by Inez Kelley
Prickly chest hairs chafed her back as he brought his mouth to her nape. He tugged her hips up then sank inside, the force driving her into the mattress. “Now, you belong to me. Say my name.”
“Yes. Yours, Jonah. Harder.” She spread her legs and arched her hips, opening her body to him, pushing back into his every thrust. His hips slapped the flesh of her ass with a punishing rhythm. Sliding his hands down her arms, he laced their fingers and rocked.
Trapped between his driving body and the mattress, this new position made her his captive and she was powerless to move. It was freeing and she simply let him fuck her, let him use her, let him take whatever he wanted. It also angled him differently and he struck something inside her that bathed her sights in fireworks. Her clit ached, budding to come again as he drove into her over and over. Hot breath raced past her ear as he whispered erotic nonsense words, never slowing his hips.
His fingers gripped hers with a crushing strength and he buried his face in her neck, groaning his release. The muted throb of his cock inside her triggered her climax and she bucked up, forcing him deeper as she exploded. Her pussy grabbed hard at his shaft. “Jonah!”
“Fuck, Zury!” With one last plunge, he reseated himself and shook.
Slowly they relaxed, melting into each other and onto the bed side by side. He pulled her cheek to his panting chest, curling his arm around her. She pinched her eyes shut, trying to soak in as much of him as possible. The slowing cadence of his heartbeat nearly brought tears to her eyes. Her memories of him would be insipid. But that was all she could keep, the memories, because they had no future.
* * *
They made love twice during the night and once more as the sun was rising, before they both fell into an exhausted sleep. Maybe if they hadn’t, they would have gotten an earlier start. But as it was, they hadn’t left the hotel until checkout time. So it was late when Jonah pulled into her drive.
Zury’s house was tucked in the crook of a pine grove that cast long scraggly moon shadows across the front window. No porch light illuminated the path but she needed none to find her way. The relief of finally being home sapped the last of her energy and she yawned while crawling out of the passenger seat.
Jonah popped the trunk and drew out both their bags. “We can get your Jeep tomorrow.”
“Works for me. My butt’s been asleep for the past hour.” She dug through her purse for her keys, pulling both them and her near-dead cell phone out. She’d forgotten to pack her charger and wanted to plug it in before crashing for the night.
She’d taken only two steps when a strange click halted her footsteps. She turned with a frown and froze. A too-thin red-haired man stood directly behind Jonah, a pistol pressed to the back of his head. Jonah was stone-still, surprise and anger warring on his face. His knuckles flexed on the handle of her bag.
The man shoved the gun tighter to Jonah’s skull. “Don’t even think about swinging that bag, asshole, or your brain gets a new air-conditioning unit. Drop them.”
Their bags dropped to the ground with a muffled thump. The waning summer moon made the man’s grin look evil.
“You, too. Keys and phone on the ground.”
Zury had to command her fingers twice before they loosened and let everything go. She kept her hands up for some reason, unable to let them fall to her sides. She knew that smile, that sly, malevolent sneer, had seen it staring into the camera with police lights flashing behind him.
“Mr. Redbear...Eric...What are you doing? What do you want?”
A wave of fury sliced across Jonah’s face. “Redbear?”
“The one and only.” His low chuckle carried menace and disdain. “You asked for help and I came, Zury. I’ve been waiting for days and you were out fucking the mouthpiece for Hawkins Hardwood. Not the best way to stop the killing in Black Cherry Canyon, my dear. Unless you were going to slit his throat after you screwed him.”
“The only killing is on your hands,” Jonah spat.
Eric jammed the gun, knocking Jonah’s head forward. “Shut up. How many trees have you killed in the past month? How many animals? How many ecosystems have you fucked up? I’d rather blow a hole through your fucking skull than do any of that.”
“Please,” Zury begged. “Don’t hurt him. I’m the one who asked for your help. It’s me you want.”
“You’re right about that.” Eric drew the gun back and cracked Jonah hard across the side of his head. A grunt flew from his mouth then he slammed to the ground.
“Jonah!” Zury ran toward him but pulled up short as the gun aimed at her.
“Slow down, my dear. I’m not used to guns. Wouldn’t want this thing to go off by accident now, would you?”
Jonah wasn’t moving. The moonlight turned the trickle of blood from his temple a shiny black. She couldn’t rip her eyes away until she saw his chest moving. Relief stole her breath. He was alive. She looked up at Eric. “Why? What do you want?”
He stepped over Jonah without dropping the gun. “Put your hands out.”
She did automatically, mentally begging Jonah to wake, to be okay. Tight plastic zip ties bit into her wrists and jerked her focus back to Eric. He grabbed her shoulder and shoved her toward the Mustang. “Get in.”
Her first thought was no way in hell. Her second was to scream and run. Her third was that both of those plans were stupid. He had a gun and had killed before, albeit not as personally. Her closest neighbor was two acres away. Frozen by fear, she scrambled for any other action to defuse the situation.
Eric raised his ginger brows. “No? Fine.” He pointed the gun at Jonah’s head.
“Stop! Don’t hurt him—I’m getting in.” She shook so hard that her bound hands fumbled with the door latch. Her handbag strap slid down her arm and tangled with the zip tie. She raised her hands long enough to free them then opened the door.
Eric shoved her in then slammed the door. She watched in the side-view mirror as he dug through Jonah’s pack until he found his computer tablet. He grinned as if he’d discovered gold and tucked it into the back of his pants. Zury jumped when he kicked Jonah on to his side then dug into his jeans pocket for the keys. Once he found them, he stood and leveled the gun. A flash of orange cracked and Jonah’s body jerked.
All logical thought vanished as Zury screamed. She burst out of the car crying his name. Eric caught her, forcing her back against the car but she was out of her mind and unable to be restrained. She kicked and yelled, lashing out with her doubled fists.
He brought the gun to her forehead. “Calm the fuck down before I kill you.”
“¡Hijo de puta!” Zury spat in his face.
Eric laughed. “Yeah, my mother is a bitch. I’ve had enough of this.”
A sharp pinch in her arm yanked Zury’s gaze down just in time to see him depress the plunger of a syringe. Everything went wonky and gray. Then it went black.
Chapter Twelve
Never turn your back on a snake, even when it’s dead. Rattlesnake heads can see, flick the tongue, and inflict venomous bites for up to an hour after being severed from the body.
The first sensation that registered was the nasty, cat-litter taste in his mouth. The second was a hellacious headache and a stinging pain in his gut. Jonah rolled to his back with a groan. Memory jolted through him like a lightning strike and he jerked to a sit. Fire exploded across his abdomen but the only cry that pealed from his mouth was her name.
“Zury!”
It echoed through the swaying trees. Clutching his side, he rolled to his bag and used it to pull himself up. Sweat covered his body and raced down his forehead to sting his eyes. He blinked it away. Everything was doubled but he could see well enough to know he was fucked. His car was gone. So was Redbear. And Zury.
He had to push to his knees to free his phone from his pocket. Once he had it, he let h
is body fall back to the ground. Chills gripped him and he trembled as if it were December rather than July. He only noticed the blood when it smeared on the touch screen of his phone. He dialed while struggling for breath.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“My name is Jonah Alcott and I think I’ve been shot. Eric Redbear kidnapped my girlfriend. Her name is Zureyden Castellano. It couldn’t have been that long ago, maybe fifteen minutes or so. He stole my car. He’s going to kill her.”
“Sir, where are you?”
“915 Whitetail Lane, last house on the right. It’s a ‘69 Mustang, red, tag is WOODMAN4. Jesus, hurry. I think I’m going to pass out again.”
The dispatcher asked more questions but Jonah had no more patience. His blurry vision was dimming and he had more work to do before he passed out. He disconnected the call and hit speed dial #2. Bob answered on the third ring.
“Redbear’s here. He took Zury. He has a gun. He shot me. Stole my car.”
“Are you okay?” He could hear her scrambling in the background.
“He’s got Zury, Bob. He was waiting for us at her place. I called the cops.”
“Hang on. I’m calling Webb on the other line. We’ll be there are soon as we can.”
“Hurry.” He fixed his sights on the fading moon. “I’m cold.”
The murmuring on the other line stopped as Bob came back on the line. “Cold? Are you bleeding? Where were you shot? Jonah?”
The phone slipped from his sticky hand and landed on the gravel. Bob continued calling his name but he couldn’t move. He stared at the moon and prayed, not for himself but for Zury. Her name was the last thought he had before darkness closed in.
* * *
Bob sat with her legs crossed, an e-reader in her hand. She wore no makeup and had her hair pulled back into a simple ponytail. Jonah had to work his tongue to find enough spit to lick his dry lips. The white bedding and bland walls were clue enough, but the beeping machines solidified that he was in the hospital.
“Hey, pretty boy. You gave me a scare.”
“What’s happening? Have they found Zury?”
She poured a cup of tepid water, added a straw, and held it to his mouth. “Not yet. The state police were crawling all over her place when we got there. They’d already brought you here so Webb and I split up.”
He sipped, letting the stale water wet his mouth. Other than a headache, he didn’t feel too bad. He’d had worse hangovers. He tried to sit up and suddenly rethought that idea. His side burned like a bitch.
Bob hit some button and the head of the bed raised. “You’re lucky. He just grazed your side. You’ll have a wicked scar but, hey, women like scars, right?”
Her false brightness irritated him. “They have to find her. He’s crazy.”
“They found your car.” Her words jerked his head up. “Out near Aurora. They brought in the dogs but nothing yet.” Her hand gripped his, the strength surprising him. “They’ll find her, Jonah. You just need to rest. You have a concussion and God only knows how many stitches in your side. Redbear nicked some funny little vein thing and you bled pretty badly. They had to give you some blood.”
“How long’s it been? What time is it?”
She flipped her wrist over and checked her slim silver watch. “It’s almost noon, so about twelve hours or so.”
“And no one’s heard anything?” Jonah asked. She guiltily looked away and he bristled. “What? Tell me.”
“Redbear called Webb’s cell. He has your tablet, has all our phone numbers and addresses, the Canyon logging schedule, everything you’ve been working on.”
There was something she wasn’t saying. Although she met his eyes, there was something shielded there, something she didn’t want him to know.
“What else?”
She stayed silent for nearly a minute but Jonah refused to look away. Finally, she blew out a soft breath. “He’s using Zury as a hostage. He demanded all harvesting stop and that Webb hand over all rights and deeds to Black Cherry Canyon to him for preservation. If he doesn’t...” She wrapped her arms around her waist and looked at the floor. “For every day that Webb retains the Canyon, he...he threatened to cut Zury. Swore he’d send Webb a piece of her every day until either he got the Canyon or she was dead. First deadline is midnight tonight.”
Ice crusted in his belly and erased all pain. It froze his lungs and made breathing impossible. “Tonight?”
“Webb won’t let him hurt her. He’s already halted all logging. The police will find them.”
“Before or after he starts slicing her to bits? I need to be there.” He struggled, sliding his legs off the side of the bed. Oh, great. He was wearing nothing but some thin little hospital gown, which meant when he stood up his ass was going to shine. He barely gave it a second thought as he put his bare feet on the floor. It took a few minutes sitting like that for everything to right itself in his vision but being upright helped. The pain wasn’t so bad now. As long as he didn’t move.
Bob worried her unpainted lip. “You need to lie back down and rest. There’s nothing you can do.”
“I need to be there!” His entire body clenched in frustration. He rubbed his forehead and winced as something, most likely stitches, pulled on his skull. “I couldn’t help her, and he took her. I can’t stay here and do nothing. I’m not letting that little prick win.”
A funny expression carved a dimple beside her mouth. She patted his hand. “Okay. You hang tight while I find some young doctor I can flirt into releasing you. Don’t fall on your face while I’m gone. That’ll screw up this little prison break.”
“Thanks, Bob.”
She left the room and Jonah exhaled, letting his shoulders sag as much as his side would allow without screaming. Redbear should have killed him, because when Jonah got a hold of him, banged-up body or not, he was going to kick the fucker’s head in. Most of what happened was a blur but he remembered Zury’s eyes clearly. They’d been filled with fear. He refused to think that might be the last expression he saw in them.
“Where are you, darlin’?”
* * *
The gag in her mouth tasted like old sweat socks. She gagged but refused to vomit, knowing it would be a bad thing. The wooden chair has hard beneath her ass and the zip ties binding her hands to the chair arms dug into her skin. She’d stopped struggling minutes after coming to because it was futile. She couldn’t get loose. That meant she had to use her brain and figure out a way out of this.
Was Jonah dead? She’d seen his body jerk as the bullet hit. Had it been a fatal shot? Had it been a mortal wound with Eric leaving him there to bleed out slowly? Agonizing worry threatened to speed her toward panic so she took slow, deliberate breaths through her nose, willing her racing heartbeat to steady. She had to get out of here. She had to find him.
She knew where they were. This cabin was an exact copy of the one at Blazer’s Peak but the view was different. The upkeep hadn’t been maintained, which meant it was one of the six cabins on the outskirts of Black Cherry Falls State Park, on Hawkins land in the Canyon. No one wanted to maintain a place that would be torn down in a matter of months. It was quiet, isolated, and a perfect place to kill someone.
“Good, you’re awake. Thought for a while there I screwed up the dosage.” Eric strolled into the cabin carrying a paper grocery sack. He sat it on the wobbly wooden table and crossed to the kitchenette behind her. She could no longer see him but heard him rummaging through drawers. “I bought some groceries. Figure we’ll be here a while.”
Not if she could help it. Zury chewed on the gag, darting her eyes around the room for anything she could use as a weapon once she got free. A sharp pull to her hair brought tears to her eyes but the gag fell away. She worked her jaw to loosen the knotted muscles.
Her first urge was to scream but self-pr
eservation kicked in. She had to stay calm and wait for the right moment. But panic hit as a collar clicked around her throat.
“There, I’ll turn that on in a minute.”
Turn what on? Her mind raced. “Did you kill Jonah?”
“Don’t know. Didn’t stick around to find out.” His eyes were brown and gave no hint to the madness inside him. He was gaunt, thinner than she’d realized last night, and had a yellow tinge to his skin. If he had a few more pounds on him, he’d be attractive. His face held a playful little-boy quality that belied the lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes. But not even that charismatic smile could soothe her fears. A monster lurked behind those freckles.
The kitchen shears in his hand propelled her heart to a frenzied pace. The blade skimmed down her cheek and she bit back a whimper, closing her eyes. The metal continued its path down her neck. It cut along her shoulder. The air brushed her chest and her eyes snapped open.
“What are you doing?”
“You’ll be less likely to run buck naked.” He finished cutting off her top and bra, tossing the scraps of material into the empty fireplace, then slid the shears along her outer thigh to snip at her shorts. A dry sob ripped from her chest as the blade sliced through them and her panties all the way to the waistband.
“Oh, quit the bawling. I’m not going to rape you.” He stopped and looked at her bare breasts. Dual wrinkles bloomed as he frowned. Leaning forward, he sucked one nipple into his mouth.
Zury tried to kick out but her ankles were tied to the chair. The feel of his mouth on her skin was repulsive and she cringed. Eric released her nipple with a loud pop and sat back on his heels. Disgust tightened his mouth.
“Fuck, nothing. I hoped...oh well, it was worth a try.”
Once her shorts and underwear were in pieces, he yanked them off her and removed her canvas slip-on sneakers. He poured lighter fluid over the entire pile, flicked a lighter, and watched as her clothing burned. When every piece was charred, he turned with a sickening sweet smile.
