"It‘s ok. You live here alone?"
"No, I live here with my wife. She’s not feeling too well at the moment," Camden said, trying to hide his annoyance. "Where do you need directions to?"
"Brubaker Park."
"Take the dirt road to the fork, then go right. It’s about two miles up that way."
"Thanks," the man said. "I’m John, by the way."
"I’m Doug. Nice to meet you," Camden said, shaking his hand firmly. He watched as John turned to leave, going back inside when he disappeared out of sight. He went back to Kaine’s room and saw that she hadn’t moved. He wondered if she even knew that somebody had come to the door. He flicked on the light and stormed to the bed, grabbing her face and staring into her eyes. "Get up."
She looked at him but didn’t respond.
"Kaine, this is ridiculous. You’re not helping anything by laying here wallowing in self pity. Get up. Now."
She rolled over, facing away from him.
"Get up!" He yelled. "Get the fuck up!" He didn’t care if she was scared. At least that meant she felt something.
He pulled the towel off of her and turned her naked body so she was laying on her back and sat between her legs. "I’m gonna fuck you."
She didn’t respond. He undid his belt and unzipped his jeans, laying on top of her. He pulled her hair back and kissed her neck. "You want me inside you, Kaine?"
He pulled away and saw tears forming in her eyes. "If you don’t want me to fuck you right now, you better say something."
She squeezed her eyes shut as he ran his hands down her body.
"Don’t," she whispered. He froze, then continued running his hands down her legs.
"Stop," she choked out.
"Make me."
"Stop!" She cried, pushing at him. "Get off of me!"
He grinned and sat back. "That’s better."
"Fuck you," she spat out. "Get away from me."
He stood up. "Listen, Kaine. You can’t spend the rest of your life lying in bed staring the wall. Come get something to eat."
She glared at him. "You stupid asshole. You kidnap me and take me to this shitty cabin and keep me locked in one room without food for days then all of a sudden you decide that I can’t lay in bed? You crazy, pathetic piece of shit."
"Come get something to eat," he repeated, ignoring her outburst. "You can lay here and feel bad for yourself, or you can come with me and let me make you happy. I can give you whatever you want, Kaine. I promise you’ll be happy again."
"I don’t want anything from you," she snapped.
He stared down at her. "What about another baby?"
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.
"We can get married," he quickly said. "I have money, Kaine. Lots of money. We don’t have to stay here. We can go anywhere you want to and start over. We can even go to Paris if you want. Anywhere. We can start our own family and be happy together."
She laughed incredulously. "Wherever I want? Really? Fine. I want to go home."
"Home to what?" He asked before he could stop himself. "There’s nothing there for you. This is your home now."
"This is not my home. My home is with Shane and Adam."
"Did you not see that video? They’re fucking DEAD, Kaine. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll realize that I’m the one you should be with. Haven’t I treated you nicely? I haven’t hurt you. I haven’t made you do anything you didn’t want to do."
"I didn’t want to be ripped away from my family and starved."
"Listen," he said through clenched teeth. "You can get mad if you want, but you’re not leaving me. This is your home now. So you can let me make you happy, or you can lay here and starve to death."
She laid back down and closed her eyes.
"God dammit, Kaine!" He yelled, picking her up and dragging her out of the room.
"Let go!" She screamed.
He dragged her to the kitchen and tossed her in a chair. "Sit your bony ass down and eat some god damn food. You look terrible."
"Then stay away from me!" She yelled.
He picked up a plate and hurled it at the wall. Kaine flinched as it shattered. She had been scared when Shane did it, but not of him. She knew he would never direct his anger towards her. She was terrified of what Camden would do. He stood breathing heavily for a second, then turned around and smashed his fist into the wall. Kaine quietly stood up and tried to go back to her room.
"Don’t you dare," he growled. "Sit down."
Kaine turned and sat back down without protest. He stared at her for a minute before going to the sink and running his bloody fist under the water. He wrapped it in a towel and sat down across from Kaine. "Eat something."
She nodded nervously, afraid to say no.
"Can I have some clothes?" She asked quietly. He stood up and went to her room and came back a minute later with a short black dress. "Arms up," he instructed. She put her arms up and he slipped the dress over her head. She didn’t bother to protest or tell him that she could do it herself. He was going to do what he wanted either way, and she didn’t have the energy to fight him anymore. "Doesn’t that feel better?" He asked. She nodded, although the idea that putting on a dress would make her feel better was laughable. Camden put a piece of bread in the toaster and sat across from her. "You're going to eat the toast," he said firmly. "Then you’re going to eat something else in two hours."
She nodded again. Now that she knew he had money, she wanted to ask him if he had anything to do with Josh getting hurt but was afraid to ask. She supposed it didn’t really matter. She knew in her heart that he had.
He gave her the toast and handed her a glass of juice. She ate slowly and stood up when she was finished.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"To go lay down."
"No," he said. "You can lay down later. Why don’t we go sit outside?"
She looked outside longingly. He didn’t want to go outside this soon after John had come to his door, but he couldn’t think of anything else to keep Kaine from shutting down again. She stood up on shaky legs and he took her hand, leading her outside.
19
John Colton straightened in his chair when he heard the knock on his door. "Come in!" He called. Shane Ellery opened the door and walked in with his little boy. "Hey," he said nervously. "What’s going on? Why did you want to talk to me?"
"Have a seat," John said, motioning to the chair. Shane sat down and pulled Adam on his lap, giving him a pack of fruit snacks. He immediately went to work on them. Shane looked up, looking sick. "Please just tell me," he said weakly. "Did you find her?"
"We didn’t find Kaine yet," he said quickly. "But I think we found Camden Lawson."
Shane’s head shot up. "What? Where? Where is he? Where’s Kaine?"
"He’s staying in a cabin over in Ridgefield. It’s pretty secluded. I paid him a visit today."
"What?? You saw him?"
Colton nodded. "I pretended to be a lost hiker asking for directions. He told me his name was Doug. He seemed nervous and wanted me to leave."
"Well where’s Kaine? Was she there?"
"I don’t know," Colton said. "I didn’t go inside."
"Why not?" Shane asked.
Colton could tell he wanted to lose his temper, but was keeping it together for his son. "Because that’s not how it works. We got a call from a lady in Michigan who recognized his picture from the news. She thought it was the same guy who rented her cabin a year ago. He paid cash up front so there’s no paper trail. His name was Douglas Smith, but I’m pretty sure it’s him. I called you in to take a look at this." He pressed play on the laptop and turned it towards Shane. He watched Shane’s eyes widen. "That’s him! That’s Camden. He has her. He has my wife. Why didn’t you save her?" He asked, glaring at Colton.
"We have to be careful. If I made him suspicious, he might have taken her somewhere else or worse. Assuming he has her."
"He has her," Shane snapped. "I bet he bought
that cabin just to keep her in. If you’re not gonna do anything, I’ll go get her myself."
"No you won’t," John said firmly. I just got a warrant to search his place. I have a team in place, and we’re going over there just as soon as we get clearance."
"Then I’m going with you. Let me just find a sitter for Adam."
"You’re not going," John said. "I can’t let you in the house. If we don’t find her, we’ll have nothing on him even if they do find evidence of her ever being there. You’re a lawyer. You know how this works."
"I won’t go inside," he said desperately. "I need to be there when you find her. What if she’s hurt? She needs me."
"No."
Shane shrugged. "You know I’m going either way. With or without you."
Colton sighed. "All I can do is let you wait until we find her and bring her out. IF we find her. This isn’t a sure thing, Shane. I don’t want you to get your hopes up."
"He has her. I’m sure of it."
"I hope you’re right," said Colton. When he first met Shane, he hadn’t liked him at all. He reminded him of the guys who used to pick on him in high school. He also didn't like the way he had been spying on his ex wife. Once he had gotten to know him past the anger and frustration of Kaine being missing, he was a pretty good guy. He was a good father and devoted husband, from what he could see. "How’s your stomach?" He asked quietly.
Shane shrugged. "I never thought a blank bullet would hurt so damn much. It’s ok though. The guy who shot me still won’t admit he knows who Camden is?"
"Nope. He still claims that some guy hired him to shoot you. He didn’t know the gun was loaded with blanks."
"If he admitted that, he’s an idiot."
"He is," Colton agreed. "So I’m inclined to believe that he really was a random guy who needed money."
"Yeah, maybe. When are we going to get Kaine?"
"Soon. How’s he doing?" John asked, looking at Adam. Shane shrugged. "As good as can be expected, I guess. He’s been acting out a lot. He’s still asking for her. I tell him she’ll be home soon. I don’t know what else to say."
Colton nodded and stood up. "Do you have someone to watch him?"
Shane checked his phone. "Yep. Come on, buddy," he said to Adam. "Want to go play with Uncle Jay?"
Adam brightened a bit but didn’t answer.
"I’ll be back in 20," Shane promised.
15 minutes later, Shane flew back into the station parking lot. "I’m ready," he said to Colton. "Let’s go."
"Hold on," Colton said. "We have to wait for everyone to debrief."
Shane sighed in frustration. Being a lawyer, he knew how important it was to have all your paperwork in place before you acted, but he couldn’t wait. Who knew what Camden was doing to her as they stood here and waited?
Camden half carried, half walked Kaine outside. He pulled her to the middle of the yard and sat her down. "You feel ok?" He asked. She shrugged and laid down in the grass.
"Sit up," he instructed. "No laying down."
He pulled her up and sat behind her, wrapping his arms around her. "If you’re tired, you can lean on me."
She leaned on him without protest. She was too tired to argue.
"This is nice," he said. "Don’t you like this?"
She shrugged.
"You need to answer me when I ask you a question, Kaine. Show some respect."
To his surprise, she burst out laughing. "Respect? You think I respect you? Are you serious, Cam? I will never respect you. I hate you."
She felt him struggle to control his breathing. She knew he was mad, but she didn’t care. This monster had kidnapped her and stolen everything she loved, and he wanted respect? "Fuck you," she snapped. She gasped as he moved from behind her, letting her fall to the ground. "You better shut up right now," he warned her.
"FUCK YOU!" She screamed, sitting up. He clamped his hand over her mouth and pushed her back down. "Shut up!" He shouted. "Shut your fucking mouth!"
She glared at him, and he saw the hate in her eyes.
"Maybe I need to show you how we do things around here," he snapped. "I will not be disrespected in my own house. Apologize." He took his hand away from her mouth and she laughed. "Fuck. You."
His face turned red and he slapped her in the face. Her head snapped to the side, but she didn’t cry. "Fucking bitch," he muttered, unzipping his jeans. "That’s it. That’s fucking it. You hate me? That’s fine. I’ll give you a reason to hate me."
Kaine turned her head and spit in his face. His eyes widened as he slapped her again. She turned to spit on him again and noticed a blur to her left. She gasped as Camden flew off of her. The yard filled with people and Shane sat on top of Camden, yelling and punching him in the face.
She laid down and closed her eyes. So this is what it felt like to go insane.
20
"It’s about a mile walk through here," Colton told Shane and the six officers who were gathered by the woods. "You all know your coordinates. Nobody go in until I say so. Got it?"
They all agreed and headed into the woods. "Don’t move at all until we get her out safely, ok? I don’t need you messing things up." Colton said to Shane.
"I won’t," Shane promised. They walked through the woods, checking Colton’s GPS to make sure they were headed the right way. Shane could see why Camden would take Kaine here. It was literally in the middle of nowhere. "So what’s the plan?" Shane asked.
"I go in with the warrant."
Shane waited. "That’s it? What if he doesn’t let you in?"
"We break the door down."
"But what if…"
"Look," Colton said. "We have contingency plans for every situation. My guys know what they’re doing. Let us handle it."
"Yeah, I know, but…" Shane was cut off by a scream. "Shit! That’s Kaine!" He exclaimed, running ahead.
"Wait!" Colton hissed after him, but it was too late. "God damn it!" He muttered, running after Shane.
Shane ran as fast as he could toward the yelling and the screaming. He paused for a second, disoriented until he heard shouting. "Shut up!" He heard Camden yell. "Shut your fucking mouth!"
He ran toward the sound and froze for a split second when he saw Camden in the middle of the yard on top of Kaine. Camden slapped her in the face and Shane immediately unfroze, charging him as hard and fast as he could. He watched as Camden sat up and unzipped his jeans. Kaine spit in his face and he hit her again. Shane crouched down and smashed into Camden, taking him by surprise. He punched him as hard as he could. Camden tried to fight back, but the sight of Camden hitting Kaine was enough to push Shane over the edge. He punched Camden until he stopped fighting, then kept punching him until he felt hands drag him away. "Let me go!" He shouted. "I’m gonna fucking kill him!" He broke out of the grip of the two police officers and jumped on an unconscious Camden, wrapping his hands around his throat. He was pulled back again. "Calm down!" Colton yelled at him.
Shane was about to try to jump on Camden again until he saw Kaine laying on the grass, unconscious. He ran to her and cradled her in his arms. He couldn’t believe how thin she had gotten in just three weeks. Her lips were dry and whitish, and her skin was pale. She looked dead.
"Kainie, it’s me," he said softly. "You’re ok. Come back to me, baby." He pressed his forehead against hers and kissed her gently.
Kaine heard distorted voices and vaguely wondered what was going on.
"Come back to me, baby."
She gasped and opened her eyes to see Shane’s bright blue eyes staring into hers. "Shane," she choked out.
He smiled at her. "It’s me, Kainie. I’m here. You’re ok."
"Where’s Adam?" She asked weakly.
"He’s fine," Shane assured her. "He’s with Jay."
"Jay’s dead too?" She asked, looking around.
"What? No. Nobody’s dead. Are you ok?"
She looked at him again, her face crumpling. "You're alive," she sobbed, grabbing his face. "Oh my god, you're ali
ve. He told me..."
"I'm ok, baby. Everyone's ok."
She wrapped her arms around him. "Hold me," she said shakily. She still couldn't believe that he was ok. He wrapped his arms around her gently and she sobbed into his shoulder. "I thought I'd never get to hold you again," she sobbed. "I thought..."
"Shh, calm down," he said softly. "I'm fine. Adam is fine. He misses you like crazy, but he's fine."
"He said you were dead. He had a video..."
"It wasn't real, baby." He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his chest. "You feel that?"
She closed her eyes and nodded. "It looked so real," she whispered. "How did he..."
"It’s ok. I'm ok, Kainie. Are you ok?"
She hesitated, then nodded. "I'm ok now. Where's Camden?" She tried sit up.
"He's knocked out and being taken away by about six policemen. He won't hurt you anymore," Shane said. "He won't ever hurt you again."
Kaine stared up at him. "Kiss me," she whispered. Shane brushed her hair away from her face and pressed his lips gently to hers. He pulled away when she started crying again. "I want to go home," she sniffed. "I want to see Adam."
"Hold on," he said. He got up and walked away as she forced herself to sit up. She fought through the dizziness that threatened to overtake her and looked around the yard, realizing the commotion going on around her. There were about twenty people in the yard, going in and out of the cabin. She looked frantically for Shane and saw him talking to an officer. She forced herself to stand up and stumbled over to him. She couldn't believe he was here, and she never wanted to let him out of her sight again. He caught her as she fell into his arms and gently lowered her to the ground. "Stay here. You need a hospital."
"No I don't," she protested. "I need to go home."
Make Me (Bully Me #2) Page 12
