Burns Like Fire (Dangerous Creatures #1) (13 page)

Chapter Seventeen

When they made it to the storage facility, everything was surprisingly quiet. There was barely any security either, aside from a single man sitting inside of a rectangular box made of metal and glass. Jack passed him a card, and the guy checked it out before he pressed a button and opened the chain link fence for them to enter.

It was all so damned easy that it made Cindy nervous.

"You sure this is where you want to go?" Jessica asked.

Cindy looked at the woman, trying her hardest not to be jealous of her and what she and Jack had shared in the past. At least it hadn't been enough for her to spill her secret to him until just a few minutes ago.

"I've got a motorcycle and some more cash in my shed," Jack explained. "I also know a guy who can get Cindy and me some new IDs. We can get a car later."

Cindy was stunned. "Why would you need to have those things tucked away?"

Jack shrugged. "In case of an emergency."

It seemed like as good of an excuse as anything else, so she was going to go along with it. Jack no longer wanted to see her hauled off by the collectors, and if Cindy was reading this right, he also still had feelings for her.

She was going to trust her gut on this one, even though it was rumbling and twisting in pain from all the stress of their hasty escape.

Jack opened the door when Jessica stopped the car, and Cindy was stunned, and warmed, when he reached for her hand and helped her out of the car, as if she was some delicate treasure he needed to care for.

A little delicate, maybe, but people didn't want her because she was a treasure. This almost felt like it had when they were together in the beginning.

Jack looked at her and smiled softly, and despite how messed up everything was, it was a bright smile. He seemed so happy that her hand was in his, and love swelled up inside of her. She squeezed his hand tightly, and any jealousy she'd had for what he and Jessica might've had completely vanished, even when he leaned down to the driver's side to speak with her.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" he asked.

Jessica wasn't looking at him, though, in fact she shushed him as she stared at the radio, then turned it up.

Cindy could hear the monotone voices of the newscasters, but from her place behind Jack she couldn't exactly hear what was being said.

Jack and Jessica, however, both went pale in the face. Jessica more so, and she leaned on the steering wheel and let out a long, pained sigh.

"What? What just happened?" Cindy asked.

Jessica punched the steering wheel. Then punched it again.

Jack was the one who answered her. "One of the men she knocked out must've woken up. She's listed as a possible paranormal now. The collectors aren't just after us anymore. They want her brought in for questioning."

Cindy's entire body froze up, and she looked down at the woman who helped her and Jack to escape. "What do we do?"

Jessica was having trouble looking at the both of them. "It's dangerous to be traveling together. I'll try and get out of town on my own."

"You're going to have to ditch your car, and soon," Jack said.

Jessica was reaching into her glove compartment and pulling out several papers. She even had a Taser, though Cindy wasn't sure what she would need it for, considering her natural powers. She put it all into her purse.

"I know," Jessica said. "Hopefully our friendly guard up front doesn't listen to the news."

"Doesn't seem like the type," Jack said. "I'm pretty sure I saw him playing video games when we pulled up."

Jessica was still pale in the face, but she nodded and shrugged. "Maybe."

"Wait one second," Jack said, and then he let go of Cindy's hand, pulled out a set of keys and hurried to unlock his storage unit. He was still cradling his injured arm and mostly using his good arm to lift up the metal sliding door that opened like a garage, but thankfully they were able to confirm on the ride here that it wasn't broken. That was a good thing. Cindy knew how hard it was being on the run when in need of medical attention.

It only took Jack ten seconds to find what he was looking for and then come back out.

It was an old brown shoe box, but when he opened it up, there were stacks of hundred dollar bills inside. Cindy's eyes widened. "Do you not believe in banks?"

"You should be glad that I don't," Jack said, and then he pulled out some of the bound stacks and handed them to Jessica.

She looked up at him and then waved them away. "You're not the only one who has an escape plan," she said.

  "Take them anyway, just in case you can't get to yours. I doubt you're keeping your money in that car."

Jessica's lips thinned, and then she reached out and took the money.

"It's about five grand," Jack said. "We'll be fine without it."

Cindy noted how Jack didn't tell Jessica exactly where they were going, despite offering her so much money.

"Thank you," Jessica said. "I should try and find my brother. Ethan always knew this was going to happen. He's going to want to help."

"Really? He won't turn you in?" Cindy asked.

Jessica shook her head. "We're the only family we've got. He won't turn me in. He might not even get a notice that I'm wanted for questioning, considering we're related. Head Office will have to know that he's been helping to hide me, or at least they'll suspect it."

"You said he's chasing down a paranormal right now, right? That means he's in the city. You should stay away from there. Do you have a meeting place?"

"Her brother's chasing a paranormal in the city?" Cindy asked, and though there had to be a lot of paranormals in the city, a tingling sensation spidered up her spine.

"Someone with electric powers. Apparently he's been causing problems, but if I call him then he should drop it and come to help me out."

"No, don't call him," Jack said. "If you're suspected of being a paranormal then his calls are going to be monitored for a while, at least until Head Office is sure that you're not going to run to him. They'll probably wait a few days before telling him what happened."

Even though Cindy owed Jessica her life, she couldn't help but latch onto that one piece of information about the electric paranormal that Jessica's hunter brother was chasing after. "Wait a minute, Jamie is a paranormal who controls electricity. I told you that, Jack!"

Jack looked right at her, his brows raised high. "Yeah but...what are the odds it's the same guy? There's lots of other paranormals with powers similar to each other."

Cindy's hands reached up to grab at her hair, just because she needed something to grip onto before she flew off the handle. "It's him, Jack! It has to be him!"

"I guess this paranormal's a friend of yours?" Jessica asked. "You said his name was Jamie?"

Cindy nodded. "You're both hunters, can either of you check and see if he's on your wanted list?"

"All paranormals are on the wanted list," Jack said, though not unkindly. "We don't have our computers with us, and it wouldn't be smart to access the database until we can get to a tablet or phone, something that can't be traced. I can't just sign in with my name and password after what I did," Jack said.

"If my brother's after your friend, then I'm sorry but your friend is going to be picked up," Jessica said. "He's good at tracking people down."

"Can't you ask him to stop?" Cindy demanded, staring at Jessica. "If you can get word to him, call him somehow without being traced—"

"Jack just said that his phone is likely already tapped," Jessica said. "I can't just call him and ask for a favor like that. He'll go to prison."

Jack touched Cindy's arm, and though his touch was welcome, and a little soothing, it did nothing to calm the fires that were burning brighter inside of her.

"Cindy, you're glowing," Jack said. "I'm sorry, I really am, but
please."

Cindy took in a deep breath, and the fire went out a little. When she looked down at her hands, the glow vanished.

"I'm sorry about your friend," Jessica said, and she put her car into drive. "but you both need to get out of here now. Get as far away from the city as you can. Go on up to Canada if you want. I hear they're a lot less strict with paranormals so long as they're escorted by, you know, normal people."

The way Jessica said
normal people
, as if she was apologizing to Cindy, was almost laughable considering they were in the same boat.

Either way, Cindy didn't like it. "We can't just let her brother pick him up, Jack. He saved my life."

"That was years ago," Jack said, and then quickly continued on when Cindy felt her body start to glow with heat again. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry. I don't want to do this anymore than you do. This sucks, a lot. I get it, but paranormals usually go off on their own anyway. You don't owe him because he did you a favor way back then."

"He's been my best friend ever since," Cindy said. "He was who I was going to meet when you picked me up."

"I shouldn't be hearing anymore of this," Jessica said quickly. "This is too much for me to know already in case I get picked up."

Jack nodded to her. "Take care of yourself," he said, stepping back from the car and putting his good arm out, making sure Cindy was at a safe distance as well.

Jessica nodded. "You too," she said, and then slowly pulled out of the lot.

Cindy didn't hear tires squealing or shouts for her to stop when she drove back to the gate. The man watching the property let her out as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"We don't have a lot of time here," Jack said as he took Cindy by the hand and brought her into the storage shed. He yanked a big white cover off of what turned out to be a motorcycle. Cindy didn't know enough about them to know what kind it was, or what year. It looked a few years older, but still in good shape. It was black, the type of bike she would have seen in a racing movie, or something. There were also two helmets.

"Jack," Cindy asked, watching as he packed up a small bag of things. He looked up at her. "Seriously, why have all this stuff? Why prepare to leave? You're normal, you have no reason to run."

Jack looked down at the backpack in his hands, and Cindy noticed how his knuckles as had turned white as he gripped it. Then he sighed. "I guess...at first I was telling myself it was in case there was another accident. This would be to make sure I wouldn't have to start from scratch again."

"You have two helmets with your bike," Cindy said.

Jack smiled this time, a mirror of that shy boy smile he used to give her back when everything was still open blue skies and sunshine for miles. "Yeah, I'm thinking that had more to do with my little fantasy of finding you and taking you away from all this. It wasn't actually supposed to really happen like this, though."

"How was it supposed to happen?" Cindy asked, intrigued.

Jack shrugged, and he seemed to be having a hard time looking at her. "Basically that neither of us were actually going to be running from the authorities. The ideal fantasy would've been to find you and just, well, take you. If anyone had stopped us and asked, I would've said I was taking you into Head Office myself, but I know that's not how this is going to work."

Jack looked right at her. "We might not make it to Canada, you know, especially if we go after your friend."

Cindy's heart stopped, and for a hair of a second, she was terrified she'd misunderstood him. "You mean...we're going back?"

"I owe you, considering I believed those terrible things about you. I knew it never fit your personality, but I just...it was too much, you know? The fire, the fact that you never showed up, I never saw you again and—"

Cindy cut him off when she rushed into his arms, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Jack seemed shocked for a whole second before his hands were on her hips and his mouth melted against hers, warm and pliant, his tongue licked her lips and then thrust inside next.

Cindy's body buzzed. This was the absolute worst time and place for this to happen, but her hands were pulling at his shirt and his pants. There was definitely no time for that, but she had to have him. Everything in Cindy's body demanded that Jack take her right then and there.

He got the message loud and clear, and as Cindy opened his pants, Jack started lifting her skirt.

Cindy felt his cock, hot and hard, even before she managed to get his pants down. Her sex swelled and a rush of warmth flooded her, making her slick.

Jack grunted when her hand gripped his heavy cock, and then Cindy gasped and made a noise that was almost a squeal when he lifted her into his arms. Sometimes she forgot about how strong he was. He held her up so easily with one of his arms hurting as bad as it did.

"Got to have you. Right now," he said, sounding like he'd run all the way here from his house.

Cindy curled her legs around his waist, immediately feeling the crown of his length touching her sex, sliding between her wet opening, and then penetrating her.

Cindy cried out, first with the discomfort of the initial thrust, and then with pleasure as Jack gripped her by the ass and pushed her up and down on top of him. Her orgasm was already building, and Jack stumbled to the wall of his storage unit, pressing Cindy's back against it. She didn't even mind the cold concrete against her skin when Jack gripped her by the wrists and pushed her hands above her head, his hips pumping back and forth so that his flesh pounded almost painfully against her.