Page 88 of Beyond the Cage

“Cameron!”

I slide off the chair and into his embrace, throwing my arms around him. He crushes me to him, burying his face in my neck.

“You came for me.”

He holds me tightly, rocking me and stroking my hair. His fingers dig into my back, but the pain doesn’t register. He came for me. Pulling back, he searches my body anxiously.

“I’m fine. Just get me out of here.”

He picks me up and hurries outside. There, I see Jared rushing toward us. He wraps a blanket around me and opens the door of a black Range Rover. Cameron climbs in, cradling me on his lap. Curled up in his arms, I feel so safe. When he wraps the blanket around me tightly, I realize I’m trembling.

I could have died tonight. He found me. He saved me. I peek up at him as he removes his mask. He tightens his arms around me and gently kisses my forehead.

“Jasmine, are you hurt?” Jared asks.

“N-no.”

“We’re going to take you to the hospital, okay? Get you checked out.”

“Okay.”

Jared hands me his phone. “Call your parents. They flew out here yesterday.”

I dial my mom’s number and put the phone to my ear.

“Jared?” Her grief-stricken voice comes through the phone.

“It’s me, Mommy.”

“Jasmine! Oh, thank God! Baby, are you okay?”

“I’m not hurt.”

“I’m going to put you on speaker.”

“Jasmine?”

I choke back a sob. “I’m okay, Dad.”

“It’s good to hear your voice, baby girl.”

“Yeah, bestie,” Chels chimes in. “We’ve been going out of our minds here.”

“I’m okay, Chels. I’ll be there soon.”

After a chorus of “I love you”, I end the call and snuggle up to Cameron once more.

“I have a friend at the hospital who’ll get us in and out discreetly. We don’t want whoever did this to know we have you. A friend of mine at the LAPD will handle the warehouse. He’ll need a statement from you, but he’s going to give you a little time.”

Wow…he has a lot of useful friends.

“It was Mikhail.”

“What?” Jared exclaims.

“Mikhail. He’s the one who had…had me kidnapped.”

Cameron’s breathing accelerates, his chest heaving beneath my cheek. He’s clenching his jaw so hard, I can hear his teeth grinding against each other. Jared glances at him in the rear view mirror.