Page 91 of Beneath the Burn

Charlee’s eyes flew open and collided with Roy’s. His face hovered inches away. The pungency of his cologne set off her gag reflex, and her heart banged against her ribs.

She jerked her arms where they stretched above her head, her hands imprisoned by rope. The leather couch creaked beneath her. Still on the bus, the only remnant of smoke was the burn lingering in her lungs.

The strips of lights on the ceiling cast a muted glow, highlighting the creases in his pale face. He raked a hand through his black mass of hair with an uncharacteristic yank and inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring. “You’re awake.” He released his breath. “I was worried. Propofol is…tricky.”

“Propofol?” Her head spun, not with a post-drug fog, but with the will to overpower, to control how this would end.

A hush enveloped the bus, but she refused to let her thoughts leap to the cruelest explanation for Jay and Nathan’s absence. Outside the windows, metal walls surrounded them. She’d been transported somewhere, hidden in a building.

He brushed her hair behind her ear, sparking shivers where he touched. “The injection was Propofol. The milk of amnesia. How do you feel?”

How did she feel? Seriously? She gave him her coldest glare. “Like you care.”

He hung his head, and his hand crept over her belly. “I care, Charlee. I’ve always cared. Perhaps a bit too much.” His fingers whispered over the waistband of her jeans, slipped the button free, and lowered the zipper.

Everything inside her bucked, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction. “Where are we?”

“Mississippi.”

Helpful. Not. “Are we in a shed?”

“A hangar.” His eyes followed his fingers as they slipped inside her pants.

She recoiled uselessly into the cushion.

“Our plane will be ready shortly.” He spread the fly open, lowered his head, and pressed his lips against her silk-covered mound.

A violent tremble invaded her body. She could tell him Jay’s semen still coated her pussy, but the backlash might be more forceful than her bones and skin could withstand. His lips delivered light kisses over her belly button, and she tensed up, magnifying the tremors. She sucked in a breath. “There are cameras on all the vehicles that feed live footage to a remote location. They have evidence of you boarding the bus and driving it away.”

“Oh, Charlee. So many blanks in the puzzle. What would you give me for the answers?”

What could she stomach? “A kiss?” He’d kiss her regardless. Could she kiss him back?

His tongue burrowed inside the opening of her pants and found her clit through the barrier of her panties. “A real kiss.”

That was too easy. “Yes, Sir.”

“Your bodyguard planted a hack in the recording software for me, disabled the GPS, and he drove the bus away.”

Her stomach twisted, and saliva rushed through her mouth. “Who?”

His exhale blew a sick heat over her groin. “Colson was easily bought. Three kids in private universities and an ex-wife who continues to drag him to court for more money. He couldn’t turn down the paid tuition and the quieted ex.”

“But how?” Her head throbbed to make sense of it. “The bus was on fire, the engine destroyed.”

“My shooters tapped the engine blocks on all the vehicles but this one.” He raised his head and propped an elbow on the cushion between her bound legs. “Colson laid the smokescreen with a phosphorus grenade and chased your friends off the bus with a warning of explosion. The distraction allowed him to pop the needle in your arm and hide you in the bathroom.”

She closed her eyes until she could wrestle down her heart rate. “How did he drive with all the smoke?”

“Thermal imaging goggles and a gas mask.” He gestured at the head gear tossed on the galley counter.

“That’s a far-fetched story. The protective team wouldn’t have evacuated without me.” Jay had been an arm’s length away. He wouldn’t have let her go unless something happened to him. Dread squeezed a fist around her throat, crushing her ability to breath.

His lips twitched and her stomach dropped. “Don’t look so sad, Charlee. Nathan Winslow and Maryanna Tony didn’t abandon you. Colson told them he’d hidden you safely in the nearby woods.” A tic jumped in his cheek. “They might still be searching for you there if Mr. Mayard hadn’t created such a disturbance.”

The blood in her veins turned to ice. “Where is he?”

“An hour away. Soon, he’ll be an ocean away. How does Italy sound, my beautiful girl?”

Panic shook her body. Her blood pressure elevated with every breath. “You will not kill him.”

“No.” He traced a line from her pubis to her bra, dragging her shirt up with his invasion. “I’ve made mistakes in the past. Some unforgivable.” He stroked her flesh, rising goose bumps across her belly.

Her molars scraped, grinding in her ears. “Oh, you mean Noah, my father, the guard, and his niece? Did you rape her?”

The skin around his mouth tightened, and his eyes flicked down and back up. The air congealed around him. Dense and oily, it crept the distance between them and trickled over her skin, chilling her from head to toe.

His hand moved from her chest to her face, cupping her jaw. The movement was deliberate as though he were forcing himself to do it slowly. He bent above her, his face lowering, his eyes glazing over. “I’ll collect that kiss now.”

Her pulse beat a ringing drum in her head. She held herself immobile as his mouth covered hers, his tongue piercing through her lips and his fingers digging into her cheek. She tongue lay limp, her stomach rolling.

The grip on her face controlled her jaw. He was ruthless in the way he kissed her. His teeth sliced her lips. His tongue whipped and slashed.

When a sharp, pained cry escaped her throat, he sat back, lifted his hand, and smacked her. “Kiss me like you kiss Jay Mayard, and I won’t harm him, his band, or their careers.”

The heat from his strike rippled over her cheek, but the prick of his words was worse. How many times had Roy watched her kiss Jay through the hacked cameras at the estate? The violation was too much. No more. This ended now.

The clamor in her head narrowed, concentrated into a plan. Intent pumped through her blood and strengthened her limbs. “Promise his safety.” The promise wasn’t needed, but it was an expected thing to ask.

He studied her face with his uncanny ability to see everything, and his eyebrows lowered over hard eyes. “Not just one kiss, Charlee. Every kiss from now on. As long as you continue to give me that, I promise his safety.”

Resolution settled around her heart. She nodded, knowing it would only be one kiss, because she would not be walking off that bus.

Leaning forward, he sought her mouth, and she gave him what he wanted, a kiss she’d never given him before, one that would knock him off balance long enough to execute her plan. She drew in his bottom lip and nursed it tenderly. Licking and nibbling, her tongue pliable but demanding, she stroked deep into his mouth, tried to touch the innermost part of him.

Rather than kissing Noah’s murderer, she told herself he was just a man. A normal man made of flesh and muscle and stable mind. His hands tangled in her hair and swept down her neck. It was both revolting and heart-wrenching the way he welcomed her gentleness, hungry for affection, moving his mouth to follow hers as if she were his oxygen.

He broke the kiss, his cheek rubbing against hers, breath heavy and content. “I’ll do better,” he whispered. “I won’t hurt you anymore.”

Wow, real convincing, Roy. It’d been a whole two minutes since he’d raised his hand against her. “I believe you.” Because he’d never have the opportunity to do it again.

His hands clenched on her shoulders, his gaze boring into hers. “I won’t live another day without you. Do you understand, Charlee? If something happens to you, if I lose you again, I will not go on.”

Knew that. Counted on it. She blinked, expression blank.

“Mr. Oxford.” The Craig’s voice carried up from the bottom of the steps. “The jet is ready.”

“Thank you, Salvador.” His eyes never drifted from hers. “It’s important you believe me,” he said, softly. “I want you to want to be with me.”

What fueled his change of heart? Watching her with Jay on the cameras at the estate? Seeing her plastered all over the Internet and in magazines, always on Jay’s arm, smiling and happy?

Delusional, self-important prickadonna. He had a rather high opinion of himself to think she could ever have that with him.

He reached for the knots at her ankles and worked them loose. “My armed guards are just outside the door. I’m taking the first step in our new relationship.” He released the ties on her wrists. That done, he rose and stared down at her, a smile bending his vile mouth.

Holding out his hand to her, he must have thought he was making colossal progress letting her walk with him without restraints. In about thirty seconds, it would be one of the chief regrets in his life.

She closed up her pants, grasped his hand, and tried to ignore the escalating beat of her heart. With each step to the stairs, her breathing quickened and her palms grew slicker with sweat.

As he stepped into the stairway, she glanced at the ignition switch. No key. She grabbed the railing with her free hand and moved to follow him, slowing her pace, letting the distance stretch between them.

The hand he held slipped as her arm went taut with the extension of his pull. She yanked it back, gripped the other handrail. Bracing her upper body with the rails on either side, she hauled up her boots and kicked the middle of his back.

He propelled forward, missed the bottom step and rolled over the concrete. She spun and slammed her hand into the manual crank. The doors crashed closed as he launched for them, the seal catching his fingers.

His hand recoiled, and a red tide washed over his face. “Charlee.” A restrained growl. He slammed his palm against the door, tried to pry it open. “Salvador! The key!”

Shit, shit, shit. The electric door mechanism could be unlocked from the outside, but what about that time Rio locked out Laz when they were arguing over a video game? He’d engaged a manual override somewhere…she fumbled over the crank, up and down the handle. There. She flipped the lever and turned toward the door, hands shaking.

Two bullet holes splintered the outside surface of the glass. Frightening images infiltrated her mind of her friends in a gun fight while she slept in oblivion on the bus.

The Craig worked the key until Roy shoved him away and tried it himself. “Charlee, open the door.” His low, cool tone vibrated with an edge of agitation.

His persistence guaranteed he’d find a way in. She raced down the aisle, through the drape, and scrambled over her bunk. Nathan had given her a new phone at the start of the tour. She’d never used it, wasn’t sure if it would be charged. She dug through the pocket beside the plate of outlets and device ports. Following a white cord from the dock to the pocket, she found the phone still plugged in.

A gale of air escaped her lungs as she swiped through the contact list. Nathan. Tony. Jay. She tapped his name and held it to her ear.

The call connected, and Jay’s deep timbre barked through the phone. “Who is this?”

“It’s me.” Her heart leapt to her throat. “I don’t have much time.”

A rustle whispered over the line. “You’re on speaker. Where are you?” His breath was heavy with exertion, panic.

“On the bus inside a hangar. A private airport, maybe. An hour from where he took me.” If Roy hadn’t lied about those details.

“Are there any signs, anything indicating the location?” Nathan asked.

Gun shots fired outside the bus, the echo rattling her bones.

“Was that gun fire?” Jay’s voice thrummed with fury. “Where’s Roy?”

She crept to the rear lounge, bent low to the ground, phone clutched to her ear. “I locked him outside the bus. Will the lock hold?”

“The key can’t override it,” Tony said. “But he can find a way in with a few tools and a little time.”

Peering over the nearest window, she scanned the interior of the hangar. “No signs on the walls. Doors are closed. No windows. Just the bus, the plane, and…four guards.” The sight of Colson among them curled her nails into her palm. “If this doesn’t work out, Roy said Italy was the destination.”

“We’re working on it.” Tony sighed. “There are five airports within a hundred mile radius of our location. We don’t know which direction Colson went after he passed the nearest town. The cops…”

“Were paid off.” Wouldn’t be Roy’s game unless he’d cheated, lied, and corrupted. She flinched as bullets plinked off both sides of the bus. “Would the tail number on the plane help?”

“It’s doubtful he registered it.” Tony’s soft tone mimicked her doubt. “Read it off.”

“November Charlie 276 Alpha. NC276A. Are there guns or anything on the bus that I might be able to use?”

“No, and you will not engage him,” Jay said. “Hide in the hatch. There’s a crank inside the compartment to close it. Don’t try to leave the bus. Wait there until we arrive. We’re coming.” His command lost its intensity toward the end, drifting into thready, pleading territory.

“Jay, take me off of speaker.” She moved to the aisle, past the bunks, and rummaged through the cabinet beneath the sink, pulling out a fire extinguisher, lighter fluid, and grill lighter. Lucky for her, the guys liked to grill out.

“Just me on the line. Are you in the compartment yet?”

The report of multiple guns popped around her. Splintered dots multiplied on the windows and windshield. None of them pierced all the way through.

“Aim high, you piece of shit,” Roy screamed from somewhere near the door. “I’ll kill you myself if you hit her.”

“Listen to me,” she breathed into the phone. “I know how to beat him.” Her memories hurled her back to the night Roy choked her, the look in his eyes when he realized he was killing her. Would you survive my death? Her heart pounded with resolve. “I need that steel core of yours, now more than ever. Don’t give up, Jay. Do you hear me? If you do, he wins.”

“What are you talking about?” His voice was thick and strained. “I will never give up. We’re on our way. Tony’s weeding through the law enforcement. We’ll get them to every airport. Did you find the hatch crank?”

His idea was so fucking tempting. Sweat beaded on her hairline, dripped into her eyes. If they found a clean cop in the area, the raid wouldn’t ensue soon enough. Hiding in the storage space only delayed the inevitable. Roy knew she was on the bus. He’d locate her before anyone arrived.

“Are you hidden yet?” Jay’s concerned voice spiraled through her, fortifying her. “Answer me, Charlee.”

“Remember when I said your heart is stubborn enough to beat for both of us?”

“Yeah, Charlee. Right now it’s trying to tear through my ribs.”

“I’m depending on that. Keep it beating for me, Jay.” The heartache over the hell she was preparing to put him through swelled in her throat. Roy wouldn’t survive it, but Jay was made of steel. He had a lifetime experience in surviving.

Her eyes stung, and her voice clogged with unshed tears. “My heart, my life, and my love are yours. I give you those things, because I love you.”

She lowered the phone and pressed End . A stab passed through her chest, and her lungs burned with gulping breaths. Her lips curled back through the surge of grief.

The phone buzzed. She powered it down, wedged it into her pocket, and pressed a fist against her breast bone, over the ache that weakened her knees.

The boom of gun shots thinned, and silence settled over the hangar. She grabbed the lighter fluid and lighter, gathered a bundle of blankets and pillows, and sprinted over the cluttered aisle.

A blast of adrenaline accelerated her movements. Her vision was clearer, her mind more so. She dropped the grill supplies on the driver’s seat and flung the bedding into the stairwell.

Roy leaned against the door, forearm braced above his head. The gun in his hand thudded slowly against the spider-webbed glass. He stared at her out of red-rimmed eyes. “I wanted this to go peacefully. I wanted…” Stepping back, he pressed the butt of the gun against his head, grinding it into his scalp. “I didn’t want to punish you.” He dropped his hand. “You’ve left me no choice.”

The Craig appeared at the door with a pry bar. Shoving the flat end in the crack of the doors, he worked it back and forth, bending and screeching the metal.

She tagged the lighter fluid, flipped the cap, and submersed the blankets. Twisting, she snatched the lighter and squatted on the top stair.

“She’s up to something, Mr. Oxford.” The Craig removed the bar.

Roy slammed his body against the door, eyes wild. “What are you doing?”

Holding his gaze, her insides knotting with the horror of her plan, she sparked the lighter. “Would you survive my death?”

He threw his shoulder against the door, over and over. “No! No, don’t do this!” Hands in his hair, gun rubbing along his head, he screamed, “Get that fucking door open.”

The Craig shoved the bar through the crack, and she touched the flame to the blankets. The fire flashed in a brilliant yellow flame and curled into a roaring blaze, consuming the stairs and door.

“Noooooo, no, no, no.” Roy bellowed, and the bus rocked under the bang of something against the side. Presumably his body.

The smoldering air chased her into the lounge, burning down the back of her throat and scorching her lungs. She knelt on the couch and pressed a hand against the window. “Put that gun in your mouth,” she shouted.

He ran to the window, eyes up and blinking with helplessness. “There’s an extinguisher. Find it. Check the galley.” His hand clenched on the collar of his dress shirt.

“You did this.” She coughed, her voice rattling with phlegm. “You killed me.”

Squeezing the lighter fluid, she sprayed it over the aisle, couches and walls. Smoke blanketed the cabin, and Roy vanished behind the thick screen of smog.

Nose buried in her arm, she danced around the flames, scooped up the fire extinguisher, the gas mask and goggles. The heat scalded her skin, her clothes drenched in sweat.

Outside the bus, his wails roared over the whoosh of devoured air and the crackling and crashing of things falling down around her. She strained to hear that final gun shot, knowing it wouldn’t come. He would scour the charred remains for her body. If he couldn’t identify her, he would watch Jay, analyze his behavior. His thoroughness rivaled his persistence. He wouldn’t turn the gun on himself until he had the evidence, until he saw her death in Jay’s eyes.

Her lungs burned from lack of oxygen and dizziness swept over her. She wrestled with the head gear, wondering why she’d want to watch the inferno consume her. Hands trembling, heart racing, her earlier resolve seeped away with her strength. Panic flooded in. Too late for that.

The fire rushed toward her. She backed toward the bunks, awaiting her death, comforted by the howl of Roy’s sobs.