Deadly Expectations (4 page)

Fuck this, I thought.
 
After the car passed I snapped my wrist down to fly past them and pulled into the other lane as they did the same, the lead rider swinging out blocking my way.
 
Then the other two pulled ahead next to him, keeping me from getting around.
 
I slowed right down, dropping behind as they got back in position in front.
 
Apprehension started its slow spread into my legs and arms.
 
If these guys ran me off the road here I’d be lucky if anyone spotted me in the trees even in the daylight.
 
They were coordinated, much better riders than they pretended to be.
 
They’d separated me from the rest at the lights and made sure the leaders hadn’t stopped for us to catch up before they started playing with me.
 
At least they couldn’t get their hands on me if the bikes were rolling.

There was no reason for these three guys to be herding the lone woman rider on the dark highway.
 
Normal men wouldn’t do that.
 
If I stopped overreacting for a few minutes I’d figure it out and we’d all laugh about it later.
 
I’d be through the tunnel and riding the highways in
Washington
State
in a couple of hours.

After ten minutes I started to calm down.
 
I convinced myself that they were from a lot farther away than
Victoria
, had no idea where they were, and didn’t want me abandoning them.
 
I also succeeded in disregarding how they tried to run me into a car.

I was still nervous.
 
Anxious.
 
Craving safety.
 
The feelings I kept at bay reminded me of the fear I experienced the night I met Paul.
 
After dinner we walked to my hotel room.
 
Paul noticed the scrutiny of a kid in the parking lot.
 
I’d written it off to the normal sort of getting checked out I’d become used to but Paul knew him.
 
I worked under an assumed name and Paul worried about the damage if that got out.

He’d taken control.
 
He held me around the corner from the parking lot, the tension in him soaked into me as he watched for the kid to leave.
 
I’d let him look after me, welcomed it.
 
I hadn’t let myself need anyone since my mother died and now I needed Paul in control again.
 
Covering me with his body until all the trouble had gone away.

I made up my mind to find him; decided that I badly needed him just as the lead bike went down.
 
We were maybe doing sixty kilometres an hour and the sudden feel of gravel under my tires told me why he’d lost control.
 
The other two bikes’ brake lights came on at almost the same time as I started feathering my brakes to stop as hard as I could without skidding, suddenly grateful for knowing Kenny and spending so many hundreds of hours running the logging roads on dirt bikes with him.

The rider up front slid under his bike as the other two went down nearly on top of him.
 
I still had enough control to get over by a wooden building.
 
There was a shout, then another as my bike stopped and I crouched down behind it.
 
My helmet came off quickly as did my pack so I could run faster when I decided which way to go.
 
I could see a fight; more people than just the three other riders in the lights that pointed every which way.

I heard what I thought was a gunshot so I turned and ran maybe thirty feet before I found an alley.
 
There was a scream.

“There!
 
Down that way!” a man yelled so I bolted into the blackness.
 
Someone was on my heels.
 
He didn’t slow down one bit as he hit and the ground flew up to meet me.
 
His full weight came down, forcing the air from my lungs as my shoulder slid forward and my chest flexed.
 
My scream added to the shouts.

A knife flashed briefly in the moonlight above then his crushing weight on me was gone.
 
The sun was up and the screaming had stopped.
 
I was alone on the cold ground between two wooden buildings.
 
Daylight.
 
The sun had replaced the moon.
 
My right eye was swelling and as I looked up at the walls and sky above me I realized that somewhere after the bizarre ride and being chased I’d jumped.
 
Slipped back in time to escape the falling blade.

The effort of moving narrowed my vision and took the colour from the sky.
 
I thought again of Paul, needing him as the pain became too much and I passed out.

Chapter 4

 
There was pain in my head when I woke.
 
And my ribs.
 
Smooth sheets on my skin as I stretched my bare legs.
 
The hunger and building irritability I felt told me I’d slept off the jump to avoid the knife.
 
I could hear voices far away and assumed with great relief that I was safe in the hospital.

Until someone else’s weight shifted on the bed.
 
I held my breath as I woke completely; eyes alert beneath my closed lids.

The movement stopped and I felt gentle fingers on my cheek.
 
Rough, hard working skin brushed mine as softly as a child’s.
 
Breathing, close to me.
 
I tensed and opened my eyes.

“Jesus Christ,” I gasped.

Familiar deep green eyes, dark hair that would go curly if he let it grow.
 
His nose had taken a couple of rights.
 
We were only ever the same height in bed otherwise he was a good five inches taller than my almost six feet.
 
I remembered the taste of his lips the first time he slept with a woman when it was her first time just a couple of months ago …

“No,” he smiled with amusement.
 
“It’s Paul.”

“Why am I in the hospital?” I asked, now not entirely sure where I was.
 
I caught a glimpse of the tip of his tongue before he moved a little closer to peer into my eyes.

“You’re in my room,” he said, his levity gone.

“You’re in the hospital?”
 
I noticed the IV in my hand but the dark panelling, heavy curtains and mismatched bedding screamed man room.

“You’re in my house, in my room, in my bed.”

I blinked.
 
“I … where?”

“My house,” he repeated.
 
“Ray?”

“She’s gonna kill me.” I said.
 
Whoever Paul’s new woman was
would
when she found out I was in his bed.
 
Now I’d gotten him in trouble.
 
That was the last thing I wanted.
 
Suddenly I felt very helpless.
 
“Damn it.
 
I’m so sorry.”

“Paul?”
 
I turned as much as I could toward the new voice.
 
He had short hair like Paul’s, a little longer on top.
 
Warm face.
 
“Hey Kiddo.
 
Good to see you awake.
 
How are you feeling?”

He sounded nice but I turned back to Paul as I slipped a hand over my mouth to try and hide my panic.
 
Paul studied me for a second; my eyes, my hand.
 
“Sugar, what do you remember?”

I watched his face feeling myself pulled in.
 
In spite of the awkward situation that was coming when his new girlfriend found out I was here I calmed, trusting that as long as he was near I was safe.
 
That didn’t mean I was going to tell him all of what I remembered.

“I got chased down an alley,” I told him.
 
“He took me down … I passed out.”

Something briefly showed on his face as he glanced at Ray so I tried to explain.

“The group I was riding with … three of them separated me, tried to run me off the road.
 
Suddenly we were on dirt and they went down.
 
I kept control, pulled over and ran, there was fighting.
 
I got chased.

“On the seventh … I had dinner with my Dad the night before.”

“That was two days ago,” Paul said as he moved closer.
 
“You don’t remember us finding you?
 
Ray popped your shoulder back in …,”

I shook my head.

“That’s okay,” Ray’s voice said behind me.
 
“You got a bump on the head.
 
It seems to be just a bad concussion … no signs of anything more serious.”

“Who is that Paul … you hear him too right?”
 
I asked.

“Yes,” he answered.

“I’m Doctor Jackson.
 
Paul’s been a pain in my side for years.
 
Call me Ray.”

“Hi Ray,” I said as I tried to roll over and push myself closer to Paul.
 
I only made it to my back groaning with pain as my mouth watered with nausea.
 
“It’s Anna.”

“Are you finished refusing pain meds?” Ray asked.

The only thing that would make me pass on relief was the baby.
 
I didn’t know what was safe so I shook my head and pressed my lips shut.
 
Paul sighed.
 
He didn’t seem very happy about it.

“I need to get to the bathroom,” I said.
 
Pain wasn’t the only discomfort I had.
 
They carefully got me up and walked me to the door next to the curtains at the other end of the big room.
 
I grabbed the IV bag from Ray and shut the door behind me.
 
It took a minute to get my vision back together from the effort of walking but there was no way I was getting help even if it was from a doctor and someone who was already familiar with the lay of the land.

I wore only my underwear and a huge blue and white plaid pyjama shirt.
 
One eye was swollen and bruised but none of my teeth felt loose.
 
My toiletry bag was on the shelf by the sink so I freshened up as best I could and brushed two days worth of sleep off my teeth.

By the time I lay back down
I
was clammy if not visibly shaking.
 
I was shaking hard on the inside.

“Are you sure nothing for pain?” Paul asked.
 
He pushed my hair back; some was stuck to my forehead.

I nodded.
 
“It’s not that bad.”

“I’ll be downstairs Paul,” Ray said.
 
“It appears I’m not needed.”
 
He actually sounded hurt.

“I know where to find you.” Paul replied.
 
He put his hand on Ray’s back briefly and closed the door behind him.
 
Then he lifted the blanket and carefully rolled me to my side before curling up behind, pushing my weakly protesting elbow aside.
 
His fingers went on my hip, tips just reaching under the elastic of my panties as he slid his hand around to my stomach.

“Do you know you’re pregnant?”

I nodded as I started to cry.
 
He shouldn’t be the one telling me.
 
Paul’s nose went to my neck, inhaling, tasting me with his sense of smell.
 
“It’s mine,” he breathed.

“Yes,” I whispered, pushing back into him, giving in quickly despite how much it hurt.
 
I relaxed my shoulder as he pulled the oversized shirt down off it so he could nibble at my skin.

“Stop,” I said, shaking my head clear.
 
My hand had slipped between us and I pulled it back.