Learning To Fly (Fated Love Book 1)

by Lauren Firminger

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Maddison

  After the doctor came back and discharged me, I took Morgan’s hand, and followed by Nate and Daniel, we went out to an awaiting car. It had of course been checked for explosives, just in case. Putting Morgan’s arms around me and tucking myself into his side, we went to meet Lucas, Thomas, Bryan, and the real bus. How was this seriously my life? I grew up in a small country town, and it feels like I have walked into an action movie. All I needed now were some fucking ninja’s to attack with those badass throwing stars and some nunchucks, and we were set. I let out a snort at my internal ramblings and shook my head. When I pulled myself from my own thoughts, I realised everyone was looking at me. Muttering, “Random thoughts,” under my breath, I closed my eyes.

  When we arrived back at the bus, we were met by the bomb squad, who’d just checked it over. Getting out of the car, Morgan squeezed my hand and led me onto the bus. We had our own room at the back, which pretty much meant we would be left alone. Here, the boys could relax a little. God, I hoped it wasn’t going to be like this for much longer.

  Sitting down in one of the seats, I pulled out my MacBook to try to keep myself busy. Maybe I’d watch Netflix or something. The idea of being stuck on a bus for that long was making me nervous. I wasn’t good in confined spaces for too long. Looking up when Morgan sat down beside me, I took the water he handed me.

  “You okay, darlin’?” I nodded softly.

  “I am, baby.”

  Resting my head against his shoulder, I started looking for something to watch. Maybe reading was the better way to go. I could escape for a few hours, and be in peace. “Babe? Where did my iPad end up? It was in my bag.” Morgan jumped up and moved to the back room to grab my iPad for me. Taking it from him, I kissed his cheek. “Thank you, baby.”

  He gave me a smile and wrapped his arm around me. “You gonna be okay to read, darlin’? Don’t want your head to start hurting again.”

  “I should be fine, baby. I’ll lie down if it does.” He nodded and rested his head against mine. I had just opened my book when my FaceTime on my MacBook started to ring. Frowning, I pulled it closer and saw who it was. “Umm, Lucas? I thought y’all were moving in on Uncle Michael?” I looked up when he moved over.

  “He was gone like Josh was. Why?” I turned the laptop around to face him and showed him that Uncle Michael was calling me. “Let it ring.” I nodded and just left it. When it stopped, Lucas quickly did something with it and slid it back to me. “Okay, when he calls back, I want you to answer it and keep him on the phone for as long as possible. Okay?”

  I nodded and sat back against the seat, trying not to freak out. When it started to ring again, Lucas gave me a nod, and I answered it. Instead of seeing Uncle Michael though, I was face to face with Josh.

  “What the fuck do you want?” He smirked at me.

  “Now is that any way to say hello? Didn’t your parents teach you any manners? Oh, wait! They weren’t around long enough. Everyone you love is dead. Well, except dear old Uncle Michael. Don’t worry, sugar. He’ll be with the rest of them soon enough.” He moved out of the way of the camera, and Uncle Michael came into view. I let out a gasp as I saw my uncle, the only flesh and blood family I had left, hanging by chains in some room.

  “You sick fuck!”

  “Shut it, Morgan. This has nothing to do with you. This is between me and my sugar darlin’.”

  I swallowed back the bile in my throat. “I’m not your anything, Joshua, but if you lay one more hand on him, I will be your worst fucking nightmare!”

  He tutted at me again. “Unless you want to see your uncle dead, Maddison, I suggest you shut the fuck up, too.”

  “You won’t kill him. Then who’ll do your dirty work?”

  Josh sighed and took a knife from a holder on his side. I had to close my eyes. “Well, you see, he is really no use to me now. Turns out our little coward here struck a deal with your little friends there and has been spilling all my secrets. How else do you think they knew to have another bus ready to go?”

  My eyes flew open, and I narrowed my eyes at Lucas. He dropped his head, which told me Josh was telling the truth.

  “Didn’t tell ya bout that, did he, sugar?” Josh laughed, and my stomach turned. Josh moved toward Michael. “Now we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way, sugar. Tell me which way you’d prefer. Doesn’t matter to me. Either way, I win.”

  “Drop dead, asshole.”

  “Sorry, can’t do that, and for that, this has to happen.” He pushed Uncle Michael up against the wall and drove the knife into his side.

  Uncle Michael screamed out in pain. “I’m so sorry, Maddie! I am so fucking sorry!” This only pissed Josh off more and earned Uncle Michael another knife wound to the torso.

  “Stop! What do you want me to do, Josh? Tell me, and I’ll do it. Please, just stop!” My voice cracked as I tried to swallow back tears.

  Josh stepped away from Michael and smirked at me. “See, I knew you’d come around.” He threw the knife down on the table, and I looked at Lucas.

  After a few seconds, Lucas mouthed, “Got him,” and moved away to call someone.

  Josh turned around and looked at me. “Sugar, whatya gonna do now is go to the address I am gonna message you, and you are gonna be alone. If I see anyone within one hundred meters, then I will blow up your uncle. Hear me?” I swallowed and nodded. “That’s a good girl.”

  The call ended, and I looked over at Lucas. “I have units on their way to his location.” I nodded and buried my face in my hands. My body was now shaking with silent tears. I know he fucked up, but Uncle Michael was still my uncle. God, I hoped they got to him in time.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Morgan

  As Maddie was forced to watch that sick fuck stab her uncle to get her to submit, my heart broke for her. She was such a sweetheart, but I knew after this whole ordeal, she was going to change. The bus sat in silence as we waited for news. Maddie was silently crying in my arms, her body shaking against mine as my hand ran up and down her back in an attempt to calm her down. Lucas was pacing back and forth, and for the first time ever, the boys just sat there, not doing or saying a thing.

  I didn’t know how long it was before Lucas’s phone finally rang. We all looked up at him when he answered, except for Maddie, who still had her face buried in my chest. Her body had stopped shaking, but she tensed when the phone rang. The look on Lucas’s face wasn’t filling me with confidence. He hung up the phone and was silent before he exploded in anger. He threw his phone and went to smash the glasses and bottles that were on the table, but Daniel and Nate got to him in time to stop him.

  “Son of a fucking bitch! I thought we fucking had him that time! We were so fucking close! How the fuck does he keep getting away?” The boys tightened their grips on Lucas until he calmed down.

  “Bubba... What happened?” I asked.

  Lucas looked over at me with tear-filled eyes. “He saw them coming and got away. Just as they were about to go inside the warehouse, the sick fuck blew it up. Maddie, I am sorry… I thought… I didn’t… I got him killed… I am so sorry, Maddie.” The boys had loosened their grip on him and he fell to the floor. With his head buried in his hands, he rocked back and forth. Pulling out of my arms, Maddie wrapped her arms around Lucas and hugged him.

  Standing up from my seat, I ran my hand over my face. Hearing my phone go off, I pulled it from my pocket. “Two down... One to go. How the mighty fall.”

  I held my phone out to Daniel. “Track it—now.” He took my phone and disappeared. I wasn’t about to let this fucker beat me. “Nate. It’s time to bring in the big guns. He wants to shoot first. Let's make it fucking rain.” Nate nodded and went to join Daniel. Scooping Maddie up, I carried her to our room and laid her down. I moved back out of the room, and with Thomas’s help, we got Lucas up off the floor and into his bunk. “Keep an eye on him?” Thomas gave me a nod, and I went back to check on Maddie.<
br />
  Looking at her curled up in a ball, I had never felt so fucking helpless in my life. Almost as if she could feel me watching her, Maddie opened her eyes and looked at me. Again, seeing the tears in her eyes broke me. I moved over to the bed and lay down beside her. Wrapping her up in my arms, I pressed my lips to her head and just held her. She would speak when she was ready, or she would eventually cry herself to sleep. I had to watch her, though because if something were to happen to the baby right now, she wouldn’t come back from this. Maddie was probably one of the strongest women I knew, but one person could only take so many hits. For Maddie, the hits just kept coming. It was really destroying my faith. How could one person be put through so much pain and hurt? I just didn’t get it, and the sad part was I didn’t think I ever would.

  Right now, in this moment, my life and hers were in my hands. Lucas was going to need to take a step back and try to forgive himself for what happened. If I knew him, which I did, he was going to blame himself for Michael even though it was his psychotic older brother. Maddie would never blame him. She would never hate him, either. She would try to comfort him until he felt better. I just hoped the guy I was bringing in could get the job done. Dad always told us stories of this guy. They had been stationed together back before any of us were born. We’d never met him, and I’m not sure even now if we ever would. His code name was Ghost, after all.

  Hearing a knock on the door, I looked up and saw Daniel standing there with my phone. I carefully slid out from beside Maddie and moved to take the phone from him. Seeing who was calling though, I knew I was in for it now. Closing the door behind me, I spoke, “Hey, Pops. What’s up?”

  “Don’t you what’s up me, boy! I just got a call from an old friend of mine asking if I knew what kind of shit my kid’s fuckin’ into! What the fuck, Morgan? Why didn’t you tell me? Were ya just gonna wait until Mama and I had to come ID ya damn bodies? Or wait until it was in the news like most other stuff? Well? I’m waitin’, boy!”

  “So am I!” I took the phone away from my ear and pinched the top of my nose as I took a breath. I put the phone back to my ear. “Pops. If you want me to answer, then ya need to stop so I can.”

  “Don’t you sass me, boy! Don’t you dare fucking sass me. Your mother is beside herself!”

  “I’m sorry, Pops. I thought we had a handle on it.”

  “Yeah, well, clearly fucking not if Ghost is comin’ in.”

  “I underestimated him. I know I fucked up. You don’t need to tell me! I have to live with the fact Maddie’s uncle is dead because of us.”

  I heard Pops sigh, and I sat down. “Who is it, kid?”

  “Josh.”

  “What?”

  “Turns out he was Maddie’s ex, but she’d left him back before we met. I met her, and that was it. She was mine. He found out we’d spent the night together and tried to track her down, so we skipped the country. When he went off the radar, we upped security. Maddie called her uncle to tell him we were getting married and having a baby, and he went funny. He told Josh everything including where we were, and Maddie started getting death threats. I moved us again, and then the night of our last show, we got word from Michael that Josh was going to try to blow up the tour bus, so we got a decoy. None of us were hurt too bad. We were all able to leave, so now we’re headed for Nevada. I wanted to cancel my shows, but Maddie refuses to let him win.” I took a breath and let that all sink in.

  He was silent longer than I expected him to be. I checked a few times to make sure he was still there. It was maybe another ten minutes before he spoke again. “Okay, what else?”

  He knew I wasn’t done. He knew there was more. There always was. “After he blew the bus up and Maddie was discharged from the hospital, we started for Nevada. While Maddie was on her iPad, she got a FaceTime call from Michael on her MacBook. We didn’t answer it while Lucas put the trace on it. Michael called back.” I took a breath before continuing, “When Maddie answered it though, it was Josh. When he moved, we saw Michael hanging by chains behind him. Josh stabbed him twice before Maddie agreed to meet him. Meanwhile, Lucas had his location and sent guys to get them. When they got there, the place blew up, and Michael was still inside.”

  “Was anyone else hurt or killed?”

  “No, not that I know of.”

  Pops sighed again. “Boy, I could wring your neck for this.”

  “I’m sorry, Pops.”

  “Keep me updated, boy. If I don’t hear anything in twenty-four hours, I am comin’ to Nevada.”

  “No! I will keep you in the loop. Please, just stay with Mama, and be on guard.”

  “Do you know who you’re talkin’ to, kid?”

  “Point taken.”

  “Behave, Morgan.”

  “I’ll try, Pops.” After saying goodbye, I sat back for a minute. This shit was going to end. Ghost will do it. Maddie will be safe, and we can be happy again. Yeah, right. Because that had gone well so far.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Maddison

  I didn’t remember falling asleep, but with Morgan, I never do. One minute, I’m tense as fuck, and the next, I’m out for the count. It was comforting. Especially now. Seeing Uncle Michael’s body hanging before me in a dream before suddenly blowing up had me sitting bolt upright. The realisation it wasn’t just a dream hit me, and at the same time, so did a wave of nausea. Pulling my covers back and bolting for the bathroom—God love Morgan for leaving the bathroom doors open for me—I lost the contents of my stomach. I tried to fight back the tears, but they came with vomiting. They always did. God, Morgan was in for some fun.

  Sitting back on my heels I waited to see if there was more. When nothing more came up—thank God—I flushed and washed my mouth out. Now that I wasn’t so focused on my need to throw up and avoiding the exorcist style vomiting all over the bathroom, I looked around and really noticed the bathroom. This wasn’t the bathroom on the bus. I hadn’t hit my elbow fifty thousand times. Had we gotten off, and had I been too out of it to remember? No, that couldn’t be. I was a light sleeper, so even if Morgan had tried to move me, I would have woken. Hearing the door open behind me, I turned and saw Morgan coming into the bedroom.

  “Babe? Where the hell are we?” He frowned and moved toward me.

  “You don’t remember?”

  I shook my head. “No.” I looked up and met his eyes.

  “Baby, you’ve been asleep for the whole drive. We are in Nevada.” I frowned and pulled back a little.

  “How did you get me off the bus without waking me?”

  “I tried to wake you, but in the end, I couldn’t get you to wake up without getting called an asshole, so I carried you inside.” He chuckled and ran his fingers through my hair as he kissed my lips softly. “Come on, darlin’. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

  I nodded and checked how bad I looked in the mirror, which earned me a slap to the ass. I squealed and looked at Morgan with narrowed eyes. “You’re gorgeous. Now move it.” I shoved him as hard as I could, but he didn’t even budge. He chuckled again, and I huffed. As I pushed past him, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and we left our room.

  When I walked out, I looked around and saw all familiar faces, except for one. I looked up at Morgan. “Baby? Where’s Lucas?”

  “Lucas wanted to take a little time out. Daniel is taking over for him. Maddison, I would like to introduce you to Ghost.”

  “Ghost? Parents lose a bet or something?” I heard Morgan groan, and everyone but Ghost had to turn away to keep from laughing.

  “There’s the Australian smartass I’ve heard so much about.”

  I rolled my eyes as I moved away from Morgan and returned to the bedroom. I heard him telling Ghost I wasn’t normally like this as I slammed the door behind me. I laid down on the bed and counted to five. When I got to five, the door opened, and Morgan walked in. Closing the door behind him, he folded his arms over his chest and raised a brow.