Praying for Daylight (16 page)

“Oh, what have I done?” Jerry doubled over in the front seat. I tried to console him, but all we could do was take him back to the ranch and hand him off to a very distraught Millie.

I called the sheriff, telling him the worst had happened.

Death had Kate.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Kate

The last thing I remember was walking into Ben’s room to check on him. He’d eaten a little bit of toast and one piece of the roast Millie made, then decided to go back to sleep. My nephew slept like the dead whenever he wasn’t feeling well. Cheyenne was certain he’d caught a stomach virus that was going around the boys he played soccer with.

The slightly paranoid side of my brain wondered if he’d been sickened, or even poisoned, by Death. But that was crazy. It was just a normal virus, and Death hadn’t been anywhere near my family.

I hoped.

As I was leaning over Ben, making sure he was tucked in and had his favorite teddy bear, I felt something move behind me.

“Miss Kelly?”

I turned. It was Marco. “Yeah?”

“Dustin is asking for you out back. He’s down by the lake with the rest of the guys.

I smiled, “Thanks.”

I quietly left Ben, tiptoeing out and down the hall to the back stairs that would take me to the back porch and out into the yard. When I got to the door, Marco was right behind me, opening it.

“Thanks…” I stepped outside, taking a refreshing breath of cool mountain air. “It is gorgeous out, isn’t it?”

He nodded, his face as serious as it always was. “Kind of miss the city though.”

I walked to the edge of the porch, frowning when I saw the black SVU rental that Marco had idling by the railing.

I was about to ask him if he was leaving, when I felt his hand come over my mouth and his free arm grab me from behind.

I kicked, aiming for his legs, hoping to trip him. His grip was too firm over my mouth. It was no use trying to scream - no one would hear me. He was too strong. I cried as he dragged me into the backseat of the car and slammed the door.

“Go!”

I stared at the back of a brown haired man that I’d never seen before.

It was happening.

I’d actually been kidnapped.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I screamed, beating my fists against Marco as he tried to tie me up. I managed to get away twice, but the third time he caught my hands and bound them. My flailing feet were next.

I was done for.

“Floor it. Get us out of here,” Marco said to the man, who didn’t reply. He just did what he was told.

“Hey!” I shouted when Marco took my mother’s locket from around my neck. “That’s mine. Give it back!”

He rolled down the window and tossed out. I watched helplessly as it landed on the side of the road.

Tears filled my eyes, and I wanted to hurt him - to really make him writhe in pain. “That belonged to my mother.”

He glared at me. “It won’t matter once Death takes you. Besides, it was bugged.”

I blinked, wondering who else had it out for me. “Bugged?”

He snorted, climbing up into the front passenger seat. “Stupid boyfriend of yours put a tracker in it. Just in case something happened to you.”

“Dustin put a tracking device on me?” I stared incredulously at him, wondering if I should be mad because he did it without asking. But I wasn’t really upset over it.

I mean, okay, Dustin putting a tracking device on me was a little weird. But I know he did it to keep me safe. He would only do it because he loved me.

And hell, I loved him too.

I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to tell him though. Not with the necklace gone, and Marco taking me to Death.

“What are you going to do with me?”

Marco didn’t answer and picked up his phone. He made a call, “I’ve got the package. Meet you at the drop off.”

What?

I screamed and struggled against the ropes, “Let me go!”

Marco hung up and continued to ignore me. So I pleaded with the driver, but he didn’t so much as flinch.

I couldn’t believe I trusted him - that I actually thought he was a good person.

“I’m going to kill you!” I shouted at him.

Still, he was silent.

“Wait, I’ll let Dustin kill you.” I kicked the back of his seat with my bound feet, sending him flying forward. “He’ll, make sure you beg. He’ll…”

Marco whirled around, his hands flying at my face with a thick piece of tape to shut me up.

I still tried to scream, but it wasn’t working. I sat in the backseat, scared beyond belief. I was dead. I was gone. No one would be able to help me or find me.

The car jerked to a stop shortly after he taped my mouth shut. The door opened, and Marco slipped a scratchy black sack over my head and hefted me out. I struggled and kicked, but he was too strong.

I counted the seconds. Minutes passed. I lost count after about ten minutes. The smells around me were hard to make out; mostly just the scent of the musty sack, and it was so nasty, that at first I almost threw up. I heard water rushing over rocks in the distance, and the sound of a coyote calling.

Then it got quiet.

I heard a door shut.

Marco dropped me in a chair. And then he tied me to it.

I really wasn’t moving at all, unless I turned my head from side to side.

“Have a nice life,” Marco laughed. “At least what’s left of it.”

I sat there alone. It was damp and cold. More smells assaulted me. They were familiar. Like hay, and dirt, and…horses?

I didn’t know where I was, but it was somewhere I’d smelled before.

Without warning the hood was whisked off of my head, and the tape ripped from my lips. I screamed as loud as I could. Hoping someone would hear me.

My eyes took time adjusting to the dim light. I blinked the blur away to find I was in a barn of sorts, or maybe stables. A figure moved on the outside of my vision. It was hard to follow his pacing, but it was clear he was studying me.

This had to be Death.

It seemed like forever before he spoke.

But it only took me a second to realize who he was.

CHAPTER TWENTY

“It was you?” I stared in disbelief at Ben’s biological father, Perry. He didn’t look much different from the last time I saw him, which was shortly after Ben turned two. Still tall, and lean, and blond. Not much special about him. “You’re Death?”

“Yes, it’s nice to finally get reacquainted with you. Phone calls are so cold and impersonal.” His gray eyes were flat and emotionless. He didn’t really look at me, more like through me.

“Why have you been torturing me? What did I ever do to you?” I was beyond confused. Seriously, I forgot how scared I was trying to understand why this person, who I really didn’t even know, wanted to kill me.

He shrugged, leaning against a stall like we were two old friends catching up, “I told you Katie. You just don’t listen.”

“You said a life for a life. But I never took anyone’s life from you!”

He snorted, shaking his head. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. You took Cheyenne and Ben out of Montana, out of my reach. I couldn’t watch them anymore, since my parole officer says I can’t leave the state. See, I went to jail for a couple years. Cops don’t like it when you get drunk and hit them, or their dogs. They don’t like me stealing from them either.”

I wanted to kick him right between the legs, but my foot wouldn’t move. “So by coming back I walked right into a trap?”

“Not exactly. Marco would have gotten you here sooner or later. It was just divine luck that brought you too me,” he said. “I’m telling you Katie, you should never have become so famous. You took the only woman I ever loved, and our son, to some God-forsaken state full of snotty rich people, and then I hear from Marco that you encouraged this relationship between Jake and Cheyenne.”

Wait, back up a second. “How do you know Marco?”

He grinned, “It was a well thought out plan. I met Marco about ten years ago at a bar. We shared similar views on the world. Luckily he went into the bodyguard business, and when you struck country stardom, I called in a favor from him.”

“You can’t be serious. You put one of your slime ball friends in my life, just to get back at me for something that I really don’t think affects you in any way?” I lowered my voice. “Look, Cheyenne left you. I didn’t make her do anything she didn’t want to do. You should talk to her about all of this.”

“I’ve tried to talk to her, but she won’t hear me. I called and wrote emails. Hundreds of emails that went ignored for years.” He growled, his voice becoming almost demonic, “She took my boy from me! I’m not allowed to see him because I’m unfit to parent. Stupid courts. Stupid lawyers. They can’t fucking tell me that I can’t see my son!”

Holy God. Cheyenne never told me about any of this. She always made it seem like Perry wanted nothing to do with Ben. I thought he was a deadbeat who could care less about his kid. Now, thinking back, no wonder she jumped at the chance to move out of Montana. He was nuts.

“Perry, look, I had no idea that she was keeping you from Ben. I’m sorry.” Apologizing never hurt, maybe I could reason with him.

He shrugged, “What’s done is done. I can’t make the bitch answer me. So now I’m going to do the only thing that will get her attention.”

I gulped loudly, “What’s that?”

“I’m going to take the one person away that she relies on most.” He laughed, “And that lucky person is you, Katie.”

“So first this is about me ruining your chances with my sister, and now it’s about getting back at my sister by hurting me?” I was thinking his MO was a little all over the place, considering he couldn’t stick to one reason why he had me tied to a chair in an old barn. But I guess once you crossed over into the land of crazy, any reason to hurt someone else must be a good one.

I barely registered what he said next through my haze of panic.

“I was mad when you took her away. Before that, I was mad at Cheyenne. I can’t get to her. She just ignores me. I know that she’ll stop ignoring me if something happens to someone she loves. I can’t hurt my own son, so the obvious choice is you. Once I had Marco in place, I decided that my plan would work perfectly. I’d punish you for taking Cheyenne from me, and by doing that she would be punished for treating me like shit.”

“My death is her punishment.” What a twisted son of a bitch.

“It’s like killing two birds with one stone,” he laughed, tilting his cowboy hat back to study the roof.

“What…” I wasn’t sure I wanted to ask this, but I had to know what he had planned. “What are you going to do to me?”

“Well, considering I’ve never been one for blood…makes me queasy, I figured I’d let you sit here, get good and scared—then I’ll come back and burn the whole thing down.” He pulled a bandanna out of his pocket and stuffed it in my mouth, and then thick silver tape went over my lips.

I cried, kicking my feet, pleading with my eyes for him to stop.

“Aw, don’t be so sad. I’ll come check on you in the morning. Have a good night Katie.”

I watched in horror as he walked calmly out of the barn door, and closed it. The sound of chains hitting it and locking me in shot dread into my heart. I struggled against the ropes, but the knots were too tight.

I drew a deep breath and tried to scream.

Nothing came out.

And night started to close in around me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Dustin

“Come on, there has to be a clue.” I paced on the porch, listening as Jake spoke to Walters.

The sheriff had raced over, determined to help us get Kate back. The problem was, we had nothing to go on. Not a hint as to where she could be, or who Death was.

Jake shook his head, “Nothing. It’s like Kate vanished.”

“But, she can’t just be gone?” Chase sat in a rocker and stared at the ground.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, “I never should have left her.”

Walters didn’t hide how upset and sick he was over losing her. Not that she was lost. Not yet. I wasn’t going to sleep, or eat, or even think about doing anything but find her. “Just keep your head cool, and call me if you hear anything or get any information.”

“I will,” I choked around a wave of tears that I couldn’t hide from anyone.

“Same goes for you Jake,” Walters said. “Be careful, and keep me posted.”

He nodded, “We appreciate anything you can do.”

“You know I can’t promise anything, but I will do everything I can to find her,” Walters added before walking over to his car and driving away.

When we went into the house Millie was with Jerry in their room, trying to console him. He was blaming himself for Kate’s kidnapping. Cheyenne was checking on Ben, who was still a little under the weather.

I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. “We need to be out there looking for Kate.”

Jake came up beside me with a firm nod, “I feel the same.”

“You any good with a gun?” Chase glanced sideways at him and I knew exactly what he was thinking. We weren’t the kind of guys to sit and wait.

He nodded, “I was training to be a sniper when a knee injury cost me my career.”

This was music to my ears. “Jake, what do you say we start our own investigation?”

“Count me in.”

We all turned to see Cheyenne standing at the top of the stairs, pissed off and more determined than I’d ever seen her before.

“I think you should stay here with Ben,” Jake’s voice was very gentle, and he had a point, but Cheyenne wasn’t hearing him.

“Briar is with him. My sister is out there somewhere. She could be dead. And damn it all, I am not sitting here wringing my hands like some old ninny.” She marched down the stairs, and I found myself backing up, with the rest of the guys, to let her through. “I’m either going to save her, or be the one that finds her, and you don’t want to stand in my way.”

Jake put his hands up and nodded, “I won’t stand between you and finding your sister. I just want you to be safe.”

Cheyenne walked past us to the gun rack Jerry kept by the stairs. She grabbed a rifle and nodded, “Good, then you can cover me.”