by Lexie Ray
“It’s password protected,” said the analyst.
“What are you talking about?” asked the Sheriff.
“It gives a hint,” the analyst went on, scrutinizing his computer screen.
Linden leaned in to see.
“The hint,” continued the analyst, “says, ‘The reward, the gift, each girl will get.’ Does that mean anything to you?” He asked, addressing everyone behind him.
“We can presume Detective Voss will know,” said the Sheriff. “Anyone able to get a hold of her?”
Linden hadn’t tried. He had wanted the time and space to himself. He was piecing things together, and it was vital to keep Voss as far out of the picture as possible.
“I have an idea,” said Linden, abruptly.
“Well?” said the Sheriff, but by the time he turned around to emphasize his question with an irritated glance at Linden, the detective from out of town was already lumbering back to his car. “See if you can crack it anyway,” instructed the Sheriff to the analyst.
“It’s gonna take time,” he said.
At his Buick, Linden popped open the back door where Twitch had been sitting.
“I got a question for you,” said Linden.
“You know letting me go is supposed to mean letting me go,” said Twitch with an attitude. “Not holding me in the back of your car so I can’t go anywhere.”
“Stop complaining,” said Linden. “I left you with a whole box of doughnuts, didn’t I?”
Twitch glared at him, the boiling stare of a fuming teenager.
“The reward, the gift, each girl will get,” said Linden. “What does that mean?”
“Why?”
“Just tell me, it’s important,” said Linden. “Does it mean anything to you?”
“Yeah,” said Twitch. “The reward is always a bullet.” Twitch lifted the chain necklace from around his neck until its bullet pendant sprung free. “We all got bullets.”
* * *
The girls had their reservations about untying Blair so that she could use the bathroom, but Margot insisted that it would be fine. Blair had been right. If they didn’t let her use the bathroom, then they would be no better than Grizzly and his band of heartless men. It was a point Margot reiterated to Devon and the rest before helping Blair to the bathroom.
However, she had been in there a really long time now, and Margot was beginning to feel like she had made a terrible mistake.
“Are you sure she’s still in there?” mouthed Devon, questioning, as Margot waited at the bathroom door. She nodded. She could hear Blair rustling around in there, balling up toilet paper, flushing, running water, and yet the series of sounds kept repeating, making no sense, as though the actions didn’t matter.
Jenna was standing beyond the bathroom window amongst the shrubs outside, watching incase Blair decided to jump out the window to escape. So far the girl hadn’t even glanced through the glass, but Jenna remained alert all the same, holding the gun Ash had left them with, aiming it at the window.
She flinched, startled by the sound of footsteps behind her, boots crunching into gravel. She swung the gun around herself, preparing for anything, her thin arms trembling under the weight of the weapon.
Hunter looked slightly confused, as she approached, Ash beside her. Her forehead furrowed slightly. What’s going on? the look implied.
“Blair had to use the bathroom,” said Jenna, lowering the gun until it dangled from her loose grip.
Ash glanced at Hunter, implying that he’d stay outside the window. Hunter led Jenna back inside and found Margot outside the bathroom.
“I want you to trust me,” Hunter said very quietly to Margot and the rest of the girls. She was sure to make eye contact with each one of them to establish that she had a plan, and they mustn’t interfere. Then, she knocked on the bathroom door.
“Blair, it’s Hunter. Is everything ok in there?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? I’m only being followed around like a prisoner,” said Blair. There was something refreshing about her sarcasm, as far as Hunter was concerned. It was a typical teenaged response. It made Hunter feel like her sister’s personality was in tact. She wasn’t too far gone, just another teenager taking too long in the bathroom.
“Take your time,” Hunter went on. “I have a phone for you and a knife.”
The door popped open immediately. Blair narrowed her gaze on Hunter, skepticism swirled behind her eyes and also a glimmer of hope.
“We need to be able to contact you when we’re out, and we don’t want to worry about your safety,” Hunter added off-handedly, as though it wasn’t necessary to address this major leap she had taken—from needing her sister tied up when she was gone to wanting her to have a cell phone and a weapon—as though they were on the same side.
Margot’s jaw was on the floor. Hunter briefly glanced over her shoulder and saw a lot of nervous faces. Clearly, the girls thought she was making the wrong move, but Ash and Hunter had developed a plan, and this was how it needed to start.
“Oh, you’re done in there?” she asked.
“Yeah, the last twenty minutes was just me getting some space anyway,” said Blair.
“Follow me,” said Hunter, who led her sister back the way she had come through the living room and out the front door of the cabin. “The air out here is much better. The cabin can get a little stuffy.”
They walked out to the car, and as they did Ash slipped around from under the window where he had been waiting and through the front door. He’d update the girls on the plan. Once everyone was on the same page, they’d have a real shot of finding Grizzly before he found them.
“Here,” said Hunter, handing Blair a disposable phone. “It’s a burner. It has my number plugged into it.” Hunter studied her sister’s face, as Blair turned the phone over in her hands, flipping it open, searching the contact list (one number), call history (none), call back number, and otherwise familiarizing herself with the low-tech gadget. “I trust you, Blair. We trust you, Ash and I. If someone had tried to help me by keeping me in a cabin right after I escaped from the farmhouse, I would’ve fought them all the way, too. I think it’s best for you to be independent and on your own, but we’re always here for you.”
Blair glanced up at her through her dark eyebrows, as though lifting her head would take her too far from her precious cell phone. Hunter could tell Blair didn’t trust her, and she shouldn’t. They were going to play on Blair’s weakness. Blair wouldn’t be able to stay away from Grizzly, and it didn’t matter that she had no idea where he was at the moment. She would be persistent and try to meet him, even if he didn’t want that. And when she would, she would lead Hunter and Ash straight to him.
“This is the knife we got for you,” said Hunter. “I want you to stay safe, but I couldn’t let you have a gun or any weapon that would risk you getting into serious trouble if you got caught with it.”
Hunter passed the knife to Blair. It was small, and its black plastic handle looked cheap. It was folded into itself, and when Blair opened it, she discovered it was nothing more than a common hunting knife. The kind anyone could buy at Wal-Mart or a fish and game store. She pursed her lips, thinking about how she could use the thing to kill. It would be no match for a gun, Hunter’s or Ash’s knives, or on the police. That was the point, wasn’t it? It didn’t matter. Blair could kill with her bare hands if she really wanted someone dead. She could use this. The only pity was that she wouldn’t be able to use it on Hunter. Fine. She only needed to regroup with Grizzly to get properly outfitted with weapons. Then, she would come back and finish Hunter.
“Now, we aren’t kicking you out,” said Hunter. “We’re just giving you your freedom back and letting you know that we trust you. We can all live here together.” Hunter turned back towards the house, suddenly aware of how loud the crickets were, like a chorus of pulsing screams. “Come on back inside,” she said. “It’s late.”
Inside, Ash was in the middle of making the girls a snack, spr
eading peanut butter and jelly haphazardly onto white bread in an assembly-line fashion. Hunter passed through, heading straight for the shower.
“I’ll meet you in bed,” she said to Ash before closing the bathroom door.
Once the girls were settled with their sandwiches, Ash took a seat between Margot and Devon, huddling close.
“I want you each to keep a gun,” he whispered, tucking a weapon discretely down the back of Devon’s waistline. Margot already had her weapon hidden down the back of her pants, as well. “Take turns sleeping, as always, and stay alert so that Blair doesn’t try anything. We don’t expect her to do anything except leave, looking for Grizzly. Unless she’s clearly about to harm one of you, just let her come and go as she pleases, ok?”
Devon nodded.
“How long are we going to stay here?” asked Margot. It had been putting her on edge to stay in the same place for so long. It reminded her of when they had sat tight in Hunter’s Brooklyn apartment. All the girls had let their guard down. They had thought it was over. And it had been far from over.
“You’re safe here,” said Ash.
“We aren’t safe anywhere, and you know it,” said Margot, aggressively countering, the representative of the girls’ welfare.
“Hunter and I have a plan, you just have to trust us,” he whispered.
“We’re all unharmed,” said Margot. “We’re all in one piece. We should go, leave New Hampshire, and get as far away from the northeast as possible. I know you don’t want to hear it, but we should quit while we’re ahead.”
Devon looked crestfallen when Ash diverted his gaze from Margot to her. It was the look of a very scared girl who didn’t want to think only of herself but knew that she had to in order to stay alive. That’s how they all felt, and justifiably so.
“Look, I get it,” he began. “I don’t blame you for feeling that way. In a lot of ways, what you’re suggesting is the smartest thing to do. But can you really, in your heart of hearts, leave Grizzly out there? Can you really ask me to walk away? Do you really want to do anything that would give him the opportunity to start fresh, abducting girls, recruiting pedophiles, and operating a whole new farm?”
Margot fell silent.
“Just hang in there, please,” said Ash, before he rose to his feet.
Blair entered the front door. All eyes were on her. She noted the mess of sandwiches, the open peanut butter jar, and the globs of jelly on the counter.
“Can I make you something?” Ash asked quietly, as the girls were settling down into their blankets across the floor.
Blair shook her head, declining.
“Well, you can help yourself if you get hungry,” he added, as he flipped the overhead light off. She really didn’t look like Hunter all that much, though the family resemblance was there. Hunter embodied a dark, smoky, alluring quality. There was something in her gaze that smoldered. Blair didn’t have the same edge. That’s what made her tenacity so confusing. Blair honestly looked like a farm girl, a blond Pollyanna. She had big, optimistic eyes, a pouting mouth that somehow curled up at the sides giving her an air of cheer, and rosy cheeks. She didn’t look like a killer. That’s what made her so frightening. She was like the doll that comes alive in a horror film. Even while killing you, you would be in a state of disbelief, But she seemed so sweet.
Ash watched her, careful not to stare, as she lifted her gaze from the counter and made her slow way into the laundry room. It appeared she was going to stay the night. With any luck, he thought, she’ll leave as planned.
Under the covers, Ash lay bare-chested, relishing a cool breeze that was blowing in from the open window. When Hunter came in, she had a towel wrapped around her, closing the door behind her. She carried the fresh scent of soap and water in her hair and on her skin.
“Drop the towel,” said Ash with a devilish grin.
Hunter shook her head, smirking. “Bad,” she said lowly. “We should keep our clothes on, in case she leaves tonight.”
“We aren’t going to stay right on top of her,” he said. “She can go, we’ll track the GPS on her phone. When she lands somewhere, we’ll follow. There’s plenty of time.”
Gazing down at Ash on the bed, drinking in the sexy curves of his rock hard abs, his firm pecs, and the way the sheet draped effortlessly over his lap in rows of tiny ripples, Hunter felt the need to let her towel drop.
She let it go.
Water streaked down from her wet, wavy hair, over her breasts, and down her stomach—until it clung in the tight curls between her legs.
The lines of her body, the sharp angle of her shoulders, the thin shadow under her collar bone, and the curves of her breasts, hips made Ash hard beneath the covers. The sight of her caused his body to stiffen. He longed to fill her and to be as close as humanly possible to her.
Hunter stepped quietly on her tiptoes towards the bed until she was standing over Ash. His smile spread wider across his face, revealing a slight patch of gums above his incisors, a feature Hunter had always found incredibly sexy. He looked wicked in the best way possible. She couldn’t wait to see what he might do to her. However, it would seem he was enjoying their little staring contest, enjoying looking up at her so much so that he remained still.
She pinched the sheet atop his leg and slowly pulled it downward—until his naked body was exposed.
The sensation of the sheet grazing him with its feather-light stroke sent shivers of pleasure through Ash’s body. He grew even harder. Hunter’s eyes widened, staring down at him as he did. He loved the effect he had on her. There was nothing better than seeing her arousal flare up, like two bright flames behind her eyes.
He looked so good. Hunter tossed the sheet all the way back, freeing him completely and joined him on the bed, kneeling over him, gazing down.
Ash reached up and touched her nipples. They hardened under his fingertips in an instant. Then, he traced his fingers downward, following the lines of her body, caressing over the peaks and valleys of her smoldering curves—until his hand was gently cupping the warm apex between her legs, feeling her heat, tickling and stroking her slick slit. He looked up just in time to catch her eyes fluttering closed, her head cocking slightly to one side, floating into a fresh wave of arousal.
When he slipped a finger inside, Hunter moaned, riding the sweet ache that immediately began building within. The gentle curve of his finger, the slight “come-hither” motion he began to make, was highly relaxing. She was melting for him, growing wetter, expanding in quick pulses as if to beckon something bigger inside.
Ash placed his thumb on her highly sensitive mound, maintaining the erotic rhythm of his finger within. He gently circled his thumb around and around with firm pressure, jolting Hunter into a new wave of heat. She was dying for him now, but she didn’t want him to stop what he was doing. She looked down at his hardness, the way it laid against his abdomen, hard and curved. She needed him. She needed him inside her, filling her, and stretching her to soothe the incredible ache that was building—hot and sweet and throbbing.
Through the walls, the sound of a door opening and shutting caught their attention. Ash paused, as they both looked at one another, eyes widening, listening out for any further movements. It had sounded like the laundry room door. Hunter remained breathless, straining to hear what she expected would come next—the sound of the front door opening and closing.
“It’s fine,” whispered Ash. “We need to let her go and get somewhere before we track her down on the GPS.”
Hunter shot him a look that unmistakably conveyed they could also follow Blair directly.
Ash resumed his internal massage of Hunter’s nether regions. She moaned, and her eyes floated closed.
“That’s not fair,” she said.
“Consider it payback,” whispered Ash.
Hunter’s eyes popped open at that. “Payback for what?” she asked.
“The car. Don’t act like you don’t remember,” he said. “When you seduced me, pleasured me into a
greeing to go directly to the farmhouse without Sarah.”
Hunter smiled bashfully. Busted.
“Yeah, don’t think you were pulling one over on me. I knew exactly what you were doing. I just let you do it because I liked it,” he admitted.
Hunter shook her head, smiling down at him. “I should’ve known.”
Ash gently slipped his wet fingers from her body and guided her down, lowering slowly and fluidly, as he lifted his shaft, angling the tip up to meet her wet slit.
The contact was incredible, heat on heat. Ash held her in place, keeping her hovering, as his slid himself, the length of his hardness along the slippery wetness of her throbbing slit.
He felt positively blissful. Hunter could not be more ready for his inevitable entry.
“When this is all over, Hunter, and it will be very soon, I want you to live with me. I want you in my bed every night,” he said, as he continued to rub himself against her aching, burning loins. “I want to make love to you and tell you I love you as often as I can.”
“I want that, too,” she said, looking down at him, gazing deeply into his steel blue eyes, which seemed to flicker brightly in the low light. “Are we still going to escape to Brazil?”
“I’ll go anywhere with you,” he whispered, his voice deep and smooth. It was the most beautiful voice a man could have, she thought. Hunter hoped he’d never stop lulling her with his sexy voice. “Tell me you love me.”
“I do. I love you, Ash,” she said.
Exactly then, Ash pressed himself inside, pulling her down, and savoring the slow expansion of her body and its willing accommodation to his large size.
Hunter moaned at the first sweet thrust of his penetration, though she tried to keep her voice low, staying as quiet as possible. Soon, she was flush against him, entirely filled. Her hands, which had been braced against the wall, rested on his shoulders, as Ash wrapped his wet mouth around her left breast and began licking and sucking her hard nipple.
Hunter thrust her hips in a slight rocking motion, grinding into him at times. She worked his long hard shaft so that it pressed, grazed, and massaged all the sweet spots inside. She loved controlling the motion, the rhythm, and angles, as the erotic throbbing fire within built up higher and higher, aching and flaring with exquisite pleasure.
