Baby Stetson (Love and Music in Texas #1) (33 page)

Rodney shook his head. “Would you believe my battery is dead, too? Otherwise, I would have called you earlier to let you know I was going to pick you up. Sorry.”

Well, there went that. Avery was half tempted to run in and use a pay phone. But Rodney had already started the car, the rain wasn’t letting up, and the lightning was too close. She would just check on everything when she got home.

Rodney handed her a bottle and a bag of chips. Without even looking, Avery uncapped the drink and chugged more. She couldn’t believe how thirsty she was. “Thank you again,” Avery said, and put the bottle between her legs in the seat, easy to reach when she’d need to drink again.

“No problem. There’s a variety of things to munch on in the bag for whenever you’re ready. I don’t know what you like, so I just grabbed a ton of stuff.” Rodney gave her a quick look, but then focused back on the road.

“I may try to eat in a little bit.”

“So, did you meet her? Your birth mother, I mean?” Rodney asked.

Avery still didn’t want to talk about it, but of course Rodney would want to know. He would have never known about Avery had he not run into her.

“She didn’t show the night she was supposed to.” She looked away, fearing the tears would come again.

“Why didn’t you stay longer? I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry. I guess curiosity is getting to me. You came back too soon, Lucas isn’t with you ... I know something must have happened.”

Avery closed her eyes, her eyelids heavy all of a sudden. Why did she feel so drowsy? So dizzy, even though she was sitting in a car. “I-”

Her thoughts jumbled. She couldn’t think straight. What the hell was happening to her?

“Avery? Are you all right?” Rodney’s voice sounded so far away, though he was only a seat away.

“I don’t feel so good,” Avery muttered, barely able to get the words out. Her head throbbed, her heart raced and she only grew weaker and more tired. Something was way off! “What’s happening to me?”

She never got an answer. Avery’s world spun until everything went black.

The rain was relentless. Lucas darted out in it, hurrying to reach Avery’s house. He pounded on the door when he got there.
Please be home, please be home.
The porch light was on. Lucas couldn’t see through the closed blinds if there were any lights on in the house. Nearby, lightning struck a tree. The loud rumble of thunder that followed rattled the windows to the point Lucas was afraid they would shatter. Still, no one came to the door. Maybe they had some sort of storm cellar, and had taken shelter there. Damn it! Was there time to run to the inn before the worst of the storm struck?

Lucas’s worst fear was heightened when the shrill blare of a tornado siren began to wail.

“We’ve got to get somewhere safe!” Avery’s birth mother shrieked. She was right, but ... Avery was out there somewhere, possibly with a man with an intent to hurt or even-

No! No, don’t think like that.

Over the howling of the wind, Lucas shouted back. “Let’s get to the inn. It’s not far away. I know they have a basement. We’ll ride out the storm there. Hopefully Avery’s parents- and Avery herself- are there.”

The woman shuddered. “This is terrible. It’s bad. Oh, Lucas, what’ll we do?”

“Snap out of it! Right now, we need to get to safety. Then we figure it out from there. Oof!” Lucas ducked as a large tree branch snapped and fell, barely missing him. He shielded his eyes and made a run for it to the near side of the inn. There was a door there from the office that Lucas could try to get in from. He’d met Avery there a couple of times.

“Here! Let’s get in from here!” The strong winds blew harder. Lucas had to duck and avoid debris a few times. Through all the rain, he wasn’t sure if a tornado was on the ground or not, but the sirens still signaled a warning. There was no time to take chances.

Lucas pried the door open. That door always stuck. It was something Avery mentioned that needed fixing. Thankfully it wasn’t up high on the list at the time. After two hefty tugs, the door flew open, giving them an entrance into safety and a dry area.

From the office, someone yelled. Lucas found Avery’s father. “Is Avery here with you guys?”

The elderly man stared in shock at Lucas. “I didn’t even know she was back. I hadn’t heard anything. What are you doing here without her?”

Damn.
Damn!

“I’ll explain in a minute, though right now we need to get underground. I think there’s a tornado coming.”

Lights flickered, a loud buzzing sound followed and then the room was shrouded in darkness. The entire building seemed to shake. Then a small beam of light illuminated Mr. Callimer’s face. “This way. There’s a stairwell to the basement from here. We’ve already got all the guests evacuated there. My wife and Paula are down there.”

Lucas gestured for Avery’s birth mom to follow and they headed down the stairs.

“Why are you not with Avery?” the man finally asked. “Where is she? Is she out in this hell of a storm?”

Lucas hesitated. He’d told this man that he had Avery’s back. That he would take care of her. Another promise broken, another trust shattered. Especially once Mr. Callimer found out everything Lucas knew.

“Avery came home early. She and I- had a disagreement. Things didn’t work out for the best in California. She’d called Jameson to pick her up, but someone slashed his tires and Jameson has no idea where Avery is. We have a feeling we know who she’s with.”

They only knew part of that.

The man pretending to be Rodney Morris was a mystery.

The ruckus above had everyone in a panic. Lucas heard Avery’s dad fill his wife in what what was going on. Avery’s birth mother huddled in a corner away from everyone else. In the dimly lit room, Lucas found his way to sit beside her.

“I wish things had turned out differently,” she whispered. “I’ve never felt so scared in my life, other than the day I left her behind.”

She’d never talked about it before. Lucas was surprised she started now. For a woman that had so much acting and musical talent, she always kept her own feelings and emotions elsewhere. Lucas never really knew a real feeling from the woman, let alone her showing fear and worry.

“You can’t change the past. All you can do is make it right.” Lucas knew that all to well. He needed to take that same advice.

“I should have called you earlier that night. Maybe I could have salvaged some time, met Avery and we’d know her whereabouts right now.”

“Possible, but don’t forget, she’s angry at me, too. I lied to her. I didn’t tell her I knew you personally, and when I had to ... well, it didn’t go over well. She’s hurt, feels betrayed, and I can’t blame her for running.”

“Ironic that she thinks she’s safe with the man pretending to be Rodney. I didn’t even know Rodney died!” Tears fell from her eyes.

Someone clearing their throat forced Lucas to look up. Avery’s adoptive parents stood over them, watching the two with curious gazes. Lucas sighed. Well, here it goes. He nudged Avery’s birth mother. She gathered herself and half smiled. “Hello.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Callimer, I’m so sorry. I-” Lucas started. A loud sound interrupted his thoughts. What the hell was going on up there? Would there be an inn to come up to when all was said and done? “I will do everything to find Avery. You have every right to be mad at me-”

Mr. Callimer clapped a hand on Lucas’s shoulder. “We know how you feel about her, son. You love her.”

Lucas nodded, speechless.

“Then you need to tell us everything, right now,” Mrs. Callimer said, looking from him to the woman beside him. He’d start with her.

“I will. I don’t know the complete story yet, so you’ll need to ask this woman right here. This is Belinda, Avery’s biological mother, and what we’re about to say isn’t going to be easy for you to hear.”

******

Avery’s eyes fluttered open. She was surrounded by darkness. Her entire body ached, and a loud banging sound came from somewhere nearby. She grunted, trying to move her arms and realized she couldn’t. That unsettled feeling jerked her into full alert mode. Not only could she not move her hands, but they were bent at a slightly awkward and very painful angle. Her arms brushed up against something cold and metal. She was in a sitting position. A chair?

She was tied to a chair! Panic took over. Avery shifted, trying to test out the strength of her binds. They were tight. She didn’t have much lead way at all. Avery screamed, or at least, tried to. That’s when she realized something covered her mouth. Avery’s eyes burned with hot tears. What happened? Who did this? Where was Rodney?

Where was she?

The storm. The car. Stopping for a snack. Then- nothing. She’d had some water, and then, what?

The water. Avery was fine before she drank it. But, then that meant ... that meant Rodney had to have done something to the water. That didn’t make sense. Why would he drug her and then leave her bound to a chair in the dark during a severe storm?

Avery rocked back and forth, in an attempt to make some sort of noise, to alert someone. Anything! She had a feeling it would do no good. The roar of the storm outside trumped any kind of sound she would be able to make.

A door burst open, allowing a bit of light into the room. Rain ushered in along with a shadow. Avery’s heartbeat quickened. The door slammed closed, and then a light clicked on. “Well, still have power. That’s a good thing.” Avery stared into the cold eyes of a man she thought she could trust.

Rodney.

He stared at her with a frown. “You’re alert. Good! Now maybe before the power goes out or the storm gets worse, I can get what I need.” He stomped over to her, knelt down to her height and ripped the tape off her mouth with no warning.

Avery yelped, the sting so strong she nearly vomited.

“Don’t scream, or it’ll go right back. Not that I think anyone can hear you.” He cast his gaze behind her.

“What- why are you doing this?” Avery asked. If her mouth was any more parched, she wouldn’t be able to speak at all. She dared not ask this man for any water. “I don’t understand.”

Rodney laughed bitterly. “No, you wouldn’t understand, would you, Avery? But it’s nothing from you I want. I need you as leverage to get back at your mother. Your birth mother.”

“You never cared at all to meet me? It was never about getting to know your daughter?”

“You aren’t even my child!” Rodney shouted, getting up and pacing around the room.

How could that be? The DNA test proved otherwise. Unless Rodney had the means to have the tests fixed or something. Of course everything had been set up by him. They could have easily doctored the results. A shiver rippled down her spine, only making the pain in her arms worse. Avery tried to move to a position that didn’t hurt so much, but nothing worked.

“I don’t even know my birth mother,” Avery muttered. “So what do you need me for? How can you not be my father? We saw the results together!”

“I know your birth mother. Very well. That bitch is a double crossing, lying whore. She was supposed to be with me! Make music together, live together happily. Then she met your father. That dickwad had nothing on me, and yet she fell in love with him. Got pregnant.” He snarled in her face. “With you.”

“My father?” Avery stuttered. Now she was just confused.

“Yeah. The real Rodney Morris. Dead now, thanks to me, which gave me the perfect opportunity to take his place. He never knew what was coming. How perfect that he’d seen your mom, had a talk and she told him about you. Of course, since I’ve been aware of her whereabouts all this time, I’ve been able to keep up with everything. I knew about Lucas. He could have complicated things, but oh well. I tried to get him out of the picture, but you kept running to him every time. I’ve got you without him now. That boy stuck to you like glue. Oh, and his little feelings for you. So sweet. Not!”

He sneered. “So tell me, how is it you can still want to be with Lucas after all of his lies, but you have no more feelings for your ex-boyfriend? Isn’t that a little two faced? What Lucas did was a lot worse, don’t you think?”

Now he was just trying to rile her.

Avery heard the words, but was in a state of shock. Her biological father was dead?

A loud siren wailed outside. Avery knew that all to well. Tornado sirens. And they were right by a window. “We’ve got to get downstairs or something!” Avery shouted. He wouldn’t just let her die, would he? Not if she was part of whatever screwed up scheme he’d planned.

Where were they? The room wasn’t very big, but it didn’t give away any clues. A hotel? Small cabin? Somewhere that stood no chance if a tornado crossed their path?

He grunted. “Damn it! This isn’t good. How the fuck am I supposed to do this now? You weren’t supposed to come back yet. I would have had more time to plan it.”

Avery’s gaze followed him as he continued to circle the room.

I don’t want to die like this. I have so much to live for.

Rodney- or, the man pretending to be Rodney grabbed a camera out of his pocket and snapped photos of Avery. What the hell was he doing? “The storm is going to wipe this place out if it hits,” Avery tried again, pleading.

“Will you please shut up for a minute?” Slap! His hand connected with her cheek. Then he reached into his pocket again. This time he pulled out a roll of duct tape. Tearing off a piece, he attempted to slap one back over her mouth. She fought hard, shaking her head every which way until he grabbed her by the neck and held her face still until the tape was in perfect place over her mouth. He stared at her with cold, emotionless eyes. Nothing like the looks she’d been used to when she met this man. If he didn’t kill her first, the storm would. Avery fought the tears. She didn’t want to choke to death ether. The wind howled, thunder rumbled so loud Avery thought the place would shatter. Maybe the storm would ease up and if there was a tornado, it would go far away from here, wherever here was.

Rodney dragged her into another room. A closet maybe? Bathroom? Whatever it was it didn’t have windows. He slammed the door, sending her into darkness again. She could hear sounds outside and him cursing. What was he going to do? Run off and protect himself and leave her here to die in the storm?