Dangerous Flames (Mafia Hearts) (28 page)

He
pushed her down another stair almost knocking her to her knees. “Why
would I let you wear any? So you can run away from me? I don’t
think so.”

She
did her best to ignore the cold ground slicing at the bottoms of her
bare feet as she tried to steal a glimpse of her father or Mikolas.
If they were dead, where were they? Had Clayton moved their bodies?

Clayton
shoved her around the corner of the cabin and toward the first set of
trees a few feet away. He started to jog, pushing her as he went.
Rocks cut at her feet as she trudged over the gravel. She didn’t
know which hurt more, the pain shooting through her scalp from the
asshole constantly pulling at her hair, or the rocks and sticks
cutting through her soles like a serrated knife slipping through warm
butter.

“
Get
going.” He gave her another shove, sending her on her knees.

Burning
pain shot across her skin. “My knees,” she cried out. Her
pants ripped open and blood soaked small slivers of snow between
chunks of gravel.

He
twisted his hand in a circle, tangling his fingers in the strands
even more. “Stop messing with me or you’ll have a bullet
to deal with instead of a skinned knee.”

Someone
was alive and moving a large object behind the cabin. Metal clanged
together. Maybe the person was looking for her? For Clayton? They
weren’t hiding or they’d be more careful about the level
of noise they were making. If Clayton had shot them, he wouldn’t
be in such a hurry. She looked in the direction in an attempt to view
the person.

“
Don’t
even try it,” he hissed. “You have to the count of three
to get moving or I’m knocking you out.”

“
Clayton—”

Please,
someone hear us
.

“
One,”
he said.

She
opened her mouth to scream but glanced at his gun before any sound
came out. Screaming would be stupid. If she did that, he’d have
a bullet in her temple before anyone could find her alive.

“
Two.”

“
I’m
going.” She rose up from the ground and tried to take a step in
the direction of the trees. His foot hit her in the center of the
back. She stumbled forward, her hands catching her fall. The rocks
tore into her flesh. She hadn’t even noticed he’d let go
of her hair until his fingers were twisted around it again, yanking
her head back.

She
shook her hand as if the action would wipe away the pain. It did
nothing to help. Blinking back more tears, she glanced in the
direction the noise. All was silent now and nobody made an attempt to
save her. She started walking toward the trees again. Not being able
to take any more of the abuse from Clayton, she’d have to go
along with what he said until she executed a plan to escape or
someone found her.

Once
they reached the trees, he pushed her down to the ground behind a
tree. “Be quiet,” he whispered.

Gabrielle’s
gasped as Mik walked past the cabin, his gun out in front of him. He
stopped at the corner and looked right and then left. He’s
alive! She needed to get his attention so he’d be able to find
her faster and save her from Clayton’s clutches.

Before
she could even open her mouth, Clayton’s breath went against
her ear. “I have no business with your boyfriend right now. He
hasn’t even seen me here yet. Scream and he’s dead where
he stands.”

“
But—”

“
Maybe
you won’t die today if you go along with what I say,
sweetie-pie. Either I get your dad’s money from the vault or I
pull Mik’s card.”

Mikolas
looked in their direction.

“
Go
ahead and scream.” Clayton’s lips touched her earlobe as
he said, “I dare you.”

Clayton’s
breath sent prickles down her body. His breath was rancid as if he
hadn’t brushed his teeth in a year, causing her to gag. She
wanted away from him with every fiber of her being but wanted Mikolas
to live much more than that. She couldn’t bear the idea of Mik
being dead, face down in the snow as Rif was.

Mike
turned away from them and rounded the corner of the cabin. His
footsteps climbing the stairs echoed through the air. The front door
of the cabin slammed shut. She shuddered as the acknowledgment hit
her like the winter storm. She was alone with Clayton. And she might
die.

“
Take
me wherever we’re going.” She stood up. “It’s
now or never.” She let her gaze drop down to the ground. It
didn’t matter that her feet were numb or the knee of her sweats
was covered in blood. It didn’t matter that the palm of her
hand felt like someone had stuck a butcher knife through the meat.
None of it mattered. None of her physical pain mattered compared to
the idea of not ever seeing Mikolas again.

The
cabin door opened again, followed by stomping feet crossing the
porch. “Gabi!” Mik’s voice rang out through the
darkness.

****

“
What’s
wrong with Gabi?” Enrico said as he ran through the cabin door.

“
Gone.”
He didn’t even wait for a reply. He threw another clip into his
Glock as he ran out the front door. The night was cold and she didn’t
even have her shoes. The motherfucker had taken her from him. Clayton
was a dead man.

The
pounding of footsteps on the stairs behind Mikolas confirmed him of
Enrico’s participation in the hunt. “Go that way,”
Mik said. He pointed to the right of the cabin even though he had a
hunch where they’d be.

Clayton
hadn’t come the entire way to the cabin by car. He had to be
headed to a nearby cabin or down the main road. Mikolas would bet
money on the first option. The latter was too out in the open.
Clayton was a sly little fuck but clever nonetheless. But no matter
how sly or clever, he couldn’t compete with the skills of
Mikolas.

“
We’ve
checked all around the cabin. They’re not here,” Enrico
said. “I’ll go down the road.”

He
gave Enrico a quick nod before running in the direction of the woods.
The blood on the ground stopped him in his tracks. “Enrico.”

“
Find
something?”

“
They
went this way. There’s blood.” He couldn’t say the
last part of the thought. Gabi’s blood. Clayton’s murder
was the one kill he was truly going to enjoy performing. Nobody would
ever get away with hurting Gabi.

“
My
daughter,” Enrico breathed when he reached the blood splattered
ground.

“
Come
on,” Mik said as he ran toward the woods. He followed the trail
of blood spots and quickly found another saturated area behind a
tree.

Enrico
pointed to the large spot in the snow. “She had to be sitting
here. Look at the blood over there.”

“
She’s
hurt and barefoot with only a t-shirt and jeans.” Fear clenched
his gut and twisted it like a hurricane.
Gabi
has to be okay
.

“
Even
if her wounds are superficial, she’s at risk of hypothermia.”

Mikolas
didn’t have time to answer. He trudged forward through the
deepening snow. Blood splotches stood out to him like the moon in the
inky black sky. Those splotches would show him the way. And when he
got there-

“
Clayton’s
a dead man and I’m going to enjoy it every second,”
Enrico said, breaking into Mikolas’ thoughts.

“
Exactly.”
Mikolas scanned the area around them. “Are there any cabins up
here?”

Enrico
motioned off to the right. “About another half mile.”

“
That’s
far when you’re barefooted.”

“
Let’s
get our girl.” Enrico huffed along as he kept pace with
Mikolas. Mik was proud of the old man for doing what it took to save
his daughter but knew only a bullet would stop Enrico from saving
her. Clayton better be well prepared.

“
Should
we do it quick, Mikolas? Or stretch it out some?”

Mikolas
smiled for the first time since Enrico’s arrival. It wasn’t
a smile of happiness but one of revenge. “Stretch it out. He’s
going to pay for what he’s done.”

Chapter Twenty-one

Her
legs were cramping up, probably from the cold, and she could barely
feel her feet. Standing proved unbearable. Both of her feet felt like
they’d gone to sleep even though she’d been walking a
long way.

A
cabin came into view and provided a relief to her. Maybe Clayton
would let her clean her cuts and rest. She’d be able to sit
down at the very least. He wouldn’t be that cruel, would he? Or
why was she trying to fool herself?

“
We’re
going in there.”

Good.
“But what if there is someone here?”

“
I
checked around in town. The mountain has been evacuated.” He
pushed her toward the steps, banging her cut knee against the wood of
the porch.

“
Stop
pushing me. I’m doing what you want.” She glared at him.

“
Get
up the steps.”

She
grabbed the rail and pulled herself to a standing position and limped
up the four stairs. It seemed like an impossible task but she made
without him pushing on her again. With nothing else to hold on to,
she took a few wobbly steps toward the front door. She reached for
the door knob and found it locked.
Ha
ha, Clayton. Bet you didn’t plan on that factor.

Clayton
skipped down the steps. He snatched a large rock from the side of the
driveway and returned. He took no time for second thoughts before
slamming the rock against the large picture window. Glass blew into
the living room.

“
Don’t
try anything. You can’t run and I’ll have some great
target practice from here.” He climbed through the busted
window and had the front door unlocked and open within a few seconds.

“
Come
on in, darling.” His grin broadened as if he thought his plan
had actually worked. Of course this would come crashing down around
him. Mikolas would find her for sure.

“
Screw
you.” She tried her best to shove past him but with her
injuries, she didn’t provide much force with the shove.

“
If
you insist but won’t loverboy be a little upset?”

She
kept her back to him as she made her way to the bathroom. The cabin
was smaller than her father’s but just as expensive.

“
Were
do you think you’re going?” He called after her.

“
To
clean this blood off me,” she yelled as she pulled the bathroom
door shut behind her. She would’ve loved to lock the door but
the handle didn’t have one.

Maroon
hand towels hung on the bar next to the sink while little decorative
soaps sat in the dish on the marbled counter top. Dog shapes. She
rolled her eyes as she turned the tap on and let the water run. While
she waited, she rummaged through the drawers. Maybe the first aid kit
would be in the shape of a dog too. She wouldn’t care as long
as these people actually had one.

“
Thank
God,” she whispered as she found it in the bottom drawer. And
the kit didn’t resemble a cute little puppy as she’d
expected from the rest of the décor, including the bathmat in
front of the tub. She took one of the pretty towels that probably had
never been used for anything other than to be looked at, off the rack
and soaked it with warm water. She sat down on the back of the toilet
and flinched at the pain as she pulled one foot into her lap to
assess the damage.

Bruises
had already formed around the slice marks. No blood anymore, only
raw, open wounds. It looked like someone had scribbled on her foot
with a fillet knife. She brought the wet towel an inch away. She
paused and bit her lip. Cleaning the wound was going to hurt like
hell. The first touch of towel proved her theory to be correct. Not
wanting to draw any more attention to herself, she swallowed her cry
of pain.

Once
both feet were wrapped, she moved on to her knee. Not wanting to take
her pants off, she ripped the hole bigger and cleaned the gash the
best she could. This wound continued to bleed, making her use the
three gauze pads provided in the first aid box. The one slice on her
palm was deeper than she’d expected. She covered the wound with
two regular band-aides. Not enough, but worked for the moment.

Even
with the first aid applied, she still needed something to weaken the
pain. She plucked a prescription bottle out of the medicine cabinet.
Oh yes, a narcotic pain reliever. Out of curiosity, she glanced down
at the name on the bottle. Jill Chalmers.