by Becca Van
While he concentrated on driving the narrow twists and turns the blacktop took, Eva gradually shifted her purse to the far side of her body until it was hidden from Tim’s view. Carefully rummaging around inside, she sighed with relief when her hand landed on her cell phone. Glad that she hadn’t removed it from silent mode, which was how she kept her phone while working in the office, she flipped it open and felt around the keypad with the tips of her fingers and then pushed what she hoped was speed dial one, which was programmed to Quin’s cell number.
“Where are we going, Tim?” she asked in a loud voice, praying it was loud enough for Quin to hear if he had answered his cell.
“Just to a little place I found in my travels. No one ever goes there. We can have as much alone time as we need.”
“I don’t want to be alone with you, Tim. I want you to turn this car around and head back northwest toward Slick Rock.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you want, Eva. You are not going to get what you want until you agree to marry me,” Tim snarled.
“And if I do agree? What then? Will you turn the car around and take me back so we can see a preacher?”
“I’m not fucking stupid, you dumb bitch. I know that if I took you back there you would yell for help the first chance you got. There is no way I’m letting you go now that I have you. I’m going to show you what a real man feels like when he fucks you. By the time I’ve finished with you, you’ll be begging to become my wife.”
“No I won’t. I don’t even like you. Now turn the car around and head back up 16R,” Eva yelled.
“Don’t you fucking yell at me, you slut.” Tim reached out and slapped the side of her face hard. Burning pain emanated from her cheek and jaw where his hand had connected with her face. She bit her lip hard to prevent herself from crying out. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d hurt her.
Being careful not to draw attention to herself, Eva slowly pulled her cell phone from her purse and shoved it into the waistband of her jeans and hugged her door. The farther she stayed from Tim’s reach, the better.
Approximately ten minutes later he slowed the car once more and turned onto a rough track, which was no doubt more suited to four-wheel drives than his rental car. Turning to look out the back window when he finally pulled the car to a stop, Eva saw that the car was hidden from view of the road. Even if someone drove this way, they wouldn’t see the car. Fear skittered up Eva’s spine.
“Why did you turn onto this dirt track? There is nothing here. Why are we stopping here?”
“Just shut up and get out. And don’t try anything or I’ll strangle you with my bare hands.”
Her door was still somehow jammed shut, so Eva had to wait for Tim to unlock it from the outside. As she stood, her legs were so weak from fear they felt wobbly. Tim was nearly as big as her men, so she knew that if he wanted to, he was quite capable of killing her with just his hands. She clutched at the top of the car door as he stood staring at her intently. All of a sudden he smiled at her again, reaching out a hand toward her. Releasing the car door, she took a tentative step back and then another.
“You can’t get away from me, Evana. So don’t even bother trying.”
Eva knew she had to act now. Tim was only a few feet from her, and if he managed to grab hold of her hand, she knew she wouldn’t be able to escape his hold. Spinning around, almost blind with fear, she took off at a sprint. Dodging through trees, leaping over large fallen branches, she ran for her life. She knew she wouldn’t be able to escape him because of her leg, but she had to try. Even though her right limb functioned normally, it was a lot weaker than her left and tired easily. The sound of Tim laughing close by made her dig deep for all she had. Pumping her arms and legs furiously, she ran as fast as she could. It didn’t matter where she ran, and it didn’t matter that she had no idea which direction was which. All that mattered was she get away from her insane neighbor.
The terrain was rough and she was running downhill. As the ground sloped away, she realized she was running too fast and her leg was weakening. Eva gasped with pain as a small branch wedged in between the metal bar of her caliper and leg. She cried out as the bough snapped, digging into her skin through her jeans, and she went tumbling headlong to the ground.
An “oomph” left her as the wind was knocked out of her, and even though she wanted to stay where she was and get her wind back, she didn’t have time. Just as she pushed up to her hands and knees, heedless of the pain in her bruised chest and her leg where the branch had stabbed her, a savage hand grasped her hair and pulled her to her feet.
Tim wrapped her hair around his wrist, making her cry out at the sharp pain in her scalp as he turned her to face him, but it was also enough to get her oxygen-depleted lungs to suck in much-needed air.
“Try that again and I’ll tie you up,” he roared right into her face, his fetid breath causing her stomach to churn.
Eva whimpered with fear as he dragged her along beside him, careless of the fact that she was in pain and was having trouble keeping up with him. She prayed to God that Quin had answered his phone and had heard her give the clues about where Tim had taken her.
* * * *
Quin finished up changing the brake pads on the car and slid out from beneath the vehicle. Glancing to the clock on the wall of the workshop, he was surprised to see it was well past lunchtime. Usually Eva came out and asked them what they wanted to eat and then would head off to the diner to get their food. Although when it came to work, she was sometimes worse than them and would be so lost in her tasks that she lost all track of time. Going to the bathroom out back, he cleaned up and then headed to the office.
Eva wasn’t there and neither was her purse. Although he didn’t like it when she took off without letting them know she was leaving, Quin wasn’t all that concerned. She knew their likes and dislikes and would sometimes get their lunch without asking what they wanted. He smiled in anticipation as his stomach grumbled loudly and walked back out to the workshop.
Gray was just finishing up replacing the clutch on a small hatchback and Pierson was wiping oil from his hands since he had just serviced the truck he had been working on.
“I’m starving,” Gray muttered.
“Me, too.” Pierson threw the cloth toward the workbench. “Where’s Eva?”
“I think she’s gone to get food.” Just as Quin finished speculating, his cell phone rang. Unhooking it from his belt, he smiled when he saw the display. Eva was probably calling for their lunch orders from the diner. “Hey, baby.”
There was no answer. His smile turned to a frown when he couldn’t hear anything. There was some background noise, but Eva didn’t speak. Then her voice came through loud and clear.
“Where are we going, Tim?”
The blood in his veins turned to ice with fear.
An unfamiliar male voice came through the earpiece. “Just to a little place I found in my travels. No one ever goes there. We can have as much alone time as we need.”
He grabbed hold of Gray’s T-shirt to get his brother’s attention and then covered the phone’s mouthpiece. “Call 9-1-1. Tim has Eva.”
“What?” Pierson asked even though Quin knew his brother had heard him, too. He was in shock and fearful for Eva’s safety just as he was. When Eva began talking again, Quin slashed his hand through the air to quiet his brothers down so he could hear. He thanked God he had such a smart woman. She gave him the general direction to begin looking for her, and then she actually gave him the name of the road and then the fact that they had taken a dirt track.
Putting his cell phone on mute but keeping it glued to his ear, he looked toward Gray and relayed what little information he knew. Then he pulled his truck keys from his pocket and headed for his vehicle. Pierson and Gray ran after him.
“Give me your phone, Quin,” Pierson demanded as he slid into the passenger seat. “You can’t listen and drive at the same time.”
Quin reluctantly handed his cell
phone over and took off with a squeal of tires. He sped through the center of town, being careful of the people milling about, but unless someone stepped out in front of his truck, he wasn’t slowing for anything. They needed to get to Eva. She was in danger, and that he couldn’t handle.
“Damon and Luke are on their way. They want us to keep out of sight until they get there. That is if we can find Eva and Tim.”
“Like that’s going to happen. We know what the hell we’re doing. We trained for this shit when we were in the military,” Quin snapped.
“Yeah, we did. And I’m sure the two sheriffs realize we aren’t going to wait around for them to arrive. Nothing is more important than getting Eva back safe and sound,” Pierson stated.
“Fuck!” Pierson roared with fury. “Eva just screamed. Floor it, Quin.”
Quin put his foot to the floor and prayed to God they would get to Eva in time.
Chapter Thirteen
Eva reached up and gripped Tim’s wrists, trying to alleviate the pain of his grip on her hair. Since she couldn’t tilt her head to look down, she stumbled over small limbs and rocks as Tim dragged her along beside him. Using her short nails, she dug them into the skin of his hand and hoped she gouged his skin.
He stopped abruptly and almost threw her away from him. She cried out with pain as her lower right leg connected with a rock and her hands scraped on twigs and gravel. Just as she was about to push up from her hands and knees, Tim straddled her body and sat on her back. Since he was so much bigger than her and weighed at least eighty pounds more, she had no hope when he pressed against her. Collapsing on her stomach on the ground, Eva groaned when her cheek connected with the harsh bark covering a large fallen tree branch.
Her fingers clawed in the dirt as she dug in, trying to find purchase to escape, but all she accomplished was the discomfort of dirt embedded beneath her nails. Tim sank his hand in her hair again and pulled her head back until pain shot from her neck and down her spine at the unnatural angle. She shivered and shook with fear, but there was no way he was going to make her beg for her life. The bastard wasn’t getting another word out of her. Eva wasn’t about to waste her breath on an insane person. She would just have to bide her time and pray to God that her men found her and rescued her, because Eva knew she wouldn’t be able to escape Tim on her own. She was no match for his strength and muscle.
Lying still, she calmed her breathing and tried to conserve her energy. Just as her brain kicked in and she began to search for something, anything she could use as a weapon, Tim’s cell phone rang.
Before he answered it, he lifted up, flipped her over onto her back, used his body to pin her to the ground, and placed his knees on her arms so she couldn’t use her upper limbs. Then he placed a palm over her mouth and pushed down firmly. With his free hand he unhooked his cell and answered.
“Hi, Mom, what’s up?”
When Eva heard Tim talking to his mother, she began to struggle in earnest. She planted her feet on the ground and tried to buck him up off of her. If she could manage to unseat him then maybe she would be able to call out and alert his mom that he had kidnapped her. But he was too heavy, and he sneered at her as he spoke. He pushed down onto her as hard as he could, and using his thighs he squeezed them against the side of her ribs.
Eva pulled air in through her nostrils and stilled. Her struggling had only depleted the oxygen in her lungs again, and since her mouth was covered she couldn’t seem to gasp in enough to take a full breath.
“Yes, Mom, I’m having a great vacation. I’ll see you in about a week.” Tim closed his phone and gave her a feral smile. “You and I are going to have so much fun, Eva. I have a whole week to spend with you.”
Tim leaned down until his face was close to hers. Eva began to struggle again, but it was futile. He was just too big and heavy for her to get him off of her. When he bent his head and licked her cheek, she shuddered in revulsion, which seemed to amuse him. He sat back up and threw his head back, laughing almost manically. The hand over her mouth shifted slightly. Eva opened her mouth and sank her teeth into his flesh as hard as she could. His roar of pain and fury was satisfying, and she sneered at him when he pulled his hand away from her mouth. Turning her head to the side, she spat out the blood which had pooled in her mouth and then turned to look back at him.
His eyes were ice cold, as if there were no feelings inside him. In that moment Tim looked soulless to her. Then he drew his hand back and slapped her hard across the cheek and jaw. Pain radiated across her face, but she didn’t give the bastard the satisfaction of crying out. She glared at him with all the hate she felt for him as the despicable deeds he had done to her over the last year came to the forefront of her mind.
Anger consumed Eva, and she let it. She needed to tap into the strength her fury gave her. When she felt like she was at boiling point, Eva brought her legs up toward her body with as much power and speed as she could manage. Her knees slammed into his lower back, and since she had surprise on her side, she managed to push Tim up and over her body.
How she scrambled to her feet the next instant she had no idea, but she didn’t stop to question her newfound speed. She didn’t even bother to look over her shoulder and see where Tim was. She took off running.
* * * *
“Gray, keep your eyes peeled for any dirt tracks,” Quin demanded in a hard voice. “Eva said they had turned off 16R Road. Maybe that fucker turned onto one of the fire trails.”
“This road intersects and turns in various places, Quin,” Gray said anxiously. “How the hell do you know we’re on the right one?”
“Because our woman is smart.” Quin gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. “She practically yelled at the fucker to turn around and head back northwest toward Slick Rock.”
“Thank God,” Pierson muttered from the passenger seat. “Stop!”
“What is it?” Quin slammed on the brakes, bringing the truck to a screaming, smoking halt as the tires locked up.
“Reverse.”
Quin slammed the stick into reverse and backed up fast, all the time scanning the side of the road looking for what Pierson had seen. And then he found it. Tire tracks on the shoulder of the road and several small broken branches where something large had snapped them almost in half, heading into the trees. He pulled the truck over into the gravel and dirt and parked. There was no way he was driving in and letting that asshole know they were coming. He and his brothers were going in on foot. With the element of surprise on their side, they would have their woman back before Tim knew what hit him.
Quin met Gray and Pierson at the back of the truck and was grateful that during the time they served in the military they had learned to be prepared for all situations. In a hidden compartment in the wall of the truck bed, he kept a locked box. Pulling the rubber liner away, he unlocked the compartment and then lifted out the box, which contained three loaded guns. After checking their weapons, Quin took off into the dense trees, Gray and Pierson following.
* * * *
Eva darted around trees and rocks, her breath coming out from between her lips in panting sobs. She heard heavy footfalls behind her and knew time was running out. Tim would be upon her in moments. And then she stumbled over something. A squeak left her mouth as her foot landed wrong and her ankle gave way.
She tumbled forward and down the incline, her body going ass over tit. Reaching out, she tried to slow her momentum. Stones and bark dug into the palms of her hands, but she was unable to stop her fall. So she tucked her head and arms into her body and prayed that she would soon stop.
Just as she began to slow, she lifted her head, and pain slammed into the back of her skull viciously. Eva saw stars and whimpered but she breathed through the pain, trying to circumvent the blackness assailing her. She had to stay conscious if she wanted a chance to get away from Tim.
A twig snapped right next to her and she tried to lift her head and squint through her pain, but her head was too heavy. A merc
iless hand grabbed hold of her hair and yanked, causing her to scream in agony as she was lifted to her feet. With blurry vision she stared in horror at Tim. He had a gun in his hand and it was pointed at her head.
“Don’t ever try anything like that again, you fucking bitch. If it wasn’t for the fact I want you as my wife, I would shoot you here and now.”
Eva sobbed and gripped Tim’s wrist as he jerked her and began to pull her back up the hill. She could barely see and she felt sick to her stomach. Her whole body ached and was surely bruised after her headlong fall down the steep slope. Sticky fluid trickled down the back of her head and neck. No doubt she had cut her head on that rock when it had stopped her fall.
Just as they reached the top of the hill, Tim stopped. He pulled her in front of him and placed the barrel of the gun beneath her chin. She swayed on her feet at the abrupt movement, and her vision dimmed once more. Taking deep, steady breaths, she fought back the dark spots which had formed before her eyes.
“Let her go, Tim.”
Oh God, she must have hit her head really hard, because now she was hearing Quin’s voice in her head.
The cold metal barrel of the gun was pushed so hard into the underside of her jaw Eva knew she was going to have a bruise. Her legs were shaking, and she didn’t know how much longer she could remain on her feet.
“She’s mine,” Tim roared.
Eva struggled to see through her hazy vision and felt her knees begin to give way when she saw the outline of a man standing in front of her. She couldn’t quite make out his features as the sun was behind him, casting him in a silhouette.
