Rafe was breathing equally hard but had enough energy to let his displeasure be known. He stalked up to Reno and shoved him backwards. “And because of this asinine plan you concocted, Eve is missing. How the hell you ever thought using a civilian as bait was acceptable, I’ll never fathom. It goes against every moral and ethical standard Lycan Link is supposed to have!”
Taken off guard, Reno quickly recovered and bristled at the accusations flung at him. Flaring his nostrils, he inhaled deeply about to give a scathing rebuttal when Brandi jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. As he turned to give her an indignant glare and reprimand, she cut him off before he could speak.
“We saw the blood on the car but didn’t know if it was hers or not. What happened?”
Damien quickly recounted the recent events while Rafe prowled around the area making no attempt to hide his ire. When Eve’s cell phone began to ring, he was already beside her car and snatched it from the front seat.
“McRae here … No, Eve isn’t available. Who’s this? … Mike Privet? … She called for a tow truck? No, there isn’t one here … All right, if we see him, we’ll tell him to call you.” He disconnected the call and turned to look at those gathered around. “Eve called for a tow truck almost two hours ago. One was sent out—driven by his automotive apprentice, Gordie—but the fellow hasn’t returned yet.”
“No tow truck showed up here,” Damien stated. “I was watching her for a good half hour.”
“We passed a tow truck on our way,” Brandi glanced at Reno. “I think I saw a passenger in the cab. A blonde woman, perhaps? Though, I didn’t get a really good look.”
“Damned driver nearly ran us off the road.” Reno added, deciding to ignore Rafe’s earlier outburst. “What was the name on the truck again? Privet Towing?” He looked at Brandi for confirmation.
She nodded in agreement. “If we assume Eve ran off while you were fighting, she might have met up with the tow truck driver and he could have given her a lift.”
“But wouldn’t he have driven her into town?” Reno questioned. “You said the wolf mauled her. She’d need medical care.”
“The local clinic is closed today.” Rafe paced back and forth, raking his fingers through his hair. “To the best of my knowledge, the nearest medical assistance would be in the next town over, about twenty miles to the west.”
“Maybe that’s where they were going?” Damien suggested.
Reno shook his head. “No, the tow truck we passed was headed east.”
A growl rumbled in Rafe’s chest. “I don’t like the sound of this.” He focussed on the truck. “Reno, can I use your rental? I’m going to start heading east and see if I can catch up with them.”
“Sure thing.” Reno tossed the keys to him. “We’ll stay here and see what we can find out about this Gordie person. Do you know his last name?”
“No, but I think he’s relatively new to the area. I seem to recall someone mentioning he moved here to do his apprenticeship.” Rafe tossed the information over his shoulder as he headed towards the truck. “Call Privet’s Towing and see what you can find out, then forward the information to me.”
“I’m going with you.” Damien said.
“We need you here,” Reno pointed out. “You said you have the assassin and the others up at Rafe’s place.”
“You can handle it. McRae pumped them full of tranquillizers. They won’t be going anywhere.” Damien rounded the truck and grabbed the passenger door.
“Cell phone? Either of you got one?” Brandi called out the question.
Rafe patted his pockets and then swore.
“Never mind, here’s mine. We’ll use Reno’s.” She tossed it to them and Damien neatly caught it. With that the two men climbed in the truck and quickly turned the vehicle around before heading towards the highway.
Reno rubbed his neck and gave a small smile. “Time was Damien and I were a team. Seems sort of strange to have him heading off with someone else.”
Brandi gave his arm a squeeze. “He’s not the same man he was eighteen months ago. You know that. You said as much when you found him in that alley.”
“I know. Guess I’m just feeling a bit nostalgic.” He sighed and pulled out his phone. “We best get busy. Maybe we can find out where Gordie lives.”
Chapter 43
Eve moaned as consciousness slowly returned and her body began to report in. Her arm throbbed, her head felt heavy and various aches and pains let their presence be known on her back, her hips, her legs… She gave up trying to identify each location and instead focussed on her surroundings.
It felt as if she was on some sort of mattress, her head on a pillow. The material beneath her cheek was rough and had an unfamiliar scent. Faint sounds could be heard in the distance; a drawer opening and closing, footsteps, water running. Cautiously, she cracked her eyes open, blinking to clear her blurry vision.
The room she was in was dimly lit and not at all familiar. An old dresser stood near the doorway, blue curtains covered the window and a calendar featuring street-rods hung on the wall. Not her place or Rafe’s, that was for sure. She considered sitting up, but her stomach was feeling queasy so she gave up on that idea. Resting her head on the pillow, she tried to figure out what was going on.
She’d been attacked by something… A wolf, that was it. And someone—Gordie, from the gas station—had been taking her to the clinic. Hmm…this didn’t look like any clinic she’d ever been in. Yet if she wasn’t at the clinic then where…?
Her thinking was sluggish and the dots didn’t seem to want to connect. A soft sigh escaped her lips and she gave up, content to drift in a half awake state.
How long she lay there she wasn’t sure, but eventually the door opened and a man popped his head inside the room.
“You finally woke up!” Gordie stepped into the room and walked over to the bed, a friendly smile pinned on his face. He had a small metal bowl and a towel with him.
“Gordie?” Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper as she scrunched up her face, having expected a nurse or perhaps even a doctor.
“That’s me.” He sat down beside her. The mattress dipped to the side under his weight and she slid sideways a bit until her thigh rested against his. “I’m going to wipe off your face, okay?” Without waiting for her agreement, he took a washcloth from the bowl and began his task.
Eve murmured contentedly as the warm, damp cloth slid over her skin. It felt good to have the dirt and stickiness removed. “Thanks.”
“No problem. I said I’d take care of you.” His voice was as soft and gentle as the cloth he was using. When the task was finished, he set the bowl down on the floor. “I cleaned and bandaged your arm while you were sleeping and wrapped your wrist, too. It’s sprained, or at least I’m pretty certain it is. We’d need x-rays to know for sure that there isn’t a hairline fracture.” He shrugged apologetically. “I have a nice assortment of medical instruments, but an x-ray machine isn’t part of the collection.”
Eve looked down at her arm, vaguely wondering why she hadn’t thought to do that when she’d first awoke. The area of her bicep was covered in gauze while the lower portion of her arm and much of her hand were wrapped with an elasticized bandage. Gordie certainly gave the impression of knowing what he was doing. She tried to speak, but her throat was dry and her tongue felt thick in her mouth. She swallowed and winced.
“I’ll get you a drink.” Gordie hurried off and returned with a can of soda and glass of water with straw. He held the glass for her and she gratefully sipped the cool liquid.
“Thanks.” She gave a small huff of laughter. “That seems to be all I say to you, isn’t it?”
“I don’t mind.” He set the glass down then reached out and brushed her hair from her forehead.
His touch felt strange and instinctively she tried to jerk back, her whole body stiffening.
Gordie looked at her with a hurt expression. “Don’t be like that, Eve.”
“I…I’m sorry, Gordie. You…
er…took me by surprise.”
He stared at her for a moment and then nodded. Opening the can of soda that he’d brought for himself, he took a drink. “All right. No doubt some of the sedative is still in your system so you aren’t thinking as clearly as you should.” His expression brightened. “In an hour or so you won’t be feeling the effects anymore.”
“Sedative?” She frowned. Her memory of recent events was returning. “I thought you gave me a pain killer.”
“It produces the same basic result. The pain went away. You just had a little nap as well.” Gordie answered unconcernedly and drank some more soda before gathering the bowl and towel. “You needed the rest; you were upset and in pain. Besides, it was easier to treat your injuries if you were unconscious.” He smiled down at her and almost reached out to touch her again, but then seemed to think better of it. “I’ll be back in a little bit and then we can talk.”
“But…” Before Eve could decide what she wanted to say, Gordie left the room.
Muttering under her breath, she began to roll onto her side with the intention of getting up and following him. Strangely enough, something tugged at her right wrist and ankle, holding her back. She levered herself up as best she could and felt her eyes widen in surprise. A Zip tie encircled one wrist while a second was around her ankle. Each tie was attached to a separate rope, the other end of which was tied to the bed posts. Gordie had her tethered to the bed and she was wearing what must be one his t-shirts. The creep had undressed her!
Panic filled her. Horror stories of the fate of abducted women filled her mind and blocked rational thought. Her heart started to pound and her breathing quickened. An atavistic fear of being restrained had her tugging wildly at the ties, frantic to escape. It had no effect, of course, except to redden her wrist and ankle. When she tried to stretch down towards her ankle to untie it, she discovered Gordie had made the rope attached to the zip tie on her wrist short enough that she couldn’t reach that far. Using her left arm was equally pointless since the tightly wrapped tensor extended down to her finger tips rendering her hand almost useless.
Oh God! What was going on? She thought to yell and scream and demand that Gordie release her, but some remnant of common sense told her that was a waste of time. The man had tied her to the bed; he wasn’t going to let her go simply because she kicked up a fuss and asked! Crap, she’d thought her biggest problem was wolves, but at the moment that paled in comparison. Gordie must be some kind of psycho stalker and who knew what he had in mind for her. All those times she’d felt like she was being watched; had it really been a wolf or had it been Gordie? Or maybe both of them? A hysterical laugh bubbled inside her. How lucky could a girl get, having two stalkers at once?
Realizing she was verging on hysteria, she forced herself to take deep, calming breaths. She had to keep her wits about her, to think her way out of this. Come on, think, think, think… What she needed was a handbook for what to do if you’re ever kidnapped. Should she resist or play along with him? Wait… Hadn’t there been a program on TV about abductions a few months back? It had been vaguely interesting at the time, but not something she’d ever thought she’d need to use.
Stay calm. Yep, that had been one of the tips. And cooperate. Okay, it was coming back to her now. Get the kidnappers to like you, lull them into a sense of security. Watch for weaknesses and patterns. Try to learn what you can about your captors without being too obvious. She exhaled slowly, feeling somewhat better now that she had some guidelines to follow.
She tried to think of a reason to get Gordie back in the room. Not that she really wanted to spend time with a creepy stalker, but she needed a reason to talk to him so she could find out what his plans were. An idea came to her and it wasn’t even a fabrication.
“Gordie?” She called out his name, trying to sound confident and unconcerned as if being tied to someone’s bed was absolutely normal. When he didn’t immediately respond, she tried again. “Gordie?”
There was a soft shuffling sound as if he were setting down some papers and then he appeared. “What can I do for you, Eve?” He spoke calmly, no trace of nervousness about him, as if holding a woman captive was an everyday occurrence like brushing one’s teeth.
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Oh. All right.” He gave her a pleasant smile and walked to the bed. For one exciting moment, Eve thought he was going to release her and she stiffened her muscles prepared to make a dash for freedom. Instead, he grabbed the headboard and began pushing the bed. It rolled across the floor to a door at the far end of the room.
“The bathroom is here. Just a minute.” He went to her wrist and fiddled with the ropes adding an extra length and then did the same thing with her ankle. “There you go, now you can use the facilities, but the door will have to stay cracked. Don’t worry though, I won’t peek.” He walked over to the side of the bed and helped her up. “Feel okay on your own?” A look of concern was etched on his face and Eve found herself nodding, totally speechless over the bizarre situation she was in.
Getting to her feet she entered the bathroom and tried to shut the door. The rope that trailed after her kept it from latching completely. She cursed softly but then, since there was nothing she could do about it, turned to look around the room. It wasn’t a large bathroom and the ropes gave her enough freedom of movement that she could reach the toilet and sink. Of course, with a bed attached to the other end of the ropes, there was no way she’d be able to climb out the room’s small window. Still, she took a moment to look outside. The sight that met her was disheartening. Gordie lived in the middle of nowhere. There was no sign of a neighbouring house she could run to if she ever managed to escape.
With a frustrated sigh, she did what she had to do. At least the room was impeccably clean, the faint odor of bleach permeating the air. Turning on the water to wash her hands, she used the white noise to mask that fact that she was snooping in the cabinets. Unfortunately, there was nothing inside that would help her escape. Spare toilet tissue, some soap, a new toothbrush and a few towels were the sum total of the contents. No handy razor blades like you’d find in a nicely plotted movie.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Scratches adorned her jaw line and extended down onto her neck, evidence of where the wolf had clawed her. A quick examination of the rest of her showed similar marks on her ribs and shoulder interspersed with the beginnings of bruises. The wolf attack had definitely not been a bad dream, and Rafe hadn’t been kidding when he’d said how dangerous the creatures could be.
Slowly, her hands clenched into fists. If only she’d listened to Rafe the first time and left Grassy Hills, she wouldn’t have been attacked, and she wouldn’t be stuck in a bathroom, tethered to a bed, with a crazy man waiting outside the door. She’d be in some tiny apartment right now, preparing for her gallery showing and watching reruns on TV like any normal person. If only… Of course, she’d never have gotten to know Rafe, but given the way he’d dismissed her today that might have been preferable. Her heart protested that conclusion, but she ignored it.
“Are you all right?” Gordie called the inquiry, and she realized she couldn’t stall any longer.
“Just a minute.” Turning off the water, she left the bathroom. Gordie was sitting on the bed, drinking soda and waiting for her with a look of utmost patience on his face.
“All done?”
“Um…yeah.”
“Good. Tomorrow, we’ll see about getting you in the shower, but I don’t want those bandages getting wet today. I’ll find a bag to wrap around them when the time comes.” He got to his feet and patted the mattress. “Hop on, and I’ll move you back.”
Feeling extremely odd about it, Eve complied, and Gordie wheeled the bed back to its original position and shortened the ropes again.
“There we go. I know it’s awkward, but experience has taught me that keeping my guests anchored to the bed is the best solution. It allows for mobility but prevents escape.” He stated the facts bland
ly while putting the longer lengths of rope away. “I’ll bring you some supper. Do you prefer hamburgers or hotdogs?”
“Um…burgers. No cheese.” She gave the answer weakly her mind still transfixed on the statement he’d made about his other guests. This obviously wasn’t the first time he’d kidnapped someone.
“Great.” He beamed at her. “Eve, I’m really pleased you’re taking this so well. Not everyone is as understanding.” Giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, he left.
As the door shut behind him, Eve slumped against the headboard, a feeling of faintness washing over her. Guests. Plural. With an ‘s’ which meant not just one before but multiple persons. And apparently he hadn’t been caught yet. She didn’t even want to contemplate what had happened to his previous guests. Had no one reported them missing? Or was Gordie just that clever?
And speaking of reporting someone missing, no one was going to miss her! The realization made her stomach clench. Rafe thought she was on her way to Calgary. Caro thought she was happily living with Rafe… And had the hiker even reported what had happened? The fact that he’d run off rather than trying to help her didn’t bode well. It could be weeks before anyone realized she’d disappeared!
She forced herself to take deep breaths, refusing to faint and present Gordie with a helpless victim. As long as she was conscious she could plot, defend herself, or do whatever needed to be done.
Okay, time to apply cool logic. What had she learned from her conversation with Gordie? He’d done this before. He didn’t seem to be planning on hurting her immediately; after all, he’d talked about a shower tomorrow. Mind you, the thought of showering with Gordie on the other side of a partially open door creeped her out, so she pushed that thought aside. What else? He was going to feed her supper. Supper? What time was it?
Betrayed: Days of the Rogue Page 31