by Marla Monroe
Dalton figured the man was right. Fury burned in his gut and the need to take out his anger on something or someone built with every minute they couldn’t find their Shelby.
“Give whatever of hers you found,” Bo said in a quiet voice. It had gotten deeper, letting Dalton know his blood brother was sinking into his cold spot. Blood was going to be spilled.
“Here ya are. Sorry, there wasn’t much. They must have gone through it and then just tossed whatever they didn’t want. I’m surprised they didn’t go through her car, but they might have worried that they didn’t have time.” He handed over a backpack that neither of them had ever seen before.
At first Dalton thought maybe they had the wrong woman, but when the e-reader appeared with the funky lime green cover on it, he knew it was Shelby’s pack. He met Bo’s eyes and shivered at the emptiness in them.
“Can you tell us anything at all about the car or the men in it?” Bo asked.
“Well, near as I can remember, it was a dark-brown or black four-door sedan. Old with some dings in it like it had been up and down some gravel roads. Nothing like it had been wrecked or anything. One of the men was probably bald since it didn’t look like he had any hair from what I could see through the windshield when the light from my sign lit up the interior of the car.” He seemed to think some more but shrugged. “Sorry, that’s all I remember.”
“Do you mind if we have a look around the room where she stayed?” Bo asked.
“No, help yourself. Police didn’t put no crime scene tape up, so I expect you can look all you want. Door’s not locked and they haven’t come to put a new window in yet either. Can’t miss it with that glass missing.” He waved them around the side of the building then sat back on his chair.
Dalton followed Bo outside. They walked around the side of the building to where Shelby’s old beat up car sat. The car was locked but it didn’t look like there was anything in it anyway. He and Bo looked around the now wide open window but didn’t see anything there either. When they walked into the room, it was obvious that there had been a fight. The bed sheets had all but been pulled off the bed and the table next to it had been turned on its side.
Dalton wasn’t sure what they were looking for, but something that would point them in the direction where Shelby had been taken. There was nothing in the bathroom but a huge spider that had set up housekeeping in the corner of the ceiling. Nothing turned up on the floor around the bed, and nothing could have rolled under it since it was basically a base that held a mattress with no openings around it. The only good thing he came up with was that they hadn’t found any blood that would suggest she’d been hurt in the struggle. He’d take what he could get at this point. His nerves had long since unraveled leaving him wide open and raw with fear for her.
As they slowly walked back through the door, still looking around the floor and then outside on the sidewalk, Bo stopped and backed up, nearly stepping on Dalton’s boots. The big man crouched at the threshold and ran his hands over it before examining the dirt on his fingers. Then he did the same thing to the sidewalk and on out to the drive where the blackened tire tracks was.
“What is it?” Dalton couldn’t keep silent any longer. “What have you found?”
“Maybe nothing,” Bo said softly. “Maybe a clue to where she is.”
Dalton snarled, wanting to wring his friend’s neck with his cryptic answers. This wasn’t the time to play mystical with him. He had to stop himself from grabbing Bo by the shirt collar and slamming him into the side of Shelby’s car. As it was, his breaths were coming in pants.
“Easy, nis-kun’. If you don’t disturb everything around you with your heavy breathing, you might see it, too.”
“See what? Damn you, Bo. Tell me where she is!” Dalton was seeing red now, but he worked on controlling his breathing.
“Notice the dirt out here on the concrete is grey or light tan. It’s dry and loose. Now look at the difference in the dirt at the doorway and that around where the car tracks start,” Bo pointed out in a calm voice.
“Darker and moist. It’s heavier, too. Lumus. They’ve come from somewhere with rich fertile soil from leaf mulch,” Dalton said, smiling up at Bo. Then his face fell again. “How does that help us? That could be anywhere around here since the fucking Wenatchee National Forest is just outside the town. There are thousands of acres out there. We don’t have an ice cube’s chance in hell to find her with just a handful of dirt as a clue.”
He stomped back around to where they’d left the truck and threw Shelby’s pack in the backseat. Though fear and worry were upmost in his mind, Dalton allowed anger to override it since he didn’t want to feel helpless and think about their woman somewhere out there scared and alone.
Just please don’t let her be hurt. I don’t think I can stand it if something happens to her.
Bo climbed up into the cab of the truck but didn’t say anything. Neither did he start the engine. He just sat there staring off into space. Dalton was starting to wonder if his friend had truly gone off the deep end now. It had been Dalton who’d talked him into putting his heart back out there and taking a chance on something again. Now he wished he’d left well enough alone. Look where it had gotten both of them.
“She’s somewhere close by, Dalton. Whoever they are, they wouldn’t risk trying to transport her. She’s too resourceful. She’s been on the run a long time and they’ve only just now caught her. Whoever is having her tracked and taken will go to her instead.” Bo’s voice didn’t raise much over a whisper. “I don’t think they’ll waste time driving in either. We should go to the airport and see who comes in and where they go.”
At this point, Dalton was happy to have something active to do other than sit in the truck and worry. He grabbed the map and searched until he found Waterville and then pointed to the closest airport on the map.
“Looks like East Third Street will take us up to Airport Way where the field is. It’s actually not all that far from here,” Dalton told him.
Bo finally started the truck and backed up to turn around in the lot. They drove toward the airport to where Dalton prayed they’d find another clue to take them to Shelby. Right then, he was open to just about anything that offered a sliver of hope. Hell, he’d take a psychic’s help if he didn’t know that Bo seemed to commune with the spirits at times.
Let the spirits keep our Shelby safe and lead us to her before it is too late.
What it his imagination or had something hot brushed across his face to squeeze his shoulder? Dalton chose to believe.
Chapter Thirteen
The woods swallowed her like a giant wooden whale. Almost as soon as she’d entered them, it got dark and creepy. Shelby didn’t slow down except when she bumped into a tree or got tangled up in vines. Limbs slapped at her face, shoulders, and legs, but she kept running. Thank God they hadn’t taken her clothes from her. She didn’t have shoes, but the shorts and T-shirt were better than nothing.
They’re going to find me and kill me this time. They won’t wait for whoever is coming to get here. I can’t let them catch me again.
When no one followed her, she slowed down and found a half-rotten tree trunk sticking up and crouched next to it to rest. She needed to control her breathing so no one heard her and she could hear something besides the rasp of air gliding over swollen tissues from screaming and racing through the woods.
No matter how hard she listened, Shelby couldn’t hear anyone coming after her. There must have only been one man guarding her at the cabin. How had she gotten so lucky? Then a sickening thought hit her. What if she’d killed the man? She hadn’t meant to, but she’d wanted to get away and that meant he had to be incapacitated. Bile rose in her throat at the knowledge that she might have killed a human being in her desperation to gain her freedom. Surely they wouldn’t hold it against her. Her hands were tied behind her back. She’d been the one held hostage.
Once again panic flowed over her with an icy awareness that she still wasn’t f
ree as long as her arms were tied behind her and she wasn’t a thousand miles away from the two men who’d captured her. She’d never seen either of them before, but they’d made it clear they’d been following her for a while. They were so proud of themselves that they talked most of the ride to wherever it was they took her. She’d been shoved down in the floorboards of the backseat with a heavy blanket on top of her. Then they’d thrown a suitcase on top of that. Shelby was lucky she hadn’t suffocated while they’d made the surprisingly short trip to wherever they’d stashed her.
She found out that they’d hidden a second tracking device inside her bumper. She hadn’t thought to check there since it was some type of plastic and not metal. They’d used some type of sticky putty to make it stick. It soothed her pride somewhat to know that they’d had to make use of technology. How she was found at the ranch in the first place still bothered her. They didn’t mention that, and more than likely, they didn’t have a clue anyway. Someone had just hired them to find her and catch her. Now they were waiting for that someone to arrive so he could kill her.
If I get out of this alive, I’m going to make sure the asshole goes to prison for life, or I just might kill him myself.
Shelby snorted. Not likely. She didn’t have the guts or the stomach for killing anyone. The poor guy back at the cabin was evidence of that. She didn’t know if he was alive or dead and she’d nearly gotten sick anyway. Not that she had anything in her stomach. She had no idea how long she’d been asleep in the basement. It had been nearly dawn when they’d arrived there, then when she had struggled to get away, they’d knocked her around some until she’d hit her head on the wall and that was all she could remember.
When she woke up, her hands were tied behind her back and she’d been lying on the nasty mattress face first. Just the memory of waking up like that had her gagging all over again. She had to stay focused and figure out what to do next.
I need something sharp to cut these ropes off of me. I wish I’d have stopped and gotten a knife, but for all I knew someone else was there who could grab me.
What she needed was a rock with a sharp edge. Looking around her, all she saw were trees, but she could hear somewhere in the distance the sound of flowing water. Where there was water, there were usually rocks.
Shelby listened closely and got a general direction before getting up again, using the rotten tree to push herself back up. The bark and protruding twigs scraped her through her T-shirt. The burning sting distracted her for a second then she drew in a deep breath and started walking in what she hoped would be the right direction.
Several times she stopped to listen for the musical sounds of moving water then make an adjustment in her direction. The going was slow as molasses since there was not path and she was off balance without the use of her arms. Several times she lost her footing and had to pick herself back up. It slowed her down even more.
Finally, the noise level increased and Shelby could actually see glimpses of the water rushing by. It wasn’t quite a river, but it was bigger than a stream. It also had some rapids in it as well. That was good news for her. It meant there would be rocks.
The closer so got to the edge of water, the harder it was to keep from falling. All she needed was to fall into the water. With her arms tied like they were, she’d drown for sure. She had to find a way down to where the rocks were so she could locate a sharp one. It was the only thing she could think to do out in the middle of the freaking woods. Why hadn’t she just quit her job and left what she’d known alone? If she had, nothing would have happened and she could have had a normal decent life. Only she still thought they’d helped some of the elderly land owners along to their death and that is what finally spurred her into action.
That action was something she was regretting more and more every second she remained lost in the woods tied up like a pig on a spit.
Damnation!
Then there was the fact that she would have never met Bo and Dalton if she hadn’t been on the run. No matter what, she wouldn’t have missed knowing them for anything. They’d crept into her life when she’d been at her lowest and gave her something to long for, to hope and pray for other than just staying alive. For a few weeks, she’d felt almost normal. It was a gift that she would cherish until she died. And that, unfortunately, might be sooner rather than later.
After another few minutes of trudging along the edge of the stream, she found a natural pathway she assumed deer used to get to the water. Shelby knew she would end up sliding down no matter what she did, so she decided to start off sliding so she could control it, more or less.
It took some maneuvering to position herself in the center of the path, but Shelby finally managed to sit down on the slippery ground without hurting herself. She wiggled her hips and butt until she slowly started sliding down the embankment toward the stream where there was a small cleared area right in front of an outcropping of rocks where it looked like various animals had been there to drink. She hoped some of those rocks would have sharp enough edges to saw through the rope binding her wrists. At least then if they found her she would be able to defend herself.
Shelby cringed as dirt, sticks, leaves, and god knows what else slipped under her shorts as she slipped down the trail to land in a heap along the edge of the water. With a sigh of relief, she eased back away from the edge and looked for the sharpest reachable rock she could find. Unfortunately, her luck had run out. The only sharp looking rock was right at the water’s edge so that she’d have to turn her back and inch her way over to the rock without falling into the churning stream.
Every noise she heard around her had her heart jumping in her throat. She couldn’t believe no one had come after her so far. It seemed more and more likely that the man she’d attacked in the basement was dead, which didn’t help her nervous stomach one bit.
Shelby finally settled her mind to the task at hand and turned around until her back was facing the water. Horrible scenarios raced through her mind where she missed the rock and slid into the stream. Drowning wasn’t something she really wanted to experience. She moved backward an inch at a time, looking over her shoulder every few seconds to be sure she wasn’t off course to end up against the rock or about to fall in the stream. Finally, after what felt like hours, her hands touched the rock.
Please work. I need to get these ropes off of me. I’ll never get back up that embankment if I can’t use my hands. I’ll be a sitting duck!
Shelby shifted a little closer and felt around the rock until she found the sharpest edge that was within reach. Her hands were numb from lack of circulation and her shoulders felt as if they’d been jerked out the sockets, but she bit back tears and began rubbing what she prayed was the rope and not the tender skin of her hands along the sharp rock.
It was a slow process of pushing the rope against the jagged edge the pulling it back again. Over and over, Shelby worked her arms back and forth, praying each swipe would be the last one and her hands would be free. Several times, she knew she’d slipped some when her hand or wrist stunk from sliding over the rock instead of the rope. Her hands were sticky from sweat or blood, or maybe a mixture of both. If she messed up and sliced her artery, she would bleed out and never even realize it until it was too late.
Not that I can do anything about it if I did know. I can’t reach my wrist to hold pressure.
As much as she had wanted free of those men, Shelby didn’t want to die alone out in the woods like this either. Surely someone would come along soon she could trust, but since she hadn’t really the men when they took her, she wouldn’t know them if she saw them. Well, except the man she’d attacked in the basement. Had there been more than two?
As she continued sawing the rope over the rock, she thought about Dalton and Bo. She couldn’t help but wonder what they were doing and how angry they were with her. Maybe they weren’t angry at all and just shrugged it off like it didn’t matter. Some men could do that, but she really didn’t think her men were like that.
Her men. She realized that she still felt that way about them. For a little while they had been hers. Now they were hers in her heart. Maybe if she could get away from her captors and finish testifying against the partners of the law firm, she could go back and see if they were still free and interested in seeing her again. Maybes were only pipe dreams though. They rarely came true.
The sound of a twig snapping overhead had her jerking her head up to stare at the shadowed woods above her. She couldn’t see much in the dim light, but the hair on the back of her neck stood up as if sensing an intruder nearby. Fear coated her throat with bitter bile, giving her the urge to cough. Shelby fought it down, knowing if someone was up there they would hear her and locate her with no problem. She had nowhere to go but in the stream to drown. An icy cold sensation seeped like water down her spine as another noise from above reached her.
Seconds later, a deer emerged from the shadowed bushes to stare down at her. She thought it was a doe since there were no antlers, but she guessed it could be a young buck that hadn’t grown horns yet. They eyed each other warily for a while before the deer turned and disappeared back into the woods. Shelby closed her eyes and almost collapsed backward with relief before she caught herself and stiffened her back again.
If she wasn’t careful, she was going to find out how long it took for someone tied up like she was to drown after all. She couldn’t relax for more reasons than one. That would come once she was safe again.
The T-shirt she’d been wearing when they’d taken her clung to her body as adrenaline-induced perspiration coated her body. Every square inch of he was wet and dirty now. Her shorts and probably her panties were caked with dirt and other stuff. A good dip in the stream would be nice if she could get her hands loose.
I’m losing it. I’ve got to focus, or I’ll end up caught again.
Shelby took several calming breaths then got back to working her roped wrists up and down on the sharp edge of the rock again. The second time she missed and got her hand instead, she began to think she was going to end up cutting her hand off before she managed to cut the rope off. Tears flowed unchecked down her face, not from the pain so much as from the bleak and hopeless situation she’d ended up in. How would she ever get away from these men? She wasn’t going to be able to run forever and it looked as if that is what she would have to do. They weren’t giving up no matter how many years had passed without her testifying against them.
