****
Vanessa opened her eyes and sat up in a panic; she didn’t mean to nod off. She looked over at Gabe sleeping next to her and groaned. This was what she wanted to avoid.
She slid out of his bed and tiptoed toward her pile of clothes, gingerly picking them up. As quietly as possible, she got dressed and headed outside; she needed to package the blood samples before they got knocked off the table.
It was getting dark as she made her way to the barn. Strangely, the barn’s side door was open. She was sure they had closed it; the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
Just as she decided to head back into the safety of Gabe’s house, a sinewy hand wrapped around her mouth from behind, covering her scream. A strong arm wrapped around her torso and she was lifted off the ground. She tried to kick, but he was strong and she had no leverage at that angle.
“Shut up, you stupid bitch,” the man hissed. Vanessa couldn’t believe it: it sounded just like Jimmy.
Thrown into the barn, Vanessa caught her fall and spun around on the floor to see that her assailant was, in fact, Jimmy. He lurched toward her, “What do you know?”
It was then and there that Vanessa realized something was wrong with Jimmy; his eyes were wide and completely bloodshot, and his body shook. He was high as a kite and had a knife in his hand.
“I don’t know anything. The tests haven’t been finished.”
He laughed. “Oh, and fucking your client was for what?”
She glared but kept her mouth shut.
He came toward her and pointed the knife at her. “I want to know what you’ve found out about the horses. I have to know if Benny needs to leave.”
“What’s this got to do with Benny?”
Jimmy shook his head and switched the knife to his other hand as he laughed. “I have a financial arrangement with Benny, and I’m afraid your presence up here is just poor fucking timing and bad fucking luck… for you.”
Jimmy lunged at her. Vanessa moved, but she wasn’t fast enough; he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to her feet. Now she was getting scared. “I don’t know anything. Honest.”
“Don’t lie to me, bitch! I saw the way you looked at me.”
“No, really! I don’t!”
Jimmy released her and walked back and forth like a caged predator, slapping the flat side of the blade against his palm. “I find it hard to believe that you don’t know anything. I know you went rummaging through the cabinets, and I know you noticed that some things were missing.”
They were? Vanessa thought.
“Stop looking at me like that! I had to do it!” he screamed, sending spittle across Vanessa’s face. “You have no idea what shit I’m in. All I had to do was medicate them with Etorphine until they drifted off, pretty much painlessly. Then Benny could collect some serious cash from his insurance company since these things are worth a shit-ton of money. Fucking crock—the horses didn’t die now, did they? The batch was off, so I was forced to get more and that took a little longer than anticipated.” Jimmy was squeezing the blade so hard that a line of blood dripped down his forearm. Suddenly, Jimmy yanked Vanessa by the hair, pulling her head to side, laying the knife against her exposed neck.
“You just had to get nosy, didn’t you? Well, Benny can’t have you snooping around his insurance claims. I need to get rid of you—but first, I might have a little... fun.” He ran his nose along her neck and she shuddered.
“I...I won’t tell,” Vanessa trembled. He yanked her hair harder and she cried out.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you—a little play in the hay? I wonder what Gabe thought of you.”
The grip on her hair and scalp was unbearable; Vanessa let out a strangled sob and tears pooling in her eyes cascaded down her cheeks. Suddenly, she felt Jimmy press his body into hers. She cringed when she felt his erection jammed against her back; he was becoming aroused by his sadism.
There’s no way in hell I’m going to let this piece of trash prey on me! Vanessa braced herself, furiously spinning around under his strength, and rammed her knee forcefully into his groin.
He gasped and cowered, almost falling in the process, but he caught himself and looked up at Vanessa with distilled hatred. “I’m going to enjoy finishing you off.”
Suddenly, there was an almighty screech, followed by the sound of flesh slapping into concrete. Opening her eyes, Vanessa could see the dark, animalistic figure of Gabe pummeling Jimmy into the ground, the knife flung into a far corner of the barn. His fists worked rhythmically into the torso, stomach and face of Vanessa’s assailant.
Vanessa scrambled up and threw herself onto Gabe, pulling his arms back, “Please, Gabe—stop! You’ll kill him!”
Gabe’s face softened immediately; Jimmy sputtered and groaned.
“You’d better go grab some electrical tape and call the cops.” Gabe looked up at Vanessa, “What did he do to you?” his lip quivered.
“I’ll be okay,” she said as she stilled his reaching hand. “You stay and watch him. I’ll be back.”