Lance, page 25
But she would never doubt how he felt because of it.
Kari would be his to the end.
22
Kari glanced at the door for the five-hundredth time. “I’ll be right back.”
She walked out onto the sidewalk and looked up and down the quiet street. There were a few people milling around the front of the B&B, unloading their car and hauling bags up the stairs. Other than that it was deserted which made sense considering it was well after midnight.
“Everything okay?” Spirit held the door to the bar open as she peeked out.
Kari rubbed one hand up her arm, trying to smooth down the hairs that had been at constant attention for hours now. “Something just feels wrong.”
Spirit glanced back into the bar before stepping out beside her. “It seems quiet to me.” Her friend looked up and down the street.
“I know.” Kari had been out in this same spot doing this same thing countless times tonight trying to discern why she felt like this. “It doesn’t make sense.” She blew out a breath as a shiver ran down her spine. It was how she felt right before a fight broke out in the bar.
Times a million.
Every nerve ending in her body was on edge. Her muscles were twitchy. She couldn’t stand still. Every part of her wanted to move. Run even.
“Why don’t you go for a walk or something?” Spirit opened the door to the bar. “Cora and I will be fine for a while.”
Walking sounded good. “I’ll only be gone a few minutes.” Kari didn’t wait to hear her friend’s response. Her legs started on their own, carrying her down the sidewalk, each step moving faster than the last until she was running. It felt better than good.
It felt right.
Her body hummed as Kari darted up the side of the bed and breakfast. She needed to go home.
Yes.
That would make her feel better. To see Lance and Vanessa. Maybe tell him she was sorry for giving him a hard time about the fight with Jerrik. Maybe that’s what was wrong.
Kari didn’t like things being between them.
Instead of feeling better when she saw her house, the burning inside became stronger. Her little house was dark. The porch light wasn’t even on.
Lance always left it on for her when she worked.
But there were lights on at his house. The uncovered living room windows glowed from the sconces on the wall that gave the room a warm feeling she loved.
It didn’t feel warm now.
Kari rushed up the porch and stopped dead in her tracks.
The door was open. “Lance?”
Her heart pounded as she stepped inside. A few of Vanessa’s toys were scattered across a thick carpet that wasn’t there this morning. Kari stepped to it, dropping down to pick one up as she scanned the room, listening for any sounds indicating where her family was. Her eyes landed on the diaper bag she picked out weeks ago to replace the leather bag Lance used.
She stood up and walked to his office.
He had to be there with Vanessa. He was working late that was all.
The office was empty.
His laptop was open on his desk, the bag he packed it in for his trip to New York right beside it. Kari closed her eyes. She could barely smell his cologne hanging in the air. Another scent lingered, wrapping around his.
Fear.
Rage unfurled in her belly. An anger she couldn’t explain pumped through Kari’s veins as her eyes narrowed, looking for something she couldn’t identify.
They were gone.
Kari stepped into the hall as every cell in her body went on alert. Where was it?
She moved easily through the living room, her limbs almost vibrating as she listened, smelled.
Felt.
The darkness from before.
It was here.
Not now, but recently. It lingered in the atmosphere, burning her nose and stinging her eyes.
Kari walked to the porch. That’s where it was. The thing she needed. Her eyes darted across the boards in the dim light, landing on what she didn’t know she was looking for in seconds.
The band she slipped onto Vanessa’s head this morning to hold the sweep of hair out of her blue eyes. Kari picked it up and held it to her nose, breathing in the sweet smell of her little girl.
Hers.
And someone had her. Had them. She knew it. She felt it. Deep inside.
But Kari wasn’t scared.
She was livid. A deep fury she’d never experienced in her life fueled by a possessive need to have Vanessa safe in her arms burned through her body, spurring her to move. Clearing her mind. Focusing her every thought.
Rhea.
She ran.
Rhea was on the porch, rushing to meet her. “What’s wrong?”
“They’re gone.” Kari looked to Hagen who stood in the doorway pulling on his pants. “Let’s go.” She looked back to Rhea. “Send my mom to help Spirit and Cora close the bar.” She slid into the driver’s seat of Hagen’s truck as her brother jumped into the passenger’s seat, his shoes in his hands.
He tossed her the keys. “Where are they?”
“Up the hill.” She started the truck and peeled out of the driveway, tearing up the street toward the mountain.
“We’ll find them.”
Hagen was trying to be supportive.
She didn’t need it. Kari knew where Vanessa was. She could feel it. Like a tether, pulling her in. The engine roared as she floored it, loose bits of rock kicking against the undercarriage as Kari sped up the narrow road she’d traveled hundreds of times in her life on her way to Spirit’s house.
Kari rolled down her window and took a deep breath.
“Can you smell them Kari?” Hagen’s voice was cautious beside her.
“Shut-up.” Her mind was only focused on one thing.
Finding Vanessa.
There. She closed her eyes for a second, letting the smell of Vanessa’s soft skin move across her senses.
Kari spun the wheel hard to the left, cutting across the road and onto a worn path barely big enough for the truck. Branches raked up the side of the body, the screeching of twig across metal smothering out any other sounds around them.
She needed to hear.
Kari slammed on the brakes and threw the truck into park before jumping out into the night. Hagen reached across and shut off the headlights, throwing them into darkness. It didn’t matter. She didn’t need the light.
Panic.
The people who took Vanessa. They knew she was there. That she was coming for them.
Good.
Hagen stepped silently to her side. His eyes moved toward the direction of the panic she knew was from the men who took her child. “Someone’s running.”
“They should be.” Kari took two steps in the direction of the men running through the woods, zeroing in on their location. A growl moved up through her as the stink of their fear reached her nose. Then she ran, pushing through the woods, spurred on by the violent rage dictating her every move and thought.
She wanted blood. Their blood.
“Holy shit.” Hagen’s voice behind her barely registered as Kari pushed ahead, easily moving through the trees in the darkness, closing the distance between her and them faster than should be possible. The need to have Vanessa grew with every second that passed. To see her. To know she was okay. It was what fed her now.
Nourished the malevolence Kari drank in like water.
The trees broke, revealing a small, crumbling homestead, barely holding its structure as years of abandonment weighed on its rafters.
But it wasn’t abandoned.
The darkness was there.
And so was something else.
Kari pointed to the rotted wood structure. “He’s in there. Get him.”
She didn’t stop. She couldn’t.
Wouldn’t.
Hagen tried to follow her.
Kari turned as she ran. “Go.” Her eyes locked with her brother’s.
Get Lance.
She kept going, tearing back into the trees, the faint scent of Vanessa growing stronger.
Along with the fear.
Theirs. Not hers.
There was no room for fear in this equation. None.
Then Kari heard her.
The whimper was barely audible, quickly snuffed out, but it was enough. Her roar echoed through the trees as Kari’s vision went red.
The woods went silent except for the sound of a soft thump followed by frantic feet racing across the forest floor.
The suddenly nothing. No birds. No animals. No more running.
Silence.
Kari’s heart stopped. She froze, her chest barely heaving from the run as she used newly awakened senses. Listening with more than her ears.
There.
Her feet started to move again, to a spot fifty yards ahead. As she closed in Kari heard the gasp. She skidded to a stop on her knees, pulling the tightly wound wad of blankets into her arms, frantically fighting them loose.
As the pressure released on her tiny body Vanessa sucked in a lungful of air and let out a blood curdling scream. It was the most beautiful sound. Kari tucked her little girl to her chest and rocked. “It’s okay Little Cub. I’m here. I have you.”
Kari collapsed, her body curled around the bundle in her arms, holding Vanessa tight to her, pressing kisses against her skin. The little girl continued to wail, hiccuping against Kari as she buried her face into her shirt.
Everything was okay. Vanessa was safe.
“Kari!”
Hagen’s voice carried through the trees behind her. She was too tired to yell. Too tired to even stand up. He would have to find them on his own.
“Kari!”
She smiled against Vanessa’s silky hair. “You’re daddy’s coming.”
A few seconds later Lance dropped to his knees beside her, pulling them both into his arms. “Thank God.” He pushed the hair stuck to her cheek off her face with a shaky hand as his eyes ran over Vanessa. “Is she okay?”
“I think so.” Kari pulled the blankets away from Vanessa’s body, checking her over for any sign of injury. “They dropped her when I closed in on them.” She blinked back tears imagining what could have happened. She swallowed it down, turning her attention to Lance. A trickle of dried blood ran down the side of his head. Kari reached up to rest her hand gently over it. “Are you okay?”
He leaned into her palm and gave her a weak smile. “I’m fine Pet.”
“Jesus.” Kari stared at the dart sticking out of his shoulder.
Lance’s gaze followed hers. He yanked the metal tip free of his body and handed it to Hagen. “Hang onto that.”
Kari pressed her hand to her mouth as tears bit at her lids, dropping down her cheeks. A sob caught in her throat as the weight of what just happened crashed down around her. “What is going on?”
“We’ll figure it out.” Lance stroked her head with one hand, the other resting on Vanessa. “But we need to get you two out of here first, okay?”
Kari nodded and tried to stand up, struggling to get her feet under her. Her legs felt like jelly. Worthless and weak.
“I got you.” Lance hefted her into his arms and lifted them off the ground, pulling her and Vanessa tight against him. “You just worry about her.”
Kari tucked Vanessa closer, dropping her head to Lance’s shoulder as he carried them through the woods and away from this nightmare. “They were in our house weren’t they?”
Lance hesitated. “Yes.”
“Can we get an alarm system?”
“You’ll be lucky if I don’t hire armed guards.” Lance stepped into the clearing where the shitty house stood.
Kari managed a smile. “I might go along with that.” Her gaze dropped to the blonde haired girl in her arms. Vanessa’s clear blue eyes looked up at her. “Definitely a security system.”
Lance slid into the passenger seat of Hagen’s truck, carefully situating her on his lap as Hagen radioed Jerrik, giving him their location. His chin rested on her head as one hand stroked slowly over her arm.
“How did you find us?” Lance’s voice was soft.
“I don’t know.” Kari closed her eyes. “I knew something was wrong.”
“How did you know?”
Kari yawned as an exhaustion she’d never experienced washed over her. “I could feel it.”
Lance chuckled, the sound low and soothing under her ear. “I think you might be more beast than any of us.”
****
“Fucking terrifying.”
“I can imagine.” Lance glanced back at the truck where Kari and Vanessa were fast asleep across the seat.
Hagen shook his head. “No. You can’t.” He looked at Jerrik. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It kinda makes sense if you think about it.” Jerrik shrugged. “The men went out to hunt and fight and the women took care of the home and protected the children.”
“I’d take on a mama bear over what that woman turned into any fucking day.” Hagen still looked shell shocked. And maybe a little in awe of what his sister was.
Lance knew all along.
Maybe not exactly, but from day one he knew that Kari was a force to be reckoned with. And he was right.
A set of headlights glowed through the trees as another truck pulled in behind Jerrik’s cruiser. Magni and Christine jumped out. Christine stood at the side of the truck and stared into the woods as Magni came up behind her, resting one hand on her back. He leaned down and said something against her ear. She nodded as her eyes found Lance.
The couple walked to join them. Christine’s gaze stayed on him. “How are they?”
“They’re okay.” He looked back at the truck. “I’m ready to take them home.”
“I’ll stay here. Make sure everything’s okay.” Hagen nodded in the direction of the cabin he and Vanessa were taken to. “Go. Show them.”
Lance gave the truck a long look before tearing his eyes away. All he wanted was to be with them. Hold his girls close.
Know they were still there. Still his.
“We’ll make it quick for now.” Jerrik gave him a nod. “We can come back tomorrow.”
Lance led the group to the clearing, his hair standing up as they reached the place where he almost lost everything. His daughter. His wife.
His life.
Christine stiffened as the house loomed in front of them. “They were going to kill you.”
“I know.” Lance took a long, slow breath preparing himself for the words he knew would come next.
“And Vanessa.”
That was the part of this that would take the longest to get past.
They took her from him. There was nothing he could do. No way he could stop them.
In spite of what he was.
At the end of the day, when it came down to it, Lance wasn’t capable of protecting his family.
But Kari was.
“Did you know?”
Christine’s eyes were soft. She shook her head. “Not about this.”
“I mean about Kari. Did you know what she was?”
“She wasn’t.” Christine gave him a small smile. “Not until you gave her Vanessa. Being a mother is what made Kari what she was always meant to be.”
He didn’t know whether he should feel grateful or guilty that he was the reason this all happened.
“Let’s get this over with.” Lance stalked up the steps to the house. He stepped inside the front door and looked around. Jerrik pulled a flashlight from his pocket and shined it around the room, walking slowly over the creaking floorboards. The beam caught on a small cot in one corner and the camp stove set up beside it.
Jerrik turned to face him. “Where did they have you at?”
Lance nodded to a heavy door just off the front room. “Basement.”
The door had seen better days. Yesterday was one of them. Between him and Hagen they’d nearly knocked the thing off its hinges, trying to get it down. Lance moved the beam of light over the splintered wood. “You have trouble getting out?”
“A little.” Lance rubbed over the sore spot where the dart sank into his muscle. The shot knocked him down but not out. Peckers didn’t count on him being more than a man.
Not that it did him any good outside of that. He couldn’t get to Vanessa. Maybe if he could have gotten a running start but the fucking stairs barely supported his weight as it was.
Jerrik shined the light at his chest. “Am I gonna be upset when I go down there?”
Lance gave him a nod.
“Fuck.” Jerrik disappeared down the stairs. Lance heard him curse again before the deputy came back up. He shot Magni a look. “This is where they moved when Lance kicked them out of the other place. The basement’s set up the same.”
Christine looked down at the floor under their feet. Jerrik’s light followed her gaze. Aside from the wear and tear of almost a hundred years the floor was bare. She leaned to gaze down a short hall off the living room. “It will be back there.”
“Is there something here?” Magni’s arm tightened around her hip as he scowled at the air.
Christine nodded. “It moved here too.” She eased closer to Magni. “We will have to come back in the morning.”
“Who’s we?” Lance didn’t plan to come back here again. Ever.
Christine’s eyes trained on Jerrik. “You have to be here.”
“Me?” He looked from Lance to Christine. “What does this have to do with me?”
Christine’s expression was tight.
“Everything.”
****
“Shhhh.” Lance’s voice was soft, calm, soothing. “Just relax Pet. I’ve got you.”
Her body eased down, sinking into the mattress under her back. Kari held onto him as he started to get up. “Don’t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He leaned forward to brush a kiss across her forehead. “I want to check all the doors again. I’ll be right back.”
Kari let her hands drop, watching as he left her bedroom. She closed her eyes, listening to him move from door to door, window to window, checking each one. Vanessa stirred in her room across the hall, shifting in her sleep as her daddy passed to make sure she was safe.
