Rock the City: A Midnight Fate Novel (34 page)

It doesn’t help that the pain medication has her so nauseous she’s constantly reaching for the bucket between my feet in case she throws up.

“Are you okay?” I ask her for the hundredth time in as many miles.

Each time, she nods, but her mind is so preoccupied I’m not sure she even hears me. It kills me that I can’t take away her pain or erase the entire night from her memory. If I could, I would rewind time and start fresh—and I would have done a better job of protecting her in the first place.

“Did you get a text yet?”

“No, but we’ll probably lose reception in the tunnel anyway.”

We each hold our breath and cross our fingers that nothing happens for those couple of minutes we’re off the grid. As soon as we come out on the other side, Noelle glances at the screen like it’s going to light up with all the answers. “Still nothing?”

“Not yet.”

“If she’s been with him this whole time, I feel so bad for her. The little bit of time I was with him felt like an eternity.”

“We have everyone out looking for her. They’ll find her.”

“Everyone but us,” she says, with guilt written all over her face.

“The only place you’re going is to bed, Noelle. You need to rest.”

“What if we check Rusty’s house before we go home?”

“The cops have the address. I’m sure it’s the first place they looked.”

“Maybe, but we’ve already been up all night, and I can’t fall asleep when your sister could be hurt. She’s pregnant, Lane.”

“I know, baby, but you’ve been through hell tonight. You heard what the doctor said.”

As the car stops alongside the curb, she looks around, confused. “What’s going on?”

While she was having her X-rays done, I put a call into the jeweler. You’d be amazed what strings you can pull in the middle of the night with a little cash and the promise of an even bigger purchase.

I lean in and kiss her cheek before I open my door. “I’ll be right back.”

The jeweler meets me on the sidewalk in front of Tiffany’s, just as we discussed. He hands me a little bag, never once asking a single question. Tonight, for the right price, I bought one of his rings and his silence.

Despite being completely worn out, Noelle’s wide-eyed when I slide into the backseat next to her. “What did you do, Lane?”

I turn my body toward her, wishing we weren’t doing this again, but still thankful that I have the chance to ask her at all. “Noelle, I clearly suck at proposals, and the back of a car isn’t the ideal place to ask you to marry me—not that the boutique was much better. But I’ll do anything to make you happy and to get my ring back on your finger.”

She glances at her bare hand, holding it in front of her like the sparkling diamond’s still there. “What about the ring you already gave me?”

“The truth is we may never see it again. Not that I’d expect you to put it back on your finger after what you went through tonight. You deserve a million diamonds for your strength, and I’ll spend every year of our marriage giving them to you.”

“I don’t need expensive gifts to be happy, Lane. And Rusty took my ring because he was trying to get even. He’s mad you took Lemon away from him. I guess he figured getting to me was the best way to get his revenge.”

“He was right. It hurts more than anything.”

Her eyes lock with mine, connecting us far more than any piece of platinum ever could, but she still eyes the blue bag in my hand curiously. After a few seconds, she slides her left hand onto my thigh, the only clue I’ll get that she wants the ring on her finger as badly as I need to put it there.

The diamond I pull out of the box is more than what I asked him for, and I’m sure my bank account reflects the difference, but the way her eyes light up when she sees it I wish he’d gone even bigger.

“I can’t wear that thing! It’s huge.”

“You can and you will.”

She lets me slide it over her knuckle and, once it’s in place, I bring her fingers to my lips, kissing the ring like I did before. “I love you, Noelle.”

“When I was sitting on those steps, I was suffocating and I couldn’t figure out how to find enough air to breathe. But no matter how hard it was, all I pictured was you. You’re what gave me the strength to keep it together.”

“I’m your air, Noelle. I may drive you crazy, be a little overprotective of you sometimes, annoying even, but you’re everything to me. I’ll never question that again for as long as I live. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.”

With tears streaming down her cheeks, she can’t figure out if she should look at me or the ring. Finally, she clutches it against her chest and, with more determination than ever, she says, “We’ll find Lemon, and we’ll give her the happily ever after she deserves, too. I want her to feel what I’m feeling.”

“You’re the most selfless woman I’ve ever met.”

“I feel it in my heart, Lane. She wouldn’t go back to Rusty on her own. Something big had to have happened to get her there. That’s why I won’t give up on her.”

“We won’t give up until we get her back where she belongs.”

She snuggles against my side, content with my response. I’ll never forgive myself for letting her go to Pennsylvania on her own, but I’d be lying if I said a part of me isn’t glad the officers were the ones to untie her from the stairs. I didn’t have to see her with my own eyes to have that image permanently engrained in my memory.

Reed’s phone rings and the second he answers, all hope for Lemon flies right out the window. He hides it well, but we’ve worked together long enough for me to be able to read a bad situation. Whatever he’s being told, it’s not in Lemon’s favor.

The fact that he steps on the gas pedal harder and weaves in and out of the little bit of traffic only confirms it.

“I’ll drop you both off in the garage,” he tells us.

Just like when we left, there’s still a slew of activity buzzing in the streets surrounding the condo. I hate that my family is front page news again.

“Where are you going, Reed?” Noelle asks him.

“Lemon and Rusty showed up at his trailer in Jersey.”

“Just say it,” I tell him. “Do they have Lemon?”

“Rusty’s in police custody and Lemon isn’t hurt, but she doesn’t want to go back to therapy.”

“She can come back to the condo for now. We’ll figure out how to get her back to therapy after we’ve all had some sleep.”

“It’s not that simple, Lane. I think it’s best if we take Noelle to Easton’s place and ride over without her.”

Noelle sits up straighter, clearly annoyed with Reed’s suggestion. “No, I’m going with you. I don’t care how bad my back hurts or how raw my throat is. Lying in a bed won’t do anything but piss me off.”

I wrap my arm around her, trying to pull her close again, but she fights me. Eventually, my frustration wins and, with more bite than intended, I tell her, “If Reed wants you to stay home, it’s not safe, Noelle.”

“Your condo wasn’t safe either, but I’ve spent every day there.”

“That’s not the same thing. Neither of us had any idea Rusty bugged the place.”

“If Rusty was at the trailer, I’d stay with Lark and Easton—but he’s not. You two knuckleheads are the only thing keeping me from getting to Lemon. So, Reed, drive the damn car. Lane, stop arguing with me. I already told you I won’t give up on Lemon. Not when she needs me the most.”

Reed glances at me in the rearview mirror. All I can do is give him a silent nod, unspoken permission for him to keep driving. Praying I didn’t just make another huge mistake and risk Noelle’s safety all over again, I decide that, whatever happens from here on out, I’ll take full responsibility for. That’s why I’m not playing around when I tell Noelle, “When we get there, you’ll do what we tell you. You’re not going to play the hero and get yourself hurt, okay?”

“Yes, I hear you. The same goes for you. You’re her big brother, and you have a lot of guilt for leaving her. That doesn’t mean you get to run in there and fix it by bulldozing her. She still needs her voice—probably more than ever. I don’t want her to come out of this more broken than she already is.”

I kiss the top of her head and run the ice pack back and forth over her sore back. She shivers, but something tells me it has nothing to do with the coldness.

The second my shoe lands on the first step of Rusty’s trailer, I realize life may never be the same again. Maybe it’s the way I can practically feel Lane’s heart beating as he holds my hand, or maybe it’s because I’ll be haunted by this night for the rest of my life. Regardless of why, this night has so much riding on it, every day after will be different—especially if something happens to Lemon.

“Let me go in first,” Reed tells Lane, even though Lemon’s going to freak out when someone other than Lane walks through the door.

Once he’s past, Lane whispers, “Follow me.”

It ends up working out in our favor because once we’re all inside, Lemon’s so tired she’s barely awake. I take the moment of calmness to look around the shabby trailer. Not that I’m some queen in my castle, but the way she was living with Rusty can only be described as desperate.

There’s tattered tin foil covering the small triangle window on the door, and paper towels are shoved in the window jams to keep the bugs out. The stove looks straight out of the seventies with its dull green color and clunky knobs. The fridge is newer, but it’s humming so strangely there’s definitely something wrong with it. What freaks me out the most is the bug zapper on the front porch that fries something new every couple of seconds. It’s disgusting.

“Lemon,” Lane whispers so he doesn’t scare her. She’s so exhausted she’s draped over the kitchen table with her light hair flowing over the edges.

As soon as she hears his voice, she lifts her head and smiles. “You came.”

He brushes her hair away from her face, eyeing her for marks. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere, Lemon Meringue.”

“I still hate when you call me that.”

“Good, but that doesn’t mean I plan on stopping anytime soon.”

“Why’d you come for me?”

“You’re my sister,” he says, like it’s obvious. “I was worried about you.”

She’s calm until she turns her head and can’t deny my bruises and scrapes. Her eyes widen and, like she’s all too familiar with his work, she says, “Rusty got you, too.”

“I’ve had a pretty shitty night, Lemon. What do you say we go home and get some sleep?”

Maybe it’s too much too soon because she stands up, shaking her head back and forth adamantly. “I can’t do that.”

Lane reaches for her, trying to calm her down, but she backs away from him. Lane stays close though. “It’s okay. Why won’t you go home with us? You can have the spare bedroom again.”

I can tell she wants her room back, but she’s still too stubborn to give up without a fight. “Because he’s too dangerous, and if I leave Sea Port again, he’ll hurt everyone I love.”

Lane stares at her like he can’t believe she doesn’t want to leave this shitty trailer and depressing town. “Rusty’s in jail, Lemon. It doesn’t matter anymore,” he pleads.

“I wasn’t talking about Rusty.”

“Then who?”

“Rusty did some bad things yesterday and today, but he only did them to save his own ass.”

“From what?”

“Trey found out about the baby, like I knew he would. Nobody in this town can keep their damn mouths closed. It’s always who can get into the others’ business first to stir up some trouble. I wish they’d just leave me alone.”