Deceived (Free Indeed Book 2), page 13
What felt like an eternity later, she heard the rumblings of a car coming up behind her. Cara flung a glance over her shoulder and saw the headlights of a vehicle piercing the darkness and barreling right toward her.
This was the only car that had passed her the entire time she had been walking, and there wasn’t a chance in hell she was about to let it pass by. Cara jumped into the middle of the road waving both hands widely in the air as she shouted at the oncoming vehicle. The car flew up at her fast, veering straight toward where she stood as if playing a messed up game of chicken. At what seemed the very last possible second, the driver slammed on the breaks, their high pitched squeal filling the night. The car jerked to the left trying to avoid hitting her, but the front right bumper of the car rammed into her. Fortunately, it had slowed down enough not to cause too much damage, but the force of the vehicle was still enough to send her flying back several feet onto the pavement.
Determined, Cara forced herself back up to her feet, despite her entire body protesting in pain. Great. Now she was going to be bruised all over her legs, butt, and torso in addition to having a bullet wound. But what the hell, it worked. The car had stopped. And she was still alive, and not roadkill smashed as flat as a pancake in the middle of the interstate, so that was a plus.
“Oh my God! Are you absolutely insane?” A high pitched shriek erupted from out of the driver’s side window. “Why in the holy hell were you in the middle of the road? I should have you arrested for endangerment!”
With jerky steps, Cara marched to the passenger side door as quickly as she could and ripped it open. Before the platinum, fake boobed driver had time to close her mouth, Cara had planted herself in the seat and slammed the door closed.
The woman’s mouth opened and closed several times making her look like fish at feeding time before finally sputtering, “How dare you! You can’t just barge your way into people’s cars! Especially people you don’t even know! You get out right this instant!”
“Not happening, lady,” Cara muttered with a roll of her eyes. She had held her own with Deputy Badass, gone to war with Dickhead Gideon, and survived the attack of the T-1000. At this point, this woman didn’t even begin to intimidate her with bitchiness being her only weapon.
“Drive,” Cara commanded.
“How dare you,” the woman’s words seethed out of her mouth. “Now you listen to me—”
“No. Nope. You’re going to listen to me,” Cara cut her off slapping her palm against the armrest separating their seats. “And do you want to know why? Because you hit me with your car, you bitch. So if you don’t want me to sue your platinum ass for every dime you own, then drive!”
The woman next to her did that open and close mouth thing again while she tried to sputter out a response. With an arched eyebrow in her direction, Cara just stared her down. She could see the driver’s mind turning as she thought through and processed what was happening. Granted, her mind was obviously not turning all that quickly, but it was slowly making progress.
Finally, the other woman spun her body back to face out the front windshield and returned both of her hands to the steering wheel in a fierce grip. “I hate you.” It was amazing she could actually grind out those words with her jaw clenched so tightly like that. “Whoever you are.”
Good parting jab. Cara decided to let her have the last word with that and settled back into her plush leather seat. As the car once again started down the interstate, Cara checked out her surroundings. She was in a bright red, Mini Cooper convertible that was tricked out to the nines. It was actually a pretty sweet little car. Shame about the front bumper damage, not to mention the blood from her wounds gushing all over the fancy leather interior, but whatever, the woman was just going to have to deal.
The blonde kept driving. Honestly, where they were headed didn’t even matter as long as it was somewhere, anywhere but here. Some space was definitely needed between her and Paul so she could think through and re-evaluate her options.
The woman next to her took one hand off of the wheel to scrounge around in her purse for a moment until she pulled free her cellphone. While keeping one eye on the road, she swiped open the screen and tapped out a quick text. She hit send and then dropped the phone back into her bag in one swift motion. Her chest heaved as she inhaled a deep breath before releasing it on a heavy sigh.
“So—and I’m in no way admitting fault, mind you—but there’s a slight possibility I may have had something to do with your current injury,” the woman next to her muttered under her breath.
Cara snorted at her comment. Whatever. Granted, she didn’t know this woman very well, but considering what she learned about her in the short time they were together, this was probably a really big admission for her. So she’d take it as an apology and keep her snarky comments to herself.
“I’m taking you back to my house, and I’ve requested for our doctor to come and check you out,” her reluctant chauffeur continued.
“You have doctors that make late night house calls in your neck of the woods?” Cara asked somewhat surprised. She didn’t think that was even a thing anymore.
The driver drummed her overly long manicured nails along the edge of the steering wheel. Silence spread throughout the vehicle until finally she answered, “We’ve used his services in the past and adequately compensate him for the inconvenience. You’ll be well taken care of, I assure you. I hope that will be sufficient and deter any ill will or embarrassment toward me or my family.”
Hmm, interesting development. So the threat of lawsuit scared the lady enough to put her up and see that she was taken care of. At least she’d have a place to recoup until she figured out what to do next. “What’s your name?” Cara asked.
“Daphne,” the other woman returned.
“I’m Cara. And yes, I think that will sufficiently go a long way towards any ill will in regards to the situation.”
A pent up sigh of relief burst past Daphne’s lips at her assurance. Out of the corner of her eye, Cara could see the other woman visibly relax and settle into her seat. Obviously, ill will was a big deal to her benefactor and her family.
They rode in silence for several minutes until Daphne turned the car into a long driveway. The headlights pierced the darkness to expose a vast three story colonial in front of them. Seriously, this house was huge! It reminded her of a southern plantation manor. No wonder this family had a doctor on call, they had to be loaded. Instead of stopping at the front door, Daphne drove the car around the side of the house. When she saw what had to be a ten car garage in front of them, Cara thought they were going to park there. To her surprise, they kept driving past the garage.
Cara threw Daphne a sidelong glance, but she seemed determined in the fact she knew what she was doing. Past the gardens and the pool area, around the tennis courts they drove, until in front of them appeared a much smaller, absolutely quaint little cottage.
Daphne pulled up in front and parked the car. Finally turning to face Cara, she said, “You can stay in the guest cottage until you’ve recovered enough to leave. The doctor will be meeting us here shortly.”
“Um, thanks.” What else could she say? This place was awesome! Not to mention perfect. Paul would never find her here.
They both climbed out of the car and walked toward the front door. Cara kept her right arm pressed against her bullet wound as she followed Daphne into the house.
Even in her bruised, battered, and bloody state, Cara couldn’t help but be impressed with how gorgeous the place was. The open concept entryway led into the living room, dining room, and kitchen areas. Everything was clean, open, and modern. To the left was a hallway that most likely led to the bedrooms, and opposite from where they were standing, at the back of the house was a mudroom and a beautiful outside deck. It was a quaint and cozy little cottage.
“Uh, do you have a towel or something, so I don’t bleed over everything?” Cara asked.
Daphne’s head snapped in her direction, and her eyes widened as she took in the amount of blood that now covered Cara’s clothes. Her face paled as she took a step back as if her wounds were in some way contagious.
“Oh shit,” Daphne gaped at her like she was surprised Cara was even still alive. “Uh, yeah. Um, why don’t you grab a seat and I’ll get a towel.” Without another word, Daphne fled from the room and down the hall.
Despite the fact her wounds hurt like hell and that she was in an unknown environment, Cara felt better than she had in the last week. She felt safe, and that realization made her want to cry. But she couldn’t, not yet anyway. She needed to hang in there a little bit longer, until this doctor got here. Then maybe when everyone left and she was alone, she could let the tears fall. Until then, she needed to stay strong and keep it all buried inside.
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about how she was abducted and held for over a week. Don’t think about how a horrible human being almost raped her. Don’t think about how she was beaten and terrified and chased, and then how someone tried to kill her. Now wasn’t the time to think about any of it. Later she could let the emotions overwhelm her, but for now, she still had to make it through the next couple of hours.
Cara just stood in the entryway for a moment unsure of what to do. Before she could sit down, she heard Daphne’s footsteps rushing back down the hall toward her.
As she hurried back into the room, she blurted out, “I’ve laid out some blankets on the bed in one of the guest rooms for you to lie down on. If you can make it that far, it’ll be more comfortable for you than the couch, I’m sure. Easier for the doctor to check you out as well.”
Cara nodded and fumbled her way toward her. “Uh, you don’t need help, do you?” Daphne asked wringing her hands in front of her. The freaked out look on her face made it clear helping was the last thing she wanted to do.
A small laugh managed to work its way out of Cara’s throat. “No, I can manage. Lead the way.”
Daphne heaved a sigh of relief as she turned and made her way back down the hallway. Fortunately, the guest room Daphne prepared was the first door down the hall. Good thing, since Cara’s strength was fading fast, and she literally didn’t think she could go a step further without collapsing.
Cara stumbled into the room and fell onto the bed, lying on her uninjured side, just as they heard another car pull up to the front of the house. A car door slam followed shortly by the sound of the front door opening indicated the doctor had arrived as promised.
Daphne stuck her head out of the bedroom and called, “We’re in here, Doc.”
Heavy footsteps thudded against the hardwood floors as a deep, somewhat older male voice grunted, “I came as quickly as I could, Daphne. What trouble did Junior get himself into now?”
A slightly graying, nice looking man entered the room and took in Daphne standing there as well as Cara lying on the bed. “Hi Doc. Uh, it wasn’t Junior this time—it was kinda something I found myself involved in.” Daphne gestured with her hands toward where Cara lay silently. “We’ll pay you as normal in thanks for your discretion.”
The doctor grunted in response as he hurried over to the side of the bed and immediately started taking inventory of Cara’s wounds. His furrowed brow snapped up to Daphne’s face as he declared incredulously, “You shot this woman?”
“No!” Daphne gasped absolutely mortified at his question. “I hit her with my car!” She froze after realizing what she had just uttered. Her gaze left the doctor’s and dropped down to meet Cara’s. “Not that I’m in any way admitting that I did, in fact, hit you with my car. I’m only speaking hypothetically here.”
Cara rolled her eyes in response and waved her hand through the air to indicate she just wanted to get on with it.
At the doctor’s raised eyebrow, Daphne continued in her defense, “I didn’t even know she was shot. Seriously.”
With a sigh, the doctor returned to his examination. “Well, the good news is the bullet passed clean through. So we should be able to clean up the wound, stitch it up, and get you on some antibiotics to help avoid infection.” He turned around to reach into the medical bag he brought with him. “I’m going to give you something for the pain to knock you out while I treat you, all right?”
Considering every last inch of her body hurt at this point, Cara couldn’t even nod in agreement. She settled for a soft, “Ok.” and let the doctor do his thing. After everything she had been through recently, this was the safest she had felt in over a week. Getting knocked out to escape the pain sounded so wonderful right now, she could cry.
She felt a quick prick as the doctor injected her with a needle, and then exhaled the breath she was holding. Moments later her vision went fuzzy, and then blackness took her as she fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 14
Cara’s eyes slowly opened to reveal a ceiling she didn’t recognize. She blinked for a moment trying to clear the fuzziness from her brain and remember what had happened to her. Her head turned to the side to take in more of her surroundings but abruptly stopped at the flash of pain that erupted throughout her entire body. Oh God, everything hurt!
She gritted her teeth to try and keep her cries inside, but couldn’t quite manage to keep a hiss from escaping. At the sound, a shuffling from across the room stole her attention. Cara’s head swung toward the movement to see a disheveled, blonde woman trying to pull herself upright from where she was sleeping on the couch.
Daphne. That was her name. The woman who hit her and then took her back to her fancy house to patch her up.
Daphne blinked as if trying to remember where she was as well. When recognition dawned on her face, she suddenly jumped to her feet and rushed over to the end table next to Cara’s bed.
“You’ve been out all night, but Doc left meds for you for when you woke up. He said to let you sleep as long as possible, but that you’d probably wake up in a lot of pain,” Daphne said as she lifted a bottle from the small table.
“You could say that,” Cara grunted. Yesterday all she had felt was the pain of the bullet wound. But today, every single inch of her body felt like it was either on fire or bruised. Apparently, Daphne’s car had done more damage than she had initially thought. Oh well, she’d take the pain. Pain meant she was alive, and that was more than she had expected when Paul had taken her into the woods.
With a shake of the bottle, Daphne dropped some pills into her hand and then held a glass of water ready for Cara to wash them down with. Cara took the offered meds gratefully. Her throat was extremely parched. She tried to drink as much of the water as she could manage before returning the glass to Daphne.
“Thanks.” Cara looked over at the woman next to her who was wringing her hands nervously.
“Doc said to stick by you through the night to make sure there weren’t any complications or anything,” Daphne explained as she appraised her. “You don’t have a fever, and the meds should help with the pain. So you’re supposed to take it easy and try not to move around a lot, and you should be just fine.”
“Good to know.” Cara acknowledged before asking, “So how do you come to have your own personal doctor on call?”
Daphne’s eyes darted away to stare aimlessly out the window. She was silent for a moment, and Cara didn’t think she was going to answer, until finally she replied, “My older brother is kind of a problem child. He tends to act out in an attempt to cause our daddy embarrassment.” She sighed before continuing, “It varies from causing injury to other people in fights or some such thing, or just hurting himself in his latest act of stupidity, but there’s been need of a doctor on several occasions. And since my daddy is in politics, he likes to keep it as quiet as possible.” Her hand gestured towards where Cara was lying on the bed, “Hence the doctor on call.”
“Well, I am grateful,” Cara admitted. “Just to be on the safe side, I’d rather not make an appearance at a hospital in case the person who shot me was looking for me.”
“Well, you’re welcome to stay here until you’ve fully recovered.”
The look on Daphne’s face said the exact opposite, but whatever. The woman was making an effort to at least appear to be nice, so Cara would take it for what it was worth.
“So if you’re feeling ok, then I’m going back to my bed. I slept like crap on that couch looking after you all night.”
And there was bitchy Daphne once again making an appearance. That didn’t take long. Cara just gave her a nod, indicating that was fine with her.
Daphne turned to the desk against the wall and grabbed some items before returning to where Cara lay. She placed the items on the edge of the bed before making eye contact with Cara again, “Some things to make your stay more enjoyable.” Cara blinked in surprise. It was like she was at a bed and breakfast instead of hiding out. “The Chromebook is hooked up to the cottage’s guest wifi account, so you’re free to use it as needed in case you get bored.” She pointed to the remote control, “The tv is a smart tv, so it has access to Netflix as well as Amazon Video. If you’d rather rent a movie it’ll charge to our account, so feel free. Same with the Kindle. It’s hooked up to our guest account, and if none of the books are to your liking, you can order what you want. There are a variety of clothes in the closet. Yours were pretty destroyed, but you should be able to find something that fits.”
Wow, Cara got the impression they went through this rigmarole quite a bit based off of how well they had perfected it. But hey, she wasn’t complaining. This setup was sweet, and she couldn’t wait for Daphne to leave so she could get her hands on that Chromebook. The internet was calling to her. It had been way too long since she had free unmonitored access and she was itching to get back to it.
“The phone on the bedside table will automatically connect to the main house if you press one,” she continued. “Otherwise press nine to get an outside line. Oh, and the fridge and pantry are both kept well stocked, so help yourself to anything you want. If you need anything just call the main house. I’ll be back every now and then to make sure you’re not dead or anything.” Daphne took a deep breath and then grunted, “I hope that sounds sufficient.”
