Rachel clapped her hand over her mouth—either in horror or to stifle a giggle.
“You were dreaming, Kali.”
“Neena.”
“Whoever you are—you were dreaming. Loudly.”
“Sorry,” I frowned, rubbing my head.
“You punched me.”
“I did?”
“Hard.”
“Wow, you gave him a shiner,” that time Rachel did giggle, but the look she got from Conrad silenced her. I couldn’t fault her, though. It was a pretty fierce look.
“Sorry. Do you want me to get you some ice?” I didn’t wait for an answer, but stumbled out of bed to wrap some ice from the bucket in a clean washcloth.
“Thank you,” he tried to take the ice from me.
“I really am sorry,” I smacked his hand away and gingerly placed the ice on his eye.
“No worries. I question the need for Manny coming down now, though. You have one heckuva swing.”
“I’ve had some practice,” I admitted wryly. As much as Mary and I had tried to keep to ourselves, there were some times you just didn’t get out of the way fast enough. Or you had to fight to prove you would so you didn’t become a target.
“Go back to sleep,” he patted my hand then took the ice from me. “I really can handle this.”
I tossed and turned until dawn—Elena haunted my dreams. But at least I didn’t hit anyone else over the course of the night. That was a plus.
Rachel headed out early the next morning. I felt a little like the sun left with her. She had an exuberance that was catching. When she smiled at me, she had a way of making me feel like the two of us were in on our own little joke. I had the distinct impression she was able to make a million viewers feel exactly the same way if she wanted to.
“You aren’t a player, are you?” I turned to Conrad suddenly after we were alone.
“What? No,” he shook his head and snorted at that one.
“Don’t look at me like that. I always assumed you were too busy raising Gabrielle to date. Now it occurs to me that you could have very easily been dating a lot of women and just not settling down… I like Rachel. Please tell me she’s not just a fling.”
“She is a fling.”
“You said you weren’t a player.”
“I’m not, but even the team mascot occasionally gets to go out on the field.”
“She’s not a fling.”
“She is.”
“Not.”
“Is.”
“Not.”
“Is… oh come on, this is ridiculous.”
“Fine,” I shrugged and went to take a shower.
“Fine,” he called to the closed door. I scowled at the shower, mad that he seemed so determine to let a good thing slip right through his hands and somewhat consoled by the fact that he had a whopping shiner this morning.
Still, as frustrated as I was with the big galoot, I was really lonely when he left to go back to work. I thought about driving by Daniel Winslow’s house but had promised Rachel I wouldn’t. If I’d promised Conrad, I probably would have broken it. But I had to be on my best behavior to make up for his thick-headedness where she was concerned, so I really had to keep my promise to her.
When I’d spent forty days in the woods, I’d been content alone because I was moving forward. Into the unknown, yes, but moving forward nonetheless. This was excruciating because I was just sitting here, spinning my wheels in meaningless circles. By the time Manny knocked at the door, I was very ready for human interaction.
In retrospect, I really should have looked out the peephole before I opened the door.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Kali Langston. You’re looking well.”
I tried to shut the door but he was faster. He shoved it with a force that made me stumble backwards. My heart hammered wildly in my throat as I scrambled to right myself while the monster stepped out of my nightmares and into my room.
“Your brother really should have expected me to recognize that truck of his. Well, I did have the boys run his plates to be sure.”
I stared at him in horror for a split second before gathering my wits and putting a stone face on.
“Don’t worry, we let him through. He’ll live to deal another hand of blackjack. You, however, have a much more finite amount of time.”
I lifted my chin another notch. I was not going to cower before this man.
“You’re awfully quiet, dear girl. Don’t you have anything to say for yourself this time? No? I liked the idea of killing you right here in this room so that ape brother of yours would find you. But, my attorney tells me that would be risky. He says it’s better if there’s no body. So, I need you to come with me.”
I tried to weigh my options—stay and try to draw some attention to myself or go along quietly. But he didn’t give me much time to write down a pro/con list, and there was a good chance he’d take me to where Elena was. Maybe I could somehow get us both away from this lunatic.
I allowed myself to be led along. If I didn’t poke the bear with a stick, he might not hurt the baby. I just needed time—time for Manny to show up and realize I was gone.
The entire ride to the Winslow mansion, I fought the panic that was clawing its way to the surface. Oddly enough, I took some comfort in Winslow’s roid-freak of a driver, because at least it was another human being in the car.
I have to say, of all of the reactions I envisioned Elena having when she saw me, her spitting on me wasn’t one of them. I guess under the given circumstances, I thought she’d be at least a little comforted by the presence of another woman or a familiar face.
Not so. The whole situation earned a howl of laughter from Winslow.
“Why do you hate me so much?” I couldn’t help asking when we were relatively alone that evening. The guard glanced over his shoulder, I wondered if he was curious, too.
“Charlie was supposed to make pretty blond babies with me—not half-breed brats with you.”
“Wow, that’s incredibly sad,” I shook my head and stopped trying. I leaned back on the couch and surveyed my surroundings. Winslow must have seized the window of opportunity to snag me before he was really ready, because so far I’d been left to sit in a room with Little Miss Sunshine.
I wondered which was more dangerous—the hate-filled rage that simmered and plotted and planned this kind of thing, or the uncontrolled rage of passion that would be ignited when Charlie found out where I was. A sad smile tugged my mouth. This wasn’t a fairy tale; no white knight would ride in on a valiant steed.
I needed to figure a way out of this myself. And it needed to be a more level-headed solution than the one I’d stumbled upon with his son.
A police cruiser pulled up outside and my heart trilled with hope. I sat up a little straighter and looked from Elena to the window and back again, wondering if she saw what I did.
“Don’t bother,” she barely cut her eyes my direction. “He’ll just stare guiltily at the ceiling the whole time he’s here.”
Just as Elena predicted, the police chief soon stood in the foyer, hat in hands and staring at the ceiling. Daniel Winslow appeared and the two held a conversation I couldn’t quite make out. The policeman left with a clap on the back. Winslow looked at me and sneered. He must have known that my hopes had been raised only to be dashed again.
Quiet descended and I went back to staring around the room, looking for some weakness I could exploit. The next car to pull up was a sleek black BMW. I was happy to realize that my freedom purchased Marty Ross a nice car. I’d hate to think I’d lost my life for anything less than a Beamer.
Through narrowed eyes, I watched my old attorney saunter up the sidewalk. He was ushered in and paused by the sitting room to smile at me.
“Ms. Langston. Good to see you—you really are looking well these days. Although, I liked your hair better black. But otherwise you look great.”
“I’m so glad you think so. I mean, your opinion means so much… I lie awake a
t night wondering if you think I’m pretty enough.”
“I was just making conversation; you don’t have to be rude about it,” he arched a haughty eyebrow. Elena snickered. I rolled my eyes.
The clock on the wall chimed. Dinner was announced and Marty Ross left us.
“Well, this has been fun,” Elena rose to follow him. I stayed put. Chances were pretty good I wasn’t invited to the dinner table. The smell of fresh bread permeated the room. And was that pot roast? My stomach rumbled. The baby kicked me in protest. I sighed and closed my eyes, imagining being back in my kitchen, sitting at the table eating a big bowl of Conrad’s gumbo… with cornbread.
Something hit the couch beside me. My eyes shot open. A piece of bread had appeared beside me—manna from heaven. I looked around. The only person nearby was the guard, and he was very intentionally looking away from me.
“Thank you,” I told the room. I ate as quickly as I dared. I had a feeling if Winslow saw me eating, he wouldn’t be happy. I also knew if I ate too fast, I’d get deadly heartburn. Well, maybe not truly lethal, but it would feel that way.
I was starting to feel like Winslow had intentionally left me sitting in this front room as its own form of torture. I could see freedom. I could smell freedom. I was right here in the open so I could even occasionally get my hopes up that someone might see me and care. So close but so far.
I wondered what evening would bring. Would I sleep on this couch? Would I be taken to a room? Locked in a dungeon? Worse?
Had Manny discovered me missing? Even so, what would he do? He couldn’t exactly go to the police. Assuming this town had a legitimate officer on the force, what would he do, tell them he’d misplaced his friend, the convicted felon?
Round and round my thoughts raced. What if Manny tried to come after me and was hurt? What if Charlie did?
I looked at the glass windows in front of me. If I tucked and rolled, I just might be able to jump out it and get a running head start. I had gone from toying with the idea to seriously considering it when I heard Winslow and Elena in the next room. Their voices started off in a hush so I couldn’t make out the words, only the urgency in them. They were fighting about something.
And then I heard the distinctive and sickening sound of a fist connecting with face. I sighed and heaved myself off the couch, marching into the other room with my guard following behind me, nearly pleading for me to come back.
“Let her go,” I demanded before my filter could kick in.
“Gladly,” his eyes sparked with an emotion I didn’t want to name. He reached me before I could even take a step back, one hand grasping me by the throat even as the other grabbed a handful of hair. Terror was thick as bile in my throat. Memories came flooding back, fueling the primeval panic that coursed through my veins. I struggled for air, fought to regain some measure of calm.
“Not here, Daniel. I’m a lawyer, not a miracle worker,” Marty seemed almost bored.
“Bring the car around,” Winslow ordered the guard. “I’ve tolerated her presence in my house long enough.”
After binding me with rope, the guard did as he was told, holding the door open as Winslow shoved me into the backseat. Elena was dumped in the seat beside me, her eyes wide with disbelief and fright.
“This is your fault,” she hissed.
“Sorry sweetie,” I shook my head, refusing to take the blame. “You’d have wound up taking this ride eventually. All of his blondes do.”
“What do you know?” Winslow was eerily calm.
An arched eyebrow was my only answer. Let him wonder. If I couldn’t stop him tonight, I only hoped that Charlie and Rachel would be able to stop him from ever hurting anyone again. Of course, I had every intention of ending this prior to him murdering me in the middle of nowhere, which seemed to be his current plan.
The occasional passing car would light the faces of the other occupants in the back of the Lincoln. Tears streamed silently down Elena’s face. Winslow wore his usual pinched expression. I hoped I looked stoic and not scared.
We passed a sign that read Kisatchie National Forest, and I felt real hope flicker to life for the first time in hours. The car slowed and pulled down an unmarked dirt road, coming to a stop once out of the line of sight from the main road.
I might have heard Elena whimper once; I couldn’t be sure. To her credit, she hadn’t collapsed into hysterics—something I completely expected her to do. Having her in tow would certainly slow me down, but I was pretty sure I could keep her alive through the night.
We walked in silence. Winslow didn’t seem prone to confessing like the villains in movies often did before killing their prey. He seemed quite content with the hushed processional. He led the way, pulling a rope that was tethered to Elena, who was tethered to me. His henchman brought up the rear. He seemed to know the drill, as if maybe this was something of a routine for them.
I didn’t quite know what to make of Winslow’s employee. At times, I thought there might be a human soul lurking under all of those muscles. But I couldn’t reconcile how someone with any humanity in him could so calmly participate in what was happening here.
Sweat had begun to form on my brow by the time we stopped. Moonlight glinted off the surface of a nearby bayou. Cypress trees clung to the edge of the water and an eerie silence hung in the air. It was as if all creation held its breath at what was to come.
Winslow slowly pulled his cashmere scarf from his neck, winding the ends around each hand, his eyes never leaving mine.
“I’m going to kill Elena first, because I don’t think you fully understand your situation, Kali. I want to smell your fear before you die.”
“Neena.”
“Excuse me?”
“Neena. My name is Neena Russell now. Kali Langston was a scared girl whose life was stolen by a monster. Neena Russell is the woman standing before you now, and she’s not going down without a fight.”
“Is this some sort of split personality thing? Did you go crazy in prison, because this won’t have the same meaning if you’re nuts now.”
I probably could have come up with a witty reply if I’d thought hard enough about it. Instead, I kicked him in the knee and shouted for Elena to run. Thank God she had the wherewithal to listen.
“Don’t just stand there, get them!” Winslow bellowed, his voice inhuman. After the briefest hesitation, the guard followed us.
I heard the hiss over our footsteps just in time to jerk Elena to the left, even as a large gator struck the spot we’d been mere seconds before. She screamed and I barked at her to shut up. I heard the guard yelp and knew he’d come across our friend, too.
We moved more slowly now as the vegetation around us thickened. I knew I could disappear into these woods easily enough, but Elena sounded like a herd of elephants moving through the bush.
What I needed was enough distance between us and our pursuer that I could get my hands out of their binds and explain to Elena how to stay alive. After our run-in with the gator, I was a little hesitant to nestle down in the underbrush.
So we just kept pushing forward. I used the rope securing us together to steer Elena and she noiselessly complied. When I heard the crash of a car behind us, I knew Winslow’s tentative grasp on sanity had snapped and for a second time in my life, took a chance with the gators.
I shoved Elena to the ground, making my own dive to pull us closer to the water and—hopefully—further from the tires of the Lincoln Town Car. While we lay there, waiting to see if we’d be run over or eaten, I worked to free my hands from their bindings.
“Right about now, you ought to be real happy that I’m a half-breed who was raised on a bayou,” I whispered fiercely. “So keep your mouth shut and do exactly what I say and we just might live to go back to hating each other in Hampton.”
I could feel her nodding in the dark, and I knew the grit that made her a pain in my backside would be what got us through this ordeal alive.
The car bumped along past us. We waited, hearts p
ounding, for the taillights to disappear. Instead, the car lurched to a stop. The engine raced and its wheels spun a deeper and deeper hole in the muck as the driver hit the accelerator. Soon the guard was out trying to push the car out of its hole while Winslow shouted out the window.
It was obvious the car wasn’t going anywhere and they’d figure that out soon enough. Then they’d be on foot and would have a much better chance of spotting us where we were. With the water at our left, our options were limited. If we went back towards the road, we’d be easy to outdistance. Our advantage lay in the forest. It was my briar patch.
I could only hope they were distracted enough not to notice us as we crawled across the path beaten down by Winslow’s tires, trying to reach the woods unnoticed. After a breathless minute, I reached the cover of the trees with Elena right behind me. She began to rise just before the tree line and the movement did not go unnoticed.
“There!” Winslow called. We took off as if the hounds of hell were nipping at our heels. I could hear Winslow and his goon slipping and sliding and cussing in the mud. It would be enough of a break for us to get away. It had to be.
When there was enough woods and night between us, we slowed to a walk, silently picking our way through the forest. Elena stayed right in my footsteps, moving as silently as a small town princess knows how.
The moon struggled to break through the cover of the trees. Without light, I had no way of really knowing we weren’t going to run smack into our predators. I had to rely on instinct and silence as my guideposts.
Up ahead, light seemed to pierce through the night, unnatural and startling as it pointed at us. There were men walking in a line. I could make out the rumble of voices but not who they were or what they were saying. They seemed too calm, too organized to be Winslow.
Without making a sound, I scaled a nearby tree then reached down to hoist Elena up. As the group drew nearer, I moved up further into the tree’s branches, hugging the trunk close as they passed below.
“They could be anywhere in these woods. This place is huge.”
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