9781631051289TemptedbytheCowboySullivan

by Sandy Sullivan

“Good luck with Jason.”

  Peyton nodded as she walked out of the doctor’s office and onto the street. The sun shone bright overhead, blinding her for a moment as she turned to go to her car.

  A hand came down on her mouth, firmly blocking any kind of scream as a man hauled her up against his chest. “Thought I’d never find you, didn’t you?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Charles.

  “You fucking cunt. You are the biggest worthless piece of shit I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.”

  Then why are you here?

  “You’re going to pay for leaving me. No one leaves me.”

  He dragged her to the car next to the curb in front of the doctor’s office. How the hell did he find me?

  With his hand over her throat, he cut off the oxygen to her brain. She struggled against him, realizing she would die if she didn’t get away from this crazy maniac. He wouldn’t have any qualms about killing her, she realized.

  Jason. I never got to see him again.

  Her world went dark with his face at the forefront of her mind.

  When she awoke several minutes later, she gasped for breath as she tried to bring her hands to her throat, but couldn’t. She was tied to a bed in a dingy hotel room. She screamed as long and as loud as she could.

  “Ah, you’re awake finally.” He glanced around the room. “Nice, huh? About your speed I would think. I’m sure you know the place well since it’s across from that shithole of a bar you work at.”

  Fuck. He knows where I work?

  “Yes, darling. I know where you work, I know where you live, and I know who your friends are.” He studied the fingernails on his left hand. “You shouldn’t have run.”

  “I was tired of the way you were treating me. I’m not your plaything.” She yanked on the rope, realizing she wouldn’t get anywhere talking to him, but the bindings held tight, chafing the tender skin of her wrists.

  “Oh, but you are, my dear. You are everything I want to play with until I get tired of you. You can go when that happens. For now, you’re mine until I say otherwise.” He watched her struggle against her bonds. “You’ll only hurt yourself by doing that, Peyton.”

  “Let me go, Charles, and I won’t press charges for kidnapping.”

  “I don’t think anyone will miss you anytime soon. Your friends think you’re headed to your fuck buddy’s house tonight, do they not?”

  “How?”

  “You have a very active telephone line.”

  “You tapped my phone?”

  “I have ways of listening, yes.”

  “You bastard! Why can’t you just leave me alone? You’ve done enough damage already with your abuse. Find someone else to fuck up!”

  He shot up out of the chair. With him looming over her, he pulled back his hand and smacked her across the right cheek. “Shut the hell up! I’m not an abuser. You just can’t handle criticism at all. You never could do anything right.” Her cheek stung where his ring cut into the flesh below her cheekbone. Maybe she should just keep her mouth shut and hope to get free when he left to use the bathroom or something.

  He cupped her cheek with his hand as he ran his thumb across her lips. “Now see what you made me do? I don’t want to hurt you, Peyton. You’re everything I wanted in a woman, but you have to realize I love you and I want you to come home with me of your own freewill.”

  “I’ll never go anywhere with you.”

  He sighed, moving his hand away. “So be it.” He grabbed a bag off the table and pulled out a syringe. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but if I have to, I will. You see, you’re mine. No way around it, but you have to realize that I will take you home one way or another.” He drew up whatever was in the vile into the syringe, pushing the air out the top of the needle once he withdrew it. “I’ll keep you anyway I must.” As he came closer, a knock sounded on the door. “Who is it?”

  “The manager. I’ve had a complaint about noise.”

  Charles sighed and set the syringe down on the table, eye level with her. “I can’t open the door right now, I’m not dressed, but we’ll keep it down.” He chuckled. “My lady friend and I just got a little carried away.”

  “Help me! He’s keeping me hostage. Please!”

  Charles slapped his hand over her mouth to muffle her cries.

  “Is everything all right in there?”

  “Yes, sir. My fiancé and I are playing a game of capture, is all. Nothing to be concerned about. We are into a little kinky stuff, but thank you for being concerned. It is much appreciated.”

  “All right. Just keep it down.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Charles grabbed a roll of duct tape off the table, slapping a piece over her mouth before she could even take a breath to scream again.

  “No more fighting me, Peyton.” He tilted his head to the side. “I like the piercings and the tats. They are kind of hot.”

  She shot daggers at him with her gaze.

  “I know. I’m such a bastard, but once I get you in the car and we’re headed back to Austin, everything will be better. I can guarantee you that.” He grabbed the needle from the table. “You’ll sleep soundly until we reach Austin and I can take care of you. You’ll love the set up I have for you, Peyton. It’s private, sound proof and no one knows it’s mine because I rented it. It won’t be traceable at all. By the time your friends realize you’re gone, I’ll have you safely ensconced in our private playground where I can use you until my heart is content.” After he stuck the needle deep into her thigh, he slowly pushed the medication into her. “Something to help you sleep while we travel. I know how much you hate car rides for longer than an hour.” He tsked several times with his tongue. “You can be so needy.”

  For the second time, her world rocked on its axis as her thoughts shifted to Jason. Would she ever see him again? Would she see her friends? She never did get to go see the babies. Would anyone even miss her at all? As her thoughts jumbled, she thought she heard Jason say he loved her, but that couldn’t be. Jason wasn’t there.

  * * * *

  Jason sat in the corner of The Dusty Boot waiting for Peyton to show up for work. He’d made plans to whisk her away after her shift finished, for a fun night of debauchery, but as he glanced at his watch, he realized she was very late. He’d never known her to be late for work before. He signaled Dan at the other end of the bar. When the man moved closer, he asked if the owner knew where Peyton might be.

  “Nope. She didn’t show for work, which isn’t like her at all. I even tried calling her phone and all I got was voicemail. Have you seen her today?”

  “No. I had plans this afternoon and didn’t get to talk to her.”

  “Have you called Mandy? Maybe she knows where she might be.”

  Jason snapped his fingers. “Good thought. I’ll give her a call.” He grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Mandy’s number from his address book. He had it from before he and Peyton started seeing each other, not that he’d dated Mandy, but she’d been his contact at the feed store for getting much needed information on the equipment he needed for inseminating and storing the sperm from his bulls for use later.

  The phone rang several times before she picked it up. “Hey, Jason. What’s up?”

  “Have you seen Peyton today?”

  “I had lunch with her this afternoon and then she had an appointment at three. Why?”

  “She didn’t show up for work.”

  “What? Shit.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “There was a creepy guy hanging around my apartment earlier just watching things. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but now I don’t know. He really creeped me out. He had on a black business suit, spit shined shoes, slicked back hair. You know the type.”

  “Yeah, but why would that concern you?”

  “She hasn’t told you about Charles, has she?”

  “No. Who’s Charles?”

  “Where are you?”

  “At The
Dusty Boot.”

  “I’ll be there in twenty minutes. We need to talk.”

  He hung up the phone as trepidation rippled down his back. Something was wrong. He could feel it.

  Several minutes later, Mandy came through the door at a dead run. “You haven’t heard from her all day?”

  “No, why?”

  “She said she planned to call you this afternoon after her appointment.”

  “Who did she have an appointment with?” he asked, taking a sip from his soda on the bar. He wasn’t drinking. He needed his wits about him for Peyton’s sake.

  “Her psychiatrist. She hasn’t been seeing her that long, maybe six months?”

  “She’s seeing a psychiatrist? Why?”

  “I have to tell you about Charles for you to understand about her seeing someone. She was with Charles for three years. She thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. Tall, rich, lawyer, and good looking to boot. She thought he would marry her and they would be this little happy family.”

  Jason growled.

  “I’m glad you don’t like the thought of that. It tells me you are in love with her as much as she is in love with you.”

  “She is?”

  Mandy nodded as she took a sip of Jason’s soda. “She is, although she doesn’t want to admit it, but back to Charles. He fucked with her brain. Emotional abuse is what they call it. It’s the reason she has the piercings and tats except for the one on her breast for her mother. The others she did for him because everything she did wasn’t good enough. He broke down her self-esteem so bad, she wouldn’t know love if it smacked her in the face. He belittled her, called her stupid and made her feel like she wasn’t good enough for anyone, not even him, but then he would build her back up only to tear her down again. She left him two years ago to move here hoping the obscure remote town would fool him enough he would eventually just leave her alone. Like I said, she’s been seeing the therapist for the abuse about six months now. That’s who she had an appointment with this afternoon.” She grabbed her phone to scroll through the numbers. “I think I have her emergency number here.” She stopped, hit the button and put the phone up to her ear. After the phone clicked, she held up her finger and said, “Doctor Nash? Hi. I’m a friend of Peyton’s. I know she had an appointment with you this afternoon, but have you talked to her since? No? A couple of us are concerned. She didn’t show up for work. Yeah. Huh. Her car was outside your office when you left at five? That’s weird. Okay. We are coming over there to check out her car and see if we can find some clues as to her whereabouts. Yeah, I know about Charles. He’s a bad dude and I hope he didn’t find her. Okay. Thank you.” She shut the phone as she looked at Jason. “She hasn’t seen her or talked to her since Peyton left her office at about three.”

  “Something happened to her. I just feel it. What about this Charles? Do you know anything more about him?”

  “I did some digging after Peyton spilled her past to me. He practices in Austin as a criminal defense attorney.”

  “Figures. Do you know his last name and address? I’d like to look him up and punch the shit out of him.”

  “Yep. Naples is his last name and don’t think I won’t help you. If he hurt her, I’ll kill him myself. I got an address from the internet.”

  Jason cracked his knuckles. “You’ll be standing in line behind me, Mandy. I’ve already got my sights set on beating him to a pulp for what he did to her.”

  “Let’s go check out her car so we can let the police here know what’s up. She has a restraining order against the creep, but I know that doesn’t mean a whole lot these days.”

  He followed Mandy out the door. The doctor’s office wasn’t far like everything in Bandera. When they reached the office, sure enough, Peyton’s car sat in the parking lot beside the building. “Hmm. I don’t like the looks of this. I’ll call the police station. I know one of the deputies on duty tonight. Saw him checking out the patrons of the bar earlier.” Jason dialed the non-emergency line at the sheriff’s department.

  “Bandera Sherriff’s department, Officer Kailer speaking. How can I help you?”

  “Hey Dillon. It’s Jason Young.”

  “What’s up, Jason?”

  “My girlfriend is missing. Can you come over to—” He rattled off the address.

  “Sure. Be right there.”

  Jason clicked the phone shut as they waited for the police to arrive. There had to be something, a clue or someone who saw her. He wandered down the block to the front door of the doctor’s office looking along the sidewalk for anything he might find. Darkness surrounded the area, making it difficult to see anything out of the ordinary.

  The police car pulled up near the curb, reflecting something silver on the ground. Jason bent down to see what it was, instantly recognizing the silver chain with the tiny star clasped to the end. It was Peyton’s.

  “So what’s up, Jason?”

  “My girlfriend has not been seen or heard from since this afternoon at about three. She had an appointment here at the doctor’s office with her therapist. We’ve already talked to the doctor and she hasn’t heard from her since she left. Her car is around the side of the building and she didn’t show up for work tonight at The Dusty Boot.”

  “Her name?”

  “Peyton Matthews. She has a restraining order against an old boyfriend who was abusing her.”

  “Did someone see her with this old boyfriend?”

  “Not that we know of.”

  “She hasn’t been missing for twenty-four hours. There isn’t much I can do.”

  “This is her necklace she always wore.” Jason held it up for the officer to see. “I found it on the sidewalk.”

  “She wouldn’t be without it if her life depended on it,” Mandy added as she stopped beside Jason. “Her mother gave her that when she knew she was dying of cancer and wouldn’t be around. She never takes it off.”

  “We still don’t have much to go on. It could have been broken and she didn’t realize it. Have you called her phone?”

  “Yes. It goes straight to voicemail.”

  “Her car hasn’t been tampered with?”

  “Not that we can tell.”

  “Sorry, Jason. There isn’t much I can do. I’ll take a report, but until she’s been missing twenty-four hours, I can’t file a missing persons report. She could be anywhere.”

  “Thanks for your help. I wasn’t sure what you could do, but we thought we would try.”

  “What are you going to do from here?”

  “I plan to drive to Austin tonight to check out this ex’s place to see if he’s seen her even if I have to beat it out of him. I need to find her.”

  “Be careful. You don’t want to end up in jail.”

  “Yeah, I know and the fucker is an attorney so that would be my luck.”

  He and Mandy watched the officer pull away as he wondered what the hell to do now. “Where do we go from here?”

  “Let’s talk to the motel here in town. Maybe Charles rented a room if he was here. Wouldn’t hurt.”

  “Okay.”

  They looked both ways before making their way across the street and the two blocks up to the dingy little motel in town. It was something out of a cockroach movie, but it was the only one in Bandera. If this idiot Charles stayed in town while he tried to catch up with Peyton, he would have had to stay there.

  The door on the motel stood open in the summer night air as Jason and Mandy went inside. “Hey! Anyone here?” Jason rapped on the counter with his knuckles, hoping to get someone’s attention.

  “I’m comin’. What do you want?”

  “We are looking for a friend of ours. We think he might have stayed here in town. Describe him, Mandy.”

  “Um, tall. Slender build. Dark hair, dark eyes. Nice looking. Probably wearing a suit and tie.”

  “There was a guy and a woman in the end room over yonder up until this afternoon. I saw him carry her out to the car before he drove off about six. When he checke
d in, he was wearing a suit. I noticed ‘cause people here don’t wear those expensive suits like that, you know? Not like Houston or Austin kind of highfalutin type.”

  “That’s got to be him!” Jason slapped his hand on the desk. “Which way were they headed?”

  “Out of town. He’d paid through the end of the week. Came in a couple of days ago, but he put his suitcase in the back of his car before he left, so I doubt he’s coming back.”

  “Can we look in the room?”

  “Sure, I guess. They’ve been gone a couple of hours.” The manager grabbed the key and walked around the counter. “Follow me.”

  Jason almost bounced on his toes. He felt they were getting closer and closer to finding Peyton. He just hoped they would be in time before the crazy assed bastard hurt his woman in the process.

  When the manager opened the door to the room, Jason and Mandy rushed inside, hoping beyond hope to find Peyton. Nothing. The room had been used from the apparent mussed bed. Jason noted the ropes tied to the headboard. This didn’t look good for Peyton. What had the man done to her and what would he continue to do until they found her?

  “Do you have a credit card number or anything on file in the office?” Jason asked the manager.

  “He paid with cash, but he had to fill out the form with his name, address and phone number on it. I’ll go get it.”

  “Thank you.”

  When the manager left, Jason inspected the ropes noting a small smear of blood on one.

  “He must have drugged her.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Mandy held up a needle and syringe. “She wouldn’t go with him willingly. I know that much.”

  “Is this guy crazy?”

  “I think so, Jason. He didn’t physically harm her before, but that doesn’t mean he’s beyond hurting her. I’m sure he’s capable of doing anything to her to keep her, even kill her for running away.”

  The manager returned with the card. “Here. There’s an address in Austin.”

  “We’ll start there then,” Jason said, taking the card. “Can I have this?”

  “Yeah. That’s a copy. I hope you find your friend.”