Apollo decided to try another approach. If he chose his words carefully, maybe he could discover a better time to stop by and pop the question. “You working a full shift today?”
“Till ten, when the owner takes over. Unless, of course, Craig decides to show up and do his job.”
Apollo smirked, wanting to say something clever. “If he still has one after this.”
“Yeah, with my luck, I’ll be stuck here all day, every day. At least until hell freezes over.”
His heart sank when he heard those words. Crap, she might never be alone. Or have any free time to relax and enjoy a night out. She was clearly stressed out, and Apollo couldn’t blame her.
Time to move on, he decided, wondering about payment for the meal. There was no cash drawer nearby. “What do I owe you for this?”
“It’s on the house today, Sheriff.”
“No, that’s really not necessary.”
“Yes, it is. I insist. It’s the least I can do after what happened in the market yesterday.”
“I appreciate that, but department rules explicitly forbid accepting gifts of any kind.”
“Even food?”
“Yes. Any gift, including food. Just need to know the total and I’ll grab it from my wallet.”
She hesitated, beaming her big, beautiful eyes at him. “Fine. A buck, then. That’ll cover it.”
“Seems a bit low.”
She smiled, her face perking up. “For the next minute, we’re having a very special law enforcement-only sale. Three eggs and bacon for a dollar. Best deal in town.”
He looked around, but didn’t see anyone else in the area. At least not anyone in uniform who appeared to be headed his way for breakfast. “One minute, huh?”
She put her hands on her hips and rocked her head from side to side when she spoke. “Fifty seconds, now. Oh, and by the way, we’re not accepting tips during this one-minute special, either.”
“But Mom, we need the money,” Victor said, interrupting the conversation.
Allison shushed him.
Apollo felt a thin smile grow on his lips, appreciating her quick wit and her generosity. “All right, a buck. I’ll be right back,” he said before walking to the nearest table.
He put the plate down and checked the bills in his wallet: four ones, two fives, a ten, and a twenty. He pulled the twenty and folded it over in his hand, then wrapped it inside a single before returning to her.
Alison put a mason jar on the stainless-steel shelf above the grill and pointed to it. It was at eye level for her.
Apollo tucked the pair of bills inside the glass container and went back to his table. As long as she didn’t check the deposit he’d just made, she’d only think there was a buck inside. He needed to eat quickly and leave before she noticed the twenty. Then she couldn’t give it back.
He sat down and tore into his food. The eggs were perfectly cooked, with a thin white film over the yolks, and so was the bacon—crisp, lean, and delicious. There was something uplifting about the perfect breakfast. It truly sets the day. Especially when it was prepared by a stunning middle-aged woman who’d captured his heart.
Then again, his stomach was on empty and if she’d served an old miner’s boot smothered in honey, it would have tasted like heaven. So who was he kidding?
When the last scoop of eggs entered his mouth, a pair of legs came in from the right and parked in front of him. They were covered in blue slacks. Pressed and expensive.
Apollo looked up, choking down the mouthful of food.
“Well, I finally tracked you down,” Mayor Seth Buckley said, his face flushed.
“Sorry, needed to eat,” Apollo said, wiping his chin with a napkin. His eyes found their way past the Mayor, landing on Allison. He hadn’t planned for his focus to wander, but it did. When he brought his attention back to his boss, a sharp comment landed on his ears.
“Something tells me hunger isn’t the only reason I found you here. Hunger for food, that is,” Buckley said with attitude. “She’s beautiful, I’ll give you that. But don’t you think Allison is a little out of your league?”
“Yeah, probably. But the heart wants what it wants.”
“The heart, maybe. But you and I both know that Little Willie is doing all the thinking right now.”
The Mayor was spot-on. Apollo couldn’t deny it. But his heart was also involved. “True. It has been a while.”
“For you and me both.”
“Are you hungry, Mayor? I’m buying.”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Are you sure? A man’s got to eat.”
“I had a protein bar earlier. Found it in the back of my pantry. It was a little stale, but it’ll hold me for a while. Besides, we’ve got work to do.”
“The reconnaissance teams?”
Buckley nodded. “Need to get them in the field ASAP. I need to know what’s going on out there. Did Daisy and Bunker acquire the communications gear from Tuttle?”
Apollo shrugged. “Haven’t seen them.”
“Seriously?”
“Probably still sleeping. I’m guessing it was a long night.”
“Then we need to wake them up. Now.”
“I’ll get right on it, sir. Daisy’s trailer isn’t far.”
“Any idea where Bunker’s staying? I want to have a little chat with him. Seems prudent to get to know him a little better. I’m not sure why, but my gut is telling me there’s more there than meets the eye. I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s off.”
“You mean like those bandages on his neck?”
“Well, that too.”
“He might be staying at Franklin’s place.”
“Are you sure about that? I thought when he first rolled into town, several parents offered him a place to stay.”
“They did.”
“Then he could be anywhere at this point.”
“True, but I’d still suggest starting at Franklin’s. I found a handwritten note in my office this morning from Stephanie King. It was addressed to Bunker and included directions to the horse stables. So I’m betting that’s where Bunker is. With Stephanie and her son.”
Buckley’s eyebrows tightened and so did his chin. “Bill King’s not going to like that one bit. Even though they’re divorced, we both know he’s gonna take exception.”
“Not sure I blame him. A stranger in town, and he’s hanging around King’s only son.”
“And his ex-wife, too. You’ll need to keep an eye on that situation.”
“I will. Anything else, sir?”
“That’s it for now. Let’s have everyone meet in my office in ninety minutes. We’ve got a lot of work to do and little time to do it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Stephanie King stood up in the dark when she heard the distinctive sound of keys jingling beyond the door. Someone was in the hallway and headed her way. She fumbled around like a blind woman and found Jeffrey and Megan on her left. She moved in front of them.
“Are we going home now, Mommy?” Jeffrey asked, his voice trembling.
“Not yet, honey,” she answered in a whisper. “But soon. Right now, I need you to be really quiet.”
“I miss my Daddy,” Megan sobbed in her little girl’s voice, tearing a hole in Stephanie’s heart.
“I know, sweetheart. I’m sure he misses you, too. I promise, as soon as I can get us out of here, I will. But no matter what happens, I need you to be really brave and not say a word. Can you do that?”
“I think so. But I’m really scared. I don’t like the dark.”
“Neither do I, baby. Just stay close. I’ll protect you,” she said, keeping an eye on the thin strip of light leaking in from under the door.
Just then, two sets of shadows appeared from the right, blocking out some of the light creeping in from the hallway. One pair moved slowly. The other jumped around sporadically.
A couple of grunts came next, then the sound of a key sliding into the door lock.
Right on cue
, the kids’ four tiny arms locked onto the backs of her legs and squeezed tight as the door opened. Stephanie blinked rapidly when the intense light from the hallway overwhelmed her vision.
An imposing shadow appeared in the doorway, almost filling the entrance from floor to ceiling. She’d seen this same silhouette earlier, when they were first tossed into the mysterious room.
The man stood there like a statue. He may have been the same person who kidnapped her in front of Franklin’s horse stables. But she couldn’t be sure. She never saw his face. He’d snuck up from behind and held her and the kids at gunpoint, then quickly gagged them and put black hoods over their heads.
She knew they were still in Colorado. Somewhere. It only took roughly twenty minutes to get here. Plus, the crunching sound of dirt under the tires never stopped. Neither did the fragrance of the mountain terrain.
The trip included four turns: three rights and a left, plus they’d traveled over a cattle guard somewhere in the middle. She remembered feeling the rumble of the metal grate immediately after she heard the sound of running water on the right. A river, perhaps. However, they never crossed a bridge, so the waterway was alongside the road, not under it.
The kidnapper in the doorway finally moved, putting his left arm out and yanking something into view. It was another person—small in stature, hands tied behind their back. A woman, by the body type, with long hair hanging from the hood covering her face.
The man spun the woman around and used a knife to release her hands, then pulled the hood off. He shoved her into the room. The woman flew forward, tumbling onto her back with her hair covering her face.
Before the guard slammed the door shut, Stephanie caught a glimpse of the new arrival’s all-black outfit, but the rest was a blur. Her eyes hadn’t fully adjusted to the intense light beaming in through the doorway.
“Are you okay?” Stephanie asked the woman.
A grunt answered, not a voice.
“Did the bad men hurt you?” Jeffrey asked the woman in a trembling tone.
“Shhhh, Jeffrey. Let Mommy handle this.”
“Stephanie? Is that you?” the new prisoner asked, her tone weak and slow.
Stephanie recognized the voice, and by extension the all-black outfit. It was a uniform—a deputy sheriff’s uniform—a uniform belonging to Daisy Clark. Her nemesis. The woman who’d ruined her marriage.
Stephanie couldn’t believe it. How was it possible? She got kidnapped in the middle of nowhere and then ended up in some scary room with the one woman on the planet she hated the most? The situation was already bad enough, and now this?
“I know you’re there, Steph. It’s me, Daisy.”
“Yeah, I know who you are. But just because we’re stuck in this hole together doesn’t mean I want to talk to you. So just shut up, already.”
“Deputy Daisy?” Megan asked. “It’s me, Megan.”
“Megan? They took you, too?”
“Uh-huh. Is my daddy with you?”
“No, honey. He’s not. I haven’t seen him since last night. How did you get here?”
Stephanie decided to take over the conversation since Daisy wasn’t going to keep quiet like she was told. “The three of us were taken in front of Franklin’s place. He was inside the store when someone came up behind us.”
“So I take it Franklin’s not here with you?”
“No, it’s just me, my son, and Megan. Franklin went to check out an apparent break-in.”
“I’m sorry you’re in the middle of this. All of you.”
“What’s going on? Who is this man?”
“I don’t know. But there’s more than one of them. Bunker and I were ambushed at Frank Tuttle’s place.”
“Bunker? Where is he? Is he okay?”
“I hope so, but I haven’t seen him since they took us hostage.”
“Let me guess, hoods and handcuffs?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Then they split us up into different vehicles.”
Stephanie wanted to ask more questions about Bunker, but couldn’t find the words.
“They have vehicles that work?” Jeffrey asked, breaking his mandated silence.
“Apparently. But I’m not sure how,” Daisy answered.
“What do they want with us?” Stephanie asked, hoping the slut of a law enforcement officer would know something other than how to sleaze her way into her ex-husband’s arms.
“Ransom, I’m guessing. Your husband is rich, right?”
Stephanie couldn’t believe the nerve of this woman, bringing up her cheating husband at a time like this. “Well, Daisy, you know he is. So don’t play dumb with me. I’m sure that’s one of the main reasons you did what you did. Oh, and by the way, it’s ex-husband now. So you can have him all to yourself. I’m done with him, forever.”
There was a short pause before Daisy responded, “I’m pretty sure I told you before that I ended it right after it started. I’m sorry for what happened, Stephanie. I truly am. I never meant to hurt you.”
“Well, you did. And my son, too.”
“I know. It was wrong and I feel just awful about it. But I never planned for it to happen. It just did. Can you ever forgive me?”
“No. Not a chance. You need to burn in hell for what you did.”
Daisy’s voice turned soft. “It was a mistake and I’m sorry. I wish you could forgive me. We used to be such good friends. I just want things to be the way they used to be.”
Stephanie snorted an angry huff. “Things will never be the same because of you. Never. You can’t go back and undo what’s been done.”
“I know. It kills me inside. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m just glad it’s dark in here, so I don’t have to look at your face.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
A thunderous punch landed on Bunker’s gut, making him gasp for air. Then another came, striking his cheek and snapping his head to the right. If his hands weren’t bound to the metal frame above his head, he would’ve returned the beating tenfold.
So far, he’d taken everything the masked men had thrown at him, literally, and hadn’t said a word. Only the occasional grunt as their grilling intensified.
He was defiant. Steadfast. Unwilling to crack. All the while, studying the trio between the waves of pain. He couldn’t see their faces—only their determined eyes behind the masks.
But that didn’t stop him from sensing their frustration or overhearing their comments to each other. Most of them came after they stripped him of his clothes and removed the bandages on his neck. It seemed the blowtorch scars had them more intrigued than the artwork across his body.
Somehow his presence in Clearwater had upset their plans, whatever they might be. And for some reason, they couldn’t proceed without discovering his identity first. He knew they were desperate, making him laugh inside.
He hadn’t seen Daisy since the two of them were ambushed in front of Tuttle’s place, then separated. Probably to keep them from communicating during transport. Perhaps they assumed he and Daisy were a couple, or that Bunker was a law enforcement officer, like her. Her uniform was a dead giveaway and so, too, were the location and timing of where they’d been detained.
He worried Daisy was in another one-window shack and naked like him, being questioned with the same vigor and tenacity. If he was right, then she’d crack soon. She didn’t have his years of training—or life experience—leaving her at the mercy of her own pain receptors.
Daisy didn’t know much about Bunker’s past, and that was a good thing. For him. Not her. Unfortunately, her suffering would continue until one of two things happened: she took her last breath, or they got answers. Satisfactory answers. Answers she didn’t know and couldn’t give them.
Even though he hated the idea of her being tortured, she knew the risks when she signed up for duty. The same was true for anyone who wore a uniform to work. Whether it be law enforcement or military, they put their lives on the line every day. Still, it didn’t make the situation any eas
ier.
So far, these men had kept their interrogation at level one: physical beating. They weren’t amateurs by any stretch, picking their impact points with precision to inflict the most agony.
Yet they were running the detainment scenario by the numbers. So far, at least. What they didn’t know was that Bunker would never cooperate, no matter what they did to him. He’d been training for this moment all his life, and now it was time for the ultimate test. If it came down to his will against theirs, they were going to lose.
When you don’t care what happens to you and you have nothing to live for, it gives you an advantage. An endless advantage. Granted, death would most likely come for him today, but he didn’t care. Death was a victory of sorts. His salvation.
Before his next breath, another thump landed on his side, sending a pressure wave through his ribcage to the other side.
When he closed his eyes to suck in the pain, his old man’s favorite saying roared in his thoughts: Born to Fight. To some, those words might not make sense in a situation like this. But to Bunker, they did, cradling him in reassurance.
Just then, more of his father’s incessant preachings came to his thoughts. They played in a rhythmic chant, finding a familiar cadence that cradled his soul.
Pain is your friend.
So is fear.
Both of them keep you alive.
Both of them keep you strong.
A true warrior tests himself.
A true warrior punishes himself.
Because until he knows pain, he doesn’t know himself.
Bunker wasn’t sure how long he’d been tied to the vertical bedspring attached to the wall of the old miner’s shack. More than an hour. Less than a day. Long enough for his captors to do a number on his head and midsection.
Every impact point was sore and bruised, plus the streaks of blood across his body seemed to be growing with each round of strikes. Most of the gashes were on his cheeks, chin, and forehead.
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