Lost: Saved by Love #1 Page 9
After checking all the security cams and locking up tight, I climb the stairs to my room. I strip down to nothing and slide into bed next to Ren; she immediately curls her body around mine.
“I love you.”
She mumbles in her sleep. That is the first time she’s said it, and she probably won’t even remember. Kissing the top of her head I whisper, “I love you too, Baby, I love you too.”
~Ren~
The next few days are spent trying to keep me busy. The busier I am, the less I think. I dust every inch of the cabin and polish the wood floors. I find the spare room upstairs and find another one downstairs by the office that has been turned into a gym. I was ecstatic to find the treadmill, and I have put that to use every day. We have gone to town twice, once for groceries and other supplies and the second time to get everything we forgot to get the first time.
Derek spends a lot of time in his office but doesn’t tell me much. I know he is trying to find leads on my sister but is afraid to get my hopes up and then hit a dead end. He says Jax has been gone for six days and is likely with Tori in the house, so that brings me some comfort; however, today he tells me that he’s lost contact with Savage. That can’t be good. I don’t know who Savage is, other than he is Jax’s partner. I don’t know Jax for that matter either, but I can only hope Savage is now with Jax and helping to protect my sister. When I tell him, I would be happy if Savage is helping Jax he mumbles, “you won’t like the outcome,” and goes back to staring at his computer. I glance over his shoulder to see a map of Montauk, NY and wonder if that is where he thinks my sister is.
There is distance growing between us the size of the Grand Canyon, and even though we make love every day, I feel invisible the rest of the time. I know he is working on making me happy by finding Tori, but he seems a little obsessed. Almost like he’s using that to keep his distance. Maybe he has changed his mind about us; that thought makes me sick.
At 1:00 pm on day eight of Jax undercover, I need to lie down, so I go upstairs and curl up in bed. Maybe I’m feeling so exhausted from emotional stress. Maybe it’s all the cleaning and worrying that has worn me down. I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep when I hear Derek Shouting.
“Shit, shit, shit!”
The sound of thunderous footsteps echo on the stairs, and I sit up quickly just as he burst into the room yelling.
“Ren, we gotta go.”
He heads for the closet and throws out two duffle bags, then tells me to grab what I can and fit it into one of the bags. I sit frozen, my mind trying to process the last couple of days when it sinks in that this is about Tori; I need to move now.
I pack all of my belongings into the bag then rush the bathroom to get bathroom and shower supplies. I don’t have much, even though Derek has bought me everything I need and then some; it is still not the lifetime supply of things that I have in my home at my dad’s. He grabs both bags and my hand and leads the way to the garage. When we pull out, he pushes a button on the rearview mirror, and the garage door closes. Then he takes a remote out of the glove compartment, pushes several buttons, and steel shutters begin lowering over the windows. “Do those cover the wall of windows out back too?”
He chuckles. “No, Baby, those are bullet proof, the shutters are to keep large animals and crooks from getting in the smaller windows.”
“Well, couldn’t they also get to the large windows out back?” As we pull away from the house, his eyes are darting everywhere as if he’s waiting for someone to jump out.
“It’s a possibility; they would have to get through the six-foot high electric fence first.” At my look of confusion, he continues. “It’s a high-security perimeter fence that encloses my back yard and surrounds about 25 acres of my property to keep out bears, large cats, and hunters.”
“Oh,” is all I can say. I don’t know a lot about this level of paranoia but considering all I’ve been through, maybe now I should.
As we pull out onto the paved road that winds down the mountain, he reaches for me and pulls my head down into his lap.
“Ren, I need you to stay down for a while. Just try to get some sleep.”
He must be crazy! The way he burst in yelling that we had to leave now almost gave me a heart attack. My adrenaline is going a hundred miles an hour. There is obviously something wrong, and I need to be included in the information or I will go crazy. He has all but ignored me for several days, and it has to stop now. “Derek, if this has something to do with my sister, I need to know. I am sick with worry, and I know you say that Jax will do anything to keep her safe, but not knowing is making me physically ill.
~Derek~
“What do you mean, like ulcers or something?” I’m such an ass. I have been so busy following leads to find her sister and bring her some peace that I hadn’t even noticed she was sick. She had been cooking and cleaning and running her heart out, so I thought if she stayed busy she wouldn’t ask questions I couldn’t give her answers to yet. She has worried so much that she’s worn herself out−enough that her body is telling her to slow down.
“No, not ulcers I don’t think. I’m just so tired and worried with all these scenarios play in my head about what is happening to my sister. I’m also worried about my dad. Is he eating or sleeping?”
She moves to sit up, but I just rub her arm while pressing down to keep her in place. I’m going to have to tell her something, but what? I have to figure out where we are going for a while off-grid. It’s not like we can’t survive with what we have with us. Hell, I practically kept her naked for weeks. That memory brings a smile to my face.
“Okay, Ren, just stay down and listen to what I’m going to say. I don’t know myself what all of it means yet, so don’t draw conclusions of the worst case scenario, okay?”
She nods her head and whispers, “Okay.”
“Jax and I have worked together for years, and after a few cases, we developed a way to communicate through coded email. I have checked that email several times a day, but nothing has come through until last night.
“Oh my God, you heard from Jax, how is my sister? Why didn’t you tell me last night? You should have woken me up; you know how worried I’ve been!”
Her rapid-fire English was already hard to understand, but then she started squirming to sit up, so I was concentrating more on keeping her down than on what she was saying.
“Goddammit! Ren, stay still.” She freezes; I feel like shit for barking orders like that, but I’m thrilled at the obedience and trust that she shows me. “I’m sorry for yelling, but I need you to stay down. You may be in danger, and I can’t keep you safe if you don’t cooperate, okay?” She is silent but not moving around, so I continue at her nod. “The email was vague, so it could mean several things. All it said was, “Found her, RUN!” She stiffens but remains still. “To me, this could only mean two things: 1. He found Tori and is on the run with her or 2. They have found you, and he is telling me to take you into hiding. This is the most concerning since Jax doesn’t know where my cabin is. No one does, so if he’s saying they’ve found you, it’s because I have exposed you several times and someone has recognized you. They may be scouting the area nearest the crash site and asking people in town if they have seen you. I don’t know for sure, and I’m not taking chances on your safety, so for right now, we are going into hiding.
Chapter Seventeen
Escape:
*to slip or get away, as from confinement or restraint. *gain or regain liberty. *to slip away from pursuit or peril. *avoid capture, punishment, or any threatened evil.
~Ren~
I have never been on the run before and don’t even know the safety precautions to take. I send up a silent thank you for sending me this man. I would probably be dead or sold into sexual slavery if it wasn’t for him. That thought breaks my heart for my sister and all that she has
possibly endured. I pray silently for her, that Jax was able to get to her in time; that he will keep her safe until we can be reunited. I feel guilty now for feeling neglected and pouting. Derek has been nothing but good to me, and I have acted like a whiny brat, luckily not to him but in my head. I convinced myself that he didn’t want me anymore when in reality he was tirelessly working to help my sister and my family. Tears spill over my lashes onto his pants. Hopefully, he won’t notice as long as I don’t progress into hiccupping sobs. I take deep breaths and will myself to calm down. Maybe I should go to sleep; we have a long way to go. “Where are we going?”
~Derek~
“I don’t know yet. I think we will head south and maybe charter a boat to a small island in the Bahamas. We can lay low and have a vacation at the same time. Jax knows how to reach me; I’m sure he will when it’s safe. Also, since Savage is gone and hasn’t come back, I’m pretty sure he is with Jax. They had a code as well, that if no contact was made by a certain date, he was supposed to head to Montauk, NY and wait for instructions.”
“Are we going to Montauk?” she whispers, almost as if she’s falling asleep.
“No, we are going to Florida. I don’t want you anywhere near that area or those people. Having you in danger will not help Tori, and if she’s anything like you, she’d be pissed if we put you back in that situation.” She is so quiet that I think she is falling asleep, so I turn on the radio and just keep driving. We have about a fifteen-hour drive to Jacksonville where I can charter a boat to a small island in the Bahamas. I will keep her hidden as long as there’s danger, and if it doesn’t go away, I will become the hunter and destroy every last one of the bastards that would threaten her.
~Ren~
Jodi Kae