The Three (33 page)

Matt leaned in. “That’s Elin, right?” When Anna nodded, he whispered, “Why do you think she’s wearing handcuffs? None of the others were.”

Next to Anna, Kael’s whole body trembled. “Because they’re scared. And they should be.”

The men seemed to be having a problem, peering into the tent and gesticulating, plainly frustrated.

Finally Elin spoke to whoever was in the tent, and a tiny, thin arm appeared around the flap. Kael’s trembling grew uncontrollable as a dark-haired girl, perhaps nine or ten years old, emerged from the tent.

She ran to Elin’s side and wrapped suntanned arms around her waist.

Dan grabbed Elin’s upper arm and practically dragged her along behind him. He treated her far more roughly than he had any of the other women. The girl clung to Elin’s middle, jogging to keep up, and staring around with huge, terrified eyes.

Anna flinched when a shaggy-haired man left the football game underway at the edge of the camp and loped toward the men and their prisoners. There was something familiar about him. When he glanced back at the football field, and Anna had a decent view of his face, she gasped.

Brian. Running toward Elin was the man who had threatened to strike her with a steel baton because she had hit him during the attack. Anna whimpered at her sudden realization.

“What?” Kael asked. “Anna, what’s wrong?”

“That man.” She pointed a shaking finger to Brian. “He threatened to hit Elin with her own weapon after she was on the ground. Trey had to forcibly stop him. His name is Brian.” Kael’s eyes flashed. She leaned forward and stared as Brian intercepted the small group only a few yards from the river. Elin lowered her head in immediate deference. Seeing this uncharacteristic response, Anna knew her own fears were warranted. Elin judged this man to be a threat, as well.

She wished like hell she could hear what was being said. Brian clapped the other guard on the back and pointed to the far side of camp where some men were beginning preparations for the afternoon meal. Dan gestured in the direction of Trey’s tent, but Brian dismissed him with an impatient wave. As the ginger-haired man handed him something then walked back to camp, Brian watched him go, a slow grin overtaking his face.

“No,” Anna whispered. Sweat trickled down her spine, and tiny hairs rose on the back of her neck. “No.”

Kael grabbed Anna’s hand. Her palm was damp and sweaty. She looked at Anna with terrified eyes, then helplessly, they both returned their attention to Elin.

Brian and Randy joked and laughed together, occasionally turning to direct a comment to Elin. Brian dragged Elin along the path by her wrists, much as the ginger-haired man had, but Anna could see that he was much rougher by the way she stumbled and struggled to stay upright. Still, Elin walked with her head held high, not meeting Brian’s eyes, but refusing to be beaten.

When they reached the river, Brian said something to Elin, then to the cowering child. Elin shook her head, and the little girl moved to hide behind her.

Without hesitation, Brian drew back and delivered a hard backhanded slap across Elin’s face. When Elin barely moved, he hit her again. The child began crying so hard that Anna could hear the keening, frightened sound from her position atop the hill.

Kael’s fingers were clamped around Anna’s hand so tight that she winced, fearful that her bones might break. She felt utterly helpless, scared to expose their hiding place in broad daylight when they had no plan whatsoever to take on these men who sorely outnumbered them. Watching Elin being mistreated nearly made her throw caution to the wind and leap to the rescue, but she held on to Kael, not only to keep her lover still, but also to stop herself from doing something stupid.

Brian turned to the other guard and growled something at him. Then he pulled Elin hard against his body, setting her off balance, while his companion swept in to grab the little girl and cover her mouth with one meaty hand.

“Please! Stop!” Elin cried out.

Brian’s face was only inches from hers, and Anna was filled with crawling disgust when he leaned in, obviously sniffing Elin’s hair. He must have said something because Elin nodded, and after a moment’s hesitation, he stepped back and fiddled with her cuffs. All at once her hands were free, and she rubbed at her wrists. Then, with a look of intense discomfort, she brought her hands to the hem of her T-shirt.

Both men stared with unabashed interest as she removed it.

“I’ll fucking kill them,” Kael breathed, so quiet that Anna almost wasn’t sure she had said anything. One look at the murderous rage in her expression, and Anna knew she had heard correctly. Kael was fast approaching her breaking point.

“And I’ll help, when the time is right,” Anna murmured. “We can’t afford to reveal ourselves now.”

“I know. But if they hurt her—”

Anna didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what she would do if that happened. She didn’t think she could just watch.

Elin undressed, revealing the bandage on her calf. The one on her hand was gone; Anna was too far away to assess the damage, but she supposed that if Kate had visited, her wounds were being cared for. She tried to keep her thoughts clinical, desperate to ignore the ugly memories that tickled the edges of her mind at the way the men devoured Elin’s naked skin with their gazes.

Nude, Elin held her hands out to Brian in unspoken obedience and allowed him to secure her wrists again.

Anna swallowed as Elin was rendered almost completely helpless once more. She glanced over to Matt, who was averting his eyes from the scene with a look of pure shame.

The other guard released his captive after a signal from Brian, and the little girl ran to Elin and flung her arms around Elin’s bare stomach. When Elin moved to stand in front of the child, she turned her back toward Anna and Kael. They gasped simultaneously as they saw previously smooth, pale skin now criss-crossed with ugly red marks that looked at least a couple of days old.

Kael growled again, louder this time, and Anna was so startled by the noise that she spent a few frantic moments scanning the camp to make sure none of the men had heard it. Anger surged through her veins, and she struggled with her own urge to growl. Why are they so afraid of her? Has she been resisting them?

Has she tried to escape? Or is this just about what happened when they attacked her? She watched as Elin helped the little girl undress, shielding her from the men’s eyes.

To Anna’s surprise, Brian and Randy lost interest as soon as Elin led the girl into the river for her bath and got into conversation with her. Elin was careful to keep her body between the men and her little charge, and she knelt and talked cheerfully to the scared child as she washed with her cuffed hands. The girl even returned a few playful splashes, giggling and gazing at Elin with a look of adoration on her face. Anna broke into an unconscious smile at the sight. I always knew she would be good with kids. She lost her smile when Brian shouted something that made Elin look over her shoulder at him.

Elin nodded, then helped the child out of the river. The girl followed her, keeping her slim body behind Elin’s, shivering in the cool air. Elin found the girl’s clothes on the shore and bent awkwardly to gather them with her cuffed hands. Anna felt bile rise in her throat at the way Brian and his friend craned their necks to ogle her.

Elin formed a protective barrier between the naked child and the men as the girl got dressed. She didn’t make a move for her own clothing, not that it would do her much good; it was obvious that Brian would need to release her hands to allow her to dress.

Anna shifted, uneasy about the way the men stared at Elin while her back was turned. Brian elbowed his friend in the side and whispered in his ear. His hand strayed to his crotch, and he stroked himself casually before pulling away with a laugh.

Anna moved slightly away from the tree she knelt behind and sat back on her feet, releasing Kael’s hand so she could fold her arms over her stomach. Then she surged forward and planted both hands on the ground, shaken by the swift and sudden certainty that she was going to throw up.

Matt eased a tentative arm around her middle and whispered into her ear, “Anna, it’s going to be okay.”

Anna shook her head, watching fat tears fall into the dirt below her face. It won’t be okay. She couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud. If they do something to her, it won’t be okay, because Kael and I will both get ourselves killed running down there. Or worse.

Matt moved his hand to press against Anna’s back, keeping his touch light and non-threatening. “I promise, all right? I promise.”

Somehow, the boy’s earnest words helped, and Anna was able to fight back her nausea and sit up. Kael gave her a brief sidelong glance. She was deathly pale, sweating, and her eyes glittered with murderous intent. I love you, she mouthed.

I love you, too, Anna mouthed back. As much as she felt the relief of not watching what was happening to Elin, she also felt like a coward, when Elin was having to suffer without hope or knowledge of rescue. She shuffled back next to Kael, and they shifted a little to maintain their line of sight. Naked, Elin stood in front of Brian and held her wrists up in a silent request to be released from her bonds. He put his hands on his hips and shook his head as he told her something that made her take a step backwards. She gestured at the child, then glanced over her shoulder back in the direction of the camp.

Brian reached out and gripped Elin’s shoulder where the lash marks had to be highly sensitive. Her cry of pain was quickly silenced by a lightning-fast slap across the face, and Brian shoved her cruelly toward the river, standing over her when she fell to the ground on her side. He gave her a light kick to the ribs, and she curled her body inward to protect herself.

The little girl took a few steps backwards when Elin fell, then started to run toward the camp with a panicky yelp. She made it only a few feet when Brian shouted to the well-built Randy, “Grab the kid!”

For a tense moment both Brian and Randy stared at the area where the tree line ended, waiting to see whether the child’s cries had alerted any of their comrades. Elin also raised her head, opening her mouth as though she might scream as well, but Brian stopped her with a few harsh words and a swift kick to her stomach. When nobody came to interrupt their fun, Brian hauled Elin to her feet and summoned the other man, whose hand was clamped over the child’s mouth. He brought the girl over, and Brian twisted a few strands of her dark hair around his fingers, saying something to Elin.

Without hesitation, she turned and strode into the river until she was submerged to her upper thighs, then she swiveled to face the men. She held her bound hands up and spoke to them. Brian leaned against a tree, folded his arms over his chest, and tilted his head to say something to his buddy. Randy laughed and called out to Elin.

Even from this distance, Anna recognized Elin’s discomfort at whatever the men said. Her shoulders stiffened, and she stood completely still. Anna imagined Elin’s fists tightening, though she was too far away to see that. She could see Elin’s chest expand and contract as she took a deep breath then exhaled, and then she saw Elin dip her hands into the water and bring them up to stroke her own breasts.

Horrified, Anna dug her fingers into the rough bark of the tree. She wasn’t sure whether the men planned to rape Elin, but they sure as hell intended to degrade her. She dared a glance at Kael and found her weeping openly at the sight.

Brian called out to Elin, who stood still and pointedly gestured at the little girl. Brian said something to his friend, who removed the arm he had around the girl’s middle so that he could clap his fingers over her eyes, rendering the child both mute and blind with the placement of his hands.

Anna just watched helplessly as Brian continued to call out instructions, and Elin moved her body as told, occasionally sliding her bound hands over her skin or twisting and turning to suit his demands. Anna kept hoping that Brian and his friend would tire of the game, especially as Elin began shivering violently in the cold water, but they seemed happy to keep suggesting new and embarrassing ways for her to pose and touch her own body.

Finally, Brian held up his hand and Elin stopped what she was doing, which had been to stroke between her legs for the sick amusement of the men. Brian waved her forward, out of the water. He met her halfway between the river and where he had been standing. He gestured at the ground and gave a command that had Elin shaking her head in immediate refusal.

Brian hit her again, and this time, red blood trickled down her chin. Elin shook her head once more, and Brian captured one of her breasts in his hand. As she winced in pain, he pointed to the girl, still held by his friend, then used the same finger to poke hard against Elin’s collarbone, saying something Anna couldn’t make out.

When Elin gave him a vigorous nod, he released her and once again pointed to the ground. Clumsily, and with obvious fear, Elin dropped to her knees in the grass. She stared straight ahead as Brian unzipped his pants.

“No!” Kael hissed. She backed away from the trees and stood, rubbing the palm of her hand across her scalp. “No, I can’t let him do that. I’ve got to—”

So fast that Anna didn’t know what was happening, Matt surged forward and tackled Kael onto the dirt.

Kael grunted as she landed, grabbed for Matt, but the boy was already on his feet and running.

What the—? Sick to her stomach again, Anna let her eyes flit back to the river, where Brian had exposed himself. Elin’s face was turned to the side in disgust as he spoke and brutally grabbed at her red hair.