Escaping Vegas (The Inheritance Book 1) (11 page)

C
HAPTER
F
OURTEEN

M
adalina!
Madalina
!”

Jerking awake, Madalina flailed an arm in defense of the heated whispers that dragged her up from her nightmares. She nailed Lianne in the jaw, sending the blonde reeling back a few inches in surprise.

“It’s me!” Lianne hissed, swatting Madalina’s hand away. “Get up! I think someone’s in the backyard!”

Madalina scrambled off the sofa—she must have fallen asleep despite her best attempts to stay awake—the apology fading from her lips when Lianne’s words sank in. “What? Why do you say that?”

Madalina skulked behind Lianne as they headed through the living room and into the kitchen. Gripping the flashlight in her fist, she resisted the urge to turn it on.

“I woke up and came in here to take something for my cold, when I thought I saw movement out the kitchen window.” Lianne hunched near the kitchen sink and pointed at the window. “Look out there. Do you see anything?”

Madalina peered up past the sink, over the windowsill, to the dark backyard. None of the streetlights were on yet, which meant there wasn’t any overflow to help her see. “I don’t know; it’s hard to—wait.”

“What? Someone’s out there, aren’t they? I tried the landline, and it’s out, too. My cell phone’s on the table. We need to call the police,” Lianne whispered.

Madalina picked out what she thought was a shadow among shadows. The rain pounded on the roof of the house, on the porch cover, providing enough noise that Madalina couldn’t hear whether anyone else was trying to break in through another window or even the garage. She strained to see past the porch, cursing the rain, the Chinese agents, and even the dragon.

There.

Movement in the yard. She was sure she saw it that time.

“Get your phone. Hurry.” Madalina ducked below the sill and pivoted in the small kitchen. She knew where the knives were. Snatching a butcher knife by the handle, she slipped it out of its sheath and spun toward the window again.

If these men thought they were going to simply waltz out of Lianne’s house with her tucked under their arms, they were sadly mistaken.

This time she meant to fight back.
This time
she wouldn’t be taken off guard.

Crouched, Lianne ran through the kitchen. Her feet slapped the linoleum floor, hands out in front as guides.

Setting the flashlight on the counter, Madalina was about to inch toward the back door when a loud scrape of wood preceded the sound of Lianne hitting the floor. Hard.

“Lianne! Are you okay?” Madalina asked in a quiet voice.

Grunting, Lianne scrambled off the linoleum, knocking into the chair she’d tripped over. Another scrape of wood pealed through the kitchen. “I tripped over the stupid chair!” Lianne whispered.

Madalina winced. She thought even the loudest rain wouldn’t disguise the ruckus. “Are you okay?” While she waited for Lianne to answer, she decided to peek up over the windowsill one more time. She wanted to place the shadows, see how far they’d come across the patio.

A head lurched into view beyond the panes,
right
outside the window, the shape of the skull easily visible against the darkness.

Madalina bit back a scream of surprise and dropped to the floor, her grip on the knife handle becoming almost painful. “Get the phone, get the phone, hurry up! They’re right outside the back door! Get the phone!” The words ran together, the syllables tripping over one another. She heard Lianne fumble with the chair, then crawl around on the floor, panting in terror.

“I knocked the phone on the ground. I can’t find it!”

Rushing to the edge of the counter, Madalina pressed her back against the cabinets, knife held in a death grip. The back door was just to her left, beyond the corner of the cabinetry. If,
when
, the men entered, she would stab the bastards in the thigh, the shin, wherever she could reach. She guessed there were two or three of them, the same as the last time.

A quiet knock came at the back door, sending chills down Madalina’s spine. They were
knocking
.
Of all the nerve. Somehow the act seemed insidious to her, almost mocking.
See? We’ve found you, and you were not so difficult to locate. We’re coming. We’re coming.

“I can’t find my phone!” Lianne repeated.

Madalina wanted to snarl in frustration at the lack of power, which in turn meant the lack of the ability to call for help. “Try the landline again!” she whispered back.

Knock-knock.
The sound echoed through the kitchen. Across the room, Lianne whimpered with fright.

“I’ve had enough of this,” Madalina hissed. There came a point when the terror was so great, so overwhelming, that anger swooped in to salvage a person’s sanity. She had been stalked, abducted, stalked some more, and now here they were, back again. Without giving herself time to reconsider, Madalina swooped low around the edge of the counter, unlocking the door with a quick twist of her fingers. She yanked at the knob and lunged even as the door swung inward, intending to stab for the midsection. It was do or die, in her mind, and she wasn’t going to let them snatch her away again without a serious fight.

A hand grabbed her wrist before the sharp blade made contact, arching her arm out and away. Madalina shouted in frustration as she collided with a body that moved quickly to block any more strikes.

“It’s me, Madalina. It’s me.”

“Cole?” Her ragged whisper faded as recognition set in. From one instant to the next, all the fight went out of her. He had both of her wrists in his hands, the firm grip easing now that the immediate danger was past. He smelled like Cole, sounded like Cole,
felt
like Cole. The hard, unforgiving angles of his body pressed closer to her own.

“Yes.” He didn’t ask before he pulled her against him. “I was so worried when I discovered you missing from your parents’ house. What happened?”

Madalina threw an arm around his neck, blaming extreme relief for her action. She didn’t question why it felt so right to be in his arms, only that it did. That he seemed equally relieved to see
her
did not go unnoticed.

“They grabbed me in the kitchen. Total stealth move; I never heard them coming. They tossed me in a sedan and came back to Whittier. I escaped after the sedan got hit broadside in an intersec—”

“What?” he said with a frown, leaning back to see her face. “You were in an accident? Are you hurt?”

“No, no. A little shaken up, but I got out of it all right,” Madalina said, downplaying the incident. His hand on the back of her waist was a welcome weight. The soaked layers of his clothes dampened her newly dry ones, but she didn’t care. “We thought you were the
others
.”

One arm banded around her hips, he kept her front flush with his. “I had to make sure that I had the right house, which was why I was skulking around the backyard. Didn’t want to come in the front in case the house is being watched from the street.”

“What’s going on, Madalina?” Lianne asked. Her flashlight snapped on, the beam pointing almost accusingly at Cole.

“It’s Cole. He’s here.” Madalina didn’t want to let him go, as if he might suddenly vanish into thin air. Everything suddenly seemed so much better than it had ten short minutes ago. Reaching behind him, she closed the back door and fumbled for the lock. Then she allowed him to gently take control of the knife, which he set on the counter next to his hip.

“Cole,
the
Cole?” Lianne sounded dubious and a little hopeful at the same time. When she got a good look, thanks to the glare of the flashlight beam, she drew in a surprised breath.

“Yes.” Madalina could understand Lianne’s reaction. Cole was the kind of man who inspired gasps and admiration.

“Sorry to scare you. I would have called, but the phones are out—”

“I know. We tried to call the police but couldn’t get a dial tone.” Madalina finally took a step back, her arm sliding from around his neck. He caught her hand against his chest, squinting against Lianne’s flashlight beam but never taking his eyes off of her. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. His head tilted, as if he might swoop in and claim her mouth. But the moment ended when he released her and blocked the intrusive spotlight with one hand. Had they been anywhere else, Madalina might have asserted herself and kissed him anyway. But it wasn’t the time or the place, not with Lianne standing somewhere behind her, clearly waiting for an explanation and an introduction.

“The power is out through half the city. I parked far enough away so that the
others
wouldn’t be able to easily follow me here,” he said.

When Lianne cleared her throat, Madalina remembered herself. “Lianne, this is Cole. Cole, Lianne.”

“Hello, Lianne.” Cole leaned past Madalina to offer his other hand.

Lianne gave a quick shake before stepping back. “You scared the crap out of us, but I’m glad it’s you and not them. Nice to meet you,” she added at last.

“You, too.”

“How in the world did you know I was here?” Madalina asked Cole.

“I didn’t. I came here to talk to Lianne, see if she’d heard from you. And get some other information. Any information that might help me find you.”

“Come sit down. Madalina and I have had enough sleep for tonight,” Lianne said. Sniffling into a new tissue that she snagged on the way, Lianne sank onto the love seat and curled into her blanket. She aimed the flashlight toward the floor, giving everyone enough light to see by.

“Thanks. I know it’s late—hey. Is that the dragon?” Cole paused as Madalina guided him through the gloomy house.

She glanced across his body to the small table. The dragon was just visible next to the laptop. “Yes. We spent hours trying to find information about it earlier, before the lights went out.”

Cole picked up the dragon, lifting it higher as if that might help him see better. He turned the object this way and that. After a brief inspection, he said, “It’s a little hard to see in here. Can’t make out too much detail. It’s heavy, though. Definitely made of stone.”

“What are you thinking, Cole?” Madalina didn’t understand the complicated look on his face. Couldn’t read his emotions right then or interpret his reaction. It could have been the shadows, perhaps, throwing off her perception.

“I’m not sure what to think right now.” He set the dragon on the table, then met her eyes.

Madalina might not have been able to discern his reaction to the dragon, but she did not mistake the lingering heat in Cole’s eyes, the blatant way he raked her with his gaze. She, too, was having trouble shaking the desire to be nearer, to feel his heat and the strength of his body. “What do you suggest we do?”

Cole rubbed his fingers over his chin, the short layer of whiskers rasping against his skin. “Actually, I think you and I should retreat to a hotel. Lay low for the rest of the night and give me time to think things over. I need to make a few phone calls, see if I can’t tap into some contacts and get more information. While I’m doing that, you should call your parents and ask point-blank questions. Find out what they know, if anything. Also find out if your grandfather left anything else behind that they maybe forgot to mention. Even the smallest thing might have an impact.”

“Madalina did try to call her folks earlier, before the power went out,” Lianne said. “So far, nothing.”

“I left a message. They’ll call as soon as they get it. But I can try in the morning, too. Every half hour. Maybe I’ll get lucky,” Madalina said. “As far as the hotel, that sounds like a good idea.”

“All right. We should get moving,” Cole replied.

“But it’s the middle of the night and the power’s out. What hotel nearby will even be able to rent you a room? I think she should stay here. She’s been safe so far,” Lianne said.

Madalina tipped a look at Lianne, who was watching them with obvious curiosity. She didn’t need to ask to know what Lianne was thinking right then. Madalina wouldn’t have known what to say, either, if Lianne asked her what was going on with her and Cole.

“
So far
,” Cole repeated quietly. “Things may or may not remain that way. I’m not sure how they’re tracking her, but if they manage to pick up her whereabouts again, then I’m better equipped to protect her. This time they won’t be walking out the door with her behind my back.” His jaw flexed as if he was still angry about the Chino abduction. “We can drive one city over and get a room.”

Madalina couldn’t fathom being separated from Cole again. She didn’t hold it against him that the Chinese men had managed to get their hands on her with him in the same house, and knew without a doubt that he
would
be able to protect her better in a face-to-face confrontation than if she and Lianne went at it alone. She said, “I think he’s right. We’ll go get a room and let the storm blow over. This way, I don’t put you at more risk than I already have.”

Lianne quirked her lips and gave Madalina a knowing look. “All right. Just be careful. I don’t like any of this.”

“We’ll be fine. You get some rest—if you can,” Madalina said. Disregarding the chance that she might catch Lianne’s cold, she kissed her friend’s forehead and gave her a quick hug. “Cole has my phone. Let’s find yours before we go so I know you’ve got a way to contact me or the police if you need them.” The trio used both flashlights to search the kitchen. Lianne found her phone on the floor under the table, where she’d knocked it off during the earlier fall.