Wrong Place, Right Time(123)

“Drive where?” I ask, hoping someone from the team will drive up and save the day as I stall for time.

“Out of here. I’ll give you directions once you leave the port. We can give your friends a call from another location. Make Toni come to us where we can be alone and none of those jerks will have the upper hand, hiding behind their steel doors.” He looks over at the warehouse and sneers.

It takes me all of three seconds to decide what I have to do. This guy is a complete idiot. He has no plan. He’s functioning off pure hatred, maybe with a little dose of revenge on top of it, changing his mind about what he wants to do as the wind blows. And I somehow got caught in the middle of it. I’m no commando. I’ve had zero training for anything. I can’t negotiate with a kidnapper or judo chop him into submission. Today was supposed to be my first day training with Dev. If I’d had just one day of training—one single, solitary day—I might have been in a better position to make a good decision about how to handle this situation. But I didn’t. I have just my mother-instincts telling me that I need to take a small risk to avoid a bigger one. I can’t leave my kids without a mom.

“Drive!” he says more forcefully, jabbing me in the shoulder with the gun hard enough to leave a bruise.

“Fine! I’ll drive!” I’m shaking. Terrified. Pissed beyond words. If I could get my hand on that gun, I’d shoot him in the dick with it.

I put the car in reverse and grip the steering wheel, staring at the door thirty feet in front of me.

“What you waiting for? Let’s go.” He looks behind us. He’s expecting me to back up and drive away. To go somewhere where he can shoot me and bury me in a shallow grave, probably. Too bad I’m not on board with that plan.

No. I do not accept this. I will not die today. I have three amazing kids and a boyfriend who also has an amazing kid. I have more left on this earth to do before I bite the big one: more Halloweens, more cases with the Bourbon Street Boys, and more sex with Dev.

It’s time. Time to Hulk-out.

I slam the car into first gear, drop my foot like a brick onto the accelerator, and lift the clutch.

A roar worthy of the most awesome Incredible Hulk episode rips from my mouth, filling the interior of the car with echoes of my rage.

The warehouse door comes flying at me so fast, it’s like it has left its spot on the building to join me in my mission of destroying my car to gain my freedom.

“What the . . . ?!” my captor yells, just as we’re making impact.

The last thing I remember is a big, loud BOOM! . . . and then darkness.





CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Dev?” I wait. Nothing happens. “Dev, where are you?” I have the strangest sensation moving through me. I can’t feel my body exactly, but there are tingles. And wherever I am, it’s dark. I think Dev is here, or he should be, but I don’t see him. I don’t see anyone. Where am I? Why is it so dark? Ack! Please don’t let this be hell!

Something squeezes my hand, bringing me instant relief. I don’t need to panic. I’m not dead and I’m not about to meet Beelzebub himself. Dev is here. Nobody else has hands that damn big.

I feel myself smiling. It’s not without pain, though. My nose and head are killing me. “There you are,” I whisper. It’s the best I can do.

Something tickles my ear, and then his voice is there delivering warm puffs of air onto my neck. “I’m right here. I won’t leave you.”

“Why is it so dark in here?” I struggle to open my eyes. When I manage to crack them open just a bit, the light is so bright, I slam my lids shut again. “What the . . . ?”

“Take your time,” says a softer, female voice.

I tilt my head in her direction. “May?”

Somebody squeezes my left hand. “Yes, sweetie. It’s me. I’m right here with Dev.”

I attempt to open my eyes again. This time I have a little more luck with it. I manage to catch a glimpse of my very worried sister, before I have to give up again. This time I don’t give in to the darkness because of the bright light; I do it because opening my eyes takes too much effort, and I’m exhausted for some reason.

“Where am I?” I ask.

Dev answers. “You’re in the hospital.”

“My kids?”

“They’re fine.”

My brain drifts off for a little while; I’m not sure for how long. But then I remember something Dev said to me, and it makes me worry.

“Did you say hospital?” I force my eyes open.

Dev is leaning over me, concern marring his features.

I look at him and then at May. She’s been crying; her eyes are red-rimmed and puffy. “Are you okay?” I ask her.