Voices floated above him. He immediately recognized Jo Jo’s distressed tone.
The boxes gave him the perfect cover as he leaned around the edge, his attention riveted on the office at the top of the metal staircase.
Through the blinds, two shadowy figures stood inches apart. One bigger than the other. Odd. The smaller of the two didn’t appear restrained in any way. Was it Jo Jo or someone else?
He listened closer, trying to decipher their words. But he only managed to comprehend the last one.
“No!”
His entire body stiffened at the sound of Jo Jo’s scream. He suppressed the urge to rush up the stairs and crush Keith to the ground. In his current state, all he could rationally hope to do was buy her time.
He had no clue where the bastard had taken them. Had they left Houston? Damn it. He needed to find a phone—Keith had taken his. Not much hope of locating a working one in this dump. Looking around at the broken windowpanes, rusty beams, and filth-covered floor, he was surprised the old warehouse had electricity.
Moonlight filtered in through the dirty glass of the windows at least fifteen feet above his head. Even with a way to reach them from the inside, it would be suicide to jump to the ground from that height. He looked down at his tattered, blood-covered shirt and one-legged jeans. Who was he kidding? He’d be lucky to make it out the first floor.
The door above opened. “He’s stable, Joanna. I’m sure the doctors will take good care of him.”
Ryker tried to melt into the wall.
“I want to see him, Keith.”
“That’s not happening.”
The metal stairs creaked beneath the weight as the pair descended.
“I’m not going anywhere with you until I know my father is okay.”
Ryker heard the swing before contact was made, and his entire body tensed. The sound of Jo Jo’s whimper had acid eating at the lining of his stomach as fury burned. Shit. Shit. Shit. The SOB struck her. Forget the lethal injection. He’d kill the piece of shit way before that.
“Aw…hell. Now look what you made me do, Joanna. God, I’m sorry. I never meant to hit you. This has all gotten out of hand. Forgive me. You will, won’t you? Say you forgive me.”
Well, that was weird as hell. Keith sounded all of four years old. And it wasn’t an act.
“Yes, I forgive you,” Jo Jo said in a low whispered voice. “I promise to do exactly what you want. Go wherever you say. I have two requests. Let me see my father. And let Ryker go.”
Keith huffed down his next breath. “Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? If you only knew how difficult that last one was, believe me, you’d ask for a pony instead.”
Damn. What would Keith do when he found Ryker gone? Clearly, the man’s brain worked on few marbles. Out of fear for Jo Jo, he searched for a better hiding place, a place to give him a better vantage point.
As if fate decided to change sides, he saw the huge air vent mere inches from where he sat scrunched on the floor. Quietly, he made his move.
“Keith, I know you think—”
“Shh… Did you hear that?”
Shit.
Chapter Sixteen
Joanna’s entire body iced over at the sound of movement at the bottom of the stairs. Her gaze darted to the backseat of the SUV. The headrest was the only thing visible.
Had Ryker woken up? Tried to escape?
Keith took the last several steps two at a time, hopped to the cement, and sprinted to the truck. “This just sucks on so many levels.”
“What is it?” Joanna’s heart raced. She prayed Ryker had managed to escape and was now far from here. But something deep down told her he’d never leave her behind. Even wounded, he’d try to save her.
“Lover boy appears to be on the move. You can’t get far, cop. Show yourself.” Keith moved around the back of the vehicle, stooping down to look underneath. “Don’t be stupid. Even if you do make it outside, you’ll bleed to death before you make it back to the city.”
Nothing but silence answered him.
“Joanna, you better explain to lover boy how this is going down. How you’ve decided to join me.”
She bit her bottom lip. There was no way she was telling Ryker to give himself up. Not so Keith could kill him.
“Tell him, Joanna!”
“Save yourself, Ryker!” She did the only thing she could. Her feet hit the cement floor in a dead run in the opposite direction of the sound, and she prayed Keith would follow.
After kicking over several boxes along the back wall and uttering a string of curses, he did follow. Rage coated his every word. “If you want to see your father alive, you’ll stop this bullshit.”
Realizing her decision would probably cost her dad his life, she swallowed hard. Sorry, Daddy. She tried every door she came to. Yanking, pulling, pounding until her hands hurt. She needed to escape, needed to get help for Ryker. But not one damn door budged.
Keith’s heavy footsteps echoed against the ground behind her. He shoved the furniture out of the way as he went and turned over boxes with little concern to their condition or contents. He’d transformed into another person. One she didn’t recognize.
“Stop. Damn it! I don’t want to tie you up. But I will.” With one hand, he rolled over the dining table between them, clearing his path toward her. His chest rose and fell at an unnatural rate. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
Out of breath, she stood with her back plastered to the wall, prepared to face the devil himself. If he thought for one second she was going to give up, he had another thing coming. “I’ll never stop.”
Keith straightened to his full height. “Why do you do this?” He ran a shaky hand through his hair. Anger was not his strong suit and had really started to do a number on him. Sweat beaded his brow, his left eye twitching.
“You can’t control people. Get your way all the time.”
“Wrong. I’ve been controlling people all my life, especially you.” He smiled wickedly. “What did you used to call it when I was in middle school? My charismatic personality? My big, sad puppy-dog eyes. You once told me I could talk a dog into eating his own foot.” He laughed, obviously enjoying the shock filtering through her as he stepped toward her like he owned the world.
He was right. He had a knack for talking her into bringing him along, changing her plans to fit his. Hell, he’d even changed her decision about where to start her business. She’d wanted to move far away from Houston, get out from under her father’s realm. Start fresh. But Keith talked her into seeing how beneficial staying close to home would be. How a small town would be easier. At least in the beginning. “You know, to build your clientele. Get established with references,” he’d said.
Her shoulders tightened. His ability to manipulate was frightening.
Ryker’s heart jumped to his throat as he stared at the boxes still rocking in front of him. Close call. Way too close. He’d managed to make it to the vent, but prying the metal cover off was another story. Years of rust and gunk had glued it to the building.
Off in the distance he heard Keith’s gravelly voice. “Let’s find your friend.”
“Wait.” She grunted, as if being pulled along.
Surveying the warehouse through the narrow slits between the boxes, he moved toward Jo Jo’s voice, searching for a way out. That’s when an odd grouping of barrels across the room caught his attention. What the fuck? Red with rust. Sealed up tight. Like waste of some sort. Apprehension over their contents drove him forward.
“Come on out, cop. Show yourself so Joanna can say good-bye.”
“Keith, no. You promised.”
“I did not. I said I would consider it. Well, I’ve considered it, and it’s just not in the cards. As long as he’s alive, we’ll never have our happy ever after.”
Ryker heard what sounded like a match being struck. Then the smell of sulfur filled his nose. He eyed the barrels in the corner. Fuck, no!
“Jo Jo, get out!” Ryker pulled himsel
f out into the open just as Keith started to light up a cigarette.
“But that ends now.” As Keith’s gaze fell on Ryker, he lifted the gun into the air at Ryker’s head and carelessly dropped the match to the floor. “Good bye, lover boy,” he cackled.
“No! Ryker.” Jo Jo ran full force toward Keith, swiping at the gun in his hand.
The match fell into a cardboard box filled with paper goods, which instantly went up in flames.
Ryker gauged the distance the toxic barrels sat from Jo Jo. There was no way to be certain how much damage would be done if his instincts proved right and the fire traveled that far. All he could do was pray she’d be able to take cover in time.
“Dumbass. Get her out!” Ryker leaned forward, trying to make eye contact with Jo Jo. She saw him instantly. Her eyes wide as she noticed the fire spreading across the room. Her gaze drifted to the barrels. Terror froze on her features.
There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t reach her in time. Balancing all his weight on his right side, he did the only thing he could. Pain speared through him like a fireball from hell, igniting a bolt of momentum so strong he shrieked in distress as he flung his body under an old metal desk.
“Shit.” Keith saw the fire reach the first barrel faster than he could stomp out the flames. “Joanna!”
Jo Jo screamed, turning her body away. From his position under the desk, Ryker saw Keith’s body lunge toward hers seconds before the first explosion rocketed through the warehouse.
Glass shattered from the windows above his head. Beams creaked from the pressure before hurling to the ground. He rolled backward beneath the metal desktop onto his back to avoid being impaled. A series of explosions followed as fire hit one barrel after another, each louder and more powerful than the last. Heat and dark smoke seared his lungs. The fire burned close, smoke billowing up to the stars above.
Wait. What? Where did the roof go?
He inched himself forward on his stomach, trying to put distance between him and the fiery mess.
“Jo Jo! Can you hear me?” Ryker prayed for a miracle.
No answer.
No movement.
Using the table as leverage, he jerked his body upward. Now half standing, half crouching, he searched through the smoky haze. He knew where she’d gone down. Knew Keith was with her.
“Jo Jo, answer me.” He moved forward, coughing, shoving debris out of his way. And then he saw her.
She lay motionless against the base of a large crate, Keith’s body partially covering her legs. Her beautiful face was hidden beneath black ash. Neither moved.
Trying his best not to pass out from the pain and smoke, he drew on his inner strength. Nothing short of miraculous.
He maneuvered Keith’s dead weight off her, kneeling beside her head. Quickly, he surveyed the damage. Safe or not, he had no choice but to move her. Bracing against the pain, he grabbed her arm with his good hand and pulled her body out from beneath the debris. In mere seconds, the entire building would be in flames. Steps shaky, he edged backward toward the exit sign he’d seen earlier.
Sirens blared in the distance. Fire crackled in front of him. The largest beams above them groaned and urged him on, but his full attention remained on her.
“Jo Jo, you hang on. Help is on the way. You hear me?” His voice hoarse, he struggled to swallow and pushed back the ever-growing dread that he wasn’t going to make it.
He glanced over his shoulder. The door, visible through the smoke now, gave him hope. Even though his vision came and went, he kept tugging, kept moving. One foot and then the other. Getting her outside into the fresh air was her only hope of survival.
He felt the warm trickle of liquid on his left shoulder, his skin chilling as it slid down his back. Shit. His wound was bleeding again, his body already shutting down.
Closing his eyes, he used the weight of his backside to press the lever down and forced the door opened. The humid night air hit him like a blow gun. He inhaled a deep breath, the pain so intense now, he almost collapsed. But he dug deep for strength and tugged harder.
Step by jagged step, he limped backward until he reached the soft bed of grass at the far edge of the driveway where he dropped to his butt and gently pulled her to his lap. The fire snapped and popped as if angry he’d stolen its victim.
Jo Jo lay motionless, silent.
“Come on, Jo Jo.” He leaned over to see if she still breathed.
The night sky lit up like a firecracker. Shards of metal and debris bounced off the asphalt drive, missing them by mere inches. With his last ounce of strength, he managed to roll over and completely cover her body with his. And then the darkness consumed everything.
Chapter Seventeen
Joanna coughed hard. The smell of burned wood, heated metal, and smoke coated her throat with layers of thick gunk. Her chest hurt. Her lungs stung. Her body compressed beneath something heavy. Prying her eyes open, she tried to move, but only managed to send a series of painful jolts spearing throughout her lower half.
Don’t panic. Not yet.
Hazy specks of light danced in the now chilly night air and hindered her vision. What the heck? She closed her eyes. Opened them again. And remembered the horrific sound resembling a bomb. The contents of the warehouse taunted her with disturbing scenarios. All those large furniture pieces, boxes filled to the brim with household items, the high metal beams supporting the warehouse’s roof, along with the barrels of toxic waste made for a lethal combination in an explosion.
“Ryker…” She attempted to speak. Tried again. But no other sound came out.
Please don’t let me be buried alive.
She swallowed and tried to clear the smoky taste from her mouth as reality swayed just beyond her reach. Where was she? What happened? Was Ryker all right?
Blinking repeatedly, she finally cleared the haze from her sight and managed to turn her head so she could see upward. The night sky shown bright, the stars and moon shadowed by a thick, dark fog billowing up in a ghostly trailing cloud. Odd. How could she see the stars from inside the building? Her gaze followed the inky cloud to the source.
Fire.
Chills assaulted her body.
Crimson flames rose up like an angry deity, consuming the horizon in its furious wrath. The moon strained to shine through the thick smoke covering the night sky, its face turning multiple shades of wild red and reminding her of blood. And that’s when clarity smacked her head on.
“Ryker!” He was still in the building. She tried to sit up, but something bulky and heavy kept her down.
Sirens blared nearby, but weren’t visible.
Hurry. Please hurry!
Thoughts of Ryker obsessed her. He’d been so close to the explosion. She vividly remembered seeing him, the fire growing around him like a wild beast. The hazardous waste barrels exploding on impact. And Keith…?
Fear engulfed her chest. Where was Keith?
He’d been right there with her. Started the damn fire with his stupid smoking. Was about to shoot Ryker when the blaze started. She pushed hard against the heavy mass on top of her chest, realizing at the last second it was a person. Not debris as she first thought. Panic tightened her muscles.
Keith.
Struggling against the murkiness, she tried to figure out if he was breathing.
Slowly, after several breaks in between to catch her own breath, her efforts paid off. She managed to roll the man off to the left side and push herself up on her elbows, ready to crawl away on her hands and knees.
Instantly, his face materialized in the moonlight. Her entire body froze.
“Ryker.” She went to scramble to her knees, but a pain in her left leg knocked her back to the ground on her side. The pain raged throughout her body. It stung, throbbing as if someone lit a match inside her and now stood fanning the flames. Tears pooling in her eyes, she heaved herself closer to his motionless body.
“Please don’t die.” She reached over and checked his neck for a pulse. “Don’
t you dare die on me.”
A slow, dull thump reached her fingertips and a shriek built at the base of her raw throat. His pulse was weak, way too weak, but his breathing was steady. A good sign, although the blood on her hands and clothes told another story. The gunshot wound on his shoulder was bleeding again, and she had nothing but her shirt to try and stop it this time.
Not wasting another second, she pulled the soiled shirt over her head inside out and pressed it against his shoulder, thankful she wore a sports bar underneath instead of just a bra.
Blinding lights covered the parking lot as several police cars sped through the gates, followed by a line of fire trucks and at least one ambulance.
Thank God. “Help! We’re over here!” Joanna tried to maneuver to her feet and alert them of their location but collapsed back on the ground hard. Spasms of agony ricocheted through her left leg so intense, queasiness swirled low and deep, threatening to knock her out cold.
She rocked back and forth, fighting to stay conscious.
One of the last police cars to enter flashed its high beams on, pulling to a stop at the edge of the driveway. Through the open window, the driver’s head turned and locked on the patch of grass where she and Ryker lay. Her body relaxed. Somehow he’d spotted her.
Mesmerized by the fierce angry show of flames, she stared at the inferno in front of her. With each gust of wind, waves of blazing heat hit her chilled skin and fed the fire into a bigger conflagration. Devilish sparks greedily engulfed every inch. There’d be nothing left. And she found herself torn. Part of her hoped Keith died in the explosion, that the nightmare would be over. But the other part needed him to live. How else would she find out what happened to her father?
Keith had been such a vibrant, curious, happy kid, even after losing his mother. The tragic event never seemed to affect him negatively. At what point had things changed? What happened to bring out this evil person hiding inside him?
Guilt extended its nasty tendrils around her heart. As much time as they’d spent together, she should have realized something was off. She should have seen this dark side of him early on and been able to guide him in a better direction.
Sinful Secrets Page 17