Carl: Caveman Instinct series 2.5

by Hazel Gower

  She sat quiet for a moment, frozen in a daze. Then when the car started moving she screamed. “Wait.” She went for the door but I locked them. “You can’t take me. You have to stop and let me out.” She unlocked the door then went to undo it, but stopped when she saw how fast I was going.

  We neared the boom gate exit. I knew if I stopped she’d get out. She’d get away and I may miss my chance with her. I wasn’t giving up anything with Annabelle. I’d waited too damn long to find my one and I didn’t plan on her getting away.

  “Please. I’m no one. You don’t want me. Please let me go. I promise if you do, I won’t tell anyone.”

  She wasn’t nobody. She was someone very special to me and I wasn’t letting her go…ever.

  My Porsche was low enough that the boom gate would scrap the roof. If it broke I’d pay for the replacement. Money wasn’t an issue for me. Not only was I a doctor, I was a Silverman and had plenty of it.

  I sped out of the gate not even wincing at the sound of the boom gate scraping over my car and then breaking. Annabelle continued to scream and I glanced over to see her clutching at her seat. A part of me was yelling that I wasn’t acting rationally, that something was terribly wrong with me. That I was an intelligent man and a respected doctor, but the other part of me was telling that half to shut the fuck up, and that I needed to focus on getting our mate back to our home, where I would convince her to give me a chance. Where I would make her fall in love with me and I would get my happily ever after, with the love of my live, the two point five children, and the mega mansion.

  Ignoring Annabelle’s screaming, yelling, and begging to be let go, I speed up.

  * * * *

  Annabelle

  Oh. My. God. I’ve been kidnapped. Me. A nobody. I mean what reason would anyone have to take me? I’m a Librarian for Christ’s sake. I don’t have any enemies. The most annoying person I know is my mother and even then she doesn’t have enemies. She’s a florist. I’m not a stunning beauty that a man like this one, driving like a mad man, could fall instantly in love with. I wasn’t super smart. Sure, I wasn’t dumb, but I wasn’t kidnap-me-and-get-me-to-work-on-something-to-take-over-the-world smart. I was average. That summed me up perfectly.

  I should have fought my kidnapper when I realized what he was doing, but I was in shock, or more accurately captivated by the man. The guy who took me was beyond gorgeous. It was like someone came along and took my fantasy guy from all my dreams and placed him before me.

  By the time I realized he was a crazy loon, a gorgeous man candy loon, but a crazy loon nevertheless, it was too late. I was already in the Porsche and he was speeding to get away. I debated how hurt I’d get if I opened the door and jumped out, but he was going really fast and I wasn’t a fan of pain.

  “Why did you take me?” I was sure if he told me why he’d taken me, I could convince him I wasn’t the person he thought, and he’d taken the wrong person.

  “You’re mine. I am one of the oldest in my family to find my soulmate. To succumb to the curse, er, gift the gypsies gave my family.”

  Oh this poor man. He was certifiably insane. I wondered if he was even a doctor. Of course I’d heard of the Silverman family. They were one of the wealthiest and most famous families in Australia, maybe even the world. Was he even a Silverman? It didn’t seem like he’d stolen the car, but what did I know, I’d gotten kidnapped. The man thought I was his.

  “What do you mean by soulmate? Surely you don’t think I can have a relationship with a man who kidnapped me?” I was insanely attracted to this man, but I wasn’t impressed by his behavior and I knew nothing could come of our attraction

  He nodded his head. “Yes. You’ll forgive me for taking you, but we’re meant to be. You’re my one. The other half of my soul. It can’t be any other way.”

  Okay, so not only was there something really wrong with this guy, there was something wrong with me, because I actually felt a slight pull at my chest and melted a little. Well crap, no more romance books for me. Maybe I could explain why I was at the hospital and why I couldn’t go with him. If I went along with his crazy plan then he might let me go.

  “Well if we’re meant to be, why don’t you let me go? I need to get back to my mother. She’s in the hospital. It’s why I was there. Please.”

  I felt his car slow and looked out the window to confirm it as the scenery went by slower. I breathed a sigh of relief, there might just be a sane part of this man.

  “What’s your last name?” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a phone, not mine, but a new iPhone.

  “You kidnaped me and only know my first name and that is because I was stupid enough to tell you. I don’t know your name and until you take me back to the hospital you won’t know mine. If you think I’m your ‘soul mate’ then you’ll want me happy and to do that you need to take me back to my mother now. ” There, I was tough and showed him I wasn’t ready to be ordered around or taken where I don’t want to go.

  The car was quiet as I studied the man and he didn’t look at all worried about what I’d just said. I noticed his body shaking, then a chuckle left his lips and suddenly that turned into a deep belly laugh. Well hell. That didn’t work. He didn’t find my tough act intimidating at all.

  “Carl.” He said between chuckles.

  “What?” I snapped at him.

  “Carl. That’s my name. Doctor Carl Silverman. You may call me whatever you like.”

  “How about Wanker, Arsehole, or Dickhead? And I’m sure others will come to me.” I think this ‘Carl’ has escaped from being committed. I hoped he hadn’t hurt anyone when he left the hospital and took some poor guy’s car. I shouldn’t have called him all those things. What had Carl done? I didn’t want him to hurt me. Weird. Why hadn’t I thought about him hurting me before? Oh what the hell is going on? What is wrong with me? I wasn’t acting at all rational or responding like a normal person who’d been kidnapped. Something definitely wasn’t right.

  Carl’s laugh deepened. “You have quite the potty mouth.” He chuckled. “No one has spoken to me the way you are now in many, many, years.”

  I needed to figure out what was going on. Maybe I’d fallen asleep and this was a dream? “Well maybe if they did you would have sought help sooner.” I knew I should shut up. If I was thinking and acting rationally I wouldn’t antagonize the crazy guy, but for some reason he just got to me. I wasn’t usually a fighter or snarky like I was being with Carl, but I didn’t feel like he would hurt me.

  “Help for what?” He raised his brow.

  Leaning over I patted his thigh. “It’s okay Carl. I promise if you take me back to the hospital so I can be with my sick mother, I will not tell the authorities about this little mishap.” Maybe a caring approach might work better.

  “I’m not insane!”

  Shrinking back in the seat at his shout, I decided to stay quiet and let him calm down.

  Carl connected the phone to a wireless Bluetooth. “Call Duncan.”

  The phone replied. “Calling Duncan.”

  The line picked up on the second ring and a man that looked a lot like Carl, but an older version came onto the screen. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Dying? You never call.”

  I eyed the phone and debated what my chances were of grabbing it and calling the police for help.

  “Don’t even think about it.” I jumped and glanced at Carl in time to see him shake his head at me, before turning back to the road. “I’m calling my brother so you’ll believe me. If you touch this phone I will pull the car over and restrain you. Do you understand?”

  Holy crap. I nodded. I didn’t want to be restrained and I didn’t trust that that was all he’d do to me. I may have felt weirdly towards Carl, but I still had some common sense. The little freedom I had was better than the alternative.

  “Carl, what the hell are you talking about?” The guy on the phone ask
ed.

  “Duncan, I’ve found my mate. You were right; the curse is real.”

  Duncan’s whole face lit up on the screen in a huge smile. “Congratulations brother. When did this happen? Is this why you haven’t called us back. We’ve been trying to call.”

  “No this isn’t why I didn’t call. I only found her about fifteen ago.”

  “What! How are you talking to us? Why are you so rational? Are you sure it’s the curse, er, um, gift?”

  This time Carl’s laugh was hollow sounding. “Oh it’s the curse. I think I’m not all caveman because I didn’t fight the curse. I let it take over. It’s why I’m now about to get on the highway and go to our family cabin. I kidnapped my mate.”

  “Oh fuck. What do you mean by kidnapped?” The guy Duncan, didn’t sound concerned, more annoyed, curious, and he still looked happy.

  Carl sighed. “I’d just finished a double shift and was walking to my car when I spotted her on the phone. Well, first I heard her voice and I became instantly awake and my exhaustion left me, and I just knew who that voice belonged to. Then I saw her and the curse took over. I let it. One thing I have learnt thanks to my nephews is just go with what the gypsies gave us. Don’t fight it or try to give your mate time to adjust.”

  Duncan groaned and the smile slipped. “Dustan isn’t fighting it. Cassie has done a runner. Besides torturing her family for the info on where she is, which I think Dustan will do once he has everything in America set, he’s coming back to Australia so he can pursue her. Stephan didn’t put up a fight, Jade was too young to just take, and Richard’s Bailey was the same.” Duncan moaned and a horrified look came over his face. “Please tell me she isn’t under age?”

  I watched and listened, not believing what I was hearing. The whole family sounded like lunatics. I needed to escape. Right then I didn’t care if the man was a Silverman or not. I felt like I’d stepped into the twilight zone. I should feel scared. Terrified. But for some reason, I was just angry, confused, annoyed, and frustrated. The longer I sat in the car, the more I started to think that there was not just something wrong with Carl, there was definitely something wrong with me.

  “Oh course not. She’s about twenty four, maybe five. I’m not a complete idiot.”

  It was hard in that moment not to like my kidnapper. He thought I was five or six years younger than I was. He may have been crazy, but he was good for my ego. Oh crap, maybe crazy could rub off on people.

  “Good, good.” Duncan said and his face relaxed and slipped back into a smile.

  “I called because I need security and I may need Ryder to help with the police. I took her from the hospital—”

  “What do you mean you took her from the hospital?” Duncan’s voice was getting louder and his smile vanished again.

  This was my chance to get help. “Please help me. My mother is sick and I need to—”

  “Carl, what the hell have you done?” Duncan glared.

  Carl shot me a quick shut up look, before turning his gaze back to the road. “It’s not that bad. I took her from the employee carpark. She was on the phone to some guy called Brent.” The growl in Carl’s voice was deep as he spat out Brent’s name.

  “Oh well, if you took her from the employee car park then everything is good.” The sarcasm was thick in Duncan’s voice and I didn’t miss the roll of his eyes.

  “I did.”

  “So what, you just picked her up and took her and no one helped or noticed? What about when you left and the boom gate?”

  “Yes. She’s mine,” Carl snarled. “And that’s another thing I’ll need your help with. I sped out of the carpark and didn’t stop for the boom gate. It’s broken.”

  Then I sank deeper into the twilight zone. Duncan burst into laughter. “Oh God. Hold on Carl. I have to bring Lucas and Albert into the conversation,” Duncan said in-between bouts of laughter.

  Carl snarled. I stared at him to see his brows furrowed, his lips thinned, and I bet if it had been quieter I could’ve heard his teeth grinding. Then I saw the screen split into three and two older men joined the conversation. Duncan explained what Carl had done and said to him, to the two men, who looked so similar, I assumed they were family. Before Duncan finished I decided to try one of these men for help.

  “Please help. I need you to call the police. I need to get back to the hospital. My mother is sick. Please help me.” Before I could finish, the men were chuckling.

  “It finally got him.” One of the new guys said.

  The other added, “I hate to be the voice of reason, but what is wrong with her mother? Carl if it’s fatal and she dies your woman may never forgive you for that.”

  Yay, a voice that sounded stable. A voice that sounded like he had reason.

  “I know Lucas, but Annabelle won’t tell me her last name so I can find out about her mother.” Carl shrugged. “I figure if her mother was dying she’d be a lot more angry and upset with me.”

  “Only you brother. Only you.”

  The guy I thought was the voice of reason muttered, “You’re right. Women usually aren’t quiet and meek when someone they love is dying and you’re denying them access.”

  All three men laughed and I stared at the screen in shock. I assumed that was why I didn’t respond or say anything more. I mean no one sane let guys talk about women like that without saying anything, right? It was either that or I’d caught the crazy bug.

  “We’ll help you,” Duncan gasped out as his laughing settled down. “I’ll call Ryder and he’ll help with what he can. I’m sure our security will clean up the rest. Tyson will sort out the hospital.”

  “Richard and Mason can send over some security for you. Do you still have Stevenson?”

  “Nope. I let him retire a couple of years ago. I didn’t need a guard. I had nothing to guard before now and when I wasn’t at the hospital, I was at my high security house.”

  “I’ll talk to Mason and Richard. I know they’ve been training security for us.”

  Carl nodded. “Thanks Duncan. I want Annabelle safe and secure. I want to make sure I know where she is at all times.”

  Bringing my legs up I hugged my knees. Unease settled in at Carl’s words. I didn’t like the feeling. I needed to stay calm and alert. Listen and take everything in. When the chance came, I would escape. I didn’t like what Carl made me feel, or how I reacted to him. I’d never been normal, but I’d never been anything special either. I thought I was average, but as I sat listening and taking in everything I was beginning to think I was now anything but.

  Chapter Two

  Carl

  I didn’t mean to scare her. I’m sure I terrified her when I threatened to pull over, but I needed her to cooperate and that was all I could think to do.

  Annabelle stayed quiet for the rest of the ride to the cabin. I wasn’t sure if this should worry me or if I should be grateful. I spent the drive fighting with myself, my brain was on a loop, repeating the same series of thoughts over and over. Get soulmate to a place she won’t leave you. Make sure Annabelle is safe. Make sure soulmate is comfortable, fed and hydrated. Get Annabelle to agree to be mine. Make soulmate love me. I knew it was the curse making me turn all caveman. I couldn’t believe that only hours before I hadn’t believed the curse, er, gift, was real.

  I’d watched my brothers and even two of my nephews receive the gift. It sounded better to say a curse. Right now, knowing what it meant it felt like a gift, but I’d watched and seen it in action and from what I’d seen it was more like a curse.

  I slowed down as the gate to the cabin retreat came into view. Glancing over at Annabelle, I caught her eyes widening as she lowered her feet to the floor. The fence surrounding the cabin land was high and made it look like a compound. One of the draw backs of being a Silverman was the lack of privacy we had. We paid for top of the line security and any way to keep our privacy at any of
our homes or vacation places. The security gate and fence to outsiders would look daunting. May even look like a prison.

  I had to stop. I couldn’t speed through this gate. This was Annabelle’s chance to try and escape and I hoped she wouldn’t take it. I needed to convince her to stay. “I promise once we get to the cabin we will talk and once you understand everything and I know you won’t run and you can call whoever you want.”

  She snorted. “Oh sure.” The sarcasm was thick in her voice and as much as I’d like to believe she wouldn’t run, the road had come to an end so I had to stop.

  On a sigh I stopped the car. Taking the key out of the ignition, I grabbed my phone and got out of the car. Running to the gate, I typed the code into the lock and then ran back to the car. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see the car empty, but I was. I’d hoped she’d listen to me. I’d hoped she would at least have some trust in me as I hadn’t hurt her.

  Looking around me at the surrounding bush land, I groaned as my body and mind begged me to go searching for our mate. The problem was, I had no idea which way she went. As much as I wanted to go after her right then, I knew I needed help. Reaching into my pocket I got out my phone and dialed my brother Duncan again.

  “What’s happened?”

  I hated that my brother assumed that something had gone wrong for me to call him again. I despised it that he was right. “She ran when I stopped at the cabin. When is the security arriving? As much as I’d like to go after her, I have no idea which way she went.”

  Duncan laughed and I’d never wanted to punch someone as much as I did now. I’d never been a violent man. I went into medicine to save lives. The curse seemed to bring out all the worst traits. “Are you going to continue laughing or help me?”