Lucifer drops the knife and falls to the ground. In a flash I’m running.
Running toward Scotty. “Scotty!”
I land in his arms and my mouth finds his.
We kiss hard. Deep. A kiss of life.
Time suspends itself.
We’re in a warp. Everything around us ceases to exist.
We kiss.
We kiss.
We kiss.
“Scotty.”
“Scotty.”
“Scotty!”
He pulls away from me. Who’s calling him?
“Scotty.” From one of the guards. “We need to talk to the lady.”
Scotty’s lips are swollen and pink from our kiss. Our feral kiss that I wish were still going on.
“Come with me.” I tug on his hand.
He simply nods.
A minute later, we’re sitting with Roy Wolfe himself and—
“Buck!” I launch myself at my brother.
“God, sis. Thank God.” He kisses the top of my head.
“When did you get here?”
“When Lucifer did. I’ve been watching him since you left. Somehow I lost him for a span of fifteen minutes, and the next thing I knew, he was on a plane. Once he was on his way, so was I.”
“Were you the sniper?” Scotty asks.
“Who the hell are you? And why were you kissing my sister?”
“Sorry,” I say. “Buck, this is Scotty. Scotty, my brother.”
Buck holds out his hand.
Scotty takes it. “Thanks, man. You saved the day.”
“All in a day’s work.”
“Buck’s an ex-Navy SEAL,” I say.
“Emily, Scotty,” Roy Wolfe says, “I’m so sorry for all of this. We’ll be taking a good long look at our security systems.”
“It’s not your system,” Buck says. “It’s top-notch. I should know, since I advised you on it. Lucifer Raven has gotten through top-notch security before. I’m just sorry I couldn’t stop him from getting here. I’m sorry, Emily. I thought you’d be safe here.”
I shake my head. “I know you did. This isn’t your fault. I’m not safe anywhere as long as Lucifer is free.”
“He’s won’t be free now,” Buck says. “These are charges that will finally stick. We’ve got a ton of witnesses.”
Roy’s phone buzzes. “Excuse me.” He puts it to his ear. “Yes?”
Pause.
“Thank you. I’ll let everyone know.”
“Mr. Ashton’s injury is not life-threatening. He’ll be transferred on a medical yacht to Hawaii where he’ll be hospitalized and under constant guard. I assume you’ll be filing charges, Ms. Moreno.”
I nod, shivering. “Yes. Of course.”
“We’ll be doing a full investigation on how he got onto the island,” Roy says.
“I can tell you right now how he got here,” Buck says. “Money. He paid off a few of your people.”
“Find them,” Roy says, “and take care of them.”
“Consider it done.”
“People need to feel safe here,” Roy says. “This can’t ever happen again.”
“Mr. Wolfe?” I say.
“Roy, please.”
“Roy.” I clear my throat. “He was determined to get to me. I should never have come here. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Buck talked to me beforehand about your situation. I’m sorry we failed to protect you.”
“You did protect me,” I say. “All he had was a knife. His weapon of choice is a handgun, which clearly he couldn’t bring here.”
“I’m still very sorry, Ms. Moreno.”
I smile. “Emily, please.”
“Emily. What can Charlie and I do to make this up to you?”
“Nothing. You don’t owe me anything.”
“I’ve taken a look at your work. You’re a very talented artist, especially with color mixing. Would you be interested in teaching here at the colony?”
My jaw drops. “You mean, live here?”
“Yes. You’ll live over in the staff huts.”
“With Scotty?”
Roy chuckles. “Well, not with Scotty. But in the same area.”
I want to pounce on this offer, but—
“I’m not sure.”
“Em,” Buck says, “this is a great offer. You’ll be able to paint to your heart’s content. Work on your craft while you help others with theirs.”
“It is a dream come true,” I say.
I’ll be free. Finally free from Lucifer’s invisible bonds.
But Scotty…
I’m pretty sure he mouthed the words “I love you too” when I mouthed “I love you,” but we were in a life-or-death situation.
I don’t want him to feel trapped.
And he was here first.
“May I think about it?”
“Of course.” Roy rises. “I’ll leave Jimmy here to get your official statement. Come talk to me when you decide.”
One official statement later, Scotty and I are walking hand in hand back to my hut. I’m shivering.
“I can’t stay here any longer. All I see in here is him, sitting on my bed, as if he owns the place.”
“Baby, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you would have run away screaming.”
“No. I wouldn’t have. I already knew you had some kind of baggage. That you were running away. If you’d come to my place last night instead of here—”
“He’d have found me anyway, and he wouldn’t have thought twice of hurting you to get to me. Nothing stops him.”
“Except your brother’s bullet.”
“Lucifer—”
“I knew I recognized him from somewhere,” Scotty says. “He’s Lucifer Ashton. From the Ashtons of LA. Is it true? The rumors?”
“That he’s an underground drug kingpin? Yeah, they’re all true.”
“Emily”—he caresses my cheek—“my God. How did you…”
“He lavished me with gifts. With a life a starving artist could only dream about. I was seduced by the lifestyle, and gradually, I…” I shake my head. How can I admit what happened? What I allowed to happen?
“Damn, Em. Thank God you’re okay.”
“He trapped me. Wouldn’t let me go anywhere without him, until the day I escaped. Buck sent me here. Then…”
“It’s my fault.” Scotty rubs his forehead, messes with his hair. “I should have walked you back this morning. None of this would have happened.”
“Oh, Scotty.” I entwine my fingers through his. “This isn’t your fault at all. It’s my fault. I stopped watching my back. I shouldn’t have, but I did. Carpe diem, as you say.”
“I wouldn’t have said it if I thought it could get you killed.”
“No. Don’t go there,” I say. “Last night with you was the most amazing night of my life. I’ll never regret it.”
He smiles. “Then stay here, Em. On the island. With me. And I promise we’ll have many more nights even better than last night.”
“You mean it? You want me to stay here? I may need some…counseling. To get over what I’ve been through and all.”
“There just happens to be a top-notch retreat center on the other side of the cliff with the best therapists in the world.”
“You want me?” I ask. “Baggage and all?”
Scotty smiles, kisses my lips. “Baby, I want it all. And you’ve made me think about a lot of things.”
“Like what?”
“Like maybe going back to school. I could take online courses and still work here. Maybe become a counselor myself.”
“You did major in psychology. That’s a wonderful idea.” I brush his hair off his forehead and return his smile. “I thought of a name for your cocktail.”
“You mean our cocktail”—he trails a finger over my lower lip—“my love?”
“Yeah. We’ll call it the Island Escape.”
Thank you for reading Escape! Read about the history of Wolfe Island here. https://www.helenhardt.com/book/?series=wolfes-of-manhattan