Rush of Redemption (Rush Series #2) (22 page)

~*~

Trinity jerked awake. It came to her suddenly, she wasn’t sure
why, but she knew, she just knew that 
Tiko
 was
lying about having Blake. It just didn’t ring true to her. She didn’t know why
he wanted her to believe he had him, but she was convinced 
Tiko
 didn’t have her son. She heaved a racking sigh.
Her head hurt, her body ached, her breasts were swollen beyond endurance, and
it hurt to breathe from where 
Marlena
 had
kicked her in the ribs. She heard odd sounds being amplified in the small metal
enclosure. It took her a moment to understand them. One sound was the rough
rattling coming from her chest as she tried to breathe; the other was a
mechanical vibration… like a cellphone. She tilted her head at that
sound. 
How odd
, she thought.

She opened her eyes to see
the grey swirl of morning coming into the building. She strained to hear the
sound but it was hard to find its location because of the acoustics of the
small metal building. Tilting her head, she heard it again. Running her eyes
over the concrete surface of the floor, she blinked rapidly when she saw what
was emulating the noise… it was a cellphone. She couldn’t believe it. She
looked around to see if this was some kind of horrible trick. Moving rapidly to
the phone, she lifted it with trembling fingers. She turned it over in her
hands until she found the button to activate the phone. Across the top of the
face, it read, 
Marlena’s
 phone.

Vaguely, she remembered
when 
Marlena
 had pulled the phone out to
look at it right before 
Tiko
 had shot her.
She must have dropped it. Trinity’s mind went into 
hyperdrive
.
Who did she call? What did she tell them? She didn’t really know where she was.
In the end, there was only one person she wanted to talk to.
To
apologize to.
To beg forgiveness from…

Shakily, she forced fingers
that didn’t want to cooperate to dial Rush’s cellphone. Her heart began to
pound, causing her head to pound even harder. She winced against the pain. The
phone rang once, then twice, three times… continuing until it went to
voicemail. Her lips quivered when she heard his clipped command: 
Leave
a message and I’ll get back with you
.

She swallowed hard, knowing
he wouldn’t be able to… she didn’t want him to find her – only Blake.

With a shaky and watery
voice, she said: “Hey, it’s me. I’m okay. Rush… I’m so sorry. Sorrier than I
can ever tell you. I was wrong in so many ways. I just… I just needed my mom…
and wanted to believe…” she stopped to stifle a sob. “Please don’t come after
me. Please concentrate only on getting Blake home and safe. He’s so wonderful
and doesn’t deserve the danger I’ve put him in. I never meant…” she swallowed
hard, not being able to finish the sentence. “I love you, Rush. I’m sorry I
didn’t trust you enough, even though you gave me no reason not to. Please tell
my precious boy that I love him so much. Please let him grow up believing good
things about his mom… even though you know better. I deserve this…” she said,
as the voicemail recorder ended the call with a beep.

She hugged the cellphone to
her chest as she cried and rocked herself. Well, that was it. She’d done what
she’d needed to do. Wiping a hand over her eyes so she could see through her
tears, she took the battery out of the phone and tossed both the phone and
battery into the bucket in the corner. She didn’t want Rush trying to track her
here. She didn’t want him placed in any more danger because of her. Her son
needed one parent. Unconsciously, she rubbed a hand against the gunshot-wound
scar on her chest. Next time she might not be able to save him. She couldn’t live
with that. Curling back up in her fetal position, emotionally drained, she
succumbed to her body’s need to sleep.

Chapter Thirteen

Rush was sitting at the desk in his motel room in El Paso, Texas, his
face buried in his hands, when his cellphone vibrated on the table. He was
exhausted. He’d been running on next to no sleep since he’d left to fly to the
Caymans nearly a week before. He’d known he shouldn’t have gone. While he
wasn’t much 
a of
 a believer in those who
profess to possess clairvoyance, he’d had a feeling from the moment he’d driven
away from his house that morning, he shouldn’t have gone.

From the very first night,
Trinity had begun to put on her running shoes. While she’d promised him she
wasn’t going to run anymore, he’d known better. When he’d been notified the
next day that his grandfather had come by the house – even though his
grandfather had known he was already gone – he’d known what the old man was up
to. Him and that damned 
prenup
. Rush had hopped
on a plane that night, but by the time he’d gotten home, she’d already left
Alex Masters in the hospital.

As he couldn’t get a trace
on her phone, he didn’t know at first where she was. Several things happened
all at once, they found out 
Sundra’s
 car
had a 
Lojack
installed by the manufacturer; and
he’d found the Fed Ex envelope in her condo, giving him the address. He and
Alex Masters had hopped on a plane immediately. His heart had stopped beating
when he’d found the envelope. He had no idea what it was, nor who’d sent it. It
was an obvious setup. And Trinity and Blake were on their way into this very
elaborate trap.

He’d just arrived in El
Paso and had called 
Sundra’s
 
cellphone
. He’d begun telling her that it was a setup when
all hell had broken loose and then their line had been severed. When 
Sundra
 had finally called him back, his heart had
literally stopped when he’d realized what she was saying. She had Blake, but
they had Trinity. He’d barely retrieved his infant son from the hysterical 
Sundra
 when 
Tiko
 Mars
had made his first contact.

“I want ten million for
both,” 
Tiko
 had said.

“Won’t ever happen, 
Tiko
,” Rush had told him as was previously scripted between
he and Alex.

“You say that now. Give it
a couple days and I promise you’ll be singing a different tune.”

“You have them both?” Rush
had asked him.

Tiko
 had hesitated before responding, “Yep. Don’t know how long I
can keep the boy healthy, though, he’s awfully tiny. 
Ummm
,
and your woman, man is she luscious.”

“
Tiko
,
I will kill you if you touch her,” Rush had declared menacingly.

“I want my money. I’ll be
in contact with the details…”

“I want proof of life,”
Rush had interrupted.

“You’ll get it…” then the
line had died.

Dragging his mind from that
call, Rush glanced at the vibrating
cellphone
: 
Marlena
 Franklin
. Rush assumed it was
Trinity’s father’s pathetic attempt in reaching him as Rush had refused to take
his calls. Her father should have tried to stop her, but he’d let her go,
probably to her death. Rush closed his eyes. He
knew 
Tiko
 Mars… had a bad history with him. He had to play
this very carefully.

He groaned as he remembered
that pathetic picture of a battered, naked Trinity holding up a flimsy
newspaper. God! He’d nearly lost it. 
His beautiful,
sweet, innocent Trinity.
 He’d kill 
Tiko
 with
his bare hands when he got a chance.

Rush knew the bulk of what
was happening had to do with his past dealings with 
Tiko
 Mars
more than anything. He also knew that no matter how much money changed hands,
he’d never get Trinity back alive. He looked over at his sleeping baby and
cringed. He didn’t want that for his son, or for himself. He needed to find her
before the money exchange happened. Alex Masters was out right now working his
contacts.

Rush threw back his bourbon
and tensed when his cellphone vibrated again. 
Tiko
 Mars.
When he clicked on his phone and saw the picture of his Trinity and an
obviously dead 
Marlena
 Franklin, his blood
ran cold. And especially when he read the text: 
How about now? Still
not wanting to negotiate?

Marlena
 Franklin? What did she have to do with anything? Rush’s mind
spun. Was she in on it with 
Tiko
 Mars? 
Because of her husband?
 It made no sense. And 
Marlena
 Franklin had just called him. He clicked his
phone and saw she had left a message. He hesitated a second before clicking on
the message. His heart crushed in his chest when he heard Trinity’s voice. He
struggled to rein it in enough to listen to her message.

Hey, it’s me, I’m okay.
Rush… I’m so sorry. Sorrier than I can ever tell you. I was wrong in so many ways.
I just… I just needed my mom… and wanted to believe… Please don’t come after
me. Please concentrate only on getting Blake home. He’s so wonderful and
doesn’t deserve the danger I’ve put him in. I never meant… I love you Rush. I’m
sorry I didn’t trust you enough, even though you gave me no reason not to.
Please tell my precious boy that I love him so much. Please let him grow up
believing good things about his mom… even though you know better. I deserve
this…

Damn it to hell. She’d
called him and he’d ignored the call. He’d told her he’d always take her call.
He’d let her down when she’d needed him the most. Quickly, he called the phone
back but it went straight to voicemail. Clicking back onto the message he
listened to her again. Scrolling through his phone list, he pressed Alex’s
number. “I need you here now… Okay, ten minutes.”

He replayed Trinity’s
message again. It was obvious she was crying and scared. It was also obvious
she was telling him goodbye. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He glanced once
more at his son nestled on the bed. Nope, he wasn’t going to let it end this
way. People she’d trusted had been letting her down her whole life… he wasn’t
going to be one of them.

A soft tap on the door
notified him that Alex had arrived. Rush moved to the door and let him in.

“Alex, I need you to listen
to this. I need to know where this phone is now. Okay?”

Alex listened in silence as
he spoke, and took the phone without comment. Alex pressed the message button
and listened intently. He cut his eyes to meet Rush’s when he heard her voice.
Once the call ended, Alex depressed it and played it a second time while
putting a finger in his other ear, concentration etched into his sharp
features. Once it finished for the second time, Alex glanced at the phone.

“Call came in fifteen
minutes ago,” he said to himself. “I’ll call some people I know and have the
phone located… if it’s still on,” Alex said emotionlessly and matter-of-factly.

Rush shook his head. “It won’t
be on. Didn’t you listen to her message? Even if she somehow still has the
phone, she’d have turned it off. She’d remember that’s how we found her in the
garage the last…” Rush stopped as the emotion of the situation became too much
for moment. “…the last time she was taken. Damn it! Damn it to hell!” Rush
exclaimed as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. His jarring
voice caused his son to jerk and a thin cry broke the air. Rush hung his head.
He didn’t know if he could save her this time.

Alex padded a hand on his
shoulder. He didn’t offer any false assurances, instead he said, “I’ll get
started on this right away.” Without another word, he exited the room.

Rush went to his infant son
and gathered him up in his arms and kissed his head. He closed his eyes when
his son nuzzled into his neck. Sobs broke loose from his chest and he held his
son close to his body. “I know, buddy,” he whispered brokenly. “I miss her,
too. I miss your mommy, so much.”

~*~

Trinity couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t breathe and she was so hot.
She turned her face into the cement floor seeking any coolness, but it was
denied her. She struggled to lift her head, but it was just too heavy. A fit of
coughing came over her and the extreme pain ripping through her chest caused
her to pant in agony. She knew she should be afraid, but she couldn’t exactly
remember why. Curling back up in a ball to comfort herself, she drifted back
out.

Sharp slaps to her face
made her open her weary eyes. She struggled to focus on the white-haired man in
front of her. Somewhere in her fuzzy mind, she knew she recognized him, but she
couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“What the hell is wrong
with her? 
You stupid morons.
 I can’t let her
die yet! I don’t have the money! What part of that is too hard to understand?
Go to the store and get her something. She is burning up with a fever; get her
something to bring it down now!” 
Tiko
 Mars
shouted.

Trinity’s head lolled to
the side and she was out before the men slunk out of the building. 
Tiko
 stood and rubbed a hand over his neck. This had
been dragged out for far too long. This had to end! 
Fine! Rush Drayton
wanted to play hardball, well let’s play
, 
Tiko
 Mars
thought. Pulling his phone out, he took a picture of the very sick woman lying
naked on the cold concrete… looking like death. 
That should be a nice
reminder of what 
could happen… of what would
happen, 
Tiko
 thought savagely
.