As the man dragged her backward by her hair, she forced herself to remember the basic lessons she'd learned in self-defense class. She had already lost the opportunity to run.
Don't panic. Don't struggle. Try to get your attacker to see you as a real person.
If this man was who she suspected, he was not prone to using the knife for anything more than control. If she delayed him long enough, Jack would realize the note was a hoax and come back. She forced her body to relax and made an attempt to speak in a calm voice. "Junior? Is that you?"
His body tensed around her and she knew she'd guessed correctly. "I've been expecting you," she continued and though he held onto her hair, he moved the knife away from her face. "I wondered how long it would take for you to recognize me." She cautiously turned toward him and gazed up into the tiny eye holes in the mask. His disfigurement was almost but not quite hidden and she wondered why none of those other women had noticed it. "If you want to tie me up to make love to me, that's okay but it doesn't have to be that way. Wouldn't it be better if I could touch you too?"
She could see by the rapid rise and fall of his chest that he was excited by her words.
Give him whatever he wants to save your life.
"I want to see your face when you enter my body, Junior. I want to hear you say, 'I love you, Ginger'."
"You're not Ginger!" he shouted, taking a step back from her and swiping the air between them with his knife.
At least he had released his hold on her. She told herself she could survive if she pretended she was acting in a movie. None of this was real. She just needed to give Jack time to return. She made herself smile softly. "Of course I'm not really Ginger but I look like her and I can be her for you, in the way you always dreamed of her. Just say her name and look at me and I will be her." Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely hear herself speak.
"Ginger," he whispered and his knife hand lowered a few inches.
"You see? I am Ginger but better than she ever was before. You don't have to tie me down or force me. I won't plead with you to leave me alone or say mean things to you. I want you to make love to me. And I want to make love to you. Willingly." She noted that he'd started breathing through his mouth. "Aren't you perspiring under that mask, Junior? It's awfully hot in here. Would you like me to take it off for you?"
"I'm... I'm too ugly," he murmured, turning his head to the side.
"Not to me," she said and very slowly raised one hand toward the mask and touched his cheek. "Don't you remember? All those years in school together. We even went to the movies that one time. None of the other girls would have ever done that. Only me. Because I loved you, secretly, just as you loved me. So, you see, I know the man inside and he's handsome and gentle and kind."
"But... but you wouldn't go out with me a second time."
"I was young and foolish." She bowed her head in shame. "I let the other girls talk me out of it." Looking up at him again with wide eyes, her voice caught in her throat. "I'm all grown up now. Can't you forgive me?"
He lowered the knife to his side but kept a grip on it. "Could... could you call me... Beau?"
She gave him another smile. "I'll call you Beau, if you let me unmask you."
"A-all right."
She braced herself then raised the ski mask as though she were unveiling a Michelangelo masterpiece.
* * *
Jack's gaze moved swiftly over the six men in white hoods who had rushed out of the woods just as the barn came into sight. One held a bullwhip, one had a shotgun pointed at him, one had an armload of rope and the other three were lighting the torches in their hands. Considering his options, he went for a swift bullet-in-the-back finish and tried to run. On his third step the whip caught him around the throat and jerked him to the ground. Within seconds, the rope bearer had him helplessly hog-tied.
"How impolite of you ta try ta leave your party before your guests have all been entertained."
Jack recognized the gravelly voice of Beauregard Ramey as he hobbled slowly out from behind a tree and sat on a stump. Three of the others were probably Junior, O'Neill and Hartman—one was definitely that man's size—and the rest were probably younger blood who would do the actual inducing of pain and suffering.
"I gather this means Hannah won't be meeting me," Jack said to the hooded elder Ramey.
"Excellent deduction, Mr. McCoy. Hannah's loyalty will always be ta me first and Ah promised that her part in your uncle's ruination was a one-time thing. But we are curious as ta what else ya may have deduced."
"You're all a bunch of assholes." That earned him a stinging slash of the whip across his back.
"It will go much easier if ya don't try to be a comedian. Perhaps it will move things along if we tell ya we already know y'all're the nephew of Jack Templeton."
It took Jack only a second to figure out the only way he could have come to that conclusion. "Mary Beth didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. We tricked her into talking to us."
Ramey let out a dry laugh. "Tricking a drunk doesn't take much talent. What Ah want to know is what she told ya."
The last thing he'd wanted was for Mary Beth to suffer more than she already had. "Unfortunately for us, we got there too late in the day to catch her sober. She didn't say anything that made much sense. She, uh, she had just been to her high school reunion and that was all she could think about. Her high school days." He knew he had to give them something to chew on. "She remembered how Junior had a big crush on Ginger and took her to the movies one time." He looked around the circle of men. "Do you remember that Junior? How Ginger tried to be nice to you?"
"Ah see you're under the impression Junior is with us tonight but you're mistaken. He has a date with a pretty lady. Ah think ya know her—long, strawberry-blonde hair, real womanly figger—"
"Nooo," Jack cried and tried to hurl himself at Ramey despite the binding ropes but three rapid slashes across his back laid him flat.
"Ah bet y'all'd like ta go see how she's doin' 'bout now. And we'd be happy to oblige, right after ya make a full confession."
His back was on fire and it was all he could do to hold down the bile in his throat. Junior was playing his sick games with Kelly! He had to get to her before he—He slammed the door on the image that flashed into his mind. "What do you want to know?"
"Everythin' 'll do just fine. Ya could start by admittin' who ya are. Whaddya think ya know? What're you and the author plannin' ta do?"
Clenching his teeth against the pain, he gave the answers he thought they wanted to hear. "You're right. I am related to Jack Templeton. I grew up hearing the story about how my great uncle was framed for murder then was spontaneously combusted in the electric chair. I always wondered what really happened. When I met Kelly and told her about it, she thought it sounded like a good story.
"That's all there is to it. We were just trying to satisfy my curiosity and give her an unusual plot for her next book. We didn't mean to stir up any trouble. In fact, we were planning on moving back to Atlanta tomorrow. I swear you'll never see or hear from us again." Hold on, Kelly, I'm doing the best I can.
"What about the attorney's phone call? What was that all about?"
Jack turned toward the voice that sounded like Reid O'Neill. "What attorney?"
The whip almost came down on him again but Ramey held up a hand and stopped its progress. "Bruce Hackett."
Jack squinted at him. "Kelly's attorney called you? About what?"
"Are y'all sayin' ya know who he is but ya didn't put him up to any phone calls?"
"I only met Hackett once and thought he was a jerk but I'd really like to hear what he had to say."
"I think we can indulge you in that. He said there was a private investigator who had manufactured some proof that you and Jack Templeton were the same man. Apparently he thought he could blackmail us in some way and Hackett was giving us a warning."
"Hmmph. The impression I got was that Hackett was more apt to do the blackmailing th
an the warning." He tried to make the connection between Hackett, a private investigator and proof that he was Jack Templeton but before he could work it all out, the loose circle of men around him began to shrink.
"Thank you for your opinion, Mr. McCoy. Unfortunately, we still feel it is in our best interests to eliminate y'all."
Jack was hoping he misunderstood but as he watched the rope-bearer swing a long length up over a high tree limb and saw that the end of the rope was tied in a noose, his hope plummeted.
"Wait!" he cried as two of them dragged him over to the tree. "Why are you doing this?"
"Quite simply, we don't believe it is possible for you not to cause problems for us."
His feet were untied so that he could stand then the noose was placed around his neck. "If you're going to kill me anyway, at least tell me what really happened to Ginger that night."
To Jack's complete surprise, the Imperial Wizard waved for someone to help him over to the condemned man. After waiving the aide back, he leaned on Jack and whispered in his ear.
"Junior played his game with her first, while Reid and Ah watched. Then Reid fucked her mouth while Ah took her ass and Junior watched. An' when she thought she'd paid for her crimes, Reid slipped a noose around her neck and the three of us hanged her from the chandelier till she was dead. Just like we're goin' ta do ta you now."
The account was thoroughly disgusting and possibly completely true. It was too bad he wouldn't be alive to pass it on.
* * *
Kelly glanced at the clock again. Another ten minutes had passed. She had to believe that Jack would be back soon, because she was no longer sure she could go through with this even if it did mean survival. She had managed to look right at Junior's face and smile adoringly. She had stroked his scars as though they were marks of beauty and finally, she had made herself kiss him on the mouth. But when his hand closed over her breast, she almost lost it.
Taking a step back, she swallowed hard and made a decision. She couldn't just lie back and take it, no matter what the book said. "Beau, honey, would you like me to put on a sexy negligee for you? It will only take a minute."
"I'd rather see you in your bra and panties. Just take your clothes off." His tongue flicked out to wet his lips.
All she needed was a few seconds in her lingerie drawer. "Okay. I can do that. But I'm not wearing anything very pretty. I have some very sexy things right here..." She took a step closer to the drawer. "What color do you like? Black, white, red?" That got a definite reaction. "Would you like to see me in the red? It's very sheer, with just a little black lace. I could even put on a pair of red high heels—"
"Yes. I... I imagined you in the red."
She opened the drawer but he barked at her.
"No! Not like that. Take your clothes off first, like you don't know I'm watchin' you. Then get out the other things and put them on. Slowly."
It took all her willpower not to go for the gun immediately but the risk would be much less if she went along with his game. She lowered her eyes and kept telling herself she would have control of the situation in a moment. She forced herself to pretend she was doing this for Jack and from the sound of Junior's erratic breathing, she was succeeding in throwing him off balance.
She tried to drag the striptease out, praying that Jack was only seconds away, but eventually she had nothing more to take off. It was time to switch from passive to aggressive behavior.
She turned her back on him, supposedly to get out the red lingerie. As her fingers closed around the grip of the gun and her thumb released the safety, she hummed a little tune and wiggled her bare hips back and forth to hold his gaze.
Another rule suddenly popped into her head: If you're going to pull a gun on your attacker, you'd better be ready to pull the trigger.
She took a deep breath in preparation. This cretin had trespassed into her home, had threatened her with a deadly weapon and clearly intended to assault her. She was justified.
She whirled around, bracing the gun with both hands and aimed for his lower abdomen but as she fired, he lunged at her.
"You bitch!" His weight slammed her against the dresser then onto the floor. "You wanted to play Ginger, now you can die like her!"
She knew her chance was gone. She to shoot before he stabbed her with the knife. But her weapon was suddenly pinned between their bodies. She kicked and pushed and struggled but he seemed to have a hundred arms and legs.
The battle lasted several seconds before the second shot was fired.
* * *
The second popping sound in the distance caught everyone's attention. Then a gun fired a few feet away, nearly deafening Jack. For a split second, he thought they'd decided to forego the hanging and just give him a bullet in the back after all.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Ramey shouted as the man holding the shotgun aimed it toward the woods.
It took Jack a moment to understand that he might have an ally hiding amidst the trees. Good God! Kelly had come to rescue him. A minute later and it would have been too late. The noose had already been tightened around his neck and three men were pulling on the opposite end as a fourth anchored it around the base of the tree.
He was already on his tiptoes with his neck stretched as far as it would go. He figured the next hard yank would break his neck or at least close off his windpipe.
"Let him down!" a man yelled from the woods.
Instantly the gun bearer fired one of his two bullets toward the voice. A heartbeat later, the stranger fired again, striking the gun bearer between the eye holes of his hood.
"I can pick you all off one at a time or you can clear out of here now!"
The men released the rope and Jack slumped to the ground. As he gasped for air and rubbed his throat, the big guy scooped Ramey up in his arms and they all took off down the dirt road. Soon there was the roar of an engine and a pickup truck went flying by in a huge cloud of dust.
By the time the dust began to settle, Jack saw his savior coming out of the woods and moved toward him. In a raspy voice he asked, "Where's Kelly?" Then he recognized the man. "Cowboy?"
The man held out his hand. "Evan Dillard, private investigator. I assume Kelly's still at the cabin. I followed you here."
The realization of what that meant nearly knocked him to the ground. Kelly was still at the cabin. And Junior was—"Dear God! Come on. She's in trouble!" He began running as fast as he could and Dillard quickly caught up with him.
"You're welcome."
Jack frowned at him. "I'll thank you when you explain why you waited so long to save me if you followed me here."
"I wanted to make sure they were serious before risking my own neck."
"You killed that man back there."
"He shot at me first. You figuring to turn me in?"
"I didn't see a thing."
"Why do you think Kelly's in trouble?"
"If they were telling the truth, the sickest one of the bunch went to pay her a visit while they were occupied with me."
"Shit! I camped in the woods for three days waiting for you guys to make a move and nothing happened. I figured following you was going to lead me to the main action."
"I don't get it. Why were you watching us at all?"
"Hackett hired me to get the goods on you so that he... could look like a hero to the lady." He was starting to have a tough time talking and running. "But he fired me when I told him what I found out."
"Which was?"
"That you are Jack Templeton, born in 1930, executed in 1965. At least your fingerprints say that. I sure hope... my saving your ass has earned me an explanation of how that's possible."
"Sure, right after you explain why you were still watching us if Hackett fired you. Not that I'm ungrateful."
"I don't like... losing a case. Especially if... it's not my fault." He could barely get the words out as he tried to keep up with Jack. "I was determined to learn the truth about you. Besides... curiosity... was killing me."
> The light from the cabin was in sight. "Kelly!" A surge of adrenaline helped Jack pick up his speed the last hundred yards while Dillard slowed to a stagger behind him.
"Kelly!" he shouted again as he tore open the screen door and bolted inside.
Then he came to an abrupt halt.
He blinked and rubbed his eyes, unwilling to believe what he was seeing.
His beautiful Kelly was lying naked on the floor like a broken doll. He wanted to deny the blatant evidence before him but her chest was covered with blood and her lifeless eyes were staring up at him.
Chapter 19
It was a thousand times worse than when he'd found Ginger.
"Aw shit," Dillard cursed behind him. He placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "I'm sorry, man. Look, it isn't good to remember her this way. Why don't you go outside and I'll call the cops—"
"No," Jack told him in a flat voice. He couldn't pull his eyes away from her. "The local cops will cover it up. You've got to call the Feds. And I have to get away from here. Nobody will believe me... I need time."
"I'll drag my feet but there may be a shit storm heading this way from the guys in hoods. There's a blood trail heading out the door, like she wasn't the only one shot. Whatever you're planning, do it fast. And don't touch the gun," Dillard said.
Jack glanced at the Walther on the floor. "The gun's hers."
"Did you ever touch it?"
He shook his head. Why did she insist on having the damn thing at all? "You can take her car if you need to."
"Thanks but mine's not far from here. You gonna be okay if I leave you here alone?"
Jack nodded. Maybe, if I'm lucky, the boys in hoods will come back and finish me off. Somewhere at the edge of his consciousness, he heard Dillard leave the cabin. He knew the crime scene had to be preserved but he couldn't just leave her exposed like this, not with all the men who would soon be traipsing in and out. Kneeling down beside her, he closed her eyelids and stroked her cheek. She was still warm... not yet cooled by death as Ginger had been when he found her.
Out of Time (Lovers in Time Series, Book 1): Time Travel Romance Page 26
