by Terri Lane
Dylan was scowling, but Kayla wouldn’t budge. It had been a week since the picture of herself and Dylan as children had been sent to her phone. Since then, she’d received two or three texts a day, and when she changed her number, only half a day went by before the texts started up again.
“James is relentless and he obviously has resources that we don’t know about. I want to appeal to his logical side, or at least give him a chance to act like a fool in public. Maybe if someone else sees what he’s doing then the judge will actually give me an order against him.”
“Fine. I’ll be right here. Go straight into the building and text me when you’re done.”
“I will.” She leaned across the seat and kissed him. “Now hurry up and leave so he thinks that I’m alone.”
“I will. But I want to say once more that I don’t like this.”
“Noted.”
Kayla got out of the SUV and hurried across the street and into the cozy restaurant that had picked up quite a bit of business since Nick’s had closed.
Her phone tweeted to let her know that she had a text. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at it, surprised to see a text from Dylan.
Something’s not right. Go out the back door and I’ll meet you in the alley.
Brow furrowed, she read the message a couple times, wondering what had happened in a few minutes.
She sighed heavily. Dylan was nervous and it was showing. A quick glance at her watch said that she had almost twenty minutes before James was supposed to meet her. She didn’t want to be late, but if Dylan needed her to tell him one more time that she was fine, she would let him do that. Maybe he would feel comfortable parking in the alley and being closer.
Resolved to have him do just that, she rushed down the hall between the little restaurant and the tiny candy shop that shared the building. A door at the end of the hall indicated that it was for employees only, but Kayla knew the drill.
She went out the door, letting it fall shut behind her after disengaging the lock on the side.
She stepped out into the alley and looked toward the cross street.
“Where is he?”
“I’m right here,” a voice came from behind her.
Kayla’s blood ran cold. She didn’t bother turning around, taking off running toward the cross street and yelling at the top of her lungs for help. A gloved hand clamped over her mouth and a strong arm yanked her up against a hard chest.
“Shut up. Stop fighting. Your so-called boyfriend can’t save you now.”
He dragged her, kicking frantically toward his car. He opened the trunk, tossing her into it and slamming the lid before she could move. She kicked at the metal, shrieking in anger.
“He’s coming right now, James. You’d better let me out!”
James laughed.
“No he’s not. I used an app to spoof his number.”
Kayla’s heart sank. She felt the car move and heard the front door slam. And James calmly drove his car out of the alley and onto the street.
She felt the car turn right and merge into traffic. She opened her cellphone in the dark, texting Dylan’s phone.
He’s got me. He turned right coming out of the alley behind the restaurant. Still going straight. White car, four doors, I didn’t get the model.
She hit send, switching to the time app and turning on the stopwatch. She hit the lap button when she felt the car turn right again and updated Dylan.
She tracked James’ progress like this, texting Dylan every time they turned and including the length of time between each turn.
It had been five minutes and still no answer from Dylan. She double-checked the number, hoping that he wasn’t responding because he was on the phone with the police.
She used the light from the phone to look around in the nearly empty trunk. She could feel the floor of the trunk bend beneath her where the spare tire was.
She got excited, looking around again and noticing that there was a knob in the corner. She turned it, revealing the jack and small tire change tool kit.
She rummaged through the tools as the car sped up and the sounds of traffic got heavier.
On highway, no turn, she texted, then went back to what she was doing. She could hear James singing to the radio, and in the moment when she thought of calling the police herself, she dismissed it. If she could hear him, then he could hear her.
There was a small tool in the kit that look like a miniature crowbar. Kayla knew what it was for, though she had never removed a hubcap from a car herself.
She jammed the flat end of it against the latch carefully, doing her best not to make any noise. Trying not to panic, she took her time until she had it wedged firmly in the latch mechanism. She held it there, sliding around in the dark until she was flat on her back and able to brace herself.
Yanking as hard as she could she pulled. Metal bent and snapped, but nothing happened.
“Hey! What are you doing back there? Don’t make me come back there!”
The vehicle slowed but not much. She could hear the blinker and realized he was going to get off the freeway to deal with her. Frantic, she jammed the flat end against the latch again, not worried about the noise it made. She yanked it hard, smacking herself in the face with the back of her knuckles and causing an instant sting.
The lock remained intact.
She screamed in frustration, oblivious to James, who was still shouting at her. He slammed on the brakes, flinging her into the seatbacks before accelerating again. They weren’t on the off-ramp yet, and Kayla wasn’t about to give up. If he took her somewhere secluded, her chances of getting away were lower.
Angry, she took the hubcap remover and hit the latch repeatedly, screaming at the top of her lungs before shoving it in place again and bracing herself. She held on, and as she expected, James slammed on the brakes, causing the car behind him to lock up theirs in an attempt not to hit him.
She was still holding the crowbar when she was flung forward again, and this time, the latch snapped and the trunk popped open just as James pulled over on the side of the freeway, no longer able to wait until they were alone to deal with her.
“Damnit!” he yelled, throwing the car in park as she climbed out of the trunk and ran toward traffic down the dirt shoulder.
She was waving her arms frantically when she saw a familiar car barreling down the highway with the hazard lights on. Behind him were several cars with flashing blue lights in hot pursuit.
She could hear James behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and screamed. He was gaining on her, even though she was lighter and younger. His anger propelled him forward and he was no longer concerned with keeping things quiet.
She heard a gun fire and ducked as the cement guardrail to her left exploded.
He was shooting at her! Kayla thought in desperation. Another shot went off, this one burying itself in the ground beside the breakdown lane. He was firing wildly, not bothering to stop running to take aim. He was putting everyone on the highway in danger to kill her.
Dylan was close, coming at them, his eyes locked on James. But James was closer, and Kayla was struggling to stay ahead of the man.
Dylan swerved and Kayla jumped out of the way, over a low guardrail and onto a grass embankment. She heard a thud and the screech of tires as Dylan hit the brakes. She saw James’ body sail through the air out of the corner of her eye, landing well beyond the shoulder of the road and tumbling down the hill. She didn’t have to look twice to know that the man was dead.
The police cars stopped behind Dylan opening their doors and pulling their firearms. One of the cops called out to her to come to him, but Kayla ignored them, running straight for Dylan and throwing herself sobbing into his arms.
Dylan’s hands were up and he made no move to put them down as she clung to him. He looked down at her, smiling calmly despite his frantic heartbeat.
“Hugs later,” he said. “Right now, we need to clear up what’s going on here so I don’t end up in jai
l.”
Kayla turned, shocked to see guns drawn on Dylan. She put her hands up too, and when the officer called her over, she did so without argument.
“Don’t worry,” he called out softly. “They’ll figure out that you were kidnapped and it will all work out.”
Kayla nodded without looking back at him, trembling violently as she closed the distance between herself and the police.
When she was almost to the first police car, her shaking knees gave way and she collapsed. She shook violently, the adrenaline too much for her. Between sobs, she begged the cop who rushed forward not to kill Dylan.
“He saved my life. I was in that other man’s trunk and he was shooting at me. Please.”
The cop was shaking her gently as she blubbered on, trying to get her to listen, but Kayla was almost hysterical, and she was angry with herself for falling apart.
“It’s alright,” the man said, leaning down so that Kayla had to look into his kind eyes. “We’ve got you. We’ll get this all straightened out and everything will be fine.”
She wiped at the tears that flowed freely down her face and looked at him.
“What can I do to help?” she said when she could speak.
“That’s easy. I just need you to tell me what the hell is going on here so we can make sense of this mess.”
Kayla nodded, almost laughing. After being thrown in a trunk and escaping a madman with a gun, telling the police what had happened so that she and Dylan could go home seemed so easy.
Her voice was steady as she started telling the story from the moment that James had attacked her in the diner. She didn’t leave anything out. She didn’t want there to be any doubt that Dylan was a hero.
Her hero.
***
Six Months Later
Kayla sat in the back of the limo, sitting close to Dylan and holding his hand.
“I wish you would tell me where we’re going,” she said, leaning into him.
“It’s a surprise. Can’t I surprise you sometimes?”
“I guess,” she teased. “I just don’t know what the big deal is.”
“You’ll know soon enough.”
She closed her eyes, loving the feel of his arm around her. Since the day he’d saved her life, everything had changed between them. She’d given up her guest room, moving into his room at first because she had struggled against nightmares, then staying because she felt comfortable there. His strong arms around her each night made it easy to forget where she had come from, and everything she had been through.
When the police had showed up to James’ home after his death, they’d found enough evidence of his stalking Kayla for months before Dylan had even showed up at the diner. As a private investigator, he had access to information that most people didn’t, and he had used that access to find out everything about Kayla, and once she got involved with Dylan, everything about him too.
There was no trial and Dylan wasn’t charged for running James down with his car. There were enough witnesses that came forward about the madman chasing Kayla down the highway that there was no need to push the issue and the state dropped any interest they had. Dylan was painted as a hero in the papers, and Kayla agreed one hundred percent.
The limo finally left the highway and started down a long road that seemed very familiar. Kayla sat up, looking out the window.
“Are we going to the group home?”
“Kind of,” he conceded.
“Wait. Is this that pet project you’ve been working on?”
“You suck at being surprised,” he joked. “Yes, I rebuilt the group home, expanded it so that it’s got enough bedrooms to ensure that there are no more than two kids to a room, and my charity is funding the salary for the workers to make sure that there’s never again a stressed out, overworked, underqualified staff running the place again. These kids go through enough. I want to make the transition a little brighter for these kids and make them see that there’s always hope.”
Kayla was getting emotional, thinking of all the work he had put in to give children growing up like they did every chance at a good life.
The limo stopped and Kayla marveled at the crowd gathered. A giant, satin ribbon was stretched across the front of the building, and the press was there, waiting for the festivities to start.
“Do you want to cut the ribbon?” he asked as he helped her out of the limo.
“Yes,” she said, elated.
She all but skipped up to the podium by his side, and stood beaming while he gave his speech. When it was time to cut the ribbon, he stood behind her and she picked up the huge scissors with trembling hands. She smiled for the photo op and then cut to the cheers of the crowd.
They hushed suddenly, whispers spreading through the crowd like wildfire all at once. Confused, Kayla looked at the crowd and realized that they were looking behind her. She turned and gasped, her hands going up to her mouth.
Dylan was there, on bended knee, holding a tiny black velvet box in his hand. He smiled at her and reached out for her hand.
“Kayla Ann Lyon, I have loved you forever, and I want to be with you always,” he began as tears streamed unchecked down Kayla’s face. She felt like she was in a dream. He was still talking, his green eyes looking into her soul, his words healing her long broken heart. “I would be the happiest man on the planet if you would give me the honor of being my wife; my partner for eternity.”
He waited, surrounded by the heavy silence of the crowd that waited in anticipation for her answer. She took a deep breath, squeezed his hand tightly and smiling at this man who she had loved for as long as she could remember before she finally answered.
“Yes.”
There were tears in his eyes as he slid the heavy ring on her finger and pulled her into his arms for a deep kiss. The crowd cheered but Kayla hardly noticed.
Everything she’d ever needed was right here, in the arms of a man that would hold her and love her for the rest of their lives.
THE END
= Bonus Book 2 of 20 =
Aligning Planets
Book 1: Defying Attraction
Prince Kohl and his party of Ve’dran diplomats and guards have been residing in the diplomatic suites of a hotel on Earth. They had arrived hoping to strike out an alliance with Earth, mostly for the access it would give the Ve’dra to the larger United Alliance of Planets of the galaxy, which had always been wary of admitting the warlike Ve’dra. But he didn’t anticipate he’d be distracted by a single human woman though. Maya Lu, staff manager at the Hotel Grand Potomac, constantly surprises him with her boldness, and her beauty makes him hunger for her in a way he cannot define. They begin a relationship that Maya never would have anticipated, though even she can feel their connection. But then the proud prince makes a diplomatic move which results in widespread panic on Earth, and threatens to destroy Maya’s trust in him for good.
Chapter 1
Kohl
Prince Kohl stood in wait outside of the imposing entrance to the Hotel Grand Potomac with his bodyguard, waiting to be transported to Earth’s grand meeting of leaders. He’d taken residence on Earth after the humans’ own visit to Ve’dra, his home planet. After long years, the humans finally decided to try and establish diplomatic relations with the Ve’dra. Alien diplomats often stayed at the Grand Potomac.
His father, King Omrin IV, had not taken kindly to the humans’ unannounced visit, despite their seemingly friendly intentions. So Kohl offered to go to the blue planet to start an embassy there. It was not the Ve’dran way to have the lesser hand.
Ever since he had arrived on Earth, Kohl had noticed a lot of security, despite it being a diplomatic mission. The humans did not trust him.
A large black vehicle rumbled up to where Kohl stood. His men exited the vehicle to provide more cover as he got in.
“The humans, have they assembled?” Kohl asked. He was thinking about the miserable girls who had been sent up to his suite the night before. Some ‘unofficial diplomacy’
on the part of the humans. The girls had been such simpering fools, their emotions entirely false, their actions all rehearsed. He was a long way from home, and did indeed desire the touch of a woman. But they were entirely unsuitable, and not at all like Ve’dran females. He had dismissed them angrily.
Meekah, one of Kohl’s oldest guards, answered his question promptly. “Yes Prince Kohl, they await your presence to begin the negotiations.”
“Very good, I hope to make this as swift and painless as possible,” Kohl said, mostly to himself as he waited for the other three guards to enter the vehicle. Soon they were riding towards the grand states building that housed the meeting. The city called Washington D.C. paled in comparison to Ve’dra’s capital of marble and gold.
Kohl went over his terms, as to what cooperation would stem from the diplomatic relations with Earth. Of course they would give his the Ve’dra access to the technologies and medical advances humans had gained from being partner in the galaxy’s largest alliance, the UAP: the United Alliance of Planets. The long term goal was for Ve’dra to one day join the UAP, and reap all the strategic and technological benefits of being a member on that august body.
“We are here my lord,” Meekah said when they reached the white-columned building with its grand dome at the top. Kohl stepped out of the vehicle when the door was opened and he walked within the cover of his guards. He didn’t look up from the ground until he felt he was within the meeting chamber. Chatter surrounded him and annoyance was quick to lift his head.
“Can we begin, Prince Kohl?”
Kohl’s his attention was called to the head of the full to bursting room. People sat or stood behind carved white benches, centered on a raised ornate wooden stand. One man stood near it, the one who spoke. His skin was papery white and thin, his expression hiding barely checked aggression. Kohl could snap his neck with one hand if he wished it.
“Yes, I am ready to begin,” Kohl said as he climbed the two steps to sit behind the ornately carved podium.