So I drove toward Oklahoma City.
Be brave, Ryan had told me back at the motel. I would do my best to be brave. I would do my best to save myself and protect Glenda if it came to that.
Ryan and Luke would never find us in this car. Because they’d be looking for Luke’s Porsche. Would they figure out where we were going? I had no way to communicate with them, since my purse and my cell phone were back at the motel.
It was time to think like a survivor, not a victim. Time to learn as much as I could about Mateo, so I might have information to help Ryan and Luke take him down if I saw them again. And maybe, if I was lucky, figure out how to escape.
“So…” I began, drawing in a deep breath for courage. I glanced askance at Mateo as we reached the highway that led to Oklahoma City. “How did you make your face change like that? Are you some kind of magician?”
His gaze darkened as he glared at me. “I’m The Shifter. I have a special talent like the dregs. I can take on the appearance of anyone I want. Like right now…” His face shifted, his eyeballs sinking in, transforming, changing shape and color, his features turning feminine, morphing into…me.
I gasped softly, my eyes widening. I glanced down at his body. He’d taken on my entire appearance, clothes and all, not just my face. Like a chameleon. That was bad. How would Ryan be able to catch Mateo if he disguised himself to look like me? Mateo could easily fool Ryan long enough to get close enough to kill him.
Except, the evil radiating off him didn’t change. He might be able to change his appearance, but he couldn’t change his true nature. His true character. Still, he was a really good actor. He’d fooled the dregs.
My stomach roiled. What if Mateo made himself look like Ryan and fooled me? That meant I had to keep Mateo in my sights at all times so that I would know it was him, even if he morphed into someone else.
Mateo’s face changed, morphing back into himself again. I gave an involuntary shiver and turned back to the road. “That’s creepy.”
His gaze narrowed to tiny slits. “No. It’s cool. How many people do you know who can do that?”
My skin crawled under his intense stare. “None, obviously.”
He let out a sigh of disgust. “You weren’t part of my original plan, but now that I have you, I’m going to take advantage of the situation. Ryan’s weakness is now my advantage. When he finds out I fucked you before he did, he’s going to be pissed. I thought for sure he would have already won the bet, but apparently you’re one of those ice queens who’s hard to seduce. Not that I care. I don’t seduce. I just take what I want.”
I cringed. No way in hell was he “taking what he wanted” from me. Dammit. I had to get away from him somehow. I had to escape.
Keep him talking, Liz. He’ll be less alert and easier to fool if he’s boasting about himself.
One thing I’d noticed about Mateo was that he was eager for praise. For approval. If I acted interested, if I praised him, maybe he’d let his guard down a little.
He kept mentioning a bet that obviously had something to do with me. I didn’t want to believe Ryan would use me the same way Jeremy had, just to win a bet, but I had to know what bet Mateo was talking about. So I asked the one question I was scared to know the answer to.
“What bet are you talking about?”
Mateo’s eyes glinted with maliciousness. “Luke bet Ryan he couldn’t seduce you without using the pheromone. Whoever loses the bet can’t have sex for an entire month.” He chortled.
A gasp escaped my lungs. What? That was…disgusting. Cruel. A pain unlike anything I’d ever felt before settled heavily into my chest, squeezing around my heart and sucking the air right out of my lungs. Ryan wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t. I thought…he was my friend.
What if Mateo is lying? What if he’s just saying that to make you feel bad?
Don’t believe him, Liz. Do not assume. Give Ryan a chance to explain before you assume the worst.
But if what Mateo said was true…then Ryan’s actions made more sense. In all honesty, I still had a hard time believing a gorgeous man like him would even glance twice at nerdy me. Yet, he’d pursed me relentlessly, convincing me to have a drink. And later, after we’d checked into the motel, all the flirting and sexual innuendos, all the teasing, then…when he’d kissed me, I’d melted against him, weak and pliant in his arms. He’d gotten me right where he wanted me. He’d played me. He’d gotten me to let down my guard. He’d gotten me to trust him. And he’d been so damn good. He’d found something that interested me—numbers—and pretended to be a math genius. Though I had to admit, he was smart. He’d won enough of the number games that it was apparent he had beyond normal intelligence. So, maybe he really was a math genius.
But now Mateo made me doubt Ryan. Had I been played by another player?
Heat crawled into my face. Was that all I was to Ryan? A fucking bet? A chance to try to seduce me without using that love potion thing? What the hell was that thing, anyway? I found it repulsive and disgusting that he might use it to seduce women. Forcing a woman’s attraction was no better than rape.
I swallowed hard, pushing the painful lump from my throat. “What is the pheromone?”
Mateo eyed me. “He didn’t tell you about it?”
I hesitated. “He mentioned a love potion thingy, but he didn’t really describe it.”
Mateo’s evil grin widened. “It’s his gift. His talent. I’m The Shifter because I can shift my appearance. Luke’s The Enforcer because he enforces punishment. Ryan’s The Extractor because he gives off a sexual pheromone that makes chicks crazy with lust so he can extract information out of them. It works on men too, but only as an information extractor. It makes people loosen up and talk freely.”
My face burned. That was why he was called The Extractor? Because of a sexual pheromone? That was why I’d acted like a slut when they’d first come into the inn and he’d questioned me about Glenda? Because he’d released the pheromone on me to get information out of me?
Humiliation swept over me. Then shame.
How could I have been fooled by another player? Was I that gullible? That stupid?
I gasped in a breath.
“I’m…gonna be sick,” I whispered.
Mateo turned green. “Fuck! Pull over, dammit! I don’t want puke on me!” He waved the gun at me.
I slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. Thrusting my door open, I stumbled out, falling into the gravel along the side of the road. Then I heaved, and heaved, emptying the contents of my stomach on the side of the road.
A new wave of nausea rolled over me. I closed my eyes and let out a tiny sob. Ryan had even brought me food. He must really be bound and determined to win the bet if he was going to so much trouble to win me over. To seduce me.
Mateo’s door slammed, then he was standing over me. “Get up!” he growled. “You’re taking too long. We need to get out of here.” He smacked Ryan’s gun into the side of my head.
Pain slammed into my skull. I tilted sideways, almost toppling over as the blood roared in my ears. Drawing in several deep breaths, I steadied myself.
And suddenly, I couldn’t take it anymore.
The bully who was controlling me, threatening me, mistreating me...
The player who’d played me…
Fuck men! Fuck them all!
I was done being mistreated. Done being used. Done being played.
I spun around with a snarl, rearing up and latching onto the gun. Mateo’s eyes widened. He jerked back, trying to pull the gun out of my grasp, but I wasn’t letting go.
We struggled. I slammed my body into his, trying to knock him off balance as I pulled on the gun.
He stumbled backward, and together we went down, hitting the gravel in a tangle of limbs.
The gun went off.
Bang!
“You stupid bitch!” he shrieked, yanking the weapon away from me. “That was my last bullet!”
Then he lifted the gun and
slammed it into the side of my head again.
Crack!
Pain exploded in my skull.
My head spun in rapid circles.
Spin, spin, spin…
Then Mateo’s voice, as if from far away.
“You’re going to pay for that, you stupid bitch.”
He hefted me up and carried me around the car, tossing me into the passenger’s seat. I slumped forward, my head still spinning. He shoved me back into the seat and attached my seatbelt, holding me in place.
Then he settled behind the wheel. “If I didn’t need you, I would just leave you on the side of the road to freeze to death. But you’re my ticket to freedom. Because as long as I’ve got you, I’ve got control of Ryan. And the next time I see him, he’s dead!”
He slammed the car into gear and pressed on the gas. Gravel spewed behind us as we raced back onto the highway.
He was raving mad. A lunatic. There was no other explanation for his behavior.
My heart squeezed.
Oh Ryan.
Even though Ryan had used me, played me, I still missed him. Fool that I was, I was falling for him. Would I ever see him again?
I struggled hard to remain conscious, but the spinning in my head finally won out.
Spin, spin, spin…
And then all I felt was…
Nothing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ryan
Luke brought my car to a screeching halt behind his Porsche that was parked next to the curb. A woman in approximately her mid-thirties was standing in front of Luke’s car, talking on a cell phone. She turned to us in surprise as we leapt out of the car and approached. Scrambling backward, she lifted the phone and waved it at us.
“I’m on the phone with 911, so stay back! The cops are on their way!”
Luke and I exchanged a glance.
“We’re not here to hurt you,” I said gently.
“That’s my car,” Luke added. “It was stolen. Where did the people go who were in it?”
She hesitated, taking a fearful step back. Luke met my gaze, the look in his eyes telling me to use the pheromone. I didn’t want to, but we needed to find Liz.
So I released a small amount of the pheromone, just enough to force her to talk.
Her eyes widened briefly, then crawled down my body and back up, making me feel like a piece of meat. It had never bothered me before. But that was before Liz. Now, Liz was the only woman I wanted looking at me like that.
The thought shocked me so much I barely noticed the woman’s response.
She pointed down the road. “They stole my car and went that way. I think they were heading toward Oklahoma City.”
“What kind of car do you have?” I asked. “We’ll try to track it down for you, all right?”
Her eyes widened, and again her gaze raked appreciatively down me. “It’s a gray Honda Accord. You’ll really do that for me?”
“Yes.” Because Liz was in that car, and I was tracking her down. I was hunting Mateo.
She nodded shakily, then spoke into her phone, “Some guys just showed. They said the Porsche was theirs and that it was stolen.” She listened for a moment, then lifted her gaze to us. “The dispatcher said for you to wait here with me. The cops will want to take your statements.”
Luke paused in front of her. “We don’t have anything to add that will help them. We weren’t here. Can I have my key fob back, please?”
She glanced down at the key fob she clutched in her hand. I hoped she handed it over, because if she didn’t, we’d have to use force. And neither one of us wanted to do that.
Cautiously, she lifted her hand.
Luke snatched the fob and stepped back, nodding at her. “Thank you, ma’am. Wait here for the cops. If we find your car, we’ll send word, okay?”
“Th-thank you,” she whispered. “I hope you catch that guy. He was a creep. And he wasn’t very nice to his girlfriend.”
Luke jumped into his Porsche and drove off. I held back a growl as I slid behind the wheel of my car. “She’s not his girlfriend. She’s mine.”
Or, she would be, as soon as I convinced her to be.
I peeled out after Luke, heading for the highway that led into Oklahoma City, leaving the woman standing on the sidewalk.
My phone rang.
“You think he’s after your mother?” Luke asked.
I sighed. “Yeah. That’s exactly what he’s planning. You’re right about him. He’s scared of us, so he’s trying to get as much leverage as he can. Did he really think he could kill us on his own?”
“This isn’t over,” Luke warned. “Don’t underestimate the kid. He’s a damn chameleon. You saw what he can do.”
Shit. He was right. And Mateo was the one who had the advantage because he had Liz. And soon, he might have my mother.
“I’m calling Noah,” I said. “I’ll ask him to search through the recruit files and see if he can find Mateo in there somewhere. Maybe it will give us some more information about his abilities.”
“Good idea. Later.”
We disconnected. Then I called Noah.
“We’ve got a problem,” I began, then I told him everything that had happened, except for the truth about Luke being an empath. Luke didn’t want anyone else to know, so his secret was safe with me. If he decided to tell the others, that was his decision, not mine.
Noah swore softly. “That little shit. I never would have suspected. He just seemed like a kid who’d gone through the same things we had.”
I sighed. “I know.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we’re all heading back your way. Sounds like you’re going to need some help.” The rest of the dregs had stopped at a hotel in Amarillo last night. Apparently, they had all discussed the issue about my mother and Liz and had decided Luke and I needed their help.
“How far out are you?” I asked.
“A couple hours. We’ll let you know when we reach Oklahoma City, and we can all meet up and discuss strategy.”
When one of the dregs needed help, the others always rushed to his aid. This time, it was my turn to need help from the others, and I couldn’t be more relieved that they all had my back.
“Shannon’s pulling the recruit files up on my iPad right now,” Noah said. “We’ll let you know if we find anything about Mateo.”
“Thanks, man. You’ll let the others know what’s up?”
“Yep. You just try to keep your cool until you find your mom and your girl. We’ll all be there soon.”
We disconnected and I again called Luke and apprised him of the situation.
Then I drove as fast as I dared to Oklahoma City.
To my mom.
And Liz.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Liz
A car door slamming jolted me awake. I blinked, my head pounding, and lifted a hand to gently rub the huge lump on my temple.
Ouch. I jerked back, letting out a soft gasp as the passenger’s door yanked open and Mateo’s face loomed in front of me. “Get out!” He grabbed my arm and pulled. I stumbled out of the car, glancing around. We were in a parking garage. We must have arrived at the hotel in Oklahoma City where Glenda had spent the night.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Mateo warned. “Or I’ll kill the first person we come in contact with. Got it? We’re going to get Ryan’s mommy.”
I had no doubt he meant what he said, so I simply nodded. I would cooperate. But only until I didn’t have to anymore. He no longer had any bullets in the gun, so he couldn’t use it to shoot anyone. If I could get away from him, I might be able to find someone to help me. I might even be able to escape.
We took the elevator down to the street, then walked to the hotel. It appeared to be late afternoon now, I guessed around four or five o’clock. Mateo inquired after Glenda at the front desk, telling the clerk to have Glenda come down to the lobby and meet with us. The man checked his computer and said that Glenda had checked out that morning.
Relief swe
pt through me. That meant Mateo couldn’t hurt her.
But I had no idea where Glenda had gone or where she was now. Without my phone, I couldn’t contact her.
I held back a smirk. Mateo sent me a dark look, then he leaned over the counter and grabbed the desk clerk by the collar of his shirt, yanking him over the counter.
“I need to use your phone, and that’s not a request.”
The clerk swallowed hard, his eyes widening. “Yes, sir. Of course, sir.” He slid the desktop phone over to Mateo.
Mateo shoved the man back and snatched up the receiver, quickly dialing a number into the phone. I stood aside, waiting silently, listening as Mateo spoke into the phone.
“Mission failed,” he told whomever was on the other end. “But I got a hostage. The girl from the inn. Ryan likes her, so he’ll come for her. I can lure them out, but I’m going to need some assistance taking them down. I need an army here as soon as possible. How many you got in the area?” He listened a moment, his gaze darting from me to the desk clerk, and back. “Roger, that. Where?” Again, he listened, his gaze narrowing on the desk clerk as the man cautiously stepped back. “I need a pen and paper!”
The clerk quickly shoved both items toward Mateo.
Mateo scribbled on the paper, glancing at me.
“How long?” Again he listened, a look of frustration crossing his face. “Fine. I’ll take the hostage there and wait for the soldiers.” He sent me another dark look.
“No,” Mateo went on. “The mother’s gone. We’ll get her later if we need to.” He listened again. “Just hurry the fuck up. I’ve got more important things to deal with than this. Fucking dregs…”
If I wanted to escape, now was my chance.
While Mateo was distracted with his phone call, I spun and raced for the door. I was escaping. Right now. Screw him.
The Extractor Page 17