Hearts on Fire 3: Tasha (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “Yes, ma’am. Is Tasha around? It’s important.”

  “No, she went down the hall with Agent Merk. He said he had some questions for her. Is everything okay?”

  “About how long ago did Agent Merk leave with her?”

  “A while. Maybe fifteen minutes.”

  “Okay, I’ll catch up with her later. Thank you.”

  He disconnected the call and began to yell out orders. “We need to find that asshole. He took her. He’s got Tasha. I wouldn’t let on to her mom about the situation. She’s recovering so we need officers there now. Get that agent you have there and have him search the floor and then get to the surveillance tapes. We need to track down Merk before he takes Tasha to Dash. Fuck!” Jake yelled out as he and Thor headed out of the building.

  * * * *

  She couldn’t see where they were, or how far they traveled but it didn’t seem far at all. She could move her eyes around, and she was starting to get some feeling in her arms and legs. The stuff he stuck her with must have been wearing off.

  The car went over some bumpy terrain and then into darkness. A garage, a warehouse of some sort? She wasn’t certain, and then she heard what sounded like a large door closing, then banging against metal. The car stopped. The engine died. The door opened and then closed. Her heart was racing as she wondered where she was and whether or not Dash was already here.

  The door opened and she spotted Merk. He was sweating as he pulled her by her legs.

  “Why are you doing this? You don’t have to do this.”

  “I do have to do this. Just cooperate. Maybe you’ll live.” He hoisted her up and over his shoulder. She was getting full function of her joints again but would remain as if she were paralyzed from the drugs still. No one would know where to look for her. The thought brought on tears of emotion and fear. She got to love her men. She got to see her mom and know that she was now a survivor of cancer. If she died at the hands of a madman, then so be it. But this time she was going to fight.

  He carried her into a wooden elevator shaft. It was wide and smelled like old wood and fuel. She definitely smelled some kind of fuel. That made her think crazy thoughts like what Dash had in mind, and what sick plan he created to cause her and her loved ones more pain.

  “Don’t do this, Merk. Just turn around and leave. You don’t have to listen to him. You can save us both.”

  “Shut up. I do have to listen to him. Once he has you, I’m long gone and it won’t matter.”

  “You think he’s going to let you walk out of here alive?”

  He paused as the rickety elevator brought them up higher in the old building. It didn’t look like there was much around. Some offices, some construction that looked abandoned.

  “He’ll let me go because I did everything he told me to do.”

  “If you believe that, then you’re stupid. You’re as good as dead. Dash is going to kill you.”

  The elevator stopped and it shook, causing him to lose his balance. Merk gained it back, cursing under his breath about the old building and being condemned instead of being restored. That was when she realized where they were. Right outside of Treasure Town and on the border of the swamp fields. The entire hundred acres was being renovated and knocked down for community centers, elementary schools, and a small senior living facility. It had been an eyesore for several years and after the builder finally convinced the owner of the warehouse to sell, the plan was on its way to destroy the building.

  He walked along the upper floor. There was glass everywhere, old office furniture, metal filing cabinets and broken windows that bordered the entire room.

  She was upside down feeling all the blood rush to her head and tried to ease the pressure and look upward when she spotted a man. He had hair along his jaw and upper lip. His hair was long, to his shoulders. She squinted her eyes and then it hit her. It was Dash. He stood there in jeans and a button-down shirt. He was in disguise.

  Abruptly Merk lifted her upright, and shoved her down onto a rickety old chair.

  “No one followed you?” Dash asked.

  “Of course not. You got her. I’m done now. Where’s my cut?”

  Dash walked closer. He grabbed Tasha by her hair on the back of her head. “Ouch!” she screamed out, nearly falling off of the chair.

  He stared at Merk.

  “The money is in that bag.”

  Merk smiled. “I’d like to say it was a pleasure,” Merk started to say and then walked closer to the small black bag. He opened it and pulled out the money smiling.

  “You’re sure no one followed you?” Dash asked.

  “Positive,” Merk said as he stared at Dash and then looked at Tasha.

  “Good. Then I just have one more loose end to take care of,” Dash replied.

  “Loose end?” Merk asked and Tasha screamed as Dash shot Merk right in the forehead. Merk fell to the ground, and the money in the bag spread across the floor.

  She screamed again as Dash straddled her body over the chair and held the gun to her throat.

  “You’ve been very, very bad, my sweet baby girl.” His eyes looked wild and she knew that he had lost it. He was on the run. He was desperate and he wanted revenge. He had obsessed over her for far longer than even the agents knew. Hell, even the agents like Merk were involved. How was she to know who else was on Dash’s payroll.

  “You were fucking those three firemen all this time, weren’t you?”

  She shook her head and he slammed the gun across her jaw and chin, cutting it.

  “Please stop this, Dash. Please don’t do this.”

  He shoved her and the chair back against the large metal pole. She screamed out as her head hit the metal, causing her vision to blur a moment. He pressed his body against hers and gripped her hair. Using the barrel of the gun to push down her tank top he stuck the barrel hard against her breast right over her heart.

  “You love them, don’t you? That’s why you couldn’t give all of yourself to me?”

  “I do love them.”

  He pressed the gun harder and she cried out in pain but didn’t reach up for the gun afraid that he would pull the trigger.

  “Well, maybe when they’re dead, you’ll give all of yourself to me.” Her eyes widened and he kissed her hard on the mouth. He was stroking his tongue along her cavern, pressing the gun harder against her chest when he pulled back and struck her in the head with the gun. She fell to the floor, and couldn’t move as the dizziness overtook her. She could see him moving quickly. He dragged Merk’s body across the small space to the elevator. Then he pulled over a box, pulled out what looked like Molotov cocktails and lit two of them. He tossed them onto Merk’s body into the elevator and closed the door then hit the button sending it down.

  Then he was back in front of her, as the explosive sound rocked the flooring and flames shot up from the elevator.

  He gripped her by her shirt.

  “Let’s go, baby doll. We’ve got a plane to catch.”

  He pulled her up by her shirt and she struck him, knocking the gun from his hand. He came at her with rage and hatred in his eyes. She grabbed the chair and swung, hitting him in the upper chest and head. He fell to the ground and she reached for the cell phone that fell from his hip then ran around the corner of the top floor to the left of the elevator. There had to be a set of stairs. Something. Her head was dizzy, she wasn’t even able to walk straight as she dialed the number. Jake’s number.

  She rambled off where she was and what happened just as she spotted the staircase. She didn’t hear a sound. Could Dash really be unconscious?

  She ran toward the stairs as Jake told her to get out of there. She screamed as another Molotov cocktail crashed against the wall encasing the staircase, her only means of escape now engulfed in flames.

  She turned to the right and saw Dash, head bleeding, another Molotov cocktail in his hands as he lit the rag.

  “No. No, don’t do it. We won’t get out of here!” she screamed at him, but he threw the ot
her one, too. Now the entire place was encased in flames. She looked around as Dash came toward her and she ran around to the left, back where she had come from. Could she climb out a window? Was there a fire escape somewhere on the building? She looked out the window and saw the one rickety old metal staircase all the way to the corner. But there was no door. No means but climbing out of the window and dropping a few feet onto the metal. Would it support her?

  She heard the yell and then turned just in time as Dash roared and lunged for her. She screamed as he hit her side, cutting her with some piece of glass. The heat from the flames was growing, the sound of sirens in the distance giving her little hope that she would get out of here alive.

  He lunged at her again and she kicked at him, struck him in the face, and then ran. She was back to where things started when she spotted the gun on the ground. She was feet away when he tackled her to the ground. She heard and felt the crack to her elbow. She knew it was broken and she wasn’t going to give up. Not now, not without a fight.

  “You’re mine. No one will ever have you again. It’s fate, Tasha. We’re going to die here together.”

  She gripped the revolver with her hands and thought about her father, his law enforcement career, and what this man had done to him. She thought about her men, the worry, the fear they probably had right now knowing she was trapped in a bring building with a madman. She would die for them. She would give up everything to end this all right here.

  “Mine.” He said as he rolled her over and tore her tank from her chest.

  “I told you I always win.”

  “Not today.” She pointed the gun to his chest and fired. She shoved him off of her and he grabbed for her leg. She screamed out, turned, and shot the gun three more times into him.

  She stood in the center of the room. There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to run and escape the flames. The fire was feeding on the oxygen from the broken windows. It was making its way closer to the only spot where that metal staircase was.

  “I’m going to die. After all this. After killing Dash, I’m still going to die.”

  * * * *

  “We can’t get in there. It’s a death trap. The entire entryway is engulfed in flames, every side of the building,” Chief Martelli stated to his men. Engine 16 joined them there and everyone looked grim.

  “We have to try. She’s in there, Dad. Tasha is in there trapped,” Eddie stated.

  “Chief. Look.” Marcus Towers pointed to the side of the building. They watched as glass came crashing down and then saw someone climbing out.

  “Holy fuck, it’s her,” Ace stated.

  “The fire escape. That thing looks about ready to collapse. She’s attempting to jump down to the fire escape,” Nate Hawkins said.

  “Get the ladder truck over there. Let’s move!” Chief Martelli yelled out.

  * * * *

  Tasha was determined to not die. The heat of the flames, the thought of this warehouse being her grave and Dash winning after all, pissed her off. She’d rather jump and risk broken bones than die in his burning hell. She slammed the wood from the broken chair against the windows. Climbing up, she cut her arms and her belly on broken glass. With her elbow broken, she had to use her other arm to pull herself up and over the edge. She heard the loud honk of sirens and saw the trucks coming closer. She was hanging off the side as the flames shot out through the windows into the air, the fire feeding on more oxygen by the windows she had broken. The truck and ladder weren’t going to make it in time. She looked down, her grip loosening, her arms getting tired, her head fuzzy, and she took a deep breath and jumped toward the metal stairs. Her body hit it hard. It creaked and swayed. She screamed out as it gave and crashed one floor below. She couldn’t move, she was in so much pain. But then she heard the truck. She looked through blurred vision and saw the bucket coming for her with both Eddie and Lance inside. She cried out.

  “Come on, baby. You need to get off of there, it’s not going to hold,” Eddie told her as he began to climb out of the bucket.

  “No. Don’t move. It won’t hold both of us. It’s hardly holding me.” She started to sit up. The thing moaned and creaked.

  “Fuck, baby, hurry. Please hurry. Take my hand.”

  She reached up and with her last bout of energy and will to live, she grabbed on to Eddie. He pulled her up and into the bucket. “Oh Jesus, your arm is broken. You’re all cut up.” He started to pull off his jacket as Lance maneuvered the bucket back down, the sound of the metal fire escape crashing to the ground was eerie and frightening.

  “Thank God you made it,” Lance said as the bucket got to the bottom of the truck just as Eddie wrapped her in his turnout coat, holding her against his chest. Bull was there to take her from Eddie so he and Lance could get out of the bucket. Bull passed her to Ace who passed her to Tyler who carried her to an awaiting ambulance.

  “Was Dash in there or did he get away?” Jake asked. He and Investigator Thor stood by the stretcher as the paramedics placed her on it.

  She looked around her at all the familiar faces, at her three lovers who hovered around her. The tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “Dash can’t hurt any of us anymore. He’s dead.”

  Epilogue

  “I’m worried about her, Jake. She hasn’t spoken about what happened. She just wakes up crying and then clings to one of us,” Eddie whispered as they stood on the deck at Ace, Bull, and Ice’s home on the beach. They were throwing a barbecue today and all their friends were there. Tasha had been home for two weeks and her mom was going to be discharged from the hospital in just a few days.

  “She went through something really tragic. I could only imagine what happened in that warehouse, and how she fought him off and saved her own life. She explained about having to shoot Dash, and how she fought him. That’s not something easy to deal with. Explaining it to the agents, to Thor and to the others, was probably traumatic enough. I’m sure once time passes, she’ll begin to give you more details and explain,” Jake said.

  Eddie looked out toward the beach where Tasha sat alone and just looked out toward the ocean. Tyler, Lance, Bull, and Ice were talking by the picnic tables along with the women as Eddie and Jake grabbed the food for the barbecue.

  “I get that. I do, but I’m worried about her. I think she needs to talk with someone.”

  Jake smiled and placed his hand on Eddie’s shoulder.

  “She is. Turbo Hawkins, Nate’s brother, has a cousin who’s a therapist. Nate spoke with Tasha a few days ago and convinced her to meet with him this week. I’m sure she’ll tell you guys about it soon.”

  “Nate did that? He spoke to Tasha about counseling?” Eddie asked. Nate was the new probie for Engine 19, and his brother Turbo was a deputy in then sheriff’s department. Their other brother worked for the family construction company.

  “When did Nate see Tasha?”

  “I guess when she was with Catalina.”

  “Catalina, huh? I saw Turbo checking her out,” Eddie said and then grabbed another beer from the cooler.

  Jake chuckled.

  Eddie stared out toward the beach where Tasha sat. “I think I’m going to go talk to her. You know, just sit there with her.”

  Jake nodded. “She’ll come around. She’s strong, Eddie. She’ll pull through. Just be there for her and it will all work out.”

  Eddie walked down off the deck, carrying his beer and one for Tasha.

  * * * *

  Tasha had her eyes closed, resting her cast-covered arm on her lap as she inhaled the smell of salt water, and let the warm, ocean breeze caress her skin and her face. It was a gorgeous day out and not too hot at all. Perfect weather for a barbecue.

  She jumped the moment she heard the male voice. Covering her chest with her hand, she stared up at Eddie.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. She swallowed hard and looked down at her lap. “I brought you a cold beer, honey brown lager, the one you like.�
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  “Thanks.” She took the beer and Eddie sat down next to her.

  There was so much she wanted to tell him, to talk to him, Lance, and Tyler about. She had put them through so much worry, and she wasn’t sure how they felt about the fact that she killed Dash. Even though it was self-defense, and Thor ensured her that she was in the right, she had still taken a life, and she was having such a difficult time accepting that. She thought she was going to die in that warehouse. She even had given up and focused on the fact that she had loved Tyler, Lance, and Eddie for at least a short period of time instead of not at all.

  She spoke to Serefina a little while ago about being a survivor, and how to not focus on asking why she was still alive but instead on what she could do to make this second chance right for her. She needed Eddie, Lance, and Tyler. They were older, had more experience, and could probably help guide her in whatever she decided to do.

  “It’s so peaceful out here like this,” she whispered.

  “It sure is. Are you feeling okay? Is your arm still throbbing?” he asked her, and she lifted it up and turned to look at him. She held his gaze. His brown eyes looked sad and his face uncertain instead of stern, the way he always looked.

  He was so very handsome. So were Tyler and Lance. She reached up and placed her palm against his cheek. “I love you so much.”

  He smiled then turned his face into her palm. “I love you, too.” He kissed it and she felt the shivers run down her arm.

  “I know I’ve been silent about what happened in the fire at the warehouse.”

  “You don’t have to talk about it if it upsets you.”

  “I want to share it with you, Tyler, and Lance, but I feel ashamed.” She let her hand fall back down onto her lap.

  Eddie placed his arm around her and pulled her against his side. “Ashamed? Why would you feel that way? None of it was your fault or doing.”

  Just then Tyler and Lance came over and sat down to join them.

  “What’s going on? The food is almost done,” Lance said as he caressed Tasha’s calf and winked at her.