Storm Warning

CHAPTER Twelve





Her luck had run out.

Tory stared at the brick wall and fought panic. She’d hit a dead end and she could hear them coming on foot. She couldn’t scale a wall, and she couldn’t walk through one either. She felt like a terrified rabbit trapped in a steel cage.

“See all that time you wasted running?” Vance grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him. “Go get the van,” he said to his brother.

“You can’t do this,” she said. “You’ll go to jail, both of you will.”

“Now, now. You’re just going to be a little too busy to chase this storm. It’s looking like a giant. As soon as it’s over, we’ll come back for you.”

He opened the rear door and pushed her inside, shutting them both in.

“Why do I need to be out of the way?”

Vance took a pair of handcuffs out of a bag on the floor and fixed one side around her wrist. She squirmed, but her effort was in vain.

“Because the Pirate’s have been a little too popular this season. First that hotshot joins your team. I bet he’s paid out the ass for it, too. Then you selflessly risk your precious life to save an old man, then you buy him a tornado shelter. Soon after that headline, you’re giving a speech at a national convention.”

Vance shook his head. “I think your team can afford to miss the storm of the season, don’t you?”

Tory stared at him mutely. “You’re jealous?”

“Like hell.”

“You’re jealous of all the publicity we’ve gotten. That’s incredible.”

Charlie steered the van out of town. Tory watched the world get darker as the city lights faded in the distance. She didn’t know where they were taking her, or if Gabe was all right. She’d think of something. She had too.

If only she’d stayed in the hotel room. She could have finished packing their things, helped load them. Then the whole team could have gone out and looked for Gabe. The odds would have been better and Adam had already proved he could best Vance.

Were they looking for them by now? It was almost eight o’clock—minutes from their scheduled meeting time. Surely they were wondering why none of her and Gabe’s things were loaded.

The van slowed and Charlie pulled it over to the shoulder. Tory could see nothing but flat, rolling planes. When Vance dragged her out of the van, she felt the wind bite against her bare skin. She hadn’t even thought to put a jacket on over her t-shirt. Something was off, though. The storm system was supposed to be moving straight east, but the wind had shifted. She could feel it. The little hairs on her arms prickled as she stared at a perfectly formed wall cloud.

Vance led her to a fence and fastened the other side of the handcuff to it. She kicked out, screamed, and cursed him—but found herself locked to the pole anyway.

“You guys can’t do this. Look at the angles in those clouds. This storm is going to shift.”

“Now, honey. Leave this to the experts, all right. That storm is heading east. You’re going to see it just fine from here. We’ll see how your precious team functions without its captain.”

“Vance. Don’t go, please! What if it comes? I can’t just be stuck here.” Tory shook uncontrollably. The cold blooded glaze in his eyes told her he wouldn’t budge. He was really going to leave her here, handcuffed to a fence.

“Enjoy the show.” He jumped into the van with Charlie trailing behind him. She covered her eyes with her upper arm as the van skidded away, throwing dirt and rocks on her.

When the dust settled, Tory sat down on her butt and pulled at the cuffs. The cold metal dug into her skin. She couldn’t shake them off or break them apart.

Like a bad dream, Tory felt the hairs on her arms prickling again. The wind was shifting. She could feel it. She watched the leaves move on a nearby tree—north-east. The storm was coming. And it was coming right for her.





“Where the hell is she?” Adam asked more to himself. He slammed the backdoor of the SUV and walked around front to grab his cell phone. “I’ve got reception now.”

“She’s never late,” Gabe commented, scanning the parking lot for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past half hour. Lightning flashed, lighting up the black sky. A tornado watch had already been issued, but so far there were no tornados on the radar. And Tory was still missing.

“I know.” Adam dialed her number.

“Look,” Gabe jerked his head to the road. The Viking’s van had left some time ago, and was now rolling back in to town. Vance Johnson looked out the passenger window—his gaze locking with Gabe’s—and he knew. Gabe could see it in his eyes.

“Vance,” Adam hissed.

“Let’s go.” Gabe jumped in the driver’s seat of the SUV. Adam climbed in the passenger side and buckled up.

Frankie knocked on the window with Billy at his side and Gabe rolled it down. “Storm’s shifting,” he told them. His usually quiet eyes were bright with nerves. “She wouldn’t have missed this.”

They’d sat the equipment up in the parking lot, unwilling to leave without Tory. Billy glanced up at the sky, then into the truck. “Keep your radio on. It has a fifteen mile radius. Call us as soon as you find her.”

“We will. Thanks.”

“We can head the way they came in.” Adam pointed west and Gabe pulled the truck out onto the highway. “I wish she’d answer her damn phone.”

“You think they took her somewhere?” Gabe struggled for calm as he pressed the accelerator further.

“What else? Tory would never have disappeared like this ten minutes before we head out. This is a big storm.” Adam dialed her number again.

Minutes down the road, the color around them changed from grey to green. Adam turned up the radio and listened to the computerized voice of the emergency broadcast system warning Tulsa County to take cover.

“Sweet Mother of God,” Gabe said, his heart jerking in his chest.

“What? Where is it?” Adam jerked his head around and judging by his own vicious curse, Gabe assumed he saw it, too.

The sky was rotating.





Tears wouldn’t help her now. She knew that much. But they kept flowing. The wind was picking up. She felt it coming in the painful thumps of her heart beating in her chest. She kept her eyes on the clouds. When she saw the rotation, she bit her bottom lip.

She heard the faint sound of bells. Was it bells? she wondered, unconcerned. She had been hearing it for some time now. She shifted her body slightly to ward off an ache in her leg and the bells grew louder.

Her phone!

On a gasp she jumped up and crouched back down. She twisted her hip so that she could dig her phone out. She hadn’t even thought of her cell phone.

“Hello, hello?”

“Tory!”

“Adam! Oh my God, it’s coming. It’s coming for me like I knew it would.” She blurted the words out in a panic.

“Tory, it’s all right. It’s not coming for you. Tell me where you are.”

His voice sounded so calm, in control. There was so much she wanted to say and no time. The sky was dipping, the ground rising up to meet it. Tory swallowed a lump of fear.

“The storms progressed a hell of a lot faster than anyone thought it would. I know because I can see the twister forming.” Her voice quivered, she cleared her throat. “It’s going to be a big one. F-4 at the least.”

“Tory, where are you at?” Adam spaced his words apart trying desperately to break through her calmed-panic. She knew it, but if she gave in, she would break.

“I don’t know. Somewhere outside of town. They put me in the back of their stupid van. All I know is that they turned left out of the ally I was in, right about twenty minutes later, curves—like the overpasses—then right again soon after. That’s all I know.”

“Okay, that’s good. We’re coming, Tory.”

“Adam, I want you to know how glad I am that I’ve had you. I never told you, but you saved my life by coming into it. I was so lost. I needed you and you were there and I didn’t even know you.” She swallowed as tears clogged her throat. “I love you.”

“Tory, I love you too. But you’re not going to die. Gabe and I are two minutes away. Can you see our dust? Look for us and tell me if you see us coming.”

Tory glanced around and saw nothing but the swift forming of a funnel and long stretches of grass and trees. It was so calm, she thought, feeling calmer herself. “I don’t see you. Do you see the funnel forming? It’s beautiful. Look how big it is, Adam.”

“I see it, Tory.”

“It’s coming for me like it did Mom and Dad. It’s my turn.”

“Damn it, Tory. No, it’s not. You’re going to be fine. We’re coming.”

She sucked in a breath and watched as the massive funnel started picking up bulk. It was moving slowly, so that was to their advantage. Her heart lifted when she saw a sign that she wasn’t alone.

“Adam, I see the dust from your truck. I see you! You found me.”

“Okay, what direction are we in from you?” Adam asked quickly.

Soon, Tory could see the truck. She dropped the phone in excitement and couldn’t reach it again. She fell back down on her bottom onto the ground and waited as Adam and Gabe jumped out of the SUV and ran to her.

Gabe reached her first and grabbed a hold of her. He pulled her body against his and all she could think was finally. “Are you hurt?” he asked.

“No, no.” Tory trembled in his arms. Relief flowed through her veins, if only temporary. She looked behind Gabe at the spinning force headed straight for them.

“We need to hurry.” Adam said, then ran back to the truck.

“Tory,” Gabe said and brought her back to him. “God, I was so worried.”

“Me too.” She squeezed him and held on. “It’s coming right toward us,” she whispered in a raw, aching voice.

“It’s okay, baby. We’ll get out of here.” Gabe turned slightly, still holding her and studied the hand cuffs. “These should be easy enough to break.” He glanced up when Adam reached them with a pair of pliers. He pried a link in the small chain apart and she was free.

Before Tory could speak, Gabe swept her up in his arms and they bolted for the truck. Gabe laid Tory down in the back seat and climbed in beside her. Instantly, his arms came around her and he pulled her to him again.

Adam revved the engine and gunned it. He took the first left and then another left and pulled over when they were out of the path of the storm.

He grabbed the microphone. “Billy, we got her. She’s safe.” He spouted out their approximate location and gave his guess on the size and speed of the twister.

“Thank God,” Billy replied over the radio and read off data.

In the back seat, Gabe’s eyes were locked on Tory’s face. His wide palm lay on her cheek as he ran his thumb up and down her skin.

“Are you okay?” he asked again, softly.

She nodded. “Just hold me, please.”

Gabe obliged her and pulled her back into his arms. She shuddered hard and then the sobs came. She took short, fast, desperate gulps of air as the worst of the tremors subsided.

“S-sorry.”

“You have no reason to apologize,” Adam said from the front seat.

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have gone out on my own. But they were just there and I couldn’t get away.”

“Yeah, well we’ll deal with those shit-heads soon enough. Right now, I’m going to get some pictures of this tornado.” Adam stepped out of the truck.

“He’s angry,” Tory murmured.

“Not at you.”

“I thought they’d hurt you. They told me they did. But you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

She nodded. She should have known the bastards had lied. “It’s almost over. It’s losing intensity.”

“Yeah.”

She closed her eyes. “Gabe, I’m sorry for the things I said to you before—”

“Don’t do this now,” he said in a gruff voice. “We came this close,” he held up his fingers in an open pinch to demonstrate, “to losing you.”

“Give yourself more credit than that. It was more like this close.” She held up her fingers with a wider gap.

“Shut up,” he suggested without heat. “You drive me crazy.” But he linked her fingers with his.

They watched, quietly holding each other as the clouds consumed the darkness and debris fell everywhere around where the tornado had vanished.