Three Times as Deadly

by Erin Wade

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  Chapter 27

  I dug through my duffle bag and laid out clean clothes for the next day. I placed my car keys on the top of my bag. I locked the bathroom door, turned on the shower, and pulled the small square of paper from my pocket. I unfolded it and read the message written on it: Alex in zombie town. The words were printed, childlike.

  I showered and donned the white robe provided by the motel. “Did we pass an ice machine on our way to the room?” I asked Leigh. “I need some ice and a Dr. Pepper.”

  She studied me for a moment and nodded. “I’ll get it for you.”

  “No, no,” I said. “I’m not an invalid. I’ll get it myself.”

  “Seriously, Sloan, get ready for bed. I’ll get your drink and ice.”

  I nodded and pulled on an old T-shirt as she grabbed the ice bucket and headed for the door.

  When the door clicked behind her, I fired up the laptop and typed in zombie town, San Antonio, TX. To my surprise, there were images and a video of a housing addition that had been abandoned halfway into completion. The developer was serving prison time for defrauding the bank. He’d obtained a construction loan and then used the funds to support his lavish lifestyle and pay for his son’s wedding.

  The housing project had come to a halt when the bank discovered the developer had never filed plats with the city and had no plans for roads, sewer, water or electricity to serve the addition.

  I memorized the directions and turned off the computer. I was in bed when Leigh returned.

  “Thank you.” I flashed my best good-little-girl smile as Leigh poured the Dr. Pepper into the glass of ice and handed it to me.

  She sat down on the side of my bed. “Sloan, I don’t like arguing with you.” Her look was grave. “You must know how I feel about you.”

  She leaned in and kissed my lips. I forced myself to kiss her back. “I took a cold shower,” I said. “Perhaps you should too.”

  She chuckled and nodded. “Perhaps I’d rather go with the heat and see where that leads us.”

  I waited until I was certain she was in the shower. Then I dressed, tossed the laptop into my duffle bag, grabbed my car keys, the bullwhip, Leigh’s purse and slipped out the door.

  It took me a few minutes to find my car, but it finally beeped when I kept pushing the fob. I cranked it, turned off my GPS system, and sped away from the motel.

  In the dark I had more difficulty locating the abandoned housing addition than I’d anticipated, but I didn’t dare turn on the GPS.

  As daybreak filled the sky with faint blues, yellows, and magentas, I spotted the outline of the deserted houses rising on a hill. I pulled my car into the unfinished garage of the closest building.

  There were about thirty homes in various stages of construction. None were completed, and the glass was broken out of every window. Obviously, vandals had destroyed a large part of the construction. I located the most-finished house and headed for it. As I approached, I could see the flickering light of a lantern. I crawled to the window, attracting stickers and cactus like a magnet. God, sometimes Texas—like Africa—could be hard and unforgiving.

  I settled beneath the paneless window and listened to the voices inside.

  “I’m telling you,” a gravelly voice croaked, “they aren’t married anymore. Sloan Cartwright doesn’t care if this woman lives or dies. She won’t come looking for her.”

  “She’ll come,” a deep baritone voice replied.

  I fought the urge to peep over the windowsill. I didn’t recognize either of the voices.

  “She won’t come for me,” I heard Alex declare. “She hates me. I left her penniless in the divorce.”

  “Yeah? Then why did she escape from Africa with you?”

  So she did divorce me! A whirlwind of emotions twisted through my mind. But it was her idea to renew our vows in Italy legally. That means we’re now married.

  “She kidnapped me,” Alex said.

  “If you don’t shut up,” the gravelly voice threatened, “I’m going to shut you up.”

  I crawled to the corner of the house. I was trying to decide on my course of action when I poked my head around the corner and found myself staring at a pair of steel-toed army boots.

  The last thing I saw was the boot heading toward my face. I turned my head just in time for the blow to land on the side of my head instead of my nose.

  ##

  I kept my eyes closed as I slowly became aware of my surrounds. I was sitting in a chair. My hands were bound behind my back. My captors had tied my ankles to the legs of the chair. I tugged at my restraints, trying to ascertain their strength. Damn, I hate zip ties! Handcuffs were easier to escape. The ties cut into my wrists.

  “You’ve killed her,” Alex said, sobbing. “A blow to the head is a death sentence for her. She had a severe concussion in Africa. She hadn’t recovered from it.”

  “Shut up,” the gravelly voice barked. A loud slap and the cry from Alex told me he’d hit her. “We don’t need you anymore now that we have her. The boss said she would come for you.”

  The baritone agreed with Alex. “She’s right, you know. If the blonde dies, the consortium will skin you alive.”

  “If she dies, her evidence dies with her,” the gravelly voice said.

  The two men continued to argue. I opened my eyes just enough to get a look at the men. One was short and bald and the other had a dark beard.

  “I doubt it,” the bearded one said. “She’s too smart for that. You need to get her to a hospital. We have to get that video.”

  “Are you nuts? Half the world is looking for her.” The other man started pacing the floor. “If I take her to a doctor, we’ll be arrested. We need to bring a doctor here.”

  “You go get the doctor. I’ll watch them,” the bald man suggested.

  One of them yanked hard on my restraints. I could tell by Alex’s sharp intake of breath that he had done the same to hers.

  “They aren’t going anywhere,” the bearded man grunted. “We’ll both go get a doctor. No way am I leaving you alone with the brunette.”

  I was glad to learn they didn’t trust each other. The door slammed, and I heard a deadbolt jammed into place. I listened for their vehicle to leave. I could hear them arguing outside the window. They finally cranked a car and drove away.

  “Oh dear God!” Alex cried. “Sloan. Sloan, baby, can you hear me?”

  “I’m okay,” I answered as I raised my eyes to look at her. “Are you okay? He hit you.”

  I gasped as I saw blood trickling from her beautiful lips. An explosive rage ran through me. I knew I would kill her assailant before this was over.

  “Can you get your hands free?” I asked.

  “No. I’ve been trying for two days. The zip tie is even tighter.” Alex squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears.

  “It’s going to be okay, honey,” I assured her. “I have knives in my boots. I’ll try to get my feet up to your hands. See if you can get the knife.” I nodded toward my boots. “There’s a knife in each zipper pouch.

  Alex blinked away her tears and nodded at me

  I hopped and scooted my chair until I was directly behind Alex. I rocked my chair until I turned it over backward, lifting my feet even with Alex’s hands. The back of my head hit the cement floor and pain shot through me.

  Alex screamed, unable to see me. “Sloan, are you okay?”

  “I’m good,” I croaked. “Can you stretch your fingers just a little bit? You’re almost touching the zipper.”

  She tried but was unable to reach the top of my boot. “Can you push closer?” Alex asked.

  “Alex, this will hurt, but if you can hook your hands over the toe of my boot, I can use your arms as leverage to pull myself closer.”

  She took a deep breath and hooked her tied hands over the toe of my right boot.

  “This will hurt, honey,” I said. The thought of hurting Alex made me sick to my stomach.

  “As you know, I can take a little
hurt,” she said in an effort to lighten the mood. It didn’t work. “It’s better than dying. Do it, Sloan.”

  I felt her brace herself, and I arched my foot, pulling the toe of my boot back toward me. Alex cried out, and my chair moved about two inches.

  I lay still. I wasn’t sure I could do that to her again. I was certain I had dislocated one of her shoulders.

  “I’ve got it, Sloan,” Alex’s voice was dripping with pain. She inched the zipper down and fumbled around until she found the handle of the knife. I felt it slide from my boot.

  “What now?” Alex said.

  “Cut the zip ties binding my feet. Keep your hands away from the blade. It’s extremely sharp.”

  It took her a long time to cut the ties, but she finally cut my feet loose. I struggled to my feet and backed up to her so she could free my hands.

  “Just hold the knife, honey. I’ll slide the ties back and forth over the blade.” I knew that every movement she made was killing her shoulder.

  The zip tie separated with a pop. I took the knife and cut Alex loose from the chair.

  “God, Sloan!” She fell into my arms, sobbing against my chest. “I thought you were dead. I saw them shoot you with a dart before they brought me here.”

  “It was toxic enough to make me ill without killing me.” I hugged her tight. “God, you’re an armful of woman,” I murmured into her ear as I gloried in the softness of her.

  “We need to get out of here,” I said, pulling her toward the broken window of the house. “We’ll have to go out this window. They locked the door from the outside. My car is about three blocks away.”

  “Fix my shoulder,” she said, her face etched with pain. “It’s killing me.”

  “It’ll hurt like hell,” I huffed.

  “Fix it, baby! I can’t stand jostling around like this.”

  I found a bedroom door to use as leverage. As Alex flattened her torso against one side of it, I put my foot on my side and pulled hard on her arm. She screamed and went to her knees.”

  “Oh God, that hurt,” she cried. Tears filled her eyes as she struggled to remain coherent. I’ve seen men twice her size faint when I pulled their shoulder into place.

  I placed my hands around her rib cage and lifted her to a standing position. “Can you walk?”

  She leaned against me and nodded. I scooped up the bullwhip and led Alex to the window.

  “Let me go out first so I can help you when you come through,” I suggested. “There’s a drop from the window. I can catch you and let you down easy.”

  “You always do,” she said. She gave me a lopsided smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

  ##

  Chapter 28

  I floored the accelerator, and the LC sprang into action. I pitched Leigh’s purse out the window. That should keep them busy for a while.

  “What are we going to do?” Alex asked as she rubbed her shoulder.

  I glanced at her. Blood covered her and matted her hair. The dark circles under her eyes told me she was exhausted. The thugs had ripped all the buttons from the blouse she was wearing.

  “Your blouse . . .” I said, swallowing hard. “Did someone—”

  She snorted. “No. They fought over me. I’m just thankful the two of them weren’t smart enough to agree to share.”

  Her voice dropped to a low murmur. “I thought I was going to die, Sloan.”

  A shiver ran through my body. The thought of losing Alex was unbearable.

  Both of us looked like we’d been set on fire and stomped out. We didn’t even have a comb to remove the tangles from our hair. We looked like homeless women.

  “We need to lay low for a while, but I doubt any reputable hotel will welcome us. There is a Buc-ee's in New Braunfels,” I informed Alex. “Let’s stop there and pick up some toiletries and clothes. They sell T-shirts and casual clothes. With the traffic they have through there, no one will notice us.”

  The New Braunfels Buc-ee's’ claim to fame is their induction into America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame. The 68,000-square-feet convenience store-service center offers travelers everything from gas to beaver nuggets—I’m afraid to guess what that is—and eighty-three commodes.

  ##

  Alex headed for the ladies’ room, and I grabbed jeans and T-shirts in our size, toothbrushes and hair paraphernalia. By the time we left the restroom, we were halfway presentable.

  “We need a place to hide for a few days while we heal and formulate a plan of action,” I thought out loud.

  “What about Scurlock Farms, that little bed-and-breakfast we loved so much in Georgetown?” Alex hugged my arm between her breasts. I could tell she was thinking of how we had made love in the secluded cottage.

  We stopped at Walmart in Georgetown and purchased two burner phones and enough supplies to last a week.

  Alex called Scurlock Farms to see if we could reserve the cottage. For once, luck was with us.

  After taking care of the reservations, Alex shuffled through the dozen identifications I had in my duffle bag. “Dixie Denton, Ruby Glass, Daisey Darling.” She laughed. “Who thought up these names?”

  “Draco, the best counterfeiter in the business. He thought it would be fun to embarrass me. He said he always fantasizes about me being a pole dancer. He keeps me out of trouble and works for me, not the agency.”

  She leaned over to kiss me but gasped as the weight on her elbow shot pain into her shoulder.

  “Are you okay?” The look of agony on her beautiful face made my heart ache.

  “I forgot you almost tore off my arm.” Pain clouded her eyes as she moved her arm.

  Alex waited in the car as I took care of checking us into Scurlock Farms. I didn’t recognize the person who waited on me, and my Draco-produced ID and credit card worked without a hitch. The guy was good.

  “We’re on county co-op water now,” the desk attendant informed me. “You won’t be bothered with the well pump going out.”

  “Good to know,” I said as I turned to leave. “Thanks.”

  ##

  Alex headed for the shower as I unloaded the car. By the time I’d put away the groceries and made sandwiches, Alex had showered and dressed. She entered the kitchen still towel-drying her hair, dressed only in a T-shirt and panties. She was more beautiful than I remembered. I ached to hold her but knew she was hurting, so I placed the Advil and a glass of water on the kitchen island along with a sandwich.

  “Eat before you take the Advil,” I said. “I can’t wait to get into the shower.”

  I let the hot water beat down on my head. I couldn’t remember the last time I had washed my hair. I shampooed it twice and then rinsed it thoroughly. The problem with long, thick hair was that it took a lot of time to rinse the shampoo from it.

  Alex was sitting on the bed when I entered the bedroom. “The sandwich was wonderful,” she said. “Thank you.”

  “No problem,” I said, trying not to look at her too long.

  She patted the spot beside her, motioning for me to sit down. “You know those movies where the hero is shot, run over by a bus, and dropped from a ten-story building?”

  I laughed out loud as she repeated the words I had spoken to her in the hospital.

  “And the beautiful woman drags him from the street to her bed, patches him up, and he makes mad passionate love to her?”

  I continued to chuckle at her antics.

  She stood, straddled my lap and gazed into my eyes. “I am that guy, Sloan.”

  “Oh God!” I moaned as she pushed me back onto the bed. “I want you so badly. I just didn’t think you’d be up to it. You’ve been through a lot the past few days.”

  “But I’m not dead,” she murmured against my lips.

  I placed my hand behind her head and pulled her lips tighter against mine. I flicked my tongue over the cut in her lip. “Does that hurt?”

  “No,” she hissed as she pressed her lips harder against mine and took control of my mouth with her tongue. “I need you, Sloan.�
��

  I slid my hands under her T-shirt and moaned as my fingers found her soft, taut breasts. Her nipples were erected and begged to be sucked. I responded to their request.

  “It’s been too long, baby,” she whispered into my ear.

  I pushed her onto her back and began to explore every inch of her glorious body. Over the years I have touched her a million times, but she always thrills me.

  I kissed her lips, careful of the cut, but she pulled my mouth hard against hers. “I am that guy, Sloan!” She growled. Her eyes sparkled like a million stars as she pulled my body down on top of her.

  I slid my knee between her legs, and she slowly began to grind into my thigh. “Don’t tease me,” she begged.

  I didn’t.

  ##

  Much later, I lay on my back beside her, waiting for my heart rate to return to normal. She turned onto her side and threw her arm and leg over my body. Then I asked the question that had haunted my thoughts since I read about our separation on the internet.

  “Why did you divorce me?”

  She chuckled. “Because you told me to.” She slid onto my body and trailed kisses from my cheek to the pulse point in my neck.

  “Why would I do anything that stupid?” I asked. “I am hopelessly in love with you.”

  “You feared the criminals you were about to expose would harm me if they thought I was important to you. You thought a public divorce would put them on notice that you no longer cared for me.” She began to grind into me, and all thoughts of anything but making love to her flew from my mind.

  Loving Alex always drove everything else from my thoughts and left me at peace with the world.

  ##

  The joyful sound of a bird welcomed the sunrise, and I did too, as I snuggled into the arms of the beauty sleeping beside me. God, I’ve missed this.

  Alex stirred and pulled me into her.

  “How is your arm this morning?” I asked as she pulled my face between her breasts.

  “Much better. A little more exercise like last night, and I’ll be healed.”

  “Please consider me your personal trainer,” I said, chuckling as I kissed her pert nipples.