Davis, Liz - Under His Spell (Siren Publishing Classic) (12 page)

She’d received cute little text messages from him throughout the day, and while some of them were funny and sweet, others were deliciously erotic. With a smile on her face she recalled what her friend Gina had said to her as they ate their lunch in the company cafeteria.

“
Girl, your skin is glowing. You must be getting that good stuff.
”

She had, indeed, been getting some very good stuff. It wasn’t just their physical connection that she loved, it was also the conversations that they had. She felt like she could talk to Takoda about anything, and he was always sensitive to her needs and desires.

Glancing at the clock on the dashboard, Lynn saw it was nearing 6:00 p.m. and pressed her foot more firmly upon the accelerator, eager to arrive home so that she could speak to Takoda.

As a melodic ringtone filled the air, Lynn’s eyes were drawn to her cell phone. She’d just lifted her eyes to look back at the road when

she saw a man suddenly appear in the road. He appeared so suddenly that she didn’t even have time to slow down, so all she could was swerve sharply to the right so that she would avoid him.

Her tires made a screeching noise as she drove off the road and straight into a ditch. As the bumper of her car connected with an unyielding object, a loud bang sounded through the air. Her body pitched forward from the force of the abrupt stop and she released a cry of fear.

She sat frozen in place for a few moments, and then finally she turned the key in the ignition to see if the car would start up. As the engine came to life, she put her car into reverse and then slammed her foot on the gas. The tires spun a few times, kicking mud up around her windows, but the car itself refused to move.

Releasing a frustrated breath, she turned off the ignition. Then she reached for her purse, which was lying on the floor in front of the passenger seat. She had the number of a towing company plugged into her phone for emergencies, so after finding it in the address book she pressed the call button and waited for it to connect. It only rang once before the call dropped off, prompting her to call once again. The phone rang a few times and then she heard a click, followed by dead silence.

Furrowing her brow in confusion, she loudly spoke into the receiver, “Hello? If anyone is there, please say something. I’m in trouble. I need help.”

Receiving no response from the other end, Lynn pressed the call end button and then tried dialing Takoda. The phone only rang once before she the line clicked and then she heard the terrible silence again, causing her to end the call and throw the phone back into her purse. Beginning to panic, she wondered why her phone was getting such a lousy signal. She’d driven many times along this road before, and not once had her phone reception been so terrible.

She made one last effort to dial the towing company, but it still proved to be unsuccessful, so she flipped the phone closed and put it back into her purse.

Rubbing the soreness in the back of her neck, she began to wonder about who the man was that had been standing out in the middle of the road. He had to be some sort of crazy maniac, or perhaps he was suicidal, because who else would do such a thing?

She hadn’t gotten that good a look at his face, but she did manage to notice that he’d had a creepy smile on his face. The memory of it caused the little hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end, and her eyes suddenly darted to the rearview mirror. Peering into the growing darkness, she tried to see if she could spot the strange man anywhere out there, but the nose of her car was tilted downward so there really wasn’t much she could see from this angle.

Taking a few moments to think things over, she contemplated getting out of the car to try and flag down some help. Yet the more she thought about it, she realized that probably wasn’t the best idea. What if she got into the car with some nutcase, what would she do then? Her only other choice was to walk down the road. She’d noticed a number of dinky little stores along the way and figured she could at least use the phone at one of them. She’d have to move fast though, because dusk was quickly retreating. That freak who’d been standing in the road was probably out there somewhere, and she didn’t know who he was, but she was certain he was dangerous. A person crazy enough to stand in front of a moving car
had
to be, no doubt about it.

Apprehension filled her body as she opened the door and stepped out of the car. After grabbing the keys from the ignition, she slipped the strap of her purse over her shoulder and closed the door behind her. Luckily the ditch was fairly shallow, so she was able to scramble up out of it without too much trouble. As she reached the top of the ditch, she stepped onto the pavement, turning her head to the left to see if she could spot any cars coming. Seeing none, she began to walk down the lonely road.

As she was making her way along the pavement, an old, beat-up Cadillac began to slow beside her. Turning her head to look at the car, she saw that a man was driving. He had on a black leather jacket and a cowboy hat. The brim of it was drawn down low across his eyes, and as she stared into his face she instantly got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Hey pretty lady. You need a ride?” His lips pulled back into a wide grin.

With a shake of her head she replied, “No thanks.”

The stranger’s car continued to follow her for a few moments and then it finally took off, leaving behind a cloud of smoke in its wake.

Once his car was down the road she felt an immediate sense of relief. There’d been something very strange about him, and although he was out of her sight, she still felt unsettled by the memory of his presence.

After walking for what seemed like forever, she finally reached a seedy little establishment located by the side of the road. The neon sign announced that she’d reached Joe’s Place.

“Good eats and great drinks,” it said in a smaller script beneath the name. She put her heels back on before entering the bar and then opened the door. As she walked in, she was accosted by smoke and the strong smell of cigarettes. Walking over to the bar area, she approached a waitress with cherry-red hair and a sleeve of tattoos.

“Excuse me, but do you guys have a phone I can use? My car is stuck in a ditch and I need to call for help.”

The waitress gave her such a prolonged stare that Lynn didn’t think she was going to answer. Finally, the woman managed to mumble a few words.

“You can make a call over there.” She gestured toward a pay phone in the back of the bar, located next to the restrooms.

“Thanks.” As Lynn headed to the back of the bar, she was keenly aware of the numerous pairs of eyes which followed her path.

She dug some change out of her purse and then picked up the receiver to dial the towing company. After giving them the location of the bar, the man on the other end of the line told her it would take 40 minutes for them to arrive. After hanging up, she slipped another quarter into the pay phone slot and called Takoda. The phone rang twice before he picked up.

“Hello?”

As the sound of his voice floated through the receiver, she instantly began to feel better.

“Hey sweetie, it’s Lynn.”

“Lynn, where are you? I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for the past hour, but every time I call, your phone just rings and rings. What’s going on?”

“I had a little accident. I lost control of my car and drove it into a ditch. I’m okay, though.”

“Are you sure?” Takoda’s voice was laced with anxiety.

“Yes, I’ll be fine.”

“I knew something was wrong. I could feel it. Where are you right now? I hear loud music in the background.”

“I’m in a bar.”

“What’s the name of it? I’m driving out there right now.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. It’s okay.”

“I
do
have to. You’ve been in an accident, and I can tell you’re shaken up. I’m not going to leave you out there all alone at some bar along the road. Now what’s the location?”

“It’s called Joe’s Place.”

“Okay, I know that spot. I’ve passed by it a few times. Just sit tight and don’t leave, okay? I was just finishing up a painting job, so it shouldn’t take longer than half an hour to drive out there, maybe twenty minutes if I really gun it. Wait for me, all right?”

“Okay, I will.”

“Wait, what if I need to call you? I can ring you back at this pay phone, right?”

Glancing at the slip of white paper above the keypad she read the numbers off to him. “You got that?” she asked, as she finished calling out the numbers.

“Yep, I just plugged it into my phone. I’m on my way right now. See you soon, okay?”

“’Okay, see you.” She placed the phone into its cradle and then headed over to the bar.

Still feeling unsettled, Lynn decided to order a carbonated drink in hopes that it would settle her stomach. As the tattooed waitress approached her, she took out her pad and asked, “What can I get ya?” Her eyes were green and lined thickly in kohl.

“A ginger ale, please.”

As the barmaid prepared her drink, Lynn kept her eyes peeled upon the TV. She wasn’t particularly interested in what was on the screen, but she could sense that several of the men sitting in the bar were staring at her. It was making her feel very uncomfortable and she needed to something to focus on, so she pretended to be engrossed by what was showing on TV. Once the barmaid was finished fixing her drink she brought it over to Lynn and set it down in front of her. She’d just barely taken a sip when she heard the sound of somebody approaching.

“Mind if I take this seat?” came a man’s voice from behind her.

“Go ahead,” she answered without making any eye contact.

Ice cubes clinked as he sat his glass down on the bar, and she could feel his eyes intently scanning her face.

“My name is Dex, what’s yours?”

Lynn remained quiet and took a large sip of her drink.

Discouraged by her silence, he asked, “Come here often?”

“Nope.”

“I suppose you wouldn’t need to. You’re probably too good to hang out in places like this.”

She gave a shrug and then mumbled, “I guess.”

“Looks like you’re on your way home from work.”

“Yep.” She used the little red straw in her glass to stir around the ice cubes.

Her eyes remained fixed upon the TV, hoping to send the message that she wasn’t interested in talking with him.

“You need a ride or something? I saw you walking along the road out there. A pretty lady like you don’t need to be walking anywhere.”

Turning her gaze toward him, she realized it was the same man who’d tried to pick her up as she walked along the road. As she stared into the stranger’s eyes, his lips pulled into a grin, and she felt the hairs along the back of her neck stand on end.

“My boyfriend is on the way, so I don’t need a ride,” she curtly said.

“Okay, well, if you don’t mind I’ll just keep you company until he gets here.”

“I do mind, actually. I really don’t feel much like talking.”

“I can buy you a drink.”

“I already have one.”

“I mean a real drink. Looks like you’re drinking soda.”

“I don’t like alcohol.”

“Okay.” There was a moment of silence before he began to talk again. “So, don’t I know you from somewhere? You look real familiar.”

“I don’t know who you are.”

“But I know
you
.” His tone was insistent.

Her feeling of uneasiness had now grown into full-fledged anxiety. She was giving out strong signals of disinterest, but it only seemed to make him want to talk to her more. Glancing at her watch, Lynn saw that only ten minutes had passed since she’d spoken to Takoda. That meant she still had twenty minutes to wait until he would arrive. Releasing a nervous breath, she concentrated her thoughts upon Takoda and began sending SOS signals out to him. She wasn’t sure just how the mark he’d given her would aid her in contacting him from a remote location, but she figured that sending signals of alarm to him had to somehow help her out of this situation.

What she really felt like doing was just getting up and leaving, but where would she go? She didn’t have a car and Takoda was already on his way to pick her up.

Lynn noticed out of the corner of her eye as the stranger took his cowboy hat off and sat it on the bar in front of him. She felt a strong urge to turn her eyes upon, purely out of curiosity to see his eyes. They’d been partially obscured by the brim of the cowboy hat, and for some reason she was drawn to take a look at them. Slowly, she turned her gaze toward him, and glancing quickly at his eyes, she saw that they were a steely blue. As he noticed her looking at him, he gave her a wink and a lascivious smile passed across his lips. She felt a little chill run up her spine as he fixed his eyes upon her, and she noticed that they seemed void of any emotion at all.

She’d always heard the saying that eyes were windows to the soul, and judging from the desolation in his orbs, there was something very dangerous inside of him.

His wore his hair in a slicked-back style, and his face was handsomely chiseled, but his good looks were overpowered by his strange, unsettling presence. Lowering her eyes toward his neck, Lynn was taken by surprise by what she saw.