Deceived (Free Indeed Book 2), page 11
Jake reached his arm over the back seat and rummaged around in the cooler they had back there with their luggage. Finding what he was looking for, he turned back straightening in his seat. A cold glass bottle pressed against the exposed skin of her arm making her jump. Once again her head spun around this time to see a bottle of Starbucks White Chocolate Frappuccino held out to her.
A satisfied sigh escaped her lips before she could catch it. Now he was just fighting dirty. She flashed him one last pissed off look before snagging the bottle and popping off the lid for a long wonderfully satisfying drink.
Whatever. So she would partially forgive him. For at least the next hour anyway.
After that, only nineteen more to go. Yeah, he better keep that chocolate coming.
Twenty hours in the car and she was ready to scream. Especially after hour after hour of the same dang-blasted CD on repeat. If she heard the song Since Jesus Came Into My Heart or When the Roll is Called Up Yonder played one more time, she was going to throw herself from the vehicle at highway speeds and take her chances surviving the fall into oncoming traffic. There wasn’t enough chocolate in the world to put up with this brand of torture.
Since she had nothing better to do, Cara tried to sleep as much as she could for the rest of the drive. With the three men alternating as drivers, they actually made really good time. Now having finally made it to the outskirts of Serenity, their destination was at last almost in sight.
While driving, Gideon had found a cabin rental in close proximity to the town and had booked it for the next week. So no more staying in cheap motels. Apparently, he wanted a more private location for the days ahead, and a cabin in the woods met that need. Like that didn't make her feel creeped out or anything.
The sun was just barely beginning to set as they pulled up to the log cabin nestled a ways off the highway. Just as the car parked, the front door opened and a man, most likely the owner, stepped out with a hearty wave.
“Stay with the girl,” Gideon instructed Jake as he and Paul opened their doors to climb out and meet with the man.
Cara watched the two men walk up the gravel road to meet the owner on the porch. “So what now?” she asked Jake. They had officially arrived at the end of the road. This meant Cara was due for her well-timed escape.
“Now you keep your mouth shut as much as possible and try to not get on Gideon’s bad side,” he replied with a smirk. His face instantly sobered as he continued, “Seriously though, try not to do anything to upset them. At least not until I can get a plan in place to get you out of here, hopefully tonight after everyone’s asleep. I don’t like how secluded this place is. Of course, Gideon would have selected it for that very reason, but still, I don’t like it one bit.”
“I’ll be good,” Cara nodded back at him. And she would too. The last thing she wanted to do was piss off her stepdad when he had no further use for her. She had no desire to die anytime soon. Jake shot her a little half grin as he reached over to give her hand a reassuring squeeze.
They both watched as the owner handed Gideon the keys and then climbed into his car and drove away. Then the two men walked back to the SUV. Paul popped the hatchback and removed the luggage to carry it inside, while Gideon prowled up to where Jake was sitting.
Jake opened the door and climbed out gesturing towards Cara to go ahead and do the same before he looked over expectantly at Gideon.
Gideon tossed the car keys to Jake. “Go pick us up some dinner.”
“Make Paul do it,” Jake rebutted.
“Paul’s going to go see if he can get eyes on Allie. That leaves you.” Gideon’s voice didn’t leave any room for argument. “Now go.”
The two men stared each other down for a moment before Jake finally relented with a nod of acquiescence. Cara climbed out of the SUV just as Paul slammed the back closed having removed everything needed. He started carrying items into the cabin as Jake rounded the vehicle to climb in the driver’s side door. As he walked past Cara, he mouthed the words, Be good, to her driving the point home one last time.
Ok, ok, she got it. Cara rolled her eyes at him making him smile. He jumped behind the wheel and with a twist of the keys started the SUV. The car crunched across the gravel as it backed up and then turned around to exit the property.
Without a word or eye contact, Cara kept her head down and made her way up the front steps into the cabin. As she walked inside, she tried to take in all of her surroundings without being too obvious about it. The cabin was really beautiful inside. Much better than that piece of crap back at Free Indeed. The bottom floor was an open floor plan containing the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Ginormous windows almost completely covered both the front and back walls giving wide panoramic views of the outdoors. A circular staircase wrapped around one wall leading to a large loft area with what must be the bedrooms on either side. Hands down, the cabin was beautiful. Gorgeous wood, stylish finishes, and elegant yet simple furnishings. If it weren’t for Dickhead Gideon and the T-1000, she’d be in heaven right now.
After walking around the room for a moment, she settled into the couch in front of the floor to ceiling river rock fireplace.
“Do you want me to go out looking for Allie now?” She heard Paul ask Gideon from behind her. Hopefully, Jake was doing that while he was out picking them up some food. If Jake could find her first and manage to warn her or get the card back from her, then they could finish this without anyone getting hurt. Not that she cared if either Gideon or Paul were injured. If one of them happened to receive a swift kick to the balls, that’d be perfectly fine with her.
“First take care of the girl,” Gideon countered. “Then we’ll find Allie and handle her.”
A chill ran down Cara’s spine filling her with dread. She snapped her head around just in time to see Paul remove a gun from the back waistband of his jeans and level it in her direction.
“Wait—just wait, Gideon, you don’t have to do this. What if Allie leaves town or what if she’s already left? I can help you!” Cara pleaded turning fully around and standing up to face them. “You don’t have to kill me.”
“Your services are no longer required.” His face pulled into an evil smirk. Slow footsteps thudded across the space until he stood directly in front of her. He leaned forward ever so slightly, so his face was in her own. “It would seem I wound up getting your mom’s house anyway.” His voice lowered to a dark, sinister whisper, “So killing her wasn’t in vain after all.”
Fury bubbled up from the pit of her stomach and exploded at his words. Before either of them realized it was coming, Cara’s hand flashed across his face in a forceful slap with all the strength she could muster. “You bastard!” she screamed. “All she ever did was love you and take care of you even when you did nothing to deserve it. Why would you kill her? Why?”
“She was going to leave me!” his voice bellowed through the room. “She actually thought she could leave me and cut me off without a dime. That was a big mistake she came to regret. The same way you’re going to regret the mistake you made now.” His eyes maintained contact with her own without flinching as he spoke to the man waiting patiently behind them, “Paul, take her out into the woods. No point in having to clean up the mess by doing it here.”
Cara’s entire body was shaking. Whether with anger or fear or a mixture of both, it was causing her body to quake from head to toe. This monster just admitted to murdering her mother and now was going to have his lackey do the same to her. She clenched her fists tightly until her nails dug into her skin. If she wanted to have any chance of surviving this she needed to remain calm. No matter how much she wanted to fling herself at and rail on Gideon, she needed to wait to fight until she actually had the slightest chance of winning. That meant, despite everything inside of her screaming to the contrary, to let Paul take her outside. Granted, right now her chances weren’t very good, but they went up exponentially when it was just her versus one bastard instead of two.
Paul kept his gun pointed at Cara as he prowled around the couch to where she stood. He roughly grasped her forearm pulling her toward the back door. Gideon didn’t say another word. The last thing she saw of him was a sinister smirk before Paul jerked her out the door and onto the back deck.
Hatred for the man inside swelled up within her. Somehow, someway, she was going to get through this. And then one day she was going to catch up with him and rain hellfire and brimstone on his smug fat ass.
With a quick wrench of her arm, Paul jerked her down the steps and into the grassy backyard. Cara tried to keep her cries of pain inside. She’d be damned if she showed him weakness now. Paul kept her moving forward at a quick pace until they crossed the tree line and went deeper into the surrounding forest.
What would Jake do? He’d come back from his errand for Gideon, and he wouldn’t even know what had happened. Damn him for not being around when she needed him most. Life was so unfair. She wanted to scream. She wanted to rail at life’s injustices. Instead, she forced herself to move her legs faster to keep up with Paul’s long strides and kept her chin held defiantly high.
When Paul was finally satisfied that they had gone far enough away from the cabin, he spun her body around and threw her viciously to the ground below. She hit the ground face first and used her arms to try and push herself back up. Whipping her head around to look at Paul behind her, she saw him return his gun to the back waistband of his pants just before a sneer spread across his evil face.
“No one’s here to stop me now,” he vehemently spat. “And I’m going to get what should have been mine.”
Cara’s heart clenched in terror as she tried to get her feet under her to run. His foot made contact with the flat of her back and roughly shoved her back into the dirt. Trying to scramble away from him she managed to make it a few feet, but then he was on top of her spinning her around to face him. He pushed her flat onto her back and mounted her using his much larger body to hold hers still. No amount of squirming or wiggling could break him loose. He was just too strong.
Switching from flight to fight mode, she threw out both hands toward his head and clawed both as viciously as she could down his face. A small measure of satisfaction filled her when she heard him scream out in pain from the bloody gashes. His head snapped back trying to get out of her reach while his arms still held her body pinned to the forest floor. Then before she saw it coming, his forehead slammed brutally into hers. Stunned, her vision went black as she slumped to the ground immobile.
Cara lay there for a moment trying to regain her senses and blink away her blurry vision. When the inky blackness cleared, it finally sunk in that Paul was alternating between rummaging his hands all over her body and groping her breasts. With a quick jerk of his wrist, he tore her shirt down the middle exposing her breasts to his gaze.
Blinking again, she tried to get the remaining haziness to fade away. Despite her throbbing head, determination thrummed through her veins. She would not let Paul rape her. This night would not end with her being his victim.
With his attention focused only on one thing, he wasn’t paying attention to the fact that she had regained consciousness. As his hands drifted their way down to her jeans, they fumbled over the button and zipper.
Cara’s hands rummaged in the dirt around her. Something, there had to be something. She just needed a weapon. There. Her hand came in contact with a rock, and she grabbed hold as tightly as she could. It was almost too big for her small hand to grip onto, but desperation gave her more strength than she thought she had. His hands slid the zipper of her pants downward just as his gaze rose to look into her own. Sinister eyes full of evil intent seared into her very soul causing her body to quake in fear.
She couldn’t pause. Failure wasn’t an option. Her grip on the rock tightened, and she swung her arm as hard as she could at the man towering over her. The rock slammed brutally into the side of his head with enough force that he fell off of her body and to the side.
Dropping the rock to the ground, Cara used both hands to push her body upward and scrambled back to her feet. Not even sparing a backward glance, Cara ran. With every last ounce of energy she had, she ran deeper into the surrounding forest.
Jake drove around for a while trying to get a lay of the land and a feel for his surroundings. The town definitely wasn’t large by any means. One main road ran the length of the town, with a couple of smaller side streets veering off every now and then. Wherever Allie was hanging out, she wouldn’t be too hard to find. There just weren’t that many options.
He kept driving as he passed several different shops varying from clothing, an auto shop, and an animal shelter. There wasn’t much traffic to speak of either. It was only just starting to get dark, but the streets were already pretty deserted.
The next building he passed was the police station. He’d definitely have to remember exactly where that was. As soon as he managed to get Cara clear of Gideon, he was taking her straight there so she’d have some protection until Gideon and Paul were both under arrest. If he could find Allie before the others, he’d put her in protective custody too.
They were so close to finding Allie and recovering the card. Cara just needed to hang in there for a little bit longer, and he’d be able to get her safely away. He needed to get her safely away, desperately. It was like he couldn’t focus on anything else other than her and the danger she was in. So he needed her to be clear of all this mess if for no other reason than to get his focus back on the job at hand. Then he could put Gideon and Paul away and put this mess behind them forever.
An old fashioned looking diner with great big neon lights grabbed his attention. The sign proudly stated the place was called BB-Dub’s Diner, and considering it was the first place he came across that had food, it was as good a place as any for dinner. Staying away from the cabin for too long was definitely a bad idea. He needed to get back before Gideon went crazy or Cara deliberately did something to piss him off again.
A small chuckle rose out of his throat. That gutsy brunette sure was a little spitfire. Every time she got pissed or passionate about something, her eyes would flash with so much fire. It was like everything in her vicinity couldn’t help but take notice and brighten up. Well, everything except the patriarch and his little minion. Gideon was just an all around dick, and Paul was as dour as they come. Nothing couldn’t brighten up their lives.
Jake turned off the main road and into the parking lot of the diner. After parking the SUV, he climbed out and was instantly assaulted with mouthwatering scents wafting out from inside the building. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans and made his way up the steps and into the diner. The little bell above the door jingled as he entered, alerting everyone inside to his presence.
“I’ll be right with you, dearie,” a boisterous female voice called out as soon as he crossed the threshold.
He turned his head towards the voice to see a somewhat older, definitely buxom woman with a friendly smile covering her face navigate the tables with hands full of plates. Wow, he didn’t even know one person could handle that many plates at one time. With a quick nod, Jake acknowledged her greeting and waited for the woman to finish delivering the food she was carrying.
Before he even had a chance to take in his surroundings, the woman was back and right by his side with that big smile of hers.
“What can I do for you today?” she asked.
“I’d like to get some food to go if I could.”
“Well, of course, you can. Step on over to the counter here, and I’ll get you a menu.” She gestured towards some stools lined up along the bar separating the dining area from the kitchen. “My name’s Annie, by the way.”
“Pleased to meet you, Annie.” Jake returned her smile as he slid onto one of the stools. “I probably won’t even be needing that menu. I just need four burgers, loaded up with whatever you have, and four sides of fries all bagged up to go.”
“Well I can sure help you with that, son,” Annie grinned. “I’ll go put in that order for you right now.”
As Annie turned to walk back toward the kitchen, a glass display case sitting on top of the counter caught his eye. “Oh, Annie,” she spun back around to face him, a questioning look on her face, “And one slice of that chocolate pie too. I got a girl back at the house who’s crazy about her chocolate,” Jake said with a grin.
“Good choice,” she smiled right back at him with a friendly wink, “both in pie and in keeping your woman happy.” She turned back toward the kitchen to get the order started. As she pushed through the swinging door, she bellowed into the kitchen, “George, four patties, get ‘em goin’ on the double! This man’s got a hungry woman at home.”
“She better be if she’s eatin’ four burgers,” a man’s mumbled reply came from the kitchen.
Amusement spread across Jake’s face as he settled back into his stool just as the bell above the door chimed again announcing another patron. Out of habit, he turned slightly to see who had entered. The man was about his height, light brown hair, and giving off the rancher or farmer vibe with that cowboy hat on the top of his head. When he caught Jake’s eye, the newcomer gave him a cordial head nod in greeting which Jake promptly returned.
“Oh hey, Jason,” Annie greeted, sticking her head out the door from the kitchen. “Grab a seat anywhere, darlin’. I’ll be right with you.”
“Take your time, Annie,” the new man replied. “I’m gonna be hanging out for a bit, so I’m not in any rush.” Jason walked down the row of booths along the window and sat in the one at the end.
This town definitely seemed more laid back than most he had been in. And the people were drastically more friendly than back at Free Indeed. For all the love and happiness that Gideon preached into those people, they were some of the most uptight snobs he had ever met in his life. Whereas the people here just seemed to radiate warmth and happiness. If he had his choice, this was the type of place he’d rather live in. Maybe after he wrapped up this case and put it all behind him, he could start over in a new place like Serenity.
