It was on the tip of her tongue to say exactly that when the last part of what Emily Anne said to her registered. Just then she caught a glimpse of movement through the front windows and frowned.
Damn it! Of all the shitty timing!
The creepy guy with the bushy salt-and-pepper gray hair and suspicious, squinty eyes walked in with a frown creasing his features. She let out a deep breath and prayed for patience.
“The computer store is down the street, sir, remember? Between Batson’s Grocery and Divine Auto Repair.”
“It’s not the computer store I want, it’s you. Tell your hooker friend to leave.”
Emily gasped in reaction and turned to look at the creep, shock evident on her face. It was on the tip of Lucy’s tongue to inform the son of a bitch that she wouldn’t massage him if he was the last fucking paying customer on the planet…in the universe.
Red-cheeked with indignation, Emily Anne backed up a little closer to Lucy. “I’m not a hooker, and I’m not leaving, unless Lucy wants me to. You’re rude!”
Lucy was reaching for the phone on the reception desk to call Hank Stinson when the stranger removed a revolver from his jacket pocket. “Fine, have it your way. You come with me or I’ll kill you both right here, right now.”
Lucy reached out and pulled Emily Anne back by the arm and edged in front of her. Seth was next door but there was a solid brick wall between them and no way to call for help. Her cell phone was in her office, along with her purse.
“Is it money you want? This is a massage therapy clinic and not what you think it is, mister. All I have is the money from today’s clients but you can have it. I haven’t done anything to you and there’s no reason for you to act like this!”
“Reason? Reason?” he ground out. “I got lots of reasons. A pack of wolves at the Dancing Pony ready to descend on me. Secrets at home I gotta keep buried. Stops I gotta make to get what’s mine and get the hell out of this damn town with all its nosey damn people. I thought it all out and you’re what I need right now. You and your hooker friend are my insurance.”
Emily Anne showed gumption when she scowled at him. “For the last damn time, I am not a hooker!”
The stranger put the gun to Emily Anne’s chest and she gasped and slammed her mouth shut so hard her teeth clicked together.
“I don’t give a shit what you call yourself nowadays. A hooker is a hooker.”
Indignant that he poked poor Emily Anne with the gun, terrifying her until she was white as a sheet, Lucy said, “What do you want?”
“For you to shut the hell up and come with me.” He squinted at Lucy. “You parked out back?”
“No. Out front. Right there.” She pointed at her red Ford Escape parked at the curb, careful not to make any sudden moves.
“Shit,” he muttered. “Well, that’ll have to do. They’ll be looking for my car.” He shifted the gun so it was pointed at her and said, “Get your keys. Nothing else. And no funny stuff because I’ll be watching you like a hawk.”
He grabbed Emily Anne by the upper arm and dragged her with them as Lucy backed up with her hands in the air to the office. Slowly, she reached for the keys on the desk and lifted them to hand to him.
He pointed the gun at Emily Anne. “She’s driving. We’re taking a ride.”
Never allow yourself to be taken from one location to another. Self-defense 101!
“If you think you might want to try some funny stuff, don’t, or your friend is dead on the sidewalk and you’re next.” He jabbed the gun muzzle into Emily Anne’s ribs and she whimpered. “Out the front door. No trying to attract attention.” He tucked the gun in his pocket but kept it pressed against Emily Anne’s ribs as he directed them to the front door with a frown and the motion of his chin.
Lucy pushed open the door of her shop, swearing that the second he had his back turned she was going to teach him a lesson he wouldn’t soon forget…as soon as her knees stopped knocking together. The sidewalk was completely deserted in both directions as they walked the few yards away from her spa and her brother’s studio…away from safety.
She hit the unlock button on the remote and handed Emily Anne the keys. He gruffly directed all three of them to the driver’s door. Emily Anne climbed in as he jerked open the door behind hers and roughly pushed Lucy onto the seat and climbed in after her. Pulling the door closed, he yanked the gun from his pocket and growled at Emily Anne. “Don’t you dare run, bitch. If you do, I’ll shoot this one, and then take aim at you next.” To demonstrate his seriousness, he pushed the muzzle against Lucy’s chest. “Do not try me.”
“Okay. Okay,” Emily Anne said placatingly as she fumbled with the key ring. It took several tries before she got the right key in her hand and stuck it in the ignition. “Where do I go?”
“Pull out on Main Street and head south out of town.”
“South?” Emily Anne asked.
“That way, dumbass!” he gestured out the windshield and she nodded. The starter screeched when she turned the ignition switch again and she cringed and said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please don’t shoot us!” Lucy reached out to comfort her by patting her shoulder and the man knocked her hand away with the butt of the gun then jammed it back into Lucy’s ribs. Her hand stung and throbbed.
“Pull shit like that again and you’ll be sorry. Now put it in gear and drive the speed limit out of here. Don’t do anything to draw attention. I’m watching you.”
Lucy jerked away from him, hoping to get him to ease up the pressure, but he just jammed the revolver even harder into her ribs and held on to her arm tighter. She tried to keep her temper in check, even though she figured it was better to be angry than to be scared.
“Who the fuck do you think you are, and why are you doing this, damn it?”
The son of a bitch grunted and said, “You know who I am. You can call me either Bruce Smith, or Ralph Baxter. Take your pick.”
Smith. Baxter. Oh damn, the man Emily Anne was telling me about. The reason for the meeting at the Dancing Pony.
“Is that name supposed to mean something to me?” Why in the hell is he taking the risk on two counts of kidnapping when the statute of limitations has likely expired on Chloe’s claim?
“Shut the hell up. I need to think.”
Emily Anne glanced at her in the mirror but otherwise kept the Escape between the lines on the state highway. The arm he had a hard hold of tingled and began to go numb and would be useless in a few minutes. She tried to relax against the seat to see if he’d let up some but he didn’t.
For good measure, he squeezed even harder and growled, “For a woman, you’ve got well-developed arms. Don’t get any ideas in your head once we get to where we’re going.”
The only idea in my head, motherfucker, is knocking your squinty-eyed ass out.
“Turn right at the next FM road,” Baxter said. “And don’t try to do anything funny. The first sign that you’re speeding up or doing anything you shouldn’t, I’ll put a bullet in your friend’s head. Got it?”
Emily Anne looked so scared and Lucy felt awful for her as she nodded. “Yes. I’ve got it.”
“You’re my insurance. I got to get the hell out of here. Secrets can’t stay buried forever. I knew they were watching me. I always know. But I’ve outsmarted them before. I can outsmart them again.” Baxter continued muttering to himself. Lucy watched him in her peripheral vision and could tell he was in an elevated state. He was flushed and sweaty and his eyes were not exactly focused and he kept shifting them around nervously.
Just you wait, you son of a bitch.
All she needed was a diversion.
Baxter kept mumbling at her side about needing insurance and having to make stops at the bank. She wondered how he planned to do any of that with two hostages and the thought made her go cold. She’d need to act quickly when she got where they were going.
Baxter must’ve snapped back to the present because he suddenly said, “We’re nearly there. One more hill after this
one we’re on. It’s on the left just at the top of that hill. There’s a gate. You’ll have to stop, get out, and open it.” He raised the gun and pointed it at Lucy’s head.
Lucy noticed when a silver Lincoln MKZ approaching from the opposite direction slowed just a bit.
Emily Anne decelerated and Baxter yelled, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Trying not to ping the oncoming vehicle with gravel. Owner might call the cops.” Judging by the road noise, maintenance crews must’ve dropped loose gravel on the road while making repairs. The thin excuse must’ve worked because he didn’t seem too bothered.
“Oh. Okay. Good thinking. Guess you’re pretty scared.” He sounded happy at the prospect.
“Terrified.”
Lucy really wanted to kill him for toying with Emily Anne like that. She hoped it wasn’t just her imagination when the other driver scrutinized her vehicle with obvious interest. She hoped Baxter didn’t notice, but he’d gone back to muttering to himself. She didn’t dare look out the back window to see if the driver of the silver car slowed further or stopped. All she could do was pray.
Chapter Twenty-Two
It was nearly time for the Pony to open up and time for them to scatter. If Baxter was true to his routine, then they might be able to apprehend him that day.
Patrick hoped like hell that was the case. He hadn’t made much headway with his dad but he wanted to do what he could to help Chloe. The fact that he’d never met her didn’t matter. Beck cared, so he cared.
The conversation about the diversion Beck and Patrick would provide to keep Baxter in place if need be was just wrapping up when one of the men’s cell phones rang.
Ace reached into his pocket for his phone, laughing with Kemp over some remark Ethan had made, and then became dead serious as he answered his phone. His words got everyone’s attention when he said, “Do we know who else Smith grabbed? Fuck. Okay. What about Ms. Rhodes, then? Well, that’s something at least. All right, we’ll meet you there. Just wait for us, all right? No, we won’t go off half-cocked, Hank. We’re not amateurs. We won’t do anything until you give the word—not with those two women’s lives in jeopardy. Oh yeah, I believe in my gut they’re in real danger. We believe Bruce Smith has already killed once.”
Ace cast his gaze to Mel. “That was Hank Stinson. He just got a call from Adam Kendall. Chloe Rhodes was on her way here when she passed a car she didn’t recognize being driven by someone she did—your Emily Anne. She said Ms. Bancroft looked scared out of her mind, and there were two other people in the vehicle with her, in the backseat. Ms. Rhodes kept her cool, took note of the car license plate number, and called Kendall.” Mel and Connor both looked like they’d been sucker punched but they quickly recovered. When Beck asked, Ace told him that Adam Kendall was Lusty’s sheriff.
Ace turned his serious gaze on both of them and Patrick’s heart began to pound. Ace said, “The car she was driving belongs to Lucy Carter.”
Patrick erupted from his chair with Beck hot on his heels. “Lucy!”
They both moved toward the front door but Ace stopped them. “Hold it right there. You’re not going anywhere.” Ace turned to Mel and Connor and said, “Kendall was able to relay GPS coordinates taken through Ms. Rhodes phone to Hank. He told her to stay put and wait for help. We know where they are—he took the women to his home. Hank is on his way there, now. We need to get moving. Hank has a couple of deputies with him, but you two know the layout of Smith’s place.”
Mel nodded in acknowledgment and then pointed toward Patrick and Beck. “If Smith has their woman, they have to come, too. They won’t get in the way of whatever it is Hank decides to do.”
Patrick shook his head. “We won’t.” Ethan put his hand on Patrick’s shoulder and Patrick turned to him. “I don’t know why this has happened. How could this happen? Why would Bruce Smith take Lucy?”
Moments later they knew. Corinna told them that Smith had helped the delivery driver who had made such a racket earlier carry in the soda syrup delivery. They surmised he’d overheard the conversation and already had a thirty-minute head start on them.
Ace got his attention with the question and he turned to Patrick and Beck and said, “You recognized him, he must have recognized you. That’s why he took your woman. He would have remembered where he’d seen you and with whom. He made a move of desperation, likely trying to buy himself some time, while he figures out how to get out of the mess he’s in.”
Connor got Ace’s attention and said, “I just spoke to your wife, Webster. She confirms that Emily Anne left Discretion before noon and was planning to stop in to see Lucy Carter before coming here. Apparently the two had met the last time Emily Anne visited her store.” Connor shifted his attention to Mel. “I also spoke to Adam. He said he most emphatically told Chloe to stay put but he had a really bad feeling that she was going to defy him. You know how close she and our woman are.”
Mel nodded, showing no emotion. “Yeah. Best friends. Damn it, what a cluster fuck.”
“Kendall also contacted Grant and Andrew Jessop, who were spending the day in San Antonio at an Arson Investigation conference. They were already on their way home. They’ve adjusted their route and should be here in about thirty minutes.”
Patrick was impressed. Damn, they must’ve been in an emergency vehicle with the siren on and the lights flashing to make it here that quick! Then he wondered briefly what Beck thought of Chloe’s men arriving soon but didn’t have time to ask.
“Let’s go,” Ace said. “We’ll take my SUV. We’ll all fit.”
Ethan stayed behind to man the club and asked them to keep him informed of their progress. He told Beck and Patrick he’d call Seth and let him know what was going on. Knowing Ethan would keep a cool head in explaining to Seth, he agreed to let him make that call.
As they cleared out of the club and headed across the parking lot, Mel said, “Damn it to hell, we have two for certain and possibly three women in peril. I guess we don’t have to worry about just cause now.”
“Smith hurts Lucy, I’m going to fucking kill him,” Beck growled.
Connor grunted and said, “Get in line. He’s got our woman, too. As far as I’m concerned, he’s already a fucking dead man.”
Patrick was quite all right with implementing that plan.
* * * *
Lucy sat rigid next to Emily Anne, watching Baxter as he rushed around the house, gathering items and putting them in duffle bags. She wasn’t sure how he could see because all the curtains were drawn and the shades pulled. He fumbled around in the dim confines of the small house, giving them a hard, suspicious look every now and then to make sure they were behaving.
He’d tied them at the ankles and the wrists, with their hands in front, evidently so he could make sure they weren’t up to anything. Stupid man. He was never out of their sight for more than a few seconds and his nervousness seemed to escalate with every pass through the living room, where they sat against one wall of the shabby little house.
She promised herself if she got out of this mess she’d love on her men so hard they’d never forget it. She’d let her breast-obsessed lover call her sugar tits all day if he wanted to and she’d let Patrick buy her as many expensive gifts as he wanted and never complain about it ever again.
What the hell am I saying? If I get out of this mess? When I get out of this mess is more like it. This guy is nuts. I just need a diversion.
She wiggled around to get a look at what was on the entertainment center. Perhaps there was a blunt object. She could move fast if she needed to. But there was nothing of aid there.
Emily Anne whispered to her. “What are you doing? He’ll know you’re moving around. He’ll catch you.”
Lucy stopped and looked at Emily Anne. She could tell her friend—yes, she was her friend—was scared. “Emily Anne, we have to do something. We can’t let him leave with us again. If no one knows where we are, then the trail will go cold.”
“Listen, Lucy. I
didn’t get to—” She clammed up when Baxter rushed back into the room talking to himself, gave them a dirty look and then hurried to what must be the bathroom. “I didn’t get to tell you everything. That man is a murder suspect. Murder, do you hear me? That’s what the men were talking about at the meeting at the Dancing Pony.”
Murder? Oh no! “If they were talking about him, then they have to know where he lives. They’ll come.”
“I think someone already may have seen us. My friend, Chloe. I think she saw me behind the wheel of your car. She slowed down after she passed us.”
“Chloe?”
“Yes, and if I know her, she’s going to get herself into some kind of foolishness attempting to help us. I’ll die if she gets herself killed. It’ll break Grant’s and Andrew’s hearts and I’ll never forgive myself.”
Lucy nudged Emily Anne to get her attention before she became more agitated and attracted Baxter’s notice. As long as he muttered, she could tell where he was in the small house. “Okay, honey, listen, we’ve got to keep clear heads. What would she do?”
“First? Oh, first she would call Adam Kendall. He’s the sheriff whose life she saved. He’s like a big brother to her. He’d tell her what to do.”
“What would he tell her?”
“To stay put and wait for help, most likely.”
“Would she do it?”
Emily Anne looked at her and smiled for the first time since earlier in the morning. “Would you if your friend was in trouble?”
“Hell no.” Lucy thought of the way the Lusty men had helped orchestrate Jayne’s rescue. “No, I’d be right there if I could.”
A light thump was heard at the back door and Baxter came running, gun in hand. He flailed it at the girls. “You two stay put and don’t make a sound. I will shoot you dead, understand?”
He made sure their binds were still tight. They were so tight in fact that they cut off Lucy’s circulation. He hurried into the kitchen and Lucy said, “We have to get that gun away from him.”
Lucy's Revenge [Divine Creek Ranch 15] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 35