by Lynde Lakes
Breathing hard, Lazar yanked her upright by her hair. She screamed as her roots prickled in pain. “Let me go!” Her attempt to sound tough failed. She raked her nails across his face.
“Bitch!” He pressed the gun to her head. The muzzle dug painfully into her temple.
Rick stomach knotted at the way things were going down. Angela and Victoria stood outside the car screaming and pounding on the exterior. Then Rick heard Damon shout. “Angela, Victoria, take cover!”
Lazar fired a shot. The pounding stopped. Rick wanted to rise up and make certain the women were safe, but it was too risky.
Seconds ago, crawling to the car, he considered the driver-squeeze-out tactic. If he’d dared to try it—and if it had worked—this could have been over in a flash. All it would’ve taken was perfect timing as he slid into the front seat. And then a quick zip backward out of the driveway before Lazar could force Valerie into the car. Lazar’s gun at Valerie’s head and the hair-trigger timing needed to steal the car out from under the evil scientist discouraged Rick from trying it. The surprise car-jacking might’ve barred the bastard from escaping with Valerie, but it also might have gotten her killed. Rick frowned. Now he had to wait in the backseat for the right instant to strike. Once they reached the main road, Lazar couldn’t keep the gun at Valerie’s head every second and safely maneuver the snaking curves. A moment of wrong timing on his or Lazar’s part could send the three of them off the cliffs to their death.
Damon ran toward the car, wishing he had a gun to shoot out the tires. Then it hit him. With a gun at Valerie’s head, that wasn’t a viable option anyway. If Reeves had morphed into Lazar as Damon strongly suspected, the evil bastard intended to wipe out the whole Lamont family. The terror in Valerie’s scream went straight to Damon’s gut. He chased the car. He imagined the cold, hard muzzle of the gun pressed to her head. Sweat trickled down his spine and the knot in his stomach tightened.
Running at full speed, he watched Lazar swing off the driveway and onto the lawn. After a skidding, slippery turn around with flying mud, Lazar swung back onto the driveway and headed for the Mt. Baldy highway. Hugh passed Damon with feral speed and ran after the car until one of Lazar’s bullets caught him in the knee cap.
Damon rushed to his aid and helped him to the entry steps.
“Just a flesh wound,” Hugh muttered. “Remember, I’m one of those living dead guys, too.”
Damon patted him on the back, overwhelmed by the love he felt for his brother.
Shaking off the wave of emotion, he straightened. He ached to continue chasing the car, yank Lazar out of the vehicle by his throat, and beat the hell out of him. But without his wolf powers, he couldn’t run fast enough to catch a car. Besides, if he caught it, there was still the gun at Valerie’s head. To ward off his fear for his daughter, he had to think positive. But how could he go to battle and kill the living dead after the evil, mud-sucking ogre had been granted everlasting life?
He approached Angela and put his arm around her. He expected her to rebuff him, but even though her eyes blazed with a fiery green glow and she was pale and shaking, she seemed to need him more than she hated him for letting this happen. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung tight. He stroked her back. He had to offer her hope where there was little to none to give. “I’ll get Valerie back.” The statement rang with optimism but had no substance. He didn’t dare promise something that at this moment seemed impossible.
Victoria rushed up and hugged her parents. “I don’t know if it’ll make y’all feel better or worse, but Rick’s in the car with them. He’s going to try to rescue Valerie.”
Damon felt hope soar—with the kid’s PI and undercover background, he just might pull it off—then Damon’s hope crashed. Unfortunately, Rick didn’t know exactly what he was dealing with. Damon tightened his jaw. He might lose Valerie—and Rick, whom he already thought of as a son.
“You saw him fight at the club,” Victoria said. “He moves like lightning, thinks on his feet, and is an Einstein with steel knuckles.”
Damon groaned. The love behind his daughter’s words was blatantly evident and stirred more complications into the mix. But, right now, he had more pressing concerns.
Lazar/Reeves. Dear Lord, what can I do against that combo of evilness?
Angela whirled and left his arms. They’d never felt more empty, more cold. “I’m calling the police, and don’t even think of stopping me. I want road blocks and lots of cops with guns.”
Damon nodded. Someone had to do something or he’d lose his daughter and surrogate son. But would a barricaded highway and a bank of armed cops be enough to stop the living dead?
In the darkened backseat, Rick felt the car gaining speed as the wheels pounded the pavement. Time to make his move! Once they reached the highway, with its treacherous curves and deep gullies, the danger would skyrocket. He sprung up and clamped a chokehold on Lazar’s neck. The car swerved. The gun went off. Valerie screamed. Rick prayed she was okay but remained focused. He had to take out Lazar.
With the element of surprise on his side, Rick used the leverage of the swerving vehicle and Lazar’s tumbling weight to yank him into the backseat. Lazar twisted and pointed the gun at Rick’s head. Sweating, Rick forced the muzzle, inch by inch, away and disarmed him. Lazar bit his arm with wolfish incisors. Breathing hard and increasing the pressure against Lazar’s jugular vein, Rick jammed a knee into the center of the scientist’s spine.
Valerie, bless her, had slid behind the wheel and was trying to gain control of the car. Had she ever driven before? If she was half as quick-witted as Victoria, she could at least bring the car to a stop. But could he handle Lazar?
Rick felt the thunderous impact as the car clipped an unmovable force, probably the pool wall. The doors flew open and Valerie disappeared into the darkness. Rick clung to two unbuckled backseat seatbelts as the car rolled over several times. The rolling action swept him off of Lazar, and Lazar was sucked out the door one instant before the vehicle tumbled over the hillside. The rolling and sliding vehicle bumped against boulders. Rick expected the gas tank to explode any second. Praying to the Indian gods…to the white man’s God, he leapt free of the careening coffin.
When Lazar’s car hit the far pool wall, Victoria ran toward the accident, praying her sister and Rick were all right. Darkness was her enemy. Only taillights and the reflection of the high beams guided her. As the car careened off the plateau and tumbled down the hillside, the lights disappeared. Hugh, limping a little, and Dad and Mom ran beside her. “Call nine-one-one,” Dad shouted. Her terrified heart wouldn’t permit her to stop. They all reached the plateau edge at the same time. Tumbling metal rumbled and thundered though the night. Lazar’s car hit a giant boulder, exploded, and a circle of flames flared against the night sky and turned the lower hillside into an inferno. Victoria’s throat tightened. Had anyone made it out?
“Victoria! Call nine-one-one now!”
The dread in Dad’s tone drove her into action. Her dam of tears broke. With the onslaught of uncontrollable shakes, she could barely dial. When she gave the specifics of the accident, her voice broke. She cleared it quickly. The more she wiped the tears away, they harder they flowed. This was her fault. She should’ve watched her sister. She knew what a softy she was. Victoria fought another wave of guilt. If she hadn’t distracted Lazar, Rick wouldn’t have slipped into the car and the accident would’ve never happened.
Victoria heard her sister moaning. Then her mom screamed. “Damon, over here! Valerie’s alive.”
Victoria sucked in a breath of relief, finished giving the specifics to the 911 operator, and then ran to her sister’s side. She ached to hug her. But that might heighten and intensify any injuries she might have. “Are you hurt badly? You’re bleeding!”
“Just surface scrapes and maybe a broken a rib.”
“The medics are on their way.” Victoria took a deep breath. “Did Rick get out?”
“I don’t know.” Valerie’s t
one sounded doubtful.
“Hang in there, sis. I’ll be right back.” Victoria started down the hillside toward the flames. Someone had called the Fire Department and firefighters were already on the lower hillside, trying to contain the blaze before it reached the tract of half-acre Spanish-Style homes. She shuddered. One of those belonged to her grandparents. With all the noise, she tried to assure herself they would be alerted and get to safety.
“Rick! Rick,” she called. Equipment noise, the roar of the blaze, and the shouts of the men fighting the fire drowned out her calls. She coughed as smoke constricted her throat.
A shadow rose behind her. She whirled, hoping to find herself in Rick’s arms. Her sensitive sense of smell caught a whiff of wolf. The warning came too late. Lazar clamped his fingers around her neck. Although still in human form, he had long incisors and an unpleasant feral smell.
“You claimed I had the wrong twin,” he growled wryly. “Now, prove it and don’t disappoint me.” His fingers tightened on her throat, cutting off her air.
She jabbed him in the eyes with her knuckles, brought her knee up to his groin sharply, and whirled away. She crouched ready for the next attack.
“I see you’ve had some training, bitch. And you sure as hell don’t fight fair. Well, I don’t fight fair either, and I’m bigger, meaner, and indestructible.”
His double body twist with a kick to the jaw connected and left her head spinning. He withdrew a container of clear liquid from his pocket. It was the size of a bottle of nail polish. “Get me out of here or I’ll blow your family away.”
Believing he intended to slaughter her family no matter what she did, she decided to take her best shot.
Victoria heard a whoosh sound, and without any action on her part, Lazar fell forward like a ton of bricks. In spite of the flame-flickering darkness, she recognized her savior. Her heart lightened. “Rick. You’re alive!”
The bottle of suspicious liquid flew out of Lazar’s hand. She stiffened, waiting for the explosion. After seconds of blessed silence, she returned her focus to the men. The power and anger behind their blows guaranteed this would be a fight to the death. Lazar hit Rick in the forehead with a stone. Rick swayed then shook his head as though to clear it. “Get out of here,” he ordered. “I don’t need distractions.” He charged Lazar, who stumbled backwards and then jumped on top of him.
Tongues of flames sucked her air and disoriented her as they inched closer. Which way to safety? She stood frozen to the spot. Earlier, Dad had told her Rick didn’t know the depth of Lazar’s evil. The idea of Rick’s lack of needed information fed her ability to move. She stepped closer to the men, picked up a basketball-sized boulder, lifted it high over her head, and, aiming carefully, brought the boulder down with all of her might toward Lazar’s skull.
The men rolled and shifted positions. The boulder missed Rick’s temple by a fraction of an inch.
“Damn it, Victoria! Whose side are you on?”
Victoria’s stomach knotted. Her heart thundered. She could scarcely breathe. Rick was right. Although, she’d managed to clip Lazar’s ear, she could have killed Rick.
When she turned to go, Lazar reached out and yanked her feet out from under her.
She screamed and fell to her knees. Lazar grabbed a handful of her hair close to the roots and yanked her between himself and Rick. She watched Lazar’s hand close over an Arrowhead-shaped rock. She struggled. He pressed the tip to the delicate skin at the hollow of her throat. Cool blood trickled down from the concave of her throat into her cleavage.
“Let her go!” Rick said.
“Back off first.”
Although surrounded, Lazar’s confident tone convinced her he believed he was holding all the cards.
Rick stared at the blood trickling down her neck for a moment, his expression revealing nothing.
Fearing Rick might give the creep the upper hand to save her, she called out. “Dad, Uncle Hugh, over here!”
The outburst earned her a violent knee gouge in the spine. From the North, her Dad and Uncle Hugh were half-sliding, half-running down the hillside toward their voices. She figured they could see their silhouettes highlighted by the background of flames licking the horizon. Closing off his escape from the South were those flames and the approaching firefighters as they fought the crackling, hissing blaze.
Rick’s piercing eyes watched Lazar, as though he were calculating his next move.
Lazar matched his intensity. This was her last chance to get away. She didn’t allow the stone cutting into her neck to stop her. She broke away and ran toward her dad.
When Lazar tried to grab her again, Rick tackled him. They scuffed and Lazar fell backwards into the approaching river of flames. Lazar’s horrifying screams would haunt her nightmares forever.
Rick ran to her, drew her to his chest, and kissed her. The gentle touch of his lips was almost brotherly. Then his lips firmed, his moist mouth opened wider. His tongue sought hers, frantic, desperate like a man who’d almost lost his soul-mate. Although vaguely aware of the flames crawling toward them, and her dad and uncle’s disapproving eyes, she opened to Rick like a flower tasting its first dew. She ran her fingers through his midnight black hair and caressed the lone diamond stud in his lobe.
Abruptly, Rick pulled back. “Let’s get topside to safety. Now.”
Victoria slid her hand down his tanned chest, wondering if he was talking only about the encroaching flames and smoke, or did his comment include the smoldering heat that had sprung up between them? His strong Indian jawline, the dancing flames glowing in his earth-brown eyes, and the wild feeling that stirred in her when she slid her fingers down his bare, tanned chest reminded her that Rick Tanner, part Indian, in biker boots, was a dangerous, experienced twenty-year-old and she was—as her dad put it—only eighteen.
Rick shook his head as though to clear it.
If she wanted this wild young biker who had just saved her life, she’d have to fight for him. And even he wouldn’t be on her side.
Damon’s mind swirled in chaos. The relief he’d experienced when he’d witnessed Lazar fall backward into the flames had dissipated. He didn’t believe for a moment that his morphed half-brother was gone forever.
Before he could reconcile that, the other source of his mental turmoil rose tauntingly. In his mind’s eye, he could see the image of Rick holding Victoria and kissing her with unbridled passion. Hiring Rick to protect his girls hadn’t been fair to Rick or safe for Victoria. He’d seen the sparks between them. But he’d sensed Rick’s strength of character and trusted him. Damon shook his head at the risk he’d taken. He knew firsthand the hell a man suffered when he fell in love with the forbidden. It seemed his willingness to trust had always been his fatal flaw and almost resulted in the loss of his family.
Damon rushed forward and grabbed Rick’s hand in a firm grip. Then he hugged him. “You saved my daughters.” He had to shout over the roaring fire, the sound of the firefighter’s equipment, and raised voices. “It was a big risk to climb into the car—risky for both you and Valerie.” He used his most upbeat tone. “I admire a man who thinks on his feet and is confident enough to make quick decisions on his own. However, luck played highly into your decision, and I don’t like either of my daughters’ fate left to luck.”
“Yes, sir. I realize the kiss was unprofessional. But nothing inappropriate has gone on between me and either of your daughters.”
Damon allowed a wry smile to slide across his lips. Rick’s comment made it clear he understood the other issues involved. That type of quick thinking and awareness of all the issues made him even more valuable to the firm. And if Victoria still wanted to date him in a few years when she was older…well, Damon figured he could face that later.
“I’ll pack up my things and be gone by morning.”
“Excellent.”
Victoria rushed up. “You can’t fire Rick, Dad. He saved Valerie’s life. And mine.”
Damon gave Victoria a sly, sidelong
glance, and then continued. “Don’t let my daughter’s meddlesome comment mislead you, Rick. I’m not letting you go. I’m promoting you. You’ll be in charge of security in the San Diego office. I have a small condo you can use until you find something better. And our original contract is still in force. I’ll need you to start right away.”
Damon had always found that positive emotions got positive results. And, surprisingly, the unexpected twist had left Victoria temporarily speechless. A plus in his book, even if only brief.
With a lump in his throat, Damon watched Angela climb agilely into the ambulance with Valerie and the medics. They lifted Valerie into the vehicle on a stretcher and began taking her vital signs. He wished he could go along, but he needed to wrap things up here, including talking with the fire chief. He touched Hugh’s shoulder. “You should go along, too, and get someone to look at that knee.”
Hugh winked. “No can do. I’m allergic to hospitals. And they aren’t partial to walking dead lycanthropes like me.”
Damon knew he was right. He hated that Valerie had to risk being found out. “All right then. I need you and Kyle to water down the area between the mansion and the approaching fire while I scan the location where Lazar fell into the flames. And I want to talk to the fire chief.”
Hugh nodded. “I’ll help you look for signs of survival as soon as everything around the property is soaked.”
Rick overheard Damon’s words and scanned the hillside. Had Lazar somehow escaped? He’d seen him fall dead center into a rolling ball of fire.
Victoria stood looking over the valley, rubbing her folded arms. He ached to console her. She was worried about her sister. He was worried, too. He wanted to see how Valerie was doing before he packed.