Recalling the files Chloe had gotten Eldon’s assistant to retrieve for her, Rachel understood what type of coercion he referred to. “Guilty of fraud? Will the police not find any corruption linked to you?”
He only grinned wickedly.
“What about Marcy?” She didn’t need to be told. Her purse was in the room with her, and she’d pressed Record while she’d been left alone after being locked in there.
He grunted. “You and your boyfriend delivered some shocking news to me. About Marcy’s affair with Jared. I didn’t know. Jared didn’t have to die until I learned that.”
“You’re hoping Marcy will be accused of his murder?”
“Not hoping.”
His confidence was nearly inspiring. “Once Lucas and I are out of your way, what then?”
Eldon shrugged with staged animation. “I go back to work.”
And Marcy would go to prison for his crimes. Warped minds didn’t see the holes in their plans.
“Enough now. We don’t have much time, and I want to see what all the fuss is about.”
Fuss? What was he talking about?
He leaned closer. “Take off your clothes.”
Rachel jerked back, away from his hand. She would not do that. Glancing at the closet, she saw the clothing bar and decided to take the chance.
Shoving Eldon as she stood, she ran to the closet while he staggered backward. Reaching the bar, she yanked as hard as she could. It held firm but began to loosen. She had one end broken off when Eldon grabbed her and hauled her back into the room, tossing her onto the bed. She heard the bar fall to the floor of the closet.
“Fight all you want,” he said, climbing over her. “I’ve dreamed of this.” Holding her wrists, he came down and kissed her cheek, a gentle touch that terrified Rachel.
Rolling her head away from him, she recalled the interactions she’d had with Eldon and realized he may have been putting out signs of interest. Maybe he hadn’t known she’d been seeing Jared. Jared would have kept them a secret, lest his wife find out.
Eldon dug his fingers into her chin and forced her head back under his mouth. But he let go of her wrists.
Rachel punched him and tried to jab his eyes. He slapped her and took hold of her shirt. She fought him as the material ripped, tearing all the way down the front. The straining material dug into the back of her neck and arms. She punched him right on his nose.
He slapped her harder and in her disorientation, had her jeans unbuttoned and halfway down her legs. She grabbed the waist, fighting not to lose them, not only to stay clothed, but to keep the USB device on her. She’d put it in her pocket and he hadn’t found it yet.
Taking her hands in a painful grip, he crossed them over her head. Holding them in one hand, he used his other to push her jeans down. She twisted her hands, prying them free. Addressing the immediate urgency of preventing his assault, she tore some of his hair out—enough of a distraction. He abandoned her jeans to block her swinging hands. Then his fist connected with her face, dropping her head back onto the mattress.
He removed her jeans the rest of the way. She kicked him, catching him under his chin and sending him flying backward. She leaped off the bed and ran for the closet, picking up the bar and gripping it like a bat.
Turning, she swung as Eldon charged for her. She connected with his head. He fell and didn’t move.
Rachel didn’t waste a precious second. She grabbed her purse and slung it crisscrossed over her shoulder before running from the room. Colliding with Marcy as she made it into the hall, she saw the gun in her hand. Rachel took hold of Marcy’s arms and shoved her back against the wall, pounding her wrist. Marcy wasn’t a strong woman. She lost hold of the weapon and it fell to the floor and out of the way. Even when she tried to hit Rachel, Rachel easily deflected the fine-boned strike.
Taking both of Marcy’s arms, Rachel flung her aside, sending her falling to the hall floor, opposite the direction of the gun. Rachel crouched to pick that up and saw Eldon stirring from inside the room.
Marcy climbed to her feet, and Rachel pointed the gun at her.
“Get out of my way,” Rachel said.
Moving slow and guarded, Marcy stepped aside, back into the bathroom.
Rachel walked backward down the hall. When Eldon didn’t appear, she turned and ran for the kitchen and living room area. Searching for a phone, seeing none, she instead looked for her shoes—or any shoes. Eldon had hidden them. Why wouldn’t he? Not seeing those, she looked for car keys.
“There’s nowhere for you to go.”
She stopped and faced the hall, gun aimed at Eldon as he unsteadily walked toward her, hand to his head and a pistol of his own targeting her. She backed to the door, seeing Marcy cower in the bathroom, only peering out once.
Eldon advanced, the first sign he thought he may have underestimated her crossing his evil eyes.
He’d underestimated her, all right. She’d lived on the street. She’d encountered many questionable characters. But most people didn’t know the strength of her will. No one would get in her way. She’d die before letting anyone have that chance.
Firing the pistol, making sure she hit her mark—his hand—Rachel unlocked the front door and ran outside. She put the cold on her feet out of her mind. She’d find some way of getting them warm quickly.
Sprinting to the woods, she saw her first opportunity, a bush. Jumping onto the snow-free branches, she felt the woody parts scratch her, but at least she was off the snow. Kneeling down, she watched from the protection of tree trunks as Eldon emerged from the cabin. He stopped in the light of the front porch, looking one way and the other and then straight ahead, appearing to see her. But Rachel knew he didn’t see her. Not in the darkness that had fallen since she’d been locked in the room.
Looking down at her cold feet, she had to fight fear while she realized she’d have to make a run for it, to find some place to wait until it was safe. Frostbite. The loss of her feet. She hoped that wouldn’t happen, but if she stayed here, her death would be a certainty.
After Eldon had his fun with her, he’d kill her. No question.
Oh, Lucas...where are you?
* * *
Clouds had moved in over the past few hours. Darkness cloaked Lucas as he hiked through the trees toward Eldon’s vacation home. He’d called Sheriff Bailey, who’d round up law enforcement. As he made it to the break in the forest, he took note of all the lights on and especially the car—Marcy’s car. No sign of Rachel. Was she here?
The front door was ajar. Lucas took out his gun and eased his way there. He heard nothing from inside.
At the door, he put his back to the wall and listened. Someone moved, walking across the room on the other side of the door. He turned and saw a shadow pass before the window. Someone had looked outside.
Lucas pivoted and pushed the door open as he charged inside and aimed his weapon at the person.
Marcy inhaled a startled breath and stared at him and his gun.
Stepping into the kitchen area to put himself behind her, he looked toward the hall. No one emerged.
“Where is Eldon?” Lucas asked.
Marcy said nothing. She faced him with an upturned chin and defiant eyes, hands raised in brash surrender.
He’d never considered her the sharpest splinter, and this moment proved it. She thought Eldon would prevail tonight and that by not telling him where to find him she’d ensure that end. Looking over the cabin, he didn’t like some of the items he saw. Rope. Duct tape. A can of gasoline. White powder on a mirrored tray on the coffee table. The kitchen was a mess. It smelled stale in here. Marcy had been living here awhile, since she’d disappeared with Jared.
Lucas went to Marcy and patted her down, aware of her enjoyment of his hands running over her curves. He met her mocking, seductive eyes and felt nothing bu
t resolve for his purpose. Finding Rachel.
“Your father always talked about you,” she said. “The hero cop.”
He finished searching for a gun and waited for her to finish.
“He had you so pumped up—” her earrings dangled as she shook her head in remembered awe “—so high on a pedestal. I daydreamed about you. Once he said you were coming home for Christmas and I schemed to meet you. I made sure I worked Christmas Eve.” She fingered the sides of his jacket, her gaze following the touches. “But you didn’t show up. You came in for a brief visit. Your father talked about that, how he wished you’d have stayed longer, and how he understood because of your devotion to your heroic job.”
He didn’t have time for this. Taking her by the upper arm, he led her with him down the hall. Eldon would have made himself known by now if he was here. If Eldon wasn’t here, where was he? And where was Rachel?
“Now, since you’ve been back, I can see what a waste of perfectly good daydreams you are.”
“That’s nice.” He looked into the bathroom. “Where is Eldon?”
“Eldon is twice the man you are. He isn’t afraid of anything.”
Pushing a bedroom door open wider, he saw only a bed and a boarded-up window. On the floor, Rachel’s jeans. Not caring that his grip was a little hard, he swung Marcy so she stumbled and fell onto the bed.
He aimed his gun at her. “Where is Rachel?”
The smugness left her face as she lay on her elbows, the tight, shiny faux leather dress inching up her white thighs. She meant to entice, and all he felt was revulsion.
Fear he seldom yielded to gripped him. He went to Rachel’s jeans, crouching to feel for something, anything, blind hope making him do it. When he did feel something, he went still. And then dug into the pocket to lift out a USB device.
He looked up at Marcy.
“What’s that?” she asked.
Probably something that would have gotten her killed if Eldon had known it was there. He stood, tucking the device into his own jeans pocket.
“You’ll never get away with this,” Marcy said, sitting up, beginning to doubt her secure position at the side of a dangerous criminal.
Storming toward her, he took her arm and hauled her with him back to the main room. Snatching up the roll of duct tape he no longer had doubts about what Eldon had intended to use it for, he forced her to sit on a kitchen chair.
“Eldon isn’t a quitter,” Marcy said as he wrapped tape around her body and arms, securing her to the chair.
“He’ll quit when I make him,” Lucas said. Tearing off the end of the tape, he caught sight of something familiar. Rachel’s tennis shoes. They were placed on the messy kitchen counter. Eldon had removed them for a reason.
He zeroed in on Marcy. “Where did he take her?”
At first her smugness returned, but then she saw that Lucas wasn’t going to be nice anymore. She faltered, a stutter sputtering before she clung to boldness. “He’s outsmarted you for four years.”
That just made him furious. “His luck is about to run out.” He taped her ankles next.
“It isn’t luck. You’re going to pay for this. You and your girlfriend, both.”
Lucas straightened. “I’m not the one taped up.”
As she scowled up at him, he didn’t waste any more time on the useless chatter. He went to the door, peered outside and took out his compact flashlight. Shining light onto the ground, he followed all of the footsteps in the snow off the porch. Two sets led into the woods. One print confirmed Rachel was without shoes.
Urgency burned in him to find her. Now.
* * *
Shivering, Rachel heard Eldon approach before she saw him through the darkness. Her feet hurt from cold, socks wet and no longer providing protection. Sticking to shrubbery and dead vegetation had spared her somewhat, but now she had no choice. She’d have to make a run for it—before he saw her. If she could make it to the highway...or maybe she should try to get to Marcy’s car. If she made a wide arch, she could turn herself back in that direction.
Going back to that cabin didn’t feel safe, but what else could she do? She couldn’t stay out in this cold much longer.
She stepped off the branches and ran through the trees. Rocks and branches dug into her freezing flesh. One branch cracked loud. Rachel paused, looking back.
Sure enough, Eldon had heard the sound. And he likely tracked her footprints, too. Running again, she tried to stay on patches of dead leaves and pine needles. She tripped as her foot landed on a sharp rock. Righting herself, biting back against what should be a stinging pain from the cut, she continued to run. Her feet were going numb. At a big tree trunk, she took refuge, looking down at the red stain expanding on her left sock.
She wasn’t sure she could run anymore. She couldn’t feel her feet anymore. Seeing Eldon trudging through the woods, head down, tracking her, she readied the pistol. Taking aim, she waited until he drew a little closer and fired.
He ducked behind a tree.
Rachel leaned her back against the trunk and closed her eyes for a second, gathering all her strength, trying not to worry about her feet.
She had to get to a car, somewhere warm.
Deciding to try, she sprinted out from the tree, firing her gun as she went and keeping Eldon behind the tree long enough for her to put a little distance between them. She ran, this time not taking care to keep off the snow. She ran through it, using it as a cushion to her cut feet. She couldn’t feel them anyway.
Leaping to clear a fallen tree, her knee caught on the bark and she fell face-first onto the ground. Her hands slid in the snow. Rolling, she fired her gun as Eldon reached the log. He crouched.
Her gun emptied of bullets. An electric jolt of dread shot through her. She crawled back as Eldon straightened, slow and sure, grinning.
“I’ve got you now.”
Rachel scrambled to get to her feet.
Eldon tackled her from behind, wrenching her arm back and yanking the gun from her grasp.
She cried out from the searing pain in her shoulder joint.
In the next instant, a looming figure appeared above them, clubbing the side of Eldon’s head with a big pistol.
“Lucas.”
She rolled to her backside and scooted back as Eldon staggered to his feet.
Lucas could have killed him. He had a close-range shot. But he didn’t. He wanted Eldon alive. He wanted him to suffer and pay for killing his sister.
Rachel watched in awe as he strategically moved, anticipating all of Eldon’s moves. Jumping for a double kick that sent Eldon’s gun flying and plunking into the snow, Lucas went in for the final blow, knocking Eldon so hard with his fist it sent him to the ground, unconscious. He was a man not to be beaten. Nothing would stop him from avenging his sister.
And saving Rachel...
She fell into more awe as he stepped toward her and crouched.
“Are you hurt?” He looked down at her feet and she didn’t have to reply.
He shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped her feet. Still warm from his body heat, the jacket began to penetrate the icy cold.
Lucas lifted her, then carried her through the trees, back toward the cabin.
“You found the pictures.”
“Yes.”
She smiled. “I knew you would.” Like he’d done for her, she’d predicted his actions. “Marcy?”
“Probably being arrested by now.”
“Are you sure Eldon won’t get away?”
“Yes.”
He’d knocked him out good. He knew the amount of force to use.
At the clearing, several police cars, unmarked and marked, filled the open space before the cabin, and an ambulance rolled to a stop with its lights flashing.
Sheriff
Bailey appeared from the throng. Other officers noticed their approach.
“Sordi is in the woods,” Lucas said, explaining where to find him and digging into his pocket for the USB device. Rachel hung on to his shoulders as his support lightened.
“We’ve got the perimeter surrounded. They’ll find him,” Sheriff Bailey said.
Lucas handed Rachel the USB. She took it and handed it over to Bailey.
“That should give you all the evidence you need on Eldon and Jared.”
He took the drive from her. “Nice work.”
“Just taking back my life.” She smiled, albeit wearily.
Lucas fell deeper for her as she looked up at him. His strong, brave woman. Beautiful, too.
One of the officers used his radio and spoke to one of the other officers in the woods. “Close in.”
Eldon wouldn’t get away. He’d pay for his crimes. Lucas felt a rush of gladness. Justice at last.
“I couldn’t have done this without you,” Sheriff Bailey said. “The Bozeman police were just as eager to catch the killer, but I think they weren’t prepared to deal with a criminal like him.”
Eldon had been smart in carrying out his crimes, but against Lucas’s determination and the backing of a stealth private investigation agency, he’d been outshined and outwitted.
“I’m glad to have a new friend,” Lucas said, and the sheriff smiled because he understood what that meant. He and Lucas would be working together again someday...or maybe another detective from Dark Alley Investigations.
After saying goodbye, Lucas carried Rachel to the ambulance. Over his shoulder, Rachel saw Marcy being led out of the cabin in handcuffs. She looked toward Lucas and Rachel sullenly.
Rachel smiled and rested her head on Lucas’s shoulder. Her hero, a true hero.
“Lucas?” she said.
“Yes?” He stepped up into the ambulance and lay her down on the gurney.
“I want to take a vacation.”
He chuckled. “I’m taking you back to my ranch. Once you recover, we can talk vacations.”
“That’s all the vacation I need.” She felt so drowsy.
“Stay awake. You have hypothermia.”
Justice Hunter Page 21