Page 87 of Deserving Cora
“Cora?” he asked as he took two steps toward her. He knelt down and his eyes raked down her body, as if he could see through her clothes to see if she was hurt. He inhaled sharply when he saw her arm.
“I think it’s broken,” she said, not recognizing the sound of her own voice.
Pipe reached out a hand and palmed the back of her head before resting his forehead against hers so gently, it was as if they were in the middle of some romantic night out rather than in the basement of a kidnapper’s house, after being drugged and injured.
“Bloody hell,” he whispered.
“I did what you told me to,” she whispered. “I went for the soft tissue.”
“You did good, love,” he said.
Those four words meant more than Cora could express. She half expected him to get mad that she’d put herself in danger, getting hurt in the process. But instead, he understood that they’d all been in deep shit, and she’d done what she needed to do in order to give him and Owl a chance to overcome the threat.
“Is he dead?” she whispered.
“No.”
Cora blinked at that. “Why not?”
To her surprise, Pipe drew back and looked at her with a serious expression. “Because unlike that arsehole, I’m not a murderer.”
“But we can’t let him get away!” she protested.
“We’ll call the police as soon as possible. My main concern right now is getting you and Lara away from here and to a doctor.”
Cora couldn’t argue with that. At least the part about making sure Lara was safe. As for herself, she didn’t like doctors. Never had, never would.
“Speaking of which, it’s been twelve minutes. We need to go,” Owl said.
Pipe nodded but didn’t look at his friend. He stood, then reached down for Cora. She stood with his help and promptly swayed.
“What hurts?” Pipe asked urgently.
“Um…everything?” Cora said without thought.
To her surprise, Pipe picked her up as if she weighed nothing at all. She let out a screech and wrapped her good arm around his neck.
“I’ve got you,” he soothed. “Owl, you okay with her?”
Looking over at the bed, Cora saw Owl was holding Lara in his arms. They were about the same height, so she looked a little awkward in his arms, but with the amount of weight Lara had clearly lost, Owl seemed to be able to carry her without issue.
“Yes,” he told Pipe curtly.
Without another word, Pipe headed for the door. They were indeed in a basement. The room they were in was at the back of a larger space. The rest of the basement was filled with boxes upon boxes. No wonder no one knew Lara was there, it didn’t look as if anyone had been down there in ages. They went up a flight of stairs and exited into a hallway.
It was eerie how they didn’t encounter anyone. The house was completely silent and seemingly empty.
Until a woman holding an honest-to-God feather duster, and wearing an apron, stepped out of a room in front of them and stopped dead in her tracks. She stared at them in astonishment, her mouth open in shock. It was confirmation in Cora’s eyes that most of the employees had probably been kept in the dark about what was happening in the basement. That they didn’t know Ridge Michaels and his bodyguard were up to no good right under their noses.
“Where’s the helipad?” Pipe barked in a low, mean tone.
The woman jerked in surprise at the menace in his voice and pointed down the hall.
Pipe brushed past her. Cora’s legs almost hit her in the face, but she stepped back into the room she’d just exited.
Looking over Pipe’s shoulder, Cora saw a shirtless Owl right on their heels. Lara’s bare legs bounced as he walked, and while his shirt was big on her friend, it wasn’t nearly long enough.
Hatred welled up within Cora again. Lara had been through hell, and she didn’t know if she hated Creepy Guy or Ridge Michaels more as a result.
