Damn, Duncan tried to keep himself from panicking. He needed to think. He knew that he had to be the rational one because the look on Logan’s face said that all he was thinking of was killing whoever put their hands on Cane and Ali. He had his cell phone up to his ear, and Duncan knew that he was calling Riley’s cell. “Okay, my gut has been telling me something was wrong all night and this is it. I have a feeling Sam is in town and has Ali and Cane. I think he shot the cattle as a distraction so that we would be occupied when he took them. He must have been watching for a while now and knew when to strike.”
“Damn,” Logan said as he hung up his phone, “just keeps going straight to voicemail.”
“That could either mean that the phone is turned off or there is no service where they are. Let’s head back to the diner and see if we can find some clues or witnesses. Logan, give the phone to Riley so he can keep trying to call and you take my phone and call in a few guys in town. We may need the help searching. Have them all meet us at the diner.” Once orders were given, all the men went into action. Duncan and Logan jumped into the sheriff’s SUV, and Riley got into his truck to follow.
Halfway to the diner, Riley called Duncan’s cell phone. Logan put it in speakerphone so that Duncan could listen, too. “Guys, I just got a call from Ali. She was whispering, so I could barely hear her. She says that Sam knocked her out when she went to take the trash out and took them to an old cabin. Based on the directions that Cane gave, she thinks that they are in the old hunter’s cabin up by Ridge Top Mountain about thirty minutes away.”
“Did she say how Cane was?” Logan asked.
“She says that Cane made her promise to pretend that she was still passed out not to move no matter what she heard or saw. She says that Cane told her that Sam would not bother her as long as she was out.” Riley got quiet, and Duncan knew there was more that he wasn’t saying.
“What else did she say Riley?”
“Ali didn’t say anything else, but I could hear Sam shouting in the background, and I could hear Cane screaming. He is torturing her, and I think she is letting him so that he doesn’t hurt Ali.”
“Damn it!” Logan yelled as he punched the dashboard.
“Riley, listen to me,” Duncan said, trying to stay as calm as possible. “I need you to go to the diner and meet the guys there and have them follow you out to the cabin. We are headed that way now. Also, call an ambulance and tell them to start heading that way as well.” Riley agreed and hung up. Duncan prayed that they would get there in time to save Cane. He knew she was sacrificing herself to save Ali. He just prayed that they wouldn’t be too late to save them both. “Everything is going to be all right,” he said out loud. Logan just grunted. Everything is going to be all right. Duncan kept repeating it to himself, hoping that if he said it enough times, he would eventually believe it.
* * * *
“Cane, Cane, Cane! You have been a very naughty girl, haven’t you?” Sam said as he locked the door and strolled across the room. “I see my baby girl is still asleep. That’s good. That gives us time to play.” He smiled when he saw the terrified look in Cane’s eyes. Good, let her be scared, he thought. She deserves everything that is about to happen to her.
“Sam, please let us go.”
“Shut up!” Sam yelled as he smacked her across the face. “Now see, look what you made me do. You are always finding a way to get me pissed off. Why can’t you be a good girl like my sweet innocent angel over there? Why do you always make me hit you?” Sam was fighting not to lose his temper and was losing the battle. He looked at Cane, and all he saw was a slut huddled in the corner crying. God, I hate criers. Only the weak cry. His daddy taught him that lesson a long time ago as beat him every tear out of him. “Now the way I see it, you owe me. You leave me in the middle of the night without a word, you steal money from me, and then you make me hunt you down all the way across the country. When I get here, what do I find? You slutting around with not one but three guys. I always knew you were a whore, Cane, but three guys? Did you really think that you could get away from me and they would protect you?”
“Sam, please. Don’t do this.”
“I said shut up, you bitch!” Sam yelled as he kicked her. Sam heard the loud snap and Cane’s scream and realized that he broke her arm when she reached out to block his kick. “Oh, poor thing. You may want to have that looked at. It sounded like a nasty break.” He stood and watched as she cradled her arm. “Did you really think you could leave me? You can never get away from me, Cane, you are mine. Even in college you tried to leave me and I stopped you then.”
“What are you talking about, Sam? I came back to you after what happened.”
Sam laughed. “Oh yes, after what happened. You mean the fact that you fucked another man?”
“That’s not what happened, and you know it. He drugged me.”
“Oh trust me, I know what happened. I saw the whole thing.” Sam laughed at the look on Cane’s face. This is going better than I thought it would. Sam had no plans of telling Cane what happened that night in college and how he got her back, but what the hell. It’s not like she was leaving the room alive anyway.
“What do you mean you saw?”
“You really didn’t think I would let you walk away from me did you? I made sure you would come back to me. Where do you think the guy got the drugs from? I paid him to drug you and make it look like he raped you. I watched the whole thing, and when you passed out, I watched him carry you to his room.”
“No! Oh God, you are a sick bastard, why would you do that to me?”
Sam couldn’t help but to laugh. This was all so amusing. “Poor pathetic Cane, always whining ‘why me?’ It’s simple. I asked you to marry me and you refused. You are mine, and I decide when I am through with you. If I can’t have you, then no one will.”
“So I wasn’t raped?”
“Yeah, well, you see, I paid the guy to make it look like he had sex with you, but he took it upon himself to actually rape you, so I made him pay for that mistake with his life.”
“You are crazy!”
“Oh no, little slut,” Sam said as he smacked her again. “I am just a man who always gets what he wants. Now take off your clothes so that we can play before my princess wakes up.”
Chapter 17
Cane felt the room spin as she tried to stand. She was trying her best not to lose her supper but the pain in her arm was almost unbearable. She knew it was broken when she heard the sickly crunch as she put it out to block him from kicking her in the ribs, but she couldn’t help it. She would rather have a broken arm than broken ribs that could lead to all kinds of other internal injuries. As she made it to her feet, she slowly began to remove her clothes. She caught a glimpse of Ali, and it looked like she was talking on the phone.
Okay, she thought, I can do this. Ali is talking to Duncan now and telling him where we are, so all I have to do is stall Sam as long as possible until help comes.
“Hurry up!” Sam screamed as he punched her in the jaw. Cane felt her head snap back and saw stars as her vision became fuzzy causing her to drop to one knee. Blinking rapidly, she fought to keep herself from passing out. She had to stay awake so that his attention stayed on him and not Ali. Moving as fast as she could one-handed and fighting nausea, she removed all of her clothes. Cradling her arm, she stood there naked and trembling, waiting for whatever sick torture he had in mind. Sam turned his back and walked over to the duffle bag lying by the door that he brought in earlier. Cane dared a quick glance at Ali, who she saw was silently crying but held up the cell phone and gave a quick thumbs-up.
Thank God, Cane thought. Help is on the way. I just have to hold on a little longer.
When Sam turned back around, Cane knew that she was in trouble. As she looked at the handcuffs in his hand, she began to cry.
“Sam, please, I will do whatever you want. Just don’t use the handcuffs. My arm is broken, and I don’t think I can take it.”
Sam smiled at her and
shook his head. “It is what you deserve, Cane. You walked out on me, so now you have to suffer the consequences.”
Cane couldn’t hold back the scream as he grabbed her broken arm and twisted it behind her back. The pain was excruciating and caused her stomach to heave several times, though nothing came up. She had to fight the blackness creeping around the edges of her vision. She had to stay awake in order to keep Sam’s attention on her and not Ali. Once he had the cuff on her wrist, he pulled her other wrist back and cuffed it. When he let her arms go, Cane’s knees buckled and she dropped to the floor sobbing from the pain. She knew that Sam would punish her for crying, but she couldn’t stop herself. When darkness threatened her vision this time, Cane had to fight with all her might to keep from passing out.
“Don’t you dare pass out on me, Cane, or I promise I will kill you. The night is just getting started, and we haven’t even got to the fun stuff yet,” Sam whispered in her ear.
Guys, please hurry up. I may not be able to hold out until you get here.
She felt Sam kick her in her thigh, and she fell forward with a grunt. She gritted her teeth and breathed in deeply.
She had to try twice to get her voice to work. “Sam, why are you doing this? You’re killing me,” she whispered.
“That’s the point, Cane,” Sam said as he grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled so that her face was even with his. “Now that I have found my sweet Ali over there, I don’t need you anymore. You still deserve to be punished for walking out on me and stealing my money though. Once I finish giving you your punishment, then I am going to kill you, and Ali and I are going to go away together. The way I see it, I started too late trying to train you, and it didn’t work, but Ali over there is innocent and young enough to be trained. She will make the perfect wife for me, unlike you who are nothing but a whore.”
Cane was at a loss for words. In all the years that she had been with Sam, she had never seen him like this. Looking at him now, she could see that his eyes were glazed over.
Oh God, she thought, he has lost it.
Cane knew that Sam was truly crazy, and the thought scared her more than anything. She knew what torture a sane Sam was capable of, but now he had truly gone off the deep end, and there was no telling what he was going to do.
“Don’t you have anything to say, Cane? Why so quiet?” Sam’s voice was light and playful, like he was having a normal conversation with a friend and not in the middle of torturing a person. Pulling her back up to her knees, Sam slapped her again, splitting her lip, and punched her in the stomach. “Answer me, damn it!” he yelled.
“What do you want me to say, Sam?” Cane gasped trying to suck air back into her lungs. “I’m not sorry that I left you. I couldn’t take the beatings anymore. Please just let us go. You don’t love me, and you can find someone else to make you happy.”
“I told you that you are mine, and I will never let you go. I will kill you before I do that,” he yelled as he gripped her hair so hard that Cane could feel each individual strand as they were ripped from her scalp.
He threw her back to the floor and began pacing the room. She could hear his ragged breaths and realized that he was trying to calm himself down. She knew the routine. If he got too excited, then he would lose control and the torture would be over too quick for him, but by keeping himself calm, he could torture her for as long as he wanted.
Please hurry, guys, she thought again and kept repeating it over and over in her head as she lay on her good side and curled up into a ball trying to stay conscious.
She watched Sam as he paced and stopped by the bed that Ali was on. She held her breath as he leaned down and gently rubbed the lump that had formed on her head where he knocked her out.
“I didn’t mean to hit her that hard,” he said as he stroked her hair. “I just didn’t want her to scream. I would never hurt her. She is different from you. She is pure and innocent and doesn’t deserve to be disciplined like I had to do with you. I have been watching her for a while now, and she is perfect for me.”
He let go of Ali’s hair and began pacing again, and Cane let out a sigh of relief that he had moved away from Ali. Without another word, Sam turned and walked out the door, closing it behind him. Cane heard the click of the lock and his footsteps as he walked across the cabin and out the front door. Taking a deep breath, Cane lay her head down and closed her eyes.
“Cane,” Ali whispered as she knelt down to her. Cane opened her eyes to see Ali with tears trailing down her face. Her hands were trembling as she reached out to touch Cane, but she stopped like she was scared to hurt her. “Cane, the guys are on the way. They will be here soon. Please hold on and we will get you out of here.”
Cane didn’t have the strength to lift her head, so she just smiled and whispered, “It will be okay. Just stay in the bed and keep pretending that you are unconscious so that he will leave you alone.” Cane watched as Ali pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and began to fiddle with the handcuffs. She gritted her teeth to hold back a scream as pain shot up her injured arm.
Gasping for breath, she whispered, “What are you doing, Ali?”
“I’m trying to open the cuffs. Sorry if I hurt you, but they make it look so easy in the movies. Please let me help you, Cane. You don’t have to do this by yourself. Let me take some of the attention for a little while,” Ali sobbed.
“No! I couldn’t live with myself if he laid a hand on you. This is my fault for bringing him into your life. I will handle him, and the guys will be here soon. What I need you to do is to try and call Duncan again to see how far away they are.”
Cane tried to smile to convince Ali, but she was sure it came off as nothing more than a small tilt of her lips. She was in pain, and it took all her strength just to stay conscious.
Taking a deep breath she whispered again, “Promise me, Ali, I can’t do this unless I know you are safe. Duncan and Logan will take care of me, you will see.”
Closing her eyes again, she lay there and tried not to focus on the pain that was radiating up her arm while Ali worked the handcuffs and cried quietly. She truly believed that Duncan and Logan would find them. She just hoped that they were not too late.
Cane was not sure how long she dozed when she heard the bed squeak and opened her eyes to see Ali climbing back in. She heard footsteps across the floor, but they didn’t come toward the room. She heard the refrigerator door open and then water running. Soon she could smell something cooking. Sam has truly lost his mind, she thought. Maybe he needs to keep his strength up. Torture must be hard work.
Cane couldn’t help but to giggle at that thought, earning her a strange look from Ali as she held the phone to her ear.
Hell, maybe I am losing my mind, too, she thought as she passed out again.
* * * *
“Faster, Duncan, damn it!” Logan yelled. It was the hundredth time he yelled it, and it was driving Duncan insane. He was trying to stay calm. Hell, one of them had to be, and it certainly wasn’t Logan.
Taking a deep breath, he said, “I’m going as fast as I can, Logan. We are about ten minutes out, so look in the back and make sure we have everything we need.”
Duncan knew he had everything because he checked his supplies every morning, but giving Logan something to do seemed to help. He glanced in the rearview mirror and watched Logan until he heard his cell phone ringing. He answered it, not bothering to see who was calling and hit the speaker button so he could keep both hands on the wheel.
“Duncan,” Ali sobbed. He could barely hear her as she tried to whisper.
“Squirt. Are you okay, baby? We are coming. We should be there in about ten minutes.”
“Duncan, you have to hurry. I’m scared for Cane. He beat her and broke her arm. He says he is going to kill her.”
Duncan felt his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn’t lose Cane. He would kill that bastard Sam when he got his hands on him for what he did to Cane.
“Ali, honey, where is he now?” Logan asked a
s he climbed back in the front seat.
“I think he is in the kitchen cooking.”
“Okay, that’s good, Where are you and Cane?”
“He locked us in the bedroom. I’m on the bed, and he had Cane handcuffed on the floor. I was able to pick the lock on the cuffs after she finally passed out from the pain, but she told me to call you before she passed out. You guys have to hurry. I’m so scared. He says he is going to kill Cane and then take me to be his wife because he thinks he can train me like he couldn’t train her.”
“Son of a bitch. Ali, just hang on. We will be there soon, We’re at the turnoff now,” Duncan yelled.
“Okay, but, Duncan, hurry please. She made me promise to pretend to be unconscious so that he would focus on her, but I don’t know how long I can lay here and listen to him beat her. I don’t even think she knows that she doesn’t have the handcuffs on anymore.”
“We know, baby, just hold on five more minutes, and we will be there. Ali, did you hear me?” Duncan could hear her breathing, but she wasn’t saying anything. “Ali! Answer me,” he yelled.
“He’s coming. I gotta go,” she whispered and hung up.
Duncan gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He was trying to keep the pure rage that he was feeling from taking over. He knew that he had to stay sane if he was going to help his sister and Cane. “I’m going to kill him, Logan.”
“Not if I get to him first.”
* * * *
Whistling, Sam finished putting the food on the plates. It was time to get to know his future wife. He smiled. He liked the sound of “his wife.” He would have made Cane his wife, but she turned him down, and then after her little indiscretion in college he never had the urge to marry her again. Now that he had Ali, he didn’t need Cane anymore. Things were looking better and better. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it, too, he thought as he walked to the room. Walking over to Cane, he kicked her in the thigh and then pulled her up by her hair, enjoying the scream he got from her.
Davis, Keyonna - Nowhere to Hide [Pine Valley] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 14
