Three (Count to Ten Book 3)

by Jane Blythe

  As Ryan rushed off to check the video footage, Xavier let his own panic overwhelm him for a moment.

  Just a moment.

  That was all he allowed himself.

  Then he deliberately calmed down. Ryan was right. They needed to remain calm if they were going to find Annabelle and Sofia.

  It was just that Xavier doubted that either he or Ryan could manage to hold it together for very long.

  JANUARY 14th

  1:18 A.M.

  Ricky couldn’t believe his luck.

  Honestly, he had to be the luckiest guy in the world.

  He had Isabella, he had her sister, and now he had Annabelle.

  What an utter fluke that Annabelle and Sofia were friends. When he’d gone with Isabella to Sofia’s house to grab her, he had never even dreamed of encountering Annabelle, too.

  It had taken a little convincing to get Isabella to go along with taking Sofia. She didn’t like the idea of him raping her sister. That didn’t faze him. She’d get over it or get used to it. Whichever, it didn’t matter to him. The idea of being able to keep the baby, and have her sister with her had appealed to Isabella so much that she was prepared to go along with pretty much anything.

  And as if having Sofia to play with wasn’t good enough, he now had Annabelle, too. Twice as much fun. He could now torture Annabelle to his heart’s content without having to worry about her pesky detective boyfriend getting in the way.

  Thoughts of Sofia and Annabelle were too much.

  He was getting excited.

  He abruptly pulled the car over to the side of the road. Isabella glanced at him in surprise.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  “What does it look like?” he snarked back.

  “It looks like you're pulling over.” Isabella glared at him. “I thought we wanted to reach the cabin before daybreak; we shouldn’t be making any stops.”

  “This can't wait until we get there,” he informed her. He had rented them a small cabin in the woods—remote—the perfect place to hide away two abducted women. They were going to get Sofia and Annabelle settled, then they would go and collect the baby.

  “Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?” she queried frostily.

  “Yep,” he agreed cheerfully.

  “With my sister or the other one?”

  “What do you think?” he flung open the door and climbed out into the chilly night.

  “No.” She jumped out and ran to the trunk, blocking him from opening it. “Don’t touch my sister.”

  Ricky was starting to get annoyed. “I’ll do whatever I want to do with whoever I want to do it with.”

  “Not right now. At least give her time to adjust to her new life,” she challenged. “I thought it was Annabelle you really wanted anyway. Just please, leave my sister alone.”

  He resisted the urge to roll his eyes; Isabella could be surprisingly sentimental at times. Instead, he went with charming and understanding. “Fine, whatever you want; I won't touch her—for now.”

  She narrowed her eyebrows at him. “Thank you. I have to make a phone call, check on Sophie.”

  “Reception is spotty this deep in the woods. You may have to walk back to that gas station we passed about ten minutes ago,” he cautioned.

  “Fine.” She was already pulling out her phone.

  “You want me to drive you back?” he offered, hoping she would say no.

  “No, I think I need some air,” she huffed, turning her back on him and stalking off.

  Ricky waited a full five minutes to make sure Isabella was gone before popping the trunk. Both Annabelle and Sofia stared fearfully up at him. He grinned, his irritation at Isabella fading as he fed off the girls’ terror.

  “How’re my girls?” he reached out to stroke their hair; both women shrunk away from him.

  “Annabelle, as much fun as we’ve had together in the past, I think I'm going to have to give your friend a turn first.” He patted Annabelle’s head, then hoisted Sofia up out of the trunk and over his shoulder. He had to hand it to her, she put up quite a fight, wiggling and squirming in a desperate bid to get away from him. Of course, it was totally pointless.

  “Catch you later, Annabelle.” He smiled as he closed the trunk. He set Sofia on top of it and pinned her down with one arm. With his other hand, he pulled out his knife and cut the plastic tie from around her ankles. Having her legs unrestrained meant running the risk that she could run, but he didn’t want to have to carry her, and besides he’d seen her walking with a limp earlier. She was clearly injured.

  After giving her a minute to let circulation restore to her feet, he lifted her up again then set her down on the ground. “This way,” he said cheerfully, grabbing her bound wrists and dragging her along with him. Even as he pulled her along she continued to try and fight him, doing her darnedest to get free and yelling at him through the tape on her mouth. Her struggles only served to further excite him.

  Ricky wanted to get her deep enough into the woods that anyone passing by and seeing the car wouldn’t find them should they come looking. And if when Isabella returned to the car before they were back, she wouldn’t be able to locate them until he was finished.

  He was moving so briskly that Sofia couldn’t keep her footing. In fact, she slipped and stumbled so many times that he gave up trying to get her to walk. Instead he hooked an arm through hers, which were still pulled behind her back, and simply dragged her.

  When he felt like they had gone far enough, Ricky dumped Sofia on the snowy ground. As soon as she realized he was no longer holding onto her, she attempted to shuffle away from him as fast as she could manage. Ricky watched her for a moment before going to her. He pinned her to the ground as he straddled her stomach, a knee on either side of her hips. Beneath him she thrashed frantically. She knew what he was about to do and it terrified her.

  “The first time’ll be the worst,” he consoled her, for some reason feeling vaguely sorry for what he was going to do to her. Maybe it was because she was Isabella’s sister and he truly loved Isabella.

  Oblivious to the cold, he tugged down his pants and then Sofia’s and started to enter her.

  * * * * *

  1:34 A.M.

  How could she have let him talk her into this?

  How could he have convinced her that this was a good idea?

  How stupid was she?

  Isabella couldn’t believe she had agreed to let Ricky abduct her sister and hold her prisoner. She’d been selfish. She’d known that Ricky wouldn’t keep his hands off Sofia indefinitely, and yet she’d gone along with it anyway. Just so she could have her sister close by, she was going to let her fiancé rape her.

  What was wrong with her?

  She was putting an end to it now.

  She had to make it better. Get her sister someplace safe—away from Ricky.

  There was only one thing she could do.

  She had never intended to call and check on Sophie. She knew the baby was fine and well taken care of.

  “Hello,” the voice on the other end of the phone all but snapped at her.

  “Hello, Ryan,” she said softly.

  “Isabella?”

  “Yes, it’s me,” she confirmed.

  “Where is she? Where’s Sofia? We know you took her. You and Ricky. We have cameras all around the house, we saw it all. Where are you?” Ryan demanded.

  “I'm sorry,” was all she could whisper, tears welling up in her eyes. “I'm so sorry, Ryan.”

  “What’s happened?” Ryan sounded panicked now. “Did something happen to Sofia? Did you hurt her? Did Ricky Preston?”

  “She’s okay,” she assured him. “But Ricky, he wants to keep her; Annabelle, too. I don’t want him to hurt her.”

  “Then tell me where you are and I’ll come get her,” Ryan had deliberately gentled his voice. “Look, I know that no matter what, you love Sofia, so let me come and get her, you too. Isabella, we can sort something out, I promise.”

>   “Okay,” she murmured, feeling somewhat relieved. She had been naïve to think she could run forever. Maybe going with Ryan and Sofia and letting them sort something out was the best idea. Relenting, she gave Ryan the address.

  “I'm going to be there soon,” he reassured her. “I'm on my way.”

  “Ryan, hurry,” then she hung up. She had to get back. Ricky had agreed to leave Sofia alone for the moment, but that wouldn’t last.

  She hadn't had to go all the way back to the gas station to get a signal, so it took her only a couple of minutes to reach the car. Immediately, she knew something was wrong. She couldn’t see Ricky anywhere.

  Popping the trunk, Isabella already knew what she was going to find inside.

  Annabelle’s terrified white eyes stared back at her.

  Ricky had Sofia.

  Ricky had her sister, and he was going to rape her.

  Isabella couldn’t let that happen.

  She ripped the tape off Annabelle’s mouth. “Did he say where he was going?” she demanded.

  Annabelle said nothing, just trembled uncontrollably.

  She didn’t have time for this, grabbing the woman’s shoulders, she shook her violently. “Answer me,” she shrieked. “Did Ricky say where he was taking my sister?”

  Tears spilled silently down her cheeks. Annabelle shook her head.

  “Did he say that he was going to hurt her?”

  Crying now, Annabelle nodded.

  Darting to the front of the car, she flung open the door and rummaged through the glove compartment until she found a knife. Returning to the trunk, Annabelle’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the knife. She whimpered and shrank farther back into the trunk.

  Isabella didn’t have time to reassure the woman, so she simply grabbed her, dragged her closer and cut the plastic tie binding her wrists behind her back. Then she tossed the knife at her. “You’ll have to cut your own ankles free; I don’t have time. I have to find Ricky and Sofia. I called Ryan, and he’ll be here soon. Find someplace to hide in case Ricky comes back, and wait for Ryan.”

  Then she turned and ran, searching the ground as she went, looking for signs of disturbance. Catching a trail, she followed it, running faster and faster. Ricky had her sister, was probably raping her this very second.

  Her chest was beginning to burn and her legs felt heavy, but she didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. Sofia was counting on her. She had to make things right.

  Just when she thought she couldn’t run another step, she saw them.

  Sofia was pinned to the ground and half naked.

  Ricky Preston was on top of her. His pants were pulled down, too.

  Isabella saw red.

  * * * * *

  1:59 A.M.

  “You know I'm driving as fast as I can,” Xavier commented mildly.

  Ryan cast him a confused glance.

  Xavier glanced off the road and at the floor on the passenger side. Ryan followed his gaze and saw that he had his gas pedal foot pressed to the floor.

  “Sorry,” he apologized. He had been even more on edge since Isabella’s phone call. She had sounded sincerely concerned about Sofia and convinced that Ricky Preston was going to hurt her. Ryan prayed that they would get there before Ricky had a chance to do anything to her.

  Returning home to find the house empty and Sofia gone was his worst nightmare. He had nearly lost it completely. If it hadn't been for Xavier, he probably would have. Even though Annabelle had been missing, too, Xavier had somehow managed to keep his wits about him. Suggesting they review the camera footage had given Ryan something to do, and it made him feel more in control of the situation and better able to remain calm.

  Because calm was all that was going to help them find the girls.

  Well strike that. Even once they confirmed it was Isabella and Ricky who had taken Sofia and Annabelle, that hadn't helped them find them. They were already looking for the murderous pair, and they already had no real leads as to where to look. What was going to help them find the girls was a stroke of luck—Isabella’s phone call. She had given them the address of a cabin where Ricky was heading to hide out for a while, and they were currently speeding as fast they could on the icy roads to get there.

  Ryan had to keep himself focused on the case so he didn’t lose his mind. “The kidnapping was Ricky’s idea,” he said.

  Xavier looked surprised. “But it’s Isabella’s sister they took. They probably didn’t even know Annabelle would be there. Why are you so sure that Ricky was the instigator in the abduction?”

  “Because Isabella would never intentionally hurt Sofia,” he explained.

  “I thought she poisoned Sofia.”

  “Only to keep her distracted so she could follow through on her plan to kill their family. And when she made an attempt on Sofia’s life, it was a fake. She deliberately went with the heart shot because she knew Sofia was wearing a vest. Isabella has had more than enough opportunities to kill Sofia if she wanted, and she never has.”

  “Isabella said she was sorry, though. Why do you think she was apologizing on the phone if Ricky was the one who wanted to kidnap Sofia?”

  “Ricky probably latched onto Sofia through Isabella,” he reasoned. “It wouldn’t have been hard for him to manipulate her. She loves Sofia; she doesn’t really want to leave her.”

  Xavier nodded. “Sofia is beautiful, just the kind of woman to capture Ricky’s attention.” He paused, then began uncomfortably, “Look, I'm sorry I have to say this, I don’t want to raise the possibility because I could be wrong, but I want you to be prepared.”

  Ryan’s gut tightened. “Tell me what?”

  “Sofia is pretty and Ricky likes pretty women. He probably took her because he wants to rape her,” Xavier finished in a rush.

  His gut tightened some more. Ryan had already thought of that, but hearing someone else say it seemed to make that possibility more real.

  “He already raped Annabelle,” Xavier continued softly. “Twice.”

  “I'm sorry to hear that.” Ryan hoped Sofia was not about to suffer a similar fate.

  “It must have been rough.” Xavier shot him a quick glance then returned his eyes to the road. “Falling for a woman in a case you were working.”

  “I already knew Sofia before the case,” he explained. “Well I didn’t really know her, but I had seen her around and I had a major crush on her. I thought I had hidden it pretty well; apparently, everyone knew. Including Sofia. She had seen me around, too.”

  “If you had a crush on her, why didn’t you go talk to her?” Xavier looked intrigued.

  “She was beautiful and rich and totally out of my league. And then I thought she was involved with someone. It wasn’t until we spent some time together because of her family’s case that I realized she wasn’t dating anyone, and that we both liked each other. Things haven’t gone smoothly for you and Annabelle?” he was just as interested to find out Xavier and Annabelle’s back-story as Xavier apparently was to find out about his and Sofia’s.

  “No, they definitely haven’t,” Xavier replied. “It didn’t help that at first we thought it was Annabelle who had killed her family. Then she found out something about my ex-wife, which made her doubt me. I got mad at her for digging into my past, which gave Ricky Preston an opportunity to get his hands on her. She already didn’t trust people. Then with Ricky taking advantage of her, and me telling her that, although I'm not in love with my ex, I’ll always love her made it worse. She still doesn’t completely trust me and sometimes I wonder if she ever will. I just think if we’d met under different circumstances things would be different.”

  “She seems to have connected with Sofia, maybe that’ll help her,” Ryan encouraged, glad he had suggested introducing the two. Although if he hadn't, Annabelle wouldn’t have been abducted tonight.

  “I'm hoping so,” Xavier agreed. “She really needs a real friend. Someone she can trust, someone who she can confide in, someone who she doesn’t have a reason to doubt.”
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br />   “Sofia’s a loyal friend,” he assured Xavier. “She wouldn’t do anything to give Annabelle cause to doubt her.”

  “She might not have to,” Xavier said grimly. “If Annabelle perceives that something that happens to Sofia is her fault, that’ll be all it takes. She’ll shut down. Withdraw again. She’s very sensitive about how people see her. She has no self-confidence at all. I really hope that things work out between Annabelle and Sofia because I think Sofia is exactly what Belle needs, but I don’t want Sofia to feel badly if it doesn’t.”

  “Sofia won't give up, that’s not who she is. And I don’t think you're going to give up on Annabelle, either. I think that’s what she needs to see. That she has people in her life who aren’t going anywhere. Eventually she’ll start to believe it and to trust those in her life.”

  “I hope so.” Xavier looked like he wasn’t quite convinced.

  “None of this matters anyway if we can't find them.” Ryan could feel his panic swelling again. Ricky had had Sofia for over three hours now. More than enough time for him to have hurt her or killed her and buried her body.

  “We’ll find them,” Xavier said confidently.

  Ryan wished he was as confident of that. Isabella’s voice telling him to hurry kept echoing in his head. If they didn’t find them soon, then he didn’t think they were going to find them at all.

  * * * * *

  1:59 A.M.

  She was in shock.

  Sofia knew she was.

  Knew it because she had stopped fighting back.

  She’d fought as hard as she could. From the moment he first grabbed her, she had done everything within her limited ability to get away. Even in the trunk of the car, she had tried so hard to get out of the plastic zip ties that she’d made her wrists bleed. Now they ached horribly with every little movement. The trunk had been terribly cramped and her leg had begun to ache because she couldn’t stretch it out.