Second Chance (32 page)

“Sure I do … I sold both of them.” He grinned. “Got fifteen thousand for the dark-haired one and twenty-five for the blond one.”

Keeley gritted her teeth; the bastard was bragging
about selling her children. Forcing herself to remain calm, she asked, “Where is she?”

He turned and pulled a chair closer to the bed. Sitting down, he crossed one leg over the other in a casual, friendly way as if he planned to have a normal conversation with her. When he reached out and touched her hair, she jerked away.

“Now, Keeley, you’re hurting my feelings, acting as if you aren’t pleased to see me.”

“Where is my daughter?”

“You got one of them back already, didn’t you? That should make you happy.”

Torn between sobbing her heart out and screaming obscenities at the freak, Keeley swallowed hard, determined not to lose control.

“My daughter Hailey … the blond one, is still missing. Do you know where she is?”

“You sure do have purty eyes.”

Bile rushed toward her mouth. Oh, sweet heaven. Was he trying to flirt with her? She closed her eyes briefly.
Concentrate, Keeley!
“Why did you take my children?”

“Do you remember how I used to ask you out when you worked at the diner?”

“Yes.”

“You always said no. That stung, but I was okay with it ’cause you didn’t go out with nobody else either. Leastways that’s what everybody thought. Then what’d you up and do but marry that no-account Stephen Fairchild. That really gnarled my balls, Keeley. I wasn’t good enough for you, was I? Or was it I wasn’t rich enough?”

Had he had something to do with Stephen’s abduction, too? “What do you know about Stephen?”

“I didn’t have him nabbed, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Then why take my daughters?”

“I tried to get you to come with me, too. Ever think what would’ve happened if you’d just come along peaceful like? You would’ve been with your kids.”

She blinked against the tears. How many times had she asked herself that question? Out loud … in her own home. Her eyes flew open. Yes, it made sense that he was the one.

“How did you get the cameras into my house?”

His expression froze for a second and then he let out a loud guffaw. “Damn, now that’s funny.” He tilted his head and an evil, sickly grin spread slowly across his face. “You give a good show when you’re home alone, don’t you?”

She clenched her teeth. “How did you do it?”

“Now, that’s one secret I ain’t going to give up. Let’s get back to getting reacquainted.”

“Why didn’t you ask for ransom money? I would have given you every cent I had.”

“I told you, Keeley, it wasn’t just money I wanted. Your girls brought in a nice chunk of change and I’d planned for you and me to have some fun. But you got away from me.” He rubbed his crotch. “I might’ve just let them go if you’d given me what I wanted.”

“If you’ve wanted revenge for this long, why did it take you years to come after me and take my girls?”

“You hardly ever left the house and I can’t get inside that fort you built. Me and my friend were driving by the park that day and saw you. It was like a dream come true.”

“Where did you take them?”

“I sold the dark-haired one to somebody over in Grantham … never knew their names.” He grinned. “Guess you know ’em better than I do, since you got the kid back from them.”

“What about Hailey?”

“Let’s just say you’ll probably never see her again.”

Tears flooded her eyes. Her voice barely audible, she whispered, “You killed her?”

Wesley leaned over her. The hurt in his eyes would have looked almost genuine if it weren’t for the smirk. “I think you must be getting the wrong impression of me, Keeley. I don’t kill kids.” He shrugged. “Dead kid ain’t worth nothing,”

She believed the bastard. And that meant Hailey was alive. Despite the horror of what lay ahead, a profound relief gave her an almost euphoric feeling. If Hailey was alive, then she would find her. With Cole’s help, she would find her baby.

Cole
. He would be looking for her. Ethan probably knew by now that she’d been taken. A horrific thought hit her. “What did you do to Mrs. Brackett?”

“Just gave her a little tap on the head.” He leaned forward, his expression one of feigned sincerity. “I ain’t really a killer. I mean, yeah, I’ve done some, but it ain’t like I do it on a regular basis.”

“Did you try to kill Cole the other day?”

“I made an exception for him. Seems like every time I turn around, you’re flaunting men in my face.” Hard meanness glinted his eyes. “Bastard escaped.”

He talked so casually about kidnapping children and murder. And she had no doubts that this animal intended to rape her. She would fight to the death to prevent that, but if he knew where Hailey was, she needed to keep him talking until Cole could find her. She refused to ask herself how he would even know where to look. It didn’t matter. Cole was smart and resourceful. And he would be relentless.

“If you didn’t kill Hailey, where is she?”

“She’s in another country.”

Keeley pulled in several shallow breaths to center herself. Grateful for the first time to know someone like her
mother-in-law, she opened her eyes and, in her best Elizabeth Fairchild imitation, demanded, “Let me go right now or you’ll spend the rest of your days in jail.”

Delight brightened his face, scaring Keeley more than his dark looks. “Damn, girl. I like that bitchy attitude. Shit like that can make for some good rough loving.” He rubbed her arm almost gently. “It don’t have to hurt bad, Keeley, if you just cooperate a little. Let’s just have a little fun, and when I’m through, I’ll let you go. Scout’s honor. That cheating husband of yours has been dead a long time, and I’ll bet that Mathison guy can’t give it to you as good as I can.”

Keeley shrank as far away from him as she could get. Since she was still tied to the bed, she knew it would do no good. Pulling in the last of her reserves, she swallowed the bile of revulsion and said, “And you promise to tell me where Hailey is?”

The way his eyes lit up told Keeley he honestly believed she was going to let him rape her without a fight. She added
delusional
to his list of evil traits.

Nodding eagerly, he said, “Course I will. Give me a few good screws and I’ll tell you everything. I know you’re worried sick about her. You give me what I want … I’ll give you what you want.”

The slimy bastard was lying. Well, so could she.

Since she was close to throwing up, there was no way in hell she could act like she wanted him. But if she could hold herself together long enough to get him to believe she’d let him do whatever he wanted, then she could take him off guard. “If you keep your promise to tell me where my daughter is, I’ll do whatever you want.”

He eased down beside her on the bed. “Oh yeah … now, that’s the kind of talk I like.”

She tugged at the bindings on her wrists. “Do you want me to touch you?”

A hand covered her left breast. Keeley closed her eyes and swallowed a sob. She could do this … she had to do this. If Wesley knew where her child was, she would do whatever it took to get him to talk. Though she was able to control the scream building up inside her, she couldn’t control the tears that seeped from her eyes.

“Aw, baby, don’t cry. I can make it good for you.” His voice had turned crooning and raspy.

She tugged at her hands again. “Do you want me to touch you?”

He untied one wrist and placed her hand on his crotch. Keeley swallowed thickly and forced her hand to cup him firmly. Once both hands were free, the bastard would know what real pain meant.

“Oh yeah … feels good,” he muttered.

Teeth clenched with fury and revulsion, she caressed the hard bulge at his crotch. Her heart almost jumped from her throat as Wesley moved forward and touched her other hand. He was going to untie her!

A cellphone rang. Not hers. Someone was calling him.

With a curse, he rolled away from her and got to his feet. Stomping over to a table, his back to her, he grabbed the phone and snapped, “What do you want?”

Keeley quickly untied her other hand and eased off the bed.

Listening to his remarks, she surmised he was having an argument about some kind of agreement that had gone wrong. She couldn’t pay too much attention to it, since her focus was to find a weapon and disable him. Her eyes roamed the filthy, dank room, and her heart jumped when she spotted a flashlight three feet from her on a small table. She reached for it.

A hand pulled at her hair. “Dammit, come back here!”

She screamed and, stretching with all her might, managed
to grab hold of the hook hanging from the end of the flashlight with one finger. It wasn’t enough to get a good hold on the handle, but she had no choice. Agony ripped through her head as he pulled her backward by her hair. Keeley whirled around and flung the flashlight toward Wesley. Triumph flooded her when she watched it smash into the side of his face.

Blood spurted from his mouth. A feral inhuman growl emerged from his throat and he let go of her hair.

Keeley took a running step toward the door. Wesley leaped onto her back and they both fell. She slammed onto the hard planks of the floor; breath whooshed from her.

“Fucking bitch! You’re all alike. I knew I shouldn’t’ve trusted you.”

Stunned, unable to move, Keeley heard a rip … felt cool air wash over her back. His knee ground between her shoulder blades.

“You want it rough? Then, baby, that’s what you’re going to get.”

Hands closed around her neck. Keeley raised her head and searched for something else. The flashlight … it was only inches from her. She could reach it … she had to! She stretched out her arm; her finger snagged the hook at the end of the handle. She inched it toward her. The hands around her neck tightened; the knee pressed deeper into her spine. One chance only … that’s all she would have. Vision dimming, Keeley closed her hand around the long narrow cylinder.

On the edge of unconsciousness, his naked skin touched her bottom. Superhuman desperation giving her impetus, she tightened her hand around the flashlight and swung it hard behind her. A vibrating thud—a direct hit to something hard. She dimly heard a yowling sound and then his body collapsed on top of her.

Keeley jerked his hands from her neck; gasping, she
tried to get air back into her tortured lungs. His body, a dead weight, pinned her down. She lifted up to dislodge him. Wesley moved slightly. She lifted again; he slid off.

Sobbing, she crawled toward the door.
Hang on. Get out of here. Don’t lose consciousness
. She had to find help. Her mind muddled, she inched closer and closer to the door. Daylight wavered in front of her …
just hang on …

A sharp, agonizing pain speared her head and she knew nothing more.

   Disgust filled her as she looked down at Wesley’s unconscious body. His pants were unzipped and the head of his penis stuck out. It took every bit of self-control she had not to take a butcher knife and cut off that pathetic appendage he was so damned proud of. Stupid bastard couldn’t even rape a woman.

She kicked Wesley in the ribs. He groaned but didn’t wake. She kicked harder. “Get up, idiot. They’ll be here for her soon.”

He blinked. “Uh? Wha …?”

“Those bodyguards of hers will be here any minute. Why didn’t you throw her cellphone away? If you don’t want to get caught, you’d better damn well get out of here.”

He got to his feet and weaved like a sloppy drunk. “The bitch hit me.”

“Yeah, she did. And you’re going to get your ass kicked for good if you don’t get out of here. I’m betting those guys have a GPS on her cellphone. They’ll be able to pinpoint her exact location.”

“Shit,” he mumbled. “Let me get her and let’s go.”

She almost laughed in his face. That would come later. Right now she had to act as if she had his best interest at heart. “We don’t have time for that. They’ll
be here any minute. If you want to save your ass, you’d better get up and get out of here now.”

Blood dripped from Wesley’s mouth as he stumbled toward the door. He looked like something from a slasher horror movie, and it was all she could do not to pop the idiot right here, right now.

A soft moan brought her attention to Keeley. Cursing under her breath at the screwup Wesley had once again made, she pulled Keeley’s cellphone from the purse she’d taken from Wesley’s car and pressed the key to turn it back on. No doubt Mathison had some sort of tracking device. By the time he pinpointed this location, she and Wes would be long gone.

When Keeley realized there was someone close by who knew where her baby girl was, she’d be crazy frantic with the need to find him. How would she react when they found Wesley dead?

A burst of happiness swept through her.

Cole slammed on the brakes in front of a dilapidated, ancient cabin. SIG Sauer in hand, he opened the car door. Ethan exited from the passenger side, his gun at the ready.

Both men went in low, running. Ethan headed toward the back of the cabin; Cole approached the front. There were no sounds coming from inside. As hard as it was, Cole resisted the urge to slam through the door. Him getting his head blown off wouldn’t help Keeley. He peered in a front window; his heart dropped. Keeley lay facedown on the floor.

Jumping up on the small porch, Cole shoved the front door open. His eyes searched for a threat as he ran to Keeley. Seeing no one, he dropped to his knees and felt for a pulse. Slow and steady.

Turning her over gently, he brushed the hair from her face and lightly tapped her check. “Keeley?”

Her eyes fluttered open and Cole felt as if the entire world had just gotten brighter.

“Cole?” she mumbled.

“Stay still, sweetheart. Let me check and see where you’re hurt.”

“That man … where’s that man?”

“There’s no one else here,” Ethan said from the doorway.

His hands running down her body in search of anything broken, he asked, “Where do you hurt?”

She grabbed his arm. “Stop … listen to me.” Tears glazed her eyes. “We have to find him … Wesley Tuttle … he’s the one who took the girls. He knows where Hailey is … we have to find him.”