Page 15 of Deserving Cora
“When did all this happen? How long has she been gone?” Owl asked.
“A month and a half,” Cora whispered. “He’s had her for almost two months.”
Pipe didn’t want to ask his next question, but he had to. “Do you have any proof that she’s still alive? Have you talked to her at all?”
“She’s alive. At least, she was two weeks ago. I kind of lied and texted that the Phoenix police would be knocking on their door if she didn’t call me, if I couldn’t see or hear for myself that she was all right. I went through her apartment—and no, I’m not sorry—and found an address for Ridge in Arizona. The phone rang two hours later. It was Ridge. He wasn’t happy. Told me that he’d press charges for harassment if I didn’t stop. I toldhimthat until I spoke to Lara, I wasn’tevergoing to stop. He turned FaceTime on, and Lara was there. They were sitting on a bed together. She wasn’t herself,” Cora said in a shaky tone.
“In what way?” Owl asked.
“She seemed really…off. I apologized profusely for our fight, even though I still felt more than ever that I was right. Her voice was wooden. Monotone. Her gaze kept drifting away from the screen. But she accepted my apology, and told me she was happy and that she wasn’t returning to DC. I panicked. I mean, she’s spent her entire life here. She loved her job. Her parents are here. But more than that, she just seemed so unemotional about it all. As if she wasn’t really there. It was Lara, but it wasn’t…if that makes sense.”
Pipe nodded.
“Then Ridge pointed the camera back on himself, told me now that I’d seen Lara and knew she was fine, I needed to leave them alone to live their lives. He told me to butt out and hung up.”
“So what do you thinkwecan do?” Owl asked.
Cora turned to him. “Go in and get her,” she said without hesitation.
Owl frowned. “We can’t just kidnap her.”
“I know! I mean, Itechnicallyknow. But a part of me still wants to do just that. He’s hurting her. I know it. The person I saw on that video phone call wasn’t my friend. It looked like she was drugged or something. And she’s protecting me. I have no doubt about that. I think Ridge threatened her to say what she did.”
“You can’t actually know that—” Pipe started.
“Ido!” Cora interrupted fiercely, then paused, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. “Look…Lara and I watched a movie together once. A woman was kidnapped and held hostage by her mafia boyfriend. When her mom finally got to see her, she sent her a secret message, letting her know that she wasn’t there of her own free will. The movie was horrible. Really cheesy and stupid. But we watched until the end anyway…then we talked about whatwe’ddo if we were ever in a situation like that.”
She stood, as if she needed to burn off nervous energy. She paced briefly behind her chair, wringing her hands. “Of course, we both insisted we’d never be so stupid, but we were having fun, discussing something we assumed would never happen. We even came up with a signal. Something only the two of us would know—and when we were talking,she gave me that signal.
“I’m not crazy, Pipe. I’m not jealous of my friend. She’s in trouble, and I’m the only one who cares. Her parents are actuallythrilledthat she’s finally found a man. The police think she’s there of her own free will. But she’s not!” Cora was practically yelling by the time she finished.
Pipe hated seeing her so upset, even as he admired her fierce defense of her friend.
He didn’t care what people looked like. Didn’t give a rat’s ass how much money they had in the bank. What hedidcare about was loyalty. The lack of it was why he’d finally left the SAS. He’d seen too many of his superiors—who were supposed to ensure the safety of the men under their command—make decisions to further their own careers instead of protecting men and women in the field. And he’d worked with plenty of people who were more concerned about saving their own skins than about the soldiers fighting alongside them.
He knew he had PTSD after everything he’d seen and done. Not nearly as badly as some of his friends at The Refuge, but he was thrilled nonetheless that he was no longer regularly put into a position that involved a hail of bullets. Or knowing someone may or may not have an RPG pointed at his chopper. He’d been loyal to the military, but seeing others not care about the lives of soldiers under their command had affected him deeply.
The six other men who owned The Refuge were as loyal friends as he’d ever known, and he finally felt like he’d found his place in the world. Now, seeing Cora fight tooth and nail for her friend, her extreme loyalty toward her, even when most signs pointed to the fact that Lara was with this Ridge guy because she wanted to be, made his heart turn over in his chest.
“What was the signal?” Owl asked.
Glancing at his friend, Pipe noticed he was leaning toward Cora as if he could pull the information out of her simply by staring. He was also visibly tense. More so than Pipe had ever seen him before.
Then it clicked. Owl had been a hostage himself. He knew exactly how Lara was feeling…if she really was being held against her will.
Pipe wasn’t sure what he believed at the moment. Oh, he was completely sureCorabelieved her friend was in danger, but whether she was or not remained to be seen.
Cora took a deep breath and did her best to regain her composure. She clutched the chair in front of her with both hands as she met Owl’s gaze. “She scratched her ear with her pinky,” she said calmly, as if she wasn’t just yelling at them a moment ago.
Pipe frowned.
“Like this,” Cora said, demonstrating what she meant. She raised her hand and, using her pinky finger, kind of stuck it inside her ear and twirled it in a small circle. “It was quick, but I know what I saw. And trust me, that’s not something Lara normally does.”
It wasn’t much…but Pipe started to believe her. What were the odds Lara would use the exact signal they’d devised if shewasn’tin danger?
“All I’m asking for is help getting her out of that house in Phoenix. I know without a doubt that if I show up and knock on the door, Ridge will deny me entry. I’d try to sneak in, but I looked up the address on the Internet and checked out the satellite view. It’s a sprawling estate. He probably has cameras and dogs and trip wires or something. I’d never get close, and then I’d end up just like Lara and we’dbothbe screwed. You guys have training. You can get in and out of places without anyone knowing. From that point, I’ll take care of her. Hell, you don’t even have to get us out of the city. I swear I won’t bother you further if you can just get her out of that house.”
She gave Pipe a pleading look. “I’mnotcrazy. And every day that goes by and she’s there…” Her voice trailed off once again, and she slumped, head dropping between her shoulders as she continued to clutch the chair.
