by Molly E. Lee
Feeling like an idiot all over again, I hopped into the shower and sped through getting ready. Prepared to take a cab to the nearest bar, not one hundred percent sure on where they’d chosen to go—Dash hadn’t answered his cell when I called—I’d bounced through the lobby with a newfound confidence filtering through my chest.
“Where you headed?” Daniel asked from behind me where I waited at the front desk to call a cab.
“I’m going to meet Dash. Do you know where they went?”
He shifted his weight, sliding his hands into his suit pants pockets. “Sure. You need a ride?”
I glanced around the lobby. “What are you doing down here, anyway?”
“Had a call with the network,” he said, pointing to one of the hotel’s closed business rooms off the lobby.
“You wouldn’t mind?” I asked.
“Not at all,” he said, motioning toward the hotel entrance.
I followed him out, climbing into the truck Travis usually drove. The silence was awkward, as we didn’t have much to say to each other. We both weren’t exactly pleased with the roles the other was playing in Dash’s life, yet neither of us was prepared to do anything to change that.
“Too bad about the bust today,” he said as he navigated the dark roads.
“Yeah, it does happen.”
“I know. I wasn’t saying it like it was your fault. Just that I can’t imagine having to deal with that as often as I’m sure you do.”
I shrugged, glancing at him. He seemed more relaxed, as if he was truly trying to have a friendly conversation with me. “It’s part of the job,” I said, remembering Dash had said that to me once. “The point is to never stop chasing. No matter how many busts you come across.”
“I do admire your tenacity, Blake.” He turned into a parking lot of a bar that looked just the type of place the boys would pick—run down, small, perfect. “I know I haven’t shown it enough, but I really do admire you. I wouldn’t have it in me.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as he parked the truck next to Dash’s.
“All of it. The thrill of chasing is one thing, but to feel it every time only makes the letdown that much harder when you don’t catch.”
“Busts suck. There is no way around that, but you learn something from each chase, regardless of the outcome.”
He nodded, pressing his lips together. “I’m not a chaser, but I’m looking forward to learning what keeps you all going.”
I smiled, enjoying this less professional side of him. “Well, this,” I pointed at the bar, “is what keeps us going after a bust. It’s tradition.” I chuckled. “Actually, having a drink after any chase is pretty much tradition.”
He laughed. “Have a good time.”
“You don’t want to come in and have one?” I asked, my fingers on the door handle. The suit had finally loosened up and I wanted to initiate him into the group with the hopes that maybe he would keep the laid-back approach when it came to producing the show.
“Really?” he asked, as if the notion never occurred to him.
“Yeah,” I said, jerking my head for him to follow me as I stepped out of the truck.
“Okay.” He closed the door behind him and was on my heels as I pushed through the bar doors.
The place was crowded, as most of the dives Dash tracked down usually were. The smell of fried food and fresh-tapped beer nearly smothered the area, but it wasn’t so stifling that I couldn’t breathe.
I scanned the bar area, coming up empty for any of my boys. Moving farther inward, I navigated through the crowded area, weaving in and out of people standing randomly about, chatting with drinks in their hands, until I spotted John’s red faux-hawk from behind. I stopped, smiling as I pushed a little farther toward the booth I could see him sitting in.
I froze solid when I cleared the people who had been blocking the entire view of the booth. Sitting across from John and Paul was Dash. Smiling that effortless smile that drove me crazy with want. Only this time, nothing but ice clung to my heart, because he had his arm draped over a gorgeous blond girl with green, emerald-like eyes. She laughed and patted the center of his chest, leaning into him like she belonged there. He kissed the top of her head, and a shockwave soared through me, carrying on it a hit of pain like I’d never felt before.
I spun around, bumping into people, including Daniel, as I raced for the door. I gasped for breath once I made it back outside, suddenly feeling like my lungs were being squeezed from the inside out.
“Blake,” Daniel said, catching up to me. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t. Say nothing. Just take me to the hotel.” I climbed back into his truck once he’d unlocked the doors.
Somehow, on the silent ride back, I managed to hold the tears at bay. My entire body numb to what it had just seen.
“If you need to go home, I’ll understand. It won’t affect the contract,” Daniel said as he walked beside me in the lobby.
I scrunched my forehead, the contract the last thing on my mind.
“Or, if you want to chase, I’d be more than willing to support you. Separate chases are something the network has really been wanting us to do. You are more than qualified to lead one.”
I tilted my head, realizing that the producer was focused on the show when my entire world just fell apart.
“Sure. Fine. Separate. Whatever.” They were the only words I managed to say as I took the elevator back to my room . . . our room.
Slamming the door behind me, I sank onto the bed where not one hour ago I’d been convincing myself our pasts didn’t matter. That we were above this shit.
The image of that beautiful girl—no doubt one more of Dash’s previous conquests on the alley—and her hand against his chest, his lips on her head, made my stomach turn sour.
How could he do this to me?
Easy, I thought. Just like I always knew it would happen, Dash had finally gotten tired of the baggage I’d carried for far too long.
My heart splintered, the small fragments trying to convince my brain that he would never cheat on me, that what I had seen was some horrible misunderstanding, but I couldn’t listen to it. I couldn’t deny what I’d seen, or what I’d seen every single stop on the alley: women . . . gorgeous women dying to take another spin on the ride that was Dash.
I rushed to the bathroom, the contents of my stomach emptying without me being able to stop it. The images that flashed in my head of Dash and who knew how many girls, made me continue dry-heaving until I could barely breathe. Had he sought one out every time I’d been too exhausted to go to the bars? How could he tell me he loved me, hold me so tenderly, make love to me so passionately, and continue to get action on the side like this?
Who had I fallen for?
I’d thought I knew what real pain was after being with Justin for eight years, but this . . . this was twenty times worse. Some part of me had always known Justin and I weren’t right for each other, that we were toxic. But Dash? I’d believed he was it. His betrayal slashed my soul and left me bleeding out all the love I never thought could dull.
Crawling back to bed after I was sure I had nothing left in me to throw up, I hugged the edge of the bed and cried myself to sleep, unsure if Dash would even attempt to make it back to our room tonight.
Of course, he had. When I woke up, he was there, on the opposite side of the bed, looking stunning even in sleep. For a moment, the event of the night before disappeared, and I had the urge to cross the distance and rest my head on his shoulder, fall back asleep to the sounds of his breathing.
My sides ached from crying, and the center of my chest felt as if it had been ripped out. I slipped out of bed and gathered my things as quietly as possible, and left Dash to wake up alone.
Dash
I STRETCHED MY arms to their full capacity, reaching for Blake’s warmth, but feeling the cold mattress instead. Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I sat up, turning my head back and forth as if she would manifest with the action.
A loud bang on my door made me jump.
“Dash, man, you up?”
“I am now!” I growled as I slipped on a pair of sweats and opened the door for Paul and John. They were dressed with laptops in hand, cameras around their necks.
I pushed my head out into the hall, looking behind them. “Where’s Blake?”
Paul and John shared a look.
“Guys?”
John shifted his weight. “She and Daniel and some other crew took off about an hour ago.”
“What?” I snapped, turning into the room to get dressed.
“Yeah. Daniel said she was leading a team to one location, and that you’d lead us to another. Cover more storms that way?” Paul asked it like a question instead of stating it.
“Was anyone going to tell me about this plan?” I asked, shoving into my shoes.
“Daniel said you’d understand. Figured you two had talked about it before.” John said, hovering in the doorway.
I shook my head. “Nope. You think I’d let Blake go on a chase alone?”
Paul laughed. “Dude, she’s just as good if not better than you. No offense.”
“I understand that, but . . .” I said, sighing. “We should’ve talked it out before she ran off on her own.” Why would she do that, anyway? I thought she loved being in the shotgun seat next to me. Did she want to lead the team? I had no doubts she could, but I liked her where I could see her, protect her if need be. Hell, I promised her mother I’d do just that.
“Let’s go,” I said, pushing past the guys and hurrying to my truck.
John held the driver’s side door of the Tracker Jacker open, looking at me as I opened mine. “Where are we headed?”
I tilted my head at him, begging him not to make me punch him.
“Right,” he nodded, tapping the roof of the Tracker Jacker. “Blake’s storm site it is.”
I sank behind the wheel of my truck, pushing the button on the earpiece I’d just slipped in. “Lead the way, John. I haven’t got a clue where she is.”
And I didn’t fucking like it. Why wouldn’t she at least talk to me about this before sneaking off in the morning? She’d never done anything like this before. Had Daniel pushed her into it? It was a possibility, but I had a hard time believing Blake would ever allow him to make her do anything she wasn’t already on board with—especially for the show.
Following John, I resisted the urge to order him to speed up. Blake had an hour on us, so she was probably in prime position to catch whatever storm she’d tracked this morning. Funny, my plans for the morning had been having a leisurely breakfast where I introduced her to my sister.
Annabelle had shocked the hell out of me when she strolled through the bar last night. She was the oldest of my three sisters, constantly on the road with the band she cooked for as a personal chef. I hadn’t known they were stopping in Dodge City at the exact time we were, and since it had been six months since I’d seen her last, it was more than a welcomed surprise. I had wished Blake had been there last night to meet her, but I promised Annabelle I’d get her out for breakfast.
That was a text-apology I’d have to send later. Right now I had to focus on the storm, and on the fact that the love of my life was out there trying to capture it alone. While I knew she was more than capable of handling it, it didn’t mean I liked being blind to her whereabouts. I needed to be by her side more than she needed me there, and I was man enough to admit it.
“What’s the cell like?” I asked Paul.
“It’s big,” he said, his voice filling my head. “High probabilities for a tornado. Rotation already occurring.”
A cold dread sank in my stomach, the complete opposite reaction I usually had when it came to confirmation of rotation. Blake was a professional chaser now, and one hell of a meteorologist, so why did I have this sense of terror when it came to this storm?
“How far out are we?” I asked, trying not to let the fear seep through my voice.
“Half an hour,” John answered.
“Cut it in half, man.” I stepped on the gas, riding his ass as much as I could.
“Heard,” he said, and thankfully his speed increased.
The silence as I drove plagued me with unanswered questions, the reason behind Blake’s departure without a word nagging at me like an itch I couldn’t reach. This was so unlike her. Maybe that’s what bothered me most. Maybe that was the source for the dread revolving around this chase.
“Holy shit!” Paul said through the earpiece, and I didn’t need him to explain further. The second he uttered the words I looked to the southeast as if a magnet had pulled my eyes.
We were miles out, but I could see the tornado in the distance, snaking violently through what I prayed was pasture or field or some other unpopulated area.
I passed John, knowing the location I had to get to and not caring about speeding tickets at the moment. Blake was there, and this tornado was the biggest we’d seen all season—at least, from the look of it at this distance it was—and I needed to get to her.
“What’s the size?” I asked, my voice eerily calm despite my insides twisting with panic.
“EF-4,” Paul said. “It’s pasture, but there’s a farm there.”
“Fuck.” I weaved in and out of traffic, obeying the instructions John rattled off to me as I tried to catch up to the already fully fleshed storm. Finally, I turned on the dirt road that would lead me to the position I would’ve taken if it had been me leading the crew.
The tornado was a thick gray beast, the roar of which penetrated through the truck and made my chest rumble. At a few hundred yards away, it took up a good chunk of the sky, it’s churning making the long pale-green grass before it roll in panicked waves. The area was dry of rain, but debris in all forms rocketed past the truck: tree branches, chunks of dirt, and what terrified me most, farm equipment.
“Blake?” I called, tapping the earpiece once I set eyes on an array of vehicles.
There was no answer despite being in range.
“Why isn’t she answering?” Paul asked once the Tracker Jacker had caught up to me.
“I don’t know,” I said, parking my truck behind one of the crew’s and hopping out. “Film. I’ll find her.”
“On it,” John said as I jogged through the trucks ahead of us.
For once, the massive tornado before me wasn’t my focus. Something inside me screamed and seared, and I prayed it was the simple act of not knowing where she was, but I knew I wouldn’t be free of it until I set eyes on her.
“Daniel!” I finally called out over the Bluetooth. “I need a location!”
Nothing.
The monster continued to roar as it snaked farther south as if it knew to run from me in the state of mind I was in. I picked up my pace, breaking into a dead run when I spotted a group of people rushing back toward me.
I came to a dead halt when the bodies running toward me became clearer.
The camera crew.
Daniel.
Blake.
Daniel cradled her in his arms, her head lolling against his jarred motions, blood dripping from an injury on her head I couldn’t see.
The world tilted on its axis, my heart stopping and restarting as I saw Blake limp in another man’s arms.
“Blake!” I screamed when I remembered how to breathe. “What the hell happened?” I raced to Daniel, scooping Blake out of his hold and pressing her to my chest. She was breathing, but she didn’t stir at the change of hands.
“She pushed me out of the way!” Daniel’s voice was a shocked sort of numb as he shook his head. “I didn’t see it coming.”
“What?”
“A tractor tire,” Travis answered. “I’m getting the van ready. Get her in the back.”
I followed Travis, silently begging Blake to be okay. To just be knocked out.
“Get John,” I demanded, unable to move my hand to radio for him.
I climbed into the back of the van, positioning Blake on my lap
so I could free my hands and look her over.
“Let me see,” John said, climbing in behind me, and Daniel behind him. John ran his hands over Blake’s head, hissing when he found a large gash underneath a mass of her hair. He kept checking her, feeling her pulse. “Was she hit in the head?” he asked Daniel.
“No,” he said, wringing his hands out. “She shoved me out of the way. The tire clipped her in the gut, which sent her to the ground. That’s when she hit her head, I think.”
“You think!” If it wasn’t for Blake in my arms, I would’ve jumped across the van and strangled him. “You’re the reason this happened! She wouldn’t have been out there if it wasn’t for you!”
Daniel went white as a sheet before slitting his eyes at me. “I didn’t want this!” He pointed at her. “She did!”
I shook my head, promising him pain. “You’re full of shit.”
“No, you are! This is all you, Dash.”
“How is this about me? What could I have possibly done to send Blake straight into an EF-4?”
“She saw you last night!”
I was stunned into silence, tilting my head.
“Yeah,” Daniel said, sighing. “She asked me to take her to the bar to meet you. So I did. And she saw you with that girl. Some chaser groupie she’d seen a hundred of already. She was crushed but adamant about chasing today. I merely provided the vehicles and crew she needed.”
My mouth dropped open, and I clenched my eyes shut. Fucking hell. She’d seen me with my sister and misconstrued it so fucking badly.
I opened my eyes, looking down at her. John ran his hands up her sides, pushing them under her shirt. If it had been anyone else under any other circumstance, I would’ve lost it.
“Get us to the nearest hospital!” John yelled, and Travis slammed the van doors closed.
“What is it?” I asked around the rock in my throat.
“I’m not sure. Maybe broken ribs.” He shook his head. “This is beyond what I’m capable of, Dash. The head wound alone will need real stitches.”
Travis gunned the van so hard we all jolted but I clung to Blake like the lifeline she was.