Another scream, only this one was cut off, and he recognized the voice right away.
Katie!
West got to his feet as two figures emerged from the barn.
Turner had a knife to his daughter’s throat and his stomach clenched.
Beside him stood, a grim faced Annie. Blood welled on her arm, presumably from where Turner had stabbed her. Katie must’ve cried out in sheer terror at the sight.
Shit.
“Let them go,” West ordered. His gun was in the holster on the picnic table, too far away to reach. By the time he got near it, Turner could slit Katie’s throat.
Don’t think about it. Focus. Stay frosty. There will be plenty of time for retribution later.
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Turner sneered. “Looks like the tables have turned. I’ve got someone you love and I’m holdin’ her life in my hands.”
“What do you want?” He’d give Turner anything to get Katie back.
“Tell me. Are you worried about your daughter?” He pressed the knife closer.
“Daddy!” she cried.
West fisted his hands at his sides. Every instinct he had screamed at him to rush Turner, but West might get Katie killed in the process.
“I told you to shut up, brat.”
Her eyes were wide, tears streaked down her cheeks. He’d never seen her so scared. West didn’t want to shoot Turner. No, he needed to rip his head clean off. It was difficult to be rational, think like a SEAL, when his baby was in trouble.
“West, I’m so sorry,” Annie said. “When I found Turner, he had Katie in his arms. He said if I made a sound, he’d….”
He sliced his head to the side, and she didn’t finish the thought. Katie didn’t need to hear it again. West tried to have a wordless conversation with Annie, telling her this wasn’t her fault. She had enough guilt to last her several decades and Annie didn’t need anymore.
Besides, this wasn’t her fuck up. It’s mine. West had told the bastard enough details to find them. Annie might be trained, and capable of handling herself, but she was under his protection as well.
It was simple. Turner had to die.
He assessed the scene.
The rest of the team was upstairs. They were all drunk and sleeping. It was on the tip of his tongue to shout at King, startle him out of sleep, but Turner shook his head.
“Don’t even think about it. If you wake him up, I’ll kill the girl.”
“Did you come here for revenge? Is that it? Then stop hidin’ behind innocents and settle the score with me.”
“You’re the one who made this personal. Not me. You killed my brother.” His lips peeled back from his teeth, spittle flying.
“Why are you even here? You should be runnin’.”
Getting away would be the sensible course of action, but Turner wasn’t rational. He was operating on instinct, emotion. Turner sensed the endgame was approaching, and he knew he wasn’t getting out of this one alive, so he might as well do some damage.
“I get it. You’re angry with me, but Katie doesn’t have anythin’ to do with it.” Once again, he was calm, speaking quietly. “She’s a child. Let her go, and I’ll give you anythin’ you want. Money? My car keys?” Without making any sudden movements, he withdrew his wallet and keys and tossed them at Turner’s feet. “Just take them and go. If you start drivin’ now, you could make the Mexican border tomorrow.”
“I’m not an idiot. My face is plastered everywhere. I wouldn’t make it across the state line.” Sweat trickled from the man’s temples. And West doubted Turner had thought this thing all the way through.
West ran a hand down his face. “Then take me. I’ll be your hostage.”
“Or we could just settle this.” Turner gripped the knife, pressing it against Katie’s jugular and she sobbed.
West was coming out of his skin.
No, not again, I can’t lose Katie, too. I won’t survive it.
He glanced at Annie and she was crying, but it wasn’t fear. Annie could sense his pain and terror.
“No. You’ll take me, and we’ll go.” Annie stepped forward, offering herself up, without hesitation. “I will be your guarantee, if the authorities come after you.”
West shook his head violently.
“So you and the marshal are a thing, huh?” Turner weighed his options, watching West carefully, enjoying his anguish.
West didn’t answer and neither did Annie.
“Fine, you and me got unfinished business, anyway, Marshal. Bend down and pick them up. ” Annie scooped up the wallet and keys. Lightning fast, Turner tossed Katie to the ground and grabbed Annie by the throat.
West seized Katie and held her tightly, clutching her to his chest. She clung to him like a monkey, legs wrapped around his waist. She was shivering, burying her face in his chest. He kissed the top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her, patting her down, and reassuring himself that she was unharmed. Physically, at least.
“It’s OK, Katydid, Daddy’s got you. You’re gonna be all right.”
But what about Annie?
Knife against her jugular, Turner dragged Annie to the Jeep, keeping her in between West and himself. West didn’t dare get closer, not with Katie in his arms.
“It’s not over, Turner,” he grated out.
He chuckled, rough and raspy. “No, it isn’t. Say goodbye to the lady marshal, it’s the last time you’ll be seein’ her.”
Annie pulled the Jeep out of the driveway and then they were gone.
***
“You don’t fear me.”
It wasn’t a question, so Annie didn’t answer Turner.
She tried to tune him out and think of a way out of this situation, but there wasn’t one.
They’d parked out in the boonies, near a freight train crossing. In a manner of minutes, a train had chugged around the bend, slowing down as it switched tracks. It was dark, and there were no street lights to illuminate their shadowy forms. At knifepoint, Annie had boarded it with Turner, and now they were going on a midnight train ride, like two hobos.
What if I end up like the woman discarded in the pond? Shaking her head, Annie scattered her negative thoughts. Annie had to focus if she had any prayer of coming out of this alive.
“Why aren’t you scared?” he snapped.
They were in an open hopper car, full of coal and they’d sunk down into it, hiding from the conductor. The air was chilly and the breeze rushed through her hair. Goosebumps erupted on her arms. At least the wound Turner had given her stopped bleeding, but it still hurt.
“Any reason why I should be?”
Annie focused on the bastard who killed her best friend. She let the hate fuel her, rip away any trace of fear and replace it with rage. Adrenaline rushed through her body like a wave, straightening her spine.
It felt damn good, much better than the panic. Anger, she could work with.
“I could kill you.” He said it as though she hadn’t figured that part out.
“No.”
“No?” he asked, disbelieving. His blade glinted in the moonlight, a warning. Turner was inches away from her.
“No, I’m gonna be the one who kills you. You aren’t the only one who’s gotten a taste for murder, a bloodlust.”
He blinked, looking the slightest bit unsettled.
With a sneer, Annie just let that sink in.
***
“It’s okay, Katie, you’re alright.”
West had tried everything to calm her down, but she was heartbroken, crying, snuffling.
“Daddy would never let anythin’ happen to you. You hear me?”
She nodded.
“You’re safe now. The bad man’s gone.”
West knew exactly how she felt.
Her encounter with Turner had been too close for his own comfort, too. He’d never felt this unsettled before and he’d had several brushes with death. This was the first time someone had threatened his child, and it had brought out his inner savage.
West was on overload, terrified of what Turner might due to Annie, but he couldn’t lose his shit, not in front of Katie. Annie’s clever, resourceful, and she can handle herself.
He repeated the words over and over, until he believed them. Until West could reach her, she’d keep herself alive. He thought of all those blood-soaked bodies at the escort agency and forcefully pushed the images away.
In the command center, Stormy and the rest of the crew were working the problem, trying to figure out where Turner would go.
West grabbed his phone and called Paige, letting her know what had happened. Paige said she was on the way to get Katie and once his daughter was safe, West was going after Annie.
Time to let the savage out.
***
“I heard you got fired from the Marshal Service because of me.”
After she’d threatened him, Turner had been needling her, trying to provoke a fight. Annie got the feeling he was really waging a silent war with himself. Turner really wanted to kill her, but he needed her alive to use as a bargaining chip.
I’ve got three choices, and all of them suck.
One, she could rush him and take her chances with a deadly blade. Two, she could jump off this train and run to safety. Three, she could make a scene and attract attention to them. Then Annie could use the distraction to incapacitate Turner. The odds weren’t in her favor in any of those scenarios.
I can’t sit here though. I gotta try something.
Once they reached their destination, Turner would kill her for sure. Annie had no doubts about that.
So what am I gonna do? Play along? Goad him into making a move? Maybe anger would make him sloppy and reckless?
Decisions. Decisions. Yup, time to poke the bear.
“So…what? You’re gonna hobo your way across the border?” Annie asked slyly.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yup, that’s your big plan.”
“Tough talk. Your big, bad, military man isn’t here to save you.” Turner gave a dirty, almost obscene laugh. “Do you have any idea what I’m gonna do to you?”
A chill raced down her spine. “I don’t need to be rescued.” Although, if West wanted to ride in on a white horse, she wouldn’t bitch about it.
“Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
His arm shot out. He wrapped a hand around her throat, holding it, but not squeezing.
“Still don’t think you need to be saved?”
She lifted her chin. His fingers dug in, clasping her windpipe.
“No matter what happens here, today, West is gonna track you down, and you’ll go back to jail. Or die.”
Turner placed the cold steel of his knife against the side of her face and then rested it along her vein. All he had to do was break the skin, and she’d bleed out. They were too far away from a hospital for Annie to survive.
“Beg for your life, bitch.”
Annie sneered. “Never.” She wouldn’t give this piece of shit the satisfaction, under any circumstances, even if she died right here, right now.
But instead of slashing her throat, he sliced into her arm again. Annie stifled a cry as the wetness saturated her shirt. He’d cut her deep this time.
The blood excited him. His breath came faster and he licked his lips.
And something inside her snapped.
Turner had taken too much from her. Mike was gone forever. Annie was homeless, rootless, and very soon, unemployed again. And now he wanted her life, too.
And, worst of all, he might take her last shot at happiness.
She didn’t know what was brewing between her and West, but she’d love to see what happened in the future. If she had one.
Snarling, she lunged at him.
Screaming, she clawed at him with her bare hands, trying to inflict as much damage as possible—kicking, biting, injuring him anyway possible.
They fought, rolling in the coal. It was sharp, digging into her back, her knees, scraping her palms. Soot stained both their faces and hands.
And then he had her pinned against the side of the car, one hand clutching her throat, the knife in the other.
“Come on, bitch. Tell me what I want to hear.”
“Fuck you.”
Turner leered. “Maybe after I cut you open.”
And then he plunged the knife into her abdomen.
Chapter 15
“I’ve got a lead!” Storm called from the command center.
“Thank God!” West closed his eyes in relief.
“Turner didn’t shut off the GPS in the Jeep and I tracked him down.”
“Where are they?”
“Near as I can tell, by a set of train tracks.” Storm squinted at the screen and West got closer, leaning over his shoulder to get a better look. “They haven’t moved since I found them.”
“What the fuck is he doin’?” West couldn’t understand why he’d park himself in the middle of nowhere.
“What if he jumped on the coal train?” King offered, sitting beside them. “Is it the route his granddaddy used to travel? He could ride it out of this area, get past the road blocks.”
Storm swore softly under his breath. “No one would be the wiser.”
Yeah, the son of a bitch was crazy, but not stupid.
“They’ll be checkin’ Amtrak, not freight trains.” West clenched his fists. “Gear up, we leave in five minutes.”
Hold on, Annie. I’m comin’.
***
“Tell me how it feels.” Turner brought his bloodied hand to his face, inhaling the scent and closing his eyes.
Wounded, Annie squirmed away and glanced down at the rusty tracks beneath them. The train chugged up the hill, slowing its pace momentarily.
Now or never. She jumped.
After she hit the ground, Annie gasped, sucking in air, as the wind was knocked out of her lungs. And then she saw Turner leap off the train in the distance. She’d expected him to ride to freedom. Evidently, he wanted to kill her more than gaining his own freedom.
Run!
Annie got to her feet, scrambling through the wet grass as fast as she could. It wasn’t easy. She was woozy from the blood loss and in pain. She ran into a wooded area, branches scraped against her arms as she raced.
It was pitch black, and the territory wasn’t familiar. She was moving at a pretty decent clip until she stumbled over tree roots and then pitched forward. She nearly screamed but welded her lips together.
If she cried out, Annie would give her location away. In this state, she wouldn’t be able to fight him off.
Annie got to her feet and limped forward. If she couldn’t outrun him, Annie had to hide.
But where?
***
Where the fuck are they?
An hour had passed, and West still hadn’t found them.
He was slowly going out of his mind.
In BUD/S, he’d learned how to lock down his feelings, tuck them away to deal with at another time in his SEAL training, but he’d been pushed to the limit tonight.
This was much easier when he wasn’t emotionally compromised, personally invested in the outcome. West had always cared about his missions, but not like this. If Annie didn’t make it, he didn’t know how he’d live with himself.
While they’d raced to the scene, Storm had contacted Huck and read him in on what was going on. Huck contacted the conductor, and they’d stopped the train by the nearest crossing. The sheriff had searched it, car by car, but hadn’t found Turner or Annie, although there had been blood spatter all over one of the coal cars.
West figured Annie had gone overboard in an escape attempt, and Turner had followed her, eager to settle their score. In the meantime, West and his teammates had fanned out across the woods, searching it grid by grid.
“Chief, I found blood,” Zane said into his ear.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, West made his way to Zane, and he silently prayed the blood belonged to Turne
r, not Annie.
Zane lifted his flashlight, illuminating a shimmering red pool, wet against the grass.
Refusing to give his fear free-reign, West pushed forward.
“Keep lookin’. Cover every square inch of these woods. We don’t stop until we find them.”
***
What if he comes back?
Clutching her stomach, Annie closed her eyes and rested against the tree trunk. She’d found an old tree stand in the middle of the woods. Gritting her teeth, she’d shimmied up and hidden herself. But if she remained out here much longer, the blood loss would kill her.
Turner had tromped through the undergrowth minutes earlier, but he hadn’t looked up to see her. Any second now, he could double back.
Quite literally, Annie wasn’t out of the woods yet.
***
“You got eyes on him?” West asked, fifteen minutes later.
There was no sign of Annie, but they’d found their tango in a clearing. Turner still held the knife.
“Yeah,” Nox said, from his perch on a nearby ridge. He’d gotten a bird’s eye view of their surroundings, so they had a better view of the terrain.
“I’m on my way.”
“I can drop him from here, Chief. Do you wanna finish this?”
West didn’t respond at first.
“Chief?”
“I do, but on my terms.”
Nox cleared his throat. “The shot is good.”
“Stand down. I’m nearly within range, and I wanna handle this myself.”
With a guttural roar, West rushed straight at him, giving Turner no time to prepare. He raised the knife, but West grabbed his wrist, and smashed it hard against his knee until he wrestled it out of his grip.
West was enraged. He wanted to beat the ever living shit out of the man. No, he wanted to kill him, bury his ass, dig him up, and then do it again. And again.
“Where is she?” West growled.
Turner gave a wheezing laugh. “You don’t know?”
West jabbed his elbow under Turner’s chin, snapping it back. He’d smack the snot out of this bastard until he coughed up every last bit of information.
“Where’s Annie?”
He shook his head.
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