Chapter 2

Nox

Detonations of red.

Flashes of white.

Explosions—visible to only me—momentarily hindered my vision. Blinking, I tried to make sense of Deloris's text message.

“ALEX GOT INTO A CAR WITH ALTON FITZGERALD. WE ARE FOLLOWING.”

Though the plane ascended higher and higher, my heart fell to an abyss, the place where my stomach used to be.

I read it again.

The words refused to change.

Emotions boiled within me, creating a turbulent concoction capable of destruction. I looked toward the small window, expecting to see swirling clouds, but saw only the deceiving blueness of a complacent sky. Despite the misleading calm, disbelief, hurt, and rage swirled through my body, rushing through my blood, tightening my chest, and weakening my knees. Unconsciously, my fingers balled, creating fists that needed to connect with something—with anything—as I increased the pressure on the phone. Surely it would crack and shatter.

I read the words again and again.

They didn't make sense.

Charli wouldn't do that. She wouldn't willingly get into her stepfather's car.

Something terrible had happened.

I'd witnessed her apprehension and disgust when it came to Alton Fitzgerald. She'd shared her fears and some of her stories. He was the other devil, the one she spoke of. No matter what he'd done to her or not done to her in the past, being with him was dangerous. She knew that and so did I.

Charli wouldn't willingly go with him, not after she'd promised me she'd stay safe.

I clenched my teeth, hearing her words in my mind, her promises...her lies.

When she refused to wait for me for this trip to Savannah, Charli had promised she'd stay with Deloris.

According to this text message, she hadn't.

That's what the words on my screen were telling me. Deloris's message confirmed that Charli had done the one thing I forbade her from doing. She'd put the one person whom I'd entrusted to her care in danger.

She'd willingly sacrificed herself.

I needed to understand why.

I needed to speak to her, but I couldn't.

Since the plane had just left the ground, I couldn't make a call until we were high enough for the Wi-Fi to be activated; however, that didn’t stop my rant. Pounding the tabletop before me with the butt of my fist, a tirade of words spewed forth. The outburst, infused with obscenities, echoed uselessly through the cabin.

Wisely, Isaac remained quiet, rightfully assuming I'd share more when I was ready. The flight attendant, though, was new. She didn't know me.

“Mr. Demetri, is everything all right?” she asked, her eyes bigger than dinner plates as she hurried around a wall and moved toward me. With each step she teetered one way and then the next, her body thrown off balance as the plane continued its ascent.

“No! Nothing is all right. Go sit down before you fall. There’s nothing you can do.”

“Sir,” she said, looking down at the phone still in my hand. “If we’re not yet out of the range of cell towers, we will be soon, but once we have Wi-Fi you'll be able to Face Time.”

I reined in what little self-control still remained. This wasn't my first flight. “I’m aware.”

“However, if you don't want to wait, the plane has a satellite phone. Would you like to use that?”

What? Why didn’t I think of that?

Because I’m too stunned to process.

“Yes. Get it right away.”

Her knees buckled as she maneuvered toward the cockpit, her hands supporting her one way and then the other.

“I’M CALLING ON THE SATELLITE PHONE. I WANT DETAILS!”

I sent the text to Deloris, not caring if it would send or if she would get it. Just pushing the letters gave me something to do.

As soon as the flight attendant placed the satellite phone in my hand, I began dialing the longer-than-normal string of numbers. With each second that I waited for the connection, my blood pressure rose another notch. The rush coursing through my veins filled my ears with an internal roar, muting the engine’s drone.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

"You have reached—"

Though the plane continued its climb, at the sound of her voice, my stomach took another nosedive. Hitting the disconnect button, I called Mrs. Witt. She probably should have been my first call, but I needed to try to reach Charli. I wanted to know that I could.

Now, I knew that I couldn't.

As the satellite phone again waited to connect, I reached for my own phone and pushed the app on Charli's tracker.

Nothing.

My mind reasoned that it wasn't because she was unreachable. She may have gotten into a car, but she wouldn't take off the necklace. There was nothing on the app, because we didn't yet have Wi-Fi access and the cellular service was unavailable.

As soon as the satellite phone began to ring, Deloris answered, “Lennox we're following her...”

“What the hell happened? Where is she? Where is that bastard taking her? Why the fuck did she get in his car? Why didn’t you stop her? Did he threaten her?”

“She’s a few hundred yards ahead of us on the street. We’re making our way out of the city. According to her tracker, her heart rate is elevated, but otherwise, we believe she's safe. According to the GPS it seems as though we’re headed toward her home.”

“Her home?” I asked incredulously. “No, Deloris, her home is in New York.”

“Her family home,” she corrected. “I told her not to go to him. I called after her. I've told you before that Alex has a mind of her own.”

“Did he force her? Where the fuck was Clayton?”

“He was here. He still is—with me. We were merely a few feet away. She insisted on talking to Mr. Fitzgerald. I couldn’t hear their conversation, but I imagine it was about her mother.” Deloris spoke fast, barely taking a breath between each statement. “She's a patient at a facility called Magnolia Woods. They said she is stable, but I couldn't get any further information. I'm working on accessing their database. The staff refused to allow Alex access to her mother.

"Alex was right to assume it was Mr. Fitzgerald’s doing. He was there. I spoke with him briefly. He refused to do more than that. He made it clear that Alex wouldn’t be allowed in unless through him. I was about to explain that all to her when he came out of the facility. She didn’t listen—”

“And you...?" I interrupted.

"We observed her conversation from a safe distance, but as soon as she stepped toward the open car door, we both went after her. Lennox, it happened quickly. By the time we reached the car, the doors were closed and it was moving. We hurried back to our car and followed. We are following."

"Have you called her?"

"Of course. I called immediately. She didn't answer. I've tried several more times and it goes straight to voicemail."

"I tried, too. I can't even see her tracker app."

"I can," Deloris reassured me. "Like I said, other than elevated heart rate, her vitals appear normal."

I leaned back and closed my eyes. Behind my lids I saw her—my Charli. A collage of images bombarded my thoughts. As if we were still together, I saw her, still sleeping this morning in our bed. The image helped me breathe. My chest rose and fell as I recalled her scent, flowers and perfume, the perfect mixture. I hadn't awakened her. Instead, I'd slipped from the warmth of the covers to let her sleep. She didn't need to wake as early and I had things to do.

Even after my workout, she was still asleep. She'd been working diligently this last week on something for class, something that took most of her time. I'd never questioned or demanded more of her. Law school was too important to her. That made it important to me.

The rock forming in the pit of my stomach hardened. What would happen? What would this mean for her classes? What did that asshole of a stepfather have planned?

"Deloris," I said when her end of the line went silent, "get her. I don't give a damn what you have to do. Run their fucking car off the road. I don't care. Just get her."

"Do you have any idea of the repercussions of something like that? The Fitzgeralds are powerful. I'm not saying more so than the Demetris. I'm saying it's different."

"I don't give a fuck!"

The flight attendant peered around a wall near the front of the plane and just as quickly disappeared.

"We're in Savannah. This is their world. Let us follow. We'll try to get in, but I've seen pictures of her home. It's very well protected."

"From the outside," I said.

"What does that mean?"

"It means, she doesn't want to be there. It means she's safer outside of that prison. That's what she calls it. Deloris, we can't leave her there."

"I'll do all I can."

"Do more. And have a car waiting for me. If you're not allowed in, I’ll get in. I won't stop until she's in my arms."

And then, after I've held her tight and reassured her that everything will be okay, I'll redden her perfect ass for putting herself in danger and frightening everyone.

"Do it!" I yelled, interrupting something Deloris had been saying.

Disconnecting the signal from the satellite phone, I checked my cell phone. The Wi-Fi was now working. With only a sweep of my finger, I opened her tracker app and found her blue dot.

Fuck! It was moving. The GPS zeroed in, allowing a map to materialize around the dot. I sat helplessly as the blue dot moved along Georgia roads.

"I'm coming to get you, Charli. And then..."

The blue dot slowed, yet at the bottom of the screen I could see that her pulse was increasing.

I enlarged the map, zeroing in on her location.

The dot moved again. It was a private lane.

Deloris was right. That bastard took her back to Montague Manor.

I sent a message via Facetime.

"I CAN SEE SHE'S AT MONTAGUE MANOR. LET ME KNOW IF YOU GET IN."