"Oh God," Lizzie muttered as she felt the darkness closing in on her. She couldn't keep her eyes open anymore, no matter how hard she tried. The last thing she heard was Todd saying, "No, not God, but the next best thing." Then he laughed, evilly, maniacally, and Lizzie knew she was in deep shit.
Lizzie was jarred awake by the feeling of her body being tossed up in the air then landing hard. She tried to move, but her hands and feet were bound, her mouth gagged. She opened her eyes with a groan.
She felt the ground moving beneath her, and as they hit the next bump and the side of her body bounced and then hit something very hard and cold. She was in the back of a pickup truck. She groaned again as the truck went over another rut in the road...or for all she knew they could be off road. She looked around and the next thing she saw had her heart in her throat.
Sierra. She was very badly beaten. Her face and body were a mass of dark bruises and blood. She wasn't bound or gagged but neither was she coherent. Lizzie spoke against the cloth binding in her mouth trying to get Sierra's attention, but Sierra just continued to look unseeingly ahead. Panic set in. Oh dear God. What had he done? Was Sierra dead? Tears ran down Lizzie's face. There wasn't a single thing she could do to help the other woman.
She tried to move her feet to get out of the bindings, but they were tied too tightly. She struggled to move her hands bound behind her back. The bindings there had a little more give. There was no way to move her casted arm as he had the binding up above the cast, getting caught on the ridge with each attempt at freedom. Damn. She continued to work at trying to get her uncasted arm free. The bindings, what felt like rope, were cutting into her skin but she didn't care. She was too focused on getting free to feel the pain. She felt the rope give just a tiny bit and then the truck lurched to a halt, causing her to slide forward, hitting her head on the metal wall. She heard a door open and close and then she heard the hatch to the tail bed of the truck open.
"So, you're awake. Good. That way we can get the show on the road. I don't want you to miss a single second of what I'm going to do to you." He grabbed Sierra's feet and pulled her across the bed of the truck, then flung her over one shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll be right back for you." He turned and walked away with Sierra lying limply over his shoulder.
Lizzie squeezed her eyes shut.
Think, Lizzie. Think.
She needed to get free of these bindings if she stood any chance against Todd at all, but in order to do that she needed to find a way to cut through them.
She leaned back and felt around behind her as far as her fingers would reach. Nothing. Damn it. Something jabbed into her hip. Her cell phone! But how was she going to be able to turn it on. She'd just have to see where Todd was taking her and then see if there was anything she could use to get herself free.
Todd's flat voice broke her out of her reverie. "Let's go, Elizabeth. I've got a surprise for you." He grabbed her ankles and pulled her toward him the way he had Sierra. The metal bit into and cut through skin on her arms. She winced with the pain and Todd laughed. Then he hauled her up against his chest and licked her cheek. "Just a little taste of what's to come." He hefted her over his shoulder and started to walk. To where, she wasn't sure. Wherever it was she just hoped there was a way out.
59
Jake
"I saw the flowers at the Garrison mansion."
Adam sucked in a shocked breath, the sheriff got on the radio to his men, and Brand was cursing up a storm.
"Son of a bitch," Jake said with anguish. "I knew it wasn't you, Logan. I should have trusted my instincts when everything was telling me it wasn't you."
Logan clamped a hand on Jake's shoulder. "Relax man, Todd just wanted it to look like it was me and you can't blame the sheriff for trusting the evidence."
One thought ran through Jake's head. Lizzie. "God. Sheriff, Lizzie went over there today for tea with Sierra. We've gotta get her the hell out of there." He just got Lizzie back, and he didn't want to lose her. He couldn't.
Sheriff Brooks nodded. "I've already radioed in and we've got every available man on the alert. Deputy Rivers just took off to head over there."
"You realize they aren't going to be there. He's too smart for that." Matt said.
The sheriff nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know, but we've got to look at all the possibilities."
"Christ," Adam said as the news about his brother started to sink in, "I had no idea."
"Don't beat yourself up about it, Adam, you weren't the only one who missed the signs," Matt told him.
"Where would he have gone, Adam? Do you have any property anywhere else around here?" Jake asked.
"Yes. We've got a house in Rock Springs and a cabin in Elk Mountain."
Jake looked at the sheriff. "What color did you say the truck was?"
"Red, why?"
"The day Lizzie came back, she had a flat. Her spare was flat even though she'd checked it before she left. She did stop in town to fill up and likely got in a conversation with whoever was I the QuickMart."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Ryan asked.
"That day, Lizzie and I were standing on the road and a red truck—with no plates—came barreling down the road and nearly hit us and our vehicles."
"Did you see who was driving?" The sheriff asked.
Jakes shook his head. "The windows were tinted. If it's Todd, then he had this planned long before Lizzie even got home. Who knows how long he's been stalking her."
The sheriff looked grim but determined.
Brand punched a fist into his other palm. "Elk Mountain. It's right by Saratoga where they found the truck. Fuck. That information would have helped us a couple hours ago. We need to get moving."
As Jake started to walk away, the sheriff grabbed his arm. "Hold on, Kramer. We need to think this through. Adam, can you draw a map of the area where the cabin is located and the floor plan of the cabin?"
"Yeah." Adam said, still in shock from revelation about his brother. "Yeah."
"Good. Let's get a layout of the area and then we'll come up with a plan to go in and get this guy. Going in there blind with guns a blazing is not a good idea. We need to be smarter than he is."
Jake looked at the sheriff. "You're right. Let's go to the main house and get things sorted."
He knew that right now time was of the essence. Every single wasted second could be one second too many. He needed to get to Lizzie. Now.
60
Lizzie
Lizzie looked around as much as she could while slung over Todd's shoulder. There were tall pine trees everywhere and only a narrow dirt road. She let her head fall as it spun from dizziness.
There was no way Jake would find her here. She'd have to get out of here on her own. Details. She needed to pay attention to the details.
She bounced as Todd went up four steps then walked on the porch before stepping through a doorway. He turned, closed and locked the behind them. She heard five locks click in place. God, was he paranoid or what? He flipped her down into a wing-back chair in the corner of a room that could only be described as rustically beautiful.
Screw the décor, Lizzie, pay attention to the details.
She saw a large picture window adjacent to the door they had just walked through. She looked to the other side of the room and saw a small window on the wall above a table that was between two armchairs. She went to twist her body to get a better look at what was behind her and saw Sierra, a bloody battered mess, lying on the sofa, staring blankly ahead. She saw Sierra's chest rise and fall and closed her eyes in relief. She was alive. She needed to get herself and Sierra the hell out of there before he killed them both. She opened her eyes with renewed determination.
Todd walked back into the room and stood in front of her with that same cocky grin he had on earlier. She was going to enjoy wiping shit eating grin right off his face.
He reached toward her and she didn't blink, didn't flinch. She held her ground, not giving him the satisfaction of seein
g her fear.
"Getting brave, Elizabeth?" he asked as he untied her gag. "We can take this off of you because there's no one around for miles to hear when you scream."
He leaned in close, so close his nose was only a hair's breadth away from hers. "And I can guarantee you will scream. Whether you choose to scream in pleasure or pain is your choice."
"I don't want to scream at all."
"Too bad. Now if you fight me, you'll definitely be screaming in pain. But if you admit the truth to yourself and give in to it, you'll be screaming in pleasure."
Okay, he was totally whacked out.
"What truth, Todd?"
"The truth that you and I belong together. We always have."
What the hell was he talking about? They had only gone out a handful of times in high school, hadn't talked to one another in the last seven years, and he thought they belonged together? The guy was seriously not playing with a full deck.
Lizzie watched him cross the room to light candles along the mantle above the fireplace, then the candles on the tables scattered across the room. She glanced at Sierra and saw Sierra blink. She breathed another sigh of relief. Sierra was coming around. She was untied. Maybe she could help. But they'd have to play it cool. She gave Sierra a look and the mouthed the words stay still. Sierra blinked once in agreement then stared straight ahead as she had been before.
Todd came into view. "She won't be of any help to you. She is always out of it after I have to discipline her."
Okay, Lizzie, play dumb.
"Discipline her?" Lizzie asked cluelessly.
"Yes. What she didn't know was that in addition to the bugs in the room that she silently told you about there are cameras also. So I saw everything you two did and heard every word."
"You watch her?"
Todd sat in the chair adjacent to Lizzie's. "Yes. I have to keep a close eye on my wife."
"Why?"
"Just full of questions aren't you, Elizabeth. That's okay though. I'll answer them for you." He leaned forward and leaned his elbows on his knees. "I have to watch her because I know the minute I don't, she'll leave me, and I've invested far too much time and money into her to let her go."
Lizzie nodded in agreement even though she didn't agree with Todd's warped line of thinking one single bit.
"And I know if she does leave, she'll go back to her military loser even though he left her and never looked back." He straightened and stood then walked in front of Lizzie and looked down at her.
"Just like you left me for the farm boy and didn't look back." She wasn't sure how to react. If she admitted to doing just that he'd be pissed, and if she didn't, he'd be doubly pissed. She was screwed either way, so she chose to say nothing and just continued to stare blankly at Todd as he leaned in and braced his hands on the arms of the chair.
"Didn't you?" When she didn't answer, Todd straightened and yelled it this time, "Didn't you!" and finished it off with a backhand across her face. Lizzie felt her head snap back from the force of the blow and pain exploded through her cheek.
When she still didn't answer and didn't look at him, he grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head back. "Look at me, Elizabeth." Her gaze met his. "Isn't that exactly what you did? You left me for the farm boy?"
"Yes."
"Good. At least you're not going to try to lie about it. If you lie, Elizabeth, I'll have to punish you. You know that, don't you?"
"Yes." She needed to just play the game, say what Todd wanted her to say.
He let go of her hair and smoothed it back into place. "Good. Now, we've got to get you ready for the party. I'll have to untie your hands and feet, Elizabeth, in order for you to properly prepare yourself for our party. But I'm going to warn you, you've got nowhere to go. And if you try anything," he added as he reached behind his back to pull out a large knife, exactly like the one that slashed her tire, "I'll just have to kill you."
Lizzie looked around the bathroom in which Todd had locked her. Her uncasted wrist was bloody from the ropes, but that was the last thing on her mind. Right now she needed to come up with a plan because there was no way in hell she was going to let Todd stay in charge. She knew if she did, he'd at the very least rape and beat her, and at the worst, kill her. Well, she wasn't going to let that happen. She and Jake just started their life together and she wasn't going to let anything or anyone ruin that.
She reached in her pants pocket for her pink cell phone. The damn thing was broken. One of the jarring bumps in the back of the truck must have had her landing on the phone. Crap. Why hadn't she bought a phone for durability rather than looks? All she could do now was wait. Soon Jake would realize she was gone and find her, but for now she'd have to come up with a different plan.
She turned on the water on so Todd wouldn't get suspicious, and then she began looking through the cabinets for something, anything to help her try to escape. One by one she read the labels on the containers in the medicine cabinet until she found one she thought might work. It was a prescription of Sierra's for Valium. That could work. Given the right dosage, he'd be out cold, and she and Sierra could get the hell out of dodge. At very least he'd be drowsy and slow, so she could find a way to get the upper hand.
She opened the container and found four pills left in the bottle. Damn it. Would that be enough? Please, God, let it be enough. She took the pills and set them on the vanity, out of sight, and put the pill container back where she found it. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her cheek was swollen, and a purplish bruise had already begun to form.
The only way to get out of this was to be strong enough to play Todd's game.
"You can do this," she told her reflection. "Just wash up, put on the slinky pink negligee Todd wants you to wear, and when he's not looking, slip the pills into his drink." She could do that. She would. Then she'd pray.
In the meantime, she'd pray that Jake would realize she was missing and that, somehow, some way, against the odds, he'd find her.
Lizzie followed Todd's instructions on how to style her hair to the very last detail in an effort to placate his insanity until she had a chance to make her move. It was an upsweep style she had worn in high school to the prom, one she knew she'd never wear again.
The thought of Todd seeing her in the pink scrap of nothing she had on made her shudder in revulsion, but she'd do what she had to do to get out of there. She had no pockets in which to place the tablets, so she took a Band-Aid from the medicine cabinet and used that to tape them to her arm. Just to make it look good, she put a few more Band-Aids over some of the superficial cuts she had on her arms and hands.
She stalled as long as she possibly could. She knew if she took any longer that Todd would begin to get angry, and she needed him to be calm so that she could have a little bit of control of the situation. She took one last look in the mirror and went to smooth a stray curl back from her face with shaking hands.
"You can do this," Lizzie told herself one last time before knocking on the bathroom door with three short raps as per Todd's instructions. She waited, then a few seconds later heard the lock click open. Her heart leapt into her throat when the door opened and she saw Todd standing directly on the other side, smiling maniacally, his eyes roaming lustfully over her barely-covered body, making her want to vomit. Right then and there she knew her plan could not fail for if it did, she'd never get out of there alive.
"Perfect. You look just as beautiful as I had pictured you, Elizabeth."
Lizzie managed to choke a quick, "Thank you," past the bile rising in her throat as Todd reached for her hand.
"Let's go into the dining room and get more comfortable. I have set up a special snack for us."
The thought of eating anything right now made her want to gag, but she knew she'd have to do what Todd requested of her. If he thought she was being compliant with his plan, he'd never suspect her of trying to drug him.
"I hope you don't mind that I used a few Band-Aids to cover some of the scratches. I didn't want to
bleed on this beautiful silk gown."
"No, I don't mind. I'm just sorry you had to be hurt at all."
Sure he was. Sick bastard. That's why he slapped her across the face earlier—for no reason.
They entered the dining room and Lizzie took in the scene before her without showing a bit of emotion as Todd watched her. There were candles burning on the table, an uncorked bottle champagne in a bucket of ice, cheese and crackers, fruit, and what looked like whipped cream all set neatly on the table with two places set side-by-side at the end of the table.
And pink daisies. Dozens and dozens of pink daisies scattered throughout the room.
Oh dear God.
61
Lizzy
"It's lovely, Todd," she lied. Another pimple on her tongue. Better a pimple on her tongue that a knife to the throat.
He pulled out a chair for her and she took a seat. She sat stiffly at the table, trying hard to relax but unsuccessful at her attempts. She took the napkin that was placed next to her plate and spread it across her lap as Todd poured the champagne. Lizzie pretended to scratch at the Band-Aid that held the pills and pulled it back, quickly folding the tablets in her hand before refastening the Band-Aid.
Todd handed her a frosted crystal flute of champagne and she took a sip. "It's wonderful."
"Nothing but the best for my lovely guest." She watched as Todd set his flute of champagne down next to plate on the table and then he looked at her expectantly. "Shall I serve you? What would you like?"
She wasn't hungry, but she needed him distracted. "A little of everything would be wonderful."
"A woman with a healthy appetite. I like that."
Lizzie dumped the pills into her glass of champagne and swirled it around before setting it on the table next to the one Todd had set there. A few seconds later, she reached out and grabbed Todd's glass, leaving Todd to drink the drugged wine. She took a sip and closed her eyes. Lord, she hoped this worked.
When Petals Fall: A Cowboy, Second Chance Romantic Suspense (Chance Creek Book 1) Page 28