Heat Vol. 5 (Heat: Master Chefs #5) (3 page)

“Are
they nuts?” I said aloud.  How did they expect me to make high quality foods
while they supplied me with inferior ingredients?  I needed fresh tomatoes,
fresh mushrooms, not these canned goods.

My
search brought me to a box of spices and herbs, none of which were fresh, and
in the refrigerator I found eggs, milk, butter and a few other items.  For
starters, I decided to make myself an omelet.  If nothing else, at least I
would restore my much depleted energy.

Chapter 3

I
t was growing dark by the time the door opened
and Godfrey came in to check on me.

“So,
how are things coming along?  It certainly smells good in here.”  He took in a
long, satisfactory whiff of the air.

After
eating my omelet, I’d opened a few cans of diced tomatoes, poured them into a
pot and had thrown in some oregano, thyme and bay leaves.  The old kitchen
smelled great, and it gave the impression I was seriously working on something.

“That’s
the list of things I need.”  I pointed to the small notepad that had eight
pages worth of items.

He
frowned as he started to read the first page.  “We already got you tomatoes,”
he said pointing to the boxes.

“Fresh. 
You can’t make a world class sauce without fresh ingredients.  I’ll make do for
now as I do some testing, but, ultimately, I’ll need the fresh stuff.”

“What
the hell is leek?”

My
brow shot up in surprise.  “It’s a vegetable.  Like a green onion, only
bigger.”

“Sounds
like a slug.”

I
grimaced.

As
he continued to grumble his way through the pages, a loud clamor came from
outside the kitchen.  Angry shouts filled the air and I quickly recognized
Errol’s voice.

“Where
is she?” That was Bobby.

Elated,
I headed for the door, but Godfrey quickly seized me by the scruff of the neck
and yanked me back in.  With his hand to the gun at his belt, he walked out.

“Lock
her in,” he barked at Horace.  “And hurry.”

I
couldn’t let him.  I couldn’t be locked inside this kitchen while the men in my
life were out there fighting for me.  Taking a head run, I put all my weight
into my shoulder and shoved the door open before Horace could string the chain
into the door handle.

“Fucking
bitch,” he cried as he stumbled back and tripped over the chair he’d been
sitting on.

I
ran toward the sound of the fighting. 

“Get
back here,” Horace shouted.

I
came to a large room with a wall of industrial ovens, long tables filled with
baking pans and cake molds and, to my right, racks upon racks of packing boxes. 
Before Horace could race in behind me, I armed myself with a large cast iron pancake
griddle and backed up into the corner beside the racks of boxes. 

Errol
already had Constantine in a headlock while Rial and Bobby were trying to
corner Godfrey who kept just out of their reach as he ran around one table then
the next.

“Stop
running away, you weasel,” Bobby said.

“Coming
out here was a grave mistake,” Godfrey said.  Stopping at the head of the
table, he turned to Bobby and pulled his gun out.

Before
he could take aim, a man I’d never seen before came out and kicked the gun from
his hand.  He jumped on him just as Horace ran in and tackled Bobby.

For
a long moment, my eyes were riveted to the stranger in the melee.  There was
something familiar about him, but in a distant sort of way.  Someone I might
have seen somewhere, but that I had never actually met.

He
fought with agility, his movements liquid but strong.  Clearly a master of
martial arts, he quickly overtook Godfrey who grunted his displeasure.

Then
it hit me; Leopold.  Yes, I was certain it was him; Leopold Lee.  In a moment
as surreal as when I’d initially been kidnapped, I stared at the muscular,
handsome man who had made a name for himself in a series of martial arts action
films.  He certainly had the good looks of a movie star, with sultry lips and
wickedly dark eyes that now gleamed with ferocity, though he’d often played the
romantic lead in several movies and was known for his smoldering and
irresistible gaze.  His straight, black hair, cut in jagged chunks, flew about
his head, much like an animae character I’d once seen on television.

As
agile as any jungle cat, he turned and pounced on Constantine who’d just broken
free of Errol’s hold.

I
had no idea how he’d come to be in the presence of my men, but I was happy to
see that he was.  With one swift kick in the gut, he had Constantine on his
knees begging for mercy.

Star
struck, I stared at him, and when Rial and Bobby lost their grip on Horace,
Leopold saved the day once again by simply grasping Horace by the throat and
applying just enough pressure to send the man falling to the floor, his face
red, then frighteningly white.

“Have
you guys had enough?” Leopold asked the worn and weary men.

Constantine,
Godfrey and Horace grumbled and groan.

“I’m
glad I brought you along, Leo,” Errol said.  “I knew you’d be useful.  Your
visit to your French villa could not have been better timed.”

“Glad
to help.”

“You
okay, Lilly?” Rial said as he rushed to me.

“Yes,
now that you guys are here.  How in the world did you find me?”

“Your
phone,” Errol said.

“I
hadn’t even thought of the possibility of locating me though my phone, but I’m
glad you did.” I rushed into Errol’s arms for a hug, then gave Rial a quick
kiss before turning to Leo.

“As
you can see,” Errol said, “I brought reinforcements.  Leo is always a sucker
for a good fight.”

“Nice
to meet you,” I said as I shook his hand.

Noting
that Bobby stayed in the background, I waved him over.  “Don’t be shy, Bobby. 
I want to thank you, too.”

His
face was strangely white and his jaw seized with tension.  His eyes drowning in
anguish, he held his hands to a wound that gushed an astonishing amount of
blood.

“Oh,
my God,” I cried out as I rushed to him.  “Oh, my God.  Errol!  Bobby’s hurt.”

“Damn
it,” Errol said.  “Rial.  Leopold.  Make sure these guys don’t move.  Lilly,
come.  We’ll take Bobby straight to the hospital.”

Chapter 4

T
hough Errol drove through the streets at a
speed that bordered on reckless, I wanted to urge him to drive even faster. 
Bobby was pale and I feared for his life, despite his constant protest that he
was okay.  When he leaned back and held in a long painful breath, I knew he was
not okay.

“Hang on, Bobby,” I said.  “We’re almost there.”  Though, in all
honesty, I had no idea how far away the hospital was.

But my words proved prophetic.  As we turned the next corner, the
hospital came into view and I let out a long and relieved breath all while
mumbling a quiet prayer.

Errol helped Bobby out of the car, and once inside, the triage nurse
was quick to bring him into her cubicle.  “
Que s’est-il passé
?  What
happened?”

“I was stabbed,” Bobby admitted.  He sounded surprisingly calm and I
wondered if he hadn’t lost too much blood.

The nurse looked up at me as she pressed a bandage to his wound.  “I’m
going to have to notify the police.”

I nodded and looked down at the wound as she pulled the bandage away. 
The bleeding had nearly stopped.  What had initially seemed like a frightening
gush of blood was now a slow oozing.

“Wait here a second,” the nurse said as she pressed the bandage back to
the wound and set Bobby’s hand over it.  She walked out the back of the cubicle
and returned seconds later.  “Go to examination room three.”

The doctor seemed thoroughly unconcerned when he entered.

“Knife wound, huh?” he said.

“Yeah,” Bobby replied.

The doctor swabbed the wound.  “When was the last time you had a
tetanus shot?”

“Four years ago.”  He looked up at me.  “I tried to open a window, but
it busted in my hand and I cut my arm on the glass.”

“Don’t worry,” the doctor said as he looked more closely at the wound. 
“It looks worse than it actually is.  You're lucky.  Whoever got you didn’t get
the knife in very deep.  No vital organs were affected.”

“Good to know,” Bobby said with a grimace.

“You're still going to need a few stitches though.”  He set a clean
bandage back on the wound.  “A nurse will be in to see you in a minute and
she’ll patch you up.”

Barely an hour later, Errol and I walked Bobby back to the car.

“I told you it wasn’t all that bad,” he said.

“Where are you staying, Bobby?” Errol said.  “At our place?”

“I’ll bring him to my place,” I offered.  “I know the doctor said the
wound was superficial, but I want to keep an eye on him all the same… at least
for the next few hours. He got injured because of me. I have to at least take
care of him.”

“Sounds good to me,” Bobby said.

We got in the car and Errol drove us to my apartment.  During the brief
ride Bobby seemed to have already regained some of his strength.

“You need a hand getting him up to your place?” Errol offered.

“No,” Bobby was quick to say.  “I’m good.”

I smiled and nodded at Errol.  “Thanks for everything>”

His phone beeped and he checked it.  “I’m heading down to the police
station.  The guys just arrived with your…

“Kidnappers.  It’s okay.  You don’t have to use euphemisms and bright
and colorful words to gloss over what happened.  I was kidnapped… by those men,
and I hope they pay for it, but I’m not traumatized by it.  I refuse to be.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”  He looked at me and while he seemed confident
that I was okay, he still hesitated before stepping back to his car.  “The
police is probably going to want to talk to you.  You want me to send them
over?”

“Sure.  I guess.  If they can hold off until tomorrow, though, that’d
be great.”

“I’ll tell them to leave you the night to recover and stop by tomorrow
if they need to.  Between Rial, Leo, your father and me, we should be able to
paint a pretty accurate picture of what happened.”  He got in his car and left
us and I helped Bobby inside.

“Those bastards,” Bobby hissed.  “I hope they rot in hell.”

Aghast, I looked at him.

“Sorry, but that’s what they deserve.”

“You need to rest,” I said as I led him to the sofa.  “The doctor said
you’re not to lift anything or make any kind of strenuous movements.”

With him settled in, I turned to head to my bedroom to pick up a fresh
change of clothes and returned to check in on him.  “Try to get some sleep, Bobby. 
I’m going to take a well-deserved shower.”

“Take your time,” he said.

“I will.”

Flicking on the television, he went from channel to channel and finally
settled on an old western.  “Roy Rogers… in French.  What a hoot.”

Smiling, I walked to the bathroom.  After tearing the last shreds of my
soiled dress off me, I stared at it for a long pained moment.  The panic of
those hours spent with those men returned for a split second and the fear I’d
felt sent a shiver down my spine.  All those years ago I’d been incapacitated
by the trauma they had caused, but I refused to let the ordeal take over my
life again.  I threw the dress away, never wanting to see the garment again,
never wanting a reminder of the days I’d spent in the company of those men. 
And after a moment’s hesitation, I also threw away my bra and underwear.

In the shower, I let the water spill over me a full five minutes before
reaching for the soap and then I scrubbed my skin as if the soap had the power
to wash away the pain of the ordeal that had finally ended.

Half an hour later, feeling refreshed and renewed, and wearing a pair
of comfy jeans and a white t-shirt that smelled of lavender, I returned to
check in on Bobby.  He was staring blindly at the television, a line of tears
clinging heavily to his lashes.

“Bobby?”

Grimacing, he forced himself up when he saw me, but quickly laid back
with a groan.  He looked at me, his eyes full of worry.

“What is it, Bobby?  Does it hurt?  I’ll run down to the pharmacy and
get the painkillers the doctor prescribed.  I knew we should have stopped on
the way.”  But he’d insisted he didn’t need them.

“I told you, I don’t need those,” he hard-headedly maintained.

“But you’re in pain and…”

“It’s you, Lilly,” he said, his voice filled with anguish.  “It’s you
I’m worried about.  I was so worried about you.  We were all so terrified.  We
had no idea what they’d done to you and your father made it clear they were not
kind and gentle men.  He knows them, and knows how ruthless they can be.  I
kept imagining the worse.  I can’t believe we were able to find you so soon…
before they could really hurt you.”

“Me, too, though I didn’t really think there was any chance of ever
being found.  I did try to get away when they were still holding me at the body
shop, but it was a dismal failure.”

He nodded.  “We had your location then;
Debosselage et peinture
Gagner
.  I think we arrived only a few minutes after they took you away
from there.  Zeroing in on the second location took a bit more time.”  He
shrugged.  “I guess the signal from your phone wasn’t as strong.”

“I’m so sorry you had to get hurt in the middle of all this.”

“Hey, you heard what the doctor said.  It’s just a scratch.”

“Yeah, a scratch that needed fifteen stitches.”

“I’ve had worse.  When I gutted my arm opening that damned door a few
years back, I needed twenty-eight stitches, and that damned tetanus shot.”  His
eyes turned solemn.  “The important thing is that you're safe.  That’s all that
really matters.”

“I am, and I’m going to take care of you.  So sit still and I’ll go get
you something to drink.”

He grabbed my wrist and held me.  “I’m not thirsty.  Stay with me.”

“I’ll be back in just a minute.”

“Stay.”

“All right.”  I sat on the edge of the sofa and ran my hand over his
brow, pushing his hair off his face.  “Maybe we should call Taryn to let her
know you're okay.”

“Errol will take care of that.”

I nodded and we sat in awkward silence for a moment.

“I feel responsible for what happened,” Bobby finally said.

Shocked, I gaped at him.  “You?  How are you responsible?”

“Your father.  Those men have probably been waiting in the wings for
months, years, just waiting for your father to show his face, and what do I
do?  I bring him over and next thing you know, you’re being carted off with a
bag over your head.”  He closed his eyes, tears piercing through his lashes. 
“I’ll never forget the sight of you being dragged away.  I felt so helpless. 
We all did… just staring at you while these men…”  He shook his head.  “It was
a nightmare… worse than a nightmare, and I can only imagine how it must have
been for you.”

“I don’t want to dwell on that, Bobby.  It was horrible, and I’m
probably going to have to go over it again and again with the police, but I’m
not going to let it beat me this time.  I’m stronger, Bobby.  Those men are
dark and evil.  They want to ruin my father, and destroy me in the process, but
I won’t let it happen.”

Godfrey’s words suddenly came back to me with full force, so much so
that my breath caught in my throat.  I was the half-breed brat he wanted to
destroy, the Cooke who tainted the Dumont name and had to be eliminated.

“They’re going to go to prison, aren’t they?” My voice was small and
frail, and I felt my resolve weaken.  Would this destroy me after all?  Was I
really as strong as I said I was?

“Of course they are.  You okay?”

I shook away the new wave of fear that threatened to take over and
smiled.  “Yes.  I’m okay now, Bobby.”  I tapped my fingertip to the end of his
nose.  “And don’t you dare for one minute think that you're responsible for
what happened.  Regardless of all this nastiness, I’m thrilled to have my
father back in my life.”

His grin was shy and unsure as he reached for my hand.  “I’d do
anything for you, you know.”

The warmth of his hand enveloped mine, just as his grin touched my
heart.  He was such a good guy.  “I know,” I whispered.

He leaned up to kiss me, but fell back with a grimace.

“You shouldn’t overexert yourself.  You’ll end up pulling those
stitches out.”

“I wouldn’t have thought kissing you meant exerting myself.” Licking
his lips, he wrapped his free hand around the nape of my neck and gave me a
delicate tug.

I wanted his kiss, but didn’t want to mislead him.  While words of
protest wrestled their way to my lips, I leaned into him and allowed his lips
to steal my protest away.

His lips were soft and warm, and I suddenly realized just how much I’d
missed him.  I let his lips engulf me, fill me with the sensations that
thrilled me.  When his tongue came to meet mine, I knew the situation could
quickly get out of control if I didn’t put an end to it right away.

Carefully pressing my hand to his chest, well above his wound, I pulled
back.  “I’m not so sure this is a good idea, Bobby.  I don’t want to…”

“Lead me on?”

He was so innocent and yet so wild; this American boy who made my heart
race.  Barely a minute without his warm lips over mine, and I already longed to
kiss him again.

With a cocky grin, he pulled me back to him.  “Lead me on all you want,
Lilly.  I’m a big boy.  I know what I’m getting into.”  He held me, my nose
just inches from his as he stared into my eyes, as if trying to drill the
message in.  “I’m willing to take the risk.”

His lips smothered mine, savagely pulling me in, sucking, nibbling and
tasting me while his arms crushed me to him.  A wealth of emotions swelled in
my chest as I surrendered and let myself be carried away on his kisses.  But as
the kiss intensified, and he maneuvered me until I was stretched out on the
sofa beside him, I knew the kiss had taken on a whole new meaning.

He wanted me and I wasn’t sure if I had the strength or desire to stop
him.

I felt the tension in his body, the push of his hips and the pull of
his hands as they traveled down my back and kept me pressed tightly to him.  We
panted short sweet breaths at one another as our kisses drove deeper and
deeper.

“I want you back,” he whispered.

My heart surged at the sound of his heartfelt words then plummeted as I
thought of the other love in my life.

Bobby made my heart race, made me happy and made me smile, but Rial… 
there was something there too, something special and exhilarating.  Something I
wasn’t quite ready to give up.