by Angela Foxxe
Dale turned the engine over, hitting the locks at the same time to disguise the noise. He watched Hannah, who didn’t even twitch when he locked the doors and flipped the lockout button on his door panel. Now, even if she tried to unlock the door first, she wouldn’t be able to.
“It’s a long drive to Dallas,” Dale said. “Maybe you should try to get some rest.”
“Dallas? I thought we were going to Fort Worth.”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, giving her that sultry smile he used on all the ladies. “We were just talking about you moving here from Dallas, and I misspoke. We’re going to Fort Worth.”
Hannah nodded, seemingly unbothered by his fumble.
“Was my father alone?” she asked, her eyes still closed as he took the winding road out of town and the sun set slowly behind them.
“Alone?” he asked.
“When he collapsed, was he alone, or was someone with him?”
“Mark was with him,” Dale lied. “He didn’t die alone.”
“But he’s not really dead yet?”
“Yes and no. He’s never going to get better than he is now, but he’s still breathing.”
At least that wasn’t a lie.
“I understand. I know he wouldn’t want to stay a vegetable forever. And if his organs can save a life, that would make him so happy.”
“Your father is a good man.”
“He’s the best,” Hannah said, a single tear sliding out from under her lashes and slipping over her smooth skin. “I’m going to miss him. I don’t even know how I’m going to take care of myself without him here.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Dale said as he pulled onto a dirt road.
At the first bump in the road, Hannah’s eyes flew open, and she looked down the road in the gray light, looking confused.
“Where are we going?” she asked, still not alarmed but definitely confused.
“There’s construction between here and Cleburne,” he said, the lie sliding smoothly of his seasoned tongue. “This is the fastest way to get around the construction.”
She nodded, leaning back and closing her eyes again.
Dale shook his head. She was so trusting, and it was going to be her downfall.
“Can you wake me up when we get there? I worked two twelve-hour shifts this weekend, and I’m just exhausted still.”
“Of course, I can,” Dale said.
Hannah turned in her seat, her back to him. It only took a few seconds for her breathing to slow and her body to relax. She was making this far too easy.
Dale turned the radio on, gradually edging up the volume so that she didn’t wake up. The road smoothed out and then gave way to the remnants of an old paved road that was still in good condition despite being forgotten years before.
Hannah was fast asleep when he pulled around the corner and the large barn came into view. Careful to keep the speed steady and to avoid the occasional pothole, Dale coasted up to the large barn and gently applied the brakes. Hannah stirred, but she didn’t wake up.
A door opened beside the barn, and two large, muscled men came out of the barn and approached the car, their menacing eyes locked on Dale. He nodded and tilted his head toward the passenger side of the car, and both men headed that way. Dale released the locks on the door as the first man’s hand reached the handle.
Hannah woke up, looking around and blinking.
“Are we there ye-”
She screamed when the first man reached in and grabbed her, his arm going around her and clamping her against his body. Hannah struggled mightily, kicking and thrashing. She hit the first man in the face with her head, but he didn’t flinch. He held her tight, and the second man advanced, a large needle in his hand.
Hannah bit the man who held her, her teeth sinking into the hand that was clasped over her mouth. He dropped her, and as soon as her feet hit the ground, she took off running toward the trees.
She’d only made it three steps when her body froze and her back arched at the most unnatural angle an instant before her body seized. Dale smiled at the satisfying crackle of the Taser he held in his hand. Hannah slumped to the ground and lay there in a twisted heap. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she was unable to move.
Dale moved to stand over her, smiling down at the girl.
“You’re going to make someone a feisty pet,” he said with a wide grin.
“Sheriff?” she said, the word trembling on her lips.
A tear slid down her cheek, but her eyes held his. Hannah was a feisty one, Dale admitted, and he was sad that he wouldn’t get to keep this one for himself. But the situation with Addie and a few other stumbling blocks had set him back, and his buyers were demanding more product. He either delivered or his body would be found in a ditch, dumped as unceremoniously as Addie’s had been. He couldn’t risk that, and he wasn’t about to get killed over the merchandise.
He waved one of the men over, and he stepped in with a syringe. Hannah’s eyes followed him as he moved to kneel beside her and inserted the syringe into her arm. Hannah winced when the needle went in, but she didn’t move a muscle otherwise. She was still paralyzed from the Taser and would be for a couple more minutes. By the time the Taser wore off, the drugs would be taking hold, and she would find herself drifting off to sleep.
Dale watched her for a few minutes, and when her eyes grew heavy and began to close, he smiled.
“Put her in one of the stalls, and make sure you lock the door.”
“Yes, Sir,” the men said in unison as they hoisted her up between them.
He almost laughed at the effort, but he knew better than most how heavy dead weight was, even in someone as petite as Hannah. Completely relaxed so that her body flopped and oozed as if it had no bones, he knew that it took monumental effort to move someone in a state such as Hannah was in. Still, the sight of the muscled men working together to lift her was amusing. At least part of his day was going well. Hopefully, his latest acquisition would soften the failure of Addie and Robin.
His client was going to love Hannah, and sweet, innocent Hannah was going to net a pretty penny at the online auction. Until then, he needed to keep her safe.
What happened once she left his care wasn’t his problem.
CHAPTER TEN
Mark pushed the wheelchair down the quiet hall and into the room as the man in the chair went through the motions of walking his feet lightly across the polished linoleum floor.
“How did I get into the wrong room?” Eric Wise asked in confusion. “I thought I knew which room was mine. I hope Hannah can find me when she comes to visit today.”
Mark let out an exaggerated sigh.
“Hannah saw you before you ended up in the wrong room,” he lied, his voice animated as if he were talking to a toddler. “It’s not night; it’s morning, and you need to get a little more rest before you start the day.”
Eric looked around the room, his muddled thoughts confusing him even more as he looked around the gray room and tried to make Mark’s words make sense.
“It feels like nighttime,” Eric insisted.
“You know that you can’t trust your brain after the stroke,” Mark said. “You’re all turned around. I’ll have to order a CT scan soon. There must be something going on. It’s not like you to get confused about which room was yours.”
“Oh my. You might be right because I don’t even know how I got in that room. Do you know how I got there?”
“No, Mister Wise. I sure don’t.”
Mark parked the wheelchair beside the bed and helped him get up. The left side of his body was completely dead, his mouth drooping on one side and his speech slurred despite the articulate way that Eric spoke. Of all the stroke victims in this wing of the nursing home dedicated to long-term rehabilitation, Eric Wise was the best off.
At least he knew his name and where he was. And there was a chance, however slim, that he would be able to go home someday. Not that Hannah would be there to greet him, but he didn’t need to know that.
His memory was still shot, and Eric was aware that he forgot things. It would be easy to convince him daily that he’d forgotten Hannah’s visit. Anyone who happened upon the man asking about Hannah would assume that he was senile and think nothing of the missing teen.
It was the perfect plan, and now that Mark had helped the Sheriff with the acquisition of Hannah Wise, he hoped the Sheriff would leave his family alone. They didn’t want any more trouble, and Mark had a young cousin he wanted to protect. The Sheriff had convinced him that helping him get Hannah would keep his cousin safe, but now that it was done, Mark was having second thoughts. The guilt was eating him alive, and he was beginning to wonder if his actions would actually protect his family, or if the Sheriff was just using him.
Mark helped Eric into the bed, reassuring the man again that Hannah was fine and would be in to see him that evening.
When he closed the door, and left the man alone in the dark room, he breathed a heavy sigh, but he found no relief.
“What have I done?” he whispered under his breath in despair.
He fought back the panic and the self-loathing. Hannah had no one, and it was only a matter of time before her father died, too. She was practically an orphan. It wasn’t like anyone would miss her.
He tried to convince himself that he was right, and that was how he really felt, but he knew that he was fooling himself. Hannah’s life was as important as anyone else’s, and he would pay for his part in whatever happened to her. Maybe not now, but in the next life.
If there is a next life, he amended.
He sure hoped that there wasn’t, or he would have a lot to answer to. Whether he’d wanted to or not, Mark had been a part of more disappearances than he cared to admit, and he didn’t see an end in sight. He was trapped, and the only way out was to get out of town and take his family with him.
That wasn’t going to be an easy feat, especially without telling them why they had to leave.
He looked at the clock, relieved that his shift was almost over. Maybe he would go home and convince his aunt and mother that they should all take a vacation. He had money in the bank thanks to his finder’s fee for Hannah. It was blood money, but at least it would get his mother, aunt and his sweet cousin out of harm’s way. When they were out of town and somewhere safe, he would tell his mother and aunt why they’d left.
He was sure that he could convince them to stay away if they only knew how much danger Ellie was in staying here.
Hopefully, he would be able to convince them that he was serious.
Mark watched the clock until the next shift came in, then he took his leave, leaving a sealed note on the desk for his supervisor. In it was his resignation. He left no forwarding address for his last check. If they didn’t deposit it directly, that was fine. He had nearly one hundred thousand in the bank, courtesy of his work with the Sheriff. One paycheck wouldn’t make a difference either way, and he wasn’t about to come back into town to pick it up. It was too risky.
Satisfied that he’d made the right choice, he gathered his things and left for the day, saying goodbye as he always did so he didn’t arouse the suspicion of his coworkers. In two days, when the supervisor came back from her days off, his coworkers would be blindsided, but they would suspect something when he didn’t show up for work the next day. By then, Mark would be long gone. And Glen Rose, Texas would be nothing but a distant, painful memory.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Senora sat on a boulder near the fire, just a few feet from Ty and surrounded by dozens of men and woman smiling, laughing and sharing a meal. The jumping flames were mesmerizing, and Senora found herself lost in thought, the sounds and scents around her fading away and leaving nothing but the crackling fire that chased away the mosquitos and warmed her sore muscles.
Ty leaned over in the darkness and put his hand on her leg. The borrowed dress had crept up, leaving her thigh exposed to his warm hand. He squeezed affectionately and smiled at her.
“Are you alright?” he whispered in her ear.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I’m just exhausted, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything that’s happened today.”
“We can go to bed if you’d like,” he said, his smile enticing.
“We are not doing anything, but yes, I would like to go to bed.”
He laughed, giving her leg one more squeeze before he reached out for her empty plate and held his free hand out to her. She took it and stood on wobbly legs that protested and threatened to buckle. She took a step forward and stumbled into him, muscles trembling wildly.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his arm wrapped tightly around her.
“I’ll be fine. I just need a hot bath and a good night’s sleep.”
“I can help you with both of those. Let’s go to my cabin and call it a night.”
“Won’t that be weird, just leaving right after dinner?”
He shook his head.
“The rules of your kind don’t apply here. We come and go as we please, and everyone is welcome inside the circle at any time.”
He put his arm around her, and they started walking away from the fire and toward the cabins in the distance. Senora still wore her backpack on her back, afraid to let it out of her sight even for a moment. The bag was heavy on her shoulders, but she ignored the weight and focused on the comfort it brought. Even though she’d been forced to walk away from her overnight bag and her rental car, she had the most important things with her. That included the files they’d taken from Robin’s office, which she hadn’t had a chance to look at yet.
She smiled, remembering the warm greeting they had received when they’d walked into the village as the sun was beginning to set. Almost immediately, they’d seen that Senora and Ty were in need of clean clothes and warm food. Ty had changed in his own cabin, but Senora had nothing to wear. Before she could think to mention it, a woman came forward with the simple sundress, offering it to Senora with a shy smile and waving her off when she tried to explain that she would give it back once her clothes were clean.
“You keep it,” the woman had said. “I have more than I can use, and blue is definitely your color.”
Senora had blushed and thanked the woman for her kindness before changing quickly in Ty’s cabin. She’d exchanged her dirty shoes for handmade, leather sandals that were brand new and felt like soft butter against her skin. As odd as it was for her to wear dresses, she felt at home and completely comfortable amongst these people.
It was the first time she’d felt that way in her entire life.
That was weird, she thought, wondering where that feeling had come from. She’d had a nearly idyllic childhood and had never felt out of place or like an outcast a day in her life. Sure, at the FBI office in D.C., she was kind of an anomaly. She worked alone unless she pulled in help, and the woman supervising the branch she worked in wasn’t her boss. But that didn’t mean she was out of place.
The entire satellite office was filled with agents that didn’t work on the run-of-the-mill FBI task forces, which was why they’d moved to a private office that was out of the way outside D.C. proper. A lot of their cases dealt with extremely sensitive information, so being around the lower level agents just hadn’t been an option. Sure, it wasn’t the bureau experience she’d longed for during her days at the academy, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t happy where she was.
Besides, she loved what she did, and she couldn’t see herself doing anything else. She spoke for those who couldn’t speak for themselves, and she looked for the lost souls that no one else was looking for. She made an impact on this world, and that was more than most people could hope to do in their lifetime.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Ty said, letting her into his cabin and turning on the lights.
She looked around, a little surprised that they had already made it to his home. She’d been so lost in thought that she hadn’t been paying attention at all as they’d walked in the warm glow of the large fire in
the center of the village.
She blinked in disbelief when the lights came on, then laughed.
“What?” he asked, smiling.
“I don’t know why, but I wasn’t expecting there to be electricity. Everything seems so rustic, I thought we’d be building a fire and doing everything by the fire’s light until we went to bed.”
Ty laughed.
“I suppose that you don’t want to watch a little television on my flat screen until we are ready to sleep then?”
She rolled her eyes.
“I’m ready to sleep now,” she said.
She looked around the room, noting the single upright chair in the living room, and down the hall, which only had two doors.
“There’s only one room,” he said.
“I guess I can sleep on the chair.”
“It doesn’t recline. There’s no way for you to sleep there, and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
Senora sighed.
“I guess there’s no point in arguing the inevitable,” she said. “I hope one of your friends has a spare bed for you.”
He stared at her for a full beat, then burst out laughing.
“You are something else,” he said. “I know you’re no damsel in distress, but it’s amazing that you’ve managed to keep your humor intact through all this.”
“I’ve lived through worse,” she said, then frowned. “Well, not really, I don’t guess.”
Ty arched an eyebrow.
“Well, have you, or haven’t you?”
“I feel like I have, but I can’t think of anything offhand as bad as being hunted by the Sheriff of a town and being lost in the woods with a werewolf. I feel like that tops all, to be honest.”
“I would hope so.” He motioned with his head
“I’m just tired, and a lot of weird thoughts keep popping up in my head. I just need sleep.”
“I can help you with that.”
I doubt that, she thought. She didn’t think that Ty was the kind of guy that let a woman sleep through the night, but she wasn’t going to find out if she was right. She wasn’t here for pleasure; she was here for work. Not that the thought hadn’t crossed her mind as he’d strutted around the forest, naked in front of her. But she wasn’t in a position to act on those thoughts, and she would just have to enjoy the memory of his naked perfection.