Storm Warning

CHAPTER Three





Tory woke up to the mouth-watering aroma of something home-cooked. Her mama’s waffles, she thought and smiled in her sleep. She would put strawberries and whipped cream on them and they would fill her stomach for hours.

Tory rolled over on her back and stretched. Yes, she must be eight years old again. She was in a big, comfortable bed. She could stretch as far as she wanted and her feet wouldn’t touch the foot of the bed.

With a heavy, satisfied sigh, she forced her eyes open. The dream-like illusion vanished like smoke. She sat up and rubbed her eyes to clear them.

She was in a hotel room—a fancy hotel room with white walls, violet carpet, and big mirrors with beautiful wooden frames throughout the room.

She had on a t-shirt only, she realized. How did she get into that? And where were her clothes? She remembered how she had drunk excessively the night before. Then Vance.

Oh, God! Vance. She moaned as the pounding behind her eyes intruded. She rested her throbbing head in her hands and took a deep breath. Serves you right, Tory.

When she could see through the fog again, she slipped out of bed and spotted a tray with a silver dome cover in the middle of the dining table. She inched her way to it and lifted the lid.

Waffles. Her stomach growled. Beside the stack of crisp golden waffles was a bottle of aspirin. Adam? She looked down at the t-shirt that reached her mid-thigh and her eyes widened. The blessed fog that had been covering her brain finally cleared. And that left ugly, humiliating reality. It was Gabe’s shirt.

Ignoring the waffles, she crossed the room, yanked open the oak hutch and found her clothes neatly hung in a clear, plastic garment bag. She ripped it off and stuck them to her nose. To her annoyance and relief, they smelt fresh and laundered.

She walked into a bathroom—that was bigger than her bedroom growing up—and wished she could fill the gigantic tub to the rim and soak. Instead, she splashed water on her face, combed her fingers through her hair, and changed back into her own clothing.

Studying her reflection in the mirror, she thought she could have looked worse, considering. Deciding that was the best she could do and not really giving a damn anyway, she flicked off the lights.

She grabbed the aspirin and the t-shirt she’d woke up in and strode out of the room.

“What room is he in?” she asked Billy who was talking to Joel in the hallway. She raised a brow at Billy’s wide grin.

“Two-twenty. Good morning princess.”

Ignoring him, she marched up to two-twenty and knocked on the door fervently. She folded her arms and waited for Gabe to answer and when he did, any words or accusations she could have thrown at him escaped her.

Probably due to the excessive amount of alcohol in her system the night before or the fact she’d been fuming the majority of the evening, she hadn’t realized how handsome he really was.

He leaned against the door jam and watched her study him, apparently amused by her bafflement. He was tall, even taller than Adam. His skin was bronzed with lean muscles. She knew this because he wore no shirt—because she had his shirt.

She brought her eyes to his face. His dark hair was cut short but it had a rich thickness to it giving him a rakish quality that she should have found annoying. His smoky grey eyes were looking into hers mockingly.

“Like what you see?” He crossed his arms, moving muscle over muscle.

“I believe these are yours.” She cleared her throat and shoved the shirt and aspirin in his arms.

He took them and grabbed her arm before she could walk away. Dropping the shirt and aspirin into the room, he took her chin in his fingers and turned her face, examining her bruised cheek.

“Looks a little better. Do you bruise easily?” The tips of his fingers moved slowly over her jaw line, sending little jolt of pleasure to her stomach.

“Yes,” she answered, stunned into immobility.

“Does it hurt?” The sudden tenderness in his voice jolted her out of her trance. She didn’t want to feel warmed by his touch or soothed by his compassion. She didn’t like him.

“It’s fine.” She plucked her chin out of his hand. His mouth twitched to what would have been a smile, but his eyes remained focused on hers.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, then walked back into the room to rummage through his suitcases.

“Well enough,” she answered from the door. The room wasn’t small, but it seemed tiny with him in it. She wished he would put a shirt on. Now. “Trucks are leaving at nine.” Her brows snapped together when he chuckled. “What’s funny?”

“Did you know it’s almost eleven, Tory?”

“No way. I never sleep that late.” She ran into the room and snatched up his alarm clock. “Damn.”

“You slept like a rock last night.” He finally slipped on a shirt. “But you needed it. Adam told Billy we’d push back the clock a few hours. Everyone agreed a little time wouldn’t hurt.”

“Look,” she said, straining for patience. Did he actually believe they were pals? “I understand we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. You may be under the impression that I like you. But I don’t.”

He smirked and that just grated her more. “I know exactly what you feel for me.” His gaze swept down the length of her body. “I felt it last night while we danced.”

Her cheeks heated and she clenched her fists behind her back.

“Listen,” she said between her teeth. “I feel nothing more than resentment and annoyance for you. You better remember that while you’re on your little vacation. You may also want to remember that I’m in charge and you will stay out of my way.”

“What’s really eating at you, Tory?” He closed the space between them.

“You are. This is my chase.”

“What are you chasing exactly?” He skimmed his finger down her bruised cheek.

She stiffened because she refused to shrink away. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. She pinned him with a glare, willing looks to kill.

“Storms, Mr. Wills. Surely you knew that before you weaseled your way on to my team.”

He flattened his hand on her face and brought his other hand to her back. He pulled her up against him and brought his face mere inches form hers. She held her breath.

“You’ll get a storm, Tory. You’ll get one hell of a storm before this is over.” He whispered it close, his breath sending chills throughout her entire body. “Why are you shaking?”

“I’m not.”

For the first time, Tory noticed their surroundings. Apart from the open door, the room was lowly lit, casting shadows throughout the room. It smelt purely of male. The sheets he’d slept in were disheveled and she just knew they carried his scent. Some may have found it all romantic. Tory found it infuriating.

Grey eyes seared into hers and she knew. She would get one hell of a storm. She shook her head to clear it and stepped back out of his range. “Trucks leave in twenty minutes, Mr.—”

“Gabe.”

“Twenty minutes. Be ready or you’ll be sticking out your thumb.” With that, she swept out of the room.





Twenty-two minutes later, Gabe sauntered out to the trucks. Tory was already fuming from the scene in his hotel room. Now the man had the nerve to be purposely late just to spite her.

She glanced around at her crew and each and every smile vanished from their faces—except Adam’s. Gabe strolled up to Tory and took the bag she was holding. He hefted it easily into the back of an SUV.

“Nice of you to show up,” she commented and jumped into the passenger seat.

When she realized Gabe had climbed in the backseat, she tensed and then deliberately turned to stare out the window. Adam climbed in and gunned the engine. “Here we go. Storm’s developing in North West Kansas. Doesn’t look like much, but it’s early yet and everywhere else is clear.”

“You’re a prick, Adam.”

“Love you too, sis.”

“I think you’re a pretty good guy,” Gabe commented

“No one asked you,” she growled.

They drove most of the three hour drive in silence. Gabe would occasionally snap a photo on his smaller digital camera and Adam would use the two way radio to communicate with the other two trucks.

“Kary probably misses her husband,” Adam said after hanging up the microphone.

“Probably so,” was Tory’s clipped response.

“She could bring him with us next season.”

Tory snorted. “You know how I feel about excess baggage.”

“Kary would keep him out of the way.”

“So, tell me about the team,” Gabe said as they crossed the Kansas state line. Since Tory remained silent, Adam shrugged.

“Well, you know Billy. He and his wife live here is Kansas. We stay there whenever there’s a storm down that way. He started the team with Tory and I. Joel and Jack are bachelors.” He turned the truck down a narrow road. “We met them at a convention one year and they’ve tagged along ever since. This is Kary’s second year with us. She’s a great scientist. Frankie is my cousin. He’s been hanging around a few years. What is this, Tor? His fourth year?”

“Something like that.”

“Yeah, fourth year. He kinda does his own thing,” Adam continued. “My Aunt Martha is his Mama. Ah, that’s about it. You know me. You know Tory.”

“You guys work great together.”

“Enough about us, though. I want to know all about the lifestyles of the rich and famous,” Adam drawled.

Gabe snorted. “I’ve lived in L.A. all my life. Snapped the picture that made me famous by accident. Got noticed. That’s about it.”

“Awe, come on. How do you spend all that money?”

Tory glared at her brother, but he paid her no mind. She didn’t like him being chummy with the enemy. She didn’t want to know all these things about Gabe. It made him more human.

“I’ve got a penthouse in L.A. and a cabin in Colorado. Otherwise, I do things like invest in crazy storm chasing teams so I can tag along and get spectacular pictures.”

Adam laughed.

Tory closed her eyes. Some people had it so easy, she mused. She remembered all too clearly the days after she’d turned sixteen. She’d waited tables every day—saving every penny she could—so that one day, she could fly.

Then she remembered being eighteen years old and meeting her brother for the first time. She had been standing in the café after working a double shift on a Saturday and he walked in.

“Are you Tory Fairchild?” he had asked. “I’m Adam. We have the same father. He doesn’t know about me.”

They had stuck together ever since. Even after she’d told him their father had died ten years prior, he’d stayed. She’d pulled out the eight thousand dollars she had saved and he’d had some money to spare. Sam and Lou’s Café sponsored their first year of storm chasing.

They’d met Billy Small during a weather seminar in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the three of them set out—Billy for his research, Adam for the adventure, and Tory for atonement.

Tears welled up in her eyes. At eight years old, she knew what it was like to have her home and heart ripped away when it was right within her reach.

For years, she was so angry with herself for not holding on tight enough. Even when she’d grown up and realized there was physically nothing she could have done to save her family, she was still angry. Maybe even more so.

“—for anything in the world, huh Tory?” Adam nudged her and brought her out of her trance.

“Hm? What?”

“Are you okay? You look a little pale.” He brought his hand to her forehead. The brotherly gesture amused her more than it annoyed her.

“I’m fine, just hung over.” She straightened in the seat.

“It’s only about a half hour ‘til we reach the hotel. Gabe scored big. This one’s got an indoor pool and fitness center. Seeing as how we’ll be there for a week, I think I’m going to be gaining a new pair of biceps.”

Tory frowned. It wasn’t possible to be happy about a warm, cozy bed versus the hard interior of an SUV—not when she wasn’t the one supplying it. In fact, it irked her so much that she decided she would be just as comfortable in the truck for the next week.

“This storm is going to be good. It didn’t look like much this morning, but look—you can already see some of the clouds.”

“What’s it like seeing a tornado?” Gabe asked as they rolled into town.

“Man, you mean you’ve never seen one? At all?” Adam asked, baffled.

“Nope. Don’t get many in L.A.”

“It’s like nothing else. First, it gets dead silent. Creepy as hell. Then the sky just like—falls down and circles. Half the time, it looks like the ground rises up to meet it and it just goes. It’s insane. A thrill.”

“How about you, Tory? Got any scientific explanations?”

She shrugged and focused her gaze out the window, where it had been the entire trip. She was still angry with him, and she wouldn’t forget it. He made her feel something besides the hatred she had sworn herself too. And he enjoyed every minute of it.

“Tory hates tornadoes.”

“That’s enough, Adam,” she said calmly enough.

“Well, it’s true.”

“You hate them and you chase them?” Gabe asked.

She hated the hint of curiosity in his tone. It was none of his damn business. She worked to keep her tone flat and unemotional. “I don’t hate them.”

“Well, you certainly don’t—”

“God damn it, Adam! I said that’s enough!”

Adam put the car in Park in front of the hotel, met her glare spark for spark, and held it there. Even though her mind knew her brother meant no harm, her heart shuddered with pain. Years, she thought—aching—and the pain still destroyed her. She cursed the tears and fought them back. She already looked like a fool. Crying would only make it worse.

“What’s with you, Tory?”

“Just leave me alone,” she said quietly, her voice radiating the pain. She jumped out of the truck and stomped off, not giving a damn where she was going.





Gabe stayed in his seat, rooted, and watched Tory walk—more like stagger—away. He’d heard about her temper, but didn’t picture it being so intense. Her brother had struck a nerve, and he’d struck it hard. Her voice had been fierce and angry, but her eyes—

Adam sucked in a long breath. “By the way, you may as well get one less room. She won’t stay in one.”

“Then where’s she going to sleep?”

Adam pointed at the passenger seat and stepped out of the truck. Gabe ground his teeth together. She had a knack for pissing him off and he wasn’t sure if he liked it. He took his seatbelt off and left the truck.

“You can’t be serious.” But Gabe knew he was being completely serious.

“She would have slept in there last night except she was passed out.” He laughed a little. “Tory’s the most stubborn, hard-headed person I have ever met. And God, I love her for it, but she needs something.”

A good spanking. “What do you mean?”

Adam gestured to a bench beside the main doors of the hotel. They watched the other two SUV’s pull in and park down by where they had.

“When Tory was little, she was sitting in her backyard, watching our father work in the yard. Her mother was in the kitchen.” Adam sighed. “I’m only telling you this so you’ll understand her. Better not tell her I said anything,” he said. “Tornado came. Our father ran off to get a picture and Tory’s mother was rushing her into the cellar. The twister snatched our father up. Then, her mother ran after him, and it took her too. Right in front of Tory.”

“Jesus Christ.” Gabe closed his eyes. What horror for a child to have to witness. “Why does she make a living around them then?”

“Now that’s something she’ll have to tell you. It’s way too personal for me to explain. Hell, I’m not even sure I understand it myself. Her parents dying, that’s just fact. Everyone knows it. Everything else—well, it’s a little harder to swallow.”

Gabe nodded and gave Adam a friendly pat on the back. Then he went in and paid for the hotel rooms, making sure Tory’s was right next to his.