CaughtInTheTrap (8 page)

“Are you sure, Murphy?”

“I’m pretty sure.  A local shop owner says a foreign man came in yesterday asking questions.  I left Carla at the cabin, Lowes.  I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

“Get to the cabin now, Murphy.  I’ll get you back up as soon as I can.”

*****

Carla came from the bedroom and noticed the back door slightly open.  She walked slowly through the kitchen. 
Maybe Agent Jackass is outside unloading the car
she said to herself. She peeked out the door and saw the old car but not Zach.  Her throat tightened.
He wouldn’t leave the door open; he too thorough for that
.

“Zach?” It came out as a whisper.  The crickets singing came from the darkness of the woods.
Dammit!
She hurried and closed the door leaning against it. “Please come home. Please…please…please come back before it’s too late,” she prayed into folded hands.

She moved from the door long enough to grab a kitchen knife from the drawer. She stood behind the door gripping the handle tightly and chewing on her bottom lip.  She positioned her body to a fight stance.  Anything coming through that door would regret messing with her.

The door swung open knocking the knife on the floor. Carla flattened herself again the wall when she saw the barrel of the gun.  Adrenaline surged through her veins.  She wasn’t dying tonight.  She slammed the door into the man’s arm, causing him to drop his gun. She jumped into action like a wild woman.  When his body was half-way inside the cabin, she aimed her elbow for his jaw and swung hard. Pain shot through her arm when it connected with his face.

A howl came from him as they scuffled in the kitchen. They fell against the sink knocking dishes to the floor.  Carla jumped on his back and rode him, beating him as hard as she could with her fists. A large arm latched around her waist, twisting her around his body and flung her to the floor.  Her head hit the floor with a hard thud as she landed on her back, causing her to see stars. That didn’t stop her from fighting as she kicked wildly hoping to connect with his genitals. He grabbed her legs and a smothering weight crushed her to the floor. She felt her arms lift over her head and be pinned together at the wrists.

“Carla, stop fighting, it’s me.  Look at me, dammit!”

Her chest heaved as she opened her eyes at the sound of the familiar voice. She burst into tears. “Thank God it’s you—thank God it’s you.”

Zach released her arms and she immediately placed them around his neck drawing him close to her. “I’m here, Carla.  You don’t have to be afraid,” he said in a soft voice.

“Why did you leave the door open?  You never leave the door open.”

“I was outside checking on something. You just didn’t see me,” he said attempting to get up.

She tightened her grip around his neck. “Don’t move, please.  I have to stop shaking before you move.”

“I’m squashing you.”

He was crushing her but felt she would fall apart if he moved.  “I don’t care; just give me a minute.”

Zach pried her arms from around his neck and got off her. “You’re fine, Carla.”  He stood up and rubbed the side of his face. “I’m impressed how you handled yourself.  You can fight to be a girl.”

 Carla accepted his hand as he pulled her from the floor. “Thank you. When I was younger I hung around with my male relatives and we wrestled a lot.”  She rubbed her lower back. “You didn’t show me any slack. You tossed me around like a rag doll. I’ll have a nasty bruise on my backside in the morning.”

“Sorry about that.  It’s my training.”  He fetched the bags from outside. “Here, I thought you could use these.”

She caught the bag with both hands. “What is it?”

He took two glasses from the cabinet and set them on the table.   Picking up an overturned chair he said, “Open it and find out.  Do you want a drink?” he asked twisting the cap off the bottle of rum and pouring a stiff drink.

“You’re allowed to drink on the job?” she asked digging through the bag and finding a bottle of scented shower gel, a tube of lotion and women’s clothing that were almost her size.

“Technically, I’m off the clock but can’t go home.  So, do you want one or not?”

“Yeah, pour me a small one.” Carla held up the white shapeless nightgown and frowned. “You got me a lovely nightgown?  It’s sort of cute, in an Amish kind of way.” The basic sleeveless nightgown was made of cotton and knee-length and nowhere near sexy.  It probably was the same type of garment the farmer’s wife wore to bed on a warm summer night.  She expected to find a matching bonnet with white lace trim attached to it.

Zach wiped his mouth with the back of his hand after taking a sip of the strong rum. “Out here, that’s as sexy as you’re gonna get.” He handed her a small shot of rum and held up his glass. “Cheers.”

She tapped his glass with hers, and tossed down the hard liquor in one gulp and winced.  It burned a path down her throat straight to her stomach.  She tried not to gag from the reflex of the horrid taste and the fact it was burning a hole in the lining of her stomach.  Swallowing fire would not be as painful. She bucked her eyes. “Wow,” she said smacking her lips, “That rum sure is strong.  I better not have any more,” she giggled.

He chuckled. “You really are a fluff.”

“Excuse me? I am not a fluff.  I just prefer wine or beer rather than hard liquor.  Geez, you need to hang around women and learn a little about our likes and dislikes.”

“I know enough about women. You all are a pain in the ass when you don’t get your way.”

“Seriously, you think all women are that way? How do you feel about your mother?”

He took another drink. “Mothers don’t count. Since you’re an expert on relationships, what happened between you and nature boy?”

Carla sat at the table and poured a tiny bit more rum in her glass. After the burning in her throat subsided, she felt herself loosen and attributed it to the liquor.  “We were in different places.”

“Like how? Did you badger him the way you do me and he bolted?”

She sighed and stood up from the table. “We can’t do this, Agent Murphy.” Carla heard the hard breath leave his lungs when she called him by his title.  She knew it angered him and that got her motor running.”

“Not this shit again,” he mumbled.

 She hunched her shoulders. “In your eyes, I am a mean-spirited person that has nothing but coldness filling my heart. If you haven’t notice, the only compliment you’ve given me had to do with my ability to fight. I’m sorry if I don’t come across as feminine to you.  Maybe if I did, you’d see I am a woman.  Agent Murphy, I have a big heart. One day the right man will come along and give me the respect and shower me with the love I deserve even if you don’t think I deserve it.”

“Come on, Carla. I-I...”

“Don’t explain yourself,” she said putting the glass in the sink. She turned to walk away.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“To take a bath, if that’s okay with you.” She returned to the kitchen to get the bath products she’d left on the table. “I’ll need these.”

Zach poured another drink and rubbed the ache in his jaw where she’d hit him. “Damn, she’s got a lethal elbow.”  He took his glass and the bottle of rum and went to his bedroom.  He heard humming coming from the bathroom and smirked. 
She’s trying hard to establish a connection and you’re rejecting her
.  He sat on the bed. His manhood flexed as he thought about the position they were in on the kitchen floor, then the flashback of seeing her naked.
Get that shit out of your mind, Murphy
.

He went back to the kitchen to get the item he forgot.  Unloading the radio he set it on the nightstand and scanned for a station playing music other than blue grass.  He wasn’t a country-western type of guy and preferred rock and roll or R&B.  Jazz was his least favorite of the three genres but would take it over country music any day. He found a smooth jazz station that came in loud and clear.

Ditching his clothes, he changed into a pair of shorts and waited for Carla to finish in the bathroom so he could shave.  The hair on his face was becoming an annoyance and had to go.  The humming turned to singing.  Her voice had a soulful mellow tone to it and he recognized the Whitney Houston song she sang. For her to sing without music and stay on key meant she had talent.

He grinned. Zach had to admit she was growing on him. As much as they argued, he liked that she didn’t back down from him.  She had guts and that was something the women he bedded didn’t have.  The last woman he slept with was too compliant and didn’t demand equality in the bedroom.  She took whatever he offered and when he was done he rolled over and went to sleep or went home.  He had no idea if she was satisfied or not and since she didn’t complain and he didn’t care to ask.

Zach bet Carla wasn’t that way.  He suspected she demanded and got equality in the bedroom.  That was most likely was the real reason nature boy was no longer around. The woman was a firecracker and quiet-natured men couldn’t deal with that type.  Carla Parker intrigued him and that was a first for him.

The music or alcohol wasn’t helping him to relax. Tension knotted at the base of Zach’s neck and spread evenly over his shoulders.  With the adrenaline from the day’s events still pumping through his veins, he found himself thinking about Carla.  Her lips were full and plump just like her nipples.  She might not be the double-D size cups he preferred, but he could work with what she had.  And what she had were plump nipples that called for them to be suckled between his lips.

He worked that thought from his mind.  Any sex between Carla and him was crazy. It was his lack of sexual activity making him have stupid thoughts. They would be parting company never to see each other again.  He was sticking to his plan to fuck the first faceless blonde bombshell he found.  And then he would walk away from her with no emotion and no drama.

Carla came out of the bathroom and stopped in the hallway to pick up something she had dropped on the floor. Zach leveled his gaze on her.  The flimsy cotton gown was not much of an improvement over the men’s shirts she used to sleep in. The material was thin and the outline of her body underneath gave him an instant hard-on when she bent over.

Zach knew alcohol played a part in fueling his horniness and he wouldn’t dare have sex with her.  Carla wasn’t his type and if he could recall, she was the first black woman he’d ever been this close to. Black women never approached him to start any type of conversation and he didn’t go out of his way to talk to them. However, he did once receive a second glance from a black woman while he was worked out shirtless at a gym some years ago.  They were the only two left in the gym that was open after hours.

His body glistened with sweat as he lifted hand weights showing off his physique knowing her eyes were scanning him over.  But in the end, she gave him a flirtatious smile and kept about her business not saying a word to him.  That killed his desire to approach her due to his ego being deflated. The list of women he’s had the pleasure of servicing have been Asian, Hispanic and even Native American but not one African American.

Carla straightened up and folded her arms across her chest. “Why are you staring at me?”

He blinked. “I didn’t realize I was.” Draining the remainder of the liquor in the glass, he began to feel the effects of it hitting him.  “Hey, I got a radio.  Want to listen to some music before you go to bed?”

Her brows lifted. “What? You’re inviting me to sit with you in your bedroom?  We might actually have to talk. I don’t want to spook you by doing that,” she said sarcastically.

“I deserved that wisecrack.  I even got you beer since you can’t handle the hard liquor,” he said holding up the cold bottle for her to take.

Carla stepped in his room and sat on the far end of the bed. She took the beer from his hand and took a long sip.  “Ah…see this is good.”  She took another sip from the bottle and asked. “So, have you heard when we might be able to leave?”

He opened a beer and took a swig. “Maybe soon,” he said knowing he should slow down his drinking.  He had to keep his head clear and his awareness up at all times. It felt good to throw back a few drinks and get drunk but not tonight.  The enemy could be nearby and if they had to make a run for it, he needed all his wits. But there was something about Carla, her beauty he couldn’t quite turn away. He craved her in a bad way. Drinking would be the only way to stop himself from attacking her.

Zach decided to talk about her Olympic debut.  That feat would be monumental in a person’s life and he was surprise she never mentioned it.  “You went to China in 2008.  How did you get there?”

Carla stretched her legs out in front of her and drank from the beer bottle. “It seems so long ago since that happened. I started competing in track and field in junior high school. I was good at it and kept competing throughout high school.  My mother thought I had the talent to make it to the Olympics and suggested I work harder to make that my goal, so I did.  She hired professional coaches and trainers and I worked my ass off. I started winning as many titles as I could.  When I got my invite to try out for the 2008 women’s team, I was ecstatic.  But my dream hit rock bottom.”

Zach was finding it hard to listen to her story.  The smell radiating from her body was mesmerizing. The flora scent of the bath soap he purchased for her was far more pleasing than the non-scented bar soap. And the way she was leaning back on the bed allowed him to get a peek of her breasts.  He put her at a C-cup at best. But, that didn’t matter.  He ached to tongue her nipples, devour them.  He was a breast man for sure.  Yeah, legs and ass mattered but what got his heart racing was a nice set of breasts with thick nipples to feast on.

He pulled himself from the sexual fantasy and back to her. “Why’d it hit rock bottom?” he asked draining the remainder of the beer.

She crossed her legs causing the gown to rise up her thighs. “The IOC guaranteed me housing but I had to pay for my other expenditures since I didn’t have any sponsors.”

“Yeah, I know how it works.  How did you raise the money, Carla?  Your mom had an accident at work that left her partially paralyzed and Paula is her primary caretaker. Her lawsuit didn’t settle for years.”