“Nope,” he smiled smugly. “I bought Laura her very own car this morning.” Bill and Kerry stared at him with their mouths hanging open. “Before you say anything, I wanted her to know she is a permanent part of my life now. She needs her own transport, not a hire car.”
“Of course she does,” Kerry interrupted. “You did the right thing. I’m just surprised at how thoughtful you were!”
“Thanks!” Jake said dryly. “I thought you’d both like to know, I also bought Laura a ring.” He sipped his coffee casually as he let the implications sink in. They didn’t disappoint him. Bill shook his hand and clapped him on the back and Kerry hugged him, crying.
“I couldn’t be happier for you,” she sobbed. “It’s about time.”
“I didn’t say she’d said yes yet,” Jake laughed.
“Of course she did,” Kerry huffed, rolling her eyes. “Laura loves you way too much to say no! And if the answer had been no, you wouldn’t be sitting here looking so happy and smug.”
They sat around smiling and chatting for another hour. Bill had made noises to head back to work, but Jake dissuaded him. This day was special and a little time out for family would do them all good. They had been working so hard over the barn raising and what with Victoria and all the drama’s they’d been facing, they deserved some time out and to enjoy themselves.
Kerry frowned, looking at her watch again. “Shouldn’t Laura be home by now?” she asked.
Jake glanced at his own watch, realising Laura was awfully late. He frowned. She’d promised she’d be home in good time. “Maybe she’s caught up with Martha for some reason.” He grabbed the phone and rang the diner. Nobody picked up. Feeling worried, Jake rang Martha’s mobile. She picked up after three rings.
“Hi Martha, its Jake. Is Laura with you by any chance?” he asked, trying to keep the worry from his voice.
“No,” came her surprised reply. “She left ages ago. Isn’t she home yet?”
“Don’t worry,” Jake assured her, not wanting to cause her concern. “She’s probably gone for a drive in her new car.” He finished the call, worry creasing his brow. She promised him she wouldn’t be late.
“That’s probably it,” Bill assured, seeing his expression. “She’ll be back any minute.”
“I’ll just check my phone, in case she’s left me a message.” Jake replaced the house phone on its stand and ran up to his bedroom. He picked up his phone and switched it on as he walked back downstairs. Before long, his phone beeped with a message from Laura. Jake almost went giddy with relief. Opening it, he froze, his blood turning to ice in his veins. For a moment, Jake couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t believe what he was reading.
“What is it?” Kerry asked, fear lacing her voice. She’d never seen Jake look so scared in her life. Bill shot to his feet, grabbing the phone from Jake’s nerveless fingers.
“Oh my God!” he breathed. “Laura’s in trouble.” He handed the phone to Kerry. She nearly dropped it in her panic. Quickly, she read the message.
Jake, horses in danger. Walter behind poisoning. Don’t let him near the water ……
There the message cut off, as if Laura had been interrupted while writing the message. “I can’t believe it! Walter was behind the poisoning? What are we going to do?” she cried, her voice cracking.
“We call the Sherriff,” Bill advised, already dialling.
Jake suddenly grabbed the phone from his hand. “What if he hurts Laura?” he whispered, his eyes filled with pain and fear. “If he sees the Sherriff here before he puts his plan in action, he might run and we’ll never find her.”
“But we need the Sherriff and his men to ensure Walter is caught before he puts poison in the water for the horses. We have a number of places it could be that he’s targeting. Laura didn’t get the chance to say where,” Bill protested.
“Nothing matters except Laura!” Jake insisted. “We can guess he’s going after the water that the breeding stock has access to, considering that’s where he targeted before. That cuts down where we need to look.”
“But that still leaves four places for us to cover. The three of us can’t manage that. One place will be left without someone there. For all we know, he may intend on poisoning them all. We’re taking an awfully big chance that he can get to one before we get to him.”
“I could call Dan,” Kerry offered. “I know he’d come.”
“Do it,” Jake said shortly. He slammed his fist into the wall, feeling sick with fear. Laura had told him she suspected Walter of something devious and he hadn’t listened to her. If he had, she might not be in trouble right now. Determination filled him. Whatever happened, he would catch Walter. He would do whatever it took to get Laura back. If Walter had harmed her, he’d better pray for intervention; because Jake would kill him!
*****
“We are going to be in so much trouble for sending that message,” Lotta exclaimed, wringing her hands in worry.
“What else could we do? Laura didn’t get the chance to send it. How else was Jake going to find her?” Flo huffed. “He wouldn’t have even known what Walter was up to and all those horses could have died. We couldn’t let that happen.”
“Of course not,” Lotta agreed, still wringing her hands. “It’s just we’re going against every rule we’re meant to follow. Laura will know she never sent that message. Walter got her phone before she could press send! It won’t blend in!”
“Sometimes you should worry less about making everything blend in,” Flo patted her hand soothingly. “There are times the end result is more important. In this case, we need to keep our charge alive.”
Both fairy godmothers looked down at the unconscious Laura, her hands and feet securely tied. They glanced over to Victoria and Walter, in the middle of an argument. They knew just how dangerous this situation had become. Anything could happen from here on in.
“You’re right Flo,” Lotta smiled, her face turning determined. “We can’t let our charge down. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to her and we could have prevented it. If it costs us our wands, so be it!” She pulled her wand from thin air, its tip sparking wildly.
Flo raised her wand with Lotta. Both took up a battle stance, as they got ready to step in where they were needed. And they were sure they would be needed!
Chapter Eighteen
The sound of raised voices drew Laura back to consciousness, her head feeling as if a hundred drums were banging away in it. She held back the groan that threatened to erupt from her dry throat. She could feel the hard ground biting into her bruised body. Her arms were pulled behind her, ropes cutting into her soft skin where her hands had been securely tied together. She tried to test the knots, but they were tied too tight for her to even have a hope of working her hands free. She was dismayed to realise her legs had also been tied together. She wouldn’t be able to get to her feet and make a run for it either.
Laura pushed aside her discomfort to focus in on the argument going on somewhere near where she was laying. “You haven’t thought this through!” came Walter’s irate voice. “We’re going to get caught at this rate!”
“You’re the one not thinking things through,” Victoria snapped back. “We won’t get caught. This is going to be perfect!” Her tone took on a childish excitement that chilled Laura to the bone. She cracked her eyes open slightly, trying to peep through her lashes at the events taking place. She tried to hold back a moan as pain stabbed through her head. She had to blink several times in order to clear her vision. She could see Victoria standing several feet from her, tapping out a message on Laura’s phone. Walter paced a few feet from her.
“What are you saying to him?” Walter asked agitated. “You have to be careful or you could put your foot in it and give something away.”
Victoria snorted. “Give me some credit. Didn’t you notice the ring on her finger? Jake has obviously proposed. If I know him, he’ll be planning some kind of celebration. I am merely telling him Laura will be late as sh
e’s shopping for something special to wear tonight and not to worry.” Victoria’s face glowed with smug satisfaction as she finished the message and hit send.
“Why didn’t you do that straight away?” Walter complained. “We’ve lost enough time as it is!”
“Because you kept panicking and shouting at me; I couldn’t think straight.” She tossed her hair, her expression becoming fierce. Laura was beginning to realise that Victoria was not right in the head. Her only chance was if she could talk Walter round. He’d seemed to care about her at one time, unless it had all been an act. Somehow she would have to risk it. If she could just get him to see reason and let her go, but she wasn’t sure she could chance working on him unless Victoria left them alone for a short time. She doubted she could get through to him with her around.
“So now what?” Walter’s tone had become placating. Victoria seemed to calm down slightly at his subservient attitude. She tapped a long manicured finger against her jaw, her eyes turning speculative.
“I’ve been thinking of adjusting our plans somewhat,” she informed him. “Laura landing in our laps is going to benefit us tremendously.” She patted him affectionately on the cheek. “I will still get to drive Jake into a breakdown and it will also give you your desire to have her.”
Laura’s blood turned to ice, her stomach rolling over. Just what did that mean? Walter’s face had lit up like Victoria just offered him the moon. Suddenly Laura’s plan to talk him into letting her go fizzled out. It seemed unlikely she could talk him around, judging by the look on his face. Her hopes popped like a balloon, leaving her feeling deflated, scared and shaken.
“How?” he asked simply, rubbing his hands together with delicious anticipation.
“We still poison the horses,” Victoria explained. “But we’re going to leave a little something behind.” She walked to the corner of the room and pulled out a bag she’d stashed there. Putting on a pair of gloves, she removed a box from the bag, opened it and picked out a long glass tube with a stopper in the top. “This poison is lethal. It doesn’t take much to kill a whole herd of horses. You will poison all the water sources for their breeding stock and leave this somewhere, not too obvious mind, for them to find.”
“Why?” Walter asked, coming over to view the box full of poison.
“Really, isn’t it obvious?” Victoria smirked. “I am going to plant Laura’s fingerprints on it.” She giggled in glee.
“He’ll never believe that,” Walter said doubtfully.
Victoria rolled her eyes in annoyance, her lips pursing angrily. “Of course he will. The evidence will be right there before his eyes. After all, Charger was only poisoned after she arrived and when this happens to his other horses, he’ll have to believe it’s true. Also, she will be gone. Packed up and run off as far as he’s concerned.” Her eyes glittered maliciously. “He’ll fall apart so bad, there will be no putting him back together again this time.”
Horror filled Laura at the callous way they were talking about destroying a man’s life. She couldn’t understand why they were doing this. Victoria was obviously linked with Walter somehow. She talked with an English accent while she was around him. How they knew each other, Laura had no idea. Right now, all she cared about was getting away and warning Jake.
She’d like to believe he would never think her capable of such a hideous crime, but she was afraid that if she wasn’t there to defend herself, he might believe the evidence they were going to leave behind. Laura couldn’t bear the thought of him thinking she’d betrayed him. She tried again, in sheer desperation, to get her hands out of the ropes. Slowly, she twisted and pulled, the ropes cutting in painfully making her eyes water. No matter what, she couldn’t give up.
Suddenly a noise to her right made her glance up. Victoria stood over her, that chilling half smile on her lips. “Looks like our little wren has woken up,” she called to Walter. She crouched down and leaned in close to Laura, her breath brushing over Laura’s cheek. “There’s no point trying to get free of those ropes, sugar,” she whispered, her American accent back in place. “They’re tight as can be. You’re going nowhere.” She patted Laura on the head with a fake sympathetic smile.
“Why are you doing this?” Laura croaked, trying to get her voice out through her dry throat.
“All in good time, sugar. We need to give Walter what he needs to get this job done, then we can talk.” She grabbed Laura’s bound hands, yanking so hard Laura screamed in pain. Refusing to give this woman easy access to her fingerprints, Laura twisted on the ground and tried to kick Victoria with her bound feet. She missed, as Victoria sprang back, hissing like an angry alley cat.
“Hold her legs,” She ordered Walter. He came rapidly forward. Laura tried to kick out at him, but he grabbed hold of her legs, lying down on top of them to secure her in place. She struggled wildly, but she couldn’t dislodge his weight. Finally she collapsed back, her energy almost completely spent.
Laura sobbed uncontrollably. “Please Walter, don’t do this,” she begged him. She had to try to appeal to him and hope he had a conscience left that would come to her aid.
He stared at her with a sorrowful look. “It needn’t have been this way my love,” he told her, running his hand up her leg, making her freeze in horror. “If you’d only let me comfort you last night, as you were meant to, none of this would be happening to you right now.”
Victoria yanked on her arms again, causing sharp pains to shoot through Laura’s protesting arms. Her face hit the floor with punishing brutality, leaving her hardly able to draw breath. She tried to close her hands into fists, but they were numb from being bound so long. As hard as she tried she could not keep the pressure needed to avoid Victoria forcing the tube into her hand. She felt the cool smooth glass of the tube of poison as Victoria held it in her hand, making sure the fingerprints were well and truly on the glass. Carefully, she took the tube out of Laura’s hand and placed it back into the box.
Walter continued to sit on Laura even though Victoria had achieved her goal and moved away. His eyes stared at her in an unnerving way, his hands beginning to rove all over her body at leisure. Laura desperately wanted him to get off her. How could she have thought she’d be able to reason with him? He was obviously as twisted as Victoria. She tried to pull back from his questing fingers, but her struggles only seemed to excite him more.
Victoria walked back over and slapped him on the back of his head. “You can play with your new toy later,” she snapped. “Right now you have a job to take care of. And don’t let me down!”
“Can’t I have a little time with her now?” Walter begged, licking his lips in anticipation and squeezing Laura’s breast with punishing fingers. Laura began to hyperventilate in her mounting terror. “Look,” he whispered eagerly. “See how she’s panting for me?” Laura closed her eyes against the nightmare she found herself in. She’d never been so scared in her life. She wished she could black out again and save herself from this ordeal.
“No,” Victoria insisted. “We only have so much time to get this done. I want Jake to pay. You’ll have years to enjoy her. You’ll just have to wait.”
“Fine!” Walter snapped. Laura thought she might just faint from relief. “But one little taste won’t hurt.” Caught off guard, Laura had no time to react before his lips were over hers, grinding into her so hard, he mashed her lips against her teeth until she could taste blood. He grabbed hold of her jaw and forced her mouth open, plunging his tongue inside, making her want to gag as he sucked at her tongue. His other hand played with her breast as he ground his pelvis into her hip. Laura felt tears sliding down her face, a deep desperate longing for Jake filling her. How she wished he was here to save her. She tried to drown out what Walter was doing, but somehow everything was in sharp focus and she was all too painfully aware of every detail.
Suddenly, Walter jerked back with a strangled cry, grabbing at his butt. He glared at Victoria. “I was only having a little taste. You didn’t have to stab me. I to
ld you I’m going!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Victoria snarled. “I’m getting the bag ready. I couldn’t care less about your little tryst.” She zipped it shut. “Now get off the floor and get going.” She shoved the bag at him as he got to his feet. He nearly dropped it. Victoria glared daggers at him. “Don’t let anything happen to that bag!”
“I’ll text you when it’s done,” Walter snapped, stamping out the door. Laura slumped forward on the floor, grateful he was gone. She took deep cleansing breaths, but the taste of him still filled her mouth, making her want to gag.
“I wouldn’t feel too relieved sugar,” Victoria’s taunting voice flowed over her. “You’ll be spending a lot of quality time with Walter when this is done. He’s going to keep you somewhere that nobody will find you. See, he wants you badly and what he wants, he gets.”
Laura struggled to sit up, curling her legs to the side in an effort to balance herself. “Why are you doing this?” she asked. “I have the right to know why I’m here, trussed up like a Christmas turkey.” She sniffed, wishing she could wipe her face. “And what could Jake possibly have done to deserve what you’re doing to him?”
“I suppose it would be fun at that, to tell you a little story while we wait for Walter’s text.” Victoria sat on an old table that stood in the corner of the room. “See it all began twenty years ago, when Walter and I were very young. If you haven’t already guessed, he’s my brother.” Laura gasped in shock. Somehow that had never occurred to her. They looked nothing alike, but it seemed obvious now, considering both of them were English and Walter had never taken a sexual interest in the beautiful Victoria, when he seemed to love every other female that breathed.
Victoria laughed long and low. “It would seem from your reaction that you had no idea, how delicious.” She swung her legs back and forth in childish delight. “Anyway, our father knew Jake’s father through the racing circuit. They both used to race horses and generally, they won a lot of competitions. Jake’s father made a lot of money selling the offspring of his champions and so did my father. They were in a fierce rivalry at the time. My father took a lot of business away from Jake’s. Then one day, Jake’s father set mine up by shopping him to the police, accusing my father of drugging horses and fixing races.”
Wild Fire (The Fairy Tale Match Series) Page 30