by Erin Wade
Darke thumbed through the graduation program. “I don’t see Eden’s name listed,” she mumbled. “This is disappointing. It jumps from Daniels to Edwards. There’s no Daye.”
“Right here, dear,” Sable said, showing Darke the listing. “She’s listed herself as Eden Knight.”
Darke beamed as Eden walked across the stage and stood demurely as the dean read her list of honors and handed her the diploma.
“You must be proud,” Sable whispered to her daughter. “She’s enchanting and brilliant.”
“Yes,” Darke said, beaming with pride. “She’s perfect, Mother.”
“She’s so young … and desperately in love with you,” Sable continued to whisper as Eden left the stage.
It was only a glance or maybe a sense of foreboding, but dread spread through Darke as she watched Eden disappear behind the curtain.
“Mother, I’m certain Carter Winthrop is here.”
Sable clutched Kristaal’s hand and the three walked to the lobby.
“She should be in here.” Darke opened a door that led to a cavernous room holding hundreds of graduates. She scanned the crowd for Eden and didn’t find her. “Mother, I don’t see her.”
“Fan out,” Sable commanded. “Crisscross the room and meet back here.”
The three quickly searched the room. “Maybe she went to meet us,” Sable suggested. “You know how she hates to be away from you.”
“She told me to wait in our seats,” Darke said. She chewed her bottom lip and raked a shaking hand through her hair. “I’ll go back out there. You and Kristaal search the lobby. I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes. If we haven’t found her by then, I’m calling the police.”
##
Darke answered the call on the first ring. “We’ve picked up her scent in a parking lot behind the hall,” Sable said.
Darke was at her mother’s side as she hung up her phone. Sable couldn’t help commenting on her daughter’s speed. “You haven’t slowed down in your old age.”
Darke sniffed the air then bent over and smelled the ground. “She was right here. She must have been pushed into a vehicle that was parked here. They took Caz too. There must be several abductors for them to overpower Caz.”
Darke pushed the button that brought Tess to them. “I need a car like this,” Sable said to Kristaal as the door swung open.
“I’ll try to pick up Eden’s cell phone,” Darke informed her mother. “She was wearing jeans and a pullover under her graduation gown. I’m certain she had her lipstick and phone in her pocket.”
Tess latched onto Eden’s phone signal and laid rubber leaving the parking lot.
“Hold on,” Darke warned. “I’m not driving.”
##
Eden lay still. Her blindfold prevented her from seeing where she was and who had kidnapped her. Duct tape covered her mouth, and her hands and feet were bound. A sharp object was sticking in her neck. Something large and warm pressed against her back. It took her a moment to realize it was Caz. She strained her ears to hear some sign of life and thanked God when she did.
##
“We’ll make it to Galveston around two in the morning,” Carter Winthrop informed the driver, Blade. “We’ll meet the freighter in the morning.
“By tomorrow afternoon, Eden Daye and I will be bound for Europe.”
“What about the wolf?” Blade grunted. “How long will that tranquilizer knock it out?”
Carter cackled. “Long enough for us to kill it. Then you can make your ransom call to Darke Knight and arrange to exchange the wolf and Eden for several million dollars. You’ll be wealthy, my friend.”
“Yeah. When she shows up with the money, I’ll have a bullet waiting for her.”
“Sure.” I’m glad I’ll be out of the country , Carter thought. When Knight gets through with you, you’ll be trying to resurrect that wolf and lead the woman to me .
“Can’t this van go any faster?” Carter grumbled.
##
“We’re not going to make it to Galveston without stopping for gas,” Blade said as he peered in the rearview mirror. “No one is following us. We should pull into the next gas station.”
Carter’s nervous glance at his side mirror showed nothing but empty highway behind them. “Yeah, but make it snappy. I’m going to pull that graduation gown off Eden and make sure the wolf is still out cold.”
Blade got the gas pump running and then sauntered into the convenience store for a cold drink and chips. “Your men’s room clean?” he asked the clerk.
“Yes, sir.”
“Wrap up about six of those hotdogs for me. I’ll be right back. Nah, I’m starving and it’s a long way to Galveston. Give me a dozen of ’em.”
Carter climbed between the seats and kneeled in the back of the van.
“Hello, my love,” Carter murmured into Eden’s ear. He removed her blindfold. He had never seen such hatred in anyone’s eyes.
He pulled out a knife, slit the graduation gown, and pulled it off her. “There. That’s much better. That gown hid your perfect body. A body that will soon belong to me.”
Eden’s eyes followed his every move. He cupped her breasts. “You gave these to that woman?” he snorted. “How could you?”
His eyes traveled down her body and stopped at her stomach. Eden cringed as he reached out to touch her. His eyes narrowed, and anger flashed across his face. “Dammit! That idiot Blade left your cell phone on.”
A tremor ran through Carter’s body as he jumped from the van to survey the highway behind him. “Blade, get the hell out here,” he bellowed.
Blade ran from the store. “What’s up?”
“You fool! You left her cell phone in her pocket, and it’s on. Knight is probably tracking it right now.”
“Give it to me,” Blade barked. He snatched the phone from Carter’s hand, threw it to the ground, and stomped it to pieces. “There. Let them follow that signal.”
“Get in the damn van and drive,” Carter growled. “She’s probably right behind us.”
Blade yanked the gas nozzle from the tank and tossed it to the ground “Bring her on. She’ll regret the day she came face-to-face with me.”
##
“We’ve lost the signal,” Darke said when Tess’s GPS began to ding. “They’re probably headed for Houston or Galveston. It’s anyone’s guess where they’ll hide out.”
She looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere. Bright lights ahead heralded the existence of a lone service station on the lonely stretch of road. Darke pulled in and went inside.
“Have you seen this woman?” Darke asked as she held Eden’s photo in front of the clerk.
“Whew! No, ma’am. I’d remember a looker like her. We ain’t had no one in here except for a couple of fellers who left like their tails were on fire.”
“Did they say where they were headed?”
“Yes, ma’am. Galveston.”
“Describe their vehicle,” Darke snapped.
“White panel van. Nothing on it, no writing or anything. Just white.”
Darke thanked him and dashed from the store. She stopped when something crunched beneath her feet. She knew the crushed red plastic was the remnants of Eden’s cellphone.
“They’re headed to Galveston,” Darke informed her parents as Tess closed her door. “We’ve got to overtake them before they lose themselves in the city.”
##
Blade pulled the weapon he was nicknamed after and waved it in front of Eden. “Mr. Fancy Pants Carter has gone to take care of your passage to Europe,” he muttered, leering at her. “You look like way too much woman for him. If you’ll be nice to me, I’ll cut the tape on your ankles.
“Yeah, you be nice to me,” he said, panting as he sliced at the tape, “and I’ll release your wrists afterward.”
Eden gagged as bile rose into her throat.
Blade slit the duct tape around Eden’s ankles and spread her legs. On his knees, he scooted closer to her.
&nb
sp; A low growl made Blade’s entire body stiffen. That damn wolf better not wake up now, he thought as he reached out to unzip Eden’s jeans. He turned as Caz leaped. The wolf closed her mouth around Blade’s face.
The momentum of Caz’s leap tore off Blade’s left cheek and nose. The thug screamed and clawed at his face, trying to ease the pain. Eden kicked with all her strength, landing both feet in the man’s groin. He howled louder and fell onto his side.
Caz jumped onto the downed kidnapper and began to rip away more of his face. Eden slid from the van and tried to ascertain her location. The van door slid shut with a bang and Carter wrapped his arm around Eden’s neck, choking her into darkness.
Caz thrashed about like a rabid animal. She howled and threw herself against the sides of the van, but they contained her. She couldn’t get out. She couldn’t save Eden.
##
They pulled into a waterfront parking lot that held several white vans. “There.” Kristaal gestured toward a white van whose windows were smeared with blood.
“Oh dear God!” Sable gasped as Darke parked their car and leaped out.
Darke swallowed the lump in her throat and tore across the parking lot to the van. “Please, dear God, don’t let this be Eden’s blood,” she mumbled before opening the van door.
Caz nearly knocked Darke down as she leaped from the van and swung her huge head from side to side. She was frothing at the mouth and whining as if in pain.
Darke ran her hands over Caz’s bloody coat and ascertained the wolf wasn’t hurt. She couldn’t say the same for the man writhing in pain on the van floor. “Good girl,” Darke snarled. “You left his lips. He can talk.”
Darke dragged Blade to the door of the van. “Where’s Eden?” She bared her teeth and leaned close to the man. “Tell me where she is, or I’ll put the wolf back in the van.”
“No, please, no!” Blade gurgled through the blood flowing from his mangled face.
“Tell me!” Darke shook him.
When he stopped crying, he gasped, “Freighter to Europe.”
“What dock?”
“Don’t know.”
Darke caught the man’s collar and dragged him closer, but she could tell by his sightless staring eyes that he was already dead.
“She’s on a freighter bound for Europe,” Darke informed her parents when she returned to the car. “I’m assuming it’ll be close by.”
Sable scanned the docked ships. “There are three flying the British flag. We’ll each take a ship and search it.”
Darke ran to the ship farthest from them. She sniffed the air as she sprinted up the gangplank.
“Hey, you can’t just board my ship,” said the burly sea captain who stood in her way.
Darke didn’t slow down. When she reached the man, she tossed him overboard. She sniffed the air but couldn’t pick up Eden’s scent. She threw open a door and searched the cargo hold. There was no sign of Eden.
The three of them met on the dock a few minutes later. Eden wasn’t on any of the freighters. “Carter was too smart to tell his henchman how they were leaving the country,” Darke surmised. “I’m betting he’s holed up somewhere.”
Caz ran back to the van and sniffed around it. She howled and took off in the direction of a small wooden warehouse. “Good girl,” Darke said as she ran beside the animal.
“Is she in there?” Darke asked.
Caz growled and whined intermittently. Darke understood. Eden’s in there, but it’s dangerous.
“Mother, Kristaal, please stay here and guard the two front doors. Don’t enter. It may be a trap. I’m going to scout around back and see if there’s another entrance. Come, Caz.”
Darke sniffed the air. She caught Eden’s scent and her stomach lurched. She was close. She ignored the rickety-looking door, choosing instead to follow Caz to a high hedge growing against the building. Caz slipped through the foliage with Darke on her heels. An unlocked door was hidden by the hedge.
Darke eased the door open and followed Caz inside without making a sound. Woman and wolf stood for a long time, listening. The soft sound of muffled breathing reached them. Caz slinked behind a stack of crates, and Darke moved forward toward the sound, praying it was Eden they were hearing.
Suddenly, a loud crash and sounds of a struggle echoed through the building. Darke hurried forward to find Caz and another wolf in a heated battle. Across the room, deep within the shadows, she spied Eden, bound to a chair in the center of an open space lighted by a single kerosene lamp. Darke ran to her and ripped the duct tape with her teeth, setting her wife free.
“Darke!” Eden cried, falling into her arms.
Behind her, Darke could hear more wolves joining the fight against Caz. “Mother and Kristaal are on the other side of that door. Hurry to them,” she said, helping Eden to her feet.
“I can’t leave you.”
“I’ll fight better if I’m not worried about you.” Darke pushed her toward the door. “Go! Tell Mother not to interfere.”
Eden ran out the door.
“Surely you didn’t think it would be that easy,” Carter growled from behind Darke. She whirled around just as he leaped at her. His full weight crashed into her, knocking her to the ground. She rolled away from him and sprang to her feet.
“You’ll rue the day you were born, Carter Winthrop,” she snarled.
“I don’t think so, Countess.” Carter circled her as other wolves moved in behind her.
Darke strained to hear any sound from Caz, but there was nothing. She glanced around for higher ground and saw a stairway leading to a second floor. She moved slowly toward it. “If you killed Caz, all of you are going to die,” she taunted, trying to draw the pack’s attention away from the fact that she was easing toward the staircase.
A brave but foolish wolf leaped at her. She caught it midair and broke its neck. The rest of the pack drew back from her, giving her the opportunity to leap up the stairs.
Still in his human form, Carter advanced toward her. “Are you going to fight me like a man?” she said.
“I’m going to show you what it’s like to be with a man,” he said, leering at her. “Then I’m taking my time with Eden.”
Darke couldn’t suppress a shudder at the thought of Eden being with Carter.
The wolves morphed into men but continued to snarl and bare their teeth as they moved to back up Carter. One of the men grabbed the kerosene lantern and threw it at her. She ducked, and it crashed on the landing behind her.
Carter continued to move up the stairs toward Darke. As she backed away in search of an escape route, she heard crackling and smelled smoke as the wood near the overturned lantern caught fire. She looked below her and was startled to see twenty men fanned out, waiting for her to make a mistake.
The flames crackled and snapped behind her. It was just a matter of time before the staircase would give way and send her crashing into the circle of leering faces. She whirled around, leaped over the fire, and ran to the second floor. She could see dirt-covered windows and knew she only had to reach them to escape.
##
The old wooden warehouse went up like a bonfire. Eden, Sable, and Kristaal watched for any sign of Darke.
“She said not to interfere,” Eden said. “I know she has a plan to end this nightmare once and for all.”
“There she is,” Sable said, pointing to a window that was opening. Darke was standing in front of it. As they watched, Carter dove at her, sending them both crashing to the floor.
Carter stood as Darke lashed out with her foot, catching him in the stomach and sending him flying backward. She was instantly on him. She sank her teeth into his throat and held on for dear life. If she was going to die, he was going with her.
“Kristaal, we must help her!” Sable cried out as the walls of the warehouse began to blaze. The heat was so intense that they were forced to retreat a bit to avoid it.
“We can’t, Sable,” Kristaal growled. “The fire is burning too hot. She can handle her
self.”
They watched in horror as the side of the building crumbled away, leaving silhouettes of Darke and Carter locked in a bitter battle of life and death. Darke made one last effort to rid them of the man who had caused Eden so much pain. She ripped with her teeth and tore with her hands. Carter Winthrop’s head went spinning across the floor as the entire second floor collapsed, dumping Darke into the inferno below.
“No! Darke! Oh God, no!” Eden screamed in terror as her wife disappeared into the flames and rubble.
Chapter 42
“I’m sorry, folks,” the fire chief said, shaking his head. “Nothing lived through that blaze. I’ll have my men spray water on it until the cinders are all out, but it will be sometime tomorrow before it’ll be cooled off enough for us to go through the rubble. The entire structure went up in flames.”
“No!” Eden fell to her knees and screamed over and over. It was a horrible, rasping cry that came from somewhere deep insider her. Sable tried to console her, but she was also having trouble believing her daughter was dead.
Kristaal pulled the two women into her arms and held them as they cursed and cried.
“Caz is gone too.” Eden sobbed as they got into Tess.
“Will this car take us home?” Kristaal asked.
Eden nodded. “Home, Tess.” She thought about the first time she and Darke had made love in Tess as the vehicle cruised down the highway at seventy-miles an hour.
##
Lori met them at Eden’s home. “What happened?”
“Eden’s hysterical,” Sable said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Do you know who her family doctor is? She needs a sedative.”
“I have his number,” Lori said. “I’ll call him.”
Lori made the call as Margaret helped a crumbling Eden up the stairs. “Come on, baby,” Margaret said, “a nice hot shower will make you feel better.”
“Oh Margaret, nothing will help,” Eden sobbed. “I just want to curl up and die. What’ll I do without her?”
Lori listened as Sable described the events that led to Darke’s demise. “At least Carter is dead, and Eden is out of danger,” Lori said, doing her best to offer consolation to the grieving parents. “Chief Canton sent Dozer and Rose to coordinate with the Galveston fire chief on any information they might find.”
