Red Leather (Book 2)

Chapter 34

I couldn't afford that.

Eli worked it out quicker than I did, and stepped on the pedal so hard we knocked over a wooden sign. Pedestrians jumped out of the way as we screeched into the street, gathering angry shouts and foreign curses. If I had been behind the wheel, the majority of them would have died. I would have driven over their dead bodies, over and over until their blood painted the pavements.

It would be a festival of a different kind. The Festival of Death.

We had to find him, and we had to find him quickly. While the language barrier would buy us time, Nathan could still run into an English-speaking person and ask for help. He would tell them that he had been kidnapped, smuggled out of his own country and forced into a life he didn't want. For all I knew, the Brazil police force already knew of a kidnapped twenty-one year old from America with strange-coloured hair and a height of over six feet.

Which meant that this was very, very dangerous.

"There he is," Eli muttered, slowing the car to a crawl as we became caught in traffic. As well as cars, tricycles and motorbikes littered the freeway as we drove past the first exit, our eyes straining against the setting sun.

I looked around frantically, gripping the edge of my seat. "Where?" All I could spot were trees and concrete walls and-

There.

I couldn't cover the smile that lit up my face as I watched Nathan limp his way forward, walking as fast as he could without putting more strain on his leg. We were both injured, now. And yet that wasn't enough for me. Eli stayed surrounded by vehicles and made no attempt to speed up, and sweat ran down my face and into my eyes, making them sting. His daring little escape had cost me my beauty, and I was going to take revenge. I would make him suffer. Even if it took a hundred smashed guitars.

A movement. Something jerked Nathan away from his destination and made him turn around. His face suddenly transformed into a look of pure relief. To my absolute horror, a woman had pulled over her car and decided to speak to him, her skin too pale and her hair too light to suggest that she was a native.

My stomach dropped. No.

Without warning, Eli stomped on the brakes and thrust the door open, sauntering his way to the scene. I almost followed after him, but held myself back. Eli had a plan, and it obviously didn't involve me. I bit my lip and watched him work his magic.

Did the woman notice how Nathan's eyes widened in horror when Eli placed a brotherly thump on his back? Did she notice the growing look of alarm on his face as Eli chatted easily and calmly, his hand still clamped tight over Nate's shoulder, smiling that charming smile of his? And did she notice the plea of help on Nathan's lips, just before it was cut off by Eli's laugh?

For a moment I feared that she did. But when Eli begun to lead Nathan back to the car, the woman had already turned her back and walked away.

Nathan took one look at me, and sniggered to hide his devastation. "Beauty queen of only eighteen, huh?"

The remote was already in my hand, and I silenced his smartass remarks all the way home with electric shocks strong enough to stun a baby elephant.

***

Aurora's henchmen waited for us beyond the gates, their faces stoic and blank as Eli turned off the ignition. The doors were opened sooner than I could blink, and an unconscious Nathan was pulled out of the car and dragged into the house. Faintly, I could hear the household noises of the residences upstairs, amongst the beach houses, oblivious as to what and who lived beneath them.