Tattoo (Take It Off #7)(7)
Author: Cambria Hebert

If I hadn’t just driven here from downtown Raleigh, I would have thought we were a world away.

The van pulled around the back of the worn-out building and stopped near a boarded-up entrance. With the engine still running, the three passengers started piling out. I sat there for long moments, fighting the urge to demand being taken to a hospital.

One of the guys who said his name was Tommy leaned back inside. “Lucy, we’re home!” he said and laughed.

The others in the parking lot laughed and the next thing I knew, they were pulling open the boarded-up door and disappearing inside.

The driver (he said his name was Snake) turned to glance at me. “There’s med supplies in there.”

The van door slid open with ease and I climbed out, doing my best to not jostle her as I moved. As soon as the van door was shut, the car pulled away, the tail lights glowing red as he retreated. The other three guys were already inside and we were left standing there in the dark, just her and me.

“What’s going on, Brody?” she said, her voice hoarse.

“Call me Slater,” I reminded her. “It’s important you remember that.”

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” she said, her eyes flooding with tears.

“I’m going to explain everything real soon.” I promised. “First I’m going to patch you up.”

“Shouldn’t I go to a hospital for that? I have a feeling you aren’t a doctor.”

I tightened my arms around her. “I’m not a doctor, but I’m a certified EMT. I’ll take a look inside and if it’s something I can’t fix, then I’ll blow my cover and get you the hell out of here.”

“Your cover?”

I noted the dark coloring of the shirt tied around her arm. The blood had slowed, but not stopped. I needed to stop the bleeding. Explanations were going to have to wait.

“Taylor, listen to me,” I intoned seriously, holding her gaze. “This is a bad situation, and I won’t lie… It’s dangerous as hell. I need you to trust me.”

“I don’t know you.”

“Yeah, and I’m a questionable guy, but I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I’ll protect you. It’s my job.”

“What kind of job do you have?” she said, a hint of exasperation in her tone.

I smirked. “I’m a cop,” I whispered against her ear.

Her indrawn breath was confirmation she heard.

She turned her face. My head was still lowered from whispering against her ear and her lips brushed my cheek. I pulled back slightly, aligning our mouths, hovering just inches above hers.

“You with me?” I said low.

She nodded.

Fierce possession took hold of me, sort of like the way a pair of handcuffs felt being slapped around your wrists. I knew how to escape a pair of handcuffs. I wasn’t sure I wanted to escape these.

A noise from inside reminded me that this wasn’t the time to be feeling things. I straightened and stepped inside the abandoned station.

4

Taylor

I had to be in shock.

There was a reason I wasn’t more afraid. There was a reason I wasn’t screaming and fighting to get out of Brody’s arms and away from this god-awful dirty, abandoned, completely creepy gas station. My body wasn’t getting enough blood flow, likely because all the blood was flowing out of me instead of throughout my veins.

It was making me sluggish, slowing my response, and in defense, my body wasn’t making adrenaline. So naturally, I felt completely safe in this stranger’s arms.

Yeah. That was totally it.

It had nothing to do with the fact that he was shirtless, totally ripped, and covered in tattoos that practically screamed sex appeal. It also had nothing to do with the fact he was wearing a backward baseball cap that screamed thuggish behavior. Thuggish behavior was bad. It was very bad.

But so very good.

The thought caused me to shiver and in reaction to the small movement, Brody pulled me just a little bit closer to his chest. His heat was delicious and I felt my eyes begin to droop. Maybe all I needed was a little nap… just a few minutes to rest my eyes.

“Tay,” a nearby voice commanded. “No sleeping.”

I grunted in displeasure and forced my eyes back open, looking around the room. If I couldn’t sleep, then I would study my surroundings. The place looked the way one would expect an abandoned gas station to look. It was basically a large box with concrete walls and floors that were once covered in linoleum but now were peeling and dirty. In the center of the room were empty racks that likely used to hold merchandise. The counter at the front of the room was bare and crooked, like part of it was sinking into the floor. Behind it on the wall was a sign that read what I assumed was supposed to say QUICK MART except the Q and U were missing so it read as ICK MART.

It was actually very accurate.

The windows were all boarded up, with only slivers of sunlight filtering through, leaving ribbons of light across the dusty and trash-littered floor. Off in the corner was a pile of old brown leaves that would likely lie there until they turned to dust.

On the far end of the room were several large coolers, the kind that sat on the floor and opened from the top. They were no longer working, no longer white, and frankly I would be terrified to go and see what was inside them.

So this is where criminals hung out?

The movies made it look so much more glamorous.

“Down here,” one of the men called to Brody, and he pivoted around, following after the men who opened up a hidden door in the wall and disappeared. I could hear their boots clomping down a set of stairs and fear clawed its way up the back of my throat.

I felt my limbs go rigid. They wanted us to go into a basement?

If this is the way the upstairs looked, the basement had to be ten times worse.

“We aren’t gonna be here long,” Brody reminded me softly.

I peered up at him through the dim lighting. He didn’t appear to be bothered at all by this place. If anything, he looked like he’d been in places like this a thousand times before.

Oh, God, I thought. What if he is lying about being a cop? What if he is really one of these… these criminals, and he’s only lying to me so I won’t put up a fight?

The adrenaline was like a shot of ultra-strong espresso being fed right into my bloodstream by an IV. I jackknifed up away from his firm body, flinging out my arm (the one that wasn’t shot), and pushing away from him.

He grunted and grasped at me. He was already descending the stairs and my sudden movement caught him off guard. I leapt out of his arms and hit the stair. My legs felt like Jell-O and they buckled trying to support my weight.