Heat: An Alpha Male Criminal Romance (A Hotter Than Hell Novel Book 1) (12 page)

I use my left hand to lift my shirt and wipe at my eyes, which are blurry from the blood and probably the hit to my head. My entire body is overcome by shaking. My teeth chatter as I try desperately to control the shock that’s setting in. I take out Moon’s phone and offer a silent prayer that I have signal. I can’t make out the small indicator at the top of the phone. “Don’t panic, don’t panic,” I recite. I go to contacts and see the one and only person listed. It’s after three in the morning and I hold my breath after pressing the screen. I leave a bloody fingerprint behind as I lift my finger off the phone. “Please have a signal, please pick up,” I whisper.

“Madison?” he asks groggily.

Relief swamps me and I try not to cry. This does no good and tears of relief fall from my eyes. “I’m hurt,” is all I can manage to say and even that’s shaky.

“Shh,” Moon whispers. His voice is my lifeline and I only cry harder. “Where are you?”

Another round of trembling hits me. I suck air into my lungs and try to control myself enough to speak. “Between Payson and Heber…” My teeth continue to chatter and once again, I breathe. “I’m about a hundred yards down the side of the mountain.”

“Jesus.” I hear movement and then my eyes jump left and right in case whoever did this has decided to come after me.

“How bad are you hurt?” he finally asks. The words are filled with concern, though I can hear the suppressed anger behind them.

I concentrate on Moon’s question and manage to speak coherently. “Bleeding. It’s a head wound. I went over right after the second s-turn about fifteen minutes or so outside of Payson.”

His voice changes from concern to deadly. “Have you called the police?”

I hiccup and cry harder. Fuck, but I need to control myself. It’s killing me mentally that I should be able to call the police. In trouble? Need help? Call police. It’s the code I’ve always lived by.

“No, too dangerous,” is what I answer.

“I’m on my way.”

Panic slices through me. “Don’t hang up, Moon.”

I hear someone at Moon’s end talking in the background, but Moon keeps his attention on me. The anger leaves his voice as he says, “I need you to do something for me, Madison.”

I inhale deeply and slowly release the air from my lungs. “Okay,” I respond after I’ve calmed myself again.

“You need to hang up and activate the phone’s locate feature. Can you do that for me?”

I don’t want to hang up. I want him talking in my ear and reassuring me everything will be okay. A small spark of angst clicks in my brain. I’m stronger than this. Why the hell am I reacting this way? Moon’s right. I need to activate the phone so he can find me.

“Madison?”

“Yes. I can do that.” My voice is stronger now.

“Call me back as soon as it’s done. Alex is driving and I’ll stay on the phone with you until we’re there.”

“Okay… thank you, Moon.”

“Hang up now and do it.” His voice remains soft, but there’s a touch of command in it. It’s how I dealt with trauma victims when I worked the streets. This makes me smile slightly as I disconnect.

The second I do, there’s a faint ruffling of leaves between me and Sally and I freeze. I keep my gun aimed in front of me and watch for movement. Several minutes goes by without a sound. Whatever it was, I don’t think it was human. I attempt to change the phone’s settings. It isn’t easy with how hard I’m shaking. I curse as I try to navigate through all the settings. My brain isn’t fully functional, and turning on the locate feature is not nearly as easy as turning it off. I wipe my eyes to clear them again and finally, I’m able to swipe the correct sequence of controls.

I take a minute to mentally prepare myself for what’s ahead. Moon is more than an hour away; closer to two, really. I can do this for two hours, I silently tell myself. Not that I have a choice. I’m safe for now and I have my gun if that changes. I will survive this and kick some ass later.

I call Moon.

“Hey, baby,” he says sweetly. I know he’s trying to keep me calm, and it works. “We have your location.” He hesitates. “Have you charged the phone recently?”

Fuck, I haven’t. I’m lucky the damn thing works at all. “No,” I answer, and I’m heartsick.

Moon’s voice doesn’t reveal that this is a problem. “Okay. We’re going to plan B and using text messages. Every ten minutes you send a quick text. I’ll find you even if the phone goes dead. I promise.” I absolutely believe him. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I swallow my tears back. “I’m good.” I am. I can do this. I went to the police academy for eighteen and a half weeks of pure hell. Day after day of constant stress. If I can do that, I can do anything. “Hurry,” I whisper and disconnect.

Branches are poking me and I’m squatting, which is causing my legs to cramp. I crawl out of the bushes so I can rest my back against a tree a few feet away. The area is dark and I don’t think anyone can see me without a flashlight. The cell has about one-fourth of its battery left. I can’t check the time without using additional power, which is going to be a problem. My thoughts drift when I try to count down the minutes. When I check the time, I have four minutes to go. I send my first text early.

You text me every ten minutes. One-fourth charge left.

Will do
.

His reply was immediate and I feel reassured. I close my eyes and separate the sounds of the night. Some kind of small critter scurries around through the pine needles about twenty feet away. Every so often, I hear the tires of an occasional vehicle on the road above me. I try to not think about my pounding head or my muscles, which are beginning to ache. Time drags and I want to check the phone so bad because it seems like thirty minutes have passed. My eyes are open when the screen lights up.

You good?

Yes.

And that’s how it goes for more than an hour. Each message, though short, reconfirms that Moon is on his way.

Chapter Thirteen

VOICES PULL ME FROM
sleep. I tighten my grip on my gun and lift it. The phone lights up in my other hand.

I’m here.

I wait until I actually hear him. At the sound of his voice, my body goes lax. I need to stand, but I’m unable to send the message to my legs. “Moon,” I groan. Flashlights are fanned out in four directions and they zero in on the sound of my croaky voice. Moon gets to me first and goes to his knees beside me. I wince when the flashlights blind me.

“Move the lights off her,” Moon snaps. All but the one he’s holding move away. He tips his down.
Bad cop,
I want to tell him. Always limit their vision. I’m not a cop, though, and Moon most definitely isn’t either.

“Speak to me, baby.” He pushes the hair from my face.

I feel nauseated and I only manage to mumble this information. He must understand because he wraps his arm around my chest and keeps me from falling face first into vomit as my guts heave onto the ground beside me. He offers a soothing chorus of words until he calls me “baby” again.

“Don’t call me that,” I say stupidly. It’s the shame of him holding me while I toss my cookies. On the brighter side, I can’t be too bad off if I feel embarrassment.

He wipes my mouth with a cloth, and I hope it isn’t his shirt. “Close your eyes. I need to check your head,” he says softly while I respond like a pile of jelly in his arms. My arms and legs are not obeying me, but closing my eyes against the light is easy. I concentrate on not vomiting again while Moon examines whatever injury he’s concerned about. I’m tired, achy, and still nauseated. I wince when he touches my forehead.

His voice is low but all business. “You need stitches. What about your arms and legs?”

I’m having a difficult time responding to his question and run it through my brain slowly. “Okay… I think.” I try to take stock of my injuries. “My head hurts.”

Moon peels my fingers from my gun and removes it from my hand. I forgot it was there. He gently squeezes my fingers. Such a small thing. When his warm hand touches mine, I realize I’m shivering. At this altitude, the temperature is somewhere in the sixties. I’m not dressed for it. There was too much on my mind to take notice until now.

“Chest, stomach?” he inquires next.

“Good.”

My neck and back are his final concern.

“Good,” I say again. My teeth start chattering and the shaking is growing worse. I’m safe, I tell myself. Moon will keep the danger away.

“I’m lifting you. If you have any sharp pains, tell me immediately.”

I like the feel of his warm breath on my face as he speaks next to my ear. “K.”

One arm goes behind my back and the other under my knees.

“Drop the phone, Madison. One of my men will pick it up.”

The phone slides through my fingers, and I lift my arms and circle his neck after he stands. “You’ll fall,” I whisper against his chest and breathe into his shirt. He’s so damn warm.

His voice remains strong and reassuring. “I’ve got you. I won’t fall.”

His scent and warmth calm me. I try to hold on tight, but my arms aren’t obeying me. We don’t speak as he carries me up the side of the mountain. At one point, he stumbles. My eyes pop open and I dig my fingernails into his back. “It’s okay, baby,” he assures me. One of his men steadies Moon, and my eyes close again. The crunch of gravel alerts me that we’ve made it to the road. I peer at the asphalt beneath Moon’s shoes before I look around. Two dark SUVs are parked on the shoulder of the road close to where I went over. I can see my tire marks in the gravel. Someone opens the back door to the first SUV and Moon slides in while holding me. He keeps moving over until my feet are inside. The door closes and the inner light goes off. It comes back on a moment later when the tailgate lifts for a few seconds. The front door opens and Gomez climbs behind the wheel. He hands Moon a blanket and Moon covers me as the engine starts its quiet purr.

“You with me, Madison?” Moon asks.

“Yea.” I’m trying not to cry.

“Who do we need to avoid?”

This question pulls me back from girly tears. Avoidance of cops is Moon’s world.

“Police.”

Gomez begins speaking. “Follow us back to the house. We’re avoiding the police, so I’ll be driving the speed limit.” This doesn’t make sense until I realize he’s on a cell phone. He makes a U-turn onto the highway. My stomach is still queasy, and I close my eyes. Within a few minutes, I thankfully doze off again.

“Madison,” Moon whispers. “We’re here. I have a doctor waiting inside. I’m handing you off to Gomez.”

I clench his shirt and burrow my head farther into his chest as other arms attempt to lift me out of Moon’s hold. Moon’s arms tighten. “It’s okay. I’ve got her,” he says as the other person backs off.

It’s awkward as Moon shifts me around. He gets us out of the car and begins firing orders at Gomez while he carries me to his front door. “I want a full report on her vehicle once it’s in the garage. Let me know immediately if the tow company runs into problems with law enforcement. Everyone needs to be on alert.”

My mind flashes to Penny’s phone call. “Penny Dandridge. Someone needs to check on her, please. She’s Harry’s wife.”

“Alex, take care of that personally,” Moon says as we enter the house and he turns to the stairs. I think we’re heading to the room I had when I was here before. That’s not the case. He walks to the far end of the hallway, through the double doors, and into what I assume is his bedroom. I peek out of my nestled safe place against his chest and see his covers pulled back and rumpled where he must have been sleeping when I called. Every light in the room is on and a man is standing a few feet from the massive bed.

“No,” I object. “I’m filthy. Don’t put me down on the sheets.” I have no idea why I care other than I would feel so much more comfortable in the other bed. The one that isn’t Moon’s.

Moon ignores me and gently lowers me onto the bed. I try to sit up. “No, lie back.” His hand goes to my chest and he presses me back. “Carlo will check you over. He’s my personal physician.”

I see Moon’s face clearly for the first time tonight. His eyes are darker than I remember—his expression savage. Something tells me he’s holding onto his temper by a thread. I don’t blame him. I need to tell him the truth about what I’ve pulled him into. He needs to know why I couldn’t call the police. My gaze travels to his shirt. It will need to be thrown away. It’s covered with my blood. I can’t seem to focus on one thing.