“What do you want, Conner?” I asked, trying to stay calm.
“I want you.”
I also wanted him. I had shared my life with him. We had lived together for almost three years and even talked about getting married. He would take me to California sometimes just so I could put flowers on my parents’ graves. Our relationship was great until I discovered the true nature of his family’s business: drug trafficking, prostitution, pornography, and selling runaway teenagers as sex slaves. They had politicians, members of the police department, and anyone else they needed on their payroll. If any of the Crussetts got in trouble, they had ways of getting it fixed. No one in that family or their friends ever went to prison.
“Why did you leave?” he asked again, sounding hurt.
I was sure he already knew as I answered, “Because of your business.” I had an urge to put my arms around him, but then it would be harder to leave him again.
“The family business has nothing to do with us.”
I noticed the dark-eyed man and the black-haired woman strolling to the limo. My spine stiffened. I felt every muscle in my body tensing up.
“What’s wrong?” Conner asked.
“It’s that guy. He’s talking to your men. I keep seeing him everywhere.”
Conner looked over his shoulder. The couple was gone. “I’ll ask my men what he said in a minute.” He took my hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed it. I didn’t stop him. I glanced at the limo again. Conner’s men were no longer visible. Did the man slip them spiders? I couldn’t bear to think of him dying that way.
“Come with me.” I led him into the office building. The building windows were tinted. “Something is going on here in Billings. I think you’re in danger.”
“Danger from whom?” he asked with an amused expression on his face.
“You’ve heard about the spider bites?”
“Yes. That’s how I was able to locate you.”
“I could be wrong. I think everyone in your limo has been bitten.”
Conner peered out the window, pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and made a call. I watched him as his expression changed when he received no response.
“How?” He put away his phone.
“When you walked toward me, I saw three men looking out the limo windows. Then that guy said something to them. Now I don’t see your men.”
“You think he put spiders in the limo?”
“Yes,” I responded with a quick nod while biting my lower lip. “I don’t know why. I think it has something to do with me.”
He yanked out his cell phone again. “I’m calling the police. Let them check out the limo. If you’re in danger, you need to come with me now. My plane’s at the airport.” He kissed my forehead. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”
“No. Don’t call the police. I don’t want anyone else bitten.” I saw Brett’s car pull up to the curb. “I better stay here. A friend just stopped out front to take me to where I’m staying. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You need to leave Billings.”
“You’re not safe here.”
“I’ve been bitten and nothing happened. I must be immune. I’m planning on leaving. I just think it’s better if we each leave separately. I’ll call you when I get away from Billings.”
“I don’t like leaving you.”
“You have to, or you’ll be the next victim.” I saw Brett getting out of his car. “My friend is coming. With the tinted windows he can’t see us, but he’ll be in here soon.”
“You don’t want him to see me?” he asked, clenching his jaw.
“I think you’ll be safer if no one knows you’re here. Please go into one of the offices until I’m gone.” I lightly kissed his lips. “And try to leave with a group of people.”
Conner’s mouth tightened as he looked at me.
“Please,” I begged and squeezed his hands.
He slipped into an office connected to the foyer just as Brett entered the building.
“Why weren’t you outside?” he asked.
“A limo parked out front and I felt a little nervous. I came in here to wait for you.”
“Good. I’m here now, so you’re safe.” He took my hand and we went to his car. The limo was gone. I hoped Conner would be safe.
Driving back to Rex’s place, I tried to memorize the street names again. I gave up when I realized Brett took a new route. Along the way, we stopped at a restaurant.
After our meals were served, Brett asked, “How did your day go?”
I swallowed the food in my mouth. “It was a nice, peaceful day for a change. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.”
He touched my knee under the table and grinned. “That’s good, because I’m not planning on you having a peaceful evening.”
I felt my cheeks turn red as I sipped my wine.
“I wonder if the cops have made any progress in locating the missing couple from the hotel,” he said, cutting his steak.
“I don’t know.” I looked at his knife sawing into meat, and thought about the stout man who lay bleeding on the table.
When we reached the house, Brett served wine. I drank slowly, savoring the flavor, and felt a rush of excitement through my body. I moved closer to him and caressed his arm.
He wrapped his arms around me and passionately kissed my lips. “Do you want to go upstairs, or should we try out the couch?” He playfully licked the side of my neck.
“Upstairs.” My body oozed euphoric pleasure from his closeness.
As we moved toward the stairwell, Brett’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the display. “Damn. I need to take this.” He curled his lip downward as though offering an apology, and then headed into the den.
I went to my bedroom, undressed, climbed in bed, and waited impatiently as my skin tingled with anticipation.
Brett entered, carrying a glass of wine. “Something’s come up at work.” He handed me the glass. “Enjoy this while I’m gone. I should be back in a couple of hours.” He gave me a kiss and left.
Putting down the glass, I opened my mouth, took deep breaths, and tried to calm my lustful desires. I thought how unnatural for me this was. In the past, I always got aroused after I had romance first: a candlelight dinner, soft music, sharing a bath, talking quietly, a bouquet of flowers, a feeling of being loved. The way Conner made me feel. Not this. It’s like I wanted sex, just sex. No romance. No love.
My mind drifted to the night before as my arousal wore off. Was there any possibility it had been a dream? I wanted to remove all doubt since I hadn’t seen Brett at the bizarre event. I picked up the wine glass to take a taste and found myself staring at it. Last night I felt dizzy and weightless, like I could fly, when I was led to a clearing in the woods. Had Brett drugged me? Just in case, I climbed out of bed, poured the wine down the bathroom sink, and sat the empty glass on the nightstand. This was my opportunity to check out the woods without his knowing.
5
The Clearing
At dusk, I got a flashlight out of my car. I headed to the back of the house where I found a path leading into the woods and followed it. The tall, leafy trees blocked out the moon and stars except for an occasional stray beam of light.
A few minutes down the path, I heard faint voices in the distance and recognized some of them from the night before. It wasn’t a dream; it was real. The group had gathered again tonight. I left the path and trudged farther into the woods with my flashlight bobbing up and down. I meandered between the trees and dense foliage. The voices grew louder. I saw light ahead. I quickly covered the flashlight beam with my hand. A dim light now glowed around my fingers as I moved along.
I crept slowly, trying not to make any noise. I stopped in my tracks when I saw a silhouette of a man by a tree ahead of me. I ducked down and turned off the flashlight. Blackness surrounded me except for the haze of the light ahead. My palms became moist. My heart began hammering. I took several deep breaths in an effort to calm down.
Hearing twigs snapping and rustling of leaves near me, a wave of terror shot up my spine.
“Lance, where are you going?” a woman yelled.
“I heard something,” a man replied. “It must have been an animal.”
It sounded like he was only a few feet away. I put my hand over my mouth for fear I’d make a noise. Bushes swayed and twigs crackled as the man, no longer searching, moved away from me. My hands trembled and the cold sweat of fear dribbled down my sides. Silently, I inched toward the light and the voices. Within minutes I saw the clearing.
Lying with my stomach against the hard ground, I looked around a bush. I was too far away to listen to everything said. I did hear, “He’s the first one…two preserved…from the limo…it’s gone…not him…she’s alone…no…more…another…they’ll be plenty…later…can I have…she drinks…”
As they milled around, I saw the granite table, their altar. A man was stretched out on it with dark specks moving on his clothing. I assumed they were spiders. I swallowed hard and felt a spasm of panic. Please, please, not Conner. Then I noticed the man was shorter and heavier. The panic dissipated. I breathed deeply. Next I saw the dark-eyed man carrying a knife. I bit my lip and covered my mouth.
He slit both of the man’s wrists. Containers stood by the altar, catching the blood as it dripped down. I wanted to look away, but my eyes remained fixated. I watched him tear open the man’s shirt, slice open his torso, cut off pieces of abdominal flesh, and place them on a tray. Four people went over to the altar, filled up their plates, and started eating.
I felt nauseous as fear engulfed my body. I couldn’t move. I lay there staring at the mutilation of the man’s body. A few people walked to the fringe of the clearing and stood in front of me. I could no longer see the horrible events occurring on the altar. I heard something that sounded like a power tool—maybe a drill or a saw.
I held my hand tighter over my mouth so a scream wouldn’t escape and closed my eyes. Maybe it was only an ugly nightmare, but I knew the truth. It was too vivid and disgusting to be anything else.
Leaves drifted and rocks crunched behind me. It sounded like someone was running along the path. Remaining close to the ground, I turned and crawled away.
“She’s not in the house,” a woman yelled.
“Is her car there?” a man asked.
“Yes,” the woman replied.
“We have to find her,” a man said. “Spread out.”
As I hid between the bushes, a group of people ran past me. I needed to get back in the house before they discovered what I had seen. Jumping to my feet, I flicked on my flashlight and hoped the light couldn’t be seen through the heavy foliage as I leaped over a fallen tree, and sprinted. Trees and bushes had to be dodged along the way.
Finally, I saw the house. I stopped, caught my breath, and turned off the flashlight. I stayed at the edge of the woods, behind a large thicket of overgrown bushes and trees until I reached the side of the house near the Jacuzzi. I slipped off my shoes and jeans and tucked them along with the flashlight under several low tree branches. Then I ran to the Jacuzzi, slid in, and took off my T-shirt. I hoped the people from the clearing would think I’d been here while they were in the house looking for me. My breathing was erratic. I leaned back in the water and took several deep breaths.
Noise came from inside the house. I didn’t look around. Instead, I moved further down in the warm water so it covered my shoulders. I gazed up at the starlit sky. I felt maybe I would be safe as long as they believed I didn’t know anything. As I started to relax, the stars took form and I recognized the Big and Little Dippers. I concentrated on the other constellations and out came Leo, the lion, followed by Taurus, the bull.
“Keep looking,” a man shouted, interrupting my stargazing.
Closing my eyes, I tried to relax again as I wondered why they wanted me. Since the dark-eyed man was at my parents’ funeral, he must have known them. Maybe they told him I was bitten by four or five poisonous spiders when I was five and I didn’t have any reaction. The doctor concluded I was immune to the venom. Did the people in the woods put the spiders in my hotel room to see if I was immune to this powerful venom? One of my parents’ colleagues wanted me to be in his research study. My parents didn’t want me involved.
Based on the victims’ reactions to these spider bites, the venom was more lethal than what I had been exposed to in my parents’ lab twenty years ago.
Footsteps pounded on the cement patio right behind me. I cringed, sucked in air, and held my breath expecting someone to grab me any second.
“What are you doing out here?” Brett asked.
I exhaled, opened my eyes, and saw him standing above me. “I felt a little edgy after you left. I thought the Jacuzzi might help.” I sat up.
“The Jacuzzi isn’t turned on,” he said, looking at me with his eyebrow cocked and speaking in an interrogative, intense tone.
“I turned it off a little while ago. It’s so relaxing lying in the water. Why don’t you join me?”
His eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you put on a swimming suit?”
“I first went to the den searching for a book after you left. Then I saw the Jacuzzi when I looked out the patio door. I thought it would be more relaxing than reading. I didn’t want to go back upstairs. Do you think some of the neighbors can see me?”
He gave me a boyish smile. “No. No one can see you. It’s getting late, let’s go to bed.”
“I forgot to bring out a towel. Can you get me one?”
“Yes,” he replied, and walked back into the house.
6
Clues
Brett was on his cell phone when I opened my eyes. He smiled and strolled out of the bedroom still talking on his phone. I got ready to go to work and then headed downstairs to the kitchen. He wasn’t there. After pouring myself a cup of coffee, I found him in the den holding his cell phone next to his ear. I went back to the kitchen and ate a bowl of cereal.
He stared at me as he walked toward the table. “Is there anything you forgot to tell me about yesterday?” Brett asked, frowning.
“No. Why?”
“Who was the man you were talking to outside your office before I arrived?”
“How do you know I talked to someone?” I asked, clutching my hands together under the table and forcing myself to maintain a pleasant expression.
“Are you going to tell me?” he huffed.
“Are you having me watched?”
“I’m trying to keep you safe from whoever you’re running from.”
“I wasn’t running from that man,” I said, calmly.
His brow furrowed and his posture stiffened as he took a step closer to me. “So, you’re not going to tell me?”
“I’ll make you a deal. You tell me the address of where we are, and I’ll tell you who I talked to.”
He gazed at me for a minute and then smiled. “I guess this is a draw. Are you ready to go to work?”
I needed to get my shoes, jeans and flashlight from the woods before someone discovered them. “It’s such a nice morning. I’d like to sit outside and have another cup of coffee. Are you in a hurry to get to work?”
“No. We can sit outside for a few minutes.”
As we sat enjoying the morning sun, Brett’s cell phone rang. He went inside to talk. I ran to the woods, grabbed my things, and hid them behind a flower pot next to the patio door. I had just sat down when he returned.
“It would be nice if we could stay out here longer,” he said, “but I have a meeting this morning. Can I take you to lunch?”
I skimmed my fingertips across his jaw line. “You sure can.”
Again he drove on different streets, taking another route to downtown Billings. I only recognized a few intersections from the day before. I had to escape this dark cloud that surrounded me without anyone knowing, including Brett. With each new route Brett took, I knew I wouldn’t be able to locate Rex’s house to get my car. I had to find another way to go.
/> As I walked through the accounting firm’s doors, the receptionist held up her hand. “Sara, I have a message for you,” she said and handed it to me.
“Thanks.” I read it on the way to my office. It was from Conner, asking me to return his call. To get him to leave the day before, I told him I’d give him a call when I left town. Who should I fear more—the Crussetts or the people from the clearing? Whatever his family might be responsible for, I thought Conner still loved me. Even if I had a hard time admitting it to myself, I also loved him. I dialed his number.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hello, Conner. Did you have any problems leaving Billings?”
“Sara, I’m so glad you called. I’ve missed you.”
“Were you able to leave without any problems?”
“I took your advice and waited to leave the office building with a group. I went with them to the local bar. I even had a couple of beers with two of the guys.” He chuckled. “A guy named Lloyd Adams asked what company I worked for in the building. I told him my company was interested in possibly purchasing it, so I was there checking it out. He drove me to the airport. Do you know him?”
“No.”
“The Billings’ police haven’t been able to locate my men; they can’t even find the limo. Do you have any idea what happened to them?”
“All I know is that if they were bitten by one of the poisonous spiders, then they’re probably dead.” I didn’t want to tell him what happened to one of them in the woods. It wasn’t just because I thought he would ask more questions; it was also because I didn’t want to think about it. The same fate likely befell the others in the limo.
“I need to get you away from there,” he said in a determined tone. “I’ll send a plane. Can you get to the airport?”
“I know I’m being watched. I think I’m safe for now. Let me put together a plan to leave.”
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