She slumped. “You believe me then?”
He frowned. “’Course I believe you. You don’t lie.”
Crista dropped her gaze to her hands, twisting them together on her lap. “Not everyone back home will. He’s the golden boy.”
Pete tipped her face up, his light-brown eyes peering intently into hers. “That doesn’t excuse him from harassing and hurting you. We love you, Crista. We’ll stand behind you. And anyone who doesn’t is a fool.”
Crista threw herself into his arms, letting him hold her tight.
Someone cleared his throat and Crista glanced up to see Quinn entering the trailer.
“Hello,” he said to Pete, raising his eyebrows as he looked over at Crista. She tensed, wondering if he was going to jump to the wrong conclusion. She wouldn’t blame him after what Caroline had put him through. But Quinn merely leaned against the wall behind them, staring at them calmly.
“Quinn, this is my foreman, Pete. Pete, this is Quinn, our newest crew member.”
“That so?” Pete asked easily, holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Quinn replied, shaking his hand.
“Everything okay in here?” Nash asked from the doorway. “Hey, Pete, glad you’re back. How’s Ella?”
“Much better, thanks. Think I’ll get to work now though. Crista, anything I can do to help just let me know.”
Crista smiled at him. “Thanks, Pete.”
She slumped back into her chair and looked over at Nash and Quinn tiredly.
“You look exhausted, sweetheart,” Quinn said quietly. “Why don’t you let one of us take you home and pamper you?”
“Because I don’t have time. The project manager’s coming this afternoon. I have to bring Pete up to speed. I just have a lot going on.”
Both men stared at her in concern and she prayed they wouldn’t push the matter. If they kept pushing, she was very afraid she just might break.
Nash followed Quinn out of the trailer, still frowning with worry. As each day passed and they didn’t hear from Doug or come closer to catching O’Ryan, Crista grew more distant and stressed.
He was seriously worried about her health.
“We should make her go home,” he said to Quinn.
“She needs some space, Nash.”
“She needs to take better care of herself.”
Quinn shook his head and sighed. “We can’t push her right now or she’s going to shatter.”
“Well, maybe that would be a good thing. She needs to let everything out.”
“Does she? Right here? You know how she hates to bring attention to herself. Do you really think she’ll thank you for making her lose control for everyone to see?”
Nash let out a deep breath. Quinn was right. “You’re right. I’ll give her some space. For now.”
But tonight was another story.
Crista sat with a sigh as Quinn and Nash left. She glanced over at her phone as it beeped. Panic immediately ballooned in her stomach as she read the text. She swallowed hastily, forcing the nausea back. Then reread the message as her hand trembled.
I hve Doug. Do wht I tell u and I wn’t hrt him. Tell no 1. Drew.
Oh no, oh no, oh no.
Crista took a deep breath to quell her fear. She had to think. She didn’t have time to lose her mind.
What the hell should she do?
She had no idea how Andrew had found Doug or whether he was telling the truth. But Andrew didn’t have her phone number—she’d changed phones and given the new number only to a few trusted people. One of whom was Doug.
She knew that Quinn and Nash would expect her to tell them so they could take care of everything. But they didn’t like Doug. Would they do everything they could to rescue him or would they be prepared to sacrifice him for her safety?
Crista forced herself to calm down.
They wouldn’t risk her but they would do their best to help Doug. She knew them. They were honorable men. It didn’t matter how they felt about Doug—they would help him because she loved him.
She chewed at her lower lip as she paced.
But if she told them she’d be endangering them. They’d insist on being involved. The idea of them being hurt terrified her.
What if he was watching her? If she called out to Nash and Quinn now and Andrew was watching she could be risking Doug’s life.
No, best to keep this to herself. For the moment.
She rubbed her stomach, trying to still the nerves butterflying there. Her phone beeped again and she jumped, reaching for it frantically.
Contact u l8tr. B ready. Tell no 1.
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
What was she going to do?
Chapter Seventeen
Quinn glanced over at Crista as she pushed spaghetti around on her plate. He wondered how long she would pretend that everything was all right. He’d thought to wait her out, give her a chance to confide in them, but he couldn’t stand to see her so upset.
She’d been silent since they’d left work. The project manager had turned up midafternoon in a huff. But Quinn had to hand it to Pete—he knew his stuff when it came to the job. The project manager had left decidedly happier, but the worry and angst surrounding Crista hadn’t dissipated an iota.
He knew she was worried about Doug, but she’d seemed better after Reggie’s call. Of course she could just be tired, and everything combined was probably getting on top of her.
And yet he couldn’t help but think there was something more.
When they’d arrived back at the motel, she’d stripped without a word and knelt in position. But her movements had lacked any vitality, any life, as though she were just going through the motions.
He didn’t like it one bit.
“Crista.” Quinn waited patiently for her to look at him. “You want to tell us what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, her gaze skittering away.
Oh yeah, there was definitely something wrong.
He stood and held out his hand. “Come with me.”
She clasped his hand. Quinn led her over to the sofa and sat, pulling her onto his lap. She sat stiffly, not melting against him as she normally would. He ran a hand up her back, trying to get her to relax as Nash sat on the sofa beside them.
Nash clasped her knee. “We know there’s something wrong, Crista. You’ve been acting weird all afternoon. Want to tell us what’s going on?”
“I’ve been thinking about us. It’s just— It’s too weird. Two men and a woman. It was fun for a while, but I’m kind of over it now. I mean, look at me— I’m sitting around naked while you two are dressed like it’s normal. It’s not. It’s weird. It’s abnormal. I want to leave.”
Crista climbed from his lap and he let her, the shock of her words hitting him hard.
Abnormal. Weird.
Nash grabbed her and slapped her butt. It shocked Quinn out of his thoughts, even as Crista gasped and reached back.
“What was that for?” she yelped.
“Lying,” Nash said calmly. “And there’s going to be a lot more where that came from once you tell us why you just lied.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“Yes, you did. You’ve never once thought this relationship weird. And you were made for submission. You crave it. But you lied. And you sent Quinn right back into that bad place where Caroline put him.”
Crista turned to stare at him, her blue eyes filled with pain and tears. Her shaking hand covered her mouth as tears dripped down her cheeks.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean it at all.” She sobbed. “I just… I had to say something…”
Quinn pulled her down, rocking her as she sobbed uncontrollably.
“Okay, baby, it’s okay, I know you didn’t.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she cried, tearing at his heart. He held her tighter, his concerned gaze hitting Nash’s.
“Baby, you have to calm down, you’re going to make yo
urself sick.”
Nash leaned over and pushed her hair off her face. “Come on, darlin’, take a deep breath. That’s it, and again.”
Quinn kissed the top of her head as her breathing slowed, her tears easing.
“I’m sorry I lied. And I’m sorry I just broke down all over you. Jeez, how embarrassing,” she muttered, wiping at her cheeks. Nash stood and walked to the bathroom, returning quickly with some tissues.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Quinn soothed. “You’ve been bottling everything up inside, it was bound to explode out.”
Nash ran his hand over her cheek. “You want to tell us what started this?”
“Okay,” she said tiredly. “But you’re not going to like it.”
“Figured that much already,” Quinn replied.
Her phone beeped and Crista jumped to her feet, her face paling as she swayed.
“Crista?” Nash asked.
“What the hell?” Quinn muttered as he steadied her. “Just what is going on?”
* * * * *
Nash paced and reread the text for the fifth time, holding Crista’s phone tightly in his hand.
Cnr of freemnt tenor. 30m. Cme alne.
Fear-fed fury surged through him, making him shake. He was going to kill the bastard.
“Is he okay? Why has he gone all silent? There’s a weird look on his face,” Crista said to Quinn in a lowered voice.
“I’m pretty sure that’s his ‘I’m going to kill someone’ face,” Quinn replied, his voice tight with anger.
“Oh,” she replied quietly. “Nash, I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you about the texts.”
“He’s not planning on killing you, sweetheart,” Quinn said wryly. “Wait a minute, what do you mean, texts?”
Nash paused, staring at Crista through the rage clouding his vision. She squirmed guiltily.
“I was going to tell you.” Her face was white, her eyes too big, her breathing coming too fast. He needed to calm her down, just as soon as he got himself under control.
“Baby,” Quinn crooned. “I want you to take some deep, slow breaths. Okay? We need to decide really quickly what we’re going to do, and I can’t do that with you both freaking out on me. You two are the brains of this outfit, remember?”
Nash would be amused if he weren’t so enraged. He scrolled up the screen so he could read the previous messages and had to stop himself from throwing the phone against the wall.
“Nash, let me see.”
He handed the phone over to Quinn reluctantly, his mind racing. He needed his gun.
“Nash, what are you thinking?” Crista asked.
“That I’m going to kill the motherfucking bastard,” he growled. Crista jumped—whether it was his voice, which had grown hard and cold—or his language he didn’t know.
“Good,” Quinn said with satisfaction. “What’s the plan?”
Nash moved to get his guns, checking the ammo.
“I’m going to go wait for the bastard then I’m going to shoot him.”
“Simple but effective,” Quinn said.
“You can’t!” Crista looked at them both in horror.
Nash stared back at her impassively. “I assure you, I can. I’ve killed before. And when I get home we’re going to have a chat about communication and telling us when you get fucking threatening texts.”
“I meant that you can’t kill him because then we won’t know where Doug is. What if he’s watching? That’s why I didn’t tell you both straight away. I’m scared he’s spying on me. And, well, that you would sacrifice Doug for me.”
“We’ll find Doug,” Nash promised her. “After I kill O’Ryan.”
“No,” Crista yelled, standing with her hands in fists. “You can’t risk my brother. Just listen to me. I’ll go. I’ll keep my phone on me and you can track my GPS.”
Nash shook his head. “Unacceptable. You will not be placed in danger.”
“Besides, he’ll ask for your phone, sweetheart,” Quinn added.
“Then I’ll take yours as well,” she said to Quinn urgently. “Please. It’s not as though you ever use it.” Quinn had an aversion to phones.
Quinn shook his head.
“Please, he’s my brother,” she sobbed.
Nash reached over and pulled her close, clawing his fury back bit by bit.
“We cannot have you in danger,” he whispered.
“You’ll be following me. I’m sure he won’t hurt me. Please.”
Agony speared him deep and he thought frantically, pushing his feelings aside so he could think about this rationally. And he realized she was speaking some sense.
Damn.
He still didn’t like it though.
“You’ll do exactly what we tell you,” Nash growled, ignoring Quinn’s shocked look. “I mean it.”
She nodded frantically. “I will. I promise.”
Nash glared down at her. “You disobey me, even once, and I will tie you up and leave you in our bedroom until you’re old and gray, got me?”
She nodded and he let out a long sigh. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. “Okay. Go and get dressed. I’m going to go now and get in place. Quinn will follow you by tracking his phone.”
She drew back, wiping her cheeks. “What if he’s watching? Won’t he see you leave?”
Nash smiled. “Darlin’, he’s no match for me.”
* * * * *
Terrified, Crista bit her lip to hold in her whimpers of fear.
A simple country girl from a simple country town, she was not made for this sort of adventure. The most exciting thing that happened in Sacrifice was Mr. McCarthy’s mutt getting in with Mr. Johnson’s prize pedigree breeder.
They’d made the cutest puppies.
She should’ve gotten one. A dog could have accompanied her as she drove down the dark streets in her tin can car. Maybe the guys were right. This car was a deathtrap, and she couldn’t help comparing it to Quinn’s smooth ride. She pulled up and climbed out, locking the doors.
She had to fight the temptation to look around for Nash, knowing he’d hidden himself close by. Quinn would be following her in the replacement car the rental company had delivered to him that morning.
With legs trembling so hard they could barely carry her, Crista walked toward the corner. It was really dark. This was an industrial area and at least half the street lights were broken.
She stuffed her hands in her pockets and shuffled her feet. Nerves had her jumping at every sound. Where the hell was he? Was she at the right place?
“They need to put street signs up,” she muttered to herself. “What kind of place doesn’t have street signs?”
Desperately she wished Quinn or Nash were here. What if Nash wasn’t watching her? What if he’d fallen and hurt himself in the dark?
Taking a deep breath, she searched for some calm. Nash and Quinn had been supremely confident in their own abilities—she could be no less.
Grasping hold of her phone, she pulled it from her pocket. Maybe Andrew had left a message and she hadn’t heard it. Her car was kind of noisy. No message.
And he was ten minutes late.
As Crista was about ready to bolt, her stomach rolling so bad she thought she would vomit, a dark truck pulled up beside her. The window rolled down and Andrew’s cold face came into view.
“Get in,” he snarled.
Crista jumped, then, reminding herself that she had no choice, she moved to the passenger side and climbed in.
Nash watched Crista enter the truck. It took every ounce of control he had not to race over and snatch her from that bastard’s grasp, not to press on the trigger beneath his finger and fire.
As the truck pulled away, he slipped the safety on, slung the rifle over his back and ran toward Quinn. He tamped down any panic or anger, letting cold certainty take him over as he jumped into Quinn’s rental, leaving his bike behind. It would probably be gone or trashed by the time he came back.
The bike didn’t matter.
&nb
sp; All that mattered was Crista. And getting to her quickly.
Nash opened his phone. Quinn started the truck as Nash brought up the tracker for Quinn’s phone, which they’d safely tucked into Crista’s bra.
“Turn onto Shepherd’s Road, he’s heading northeast.”
“Has she still got her phone?” Quinn asked.
Nash brought up the GPS signal from Crista’s phone. “At the moment. None too bright, is he? I’d have made her throw her phone away first thing. Turn onto Massey Avenue then Old North Road. He’s heading toward the Dixie National Forest. Shit, I hope we don’t lose the signal.”
“I’ll get closer. Thank God he’s not like you. You’d have made her strip immediately and she’d have lost both her phones.”
Nash grunted. “Like you wouldn’t have.”
“Hell, no, I wouldn’t. Too much distraction. I’d never be able to drive with her gorgeous body on display. Fuck, I don’t like this, letting her put herself in danger. I don’t like this at all.”
Nash glanced over at him. “You seemed surprisingly okay with her doing this. I was shocked after all the fuss you put up when Kayla was in trouble.”
Quinn’s hands clenched then relaxed. His knuckles were white, tense. “One of us had to be reasonable. Frankly, I’d have preferred the role of crazy, overprotective boyfriend, but you’d already taken it. You were about to lose it. If we’d both gone nuts we risked her running off and doing her own thing. But don’t mistake me. I wanted to lock her in our bedroom, chain her to the bed and fuck her until she forgot her own name, let alone everyone else’s.”
Nash let out a deep breath. “Sorry, man. I just couldn’t stand the idea of her in danger. I still can’t. When it comes to the people I love being in danger, I turn a bit irrational.”
“Yeah, well, just so you remember. Next time, it’s my turn to be the crazy one. You have to be sensible.”
“Deal.”
* * * * *
Andrew pushed her into a dark cabin, shoving her so hard she stumbled.
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