The Purrfect Plan (12 page)

"You think someone's snatched her?" Hawk asked, linking in to the conversation.

"Right now anything is possible. Hold tight, Mum, I'm on my way." He hung up the phone, reaching for his keys.

"You can't take the car." Hawk stepped forward, grabbing hold of River's wrist. "The truck is re-filling, we'll form a search party, 'cause there's no way we're going to be able to pick up her scent with all this smoke in the air."

River wanted to snarl at Hawk and shake him off, but he also knew he was right. When it came to Storm, he was far from level headed.

"If anything happens…" His breath seized in his lungs and his chest tightened at the mere thought of losing Storm. He shook his head.

Hawk let go of his wrists, taking a step back. "I know, Riv, have faith. We'll find her, okay."

River nodded, following his brother out.

~ * ~

Groggy and unfocused, Storm roused to a throbbing pain in her head. She groaned, blinking to clear her vision. She was slumped over a steering wheel. With great effort, she lifted her head and tried to move her limbs, only to find her wrists were tied to the steering wheel with torn cloth from her own sundress.

Sweat dripped from her body as the temperature in the car felt like an oven on high. All the windows were rolled up. She ignored the pain in her head, glancing around. Through the front window racing up the hill towards her was a large wall of black and grey smoke. The distant flicker of yellow and orange was enough to make her throat constrict in panic.

Desperately, she tugged at her bonds, twisting them and struggling to get them loose. She only managed to rub raw her wrists, now throbbing painfully along with her head.

Take a deep breath. Stay calm and think.
She glanced around through the Rover's back window when the glint of water in a dam only a few hundred meters away caught her eye.
Oh thank God!
A plan formed in her mind. If only she could get free of her damn bonds.

Storm slid across the seat, flicked her shoe off, and hooked her big toe under the glove box latch, pulling until it fell open. Stacked with papers, she dragged them out of the glove box. She almost grinned when her eye caught the gleam of silver handled hunting knife housed in a black leather case, obviously River's.
Thank god that bitch didn't check the glove box.

The muscle in her leg burned as she twisted her hip to shove her foot into the glove box, sliding the knife out.

Storm cursed a blue streak when it fell to the floor. She managed to drag it across the floor of the cab to her side. Shoving hard, she hooked the slim case into her toes, trying to lift it onto the seat beside her.

Her first two attempts failed, the knife falling back to the cab floor. Refusing to give in, she managed to lift it high enough to drop onto the long bench seat, dragging it as close to her body as she could before dipping her body and picking it up in her teeth.

She dropped it into her hands. Unclipping the press-stud, she slid the knife out. She had to grip the blade instead of the handle, to cut through the thick material Gia had used to bind her writs.

Storm winced as she slipped several times, leaving a few cuts on the palm of her hand. Relief swamped over her as the material fell away.

With no time to lose, she unlocked the door and scrambled out. No way would she be able to hot-wire River's Ranger. The smoke was too thick, and anyway, she didn't know which direction to drive.

The wind, superheated by the smoke and oncoming fire, made her cough. She had to think, which became harder to do with each breath. Her eyes stung and her lungs burned. The dam was only a few meters away, but it wouldn't be deep enough to save her.

She prayed to God that her plan would now work. The problem with hiding in a dam from an oncoming fire, if you didn't drown, you'd suffocate as the fire sucked the oxygen out of the air while it roared past. On the back of the Rover's tray was a steel lock box.

Storm scrambled up onto the truck's tray. Ripping open the lid, she hurriedly tossed out the tools, keeping hold of the hammer to smash the bolt that kept the box from sliding about during driving. When it broke free, she proceeded to pound at the hinges of the lid until it finally fell away. She grabbed the side handle and dragged it off the back of the Rover. Even empty with no lid, it was heavy, but that was exactly what she was counting on.

Coughing and grunting, she struggled with the box towards the dam, behind her the roar and glow of the firestorm bore down on her, reaching and surrounding River's Rover.

She fought the rising panic, her mind going over and over. You
can do this, you can survive, you have to live for River.
And she had one bitch's ass to kick. Her vision became more obscure, the thicker the smoke. She pulled the box, her feet slipping out from under her, hitting the dam wall. She slid the box down the rest of the way and into the water. The cooler water soothed her heated skin as she sank deeper, tugging the now floating box behind her. Once she located the middle of the dam, she quickly flipped the box, making sure she trapped air inside. She prayed the trick worked, for any moment there would be no air to breathe at all.

Storm glanced up to see the bright yellow and orange only feet away. She took a deep breath, gripping on to the box as she went under the water. It was a battle to hold on to the box and keep it steady and keep it submerged while it still had air.

All around her the water lit up as the flames passed overhead, the water grew hotter, and her lungs began to burn. She came up under the box, sucking in her captured air before sinking down again. She did this several times until the air in the box became thin, un-breathable.

The box tilted under her tiring grip, starting to fill with water and sinking lower into the dam. She swam out from under it and brought her head to the surface. The fire had passed all around her, covering the surroundings in white and black ash embers which still glowed. Storm knew she wouldn't be able to walk on the ground for some time. Slowly, she moved to the shallows, sitting down in the mud as the water lapped around her body.

Thankfully, the air was clearer as the wind pushed the smoke in a different direction. She took in several breaths of clean air, her mouth still tasting of smoke, while the cuts and burns on her hands and wrists were soothed by the water. There was nothing to do now but wait and reflect on the fact someone had just tried to murder her.

It wasn't fear Storm felt, she had stared at death and lived despite it. The adrenaline in her system now caused her whole body to shake. If she stayed put, every fiber of her being knew River would come for her.

~ * ~

The light was fading fast. Storm hadn't turned up back in Black Town, nor had she returned to the lakeside camp. Using the in-road to the lake, River and his team of mixed breed cat shifters were able to follow the Rover's unique tire tread on the dirt bush roads. They did not turn off onto the sealed road but instead went deeper into the bush right towards the black scorched ground of a recent fire outburst that had swept through the area. River was damn near out of his mind with fear. It was easy to become disorientated in the heavy smoke. River knew very little survived the ferocity of a firestorm.

The Black Town fire truck crossed over the blackened ground. The men who sat on the back of the truck sprayed water over still burning hollow trees as they passed. River struggled to dampen down his panic. If she was out there somewhere…if she burned alive…oh God, he felt ill at the possibility.

Still he went on in sheer determination to find her. He would not stop until he had his mate back in his arms.

The fact she'd left all her belongings, including her laptop behind, told him she wouldn't have run off on a whim. It weighed heavy on his mind why she would have left the safety of the lake camp. Unless she didn't go willingly.

A stony somber silence fell over the men; pitying glances cast in his direction, making his anger simmer. The look of doubt on their faces, knowing Storm held little chance of being alive if she was out there, just made him even more determined to prove them wrong.

Powerful searchlights cut through the blackness to aide their search, despite their keen night-time vision. They painfully crept forward, leaving no part of each area unturned. Several cats had shifted, trying to pick up any kind of scent other than smoke. They trotted alongside the Black Town fire truck.

A loud roar from Ted indicated he'd found something. Hawk, handling the truck, nodded to acknowledge he too had heard Ted. He slowly turned the wheel, making their way through the burnt scrub.

River was out of the truck before Hawk even brought it to a stop, racing towards the burned out vehicle. River's whole body shook in fear as he saw the number plates of his Rover. Slowly, he approached around the driver's side. Taking a deep breath, he glanced into the burnt out interior of the cab. Finding it empty was no relief from his anguish. There's no way she could have outrun a firestorm.

"Search the area," he bellowed.

They spread out, doing as he commanded. On the back of his Rover, he noticed his lock box missing, but all his tools spread over the back. His searchlight in hand, he walked past the fire truck and caught the glint of water. His feet moved towards it as a glimmer of hope sparked.

A small dam. He swept his light over the area. He nearly missed her as she was almost completely covered in mud. She lay huddled by a slightly blackened lock box. His heart stopped for a split second in his chest as he focused the light on her muddy form. He scrambled down the side of the dam.

"Oh God, cookie." Gently he touched the side of her muddy face. With every care, he turned her body towards him. At the soft rise of her chest, he sobbed in relief. She was alive. He couldn't tell how badly she was hurt for all the mud, but she was alive.

"Hawk!" he screamed. "Get me a blanket!"

Men came running to the edge of the dam. Hawk sprinted over with a grey blanket.

"By the mother goddess, how on earth did she survive the firestorm?" Hawk shone his light on Storm's muddy form.

River lifted her while Hawk wrapped her in the blanket before settling her back into River's arms. He carried her up the dam bank towards the truck. The men parted and scrambled to assist him into the truck as he held her close.

With everyone back on board, Hawk drove the truck, heading straight to the nearest hospital. The entire search party were in quiet awe, no doubt all wondering how she had survived. River didn't care how. The fact she had was all that mattered right now.

She stirred in his arms, a soft moan escaping her lips as her eyes fluttered open. She raised her head slightly to meet his gaze.

"River?" she croaked. Tears spilled down her cheeks, washing away some of the dried mud.

"Shhh, cookie, I've got you. Don't talk until you're better. We're taking you to the hospital right now." He kept his tone calm and gentle. One thing still nagged at him. He gently stroked her head, gazing into her pain-filled eyes.

"Tell me, did someone do this to you?"

More tears streaked down her cheeks as she gave one simple nod.

More questions than answers moved through his mind in that moment. They would wait until Storm was better. One thing was certain, when he found whoever did this to her, he would rip them to fucking shreds.

Chapter Thirteen

River stared at the oxygen filter fitted under Storm's nose to help clear her airways of smoke. It had taken him and a nurse a good half hour to clean all the mud off her body before they dressed her and inserted a fluid drip to prevent dehydration.

"You've got a very clever woman there, Mr. Black." Dr. Wilson nodded towards Storm's sleeping form. "The mud on her skin would have protected her from being burnt. I cannot find a burn on her body. Of course she will suffer the effects of mild smoke inhalation for a while, but with the humidifier, her lungs should clear. Her body was dehydrated and suffering from exhaustion."

"The babies?" River glanced briefly up from his seat by Storm's hospital bed.

"All scans came up clear. What concerns me the most is the blow to her head. She has mild swelling. It should reduce in a day or too, but we'll need to keep a close eye on her to make sure there are no lasting effects." The older man shook his greying hair. His blue-grey eyes regarded Storm with professional curiosity. "I'd like to know myself how she got out of a major firestorm so unscathed."

"I'll be sure to let you know when she wakes," River said, grateful for the doctor's care. River decided it best to take her to the local district hospital, rather than use Milo, the town's shifter doctor. The fires were finally out across the area. Not long after they arrived at the hospital, it began to rain in big fat drops, cooling a scorched land to every one's relief. He'd sent Hawk home to get some rest along with everyone except Hamish Brown and his brother Andy who took guard duty to help protect Storm.

"I am also concerned about the marks on her wrists and hands."

River, too, had noticed them once her arms were clean. It was more evidence someone had tried to kill her and cover it up by the fire. No doubt Storm's quick thinking saved her life. River drew in a deep breath. There was a time for anger and vengeance, but right now he needed to stay calm and collected for Storm's sake. He lifted one of her bandaged hands, holding it gently in his, stroking his thumb over the back of her hand.