by Judy Angelo
Silence. Was he trespassing in vain? No. He would not accept defeat. Golden had to be here.
Determined, he made his way up the stairs to the landing and knocked on every door. He even pushed them open and peered in. “Golden? Are you here?” He found not a soul.
Shoulders slumped, Reed turned and went back down the stairs, hope seeping out of him with every step. What now?
He was heading back to the front door when his footsteps slowed and he came to a stop. He couldn’t leave. Not without one last try. Maybe there was a den or a library he had missed. What if Golden had been scared by the lightning and thunder and had hidden herself away somewhere where she couldn’t see the flashes of lightning? He’d heard that some people actually had phobias to thunderstorms.
Reed turned and headed back down the hallway. “Golden, are you here?” His shout was louder this time, reverberating in the otherwise silent house. If Golden was anywhere in this house she would have to hear him. “Golden,” he bellowed.
And then he heard it. A banging in the distance, all the way at the end of the hall. “Golden. It’s Reed. Is that you?” He was yelling as he ran, determined not to lose her. He had to follow the sound. “Keep banging. I hear you. I’m coming.” His shouts echoing down the hallway ahead of him, Reed ran half-blind into the darkness and as the banging grew louder his heart soared.
When he finally got to the source of the noise he heard her. “Get me out of here. Please. Let me out.” Her voice, muffled by the heavy door, broke off on a sob.
“I’m here, honey. You’re okay now. I’ll get you out.” Quickly, Reed shoved the phone back into his pocket and grabbed the handle of the door. As he had expected, it was locked. He would have to find some way to pry it open or, better yet, to pick the lock. “Hang on, sweetheart. I’ll get you out. I promise. Just hang in there.”
Chewing on his bottom lip, he frowned, deep in thought. What could he use to pick the lock? There had to be something but he would definitely not find that something in this house, not while it was bathed in darkness. He’d head for the car. He had to find something there. “I’ll be right back,” he called out. “I’m just going out to the car but I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Okay.” Golden’s voice was faint but at least she sounded calm.
Reed got another soaking as he dashed to the car but he didn’t give a damn. He’d found his Golden and that was all that mattered.
The toolkit in the trunk provided the perfect solution. Digging past jumper cable, screwdrivers and nuts he fished out a thin coil of wire. Perfect. All he would have to do was twist a few strands together so it would be strong enough to lift the lever inside the lock.
Within seconds Reed was back in the house and loping toward the cellar door. “Golden, I’m back. Just give me a few minutes, okay?” When she called out her assent he smiled in the darkness. Brave girl.
Picking the lock wasn’t as easy as he’d thought. He wasn’t done in the few minutes he’d told Golden. The wire kept bending at the critical moment, just when he needed that pressure to flip the latch. He had to keep pulling it back out, twining more wire around to stiffen it before inserting it back into the keyhole. Finally, after almost twenty minutes of trying, it clicked. As soon as Reed turned the knob and pulled the door open Golden flew into his arms, laughing and crying and babbling all at once.
“It’s okay, honey. I’m here. You’re safe now.”
“Oh, Reed,” she wailed as she clung to him. “I was so scared. It was so dark.” She ended on a hiccup and pressed her face into his shoulder.
Heart wrenching at how she must have suffered all alone in the dark, he pulled her trembling body tight against his and stroked her hair. “I know, sweetheart,” he soothed, “but I’m here now. You’re safe.”
It took another few minutes before Golden’s shaking stilled. When she finally relaxed into him, the tension leaving her body, he knew she was all right.
Gently, he drew back then tilted her face up to his. Lowering his head he gave her the best comfort he knew how, capturing her lips and kissing away her trembling and her fear.
Clinging to him, she kissed him back with a passion brought on by fright but when she gave a soft moan and melted into him Reed knew she was coming around. It was only then that he drew away and slid his palms down her arms to take her hand.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine now.” Then she gasped. “What time is it? Tomorrow is my birthday. Oh, my gosh. Is it already past midnight?”
“No, it’s not,” Reed was quick to reassure her, “but it’s not that far off. Right now it’s...” he touched the screen of the cell phone, bringing it back to life, “...eight minutes after eight.”
Golden let out a distressed hiss. “Less than four hours before my deadline.” She grabbed his hand. “I can’t let that snake win, not after seeing how low he’ll go to get this money. Come on.” She set off down the inky hallway, dragging Reed along with her. “Let’s get out of here. We’ve got to find a judge.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Golden stopped short as she ran out of the house right into a near-solid wall of water. From the cellar she’d heard the thunder and seen the flashes of lightning but with the sounds muffled down there, she’d had no idea it had been raining this hard.
Coughing and sputtering she held tight to Reed’s hand and ran as he pulled her along, his long legs taking him farther and quicker than she could ever hope to go. But he didn’t leave her behind. He never let go of her hand. He ripped the car door open and bundled her inside then ran around to the driver’s side and jumped in, his brown hair pasted down on his head. He was shivering.
Reed turned to her, his eyes so full of concern it made her heart swell. He loved her. She could see it in his look, she could feel it in the touch of his hand as he reached out to stroke her cheek. “Thank God I found you,” he said as he pushed a wet curl off her face. “I love you, Golden.”
They were the sweetest words he could have said to her. She laid a hand over his, trapping his hand against her cheek, then she turned her face to plant a tender kiss in the middle of his palm. “I love you,” she whispered, her eyes filling with sudden tears but this time they were tears of joy.
Then suddenly realizing that time was flying by but they weren’t, she slid his hand down. “We have to go now,” she reminded him, “or else it will be too late.”
A quick nod and Reed was firing up the engine then tearing down the driveway and onto the watery roadway. His eyes trained on the road, he reached out a hand to squeeze Golden’s leg. “I know it was Manchester who did this,” he said, anger vibrating in his voice. “I won’t let him get away with it.”
Golden murmured her thanks but right then her stepfather was the least of her concerns. They had to get back to London to find a judge, any judge at this point, but with the blinding torrents and flooded roads it was beginning to seem an impossible task. Outside of the beams of light from the car everywhere was a solid and very scary black.
“It’s raining so hard. Can you see?” Golden gripped the seat as she stared ahead, wondering how Reed could drive so fast when the visibility was so poor. She shivered. “Maybe you shouldn’t drive so fast.”
“We don’t have much time,” he said, glancing at the clock on the dashboard. “We have to keep going.”
Golden bit her lip but she nodded. She knew he was right. There was nothing to be done but fight through the summer storm. With a sigh she gave up trying to see through the rain. She would leave the job to Reed. After all those hours of screaming and pounding and pacing the cellar floor she was too exhausted to even think.
She sagged back into the passenger’s seat and although she had every intention of being there for Reed, her eyelids grew heavy and they soon began to close. Swiftly sliding into slumber, she was transported to the bank of a peaceful pond, the same one where Reed had proposed. Her heart overflowing with love, she lifted her face to receive his kiss and as his lips
descended and covered hers, she moaned.
And then, inexplicably, her world sped up, everything spinning like she’d been tossed into a whirlpool that was sucking her down into its depths. She threw her arms wide, trying desperately to save herself but the monster at the bottom of the whirlpool was sucking her down and she was flying into its wide open mouth and, arms flailing, there was nothing she could do to stop it.
When she slammed into the back of the giant’s throat she screamed out loud.
Golden jerked out of her dream to the sound of the car horn blaring and the engine running. Her eyes flew to Reed and what she saw made her heart leap in fright. Reed was slumped over the steering wheel, eyes closed, obviously unconscious.
With a gasp she reached out to touch his face and when she felt something warm and sticky she knew it was too thick to be rainwater dripping from his hair. Reed was bleeding.
She jerked her head back to face front and, headlight shining bright, she could see that they’d left the road and had ended up in a shallow valley thick with shrubs and trees. “Oh, no.” Her hands flew to her lips. “We’ve had an accident.”
The shock of the realization knocked her back to her senses. Instantly, she pulled her seatbelt and leaned over to gently lift Reed’s head away from the steering wheel. Immediately the blaring of the horn ceased, leaving only the sound of the engine and of the never-ending rain. She laid Reed back against the seat and quickly switched off the engine before it led to an explosion...
...which meant she had to get him out of the car and as far away from the wreck as possible.
Ignoring the soreness in her ribs Golden threw her door open and ran through the pelting rain around to the driver’s side. When she opened Reed’s door the rain splashed in and when it spattered his face he moaned.
Taking that as a good sign Golden did not pause in her task of freeing him. She leaned over to unsnap his seatbelt then, as she drew back, she got her first good look at Reed in the light beaming from the bulb that had snapped on when she opened the car door. Eyes closed, his breathing was shallow and his face pale with a thin line of blood trailing from under his hairline. Her heart went out to him. She just hoped he wasn’t seriously hurt.
It took a couple of seconds for her to snap back to the present. There was no time to think, only to act. Pulling back, she slid her arm behind Reed’s shoulder, tilting him just enough so she could slip her hands under his armpits. Once she’d got a good grip she braced her feet on the ground and pulled.
Reed did not budge.
But Golden knew she had to get him out. She had no choice.
Abandoning her plan to use her hands, she slid her forearms under his armpits instead and, bracing one leg against the driver’s seat she pulled with all her might, nearly falling backward when Reed’s body shifted and tumbled out of the car.
He was on the ground now with no shield from the pouring rain and even though Golden bent over him to protect him, the rain splashed against his face, running into his nostrils, making him gasp and choke.
It was a blessing in disguise. Reed coughed then opened his eyes, blinking as if wakened from a dream.
Golden leaned over even farther, shielding him from the rain.
“What happened?” he croaked. “Where am I?”
“We had an accident. We have to get away from the car. Come.” She lifted his shoulders up off the ground but he was too heavy to move any farther. “Can you move?” she asked, her voice urgent.
“I...think so.” Still looking dazed Reed leaned forward then rolled over onto his knees before staggering up onto his feet.
Immediately Golden went to him, jamming her shoulder up under his arm, taking as much of his weight as she could. Together they stumbled into the cover of the trees, far enough that they would be in no danger from an exploding car, then they collapsed onto the sodden ground.
Golden eased out from under Reed’s shoulder then panting, she stared at him, her heart still thumping like a drum. “You need help,” she gasped. “We have to call an ambulance. Where’s your phone?”
He groaned and pointed to his right pocket. Golden dipped her hand in to feel for the phone but there was nothing there. The other pocket, maybe? She dug around there, too, but came out empty handed. That could only mean one thing. The phone was still in the car.
She sucked in her breath. Did she dare go back? She turned to look at Reed. When she saw his pale face she knew she had no choice. She had to get him to a hospital.
“I’ll be right back,” she said to him then turned to push through the leaves.
“No, wait. Too...dangerous.”
Reed’s voice was weak, terribly so, which only served to strengthen Golden’s resolve. She didn’t reply, simply ran out of their shelter into the pelting rain. Wasting no time, she tore the car door open and piled in then she peered between the seats and fished around. “Where are you, phone?” There was no answer to her frustrated muttering, only the sound of the rapping of the rain on the roof. Dropping to her knees she felt around under the driver’s seat and when her hand closed around something flat and smooth and rectangular she breathed a sigh of relief. Finally.
Within seconds she was back at Reed’s side, dialing before she even settled on the ground beside him. “I need an ambulance,” she said as soon as the operator came on the line. “We’ve been in an accident.”
It took another two minutes to explain exactly where they were but then she got the reassurance that the location had been determined and an ambulance would be dispatched immediately.
She looked over at Reed but he had closed his eyes again and his breathing looked ragged.
The worry returning full force, Golden wrapped her arms around Reed’s shoulders and held him close.
“Just hang in there, honey,” she whispered into the watery darkness. “It will soon be all right.”
Golden didn’t know which one needed the reassurance more, she or Reed. But it didn’t really matter. Right now all they could do was sit and wait.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Get me out of here,” Reed whispered fiercely. “I don’t have time for this.”
“But the doctor said-”
“I don’t care what the doctor said,” he growled. “They can run all the tests they want after we get the job done.” He twisted around to peer at the machines to which he’d been hooked up. “What time is it, anyway?”
Golden glanced down at his cell phone which was fast running out of charge. “Eighteen minutes after eleven.”
“Christ. Less than an hour to go.” He sat up in the bed. “Find my shoes. Quick. And where the hell are my clothes?” He glanced down at the hospital gown covering his body, his tanned legs stretching out before him.
“I think they put them in a locker somewhere.” Golden got up from her chair and laid a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, Reed. We did our best but it wasn’t meant to be. Right now what’s important is you. We have to make sure you’re okay.”
“What? Are you giving up that easy?” He glared at her. “Just get my shoes. I’m leaving.”
“But you might have a concussion.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He dismissed her even as he was pulling the strap off his arm, making the blood pressure machine start beeping. He hopped off the bed. “Let’s go before the damn nurses get here.”
“Wait for me.” Golden just had time to grab his shoes from under the bed and then she was racing down the corridor after him. She knew they looked like a crazy pair, he with his hospital gown flapping around his bare legs as he hurried down the hallway and she, struggling to keep up, one of his shoes clutched in each hand. Thank God none of the nurses caught them on the way out.
But then they ran into a major obstacle. They got to the emergency room exit with no car, no money and there wasn’t a taxi in sight. And time was ticking away by the second. Not to mention the nurses who would be after them in another couple of minutes.
“Come.” Reed grabbed Golden’s arm and hurr
ied her away from the sliding glass doors, down the ramp and off to a corner where they would not be noticed. “We’ve got to find a car...” And then his eyes homed in on an ambulance parked in the lot. His face lit up. “If the driver left the key inside-”
“Don’t even think it.” Golden cut him off before he’d even finished the thought. “Stealing a vehicle? An ambulance? Are you crazy? They’d throw us in jail for that.” Then she glanced back to the exit to see if they were being followed. “We’re probably in a whole lot of trouble already, sneaking out of the hospital when we haven’t even been discharged.”
“Great! Now we can get going.”
“Great? I just said we’re probably in trouble and you say-” She never got the chance to finish the sentence. He was dragging her off again and when she whirled to see where he was heading she saw a wonderful, glorious sight. A taxi had just pulled up to the curb. They were saved.
“Top of Brompton Road,” Reed said, bundling Golden into the back seat and piling in after her. “A thousand dollars if you get us there in under ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes? Bleedin’ hell, guv. D’ye think this is a bloody jet?” The taxi driver’s voice was little better than a sneer.
“All right, fifteen minutes but a minute over that and you lose.”
The man gunned the gas pedal, slamming Reed and Golden back against the seat then with a screech of tires he shot off down the street, obviously determined to win the promised reward.
“Is that the judge’s home address?” Golden whispered.
“Yep.”
“But how do you know it? Do they usually give clients that kind of information?” Confused, she stared up into his face which was half hidden by the shadows.
“When you didn’t show up for the appointment I had a feeling we’d need his services after regular hours. I did my research.”
“Online?”
“No, I made friends with his receptionist.”