“Look at you,” I say, eying her up and down.
Her body makes me go crazy. The lingerie that hugs her body makes my cock spring up against my stomach. I feel my endorphins rush through my body, and I can hardly contain myself.
I shake myself out of it. Gotta stick to the details.
“You’re hot as hell,” I say. “No doubt, Andy hasn’t gotten laid in years.”
“Don’t fucking say it,” she says. “Don’t you dare.”
“Just listen to me, will you?” I ask her. “One of these nights, Jeffco is going to be either too lazy or too busy to come with your necessities. They’re bad guys, but they know what it’s like to be locked up. It’s kind of in the code to provide a certain level of hospitality to their prisoners.”
“Okay,” she sighs.
“So Andy will come alone. He’s not a great shot, but he is a great drunk. I’m almost positive he’s always fucked up on some kind of liquor. You need to seduce him.” I lay it on her.
She doesn’t look too happy. In fact, she slaps me right in the face.
“What the fuck was that for?” I ask, rubbing my cheek.
“I am not going to seduce anyone,” she yells. “I’m not some whore you can boss around.”
“Settle down. Jesus, someone might hear you. Are you crazy?”
I back away from her. She’s a good lay and all, but she’s one feisty woman.
“I’m not crazy. I might be the sanest I’ve ever been,” she says.
A couple of days in the hole will make you think that way. It doesn’t mean it’s true.
“You’re going to seduce him,” I say, holding her hands. “You’re not going to fuck him. There’s a difference.”
“I know the difference,” she says, haughtily.
“Good. I thought you did until you slapped me in the fucking face,” I say. “Anyway, once you get him down in this hole, I’m going to cut in, so you won’t have to worry about him touching you.”
“Okay, that sounds a little better to my ears now,” she says, nodding. “So, you come in and knock him out? Then I’m free?”
“Right,” I say. “Then you’re free. Only thing is, you’re going to have to get his pants off.”
She slaps me again. “Fuck,” I growl. “Fine, I’m leaving. If this is how your treat your protector, you’re not getting any more help.”
That one kind of stung.
“My protector?” she screams. “You’re the reason I’m in this mess, you bastard.”
I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down. If I don’t, I swear, I’ll leave this woman in here for the rest of her life.
Who does she think she is? I’ve killed people. She’s seen it. And now she’s slapping my face, bossing me around. It’s embarrassing.
“Fine,” I say, sighing. “You’re right. I’m the reason why you’re down here. I put you in this prison, and you can stay down here for all I care.”
I turn around and grab the first step up. She reaches out and takes my shirt, pulling me down.
“Wait,” she says. “I’m listening. I’ll do whatever it takes. I just want to get out of here.”
18
Caroline
The plan is simple.
Andy hasn’t gotten laid in years. And if he has, it’s been by third-rate prostitutes.
I’m not judging him. I know men like him. They take what they can get. It’s like what Rowan told me: “When he sees you in that lingerie, he won’t be able to control himself. He’ll pounce. And when he does, I’ll come out of the darkness, dressed as a Hunter. I’ll knock him senseless.”
The plan is simple, yet effective. The only problem is, we don’t know when Andy will come alone, if ever. That’s my biggest hang up. That, and my worry that they’ll just decide to kill me.
Rowan reassures me that everything will be okay. He says, “Don’t worry. I haven’t lost a fight yet.”
Somehow that doesn’t make me any more hopeful, but I don’t have much of a choice. It’s either I go with his plan, or I attempt to kill the two cold-blooded killers with my bare hands. Somehow, I think I might lose that one.
When he says he has to leave, the sun is already coming up. I know they’ll be here soon, just like yesterday. He shouldn’t get caught out here again. It won’t look good. They already suspect he’s been with me once, in the past.
“I’ll miss you,” he says, winking.
I don’t know what to say back. This whole thing has been so erratic and crazy, and I’m constantly questioning myself and my decisions. I know I’ve thought it a million times, but was the decision to leave home a good one?
Down here, decisions mean the world. Yet, time seems to stand still, making it harder to understand the context of where you are in accordance to the rest of the world.
At the end of the day, I have to go where the wind takes me. It’s just unfortunate that it’s taken me down here.
He kisses me, and it feels incredible. It pumps my body with enough endorphins and chemicals to tranquilize any animal in the wild.
I feel happy and hopeful, but when he starts climbing out of the hole, it feels like my world is caving in.
He leaves and I’m all alone, forced to fend for myself. I stare at the wall for another three hours, before falling back asleep.
“Wake up, girl,” I hear a voice say. It’s Jeffco, and he’s standing over me with a shotgun. “Come on, now. Get going. I don’t have all day.”
“What?” I peel my eyes open, despite the burning sun splashing against my darkened-round pupils.
“Get the hell up. You have to go to the bathroom, right? Now’s your chance,” he says, throwing the key at me.
I quickly unlatch my shackles and climb up, handing it back to him.
“Don’t run off too far,” he says. “I’ve got my eye on you, girl.”
I don’t know what comes over me. Maybe it’s the sensory deprivation. Maybe I’m not thinking clearly. But in this moment, I decide to do something crazy.
I walk off to the bush he points his shotgun at, and he eyes me very carefully. I can feel his stare burn a hole through my back.
When I’m far enough away from him, I hear another bike rumble up close, and I know it’s Andy coming a little too late.
He looks frantic.
There’s something wrong. Something is going on at the bar. A hold up, a bad deal, or something. I can’t make out his words, but it’s hurried and strained.
I hear him yell, “The bastard got me. He fucking got me!”
Jeffco sighs loudly and growls. “What the hell did you come out here for? You need to see Johnson at the Vet, you fucking moron.”
Now’s my chance. It goes against everything Rowan said, though. Part of me doesn’t know how to react. But the other half of me is saying, “Run. Run as fast as you can.”
And I do.
I run as fast as I fucking can, dress flying up around my legs. I expect to hear gunshots right away. I expect to hear screaming and yelling, and the rumble of bikes.
The crazy thing is, I don’t hear anything until I’m a good ways away. It turns out they’re not so quick on the draw when shit hits the fan.
I hear Jesco curse. He fires his weapon. Whether it’s at Andy or me, I don’t know. Either way, it’s in vain. I’m already too far from the range of his shotgun.
“Get her!” he screams. I finally hear that rumble and realize I need to find a place to hide.
Near to the right of me is the mountain. I’m completely barefoot, and when I look down, my feet are bleeding and stuck with thorns and bullheads.
“Damn,” I sigh, limping toward the rocks. I climb the base of the mountain as if I am an actual climber. I get below a ridge, and I glance to my left. There is a small cave, which I duck inside to hide.
Exhausted, I catch my breath and wipe the tears away. This was such a bad plan. I don’t know how I thought this would work. These men know these deserts like the back of their hands. They practically govern th
is entire area.
I close my eyes and actually start to pray. I never pray. I’m not the religious kind of person like my parents were. But it’s my last hope.
I silently pray, until I hear the rumble stop. Startled, I watch and wait.
Footsteps coming closer…
“Where’s she at?” I hear Andy say, sighing.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Jeffco sings, laughing a little to himself.
“Come on, sweetie-pie. You know we’re going to find you eventually. If you come out now, we won’t hurt you,” Andy says.
“Yeah,” Jeffco replies. “We just want to talk a little.” They both chuckle.
I hear their boots stomping against the dirt. Every so often, their spurs hit the side of a rock and the sound echoes throughout the small cave.
Crunch, the soles of their boots stop near the cave. “Well, I guess we won’t be able to find her, Andy,” Jeffco says.
I hear the sound of his thumb running over his lighter. I hear tobacco leaves seer against the flame. He takes a drag and sighs.
“I guess we’ll have to pack it in and send a team out in the morning. It’s too fucking hot today.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Andy says. “She won’t get too far. There isn’t another city around here for another 30 miles. She’ll never make it without being seen.”
“Tomorrow, then?” Jeffco asks him.
“That sounds pretty good to me. Let’s go have a beer. All this climbing has got me pretty damn thirsty,” he says.
I smile to myself. Everything is going to be okay. They didn’t find me. They got close, but they’re turning back around. They’re going to have a beer, and I can find that town 30 miles away.
I can make it.
I know I can.
I’ve got enough adrenaline to get me to the ends of the earth and back.
My prayers were answered.
“Wait a second, Andy. Do you smell something?” Jeffco suddenly asks.
“Why, I think I do,” he says, sniffing loudly.
“What does it smell like to you, son?” he asks.
“It smells like,” he sniffs and pauses. “It smells like pussy.”
“It does!” Jeffco exclaims, walking toward my cave.
I see his boots, and it’s obvious it’s over. The sick bastards knew where I was all along.
“There you are, baby-doll. Aw. Don’t cry. We’ll treat you right, girl,” he says.
Tears pour down my eyes as he grabs my hair, tearing me out of hiding.
“I don’t blame you for running,” he says. “But you really didn’t think we’d find you? I grew up in this town. Born and raised. I used to play out here as a child. When I grew up, I joined this gang with Andy. Anyone who stood up against us, we took out to this cave. This one. Right here. This is where we’d kill the bastards.”
He points to some old dirt in the back of the cave, and I feel my body start to shake. It’s dark red. “Don’t,” I whisper. “Don’t hurt me. I’m sorry.”
Jeffco turns to Andy and motions at me. “Grab her with me, will ya? We’re taking her somewhere else. Somewhere where she won’t even think of escaping.”
“The basement,” Andy says, nodding.
“Exactly.”
19
Rowan
Smashing my hand against the table, I stare at Andy and Jeffco in disbelief. “What the fuck did she do?” I ask.
All of the glasses fall from the wood, crashing against the floor. “She fled?” I ask again.
“She tried to pull a fast one on us,” Andy says. “But we got her.”
His little smile makes me want to smash his face into a million pieces. Instead, I smash another glass.
“Damn it,” I scream. “We have to be more careful. You idiots can’t manage anything.”
I turn to Caroline and circle around her. My eyes let her know that this is a game I’m playing.
I’m angry she went against the plan. As far as I’m concerned, the plan would have worked. Still, I don’t blame the woman for doing what she felt was right. I would have done the same.
It was a valiant effort.
“I’ll kill her,” Jeffco says, under his breath.
“What did you just say?” I ask him, turning around and putting my hand against my pistol. “You’ll what?”
“I said, I’ll kill her,” he says, defiantly.
This guy is getting too big for his britches. He’s gained a little power during my stay because he supplies me with my paycheck, but in reality he doesn’t mean shit.
I push against him. “You may give me some money, now that I’m on the run,” I smile threateningly, “but you need to realize who you’re talking to. I’m the leader of the High Priests. We supply half of those drugs you sling. We give you hundreds of thousands of dollars of the purest product you can find. In reality, you serve me. Remember that, clown.”
He backs down, but not without puffing up his chest and placing his finger around his weapon’s trigger. “Pull it,” I say. “It won’t change a damn thing.”
Jeffco takes a deep breath and throws the shotgun onto the floor. “You’re right,” he says. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want her taking us all down.”
“She’s a good woman,” I say. “You think she’s going to want to claim the entire Southwest as her own?”
I look at her. Her lingerie peaks out from underneath her dress. My cock jumps against my denim, and I realize just how powerful this woman really is. Hell, she could easily take over the Southwest if she wanted to. All it takes is peeling up the bottom of that dress of hers…
All men would perish.
“I suppose you’re right,” he says. “We’re keeping her in the basement of the Silent Barn, though. I’m not taking any chances. And that’s final.”
“Fine. I don’t give a shit. But you don’t kill her without my permission. All this woman is guilty of is being a little scared of some admittedly bad people,” I tell them.
I glance over at her. Tears have stained her cheeks. She’s beautiful, even if she can’t feel it.
I personally feel at an all-time low. All of this shit, well, it’s my fault. It always is.
When my first girlfriend died in my arms, it was my fault, too. She was in the business. Maybe we both signed up for the lifestyle, but I’ll continue blaming myself for a lifetime.
That kind of pain never goes away.
“Come here,” I tell her, grabbing her chained up wrists. I make sure the others can’t see my hands, and I slip a key in her palm.
I whisper, “What the fuck were you thinking, huh?”
The guys laugh as I push her into the basement. She walks down the stairs obediently and she avoids all eye contact with me.
“You treat her well,” Jeffco says. “Like she’s your wife or some shit.”
“Yeah,” Andy joins in. “Like she’s your wife.”
I walk back up those stairs and grab the shotgun from the floor. I stick it in Andy’s face and say, “Watch it, boy. I’ll blow your jaw right off.”
They back off for the last time, but I’m breathing like a maniac, feeling the blood coursing through my veins.
I want violence.
There are so many options I could choose. I could shoot a hole through their fat stomachs. Leave them bleeding out on the floor. Why not? Do I need money that bad?
I picture the amount of money I have in my safe. It’s a low amount. About 100 dollars. I sigh and think about my life back home, back when I was worth something. Out here, I have to prove myself, time and time again. Ever since this woman got involved in my life, things have turned upside down.
I slam the basement door and stare at them, wide eyed. “I need a fucking drink,” I say.
“You’re in the right place,” Jeffco says, pacing around the bar. I have to be careful now. I’ve threatened the bastard, and he seems stupid enough to react. For the time being, I need to get out of here.
“Nah, I think I nee
d to head home. I’m feeling a little tired. All this Hunter shit is a bit too much, right now,” I say. “I’ll see you tomorrow or something. You treat that woman well, you hear?”
The both nod. I toss Jeffco the shotgun. “You watch yourself, now,” Jeffco says.
“Don’t you worry about me,” I say. “You know I will.”
20
Caroline
I fucked up. I ran. I didn’t know what to do.
When you’re down underground for that long, in a makeshift cement room, you start to lose a bit of your logic.
I wish I had waited like Rowan told me to. Now he’s so angry with me. I can’t even bare to look at him.
I know a lot of what he’s doing is to protect his own ass. Still, I can’t help but feel a little betrayed.
When he leaves, there’s a darkness that creeps over my soul, and I begin to realize the truth to my life. I have no one. No real friends, no family I can rely on, and no love of my life to fill my void.
In fact, this basement I’ve been put in is the perfect metaphor for my existence. Darkness. The nothing. The blackness. This is who I am.
There’s a sound at the door. I see the knob turn. All three of them stand at the edge of the staircase. Rowan walks down one step and motions for me to move.
“Come on,” he says. “We’re going somewhere.”
His voice is calm and steady, which actually makes me more nervous than if was to sound anxious. The mood is serious, while also feeling somber.
I walk upstairs, chains dragging across the floor. He unlatches me, and I feel that sweet relief of slight freedom again.
It feels good. It feels like a breath of fresh air or an ice cold glass of water on a sunny day.
This is too much. I miss the basics.
“Move,” Jeffco says, pushing me.
I see Rowan twitch slightly, as if he might hit him over the head, but he decides not to go with his emotions. At least he’s on my side. I think he’s still on my side, anyway. Maybe not, though. It’s hard to tell these days. They could be taking me out into the desert to kill me, for all I know.
His Hostage: A Dark Romance Page 9