by Jones, KD
“You are finally awake. Good, we can now get started.” A man’s voice called from her bathroom.
“Who are you? What do you want?” She tried to keep the panic out of her voice. She was tied down to her bed by a stranger... make that several strangers. She could see movement at the bedroom door and heard someone in her kitchen. This was not good.
The man coming out of the bathroom was short, a little pudgy with a scar across his face. He wore glasses and was clearly going bald. She would have laughed at the thought of this individual as a killer, because his physical appearance was nonthreatening. If he had approached her in some parking lot, she wouldn’t have reached for her mace right away. In any other circumstance the idea of him being a killer was laughable. However, it was the evil look in his eyes as he stared at her from the foot of her bed with the shiny knife he held in his hands that assured her that this man was dangerous.
“I’ll be asking the questions, my dear.” He sat on the edge of the bed next to her, and reached for the zipper on her leather jacket. He slowly lowered the zipper, revealing her bustier.
“What do you want to know?” She didn’t take her eyes off his hands or the knife he held.
“Where is your husband?” he asked.
“I’m not married.”
The man took the knife and placed it at the top middle part of her bustier. “You are playing words with me? I don’t like that.” He pressed the knife down hard, cutting away her bustier and leaving her chest revealed. He moved the knife, placing it against her tender, exposed nipple.
“Please don’t.” Her voice was shaky.
“Your ex-husband, Dan Stratford. Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
He pressed the knife down just enough to make a small cut. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know!” Her voice rang out with pain.
“Did you see him recently, hear from him?” He made another cut on her other breast.
“Yes! Stop, please!” Lexi had always considered herself a tough person. She had seen some bad shit in her life. But she had never been tied down and hurt in this fashion before. This man was cold and methodical. She had no doubt that he planned to kill her when her usefulness was done.
“You saw him?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“A few days ago he came by my club wanting some money. I told him I didn’t have the money he wanted. I told him to leave.”
“Did he tell you why he needed the money?”
She had to think quickly about how much to tell the guy. “He just said he was in a lot of trouble and needed to get off the planet. When I didn’t give him the money he wanted he took off. I haven’t seen him since. I most likely won’t ever hear from him again.”
The man laughed a cold, hard laugh. “Oh, you’ll see him again. A man doesn’t leave a woman like you alone for long.” He leaned down and licked the small droplet of blood from her breast. Lexi had to fight the nausea that rose up into her throat.
“He’ll be back for you. He won’t find you here.”
She gulped. “Where will I be?”
“My boss wants me to bring you to him. We’ll make sure that word gets to your ex where he can find you.” A loud thump made the man leap from the bed.
“What was that?” He asked the man that stood outside her bedroom door.
“I don’t know, Ted. It could be a tree limb hitting the roof.”
“Well, go find out!”
Lexi could hear the other man as he shuffled off to find out what the sound was. How did she get into this situation? The man named Ted gave her a brief look but his focus was on the sounds going on from the other room. A loud crash close by let her know something was happening in her guest bedroom.
“Damn it!” He shut her bedroom door locking it. Then he wedged the dresser over in front of the door. He pulled out a gun from his pants pocket and pointed it at the door as he backed slowly toward the bedroom window. He reached behind him to unlatch the window and started to slowly raise it up.
Boom! Lexi jerked at her ropes when she heard the sound and vibration of something hitting the bedroom door hard. She looked over at the man named Ted who had cut her. He looked scared. She wasn’t sure what was on the other side of that door but it had to be better than dealing with an evil ass like Ted.
“Help me!” She screamed as loud as she could.
“You’ll be seeing me again, beautiful. Let your husband know we’re coming for him.” Ted glared at her as he turned and jumped out of the window. At that same moment the bedroom door crashed open and her dresser went sliding across the room. Lexi looked up at a very angry full Decaros with his horns fully extended. For a moment he looked like the very devil himself. He took one look at Lexi’s exposed and bleeding chest. Then he let out a roar so loud it almost hurt her ears.
“Vic — the sirens are getting closer. We got to go!” Someone called from the other side of the door.
Lexi trembled as Vic stomped over to her. He yanked the ropes that tied her down and ripped them easily with his bare hands. Damn he was really strong. Those ropes were tied really tight and she had a little rope burn trying to free herself. He lifted Lexi in his arms like she weighed nothing and carried her out of her bedroom.
Lexi was so stunned to be held by him again that she forgot that her chest was still exposed. When she heard a gasp and then Vic growling at someone, she looked down and pulled her jacket as close to closed as she could. The other part of the zipper was caught between their bodies.
“Where are we going?” Lexi asked as they went out the apartment door. He took her down the stairs fast without missing a beat.
“We have to get out of here before the local authority shows up.”
She looked up at him. “Don’t we need the report those creeps to the authority? Do you think they plan to kill Dan?”
Vic shook his head. “If they take him with them he will eventually be killed. These types of criminals never leave witnesses. At this point we don’t know if the ones after Stratford have help inside the authority. Our presence here won’t be tolerated well and if you want to save your ex-husband’s life, we need to keep out of the local authority’s eyes.”
“You’re going to help Dan?” She doubted his intentions toward her ex were that honorable. He had saved her, though.
“We are the only chance he has of surviving.”
Lexi didn’t question him any further as they loaded up in a van. She was in the back with Vic while the other two sat in the front and drove. She quickly zipped up her jacket. It wasn’t until they hit a few bumps in the road that she noticed how painful the leather was against her cuts. “Ouch!”
*****
Vic looked down at Lexi and frowned. He had forgotten she was injured. He reached for the zipper of her coat. “Let me see.”
She tried to shove his hands away. “No way.”
He snorted. “I’ve seen you topless before. Let me look at your cuts.”
“Fine.” She released her tight hold and allowed him to unzip her coat. She turned her head and looked out the window. Her breath caught when she felt the heat from his fingers touch her breast. He gently touched the cuts and she winced.
“The cuts aren’t too deep. Blade, toss me the first aid kit!”
Vic caught the kit and opened it. He found a healing ointment and pulled it out. He squirted a bit on his fingertips then reached over to her and began rubbing it over the cut. The healing gel healed her wound immediately. He couldn’t help but notice how her skin was so soft and silky. Her tips tightened and he heard her catch her breath. He lifted his head to stare into her bright blue eyes but didn’t stop his ministrations in applying the ointment even though he had covered the all the wounds.
He couldn’t resist pulling her nipples. Her eyes sparked with desire. He looked at her nipples with longing. He wanted to suckle her in the worst way. Damn, she was a sexy woman. He was on a job and he couldn’t let himself get distra
cted. He reluctantly zipped her jacket back up.
“The ointment is fast healing. You shouldn’t feel any pain and there’s no sign of scars because we healed it in time. It could have been deeper and a lot worse.” He felt rage that someone would do damage to Lexi and her beautiful body. He had to get this person off the streets so that she would be safe again.
“Hey Vic, where are we headed, man?” Isaac asked from the driver’s seat.
Vic looked into Lexi’s eyes. He watched as she bit her bottom lip and could tell she was trying to decide if she could trust him. He didn’t say anything, but just waited. She finally spoke.
“The marina, pier 57.”
He nodded at her and repeated the directions. Vic hoped that he got to the ex-husband before this drug dealer did. Otherwise, they might not even find a body. He knew that Lexi would be upset by this. He hated that she was involved and especially the fact that she unfortunately still cared about Stratford. He pushed his confusing thoughts aside and tried to concentrate on the job at hand. First thing he had to do was find Stratford.
*****
Lexi watched Vic secretly. The man who tenderly treated her cuts could not be the same devilish-looking one that had barged into her bedroom a little while ago. Somehow those two individuals were one and the same. On top of that, this was also the same man who had made her orgasm at the nightclub like no one ever had. This individual beside her was calm and serious looking. Was it just a façade for what truly was lying within him — something darker, more dangerous? She shivered as she realized that she may not like the answer to that question.
Chapter 6
It was hard for Lexi to believe she had left her club around one in the morning. It was now five-thirty in the morning. The sun was already rising. Lexi walked beside Vic and his two bounty hunter friends were just a few feet behind them. “Do I get to know the names of the other bounty hunters?”
Vic sounded like he was growling as he spoke. “The one with short hair is Blade and the one with curly hair like a female’s is Isaac.”
“I do not have hair like a female! Just because I use conditioner in mine like any civilized person would do does not make me like a female!” Isaac’s face turned redder as he was protesting.
Lexi had to smother a laugh. This wasn’t the time or the place to reveal her amusement. These guys were surprising her with their contrary behavior. They teased each other, which showed how at ease they were around one another.
“Which boat is it?” Vic asked, ignoring Isaac’s outburst.
“It’s the last boat on the end — the blue and white one with a swan painted on it. It’s called the Majestic Swan.”
“Do you think he’s gone already?” Blade asked from behind them. Isaac’s sat phone rang and he stopped walking to take the call.
She shook her head. “Probably not. He knows nothing about boats. That’s why I told him to use it because I knew he would get frustrated and find other transportation.”
Blade laughed. “That’s pretty harsh.” Lexi laughed too but their humor was short lived.
Isaac called out for them to stop. “Vic I need to speak with you for just a moment.” He motioned for Vic to walk with him a few feet away.
Vic could tell something was really wrong by the expression on Isaac’s face. “What’s happened?”
“That was Abe. He wanted to let us know that Stratford’s girlfriend Bubbles showed up, left for dead on a river bank.”
“Fuck!”
“She was identified as the woman that signed the bond agreement for Stratford too.”
That cleared Lexi legally but she was in even more danger. “That’s why Roland’s men came here for Stratford, Bubbles told them about Lexi.”
“Shouldn’t we be leaving the planet?”
“Yes but Roland’s men may be keeping an eye on the transport stations. We need to hide out somewhere until we can get transportation out of here.”
“What do you need me and Blade to do?”
“I’ll take Stratford out on the boat. We’ll find somewhere to hide out for a while. You two stay behind and keep an eye out for Roland’s men and work on getting us a way off this planet. Once you have transportation lined up get a boat and come out and escort us in.”
“I don’t like you being out there on your own with no back up.”
“Work quickly then.” Vic and Isaac walked back over to Lexi and Blade.
*****
Lexi smiled as she caught sight of the bow of her boat. “Maybe...but it’s true.” She pointed straight ahead. As she approached the boat she didn’t see any sign of Dan. Maybe he had given up like she had expected him to and left. Then, a very well endowed and barely covered brunette appeared on the deck followed by a blonde with a similar body type. Both were wearing bikinis.
Lexi was furious. Who were these women on her boat? She went up the ramp to board her boat. “Who the hell are you?”
The brunette had bent over to do something with the sun hatch, while the blonde was putting on fingernail polish; both had earplugs in their ears and bopping around to music they were listening to. Lexi looked back behind her at the three males and found them staring intently at the bikini-clad women. She hit Vic's arm with her hand to get his attention. She suddenly felt very inadequate. She was bruised and cut and she needed a bath badly. She faced the women again. She raised her voice and waved her hand in front of their faces to get their attention.
“I asked who the hell you were and why are you on my boat?”
The two women stopped what they were doing, pulled their earplugs free, and glared back at her. “This isn’t your boat, honey.”
“Whose boat is it then?” Lexi demanded.
Both women turned and yelled, “Danny!”
Lexi watched in shock as her ex-husband walked up from below deck, wearing a bathing suit and no shirt or shoes. He was carrying two glasses of what looked like champagne. That was her glasses, her champagne and her boat. It had only been a few hours since she had told Dan to come here. While she was being tortured, he had been collecting bimbos and probably getting laid. Son of a bitch!
“Dan, explain yourself!” Lexi yelled, startling him. He took one look at the men behind her and dropped the glasses and sprinted to the stern of the boat.
“Get him before he jumps off the boat!” Vic yelled out. Isaac took the left side, Blade took the right, and Vic jumped straight up onto the roof of the cabin.
“Holy shit! Did that guy have horns?” the blonde asked incredulously.
Lexi turned to the two women. “Get off my boat before I have you arrested for trespassing.” The two women stumbled as they tried to run down the ramp. A few seconds later, she heard a scream that was very close to sounding like a girl’s. Ah, they must have caught Danny boy.
*****
“Let me go!” Dan yelled.
Blade and Isaac held Stratford down on the lounge chair while Vic stood in front of him. “You gave us quite a chase, Stratford.”
“Look man, you’ve got the wrong guy. My name is Leo.”
Vic looked up as Lexi came around the side. She shook her head at Dan. “Give it up, Dan. They know who you are.”
He glared at her. “You brought them here. You gave me up!”
She snorted. “I gave you up years ago, but yes I did bring them here, so that they could keep you alive. That drug dealer, Roland, you got involved with sent some men to my apartment. They were going torture me until I gave them your location. I would probably be dead right now if it hadn’t been for Vic and his crew.”
Dan stopped struggling and looked at Lexi closely. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, nothing a little healing gel won’t make better.” Lexi tried to shrug it off but Vic saw the emotion in her eyes as she quickly looked away. Vic wasn’t about to let Stratford off the hook so easily.
“They hit and bruised her face, tied her down and cut her,” Vic growled.
Dan’s face paled. “Lexi baby, I am so sorry.”
>
She put up her hand to make him stop talking. “I don’t want to hear it. This is Vic from the bail bonds company and his friends Blade and Isaac.”
“You’ll be coming back with us,” Vic told him.
Dan looked at him smugly. “You have no jurisdiction here. If you try to haul me back, you’ll be the ones going to lock up.”
“That’s why you’ll be coming with us of your own free will,” Vic told him.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because Roland’s men are coming after you and they aren’t going to take you back alive. They are here to kill you. If you want to live, you will come with us.”
Dan looked at Lexi again. “If Marcus Roland is here with his men, they’ll be watching every spaceport there is. They won’t let us off the planet.”
Stratford was right. Vic ran a hand through his hair. He briefly touched his almost hidden horns. At least those had gone down. He turned to look at Lexi.
“Is there a place that no one knows about and hard to reach other than by boat?”
“There’s an island not far from here. Only way on and off is by boat. A friend of mine gave me permission to use it any time I wanted. Why?” She looked at him curiously.
“I thought I would take the boat out with Stratford, stay out of sight until we have transportation off the planet.”
“I need to come with you.” Lexi folded her arms across her chest and winced from the pain.
“No, you don’t.” Vic was shaking his head.
“Yes, I do. I have to enter a password before landing on the island, into a type of alarm system. Also, I can’t go back to my apartment. They know where I live and they will also be scoping out my club. Right now, the safest place for me is with you.” She looked Vic directly in the eyes.
How was he supposed to say no to that? Everything she said was true. She could have been killed if they hadn’t showed up to her house on time. The idea of something like that happening to her without his ability to get to her made him feel uncomfortable.