The twisted vines comple.., p.24
The Twisted Vines Complete Boxset, page 24
“How is that going to help you? They aren’t going to give out that kind of information over the phone. They don’t even capture that data.” I scan the area for the keys to the Range Rover. I can’t locate them anywhere. As I’m lifting papers and cups, trying to think where Vivi might have left them, I hear Kairi on the phone.
“Hello. Yes, hi. My name is Katie. I’m calling with a request that is going to sound so strange. But I really need your help. I’m a little bit desperate.”
I locate Vivi’s pocketbook and dump out the contents. There are no keys. I re-enter the den. Kairi is still on the phone.
“I know. But has anyone ever cheated on you? I just need to know if he’s there. With her.”
My hand is on the door when I hear Kairi tell Wolf, “Drive by the Marriott. That receptionist wasn’t helpful. I’m going to call Motel 7 next.”
Wolf nods to her and points to me. “Come with me. You drive. I’m going to be busy relaying with the team.”
I jump in his black SUV and press the accelerator, thankful for a scrap of information. Confirmation one of our suspects is in the area is huge. It can’t be a coincidence. If he’s hurt her, I’ll kill him. Fuck it. I’m going to kill him either way.
Wolf gets a call. I only know because he speaks out into the air. “Kare. Update?”
“Motel 7. Good work. She wouldn’t give you the room number? But she confirmed the vehicle. In the lot now?” While he’s on the phone, he’s tapping in the address, and I floor the accelerator.
“Update the police. My contact is Sergeant Reyes.” Wolf texts as fast as I’ve ever seen him text.
The light at the intersection turns red, and I tap my fingers against the wheel.
“No room number?” I ask, confirming. “Do you have a badge to get them to tell us?”
“I doubt he used his real name to check in. We can knock on the doors. Ask people. I’ve got a photo of the guy on my phone. Just sent it to the team. They’ll all have photos, too. Police are en route.”
“She may not even be there.” I voice my fear.
“We’ll find her,” Wolf says. It’s the kind of thing one says, but one doesn’t know.
I scan the parking lot as I pull in. There’s no Lexus. It would stand out if there were one. This motel has seen better days. From the shadow behind the seven, it’s clear this used to be a Motel 6. The new owners weren’t particularly creative when they renamed it.
Trevor, Snipes, and others pull up in black SUVs and park beside us. It’s late afternoon, and judging from the open parking lot, there are vacancies.
They split up, knocking on doors. I go to talk with the receptionist. Kairi is the one who is good at eliciting information. I am not. Unfortunately, it appears the receptionist watched all of us pull into the parking lot.
“Can I help you?” She peers over my shoulder, no doubt watching our men knock on doors.
“We’re looking for someone.”
“Same person that girl called about?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You don’t need to call me ma’am.” The middle-aged woman is older than me. She’s wearing jeans and a skintight top. “I don’t think he’s here. But his lady friend is. There’s no reason to attack her. I’ll call the cops on you.”
“We’re not here to hurt her. We’re here to save her. Kairi…or Katie…told you that story to find out if he was here. You’ve got to believe me. It’s my girlfriend in there. She’s been kidnapped. The police are on the way. If you know what room she’s in, you’ve got to tell me.”
She points a long nail to a first-floor door.
I point my finger, and the guys all join me at the door with a brass number three. Wolf knocks. There’s no sound.
“Did she give you a key?”
Fuck, I should’ve gotten one. I take a step back to ask the receptionist for a key. She’s standing in the doorway, arms crossed, watching us with suspicion. There’s a phone in her hand. No doubt she’s prepared to dial 911. Wolf backs up and faces the door at a sideways angle.
“Wait,” the receptionist calls. “I’ll get you a key.”
She unlocks the door, and Trevor pulls her aside, out of the way. We open it, and my insides simultaneously sink and explode.
Vivi is tied to a chair, and duct tape covers her mouth. Wolf and Trevor hold their guns in the air. Out of the corner of my eye, I see one of them enter the bathroom.
I run to Vivi. She’s wearing the loose pajama pants she likes to lounge around in and a tank top. There are no signs of blood. I grab a corner of the silver tape and rip it off fast.
She gasps and leans forward. Tears leak out the corners of her eyes. I grab her shoulders, scanning her for injury.
“Are you okay?”
“My wrists.”
Trace amounts of blood line Vivi’s wrists.
“I need something to cut her free.” The thick plastic ties have no give. If I pull on them, I’ll hurt her.
Wolf joins me. His knife blade reflects light. In a flash, her wrists are free. She coddles them against her. Thin red lines mar her delicate skin. She’s bent over her thighs.
Wolf kneels at her feet, slicing the binding. She’s not wearing shoes, so once she’s free, I pick her up and carry her.
Sirens loom outside, increasing in intensity.
“Did you call an ambulance?” I ask Wolf.
“I’m okay. I don’t need one.” Vivi protests.
Two cop cars with lights flashing pull into the parking lot, directly behind our fleet of black SUVs. Wolf leads the charge to talk to the officers.
I carry Vivi to Wolf’s car. I set her down in the passenger seat and hover over her.
“I thought I’d lost you.” My face is next to hers, and I clasp her trembling, cold hands in mine.
“No. I don’t think he would have…” Her words trail off, frail and soft. She’s uncertain. She doesn’t know. And neither do I.
I have so many questions to ask her, but it’s not important. A uniformed police officer stands at my side.
“Sir, is she okay?”
An ambulance pulls into the parking lot. The EMT opens the back doors to the vehicle. The police officer asks Vivi if they can check her out. He explains they also need photographs. An additional police car, lights on, no sirens, pulls into the parking lot.
I carry Vivi over to the ambulance. Her head rests against my shoulder, and I press my lips to her forehead. Emotions pour through me in waves. Relief. Concern. Worry. Her captor is still out there. I know what it’s like to have an enemy lurking.
Wolf and Trevor are engaged with the police officers. Yellow tape now hangs along the section of the hotel room. White light flashes inside the room.
The EMT wraps thin white gauze around Vivi’s ankle, and a cop edges me to the side as he proceeds to ask her questions.
I look off to the street. Cars are slowing down. Passengers and drivers alike are watching all of us. Traffic has backed up as drivers slow, taking in the scene.
A black sedan inches by. I recognize the driver. He’s the same guy whose photo I uploaded on my phone. He’s wearing sunglasses. Like every other passing car, he’s taking in the scene.
My hand rests on the butt of my gun, and I step away from the ambulance and onto the sidewalk. There’s no fucking way I’m letting him just drive away.
I raise my right arm to get Wolf’s attention. I signal, pointing on the street. Wolf steps back from the police officer he’s talking to. His gaze follows my finger.
The asshole sees us. He blasts his horn, and he guns his engine, swerving onto the sidewalk, attempting to pass the cars in the backlogged street. The car lurches forward, and I hold out my gun. Aim. Pull.
His back tire deflates. The car swerves off the sidewalk and into the bushes. The police officers take off, running. Two of the men in blue surround the car as he exits, hands in the air.
Another officer joins my side. “Sir, you fired that gun?”
MINE
Vivi
The torn skin around my wrists and ankles burns. I slip on my pajamas and wrap a towel around my hair. The faint hum of crashing waves calms me. The thick white comforter calls to me, but voices carry through the bedroom door. And I am hungry.
I open the door, and a hush falls over the room. Then Erik is at my side, guiding my elbow.
“I’m okay,” I tell him.
“Cali has soup ready for you.” He guides me to the chair. “And I have the ointment from the EMT for your wrists and ankles. And gauze. After you eat, you’ll sleep.” He announces this last bit of information louder, and it’s clear he’s saying it for the rest of the room.
I sit at the head of the table, and six others join me.
“I’m okay.” I offer a small smile. It’s all I can force out. I am okay. It could have been so much worse. Hunger and exhaustion battle within me because while I want to eat, my eyelids are heavy.
The warm soup coats the back of my throat. With each swallow, more of myself returns. Erik pulls up a chair, inches from mine. His hand falls to my back, and he rubs gently, back and forth.
“I still think we should have taken you to the hospital.” Cali sits a foot away, her dark eyes so much like her twin’s.
“There was nothing for them to do.” Every single person is watching me, and all of them are concerned. I sense it. “Really. I’m fine. If anything, I’m pissed at myself because I didn’t use my head. Every woman knows you should never allow a captor to put you in the car. I should’ve fought harder.” My memory of the moment is cloudy, but I didn’t fight.
“Stun guns frazzle you. No one thinks straight. And you haven’t been trained. Even if you had, he had those zip ties so tight, I don’t think you could’ve escaped.” Trevor’s being friendly. He’s relaxed, and there’s a beer in his hand.
“What were you thinking, going after a stranger on the Internet?” Erik isn’t relaxed. He’s squinting. His head is at an angle. He wraps an arm around the back of my chair, and his other hand falls to my thigh. But it feels like he’s touching me to assure himself I’m here, not to comfort me.
“I’ve been doing this for years.” His eyes widen, and his mouth opens slightly. “Sometimes I get paid.” Kairi hides a smile behind her beer bottle.
Logan leans forward, resting his weight on his elbows on the table. “You got lucky. It could’ve been a lot worse.”
“I know,” I tell him as Erik squeezes my thigh. He wants to say more, but he’s like me. He won’t say more in this sea of people.
“Did any of this make the news?” Erik asks the table. Wolf shakes his head.
“We’re monitoring it. Obviously, there’s footage of the cop cars at the motel. But so far, we haven’t seen any footage with you or us. All the coverage right now has to do with Vivianne Rossi being kidnapped.”
“Where is my phone? I’ve got to call my family.”
“Police found it in his car. It’s in evidence.” Crap. My phone.
Kairi slides over her phone. “Use mine.”
She has all the numbers I need. Celeste is emotional. Max is gruff. Granddad wants to drive to me, but I assure him I’m all right. And I will be. I am.
Erik holds me close, his arm around me, supporting my tired, aching body. Without him saying a word, I hear his frustration with what I’ve done. My lack of precautions. But he loves me. His love overrides all the negative. And yes, he’s not perfect. But I trust him. I love him. And he’s mine.
HOLD
Erik
Vivi is tucked next to me in bed, and we’re bundled underneath the comforter. Outside the expansive window, morning dawns, and the soft sound of waves filters through.
Her head rests on my chest, and I curve my arm around her, holding her close. The light gauze wrapped around her wrist serves as a reminder of how differently everything might have played out.
She’d been playing a dangerous game. It was only a matter of time before she disrupted the wrong asshole’s life. We were incredibly fortunate the guy didn’t have the killer instinct. He’d wanted to scare her but was too drugged to formulate a solid plan. And there again, so lucky. The drug use could have easily gone the other way and helped him to cross the line to a complete psychotic break.
Footfalls and hushed whispers outside the room remind me we aren’t alone. A screen door creaks and slaps shut with a bang. My sister and her family have probably decided to go for a walk along the beach so as not to disturb us.
Vivi’s eyelids flutter open, and those light blue irises soothe my frazzled soul. She smiles. Then groans.
“We have guests. We need to get up.”
“You don’t need to do anything today except take it easy. And our guests are fine. They just went out for a walk on the beach. The refrigerator is stocked. They know where everything is. Your job today is to rest.”
She stretches out beside me. One of her legs crosses over mine as she rolls onto her side. I love this. Waking up with her. And I came so close…
“What’s that face for?” she asks.
“Vivi, do you understand how badly yesterday could have gone? Do you understand how lucky you are?”
She lays her head back down against my chest, and her fingers lightly graze over my pecs. I twist a long strand around a finger. I need for her to understand, but how? It’s not my place to tell her what she can and can’t do.
“I know it sounds strange, but I wasn’t really scared yesterday.”
“Someone kidnapped you and tied you to a chair, and you weren’t scared?”
“I had this sense he wouldn’t really hurt me. I mean, he had a stun gun. Not a knife. Not a pistol. He did have a wild eye. I did worry he was out of his mind, but I just never had the sense that he had it in him to actually kill.” I disagree with her, but there’s no point in arguing. She’s telling me what she sensed. I can’t argue with that. We’ll never know if her sense was right or wrong.
“Maybe this time. But next time, you might not be so lucky. How did you even get into playing vigilante?”
“In a roundabout way, really. Our vineyard was hacked years ago. They accessed customer emails, credit cards. It was all pretty benign, but my grandfather feared, well, plenty, so he paid this ransom.” The Rossi Vineyards hack. Spectre’s work. Fuck me.
“Spectre is my old company. I wasn’t a part of the Rossi attack. Not really. That was one of the hacks that made me start to suspect we were losing sight of our original mission.” We set out to level the playing field. To take down the big, greedy corporations and share the funds freely. We set out to create a world where no one government or entity could be too strong. “I’m sorry. I didn’t connect you, or, well, Firefly, to Rossi Vineyards. I had no idea you were related.”
“In a way, it encouraged my grandfather to let the younger generation shoulder more weight. He felt so out of the loop with the technology. And it raised my interest in coding. I became curious.” Ah, curiosity. I wouldn’t be holding her right now if it weren’t for curiosity.
“I found this Reddit group of coders. I’d take on a coding challenge. One day, the challenge was to hack into a fellow user’s computer. Another day an Instagram account. Then someone mentioned you could make money doing it. And my first few jobs were for women who suspected their husbands were cheating. And every single time, those women were right. It pissed me off.”
“So you began a one-woman campaign against cheaters?”
“I like to think of it as making online dating safer. It’s just too easy for people to pretend to be someone they’re not online. You know?”
“I do. But, Vivianne, look at me.” I waited until she raised her head off my chest. “You are too important to me. I don’t want you to take those risks.”
“Aren’t you taking risks?”
“Calculated risks, yes.”
“You can, but I can’t?”
“I don’t know.” I rub my hand over my eyes, and I see Kairi bathed in Lara’s blood. “I’ve seen the worst. It’s not an irrational fear.” She fixes those baby blues on me.
“Sometimes fear is the enemy. Our worst case imagined scenarios are more terrible than are remotely realistic.”
I wrap my fingers lightly around her wrist and shake it back and forth.
“You were just kidnapped yesterday. You had wine stolen in the same week. Are you listening to yourself?”
“All right.” She grins. “Maybe I could stand to be more safety-conscious. I’m sure you’ll point the way.” She’s right about that. I’m going to find us a house on a hilltop and have the most secure stronghold money can buy.
“Why not go back to gaming?” I’d get her the best setup. Whatever she wanted. That’s a safe hobby.
“Didn’t I tell you back in the day? I reached a point where…it gets to me. The graphics are too visual. When I shoot someone and the blood splatters, I feel it. Like I’m injured. Like it’s my blood. I throw a punch, and I feel it.” I’d tell her she’s being ridiculous, but again, her feelings are valid. And the gaming graphics only get more realistic with each upgrade.
“Did you ever sell your coins?”
“No.” She lays her head back down. “I didn’t get a good vibe.”
“Good.”
“Did you sell?”
“No. Bad vibes.” I smile at her. She raises up and presses her lips to mine. Her soft breasts drag across my chest. This, talking with her, holding her…I can’t give it up. I’m not strong enough. And she needs me around to keep her safe. I will do anything to keep her safe.
She lies back down. I pull the comforter up higher around her shoulders to cocoon her in warmth.
“I like your sister.” Her comment warms me from within. Cali is my twin. It’s important they like each other.
“I hoped you’d like her. Of everyone on the planet, she’s the most like me.”
“Hmmm.” Her hum vibrates into my chest. “I think the two of you are similar. But you’re also very different.”
“How do you figure?” You’d have to look at our childhood photos to see how similar we actually look. As adults, gender differences won out.
