Saved by the Blizzard: A romantic winter thriller (Tellure Hollow Book 2) (23 page)

Open your eyes
, I heard a voice in my mind. I’m not sure where it came from, but looking back, I’m positive it saved my life.

“Take it off,” he repeated. His voice was devoid of anger, like he was trying to train a puppy to sit. As I lifted the sweater over my head with trembling arms, I forced my eyes open. I couldn’t bring myself to meet his, so I stared at my feet, at the ground, anywhere I could where he wasn’t.

“Better,” he growled. He pulled out his pocket knife and flicked the blade open. I saw the glint of the metal peripherally and began to tremble. “Oh, Beth, I won’t cut you unless you give me a reason to.” Hot tears rolled down my face as he came closer with the knife.

He slid the back of the blade against my neck as he spoke. I turned my face from his, trembling, waiting for the slice to open my skin. He gripped the collar of my V-neck shirt and tore through the fabric, ripping the shirt apart with his hands, revealing my bra beneath.

“Enough foreplay,” Kayla hissed from the doorway.

“Shut it. She’s kept these babies locked away for so long, they’ve become like the Holy Grail to me.” He lifted the blade to the center of my bra, pulling it away from my skin and sawing at the tough fabric. He nicked my skin as he sliced upwards. I gasped at the sudden rush of pain and looked down to see a bright trickle of blood rolling down my stomach. A moment later, the bra gave way, my heavy breasts falling free.

“Oops,” he said as our eyes met. He closed the knife, tucked it in his pocket, and pulled the torn clothes away from my body. I stood shivering, tears rolling down my face, head turned as far away from him as my neck would allow.

Rick’s cold hands rose to my breasts, cupping them roughly. He pressed me against the wall of the cabin and suckled a nipple into his mouth with a guttural groan. It was then, in that horrible moment, I saw the glint of another blade in the dim light. Amid the clutter, not far from my reach, was a pair of old ice skates. I dropped my eyes from them, afraid to bring any attention to their presence at all.

He grabbed my left breast and for the first time in my life, I was thankful for the lack of sensitivity my surgery had left me. Stepping back suddenly, wiping his lips with the back of his hand, he gazed at me with an amused smile. “They’re nothing special after all.” He lifted my breast and studied the scar. “Don’t see what the big deal is,” he muttered as he let it fall. I counted my small blessings that Bryan had been the first to see them. At least Rick couldn’t steal that from me unwillingly.

The belt buckle on his jeans jingled as he unfastened his pants, the sound causing my stomach to churn. I knew what was happening next. I kept my eyes open but unfocused, staring into the far distance about waist level. He was speaking as he took off his jacket and shirt, but it was only when Kayla spun around in alarm the words registered in my mind.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Kayla said slowly. “‘Cause I’m hoping I just misheard you.”

“What?” he said over his shoulder. “About that blonde bitch?”

“You slept with her?” She said each word pointedly.

Rick locked eyes with me as he replied, his smarmy smile growing. “Once or twice. Titties bounced so nice.” He grabbed his crotch at the memory, unzipping his pants and stepping closer. A hand shot out to my chest and I flinched at the contact. “To be honest, I prefer the real kind. Fake ones just feel so...plastic,” he emphasized his belief with a squeeze.

Kayla took a few steps into the shed, eyes boring holes into the back of his head. “You
promised
me you wouldn’t fuck her! You promised!” I could see her shaking with rage.

“Whatever,” he said with a flick of the hand.

“You promised,” she said flatly. Although my eyes were glued to his, I could see her hand slide up the strap of the rifle. My legs were shaking so badly I thought I might collapse any second.

Distracted by her tone, he scowled and spun to face her. Without a moment’s hesitation, he smacked her across the face with the back of his hand, sending her sprawling into a pile of junk. “Cunt,” he spat as he stood over her. “Where do you get off telling me what I can and cannot do? I think you’re forgetting your place in this arrangement. First that spoiled cock Noah steps out of line and now you? Shit girl, I thought you had better sense.”

With his back turned, I took a step closer to the ice skates, sensing I might have a chance to attack if Kayla were knocked unconscious. The crumpled figure moaned, slipping down from the pile onto the floor. Rick returned with a sickening smile, rubbing the back of his hand absently. “Enough. Time to take what you’ve been lording over me all this time and then,” he grinned, “I’ll take back my money for making me wait.”

He came towards me with purpose this time, the bulge in his open pants obvious. “Strip or I’ll strip ya myself.” Remembering the knife he’d used on the shirt, my chest still bleeding trickling blood, I nodded. With numb, useless fingers, I fumbled with the button on my jeans.

I remember always laughing at the old joke, “Men have two heads and enough blood to operate one at a time.” Rick’s fatal mistake was focusing on what his cock wanted and ignoring the real danger he’d left unattended behind him.

“Why do you think I killed them?” Kayla mumbled from the floor. Rick either ignored her or didn’t hear it, but the confession sent shock waves through my soul. This entire time I’d continued to think that Rick had been the murderer, Kayla the accomplice. My hands paused mid-zip, earning a slap from Rick.

“Keep going, or so help me...” he hissed, raising the knife.

“I have to take off my boots,” I whispered. “My p-pants are too tight.”

“Do it.”

There was a clatter as Kayla got to her knees, the pile of junk skittering along the floor as she shifted. “You
promised
me you wouldn’t touch that bitch,” she repeated. Her expression was one of pure rage, staring at the back of his head. She searched the floor with her hand, finally finding the rifle. “It’s bad enough he fucked her but...”

I pulled my leg up and unlaced my right boot, tugging it off. I moved slowly, deliberately, just fast enough Rick wouldn’t lash out at me again. His eyes were watching my breasts swing as I undressed, hand down the front of his pants. Two heads, not enough blood.

“Why am I never enough?” Kayla screamed at the top of her lungs, spit flying from her lips. “Why?”

It all happened in seconds. As she lifted the rifle with her shaky arms, I dropped to my knees and covered my ears. I spared a quick glance at her and knew at the very least, she’d be thrown back by the blast. Judging by the way she was holding the gun, there was a good chance she’d end up with a broken collarbone as well. Growing up around guns had finally paid off. Even if she didn’t hit him, the sound and shock might give me just enough time to get away.

The screaming finally drew Rick’s attention away from my humiliation. “You bitch—” he began raising his hand again but before he could fully turn to deliver another smack, Kayla pulled the trigger.

The thunderous explosion filled the small room. From my low crouch, I watched Rick’s heavy boots rock back in slow motion. Warm droplets of liquid fell on my bare skin like rain. A part of me knew it was blood and pieces of flesh, but at that moment, I didn’t have time for horror. A shotgun blast from such a short range wasn’t something he’d walk away from. I had to move quickly to avoid being crushed under his full weight. His body slumped back and slid down the wall with surprising speed, falling just to my left. I forced myself not to look. His silence told me everything I needed to know.
One down
, I thought calmly. It was with a bit of surprise that I realized my survival mode had fully kicked in. I quickly groped to the side for the skate, my only hope of a weapon.

My ears were ringing from the blast, but I could faintly hear Kayla moaning in pain. With the skate clutched in my hand, I stood straight up, my eyes locked on her writhing body. I was fairly certain she’d broken something, which hopefully would buy me enough time to get away. The acrid smell of gunpowder burned my nostrils. I jammed my foot into my boot, tucking the laces inside just in case I had to run. Kayla wasn’t moving much now, the moaning stopped.
Maybe she passed out from the pain
, I wondered. She’d never had a high threshold for it.

With my clothes all torn and in pieces, I had to reach over Rick’s body to get my jacket. I swallowed a few times to keep the bile down. Like my back, it too was covered in blood. I quickly slipped into it, switching the skate to the other hand as I threaded my arm in, just in case.

Kayla was completely motionless.
Now or never
. I stepped over his legs and gingerly inched past her. I knew Kayla had been right. When the police saw the scene up in the house, they wouldn’t be thinking to come find me and it’d take Bryan forever to figure out where to look. He’d start checking the neighbor’s before thinking something had happened. I had to get up there, get help.

I stepped past her head and nearly released the breath I’d been holding. Just as my hand touched the door to the shed, I heard the distinct sound of a rifle being cocked.

“Stop right there. Change of plans,” Kayla said from behind.

I clutched the skate to my chest and didn’t turn. I was right there, right at the entrance, staring into the open expanse of freedom. I could run, try to slip into the shadows and get away, but I recalled how quickly she’d pulled the trigger on Rick. Tucking the skate inside my jacket and pulling it shut, I hoped she would assume I was holding it closed because of the cold.

“Kay, please. I’ll give you whatever you want. I won’t tell anyone,” I said in my broken voice. I turned, thinking that maybe if she looked into my eyes, I could buy myself some time. She had rolled over onto her stomach, the rifle pointed at me with one hand. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Well, I have to do
something
now, don’t I?” she whined as she pushed herself to her knees. Still pointing the gun at me, she turned and looked over her shoulder at Rick’s body. “That sonofabitch. He never did know when to keep it in his pants.” I thought about edging backwards while she wasn’t looking, but knew the crunch of the snow would alert her straight away. “Fuck!” she screamed, making me jump. “Never, ever hit me. Never!”

“Please, just let me go—”

“Go? Yeah, fat chance of that,” she said facing forward once more. There was a glimmer in her eye. Even though her whole plan had been shot to hell, I could tell she was enjoying this. I’d seen the same glint when she’d worked men at the bar or used her talents to get anything she wanted. “No, I just need to figure this out. The fucker screwed everything up but I just need to think.”

“Kay, whatever you want, I’ll give it you. You wanted money, right? Let’s go up to the cabin and I’ll transfer it to you.”

She pushed herself up to her feet, touching the side of her face gingerly and looking at her fingers. She spat blood onto the floor and laughed. “You think this is just about money? Christ, Lizzie, you
are
thick. This is about...” she paused, closing her eyes as she searched for the right word. “This is about retribution.”

Despite the danger and Rick’s blood drying on my skin, I felt a real surge of anger. “Retribution,” I repeated slowly. “For what?”

“For being a stuck-up little prude. For selling out your friends.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and looked at me with one eyebrow arched, challenging.

“
You
left
me
. You ran at the first hint of trouble. What was I supposed to do? Go to jail for him?” I said pointing at Rick’s corpse. “He used us.”

“Rick was Rick, no more, no less. He helped you out, gave you money, and you did nothing but dick him around.” She rested the muzzle of the gun on the floor as she adjusted her jacket, holding the gun with her elbow. The way her right arm hung, she definitely had a broken or dislocated shoulder. “That’s why I wanted you to come out here this winter, to prove to me you were still worth my time.”

Despite my better judgment, I took a step towards her. She didn’t seem bothered, the protection of the gun giving her a false confidence. “And what exactly did I do to you? I didn’t tell the cops
Steve
was Rick. I didn’t get in the way of your business. Damnit Kay, I barely said anything when Morgan fucking died in my arms because you guys were cutting the drugs for a bigger profit!”

Kay simply shrugged, her cold eyes on mine as I stepped closer and closer. Without much ceremony, she lifted the rifle and pointed it at my hip, too heavy for her to hold up. That should’ve scared me, given what she’d just done to Rick, but I was too livid.

“You were going to let him rape me and then what? Steal my money and then kill me? What the
hell
did I exactly do to deserve that kind of retribution?”

“You left me. We had a good thing going, you, me, and Rick and you just tossed that away for some hick. I gave you one last chance. I figured with him out of the picture, we could fix everything.”

Each time I thought I’d heard the most shocking thing, it got worse. “Jesus, you tried to kill him, didn’t you? You messed with his skis...”

“Actually, I got Noah to do that,” she said proudly. “When I saw the video this morning, I got my hopes up. I never thought I’d be able to actually
see
the crash! I figured he’d smack into a tree, die or become a vegetable. But when you told me in the hospital that you were leaving, you really didn’t leave me much choice.”