4
Michael was the first one up the next morning and he was more than a little happy to see that everyone sleeping. He hadn’t wanted to give them the cabin, but it hurt so much and he knew that they would be gone. There had been a small danger that she hadn’t left, but he was sure that she had. It was no place for her to stay and though he knew Jessa loved him, she would make sure her son was safe first. It meant that she wouldn’t go do anything stupid, like coming after him.
Caston had been upset when she hadn’t been there. He had gotten rough with him again, but not like before. Michael knew that the brute was not going to ever lay eyes on her. Jessa was going towards the sea and somehow, he assured himself, he would catch up like he had promised.
The only thing good that had come out of the ordeal was the fact that he had learned more about himself. He had learned that the present was more important than what had happened in the past. He didn’t live there anymore, and even though in the present, he’d had everything he had ever wanted, Mike had ruined it by going after the past.
Now he wished that he could go back, maybe change his decisions, but he had learned about the man that had haunted him for so many years. It was enough that he now pitied the old, lonely man instead of seeking out vengeance. Michael knew now that he didn’t have to kill him to go on. He should have left with the rest of them. They would have all been halfway to the coastline by now. Even if there wasn’t much that way, they would have at least been together.
He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to forget the stupidity of his choice. Instead of being with her, with all of the ragtag group that had quickly felt like family, he was tied up and pushing an existence that wouldn’t last much longer. While he felt sorry for Caston, the old brute had no intention of keeping Michael alive. Once he realized that Mike wasn’t going to tell him where to find the rest of them, he would most assuredly kill him. It was what men like him did.
When he opened his eyes and refocused on the dim light streaming in from the windows, Mike was eye level to the man that had filled his thoughts and his mind for so long. There was nothing that he could do but stare back at him. He was gagged and tied. He wasn’t going anywhere, and dirty looks just seemed to piss the man off.
“I see you’re up. Ready for more questioning?”
Mike tried not to respond, but it was hard not to. The last thing he wanted was to answer any questions, especially the way that Caston liked to ask them. Caston was one of those people who genuinely liked to hurt other people, and Mike could tell he was in for it by the smile on his face. It was unnerving, the idea that he could do it for hours and be relaxed the whole time. Caston was a man with patience. That was not always a good thing. When he saw the familiar smile, he shivered on the inside and hoped like hell that instead of looking as afraid as he was, he looked determined. If he could manage that, it would be enough.
He tried to respond, forgetting that he had a dirty gag in his mouth. He instead met his eyes and nodded his head that he was.
Caston moved towards him and pulled the gag don. Mike spent time trying to moisten the painfully dry areas in his mouth before he was forced to speak. He had nothing to say, but he was happy to have that out of his mouth.
“So what can you tell me about this woman, this Jessa?”
He shrugged and told him that he didn’t know. “She was supposed to be here when I got back. Maybe she left without me. You know how woman are. They are even more skittish nowadays. She could have seen us coming and be watching us right now. I really don’t know.”
Caston liked the idea of the woman just anywhere around. He made a mental note that he was going to go look for her, but instead he asked more questions. No one else was up yet and he wasn’t ready for the gripes and moans for the rest of the day that would surely take place.
“What do you know? Does she have any family? Anywhere else that she would go?”
He shook his head that she didn’t. “No, when I found her, she was all alone.”
Caston grinned and Mike looked away so that the man wouldn’t see his anger because of it. The older man was playing him like he was stupid and the best thing for him to do was let him think that as long as possible. When he realized his error, Mike hoped that it was a big enough one that he would be able to get out of there.
“Yes, I have found many on the road, all alone and in need of protection. They of course realize too late that I am not it.”
“If there are so many, why would you bother with just one girl? There are many more out there like you just said.”
Caston made a face. “No, they are getting to be less and less. All of the good ones turn bad or get taken. Either way, the choices are not as good as before all of this. Now a man has to work for it. You seem like the type that would not hold on unless she was Grade A. Am I right?”
Mike wasn’t going to answer him, but in any world, Jessa was Grade A. The idea of her being around such men made him sick to his stomach. It was not hard to think of what they would do to his beautiful Jessa. They would ruin her and most likely kill her. He couldn’t let that happen.
He looked away, desperately trying to think of something to say when he saw something outside the window. Mike was sure that he was seeing things. Then he saw a head pop up behind Caston and he gasped.
“No...”
“What was that?”
Mike tried to recover, seeing Milo brought so many questions running through his head. What was he doing there and did it mean that the rest were close? He had only told Caston that because he wanted the gang to look for them around there, giving them more time to get further away. What the hell was Milo doing there!?
“What was that, Mike?”
Caston’s voice had risen and he looked back at him. “No, it was not like that. She is not like that. The first time I met her she was in a garden. I had never met someone like her, but now she has left me and maybe if I wasn’t here I could find her. But her tracks are probably gone now.”
He said the last bit a little louder, hoping that the man outside would get the point and try to make some tracks taking him in the other direction.
“We can look together. The rest of them will be up soon.”
Michael just shook his head. “You don’t want your men to get to her first. How apt are they to turn down a piece of tail? She won’t even make it to you I bet.”
He was playing on the man’s greed, hoping that he wanted her all to himself and by the look on his face, he did. Caston was sure of himself, so sure that he did not fear Mike. The man was strong, but he was stronger.
“We will leave now then.”
Mike was jerked up by the arms and wrists tied together. He didn’t make a sound, not wanting anyone else to wake up. If he could get him out there by himself, no matter the ropes and the lack of gun, he would come out on top, Mike was as sure as Caston was. One of the men was wrong though.
When they were a bit away from the cabin, Caston finally stopped and took the gag off of Michael completely. “So where is she?”
Mike tried to look around, to see if Milo had made some tracks for them to follow. He really hoped he did because the last thing Mike wanted was for Caston to somehow get his hands on his Jessa. He would not be able to live with himself if that happened and he knew that it was a gamble bringing the man out there. But why was she still there? Was it really that hard for her to do as he asked? Chuckling to himself, he figured it actually was.
If he knew what he had known about Jessa before, he didn’t know if he would have jumped her in the first place. It was only because she fancied him in a way that she had let him get close. Mike knew that and knew that he should have stayed. Nothing was worth losing her over.
Caston looked at Mike as if he may have lost his mind. It was clear that he was thinking about something and he wasn’t so sure that he thought it was for the best. “So where are the tracks?”
“We have to go back towards the cabin. We just took off in a direction and didn’t even check for them. She was here a day ago and it hasn’t rained, so there should be something of a clue of where she went.”
He nodded his head that it made sense, but he could tell that Caston wasn’t so sure if he believed him or not. Mike sounded believable, but he knew that something was up. So Michael looked down, hoping that Milo had led him in the right direction.