I picked up a pair of binoculars Stan had loaned me, and I could see her sitting there, a blank stare on her face. I wondered if she was replaying the night she was raped by Dillon. But maybe she was finding the zone to pull off the most important performance of her life.
I checked the time on my phone. It was a couple of minutes after midnight. Stan had said I could be in observation mode only. He understood my concern for ensuring the safety of Nora.
Headlights in my rearview mirror. I hunched lower and heard the quiet growl of a sports car drive by my location. I sat up and watched the car turn down a side street, tap the brakes, and come to a stop. My phone buzzed—a group text from Nick:
D car just drove up. Waiting to see if he gets out.
A couple of minutes passed. I saw no movement. He was smart. He had parked away from any streetlights. Even through the binoculars, it was difficult to see much more than the faint outline of his car—a Ferrari. Thankfully, Stan and Nick didn’t have to rely on twentieth-century technology. I knew they had access to night-vision goggles. One-Eyed Rob had told us that the night-vision capability was built into his video setup.
Another couple of minutes passed with nothing happening. Nick sent out another text:
We might be compromised. D could know this is a setup.
I know these messages were more for the benefit of Moreno and the police chief, whom I was told was sitting in his office anxiously awaiting word that the team finally had irrefutable evidence that Dillon Burchfield was a serial child rapist. It wasn’t enough just to have Nora come forward with her story. To have a rock-solid conviction, we needed Dillon to admit his perverted acts.
I looked through the binoculars and eyed the sports car. I saw no movement in or around the vehicle. What was he waiting on?
Suddenly, the car’s brake lights flashed red. The engine turned over and revved a couple of times.
Crap! He must have gotten nervous. Was it possible he was tipped off? Our team was so small, it was hard to imagine. What about Moreno? I never really trusted that guy. Could he be on Dillon’s payroll? I watched the Ferrari execute a U-turn, then it turned left and headed toward my location. I hunched lower in my seat as the car rumbled by. Then another text came in:
D is on the move. Unsure if we should follow. Awaiting guidance from chief.
If they weren’t going to follow Dillon, I would. I had no idea what I’d say to him once I caught up to him, but I couldn’t let this go on another night. From what Nora had shared, Dillon had not only bragged about his sexual prowess and how he’d used his charm to manipulate girls, but he had shamed every girl into not saying a word. And when that didn’t work, he would threaten them, saying he would have them and their family members killed.
I could only hope to have the opportunity to get in a fight with Dillon. I would tear him apart.
Is that what Cristina did to Jesse?
Violence. It was a natural response, but I knew it wasn’t the right way of handling things. My deep-seated anger was not just at Dillon, but everyone like him, including those from my past.
I tried to calm my nerves as I sat up. I looked in my rearview, and the sports car turned left at the end of the street. I couldn’t let him drive off and go back to living his insulated life. I raised my hand to the ignition. My phone buzzed. It was from Moreno.
D just showed up at bench!!!!!
I quickly raised my binoculars and focused the view. Dillon was sitting next to Nora. He was staring at her, smiling. She moved her hand to his thigh, and he eyed it. She wedged closer against his body and leaned in for what looked like a kiss. In the blink of an eye, he grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her neck back so hard her legs bucked upward.
“Stop!” I yelled to no one. Using one hand, I typed a brief text back to the team.
Save Nora??????
I pressed the binoculars against my face. “Guys, where are you? Dammit, Moreno.”
With my pulse doing a drumroll against the side of my neck, I grabbed the door handle, ready to jump out of the car and race to help Nora.
Dillon released her hair and bent forward, his elbows on his knees, rubbing his hands together. Nora held her hand at the back of her head, a pained expression on her face. But she wasn’t crying. She didn’t even appear to be all that stressed.
A text from Nick:
She’s reeling him in.
A couple of ticks later, she put her hand on his thigh again.
I moved the binoculars away from my face and rubbed my eyes. Did I just see what I thought I saw? She fricking made another move on that pervert! Damn, that girl had balls.
Binoculars back to my eyes, I could see Dillon was smiling again. He was amused at something, but what had she said? The grin morphed into a chuckle, his shoulders bouncing up and down. He leaned back, smacked his hand on his leg.
A quick check of Nora. Now her eyes were wide. She tucked a lock of hair around her ear, She was looking straight at him, still maintaining her composure.
I zoomed in closer to see if I could read his lips.
“You’re going to fucking pay.” I whispered what his lips had mouthed.
“You’re going to fucking pay!” I repeated.
I threw down my binoculars and typed a text:
You guys hear that?
I tapped send and looked up. They weren’t on the bench.
49
Ignoring the stabbing pain in my ribcage, I jumped from my car and spotted Dillon and Nora running into a dark cluster of trees, moving out of my line of sight. He was holding her hand, but he didn’t appear to be dragging her along.
My brain went numb trying to process what I’d seen—or thought I’d seen. I didn’t have time to analyze it. I bolted out of my stance, angling toward the trees.
A scream off to the right. My heart exploded as I turned and shuffled. Moreno had fallen from the tree. He was rolling on the ground, holding his ankle.
He was useless.
I did a quick one-eighty and saw a door on the van open. Nick or Stan would be right behind me. I took off in a sprint, maneuvering around hollies with the ease of a gazelle. I was running so fast into the darkness I didn’t see a small, scruffy tree. It grazed my shoulder, and I fell to the ground.
Up on my hands and knees, I drew in a breath and held it. All I could see were trees and a glow where a row of homes met the sky. I heard a pained squeal. I jumped to my feet, edging forward. “Nora?” I whispered.
No response. Not even the squeal. Had that been her? Maybe I’d heard a squirrel? My mind went back to the mental snapshot of Dillon and Nora racing for the trees. He was holding her hand. Was he pulling her along? At first it seemed that he was. But was it against her will? Maybe he’d threatened her. He must have threatened her.
I pushed my body in between the limbs of two trees. One of the limbs swung back and smacked me in the face. It poked my eye. Dammit! I rubbed and rubbed, but it only hurt worse. Blinking wildly, I took in a breath and pressed my lids shut. Water gathered, lubricating the impacted area. I slowly opened my eyes. Twenty feet away… Was that a human leg? I raced over to a large tree, dropping to my knees. It was Nora. She was wiggling on the ground, her face rigid with strain. Her legs, wrists, and mouth were all bound with duct tape. But she was alive. I tugged at the tape, but it wouldn’t tear. I leaned down and bit into the tape around her wrists. It tore just enough for my hands to get some leverage. She thrashed, pulling her wrists away.
“Nora, it’s okay. I’m here.”
She grunted.
Or did she just laugh?
Before I could take another breath, something sharp punctured my neck. I tried turning to my left, but I only felt my head bounce off the ground. And then I was out.
50
A foul odor jarred me awake. I smelled dirty socks a second before opening my eyes and seeing two big, socked feet inches from my mouth.
My body trembled. I shifted my head and felt Berber carpet against my face. I tried moving m
y limbs, but they were bound. Something pulled at the hairs on my arms. Crap. Duct tape around my wrists and ankles.
The toes at the end of the two feet wiggled. “Enjoying the view from down there?”
It was Dillon. I heard ice pinging a glass. He leaned forward, and I tried to focus on his face. It was a blur. Actually, there were two of him. Was he smiling? I closed my eyes for a second. He snapped his fingers in front of my face, and I shuddered.
He chuckled. “Ivy, you’re just too much.” He pushed up and walked over me.
“Where am I?” My throat felt like unused sandpaper.
“Oh, you’re going places, Ivy,” he said from behind me. My eyes tried to focus on the blinking red light a few feet away from me. Was the light outside of a window?
“Did you ever think that you’d become a world traveler?”
He was either slurring his words or my brain was that foggy.
“I love to travel.” I almost didn’t recognize my own voice.
“Great to hear.”
Glasses clinked, and then he stepped over me and sat down. It was a leather bench seat, ivory in color.
“I’ll take you on a tour later, but you’re sitting in a Gulfstream G650. It can fly up to seven thousand miles before refueling and, with a good trade wind, can reach Mach 1 status. It’s not enough to send us into space, but it takes me where I want to go.”
I blinked a few times. The flashing red light was either the wing of the plane or…
“Where are we?”
“We’re on the tarmac. About to take off. Want to know where you’ll be living?” He got on his knees, his face so close I could smell the booze on his breath. “You do want to live, don’t you?”
My vision was still blurred, but my brain felt like it was sinking into quicksand. “Where’s Nora?”
“She served her purpose.” He sat up, tipped his head back and slurped on his drink.
“What was that?”
“Well, besides screwing her until she cried…” He paused a second, looked to the back. “Anyway, she got you here, didn’t she?”
“Wait, she helped you?”
“You see this finger right here?” He held up his forefinger. “She and every other girl I’ve been with are wrapped around that finger as long as I need them. Usually, it’s just one night. Maybe just an hour or so. They just can’t help themselves. I guess it’s built into their DNA.” He pushed up to a standing position, seemed to be looking outside. “Women. Gullible, naïve, and just plain—” He stopped for a second. “Nope, I can’t say that. Not all women are stupid. Well, as long as they listen to me. If they don’t, then I guess they get what they deserve.”
A surge of adrenaline raced through my limbs. I swung my feet upward, aiming for his crotch. He jumped back, swatting my legs away.
“Whoa, Ivy. You’ve got enough Rohypnol in you to drop a horse. But I love your feistiness. That tells me you’re just about ready for our little date. I’m guessing you’ve not yet joined the mile-high club?”
“Fuck you.”
A little girl cried out.
“Emma?” I said, looking to the back.
He slugged his right foot into my gut, and all air sucked out of me. I couldn’t breathe for what seemed like forever. Finally, I gasped out a breath. It felt like bolt cutters had just severed two of my ribs.
“Shut the hell up. Let me tend to her, then you and I,” he said, moving two fingers from his eyes to mine, “are going to get to know each other real well.”
He slipped through a door at the back. I looked around. Everything was leather or some type of fancy wood. I cleared my throat and thought about screaming for help. What would the pilot do? Could the pilot be Zeke, his trusty right-hand security guy? If so, I wanted no part of him. He was a badass, that had been easy to see.
The door to the back opened, and I got a quick glimpse of Emma on a bed, rolling onto her side. Something was on her head, or over her ears. He locked the door, then slipped off his belt, and used it to smack the leather seat. I flinched.
“Emma’s tired. I gave her my headphones and turned on her favorite movie. She won’t hear a thing, especially once we take off and the engines are really whirring. But I locked the door just for good measure. I don’t want her to be traumatized and then turn into someone like you.”
I looked up at him.
“Yeah, I know all about your past. You think I’d hire someone to be around my little jewel and not do my due diligence?”
That was the term Lucia had said to Nick.
“You’re a real piece of shit, you know that?”
“I’ve been called worse. But name-calling doesn’t get us anywhere. It’s about taking control of your life and getting the most out of it. Know what I mean?”
“You’re demented. You’ve been raping girls for how long?”
“You went to see Cheryl, didn’t you?”
I stayed mute.
“Come on now? Fess up.”
The plane rocked a bit, then began to push forward. Everything started spinning, and a wave of nausea came over me.
“The effects of the drug stick around for a long time. Just when you think it’s out of your system, bam!” He smacked his hands together right in front of my face, then he laughed.
Through my foggy mental state, I could feel the rumble of the plane along the tarmac. It was taxiing at a decent pace. Soon we would take off. To what foreign land was he taking us? I had to figure out a way to get help, stop the plane. But how? I was nearly incapacitated. He had the upper hand, and we’d be in the air in a couple of minutes. After that, I was at his mercy.
“Why did you bring me on the plane?” I asked, curious to know, even if it didn’t help me escape.
He unbuttoned his shirt as if he were getting ready for bed. He popped his eyebrows, showing off a Grinch-like smirk. “Good question, Ivy. I think it’s because of the aura you give off. Usually, I like my girls to be younger, a little more in awe of my presence. But ever since I met you, I could feel this don’t-fuck-with-me attitude. And that made me want you more.”
“I’m flattered,” I deadpanned.
“You should be. You think many women get to experience all of this?” He splayed his arms. “I’m rich, good looking, and believe me, I can deliver in the sack, just in case you’re worried.”
“You’re married, Dillon.” The nausea subsided, but my face felt like all of my blood had drained from it. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“Cheryl has been a thorn in my side for a long time. She gave me Emma, and I’ll give her props for that. Otherwise, she doesn’t deserve to breathe the same oxygen as me. I hope she rots in prison or the loony bin. Then again, if she keeps talking like she’s apparently done with you, then I might just have to send a friend to visit her.”
He smiled as he took off his shirt and threw it to the side. I began to wrench my arms and legs, anything to free my limbs from the duct tape. But just as quickly, my energy deflated like a popped balloon.
I groaned, tried to turn over so I didn’t have to look at him.
“Glad to see you’re just going to give in and go with it. Because if you don’t…”
He paused, and I peeked open an eye to see him holding a needle.
“A fresh dose is just a prick away.” He removed his pants and tossed them over his shoulder.
I almost threw up. “A thong? You think you’re some type of sex god, or what?”
“It’s not just sex, Ivy. I will get what I want in every area of my life.”
“Not in space. You called off the merger.”
“The battle has just begun. I assure you, Belsito will feel my wrath…until he feels nothing at all.” He laughed maniacally.
More nausea and dizziness. The next thing I knew he’d cut the tape around my ankles and was yanking off my jeans. I started kicking. He smacked me across the face. It stunned me for a second. Blood seeped into my mouth.
“We can do this for the next seven
hours if you want. I kind of like a challenge. But then again, you probably won’t recognize yourself when I’m done with you. Once my juices start flowing, I just don’t know how to stop. I’m like a beast.”
He gave me a fake growl, then tugged my jeans down to below my knees.
The plane pitched left and then began to pick up speed, its engines drowning out my guttural moan. I tried to turn and crawl to the cockpit, but he grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled me back. What good would it do me anyway? I had nowhere to go. I was trapped in this flying rape machine. Tears came to my eyes; I felt like a bomb had detonated in my gut. He would rape and assault me, and then what? What use would I be for him after he’d added another notch to his rape belt? He’d probably have Zeke dispose of me in some Brazilian dump after a gunshot to my head. I could only be so lucky to have my life end so quickly. He’d then seek out his next victim in whatever foreign country we landed. And he would get away with it because he had money, influence, and well-timed charm for the right people.
He was invincible.
A quick thought of Milton crossed my mind. It was a sickening irony. It was almost as if my paranoia of Milton had dulled my senses to everyone else. I had learned that Dillon was a loathsome human being. But I’d underestimated him. He’d obviously applied the same shrewdness he used in the business world to his private life.
As the engine noise filled my head, and the plane began to rumble down the runway, Dillon pawed at my shirt, ripping it at the neckline. He was slobbering on me, his breath penetrating my pores. With a burst of energy, I swung my bound fists into his nose.
“Ah, you bitch!” He touched the blood trickling out of his nose. He swung a roundhouse right at my face. I dodged the punch, then slammed my fists into his head. He slumped on top of me, then began to chew at my neck. I cried out as his hands reached down and grabbed me by the…
His ear brushed against my lips. Without thinking, I bit into his ear, thrashing my head like a rabid dog. He shrieked, dug his nails into my face. But I wouldn’t let go. I couldn’t let go. If Mike Tyson could do it in the ring, then I could do it in the fight for my life.
The Ivy Nash Thrillers: Books 1-3: Redemption Thriller Series 7-9 (Redemption Thriller Series Box Set) Page 72
