preying on Tori and her father.
“Don’t let him get his hands on you again,” the old man warned, and then he smiled. “I was wrong to think you couldn’t run the company by yourself. Go now, my little spark plug.”
“I can’t leave you here, Daddy. They’ll keep you a prisoner.”
“Think about yourself for once, Victoria. I’ve lived my life, no matter what—“
“Who are you?”
Trace spun around to find a man dressed in gray slacks and a lab coat. He spoke loud enough for Tori to hear him. “Name’s Trace Fletcher. Me and my partner are on scene checking the smoke detectors.”
“Oh.” The man relaxed. “I can direct you to all the units on this floor. Please come with me.”
“I need to check these rooms, too.”
“I’m sorry the patients in this wing are not to be disturbed.
Trace would be back for answers and he’d create quite the disturbance if anyone tried to stop him.
✥
Tori needed to return Trace’s truck. The Key West firehouse was packed with engines and ladder trucks. Loud hip hop, country, and soft rock thrummed through the air from every direction. She knew he wasn’t at the station because she’d heard his voice outside of her father’s room. How much of their conversation had he overheard? After leaving the senior village, Tori had driven to Hobo Alley. Claudia had followed her to the firehouse and was waiting for her in the car. Tori had saved enough money to rent a car for her and her father. All she had to do was drop off the keys to Trace’s truck, catch a lift back to the rental car agency, and then pick up a few things from the townhouse.
“Hey, Tori.” He spoke loud enough to be heard over the radio chorus that didn’t seem to bother anyone but her.
Nathan stared at her with his assessing gray eyes. She bet it was impossible to mislead the man. It seemed as if he looked right through her.
“Ah, I...could you point me in the direction of Trace’s locker.”
A golden lab came up beside him and dropped down on its haunches.
“Who’s this fella?” she asked, stroking the dog’s head.
“This is Max. He’s my partner.”
Max eager for more attention, circled her legs, rubbing his head on her shins.
“Cool,” she said, not meeting his eyes. “Ah... so, where’s his locker?”
“Tori.”
She could tell by his solemn tone that getting the answer wouldn’t be an easy feat.
She sighed, and looked up regarding Nathan’s rugged features. “Look, I’m kind of in a hurry. If you’re not going to answer my question, tell me who I need to speak with and I’ll be on my way.”
“Trace won’t like it if you disappear on him.”
Great, Nathan was going to make her decision to leave harder. If she could preserve what she and Trace had, and keep herself and her father out of Denton’s claws, she would do it. But, given the condition her father was in, Denton had rendered them both powerless to stop his takeover. On paper, her father had given him command and control. The only thing he needed to solidify his permanent position as the head of Currey Industries was her name on a marriage license.
“I won’t either.”
Nathan inhaled a breath, and then rolled his shoulders up and back as if he were unloading a heavy weight.
“So, you’re in to him, too?”
“In too deep,” she said in truth. Trace was the kind of man that made it hard for a woman to resist. He was the steady force she’d been looking for her entire life. There was nothing fake about the man. He liked his life orderly, yet he made room for her before he even knew her name. She loved him and she would stay with him forever if given the opportunity.
“Then stay.”
She shook her head. Nathan didn’t understand what was at stake. Denton would lock her mind and her body in a chemical cell. The people in his employ answered only to him. He replaced all the employees and staff loyal to her family with his henchman. They ruthlessly executed his orders. No one could stop them.
Recognizing that Nathan would not assist her, she pulled the keys from her back pocket. “Give him these from me, will you?”
Nathan glanced at the keys, but he didn’t reach for them.
After a moment, Tori released the keys expecting them to clink against the cement slab at any moment. Nathan caught them mid-air.
“You sure about this, Tori. We’ll help with whoever has you on the run.”
Her gaze shot from the keys in his grasp to his face. He smirked.
“I know a few things about a woman in trouble. My Symphony had some trouble when she first came to town.”
Tori snorted. “My kind of trouble will get Trace hurt.”
Nathan grinned. “Give Trace a chance to slay your dragons, darling. You’d be surprised at the extent of his reach.
“Good bye, Nathan. Tell Trace not to come looking for me.” She pulled the pamphlet for the waist of her jeans. The leaflet detailed all the information of the corporation and she’d added a copy of her trust including her father’s stipulation regarding her marriage. “He’ll understand once he reads this.”
Nathan shook his head. “No, he won’t.”
Tori turned to leave. He had to believe her leaving would be the safest thing for her and for Trace. If Denton were targeting Trace, it would destroy her.
Chapter Ten
Trace returned to the station, but only to clock out. Engine 10 was parked in the first bay, so he hadn’t missed any call outs. Good. He needed to find Tori. He’d called her cell phone several times, each call had gone to voice mail.
Nathan waved him over, but Trace climbed the stairs to Chief Brady’s office.
“Trace, hold up,” Nathan called out.
Trace shot a sharp look at his friend. “Later,” he ground out.
“No...now.”
The hairs on the back of Trace’s neck came to attention. Nathan’s voice held an edge that ha
d him slowing his pace.
“What?” he asked, caution separating each syllable.
“Tori.”
The one word had Trace turning and trotting back down the stairs.
The door behind Trace opened. He spun around. Captain Brady stood in his office doorway, his thinning hair plastered to his scalp.
“Fletcher,” he bellowed. “The senior village administer is on the phone threatening to file a complaint against the station for a disruption caused by one, or both of my firefighters. Get in here right now, and enlighten me as to how you’ve added another swinging weight to my jock strap.”
“Can’t now, Captain. I need to leave.”
The Captain raked a hand through thin strands of gray hair. “Trace, I didn’t ask. You and Kendall had the staff evacuate the entire facility for a mock fire drill,” the Captain’s voice climbed above a three-alarm fire. “This doesn’t look good.”
Trace crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t care what it looks like.”
“Your attitude isn’t helping your case, Fletcher.”
“Never said it would.”
The Captain threw up his hands. “What the heck is going on in this station?”
He hit Trace with a hard stare. “You’ve got ten minutes to get your head out of your hidey hole and get in my office,” the Captain said, returning to his office.
“Don’t need it. I’ll be gone in less than five.” Trace focused on Nathan. “What about, Tori?”
“Your future,” the Captain tossed over his shoulder.
Yeah, Trace’s future was with Tori. He could find another job if necessary, but he couldn’t lose the woman he loved. He wouldn’t.
Nathan pulled a set of keys from his uniform pocket. Trace knew instantly they were his. “How long she been gone?”
“Maybe forty-minutes and Trace...she’s scared.”
Trace pulled at his braid in frustration. “Damn it,” he swore, kicking the tire on the engine closest to him. “I can take care of her.”
“Your truck is parked out back. She left with Claudia in that beat up jalopy.”
“She’s going to make a run for it.”
“Yup. I figured as much. How you want to handle this?”
“I need your help moving something.”
Nathan frowned, but he followed him outside to the engine Trace and Kendall had driven.
When Trace opened the rear door, Nathan sucked in a breath.
“Well, that explains why you and Kendall staged a sunset fire drill. Who the hell is he?”
“Alfred Van Currey. Tori’s father.”
✥
Tori had her bag packed and on her shoulder when the doorbell rang. Had she left something in Claudia’s car? No, it must be the package Trace told her to expect before he’d left for work. Tori bounded down the stairs and opened the door.
“Victoria?” The timbre of his voice brought a quiver to her insides, but she refused to allow him to see her fear. The wind had picked up strength since she’d returned to the townhouse. Tendrils of her hair whipped in front of her face. Interesting, the same wind seemed to steer clear of the man before her. Nothing moved, not even a rustle of his shirt. How appropriate. Denton Drake loved the control the medications gave him over her. He didn’t fair too well when she was full strength. Even still, her heart beat so fast she thought she might pass out.
Denton had changed in the week she’d been away from him. With the blank look in his steely eyes, he looked more sinister than she remembered. Or maybe, compared to the love and kindness she’d had with Trace, his evil deeds seemed all the more wicked. He was lean, clean cut, with short dark hair perfectly in place. He looked like a Wall Street yuppie, fresh faced and eager to please. In reality, he was a cruel man who got off on mastering other people, with or without their consent.
“Denton.”
He angled his head at the bag on her shoulder.
“Going somewhere?”
She tightened her grip on the bag.
“Actually, I was just leaving.”
He smiled. “I hope it’s to come back home to me.”
Tori buried the smirk raring to show, not wanting to anger him. “Denton, please. Let me go.”
“Tori,” he said, his voice dripping with condescension. “Your father entrusted your care and welfare to me, and me alone.”
“Well, we both know that was a mistake,” she snapped.
The second the words left her mouth she realized her mistake. Control the impulses, Tori.
The friendly smile of patience fell away. “You’ve wasted enough of my time, Victoria. I can see now that your medication needs to be adjusted if you are to mind your behavior.”
At the reminder that he would drug her again, Tori struck out with her foot, clipping him on the knee. When he buckled. She spun on her other heel, sprinting to the rear porch. Denton recovered quickly. He pushed through the still open door and grabbed for her. His hand caught on the strap of her travel bag. Tori shrugged the luggage off her shoulder and bolted though the slider, leaped the fence, and ran across the golf cart path.
“Help me,” she screamed. It was too late for anyone to be on the course. There were townhouses flanking the course, maybe someone would hear her.
“Victoria,” Denton screamed, but then silence competed with the still of the night. She could hear cars entering the community through the manned security entrance. How had Denton gotten in? No doubt he’d bribed the guard, or the guy was already on the payroll. Tori took a shortcut through a wooded area. If she reached the guardhouse, she could call for help. She had to reach her father. If Denton relocated him again, she may never find him again, then she truly would be alone. She could see the motion lights surrounding the guardhouse in the distance. She looked left and right, before stepping into the clearing. Only one more path to cross before she would be safe. Tori took a step onto the path, and a shadow came from her left. She turned away, but the needle struck her upper arm, and penetrated deep before she could dodge.
“Go to sleep, Victoria.” Denton said, as his arm snaked around her waist.
Instantly, her surroundings went fuzzy, and then blackness made the slow advance into her vision.
“Trace,” she whispered, as her breathing slowed and her vision grew dim. She could feel the loss of control in her legs as she struggled to support her weight.
Denton laughed. “Trace won’t find you, sweetheart. Even if he does, you’ll be my wife by midnight.”
A single tear escaped as her eyes closed. Denton would make it impossible for her to escape this time. Her final thought was of her hands buried in Trace’s hair, her body nestled in close to his warmth. As the weightless sensation spread throughout her muscles, the drug rendered her a life-sided doll. Tori lost the fight as the fog engulfed what had been, and now only a blank canvas remained. The opioid leash brought her under Denton’s command once more. This time she welcomed the paralysis, to stay in this barren place. But then something happened that had never happened before. Trace appeared to her through the fog. She reached for him. When he pulled her into his embrace, she fell asleep in her lover’s arms.
✥
Trace walked to his open door. He heart pounded in his chest. Entering his home, the first thing he saw was Tori’s V. Bradley bag on the floor. His mouth went dry, but he called for her despite knowing he wouldn’t get an answer. The house no longer scented of roses. On the counter, all the rose stems were aged and withered in the vase, except one. A single pedal clung to the stalk. Trace tore his eyes away.
“Tori?”
Lance had followed him inside. “Looks like she left in a hurry,” he said pointing to the open slider door leading to the backyard.
“She wouldn’t leave out the back door.”
Lance grunted and Trace knew what he was thinking. She wouldn’t tear out the back unless someone prevented her from leaving via the front door. Why hadn’t she gone to Symphony’s? Trace huffed out a breath filled with fear and fr
ustration.
A hand landed on his shoulder. “We’ll find her.”
Lance’s voice held no pity, just a calm confidence. Trace had no doubt they would, but what condition would she be in if Denton had her. Her father could barely keep his eyes open, even though he hadn’t been dosed with a sedative in a few hours. According to Alfred’s medical records, his private staff was responsible for adhering to the physician’s medication regimen, without oversight from the senior village staff. A dosing schedule that had kept him too doped up to provide care for himself or rescue his daughter from a madman. During the drive home, Trace had skimmed the papers Tori had left for him at the station. Her father had drafted an airtight contract to ensure his company and Tori were well taken care of. Unfortunately, even with her business degree, her father had predicated much of her company involvement on Tori having a counter balance in the form of a husband. Trace had two hours to reclaim his future with the woman he loved and the Currey legacy. When she married, Tori and her husband would control fifty percent of the company and her father the other fifty percent. With Denton controlling her father’s share and the marriage granting him access to Tori’s holdings, the interloper would effectively control one hundred percent of the Currey family business.
“Tori would head for other people. We’ll check with the guard on the way out.”
Chapter Eleven
Trace watched as Lance made call after call from his home phone. Gosh, his place felt huge without Tori, yet the weight of the walls seemed to press in on him. He ripped the tie from his hair, impatient to get some type of lead on Tori’s whereabouts. The security guard confessed to hearing what could have been a scream, but admitted he thought it was kids playing on the course.
Lance put down the phone and faced him.
“Anything?”
Lance shook his head. “Patrol cars are looking for anything suspicious, but...”
Trace knew the drill. They didn’t have enough information on Tori or Denton Drake. He could have taken her off the island, but Trace didn’t think so. A businessman, like Drake, would want to secure the deal. Without a bead on Tori’s father, that meant a loose end needed to be tied up.