Chapter two — Attempted Kidnapping

"He calls himself a tornado wrangler."

Javi's words rang through Caroline's ears like a cowbell struck with a drumstick. Tornado wrangler? What did that even qualify? And why was Tyler Owens of all people—a man Caroline had known to be just another frat pledge with an addiction to beer pong and rodeo dancing—chasing storms in rural Oklahoma, capitalizing off of it on YouTube, and whipping around in a red pickup truck decked out with speakers and rocket launchers?

Then, as Tyler and his band of wrangling buddies unloaded and began to hand out Tyler Owens patented T-shirts, Caroline realized: She wasn't surprised at all. This was exactly who Tyler had always been, except now he had a following, which made him twenty times more dangerous.

"Tornado wrangler?" Kate repeated curiously, watching the crew of hillbillies with a curiosity Caroline wished she could share. "What does that even mean?"

Javi pursed his lips, arms crossing defensively over his chest. "Just means our world is going to shit."

Meanwhile, Scott and the rest of the Storm Par team were in pure stitches at the thought of Tyler being Caroline's ex-boyfriend, and they had absolutely no means to hide their feelings about it. "I mean, Barbie dating Tyler Owens. Who would've thought, man?"

"Definitely not me," Mike added, laughing.

Caroline clenched her jaw, furious that her past was finally back to bite her in the ass. She shook her head, then ripped her eyes away from Tyler with horrible difficulty.

"Can we focus?" she said, impatience tainting her tone. She gestured to the tablet in Kate's arms. "There's a nice-looking cell out in the east we could go after. But whatever y'all think, honestly—I'm not the storm expert here. Just anywhere where those damn tornado wranglers won't be is fine by me."

She stalked off, pulling the brim of her branded cap down over her eyes and keeping her head toward the ground as she entered the motel to check in. It was a nice place, better inside than out—though during storm season, Caroline knew it was a blessing straight from the Lord to find anywhere to stay the night. This one in particular happened to be one of the good ones.

Lucky for Caroline—she was pretty sure if she had to sleep in another flea-infested motel room on top of the fact that she was chasing the same storm as her college boyfriend, she would've blown a fuse.

"Javi Rivera shoulda had me checked in?" she told the lady behind the motel's front desk, palming the counter anxiously in an attempt to ground herself. Somewhere behind her the bell above the door jangled excitedly. "Caroline Sullivan. I'm on the Storm Par tab."

"Woah, now—she's one of the rich kids."

Another person slid up to the counter on her right side, a familiar voice accompanying it. Caroline clenched her jaw and extended a hand toward the older woman behind the counter for her room key, ignoring the figure beside her with every ounce of her being.

"Room 108," the woman said, after typing something into her ancient computer set. She handed off the old gold key.

"108, huh?" said the same voice from before, cocky enough for Caroline to hear the grin on his face. He turned his head to the desk woman. "There any chance '09 is open?"

"No," said Caroline sharply, without looking to the man beside her. She gave the woman behind the counter a smile. "You'll get this guy all set up in room 268 or somethin', won't ya?"

"A hundred and sixty rooms away from you?" Tyler Owens laughed, turning to Caroline with a shocked grin on his lips. "I mean, shoot, Line. I didn't realize there was any bad blood between us."

Caroline inhaled sharply and took her key, heading back out the front door and towards the rest of her team. She could feel Tyler behind her, trailing in her wake and waiting for her curiosity to get the better of her and turn around, but she wouldn't give in. She was in her mid twenties now, no longer a stupid nineteen-year-old kid ready to follow the pretty cowboy off a cliff if he asked her to.

"Gonna be real hard to get anything done if you're busy ignorin' me, darlin'," he called after her, letting the words echo in the trafficked parking lot. "How're you planning to chase storms like this?"

"I don't chase storms," she said over her shoulder, and that was that.

She met up with the rest of the Storm Par team, all packing up their equipment and getting ready to take off. Javi announced it was time for everyone to get their last bathroom break in, then turned over his shoulder and found Caroline marching back up to him with a major chip on her shoulder. He raised his eyebrows.

"Woah," he said, exhaling a laugh. "Don't tell me you're gonna let this old fling between you and Owens get between your work?"

"Nothing gets between me and my work," she said, walking past Javi and veering toward Kate. "Hey, Cooper!"

Kate turned at her voice, still holding that tablet and watching the sky. She dropped the stem of a dandelion to the ground. "Caroline, right?"

Caroline nodded toward the clouds pillowing in the east as she took place next to Kate. "Think that one's promising us anything?"

Kate inhaled through her nose, reticent. She kept her eyes on the sky, her fingers tapping the edge of the tablet anxiously. "I don't think so. The cells in the east have much better numbers but the conditions don't feel right. Cap's too strong, it won't ever break; and the wind's getting thick from the west."

"You think?" Caroline raised her eyebrows, following Kate's gaze to the storm clouds. Her lips pulled down in an impressed frown, and she gave Kate a sideways glance, curious. "This ain't your first storm, is it?"

Something flickered across Kate's face. The corners of her lips twitched down, and she stepped back to head toward the rest of the team. "We should go."

Caroline watched her go, not turning away from the tornado forming in the west. She crossed her arms and returned her eyes to the horizon. Whatever Kate had said about the wind, Caroline felt now, the tense air filling her lungs like lead. She hid a smile of excitement. Maybe she would get something good out of this week, after all.

"I'd forgotten you're into all this stuff, too, y'know."

Caroline grew as tense as the wind at the voice. She shut her eyes, counting to ten mentally to keep her composure. Without opening her eyes, she said, "I don't see how you could forget when I'm the reason you're here in the first place."

Tyler laughed, taking his sunglasses off as he approached the spot Kate had only just been standing. He gave Caroline a sideways smile. "I knew you'd never let that go."

"Let what go?" Caroline feigned a confused expression, crossing her arms. "The fact that I was the one who introduced you to meteorology in the first place and now you're makin' thousands off of videos of you tryna kill yourself in it? Nah—water under the bridge."

Tyler turned his next smile toward the ground, almost sheepish—but Caroline knew him better than that.

"You watch 'em?"

She blinked, taken by surprise. "'Scuse me?"

Tyler turned toward her, still smiling, folding up his sunglasses. "I asked if you watch 'em. My videos. How else would you know what they're all about?"

Caroline rolled her eyes, turning her face to him for the first time. She gave him a flat glare. "I don't watch your videos, like all those idiots in your welcoming caravan. I just heard the name of your dumb channel and assumed from there. That a crime? Not watching your videos?"

Tyler's eyes flickered up to Caroline's cap, then back down to meet her gaze. He tipped his head. "What's PlanetCorp? More of your saving-the-planet kinda stuff?"

"Matter of fact, yes," she said smartly, raising her eyebrows. "I'm here on an environmental project. And you're—what? Flyin' around, kicking up dirt for your thousands of followers?"

"Millions," he corrected with a charming smile. "So you're telling me you're not with Storm Par?"

"I travel with them, yeah," she said defensively, furrowing her brow. "That a problem?"

Tyler let out a low whistle, shaking his head. "Nothing of the sort, darlin'. Just that we're sworn enemies and I'll have to hate your guts by default."

Caroline flashed him a sarcastic version of his own charming grin, then rolled her eyes and turned to go.

"That's all you have to say, Line?" he called after her, spreading his hands. "Come on—don't let me win again!"

"Oh, you haven't won nothing yet," she said, turning back towards him as she headed for her team. She gave Tyler a short little wave. "I'll see you in the east, darlin'!"

He tucked his thumbs into his belt, using the other hand to salute her off. "I just hope you're not playin' dirty, 'cause then I'd really have to hate you."

She lifted her shoulders innocently. "Me? Play dirty? I've got no clue what you mean."

"A'ight, let's move, fellas," called Javi, clapping his hands together. The team began to climb into their vans, Kate joining Javi in the shotgun of his truck. Caroline hopped in the front seat with Scott.

"Guess we're listening to dandelions now," he muttered to Caroline, buckling his seatbelt.

Caroline blew hair out of her face. "Just floor it, Scott. Leave the hillbillies in the dust."

He did as told, and the Storm Par vans peeled out in the direction of the western tornado. Caroline kept her eyes on the sky. She really hadn't been lying when she'd told that interviewer she didn't chase storms—she just hadn't told the full truth, because that made for a boring story. Who wanted to hear about a girl tagging along with a high-tech meteorologist company developing intricate scans of multi-level tornadoes, then hopping out behind their vans and following the path of the storms like a mouse following a trail of breadcrumbs? PlanetCorp didn't do any of the dangerous, interesting stuff—just the aftermath of it all. Gathering data of the storm's exact path and how it affected the region. Sometimes Caroline could even tell exactly where and why a tornado had touched down as it did.

But that was the coolest part of her job. The rest of it was sitting in the passenger's seat and watching Javi's guys do all the work.

"Know what, Scott," she said, after a few minutes of peaceful traveling, "you're doing pretty damn well behind the wheel right n—"

A red ram truck barreled onto the road from the dirt, skittering, burning rubber, and bringing a curse from Scott's lips as he whirled the wheel to the left to avoid a crash. Caroline clutched the door and the center console with all her might, breath catching in her throat.

"Holy shit," she exhaled, a scowling taking over the shock on her face. "Asshole!"

"You dated that asshole," Scott said, leaning forward over the wheel to try and pass Tyler's truck.

She pursed her lips. "Would you quit reminding me?"

As Scott overtook the tornado wranglers on the left side of the road, Caroline turned out her window, giving Tyler a look of mock surprise.

This ain't the east, she mouthed to him, looking around emphatically to add to her point.

Tyler scoffed, shaking his head and shooting Caroline an unimpressed glare before stepping on his gas pedal and shooting off ahead of the Storm Par vans again. Scott hit the wheel with his palm.

"Damn idiot's gonna beat us to it," Caroline muttered, leaning forward over the dash to watch the back of Tyler's truck recede in the distance. "And he's recording all of this. C'mon, Scott, pick it up!"

"I'm going as fast as I can, Barbie," he said, though he inched up in his seat and pressing his foot down harder. "What does it matter to you, anyway? All you care about is what happens after the storm."

She scowled as Tyler kept a sizable distance between their cars, swerving like a madman on the road. "I'm worried all that hot air in Owens' head is gonna affect my data."

Scott sighed and shook his head, then tapped his earpiece to get through to Javi. "Scarecrow peeling off."

Tyler's truck barreled off to the side of the road and slowed down tremendously, letting the Storm Par van carrying the second tracking device take over first place. Caroline turned for a glance at Tyler as they passed him, but he just gave her a neighborly sort of smile and wave like nothing happened.

Blinking, Caroline turned back toward the front, as Scott veered off the road and slowed to a stop a couple of yards from Tyler's crew. He and Caroline unbuckled their seatbelts and hopped out of the car to unpack Scarecrow and get it all set up.

"Two man job, my ass," she muttered to herself as Scott kicked the weights down and started the device up. He messed with the rigging and wires, all the technological shit that carried the data back to Javi's computer and recorded the storm.

Caroline watched him work from the road, arms crossed, a sour expression on her face. When she rode with Scott, he complained every time she sat in the car as he set up the device on his own, saying she was lazy and should have to work to be apart of the team. But every time she got out of the car to help, he did it all himself, not so much as glancing back over his shoulder to ask her opinion on how sturdy it looked.

"Great job, Scott," she yelled over the roaring wind, unamused. "Seriously. I'm really enjoying—"

Her words were cut off into a strangled sort of surprised scream as Tyler's truck lurched to a stop behind her and a door flung open. Someone grabbed her wrist, tugging her toward the backseat of the car. She hopped up only to avoid hitting her ankles against the galvanized steel of the truck's railing, stumbling into the car.

"What the hell!?" she yelled, as the person in the passenger's seat reached back through his open window to slam the backdoor shut.

It was difficult for her to gauge her surroundings in any sort of way due to both her blinding hatred and the speed at which the vehicle had taken off after abducting her, but she did recognize two things: A camera was in her face, and her head was in some man's lap.

Frantic, she sat up, straightening her hair and glaring around the car to her captors.

"What the hell?" she repeated furiously, staring at the man facing her from the front seat with absolute hatred. "Did you just kidnap me?"

"It ain't kidnappin' if you willingly came into the car, baby!" said the man in shotgun, his camera bouncing with the speed of the car hitting bumps as it soared off-road—and directly toward the tornado. This fact didn't seem to bother either of the passengers in the front seats, but the man caroline's head had originally been in seemed horrified. The guy with the camera wrenched back around in his seat, whooping. "Introduce yourself to the fans! We live right now!"

Caroline was sure millions of people were staring back at her, the shock and embarrassment evident all across her face. She couldn't wipe the expression.

Her eyes drifted to the driver's seat, where a red flannel and tan cowboy hat whooped and hollered.

"Are you fucking insane!?" she screamed, shoving his shoulder. "Kidnapping me!? What the fuck! You're crazy!"

"I second that!" cried the man next to Caroline, holding the handle overhead with such rigor his knuckles were white. He had a British accent. He looked over to Caroline, then managed what seemed to be a very difficult to procure smile. "I'm Ben, I'm a journalist, doing a piece on—"

The truck hit a bump and Ben's voice carried off into a scream, though it was drowned out by Tyler and his buddy's cheers from the front. Caroline wasted no more time in buckling her seatbelt.

"I could seriously press charges against you!" Caroline yelled up to the front seat, glaring at Tyler. "You kidnapped me!"

"I didn't do anything," Tyler shouted over his shoulder. "Boone's the one who grabbed ya, and you did all the gettin' into the car yourself. Millions of people saw it!"

Again, the camera was shoved in Caroline's face. She palmed it and forced it back into the front.

"Alright, fellas," Tyler said, clutching the wheel with both hands, "harnesses on!"

"Harness?" Ben and Caroline repeated at the same time in matching bewilderment.

"We're driving' into a tornado," said Boone, shooting a wicked grin into the backseat. "So yeah—harness up! C'mon now!"

"Good GOD!" Ben screamed, scrambling for his harness as quickly as he could.

Caroline tugged hers over her chest, mixtures of rage, disbelief, embarrassment, horror, and worry all swarming around in her mind. She couldn't decide which one was the most prominent—but Tyler was driving them straight into an active tornado, and soon enough it was the horror that took over.

Tyler took the truck and slammed on the brake so hard the tires dug into the dirt, wind whipping at the doors and whirling the car around like a roller coaster. Caroline clutched the straps of her harness, watching out the window, positive this was going to be her death—then Tyler pressed some sort of trigger up front, and the car seemed to dig itself straight into the ground, anchoring it from blowing away.

The tornado was headed right up on them now, and Caroline could feel it—nausea hit her in ferocious waves and she held onto her harness with all her might.

"Shoot 'em up!" screamed Boone over the roaring wind, tilting his camera so it had a clear, straight-up view of the tornado—just as Tyler whooped and pressed a red button that launched rockets into the air.

Caroline's jaw went slack in disbelief. Fireworks whistled and popped in the air, twisting with the wind patterns and flying up like a circus had taken root in the middle of a twister.

No doubt, leaving more debris and trash in the wake of the storm, she thought to herself bitterly, watching the red and yellow lights explode in the sky. This asshole was literally trashing the area—Caroline would never be able to analyze the natural environment if there were little bits of charred TNT in the ground.

Boone and Tyler cheered over their music as the fireworks exploding, screaming up at the tornado as if it could hear them.

Soon enough, the storm was passed, and the two frontrunners threw off their seatbelts and harnesses to asses the scene with their cameras. Boone ripped his door open and tore out into the field as the tornado dissipated into thin air, spreading his arms and crying out into the sky. Tyler joined him in a split second. There was still smoke falling from their little electrifying prank.

Caroline wrenched her own car door open. Now that the initial shock had passed, she felt nothing but fury—and as she stormed across the field like the tornado that had only just done the same, Boone recognized the rage and turned the camera on her like she was a character on some damn reality show.

She hardly noticed—all her attention was on Tyler. She shoved him with all her might, cutting his whoops short. He turned on her, still grinning like a madman.

"How you feelin'?" he had the nerve to ask her, lowering himself both in excitement and as a means to level with her. "Wasn't that something! All thanks to my crew," he added, taking the camera from Boone and showing his camera guy off. Then he turned the lens onto Caroline. "And, 'course, my lovely little friend here, Line Sullivan—"

"Caroline," she corrected through gritted teeth, fuming at Tyler, not even looking down the barrel of the camera he had pointed in her face.

"Yeah, yeah," he said with a lousy roll of his eyes and a smile, spinning the camera back to show a live feed of his arrogance. "Y'all people were asking of me—can you shoot fireworks up a tornado? And the answer is: YES, yes you can!"

Boone added a hoot for emphasis. Ben was a few feet away on his hands and knees, coughing.

"I'll take that," Caroline said scathingly, whirling the camera back towards her. She glared straight into the lens. "You're all idolizin' an asshole, you know! This fucker just ruined the land out here for a stupid vid—"

"Ahh—Caroline, Caroline, Caroline," said Boone in a low voice, swinging the camera down so it faced the ground. He made a cutting motion across his throat. "We don't do that sorta language on the channel."

Tyler took control of the situation, even though Caroline was positive he had heard her loud and clear. He grinned into the camera. "Remember, y'all—if ya feel it, chase it! And kids... do not try this at home. We are professional... tornado wranglers."

Boone swung behind him and into the shot. "Yes, indeed."

Caroline glared off into the distance where Scott and his Storm Par van were sitting, watching the scene from afar. She couldn't be sure, but some part of Caroline thought Scott was almost definitely getting a kick out of her humiliation.

She scowled at the sky. Why did storm chasers feel the need to ruin everything?

Ghost readers I'm coming for you at the speed of light