Chapter 12

TWELVE

ELLIS

The door slides shut as the engine roars to life—it sounds about as loud as my thundering heart.

Besides Miller, Danielle, Eugene, and Terry, there are three other men on board, not counting whoever is beyond that door, which I have to assume is a pilot and a copilot.

“Why don’t we ever get to ride in the jet?” Terry grumbles as the plane starts to move.

“If I push Eugene out at about two thousand feet up, how dead do you think he’d be?” Miller asks as it gains some speed before the nose of the plane begins to lift.

“Is this because Eugene is doing the dirty with your mom?” Danielle asks.

Eugene eyes the door, like he’s considering jumping out as the plane lifts fully off the runway.

“It sure as fuck is.”

“It… It was an accident!” Eugene says.

“I hate it when I accidentally fuck my friend’s mom,” Danielle comments. “Makes sleepovers so awkward.”

Everyone but Miller and Eugene roars with laughter.

Miller looks prepared to murder while Danielle sits over there with a grin on her face merrily stirring the pot. She’s clearly loving every minute of it.

I decide to interrupt while they’re in a good mood. “You guys seem like pretty cool people. What if you let me go and we pretend like I died or something and then Arthur can go find other people to make miserable? Please? Like super please?”

“You’re so sad and pitiful. It’s kind of cute,” Danielle says.

“You really should have just told Arthur what he wanted to know because there’s going to be nothing left of your mother or sister when I’m done with them,” Terry informs me.

“Well, I’m going to go take a nap back here while the rest of you assholes deal with this,” Danielle announces as she pops some earbuds in and heads through a door in the back to what looks like some kind of luggage area.

I mean, unless Miller decides to kill Eugene, I’m not quite sure what else to do while in this position. I guess if I were super selfless, I’d find some way to wreck the plane and take them all down with me to save my family. But then Arthur would just go find more assholes to further ruin my family’s lives.

For far too long, I sit with my mind racing and my stomach a ball of anxiety. Terry and a few of the guards I don’t know the names of are the only ones still alert. Miller has gone up front after claiming that he’s going to toss Eugene out if he’s in the same room with him any longer, closing the door after him, and Eugene is asleep beside me.

What do I do when I get there? It’s not like I even have skills to fall back on that don’t include wrangling dogs and cats.

I slowly glance over at Eugene and notice how close his gun is to me.

I… I could shoot them. Yes… yes, I could. I could. I could shoot them and then they’d be dead… and I would have been the one who killed them. And their deaths would be on my hands and haunt me for the rest of my life. And their families would be devastated and I would be a murderer. How the hell am I supposed to kill someone?

And if I panic like last time, would they shoot me right between the eyes the moment I pick up that gun? Or am I valuable enough they’d let me live?

The door to the back slides open and someone passes something to me. “Hold my vase,” Tavish says as he sets it into my hands before lunging at one of the unnamed guys. He stabs him hard in the chest with what looks like a plastic butter knife before grabbing the man’s head and driving his knee up to it, smashing him right in the face with a sickening nose-crushing sound.

“Fuck—” another guy shouts as Tavish grabs a fire extinguisher off the wall and rams it right into the side of the man’s head while I gawk and hold the vase. Terry whips out his gun as Tavish holds up the fire extinguisher. The bullet ricochets off the metal and flies off to who knows where. I just know that I’m still doing a fantastic job of vase holding as Tavish smashes the fire extinguisher into Terry’s face, ramming him through the open door into the bathroom. I hear a thump and then Tavish steps out to face off with the remaining men as he closes the door behind him.

And I’m still holding a vase.

Wait! I can help!

Right?

I look over at Eugene who has both eyes open wide now that he’s realized how fucked he is. When he sees me, his eyes snap closed and he pretends that he was having a really fucking good nap. I reach over and snag his gun before flinging it at Tavish.

He snatches the gun midair and shoots the men coming at him… which is what would have happened if I’d yelled, “Hey, Tavish” before flinging it.

What really happens is that the gun collides with the side of his face, making him reel back as one of the guys gets a punch in right to his gut since he was too busy recovering from the assault I’d inflicted on him.

I… kind of feel like maybe I should have just held the vase quietly.

“Motherfucker,” Tavish yells as I try to pretend that I wasn’t the one who caused him the most physical harm. The door to the bathroom starts to slide open and I scramble for my seat belt before rushing over to keep the bifold door from being able to open as I press my body against it.

There! I’m helping! I’m super helping!

A bullet embeds itself in the door inches from my shoulder.

Someone’s got a fucking gun, and I really don’t want to get shot.

Tavish dips down, scooping up the gun I’d tossed him, and shoots the man in the chest, which makes me grimace. Now everyone in the room is either down, pretending to sleep, or bashing against the bathroom door.

“There are still more, they’re in the front or back,” I say, not quite sure what his plan is now.

“Got it,” he responds as he grabs something that looks like some weird bondage thing.

“What’s that?” I ask as he starts pulling it on himself and settling some backpack-looking thing in place. “That’s just like… some sex thing, right? RIGHT? Tavish, please. That’s just a?—”

Terry slams against the door so hard I’m flung off it, but Tavish presses back against it as he grabs me and slaps some goggles and a helmet on me.

“Tavish, no, no, no. I’m not… no! Come on, Tavish, no!”

“Just pretend it’s a sex thing.”

“Well, it’s obviously not a sex thing,” I cry as he starts forcing the straps on me. When the ones between my legs are tight enough that I feel like he’s trying to squeeze my body through it, he hooks something behind me. “Tavish. No, I’d rather take my chances on the murder plane. Tavish! Please!”

He grabs me around the waist, and while I hug this goddamn vase like it’s going to save my life, he hauls me over to the door.

“I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die.”

“You might if you stay here,” he says as he releases the door. “The plane is descending. I waited until it’d be a safe…ish distance to jump.”

“I don’t think any part of this is safe!”

“But you think arriving at that asshole’s private runway will be?” he asks.

The door to the front of the plane slides open and Miller steps out before he takes a look around. I don’t even have time to see what face he makes before Tavish grabs me and flings himself out of the plane. Since I’m attached to him, I have no fucking choice in the matter as I squeeze that damn vase as tight as I can, like it might save me as the wind whips around me and the airplane continues on without us.

“I’m going to die, I’m going to die,” I cry.

“You’re not going to die… probably. I mean, you might, but you’re probably fine,” Tavish shouts over the sound of the wind, which isn’t helpful in the fucking slightest!

Tavish seems to know what he’s doing by pushing us into a position to slow the descent, but all I know is that by doing so, he’s making me face the ground that I’m going to be fucking splatted on in the near future. My stomach feels like it’s crawling up into my throat.

“This is really fun, isn’t it? The only thing that would’ve made it more fun is if they’d jumped after us and I’d shot them. That could have been fun,” the delusional man declares. “It’d also be fun if I didn’t have a nosebleed from someone bashing me in the face with a gun .”

“I think I’m going to pass out,” I announce, feeling lightheaded. Clearly, my problems are much graver than his.

“You’re not breathing right! Breathe! Use those lungs for something other than crying. I got ya.”

“You act like I should be comforted by that!”

“I sure as fuck would be. Do you not hear the rumble of my sexy accent? Feel my muscular arms?”

“I feel like you should really pull the parachute now.”

“If I pull it too soon, we’ll just be left floating down too long.”

“No, every fucking action movie I’ve ever seen has led me to believe the first parachute is going to be fucked up somehow. The bullet that ricocheted off that extinguisher punctured it.”

“Oh shit?—”

I crank my head back to look at him in horror but all I see—besides the blood from his nosebleed splattered everywhere because of the wind—is a grin on his face.

“I’m teasing. It’s fine, it’s fine. Just relax. Just enjoy it. I mean… it’s literally just you and the air right now. No plane, no ground. Just look at how beautiful it is beneath us.”

I force myself to look down at the patchwork of fields. “It is… kind of neat. I wonder which one my body will be scraped off of.”

“I got you. I won’t let you die. And you won’t even know if it’s a lie because you’ll be dead if I do fuck up,” he calls with a laugh. Like now is the time for laughing.

“Why do you say shit like that after barely convincing me that you’re not a bad guy?” I ask.

Tavish just laughs harder. “You ready?”

“Maybe.”

He deploys the parachute, which immediately catches and snags the air, slowing us down. It’s enough a lesser man would have dropped the vase, but sure as fuck not me who is holding on to it with all of the adrenaline my body has acquired during this stunt. I glance up, paranoid, but the parachute weirdly looks perfectly fine as he directs it, like he actually knows what he’s doing. But now the ground is getting closer and closer and I’m more terrified than ever that we’re going to be coming in too fast or something ridiculous is going to happen.

“It’s nice and easy. You ready?” he asks.

“Maybe?” I say as he touches down. I don’t help a whole lot. Actually, I just end up getting in the way of his feet, causing him to stumble over me before we both go crashing to the ground.

“I’m alive,” I whisper. “I’m alive. I’m actually alive.”

He releases the connection to me and sits up to look at me. “You’re still holding the vase? Damn, how good of a grip do you have?”

I realize I’m squeezing it for all I’m worth. “Uh… yeah… I have it,” I mutter before getting a good look at him.

I guess having a nosebleed while free-falling isn’t the best mix. The blood has sprayed all over his goggles and across his face. I… feel slightly bad about the whole thing.

“I’m really sorry I hit you with the gun. Are you okay?” I ask.

He raises an eyebrow. “Your concern for me amuses me after all you’ve been through. You still have my phone?” he asks as he tosses the goggles and starts undoing straps.

“I do… it’s in… my underwear.”

Tavish grimaces a little as I dig it out, glad no one had noticed that I had another phone and had only taken Eugene’s from me.

“I did get ahold of that Leland guy, and he said he was going to come save us… but now we’re not on the island, so… you don’t think they’re headed there, do you?”

“If they are, they can stay there,” he says as he takes the phone from me. “It’s… wet.”

“I… might be a bit sweaty… a nervous sweat, you know?”

“I… see.”

He stares at it. I mean… is my ball sweat that bad?

“It’s dead,” he says, making me realize that’s why he’d been staring at it.

“Ha… ha ha… you’re joking, right? Please?”

“I’m not. That’s okay, there has to be a house around here. We can contact them.”

Suddenly, my legs feel a bit weak as I realize how absolutely fucked all of this is.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You’re looking a bit pale. You going to throw up?”

“I can’t do this,” I say. “I don’t even know what the fuck I’m doing… my mom and sister are at risk. There’s no way we’re going to reach them before they do. We’re out in the middle of nowhere. Nothing is going right. I have no fucking idea why they want me. I have no idea why my dad is so goddamn selfish to have just left us with this bullshit. This might be normal to you, but this is just…”

I squat down and grab my head. I feel like I can’t breathe as I try not to focus on how close I’ve been to dying during the last twenty-four hours. I feel like it’s driving me to the ground and constricting my lungs so I can’t even take a deep breath.

Tavish watches me for a second before kneeling in front of me. “What the fuck are you talking about? You just took on some asshole, you stitched me up, you sacrificed yourself to keep me safe, and you jumped out of a plane. How could you possibly mean that you can’t do this?” he asks as he grabs both of my shoulders and gives me a squeeze. “You’re doing a damn good job.”

He squeezes tighter and I feel like the pressure on my lungs is slowly letting up the longer his touch is on me. “I… I’m not like you, though.”

“That’s a good thing! I mean, we can’t both be this damn rugged,” he jokes.

I shake my head, but a grin touches my lips. “That’s true.” My head drops down on his uninjured shoulder as I feel the tension gradually leaving my body. It’s like he’s peeling it away and somehow convincing my brain that this is going to be okay. Even so, there’s a weight on me that’s absolutely crushing me. “I’m really scared for my family.”

“I can tell. You held it together damn well back there, but now that someone other than you is in danger, you’re ready to panic. There aren’t many good guys like you left in this world,” Tavish says. “I fucked up. I really did. And I’m really sorry. It’s my fault you’re in this situation, but realistically, he was going to find you and your family one way or another. The only upside to it is that I now feel minorly obligated to help you out.”

“Minorly?”

“Smidge.”

“How far does a smidge get me?” I ask as I pull back enough to look him in the eyes. He raises an eyebrow.

“Hmm… you’re kind of cute, which helps.”

“So if I wasn’t cute, you’d do less?”

“If your attitude was less cute, I sure as fuck would do less,” he says.

“You seemed to think I was annoying earlier.”

“That was back when I thought you were a serial killer. It’s weird how traits are less cute on serial killers.”

“So weird,” I say sarcastically.

“So I guess it’ll get you… let’s see… a bullet in Arthur’s head. How’s that sound?”

“Horrific. Like, maybe we could send him to prison or something.”

“Do I look like a cop?”

“No… but…”

“Bullet in the head is my final offer.”

“Maybe we could work on that?”

“Sure. You can work on getting him into prison if he lives through the bullet in the head,” he agrees. “Now, are you ready? This shit is just beginning.”

“As long as I never have to jump out of an airplane again, I think I can do this,” I declare, determined as I take a deep breath. It’s like the weight that’d been crushing me is now less of a crush and more of a tight squeeze.

“You can do this. At least, I’m pretty sure you can,” he says with an exaggerated thumbs-up.

It makes me laugh as I rock back and rub my head. “Okay. Thank you. I feel a little more confident now. Like a tiny bit.”

“Good.” He stands up and holds a hand down to me. I don’t know why I’m so surprised by it. I guess because less than twenty-four hours ago, I was positive this man was going to end my life.

I reach out and grab his hand, which he hauls me up to my feet with.

“Wowie, you boys sure had a dramatic landing,” someone behind us says.

I jump and Tavish swings around fast, hand on his gun, but when we see that it’s just some man… albeit a sketchy-looking man holding a shovel, I relax a little.

“Who the fuck are you?” Tavish demands, clearly not relaxing at all.

“Did you come all the way from Australia or somethin’?” he asks.

“What?” Tavish seems confused.

I’m pretty sure the stranger thinks Tavish is Australian. “Uh, no. We actually really need a phone. Do you have a cell phone?”

“I sure do,” he says as he passes it off and I gratefully take it. The home screen shows a beautiful woman in a bikini with two large breasts spilling out of the tiny top. She must be some kind of model or something that he’s saved an image of.

“That’s my wife. She’s a beaut, ain’t she?”

“Uh…” I glance up at the man who looks like he’s never seen civilization or realized that he’s like twenty years older than the woman in the phone. “Very much.”

Tavish takes the phone from me. “Holy shit, look at them knockers!”

“All natural,” the man says, quite proud.

“I think there are… uh… more pressing things at hand. And that… is rather rude to speak… like that,” I toss out, but neither of the men seem to notice or care.

“Nah, how’s it rude? If someone came up and was like ‘look at the size of that man’s dick,’ I’d be just fine with it,” Tavish says.

I decide that I just don’t have enough energy to have this conversation and wave to the phone he’d taken from me.

Tavish stares at the phone for a long moment before going, “Eh, I don’t know their number.”

“Give it to me,” I say as I snatch it back and call my mom… who immediately hangs up the call because she refuses to answer numbers she doesn’t know. I text her: It’s Ellis, answer.

And when I call the second time, she answers.

“Hey, hon, whose phone are you calling from? I called you last night, but you ignored me. I assumed you were out picking up some hot guys or something. I’m joking, I know you were playing video games.”

“Mom, I’ve been abducted and taken to Murder Island, and then I was shoved out a fucking airplane and had to skydive to the ground and now they’re coming for you and Sienna, and you guys need to call the police or something.”

“Honey, did you try drugs or something? What’s going on?”

“I’m not on drugs,” I say, and Tavish laughs about that.

“I got some marijuana if you want some,” Shovel Guy offers.

“Who’s that? Who’s with you? Did he have you try drugs?”

“No! Mom, I’m not joking. The guy who took me is someone who knows Dad. He wants to know where he is or something about him. And I don’t know if Dad ever told you what this guy wants to know, but he said he was going to hurt us until we told him.”

Mom’s quiet for a minute. “Ellis, where are you?” Her voice is tight with worry.

“I don’t know. Some… field or something. I’m okay right now, but I’m worried that they know where you two are. Please get somewhere safe.”

“I’m going to make a call, but I’ll call you right back on this number?”

“Okay.”

“I love you,” she says.

“I love you too.”

“Let me see the phone now,” Tavish says. “I have an idea of how to get ahold of Leland and Jackson.”