Ransom (28 page)

His face was stony, giving nothing away. I nodded my ascent because he truly had saved my butt. I could spare him a drive, then we would be even.

“The car is over here,” I said, pointing toward the bug, parked about fifty feet away. He grabbed my hand, practically tugging me behind him. I had to jog to catch up. His erratic behavior had me wary. The only thing that put me at ease was knowing that both Aiden and Trinity were with me. But if I was being truthful, I wasn’t really scared of Ransom. I had no reason to believe that he was going to hurt me.
 

Trinity and Aiden were staring out at us as we approached the car. I didn’t blame them for their guarded expressions. They had no idea who Ransom was, and for sure couldn’t understand why we were holding hands, a concept that even I was wondering about. I was prepared for an extremely awkward introduction. Before we reached the car Trinity was out. Aiden followed her lead, and was by her side waiting. I smiled innocently, as if dragging a stranger back to the car with me after a snack run was an everyday occurrence. It did little to wipe away their twin expressions of concern.

“Are you okay Lexie?” Trinity asked, taking a step closer to Ransom and me. I nodded.
 

“This is Ransom, I met him yesterday…” I felt a blush work up my cheeks because
met
didn’t quite describe what had occurred between us. Trinity eyed Ransom. It was obvious that she knew there was more to the story than the tiny nugget I had provided.

I decided to use the one new piece of information that I was still working to absorb to my advantage.
 

“Ransom is Gabriel Sanders’ older brother. He just needs to get away from the hospital for a while, you know.”
 

I smiled sweetly. Trinity’s eyes widened, then she appeared to accept my explanation. The stiffness that had marked her stance, released. She curved her lips into a sympathetic grin.
 

“I heard about the accident on the radio. I’m so sorry about your brother. Is he going to be okay?”

A storm seemed to race across Ransom’s face at the mention of his brother. It appeared as if he was about to say something rude, but instead deflated, releasing a huge sigh.

“He’s in surgery and I…”
 

His voice trailed off. He threw a glance over his shoulder as if expecting to see someone.
 

“I just need a break away from it all, hospitals aren’t my thing.”
 

He shrugged stiffly. It was all Trinity needed.
 

She motioned for Aiden to get back into the car. Trinity released the latch for her seat and it popped forward. I gave Ransom a little shove, signaling for him to get in. Even as I slipped into the space beside him I wondered what I was doing. I didn’t know Ransom in the least, but I had offered to drive him to hell knew where. Trinity made herself comfortable in the passenger seat, then slammed the door shut. Instead of relaxing at being in the car, Ransom seemed even more strung out and jittery. I couldn’t help but question what was up with him.
 

Without comment, Aiden pulled out onto the main street. Soon the hospital was well behind us. I chanced one final look back. Before the hospital was completely out of sight, I noticed two police cars had taken up the spot where we had just been parked.

“Where are you going?” Aiden said.

He shot Ransom a brief glance back in the rearview mirror, before he returned his focus to the road.
 

“With Lexie,” Ransom said.

I sucked in a huge mouthful of air, stunned by his words. I had no idea what he was talking about. It sounded as if we’d had a conversation about where he was going, only I hadn’t been privy to it. My mouth opened and closed a few times, but I decided keeping quiet was my best course of action.
 

Ransom elbowed me lightly in the ribs and winked as if he had it all worked out. I stared at him blankly. He shot me a plastic smile, and it made me curious about what he was playing at. Even without him saying it, I was sure something more than Gabriel’s surgery was eating at him, but I had no idea what it could be. All I knew was that whatever it was, had started with the phone call he had received at the hotel room.

“So you’re going to Lexie’s house?” Trinity said.
 

She turned around in her seat, casting an appraising gaze over Ransom. From her rapt expression, Ransom’s hotness hadn’t gone unnoticed. It wasn’t like she was flirting per se, more like admiring the window dressing without buying anything.
 

Ransom shot me a nervous look, evidently wanting me to take control of the situation.
 

“Sure, yeah, he’s coming to my place for a while…” I said. “Dad and Carla are gone to the Virgin Islands for three weeks. A last trip before the baby comes,” I said. As soon as I had said the word virgin I went beat red. The reference hadn’t been lost on Ransom either, who looked more distressed than before, if that was even possible.
 

 
I gave him a meaningful stare, his already solemn face tightened. I didn’t want to be satisfied that he was struggling with the concept that he had stripped me of my virginity, but I was. The fact that he was exceedingly uncomfortable with even the word virgin, as benign as it had been, meant that like me, he thought it was a big deal.
 

Ransom scrubbed his hands over his face, blew out a breath of air, and gazed out the window at the passing scenery. In the time since I had discovered that Ransom was Gabriel Sanders’ brother,
 
a plan had worked it’s way into my mind, one that had me getting exactly what I had wanted from the day we had left to see the show. I was beginning to think that coincidences didn’t exist, and that everything in our life was orchestrated by some divine plan. How else could I explain what had happened in the last day in a half. Ransom Sanders hadn’t walked into my life by chance. He had been sent to me, so I could get what I had longed for since the night Mom had left that cryptic message on my phone.
 

Now that I knew what was going on, all sense of worry and hesitation about bringing Ransom with me, dissolved. I grabbed on with both hands to the idea that Ransom would be my pathway to Gabriel. I knew I probably should have had
crazy obsessed stalker
stamped across my forehead for how very deep I was digging in, but I didn’t feel like I had a choice. A part of me felt guilty for planning to use him to get what I wanted, but I didn’t let it take hold. Ransom had practically forced me to take him in the car with him, a little payback seemed in order.

Without knowing it, Ransom was on the same page as I was, making it up as he went. It lessened my guilt knowing that he was right there with me, spinning lies. I still had no idea what he was trying to escape, only that he was running from something or someone.

I knew I probably should have had
crazy obsessed stalker
stamped across my forehead for how very deep I was digging in, but I didn’t feel like I had a choice. Even if I didn’t want to admit it, my obsession had a very dark side and made me willing to do things that I would never have imagined before. In my heart I knew that it was a recipe for disaster, but I couldn’t put much thought into it. Because if things worked out like I wanted, there was a good chance that soon I would finally connect with Mom, and get the answers I had been searching for.

21. RANSOM

Seeing Lexie in the foyer of the hospital had left me conflicted. Despite going over in my mind what I would have said to her if I’d had the chance, I was also okay with avoiding the conflict. It was beyond weird that she had just happened to show up in the hospital right when the bottom had fallen out of my world, but the fact that she had, certainly had to mean something. I wasn’t a believer in fate, but I also couldn’t ignore that things happened all the time that couldn’t be explained. Being around Gabriel had shown me that more times than not.
 

My heart lurched at the thought of Gab fighting for his life while I was out drinking and screwing around. Maybe Pa had been right after all, maybe I was responsible for Gab’s accident. If I had been where I was supposed to be, I would have been the one laid out on an operating table, not Gab. Somehow that scenario seemed so much simpler.

The rapid exit that Lexie had attempted when she had spotted me, showed me that I was definitely not on her list of favorite people. If I had been any kind of man I would have let her just leave and dealt with my own shit, rapidly piling up around me, but I couldn’t. I knew Pa, and that he always went good on his promises. I was positive that the police were already on their way, which meant that I had no time to dick around.
 

I raced to catch up with Lexie, grabbing her arm before she disappeared. I made up the rest as I went.

Now sitting in the car with her friends, I had to admit that I hadn’t expected her to agree to give me a drive. I appraised Trinity. She was tall and willowy and in my opinion the complete opposite of Lexie. Her eyes were clear blue, her hair the color of spun gold. Where Lexie was dressed in loose jeans and a fitted tee, Trinity was wearing an outfit that she could have gone clubbing in.
 

I smiled when Aiden checked me out in the rearview mirror for the tenth time. Though his face was friendly, his narrowed eyes said he wasn’t ready to trust me. When he had been standing outside of the car I had noticed that he was probably a foot shorter than me. He wore a t-shirt that was too tight and should have been a size larger, much like how Dave’s shirt fit me, though Aiden’s choice had been deliberate. His defined muscles and body builder’s physique said he lifted weights regularly.
 

I heard approaching sirens as we moved away from the hospital. I wasn’t able to hide the rush of air from my lungs as the distance between the hospital and us lengthened. I reclined against the backseat, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. I was still surprised at how quickly Aiden and Trinity had accepted Lexie’s explanation, and had surprisingly agreed to give me a lift. I was certain the mention of Gab’s name had helped oil the wheels. It never ceased to amaze me that even without him being around, Gabriel managed to open doors that would normally be closed for me.
 

The back seat was cramped, forcing Lexie and I close enough that the smell of the citrus shampoo she must have washed her hair with, wafted toward me. It made my lack of hygiene all the more apparent.
 

“So you’re going to Lexie’s house?” Trinity said, bringing me out of my thoughts.
 

The question had thrown me off guard. I normally wasn’t a great liar, this time wasn’t any different. I had nothing to say. Thankfully Lexie was a little more on the ball than I was, and once again saved my ass. I had to admit that whatever I had done for her in the alleyway had been paid back in kind. But even before I could relax back into the lies, Lexie’s mention of the Virgin Islands, brought our torrid night back in Technicolor. I tried not to react but my body had different plans, tensing up at the word virgin. Being reminded about what I had done felt like a punch in the guts. From her friends warm reception, she hadn’t told them what had happened.

I nodded mutely. There was no way I was actually going to Lexie’s house. In fact as soon as I had a chance I was getting as far away from her and her friends as I could. There was no way I was going to bring any heat down on them by process of association.
 

“Trin, can you flip on the radio, I need a diversion, my head is still pounding,” Lexie said.
 

She leaned back against the leather seat, closing her eyes.
 

“Didn’t you get the Tylenol at the Pharmacy?” Trinity asked. Lexie’s eyes cut toward me then away as if she didn’t know how to respond.

“They were closed,” she said, glancing out the window.
 

She was lying. I had noticed the sign had said opened on the Pharmacy when I had ran by. Lexie looked over at me as if she knew I was questioning why she had lied.

“What?” she said with a note of irritation in her tone. I arched an eyebrow, deciding that it was none of my business. She closed her eyes again.

I shrugged, tugging my phone out of my pocket. I knew that Dave would still be sound asleep, but that Sanford would be around to answer my call. Hopefully he had been in touch with Pa, and would know what was going on with Gab’s surgery.

Sanford’s phone rang three times before he finally picked up.
 

“Yeah,” he practically barked into the phone. His unusually curt demeanor left me silent.
 

“Hello?” he said again. His voice was filled with impatience with an undercurrent of tension.

“Sanford, it’s Ransom,” I said in a soft voice, not wanting to disturb Lexie. Her mouth was wide open, and she had her head resting against the side window as she slept.

“Ransom,” he said, his voice losing all of its hostility. “Have you talked to your Pa?” he asked before I had a chance to say a word.

“Yeah, I did…” I started to say.

“Did he tell you that they found a small explosive device in the rubble, and that they’ve concluded that the stage collapse wasn’t an accident after all.”

 
The news hit me hard. It was one thing for the collapse to have been a horrific accident, but quite another for it to have been deliberate.

“Who would have done that?” I asked, my voice rising in pitch. “Who would have wanted to hurt Gab?”

I heard Sanford draw in a long inhalation before he spoke again.

 
“Your father is convinced that you were behind it…”
 

In that instant it felt as if all the oxygen in the atmosphere had been sucked away, and I was left struggling to catch my breath. Things were so much worse than I had originally thought.

“But that’s bullshit,” I shouted.

 
I felt a hand on my arm and heard Lexie’s voice. I didn’t seem capable of focusing on anything but Sanford’s bizarre statement. Pa knew exactly how I felt about Gabriel, in fact he had used my overprotective nature against me more times than I could count.