Irritated that she had gotten caught ogling she pulled Rachel back from him and pushed her behind her.
“Someone explain to me who’s Sara? Where is Syn? And just why would he know where Sara is at?” She asked looking from Rachel to the Mayor and then back again.
Rachel opened the door and waved for them to come inside.
“Sit down and I’ll explain everything, and then I want answers Mayor,” Rachel growled stomping into the house.
Taylor motioned for him to go first, but he just smiled and held the door open for her like he had all the time in the world. She ignored his smug look as she pushed past him, yeah, he definitely needed to be maced.
**********
Sara groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. One eye was definitely swollen, and her temple felt like it was on fire. She gingerly touched the side of her head and grimaced at the painful lump that was there.
Panicked she looked around, she was relieved to see Logan was in the stall across from her, still sleeping on the mattress. She pushed the fear of, just how much NyQuil, Travis had given her son down and tried to get her thoughts together. Travis. Oh god, where was he?
She pulled herself up on wobbly legs and peered out of the stall. She found him standing near the center of the large barn, he was reading some kind of paperwork. Sara looked around for some sort of weapon, silently smacking herself for not thinking to bring something with her. Unfortunately, unless she was going to hay bale him to death, there was nothing readily available to smash his head in with.
“It’s not polite to stand off in the shadows and spy Sara.” He chastised without even looking up from whatever he was reading.
Sara grimaced, each step made her throbbing temple worse. She needed to find a way out of this barn, and she needed to do it soon. If Logan woke up, he’d be scared and no doubt Travis would use that against her.
“Travis, come on, what is this? Just let Logan and I go, I just want to go on with my life.” She tried the calm approach.
He looked up from the papers in his hands and smiled. It was a smile that made her hair stand up on end; if it weren’t for a sleeping child only fifty feet away from her she would climb the walls to escape him.
“Nothing too terrible Sara, first I want you to sign this.” He held out the papers for her and a pen.
Getting only as close as was absolutely necessary she grabbed the pen and paper from him.
“What is it?” She asked eyeing him warily.
“Does it matter?” He snapped.
“No, not really.” She answered, trying to sound defeated. Maybe if she made him think she was too beaten to fight him, then she could catch him off guard and make a break for it with Logan.
Sara looked at the document in her hand. It was a retraction statement. He wanted her to say that her accusation of rape was a lie? She looked up at him, confused, surely this was a sick joke.
“Yeah, you took four years from me, you and those other two women, you’re all going to retract your statements. They were all lies anyways, I’m not a rapist.” He shouted angrily.
Sara froze, he really was batshit crazy He actually believed that if she and the other woman retracted their accusations that he would be exonerated? Sara knew it would never hold up in court, not under these conditions. Deciding to play along she signed her name, chucked the pen at his head and threw the papers in his face.
“Fine, magical right? Now you’re just a kidnapper.”
His smug grin was Sara’s undoing. The man had drugged her, raped her and now had kidnapped her and her son. She was done holding back, through playing it cool. Before she could stop herself, she lunged at Travis. Caught off guard, he lurched back as she hit him full forced. They tumbled to the ground, Travis attempted to grab her wrists as she raked her nails down his face leaving bloody streak marks.
Caught up in her rage, Sara screamed when Travis gripped both of her wrists in one hand and pinned them on the ground above her head. She kicked and spit at him, earning her a hard slap from his free hand. Sara wasn’t done, she would never stop fighting, not until he was dead.
“This is going to be so much more fun with you awake.” Travis purred.
Fear cut through her angry haze as she realized his free hand was inside her t-shirt, touching her stomach. Frustrated tears burned her eyes. He was too strong, she had made a mistake, by attacking him she had put herself too close to him. Now she was trapped, and his rough hand was inching its way toward her breast. She began to pant, her breathing becoming more and more difficult. Her blood turned to ice as his roving hand reached her breast, he squeezed roughly as she kicked and twisted beneath him. Dear God, he was going to rape her again and this time, she was going to remember.
**********
“You better be right Barbie,” Synclair warned a nervous looking Amber.
Since she had dragged Amber out of the hair salon, over an hour ago, they had been to three properties, so far no trace of Travis or Sara. She guessed by now Reece knew what was going on, but she couldn’t call him. He would insist on locking her in a tower like a damsel in distress. It just wasn’t her, she wasn’t the damsel type. Nope, evidently she was more like the rebel without a clue type. As rescues went she was failing badly, and the longer Travis had Sara, the more bad shit could go down.
Turning down a roadway edged with tall wheatgrass, she halted as she peered at a chunk of grass that looked like it had been broken recently.
“Stay here, don’t move, don’t touch anything.” She warned. She was pretty sure Amber would take notice. Otherwise, she would follow through with her earlier threats and release a video she had of Amber and the Coach of Logan’s little league team, going at it in Amber’s car. Sometimes it paid off to sneak around at night when certain Veterinarians were sleeping.
Peeling her ever-growing frame out of her beloved Mustang, Synclair followed what looked like tire tracks into the wheat field. She went about fifty feet or so and happened upon a car with the license plate that read, “Rich.” It didn’t take a genius to guess who it belonged to, in front of that car was Sara’s small sedan. Pushing through the field, she found Sara’s car locked and empty.
“Fuck.” She grumbled. At least, she knew she was in the right place, there was no way Travis and Sara could be far. Still, he had gone through a lot of trouble to make certain he wasn’t discovered, which could only mean the certifiable asshole was up to no good.
Synclair was walking back to her car when a movement in her belly stopped her. The baby was moving again, she figured junior must be practicing karate kicks with the way he kept jutting up against her ribs.
“Okay baby, we’ll call daddy and let him know that we found Travis’s car.” She rubbed her belly, loving the feeling that a bit of both she and Reece was living inside of her. Sometimes just the knowledge that she was somebody’s mother took her breath away.
She opened her cell and frowned, no signal. Damn, she hadn’t considered that, it appeared that there were still places in this vast country that were dead zones, and she was in one of them.
Sending off a text message that she knew would have no chance of being sent, she trudged back to her car.
“Well?” Amber asked in a shrill voice that had been severely grating on Synclair’s last nerve.
“I found his car and Sara’s. What’s further down this road Barbie?”
“Must you insist on calling me that?” Amber asked, irritation showing in her tone.
“Must you insist on being a plastic, bitch? Then yeah?”
Amber huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Synclair laughed at the tantrum she was having. Someday she’d have to actually talk to Amber and find out why she was so hellbent on making everyone around her miserable. However, today was not Dr. Phil day, today was more like Rambo day.
Ignoring the daggers that Amber was sending her way, she eased down the gravel road toward, what she could only guess was a large barn.
“It’s a barn and stables, some
properties are so big that they use secondary stables for the horses and sometimes to store bales of hay,” Amber explained after noticing the confused look on Synclair’s face.
Synclair stopped about thirty feet from the broken down looking building. She looked beyond it and saw nothing. It was definitely isolated, forgotten on some Donaldson family, two thousand acre ranch. It would be the perfect Chainsaw Massacre house; in the middle of nowhere, and no one to hear you scream.
Synclair walked up to the large barn doors, she pulled one of the handles, but she could tell through a crack in the door that it was chained from the inside with a brand new, shiny silver lock.
Grunting in frustration, she walked around the barn looking for another way in. Along the side of the barn was a small shed, if she could crawl on top of it, she could slide in through one of the broken windows on the second story. However, pregnant there was no way she could monkey climb that shed. She’d have to grab the car and pull it alongside so she could climb up.
Walking back to the car, a terrified scream filled her ears. Even Amber shot out of the car in a panic. Synclair turned back toward the barn doors and shoved.
“Sara!” She yelled through the opening. She pressed the doors as hard as she could, but she couldn’t see anything. All she heard was Sara screaming and a man laughing. Fuck, he was a dead man.
Think, think, think, Synclair told herself. She looked up at Amber, who was leaning on the front of her Mustang, her eyes wide with panic and suddenly got an idea. It was a stupid idea, deranged, beyond foolish, Reece would be pissed. She was running out of time, Sara’s screams filled the air, and there was no one here but her and Amber.
Grabbing her keys from her pocket, she opened the trunk of her car, with one hand she grabbed Amber and led her to the back of the Mustang.
Amber was so preoccupied with Sara’s screams that she didn’t even see Synclair come up and shove her into the trunk until it was too late.
“Sorry, Barbie, until I know who’s side you’re on, I can’t take any chances.” Synclair shoved the trunk shut on Amber’s stunned face.
It only took a few moments before Amber started banging on the trunk lid, begging to be let out. Synclair barely acknowledged her shouts, she was too focused on Sara. Climbing behind the wheel, Synclair rubbed her belly.
“Baby, hold on, I swear it’s going to be okay, I promise, there’s just no other way.” Synclair hoped her son understood.
Putting the car in reverse, she hit the gas and backed up about a hundred feet. Hoping she was doing the right thing, she put the Mustang in drive and slammed the accelerator to the floor.
“Knock! Knock!” She yelled as she crashed into the barn doors slamming them open. Dazed, she put the car in park and shut off the engine. The force of the impact made her dizzy and the last thing she heard was Sara scream her name as blackness took over.
**********
Taylor eyed Michael Donaldson from her seat on the brown, leather, sofa. Rachel had explained everything and from where she stood the guy’s sister was a bitch and his cousin was a raping, psycho, so she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of batshit crazy was at work behind that gorgeous smile.
“I know my family is kind of messed up, but they’re not me. I have been friends with the Hudsons for years, and I didn’t use the family name to become Mayor of Carson City, I earned this position, and I’m good at it.” He told her meeting her haughty stare.
Taylor smiled, apparently she had found a nerve and didn’t even have to speak. The man was awfully defensive. She almost laughed at his defense of his position as Mayor. She was pretty sure if he was as rich as Rachel said he was, then his name definitely got him elected, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
Still, she didn’t have time for this crap. Syn was pregnant and probably off playing vigilante somewhere, and Sara Wilmington and her child were in the hands off an ex-con, lovely welcoming committee.
“None of that matters blue eyes, all that matters is where your batshit crazy cousin could have Sara and Syn.” She couldn't care less about his fragile ego, they were wasting time.
She tipped her chin defiantly as his blue eyes blazed with irritation. He sighed and ran one large looking hand through his sandy blonde hair, messing up it’s perfectly groomed appearance. Taylor ignored the fact that her girly parts preferred his hair looking messy. Bad girly parts!
“He’s not at the ranch, I stopped by Amber’s before coming here, and no one was there either.” He offered.
“Geez, he could be in another state by now.” Rachel cried.
Taylor put her hand on Rachel’s shoulder. The poor girl was scared, and she had every right to be if Taylor wasn’t so damn pissed off she’d be scared too.
“No, he’s going to stick to what’s familiar, he’s going to want the control of knowing he’s somewhere that he knows, it will make him feel safe, but it’s also going to be secluded.” She told Rachel, ignoring the raised eyebrows from blue-eyes.
“Sounds like first-hand knowledge,” Michael told her.
That right there was why she hated most men. Smug, arrogant, looking at her like she needed comfort or saving. She didn’t need his concerned look, she was strong, she had worked hard to make herself so.
“Listen, Mayor, I don’t like you, so if you don’t mind let’s keep focused on the task.” She practically growled.
The asshole smiled, actually smiled at her. A big, brilliant, gorgeous smile. A smile that made her want to bite his full, bottom lip and smack him at the same time.
“If you take the time to get to know me, you’ll like me.” Michael tried to smother his laughter.
He couldn’t help it, the woman was a firecracker. She was cute as hell and looked like she was having trouble deciding if she wanted to kiss him or kill him. He was hoping she opted for the kissing, he would definitely be down for the kissing.
Michael leaned back in the comfortable recliner and was about to make a sarcastic remark when Taylor flicked her wrist, and suddenly there was a small blade between his legs, dangerously close to certain areas he was rather fond of.
Shocked his eyes flew to her. Dark, chocolate eyes stared back him, never wavering, definitely unapologetic. He didn’t know if he wanted to spank her or kiss her senseless, hell, he could love this woman.
Ignoring Rachel’s shocked gasp, Taylor walked over to the chair, leaned toward Michael and told him, “I don’t need to get to know you, to know I don’t trust you, Donaldson,, so why don’t you engage your brain for a while and come up with a few places that your crazy cousin might be, secluded yet, familiar.” Her voice whispered into his ear, and she pulled the throwing knife from the chair and placed in back in her leather case attached to her wrist.
Taylor watched Michael’s face as it went from amused to dead serious.
“I can think of two places, one is a cabin on the edge of the ranch, but there’s no access road, you have to hike about two miles in, or there’s the old barn that’s on the wheat field, but it’s in pretty bad shape.”
Taylor considered the options. She turned to Rachel, who was still gaping like a fish. Sighing she pushed her finger under Rachel’s chin and closed her mouth for her.
Making her decision, she turned to blue eyes, he was watching her intently.
“We’ll take my car.” She told him already heading for the door.
“Wait, what? Where?” He asked as he rose to stand.
She turned and shot him her best, ‘are you fucking stupid?’ look.
“You and I are going to get my friend, her friend, and that kid, and if I get to kick your cousin’s ass in the process, then that’s just a bonus.” She walked out the door and planted herself behind the wheel of her sedan and waited.
She felt bad leaving Rachel, she still looked a little shell-shocked. But she knew time was wasting, Syn would have called she could have. Syn was smart, too smart to take on a crazy rapist on her own unless she didn’t have a choice. Taylor didn’t want to even th
ink about what would happen if Syn lost that baby she was carrying, she knew her tough, but big-hearted friend would be devastated. Taylor knew losing a child was the worst kind of pain, no mother should ever have to experience it. Taylor should know, she had lost two of her own.
“You okay sugar?” Michael drawled as he seated himself on the passenger side of the small car. Taylor fought against the pull of his concerned filled eyes.
Pissed that he had caught her in an emotional moment, she glared at him. “Call me sugar again and you’ll be arriving at the next Mayor Gala one testicle short.”
The man laughed, laughed at her as if she was playing some game with him.
“Whatever you say, darling.” He chuckled as she put the car in gear and tore out of the driveway.
**********
“Doc Williams said that Sara’s father is going to be fine, they gave him something to counteract the tranquilizer that Travis shot him up with.” He told his brothers as he flopped down in hard plastic, hospital cafeteria chair.
“He say anything about Sara or Travis?” Lucas asked looking up from the map that was spread out on the table.
Matt frowned, “Nothing we didn’t already guess, he and Logan had just gotten back from their day of fishing at the lake, he was helping Logan pack so that he could drop him off to Sara, the doorbell rang, he answered, and Travis jammed him in the neck, then lights out.” Matt told his frustrated brother.
Both Reece and Lucas looked ready to explode. Not only was Synclair and her unborn son in danger, but given the way Travis had treated Sara before, she and Logan were trapped with an unhinged man who didn’t have a lot to lose.
“Any leads?” Matt asked hoping that they had some idea of where to go, if he didn’t get his brothers out of this tiny cafeteria, they were going to start breaking things.
Dalton handed him a list of addresses, most were crossed out, and some were highlighted. Matt knew Dalton was in full Navy SEAL mode, he was banking on his brother’s level headed nature to keep his brothers calm. One out-of-control brother Matt could deal with, but two out-of-control Hudsons was a clusterfuck.
Baby Mine: A Hudson Family Series- Book Two- Lucas and Sara Page 17
