Page 34 of Fire
River stopped for a moment, but only to open the passenger door to the Land Rover parked in front. River hurried around the front of the vehicle before getting behind the wheel. I still had no idea where River was taking me. River interrupted my next question when he looked over toward me and said, “Fasten your seatbelt. The road is going to be a little rough.”
“Where exactly are we going, and why aren’t you answering any of my questions?” I took hold of the seatbelt and brought it across my lap. Twisting my body, I kept my sights on him. “Well?”
“You aren’t going to give up, are you?” His laughter filled the cab of the SUV, mocking my question. I should have been pissed, but it was the sexiest laugh I had ever heard.
“Nope. Not until I get the answers I need.”
River shifted the Land Rover into drive and drove down the long road leading away from his home. It wasn’t until we turned onto a paved road that he spoke. “I’m taking you to a shelter that I own on the edge of my property. No one else knows about it, and you will be safe there.”
I knew where River was taking me, but had yet to understand why he was helping me. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because it was clear when I found you, you were in need to help.”
Even though River answered my question, he didn’t give me the answers I wanted. Frustrated, I had to change the way I asked them. “Do you know Niles Harris and Van Wilkerson?”
As I watched River’s hands tighten around the steering wheel, I knew the question had struck a nerve. When silence filled the cab, I thought he was avoiding my question until he said, “Niles Harris and Van Wilkerson are brothers. I broke ties with them long ago, but when you mentioned their names, I knew it was just a matter of time before they paid me a visit.”
“What do they want with me?”
River stopped the Land Rover in the middle of the street and looked over at me. “It isn’t so much what they want from you as it is from someone else. They took you in exchange for something else.”
“I need to get in touch with my boyfriend and let him know I’m okay.” Axe needed to know that I was okay. He had to be worried sick about me.
“No. Trust no one, Kenzi,” he blurted harshly.
“It wasn’t a question, River. He needs to know where I am.”
River put his foot on the gas pedal and made a sharp left onto a dirt road. “I’m not going to put you in harm's way, Kenzi. Your boyfriend is the last person you should be contacting.”
“Why? What do you know that you aren’t telling me?”
“He is the reason you were taken.”
~26~
River
When I saw Kenzi lying by the riverbank, I knew there was only one reason she was there. My brothers were up to no good. I could not be positive, but my assumption was confirmed when they showed up at my house. After fifteen years with no word from either of them, they showed up at my house for a reason, and that reason was to find what they had lost.Kenzi.Her boyfriend was nothing but a coward. He should have told her the truth.
As I drove away from my home, all I could think about was keeping Kenzi safe. The last thing I wanted was for her to end up like Joselyn. Even though Kenzi was nothing like Joselyn, many things about her reminded me of my dead wife. For one, she was persistent—a persistence that would get her into trouble. After all, it was my wife’s tenacity that caused her death. If Joselyn had trusted me and left my past where it was, she might still be alive today.
Turning down the badly neglected road leading to the shelter hidden deep in the thick woods, I stopped the Land Rover, dropped the stick shift into neutral, and flipped the switch into four-wheel drive. I looked over to Kenzi and found her holding on to the handle above the door with one hand while the other gripped the dash.
“You weren’t kidding when you said this road was bumpy,” she said in a shaky voice. “Can you slow down a little? I’m really getting a workout over here.”
“Not if you want to get to safety.” I could have slowed down, but my focus was on getting Kenzi to the shelter, where I knew we would be safe. “It’s not much further.”
With the rough road and the speed I was driving, I had prevented Kenzi from asking any more questions. Telling her about her boyfriend Axel Riley came as a surprise even to me. I should have kept quiet, but I was pissed off at the man for allowing her to be taken by Niles and Van. After hearing my brothers' arrangement with Axe, I knew Kenzi didn’t deserve to be used as an incentive. She was innocent and deserved to be treated like a precious stone. Finding her was a sign. God was giving me a second chance. It was as though he wanted me to do what her boyfriend couldn’t—protect her.
Easing my foot off the gas pedal, I slowed down and pulled my vehicle to the side of the road. There was no road where I turned, but I knew the way to the shelter. The hidden markings on the trees were the only map I needed to find it. Only I knew about them—a secret that I’d kept for fifteen years. I built this shelter to protect Joselyn, but it was too late. My family was to blame. She should have never been left alone.
As I turned off the engine and opened the door, I looked over at Kenzi. “We are going to have to walk from here.”
“How far are we going to have to walk?” she asked, unfastening her seatbelt and opening the passenger door.
I headed to the back of the Land Rover and waited for her to join me before I answered her question. “About five miles.”
“Five miles. Are you kidding?”
