Raising her head, Lee inhaled deeply and then gagged. The air reeked of death. For several long moments, Lee resisted the urge to vomit. She had to breathe through her mouth to void the worst of the stench. Where was that smell coming from?
Something whined from nearby. Lee’s head swiveled toward the noise and a tendril of pain traveled from her left eye upward into her forehead. Cleo stood beside the chair, almost right at her heel. Lee frowned, realizing she hadn’t been aware of the beagle’s presence until she heard the sound. From what Lee could tell, Cleo wasn’t confined in any way. A tendril of breeze lifted the hair on Lee’s forehead and she noticed the door to the cabin stood partially open. Her loyalty kept Cleo from leaving the cabin.
A shadow moved from the opposite side of the room and Brenda Thomas stepped into the weak circle of light. “I’m impressed. I shot you with enough ketamine to drop a bull moose. You shouldn’t even be awake, much less able to move.”
Brenda walked up directly in front of her and stood staring down at Lee. She rested her hands on her hips. Her eyes looked black in the semidarkness. Lee tried to sense Thomas’s emotional state, but couldn’t get a read on her. It was true that Lee had problems shifting on occasion, but she’d always been able to intuit the emotional atmosphere. Now she couldn’t.
“Why’d you hurt those women?” Lee barely recognized the sound of her own voice. The effort to speak left her weak. “They were innocent.”
“No one is innocent!”
Brenda’s anger made her shout and Lee’s headache intensified. Lee’s vision swam for a moment and it occurred to her that she might be able to use Brenda’s agitation against her. If Lee could rile her up enough, Thomas might make an error that would allow her to escape. She stretched her shoulders a little, testing the ropes that held her confined and nearly rejected the idea. The bonds were too strong.
Lee had the feeling that it wouldn’t matter. Brenda wasn’t concerned about her escaping or anyone else finding them or she wouldn’t have left the door open. She hung her head, feeling defeated, and met Cleo’s eyes. If she couldn’t get free, maybe Cleo could. Lee felt confident that all she required was a momentary lapse in judgment from Brenda. Once Cleo made her getaway, Lee would be able to focus on her own dilemma. She felt her strength returning by the moment.
“Are you just some sicko that gets off hurting people,” Lee paused to take a breath, “seeing the fear in their eyes?”
Brenda’s fists clenched. Her jaw tightened and her body stiffened, but she didn’t react any further.
“Did you enjoy it when they saw your uniform and thought they could trust you?”
“It was an accident,” Thomas shouted.
She lunged forward and grabbed Lee by the collar. Brenda shook her until Lee saw darkness hovering. She was shouting something, but the words ran together until Lee couldn’t understand. Lee’s head reeled to the side and she realized Brenda had slugged her. She didn’t feel any pain and wondered if that was a side effect of the ketamine. If so, she was grateful for small favors.
Cleo lunged for Ranger Thomas, growling low in her chest. Her sharp teeth latched onto a jean-clad calf. Brenda shouted and released Lee. She tried to kick the dog, but couldn’t maneuver well in the confined space.
“Cleo, run!” Lee shouted.
Brown eyes swiveled toward her, but Lee couldn’t get a read on her reaction. She thought she saw stunned disbelief in the chocolate brown eyes. Cleo’s jaw flexed and she bit down harder. Brenda grunted and bent over. At first Lee thought the woman was in serious pain, but quickly determined that wasn’t the issue. Ranger Thomas grasped at the side of her boot and withdrew a wicked looking hunting knife.
Cleo, run! Now!
Lee projected as much urgency as she could into the mental command. Cleo lunged away from the ranger like she’d been scalded, reacting to the order. Brenda swiped the blade toward the dog and Lee expected to see blood arc across the room. Instead, Cleo barely managed to avoid being filleted to the bone. The glint of light off the edge showed Lee the instrument was razor sharp. She breathed a sigh of relief when Cleo shot between Brenda’s feet and tore out of the cabin into the night.
Brenda shouted and started after Cleo. Lee thought she’d pursue the canine until she lost her in the darkness. Unexpectedly, Brenda stopped at the threshold and turned back to Lee. The fury on her face vanished, replaced by a cruel smile.
“It doesn’t matter. I was going to get rid of the hound anyway. I just needed her to bring you here. How does it feel to know you’ve signed her death warrant?”
Lee thought Brenda was taunting her, trying to get a rise out of her. It wasn’t going to work. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. She’s out of your reach now.”
“Sure, out of my reach but what about the animals she’s bound to run into?”
A niggling bit of doubt wormed its way into Lee’s heart. She didn’t respond, unsure what to say.
“We’re miles from anywhere, in a valley surrounded by mountain peaks and heavy forest. There’s only one road in and it ends over a mile from here. How long do you think that mutt of yours is going to last?”
Brenda stalked a few feet away. She giggled and Lee felt a chill skate down her back. The woman sounded unhinged. When she turned around Lee saw her gleeful smile. In that instant, clearly Lee saw the insanity lurking below the surface.
“She’s smarter than you think,” Lee responded defiantly. She had to stay positive or she would begin to doubt that she’d done the right thing in telling Cleo to leave. If she allowed any pessimism to invade her spirit, Lee was afraid she would give up. “She’ll find that road, someone will find her.”
“We’ll see.”
Brenda sounded eerily contained. She squatted down in front of Lee but her eyes were on the hunting knife. She turned the blade this way and that, allowing the lamplight to reflect of the surface. Lee grew concerned that Thomas would think of another use for the knife and sought something to keep the woman talking. Surreptitiously, she began to work the knots tying her wrists together.
“You said the road ended over a mile away. Did you carry me here?”
Brenda threw her head back and laughed. “No, I didn’t carry you. Are you stupid?”
“But you said...”
“I used a brush hog to cut a path.” Brenda’s eyes lit up as she described her activities. “This place was a real find and I knew no one would discover me here. Even the main road is rarely used. Hikers aren’t even allowed in this part of the park anymore, it’s too dangerous. I cut the path myself and I’m the only one who knows about it.”
Lee attempted to play along. “That was very clever of you. I can see why Jamison values you so much as an employee.”
She quickly saw that was exactly the wrong thing to say. The humor vanished from Brenda’s brown eyes. She jumped to her feet and lurched toward Lee, grasping her again by the collar and holding the knife edge against her throat.
“Don’t patronize me and don’t you dare say her name. You want to know why I killed those women? Because they were just like you, so smug and sure of yourself. The first one was an accident. She pissed me off, ordering me around like I was her flunky. I got so mad I didn’t even think about it.” Brenda’s eyes glazed over as she spoke. Her voice softened and Lee thought she’d actually forgotten where she was. “The next thing I knew she was just laying there, bleeding out.”
“You enjoyed it, didn’t you?” Lee risked retaliation by asking the question, but her outrage for the victim demanded a response.
“She got what she deserved.” Brenda pushed Lee back into the chair and stood up. She walked over to a round table and picked up a small, gray object. When she began drawing the knife along the length, Lee figured out it was a whetstone. “After she was dead, I realized she could serve a purpose.”
Lee swallowed thickly. “What sick purpose?”
“A warning to you, of course.” Brenda looked up from her task, her gaze completely de
void of emotion for the first time since Lee had awakened. “Only you were too stupid to pick up on it and another woman had to die.”
Lee’s eyes widened as Brenda replaced the stone and started in her direction. Ranger Thomas held the knife tightly and the look of intent in her eye was hard to miss.
“Wait, tell me why. You at least owe me that. Don’t you want to tell me what warning you were trying to send?”
Confusion swam in Brenda’s gaze, but she stopped walking. Lee let out a soft gasp of relief. The ploy seemed to work. Brenda rocked back and forth on her feet, just a second of indecision. Then she started talking.
“You were supposed to go away so Jamison and I could be together.”
Lee blinked. She hadn’t expected that. She knew Brenda had a small crush, and had teased Jamison about it often enough. She thought that infatuation the root cause of Brenda making up the story about Lee assaulting her, as a way to get attention. Lee had even figured out Brenda was the murderer, but she never expected the two events were related.
“Brenda, that doesn’t make sense. How could killing those women warn me to leave?”
“Because they look like you! You should have known that I would come for you if you didn’t allow us to be together.”
Lee stretched her hands apart. She had some slack in the ropes now. Flexing her muscles, Lee was disappointed that she still couldn’t break free. Her body still felt sluggish, heavy. She had tried everything she could think of to work the bonds loose and distract her captor, but sensed time running out. Lee had no doubt that Jamison was coming for her but worried that she wouldn’t be in time. She had to keep Brenda talking until Jamison found her.
“Why didn’t you just tell me? You didn’t have to hurt anyone.”
“That wouldn’t have worked,” Brenda argued. “You’re too selfish and Jamison is too loyal. That’s the only reason she’s still with you, you know? If it looked like you walked away on your own, she would have let you go.”
“What if I agreed to leave now...now that I know?”
Lee held her breath, hoping Brenda would consider it. For some reason she couldn’t break the ropes but if Ranger Thomas untied her, Lee would have a fighting chance. Lee offered what she hoped was a friendly smile.
“You think I’m an idiot, don’t you? You’ll just run and tell Jamison.” Brenda shook her head and raised the knife high into the air. “Can’t have that, now can we?”
“Fine, whatever. I’m tired of trying to reason with a psycho. If you’re going to kill me then just do it and get it over with. At least I won’t have to listen to this lunacy anymore.”
Fury tightened Brenda’s face. Lee shivered slightly, chilled by the expression and the evil it revealed to her. She’d thought that goading Brenda might cause her to slip up, give Lee a chance to make a break for it. Instead, she thought perhaps she’d gone too far.
“You’ve got guts,” Thomas said harshly, lowering the blade. “Before this is over, I’ll be playing with them.”
Lee tasted fear. Desperation caused her to take another track. “If you kill me, Jamison will hate you.”
The words tumbled out before Lee realized what she was saying. Her heart pounded, but Brenda stopped again. Lee had finally gotten through to her. Jamison was the one thing Brenda cared about. Maybe she could get out of this after all. She just had to be smart and play off this psychopath’s emotions.
“She won’t know.” Thomas didn’t sound very sure. “She’ll think you left all on your own when no one finds the body.”
Lee shook her head. “My clothes are all there and I didn’t leave a note. Jamison will be worried and she’ll look for me. Don’t you want her all to yourself without any distractions?”
“Yes,” Thomas hissed, clearly reluctant to give Lee even that much.
Brenda turned away from Lee and placed the knife on the table. For a moment, Lee thought she’d actually convinced Brenda to let her go. Her hopes vanished when the woman walked over to the corner of the cabin and hefted a rifle from out of the shadows. Lee watched her work the weapon’s bolt and then retrieve a dart from her shirt pocket. Brenda slipped the dart into the chamber and then returned to stand directly in front of the chair.
“What are you doing?”
“You talk too much. I need to think.”
Brenda raised the tranquilizer rifle to hip level and squeezed the trigger. She didn’t bother to aim, seeming unconcerned where the dart hit. Lee grunted when the needle drilled into the right side of her chest, just above the breast. The drug flooded her body and Lee sagged against the rope. She tried to speak, but managed only a gurgling noise. Lee fought to keep her eyes open. When that failed, she made a last ditch effort to shift. The rush of hormones released from changing into a jaguar should allow her body to expel the toxin and rid herself of her bindings.
Lee hadn’t tried earlier because her beast would have no compunctions about killing Brenda. She would simply see it as survival of the fittest and eliminating a threat. Lee’s higher reasoning abhorred the thought of killing another, even to save her own skin. However, talking hadn’t worked and she wondered why she ever thought it would. Her altruistic compunction to save Brenda from death at the hands of her jaguar counterpart changed with the tranquilizer shot. Now it was kill or be killed. Lee had no illusions what Brenda’s ultimate plans for her were.
Lee strained, trying to force the change. It was very likely she wouldn’t get another chance. Unfortunately, her effort at changing now produced the same outcome it had earlier in the evening while waiting for Cleo’s kidnapper to show up. Lee sagged against the restraints, unable to hold her body upright. From somewhere far away, she heard Brenda laughing.
WITH GRAYSON FINALLY quiet, Brenda heaved a sigh of relief. She stood directly in front of the woman, the rifle dangling forgotten in her hands. Just before losing consciousness, Grayson had struggled against the rope. By itself, her resistance wasn’t all that unusual. Anybody would fight, given the same circumstances. What surprised Brenda was that Lee actually expected to break free. Brenda could see it in her face. The sheer audacity was enough to anger her further.
Brenda raised the rifle, reversing it with the butt end forward. She tensed in preparation of striking. One sharp blow to the bridge of her nose would drive bone shards into Grayson’s brain. It would be over in an instant. That thought alone prevented her from following through. She didn’t want things to end so quickly. Grayson deserved to die slowly for keeping her and Jamison apart.
Spinning on her heel, Brenda walked over to the single hardback chair near the hearth. She dropped into the seat, grunting slightly. Her hard, flat gaze traveled over Grayson’s unconscious form. Brenda wanted to pull her flesh from her body in strips, slowly, so she could listen to Grayson scream. She’d have to wait for the woman to wake up first and that would take hours.
Brenda sighed in disappointment and then frowned. Lee had said Jamison would be looking for her. She wouldn’t believe Lee left town on her own. That was true. Brenda knew how stubbornly loyal Jamison could be. It was one of her most adorable qualities. It was also one of her most annoying. If Jamison had just accepted that they belonged together and walked away from Grayson, none of this would be necessary. In a way, the death of three people was on Jamison’s hands. Brenda acknowledged that fact and forgave her anyway. That’s what you did when you loved someone.
Once Lee was out of the picture, Jamison would be free to be with her. Brenda stared unseeing at the front door considering what she’d have to do if Jamison chose not to embrace their opportunity. She didn’t want to hurt Jamison; the woman was her soul mate. Brenda shook her head. It wouldn’t come to that. She was worrying about nothing.
Something slapped against a cracked windowpane. Brenda started, convinced her cabin had been discovered. She realized it was only a tree limb. The wind was starting to pick up. Looking through the dusty glass, Brenda noticed the moon beginning to set. She’d need to take the dog out or the damn thing
would be pissing all over the cabin. Brenda looked around, but didn’t see the mutt anywhere. She searched the entire cabin before remembering that the animal had skittered out through the open door earlier. She had taunted Lee about the dog, saying that forest animals would kill it. Now Brenda wasn’t so sure. Jamison would be out looking for the Grayson woman. If she managed to find the beagle, it would lead her to the cabin. The structure was the only one around for miles and showed on the old park maps. That was how Brenda had found the place to begin with.
“Damn.”
She had to find that damned dog. Brenda glanced toward Grayson. The woman hadn’t moved since she’d shot her with the tranquilizer dart and it would be hours before Lee woke up. Cleo couldn’t have gone far. Remembering the rifle, Brenda retrieved it and slipped another dart into the pipe. The dosage was fine for Grayson, but this much would kill the dog. Brenda didn’t care. She’d just dump the carcass with the rest of the dead animals in the root cellar. Without another look at Grayson, Brenda headed out of the open cabin door.
Brenda headed toward the road at a steady jog. She glanced all around while she called to the dog in what she considered a sickly, sweet tone. “Here boy, that’s a good dog.” Wait, Grayson said it was a girl. What was her name? “Here, girl. Come here, I won’t hurt you...much. At least not for long,” she added under her breath.
Brenda passed the remains of the white van she’d used to transport the two teenagers, wrinkling her nose from the stench of burnt wiring and upholstery. The vehicle stood out in the darkness, but Brenda couldn’t see the dog. She whistled and called for the beagle but didn’t see any signs of her. The tall grass on either side of the rough path didn’t help. Cleo could literally be lying right beside her and Brenda would never know it.
Under Devil's Snare (Under Series Book 2) Page 19
