Virgo's Vice

by Trish Jackson

  Yeah. He should have snuck up on him at night when he was sleeping and cut his throat, just like Eve, and Andy and Kelli. An asshole like that should be made to suffer, though. One quick knife cut wasn’t near enough for him. He deserved to have his balls cut out.

  Billy knew he needed water. He maneuvered his way down the bank. He couldn’t bend his knee, and the only way he could get to the water was to lie on the ground beside the stream. He slurped greedily at the running water, knowing he couldn’t stop for another drink. It would take up too much time. He was already wasting too much of it now.

  He scrambled painfully up the bank and studied the sky. The swirling clouds were getting darker. Standing still like this he could hear the distant thunder. At least rain would cool things down.

  A few drops of rain splashed onto his face as he continued on his hobbling half-run. He had to get to her before it was too late. Before Trip took Lexie and disappeared.

  Chapter 49

  I can’t let Trip stop me from my mission. I have to find someone to go back and help Billy and the others. Jared could die if I don’t get help. And now with Trip gone, how will they manage? My legs, my whole body is shaking, not from fear but from anger. Trip actually believes I want to be with him. What do I have to do to convince him, to make him understand how much I loathe him?

  “Why do you think I would want to be with you? You’re a monster. I hate you for what you did to me.”

  “You don’t mean that, Lexie. That’s a hateful thing to say. I’m not a monster. I love you. Can’t you see how much I love you? I can’t live without you. I want to be with you forever. You don’t know how hard it’s been for me not to see you, and not to touch you.”

  Bile rises in my throat. I grab Jake’s collar, turn my back on Trip, and start walking again. I can’t stop him from following me. Got to keep moving. I’ll figure out a way to prevent him from forcing me to go with him when we reach civilization. I won’t let him take me. I won’t. I would rather kill him.

  “You don’t understand. You took away my childhood. I had no childhood.” I keep facing forward as I speak.

  “Of course you had a childhood, Lexie. I took real good care of you. I bought you ice creams and candies and took you to the movies and to Disney World.” He’s following close behind me.

  I snort. What planet does he come from? “That’s not what I mean. You only did that for sex. That’s all you wanted from me and you still want it. I hope you’re proud of yourself for raping a helpless little girl and making her your sex slave all those years.”

  He grabs my arm and I shake it off violently and glare at him through narrowed eyes, daring him to touch me again. Jake snaps at him with bared teeth and I have to hold onto him tightly because I’m afraid Trip will kill him. He doesn’t care about animals. He doesn’t care about anyone or anything except himself and his own sick sexual needs.

  I push forward again. “We have to get help for the others.”

  “For that dumb cowboy. That’s who you want to help, isn’t it, Lexie?”

  I keep a restraining hand on Jake’s collar. I glance back. Trip has a deranged glint in his eyes. “We need to get back to civilization where you can get your senses back. This place has made you crazy.”

  I turn to walk again. I have to think. I have to find a way to lose him. There must be something I can do.

  Without warning, he grabs me from behind, turns me around, and drags me into him.

  Jake snarls and leaps at him.

  “No, Jake!” I yell. “Stay.”

  Trip is trying to force his lips onto mine. I struggle but he is so much stronger than me. He always has been. I see the naked lust in his eyes and that’s when I realize that my nightmare has never really ended.

  Was I dumb enough to believe I was free of him?

  Jake is growling and barking and snapping his teeth.

  “I warned you to get that mutt away from me,” Trip hisses into my face.

  “Jake, go get help. Go, Jake.” I don’t know if he’ll understand but I can only hope he’ll move away. I can’t let Trip kill him.

  Trip keeps me in a vise-like grip and stares into my face. I know the look in his eyes. I know he’s going to rape me, just like he used to do. I struggle and yank at my arms and pummel him with my free hand and fight him as fiercely as I can. He’s so much stronger than me.

  “Get down on the ground,” he says through gritted teeth as he’s pushing me down.

  “Never. You’ll have to kill me first.”

  Riaan trudged up the hill toward where he thought they might have made their camp. The thunder was getting louder and closer. Hendrik was right. He shouldn’t have flown in this weather. He should be heading back.

  He crested the rise and squinted. Yes. There. He hurried toward the brightly colored ribbon flapping in the breeze. As he drew closer he saw a person moving about.

  “Hello,” he shouted.

  The woman had wild hair and a skeletal body. She whipped around and stared at him. What was that on her face? Blood stains? She couldn’t be one of the people who jumped out of his airplane how long ago? It was only seven days. Only seven days.

  Logic told him it had to be one of them. “My name is Riaan. I’m a pilot. You probably saw my aircraft fly over. I’m searching for a group of people I left out here.” Was that woman carrying an axe? Riaan stopped. He jumped when another person, the tall black man he recognized stepped from a makeshift shelter. He was carrying a log in his hand and holding it up like a weapon.

  Riaan backed away and put his hand on his holster, glad he had his gun. He always wore it in case he came across a puff adder or other poisonous snake. “Is everything okay?” Had these people gone Lord of the Flies or what?

  The black man started to speak, but at the same time the woman charged him, the axe held high. She emitted a high-pitched scream.

  Riaan’s blood ran cold. He yanked the gun out of its holster and fired a shot into the air. The woman whipped around to face him. He was shaking all over. Was this the monster the locals ran away from? Some crazy woman? And what about the black guy. Was he also nuts?

  “Hold it,” he said. “I don’t want to shoot you, so you stop right there and put the axe down.”

  “She’s flipped her lid,” the black guy quietly said in a deep voice.

  “I think you should put down that axe,” Riaan said. “Then we can talk.” He noticed two more people peering out of the shelter.

  “Miss, please give me the axe.” He held out his hand.

  She stared at him almost like she was looking right through him. Nobody spoke. The shrill screaming of the cicadas and the distant boom of thunder faded into the background. Riaan’s mind worked overtime trying to figure out what to do. He had never shot a person and he wasn’t about to start now. Maybe he should fire a shot in the air again. No, that might trigger something in her and she could hurt someone—or herself.

  The standoff seemed to last for an age.

  Finally, the slumped to the ground and started to cry.

  “I was only playing,” she blubbered. “Everyone thought I was serious, but it’s a game. It’s all a game. That’s why we came here.”

  Riaan lowered his gun and was about to relax, when she lifted the axe high and threw it at him. He jumped away from it, and watched it fly past his leg.

  “Jesus! That was close.” He was breathing hard and his heart was beating wildly when he bent to pick it up. He kept his eyes on the woman, wondering if she was going to make any other moves.

  Through the corner of his eye he saw the tall black man and another ease their way out of the shelter. The black man had his right arm bandaged. The dark-skinned guy was limping. A woman came up behind them. She had blood on her face and her arm was bound with clothing. They were covered in blood. What
the fuck had gone on here?

  “Are you the people who jumped out of my airplane a week ago?” He put his revolver back into the holster, but he kept his hand on the grip. And he kept his gaze on the crazy woman, who was sitting on the ground muttering, “It’s a game. Only a game.”

  He wasn’t one hundred percent sure if the black guy was friendly or not. A tall blond woman slipped out of the shelter with her arm in a makeshift splint.

  “We are the same people.” She had some sort of accent. He remembered her. She had been attractive when he met her last, but now she was pale and haggard.

  “Old Man Dockery never came back, and he didn’t leave us a sat phone as he had promised. We were caught at the receiving end of a rockslide.” The black guy pointed to the tall kopje a few miles east of them. “There’s one dude in the shelter whose feet are getting gangrene. He needs a hospital right now. We also lost four people. They were murdered.”

  A bright flash of lightning and a loud crack of thunder heralded the rain, which came on fast, and within a few seconds was sheeting down hard. The woman who had been brandishing the axe hauled herself up.

  The others retreated into the shelter. “Come on,” the black guy said. “It’s far from waterproof, but it’ll help a little.”

  Chapter 50

  I know I’m in for the fight of my life. I try to remember the self-defense techniques Billy tried to teach me. I wish I had gone to classes. He’s coming for me. I stab at his eyes with forked fingers. Yes. I must have made contact because he jerks his head back and curses, and I feel wetness on my fingers.

  “Bitch!” Trip yells.

  I only got one eye. He keeps a hold of my arm. I twist my body and try to wrench myself free but he won’t let go. I kick at his shins and try to stomp on his feet. I can’t get to his balls. He’s too cunning for that.

  Someone is screaming. Is it me?

  Trip is getting the better of me. I can’t let him. I cannot allow him to win. I land on my back with a thud. It hurts and winds me a little, and before I can scramble out of the way, he lands with the bulk of his weight on top of me. He pushes my hands down onto the ground and leans over me.

  I spit into his face.

  It’s like slow motion. I see his arm go back, the fist bunch, and he punches my stomach. I can’t breathe. Everything starts to go black. I can’t let this happen. Have to fight and never give up.

  What’s that sound?

  Jake. Barking.

  Don’t hurt him. Please don’t hurt Jake.

  Trip grunts and flies off me.

  I open my eyes and blink. I suck in a huge gulp of air and gasp. Billy.

  “Trip has the knife. He’ll kill you, Billy. Oh, God no.”

  Trip punches Billy in his face but Billy ducks and the punch only grazes his cheek.

  He lifts the pole he is using as a crutch and strikes Trip.

  Trip deflects the crutch with an arm across his face, and moves away. I can see his face, the murderous glower, and one closed eye. Oh God, he’s taking the knife out of his belt.

  I have to get up. It hurts so bad but I struggle to my knees and use all my strength to stand up. I kick his leg out from behind him and bend forward and clutch my stomach where he hit me.

  Jake bares his teeth and growls and leaps to snap at Trip’s face as he goes down on one knee.

  Billy can’t move quickly, and Trip stands, lashes out at Jake and stands up again. He charges Billy and crashes into him with his head in Billy’s sternum. They both fall to the ground and Billy yells. Trip drags himself up and lifts the knife over his head.

  Oh God, Trip’s going to kill Billy. I have to help him.

  I rush at Trip and try to knock him over, but he’s wise to me this time and he grips hold of my shoulders and turns me to face Billy. He’s using me as a shield. He has the knife in his hand. He’s holding it under my chin. The cold steel is pressed against my throat.

  I’m panting and struggling for breath. “I’ll kill her,” Trip says with an evil chuckle. “Go away or I swear I’ll kill Lexie. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

  Billy drags himself up and stands a short distance away and stares, breathing hard, his face covered with mud and dust and bruises. Jake is baring his teeth and barking ferociously. Billy puts a restraining hand on his collar. My heart goes out to him. I know his knee can’t hold out for much longer. I have to help him.

  A strong gust of wind blasts into me and heavy raindrops sting my face. A huge flash of lightning splits the sky. Thunder cracks so loudly it makes me jump. Jake leaps at Trip and knocks the knife from his hand. I try to wrench myself free, but Trip holds onto my arm with a painful grip.

  Jake has hold of his jeans and is growling and snarling and is trying to bite through the fabric.

  Another bright flash of lightning lights up the sky and the knife glints in the grass. I don’t know if Billy can see it.

  I chin-cock and open my eyes wide, and mouth the word “knife.” Trip can’t see my face. He is too busy fighting off Jake. He tries to punch him on his nose, but Jake leaps away and charges again, and I’m screaming at Trip and doing everything I can to get away from him. “Let me go, you fucking asshole!”

  Billy lunges for the knife.

  Trip tries to stop him, but Billy gets his hands on the knife, and lifts it. “Let her go.”

  The wind whips my hair around and the rain sheets down. The thunder and lightning are getting closer.

  “Go ahead,” Trip says. “You’ll get her before you get me.”

  “You’d like that wouldn’t you? Just let her go, you sick fuck.”

  Trip lunges for Billy, and to my horror, kicks Billy’s injured knee.

  Billy screams, drops to the ground, and grips his knee.

  Trip has the knife. He holds the blade at Billy’s throat.

  “No!” I hear myself shout. “Please, no.”

  Trip is going to kill Billy like he killed the others. I kick the knife out of his hand. He grabs my foot and drags me down and we grapple. He twists my arm back and I scream. The pain!

  What’s that sound? I look up into the dark swirling sky. An airplane. The wind is buffeting it around and for a moment I’m afraid it will fall out of the sky. Its wing dips and in that instant, I know the pilot has seen us.

  “Now you’re going down for all those murders,” Billy says, and lunges. Trip is wrenched away from me. Billy throws him to the ground and has him pinned down, with the knife at his throat.

  “Kill him, Billy,” I yell. “Kill him.” I sob. “Don’t give him another chance.”

  Billy raises the knife and I see death in his eyes. He holds it up there and I grind my teeth and my fingernails dig into my hands. Lightning flashes brightly and distracts him for a moment. Trip twists his body and rolls away. He leaps up. Thunder booms and echoes around the hills.

  “You’ll never get me.” Trip stares after the airplane and moves away from us, breathing hard. The rain pours down his face. His clothes are sodden. “Now see what you’ve done,” he yells. “I’m not going to prison. Never. You could have come with me, Lexie. We could have made a new life in a new country. I’ll come back for you. I’ll never stop until I have you.”

  He starts to run away.

  Jake strains at his collar and I tighten my grip on it as I stand in the sheeting rain trying to get my breath back. I can’t think of anything except that Billy is alive.

  A searing flash of lightning splits the sky and is immediately followed by a clap of thunder so loud I scream and close my eyes.

  Jake breaks free and runs around, barking wildly.

  When I open my eyes, flames are shooting out of a nearby tree. “Oh my God,” I shriek.

  Something charred and black is lying on the ground near the tree. Acrid smoke is
curling up from it. “What . . .?” I put my hand to my mouth.

  The rain slows. The storm is moving away. Thunder rumbles in the distance.

  “Help me up,” Billy says.

  I hear the pain in his voice. His knee must have taken a terrible beating. I find the crutch, pick it up, and offer Billy my hand. My stomach still hurts. I must be caught in some terrible nightmare.

  Billy slides the crutch under his arm and hobbles slowly toward the tree. I follow, afraid of what I might see.

  Shoulder to shoulder, we stare down at what’s left of Trip. His skin is scorched black and still smoldering despite the light drizzle. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s dead.

  We stand there in silence for a long time.

  Chapter 51

  The airplane doesn’t come back right away, but I know it will. We sit under a tree and wait.

  The storm is drifting away.

  Billy’s face is bruised and his hat is gone. He rakes his fingers through his hair. His face is so pale under the dark beard stubble and for the first time I see how thin he has gotten. He notices me staring at him and grins.

  I can’t help smiling back, even though everything is so weird. It’s so surreal. Trip’s body is lying there so close to us, burned beyond recognition. He will never bother me again. I feel a strange sense of loss. I’ve seen a lot of death this past week, and it’s always a shock.

  “What are you staring at?” Billy says.

  “You.”

  “Well don’t. It makes me nervous.”

  “I’m looking at you and thinking even after everything you are still handsome, and you have that naughty glint in your eyes.”

  “You’d better believe it,” he says. “Now will you marry me?”

  I sit there, my wet hair hangs down limply and my sodden clothes cling to my body. I watch his grin widen and he shakes his head.