Wicked Bad Boys (52 page)

T
ara looked
around the dimly lit room. There was a table and chairs, even a small bed made up. It looked like someone had been living there.
Perhaps this was Jake’s hideout? But he was supposed to be dead.
She felt like it was a nightmare; that maybe she would wake up and none of this would have ever happened. Jake followed them inside. Reggie sat her down on the chair and Jake wrapped another rope around her waist to keep her in the chair. She tried to move, but there was no use. She fell back against the backrest, frustrated, terror raging through her.

“Tara, I’m so pleased to see you, love. I know you must be uncomfortable, but for now we have to keep you tied up like this. I bet you’re wondering why I didn’t come for you sooner, right?” She shook her head vehemently, then glared at him. “Well, the plan is simple. We’ll stay here until you show me how much you love me. Then we’ll escape town and find a new place in Oregon to make our home. Sound good?”

“Hmm…” she mumbled against the tape.

“I’m sorry. What was I thinking? Sorry sweetheart, this is going to hurt.”

He walked over and grabbed the tape, peeling it back gently from her mouth. She bit back a scream, determined not to give him any reason to think she wasn’t on board. She needed a plan. She needed a moment to think, but for now she would look and listen.

“Impressive. Not even one small scream. What were you going to stay?”

“You can’t possibly think this plan will work. The police will be looking for me and they’ll find you if you’re not careful.”

“Maybe, but this will work. I’ve every bit of confidence in you. See? You’re already helping.” He smiled, glancing over Reggie. “I bet you were surprised to see your neighbor was part of this.”

Surprise was an understatement. She turned to Reggie. He appeared awkward and uncomfortable. There was fear in his expression.

“Jake. Tell me. Be honest. What do you expect to gain from this?”

“What else? You of course. Maybe the slight satisfaction I beat my brother…for once.”

It was a game to him. She was sure of it.

“Delusional,” she mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” she said.

“Good.” He beamed. “This is going to be a painless experience for almost everyone involved. Maybe not so much for Kevin. He’ll feel the pain of losing you at first, especially knowing that he lost you to me. But he’s not the type to keep pursuing someone who doesn’t love him anymore. Eventually, he’ll move on. And one day he’ll be happy again”.

“For you, I know that one day soon, you’ll find I can make your knees weak, and you’ll gladly take my love. Me? Well, I’ll get the girl, of course. And Reggie…” He stopped and turned to him. “He’ll be able to move on and give up this ridiculous idea you’re his dream girl. See…everybody wins.”

Tara glanced at Reggie. She had him all wrong. Now she knew he had shown up for a reason. He had been Jake’s eyes and ears; watching her; playing her this whole time. She turned away from him. She was disgusted.

“What if I never tell you I love you?” she asked Jake.

“Well, that won’t happen, but if it does…you’d better rethink it. I certainly don’t want you to feel like I’m going to hurt you. But know that eventually, once you admit to your feelings, I’ll release you. That doesn’t mean we’ll leave the cave, but it does mean when I feel I can trust you, you’ll be freed. Not a moment sooner.”

“What if I need to go, or if I’m cold?” she asked him.

“I’ll be here to keep you warm. And you just let me know if you need to go, or anything else, and I’ll take care of you. See? It’s simple.”

She fell back against the chair. Her wrists already ached. She couldn’t imagine being stuck this way for too much longer. She looked around the cave. “How about food? Will I starve out here?”

“Of course not.”

She opted for manipulation. “Please Jake, let me go. I’ll do whatever you ask. I promise I won’t try to run. You’re going to have to trust me eventually, just like you said. So trust me. Please, I can’t stay tied up like this. It’s too painful. And this place is making me nervous.”

“Well, that will soon change. Nervousness happens in all new settings. And it will happen in our relationship.”

He moved closer to her, and she felt his breath on her skin. She bit her lip. He was about to kiss her and she couldn’t go anywhere. When he was inches from her lips, she did the only thing she could think of doing. She let him kiss her. The only way she could think of getting away was for him to let his guard down.

A mixture of shock and satisfaction was in his eyes as he stepped back.

“I honestly never thought you’d come around this quickly. But I’m happy to see it.”

“I told you I had feelings for you, Jake,” she lied. “That night you came over. Remember that kiss?”

“How can I forget? Best Halloween of my life. Look, I have something quick I need to do.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I have to go move the van. I’ll take it farther into the woods and walk back here. We could’ve been spotted, and I want to make sure if someone sees the van, they won’t discover the path that leads to this cave.”

He hesitated before speaking again. “Can I trust you two to behave yourselves?” He laughed, not waiting for an answer, before disappearing from the cave opening.

She turned to Reggie. She wanted some answers. “What the hell’s going on? How could you do this to me? I thought you were a good person after that apology last time I saw you.”

He held up his hand, moving to her. “We have to be quick.”

“Wha—” she started.

He pulled a knife from his pocket and quickly cut the ropes and tape around her legs, waist, and hands. He hesitated, looking at her.

“I had to do something, and I can explain later, but you have to trust me right now.”

“You helped him grab me,” she said between clenched teeth. “How can I trust you?”

“I’m the one who just untied you, remember? Trust me for fifteen minutes so I can get you out of here.”

He grabbed her hand and she decided to go along with it. They went to the cave entrance and he peered outside.

“Okay,” he whispered. “He’s gone north to the van. Look we have a ways to go to get to a main trail in the park. We’re at Iron Horse. If we get split up, keep walking southwest and you’ll find the trail. I’ll be right behind you. Now let’s go!”

With his hand in hers and running as fast as they could, they hurried through the woods. She hoped they had enough time to put some distance between them and Jake. It was too dark to get her bearings. She needed a plan, but could barely think about anything in her state of panic.

They ran for what seemed like miles. She worried her legs would give out, but the fear only made her run harder. She was breathless, but pushing through the pain.

“Do you even know if we’re still going southwest?”

He nodded. They continued through the darkness in the woods, tripping over roots in the ground, trees, and rocks. She felt like they’d been running for hours.

“Stop…” he whispered, bringing her to a halt. “Do you hear that?”

She shook her head, but then heard the rustling of leaves. Her heart pounded as he made her stoop to hide as they waited. She looked around, but couldn’t see anything. In the darkness, it was near impossible to tell which direction the sound was coming from.

“Hold my hand, we’re going south. We have to hurry!” he whispered.

She prayed he was right. They turned and began running again. Her palms were sweaty, especially the one Reggie held on to.

She kept running, and she noticed a clearing ahead. She couldn’t see, but there was a contrast from the blackness of the trees at night.
Is it possible? Are we close to a road?
Before she could think of an answer, a gunshot sounded. She and Reggie dropped to the ground, and Reggie came down beside her. She felt him reach his hand around her hips, but was unable to focus as he slipped his hand deep into her front pocket. She was bracing herself as the sound of footsteps neared. She could only cover her head and wait for him to reach them.

The sound of footsteps echoed in her ear. She pulled away from Reggie and scrambled to turn and sit up, but her legs wouldn’t function.

“Don’t hurt me,” she whimpered, crowding her face with her hands.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Jake’s stood over her with his gun and a small flashlight.

Her heart still pounded hard in her chest, barely able to draw in enough air. She had run for such a long time, and with the gunshot added to the nightmare of trying to escape, the adrenalin rush was over the top.

“Come with me. I’ll protect you.”

She dropped her hands to her sides. The gun wasn’t pointed at her, but she couldn’t shake the fear. The memory came flooding back in and it hit her. He shot the gun. Where was… she lifted her hand and in the dim light of Jake’s flashlight, she found it red with blood.

She screamed out as she looked over, sitting up and scooting backward to get away from it. He shot Reggie. His lifeless body was sprawled out on the dirt ground, in a pool of blood around his torso. He may have been a jerk, and clearly he kept the wrong company if he was Jake’s friend. But Tara couldn’t help but feel horrible. Reggie died trying to help her escape, and now he was gone.

She wondered how he and Jake ever crossed paths. He may have simply been someone that Jake could use for his own personal gain and when no longer needed, he was easily disposable, like Amy. She covered her mouth, tears stinging the back of her eyes. He was probably a part of Jake’s charade, yet he risked his life to save her. She looked up at Jake and shook her head. She couldn’t hold back her true feelings of hatred anymore.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I told you…I want to protect you.”

“You’re the one that’s crazy. I need protection from you.”

The words shot out, before she could stop them. She expected to see anger behind his eyes, but instead she saw a smile on his face. He was a psycho and she was living her own nightmare.

“You will come to find out you have me all wrong,” he said. “Take my hand.”

She pulled back from him. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

He nodded slowly. “Yes, you are.” He grabbed her arm, yanking her up and pulling her back to the trail that led to the cave. “There’s only so much darkness left, and I need to come back to get rid of Reggie’s body.”

“Leave me alone!” she argued, trying to pull her hand from his grasp.

“Tara, resisting me will only make matters worse. Stop fighting what we have.” His words were even-toned, like he was talking to a child.

She didn’t care what she had to do. She didn’t want to get tied back up to the chair. She was so close to freedom. She saw the cave ahead of them and then felt the brush of snowflakes on her cheek. The rush of getting away from Jake, caused her to forget it was still winter. He pulled her into the cave before the snow picked up. Her chance to get away was lost.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” she said. “The police are going to get you. And Kevin is out there looking for me. He won’t rest until he finds me.”

Jake nodded. “You’re probably right, but I doubt anyone will be looking here, or for me. I’m dead, remember? And by the time you admit that you love me…”

“I will
never
admit that,” she said. “I will never admit that I love you, because I don’t. And if you let me leave now, I promise I won’t tell anyone about you, or here, or any of this.”

He stepped back, crossed his arms, and stared at her. She kept eye contact, because she didn’t want him to see how rattled she really was. She needed to be strong to get through it.

“I don’t want you scared, Tara. That never was my intention. In the end I hope that you’ll see just how much you mean to me.” He pointed to the chair. “Now sit down!”

She stood in defiance.

“Don’t make me have to smother you with chloroform again to get you in that chair, Tara. Sit.”

She shook her head and turned to the entrance of the cave. It was just ten feet from where she stood. Her freedom was close, but so far away. He put out his arm and pulled her back to the chair. She thought of pulling from his grasp, but she needed to stay awake.

“Let me go, Jake. I’ll sit.” Her body fell to the chair. “You don’t need to tie me up. I’ll stay. I’ll do what you say.”

“I don’t think so Tara. I’ve got to take care of Reggie. And I need to be sure you’ll be here when I get back.”

He secured her against the chair with duct tape and pulled her arms to her back to tie each wrist to a spoke of the wooden chair back.

“You’re hurting me. Can you loosen these a little?”

“Seriously?”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m thirsty too. Can you at least give me something to drink?”

He walked deeper inside the cave to a cooler and pulled out a bottled water.

“Here,” he said, opening it and placing it to her lips.

“I can’t drink like this,” she said softly. “Can you just loosen my arms? There’s no way I can get out anyway. I’m tied to the chair.”

He looked like he was considering it, but didn’t fall for it.

“Drink. All of it. Before I leave. I don’t want you to get thirsty while I’m gone.”

She looked at him with disdain and drank the entire bottle.

“Good girl,” he said, taking the empty bottle from her and throwing it in a pile of garbage in one corner.

He turned back to her and kneeled in front of her chair. After slowly unzipping her winter jacket, he spread her legs apart to wedge himself between them. “You know, I’ve dreamed about this for so long. You don’t like me now, but I promise, before long, you will love me.”

He snaked his hands up her legs slowly, caressing her inner thigh. She moved around to resist, but he was too strong. He slid one hand up under her top to her breast, pulling back her bra just enough to gently squeeze her nipple. He left the other hand between her legs, pressing through her jeans to find her mound. She cursed her body for reacting the way it did. Her senses were heightened, and fear dominated, but he was so gentle, he tricked her body into arousal.

“Stop it, Jake. Please.”