Flee, page 22
“I don’t think she’s going to get a choice. This is no longer an optional thing.”
Gage sighed. On the one hand, he was happy to have more time with her. On the other, she was going to be mad. And he didn’t blame her.
But he’d rather she was mad than dead.
“I’ll do whatever I need to do,” Gage said.
Trevor sat behind the wheel of the SUV and waited in line. He fucking hated waiting. Almost as much as he hated that bitch and the fucking lawyer.
He wished he’d killed them both. Instead, he barely made it out of the house before the cops arrived. His head still fucking hurt four days later. If he went to a doctor, they were sure to tell him he had a concussion, but he wasn’t going to a doctor.
A car pulled away, and he eased forward. He studied all the kids walking out. Talking, laughing, living their boring fucking lives. By the time he was their age, he’d already learned about the reality of the world. Kill or be killed. That was how things worked.
A horn behind him had him ready to jump out of the SUV and beat the fucker to a bloody fucking pulp, but then he saw her.
If he hadn’t been studying her picture, he still would have recognized her. He rolled down the window and waved to get her attention.
She looked over at him, then at her friends. The other two girls shook their heads.
“Savannah!” Trevor shouted, forcing a smile to his face.
She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Her eyes widened.
“How does he know your name?” one of the girls asked.
Savannah shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“I work with your mom,” Trevor said. “Didn’t she tell you about the protection she has now?”
“Rose Protection Agency?” Savannah asked, stepping closer to the SUV.
Trevor nodded. “Yeah. She asked me to get you.”
“Why?”
“She’s stuck at work again. You know how she is. Sorry, kid.”
Savannah shook her head. “She wasn’t supposed to pick me up. My dad is.”
“Oh, that. Your dad got tied up with something. He called your mom in a panic. He didn’t want to because he knows she’s not all that reliable, but she knew I wouldn’t forget to grab you.”
“Do you know him?” one friend asked.
Savannah shook her head.
“Maybe you should call your mom,” one girl said.
“Or your dad,” the other said.
“You can come home with me,” the first one said.
Another horn blasted behind Trevor. He looked up in the rearview mirror but kept the nasty words inside. If she was suspicious at all, she wouldn’t get in the SUV. And he needed her to get in the SUV. Kidnapping was much easier when no one knew it was happening right in front of their stupid fucking faces.
“Savannah, come on,” the second one said.
“It’s fine,” Savannah said. “My mom has this group she’s working with. Their SUVs are like this one. And look.” She turned her phone around to show the text Trevor sent from her dad’s phone. “My dad texted me and said Mom would be getting me, so this isn’t a shock.”
“Your mom is the worst,” friend two said.
“I wish you had someone better,” friend one agreed.
Savannah shrugged. “We don’t get to choose our parents.”
The girls grunted.
Another horn almost had Trevor reaching for his gun, but the girls turned to the vehicle and made faces at them. Trevor watched the driver throw their hands up. The girls flipped them off, and the driver returned the gesture.
“We should go before that lady loses her shit,” friend two said. “Call me later.”
Savannah hugged friend two and nodded. “Of course.” She turned to friend one and hugged her. “Me, too.”
“Bye hun!” the girls said before walking down the line toward the other vehicles.
Savannah opened the passenger door and got in, shoving her backpack at her feet. She buckled her seatbelt and settled into the seat.
Trevor pulled out of line and rolled up the windows, sealing them inside from the world around them. He turned onto the main road and headed toward his compound. The one the police searched the week before. They were so dumb. They went down the list in numerical order. Like he wouldn’t figure out exactly where they were going.
He loved stupid cops. Made his job easier.
“Where are we going?” Savannah asked.
“To get your mom,” Trevor said.
“Oh, okay.” She pulled her phone out of her bag and unlocked it. “Oh, what’s your name? I forgot to ask.”
“Trevor.”
She stilled, the name meaning something to her.
Trevor grinned.
“Trevor?” she breathed.
He looked over at her and nodded. “Trevor Davis. Nice to meet you, Savannah. Time for a nap.”
He swung before she could react, knocking her out with one punch. Such a sweet sound.
23
“Are you fucking kidding me? How in the hell did that happen? No. No. Why do you think that’s a good idea? No. You’re fucking nuts. There’s no way I can keep that from her. It’s wrong. I don’t fucking care what you say. How would you feel—? Yeah, I know, and that’s why I’m saying that. I don’t agree with it. Fine. Fine!”
Dawn hated being treated like she wasn’t capable of making her own decisions. Like she was a charity case or a child or something.
It had been three days since she and Gage left the hospital and were whisked away to a safe house. Three days since she’d been allowed to contact anyone. Not that she was allowed to do so before they took her from the hospital like she was a criminal and not the victim.
She hated that fucking word, and the longer she stayed inside the house, being watched like she was going to go off the rails at any moment, the more she hated the word victim.
She wasn’t a victim. And she wasn’t going to let Trevor do any more damage than he’d already done.
Which meant finding out what in the hell was going on.
Zeke was standing in the kitchen of the house they’d all been sharing for three days. Being alone with three men should have been something fun, but it was the farthest thing from fun. The mood around the place was strained, and not just between Dawn and Gage. Zeke and Walker were off, too. Everyone was off. Because they all knew this wasn’t the answer. Not forever.
“Who was that?” Dawn asked, not making her presence known to Zeke before she spoke. She wanted to catch him off-guard and get him to be honest with her before he came up with a story that was bullshit.
“Montgomery.”
“What does he want you to keep from me?”
Zeke looked up at Dawn. The battle waged in his gaze. Pain and regret were clear, and both gave Dawn an insight into the man who seemed like he didn’t have emotions. Not that Zeke was cold, but he wasn’t overly friendly. Not the same way Walker had been with her.
Of course, everyone said that was different for Walker, so what the hell did Dawn know?
“Savannah is missing.”
“What?” Dawn screeched. “My daughter? How in the fuck did he think you could keep that from me?”
“Getting emotional leads to unnecessary risk.” His voice was devoid of emotion, and his gaze held the weight of something Dawn didn’t know anything about. But he knew what he was talking about.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She shook her head. “We’re talking about my child. My blood. The person I would do anything for. Of course I’m emotional.”
“Which is dangerous.”
“What’s dangerous?” Gage asked from behind Dawn. He was still weak and groggy from the blood loss, but he looked better every day.
“Trevor has Savannah,” Dawn said.
“What?” Gage barked. He glared at Zeke. “How in the hell did you let that happen?”
Zeke shook his head. “I only just found out. I don’t have all the information yet, but he attacked your ex-husband and tied him up. Then he went to school and told your daughter you sent him there because your ex called and asked you to help and you were busy.”
“It sounds like you know a lot,” Dawn said, sucking in a ragged breath and trying to stop the tears that fell freely.
“She was with two friends when she left with Trevor.”
“When was this?” Gage asked.
“This afternoon. He picked her up from school today,” Zeke said.
“Why are we sitting around here talking about this and not out looking for her?” Gage asked.
“Because we know he’s using Savannah to get to Dawn,” Zeke said.
“So let me go. Let me trade myself for her,” Dawn said.
Zeke shook his head. “We can’t do that. Trading one life for another—”
“She’s my daughter! I’m not going to stand here and let him torture and kill her. He will…” Fear overwhelmed Dawn. She sank to the floor and sobbed. She didn’t want to think about the things Trevor would do to her daughter. She knew enough about the man to know it would be bad. Very bad.
“We will find her,” Zeke said.
“How?”
“He sent a video,” Zeke said.
“What? Show me,” Dawn demanded.
“I don’t—”
“Show me the fucking video now,” Dawn growled at him. She didn’t care that he was bigger and stronger and had all the power. She could lift a car if she needed to. Her daughter was missing, and the one piece of evidence they had was in his hand.
Zeke looked between Dawn and Gage, then unlocked his phone. A few seconds later, he flipped it around so Dawn could see the screen.
Her throat closed up. Savannah was unconscious. A large bruise covered the side of her face. Her eye was swollen. Dawn clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.
Then he spoke.
“You had your chances to back off. To stop what you were doing. I have been patient. But the time for patience is done. You will come to me, alone. You will restore my access to my money, to what I earned with a lifetime of kissing that old man’s ass. He got what he deserved when I put a pillow over his face and watched him die. Your daughter will get what she deserves if you don’t do what I say.”
Trevor reached out and slapped Savannah right on top of her bruise. She startled and blinked her eyes open. Fear immediately filled them. She tried to scream, but a gag was slipped over her mouth from behind. Her shoulders moved, but her hands were tied somewhere below the view of the camera. Tears fell from her eyes.
“Say hi to your mom, Savannah. Maybe you’ll see her again. But we both know how unreliable she is, so you might just get to spend your last days with me. We can have so much fun together.” He trailed a finger down her throat. It disappeared below the screen.
Savannah screamed against the gag and tried to get away from him. Then the screen went dark.
“I have to go,” Dawn said.
“He’ll kill you,” Zeke said.
“Do you think I care about myself? Do you really fucking think I care? That sick monster has my daughter. She’s fourteen! I will trade my life for hers in a second.”
“He’ll probably kill you both,” Zeke said.
“I won’t let him.”
“It’s not an option, Dawn. I’m sorry, but I’m not letting you out of this house.”
Dawn stared at the man she thought was there to help her. She hated him in that moment. As much as she hated Trevor. Because Zeke was keeping her from saving her daughter. And that was not okay.
Gage watched as Dawn ran down the hallway away from Zeke. She slammed the door to the bedroom she’d been staying in.
Zeke sighed heavily. “I know she doesn’t understand, but if we let her go, we lose them both.”
“There’s no way she’s ever going to be okay with that. You know what he’s capable of.”
Zeke nodded. “I know. Montgomery didn’t want her to know about this at all. He knew this would be her reaction.”
“Then why did you tell her?”
“She overheard my call with him. She knew something was going on.”
“And you didn’t do that on purpose? You didn’t have that conversation in a common area of this house with the thought that maybe she’d overhear it?”
Zeke glared at Gage. “Montgomery’s sister disappeared more than a decade ago. She was… she was family to me, too. I was at their house the night she left. There was a lot going on at that time, but I saw her trying to sneak out. I knew she did it a lot. She always came back, but that night she didn’t. No one’s seen her since. She vanished, like a ghost.”
“I had no idea.”
Zeke shook his head. “He doesn’t talk about it. He blames himself. Thinks there was more he could have done or should have done. He never once blamed me, even though I could have stopped her. But losing someone like that, someone who you love so much that you’d give your life for theirs… I knew keeping it from Dawn wouldn’t make the outcome any easier.”
“What would you have done? If you could have traded yourself for his sister? Would you have done it?”
“In a heartbeat.” His answer was immediate, and the pain in his eyes said she was more than just a sister to him.
“You loved her.”
Zeke held Gage’s gaze but didn’t answer. “It was my fault. I should have stopped her from leaving.”
“And you know that’s how Dawn’s feeling right now. So help her.”
“I can’t. She’s my job. To keep her from leaving. I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. To watch another woman walk out the door and know she’s never coming back.”
His words hit Gage square in the chest. Letting Dawn go… He’d never see her again. But she’d never forgive herself if Savannah died.
Savannah was innocent. Just like Gage’s mother. Wrong place, wrong time. She got in the middle of something she had no influence on. She was unlucky.
And she was going to die for it.
“I’m going to go talk to her,” Gage said. “See if I can talk her down.”
Zeke nodded. “Thanks. I know you love her. I know you understand how I feel. She’ll understand one day that this was the only option.”
“Do you know where Trevor is?”
Zeke shook his head. “No. But it must be somewhere he thinks Dawn would know if he’s asking her to meet him.”
Gage nodded, thinking through the possible options. There weren’t many.
“Tell her I’m sorry,” Zeke said.
Gage smiled at the man and almost felt guilty for what he was going to do. But not guilty enough. “I will.”
Gage shuffled back to the bedrooms and knocked on the door to Dawn’s bedroom.
“What?” she shouted.
“Can I come in?”
She barked a mirthless laugh. “It’s not like I have a lot of choices about anything right now.”
Gage opened the door and walked in. He closed the door again and leaned against it so he would hear if anyone got close to the bedroom door. “What’s your plan?”
“Why? So you can rat me out?”
Gage shook his head. “No, so I can help you get out of here without them knowing.”
“You’re going to help me?”
“I told you Savannah always comes first. Always. I know Trevor’s going to try to kill you, probably both of you, but I know you’ll never survive if she dies because you didn’t go to her.”
“Gage.” Dawn broke, collapsing onto the floor again.
Gage moved to her and sat down next to her. He ached to hold her. He put his hand on her back so she knew he was there, and was surprised when she crawled onto his lap and buried her face in his neck.
“I can’t let him hurt her. I just keep thinking she’s going to die alone and he’s going to do horrible things to her before he kills her.”
“No. Don’t go there. You need to be able to think clearly. First, you need to figure out where he is. Did it look familiar at all?”
“No. Why would I know where he is?”
“He sent that video to you. I’m guessing he sent it to your phone. You were the one who needed to see it. He told you to come to him alone. Do you have any idea where he would be?”
“No, he… He has to be at the office. At Davis Developments. That’s the only place I would have access to the accounts. He said he wants his money. It has to be that.”
“Okay, good. I’m not sure exactly where we are, but you’re probably at least ten miles from there. You don’t want to walk that far.”
“There’s an SUV in the garage.”
“Yeah, but they’ll hear you if you go there. Do you know how to hot-wire a car?”
She snorted. “Who do you think I am?”
“Is that a yes or a no?”
“Uh, that’s a no. Got any other ideas?”
Gage shook his head. “I guess I’ll have to distract them long enough for you to flee in the SUV in the garage.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I love you. And because if I could have saved my mom, I would have. I don’t want to lose you, Dawn, but if Savannah is killed, you’re going to blame yourself. You already blame yourself for her being kidnapped. You won’t survive if she doesn’t.”
More tears fell down her cheeks. “You love me?”
Gage nodded. “I know you don’t want to be with me, and I respect that, but I want you to know I love you. Before you walk out that door and I never see you again, I need you to know I love you. You are amazing. You are strong and smart and caring, and I wish I could spend the rest of my life with you. I’ll settle for loving you the rest of my life and wishing we’d met under very different circumstances.”
Dawn looked up at him, still curled up in his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his lips down to hers. She kissed him the way she did the first time they made love. Rushed and patient. All in and tentative. Gage wanted to hold her in that moment and never let go. Never let her walk away.
He knew he’d never see her again. He knew she was walking to her death. He knew Trevor would never let her go.
It broke Gage’s heart, but he couldn’t stop her. If he could go with her, he would, but he was still too injured to be of much help, and someone needed to distract their protectors.
