by Sophie Oak
“Lexi!” Dani strained to twist around. She could see Lexi huddled in a corner. Her legs were bound with rope, and her hands seemed to be tied behind her. “Oh, Lexi, are you okay? Everyone’s looking for you.”
“She’s fine,” Val whined. “She would be better if she kept that big mouth of hers closed. She’s been spitting bile ever since she got here.”
Dani could see the roll of Lexi’s deep blue eyes. “Sorry, I guess I didn’t get the pamphlet that went over the rules of how to behave when an asswipe takes you off the streets. Next time he should really hold a seminar or something. Or I could take a few lessons from you. After all, you’ve spent so much time with him, you should know his habits by now.”
Dani turned to Val, the quickness of the motion churning her stomach and making her queasy. Her shoulders ached from the weight being held on them. She forced herself to stand, though her legs felt wobbly. “Lexi, please, give her a break. She’s never handled stress well.” Some of Lexi’s words were starting to penetrate. “What do you mean she spent time with him? Val knows Jeremy?”
“No…I mean I met him in a bar. He lied to me. I thought he liked me.” Val sputtered, and her hands went still.
Lexi snorted. “Sure you did. I don’t know a female over the age of ten with a gaydar so fucked up she can’t tell Jeremy plays for the other team. Don’t try that line of bull with me. Like I said, I heard the two of you talking, though mostly it was Jeremy talking and Val crying. Seems like her conspirator turned on her. Tell me something, Val, how much did he offer you to turn over your sister?”
She wanted to look at her sister and ask her if it was true. It would be useless. Dani knew deep down that it was true. Something was wrong with Val. Anger and rage warred with guilt in Dani’s heart. Had she failed Val? She couldn’t see how. She’d done her best. She’d sacrificed and worked hard to make Val’s life the best it could be under the circumstances. She’d told her sister she loved her, and she had, though it had become harder and harder as the years went by.
“Damn it, Dani, I never meant for it to go like this,” Val tried, obviously giving up the innocent routine. “I just wanted to scare you. I just wanted you to see that leaving town was what’s best for you. I was just giving you the shove you needed to be with Finn. Can’t you see I was trying to do this for you?”
Or not. Dani felt tired in a way that had nothing to do with the drugs that had been in her system.
“Bravo, Valerie,” a new voice said. It was soft, but menacing. Dani got her first look at Jeremy Walker. He was thin and handsome in a pretty boy way. “I admire you, dear. You’re a liar right to the end.”
“Please don’t hurt me,” Val sobbed. “I helped you, damn it.”
Jeremy sighed as he looked Dani over. “God, I hope you’re better than these two. This one can’t stop crying, and Lucas’s whore over there can’t stop raging. It’s giving me a headache.”
“I’m glad, motherfucker,” Lexi spat. “If I can do anything else to screw up your day, please let me know.”
Jeremy shook his head. “I have no idea what Lucas sees in you.” His head turned Dani’s way. “Of course, I have no idea at all what Julian is doing with you, dear. Slumming, I suspect, though he jumped fast enough when I told him I was going to slit your throat. He should be here any minute. I have plans for the two of you.”
“He doesn’t really care about me. I’m just very submissive.” Dani kept her voice low and her words calm. She’d dealt with more than one anxious patient at the clinic she worked at. The key was to remain even and calm. It would also be best to get him away from talking about Julian. “Now tell me what my sister’s done.”
Jeremy crossed to the table. There was a small duffel bag sitting there, and he opened it. His hands disappeared inside as he replied. “Well, your sister has been an excellent accomplice. She’s everything I could want in a partner. Stupid and greedy and easily cowed, with the right amount of pressure.”
“Dani, don’t listen to him,” Val begged. She shifted from foot to foot as she pled.
Dani ignored her. She focused on Jeremy, who pulled out a small vial of clear fluid. Dani’s stomach rolled. Who was that for? “What did she want from you? Money?”
A hypodermic needle came out next. Jeremy plunged it in and gauged the dose.
Lexi answered when Jeremy seemed too interested in his medication. “She wants you to sign over your house. Something about her making a bunch of money off of it. When Jeremy turned on her, she offered to split it with him.”
“I am not interested in money.” Jeremy turned. Dani stared at the needle like it was a snake coiled and ready to strike. “What I have in mind is so much more important. You see, Julian thinks of himself as a teacher. I was his student. He is going to find out today just how much I learned from him. Julian is merciless, you see. Do you know what his first act as CEO of the company his mother left him was?” He turned, and Dani tensed, waiting to feel that needle plunge in, maybe for the last time. Was that his plan? Would Julian get here and be confronted with her dead body?
“Please don’t.” Val squirmed as though she could shrink back.
Jeremy paid no attention to her. He stared at Dani. “No? Don’t follow the business world here in Willow Fuck? Pity. Julian’s first act was to begin a hostile takeover of a company his uncle owned. It was his uncle’s baby. He’d spent thirty years of his life building that company. Julian took it apart in a matter of days. I think his uncle is in a nursing home. The best of care, of course. Everything money could buy, except companionship and his dreams.”
“Why would he do that?” There had to be a reason. Julian was ruthless. She knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt. But she hadn’t seen any true cruelty in him. He was concerned about the people around him. He’d taken such good care of her.
“I’m sure he’d tell you it was all a good investment, but I know the truth. You see, you have to study the things you love in life. I’ve made a comprehensive study of Julian Lodge. His uncle became young Julian’s guardian after his parents died. He didn’t have any time to spend on a child. He was too busy building his own company, software of some kind. He hired nannies, but he hired them off the street, without references of any kind. He paid them little, and he looked the other way when they abused their charge. When they left, he would simply bring in another one. Once, one walked away and Julian was left alone for weeks. I believe he was ten at the time. It was only when the gardener came that Julian was found. It wasn’t that there wasn’t the money for good help. His uncle had tens of thousands per month for Julian’s care. He simply preferred to use it on himself.”
How chaotic must his life have been? Dani’s heart bled for him. Even though her own childhood had been money poor, at least she’d had her mom. She’d worked most of the time, but she’d been there at night to tuck her in. Julian’s life had been a series of transient abusers.
“Don’t believe him, Dani. He’s making shit up,” Lexi said, shaking her head. “He doesn’t know anything. Julian would never have told him anything so personal.”
He struck and quickly. The needle was in Lexi’s arm before she could scream.
“Bastard.” Lexi’s eyes were glazing even as she said the words.
“Probably, though Mother claims not.” Jeremy sighed. “I really can’t have her yelling. You never know when the yokels will be listening in. I would have gagged her, but I’m afraid she bites. She’s just as much trouble as her mother. I’ll never understand the Dom who wants a willful slave.”
Dani couldn’t help it. “Because you were so well behaved? I heard what you did.”
His eyes lit up. “The Master…I mean, Julian spoke of me. Of course, he did. I was the best slave he ever had. The truth is he didn’t deserve me. I was far too good for him. And I’m right about his childhood. I lived with him, you know. I also worked in the building he owned. His secretary was given a cushy suite after her husband died. She was his final nanny, the one who stayed. He worships the ground she wa
lks on. She keeps a diary. I read it. Mostly boring crap about her kids, but I found the volumes about Julian’s childhood to be illuminating.”
Dani didn’t doubt it. Nor did she doubt Julian would be horrified if he knew someone had read such intimate details of his life. “Why are we here? Why don’t you just go and find another Master? I’m sure there are many who want an obedient slave. Of course, they might not after you murder your former Dom.” Dani decided to try logic one last time. “Come on, Jeremy, you still have a chance to make this right. Julian isn’t here yet. You haven’t actually hurt anyone.”
“Speak for yourself. He slapped me.” Now Val sounded sullen.
Jeremy’s face hardened. “If you speak again, I’ll seriously consider setting my friend on you. You remember the other night. I bought more than one snake, Valerie. Would you like to meet the second one? I’m certain he’s antsy by now.”
“You tried to kill Finn.” The truth rushed into Dani’s consciousness.
Jeremy shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, I was trying to kill Julian. I saw him talking to this Finn person. I had Val point out his vehicle. I knew Julian would go home with him. I know that look in his eyes. However, I thought Julian would drive. He always has to be in control. How was I to know he would change his habits?”
It seemed to Dani that maybe Julian was changing a lot of his habits lately. She fell silent, using all of her concentration to stay on her toes.
“I feel sorry for you, really I do.” Jeremy continued on, obviously enjoying the sound of his own voice. Dani briefly wondered if Lexi wasn’t the lucky one. “Julian will make you fall in love with him. He’ll give you everything you need for a time, and then when you think it’s all going to work out, that you’ll be the one who can truly change him, that’s when he finds a new slave and cuts you loose. He might be kinder about it with you than he was with me. Perhaps he’ll find you a new Master as he did for many of his former slaves, but in the end, you’re just another in a long line of interchangeable bodies. You don’t matter. Not really.”
It wasn’t anything Dani hadn’t thought before. Just hours before, Julian had dismissed her for the simple act of having a different opinion. Was she fooling herself into thinking she was different? Would she end up like Jeremy if she stayed with Julian?
He stared down at Lexi’s unconscious form. “As for her, it’s truly better she ends here, too. I’ve been watching her for months. She’s filled with rage, so much rage and pain. She seems fine when she’s in public, but she’s not. Not even Lucas seems to reach her. I’ve often wondered what happened to her. They don’t have sex, you know.”
That was news to Dani, but she kept her mouth closed. Jeremy put the needle back in the bag and came out with another two sets of zip ties. Dani wondered if he’d gotten a special deal since he seemed to buy them in bulk. He carried them to the far side of the room along with one of the chairs. He placed it far from anything else and then attached a set to each arm of the chair, leaving the open end dangling, waiting for someone. Julian. He intended for Julian to sit in that chair.
Jeremy turned back to her. “I managed to get myself into Lucas’s house through his cleaning service. You just can’t trust the help these days. I set up cameras. Poor Lucas. He won’t fuck her no matter how much she begs. He’ll whip her, spank her, tie her up, and use a vibe on her, but he withholds his cock, and would you like to know why?” Jeremy laughed and shook his head. “She won’t tell him she loves him. Who would have guessed that Lucas Cameron would hold out for a declaration of love? Pity. He should have fucked her while he had the chance. Carpe diem and all that.”
Jeremy’s head swung around. He cocked an ear as though he could hear something Dani could not. A wicked smiled creased his youthful face. “Looks like he wants you to live.” He strode to the table and pulled an odd-looking gun out of the bag. As he made it to the door, he turned. “Scream if you like, Danielle. I think Julian will appreciate it. He always did like the sound of a woman in pain.”
Dani kept her terror firmly lodged in her chest as Jeremy walked out the door. Julian wouldn’t like it. It would horrify him. Julian liked to play. He played out his own little fantasies even as he indulged her own. He enjoyed her cries as long as he knew they would lead her to something pleasurable. Julian would be horrified if he caused her pain that wasn’t erotic or didn’t seem to be something she needed. It was why he was harder on Finn. He would raise welts on Finn’s ass, and Finn would come all the harder for it. On Dani he used a light hand. He barely made her bottom pink.
“See, if you hadn’t decided to sleep with that sicko, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.” Val’s sullen pout was back.
“Shut up, Val, or I swear I’ll kill you myself.” She strained to see out the window. The ties bit into her wrists and her neck hurt at the unnatural angle. In the distance, she glimpsed a black Jeep coming up the back way. It rolled up the dirt road that ran from the highway, if you knew where to look for it. It didn’t go by the Smart house, so there wasn’t anyone to warn.
“I really wasn’t trying to kill you, Dani.” Val sounded small now.
Dani looked down at her sister. “You wanted the house? I was going to sell you my half.”
“I don’t have the money for your half, and then”
“And then what?”
There was a small pause and then a deep, heaving sigh. “And then the mayor told me there’s going to be a big development right on our land. They’re going to build an outlet mall. It’s going to be huge. My piece of the land is worth two hundred and fifty thousand.”
“Well, it’s good to know my life was at least worth six figures to you.” Desperation edged out anger at her sister. She could deal with her later, after she’d figured a way out.
“I told you I wasn’t trying to kill you. Just scare you into leaving with Finn.”
“I don’t care, Val. Take the land. I don’t care. All I care about right now is the fact that that whackdoodle is going to come back in here any minute and use me as a sacrificial lamb to punish Julian.” She slipped as she tried to get a better look outside. She groaned as her wrists took the full weight of her body.
“Be careful, Dani, you’re going to break the damn roof if you keep swinging like that.”
Dani got her footing back and stared up at the ceiling where the hook was bolted. Sure enough, Val was right. There was a crack right there, snaking out from where the hook met the ceiling. A little bit of hope soared through her. Jimbo’s father had built this place himself over twenty years before. The elder Smart hadn’t been known for his perfectionism. He’d been just as lazy and apt to cut corners as his son. Dani looked at the hook above Val’s head. It was taking her weight with ease. Never before had Dani been so happy to have twenty pounds on her sister.
“What are you doing?” Val’s attention was focused now as Dani took a deep breath. “I don’t think you should do it, whatever it is.”
“I’m done listening to you, Val. If I decide to save you when all this is over, I don’t think I want to be your sister anymore.” Dani braced herself because this was going to hurt.
She grabbed the ties with her hands and pulled. The crack opened a bit more, but not enough. It would take more than a little pull. Dani brought her feet up and dangled. She swiveled her hips and started to sway.
“You’re going to bring the roof down on top of us, Dani. This is your plan? You’re going to kill us before he can?”
Dani pulled and pulled. She gained ground, but not enough. It would take time to work the screw out of the beam. Dani let her full weight hang. The beam groaned, but held.
The door opened, and Dani’s time was out.
* * * *
Finn sat back in one of the old vinyl chairs that dotted the Sheriff’s Department’s waiting room. All around him people were buzzing like flies in a flurry of activity, but he felt completely still, held in place. His brain screamed for everything to just stop. He wanted it all to stop so he had a
minute to process the fact that they were both gone.
They were gone, and he didn’t know where they were. He didn’t know what was happening. He stared down at the phone in his hand almost waiting for it to ring. Julian had dropped his phone just like Dani had dropped hers. Leo had picked it up, and had confirmed it was the same number that had called Dani, Val’s old model cell. He’d called and called the number, but it simply went to voice mail. The phone company was trying to trace it, but it would take time, and there was no way to know if Jeremy had dumped it somewhere. His own phone had been completely silent.
Why wouldn’t it ring? Damn it, but he wanted to be where they were. Fuck the consequences. He didn’t want to be left behind. He’d run after the Jeep Julian had been driving until he just couldn’t anymore.
“Finn, I got the location on the Audi. The Sheriff and I are going out to take a look. Would you like to come?” Leo stared down at him. He seemed perfectly cool and collected. Finn bet there wasn’t a screaming idiot inside of Leo just waiting to get out.
“No. I’ll wait here.” What was the point? Dani obviously had ditched the car, and Julian had driven off in a Jeep. They were following someone’s plan. Finn was certain Leo would find the car without a driver, and there was no way to trace the Jeep. Julian was gone the same way Dani was gone.
“All right, Finn.” Leo’s eyes were sympathetic. “It’s probably for the best. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Jack Barnes should be here in about twenty minutes. Let him know what’s going on.
Leo walked away. It wasn’t a moment before there was a hand on Finn’s shoulder. He looked up into the face of his nemesis. Jimbo Smart. Damn it. This was just what he needed.
“Finn, what the hell is going on? Someone said Dani went missing.”
Finn softened slightly. The big man really seemed concerned. “Someone’s after Julian, and he thinks he can get to him through Dani.”
“Is Julian the rich guy?”
Finn nodded, though his attention was taken by Tricia Walker, who sat by the big window staring at her cell phone, too. Finn studied her carefully. Her head was down, and she didn’t seem to notice anyone around her. She was so quiet for a reporter. Finn had met many reporters in his time, and the one thing they all had was an innate confidence. They had to. Tricia lacked that confidence.
