Chapter 14
Annie couldn’t sleep.
By the warm glow of the campfire, she’d hadn’t been able to stifle her yawns. There’s something about the warm smell of burning pine that’s hypnotic.
Now, she was wide awake.
She’d tucked Katie in before slipping into her own bed. For a second, she thought about sneaking into West’s bedroom, but it would’ve been rude since his daughter was here.
And that’s when she heard a yelp coming from Katie’s bedroom. She was on her feet and out the door in a matter of seconds. Was she having a bad dream?
But when she stepped into the hallway, she found Turner, and he had Katie by the throat.
“Well, howdy, Marshal. Fancy findin’ you here.”
***
A scream startled West out of his slumber and he woke up next to the campfire.
Beside him, King was fast asleep, snoring like a freight train, a handful of beer bottles at his feet. They’d had a few too many and West was groggy, disoriented.
How long have I been out here? He shouldn’t have drank so much. Did I imagine it?
Another scream, only this one was cut off, and he recognized the voice right away.
Katie!
West got to his feet as two figures emerged from the barn.
Turner had a knife to his daughter’s throat and his stomach clenched.
Beside him stood, a grim faced Annie. Blood welled on her arm, presumably from where Turner had stabbed her. Katie must’ve cried out in sheer terror at the sight.
Shit.
“Let them go,” West ordered. His gun was in the holster on the picnic table, too far away to reach. By the time he got near it, Turner could slit Katie’s throat.
Don’t think about it. Focus. Stay frosty. There will be plenty of time for retribution later.
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Turner sneered. “Looks like the tables have turned. I’ve got someone you love and I’m holdin’ her life in my hands.”
“What do you want?” He’d give Turner anything to get Katie back.
“Tell me. Are you worried about your daughter?” He pressed the knife closer.
“Daddy!” she cried.
West fisted his hands at his sides. Every instinct he had screamed at him to rush Turner, but West might get Katie killed in the process.
“I told you to shut up, brat.”
Her eyes were wide, tears streaked down her cheeks. He’d never seen her so scared. West didn’t want to shoot Turner. No, he needed to rip his head clean off. It was difficult to be rational, think like a SEAL, when his baby was in trouble.
“West, I’m so sorry,” Annie said. “When I found Turner, he had Katie in his arms. He said if I made a sound, he’d….”
He sliced his head to the side, and she didn’t finish the thought. Katie didn’t need to hear it again. West tried to have a wordless conversation with Annie, telling her this wasn’t her fault. She had enough guilt to last her several decades and Annie didn’t need anymore.
Besides, this wasn’t her fuck up. It’s mine. West had told the bastard enough details to find them. Annie might be trained, and capable of handling herself, but she was under his protection as well.
It was simple. Turner had to die.
He assessed the scene.
The rest of the team was upstairs. They were all drunk and sleeping. It was on the tip of his tongue to shout at King, startle him out of sleep, but Turner shook his head.
“Don’t even think about it. If you wake him up, I’ll kill the girl.”
“Did you come here for revenge? Is that it? Then stop hidin’ behind innocents and settle the score with me.”
“You’re the one who made this personal. Not me. You killed my brother.” His lips peeled back from his teeth, spittle flying.
“Why are you even here? You should be runnin’.”
Getting away would be the sensible course of action, but Turner wasn’t rational. He was operating on instinct, emotion. Turner sensed the endgame was approaching, and he knew he wasn’t getting out of this one alive, so he might as well do some damage.
“I get it. You’re angry with me, but Katie doesn’t have anythin’ to do with it.” Once again, he was calm, speaking quietly. “She’s a child. Let her go, and I’ll give you anythin’ you want. Money? My car keys?” Without making any sudden movements, he withdrew his wallet and keys and tossed them at Turner’s feet. “Just take them and go. If you start drivin’ now, you could make the Mexican border tomorrow.”
“I’m not an idiot. My face is plastered everywhere. I wouldn’t make it across the state line.” Sweat trickled from the man’s temples. And West doubted Turner had thought this thing all the way through.
West ran a hand down his face. “Then take me. I’ll be your hostage.”
“Or we could just settle this.” Turner gripped the knife, pressing it against Katie’s jugular and she sobbed.
West was coming out of his skin.
No, not again, I can’t lose Katie, too. I won’t survive it.
He glanced at Annie and she was crying, but it wasn’t fear. Annie could sense his pain and terror.
“No. You’ll take me, and we’ll go.” Annie stepped forward, offering herself up, without hesitation. “I will be your guarantee, if the authorities come after you.”
West shook his head violently.
“So you and the marshal are a thing, huh?” Turner weighed his options, watching West carefully, enjoying his anguish.
West didn’t answer and neither did Annie.
“Fine, you and me got unfinished business, anyway, Marshal. Bend down and pick them up. ” Annie scooped up the wallet and keys. Lightning fast, Turner tossed Katie to the ground and grabbed Annie by the throat.
West seized Katie and held her tightly, clutching her to his chest. She clung to him like a monkey, legs wrapped around his waist. She was shivering, burying her face in his chest. He kissed the top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her, patting her down, and reassuring himself that she was unharmed. Physically, at least.
“It’s OK, Katydid, Daddy’s got you. You’re gonna be all right.”
But what about Annie?
Knife against her jugular, Turner dragged Annie to the Jeep, keeping her in between West and himself. West didn’t dare get closer, not with Katie in his arms.
“It’s not over, Turner,” he grated out.
He chuckled, rough and raspy. “No, it isn’t. Say goodbye to the lady marshal, it’s the last time you’ll be seein’ her.”
Annie pulled the Jeep out of the driveway and then they were gone.
***
“You don’t fear me.”
It wasn’t a question, so Annie didn’t answer Turner.
She tried to tune him out and think of a way out of this situation, but there wasn’t one.
They’d parked out in the boonies, near a freight train crossing. In a manner of minutes, a train had chugged around the bend, slowing down as it switched tracks. It was dark, and there were no street lights to illuminate their shadowy forms. At knifepoint, Annie had boarded it with Turner, and now they were going on a midnight train ride, like two hobos.
What if I end up like the woman discarded in the pond? Shaking her head, Annie scattered her negative thoughts. Annie had to focus if she had any prayer of coming out of this alive.
“Why aren’t you scared?” he snapped.
They were in an open hopper car, full of coal and they’d sunk down into it, hiding from the conductor. The air was chilly and the breeze rushed through her hair. Goosebumps erupted on her arms. At least the wound Turner had given her stopped bleeding, but it still hurt.
“Any reason why I should be?”
Annie focused on the bastard who killed her best friend. She let the hate fuel her, rip away any trace of fear and replace it with rage. Adrenaline rushed through her body like a wave, straightening her spine.
It felt damn good, much better than the panic. Anger, she could work with.
“I could kill you.” He said it as though she hadn’t figured that part out.
“No.”
“No?” he asked, disbelieving. His blade glinted in the moonlight, a warning. Turner was inches away from her.
“No, I’m gonna be the one who kills you. You aren’t the only one who’s gotten a taste for murder, a bloodlust.”
He blinked, looking the slightest bit unsettled.
With a sneer, Annie just let that sink in.
***
“It’s okay, Katie, you’re alright.”
West had tried everything to calm her down, but she was heartbroken, crying, snuffling.
“Daddy would never let anythin’ happen to you. You hear me?”
She nodded.
“You’re safe now. The bad man’s gone.”
West knew exactly how she felt.
Her encounter with Turner had been too close for his own comfort, too. He’d never felt this unsettled before and he’d had several brushes with death. This was the first time someone had threatened his child, and it had brought out his inner savage.
West was on overload, terrified of what Turner might due to Annie, but he couldn’t lose his shit, not in front of Katie. Annie’s clever, resourceful, and she can handle herself.
He repeated the words over and over, until he believed them. Until West could reach her, she’d keep herself alive. He thought of all those blood-soaked bodies at the escort agency and forcefully pushed the images away.
In the command center, Stormy and the rest of the crew were working the problem, trying to figure out where Turner would go.
West grabbed his phone and called Paige, letting her know what had happened. Paige said she was on the way to get Katie and once his daughter was safe, West was going after Annie.
Time to let the savage out.
***
“I heard you got fired from the Marshal Service because of me.”
After she’d threatened him, Turner had been needling her, trying to provoke a fight. Annie got the feeling he was really waging a silent war with himself. Turner really wanted to kill her, but he needed her alive to use as a bargaining chip.
I’ve got three choices, and all of them suck.
One, she could rush him and take her chances with a deadly blade. Two, she could jump off this train and run to safety. Three, she could make a scene and attract attention to them. Then Annie could use the distraction to incapacitate Turner. The odds weren’t in her favor in any of those scenarios.
I can’t sit here though. I gotta try something.
Once they reached their destination, Turner would kill her for sure. Annie had no doubts about that.
So what am I gonna do? Play along? Goad him into making a move? Maybe anger would make him sloppy and reckless?
Decisions. Decisions. Yup, time to poke the bear.
“So…what? You’re gonna hobo your way across the border?” Annie asked slyly.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yup, that’s your big plan.”
“Tough talk. Your big, bad, military man isn’t here to save you.” Turner gave a dirty, almost obscene laugh. “Do you have any idea what I’m gonna do to you?”
A chill raced down her spine. “I don’t need to be rescued.” Although, if West wanted to ride in on a white horse, she wouldn’t bitch about it.
“Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
His arm shot out. He wrapped a hand around her throat, holding it, but not squeezing.
“Still don’t think you need to be saved?”
She lifted her chin. His fingers dug in, clasping her windpipe.
“No matter what happens here, today, West is gonna track you down, and you’ll go back to jail. Or die.”
Turner placed the cold steel of his knife against the side of her face and then rested it along her vein. All he had to do was break the skin, and she’d bleed out. They were too far away from a hospital for Annie to survive.
“Beg for your life, bitch.”
Annie sneered. “Never.” She wouldn’t give this piece of shit the satisfaction, under any circumstances, even if she died right here, right now.
But instead of slashing her throat, he sliced into her arm again. Annie stifled a cry as the wetness saturated her shirt. He’d cut her deep this time.
The blood excited him. His breath came faster and he licked his lips.
And something inside her snapped.
Turner had taken too much from her. Mike was gone forever. Annie was homeless, rootless, and very soon, unemployed again. And now he wanted her life, too.
And, worst of all, he might take her last shot at happiness.
She didn’t know what was brewing between her and West, but she’d love to see what happened in the future. If she had one.
Snarling, she lunged at him.
Screaming, she clawed at him with her bare hands, trying to inflict as much damage as possible—kicking, biting, injuring him anyway possible.
They fought, rolling in the coal. It was sharp, digging into her back, her knees, scraping her palms. Soot stained both their faces and hands.
And then he had her pinned against the side of the car, one hand clutching her throat, the knife in the other.
“Come on, bitch. Tell me what I want to hear.”
“Fuck you.”
Turner leered. “Maybe after I cut you open.”
And then he plunged the knife into her abdomen.