Cowboy 12 Pack

by Cynthia D’Alba, Paige Tyler, Elle James, Donna Michaels, Shoshanna Evers, Randi Alexander, Cora Seton, Beth Williamson, Sabrina York, Sable Hunter, Lexi Post, Becky McGraw

  Avery struggled, but the man was so much bigger and stronger. It was futile. She tried to claw her way loose and in the process she dropped her things. ‘Oh, Isaac,’ she thought. ‘I need you, so. Please help me.’

  Lady growled. She was confused. Were they playing a game? Something hit the ground. Candy! The lady had dropped the whole bag! Lady picked it up, but there was too much stuff covering it. She’d have to sit down and do some serious chewing to get at the good stuff. The woman made a funny noise. Lady pricked up her ears and followed them, the bag of candy in her mouth. She’d just tag along and see where they were going.

  *

  THE SOUNDS AND smells drew Isaac like a magnet. Tebow. There was no place on earth like it. For the past week, he’d just been riding around. Houston had drawn him. It was so big you could get lost in the excitement and the congestion. But, it wasn’t home. The question was, could he come home? Was he welcome? A greater draw than the ranch was Avery, but he didn’t know if pulling her back in the morass of his life was wise. Living without her would be impossible, but hurting her was unthinkable. “Isaac!” Nathan spotted him and broke into a run, coming at him as hard as he could. Isaac grabbed him up and hugged him.

  “I missed you, Little Bud.”

  “I’ve been so worried about you. Why did you stay away so long? Don’t you know we love you? We can’t be happy if all the McCoys aren’t together.”

  “You’re getting so big. It seems like you’ve grown six inches since I’ve been gone.”

  “Nah, I’m the same height. You’re just getting senile.” Nathan giggled when Isaac goosed him. “I’m looking for Lady. Have you seen her? I’ve called and called. I’m worried.”

  “She’s here somewhere. I’m going to go say hello to Aron and Libby and tell them I’m here. I’ll see you later.”

  Nathan stopped and looked at his brother seriously. “Are you home? To stay?”

  Isaac didn’t say anything for a moment. “We’ll see.” When his brother’s face fell, he was quick to reassure him. “Don’t you worry. I’ll never be far from you, I promise. Is Avery here?” He couldn’t help but ask. He didn’t expect her to be, but miracles still could happen.

  “Yeah, she is. I saw her sitting with Zane.”

  Zane? A tingle of jealousy ate at his heart. Zane was his friend. He wouldn’t cut in on his territory. But what did he expect? When he’d walked away from Avery and his family, he told her they had been a mistake. Was he crazy? “I’ll catch you later, Bud.”

  “All right. I’m gonna walk around and look for my dog.”

  Isaac made his way toward the pavilion. He knew that the wedding rehearsal had been earlier in the afternoon and he had missed it. Aron had asked him to stand up with him, along with Jacob and Joseph. Noah and Nathan were supposed to be ushers. Noah. Lord, he hated to face Noah. Seeing the look of disgust on his face had cut Isaac to his very soul.

  “Isaac!” It was Libby and she shouted it just as the music stopped. “Isaac!” She didn’t wait, but started toward him, and she wasn’t the only one. From every direction, McCoys began to move…Aron, Jacob, Joseph, and yes, Noah started in his direction. He moved toward them and the crowd grew quiet. The band didn’t begin the next song. It was as if time stood still. It could have been a football huddle, but it was more, because they enclosed him in a group hug that said far more than words ever could.

  “God, I’m glad you’re home.”

  “Don’t you leave like that again.”

  “I missed you, Brother.”

  “I’m sorry, Isaac. I was wrong. I love you.”

  “Hell, there’s no place like home.” He hugged Noah the hardest. “I love you, too.”

  “Avery’s with Zane. We made sure she was here for you.” Jacob slapped him on the back. “You’ve got some fence mending to do.”

  “Damn, straight.” He picked Zane out of the crowd. It wasn’t hard. The lawyer was a damn big man. No Avery, though. He made his way across the dance floor, meandering through the tables, speaking to people. Would she be glad to see him? Would she take him back? Did he have a chance or had he blown it? “Zane, hey man, where’s Avery?”

  “Isaac, glad you’re back!” No judgment here. “She went to the bathroom. It’s been a while, though. She ought to have been back by now. Unless she ran into a girl-friend and they’re having a gabfest.”

  “Maybe.” Isaac began to scan the crowd. That didn’t sound like his Avery, plus she wouldn’t be so thoughtless as to leave her escort all alone, especially her blind escort. His baby was much too considerate and tenderhearted. His baby. That’s right.

  “Hey, didn’t I just talk to you?” Jessie tugged on his shirt. “You sure did change clothes fast. And what did you do with Avery? I was so glad to see you together. It made my day.”

  “Wait. What?” Isaac stopped her, not understanding. “I haven’t seen Avery.”

  “Of course you have. I saw you surprise her down by the bathrooms. You had on a hood and a cape. She recognized you right off. I walked up and…” As Jessie talked she realized by Isaac’s face that something was terribly wrong. “That wasn’t you, was it? Who was it then?”

  Damn! Isaac had the worst feeling and the last words that Ajax has said to him were ringing in his ears. ‘I’m gonna hurt what you love, McCoy. I’m going to destroy what you love, if it’s the last thing I ever do.’ “I’ve got to find her. Tell the others that Avery may be in trouble.”

  Isaac had never known what true terror felt like until that moment.

  *

  SHE WAS BOUND and gagged, so no chance to scream. Who were those men? And why were they doing her this way? Avery wasn’t crying, but panic wasn’t that far off. What had she ever done to deserve this?

  Crowbar wasn’t expecting her to fight. She wasn’t very big, but she had grit. Not a step was taken that she didn’t make him work for every inch. Using everything she had, she clawed, she kicked, and struggled. He didn’t want to hit her, but he didn’t really have a choice. Her life wasn’t the only one at stake. “Look, you hooked up with the wrong person. That’s why I had to take you. And if you don’t be still, I’m gonna have to hit you. Will you cooperate?” Her answer was just to pull harder, making it almost impossible to keep her headed in the right direction. It would have been easier to knock her out, but Ajax wanted her to suffer, and for that she needed to be awake. Letting go of her upper arm, he boxed her upside the head and she would have fallen if he hadn’t been holding her up. “Now walk, dammit!”

  He was surprised when she didn’t even give a yelp. In his mind, he kept thinking about the time he had talked to her in the bar. She was going to recognize him when he took off this get-up. All the while he had been waiting on her at the bathhouses, he had tried to think this thing through. There was no way this was going to end well. ‘This isn’t some S&M chick like the other one. This girl will press charges,’ he thought to himself, adding to his fear. And she was connected, to a damn McCoy! Ajax either wasn’t thinking, or he planned to kill them, all of them. And Crowbar wanted nothing to do with murder, nor was he ready to die. What in the hell was he going to do?

  It wasn’t far as the crow flies from the party place to the cabin. By car it would have been farther, because they would have had to go around by the road. When they got close enough, Crowbar could see the lit end of Ajax’s cigarette. Show time.

  There were two of them. Avery’s heart sank. All hope died. Perhaps she could have escaped one man, but not two.

  *

  NATHAN WALKED AND walked. He kept his eye on the ground. Joseph had taught him how to track and Jacob had given him a little flashlight, so he was in business. The only problem was the amount of leaves on the ground. But he’d found candy and he knew how Lady loved candy and it made sense to him that she had filched some off the table and was headed out in the woods to enjoy her bounty. “Lady! Lady! Where are you, Girl?” Usually she came bounding to him, no matter what. And that was the fact that was worrying him. Somet
hing just didn’t add up.

  Lady could hear her little Master. And she wanted to go to him, but her protective instincts were kicking in. A couple of times she had laid down to chew on the sweet smelling package she carried. But muffled noises from the woman made her pick up her burden and follow. They were out of her sight, but not out of her hearing. A sharp cry filled her with alarm, so she dropped her goodie and ran, teeth bared and ready to attack.

  *

  “BOUT DAMN TIME you got here. What’d you do, stop for coffee?” Ajax jerked her up on the porch. “Well, lookee here. You’re a pocket Venus, aren’t you? Big tits, narrow waist, and a round spankable ass!” He slapped her hard on the rump and Avery jumped. “And look at all this hair! You remind me of Little Bo Peep. I’m gonna have a good time taking the bullwhip to you. McCoy won’t recognize your body when he finds it. I’m gonna stripe you like a candy cane.”

  The venom in his voice made Avery fight that much harder. She had to get away, she just had to. Not just for herself, either. Isaac would blame himself. If this man killed her, Isaac would never forgive himself. She couldn’t let it happen. It would ruin his life. With every ounce of strength she flung herself to one side, trying to tear out of the demon’s grasp. It didn’t work and he jerked her up and swung hard. When his fist connected, it wasn’t with her face, but her chest. His aim had been off, and the blow drove the air from her lungs. It was agonizing. Gasping for breath, she almost didn’t recognize what was happening. With a snapping snarl, Lady launched herself from the ground and dove right into her attacker’s chest. She was growling and biting and doing her best to make the man sorry he was hurting her.

  “Get this damn dog off of me! Kill it!” He thrust Lady off and the other man kicked the dog. A pitiful yelp confirmed that damage had been done. “Kill that shittin’ dog.” Rough hands dragged Avery inside and when she saw what awaited her, Avery knew she was about to be tortured beyond anything she could have imagined.

  Crowbar picked the wounded dog up. It whined, but still tried to bite him. He liked dogs, so he couldn’t bring himself to deliver the final blow. It was gonna die anyway, but he didn’t want to watch it. The last time he’d been out here working with the surveyor, he’d seen an old well. He’d chunk the dog in there. It wasn’t giving it a proper burial, but at least the buzzards wouldn’t eat it. Walking the hundred yards or so, he came to the barricade. “Sorry, Mutt.” He didn’t throw it, but just eased it down to a ledge just a few feet down. “There, maybe the coyotes and carrion birds won’t find you.” This way he could tell Ajax that the dog was gone, but he didn’t have to kill it.

  *

  “HELP! ISAAC!” AS soon as he pulled the gag off, she screamed as hard as she could.

  “Thank you.” The creep smiled at her like they were friends. “You’ve answered my next question. I wanted to make sure I had the right chick. Of course, I enjoy making any woman scream, but with you there’s an extra benefit. The more I hurt you, the more I hurt McCoy and that makes peeling the skin from your body irresistible.”

  “You son-of-a-bitch!” Avery lashed out, hitting him in the face with her bound hands.

  He retaliated immediately and harshly, backhanding her with enough force to take her to her knees. “Bitch! Nobody’s whore slaps me! You’ll pay for that shit-ass mistake.” He hauled her across the room, almost wrenching her shoulder out of place. “There will be no mercy. I’m going to whip you ’til you don’t look human anymore.” Avery frantically looked around, but she saw nothing to grab, no one to beg, and the man who was dragging her across the room was insane. Attached to the open doorway between the kitchen and living room, a metal pole had been affixed with chains and cuffs. Avery pondered her fate. There was a possibility that this man was going to kill her. She’d never feared death, but she had assumed she would live to get married, have children and possibly pass away at an advanced age with some heart ailment or at least get the chance to choke on strawberries. Never in a million years did she expect to end up in the hands of a mad man.

  “I know who and what you are,” she spat the words at him. “You’re Ajax, the man who hurt Noah and Harper. Mostly, you’re a coward.”

  He took a knife out of his pocket and she thought it was over, but he wasn’t going to let her off that easy. He slit the restraints that held her wrists together, and then pulled them straight up and over her head. In a few moments, she was standing on her tiptoes.

  “We’re very close to the McCoy house and party, Mr. Ajax. The sounds of my screams may carry on the wind. Are you willing to chance it?”

  “Screaming makes me hard. If it didn’t, the first blood I’d spill would be splitting your tongue.” Grabbing the neck of her dress, he took the knife and cut it off. “Damn, your body was made for sex. I may just screw you before I carve you up. How would you like that?”

  “No!” Being beaten was one thing, being raped was entirely different. “I would hate it! Just the idea of your filthy body touching mine makes me want to throw up!”

  “Bitch! I’ll make you sorry you were ever born.” With a careless knife he cut her bra and panties off, leaving a thin trail of blood where the tip of the knife nicked her skin.

  “I can’t stop you from hurting me, but you can’t steal my memories. Isaac was wonderful to me. I love him and you can never make me sorry I was born. Loving him was worth it all.”

  “Don’t talk to me about that bastard.” He stepped close to her and pinched her left nipple hard. Tears sprang to her eyes, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of crying out. Instead, she made him regret he hadn’t chained her feet first, because she brought her knee up hard and tried to jam his balls up into his throat.

  “Goddamn!” He bellowed and clasped her around the neck and began to violently choke the life out of her. “I’ve got a gun, you little shit, and I know how to use it.”

  As she felt her consciousness begin to slip away, Avery thought this might be over sooner than she’d figured.

  *

  ISAAC WENT STRAIGHT to the place where Jessie had seen them last. He wracked his brain trying to figure out how someone would have gotten ahold of his hood. Damn, he needed to talk to Levi. But hell, he didn’t have time. Just the thought of what was happening to Avery right now made his blood run cold.

  “Avery! Avery!” He knew there was little chance she could hear him or even answer, but he couldn’t stand not to try. The only thing he’d taken time to do was run to his truck, get his portable spotlight and his Sig 40 caliber. Walking to the back of the bathhouse, he shone the powerful beam around until he saw a lot of footprints. They were biker boots, much like what he wore. Not a big foot, but the idea of Avery at the mercy of another man made him sick. If it was Ajax, God! He was going to hurt his precious doll. All he could think about was her soft skin, her sweet smile and her delicate spirit. When he got his hands on Ajax this time, he wouldn’t be walking away.

  *

  NATHAN HAD FOUND three candies. He’d quit calling out. A niggling feeling of awareness was making the hair stand up on the back of his neck. Like he had told Cady, and Cady was the only one he’d told, but since his near drowning, he just knew stuff. And at this very second, something was telling him he was walking straight into trouble. But he also had this sense that he needed to go, that it was important. So, he stayed on Lady’s Hansel and Gretel trail of pecan pralines. That she hadn’t stopped to eat them made him think that the retriever was on the trail of bigger game than a full belly.

  Looking around, he realized he was near the hunting cabin. Knowing it was just under a mile from the ranch house, he wondered who could possibly have wandered over here from the party. It was probably a smoochy couple. He had seen guys and girls sneak off to the barn and lots of other places. Only lately had he begun to think that this might not be totally gross. But a faint female scream made him stop and listen. Was that a happy scream or a scared one? He couldn’t tell. Moving slower, he kept his mind focused on hearing anything that was out
of place. From out of nowhere, a familiar whine caused him to turn abruptly to the right. “Lady? Lady? Girl, is that you?” Making a few sweeps with his flashlight, he realized the old well was only a few feet away. Was Lady in the well? Hurrying, he stepped to the edge and shone the beam of light. Peering through the darkness, he saw his dog lying on her side. She didn’t even lift her head. “Lady, you’re hurt! Just hold on, Girl, I’ll go get help.”

  He turned to run, but he didn’t get anywhere. “Hold it, kid. I’m sorry, but you can’t leave, not until I think about this real hard.” Crowbar had considered letting the boy go get help and stop Ajax from hurting the girl. But, what about him? How much trouble was he going to be in?

  “You let me go! My dog’s hurt bad and I’ve got to get her some help.”

  “That dog is nearly dead. Ajax made me hurt her. She attacked him when he grabbed—”

  “Who?”

  “Avery.” He’d gone too far to hide, now. Maybe it wasn’t too late to do the right thing. The boy showing up seemed like a sign. “You go get some help and you tell them that old Crowbar helped you and that he was forced to be bad. Okay?”

  “Uh, yeah, sure.” Nathan tore loose and started running. He had to hurry! Avery was in trouble and so was Lady. His legs were pumping like pistons, his adrenalin was running so high he could have made the track team. “Help! Help!” He began to yell, when he thought he was a safe distance away. Barreling through the woods, he ran head long into someone. For a moment, he struggled, thinking that one of the strange men had him.

  “Nathan, it’s Isaac. What’s wrong?”

  Talking in a rush, Nathan spilled his terror. “There’s a man back there in the woods and he says they have Avery and Lady is hurt. She’s in the old well. And the slow-acting man said that it wasn’t his fault. He was forced to do bad things. I’m scared, Isaac. And I’m glad you’re back.”

  “Me too, Buddy.” Isaac hugged him quick. “Are they at the hunting cabin?” At Nathan’s nod, he sought to reassure him. “Everything will be fine, I guarantee it.” If only that were in his power. “I’m going to go help Avery and I won’t forget Lady, either. You go tell the others where I’m headed and what’s going on, and make sure Kane’s informed. Then you take care of the women. Can you handle it?”