by B. J Daniels
“Make us something to eat,” Gerald said. At first she thought he was talking to her but then realized he was looking at Collin.
“I don’t cook,” he said angrily, as if fed up with the lack of respect he was getting. “Let her do it.”
Gerald shook his head. “Scramble us up some eggs. I’m sure you can handle that.”
“I didn’t see any eggs in the refrigerator,” Collin answered.
“Look again. I had groceries delivered, and I definitely ordered eggs,” Gerald said. “You’ll find everything you need.” Collin looked as if he was going to argue, but sighing, said, “Fine. But she’s going to help me.” He looked toward the kitchen, waiting.
Kate was determined not to move, but then Gerald gave her a nod. It was clear that this man was in charge. Also, she suspected there might be knives in the kitchen. The idea of arming herself had more than a little appeal.
She raised her chin in defiance but turned to go into the kitchen. She could hear Collin’s heavy footsteps behind her. When they were both out of earshot, she spun around just inches from him. “What did you do to Jon?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.
Collin looked startled for a moment. “Nothing. I just tied him to a chair. He’s fine.”
She gave him a withering look. “Nothing is fine about this,” she whispered. “Surely you realize that by now.” He said nothing. “You think they’re going to let you live after this?” She shook her head in disbelief at what this man had gotten her into and himself as well. Couldn’t he see how badly this was going to end? “You need to get us out of this.”
“I can’t,” he whispered back. She heard the desperation in his voice as well as the fear. It appeared he did realize that he was in over his head. Not that it helped, she thought.
“How’s breakfast coming in there?” Gerald called from the other room.
“You’ll never get out of this alive,” she whispered. “And you brought it all on yourself.” With that she headed for the refrigerator, turning her back on him.
* * *
COLLIN FELT HIS cheeks flush with embarrassment at the truth. Kate was right. He was out of his league. He felt stung by Gerald’s contempt for him. Worse, Kate’s. He told himself that he would ferry the drugs across the border, meet the distributor, collect the money and show them all. Anyway, there was no getting out of it now, just as he’d told her. He had to make the best of this situation. But for him to succeed, Kate had to be with him when he crossed the border back into the US.
“I really don’t know how to cook,” he said as she pulled out a carton of eggs, some cheese and a loaf of bread.
“Then get out of my way,” she snapped, shoving the loaf of bread at him. “Surely you can make toast.” She pointed to a toaster in the corner.
He growled under his breath but took the bread and moved aside to let her do her thing. She was so damned efficient, so in control—even knowing how much danger she was in. He hated her for it because it only served as a reminder of how much stronger she was than him.
Ignoring him, she went to work, beating the eggs in a bowl. From the refrigerator, she took out a red bell pepper and a jalapeño, then dug in a drawer and came up with a paring knife. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she chopped the peppers into small pieces and threw them into the eggs before grating some cheese in as well.
When the toast popped up, she slid the butter, a butter knife and a small plate down the counter to him. He couldn’t believe how calm she was. She had to know that if anyone was getting out of this, it wasn’t her. Did she think that Jon Harper was going to save her again? Not likely. He thought of the man down in that cold, dreary basement and wondered when Gerald would order him killed.
* * *
JON LOOKED AROUND the basement as he considered what to do. He hadn’t expected an attack in the hotel room. But he should have. He hadn’t been thinking clearly. He’d assumed Collin would think that he and Kate had taken off on the run. But Collin had her passport. He would have told whoever the brains behind this operation were—the man he’d called Gerald?
Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference if they had run last night, driving across Canada in one direction or another. Kate had said whoever was behind this had help from law enforcement. They would have been located, anyway. He couldn’t worry about that now.
Looking around the basement, he spotted an assortment of tools scattered on a worn workbench. He started to slide the chair toward the tools when he felt one of the legs give. It wouldn’t take much and he would be on the floor. That wasn’t what he wanted. At least not yet.
He carefully rocked the chair until he could get up on his bound feet. Then it was just a matter of working his way slowly to the workbench. Collin hadn’t done much of a job with the tape or the rope, as if he was in a hurry to get it over with. He must have realized it was a waste of time binding a man locked in a basement, since Jon was sure they planned to kill him once Kate was out of here.
It didn’t take long to find what he was looking for on the workbench. Collin had been acting so strangely, now that he thought about it, hurrying to get him tied up, that he hadn’t been paying any attention to the tools or the workbench.
Jon cut quickly through the tape holding his ankles together with the dull box cutter he’d found. Then he went to work on the tape at his wrists. It took only a moment to unwrap the rope connecting him to the chair. He could hear movement upstairs and smell something cooking. He knew he had to move fast. If he were right, Collin and Kate would be leaving soon for the border. Which meant, someone would be coming down those stairs to take care of him.
As he finished freeing himself, he considered his best course of action. He’d never been a hothead, going off half-cocked. Instead, he thought things through, always had.
Free, he couldn’t go upstairs and try to take out as many of their abductors as he could. All any of them would have to do was put a gun to Kate’s head. No, once he was no longer their prisoner, he would be free to pick the time and place to end this.
He thought of Kate and the jeopardy she was already in. Right now they were using him to keep her in line. Without him, they wouldn’t have the insurance they were counting on. But they could still threaten to kill her or hurt her if she didn’t comply. He thought of Collin and what he’d seen in the man’s face when he’d looked at Kate as she’d entered the house earlier. He’d been relieved to see her alive. Which mean Collin did care about her, although Jon was too smart to ever trust that the man might be an ally. But he might be used in a crunch.
Jon turned toward the dusty window at the far end of the room. It was small, but he was slim, and he had no choice. If they caught him, it wouldn’t be Collin taking care of him this time.
* * *
KATE WATCHED THE men out of the corner of her eye as they sat around the table eating. She told herself she couldn’t eat a thing but forced herself to get a few bites down. Just before they sat down to eat, she’d excused herself to use the restroom.
Gerald had ordered Collin to make sure she didn’t go any farther than the bathroom. Once inside, she’d locked the door and quickly put the paring knife she’d pushed up her sleeve into the top of her boot. Then she’d used the facilities, flushed, washed her hands and come out. Collin gave her a suspicious look, making her realize that he might know her a little too well.
“My breakfast is getting cold,” she said as she pushed past him.
Back in the kitchen, Gerald asked if everything was all right. Neither she nor Collin answered. Phil chuckled and then complained that the eggs were too spicy.
“They’re perfect,” Gerald said. “Delicious. Good job, Kate.”
She gave him a nod and ate some of her own. They were spicy. But her insides were already roiling, so it was hard to tell if the eggs added to it.
“Someone is bringing the car over now,” Gerald said
as they all finished. Kate rose to gather up the dishes. “Help her,” he said from behind her at the table. She heard Collin’s chair scrape angrily on the floor, and the next thing she knew he was beside her at the sink.
“You can load them in the dishwasher,” she said, handing him a plate she’d rinsed. He growled something under his breath that she couldn’t make out as she opened the dishwasher for him and pulled out the lower rack.
“Collin, you and Kate will cross the border this afternoon right before it gets dark,” Gerald was saying. “I want you to wait until the shift change. I’ll call you and tell you when to cross. That means you will have to stop before the border—just not too far from the crossing. Don’t cross until you get my call. Once you’re safely across, we’ll let your friend Jon Harper go.”
Kate didn’t believe that. She tried to hold her tongue and couldn’t. Turning toward the table and the two men sitting there, she said, “You won’t let him go.”
Gerald seemed surprised that she would argue with him. Beside her, Collin grabbed her arm, but she shook off his hold. Gerald motioned him aside and faced Kate. “I admire the way you handle yourself,” he said. “I will let him go. What is he going to do? Call the cops? Incriminate you? Even if he could prove that you’re Collin’s hostage, the man isn’t going to get involved. He has too much to lose if he does. There is a bounty out on him. One phone call, and he’d be dead within hours. So if I wanted him dead and didn’t want my own hands dirty, which I don’t... What I need to know is if you can do your job?”
She stared back at the man, trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not. Either way, she had little control over the situation. “I’ll cross the border with Collin and play my part—but only when I know that Jon is safe.”
With a curse, Gerald slammed his fist down on the counter but quickly got his temper under control. “You don’t really have a lot to bargain with,” he pointed out. She said nothing. “But in order to have you all-in on this, you have a deal. I will release him and let him know he has to call you. So, you’ll be hearing from him by the time you reach the border crossing. I’ll call Collin. Jon will call you.”
Kate doubted all of it. But it was the best she was going to get. She gave him a nod and turned back to the dishes.
“Collin, go check on Jon, then get ready to leave,” Gerald ordered as he walked out of the kitchen. “The car’s here. You and Kate are leaving for the border.”
* * *
COLLIN RINSED HIS hands in the sink, his gaze going to Kate. He couldn’t believe that she’d called Gerald a liar to his face. He shook his head as their gazes met. Didn’t she realize the kind of men she was dealing with? She looked calm, but he saw her fingers tremble a little as she reached for the dish towel to dry her hands.
He took it from her when she’d finished and dried his own, all the time holding her gaze. What was she up to? Something. What made her so brave? Or was she reckless? He felt a jolt. He knew this woman pretty well. She looked as if she knew something he didn’t. As he started to turn away from the sink, he realized what she hadn’t handed him to put in the dishwasher.
Collin grabbed her wrist. “Where is it?”
“Where’s what?” she demanded and tried to pull free.
“The paring knife you used to cut up the peppers,” he snapped.
Gerald stepped back into the kitchen, his gaze on the two of them. “Do you have the paring knife, Kate?” he asked in that patronizing tone of his.
She hesitated but only for a moment as if realizing they would find it on her if she refused to give it up. She didn’t need the humiliation of them frisking her. Slowly she nodded, her gaze still locked with Collin’s.
“Would you please give it to Collin,” Gerald said as if talking to an unruly child.
Kate jerked her wrist free of his grasp and bent down to pull the paring knife from her boot. She held it for a moment, the blade pointed at his chest before she tossed it into the sink. “I need to get my purse and my suitcase,” she said and pushed past him and Gerald.
He heard the man laugh. “Nice work, Collin. Now, check on Jon, and let’s get you two on the road,” Gerald said. “I guess I don’t have to tell you to watch her like a hawk. That woman is...” he chuckled appreciatively “...something else, isn’t she?”
Collin couldn’t agree more as he left the kitchen and headed for the basement door. He figured he wouldn’t have to go all the way down the stairs. He should be able to see Jon by just looking through the opening between the ceiling and railing. He entered through the door and snapped on the light. Hadn’t he left it on earlier? He stared down the steps, realizing that he wouldn’t be able to see Jon from here because a beam was in the way. He’d have no choice but to go all the way down.
But as he started to take a step, he was hit with a sudden prickling on the back of his neck that felt like a premonition. He looked behind him. Through the front window he saw Gerald outside talking on his cell phone. Phil was looking at his own phone in the dining room and not paying any attention to him. And yet Collin had the strongest sensation that if he went all the way down these steps, one of them would slam the door and lock him in the basement.
He quickly turned out the light, closed the door and locked it. “Everything’s fine downstairs,” he called to Phil as Kate came out of the bedroom rolling her suitcase behind her. He hurried to get his. The sooner they got out of here, the better, he thought. Until he was in the car and on the road, he wouldn’t feel safe.
The thought almost made him laugh. As if crossing the border with a shitload of drugs and a woman who hated him was safer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
JON HAD BEEN about to wriggle out the basement window when he’d heard a voice just outside. He stepped back, caught movement by the large pines at the front of the house. At first he couldn’t make out the words.
But then Gerald moved closer. He was talking on his phone. Jon listened, catching enough to feel his blood pressure rise. It was all he could do not to storm upstairs and take his chances. Fortunately good sense kept him hunkered just below the window as he listened until Gerald finished his call and went back inside.
Hurriedly wriggling out the window, Jon dropped down behind the dense pines at the front of the house. He was still shaken by what he’d heard Gerald saying on the phone. His mind raced with what to do about the information. The vehicle that had brought him and Kate to the house was still parked outside. A pine tree blocked it from sight out the front window.
He made his way to it, expecting to find the car locked. Crooks often worried about other crooks robbing them. But there was little inside—except for Jon’s duffel, which had been tossed on the passenger-side floorboard where it still lay. Were his phone and guns still inside it?
Quickly picking up the duffel, he ducked down as another vehicle came roaring up the street, followed by another. The first one Jon recognized as the SUV Collin had been driving in Buckhorn. The second was an old pickup that was in the process of being restored.
The driver of the SUV parked it behind the car where Jon was hunkered. He worried for a moment that the man would head for the house. But instead, he left the SUV and walked back to climb into the pickup.
Jon had only a couple of seconds to get moved around to the far side of the car where he was squatting before the pickup roared past. He could feel the hair rise on his neck. He had to hurry. He stared at the SUV, thinking about what he’d heard. How could he let Kate get into that vehicle?
He had no choice. Any other option would get her killed sooner. He figured it would be a while after Kate and Collin left for the border before they would find him missing from the basement. He would do what he had to and hope it was enough.
The first step was retrieving his pickup from the hotel. The weight of the duffle told him that everything was still inside it. He wasn’t sure how much time he had before Gerald
had law enforcement looking for him. He hadn’t gone far when he spotted a mountain bike in one of the neighboring backyards. He vaulted over the fence and minutes later was racing toward downtown Moose Jaw.
* * *
KATE COULD FEEL Collin’s gaze going from her to the rearview mirror to the highway and back as he drove them out of Moose Jaw, headed for the US border. She wondered why he was so nervous. Because he didn’t trust Gerald any more than she did? Nor did she trust Collin. What would happen at the border? Worse, what did he have planned after they crossed?
Neither had spoken since leaving the house. She’d looked back to see Gerald watching them go as they’d left. His expression was hard to read, but she suspected he was worried that Collin was going to screw this up. Or maybe it was her he was worried about.
“What were you going to do with that stupid little knife?” Collin demanded, without looking at her. There was a hard edge to his voice, a bitterness mixed with fury and fear.
She looked out at the snow-covered passing countryside. Collin hit a bump in the road. Something shifted behind her. She glanced back to see that the rear seats had been folded down to accommodate a large white box.
“It’s your wedding dress,” Collin said. “I asked you a question. What were you planning to do with that knife?”
“Defend myself,” she said, turning to meet his gaze.
“From who?” He swung his gaze toward her. She said nothing and saw the well of anger he was fighting to control. “You would have stabbed me?” He sounded disbelieving and hurt along with furious.
It made her laugh. “You can’t be serious. I know you’re planning to kill me once we cross that border. Do you think I’m an idiot?”