Falling Star (Combustible Book 2)
Falling Star
Combustible 2
Brandy L Rivers
Copyright 2016 Brandy L Rivers
http://brandylrivers.com
Cover Design by Brandy L Rivers
Edited by Kathy Lapeyre
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Also by Brandy L Rivers
Others of Edenton
New Beginnings
In Too Deep
Shadows Fall
Shadows of the Past
Falling Into Place
Fated Love
Breaking Free
Mending Scars
Labor of Love
Light in Darkness
Blissful Agony
Deep Trouble
Entangled Darkness
Others of Seattle
Nights Embrace
Storm Mistress
Accepting Fate
Red Queen
Seductive Solutions
Changing Destiny
Coming Together
Storm Wrath (coming late 2016)
Pine Barrens Pack – written with Rebecca Brooke
Cursed Vengeance
Vengeance Unraveled (coming 2016)
Spin-Off of Nights Embrace
Summer Rhythm
Stand Alone Contemporary Romance
Heart on Fire
Falling Star
Sweet Tooth (coming 2017)
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
About Brandy L Rivers
Also by Brandy L Rivers
Acknowledgements
Dedication
To my readers, especially those of you
who begged for more contemporary,
thank you for wanting more.
Chapter 1
April…
No more Raven Star.
Time to put her to rest and let Ella Blair find her place.
Ella. The girl who craved her freedom, and being able to do what she wanted on a whim. As much as she loved seeing herself on the big screen, the constant barrage of photographers and reporters hounding her every step had smothered her passion for acting. She’d become a prisoner, hiding away to best avoid landing in the tabloids and gossip magazines.
She pressed the gas pedal harder, smiling to herself as she left behind the city lights.
Her phone rang, and she pressed talk. The music faded as she said, “Hey, Ryan. Aren’t you tired of me yet?”
Ryan King, her best friend in Hollywood, and her co-star in several movies, laughed warmly. “Come on, angel, I’ll never get tired of you. Besides, Shannon wants you to come stay with us at the ranch.”
“No, I don’t want to interrupt you two lovebirds. I’m disappearing. Maybe if I’m gone long enough, the paparazzi and my stalker will forget all about me.”
He huffed a breath. “Cops never found a lead, did they?”
She snorted. “I’m not even sure they’re looking. Apparently they can’t find evidence of breaking and entering, so it’s not a high priority. Bastard was in my house, leaving me things.” She sighed, and forced a smile, hoping it reached her voice. “Doesn’t matter. No one will find me where I’m going.”
“Don’t know about that, Rave, but good luck.”
“Have fun with Shannon. Maybe I’ll swing by there some other time.”
Clashing metal rang out as her head slammed against the window, pain spreading through her skull. The car was thrown to the side, glass flying from the passenger window. She raised her arm on instinct. The car flipped over and she banged her head against the glass again.
“Raven, what happened?” Ryan screamed, but his voice faded with the scene around her.
* * * *
Soft flickering light pulled her from sleep. Her head throbbed, the pain pounded through her.
Concussion? Did I hit my head?
She tried to move her numb hands, but they were trapped above her head while she lay flat on her back. Bound? In bed?
Ice flowed through her veins. She sucked in a breath and choked on the familiar scent of rose and lavender. The same candles her stalker had left. She choked down a terrified scream and tried to push the fear away.
Her heart thundered, making the ache in her head pulse as blood rushed, drowning out the silence. She couldn’t remember how she got there, but she was alone in a candlelit room. White walls and a bed with a white comforter matching what furniture she could see through clouded vision.
A creak from above caught her breath. Another followed. He was upstairs, walking around.
Ella closed her eyes, her breathing deep and out of rhythm. She counted her heartbeats, tuning out the fear, and focusing on something solid and steady. After a moment, her heart rate slowed, the fear ebbing to a manageable level.
In the Midnight Daughter franchise, she’d played a spy. The studio had hired a former Navy Seal to train her and Ryan. O’Neil taught her everything he knew about knots.
She followed the rope tethering her wrists to the headboard. Focusing on the task, she freed the knot securing her to the bed, but her wrists remained bound in the rope.
The world swayed and spun when she sat up. Tiny lights swirled throughout the room. The scent in the air made the rising nausea worse. Doing her best to ignore the fragrance, she concentrated on the rope cutting off the circulation to her hands.
She couldn’t reach the knots. A door slammed shut somewhere above her and she froze, straining to hear. The faint purr of a vehicle gave her hope.
Scooting to the edge of the bed, she held her arms out to the candle flame in hopes the rope would burn, praying her stalker was working alone.
A cry escaped her li
ps as the heat got to be too much, she pulled her arms away as the rope grew hotter, a small portion smoldering and burning against her left wrist. With tears in her eyes, she caught part of the rope in her teeth and pulled. The burning fibers started to break, loosening the rope one strand at a time.
The burn on her wrist hurt like nothing she’d ever felt, but she was determined to get free. When the rope on that hand finally pulled apart, she removed the binding on the other and flung the remnants on the floor as she curled on her side, holding her blistered wrist to her chest.
Her vision dimmed as the pain increased. She rolled onto her wrist, hoping pressure or something would ease the deep burn. Time passed until she remembered the situation.
“You don’t have time to cry,” she whispered to herself. “Got to get out.”
Pushing the pain out of her mind, as much as possible, she sat up and ran a shaky hand down the cotton dress. A whimper escaped as she glanced at the white material. Not her clothes. At least, she was dressed. She refused to think about what had happened while she’d been unconscious but would deal with that once she was away from this place.
Tiptoeing to the door, she reached for the handle. Damn. Locked from the other side. She didn’t have the strength to bust down a door, let alone one that appeared steel-reinforced.
A quick assessment around the room gave her little hope. Maybe a basement or some kind of cellar. No windows. The vent was too small to attempt. Small room, filled mostly with a bed, a table, and a dresser. Not even a closet. Lit candles scattered around on the table and dresser.
Ella’s panic abated as she concentrated on finding a way out. Starting at the dresser seemed the first logical place for an item that might help. No clothes, no shoes, nothing. Not even dust.
She froze when she heard a vehicle pull onto a gravel driveway, the same steady purr of an engine. Then it shut off. With no way out but the door, she silently crept to the side with hinges and waited.
A door slammed upstairs. Floorboards creaked. Her heart thumped to the rhythm of footfalls down the stairs. It was now or never.
When the door to her room creaked open and someone stepped inside, Ella slammed the door into the big man, knocking him into the dresser. Candles fell, rolling onto the bed as he spun her, pulling her against his muscular body.
“You’re not leaving. This is my chance,” he snarled, staring into her eyes as he rolled on top of her. She froze as steel gray orbs bored into her. So familiar, just on the edge of memory.
“No chance, asshole. Get off me!” she screamed back.
He gripped her shoulders and lifted her up before slamming her back down. Her head hit the cement floor and her vision darkened.
“You’re going to love me, Ella.”
Her eyes widened. No one but her brother and Mila had called her Ella since she left Seattle. Sweat beaded on her brow. Smoke from the burning bed filled the room.
“You’re hurting me!” she cried.
“Didn’t want to. You were supposed to come away with me.” He pulled her wrists above her head and gripped them in one hand, then reached for something with the other, shifting his weight.
She kneed him in the balls. His reaction was instant as he curled up and rolled into the dresser, knocking more candles over, onto the bed.
Scrambling to her feet, she ran out the door, and up the stairs at the end of the hall. Adrenaline pumped through her, pushing her faster.
Halfway up, he caught her ankle and she went down, slamming her nose and cheek into the cement stairs. Stars danced in her vision as she kicked at his hand and face. He dragged her down, her head thumping on another step as she slammed her foot into his cheek, knocking his head into the wall with a thud. His grip fell away and she dashed the rest of the way up the stairs, reaching the door.
Locked again, but she flipped the bolt and raced into sunlight that nearly blinded her. Smoke and heat pushed at her as she stumbled in the grass. His agony-filled scream set her into motion again. She ran as fast as her shaky legs could carry her, through the dense brush.
She made it past the trees and tripped across the ditch as the daylight faded around her.
* * * *
Flashing lights and deafening sirens jolted Ella awake. Two people rolled her onto a stretcher and she tried to jerk away.
“Calm down,” a woman murmured. “You’ve been through an ordeal, but we’re here to help. I need you to relax and take a nice deep breath for me.”
She recognized the paramedic uniforms. Both the woman and her male partner watched, seeming to study her, waiting for a reaction. Flashing red lights from the fire trucks sparked fragments of memory. That voice in her ear, a man behind her, his hands on her skin.
Ella flinched away, tears in her eyes, her voice a shaky fraction of her normal volume. “A man. He took me there. I got away.” She only stopped speaking when the coughing fit started.
The woman nodded. “Looks like he had you bound. You hit your head hard, broke your nose too. And your arm is burned. Police are on standby waiting for your statement and their investigation of the property, but the firemen are working to put the fire out first.”
Fear wound tight. She struggled to get air into her lungs. Before her next breath, a paramedic had an oxygen mask set up.
A police officer approached. “Ma’am, if you’re able, I’d like you to tell me what happened.”
She wasn’t sure about the details. Nearly all of the events since the car crash remained foggy in her memory. She blinked back tears and looked up at him. “I was driving. Going on vacation. Someone hit my car. I was tied to a bed when I woke up.” Her hands trembled as she stared at the burn from the rope and the heat on her wrists. The world started to tilt and she reached up to touch her throbbing skull. Her fingers came away sticky and red.
“Careful. We’re here to take care of you,” the female medic said.
Ella met the policeman’s gaze. “You need to find him. He’s been stalking me for years. Leaving gifts in my house. And then he took me.”
“We’ll find him,” he promised.
Her heart raced, and her lungs wouldn’t fill with enough air. Everything and everyone around her went fuzzy as every ache and pain magnified.
Chapter 2
Bells rang and the dispatcher called out the address. Trent Ward’s heart lodged in his throat as all the worst possible scenarios played out in his head. He ran to the fire truck to yank on his gear.
Kyle gripped his shoulder. “What’s wrong? Did you see a ghost?”
Trent squeezed his eyes shut. “That’s my sister’s address.”
“Let’s not assume the worst. She may be fine.”
Nodding, he tried to salvage some hope that Tina had finally turned over a new leaf fled. “Blaze is with her. Ever since Randy died, she’s been sliding downhill, getting further and further into drugs and alcohol.”
“We won’t know until we get there,” Kyle told him. “Her boy is smart. He would get himself out.”
“Not if Tina is passed out. He’d try to save her.” Trent climbed onto the truck and dropped into a seat, hoping the rest of his team would hurry the fuck up.
In all of Trent’s years as a fireman, he’d never been so damned worried. Dave Metcalf looked over his shoulder at him as he turned the key in the ignition.
Kyle, Gavin, and Metcalf were already on board. As soon as Isandro climbed into the front passenger seat, Trent shouted, “Go!”
He hoped to God he’d find Tina and Blaze standing outside, safe and unharmed.
They raced down the street as Trent’s heartbeat thundered in his ears. When the truck turned a corner, they saw the flames jumping and smoke billowing in the blue sky from blocks away.
He gripped the handle so hard he thought it might snap off. As soon as the truck stopped, he was out and on his way to the door. A small crowd stood on the sidewalk, gawking, but neither Tina nor Blaze was in sight.
Chief Ramirez bellowed on the line, “Stop, Trent. Wait fo
r the team.”
“Fuck that,” Trent muttered. The door was locked. He took a step back and kicked the door in. Tina lay sprawled on the floor with Blaze pulling on his mother’s arm.
Blaze doubled over in a coughing fit.
Trent ran to them, scooped Tina over his shoulder and banded an arm around Blaze’s waist to carry him outside.
Kyle and Gavin made it to the porch by the time he stepped outside. Kyle took Tina. Trent carried Blaze to the yard and dropped to his knees to inspect his nephew.
Blaze threw his arms around Trent’s neck. “You saved Mommy! I tried, but I’m not strong enough.” He sobbed against Trent’s chest.
Trent pulled his helmet off and hugged Blaze tight. “Were you the one who called 911?”
Sniffling, the boy leaned back with a nod.
“Then you saved her.” He stood up and nodded to the paramedics working on Tina. “Let’s go see how she’s doing. Okay?”
“I’m scared. She wouldn’t wake up.”
Trent’s heart twisted tight. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for that little boy. “She’s in good hands.” He wished to God he knew how to help Tina pull herself out of the downward spiral.
Blaze led Trent toward the ambulance. Tina’s face was black and blue, not to mention bloodied. Trent looked down at Blaze. “What happened?”
“Mommy told me to hide and not come out until she told me to. It was loud with lots of yelling and banging.” He shook his head. “I smelled smoke and snuck out. She was on the floor, but I couldn’t wake her up.” His tone became more urgent with each word.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Blaze. We’ll figure this out, all right?”
Tears dripped from the boy’s face while he hugged Trent’s leg tight.
Trent turned to Marissa, one of the local police officers, Isandro’s sister. “Have any clue yet who did this?”
“Yeah, Wade Johnson. Neighbors say he came by. Apparently, he was trying to get money from Tina.” She shook her head. “She’d been doing so good, staying out of trouble.”