Page 83 of Her Silver Fox Firefighters
“I can help you,” she says, despair taking over. “I know where he’s keeping her and how he plans to get out. He asked for my help and blackmailed me into submission. But I’d rather rot in fucking prison than help him again, not after he set those fires and killed those people. I can’t. I told him I’d help, but I’m here instead, okay? I’m here, talking to you.”
“Don’t expect a medal, Jocelyn. Don’t expect mercy either,” I bitterly reply.
“I’m not expecting anything. I’m just trying to help, to stop him before it’s too late. If Marcus has his way, he’s going to roll back into Devon and into an armed lockdown situation. It’ll be worse than anything you’ve ever seen. The man is ready to burn everything, himself and Olivia included. He’ll kill anybody who gets in his way, anybody who tries to get close to them.”
“He is off his rocker,” Carlos mutters. “Completely out of control.”
“Yes, he’s unhinged. And you need to get to him before he leaves the county,” Jocelyn says. “You have to stop him.”
Fully aware that she’s past redemption and nowhere near close to the mere concept of forgiveness, Jocelyn does the smart thing and takes a deep breath, nodding slowly as she comes to terms with the shitstorm she just brought upon herself.
For the first time, I sense a bit of accountability.
“You need to tell us everything you know about Marcus, his movements and his intentions,” I say.
Carlos gives me a hard look. “Dax and Leo need to be here for this.”
“I can call them,” I tell him.
“No, I need to deputize them. If Marcus is half as bad as he seems to be, our deputies won’t be enough to take him out. We need real boots on the ground, and I’ll take my chances with former Marines any day.”
I see the sense in Carlos’s request. Slowly but surely, a plan begins to form in the back of my head as I shift my focus back to Jocelyn.
“You. Start talking. Now.”
In the meantime, my thumbs move quickly across the screen of my phone as I text the guys and explain the importance of meeting us here with Carlos and Jocelyn. My blood is boiling. My heart beats faster with each passing moment.
There’s a chance we’ll be able to get Olivia back, safe and in one piece. But there is still the possibility of failure, too, of losing the woman we love, the mother of our children, the love of our lives. And I refuse to accept that possibility.
I would rather fucking burn a thousand times in the fires of hell than lose Olivia.
26
OLIVIA
Two nails left.
I am so close, I can barely breathe. My fingers and hands ache as I wedge the narrow side of the hinge piece under the nail’s rusted round head. My fingertips are red and bruised from the consistent effort.
I keep going, however, because, outside, the night, with its velvet sky and smattering of stars, awaits. I can see it through the bathroom window that I’m desperately trying to open. It’ll be a tight fit, but I might just make it.
“Dammit!” I cuss as the hinge piece slips and slashes my hand.
Though my hand is dripping blood, I can’t stop. I won’t stop. So I start again, digging under the nail’s head over and over, until I yank the damned thing out like the others before it. In my mind, moments replay like fuel for my escape.
The night I met my men.
The first time we kissed.
The way it felt to wake up in their arms after a long lovemaking session, my muscles sore but my heart singing new and beautiful songs.
The idea that I might get a happy ending after all in this twisty, complicated life.
“Yes!” I hiss as I remove the nail.
For a moment, I hold still, listening to the silence. I don’t know where Marcus went, but I know he’ll be back. I just need to make sure I get the last nail removed before the monster returns.
Snippets of our life together intertwine, from the moment I met Marcus to the moment I snuck out of our home because it wasn’t safe anymore. It was never a home; it was nothing more than a gilded cage, a purgatory to slowly rot in, until there was nothing left of me.
