He is right; he expects my restraints to be invisible. I’m in a prison, and I’m not sure how I’m supposed to get out.
“You’re a monster!” I snap, fear and frustration bubbling to the surface.
“Thinking that way won’t make this any easier on you,” he says calmly, as if he didn’t just threaten half my family.
“Even if you think you can control me this way, my friends won’t believe I just want to leave with you. They’ll know I’m being forced.”
“Them knowing and them having proof are two very different things. As long as you maintain the story I want you to tell, there is nothing they can do.”
“They won’t stop coming after you.”
“And that is called harassment.”
I bark out a laugh, unable to help myself, even given my terrified state. “You’re going to cry harassment when you’re trafficking women and forcing them to do awful things so you can get rich?”
“I am a law-abiding citizen. I pay my taxes, I give to charity, and I live a modest, quiet life.”
“That is all a front!”
“Listen, Teagan,” he snaps, his dark gaze shifting over me for a moment before he faces the road again. “You should feel lucky I chose you. I interviewed and trialed many women, but none lit a spark inside me like you do. I think we could be very happy and successful together.”
“Happy and successful?” I gasp. “You mean, while I’m a prisoner and being forced to be with you?”
Instead of his anger flaring up from my words, he does something much scarier.
Much more sinister.
He laughs.
“The human mind is a curious thing. You can make someone think and do almost anything you want under the right conditions. Soon, you won’t want to be anywhere else besides with me.”
The insinuation is horrible.
I’m full-blown shivering as I glance wildly around us. There must be another way out of this. I need to escape and make sure my family has protection before Hart can act on his threat. I need to keep them safe. No one, myself included, will forgive me if I subject myself to this just to keep them from being targeted, especially when Hart is going to keep using them to get me to do whatever he wants.
It won’t ever end.
I have to fight.
“It’s not as bad as you think. I’m not going to hurt you or your family if you stick to my plan. You play along as I need you, and I’ll make sure you live a long, happy life. You were barely living after your divorce. What exactly do you think you’ll be giving up by being with me? Kim is a cheater. He was going to break your heart; it was just a matter of when. Dating me, being my cover, it isn’t much different than the life you were trapped in before. Except, this time you will live free of debt, free from worries, and you will always be protected. No one takes what’s mine.”
I shake my head, knowing I might not have been living much of a life after my divorce, but it was mine and mine alone. I’m not giving it up, especially not now that I have Joey, Karma, and Harvey. Not when I have the girls and something to look forward to every day.
No. I won’t do it. He can’t make me be with him.
I don’t know how I’m going to get out of this, but I do know I will regret never trying.
If he gets me to wherever we are heading, and if we are gone long like he insinuated to his employee, then I don’t know what the hell will happen to me.
It’s now or never.
My wrists and ankles are still tied, but I can move my fingers, my arms.
I glance at the traffic around us, finding everything quiet. It must be early morning. The streets are empty, the buildings are darkened, and we are the only car in view. It can’t get safer for others than this.
Bringing forth all the courage I can muster, I lean over and grab the wheel, yanking it to the side. We swerve wildly off the road, onto the pavement, and through a sign.
Hart shouts out expletives as he tries to correct my move. However, the broken sign sits over the windshield, hiding what is in front of us.
I know we are more than likely to connect with something immoveable soon, so I reach forward, unlocking my door, and without thinking about it too much, I swing it outward and dive out of the moving car.
I land on my side, my shoulders and elbows crushed under me as I shield my face and roll. My momentum is hard to break, and when I do slow down, my entire body feels bruised and battered.
I’m wet all over, and I know I scraped off chunks of skin, but I don’t even feel the pain as I listen to brakes squeal.
It’s too late.
I stop rolling in time to see Hart’s car careen into an office, smashing through the front of the building, glass raining down, before he continues moving through a wall, where I lose sight of him.
I don’t miss the way the building literally rattles before the roof collapses inward, smashing all that is under it.
I gasp as dust, dry wall, and glass splatters outward. Then, other than some shifting and groaning as the crumbled building settles, there is a dead calm, silence surrounding me.
Is he alive?
I try to get up, but I ache too much. Therefore, I fall back down, knocking my head into the harsh pavement before I roll over and stare up at the night sky.
My breathing rattles out of me, my heart beating a furious tempo, but a smile still graces my lips.
I did it. I fought back, and I made it out all on my own.
It might not have been the most graceful escape, or the safest, but I did it.
A painful laugh bubbles out of me just as dark spots darken my vision.
As I’m pulled into unconsciousness, I just hope someone good and not bad finds me.
***
I wake up with a jolt, finding myself in a hospital room. Joey is sitting beside me on a chair to my left, while Grayson is to my right, both softly snoring.
Blinking several times, I take this scene in, slowly turning my head each way, making sure I’m not dreaming, or possibly even dead.
Why would I see an exhausted Joey and Grayson in my afterlife?
I look down at my body, finding it is mostly covered in a sheet. Then I close my eyes, feeling for any aches or pains. Nothing. Apart from both my arms being bandaged, I can’t see any other obvious injuries. I must be on some good painkillers.
I think back to what happened, trying to recount what went down after the building collapsed, but I can’t remember anything. I don’t know what happened to Hart, if the rest of my family is okay, or what happened to Harvey or Karma. I need answers too much to let Joey keep slumbering beside me.
“Joey?” I whisper, though Grayson can sleep through anything. The drool over his arm tells me he’s not waking up anytime soon.
I don’t know what time it is, or how long I have been here. Regardless, I gently shake Joey’s shoulder until he groggily glances up at me. It takes him a moment to realize I’m awake and staring at him.
“Shit, Teags!” he gasps, standing so quickly that it’s a blink or miss motion before he leans over and kisses me.
There is so much emotion in this kiss that tears instantly build up before I blink them down my face.
“Already?” Grayson moans from beside us.
We reluctantly break apart.
It takes me several moments of staring into Joey’s wild, expressive eyes before I turn to spare Grayson a glance. He looks relieved and anything but annoyed that he caught us kissing right next to him.
“You know, you used to be the boring sibling,” he informs me, sounding a little annoyed. “The most exciting thing that happened when I visited you was you never ate all the pizza, and there were always leftovers the next day. I want my boring sister back, you got it?”
I laugh, nodding in agreement. “I’m okay with that.”
“I would be, too,” Joey states.
“Good. I’m going to grab some coffee and let you guys suck face for a little while longer. But when I get back, none of this mushy
crap, got it?”
“I can’t promise that,” I say on a smile, too happy to know he’s okay to argue properly.
“Shit,” he mutters, giving me a kiss on the forehead while squeezing the back of my neck, unspoken words of fear, relief, and terror in his eyes.
“Love you,” I whisper, my throat tight.
“Love you, too, kiddo.” He gives me one last look before he exits the room, leaving me alone with Joey.
“Fuck, you scared the hell out of me,” Joey tells me immediately, sitting back down then reaching out and holding my hand.
“Sorry,” I offer, for lack of a better response. It obviously wasn’t my wish to have what happened happen.
“We heard everything said in his office. Clayton survived the crash, but he won’t be walking again, and he won’t ever be a free man.”
As relief hits me with the news, I blink away tears, asking, “Harvey?”
“We found him a few minutes after your call. He has a few injuries, but they are all minor. He was able to overpower the asshole who attacked him.”
Another wave of relief hits me.
“What about Gemma?”
“They didn’t even manage to take her a block from the club before we picked her up. With the recording we have of Clayton admitting his crimes, we were able to take it to the police, who got a judge this morning to issue a search warrant. Zander called me earlier to say they already found Clayton’s records. Because he was into blackmailing, he kept detailed accounts. Everyone who escaped notice before is now exposed. This is finally over.” Joey sounds as relieved as I feel.
“That’s great.”
He nods. “The remaining women being held captive are being rescued as we speak, and Gemma called Zander to let him know her sister was found alive. She’s going to take some time away to help her.”
“So, it all ended nicely,” I say on a sigh, my body then tensing when he winces.
“Not quite …”
“Karma?” I whisper, already suspecting the worst and not wanting it confirmed.
“She was already gone by the time Harvey found her.”
Tears gush from me now, trailing down my face. Joey wipes them away, only to have new tears replace them.
“She tried … to save me,” I sob out. “When one … of Hart’s men … grabbed my arm, she bit him.”
“She was a good friend,” he murmurs, leaning in until our foreheads touch. A few stray tears from his face splash down on me.
We stay like this for long minutes, and when he finally shifts back, I know neither of us even scratched the surface of our grief.
Karma was more than just a pet to us. We both know we wouldn’t be where we are now, together, without her.
“I’m sorry you were put in that position with Clayton. You should have never been anywhere near him,” Joey states, his guilt easy to read.
“I’m not sorry.”
“You’re not?” My words clearly surprise him.
“We did a good thing by making sure Hart was stopped. I know you guys put in all the work to make sure this could happen, but I’m proud that I played a small part of it. I could have done without the kidnapping and jumping out of a moving car, but I’m alive and have to be grateful for that.”
“I know I’m sure as hell grateful.”
I smile, feeling a small ache over my side when I try to shift.
“What did the doctors say about me?”
His easy smile disappears just as quickly as it came. “You broke your arm in three places and need pins. That’s gonna be sore for a while. You have multiple scrapes and bruises, and you need a skin graft on your arm.”
So, all things considered, I pulled out of this okay. I’m incredibly lucky. It could have been so much worse.
A knock at the door interrupts any further assessment.
“Harvey wanted to see you. I told the others they could wait. I didn’t want to overwhelm you,” Joey tells me, definitely making the right call. I think it would be too much to have everyone coming to see me at once.
“I want to see him.”
When Joey stands up and opens the door, I get my first look at Harvey.
New tears come, relieved to see him alive and mostly unharmed. A limp and a few bruises around his face are the only things noticeable, though he probably has more injuries hidden under his clothes.
“Teagan,” he says on a sigh, his shoulders drooping as he slowly makes his way over to me.
“Harvey!” I cry, wanting to sit up for him, but my body aches at just attempting to move my arms up.
“I’m here,” he says, limping to my side. “I’m so sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing by sending you away. It was a trap, and I led you straight to it.”
I shake my head, unwilling to allow him to feel like any of this is his fault. The only person at fault here is Hart, and the men who work for him.
“It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known what would happen.”
“It was stupid for us to go out, and then Karma …” He glances down.
I reach out and grab his hand, my body aching as I stretch. “I know,” I tell him, my voice wobbly. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Me? What about you? You scared the hell out of us.”
“I’m better now that it’s all over,” I admit honestly.
“You were so fucking lucky. You are never doing something like that again. You don’t ever get involved in one of our cases again, you hear me?”
“I’m not going to argue that. This case was more than enough excitement to last me a lifetime.”
“Good,” Harvey barks, while Joey nods in agreement on my other side.
“How about you all tone it down a little and just stick to boring cases? Find missing pets, and take some photos of cheating spouses, yeah?”
Harvey grins. “I think we can make that work.”
“Good.” I smile back at him.
“It’ll be especially easy for the near future since we’ll be busy trying to find a new office,” he says on a grin. Meanwhile, I think Joey coughs to cover a laugh.
“Why do you need a new office?”
“You don’t remember?” he asks, giving me a concerned look when I shake my head. “Clayton crashed into our building and brought the whole thing down on himself.”
“That was your office building?”
“Yep.”
I feel awful for being the reason Clayton crashed into their office. If I had just waited a little longer to pull us off the road, or acted a little sooner, then their office wouldn’t have been in the firing range. Well, I guess some poor building was doomed to get at least some damage.
“Shit. I’m so sorry. I just knew I had to get out—”
“Don’t sweat it; you did the right thing. It was dangerous as fuck, but it worked out in the end,” Joey assures me.
“And you said Hart survived?”
“Yeah, only just. Someone nearby reported what happened quickly after the accident, and firefighters and ambulances were dispatched immediately. It took several hours, but they were able to get him out of the wreckage. He’s paralyzed from the neck down.”
I’m not sure I would wish such a situation on anyone, but I can’t say I’m sad it happened to him.
“But, your office—”
“Is insured. And honestly, we’re all getting a bit used to this by now,” Joey promises.
“What do you mean?”
“This is the third office destroyed of ours. At least you were original. The previous two were hit with bombs.”
“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not,” I murmur. Then I recall Sasha saying something similar to me the first time we met.
“I swear to you, I’m not.” Joey looks over to Harvey, who just gives me a small shrug.
“Before my time, but I’ve heard the stories.”
“But all your stuff—”
“It’s just stuff. We all know by now not to leave anything of personal value at the offic
e, and the information is always externally backed up. Everything else can be easily replaced.”
Does anything affect Joey? His house burns down and his office is destroyed, and the best he can manage is a shrug?
“I still feel horrible.”
“Don’t. What you did was brave.” Joey smiles then gives me a small grimace. “Batshit crazy, but brave.”
“So, what you’re telling me is, I’ve managed to destroy your house, and now your workplace?”
Harvey snorts while Joey looks thoughtful.
“I guess so. But let me tell you right now, my car is off limits.”
I shake my head, promising myself to never destroy that piece of Joey’s property.
“That car has good memories for me. I’d never intentionally wreck your car,” I remind him.
“And … that is my cue to leave,” Harvey grumbles, getting to his feet before leaning over to kiss my forehead. “I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”
I nod, frowning as I watch him limp back to the door, where he gives Joey a quick nod before exiting.
I worry he’s not as okay as he’s trying to appear, and that he might try to close himself off to everyone again, me included.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m just concerned about Harvey,” I admit, my eyes still on the closed door.
“He’s fine,” Joey says, sitting back down and running his hand soothingly through my hair, bringing my attention back to him.
“He’s not. I want you to make sure you see him. Take him out for a beer or something.”
“Teags, he’s not a child.”
“I know, but he needs a push sometimes.”
“If it’ll make you happy, I’ll take him out,” he easily acquiesces.
“Yes, thank you.”
“I’m so fucking glad you’re okay.” Joey leans over, kissing me again, just as the door reopens and a groan reaches our ears.
“Are you guys still sucking face? I would say get a room, but you already have two at home you don’t use. Meanwhile, I’m still sleeping on the couch.”
“Shut up, Grayson,” Joey and I halfheartedly snap at him at the same time.
***
A couple weeks after I’m released from the hospital, we have a Sunday lunch in Karma’s honor. Everyone is here, including Gemma, who keeps mostly to herself.
I Burned Down His House (Love at First Crime Book 3) Page 26