Storm Warning (18 page)

Well, she decided, sliding her hotel key and phone in her pocket—she would just go find him.
She might find it in herself to apologize for keeping Vance’s appearance to herself. She might even ask him to stay. She just didn’t know.

She saw Adam as she was walking into the hotel bar. He was cha
tting it up with a pretty blond, who fluttered
her lashes
at him
. Tory smiled and silently wished him luck.

She didn’t spot Gabe, however.

“Excuse me,” Tory signaled the bartender and leaned onto the counter. “Is there another bar close by?”

“Something wrong with this one?” The burly man win
ked causing his eye
brow ring to glitter in the light.

Tory smiled. “No. I’m looking for someone.”

“Ah, okay. Try
Dj’s
. It’s one block that way,” he motioned to their left, “and down four buildings. It’s big, brick, and loud. You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you.”

It was almost completely dark outside when Tory made it out into the hotel parking lot. She had
truly missed Oklahoma sunsets—and Oklahoma air—and Oklahoma everything. The weather
had turned cool, thanks to the cold front moving into the area. She had learned from the radar that this
storm would be wild and wicked—her kind of storm—
and
it
would probably hit around eight-thirty.

Absently, she
brushed her hair out of her face when the wind whipped
at
it. She needed it cut, she thought rounding the corner of the building. Maybe after the season, she would go somewhere fancy and have it styled. She wondered what Gabe would think about her
with
shorter hair. Then, she wondered
—like she’d wondered every time she thought of him
lately
—
if they would even still be together
then
—if they were even together now.

She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice the
Viking’s
van until it
passed her and
braked
to a stop ahead of her
. It wasn’t in her nature to fear, so she kept walking toward it. She wasn’t even afraid when Vance stepped out of the driver’s seat and Charlie emerged from the passenger side. Curious, Tory trudged ahead.

“You boys lost?”

“No.” It was Vance who spoke when Tory stopped in front of them. “We’re exactly where we need to be.”

Finally, uneasiness began to poke her in the brain. Stupid, she thought inwardly cursing herself. She had just walked right into a trap.
“I’ll just leave it to you, then.” When she started to pass them, they stood firm and blocked her. “Let me by.”

“Looking for someone?” Vance asked.

“Your boyfriend, maybe?”

Uneasiness turned to icy fear.
“Where’s Gabe?”

“He’s sleeping. He may have a headache when he wakes up, but he’ll be just fine.”
Vance smiled, revealing perfectly white, gleaming teeth in the glow of the streetlight.

“What the hell did you do to him?”

Proud and boastful, Charlie peeped up. “I
hit
him on the back of
the
head with a baseball bat. Went down hard too,” he
glanced at his brother and grinned.

“So you sucker-punched him. Doesn’t surprise me. If you had any balls
at all,
you’d be the one lying flat on your ass.”

Vance lunged
,
but Tory anticipated his movement and
slammed her body into Charlie, who
hit the
ground with
a pathetic squeal.
Vance slipped in the dirt when he met with air. Tory ran
,
hoping she had diverted them enough.

She rounded the corner of an old building and ducked into the alley behind it. She was completely winded and struggled to pull air in and out of her abused lungs.
This couldn’t be happening.
She couldn’t be running from two
crazy
idiots in the dark.

Gabe
.

They’d hurt him. She needed to find him and take care of him. Her heart galloped in her chest as she scanned the dark ally. She heard the sound of an engine growing closer
. Her stomach
drop
ped
. She pushed off the wall and ran blindly.

If she could get back to the hotel, she would be safe. She could call the police and search for Gabe. He needed her now.

Gabe
sauntered into the hotel bar and spotted Adam immediately. They were scheduled to leave in twenty minutes and Tory was nowhere to be found. He knew he’d hurt her, no matter
how she’d tried to hide it. Her big, brown eyes were expressive and she could pull off a lie about as easy as Pinocchio.

He knew he had done the right thing, though. He’d achieved what he had set out to do. His portfolio was bulging now, thanks to the Pirates. He was both incredibly grateful and scraped raw. Tory hadn’t asked him to stay, hadn’t even hinted that she’d wanted him
to
. He’d brooded for an entire day to give her space, and still she hadn’t come to him.

He couldn’t be sorry for getting angry. She hadn’t even planned to tell him she’d run into Vance. No, he hadn’t turned out to be a problem, but Gabe had the right to know. After tomorr
ow, he wouldn’t have that right—
unless she asked him to stay.

But f
irst, he thought as he walked up to Adam, they had to find out where she was. He tapped Adam on the shoulder and was met with bleary eyes. “Are you drunk?”

“What? No, it’s almost time to leave.”

“Your eyes are blurry,” Gabe accused.

“I stayed out all night last night. I’m a little tired. See that cute blond over there?” He pointed to the side of the stage. “The one in pink? I got her number.”

“That’s great. Listen—do you know where Tory went?” He raised his voice to compete with the next song
delivered by
the live band.
“Billy and the twins are looking, but they haven’t called me. Frankie and Kary are loading the trucks.”

Adam sighed and pushed off the bar.
“I was looking for her earlier.”
He
walked out of the bar two
lazy
steps ahead of Gabe. “She’s not in your room?”

“No
.”

“Did you try her cell phone?” Adam asked as they reached the trucks. Frankie was loading the last suitcase.

“We have it all except for
yours
and Tory’s things,” Frankie said to Gabe. “Kary can start on Tory’s stuff if we’re in a hurry.”

“Cell phones aren’t working,” Billy said, coming up behind them. “I’ve been trying to get Tory for an hour now. One of the towers must be down.”

For the first time, Gabe noticed it was windy. The sun had already set, bring
ing
the temperature down
to just above chilly
. Surely Tory would have been back by now. She’d been excited for this storm. After having stayed at her parent’s house in Ada, she seemed to be looking at the chase in a new light. She anticipated watching a storm form rather than dread
ing
it.

But where was she?

Chapter Twelve

Her luck had run out.

Tory stared at the brick wall and fought panic. She’d hit a dead end and she could hear them coming on foot. She couldn’t scale a wall, and she couldn’t walk through one either. She felt like a terrified rabbit trapped in a steel cage.

“See all that time you wasted running?” Vance grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him. “Go get the van,” he said to his brother.

“You can’t do this,” she said. “You’ll go to jail, both of you will.”

“Now, now. You’re just going to be a little too busy to chase this storm. It’s looking like a giant. As soon as it’s over, we’ll come back for you.”

He opened the rear door and
pushed her inside, shutting them both in
.

“Why do I need to be out of the way?”

Vance took a pair of handcuffs out of a bag on the floor and fixed one side around her wrist. She squirmed, but her effort was in vain.

“Because the Pirate’s have been a little too popular this s
eason. First that hotshot joins
your team. I bet he’s paid out the ass for it, too.
Then you selflessly risk your precious life to save an old man, then you buy him a tornado shelter.
Soon after that headline,
you’re
giving a s
peech at a national convention.”

Vance shook his head. “I think your team can afford to miss the storm of the season, don’t you?”

Tory stared at him mutely. “You’re jealous?”

“Like hell.”

“You’re
jealous
of all the publicity we’ve gotten. That’s incredible.”

Charlie steered the van out of town. Tory watched the world get darker as the city lights faded in the distance. She didn’t know where they were taking her, or if Gabe was all right. She’d think of something. She had too.

If only she’d stayed in the hotel room. She could have finished packing their things, helped load them. Then the whole team could have gone out and looked for Gabe. The odds would have been better and Adam had already proved he could best Vance.

Were they looking for them
by now? It was almost eight o’clock—minutes from their
scheduled meeting time. Surely they were wondering why none of her
and Gabe’s
things were loaded.

The van slowed and Charlie pulled it over to the shoulder.
Tory could see nothing but flat, rolling
plains
. When Vance dragged her out of the van, she felt the wind bite against her bare skin. She hadn’t even thought to put a jacket on over her t-shirt.
Something was off, though. The
storm
system was supposed to be moving
straight
east, but the wind had shifted. She could feel it.
The little hairs on her arms prickled
a
s she stared at a
perfectly formed
wall cloud.

Vance led her to a fence and fastened the other side of the handcuff to it. She kicked out, screamed, and cursed him—but found herself locked to the pole anyway.

“You guys can’t do this. Look at the angles in those clouds. This storm is going to shift.”

“Now, honey. Leave this to the experts, al
l right. That storm is heading e
ast. You’
re going to see it just fine from here. We’ll see how your precious team functions without
its
captain.”

“Vance. Don’t go, please! What if it comes? I can’t just be stuck here.” Tory shook uncontrollably. The cold blooded glaze in his eyes told her
he wouldn’
t budge. He was really going to leave her here, handcuffed to a fence.

“Enjoy the show.” He jumped into the van
with Charlie trailing behind him
.
She
covered her eyes with her upper
arm as the van skidded away, throwing dirt
and rocks on her.

When the dust settled, Tory sat down on her butt and pulled at the cuffs. The
cold metal dug into her skin. She couldn’
t shake them off or break them apart.

Like a bad dream, Tory felt the hairs on her arms prickling
again
. The wind
was
shifting. She could
feel
it. She watched the leaves
move on a nearby tree—
north-e
ast
. The storm was coming. And it was coming right for her.

“Where the hell is she?” Adam asked more to himself. He slammed the
back door
of the SUV and walked around front to grab his cell phone.
“I’ve got reception now.”

“She’s never late,” Gabe comm
ented, scanning the parking lot for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past half hour. Lightning flashed, lighting up the black sky. A tornado
watch
had already been issued, b
ut so far there were no
tornadoes
on the radar. And Tory was still missing.

“I
know.” Adam dialed her number.

“Look,
” Gabe
jerked his head to the road. The Viking’s van had left some time ago, and was now rolling back
into
town.
Vance Johnson l
ooked out the passenger window—
his
gaze locking with Gabe’s—
and he knew. Gabe could see it in his eyes.