by Tara Rose
When she told Thayer and Evan what the two women had said, they were obviously flattered, but they spanked her for telling all their secrets. She knew it had only been an excuse, but she loved it just the same.
There were no further incidents at the gym, and the three began to wonder aloud if Jay Nichols had simply given up. Cherilyn didn’t believe it though, and she doubted that Evan or Thayer did either. She was certain they were only saying it to make her feel better.
Because she’d gone out with Gina and Olivia on Friday, they took her back to Maddox’s club again on Saturday instead. Cherilyn felt more comfortable than she had the previous time, and it was obvious how happy they were about that when she told them. The guys told her they’d like to take her once a week at a minimum, and she agreed.
By the last Thursday in May, Evan had spent so much time at Thayer’s condo that Cherilyn had asked him as a joke whether he planned to move in as well. He’d given her a thoughtful look for so long that she thought she’d said the wrong thing. They still had no idea how she felt. She wasn’t about to tell them that she loved them and ruin all this. It simply never entered her consciousness that her feelings were returned, but then again she’d never asked. How could she?
Finally, Evan had simply kissed her, gently and with so much passion that she thought they were about to have sex without Thayer, which hadn’t yet happened, but then he’d gone back to his condo to get ready to go to gym. By the time Thayer came downstairs after taking a quick shower, Cherilyn wasn’t sure what to think.
The following day, Cherilyn had plans to go out again with Olivia and Gina. They’d decided that the bar in Lafayette would be fine until Luke’s Bar reopened. The air had been heavy all day, and thunderstorms had been predicted. Thayer and Evan ate a quick dinner with her, and it was clear something was on their minds.
“Want to tell me about it?” She picked up the dishes and walked over to the sink.
“What?” Evan’s voice betrayed his emotions.
Cherilyn turned to face them. “You both look like you’re about to jump out of your skin. Is it just the weather, or did something else happen?” Her pulse began to race.
“Nothing happened. I swear it.” Thayer was telling the truth. She could see it in his eyes.
“Then what’s bothering you two? Would you prefer I not go out? I don’t have to.”
“No, you should,” said Thayer. “Just be careful.”
“Of course.” Now she wasn’t so sure. “But why are you saying that? You’re kind of freaking me out.”
Thayer rose and pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair. “I don’t have a specific reason. I just don’t want anything to happen to you, that’s all. I’ve gotten used to having you around.”
“Yeah,” said Evan, coming up behind her to massage her neck. “So have I. I think we’re all just a bit leery of the weather, you know. It hasn’t even been a month since the tornado.”
That was it. She was sure of it. Everyone at work today had been talking about the forecast, speculating about how bad the storms might be. It was understandable that the possibility of severe weather would be on their minds. “Why don’t you guys go back to the gym for the evening? That would help pass the time.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” said Evan. “We have some paperwork to catch up on anyway.” Normally they let Dave or Greg Sanchez, their recruiter, take over management responsibilities when they weren’t there.
“There. You see? That’s what it is. You have work to catch up on, and that coupled with the weather is making you both edgy, that’s all.”
Thayer grinned at her. “You’ve solved all our problems, Cherilyn.”
“It’s what I do all day. Solve problems for people.”
As she pulled out of the driveway, she had an overwhelming urge to go back inside the condo and not leave it. She chided herself for giving into superstitious fear. Everything would be fine. Lafayette was less than thirty minutes away, and she wouldn’t be alone.
She pulled into the parking lot of The Black Sparrow in downtown West Lafayette as the first fat drops of rain began to fall. Soft thunder rumbled in the distance, but she saw no lightning. She checked the radar on her phone as she sprinted across the parking lot. No storms yet.
Olivia and Gina were waiting inside, and soon the three were enjoying their food and drinks, gossiping about everything from their coworkers to Bernie Crumb. Evan and Thayer each texted her once. Evan asked if she had arrived safely and Thayer asked her to text them both when she was coming home. She texted back to ask if everything was all right at the gym, and they both assured her that it was.
“They’re both so attentive,” said Gina. “So is it official? Are they your Doms and all that?”
Cherilyn shrugged. “We don’t really talk about it like that. It’s like I fell into the role of being their submissive without us really defining it that way.”
“Well, what do I know? Only what I hear people talk about, you know?”
Olivia popped a french fry into her mouth. “Harrison told me that Bernie Crumb calls Dean at the station at least twice a week to complain about Maddox’s club.”
“What?” Cherilyn laughed. “What’s there to complain about? It’s not like they’re outside on a public street flogging each other.”
“He’s an ass,” said Gina. “The man lives to make trouble for things he doesn’t understand or believe in.”
“How does he keep getting reelected?” Cherilyn shook her head.
Gina leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Money talks.”
“And bullshit walks,” said Olivia. “In pants two sizes too big because of his beer gut.”
As they laughed at her joke, Cherilyn glanced around the bar when a sudden shiver passed down her spine. The man sitting a few booths over caught her eye. He was watching them, carefully—too carefully. She tried to place him but couldn’t. Had he heard something they’d said about the club or Bernie? No. He was too far away, and the place was very noisy. They could barely hear each other at the same table. She’d even put her phone on vibrate because she couldn’t hear the ringtone for her texts anyway.
Cherilyn turned her attention back to the story Olivia was telling, but every few seconds she’d glance toward the man. He had a plate of nachos in front of him but it didn’t appear he’d touched them. He sipped a mug of beer and just stared at them. The expression on his face gave away nothing.
Cherilyn took out her phone and pretended to be checking e-mails while she nodded and made noncommittal remarks at Olivia’s story, but what she actually did was text Thayer and Evan and ask if they knew what Jay Nichols looked like.
It took a few minutes, but the question sparked texts from each man, asking why she wanted to know. She sent back a text to both of them and lied, saying he’d come up in conversation. She knew that would probably backfire because they’d be upset if they thought she’d said something about him to Olivia and Gina, but she could always say that Olivia had brought it up. Her brother was a cop, after all. And if that still upset them she’d just have to deal with the fallout.
They texted back that they weren’t sure what he looked like, but they’d ask Sean and Chad and get back to her. After two more texts, each one asking if she was all right, she assured them that she was.
“Cherilyn, what’s going on?” asked Gina.
“They miss me.” She gave the two her sweetest smile. When she glanced toward the table again, the man was gone. That was somehow more disturbing than when he’d been sitting there watching them, although Cherilyn couldn’t say why. She finally decided that she’d allowed Thayer and Evan’s earlier disquiet to affect her too much. Everything was fine.
When they got ready to leave the bar an hour later, the thunder was louder in the distance, but it wasn’t raining. Gina pulled up The Weather Channel on her phone. “Ah, we’d better get back and quickly. Severe thunderstorms moving in.” She showed them the radar map.
Cherilyn got in her car,
texted Evan and Thayer to let them know she was leaving, and followed the two out of the parking lot and onto US Route 231. Since Olivia and Gina had both come straight from work, they’d driven together. It started to rain by the time they were about five minutes out of Lafayette, and within seconds the storm was right overhead.
Cherilyn had driven in bad storms before, and she wasn’t afraid of them. She slowed down, got into the right lane, and put her wipers on high. A driver slipped in front of her, and she was no longer following Gina’s car, but it didn’t matter. They were only twenty minutes from Racy, and it’s not like Cherilyn didn’t know the way home.
Evan texted her to let her know about the storm, but she didn’t want to try and text him back. Instead she called him and told him where she was. He said it was coming from the southwest and looked like it would pass just east of Racy. She was heading northwest, so that explained why she was right in the middle of it.
After she disconnected the call, the rain let up, and soon it was only sprinkling. She exhaled the breath she’d been holding. How long would it take before everyone in Racy was no longer apprehensive about even the mildest thunderstorms?
She could no longer see Gina’s car, but then Gina drove like a madwoman, so she was probably already back in Racy by now. Cherilyn increased her speed, anxious now just to get home. She turned on her iPod and was singing along to J. Lo’s latest tune when she spotted a car coming up behind her at breakneck speed. The outline of the driver, illuminated for just a second as a car passed from the opposite direction, reminded her of the man sitting in the bar, but she shook away that thought. She’d been imagining things all evening.
When he put on his high beams, she swore under her breath. What an asshat. Cherilyn slowed down so hopefully he’d get the hint and just go around her, but he still didn’t. What the fuck was his problem? She was already in the right lane. What did he expect her to do? Move out of his way simply so he wouldn’t have to change lanes? What a moron.
When something bumped her car from behind, she yelped and her pulse began to race. What the fuck? Had she hit an animal? She glanced in the rearview mirror and what she saw caused her palms to become damp. The guy behind her was so close that she couldn’t see his headlights. It had been his car that had struck her. She was certain of it now.
What should she do? There was no one else around. She picked up her cell phone with trembling fingers and tried to call Evan, but her fingers were shaking too much. The second hit was harder than the first, and she had to drop the cell phone and hang onto the wheel with both hands to keep from veering off the road. She needed help.
Cherilyn pulled over, hoping it wasn’t the wrong thing to do, but also knowing she couldn’t keep driving like this. She was shaking too badly. And she couldn’t imagine trying to simply outrun him. Maybe if she pulled off the road he’d just go away?
She picked up her phone and punched in Evan’s number. He answered on the first ring. “Some guy bumped me. I don’t know what to do.”
“What? Cherilyn, where are you?”
The panic in Evan’s voice made her start to cry, and her voice shook. “I don’t know. About twenty minutes away. He just keeps hitting me. I don’t know what to do…”
The man hit her car again. It bounced to the left, closer now to the woods at the side of the road. No way. This wasn’t an accident. This was deliberate. She had to get out of here.
“Evan, I’m so scared…”
“Cherilyn, please… try to tell me where you are.”
“Okay. I’m still on 231.”
“Did you pass 18 yet?”
“I think so. I don’t know.” She tried to steer the car back onto the road but she wasn’t even sure what the hell she’d just said to Evan. Her heart was racing like crazy and she could barely see through her tears. Her car was stuck on the gravel and she couldn’t seem to get it back onto the road.
“Evan, I can’t get back on the road. What should I do?” She heard Thayer’s voice in the background, yelling at someone to call Sean. Tears still blurred her vision. She’d never been this afraid in her life. What if she never saw them again? Why hadn’t she just stayed home?
The third time her car was hit, it rolled onto its side. Cherilyn screamed as pain shot down her left arm and left leg. She managed to hold onto her cell phone, and when something struck her driver’s side door, shattering the glass, she stuffed it into her jeans pocket. She had no idea why. She only knew she wasn’t going to let it go. It was her only link to Evan and Thayer.
Chapter Nineteen
Evan screamed Cherilyn’s name into the phone over and over, but the call was gone. Thayer was pulling his arm. Why?
“Come on! Let’s go!”
“Where?”
“To find her. Sean and Chad were already on the southeast end of town and are heading toward 231. Troopers on the way.”
“What?” He couldn’t even think straight. She’d said something about a car hitting hers, and then the horrible sound of breaking glass had echoed in the phone. And her screaming…Cherilyn screaming…and he was fucking powerless here to help her.
“Come on!” Thayer tugged on his arm again and this time Evan followed him.
They got into the Porsche, and Thayer turned on his Bluetooth as they peeled out of the rain-soaked parking lot, fishtailing slightly. Thayer let out a string of curse words as he sped through town.
“I’m going to try calling her again.” Evan punched in her number, but there was no answer. The hollow sound of the phone ringing on the other end reminded him of a death knell. Why had they let her go out tonight? Both men had been edgy, and it had nothing to do with the weather. He knew that now. They’d told her that they would protect her and keep her safe, but they hadn’t done that.
They were almost out of town when Thayer’s phone rang. “Yeah. What?”
“We found her car.” It was Chad’s voice.
Evan suddenly felt sick to his stomach. The tone of Chad’s voice didn’t indicate all was well.
“And?” Thayer looked ready to jump out of his skin, but if he didn’t slow down he was going to hit someone.
“It’s on US 231, just north of 18.”
“Chad, is she in it?”
“No.”
“Where is she then?”
“We don’t know, but there are woods here. She could be in them, or not. It’s fucking dark and raining out here, Thayer. We can’t see anything. I’ve alerted the staties. The crime team will go over the car. That’s all I can do right now.”
“Her phone,” said Evan. “Chad, is her phone in the car?”
“I don’t know yet. Why?”
“Because I just tried calling it and it’s still on.”
“Call it now.”
Evan did, and then he waited.
“I don’t hear it ringing,” said Chad. “Give me her number.” Evan did, and then they heard Chad’s voice calling to someone, telling them to put a track on the number.
“I can’t promise anything,” said Chad. “If she turns it off, we can’t find her. And it could be in the woods or anywhere around here. The car is a mess, Thayer.”
Thayer stopped the car and pulled over. He was visibly shaking now. “Chad, what should we do?”
“Go home.”
“I can’t! I have to do something. I have to find her.”
“Thayer, go home. I’ll call you when I know something.” Chad disconnected the call.
“Do you want to go find her car?” asked Evan.
“What’s the point? She’s not in it. We fucked up, Evan. We didn’t keep her safe.”
Thayer was right. They had failed her. He had failed her. He was in love with her, and he’d sworn to keep her safe, but he’d failed her. And now she might never know that he loved her. He should have told her. He almost had when she’d jokingly asked if he intended to move in with Thayer. The words had been right there, on the tip of his tongue, but he hadn’t said them. His fucking fear and his asinine p
ride had kept him from saying them, and now it might be too late.
* * * *
Cherilyn’s phone vibrated in her pocket, but she didn’t dare answer it. The man driving the car didn’t notice. He was too busy singing along to “O Soave Fanciulla” from La bohème. She tried to reach the phone, thinking she could at least text Thayer or Evan, but she couldn’t. He’d bound her hands with something, and even though they were in front of her body, she couldn’t reach into her jeans pocket. It didn’t matter. When he found the phone, he’d take it from her.
She closed her eyes and tried to keep breathing. The sound of breaking glass still echoed in her ears. And then there had been searing pain in her left side as he’d wrenched the seat belt off her and dragged her out onto the highway. She’d tried to roll away, but he’d flung her over his shoulder like a sack of flour and dumped her into the back seat of this car, trying her hands before she could catch her breath. He’d never said a word. The smell of cigarette smoke and beer hung about him, and she hadn’t even had time to try and get a look at his face.
Beer…was he the man from the bar? Was he Jay Nichols? Cherilyn tried not to cry, but she’d never been so afraid in her life. She wanted to be back in her car, driving home to Racy. Home to Thayer and Evan. She wanted to hear their voices whisper to her in the dark, and she wanted to feel their mouths on her. She wanted their arms around her, holding her. Would she ever feel those things again? Was she going to die without them knowing how much she loved them both?
The tears wouldn’t stop. Her entire body was trembling now, and she was in pain. Something warm and sticky was all over her face. Was it blood? Had the glass from her driver’s side door cut her?
She tried to picture Evan’s face and Thayer’s eyes, willing them to somehow know where she was and who she was with. They would find her. They had to. She couldn’t die without having one more chance to look at them and tell them that she loved them. She shouted the words in her mind, over and over. Somehow they would hear them and find her. They had to.
