He’d never felt so helpless in his life.
Devin shut the door and then led Laney to the passenger side. He was a little kinder to her, and Mia noticed it. She slid in beside Benji and muttered beneath her breath, her eyes burning a hole into the back of Laney’s head.
It wasn’t long before they pulled out onto the main road and Devin headed for the interstate. Benji had no idea where they were going, he only hoped they got there soon.
The sooner they got there, the sooner he could hold Laney in his arms. That’s all he wanted.
I won’t let this haunt her for the rest of her life.
One way or another, he’d be the hero she needed.
Chapter 16
Laney
The rain began to fall harder once they were on the highway. She wasn’t certain where Devin was going, but she hoped they would get there quickly. Not only was her bladder screaming for relief, but her heart wasn’t sure it could hold out much longer.
Her chest ached. In fear of worrying Benji, she didn’t say anything. Then again, she also didn’t want to talk because the last thing either of them needed was for Mia or Devin to flip out on them.
God, her chest really did hurt.
Badly.
It was probably because of the mini-panic attack she’d had somewhere in between Mia tying her up and Devin arriving. No one could blame her, right? It was a hell of a lot to go through. Thank God her sister’s fiancé was able to get the money fast—she couldn’t imagine being stuck in this situation for a second longer.
Soon. Her mind whispered. Soon this nightmare will be over.
But doubt lingered in her mind. Things like this had lasting effects on people every day. Soldiers, victims of sexual assault, and countless other souls—poor souls—dealt with the consequences.
She sincerely hoped Devin Rose would serve jail time—Mia, whoever she may have been to her brother at one time, deserved to rot in jail, too.
If ever two people existed who deserved one another…
She very carefully glanced over her shoulder to peer at Benji in the backseat, a little surprised to find he was already staring at her, but she also took comfort in it.
He said he loves me.
It was a hell of a time for anyone to confess how they felt about someone else, but she’d take it. Hell, that was how her life went anyway, wasn’t it? Nothing normal ever happened, not in the McIntosh family.
She worried that her parents would freak out once they knew the truth. What if her father’s heart couldn’t handle it? What if she lost him because of this?
Was there any chance of keeping him from finding out? Ever?
Secrets have been trying to tear my family apart for a while now, she thought with a frown. It’s probably best just to tell the truth.
Besides, if she didn’t tell him, Lydia probably would. Or Jeb.
Oh, her poor siblings. As mad as she had been at them earlier in the day, all she wanted to do now was hug them.
I bet Ags is worried, too.
How the hell had she managed to get into this situation? How did shit like this happen in Prairie Town?
Moving her gaze back to the dashboard, she slumped in her seat and rubbed her wrists gingerly behind her back. At least she did have an advantage over Devin: he had no damn idea she wasn’t tied up anymore.
But what can I do without getting us all killed?
Lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled a few seconds later. Water slammed down against the windshield as Devin turned his wipers on high and cursed beneath his breath.
It was simply too dangerous to act without thinking at the moment.
And then her phone began ringing.
“Is that them?” Mia asked.
“Yep.” Devin reached down to grab the phone from the center console and hit the speaker button. “Meet us at Templeton Park in exactly thirty minutes.”
“Templeton Park?” Jeb’s tired voice questioned on the other end. “I thought you said you wanted to meet at Gallagher Park?”
“I changed my mind.” Devin growled. “So be there in half an hour or so help me God, you’ll be taking these two home in body bags.”
He doesn’t mean it. Laney swallowed down a sob. He would never do that. He isn’t capable of it.
But she hadn’t thought him to be capable of kidnapping either. It was no telling what Devin would do now.
He hung up the phone and tossed it onto the floorboard, glancing at her briefly.
“It’s okay, babe.” He gave her a crooked grin. “As long as that money’s there, you’ll be fine.”
“This isn’t like you, Devin.” She finally whispered. “This person…it isn’t you.”
“Says who?” He glanced in the rearview mirror upon hearing a grunt and frowned. “Mia, what the fuck are you doing?”
“Nothing!” Mia yelped, quickly pulling away from Benji. “I swear I wasn’t doing anything.”
Oh hell no. Laney turned as far in her seat as she could and glared at her. Surely to God Mia wasn’t stupid enough to put the moves on another man while her boyfriend was driving?
“What. The. Fuck?” Devin smacked his palm against the steering wheel and nearly lost control of the car.
Laney cried out in fright and instinctively reached out for the dashboard.
Big mistake.
“She’s loose!” Mia screeched, lunging forward. “You stupid bitch!”
“Hey—whoa!” Devin shouted, stomping his foot down on the brake. The car went from side to side, hydroplaning across the slick road. Laney’s body slammed against the passenger’s door and her head bounced off the window. She literally saw stars as the screams around her became deafening.
“Mia, get back in your seat, you fucking two-timing cow!” Devin’s voice was nothing more than a high-pitched scream.
“You can’t tell me what to do, you ass! You took up for her when I called her a whore! I hate you! It’s over!”
“Mia, stop! You’re going to make me wreck, goddamn it!”
“I don’t care if I kill us all, you bastard! You said you only had eyes for me!”
“I do only have eyes for you, you stupid…fuck! Mia!”
It all happened in slow motion. Laney turned her head towards the backseat and caught Benji’s gaze. His eyes were wide and full of fear.
She was certain her own reflected the terror he must have felt.
“Seatbelt, Laney!” He screamed at the top of his lungs. “Put it on! Now!”
As she reached upwards to grab the buckle, Mia’s fingers found their way around her neck and the car began spinning.
“You stupid bitch!” She sounded like a banshee. “You’ve ruined everything! Everything!”
“Mia, stop it!” Devin pleaded as he tried to regain control of the car. “You’re going to—oh, shit!”
Laney squeezed her eyes shut and ignored the fact she was being choked to death. She forced the seatbelt around her body and tried to press the buckle into place just as the hood of the car smashed into something hard and glass shattered like confetti all around her.
The last thing she heard was Mia’s blood-curdling scream.
Then there was nothing.
No pain.
No fear.
No bright light.
Only silence.
Only peace.
Only darkness.
----------
Benji
It was a single raindrop that woke him from a sleep, he hadn’t even realized he’d been taking. The first thing he noticed was the fact his back was wet—not just wet, soaked. His ears were ringing and itching simultaneously, so he reached his hand to scratch at it only to feel a burning sensation race up his arm.
He lifted his hands up above himself and noted that the zip tie was still firmly connected to his right wrist, but the left wrist was free. Had he dislocated it?
I’m hurt. He thought, blinking rapidly and slowly, oh so slowly, sitting up. The world was spinning around him as he pres
sed his other hand into the soft, muddy ground and rolled onto his knees.
“Oh, fuck.” He hissed as aches and pains popped up everywhere. His shoulders, arm, and head were in complete agony, but that didn’t stop him from seeking out the most important thing in his life.
Laney.
He wiped at his good eye with the back of his hand and felt his eye begin to burn as dirt irritated it.
“Fuck.” He groaned, pushing himself up from the ground and staggering about. His legs didn’t want to work right…why?
And then he saw it.
Devin’s car was smashed against a tree and the security alarm was blaring.
So that’s how he’d been freed from the zip tie? The impact had dislocated his wrist?
“Shit.”
He could see a light mist of rain through the beam of the headlights and the worries of his own injuries were pushed to the back burner as he used the lights to search the ground for any sign of her.
“Laney.” His voice was weak and hoarse. He was afraid she couldn’t hear him. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Laney?”
Fear took hold when she didn’t reply.
His eyes wandered back to the car and his entire chest was consumed with ice when he realized the windshield was busted. It was completely gone.
Had they all been ejected from it?
Had Laney been ejected?
“Oh, shit. Oh, no. God, no.” He limped towards the car and reached out to touch the slippery hood, damn near losing his balance as he stumbled to the passenger’s side window and peered in.
His silent prayers fell upon deaf ears, as per usual, when he discovered the front seat was empty.
“Damn it, Laney. Why didn’t you put on the seatbelt?”
Moisture collected in his already irritated eyes and he rubbed at them furiously in an attempt to wipe away the tears.
What if something had happened to her? What if she was—
“Benji.”
He whirled around and lost his footing upon hearing her voice and hit hard against the ground, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about the pain in his wrist and elbow as he scrambled to her side, his body sinking into the mud as he grabbed her hand and laughed in spite of the anger, fear, and confusion he felt.
“You’re okay.” He sobbed in relief, pushing up onto his knees and cupping her face. “Baby, you’re okay.”
“We’re alive?” She asked. Mud was smeared across her cheeks and it covered the back of her head. “We made it?”
He quickly checked her for injuries and sucked in a sharp breath when he saw that some of the dark liquid he’d mistaken for mud was actually blood. Carefully, with trembling fingers, he felt through her hair and winced when she cried out.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead. “I’m sorry, baby. Are you okay?”
“I’m f-fine.” She sniffled. “But I can’t feel my arm. I think it’s broken.”
“Don’t worry about that right now. It’s going to be okay.” He pulled her to his chest and cradled her in his arms, rocking her back and forth like a small child. He was just so happy she was okay. “I need to find a phone. I should call for help.”
“T-they took our phones.” She stammered, pulling back to gaze at him. “How are we going to call for help? I don’t even know where we are.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll find a phone.” He cupped the side of her face and smiled bravely. “Are you okay to sit here? I’ll be as fast as I can.”
“I think so.” She nodded slowly, pressing her hand against the gash on her head. “Be careful, Benji. Please.”
“I will be. Just sit tight.”
Forcing his legs to work, he stood once again and turned towards the car. It was only then that he thought of something else.
Where are Devin and Mia?
On one hand, as cruel as it seemed, he hoped they were dead. Maybe fate would be kind enough to knock that obstacle out of his way and he could focus on getting Laney to a hospital. But, on the other hand…
I can’t think about it right now. He decided as he yanked the passenger side door open and crawled inside. Searing heat ran up his arm as he pressed his palm down on the center console. Hissing and cursing beneath his breath, he leaned down and felt around the floorboards. There had to be a phone somewhere.
“Come on.” He pleaded through clenched teeth. “Where are you?”
His fingertips brushed against something smooth and he sighed in relief.
Maybe someone was listening to him, after all.
He pulled Laney’s phone out from beneath the driver’s seat and gazed at it as if it were worth a million bucks, and then he smiled. “Got ya.”
It was weird, but he couldn’t seem to remember the number he needed to call. Maybe it was fear, or the adrenaline he felt, but his mind wasn’t working like he needed it to. It wasn’t processing anything at the moment.
“Think, Benji. Think!”
His hand began to tremble as his fingers slid over the screen and he muttered a string of profanities in frustration.
Laney is counting on me.
Finally—finally—after what seemed to be an eternity, he managed to dial 9-1-1 and lifted the phone to his ear, breathing heavily.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
“I need to report a um, I guess an accident and a kidnapping.”
“An accident and a kidnapping, sir?”
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” He rolled his eyes. “Look, we need help. My friend is really hurt,”—his eyes wandered to Laney—“and we need some cops out here, pronto. We’re stuck with two crazy assholes.”
“Sir, have you been kidnapped?” The female dispatcher asked in confusion.
“Obviously. My friend and I need your help. Are you going to send out some cops or not?”
“Yes, sir. I just need to know where you’re located.”
“The hell if I know, lady. Can’t you track the GPS in phones or something?”
“Sir, I’ll need—”
“Drop the fucking phone.”
He froze in place when Mia’s scratchy voice reached his ears and instinctively slid his thumb over the speaker button.
“You don’t want to do this, Mia.” He said, his voice calm, but loud enough for the dispatcher to hear. “You don’t want to hurt us.”
“The hell I don’t.” She sneered.
He heard the gun cock and closed his eyes, swallowing hard as a million possibilities ran through his mind.
It could end in a variety of ways, and sadly—so freaking sadly—none of those ways involved him riding off into the sunset with Laney. The glimmer of hope he’d had moments ago was snuffed out by that sound—that one freaking sound.
“Drop the phone and turn around.” She commanded.
“Okay. Just don’t shoot, all right?”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Mia scoffed. “Now drop the damn phone and turn around.”
He did as he was told and dropped the phone to the ground, glancing down just in time to watch the screen fade to black.
Please still be listening. Please don’t hang up.
Turning around to face her, he held his hands high in the air and released a calming breath.
It didn’t really help.
“We won’t do anything.” Laney’s voice trembled. “Please, Mia. We’re hurt. You’re hurt.”
And she was. Upon further observation, Benji could see Mia wasn’t in any better shape than they were. She was sporting an angry cut on the side of her neck and it was easy to see she was favoring her left arm.
Too bad it didn’t kill her.
“I’m fine.” She insisted, keeping the gun aimed at him. “Now get back over there to your little girlfriend and sit down. I need to think.”
Benji did as he was told and eased down by Laney once again. The ground was soft and damp from the storm and his clothes were soaked, muddy, and stained with blood. Not that it mattered, though. The
only thing that mattered was finding a way to protect the shivering beauty by his side.
“Where the fuck is Devin?” Mia groaned and threw a hand up into the air, immediately cursing as she dropped the gun and clutched her arm. “Fucking…ow!”
Benji stared at the firearm as it landed with a soft thump and a million more ideas ran through his mind.
If I’m fast enough, I can get it.
But what if he wasn’t?
A decent jury would say it was self-defense.
True, but did he want a memory like that? It would haunt him forever. Killing people in a video game and killing them in real life were two very different things. There wasn’t a reset button for this.
Would Laney think any less of me?
The last thing he wanted was to look at Laney and see resentment in her eyes. He wasn’t sure his heart could take it. She meant so much to him already and to lose her after just getting her would be a brutal blow.
There was a possibility he wouldn’t survive it.
I need to worry about surviving this right now.
His hand slowly slid across the grass and he gripped Laney’s fingers gently. She was so cold—her fingers were like ice—and he offered her an encouraging smile.
Her bottom lip quivered as she tried to smile back at him, and he understood; it was hard to smile in the face of possible death.
‘I love you’ he mouthed to her.
‘I love you, too’ she mouthed back.
“Aw, isn’t that sweet?” Mia cackled as she bent down to pick up the gun, her eyes never leaving them. “You two are pathetic. I swear to God, I don’t know what Devin ever saw in you. You’re not even that pretty. And you,”—she stared at Benji—“Oh, I know the truth about you, don’t I? Copping a feel in the back seat told me all I need to know about you.”
His heart stopped.
“Tell me how it came to be, huh? Did you get your tits chopped off? Your chest is pretty chiseled. I have to admit I was impressed.”
Aw, hell. That’s all I need.
If Mia knew the truth about him, what was the point of surviving this ordeal? She’d only blackmail him, too, right? She’d hold it over his head and try to get more money.
90 Days (Prairie Town Book 2) Page 20