Page 54 of Burning for You
Levi
What the fuck just happened?
I fell asleep, that was what happened. But how?
Grimacing, I roll my tongue around my mouth. It tastes funny. My nose contorts at the smell of Jesse’s burned coke.
“Hey!” my brother slurs as he releases a long puff of smoke.
There are a couple of empty glasses on the table. One was mine. I remember my brother made lemonade for me.
I gulp. Did he?
Lifting him by the collar, I bark, “What did you put in my drink?”
“Medication,” he says. “You needed sleep, brother.”
My head tells me I need to do something, but my thoughts are as abstract as the haze clouding me.
I try to stitch the scattered pieces of my brain back together.
We were supposed to take Carolyn here—presenting facts about the Random Valley acquisition, and throwing around threats that we would hurt her or Josh if we didn’t get what we want.
She’s in the shed now, and the weather is raging.
“Shit!” I can’t leave her there.
“Where are you going? One in the morning, sneaking out in this rain? You smell like a bitch in estrus."
My fist is ready to punch his sorry face, but as thunder breaks, I know my priority is Carolyn. I need to take her inside now.
“Leave her there,” Jesse says as I run to the front door. Stoned like a semi-tranquilized elephant, his attempt to stop me is no more than a nudge in my back.
“Where’s the key?”
“Isn’t this why you brought her here? To torture her?”
Torture? What has he done?
“Where’s the damn key?” I shout. “I will force her to give back our land, but I’m not going to hurt her. And I certainly don’t want her to die of hypothermia.”
“Hypothermia?” Jesse mocks, but he gets up anyway and hands me a key. “Why don’t you just say freeze to death?”
The open door reveals the side of Random Valley that I’d forgotten about: a punishing sky. I can’t believe I slept through this torrent.
I slip my gun in my belt. One, I don’t want Jesse to snatch it, and two, the feisty Ms. Meyer might have a surprise in store for me. Hastily I put on my boots and then throw a raincoat over myself.
“Jesus Christ!” I observe the flooding on the path to the storage cabin. It’s even worse when I arrive there.
The scene inside the cabin makes me doubt whether I’m asleep or awake. This is worse than a horror movie.
Carolyn is gasping for air as she tries to keep her face above water. She’s lying on the ground, chained like an animal.
“Carolyn!”
Shivering, swallowing water, she begs, “Levi. Please…”
“Carolyn.” I slip my arms under her squirming body, but I can barely lift her. Jesse has put her on short chains. I can’t shoot them off, and it will take me too long to get a steel cutter. I need the key from that bastard. “I’ll be back.”