Sweet Resolve (The Lucky #2) (17 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Logan tried to open his eyes, but instantly felt pain shooting through his temple. Groaning, he tried to reach up and touch the spot only to realize his hands were secured behind his back.

Shaking his head, he smelled dirt and blood. The mixture sent shock waves through him. The room was too dark for him to see clearly, not to mention his head was killing him, causing his eyes to blur.

He was lying on the ground. He could see a faint light from one corner and rolled his body until he sat on his knees. When a wave of dizziness hit him, he shook his head lightly and took several deep breaths.

Then he remembered what had happened. Or what he assumed had happened. He hadn’t seen who had hit him and could only guess that whoever it had been had stolen his car and all of his belongings.

Panic set in when he realized he was in an unfinished basement. It was massive. The room was easily bigger than Amy’s entire townhouse and his apartment together.

Looking around again, he tried to find something to break his arms free. But so far there was only dirt and ceiling. There weren’t even windows, which had him looking back toward the faint light in shock.

Terror overcame him as he saw that the small spot had grown and was now a deep red. Flames were now visible, and he could see smoke billowing around that section of ceiling.

Taking a few deep breaths, he patted his pocket and groaned when he realized he’d left his cell phone in the middle console of his car after the call from Amy.

He rolled onto his back and tried to stand up, only to have something jab him.

“You’ll need your keys. Don’t forget your keys are in your back pocket.”
He heard Xina’s voice in his head.

Rolling again, he twisted until he felt the bulge of his keys in his back pocket. Whoever had jumped him hadn’t taken his car keys after all. Carefully taking them out, he used his car key to work on the duct tape that held his hands secure.

“So far he hasn’t checked in with the office.” Gary shut off his phone as Amy concentrated on the road. “They haven’t heard from him and he still isn’t answering his phone.” He slammed the End button and growled, “They got word from the clients that the road had been blocked and they had assumed the meeting was canceled.”

“I’m sure he’s just out of the service area. This is a new construction area above Black Hawk. Maybe they haven’t put in towers yet?” She kept trying to convince herself.

They were less than five minutes away when she realized that this is probably how Logan had felt that day the Jeep wouldn’t start. Chuckling to herself, she glanced over at Gary, who was looking at her like she was crazy.

At the moment, she did feel crazy. Panic had consumed her mind since they’d left the office. Just the thought of never seeing Logan again had her eyes burning and her chest tightening. She’d never felt like this about a man before. Then realization dawned on her and she felt her heart skip.

“I love him,” she said out loud.

Gary blinked a few times and then laughed. “Hell, everyone in the office knows that, dear.”

“Well, someone should have told me then.” She felt her shoulders start to relax.

“I’m sure you’re right. He probably just has no reception. After all, the house looks huge.”

She chanced a glance down at the paperwork he held. “Yeah, easily seven thousand square feet.”

When they took the turnoff that led to the mountain, they saw the blockade the clients had talked about.

“Stay here. I’ll see what’s up,” Gary said, getting out of the car.

She watched him approach the barricades. There weren’t any police officers around, or for that matter, any other cars. So, after he looked around, he pushed the barricade aside and motioned for her to drive through.

“Are you going to put it back?” she asked when he got back in the Jeep.

“No, I have a bad feeling about this.” He frowned over at her as he picked up his phone. “Maybe you’d better step on it while I call the police.”

Logan felt his wrists bleeding from the constant back and forth motion, but he kept on using his keys to cut through layer after layer of duct tape. Whoever had secured him didn’t want him to get loose.

His eyes kept traveling back to the flames. He’d even taken time out from cutting to roll to the other side of the basement, which was no more than a crawl-space size.

Finally, he felt the tape start to give way and wrenched his hands several times until they broke free.

Tucking his keys back in his pocket, he glanced around and wondered what was next. Since there weren’t any windows, he had to find another way out. Surely whoever had put him here had used a door. He looked back to where he’d been lying when he woke and saw a sliver of light above the spot.

As he rushed over, he felt panic hit as the flames licked above his head. Gone, his only exit route was gone. He rushed back to his safe corner and huddled down trying to think of another way out.

Images of Amy flooded his mind. He’d been cheated out of telling her exactly how he felt. And of the family he’d dreamed of having with her. Even seeing Daisy’s puppies grow up.

Tears stung his eyes as smoke flooded the area.

“You’ll need your keys. Don’t forget your keys are in your back pocket.”
Xina’s voice sounded again in his head.

“Yeah, what good are these going to do me now?” He looked down at them. Taking a chance, he hit the alarm button on the key and heard his car alarm start to squawk.

Gary hung up the phone with the police the second the Jeep turned the last corner and they saw the bright orange of the flames ahead. Then she heard him talking to the fire department.

Amy’s heart fell and she felt a wave of panic overtake her. The Jeep’s tires threw up gravel as they stopped right beside Logan’s SUV.

“Logan!” Gary and she jumped out of the Jeep and started yelling at the same time.

“You go that way.” Gary pointed to the left. “Don’t go running in there. It’s too far gone at this point.”

She nodded and ran to the left. They sprinted around the entire building, screaming his name and listening for any sounds. When they finally made it back to the Jeep, the fire truck was coming up the drive.

The house was sixty percent gone by the time they hooked up their hoses.

“Please,” she cried, watching the flames. “Please just give us a sign he’s okay.” She couldn’t get her eyes to look away from the building.

“Is anyone inside?” A fireman rushed over to them and pulled them both back a few steps.

“Logan,” she whispered.

“We think my nephew is in there,” Gary said in a stressed voice.

“Any idea where?” the fireman asked.

They both shook their heads, then jumped when his car alarm started going off. Then it beeped secure, then back to the alarm. This happened five times. Then it dawned on her that Logan must be doing it.

“He’s in there. He’s alive,” she cried as the fireman and Gary held her back. “Help him!”

The fireman rushed away.

“There! He’s got to be close to the car. I’ve got the same model and the damn key won’t work unless I’m within ten feet,” a different fireman said, pointing to the corner of the house. He pushed past them with a hose in his hands.

For the next ten minutes, they fought the flames back from the corner of the house that wasn’t yet burning. Firemen entered the main floor of the building only to come back out the windows empty-handed.

“He’s not in here,” he said over the alarm that kept turning on and off again.

“He has to be,” she cried, just as the floor on the other side of the building collapsed and sank into the ground.

“The basement!” someone screamed. “Cut through the floor.”

Logan was getting tired. He huddled in the dark corner in the dirt with his jacket over his mouth and nose as he continued to hit his alarm. He prayed that someone was out there, trying to help him. At one point, he thought there was water spraying on his head, but shook the thought off, believing it had been just his imagination when he reached up and touched his dry hair.

He was getting faint from the lack of oxygen, so he lay down in the dirt and wedged himself between the cool earth and the concrete wall. His mind kept playing over images from his dreams as he continued to set off his car alarm.

In his mind he saw Amy walking down a long church aisle in a flowing white dress. Her long hair was pinned up, diamonds sparkled around her face. Then the scene flashed to a home in the hills. Daisy and her puppies ran free in a large green backyard. There was a swing set and Amy was pushing a little girl on a swing while a boy chased the dogs around.

Then he felt Amy hovering over him, her hair framing her face as she looked down at him.

“Wake up, Logan. Please,” she begged him over and over again. “Don’t leave me.” He felt her tears running down his cheek. But when he raised his hands to wipe them from her eyes, his body wouldn’t move. Instead, his hands were tied behind his back again as flames crept closer and closer.

“Here!” someone shouted. “They have him.”

Amy’s attention moved over to where two men were pulling a very limp black mass from the basement. The firemen had broken through to the basement by cutting into the floor above and dropping a ladder down. She’d never seen firemen work before, but had instantly been impressed that four men had forsaken their own safety and climbed into the heart of a fire for a stranger.