Tearing Down Walls (Love Under Construction Series Book 2) (40 page)

“Whatever you want to say, I deserve it,” Laura whispered.

Nikki’s face turned stony and Laura shivered. “Then listen up: I love Vic, and he loves me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him, short of leaving Tony. He’s the second most important person in my world, no question. And if this is how you’re going to behave yourself, be this irresponsible, well, let me just say, if you hurt him . . .” Nikki paused, so angry that she had to force out her words. “So help me god, if you hurt him, there will be nothing, absolutely nothing in this world, that will save your ass from me. I will hunt you down and you will know I mean business when I’m through with you. Do you understand me?”

Laura nodded. “Yes. I would never hurt him. That’s not my intention, but I . . .”

“Yeah. It’s the ‘but’ that scares me. He can’t take another hurt or disappointment. So from this point on, you’d better be honest, forthright, straight as an arrow. You break his heart, you won’t have one left to be broken. Get it?”

Laura’s hands shook violently. “Got it. I won’t do anything like this ever again, and I’d do anything to keep from hurting him. I’ve put all of you in danger, and I’m so sorry,” she said. “And even though I can’t, I want you to know that I
want
to cry right now, I really do.”

Nikki reached over and patted her leg. “You don’t have to tell me that, honey. I believe you. If I wasn’t driving, I’d cry for you – for both of us.”

Barreling down Payne’s Depot Road, the bright Mustang was hitting speeds of over one hundred ten miles per hour at Vic’s hands. He wanted to be mad at Laura, but he was so damn scared that he couldn’t be mad. That was not what he’d thought he’d be doing that afternoon, but there he was, screaming down a two-lane highway, driving like an idiot, trying to get her out of a fix she’d gotten herself and Nikki, of all people, into. He was going to have to have a serious talk with his cousin and cousin-in-law when they all got out of this mess.

Tony swung onto the interstate and shotgunned the big electric blue F-250 into the left-hand lane, passing everything he got near. The turbocharger whined every time he pushed the engine again, and all anyone around him saw was a furious blue streak as he flew past. All he could think about was his wife, the best thing in his world, and the crazed murderer following her. He thought about their lovemaking that morning, her softness, the wild and furious pounding he’d delivered into her, how she’d cried out and begged him for more, and his head felt like it would explode. If anything happened to her . . . well, it just couldn’t. He’d get to her, no matter what.

Vic slipped onto the interstate at Midway and realized he was probably a good six miles in front of Nikki. When he slid into the rest area, he parked in front of the building and waited, thinking about what he’d say to Laura when he got her in the car. He also knew that she’d be terrified, so he might go easy on her – for the moment. After that, it was no holds barred.

Five minutes later, he saw the black BMW convertible barreling down the interstate. Nikki took the exit spur at almost full speed, and Vic braced himself. She braked and slid fifteen feet toward Vic, stopping right beside his car. Laura jumped out, and Nikki gave a tiny wave and took off. Once Laura had the door closed, Vic pulled around the back of the building and kept watch. In about three minutes, he saw the Rav 4 go past, and he waited five minutes, then got on the interstate and headed for the nearest exit.

Nikki drove another five miles and saw Tony coming toward her. True to Vic’s prediction, as soon as he passed her, she looked in her rearview and saw him cut through the median, coming up fast to pull in behind her and follow close. Nikki was cruising at about one hundred fifteen, and the big truck had no trouble keeping up. They drove hard straight toward Louisville, then Nikki took the Shelbyville Road exit and pulled off, Tony right behind her, and into a shopping center parking lot. From the back lot they watched the interstate until they were sure the RAV 4 was nowhere around, Tony holding her close the whole time.

While Vic drove, he tried to decide what to say first. Laura sat, silent and terrified, cowering against the car door. Vic wasn’t sure who she was most afraid of, the crazy bastard who was chasing after her, or the crazy bastard driving the car she was riding in, and the thought made him laugh.

“What’s so damn funny?” Laura whispered.

“Nothing, sweetie, nothing at all. When we get where we’re going, we’re going to have a long talk. And that’s after I’ve pulled you across my knee and given you a good reason to never do this again.”

“Oh, no, you’re not going to . . .” she tried to protest.

“Oh, yes, missy, I most certainly will. You watch me. You’re getting the spanking you deserve. In the meantime, would you like to tell me how scared you are?”

“Pretty damn scared,” she whispered.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. We’re going to get out of this one, but there’ll be another one if you pull another stunt like this, and I might not be able to get you out of the next one, so think about that while I try to keep us alive until tomorrow.” Vic stepped down on the gas and the Mustang shot down the road.

“Where are we going?” Laura asked.

“The only place I can think of that he might not know about. Rough, but shelter. And we’ll call in reinforcements, get us back to the city. But we’ll be okay there, I think.”

“You think? That’s not very reassuring,” Laura snarled.

“Well, Miss Private Detective, you got any better ideas?” Crickets. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So sit over there and enjoy the ride.”

Laura could tell he was beyond furious, and he had a right to be. She’d been very, very stupid and selfish. Then she thought of something. “Vic?”

“Yeah.”

“What you said before you hung up – did you mean that?” she asked, afraid of the answer.

“Laura Butler, I do not make it a habit to say things I don’t mean. Does that answer your question?” he snapped.

Laura sat in silence for awhile, then swallowed hard. “I can’t say it back.”

Vic took his hand off the shifter and put it on hers where it rested on her thigh. “That’s okay. Can I just assume that if you could say it you would?” he asked, glancing over at her while trying to watch the road.

She nodded. “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you. You’re going to have to speak up,” Vic said, a wicked grin curling the corners of his lips.

“Yes. If I could, I would,” Laura said, surprising herself at how strong her voice sounded.

“I’ll take that for now.” Vic squeezed her hand. And even for all of her shaking, she managed to squeeze his back.

What the hell?,
Wagner thought. Something was wrong. The blip on his screen was going the wrong way, and he looked up to see the black BMW headed toward Louisville. It had taken him a while to catch up to Billings, and now she was going away from him? Unless she’d jumped out while the car was moving, there was no way this could be happening.

Then he remembered: The rest area. Someone must’ve met them there. He was getting frustrated with all of these people. Why were they helping her? Why would they care? She was trash, just a slut who liked getting used, and they had to have figured that out already. If he could catch up to that BMW, he was going to ram the back of that thing, get rid of that meddling blond bitch once and for all.

Then he saw it – the big blue Ford truck turning around in the median and pulling in behind the BMW.
Damn. She managed to get herself some help. I’m tired of this shit. I’m gonna put a stop to this, but first I’ve got to figure out where Billings went.
He decided to follow the two interferers into town, and then try to pick up the signal again. He’d find her if it was the last thing he did.

“I
’m taking her to the Lindon Brothers warehouse,” Vic told Tony. “There’s water there and electricity, and it’s got two ground-level roll-ups where I can pull the car in and hide it. We’ll be okay there until you can get some of Steve’s people mobilized and get us out of there. My car would be the first thing he’d spot.”

“Good plan, bro. You guys hang in there. I’m still trying to reach Steve. He hasn’t answered his phone all day, and his voice mailbox is full. When we hang up I’m calling Peyton. I don’t know what else to do.”

“Okay. Just let me know, please? My phone’s running down, hers is too, so we may not be able to get the call. Hey, call my car on whatever that thing is. I gave you the number, right?” Vic’s Shelby was outfitted with one of the onboard phone, navigation, and diagnostic systems, and he often used it to make calls, but he hated getting calls through it. He despised automated voices.

Vic was just glad Tony and Nikki were both safe. He and Laura would be too when they got to the warehouse. “Yeah, I’ll call you when I’ve talked to Steve. Hang in there, man. I love you and we’ll get you out of there,” Tony told him.

“Love you guys too. Talk to you in a bit.” Vic hit END and put the phone in the cup holder in the console, then turned it off and plugged it in to charge. Laura had turned hers off to conserve the battery, and it was right beside his. He glanced over at her; she’d gotten very quiet. “Hey.”

“Yeah?” She didn’t look up at him.

“It’ll be okay. Trust me?”

“Completely.” That was the second time she’d told him that, and he’d started to believe it. “But you don’t trust me. I don’t guess you ever will after this.”

A tiny smile crept onto Vic’s face. “You know, I understand why you did what you did. I still think it was stupid, but I understand.” He patted her hand again. “But please, please don’t lie to me. Not to me, or Nikki, or Tony, or Steve. We’re not trying to be mean. We’re trying to keep you alive, and we’re endangering ourselves enough without you adding to it.”

She nodded, and Vic could tell that she was having a hard time with the distrust she’d brought on herself and the threat of losing the only people who’d ever seemed to give a damn about her. “Sweetie, you can’t undo it,” he told her. “But you can promise me right now that you’ll never, never do it again. And I’ll believe you.”

“Vic, I’ll never do anything like this again. It was so selfish and stupid, and I just . . .”

“Enough.” Vic’s Dom voice popped out, and it vibrated in Laura’s chest and stopped her dead in her tracks. “It’s over. We’ll scrap it all, salvage what we can, and start again. We’re going to have plenty of time to talk at the warehouse, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do, like it or not.”

He turned off the highway and down a paved drive that went up and over a hill. Several hundred feet off the highway, Laura could see the roof of a large industrial building of some sort. When they got to the building, Vic used his key, got the car inside, and then locked them in.

Laura looked around. It was a huge, empty building. “Finished, but the inspections won’t be done for another three weeks, so no one will be out here for any reason. Bathroom’s over there,” he said, pointing at a door outside an office area, and it occurred to Laura that she needed to go. She almost ran that direction, but Vic whistled and she turned. “Here,” he said and tossed a box of facial tissues to her. “You’re gonna need these,” he laughed. She sprinted toward the door, opening the box as she ran.

While Laura was in the bathroom, Vic’s phone in the car rang, and he hit the button to answer it just as Laura came out of the bathroom. Tony’s voice filled the cavernous space. “No luck. I still can’t reach him, and Peyton’s at home. I’m driving to Steve’s office, see if I can find anybody.”

“Call the club too. He has a bad habit of turning up the stereo system in there, and he can’t hear the phones.”

“Okay. You guys sit tight. Is that in Shelby County? I can’t remember.”

“Yeah. Closest anything is Clay Village or Peytona. We’re here, locked in, and we’ll be okay for now. Let me know if you find him.” Vic was getting more pissed off by the minute that Steve was incommunicado. But he also realized that if he didn’t show up at the club that night, Steve would start looking for him. And if Steve didn’t find him, he’d call Tony, and that would take care of it anyway.

They hung up, and Vic turned to Laura. “Well, home sweet home. Nothing much here.”