by Maggie Ryan
Suddenly there was no more road and she slammed the brakes on with both feet and closed her eyes, sure she was going to do a Thelma and Louise take-off from the cliff.
But no, the vehicle came to a shuddering stop and she put the transmission in park. Grabbing her keys and cell phone, she ran from the car. She could hear another car come crashing through the trees on the narrow road and all she wanted to do was find someplace to hide.
Brent and Russ came up on the dark blue sedan. Telling Russ to stay in the car, Brent cautiously approached the sedan with his handgun ready, looked inside and then walked around to the front. Russ saw him studying the road and checking out the front of the car. Then Brent walked to the back of his truck and studied the road behind them for a few minutes before he jumped back into his vehicle and started driving, going around the blue car.
“What’s going on?” Russ asked.
“No one’s in the car and it looks like someone—I’m thinking Debi—slammed into the front of it. The radiator is damaged and all the fluid has leaked out.”
“So what are we doing now?”
“Trying to figure out where the hell the asshole that was driving that piece of shit of a car went.”
“And how the fuck do we do that?” Russ wanted details and he wanted them now.
“Calm down, Russ. If I’m reading things correctly, there was a second car following Debi. I’m not sure how it got ahead of her or how that driver knew where she’d go so he could get ahead of her, but I’m pretty sure we’re dealing with two cars. It looked like a car swerved suddenly to pass, but there’s no way to know it’s the same car that was ahead of Debi.”
Brent was driving far too slowly for Russ’s peace of mind and he asked, “Shouldn’t you be going faster?”
“Settle down, we’re gonna find her.”
Brent continued to drive slower than normal, explaining to Russ that he didn’t want to miss any additional signs that might tell him something. Then he came to one of the dirt side roads and it looked recently disturbed with tire tracks fishtailing onto it.
“She went this way,” he said as he turned in.
“How do you know?”
“Tire tracks. Keep your eyes peeled for any sign of her car or any other cars.”
In a few minutes, Russ saw the SUV. “There, it’s her SUV!”
To the left, Brent saw a white car that had to be the one working with the blue sedan. “Stay here,” he ordered Russ.
“Fuck that! My wife is out there!” Russ got out of the truck.
Brent shook his head, but he didn’t tell Russ no. Russ knew if it were Char out there in trouble, nothing would have kept Brent waiting in the truck. “Go check out her vehicle. Be careful and try and stay out of sight.”
Russ ran to the side of Debi’s car and saw her store packages in the cargo area, but other than her purse on the front seat, the rest of the vehicle was empty. Looking over at Brent, he shook his head to let him know Debi wasn’t in the car.
Brent waved him back over and said, “All right, we’re going forward. Move as quietly as you can, watch where you’re going, and don’t do anything stupid.”
The two men moved slowly, using the trees as cover. They could hear someone or something hurrying though the brush and followed the sound. Brent put his arm out to stop Russ.
Holding his finger to his mouth for silence, he pointed up ahead and to the right. Two men were standing at the edge looking down at something and talking. Brent and Russ quietly inched closer until they could hear what the men were saying.
“The bitch is down there, no way is she gonna be able to get back up here.”
“What if she’s not dead?”
“Don’t matter,” the first one replied. “It’s just a matter of time before she is. Come on, let’s go. We’ll send her car over the edge and everyone will think she went with it. No one will think to look here. But we gotta hurry.”
After hearing their words, Russ was ready to run forward, but Brent held him back.
“No, wait until they move towards the cars, then we’ll let them know we’re here.” Brent whispered low and Russ nodded his head in understanding even though he wanted to run to the edge and see if he could get to Debi. All he could think of was she could be hurt.
The two men didn’t even attempt to keep quiet as they clomped through the trees. When they were about fifty feet from where they were looking over the edge, Brent stepped out and racked the shotgun.
“Going somewhere, boys?”
The men turned quickly, both of them reaching for their weapons. That was all Brent needed. He fired one barrel of the shotgun and then the second. They both fell to the ground, riddled with buckshot. At that close range, it was unlikely either one of them would survive.
At the sound of sirens behind them, Russ ran to the edge and peered down. There was Debi, laying on her side next to a huge bush, not moving. She was about twenty or thirty feet down on a wide outcropping of rock.
“Debi!” He hollered down to her. “Hang on, Debi! I’m coming down. Help is on the way.”
Debi was afraid to move. She had heard the two men talking and had tried to stay very still hoping they would think she was dead. What if they shot her just to be sure she was dead? She was sure the voice calling down to her now belonged to Russ, but she was still afraid. Afraid to move, afraid to answer. She’d heard gunshots and had no idea what happened.
He yelled down to her again. “Help is here, Debi. Please hang on. They’re coming with some rope and I’ll be right down there.”
It was Russ! She was sure of it now and she gingerly sat up and waved at him. “I’m okay, Russ! I landed on the bush and nothing broke. Just some cuts and scratches.”
The rescue squad had arrived and two men scaled down the cliff using rope ladders. They checked Debi over, and found a couple of cuts that would need a few stitches. She had a few bruises, but nothing serious. Her knee was banged up and swollen, but it worked when she tried to move it. When they wanted to call for a litter to be sent down, she refused, saying she could get up the ladder with just a little help.
With one rescuer directly behind her, making sure she wouldn’t fall, Debi made the climb up and fell into Russ’s arms. “Oh god, Jess. I was so scared. How did you find me?”
“We can thank Brent for that. He saw the tire tracks going off onto the dirt road and followed them.”
Brent stood just a few feet away, looking as though he hadn’t heard Debi call her husband Jess instead of Russ. Debi went and gave him a hug. “Thank you so much, Brent. Who knows how long I would have been stuck on that ledge. I might have died there if it wasn’t for you.”
Brent patted her on the back and said, “You did real good Debi. You disabled the blue car, and that was great, but why did you turn on the dirt road instead of going straight to Corbin’s Bend where there’d be help?”
“My friends are there, and all the children. I couldn’t bring danger to them.”
Brent smiled. “You’re one tough lady, Debi. We’re lucky to have someone like you in Corbin’s Bend.”
Russ came up and put his arm around Debi. “We’re lucky your brother picked Corbin’s Bend for us.”
Debi looked at him in surprise. He was as good as telling Brent they were in the Witness Protection Program.
“He knows, Debi. That’s how we knew there might be trouble. Jack called this morning about a couple of men on their way to Colorado and had to tell Brent about the whole Mellinni mess.”
“Oh no, that’s bad! We’re going to have to move again now. I don’t want to, I want to stay where we are.”
“Don’t worry,” Brent said. “Jack will be here tomorrow and we’ll talk about it. I think it just might be okay.”
They sat in Brent’s office a week later and listened to the wild tale Jack Carmichael told them. Apparently Renee Stone, one of the last agents to work with the Hunters before they reached Corbin’s Bend, was working for the Mellinni Family. She had passed their
new names on to the two men who had been given the job to kill Russ and Debi.
Renee hadn’t known their final destination was Corbin’s Bend—only that they were being relocated in the Denver/Boulder area. She had followed as far as she dared on their way to their new location before turning back. It was far enough for her to know they could be found somewhere north of Boulder.
For weeks, she and the two men working under her direction in the Mellinni Family, searched public records looking for a home purchase by the Hunters or even a rental agreement. They didn’t find anything because Corbin’s Bend was a co-op community, not individually owned residences. In fact, Stone and her two minions hadn’t bothered checking co-ops at all.
What had brought them so close to Corbin’s Bend was the purchase of Russ’s auto repair van. Adding a layer of security, the Hunters had been set up with a post office box in Boulder. It was one of those mailbox stores where you had the street address of the store with a unit number for your box. Russ and Debi picked their mail up once or twice a week when they made a trip to town.
When Stone came across the purchase of the van in Colorado’s vehicle registration database, she discovered the post office box address and they immediately began surveillance hoping one of the Hunters would come in to pick-up mail. Then Stone found the registration of Debi’s SUV.
It was pure chance that they spotted Debi that morning in Boulder and had the opportunity to follow her. Their intention had been to force her to tell them where Russ was, then they’d kill her and go after Russ. Instead they were the ones killed.
“I knew there was something not right with Agent Stone!” Russ said before asking, “And where is Stone now?”
“She’s dead. We had her in custody and she confessed hoping for a lighter sentence. Unfortunately there was an incident when she was being held in lock-up just before she was to be transported for a court hearing. She was found dead in the women’s showers. It appeared she slipped and hit her head on the corner of a tiled built-in bench, but the autopsy revealed she had a broken neck. We’re pretty sure the Mellinni Family had her killed so she couldn’t testify about any of their activities.”
“So are we safe now?” Debi had a slight hope they could go back to their original lives.
“You’re safe as Russ and Debi Hunter. The two men Brent shot lingered for a few days before they died and they confirmed Stone’s story. They reported only to Stone. Agent Stone was desperate to get away from the Mellinni Family and she wrote out her full confession with all the details of how they found you and who knew of your whereabouts. To the Mellinni bosses you two are small potatoes. We lucked out that she never told them your new names simply because she didn’t see a need. She had it under control. Stone was in charge of handling your disposal and she reported to them that you had been taken care of. In the process of eliminating you two, she lost the two men working with her and was herself arrested.”
“Then we still can’t go home.”
“No, but they won’t be actively looking for you any longer. Since they didn’t know your new names, they think Jess and Colleen Bradley are dead. You and your family can get together occasionally. I wouldn’t go too wild with visiting them and I would probably stay out of Chicago so you don’t get recognized. But you can make careful arrangements for visits and I’ll help you with that.”
A huge weight lifted from Debi and she was a little surprised that she didn’t feel more disappointment about not being able to go home. It must mean she was happy here. She looked at Russ and saw he wasn’t any more disappointed than she was.
They thanked Jack and Brent for all their help and left to go to their home.
“Russ?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you want to stay here in Corbin’s Bend?” They were sitting in their living room with the television on but they weren’t paying attention to it.
“Sure, where else would we go? I thought you liked it here.”
“I do but now that we don’t have to worry quite as much, I just wondered if you’d rather go someplace where spanking isn’t such an integral part of the community.”
“Nah, I think we’re fine here. Besides, spanking is becoming an integral part of us.”
She giggled and agreed with him. “I can’t believe how it just happened. From being a little embarrassed about being here and living on a street just off Spanking Loop, to having a little fun spanking and then to being punished twice!”
Russ told her how he’d blurted out that he was going to blister her butt in front of Brent.
“I was so frustrated when I couldn’t reach you, it just slipped out.”
“But you didn’t ‘blister my butt’ when it was all over.”
“I know. I think I was so relieved you were safe and unharmed, I didn’t even think about it.”
They sat there quietly, each in their own thoughts about how much their lives had changed. Debi had something else she needed to talk to Russ about.
“You’re not going to turn into one of these super controlling guys that has to regulate everything their wife does, are you?”
“What would make you ask that? And have you even met a guy like that here?”
She tried to think of one, but couldn’t. “No, I guess not. But I’ve read about them on the internet…you know, on those blogs. And I do know plenty of women here have a lot of rules they have to follow.”
“First, remember everything on the internet is not necessarily true. Second, I think some of the women thrive on the rules. If they didn’t have them, they wouldn’t get the things done they’re supposed to do.”
“Okay, but you remember when the kids were young? The house was always a mess and I wasn’t that good of a cook. But we always had clean clothes and something to eat. Did it matter that the house wasn’t as neat as a pin?”
“Not to me. We enjoyed more time with the kids and took care of the cleaning just before it got out of hand. Everyone’s not like that. You know, some rules are kind of like just having a list of things you need to get done in one day. If it works for them, why do we care?”
“I just don’t want you coming up with a bunch of rules. We’ve come this far by working together and I don’t want that to change. You know, there are a few couples living here that have a very strict DD relationship.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s none of our business though and doesn’t concern us. We’re still going to work together, babe. Just like we’ve always done. But you do realize you have three rules now, right?”
“No I don’t,” she protested. “There’s just two rules—not to call you by your old name and no jealousy over women bringing you cookies.”
“Rule number three is for you not to forget your Bluetooth ever again.”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. With the Bluetooth, I’ll know when I have a call even when I’m singing along with the radio.”
“That’s right.”
“But we don’t need any more rules.”
“We’ll take it one day at a time.” Russ wasn’t sure he wanted to promise no other rules would be put in place. Instead, he asked, “What’s going to happen if you break one of those three rules?”
She blushed prettily and nearly whispered her answer. “You’re going to blister my butt. And not in a very enjoyable way.”
“Exactly.” Russ turned to kiss the top of her head. “But there will still be other spankings.”
Debi sat up and looked at him with wide eyes. “Why? What for?”
He pulled her over his lap and gave her three or four swats over her jeans. “Because it’s hot and makes me want to fuck you. Now get upstairs and get naked so I can spank you properly, you naughty girl. Now.”
She smiled, ready for some of the fun spanking they’d come to enjoy so much, and said, “Yes, sir.”
Russ followed her up the stairs, his cock already straining against the front of his pants as he watched her bottom swaying side to side.
Holla Dean
&nb
sp; Holla Dean writes sexy spanking stories. She currently has over 15 books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other book selling sites.
Holla reads many different genres, but writes romance, specifically spanking romance. Funny thing is, sometimes the characters just don’t want to spank or be spanked. Rather than force it on her characters, Holla lets them slide on that little detail and just continues with the sexy romance. After all, even though it’s hard to believe, spanking isn’t for everyone.
Holla lives in the Arizona desert near Phoenix where there are no snowstorms, no tornadoes, no hurricanes, no blizzards. There’s no need to wear heavy parkas, boots, and mittens though if you want to wear all that stuff all you need to do is drive a couple of hours north to the mountains. There is the occasional dust storm or Haboob and when that happens, Holla takes her laptop indoors and just keeps writing.
Don’t miss these exciting titles by Holla Dean and Blushing Books!
Corbin’s Bend
Safe Under Protection
Fire in the Rockies
Monsoon Heat
Also by Holla Dean
Maid for the Cowboy
Sylvie Takes Charge
His to Tame
Connect with Holla Dean:
www.holladean.com
Psychology of Submission
Livia Grant
©2015 by Blushing Books® and Livia Grant
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