by Maira Dawn
She shuddered.
“Here we go.” The man shoved her cheek harder against the wire fence.
Skye groaned, and without thinking, put her hands to his. He gave her a hard look, and she put them down.
It took everything she had not to fight him.
If she obeyed, he wouldn’t hurt her. She was valuable to him, wasn’t she?
A sick woman lumbered closer, picking at the fence as she came.
The tall man yelled, and the Sick woman snapped her teeth at him.
He continued to antagonize the ill woman until she was almost upon them.
Skye’s heart thundered as her hand curled tight around the fence’s cool metal. “I won’t cause trouble.”
“I know you won’t. I’m gonna let this woman take a chunk of out of your cheek so you have a daily reminder.” His eyes glinted as he spoke. “Have you ever seen them rip a piece of someone away?”
Skye’s knees weakened. “Sir, I will not cause trouble. You don’t have to do this.”
The tall man banged on the fence beside Skye’s head. It drew the sick woman.
“Don’t tell me what I need to do,” he growled at Skye.
The woman came closer. Her deep congested rattle became louder with each step. She snapped her teeth as she worked her jaw.
Sweat ran down Skye’s back. Her voice broke as she begged. “Please, Sir!”
He brought his face closer to hers and laughed. “I like to watch it happen.”
Again, he slapped the fence.
The metal bounced back and hit Skye’s already battered face.
The sick woman wrapped her fingers around the fence, grabbing a chunk of Skye’s hair as she did so.
She jerked her mouth toward Skye.
Skye groaned, eyes darting between the tall man and the sick woman.
If she didn’t move, she would lose part of her face. If she did move, the tall man had said he would put her in with them.
The Sick woman’s putrid breath steamed against Skye’s cheek.
She couldn’t stand here—she just couldn’t.
She tensed, ready to jerk away.
The tall man tightened his iron hold.
Skye’s arm numbed.
He brought his face to hers and growled, “I will feed you to that thing.”
Five
The Standoff
Panicked, Skye scanned the watching men.
Most of them were as eager for action and blood as a hockey game fanatic. A few looked away but offered no help.
Kelsey was bowed low on the ground, her body heaving with sobs. The poor girl had gone through so much. She had finally broken.
Skye ached for her, wishing she was free to comfort her.
Kelsey lifted her head and locked eyes with Skye. She nodded from Skye to the ground.
Smart girl. Smart, smart girl. Give the man what he wants.
Skye let tears fall over her cheeks. “Please, please, don’t do this.” She jerked against the fence when the Sick woman snapped her teeth. “Please!”
She allowed her wobbly knees to weaken further until the man’s hands on her arm and head were almost her only support.
The sick woman snapped again.
Skye squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe it was too late.
“No. No, no, no,” she muttered to herself.
The woman’s stink washed over her.
Skye shuddered.
A good portion of her cheek sunk through the metal chain of the fence—the woman would take it all.
The Sick’s teeth scraped against the exposed skin. Skye instinctively jerked and screamed.
Kelsey’s shriek echoed hers.
The tall man laughed as Skye’s eyes grew wide with fear, and her frantic hands clenched at his shirt.
His eyes danced in amusement. “Will you be good?”
His game burned Skye, but not so much that she wouldn’t play it.
“I will, sir,” she rushed to answer him. “I will be good. I will be very, very good.”
She sobbed.
As much as Skye would’ve liked to convince herself that this was all for show, it wasn’t true. It had been a relief to show her fear—especially if it meant the end of this torture.
The tall man let her go.
Without his support, Skye dropped to the ground. She stayed there and put a hand to her cheek, letting the tears stream down her face.
He towered over her and folded his arms. “Now we have that all straight.”
Skye nodded.
He pulled her from the ground. Skye’s weak legs worked against her, and she stumbled.
The tall man hauled her up by her bruised arms. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “That was scary.”
Skye walked on legs that felt like noodles as she stared North.
If only she could break free and run up that highway to Colton—all the way to Cole’s Mountain and into the safety of Dylan’s arms.
Home.
A pang of misery stabbed through her chest. She shook her head. Thoughts like that wouldn’t change a thing.
Keep your eye on the game—that’s what Dylan would say.
She searched for Kelsey and found a large, barrel-chested man holding the girl face-forward, his arm around her waist as her feet dangled just above the ground. His other beefy hand was over her mouth.
Skye bit back the scolding she would like to give him.
The big man was gentle as he lowered Kelsey back to the ground and guided her to the back of the box truck alongside Skye and her captor.
At the back of the vehicle, Skye stared at its interior. Stains smeared the walls and floor, and it reeked of dirty bodies and urine. This vehicle had been used to haul the Sick.
Skye glanced at the tall man.
He eyed her for any sign of resistance.
Skye strengthened her resolve, then stepped onto the truck’s flat bumper.
The tall man pushed Skye face-down into whatever vile goo ran through the floor’s ribbing.
Skye lay there, frozen. The foul smell filled her nostrils.
She jumped up, hoping the mess hadn’t soaked her clothes. Without a glance at the tall man, Skye reached back and helped Kelsey into the truck.
The two women clung to each other as the rolling door slammed down and the tall man laughed.
Skye had expected total darkness, but light came from the front of the truck. Turning, she spotted a decent-sized pass-thru window between the cab and the back of the vehicle. It reminded her of the one in Dylan’s pickup truck.
The women used the faint light to find the cleanest part of the floor to hunker down on.
Kelsey put a hand to Skye’s bruised face. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, terrified but not hurt.”
“Your face is purple already.”
Skye pushed at her cheek and winced. “It could have been worse—much, much worse. You were smarter than I was.”
“I’ve been in that situation before. Men like that—they always want to be the most important person in the room. It’s easier and safer to just let them think they are—until you don’t have to anymore.”
The pass-thru window opened. The barrel-chested man threw two bottles of water and two protein bars through and slammed it shut.
At the sight of the food, Skye and Kelsey’s stomachs growled. It had been hours since they had ate. They rushed to grab them.
The barrel-chested man settled himself in the passenger’s seat, as another man hopped into the driver’s seat and started the truck.
The tall man wasn’t in this vehicle. Skye assumed he was in one of the cars that zipped past them onto the road.
It would be a relief not to have those evil eyes on her for the entire ride.
Skye examined the box truck, but they had locked it tight with no way of escape.
And after what the tattooed man had done, she knew that there would be no botched attempts for freedom. She and Kelsey needed to be sure that any plan they came up with would work. It meant their li
ves.
The barrel-chested man looked back through the window, his eyes softening as he looked at Kelsey. Sadness pulled at his face as he opened the pass-thru and said, “I’m sorry. I don’t want to do this, but if they don’t find a cure, my own daughter could die.”
He gave them one last look of pity and guilt as the truck lumbered onto the road, then turned away.
Skye and Kelsey slid down the truck walls to sit on the hard metal floor.
Pity and sadness would only go so far to help them.
What they needed was outrage.
Six
Outrage
Wade, Jesse, and Joe piled into one of the community’s shared pickup trucks, a granite-colored Ram 1500.
Joe stuck his arm out the open window and banged on the side of the truck. “Only thing tougher’n this would be a tank.”
Wade threw him a savage grin and spun out of the driveway. “Yeah, well, that might be an idea.”
“Okay then, we see one—we take it.”
Jesse shot a glance from Joe to Wade. He’d learned to read people early in his life, and it had saved his hide on more than once. There was a dangerous glint in Joe’s eye—the same one he’d seen on occasion in Wade’s and Dylan’s.
The thing was, Dylan kept his own untamed side in check, as well as Wade’s. Who was keeping who in check now?
Jesse picked at the seam on his jeans.
Maybe he didn’t care. All he wanted was Skye and Kelsey back. Maybe whoever took them would get what they deserved.
As if Joe could read Jesse’s thoughts, he said, “So what are we gonna do to the boys that took our women? Teach ‘em a lesson?”
Wade glanced at Joe and said, “Not now.”
Joe scoffed. “Boy has gotta learn sometime—if he hasn’t already. Ya think Dylan would just grab his girl up and waltz out of there with a thank you? Nah, that famous temper of his would do some damage.”
Wade nodded. “I know that too. But he said to keep the boy safe, and that’s what we’re doin’. Get the women. Keep the boy safe. Then we’ll see.”
The men exchanged a knowing glance.
Joe smiled and rapidly banged on the pickup’s door again. He let out a long howl and a yip as he raised his hand to brush against the tree leaves lining the long drive.
“Quit piddlin’ around here then, Wade, and step on it.”
Wade stomped the gas, and gravel flew, pinging off the vehicle behind them.
Once the five-vehicle caravan made it to the site of the kidnapping, Jesse jumped from the truck.
“Here! This is it!” he said, pointing to the blood on the paved road.
He shuddered as he recalled the beating they had given Spencer and Reed.
The boy ran up the hill to the intersection Jack and his thugs had taken and studied the pavement.
He didn’t have to look too hard.
A large, blue arrow was spray-painted on the road. The sign Spencer and Reed had promised to leave.
Jesse waved at the rest of the group still milling around on the road below. “They left sign up here. Plain as day.”
Wade waved back.
Once everyone loaded back into the vehicles, Wade picked up Jesse at the top of the hill. “Good job, Jess! Now let’s go get ‘em.”
They followed one blue arrow after another. Two times they worried they had passed a vital clue, only to find a new sign to ease their concern.
At last, they came across Spencer’s gold car sitting on the side of the road.
Wade frowned as he studied the area.
Jesse, Joe, and Wade stepped from the car and rushed over to Reed and Spencer. The white bandage wound around Spencer’s head was seeping blood.
“You all aright?” Jesse asked.
“Got a pretty nasty headache, but okay other than that.”
“Doc should take a look at that.”
Spencer nodded. “Soon as I get back to the mountain.”
Joe looked around. “What is that god-awful smell?”
“I thought we were gettin’ close to this place,” Wade said as he grimaced. “It’s the Containment Center for the Sick. But I can’t reckon on why they would be bringin’ the women here.”
Reed shook his head. “Me either, but we figured we’d hang back and talk to the authorities once Jack and his guys left. It’ll be clear Skye and Kelsey don’t have the AgFlu, so the people in charge should let them go without a problem.”
“Who is in charge?” Joe asked.
“Military, or what’s left of it,” Wade said. “Official or not, I don’t know. If Tom were here, he might.”
Spencer threw Wade a puzzled glance. “Tom didn’t come?”
“It was his turn to stay in Colton. He didn’t make it back before we skedaddled outta there.”
Spencer glanced from Wade to Joe. “That’s too bad, coulda used him to talk to the men in charge here. You know—sheriff to military.”
Wade shrugged. “I been here before with him—maybe that’ll be good enough.”
“Hope so.”
“Car.” Wade perked up and pointed. “That theirs?”
Reed squinted toward the moving vehicle. “Yep.”
“You two stay here. Let me’n Joe handle this.”
Reed disagreed. “They need to see we have a force here.”
“Fine but keep everyone back.”
Jesse took his place beside Wade and Joe as he wrapped his hand around the hilt of his blade.
Reed waved the others from their vehicles to stand behind them.
As if Wade had just noticed him, he said, “Sorry, Jess. You get in the back.”
“No.”
“Yep. Don’t give me no guff now. Dylan wants you safe.”
“I ain’t goin’ in back.”
“I’ll tie you up if I gotta. I brought rope.”
The fire that had started in Jesse’s belly at the beginning of this thing rose higher. He shot Wade a mutinous glance.
Someone laid their hand on Jesse’s arm. He tried to shake it off until he saw it was the injured Spencer.
“Could you help me out, Jesse? I can’t take another bash on the head. If things get rough, I’ll need someone I trust to have my back.”
One side of Jesse’s mouth turned down. He wasn’t stupid. He was aware of what was going on. But it would be worse if Wade threw him over his shoulder and hogtied him. At least helping Spencer gave him some dignity.
Still, his frustration grew as he stared at the oncoming car before following Spencer.
As they moved to the back of the group, several patted Jesse, offering praise.
“You did great, Jesse.”
“You got us here.”
“Woulda never found her if it weren’t for you, boy.”
One older man named Bert said, “You got some good makings. Give yourself some time to learn the rest. Ya did your job. Let us do ours.”
Each word of praise helped cool the fire raging through Jesse’s body.
Even if he did feel useless here at the back of the group, it was nice to be recognized for getting them this far.
Besides, there would be plenty of time to make Jack and his goons pay once Kelsey and Skye were safe.
Seven
Answers
Wade narrowed his eyes at the slow-moving white car driving down the back road. The light-color flickered through the trees as it came their way. He rubbed his wrist across his nose. The smell from the containment center was putrid. Filth, muck, death, and if one paid attention, the sweaty scent of fear.
Rage built in him. If they left Skye and Kelsey in there to rot in that mess—Wade’s anger just about choked him.
Jack had told Jesse they were working on a cure with the White Coats. Wade didn’t remember seeing any of doctor-types here. What was the man up to?
Wade’s hand tightened around the rifle in his hand. He grunted his understanding when Reed whispered two cars had gone in.
There was only one now.
Wade’
s pickup blocked the road out. They could be patient and wait for Jack.
The car rounded a curve and slowed. They were close enough to see Wade and his group now fanned along the side of the road.
Wade saw the passenger’s puzzled expression as he said something to the driver.
“Joe!” Wade said as he sprinted for the car before the driver put it in reverse.
Fury fueled Wade, and for a fleeting moment, he wondered if this was how Dylan felt during one of his rages. It was freeing but also frightening—even to himself.
Wade and Joe reached Jack’s car and yanked the door handles. They were locked.
Joe raised his gun and used the butt end to break the window.
The driver cringed against the back of the seat.
When Joe punched the button to unlock the doors, Wade rounded the front of the car and threw the passenger’s door open. He dragged the man he assumed was Jack out of the vehicle.
One glance at Jesse told him he had the right man.
“Where is she?” Wade roared at Jack.
Jack shook his head and put his hands up.
Wade shouted again.
When the man still didn’t answer, Wade’s fist flew.
Jack dropped to the ground.
Wade bent over him as he lay in the dirt. His voice was quieter, but every bit as hard. “Where is she?”
“Who?” Jack asked, his eyes wide. “Who are you talking about?”
Wade gathered Jack’s shirt in his hand and pulled him toward his group.
The man fought for release.
Wade bashed him until he stopped.
He turned Jack toward Jesse. “Recognize the boy?”
Jesse stepped forward.
Jack’s face fell. He dropped to his knees.
The boy’s face turned red. He was fuming.
Jesse’s jaw hardened. He kicked Jack in the gut and spit on him. “You took my mom. You took Kelsey.”
When Wade hauled Jack to the front of the crowd, Jesse put a hand up.
He drew back his foot back again and again.
Jack gasped with each blow.
Spencer laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Jesse,” he said in a mild tone.
Joe, still holding the driver at gunpoint, turned to stare at Spencer. “Leave the boy be. He’s got a right.”