by Karen Kirst
Instead of going straight ahead through the littered corridor that was lined with lockers and bathrooms, he led her to the left, and they darted between trees, overgrown brush and what once had been a baby pool. Brackish green water in the shallow basin tainted the air with a nasty stench.
Shouts sounded behind them. James had brought a friend, maybe two.
Up ahead, debris littered the cracked pavement. They were forced to slow their pace and dodge slabs of wood, probably from the half-dismantled stairs that used to lead to a lifeguard lookout. A bullet dug into the cement near his feet.
They had to find cover. It had been over a decade since he’d been to the water park, and he wracked his brain trying to remember the layout. There was an indoor pool somewhere beyond the spiraling tube slides. That could be their answer.
Tessa pointed to the cement slides ahead. “Now what?”
Woods formed a natural barrier beside the slides, and the fence was beyond that. He didn’t have wire cutters and no way to know if there were other man-made gaps.
“We keep going.”
Releasing her hand, he took the left slide while she took the right. The cement runways attached to the ground weren’t too steep, but there were cracks with roots and grass jutting out, making traversing them while running a tricky maneuver. The slant shifted by varying degrees before dumping into a large basin.
At the slide’s edge, Tessa stopped short and grimaced at the ankle-deep water that hid any number of allergens.
Footsteps pounded far above, and he saw James motion to someone out of sight.
She lowered herself to a seated position.
“Try to keep that wound covered,” he advised, wriggling down into the basin and hurrying to her.
Curving an arm around her waist, he assisted her down and glanced at her shirt. He didn’t mention the fresh blood matting the material to her skin. They’d have to deal with it later.
Their mad dash toward the concrete steps made water splash up. Tiny droplets sprayed over his arms and legs. His peripheral vision picked up movement to their right, and he saw a bald, muscular suit-clad guard advancing from the cluster of food huts and metal tables.
Mason searched for proper cover and decided on the bathroom structure a few yards from the concrete steps. With a hand on her back, he put himself between Baldy and Tessa, urging her up the stairs and across the expanse. When he saw the guard prepare to shoot, he got off a shot first. It went wide, but the guy interrupted his pursuit to duck behind a table.
Once they reached the breezeway, he felt somewhat better. They again had to dodge debris, this time tiles that had been ripped out of the ceiling. Someone had sprayed graffiti on the lockers, and broken bottles and metal cans littered the ground.
On the other side of the breezeway, they realized they were hemmed in. Thick black bars, part of the original structure, had been installed to link the bathroom building with the child’s pool area. Probably to contain the children so parents didn’t have to worry about them wandering off. His midsection aching, Mason gazed at the enclosure.
“Over there.” Tessa indicated an area of collapsed fence.
To reach it, they’d have to wade through knee-high water and duck under bridges linking four domed play structures.
“We’re going to be hooked up to antibiotic IVs after this,” she sighed, forging ahead.
Their rushed progression disturbed the algae and stirred up broken bits of bark and leaves. Mason held his Glock high above the water. It was their only defense, and he couldn’t let the ammo get wet. Halfway through the pool, they were shot at again.
Tessa lurched through the water and ducked behind the nearest play structure. Mason wasn’t far behind. Putting her between the structure and his body, he scanned the periphery. The direction of the shot suggested it was Baldy. The breezeway was visible from their vantage point, and it was empty.
Where was James? Were there others descending upon them?
He and Tessa were both battling fatigue. She was injured, and his lungs hadn’t fully recovered from the smoke. Law enforcement would investigate the areas immediately surrounding their last communication, but this was a large county. No telling how long it would take authorities to respond to their distress call.
One thing was certain—they had to keep moving.
“Let’s get out of this area,” he said. “Go to that next structure while I cover you.”
“You’ll be right behind me?”
“Yes.”
She pursed her lips and blew out a breath. “All right. Here I go.”
Tessa lunged through the water, and no responding shot came. Mason waited until she had reached safety to follow her. The goon shot at him. The bullet pinged off the bridge inches above his head.
She seized his arm and pulled him out of sight.
A gurgle of distress left her lips just as James appeared in the breezeway. Mason put his hand on her back. “Go!”
James raised his weapon. Mason discharged his first and managed to clip the guy.
Tessa hauled herself onto the grimy ledge and called to him. He was the target of another spray of bullets from Baldy’s direction. When he got close, she grabbed his forearm and gave him a boost up. Water sluiced from his pants and shoes. From this vantage point, he finally spotted the building he’d been looking for.
As they climbed through the gap, he explained that they would try to get to the indoor pool. They could better defend themselves there while they awaited backup.
Taking her hand, he led the way through the underbrush. Scarred, uneven pavement stood between them and the dull gray gym-like building. The exterior was pitted and crumbling, and more than half of the high windows had been punched out. The side-entrance door hung on its hinges. They would enter there.
“Ready to run?”
She nodded somberly.
He touched her cheek, distracted by her soft skin. “I want you to fix your eyes on that building. Don’t look back, and don’t worry about me.”
“Not worry about you? Impossible.”
Mason was overtaken with the urge to kiss her. Not the right time. Not the right move.
“Now!”
They took off, sprinting as fast as their legs could carry them. He heard the shots, felt one whiz past his ear. Mason was convinced they didn’t want to kill them yet, but only wanted to wound them in order to capture them for Dante’s demented purposes. Not exactly a comforting prospect. Although, he wasn’t sure how committed they were to capturing them at this point. He and Tessa had evaded them for days. They were down one man, and now Bruno and James had sustained wounds.
Tessa stumbled. He caught her arm and prevented her from falling. Ahead, the gloomy interior beckoned. What would they find inside?
As they ducked under the heavy door, he heard James and his cohort shouting to each other. Tessa went first. Once inside, he hefted the door and propped it into an upright position. Because a thick layer of clouds hid the sun, there was little light coming through the high windows.
Tessa paced a few yards away. “How long until the police get here?”
“Hopefully not long.” He was short on ammo, outgunned and outmanned. Their enemy had the advantage.
Mason strode the length of the cement wall. He had to check the main entrance—
A cascade of rocks striking the pool floor coincided with Tessa’s scream, followed by a thud. One second, she was standing nearby, the next, she’d disappeared.
“Tessa!”
He ran to the edge of the giant pool, careful to avoid the section that had given way under her weight. She was lying on the bottom, cement chunks and tile shards in a haphazard pattern around her. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t moving.
* * *
The fall had jarred every bone in her body. Her left ankle seemed to be the only serious inj
ury, and she was certain it was only a sprain.
“Tessa?”
Opening her eyes, she saw Mason sprawled on his stomach and gripping the rounded ledge.
“I’m okay. I may have sprained my ankle, that’s all.”
His relief was temporary. “The ladders are missing, and there aren’t steps for you to climb out on. Can you stand up and come over here?” He sat up and removed his belt. “I’ll try and pull you out.”
Tessa gingerly got to her feet and couldn’t contain the hiss that escaped once she put weight on her ankle. This was seriously going to slow them down. One positive? The new injury distracted her from the pain in her chest. She was beginning to think there was something lodged in her wound, probably glass that would have to be removed by a medical professional.
Hobbling over to the pool wall and looking up, she realized how far the distance was between her and Mason. She surveyed the rest of the basin. Although cloaked in milky shadows, she could tell the pool was all the same depth. Diving platforms were spaced out across the far side.
“Grab the belt.” Mason had gotten into a crouched position and was bracing his weight against that rounded lip that had crumbled like sawdust under her. Would this section hold?
Tessa wrapped the belt around one wrist and got a secure grip with her other hand. She tried not to think about the men outside and how any minute they were going to breach the building.
Mason began to hoist her up. Almost immediately, the lip where his tennis shoe was braced disintegrated. A large chunk barely missed her cheekbone, and she let go.
“It’s not going to work,” she said.
The tension on the belt eased, and he lowered her to the ground so she could free her wrist.
He glanced at the broken door they’d entered through. “I’m going to walk around the pool and try and find another way out.”
Tessa’s gaze followed his progress, her trepidation intensifying the farther away he got.
“Got something.”
He bent to pick up whatever it was he’d found, and he didn’t see the far door swing open. Tessa called out a warning. Before he could react, James struck him over the head.
Mason slumped to the ground.
She willed him to get up, to speak, to do something.
Footsteps registered behind her, and she got a whiff of citrusy cologne that made her gag. She lifted her gaze and felt what little courage she’d had shrivel like a grape in the sun.
His smile was as cruel as ever, the promise of retribution in his black eyes striking fresh terror inside her.
He crouched at the pool’s edge. “Hello, Tessa.”
FIFTEEN
Those who didn’t know Dante wouldn’t guess from his appearance that he was a monster. Tall and physically fit, he had the face of a model and the bearing of one born into power and prestige. He wore his black hair slicked off his forehead in a wave, highlighting his patrician features and full, sculpted mouth that could so effortlessly twist with cruelty. The scar above his eyebrow—sustained during a knife fight when he was a teen—gave him just enough mystery to draw in others, who would be unaware that he was the deadly spider and they were the prey caught in his web.
“You’ve caused me no end of trouble, little sister,” he stated calmly. “You will have to pay for that.”
He called to his goons. “Get her out.”
James and the other man brought over a silver ladder that looked as if it used to be attached to the cement. Together, they held it in position so that she could climb up. With no other choice, Tessa slowly ascended the unstable rungs, trying not to put weight on her injured ankle.
At the top, James clamped onto her arm and shoved her toward Dante. He caught her wrists, stopping her before she slammed into his chest. His razor-like gaze scraped over her.
“The years have not been kind to you.”
His nearness made her skin crawl. “You should’ve stayed in New Jersey. I’m not a threat to you.”
“You made yourself a target when you sided with a cop and sought to incriminate us.” He smirked. “I’m sure you’re aware that I don’t let betrayal go unpunished, not even when it originates in my own family.” With a sound of disgust, he pushed her away from him. She stumbled into the wall. “Bring Sergeant Reed to the vehicle.”
“Please, Dante, leave him out of this. Mason isn’t important to the family.”
“Not important?” His brows winged up. “Sergeant Reed is the father of the first Vitale grandchild. That makes him very important.” Gripping her chin in a bruising hold, he said with a touch of temper, “It was really bad of you, Tessa, to keep Lily’s existence a secret. Father was devastated when he learned of your duplicity. I’m going to make it up to him, though. I’m going to take her to him.”
Tessa couldn’t speak. Her worst nightmare was coming true.
James and the other man trundled past them, dragging an unconscious Mason out of the building. Dante waved his arm with an exaggerated royal flourish to indicate she should walk ahead of him. Outside, she wasn’t met with the reassuring whir of sirens or the sudden arrival of the authorities. During the too-brief trek to Dante’s vehicle, she kept hoping and praying for a rescue that didn’t come.
The men stowed Mason in the trunk, securing his wrists and feet with thick rope. Dante pushed Tessa into the back seat and slammed the door. He stalked around the vehicle and slid into the vacant space beside her. The trunk lid closed with a thud. She knotted her hands together and pressed them against her stomach. In his unconscious state, Mason was unable to defend himself. He could have a concussion or worse.
James got into the passenger seat and the bald one got behind the wheel. As they bumped over the neglected road, Tessa prayed they’d encounter the police. But the dilapidated buildings and half-hidden billboard came into view and, beyond them, the main road. The vehicle headed left, in the direction of Serenity, but they soon turned off onto a secondary road.
The deeper into the cove they drove, the harder her heart thumped against her rib cage.
“Is Father aware of your reasons for being here?”
“He knows I’m on a mission to collect the evidence you have on Officer Fisk’s death and that I’m here to retrieve his granddaughter.”
“I don’t have any evidence. I told you that in the beginning.”
“I don’t believe you.” He fiddled with his diamond cuff links. “Sergeant Reed will provide the incentive you need to talk.”
“You’re not planning on leaving either of us alive.” The certainty chilled her to the bone. “What will Father do once he learns the truth?”
“You turned against us. Why should he care? You know, you could have had an unparalleled life, yet you threw it all away.”
“I didn’t want that life!” she blurted. “I never wanted it. If you hadn’t forced me to return home, if you’d let me live my own life, none of this would’ve happened.”
His expression turned vicious, and he wrapped his fingers around her throat, applying enough pressure to stop air from entering.
“Are you suggesting I am to blame for your treachery?”
She clawed at his fingers. Her vision turned black as her lungs stretched to a bursting point.
His phone chirped. With his free hand, he checked the caller’s identity. “Saved by the business you despise,” he drawled, releasing her to answer the call.
“Jack, this had better be important.”
Tessa sucked in air and huddled against the door, as far away from Dante as she could possibly get. The window was cool and smooth against her hot skin. She wanted to close her eyes and give in to her misery, but she had to stay alert and remember the route they were taking. She couldn’t give up hope. She had to fight to stay alive...for Lily.
As the tires ate up the miles, they left civilization behind and entered what could
be part of the national park it was so wooded and isolated.
Dante ended his call and she stiffened, expecting him to pick up where he’d left off. Instead, he ignored her, his long, elegant fingers tapping his knee.
The car began to slow. A bright spot of color in the green-and-brown vista drew her gaze. The older, redbrick home was well maintained, with ivy creeping up the walls and wide, welcoming windows. The mailbox had the name Johnson printed on the side.
“Where are the owners?”
The driver parked the car and opened her door. She got out, and when Dante unfolded his frame on the other side, he smirked at her across the roof. Sunlight broke through the clouds behind him, shining on his hair and throwing his eyes in relief.
“Out of town.”
Tessa trailed the men to the rear of the car and gulped down a moan when she saw Mason’s unmoving form. He looked to be simply asleep. When they removed him from the trunk, she saw a thread of blood between his hair and shirt collar. She hated the feeling of helplessness that engulfed her mind, body and soul.
Would they die here today?
The inside of the house was clean and homey. Before she could look around for anything that might serve as a makeshift weapon, they marched her down the stairs and into a basement. This unfinished space was nothing like the first floor. Half the walls were made of dirt, and the others were cement block. There wasn’t a single window. A sparkling front-load washer and dryer were out of place, as were the cabinets fitted with brightly colored fabric-organizer boxes.
James lowered Mason to the ground. He groaned, but his eyes remained shut. They propped him up against a foundation pole and wrapped thick rope around his shoulders to secure him. His head was bowed, his upper body held upright by the rope.
When they turned to her, she took a step back, only to encounter her brother’s chest.
He guided her to the other pole and ordered James to bind her to it. As the rope wound around her upper body, she appealed to Dante one last time.