6
Jessa knew that the men were coming. She didn’t know that there was now more than one or that Milo had been hurt. She had heard the gun shot in the distance and hoped that it wasn’t Mike who was getting shot. It was hard to think of something happening to him.
She stayed crouched in the top floor of the firehouse. There was a pole she could slide down to the entrance if she had to get out of there quickly. Jessa didn’t know what was going to happen, but she was better off with her son and the others away. She wished that Milo hadn’t left without her, but he was the only one there who could help her. If he hadn’t come, she would be all alone. The feeling was not as comforting as it used to be.
Jessa used to like the solitude, but it was hard to like it now. She had gotten too used to people and even though it had been some time since she had left the settlement because of a man, she had made her own group. Each one was picked up on the road and she trusted all of them. But now what?
Her trust was no good now, and there was nothing that she could do but hope that whatever happened next, she would walk away with as many people as she started with. Life then was worthless and cheap, ending without so much as a word of goodbye.
She tried to shake the thoughts from her mind, questioning why she was so sure that something bad was going to happen. It was that feeling, the knot in the pit of her stomach that told her something wasn’t right. She knew that her gut was more accurate than her mind sometimes, but now she questioned it. She questioned everything except the love she felt for Mike and the need to get him back. Jessa didn’t want to go on being aimless without him. There was no peace at the coastline if he was not there with her. Jessa knew that now.
There were noises and she could hear people talking. It took her a minute to put together where she had heard the voice before. It threw her off, because they were not supposed to be there. Why was she hearing her son talking to Carin? Jessa looked out the small, dingy window that was covered in dust and her heart dropped.
What were they doing there?
“Jessa!”
She scrunched down even more and tried to think. Whoever they were, they knew she was there. And now her son was there. It was clear that she had trusted the wrong people and Jessa didn’t have anything else to do, but give herself up.
“Come out now or this sweet little boy gets one in the face.”
Her heart leapt in her chest.
“All right! I’m coming now. Don’t hurt him.”
Jessa slid down the pole and put her hands up, looking into the faces that greeted her. Her son tried to run to her, but he was passed off to Carin to hold onto.
“Well, now I see what all of the fighting was about. You my dear, are prettier than I would have thought.”
Caston’s eyes took in the long hair and supple curves. She was exactly what he had been looking for and it was the first time that Caston had smiled in a long time. She would do.
He turned to Mike and smiled. “I can see why you wanted to keep this under wraps. Good call to keep the rest of them back there. They will tear her up. I will let them have what is left.”
“Just let my son go, please. I will do whatever you want.”
Caston looked at the boy and then shrugged. “Fine, he goes.”
Shane looked at his mom being held and tried to go to her. “Don’t. You need to go. Stay out of sight and do what I told you.”
She was pulled back from the guy holding her and grimaced when she felt his need on her backside. Blocking it out, she waited till Shane was out of sight before she turned to the man in charge. Her eyes hadn’t even met Michael’s. She was too busy sizing up the two that had betrayed her. She should have known that it was a trap. Their story was just too convenient, but she had trusted them enough to leave her son with them and that was on her. How could she have been so wrong?
“What did you tell your son to do?”
Jessa wouldn’t tell him the truth, but she had to think of something. “There was a house many miles from here that was safe. I told him to go back there.”
He looked into her eyes, but saw nothing amiss. She was still playing the scared woman and it was working. His gun had already been taken off of her and the man behind her was far more worried about smelling her hair and rubbing himself against her than actually holding her properly.
She looked to Mike for a minute and saw the sorrow in his eyes. She didn’t want to see that. There was no time to be sorry, only time to move on and finish it.
“Bring her here Lee. I need a good look at her.”
He pushed the woman forward to Caston and Mike wanted to stop it. He already knew what they wanted and the idea of it made him furious. She was not meant for those kinds of things. She was meant to be with him. Michael knew then that it was all his fault. If he wouldn’t have left, maybe this fate would have never come to be.
What he didn’t understand was how she was so calm. Mike knew that she was capable of many things, had seen her kill a man before, but she was more calm than he was. She didn’t know what kind of man Caston was and if she did, he was sure that she wouldn’t be so cool about it all.
“What do you want with us? I don’t even know you.”
“You will Jessa. You will know me well before this day is done.”
She tried to hide the shiver that was elicited by his innuendo. The very idea of such an old man touching her made her skin crawl. His hand came out to play with one of the long strands of hair and he yanked on it to get a rise out of her. When he didn’t get one, he grabbed more until he heard a whimper.
Jessa was clear what kind of man he was quickly. She had seen more than her fair share of them. He liked to make people hurt. So she gave him what he wanted and he stopped. “I can see I am going to like you. Like a wild stallion needing to be broken.”
“What do you want from me?”
He grinned. “You know exactly what I want from you. And I think I want to make your boyfriend watch.”
She closed her eyes for a moment like she was going to get woozy and acted like she needed to be held. The man behind her straightened her back up and there was a glance between the two.
“Why don’t we have some privacy the first time? Lee will hold you and your friends out here while we go in the firehouse.”
“They are no friends of mine.” Jessa glared at the two that had brought her son into it. They would pay soon enough, she thought to herself.
“Feisty. Yes, just what I have been looking for.”
Caston grabbed her arm and pulled her into the large red building that was abandoned a long time ago. She felt as solitary as it was, standing tall against all of the elements.
***
Milo had crept into the foliage to hide and was surprised to see Shane sitting in the bushes. It had taken him a while to get there, but he had managed to save some of his strength and was doing his best to gather as much of his energy as he could. He would need it to fight the blood loss. If things went well, he was sure Michael and Jessa would come back for him. Seeing Shane there seemed to be his proof.
He couldn’t stand, but grabbed at Shane’s shoes. Shane squealed softly, surprised by the unexpected contact. He squinted into the brush, unable to recognize Milo underneath the blood that had gotten smeared on his face. Milo tried to shush him, worried that the noise might draw attention to their location. Milo did not know how many more of Caston’s men were out there, and while he was wounded he didn’t want to find out. He had very little fight left in him. He had done all he could. It was up to Michael and Jessa now.
“Take this and point it at whoever comes this way. Just pull the trigger if it’s a bad guy.”
The boy took the gun from Milo. It felt heavy in his hands and looked down at Milo. “I can’t.”
“Just like I showed you. This is why you needed to learn. You may need to use this.”