Hunted (7 page)

“Kid, if you’re telling me this because you think you’re about to die so help me…”

“I’m telling you this because you asked.”

He grumbled. “That I did,” he shook his head.

“Anyway, Riggs should be here sooner rather than later, so we should probably get out of here, dry off and get dressed.” She could tell he wasn’t thrilled with her reminder, but he knew she was right. Instead of protesting, he reached behind him, shut the water off and then pushed open the glass door so they could get ready for the day ahead of them. He was going on the hunt, while she was going to be sitting in that house waiting for him to come home. She would feel a lot better if Riggs would be out there with him, but Keadon had already decided Riggs was on protection duty at home and he wasn’t going to change his mind on that.

It wasn’t long after they got dressed that Riggs showed up with Victoria. She looked shaken, a little bruised, but instead of focusing on her own pain she went straight for Debbie. “Are you okay?” She pulled Debbie in for a hug.

“I should be asking you that, Victoria. I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry.”

“This wasn’t your fault. If the shoe had been on the other foot I would have run from him too. Those men, they…they told me what he did to you.”

Keadon watched Debbie take a step back with the look of absolute fear and shame on her face.

“I don’t think they meant to, but they said maybe some guy named Corbin might want to give me a taste of what Jason gave you, and then they told me he used you real good and, well…it didn’t take a genius to figure out what they meant.”

Keadon saw tears welling up in Debbie’s eyes. “Give us a minute,” he said more harshly than he meant to but he needed time alone with Debbie.

“Uh, yeah,” Riggs looked at him, shocked by what he was sure Riggs was putting together now. Keadon hadn’t told him the details, although he suspected Riggs knew it was something more than just Debbie being on the run from a man who called himself her father. A man who couldn’t deal with anybody outsmarting him and walking away—or in Debbie’s case, running away. But if he hadn’t pieced it together before he had by now.

“We’ll be in your library back there.” Riggs pulled on Victoria’s hand to make her move toward the back of the house. Keadon could hear Victoria apologizing to Riggs saying she didn’t know she shouldn’t have said anything. Keadon huffed. How could she not know that? Did she think Debbie went around town telling everybody her business? Did she not realize it was a secret Debbie didn’t want anybody to know?

He waited until he had the room cleared before returning his attention to her.

“Don’t,” she held up her hand as he walked toward her. He would not be stopped, not now. He went to her anyway. He pulled her into his arms and he felt her body trembling against him.

“Let it out,” he told her. “Just let it out.” Holding her pain in would break her and then kill her. She had to release the stress, the sorrow, the frustration. She had to deal with this, not run from it.

“I didn’t want anybody else to know.”

“I know you didn’t. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do about that now.”

“I can leave. When this is over I could just leave.”

“No,” he pushed her away enough to look in her tear filled eyes. “No. Don’t leave me, Debbie. Please don’t leave me?”

She sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she inhaled slowly. “I just…panic attack I guess. Ignore me,” she smiled at him. The smile was shaky but he would take it if it was all she could muster up to give to him.

“Promise you’re not going to leave me here without you?”

“I promise,” she hugged him tightly. “Just promise me you won’t get yourself killed out there. I would never forgive myself if you died because of me.”

He sighed and shook his head. “When I get back we’re really going to have to do something about your owning responsibility for things you shouldn’t own responsibility for. He brushed his thumb over her cheek, wiping away another fallen tear. “I’ll be okay. You just stay here and let Riggs keep you safe while I’m gone.”

“I will be here when you get back, Keadon.”

“Good to know,” he leaned in and took one more taste of her sweet lips. It took everything within him to remember he had a mission and he couldn’t stay there kissing her all day no matter how much he wanted to. He had wasted too much time avoiding his feelings for her. He shouldn’t have done that, but he couldn’t change the past. He could only change the present and prepare for a future with her. The only way to safely have that future would be to remove the threat that hunted her. He would keep her safe. He would ensure that she had her freedom back. This Jason Porter and the men he brought with him would not terrorize Debbie any longer. Before they were only going up against a woman who couldn’t defend herself, but now they were going up against the Myers and between his brother and himself, these men were not going to be the victor in this battle. Jason was not going to reclaim Debbie and Debbie was not going to have to run away again. His mission, which he fully accepted, was to rid the world of one rat-bastard Jason Porter by any means necessary.

Chapter Six

Keadon watched as two men dragged Old Man Thompson into the house. Old Man Thompson was another former military man—Navy all the way he always said. He had been in torture camps in Vietnam before escaping and he had never cracked. Keadon knew he wouldn’t now, not that he had exact information on Debbie-s whereabouts, but it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out Keadon would take her in to protect her. They all, any who had been military or spent any time getting to know him, knew he was a man who didn’t take lightly to relatively innocent people being hurt.

Keadon made sure the area was clear before getting up from his spot behind the trees and making his way toward the house. If those men wanted a fight they could fight him instead of an old man.

Carefully and quietly he snuck into the home via the back door. He could see the short fat one gearing up to put a beating on the old man. “Tell us where she is!” He pulled his belt from the loops and wound the end around his hand, leaving the buckle in prime position to hit the target.

“Go to hell,” Old Man Thompson snarled.

“Maybe this will help you speak old man.” He drew back his hand to hit him and Keadon caught his wrist.

“Why don’t you try that on somebody who can give you a fight.” His calm voice did not betray his rage. He retracted one hand, balled the other into a fist and hit the blond hard enough to knock him out. He was going to mourn the loss of the fight, but the other one, the tall skinny bald headed guy came at him and gave him a fight—not a good one, but good enough to make Keadon have to do a few quick maneuvers to avoid taking a hit himself.

By the time he was done with them he tied both men up. “They give you any trouble when they wake up, just shoot them.” He pointed to the guns he took off the bad guys.

“Got it,” he nodded. “They’re going after her, Keadon. I heard the other men say they were going to cover the other side of the town and you know who lives over there. If he talks and tells them you’re the one who scared that other guy off then they’ll know to go to your place. How many of them are left?”

Keadon did a mental count. “I took out fourteen already. Some of them lived; some of them went to meet their maker in hell.”

“Good. Take out the rest of them. Give that girl some peace.”

Keadon nodded. “I better get back home and make sure I get her some place safe.” He had been gone for nearly nine hours. It was going to be dark soon and while he could keep himself safe in the cover of darkness, he needed to make sure Debbie, Riggs and Victoria would be okay. They would have to move someplace else for now because he couldn’t chance Jason getting his hands on Debbie for even a second.

“How are you holding up?” Riggs sat down on the soft beige couch beside her. He had been keeping watch over the home all day, making sure they didn’t get any surprise visitors. He stayed inside and kept the doors locked despite Victoria’s insistence that he at least open a window. She was going stir crazy and she hadn’t even been stuck inside for that long. Debbie was going crazy with worry for Keadon.

“I’m worried about him,” she looked at the wall in front of her. Keadon had painted the living room a neutral ivory color and had hung a few mementoes from his travels, at least she presumed they were from his travels, nothing looked very Idaho inspired in this room. She liked it. It felt safe. It felt like a home in progress—like he was getting ready to settle in here—reluctantly so she would assume given it had taken him a while to really anchor to this little town. Although she wasn’t sure he was definitively anchored yet.

“He’ll be fine. Kade knows how to protect himself.”

Riggs sometimes called his brother Kade instead of Keadon. She liked the shortened version of his name, but she liked his full name better; there was just something in the way it sounded when it rolled off her tongue. “I know. But I know Jason too—and Corbin. I’m more worried about Corbin. He’s ruthless, and a big guy, and he has no trouble with taking anybody’s life. I’m worried for him. We haven’t heard from him and it’s getting late, Riggs. What if he’s hurt?”

He placed one hand over the back of her hand that rested on her knee. “He’s okay. I can feel it. I know he’s okay.” She would suppose his words should have given her a modicum of comfort, but they hadn’t. She was still worried about him and she would be worried until he walked through that door.

“My brother cares for you, Deb.”

She winced. “Please don’t call me Deb?”

“I’m sorry.” He looked at her with questions etched on his face.

“It’s not you. I’m sorry. It’s just…he always called me that whenever…I just can’t have anybody call me that without thinking of all those nights.” She shook her head. Her name was Debbie. Debbie wasn’t short for Debra. Her mother was a bit eccentric sometimes, but Debbie seemed to fit her when she popped out, her mother had said, so she named her Debbie. Her friends had shortened her name to Deb and until Jason Porter came into her life the condensed version had never bothered her. But after he started calling her that, “a grown up name for a grown up girl,” he had said. And every time he came to her bed he wanted to be able to look at her and see a grown up girl instead of a teen trying to grow up, trying to be safe, trying to enjoy what was left of her childhood before taking on the world of adult problems. He hadn’t let her be that child. She had grown up fast, not because nature intended her to do it, but because Jason Porter had forced her into it.

“I’m sorry, Debbie.”

“Me too,” she sighed. “Do you ever just wish you could go back and tell yourself to run?”

“Yeah, I wish I could go back and change some things. I wish I could go back and tell myself that kid’s gun isn’t real so don’t shoot, but I can’t do that.”

She nodded. “I wish I could go back and tell a younger me to runaway before my mom even got with Jason. I wish I could tell the me that was excited to go on a business trip with my mom that I should just run now and save myself years of hell later.”

“I understand that. But you can’t.”

“No, I can’t. But I wish I could. I wish I could forget.” There were things that always brought her back to the memory of what happened to her. Sometimes it was just a whiff of the smell of bourbon on a patron’s breath. Jason’s favorite drink before bed was what he called a warm glass of bourbon and she remembered that he reeked of it every night he came to her. He wasn’t a drunk. One glass was enough for him, but the smell on his breath was nauseating.

“Hey,” he moved his hand and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his body. “You’re going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. It may not seem like it now, but it will be okay.” He placed a soft kiss atop her head.

She sniffled, trying not to cry. “Thanks,” she leaned into him more. He held her like he would hold a sister. She wondered if this is what it would have felt like to have a big brother—safe, protected. Would things have been different if she had a brother like Riggs in her life way back when?

“That’s my girl you’re holding.” She heard Jason’s voice. Her eyes snapped open to find Corbin and Jensen standing behind Jason. Jensen had a gun to Victoria’s head. How did they get in here? How did they find her?

“I’m sorry, Riggs. I just had to get some air, just for a minute.” Victoria’s voice trembled.

Debbie heard the low growl that escaped from Riggs. They were supposed to stay inside. Why didn’t she see how serious this was? They had already had her once and Riggs had saved her. She shouldn’t have opened the door. She shouldn’t have gone outside. Debbie would imagine Riggs was blaming himself for not keeping a better watch on Victoria, but how could he know she would open the door and let these men inside?

She felt Riggs ready to make a move. She knew he was processing his options, but she hadn’t expected him to make a motion to get off the couch ready to fight.

“Uh uh,” Jason t’sked. “Jensen will kill her if you move, so sit your butt back on that couch and keep your hands off my girl.”

“She’s not yours,” Riggs snapped. Debbie could tell he was still contemplating making a rush move at one of the men despite the precarious situation Victoria found herself in.

“Oh, but she is.” Jason snapped as he reached out for her, grabbed her arm and yanked her off the couch. She went on a loud yelp of surprise. She saw Riggs get up completely and make a move. She also saw Corbin punch him hard in his stomach. He pulled out Cable Zip Ties and bound Riggs hands behind his back. “I’ll let you watch what I do to her so you’ll understand just how much she is mine, and then I’m going to kill you for trying to claim what doesn’t belong to you.”

Jason thought Riggs was with her, but he wasn’t. Riggs was just comforting her like a friend. Of course Jason didn’t know the meaning of the word boundary and probably couldn’t understand how a man could just be respectfully friendly toward her.

“Take that one out to the shed. Her sniveling is getting on my nerves.”

“What do you want me to do with her?” Jensen’s eyes told Debbie just what he wanted to do to Victoria—kill her. That was all Jensen was good for was killing without thought and without mercy. He liked the slow kill, torturous and long—but he had no problem pulling the trigger to end it swiftly when he got bored.

“Whatever you want. Just try to keep the noise to a minimum. Deb and I need a little quiet time,” he raked his eyes over her body. “Go with him, Corbin. That one isn’t going anywhere right now,” he grinned as Corbin finished looping his belt and Jensen’s around Riggs ankles and making movement nearly impossible.

Corbin nodded as he looked at her, promising her pain once Jason turned her over to him for her punishment. Jason had always said she would pay if she ever ran from him. She knew he meant that. She knew he would make everything as painful as he could. She knew that he would turn her over to Corbin for a beating that would remind her of where she belonged and why she should have never ran from him. And when Corbin was done she knew Jason would take her again, nonstop and whenever he wanted. She couldn’t let that happen. She had to do something. She had to free Riggs and get them both out of there. She needed to help Victoria too, but her first priority was Riggs. He was the only hope she would have of getting away from Jason right now. He was the only person who might be able to stop Corbin. Her thoughts went to Keadon. Where was he? Was he hurt? Or was he dead?

She could tell from the look in Jason’s eyes that she was going to be in for the fight of her life. She would not let him take her again. She would rather die first.

Jason came at her so fast she hadn’t had a chance to get away. She kicked at him, but he moved back enough to avoid her foot. Then he hit her hard; a punch that sent her sprawling on the couch next to Riggs.

“You son of…!” Riggs struggled to try to break the ties that held his hands in place. Jason’s hand sunk into her hair and yanked her head back, pulling her up and swiftly turning her to face him. The grin on his face made her sick—angry and sick.

“I’ve missed you, sweetheart. Let me show you how much.” He ripped her blouse sending buttons scattering across the cherry wood floor. She sunk her fingernails into his skin. They weren’t long, but they had inflicted a little damage because he released his grip long enough to pry her fingers away from his face. Then he punched her again. Unsatisfied with the pain he had inflicted on her he pulled her up, slammed her into the wall and then pushed her into the cabinet against the wall. She, and the cabinet, fell to the floor hard. The door came undone and everything inside spilled out and hit her in the back of her head. She hadn’t had time to think before Jason grabbed hold of her ankle.

A shimmer of silver caught her eyes so she reached for it, hoping it would provide her with something stable to hold on to, but it hadn’t. Jason dragged her from the position she was in, pulling her body back with one swift motion before yanking her up by her hair again. She felt strands rip free from her scalp and she yelled in pain.