Chapter Forty-Three
“Fuck!” Jeremy roared as he shut the phone. He dialed Nathan.
Without saying hello, Nathan answered, “He’s slowing down. It looks like he’s taking a road called Polaski.”
“She’s awake.” Jeremy’s heart thundered painfully in his chest. “She called me, but she couldn’t talk. I don’t think she’s hurt too bad, but she’s scared. Do you hear any sirens yet?”
“Nothing yet. Fuck, it’s starting to snow again.”
“A friend of mine isn’t far behind you. Big guy. Trenton Cole. He’ll be driving a beat up, blue pickup. If you see him, stay out of his way. He’ll most likely try to shoot the fucker on the spot.”
“Definitely would like to make it home without any bullet holes in me. Shit, he’s turning again. I didn’t catch the street name, but there’s an old white church on the corner.”
“Which way did he turn?”
“Left.”
“All right, I’m calling Trent. Keep your phone on.” Jeremy disconnected the call and dialed Trent.
“I’m on 376 now,” Trent answered.
“They turned onto a road called Polaski. They were only on it for a minute or so before turning left. We don’t know the name of the road, but there’s a white church on the corner.”
“I’m seeing signs for Polaski now. Should be there in about sixty seconds. How’s our girl?”
“She couldn’t talk without him hearing, but I think she’s okay. Just scared.”
“We’ll get her, man.”
Nathan shut off his headlights and rolled to a stop about fifty yards away from where the SUV parked. A cluster of evergreens at the curve of the driveway hid his car.
Turning off the engine, he quietly exited the vehicle. His dress shoes crunched over the brackish leaves, the leather soles sliding with the fresh dusting of snow. Pushing branches aside, he crept through the trees and walked toward the house.
It was a large chalet, with a peaked front window formed from several smaller windows, each glass surface angling toward the roof. Pine needles littered the ground, protected by the canopy of evergreens, but the drive hadn’t been plowed from the last snowstorm, which told him this wasn’t the good doctor’s central residence.
Hugging the frosted trunk of a pine tree, he watched the guy exit the vehicle and approach the side door.
“What are you doing?” Nathan whispered, squinting as Phillips removed a bag and balanced it on his knee.
He rummaged through the bag and held something between his finger and thumb, angling it toward the interior light of the car. He reached back in the bag and raised something to his lips, spitting away part of whatever he held. The moonlight glinted and the motions were familiar as the doctor popped the two things together. The action resonated. A syringe.
Nathan stiffened as he leaned into the car. The passenger door slammed and the doc rounded the back of the vehicle, his hand still holding the syringe.
Nathan’s phone vibrated, distracting him for a split second, but he couldn’t chance answering the call. His eyes watched, unblinking, as the doc reached for the tailgate.
Jade’s small body catapulted out of the SUV. The syringe fell to the snow, catching the moonlight as she kicked him and bolted in a flash of white silk.
“Bitch!” Philips cursed, snatching the syringe and trudging after her on the icy drive.
She made it about fifteen feet when he roughly tackled her. Her scream bounced off the trees and Nathan tensed as she hit the ground hard.
His legs bunched, ready to spring, but he hesitated. Jeremy said a guy was coming—with a gun. Nathan wasn’t trained in combat and could hardly throw a punch. He wouldn’t be much help to Jade—not yet. He had to be smart and keep his presence secret until the opportune moment.
“Get off me!”
Her panicked cry made him weak. He had to help her, but how? Glancing in the shadows, she searched for anything that might work as a weapon. A branch, a rock, he couldn’t see shit.
His posture faltered as the sound of a fist smacking flesh silenced Jade’s voice. The bed of snow reflecting the moonlight defined their figures. Arms flailed as their breath echoed.
Philips jerked her to her back and straddled her kicking legs, pinning her smaller body in the shadows of his much larger one. “Stay still! I don’t want to hurt you!”
“No—”
Everything stilled and the doctor eased back, one hand closed around her jaw. Jade’s form lay motionless beneath him in the snow.
“Stop fighting me or I’ll gouge this needle in your throat and you won’t wake until dawn,” Philips threatened and she whimpered. “Are you going to cooperate?”
She whimpered again.
“Good girl. I just want to talk. Cooperate and I won’t hurt you.” Slowly, the doctor rose from the ground. Jade remained perfectly still and Nathan wasn’t sure if he’d changed his mind and drugged her anyway.
“Up.” The doc reached and tugged her off the ground. She stood, but wobbled and nearly fell back into the snow.
Retaining a tight grip on her arm, he tugged her back toward the car. She didn’t go easily, but the doc had her in too tight a hold and gave her no choice but to follow. The tailgate slammed, leaving nothing but dappled moonlight to cast inky shadows in the dark.
Holding her wrist, he led her toward the house. She looked toward the woods and Nathan crept a step closer.
“This way.”
Her body jerked as the doc gave a hard yank on her arm. She stumbled under his prodding but didn’t fight. Then they disappeared inside.
Nathan crept closer to the house. Reaching in his pocket as his phone continued to vibrate and lights illuminated the home. “I’m here,” he hissed quietly.
“Where the hell were you?” Jeremy bellowed, irritation and panic evident in his voice.
Breath coming fast, forming clouds of vapor in the cold winter air, Nathan didn’t waste time. “They’re in a house. He drugged the other woman, but I think he only threatened to drug Jade. She’s cooperating and he took her inside. He said he just wants to talk to her.”
“Fuck!” Jeremy yelled. “I’m getting in the car. Where’s the fucking house?”
“Just off a street called Norman Drive, about two miles after the church. It’s woodsy here, secluded. The driveways are hidden. My car’s at the edge of the property. What should I do?”
Jeremy was quiet for several seconds. “Trent should be there soon. Approach the house. I’ll tell him to look for your car and meet you there. See if you can see what room they’re in, but don’t go inside. I don’t want him to know we have him cornered until Trent or the police get there.” He exhaled into the phone. “But Nathan, if he … if he does anything…”
“I won’t let him hurt her.” He cursed himself, unsure how he could help without making things worse and also for not intervening sooner.
Sliding the phone into his pocket, he rushed along the drive, staying close to the trees on the property line, keeping his footprints hidden in the shadows. Approaching the edge of the home, he crept around the perimeter, peering into windows and spotted Jade shivering on a couch in a large room. Her dress was wet and torn, with splotches of dirt marring the once pristine white silk.
Her small form trembled, cold and clearly terrified. Her hair was a mess and there was either a bruise forming or dirt smudged on her cheek. He searched for Philips but didn’t see him.
Her eyes scanned her surroundings as if looking for a way to escape. Taking a risk, Nathan tapped lightly on the window and she flinched. Their gazes met and she quickly looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching. He held up a hand. It was the only way he could think to comfort her and try to warn her to remain calm.
Help was on its way. He wished he could somehow tell her that. Hopefully seeing him there told her others were close. Her shoulders shook as tears trickled down her flushed cheeks. Her pain became his as he held her gaze and they waited.
Bryan stood anxiously in front of the stove as the water heated. He needed to think. Fuck! It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. She was supposed to come to him. She was supposed to love him.
If she wasn’t such a fucking whore, running off and eloping, things could have been different. Then she’d gone and tried to fight him. He didn’t like when she ran from him, but there was something to be said for her struggles. When they were rolling in the snow, his body pinning hers… His cock had started to throb. Yes, having her conscious was definitely preferable to the other option.
The last time he’d held her she hadn’t fought at all. Her body accepted him beautifully. She’d been lax and malleable, nothing like the clawing bitch she turned into tonight. Yet… His cock swelled. She should be disciplined and he would enjoy every second of dishing out her punishment.
His eye twitched, a ripple of tiny muscle spasms convulsing down to the corner of his mouth. He hadn’t meant to hurt her back at the house, but she wouldn’t stop screaming. She should be quiet. She was quiet now. Maybe a little too quiet.
He stepped away from the stove and glanced into the open living room. Her back was stiff as she sat exactly where he left her. “I’ll be right there, my love.”
Hmm. No reply. She’d come around.
All she had to do was leave her husband. He would give her a good life. She could still work at the hospital. He liked seeing her during his breaks. She hadn’t been married that long. A divorce would be easy. She could marry him and he would give her back the baby she lost. That would make her happy. She just had to listen.
The kettle whistled and he removed it from the burner. His mother’s heirloom teacups waited. As he steeped the tea, the steam from the kettle moistened his fingers.
He wanted to fuck her. She would fuck him. She just had to listen.
His jaw tightened as he looked at his watch. They didn’t have much time. Someone would eventually start looking for her. If she didn’t listen, he’d knock her out and take her away from here.
He had a place in Maryland. This time of year the shore town was practically dead. He could take her there and tie her to a bed and force her to listen—force her to do other things too. Eventually she’d learn consent would work in her favor. He wanted her to choose the things he had to offer, but he had methods of swaying her. It would be a pleasure seducing her, showing her how things could be—teaching her what happened when she was bad.
He adjusted his cock and picked up the teacup. Jade would like his tea. She would like his mother’s cups. She would like his baby in her womb. She just needed to listen. His eye twitched again as he left the kitchen.