Killer Love (31 page)

Inside were a wood framed couch and chair with southwestern print cushions and a coffee table marred with cigarette burns. A small pile of logs sat next to a fireplace, along with a wrought iron shovel and poker. A musty odor hung in the air, making Jade feel even more isolated as she realized the cabin probably hadn’t been used in a very long time.

She turned to him. “Would you please untie me? My hands are numb.”

He shook his head. “Can’t do that. I don’t trust you. But I’ll loosen them a bit, how’s that?”

She nodded and he stepped behind her. She felt him tug on the ropes and in seconds, her flesh started to tingle as the blood rushed back to her hands.

He turned her toward him and placed his hands on either side of her face. “God, I’ve missed you. You have no idea how much.” His voice was husky with longing, sincere. As if she were a lover who’d returned from an extended absence rather than a hostage of his madness.

His hands on her face felt constricting, even though his touch was light. It was all she could do to keep from pulling away. She didn’t want to antagonize him, not just yet.

“You do understand that all of this is your fault, right? If you’d just stayed out of it, none of this would have happened. You had it made. I treated you like a queen but it wasn’t enough. Do you have any idea how many women would have loved to trade places with you?”

“You kidnapped girls and sold them into slavery. You almost killed me.” She gritted her teeth with the effort of keeping her tone calm. “How can you possibly pretend that was a normal existence?”

He shrugged. “It was business. That’s it. You should have never involved yourself in my business.”

His eyes roamed over her face and he leaned toward her. Oh God, he was going to kiss her...she couldn’t do it...couldn’t cope with the feel of his lips on hers. She tensed, tightening her muscles in anticipation.

The kiss was light, but repulsive just the same. As if a serpent had pressed its revolting mouth to hers.

Bryce pulled away and released her face. “You’ll come around, I promise you that.” His voice was low, deadly. “When you realize what the alternative is, you’ll be begging me to touch you.”

Jade couldn’t imagine any alternative that would be worse than having this despicable thing touch her. She would die first. She lifted her chin and said nothing.

Bryce pushed her down onto the couch and unable to break her fall, she landed with a thump, her elbow smacking the wooden arm. Shards of pain shot through her arm up to her shoulder and tears sprang to her eyes.

Bryce loomed above her. “Once we leave here, you’re mine. You’ll never escape. The only thing you can hope for is that I’m pleased enough with you that I let you live. And that I let the girl live.”

Ignoring the threat to Ashley, but filing it away in her mind as a reminder that she had to tread carefully, she asked, “Where are we going?”

A smile split his face. The look was self-satisfied, as if he was the master of travel arrangements. “It’s a surprise, but I’ll give you a hint.” His glacial blue eyes gleamed. “There are five very good reasons to go there.”

Five very good reasons. Five million dollars.
“The Cayman Islands?”

He made a sound like a game show bell. “Correct on the first guess, very good.”

Despair weighted her down, sinking her heart into a pool of mire. If he got her that far...if they actually made it to the Cayman Islands, there was no way she’d ever escape. Other than in death.

****

After a little creative persuasion, Luke learned that the man’s name was Blake Lawson and he did indeed work for Bryce DiMarco.

"Don’t make me go with you,” Lawson begged. “He’ll kill me for sure.”

Luke drove with Lawson in the passenger seat while Wayne sat in the back with a gun pressed to the man’s temple.

“Sorry,” Luke said. “You’re going with us. That way if I find out you lied, I can be the one to kill you.”

“I swear to God, I can tell you where he is.” He began to babble directions, looking from Luke to Wayne as if searching for his most likely ally.

“Shut up and listen,” Luke interrupted. “How many men does DiMarco have with him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me.” Luke grabbed the guy’s hair, keeping one eye on the road. “My friend here will put a bullet in the limb of your choice if you can’t come up with a better answer than that.”

The guy’s eyes rolled back toward Wayne, then toward his injured leg. Wayne had used his scarf to wrap the wound, but the bullet was still there. Before long, he’d need medical attention.

“My leg is fucking killing me. Please, you have to get me to a doctor.”

Luke twisted and the guy yelped. “Answer the fucking question and I’ll think about it.”

“I only know of a few. He could have more. I just mean I don’t know exactly.”

“Are they at the cabin with him?”

“He rented another cabin. We’ve been staying there, waiting for his orders.”

Luke released his hold. “How many men are there?”

“It was me, Chang, and Reiker,” Lawson said, rubbing his scalp.

“Call ‘em.”

“Which one?”

“Jesus. Start with Chang.” Luke handed back the cell phone they’d taken from the guy when they searched him. “Find out where he is. Put it on speakerphone. If you say anything that makes me suspicious, you’re dead. And be careful. I’m a very suspicious guy.”

Lawson dialed the phone. A man’s voice answered.

“Hey, Chang,” Lawson said. “Are you with Mr. DiMarco? He asked me to check on the woman’s car and I tried to call him back, but he’s not answering.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I just left him a few minutes ago.”

“What about Reiker?”

”He’s still at the cabin as far as I know. What the fuck’s the problem?”

Lawson hesitated. He looked at Wayne, then down at the gun. “No problem. I just need to talk to the boss.”

“I got my own shit to deal with. He sent the girl with me but he wants me to fuckin’ babysit instead of havin’ a little fun. Figure it out for your own goddammed self.”

The call disconnected.

“What girl is he talking about?” Luke asked.

“I don’t know.”

Shit. DiMarco had another hostage? “How close is the cabin you were in?”

“It’s right up here, why?” Before Luke could reply, Lawson shouted and pointed out the window. “There’s Chang right there.”

A blue van approached on the narrow road. Luke jerked the wheel toward the van, almost slamming into the oncoming vehicle. It careened to a stop and a large, oriental man jumped out of the driver’s side.

“You stupid cocksucking motherfucker.” he shouted, as if his biggest crisis was road rage. “What the hell...” The man pulled a gun and pointed it at the car.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jade wasn’t sure how much more she could take. Bryce sat on the couch next to her--so close, she could smell him with every breath--alternating between threats and contrition, one moment the vicious captor, the next the cajoling husband. Each time he touched her, it made her flesh creep and nausea rise to her throat. So far, it had been only the briefest of contacts. He’d promised more later...when she realized that giving in to him was not only her key to survival, it was what she wanted. Oh my God, did he really believe that? Could he possibly be that deluded?

The switchblade bit into her hip but she was grateful Bryce hadn’t discovered it yet. How long had they been here? An hour? Longer?

Yes, longer than an hour. He’d called Chang once so it had to be.

He’d finally untied her hands, but had once more trained the gun on her, chatting as though he wasn’t holding an instrument of death to her head.

Think, Jade, think. You’re running out of time.
He’d said the plane was due back soon. A call on his cell phone would indicate it had arrived. Then, they’d be gone. Forever. She shuddered, cringing at the thought of leaving with Bryce to fly out of the country, all hope for escape dashed indefinitely. She couldn’t let that happen.

The phone rang...jarring her as much as the blast of a grenade would.
Oh God, was this the call?

Bryce smiled as he listened. His eyes blazed with triumph. Jade stared at him, struggling to calm her racing terror. He stood to his feet and reached one hand down for her, the other still holding the weapon. She looked at his hand, then back to his demented eyes, one thought beating through her brain.

How long would it take to retrieve the knife...and could she do it before Bryce pulled the trigger?

She took Bryce’s hand, cringing as his smooth fingers clasped hers. Without warning, the feel of Luke’s calloused fingers sliding along her skin came back to her.
Luke.
Would she ever see him again? If she did, would he hate her for what she’d done?

“The airplane’s here.” His smile widened. “Almost to freedom. Your little friend is almost to safety, if you’ll just be a good girl a little longer.”

This was perhaps her last chance. She had to take it. Now or never. “Bryce?” she said softly.

His gaze was momentarily wary, but if he wondered about her change of tone, he didn’t comment. He pulled her close and looked into her eyes. “Yes, darling?”

Reaching behind her, Jade pulled the switchblade from her pocket. She flicked it open and whipped it around, plunging it into Bryce’s side, then jerked it out quickly.

A grunt left his throat. The gun clattered to the floor as he clutched his ribs and stumbled back, a look of disbelief on his face. He went to his knees, then fell onto his side.

For a moment, she was afraid she’d killed him. She needed him alive so he could tell her where Ashley was. Perverse relief shot through her when he rolled over on his back, moaning and clutching his side.

Head down, favoring his ribs, he attempted to get to his feet but Jade lunged on top of him. Fisting her knuckles, she jabbed them into his neck. He made a gurgling noise, his hands going from his side to his throat.

Blood seeped from his wound onto Jade’s jeans but she ignored it, once more jamming her knuckles into him. This time, his chest was the target. Breath whooshed from him and he was still, staring at her with pain-crazed eyes.

“I learned a little something while I was away,” she whispered. “It’s called the death touch.” She smiled down at him. “Just to show you I’m not all bad, I’m going to give you a choice. I can either kill you, or I can make you a fucking vegetable.”

Bryce made a wheezing, howling noise and jerked beneath her.

She gripped his throat and squeezed. “Tell me where Ashley is or I’ll make the choice for you.” She knew his condition wouldn’t last long. He would recover in a few moments.

“You won’t do either.” He managed to choke. “If you ever want to find her, you’ll let me go. Even if you force me to tell you where she is, you won’t know if I told you the truth.”

Looking down at him, she was suddenly overcome with fury. The weeks of hiding...day after day of fear...and the innocent victims he’d claimed in his self-absorbed quest culminated in a rage that had no end.

Gripping his throat even tighter, she screamed down at him, “Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to destroy lives? The right to play God...to infect the world you’re your evil?” With tears streaming down her face, she quivered in frustration. “If you don’t tell me, right now, where she is, I swear I’ll gut you like the pig you are.” She pressed the knife to his throat. “Tell me where the fuck she is!”

“Godammit! You’re out of your fucking mind!”

Jade had the crazy urge to laugh. A maniac like Bryce accusing
her
of being insane? “Tell me.”

“I’ll take you to her. You’ll never find her if you kill me. And if I don’t call Chang soon...she dies anyway.”

He was right. The sonofabitch. Tamping down her wrath, she climbed off him and grabbed his gun from the floor.

“One false move, and I’ll blow a hole through your sorry ass.”

He lifted his hands in supplication. “Okay. I get the message. You’re a bad ass now. Go figure.”

“Move.” She pointed toward the door with the gun.

She followed Bryce to the Audi, the gun trained on his back. She motioned for him to get inside and slid into the passenger seat.

“Drive, you sonofabitch, and you’d better drive straight to Ashley.”

A drizzle of snow and ice had started to fall while they’d been inside the cabin. Visibility was almost zero. Jade wasn’t sure Bryce could see where he was going. She wasn’t sure he was really taking her to Ashley but she had to believe he was. Right now, it was all she had.

****

Lawson opened the passenger door and bailed out of the car. He ran around the front, screaming, “Chang...help me!”

What happened next was either accidental or intentional, Luke didn’t know or care. The oriental man’s startled gaze flew to the guy staggering toward him in the dark and he pulled the trigger, shooting Lawson in the chest.

Wayne jumped from the back seat and knocked the gun from Chang’s hand, then shoved the Beretta into his forehead. “Where’s the girl?”

“Back the fuck off, dude. What’re you talking about?”

Wayne smashed the gun against the guy’s head and he went down like a toppled oak tree. He slapped handcuffs on the unconscious man while Luke threw the van door open.

Inside, was the girl he’d met at Jade’s. Her hands were above her head, tied to the assist handle. Eyes the size of basketballs stared at him from her pale face.

“It’s okay, sugar. Remember me?” Carefully, he crept toward the girl, keeping his voice low. “I’m a friend of Jenna’s. You’re fine now. We’ll get you home.”

She nodded. Then, as if a black cloud had opened up, tears poured from her eyes. Her hands shook so badly, Luke had to be careful to avoid cutting her flesh as he sliced through the ropes.

Once she was free, she dove into his arms and he held her. Her thin body felt fragile, like a twig that could snap with too much pressure. The sobbing turned to sniffling hiccups and he held her from him, helping her out of the van.

He led her to the car. “This is Wayne. He’s a friend of mine. He’ll take care of you.”