by Bryan Smith
Then she saw it.
A seventies sedan. It was stopped at the side of the road some thirty yards ahead. The driver’s-side door stood slightly ajar, and the dome light was on. Jessica spied a shadowy single form leaning toward the passenger seat. She tromped on the cruiser’s brake pedal and brought the car to a shuddering halt perhaps ten yards to the rear of the sedan. She scanned the cruiser’s dashboard and found what she was looking for after a few desperate seconds. The flashing lights atop the cruiser’s roof came on, bathing the roadside in strobing shades of red and blue.
She grabbed the dead cop’s .38 and took a deep breath.
You can do this.
Sure she could. She thought of all the daring things she’d already done today. The return to Hoke’s house after he’d raped her. The abduction. The wild flight into the woods. All the men she’d killed so far. This was nothing. She just had to make the driver of the sedan believe she was a cop long enough to get him out of his car. The number-one obstacle was her civilian outfit. But the jeans and tight black V-neck T-shirt she wore were dark and unremarkable, the T-shirt unadorned by any logo or image. Good enough to get by for those few first crucial moments after she stepped out of the car. Or so she hoped. She set the gun down and pulled her long hair back, twisted it in a quick knot, and looked in the mirror. She squinted and made her face go hard. The reflected expression disturbed her. It made her look tough, maybe even a little mean. Which was not at all how she’d seen herself prior to today. But she wasn’t really that person anymore, was she? A slight pang of loss came and went. There would be plenty of time to think about what she had become if she ever managed to make it back home. In the meantime…
She grabbed the gun again and got out of the car. The sedan’s dome light winked out in the same instant she threw the cruiser’s door shut. She hesitated a moment, standing next to the cruiser with the gun pointed toward the ground. And in that moment she was intensely aware of the inherent dangers in police work. The man driving the sedan could be a criminal, might even have a gun of his own. Maybe he’d turned the light out so she wouldn’t see him going for a weapon. There were a lot of fucking maybes here, so many ways everything could go wrong. But the hell with it. This was obviously her only chance to ditch the cruiser and put some levels of separation between herself and the murdered cops.
Her fingers flexed around the .38’s grip as she took her first steps toward the sedan. She was close enough now to see that it was a tan Chevy Nova. It was a heap, probably held together by spit and duct tape. She raised the gun slightly, still pointed at the ground but held in front of her, primed to lift and snap like a cobra if necessary.
She reached the Nova and bent at the waist to peer through the open driver’s-side window. A young man with short, greasy hair and a day’s worth of stubble on his square chin grinned up at her. An unlit cigarette was tucked behind an ear. He looked her up and down and made an appreciate noise. “Damn, darlin’. When did the local law start hiring supermodels?”
Jessica pointed the .38 at the center of his face. “Step out of the car.”
The man’s grin faltered some, but didn’t disappear entirely. “I ain’t done nothin’ wrong, girl. Why you pointin’ that thing at me?”
“Shut up and step out of the car.”
The man smirked. “Yeah? Or what? You’ll shoot me in the face?”
He laughed.
Jessica thumbed back the .38’s hammer. “Yes. I’ll shoot you in the fucking face.”
The man stopped laughing and the mirth drained from his sparkling eyes. Blue eyes. Greasy hair aside, he was actually pretty hot, at least by Hopkins Bend standards. A strange fantasy coalesced in her head as she stared him down. She saw herself forcing him into the Nova’s back seat. Keeping the gun on him as she pulled her pants down and sat on his face. Her lips curled in self-disgust. Could she really be considering perpetrating rape against this man after all she’d been through today?
My God, she thought. You’d be no better than Hoke.
Of course she wouldn’t do it.
But she kept staring at him, kept thinking things no woman in her position should be thinking. She imagined her pussy pressed against his red lips, and the arousal rising within her grew to a flame of intense desire. A fresh surge of self-disgust accompanied it. The clock was ticking. She had to get in the Nova and get away from the cruiser and its flashing lights.
The man frowned. “You’re not a real cop, are you?”
“No.”
There was fear in his eyes now. “Fuck. You stole a cop cruiser. I’m not even gonna ask what happened to the cop. You’re gonna kill me, aren’t you?”
Jessica bit a corner of her bottom lip, thought a moment. Then said,“Maybe not.”
The man’s frown gave way to a small, hopeful smile. “It’d sure be cool if you didn’t. It’s a rotten old world a lot of times, but I sure like being alive.”
Jessica realized she liked the sound of his voice. A deep, easygoing drawl with an underlying humor in every syllable. She struggled to keep her face hard. “I bet you do. But it’s gonna depend on what you can do for me.”
“Like what?”
Jessica allowed the smallest of smiles to shade the edges of her mouth. “Like on how fast this heap of yours is. And on how quick you can get me out of this goddamn redneck shithole town. And maybe even a little on how good you kiss.”
The man grinned. He reached for the cigarette behind his ear and wedged it into a corner of his mouth. “Hop in, darlin’. I think you’re gonna like the answers to all them crazy questions.”
Jessica lowered the gun and hurried around to the other side of the Nova. The man reached across the seat and unlocked the door for her. She slid inside, set the .38 on the dash, and reached for him, seizing handfuls of his shirt and pulling him close. Their lips met and they tasted each other hungrily. Her tongue slid in and out of his mouth. She nipped at his bottom lip, elicited a low growl of lust from the man. Then they broke the clinch and stared at each other, panting heavily.
The man grinned again and shook his head. “Damn. What a crazy night this is turning out to be.”
Jessica cupped his crotch and squeezed. “What’s your name?”
The man groaned. “Larry. Uh…damn, woman. Larry Wolfe.”
Jessica licked her lips. “Larry, you don’t know the half of it. Crazy doesn’t begin to cover what I’ve been through. And I’ll tell you all about it after you get me someplace safe.”
She let go of his crotch and smiled at the way he shuddered.
This was insane.
She knew it.
And she didn’t care. Fate was playing a lot of fucked-up games with her head today. She figured the best way to cope with it was to keep on doing what she’d done so far—just roll with it.
Larry turned in his seat and sat up straight behind the steering wheel. He put the car in gear, and in a moment they were rolling down the road. He glanced at her. “I’ll take you to my house. That’s where I was headed anyway. It’ll be the safest place for now.”
Jessica tensed. “No. I told you. I want out of here. Now.”
Larry shot her a reassuring smile. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve done or why you’re in trouble, but it’s obvious it’s something pretty heavy. You don’t want to be on the road much longer tonight. At my place you’ll have a chance to hunker down and let the heat cool off.”
Jessica thought about it. “You’ve got a point.”
“Sure I do. And think of the fun we can have with a bit of privacy.”
Jessica smiled. “Yeah. Okay. Fuck it. Let’s do it. One question, though.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you as fucking crazy as everybody else I’ve run into here? Are you one of the bad guys?” She retrieved the .38 from the dash and held it in her lap. “Because I’ve killed a lot of people today, Larry. I’d hate to have to add you to the list.”
Larry shrugged. “I live on the outskirts of town proper. The real cr
azies are out in the woods. I know some about the shit that goes on, but that’s about it. I don’t exactly condone any of it, but it’s just the way of things. If you’re raised here, you know not to make a stink or talk about the old families and their fucked-up ways in mixed company.”
Jessica was silent for several long moments.
Then she sighed.
“Okay.”
Larry reached for the dashboard lighter and lit his cigarette. “Cool.”
They stayed silent for a while after that.
Jessica stared out the open window on her side, watching the dark blur of trees as the sedan sped down the winding road. She could be making a big mistake by going along with this. Her original thought had been to stuff the guy in the trunk, same as she’d done with Hoke. But this felt right for reasons she couldn’t quite put into words. Reasons based on gut instinct and primal lust, which she supposed were as good as any tonight.
She kept one hand on the gun in her lap.
With the other, she reached for Larry’s knee…
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
It was full night now.
So she wouldn’t stop saying it.
“Now it’s night. Now you fuck me. Now it’s night. Now you fuck me.”
On her hands and knees, her round ass wiggling in the air as she moved toward him, looking like a predatory alley cat ready to pounce on prey.
“Now it’s night. Now you fuck me. Now it’s night. Now you fuck me.”
Pete backed up, felt the fence against his back.
Looked down, saw her smiling face staring up at him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Stay away from me.”
Her hand on his crotch, squeezing his hardness through the khaki fabric.
Pete moaned.
Reflected moonlight gleamed in her dark eyes, accentuating madness.
She smiled, licked her chapped lips.
Squeezed him again and reached for his zipper tab.
“Stop!”
Pete shoved her hand away—a hand much softer than he’d expected—and moved sideways away from her, into a corner of the cage.
She laughed and came at him again on all fours.
His fingers curled through the chain-link fencing.
“Please stop…”
More mad laughter. “I can’t wait to feel you inside me. I’m so wet. How do you want to take me first? From behind? On top? You want me to ride you?”
Kneeling at his feet now, soft hand sliding over his crotch again.
Pete whimpered, curled his fingers tighter around the chain-link fencing.
His erection strained the front of his khaki shorts and she gripped it, stroking him through the fabric, the motion soft at first, then harder, twisting his cock and making him cry out.
He cursed his weakness, tried to dampen the arousal by thinking about Megan again, but she seemed far away now, and he stayed hard as the woman manipulated his organ in almost sadistic ways without actually freeing it from its khaki confines. He couldn’t understand why this was happening, or why he was so unable to control his physical response to Justine’s crude seduction techniques.
She had begun to seem more attractive as the light leeched from the sky, the night obscuring the filth, and the glow of the moon highlighting the lush,sensual curves of her body. And something in her naughty mantra,
…now it’s night, now you’ll fuck me…
had worked on him in more subtle ways, slithering into the back of his brain and whispering erotic promises of ecstasy to the most primitive parts of his subconscious. And somehow it began to work, revulsion giving way to desire. So now he was on the verge of giving in completely. He could take some solace in knowing he’d fought this. A tiny, almost infinitesimal amount, but solace nonetheless.
Enough to get through this exercise in degradation anyway.
The zipper was down now, the button of his shorts open. She yanked his shorts down and drew him fast into her warm mouth. Pete gasped, arched his back, and screwed his eyes shut. Her head bobbed up and down, her tongue doing things to him Megan didn’t know how to do; then her mouth came away from him and he cried out again.
He opened his eyes and looked down at her.
She was on her back now, on the ground, legs spread wide, one hand flexing between her legs, another tweaking the erect nipple of a breast.
She lifted her head to look at him. “Now it’s night…”
His nostrils flared. “…and now I’ll fuck you.”
He stepped out of his shorts and fell upon her.
The first thrust was among the most glorious things he’d ever felt. Later he might feel only disgust at his weakness. But right now, in this moment, fucking this insane stranger was all he cared about. She growled and wrapped her legs around him. Her nails raked bloody grooves across his muscled back. He took her breasts into his mouth, licked and nipped at the hard nipples. They changed positions twice, and he wound up spurting deep inside her as he banged away at her from behind. But that wasn’t the end of it. She shoved him to the ground and sat on his face.
That went on for a while.
When it was over, she dismounted and lay beside him, curling a soft leg around his midsection. Her breath was warm against his ear as she whispered,“Good?”
He shivered and sighed. He swallowed thickly. “Yes. Good.”
She walked slender fingers across the sweat-matted hair on his chest. “The Preston boys fuck me sometimes. They’re not good. I don’t get off at all.”
“Uh-huh.”
Pete just didn’t know what to say to that. It grossed him out to know his captors had also invaded the same warm space he’d just enjoyed. All this aside from the disturbing revelation that her primary complaint regarding their abuse of her was their inability to make her come. Which was a sobering reminder of how very cracked Justine’s mind had become during her time in captivity. She’d probably been mentally ill before she was abducted, though he couldn’t know that for certain. He didn’t know anything about her, really, beyond how very good she’d felt squirming beneath him. Yes, it had been good. He hadn’t lied about that at all. Hell, it had been maybe the most intense sexual experience of his young life. He could be honest about that, at least. But he felt like shit for allowing it to happen. He loved Megan, and he had betrayed her.
Justine moved her leg, and her silken thigh slid over his crotch. He felt a fresh stirring of arousal. Pete knew they would be at it again very soon. His guilty conscience would not prevent that. Again, he felt shame for his moral failings. But in these circumstances, locked in a cage and likely facing a very grim future, shame would not override lust. He might never be free again, might not even be alive much longer, but in this moment, right now, a warm human body was pressed against his in the dark.
She placed a finger on his chin, gently turned his face toward hers. “What are you thinking about, Petey Pete?”
“Things.”
She giggled. “What things?”
He hesitated at first, not knowing how much of his inner turmoil he should share with her. Some of it involved feelings that should remain private no matter what, but he was also unsure of whether he wanted to talk about anything of substance with Justine. Any amount of real emotional intimacy could lead to some pretty heavy complications down the road. In the end, though, he just couldn’t help himself. There were all these thoughts rattling around in his head, a clamor of conflicting voices, and they screamed for release.
“I was thinking about my girlfriend. Her name is Megan.” His voice cracked slightly on her name, but he cleared his throat and went on. “I shouldn’t have let this happen. I betrayed her.”
Justine wasn’t smiling now. Her eyes no longer sparkled with off-kilter amusement. “I’m your girlfriend now.”
Pete sighed. “No, Justine. You’re not. I’m sorry, but that’s how it is.” He saw her expression harden and scrambled for words that would assuage her feelings. “Don’t get me wron
g. I’m glad this happened. You made me feel good for a while, and that’s no small thing considering what’s happened to us. And, hell, I’ll probably never see Megan again.”
Justine’s stony expression didn’t change. “I am very stable and normal when I have my medication. I’ve been without it for a month.”
Pete was surprised at how lucid she’d become. “Well…I’m sure that’s true, but—”
“In the real world, in my real life, men chase after me.”
“I believe you, but—”
“I have a good job. And a degree from Wellesley. I’m smart and successful.”
Pete squinted,studied her expression closely. He detected no hints of subterfuge or delusion. “Okay. I do believe you. But I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”
Her expression softened a little and she moved her face closer to his. “I’m saying you are not bound to your girlfriend. She is not your wife. And if you get me out of here, there is no good reason why you would not choose me over her.”
Her lips were so close now they were almost touching his.
Pete desperately wanted to kiss her.
But he made himself say, “We live together. We love each other. Maybe we don’t have a legal document proclaiming us man and wife, but we are bound together nonetheless.”
“Such a pretty speech.”
Pete shook his head. “It’s not just a speech. It’s—”
“The Prestons ate my fiancé.”
Pete blinked slowly. “What?”
Justine shifted her body. Her breasts pressed against his chest, her thigh angled against his crotch. “They stretched him out on a big table and made me watch while they chopped off his arms and legs. He was still alive when they did this.”