Rush of Redemption (Rush Series #2)

by LR Potter

  She no longer cried – she was past that point. Now, she just waited for the inevitable end. Her continual prayer was that Rush would pay them whatever they wanted and save their darling boy. She didn’t deserve any better than this, so she’d endure it without complaint.

  Her captors brought her a bottle of water and a sandwich once a day, but otherwise she saw no one. On her first day, when left on her own, she tried to get out of the chain clamped to her ankle but it was locked. So she waited.

  As she lay shivering, her mind repeatedly went back to Rush and Blake. Rush had turned out to be the man he’d told her he would be. And she had failed him. She thought about his face the night of their engagement party when he’d given her the sapphire necklace… remembered his sweet, sweet words, I hope in the future, when you wear it, you’ll always remember how much I love you… right now… in this moment.

  But she hadn’t really believed his words – not really. On the first night they’d made love after Blake was born, he’d told her, Love isn’t enough of a word to describe what rips through my body when I look at you. You give my life purpose and meaning. I didn’t even know I was missing those things before I met you. You own me, Trinity. I would lay down my life to protect you and our son. She endured now only because of those words. She knew he really would lay down his life for his son. She didn’t think he would do the same for her anymore, and that was okay as long as he saved Blake. He was what mattered.

  She was jarred awake by a sharp jab of a foot to her ribs. Trinity groaned and tried to roll herself into a tight ball. She stopped, however, when she heard an astonishing familiar female voice above her. She opened her eyes slowly and had to blink against the light illuminating the area from a single bulb hanging in the center of the room. The light bulb must have been low wattage, as while it lit the area directly below it, it left the outer edges still in shadows.

  “Never send a man to do a woman’s job. It was never truer than now,” the woman said.

  “Marlena?” Trinity asked as confusion crashed around her. It made no sense. Trinity thought maybe she was losing what was left of her mind. “How did you find me?” Trinity asked as she lay shivering.

  Marlena Franklin stood in front of her, dressed in uncustomary jeans and a pair of cowboy boots. “It wasn’t easy. You were supposed to be dead. Imagine my surprise when your father happened to mention that Rush Drayton had received a ransom demand. You just can’t trust a man. The greedy bastards! It’s a hard lesson to learn sometimes,” Marlena said with a laugh.

  “I don’t understand,” Trinity said as she lifted her confused eyes to the other woman’s.

  Squatting down, Marlena patted her face. “What’s so difficult to understand? I didn’t want you breathing anymore. You have made my life miserable for the length of your entire existence.”

  Trinity blinked her eyes rapidly as she tried to comprehend Marlena’s meaning. She begged her clouded mind to concentrate on Marlena’s words. “How?” she finally asked.

  Marlena stood and moved away from Trinity, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to stave off the cold. She glanced back at Trinity’s nudity. “It really gets cold up here at night, doesn’t it?” she said with a malicious grin. Her grin faded as she looked at Trinity. “You look so much like your mother.”

  Trinity flinched at the words she’d heard twice in the last few days.

  Marlena walked around the small enclosure as she spoke slowly, as if telling a tale. “Did you know I once dated your father?” She glanced at Trinity, and when Trinity didn’t respond, she continued. “No, you probably wouldn’t. It was before your time, but not much before. You see, your sainted mother stole him from me.” Marlena paused and stared off vacantly. “Ahh, Arthur caught one whiff of that woman and nothing would do until he got her. Her and all her father’s money, that is. They were probably together two months when your dear, sainted mother came up pregnant. Your father refused to see me for months when that happened.” An evil grin crossed her lips. “But once your mother’s body got all lumpy with her pregnancy, your father couldn’t run back fast enough. But by then I was already involved with James – not that it stopped us, mind you,” she said with a sharp laugh.

  “You and my father?” Trinity murmured inanely.

  “Don’t sound so shocked. He would have left your mother long ago if he could have figured out a way to keep her money. The Embassy Fund scheme was supposed to have been our salvation, but then when they killer her, your father felt so guilty about that, and felt sooo sorry for his young daughter, that he broke it off with me. He… broke it off with me. I couldn’t believe it. But I was married to James and had to sit back and say nothing. And while James wasn’t much, he was mine… until you killed him. Now what do I have? Nothing! I have nothing. You’ve stolen everything. My greatest disappointment is that your son won’t meet the same fate as you. You should know what it feels like to lose everything you loved!”

  Trinity’s fever-filled mind tried to comprehend what Marlena was saying. “Blake is okay?”

  Marlena looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Yes, the all-powerful Rush has him. There’s no way anyone can get into that fortress.”

  Tears filled Trinity’s eyes. Rush had been able to rescue Blake. Her chest burned even hotter now. Her baby was home with Rush. Trinity sat back against the shockingly cold metal of the building and wrapped her arms around her knees. What happened now didn’t matter.

  “That stupid Tiko thought he could double-cross me. I paid him to kill you and your little brat. But no, he decides he can take my money, then make even more money by offering you to Rush. But that little plan has failed.” Marlena paused, as she pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and looked at its face.

  “Where did you get the picture of my mother?” Trinity asked.

  “I know how to use a computer. I just cropped her face onto someone else,” Marlena smirked.

  Trinity’s heart seized in her chest. It was true then, Rush hadn’t wanted to save her. Sadness filled her heart that he’d not tried to save her as well. But she understood it. Blake was what was important. She didn’t blame him. Trinity lowered her scalding forehead against her knees.

  “Well, I’m not stupid,” Marlena continued. “I just followed his merry band of men to where they had you stashed. Men are so ignorant. Tiko won’t see one thin dime of that ransom money. I refuse to let you live that long. Maybe then Arthur will understand how important I am to him. He’ll be a grieving father and I’ll be there to offer my comfort,” Marlena spat venomously.

  “He won’t care,” Trinity said softly.

  “What? Arthur will be beside himself. He’ll come to me… he always does.”

  “Just do it then,” Trinity mumbled wearily against her knees.

  A loud explosion within the small enclosure had Trinity jerking her head up. Tiko Mars stood in the entrance of the small enclosure with a gun in his hand. Trinity’s muddled mind looked around the room for Marlena. It took a moment for it to sink in. Marlena Franklin now lay face-down on the concrete floor, blood pooling out from underneath her.

  “Stupid bitch!” Tiko spat.

  Trinity’s eyes flitted between Marlena’s body and Tiko. Her body began to shake at what had just happened. She blinked when a flash went off suddenly. For an instant she wondered if he’d just shot her also.

  “Now we’ll see if he’ll be more inclined to pay,” Tiko said savagely.

  As comprehension dawned, she lowered her head once more. “You’ve gotten all you’ll get from him.”

  Moving to her, Tiko lowered himself to her level. “Don’t cut yourself so short. I’ll bet Mr. Drayton will be panting to get you and your son back now that he sees how serious… and deadly I can be.”

  Trinity raised confused eyes to his. “I thought… I mean… Marlena said… where is my son?” she asked fearfully.

  “No worries. We have him. He’s safe and sound for now,” Tiko said as he rubbed the barrel of his gun suggest
ively up and down her arm.

  Trinity’s chin began to wobble. Marlena had lied to her. She’d said Blake was safe with Rush. With tears streaming down her face, she begged, “Please don’t hurt my baby. Kill me, but please don’t kill my baby.”

  “I’m not the one to beg. The decision is out of my hands. But I wouldn’t worry. I think he’ll pay now. He just needed… a little more incentive, which I will give him,” Tiko said as he waved a hand in the vague direction of Marlena’s body. “It shouldn’t be much longer,” Tiko said as he rose. He waved in a couple of men she hadn’t noticed at the door. “Remove the garbage, please.” The men came into the building and dragged Marlena’s lifeless body away. “I’ll be in touch. Now, don’t go anywhere,” he said with a smirk as he closed the door behind him.

  Trinity’s body began to tremble and then shake violently as she thought about her poor baby being in the hands of people so ruthless. She’d brought him here and he’d surely die. She only prayed they would be quick and not make him suffer. He was just so little. She slumped over as sobs racked her body. She curled herself into a fetal position and cried until she couldn’t cry anymore. Exhausted and worn, she drifted off to sleep.

  ~*~

  She was wearing a pretty, flowered sheer dress and was running through a field of flowers. The flowers were so soft; it was like running on top of clouds. She glanced down and saw, a young boy of about four or five running beside her, holding her hand. He had dark hair and when he raised his smiling face up to her, she saw his brilliant sky-blue eyes. She smiled back down at him. She looked across the field and saw Rush standing waiting on them. He was wearing the same power suit he’d worn the very first time she’d ever seen him at the gallery. He was so striking and he was smiling so sweetly at them.

  Her face hurt from smiling so big. Rush opened his arms to them and they began to run towards him. Love exploded in her chest. She was going home. They would be a family and build a life together. She began to run faster, wanting to get to him as fast as possible. She’d learned from the past not to procrastinate. But it seemed the faster she tried to run, the slower she became. It was like she was running in quicksand. Looking down at her feet, she saw that it wasn’t quicksand, but thousands of hands pulling at her, causing her to stumble.

  As she fell, she glanced over at her darling boy and tried to let go of his hand so he could run to safety, but he refused to let go. She tried to shake his hand off and begged him to run to his father, but he wouldn’t let her go. She tried to call to Rush, but he just stood at the edge of the meadow with his arms opened wide, waiting on them. When the hands began to pull her boy from her hand, she opened her mouth to scream, but no sound would come. A loud buzzing filled her ears…

  ~*~

  Trinity jerked awake. It came to her suddenly, she wasn’t sure why, but she knew, she just knew that Tiko was lying about having Blake. It just didn’t ring true to her. She didn’t know why he wanted her to believe he had him, but she was convinced Tiko didn’t have her son. She heaved a racking sigh. Her head hurt, her body ached, her breasts were swollen beyond endurance, and it hurt to breathe from where Marlena had kicked her in the ribs. She heard odd sounds being amplified in the small metal enclosure. It took her a moment to understand them. One sound was the rough rattling coming from her chest as she tried to breathe; the other was a mechanical vibration… like a cellphone. She tilted her head at that sound. How odd, she thought.

  She opened her eyes to see the grey swirl of morning coming into the building. She strained to hear the sound but it was hard to find its location because of the acoustics of the small metal building. Tilting her head, she heard it again. Running her eyes over the concrete surface of the floor, she blinked rapidly when she saw what was emulating the noise… it was a cellphone. She couldn’t believe it. She looked around to see if this was some kind of horrible trick. Moving rapidly to the phone, she lifted it with trembling fingers. She turned it over in her hands until she found the button to activate the phone. Across the top of the face, it read, Marlena’s phone.

  Vaguely, she remembered when Marlena had pulled the phone out to look at it right before Tiko had shot her. She must have dropped it. Trinity’s mind went into hyperdrive. Who did she call? What did she tell them? She didn’t really know where she was. In the end, there was only one person she wanted to talk to. To apologize to. To beg forgiveness from…

  Shakily, she forced fingers that didn’t want to cooperate to dial Rush’s cellphone. Her heart began to pound, causing her head to pound even harder. She winced against the pain. The phone rang once, then twice, three times… continuing until it went to voicemail. Her lips quivered when she heard his clipped command: Leave a message and I’ll get back with you.

  She swallowed hard, knowing he wouldn’t be able to… she didn’t want him to find her – only Blake.

  With a shaky and watery voice, she said: “Hey, it’s me. I’m okay. Rush… I’m so sorry. Sorrier than I can ever tell you. I was wrong in so many ways. I just… I just needed my mom… and wanted to believe…” she stopped to stifle a sob. “Please don’t come after me. Please concentrate only on getting Blake home and safe. He’s so wonderful and doesn’t deserve the danger I’ve put him in. I never meant…” she swallowed hard, not being able to finish the sentence. “I love you, Rush. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you enough, even though you gave me no reason not to. Please tell my precious boy that I love him so much. Please let him grow up believing good things about his mom… even though you know better. I deserve this…” she said, as the voicemail recorder ended the call with a beep.

  She hugged the cellphone to her chest as she cried and rocked herself. Well, that was it. She’d done what she’d needed to do. Wiping a hand over her eyes so she could see through her tears, she took the battery out of the phone and tossed both the phone and battery into the bucket in the corner. She didn’t want Rush trying to track her here. She didn’t want him placed in any more danger because of her. Her son needed one parent. Unconsciously, she rubbed a hand against the gunshot-wound scar on her chest. Next time she might not be able to save him. She couldn’t live with that. Curling back up in her fetal position, emotionally drained, she succumbed to her body’s need to sleep.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rush was sitting at the desk in his motel room in El Paso, Texas, his face buried in his hands, when his cellphone vibrated on the table. He was exhausted. He’d been running on next to no sleep since he’d left to fly to the Caymans nearly a week before. He’d known he shouldn’t have gone. While he wasn’t much a of a believer in those who profess to possess clairvoyance, he’d had a feeling from the moment he’d driven away from his house that morning, he shouldn’t have gone.

  From the very first night, Trinity had begun to put on her running shoes. While she’d promised him she wasn’t going to run anymore, he’d known better. When he’d been notified the next day that his grandfather had come by the house – even though his grandfather had known he was already gone – he’d known what the old man was up to. Him and that damned prenup. Rush had hopped on a plane that night, but by the time he’d gotten home, she’d already left Alex Masters in the hospital.

  As he couldn’t get a trace on her phone, he didn’t know at first where she was. Several things happened all at once, they found out Sundra’s car had a Lojack installed by the manufacturer; and he’d found the Fed Ex envelope in her condo, giving him the address. He and Alex Masters had hopped on a plane immediately. His heart had stopped beating when he’d found the envelope. He had no idea what it was, nor who’d sent it. It was an obvious setup. And Trinity and Blake were on their way into this very elaborate trap.

  He’d just arrived in El Paso and had called Sundra’s cellphone. He’d begun telling her that it was a setup when all hell had broken loose and then their line had been severed. When Sundra had finally called him back, his heart had literally stopped when he’d realized what she was saying. She had Blake, but they had Trinity. He’d b
arely retrieved his infant son from the hysterical Sundra when Tiko Mars had made his first contact.

  “I want ten million for both,” Tiko had said.

  “Won’t ever happen, Tiko,” Rush had told him as was previously scripted between he and Alex.

  “You say that now. Give it a couple days and I promise you’ll be singing a different tune.”

  “You have them both?” Rush had asked him.

  Tiko had hesitated before responding, “Yep. Don’t know how long I can keep the boy healthy, though, he’s awfully tiny. Ummm, and your woman, man is she luscious.”

  “Tiko, I will kill you if you touch her,” Rush had declared menacingly.

  “I want my money. I’ll be in contact with the details…”

  “I want proof of life,” Rush had interrupted.

  “You’ll get it…” then the line had died.

  Dragging his mind from that call, Rush glanced at the vibrating cellphone: Marlena Franklin. Rush assumed it was Trinity’s father’s pathetic attempt in reaching him as Rush had refused to take his calls. Her father should have tried to stop her, but he’d let her go, probably to her death. Rush closed his eyes. He knew Tiko Mars… had a bad history with him. He had to play this very carefully.

  He groaned as he remembered that pathetic picture of a battered, naked Trinity holding up a flimsy newspaper. God! He’d nearly lost it. His beautiful, sweet, innocent Trinity. He’d kill Tiko with his bare hands when he got a chance.

  Rush knew the bulk of what was happening had to do with his past dealings with Tiko Mars more than anything. He also knew that no matter how much money changed hands, he’d never get Trinity back alive. He looked over at his sleeping baby and cringed. He didn’t want that for his son, or for himself. He needed to find her before the money exchange happened. Alex Masters was out right now working his contacts.