The Mating Ritual (2 page)

“How long–”

“As soon as we can.”

“No I mean, how long do you think we’ll have
to stay in protective custody?”

Detective Todd released a heavy sigh.
“There’s absolutely no way of knowing that, but we have detectives
working on this round the clock. Don’t go anywhere until we get to
your cabin and don’t answer your phone.”

Toni frowned. “Don’t answer my phone?”

“GPS tracking device,” she explained. “We
can’t take a chance that they don’t have one. If it’s sophisticated
enough it only takes seconds to trace someone’s whereabouts.”

The uneasy feeling in Toni’s belly
intensified. The only thing that made her feel better was knowing
that it would take hours for anyone to reach her. “What about Mary,
I told her I’d call her back.”

“After we hang up I’d rather you not use your
phone at all. I have Mary’s number and will call her for you. Look,
I’m going to contact the local police in your area and ask them to
send someone to stay with you until we get there.”

“Do you really think that’s necessary?”

“It’s just a precaution.” Toni could tell
Detective Todd was trying to downplay the situation. “If your place
is as secluded as you say, you should be fine.”

Toni thought about the amount of time it had
taken her to get there and the wrong turn she’d taken on the way.
Once she’d left the main highway and driven deeper into the
mountains there were many unmarked turn-offs, and it was easy to
take the wrong one, even if you knew where you were going. The dirt
roads that crisscrossed the mountains were vast and confusing, but
only to those who didn’t live there year round. Knowing all that
did make her feel safe, for the time being.

Once Toni had given Detective Todd the
detailed directions to the cabin and hung up the phone she felt
more isolated than ever. It even seemed quieter outside the cabin
than it had earlier. She glanced out the window, surprised at how
fast darkness was descending. It had been a few years since she’d
been there, and she’d forgotten how rapidly the sun went down in
the mountains. She opened up the door to gauge how much time she
had before it would be completely dark, estimating that it would be
about half an hour.

Toni glanced yearningly at the lake. Did she
dare go for a quick swim? By the time she went through her
suitcase, dug out her swimsuit, undressed and got into it, it would
probably be dark. Better to just take her clothes off and go in her
underwear. Without another thought, she rushed to the bathroom for
a towel.

She figured she had just about enough time
for a few laps. With a towel in hand, Toni walked to the water’s
edge. She quickly stripped out of her clothes, carefully waded in,
and when she was waist deep, she kicked off the bottom. It was
colder than she was expecting, but the more she swam the warmer she
began to feel. She dove several times to the bottom, enjoying the
freedom of swimming almost naked. After a while her sore muscles
were feeling the benefits of her swim.

As she was swimming back to where her clothes
were a noise startled her. She treaded water while looking around
the lake’s shore, assuming it was the local police. Her gaze
automatically went to the cabin. She narrowed her eyes against the
shadows cloaking the small structure but was only able to make out
that there was a vehicle parked close against the side of the
cabin. It was parked in a way that blocked her own vehicle so that
she wouldn’t be able to leave. Almost simultaneously two men came
into view, one from inside the cabin and the other circling around
it. Neither was wearing uniforms.

They can’t be the police.
Then it
dawned on her that there was no way that the police could have
gotten there that fast. Toni felt her heart rate begin to pick up
speed.

“She can’t have gone far, her car is still
here.”

“Well, she’s not inside.” Both men began to
look around, and Toni instinctively ducked behind some water
grass.

“Fuck, maybe she went out for a walk.” One of
them suggested.

“It will be dark in a few minutes. You stay
inside, and I’ll take a quick look around the area. And remember,
we want this to look like an accident. Once we have her we’ll torch
the place.”

Toni caught her breath, fear chilling her
more than the frigid water and drop in temperature. For a moment
she was frozen in place.
What do I do?
It was obvious that
they were there to kill her. How had they found her so fast? It
didn’t make sense, unless they had put a tracking device on her
car. They could have done something like that any time.

She thought about her clothes. It wouldn’t
take them long to discover them, and then they would know she was
in the lake. She heard the sound of snapping twigs and leaves as
footsteps moved in her direction. Too afraid to chance a glance,
she took a deep breath and sank beneath the surface, then swam in
the opposite direction.

It was a large lake. Toni wasn’t even sure
she could make it to the other side, but she knew she had to try.
And then what? She couldn’t very well hide out in the water all
night, she’d die of hypothermia. Her last option of traipsing
through the woods to find her nearest neighbor wearing next to
nothing was no more appealing.

First things first, she had to get to the
other side of the lake. She couldn’t hold her breath that long and
soon came up for air. A quick glance behind her confirmed one of
the men had found her clothes.

“There! I think I see something over there,
in the water!” The other man came running from the direction of the
cabin. “It has to be the girl! Get the truck!”

Shit!
Toni filled her lungs, and dove
beneath the surface again. She continued to swim across the lake,
praying she made it there before they did. At least she had a head
start. She pushed herself to the limit. The next time she came up
for air she paused long enough to listen and search for the truck,
hearing it in the distance. Thank God, there wasn’t a road circling
the lake, but she knew she wasn’t out of trouble yet. If they were
determined to get to her, they would find a way.

When she reached the shoreline, she crawled
out of the water and lay there for a moment, gasping for breath and
trying to think of what her next move would be. The sound of the
men’s approaching vehicle decided it for her. She got to her feet,
half stumbled up the embankment, and dove into a wooded area, just
as the flash of headlights broke through the trees and landed on
her.

“Fuck, man, there she is!” She heard one of
them shout out his window.

“I’ll get the bitch!” The other one said, and
then Toni heard the unmistakable sound of the door being opened and
slammed shut again.

She took off in a dead run, tearing through
branches and bushes with only one thought on her mind—she had to
get away if she wanted to live. It was completely dark now and she
was moving on pure fear and instinct, adrenaline giving her the
edge not to question where she put her bare feet. With no direction
in mind, she ran and ran, pausing only long enough to catch her
breath when she had to and listen to see if they were in
pursuit.

At first all Toni could hear was her own
labored panting and the eerie sounds of an active nightlife
surrounding her in the woods. She became frighteningly aware of how
noisy the forest became after dark, of the howls and shrieks, the
hoots and screeches of animals as they moved about in the brush in
search of food. She had no way of knowing what they were, or how
dangerous, and the thought of bears was never far from her
mind.

“She went this way!”

The closeness of the harsh comment warned
Toni that the men were nearer than she’d hoped. She took off again,
forced to go slower this time, as the forest grew denser and denser
the further she went into it. She was constantly tugging her long
hair free from branches or pushing the spidery limbs away from her
face and arms. When she wasn’t quick enough to avoid the occasional
slap against her skin she ignored the sting, focusing on escape. It
didn’t occur to Toni that she was following the sound of running
water until she came to the edge of a rocky cliff. At least she
thought it was a cliff.

Oh! She just managed to stop from falling
off, doing a little jig backwards to gain her balance. It was too
dark to see but judging by the noise of rushing water she sensed
the black void below her was a river, possibly rapids. She stepped
back out of fear. One thing was certain; she wouldn’t attempt the
descent until day light. She wasn’t a fool, but she was frightened
and beyond exhausted. She couldn’t go on, and she knew she needed
to find a place to hide quickly.

Toni turned to backtrack, but that’s as far
as she got. It was dark, but she could make out enough of an
outline to know that she was facing something big. A bear was her
first thought, but it seemed too big to be a bear. Then she
realized that whatever it was, was standing on two legs, which made
him appear even more threatening. She held her breath, fighting
down the scream that threatened to rise from her throat. When the
ominous shadow moved in her direction, she felt her knees buckle
and a crippling wave of terror overtake her. Before she could
decide or make a move, she heard a rustling, followed by feet
stomping on the ground coming toward them.

“Come on, I think I heard her go this
way!”

The dark shape her gaze had been riveted to
stopped abruptly and stepped quietly back into the shadows, just as
the bushes parted and the two men chasing her broke through. They
had flashlights, and stopped upon seeing her. She couldn’t make out
their expressions, but she could hear them panting and could well
imagine their sense of victory at finding her. An evil snicker was
all she heard as they began walking slowly toward her.

When they were within inches of her Toni saw
movement behind them, and then everything was happening so fast.
The large silhouette moved quickly and silently up behind the two
men. Without hesitation it grabbed them by the back of their necks
and threw them over the bank with a gritty sound of force. She
gasped, hearing their screams diminish the further away they fell,
realizing that the ravine was deeper than she had first thought. A
distant splash that indicated at least one of them had hit
water.

Toni stood frozen in fear, barely able to
breathe as the menacing shadow turned slowly back toward her. She
could just make out the glimmering reflection in his eyes.
Oh
God, this isn’t happening!
She swung around to jump, deciding
to take her chances in the river after all. But just as her feet
left the ground an arm encircled her waist, hauling her back
against a hard-as-granite body, while a large hand that smelled of
earth and something manly covered her mouth.

The next thing Toni knew she was sinking into
a black abyss.

When Toni finally came to, she had no way of
knowing how long she’d been out. As she slowly regained
consciousness, she became aware that she was in some kind of cave,
lying on something that felt soft and furry. At first she thought
it was a dead animal. She jumped to her feet and moved away from
it, only to find that it was just an animal hide. Picking it up,
she examined it before wrapping it around her cold body.

She glanced around the cave, wondering how
she’d got there, and then her memory returned. Where was he? That a
man had dragged her in there she had no doubts. She could tell the
cave went further back, she could see the flickering shadows
against the walls indicating some kind of lighting, but she wasn’t
about to go exploring. The loud sound of moving water reminded her
that she was still near the river. She turned toward the mouth of
the cave, walked to the edge, and glanced down. As far as she could
tell, it was the only way out of there.

If she had jumped the night before she would
have killed herself. Nothing but boulders and large rocks lined the
steep incline down to the river. Something off to the side drew her
attention, and she gasped, recognizing one of the men that had been
after her. There was no question that he was dead. His twisted,
broken body was lying just inches from the river, his bloody face
and glazed, lifeless eyes were staring up at her. She shivered with
repulsion and searched around for his friend, until remembering
that she’d heard the sound of a splash.

Her gaze shifted across the water to the
other side, wondering if he’d crossed the river or had been swept
away with the current. Even if he had managed to swim across he
wouldn’t have been able to climb up the embankment. More likely
than not he’d been washed down the river and had drowned. At least
she didn’t have to worry about the men anymore. Once she returned
to the cabin she’d call Detective Todd and tell her what happened,
and with a little luck, the local police were already searching for
her.

Toni didn’t realize how close she was to the
edge until she felt the heel of her foot begin to slip. She
screamed when the reality that she was falling rushed over her.
Once again a muscular arm came out of nowhere and encircled her
waist. Then, with surprising ease, she was hauled against a huge
male body. She knew it was male because he was naked, and there was
no denying the feeling of a large, flaccid cock against her
backside.

She glanced down, thanking God his arm wasn’t
as hairy as she’d been expecting, but still screamed and tried to
wiggle free. He was much too strong for her. He kept her tight
against him, grunting when she dug her nails into his flesh. He
pulled her away from the cave entrance and tossed her against the
cave wall. She hit it forcefully, crying out, and clutched the fur
as it started to slip down.