Alexis (The Love Family Series Book 6) (8 page)

Chapter 12

A week went by, the same day-in and day-out routine. Getting up and watching them consult the map, where one person would remain behind with her while the others went searching. Her nights were filled with Cole, and not just in bed, but talking and spending time together. He was sweet, if a bit bossy. He liked to get his way, and she found an affinity for pushing his buttons by taking back control. She silently knew that he liked that about her, even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself.

She spent her waking hours in meditation, trying to find the right footprints so she could track down Crompton. She’d sifted through hundreds, if not thousands, during the long waking hours when she was left to her own devices with nothing more than a gun-toting babysitter. Communing with nature was how she sorted through the masses. The trees, the grass, every living thing spoke to her in the wind, telling the secrets of those around her. As long as she focused, the earth would warn her when anyone was near, just as she had for the last two minutes.

Alexis kept her eyes closed as she breathed in her surroundings, stirring the wind and the smells toward her face to give her direction. It was their last day of searching, the last day they would still come back empty. Crompton was more of a threat than any of them knew. The house fires had increased in numbers. There was no discernable pattern any longer, just a bored pyro taking advantage of misdirection.

The footsteps moved closer, and she inhaled. It was Smiley’s day to watch her, and yet Tourist was at her back.

“You must have cut out early,” she said, refusing to break the connection with the ground. She was close, so very close to finding that one footprint that would stand out. The one whose feet left soot and death in his wake.

“Unlucky for you, I did,” Tourist whispered in her ear the moment a needle was plunged into her neck.

The clouds instantly darkened, and the skies rumbled as she fought the hand holding the plunger. Lightning struck but not close enough. The wind blew with a startling force.

“He’s going to love you.”

Rain soaked her head and her clothes as her world faded to black around her. 

Cole walked into the house and straight to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He was the first one back from their hunt. The others weren’t due for another twenty minutes. He grabbed the water and shut the door, heading to the backyard where Alexis liked to meditate. The yard was empty, aside from the yoga pad where she normally sat. He walked back inside.

“Alexis,” he called out in the large house.

He turned, and his gaze landed on the legs lying on the floor in the pantry. He hurried inside and moved the door. Smiley was unconscious on the floor. The back of his head had dried blood. A bag of donuts lay nearby.

“Shit.” Cole pressed his fingers to Smiley’s neck and closed his eyes, hoping and praying for the beat. It was there. He pulled out his phone and called Stone, telling him to get his ass back and to call the others and the paramedics.

He threw his bottle in the sink. “Alexis,” he hollered quickly, checking the rooms on his way to the stairs. His stomach rolled as he opened the door to the bedroom, thankful she wasn’t dead and left on display.

Cole ran his hand through his hair and dialed Landon, calling in the entire search party to meet back at the house. He hurried back downstairs to find Peters eyes fluttering open.

“Where is she?” Cole asked, trying to help his friend sit up.

Peters' eyes rolled as he tried to focus. “I don’t know. I got hit from behind.” He reached back and winced as he touched the spot.

“Come on; let’s get you to the couch so the paramedics can look at you when they get here.”

Cole helped Peters up, moved him into the living room, and paced the area while waiting for the others to show. “This isn’t happening. How in the hell did he get in?” he asked himself out loud ten minutes later as the door flew open and the entire crew hurried inside, followed by paramedics and Declan.

“What happened?” Declan asked.

“I don’t know. I came home and Peters was knocked out and had been dragged into the pantry. He doesn’t know what happened.”

Declan stomped toward the kitchen. Cole plopped down on the couch and held his head in his hands, trying to figure out how someone had gotten in.

Stone entered the house. “We’ll find her, Cole.”

“I don’t know how. We couldn’t even find Crompton.” Cole looked up and scanned the faces around them. “Where’s Johnson?”

“Who?” Avery asked.

“Tourist.”

Stone whipped out his phone and punched in some numbers before pressing it to his ear. After a second, he disconnected and typed out a text. “He’s not answering.”

“You don’t think Crompton got him too?” Cole asked, standing up.

“I don’t know,” he answered, turning back to the window.

Jackson and Gabe came running into the house. “Where is she? What happened?”

“We don’t know,” Cole answered, and his nostrils flared.

“He must have drugged her,” Jackson answered. “How was the weather?”

“Storm clouds over the house as I was driving in,” he answered.

“Then he couldn’t have gotten too far,” Declan answered, pulling out his phone and talking in hushed tones. “I need a door-to-door search and rescue within a five-mile radius around the lake. Call in off-duty and anyone you need. The missing person is Alexis Love, and her captor is to be considered armed and dangerous.”

“Lost and Found.” Gabe tapped his brother’s arm in quick succession. “Lost and Found.”

Jackson’s eyes lit up. “Oh yeah. She would totally do that.”

Jackson whipped his gaze back to Cole’s. “When she was five and playing in the woods, she got lost. Well, to hear her tell it, she was looking for faeries and never really lost, but she’d twisted her ankle and hurt herself. It started to get dark, and when she didn’t return home, our parents flipped out. There was a search team sent out, but it was Gabe who found her. She asked one day how he found her. It had been because he followed to the only place where it was raining. When she cried, it rained. There was only one spot on the island that was different from the others, and she made it rain with her tears.”

“She what?” Stone asked.

“She made it rain,” Cole answered excitedly, hurrying to the front door. He threw it open and scanned the sky, hoping to see any sign that she was still alive.

“Come on, Alexis. Bring the rain, baby, and show me the way.”

The others joined him, each looking for any thunderclouds. Avery saw it first against the darkening sky. She pointed. “There. She’s there, heading toward the RV park and the caves.”

Chapter 13

Alexis woke up after being thrown into the backseat of the SUV. Whatever he’d given her wasn’t nearly enough to do much damage. She’d weighed the odds of just causing a car wreck with the weather and running for help but decided against it. This was her one shot at finding Crompton and regaining her life. The man deserved the wrath headed his way.

Keeping her eyes closed, she concentrated on the sky. She knew they’d follow the signs, the only signs she could leave. They’d look at the weather, the entire family would. She kept a constant rain cloud hovering over the vehicle on the way to Crompton’s hiding spot, never letting up on the torrential downpour in an otherwise quiet night sky. Tourist wouldn’t notice that the only place it was raining was the 300 yards around the car. It would all look the same to him with no other way to judge.

The car rolled to a stop, and she waited and listened as Tourist got out. She felt the raindrops hit her leg as he pulled her out. Feigning sleep, she didn’t move a muscle to help him, letting him carry her dead weight fireman-style. She concentrated on the surrounding footprints, trying to get a sense of direction for who was around. Her eyes opened to slits as she studied the rocks and the ground. The sounds indicated the beach was nearby. She could hear the waves crashing on the shore. She held her grin. She knew exactly where she was, and even better, she’d played here all her life. It was almost time to meet the man who was about to die.

Thunder rolled around them. Lightning struck nearby. Oh yes, it was time to play by her rules.

Tourist eased her down on the dirt path outside the caves. She waited until the boots stepped over her before opening her eyes. She moved the wind with her mind, calling on it to swirl around and create confusion as if it were a natural occurrence. To her it was.

“Did you bring her?” A new voice echoed in the caves.

Gotcha.

“Yeah. They’ve already searched this area, so they won’t be back,” Tourist said. “She’s a feisty one.”

“I like them that way. Victoria spread her legs for me before I plunged the knife into her chest for her betrayal. I’m sure this one will too, the way she gave it up so easily to Buchanan. He’ll curse the day he stole from me, and I’ll do the same to each and every one of the women in his life.”

Alexis had heard enough. The wind swirled around her, and she pushed to her feet. “I heard she left you because you have a small dick.”

Alexis directed a flying rock to knock Tourist out. She’d deal with him in her own time. It was Crompton who had earned her fury.

“How are you doing that?” he asked. He stepped back into the cave and out of the wind.

“You burned down my house.” She growled, and lightning struck near the entrance. “It’s time I return the favor.”

Alexis didn’t see the gun until a second too late. He pulled the trigger, and the bullet cut through her stomach, sending her flying to her back.

“No.” She heard Cole’s scream as he jumped on Crompton from behind. Her savior.

Lightning danced nearby, the rain even harder than the minute before, increasing with the growing pain in her body. Her vision blurred as she struggled to watch the fight, waiting for Cole to move away from the man she would strike down.

They exchanged punches back and forth. Blood from their bodies and grunts from their lips flew from each as they fought to survive.

Alexis pushed herself to sit up, unable to do much more. Her gaze went in and out of focus as she fought to hold on. She wasn’t dying here, and neither was Cole.

“Cole, back away,” she yelled into the wind, hoping to put enough distance between the two that she could cause damage.

Cole momentarily glanced her way, and in that split second, was blindsided by a sucker-punch to his face.

Alexis directed the wind as she’d done in her house, sending him several feet back from her target.

Crompton turned his gaze toward her and lifted the gun again.

“Not this time,” she growled. Her lips tipped up in a smile as a lightning bolt struck dead center of his chest, traveling all through his body. It raised him up in the air. The smell of burning flesh drifted to her nose.

Alexis collapsed on her back as the lightning bolt dissipated and the wind and rain died around her. Her vision faded to black.

Cole paced the waiting room with the rest of the Love clan and the men who had tried to keep her safe. Declan stood in the corner talking in hushed tones to one of his deputies.

Tourist, as Alexis liked to call him, was gingerly touching the bandage on his head.

“You all right?”

He nodded. “I’m lucky to be alive. I thought Crompton was going to kill me too.”

Declan lifted his head and moved closer to the conversation, crossing his arms over his chest. “Is that right? Can you tell me what happened?”

The rest of the Loves quieted, and a few of their mouths parted as they turned their attention to the conversation.

“I was searching the area. That’s why I didn’t get the call that she was missing, and I came up on Crompton trying to drag her into the cave. I didn’t see the rock in his hand until it was too late.”

Declan nudged his chin in the air. “Stand up.”

Tourist rose, his gaze assessing everyone in the room.

Declan’s hand was ready on his gun. “Did you have anything to do with the kidnapping of Alexis Love?”

“No.” He shook his head vehemently.

“Turn around and place your hands behind your back.”

Tourist turned his gaze to Cole. “Tell them I didn’t. I wouldn’t hurt her.”

Cole held up his hands. “He can’t be involved. He’s been helping us search.”

“He’s lying,” Declan announced, and the other Loves in the room stood, their bodies tense. “We can do this the hard way or the easy way. Turn and put your hands behind your back.”

“You’re making a mistake,” Tourist argued. “I didn’t hurt her. Tell them, Cole. Tell them,” he yelled.

Jackson turned to Cole. “You know that thing Alexis can do…well, this is Declan’s. If he says Tourist is lying, then he is, and you have to trust us on that.”

Cole’s heart hammered in his chest. His muscles flexed, and his nostrils flared seconds before he lunged at the man he’d trusted. It took Stone, Landon, and Jackson to keep him from getting the sorry piece of trash. “If she dies, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”

Tourist smirked as Declan placed him in handcuffs and handed him off to the deputy he’d been talking to. “You have no proof.”

Stone moved to Cole’s side and placed a restraining hand on his arm.   

“It makes sense. He was probably warning Crompton which grid we were searching. It’s how he evaded us.”

Cole dropped into one of the chairs, placed his elbows on his knees, and cupped his head. This was on him. He knew it. Not only had Crompton been trying to settle a score, but Cole had left her with a man he had trusted. The same man who had served her up on a silver platter.

Hours later, Cole and the Loves remained in the waiting room. Each of them in their own way tried to offer him some support. Support he didn’t deserve. His crew from the fire station had all come by or called to check for updates. He’d made a life in this town, but it was nothing if Alexis didn’t make it out of surgery.

The surgeon walked into the room and removed the mask from his mouth. “You’re all for Ms. Love?”

Cole approached, as did Alexis’ brothers. Cole held his breath, and his heart stopped beating as Jackson asked the fateful question. “How is she?”

“She’s in recovery. The surgery went well. Surprisingly, the path of the bullet didn’t hit any major arteries or organs, so we’re hopeful she’ll make a full recovery.”

Cole let out the breath he’d been holding and doubled over, resting his hands on his knees.

The doctor placed his palm on Cole’s shoulder. “She’s demanding to see you and mentioned deserving a donut, but that might be the drugs talking.”

“It’s not.” Cole righted his stance and followed the doctor out of the waiting area and down to recovery.

“She needs her rest, so don’t stay long.”

Cole nodded and moved to the bed where she lay with her eyes closed. The steady beeping of the machines was music to his ears. He wrapped his fingers around her hand and gave a gentle squeeze. “Alexis, baby.”

Her eyes slid open, and she turned her head. “Tourist…” Her voice cracked, and she licked her lips as if remembering too late that her throat was dry. The lines around her eyes deepened.

“We know. Declan caught him in a lie and arrested him.”

She gave a slight nod, and her eyes softened. A relieved sigh escaped her lips.

“I’m so sorry.” Cole leaned down, moved the hair from her forehead, and pressed his lips to the spot.

She nodded, moved her hand to cover his, and tightened her fingers. Her head lolled away from him, and her eyes fluttered closed.