Dane stopped her. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t care. Lennox is my best friend, you need my help.”
“We can do it ourselves,” he tried.
“You won’t make it past the door man,” Alissa raised her voice. She crossed her arms over her chest, standing her ground.
I took the two steps to be at their side. “Maybe she’s right, Dane. She can always get us into the apartment and wait in the lobby.”
He took a long breath. “Fine. I don’t know why you have to be so stubborn.”
I grabbed Lennox’s keys off the table and tossed them to Trent. “Take Lennox’s Jeep and get yourselves back home. We can take Dane’s car.”
Everybody moved into action. Dane, Alissa, and I headed for the parking lot.
We drove to the nearest airport and bought three one way tickets to L.A.
I was a nervous wreck waiting for the plane to board. I called Trent and made him promise to go by my house, the shop, or anywhere Lennox may have gone. He promised he would when he got home.
While Alissa and I sat around waiting for our flight. Dane was going stir crazy and walking around. He never was good at waiting and he was always on edge, so when something happens that he feels like he can’t control, he goes a little nuts.
He rushed back to our sides with someone in tow. “You guys have to hear this.”
I looked at the man who was dressed in a blue jumpsuit with a neon orange vest and a pair of noise reducing headphones around his neck.
“What are you doing, Dane?”
“Just listen. Go ahead and tell them,” he told the man.
He looked around before leaning in, “I seen the girl in the picture.”
My eyes flashed to Dane. His eyes were wide as he nodded.
“When? Who was with her?”
“Around midnight. She was being carried to a private plane.”
“Who was carrying her?” Alissa asked.
“That actor that’s been in a lot of trouble lately. They got out of a black car with dark windows. He had her in his arms, they walked from the car, directly to the private plane.”
“Do you know where the plane was heading?”
He shook his head. “I’m not trusted with that kind of information. I have to get back to work now.” He looked at Dane.
Dane handed him a hundred dollars before he walked away.
I knew that Chris was to blame for everything, but actually finding out that he carried her onto a private plane and took off with her, I felt like I was going to explode. My heart and breathing were uncontrollable. My thoughts raced at the speed of light, thinking she may be hurt, but refusing to believe that she was gone. I couldn’t even entertain the thought that she may be gone forever.
“We need to get on that plane, NOW!”
Dane grabbed ahold of me and leveled his eyes on mine. “Mason, I know how you feel right now, but you need to calm down. If you get thrown out of the airport, we will never reach her in time.” His voice was deep and serious. It sounded like my dad speaking directly through him.
I took a deep breath and sat down with my legs bouncing with anticipation, needing to start moving.
I needed on that plane.
I needed to find Lennox.
I needed to get rid of Chris once and for all.
Chapter Fourteen
Lennox
My head was pounding, every little noise shot through my ears and caused them to ring. I heard voices, they were distorted and almost echoing. My eyelids were so heavy, I couldn’t open them. I saw nothing but blackness, yet I knew Chris had found me. I could hear him talking with someone I couldn’t place. I wanted to scream and run away. I wanted to call out for Mason, but my body betrayed me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t scream. The only thing I could do was wait. Wait to see what happened to me.
I felt myself being lifted and Chris’ cologne filled my nose. The smell itself wasn’t bad, but knowing I was in his arms, being held against his chest, made me want to vomit. The feel of him being pressed against me made me want to curl into a ball and blackout everything around me. I couldn’t do that though. I had to find a way out of the nothingness I was trapped in.
The drugs I was slipped seemed to have a paralysis effect. I couldn’t move but I was awake and could hear what was happening. Maybe the drugs were wearing off, because at first, it knocked me out cold. I came to in the car. I knew I was in the car because I could feel the cool leather pressed against my cheek. I remembered being carried from the car and hearing the loud sounds of the airport. He sat me up and buckled me in.
“And what exactly do you plan on doing with her?” a man asked.
“She’s mine. She’s coming home with me where she will be punished for all the pain she’s caused me,” Chris said.
He’s taking me home? To his home? Back to the place I barely escaped from? Where is Mason? Will he be able to find me? God, please let him find me.
I felt my eyes start to tear, but I couldn’t wipe them away. I felt the hot tears overfill my eyes and run down my cheeks.
I felt the plane take off and knew we were in the air. I had five hours tops to get control over my body. I concentrated on my toes, trying to get them to move. I wanted to focus on something he couldn’t see move. I knew that if he saw my eyes open or fingers move he would just dose me again. I needed to bring myself out of the paralysis without him knowing. I needed to be able to run when the plane landed.
I thought about the toes on my right foot, willing them to wiggle in my shoe. There was nothing. I couldn’t even feel them, for all I knew, they had been cut off.
It seemed to take me forever, but I finally found my toes, causing them to tingle with anticipation to listen to me. It felt like I had been sitting on my foot too long, they burned to comply.
I focused with all of my might.
Yes! I can move my toes! Now, work my way up.
I listened to my surroundings, I heard someones deep, even breathing. I only heard one.
Where is the man that was with Chris?
I knew that there was only one man close to me, and I could tell he was asleep by the sound of his breathing. I decided it was safe and tried to move my ankle.
I tried rolling it, but it wouldn’t move. It tingled the same way my toes did, though. I kept pushing and pushing, until finally, my ankle moved the way I wanted it to.
As we flew in the air, I worked my way up my body. I could almost feel every inch of myself. I just needed to get my eyes to open. Just as I felt the tingling move up my neck, meaning I was getting feeling back, I heard someone come into the cabin.
“We’re going to be landing soon. You should give her another dose; that one has to be wearing off by now.”
No! I’ve worked so hard to gain control over my body. I can’t do that again.
I opened my eyes and they landed on Chris.
He smiled as he moved closer to me with a needle. “Good night, sweetheart.” He jammed the needle in my neck, injecting me with something. It burned going into my system. I tried to fight against him, but the blackness took over.
I didn’t know how long I was out, but it felt longer than the last time. I think mixing the drugs or giving me the double dose, intensified the effects. My back was sore like I had been lying in bed for a week. My neck hurt when I moved, and my shoulders were sore.
Why are my shoulders sore?
My eyes popped open, glancing around the room. I saw a dresser and a nightstand, both of which were familiar. My eyes moved up to the headboard where I saw my wrists tied to the wooden slats. I turned to my left where I knew I would find the closet and bathroom door. Both were open. Seeing that white tiled floor, I was flooded with memories of when I had been beaten off of it.
There were various items scattered around the floor. I saw the duffel bag I was trying to pack when Chris caught me trying to leave him. I saw things like my clothes and makeup that were spilling out of the bag.
He never ha
d it cleaned up. He left the room just as it was so it would be like no time had passed. The towel, I left laying on the bathroom floor while I inspected my beaten body in the mirror, was still lying there.
I felt the tears sting my eyes as I pulled on my restraints. The rope cut into my skin, but it didn’t even crack as I pulled.
Suddenly, the door opened and Chris walked through, carrying a tray. “Good morning, sleepy head. I was starting to wonder if I gave you too much.” His voice was cheerful and his eyes were dark, yet not lost to his anger, dark.
I let my eyes fall over his perfectly styled blonde hair. They fell even further, taking in his light blue button down shirt and slacks. He looked like he had just left an important business meeting, not drugging and abducting me.
He sat down on the bed beside me and held a glass of water to my lips. “Drink it, Lennox. Dr. Stratford says those drugs can cause dehydration if not monitored carefully.”
My tongue felt like sandpaper. I took a small sip of the water he was offering me. No point in making him mad, he was at least trying to take care of me instead of beating me.
The water was cold and refreshing. I took several more gulps, needing to hydrate.
He took the glass and sat it on the table before turning back to me. His dark eyes watched me with no hint of emotion. It confused me even more because I couldn’t read him. Was he mad? Was he going to hurt me?
“Why am I here, Chris?” My tone was filled with anger, but also full of fear.
Finally something flashed in his eyes. It wasn’t anger, it was amusement. He was enjoying whatever he had planned. “As you know, I wasted months of my life lying in a hospital bed that your fiancée put me in. Do you even know how much reconstructive surgery I needed to fix my nose?” He looked at me like he was actually waiting for an answer. When I didn’t answer, he began again. “He needs to pay for what he did. He could have ended my career leaving my face like that!”
Mason had almost killed Chris, yet all he cared about what his career?
“Why am I here, Chris?”
He smiled. “Mason will come for you. When he does, he’s going to watch as I kill you. I want him to know what it feels like to lose everything important to him. To have to live with the constant reminder of how he had it all before it was suddenly ripped away.”
I shook my head, keeping the tears at bay. “He’s never going to fall for that, and even if he does, he will come back for you. You’ll die in this too.”
He wrinkled his brow. “Then after he watches me kill you, I’ll take care of him too.” He motioned with his hand like he wiped it all away.
I couldn’t let him lure Mason in. If Mason was on his way, I needed to get free myself before he had a chance to find me and get hurt.
Chris leaned in, his breath blew across my face as his dark eyes locked on mine. “I should have done this months ago. You never would’ve had a chance to leave me and this whole mess wouldn’t have started.”
He lowered his lips to mine.
His lips were rough compared to Mason’s. He tasted like cigarettes where Mason tasted like mint and a hint of his own unique flavor. Everything felt wrong.
Without thinking, I thrashed against him causing my dress to inch up my thighs. When he didn’t back away, I bit his lip as hard as I could. He stood suddenly, running his hand over his lip to see blood.
“You bitch!” he yelled before backhanding me across the face.
My cheek stung as tears burned my eyes again. The tears weren’t from pain this time. They were from hate and anger. I reared back and kicked him. Landing a solid hit to his lower stomach. I heard the air leave his body before he fell to the floor, landing on his knees.
His shoulders were rising and falling quickly. He was looking at the floor, trying to gain his composure. His blonde hair hung over his forehead, hiding his eyes even further.
He stood upright, towering over me. His nose and mouth were wrinkled while his eyes burned into me. He took the two steps toward the bed and before I could process what he was doing, I was overtaken with blinding pain to my head. My ears rung and I became dizzy, before feeling my eyes close on their own. I was surrounded by blackness once again.
Sometime later, my eyes opened to see the same ceiling above me. My head was pounding, threatening to take me back under. I didn’t know what he hit me with, but it was hard enough to break the skin. I could feel the sticky blood that ran down my face and dried.
I grabbed ahold of the ropes confining my wrists and pulled with everything I had. They didn’t even pop but I was able to pull myself into a sitting position even though my shoulders screamed in pain.
I began looking around, hoping to find something that could help free myself when I heard the door creak open.
The room was bright with sunlight, but the door blocked the light, shadowing Chris. Standing in the dark shadow of the door, his eyes seemed even darker as they watched me.
I used my feet to push myself up the bed until I was as close as I could get to the wooden headboard.
“There is no place to go. Haven’t you figured that out yet?” He walked into the room, slowly.
He pulled his hands out of his pockets and adjusted his watch. “I thought he would’ve been here by now.” He dropped his hands at his side before peeking through the curtains. “Do you think he’s even noticed that you are missing? It was supposed to be a weekend trip, wasn’t it?”
“How do you know that? Did you pay Jessica to spy on me?”
“It’s funny what you can find when you really dig.” He was pacing the floor. “And when you have the money to get people to do what you want.”
“What did you do?”
“I did some digging into that girl that caused so many problems that I got blamed for.” He shrugged like it was no big deal to be a stalker. “I found out she had a pretty tough childhood. She was taken away from her druggie mother when she was only five.” His eyebrows raised like it was something I should be interested in.
“What does that have to do with Jessica and how did you even find out about her?”
“I was thinking that maybe her mother would help me out for some drug money, but while I was looking her up, I realized that she was in jail for yet another drug charge. Naturally, I thought I was out of luck, until I found out that Ashley had an older sister that was taken away before she was even born.”
He moved to my side and sat down on the edge of the bed. “My luck wasn’t over.” He smiled. “I reached out to her and found her living in squalor. I cleaned her up, gave her money, a car, and promised to get her a place of her own along with some money if she followed every direction I gave her. Of course, she agreed when she found out that it was you that I wanted.”
I was pissed that a girl I thought was a friend was just another one of Chris’ pawns. “She told me she had moved to town with a friend,” I whispered, thinking back on our conversations.
Chris’ eyes lit up. “That friend, that was me. I had to stay somewhere while I was hanging out in that God forsaken town.”
“I can’t believe you did all of this. And for what? To hurt me?”
His face suddenly became serious. “No, to kill you. You were surprisingly hard to get my hands on and when I did finally get you, you always managed to slip through my fingers. Not this time. This time, it’s over.” He picked up his hand and placed it on my knee before something flashed in his eyes, was it sadness?
“Things could have been so different with us.” His eyes didn’t meet mine, instead they stayed looking down where his hand was resting against me.
I shook my head. “No it couldn’t. I’ve always belonged to Mason, I was just pretending with you.”
His eyes jumped to mine and I saw the darkness take over before he covered it up. Instead of getting mad and hitting me, he forced a smile. “Come on, we’ve had some good times.”
I lifted my chin defiantly.
“I know you won’t admit it. But I have to say, I did have
some fun with you.” His hand slowly started trailing up my thigh. I kicked my leg, trying to get his hand off of me. Instead of letting it fall, he squeezed harder.
“Maybe I should show you who you belong to one last time.”
He moved to cover my body with his, but I thrashed against him, yelling as loud as I could with my overly dry throat.
His hand came down, covering my mouth. His nose was touching mine as he glared into my eyes. “If you don’t shut the fuck up right now, I won’t bother waiting for Mason to get here.” He cocked his head. “I’m sure finding you dead will have the same effect.” His voice was deep but controlled.
I closed my mouth but the tears streamed down my overheated cheeks as his hands continued to roam my body. With his hand still covering my mouth, his lips descended down my neck where he bit me harshly. I let out a sudden squeal with the pain.
He used his knees to pry my legs open as he settled between them. My head was still pounding and the weight of Chris’ body on mine was too much. My anxiety was through the roof, causing my breathing to become labored. The more I tried to catch my breath, the harder it was.
He removed his hand from my lips and grabbed me by my thighs, yanking me down the bed. His hand slid up my dress, pushing the thin material out of his way before grasping my panties in his fist. “I bet this is going to be better than our first time.” When the words left his lips, he yanked them down my legs, fabric tearing beneath his rough touch.
I knew what was coming and I cried harder. I wiggled beneath him, trying anything I could to make him stop, but my efforts were futile.
He sat back on his knees. “You remember our first time, right?” He grinned down at me as he began working on his belt.
I closed my eyes, not able to bear what I was about to see. I heard the clanking of his belt before a loud boom filled the room.
Chapter Fifteen
Mason
Our Last Chance at Forever (The Chance Series Book 3) Page 11