Slim To None (Cedar Tree #1) (24 page)

"No!" Realizing what had just been set in motion, she threw up her hands as if to ward off what was happening. "Please stop it. Don't hurt them ... take me. It's me you want ... Please!"

Gus was biding his time, he knew Caleb could not be far behind. And Joe had his eyes and ears on them as well, thanks to Neil's nifty work on Emma's walker. But they had better move fast, or he was going to have to move on his own. Turning to his brother, he confronted him.

"Innocents now, Will? This is how low you've sunk? You're willing to hurt a bunch of harmless, innocent women to try and get a rise out of me? Is that the best you can do?" The slight tic on the side of his brother's mouth was his tell he was trying not to let Gus' taunts get to him. So Gus pushed a little more. "Of course they're a bit easier to control, aren't they? And we both know you always liked things easy, using the uniform to push your weight around. No brains, little brawn. And now women. You were always a pussy."

By now, the veins in Will's forehead were standing out against the fiery red of his face. All traces of his smirk had disappeared and his eyes were squinted down to glaring slits.

"Shut the fuck up. You little lying bastard! Traitor!"

Gus let out a loud laugh, while gently pushing Emma to the side, keeping his eyes firmly locked with his brother's hateful ones. "That's rich. Traitor? Seriously? Let's see what Silva's croonies in prison have to say when their favorite bitch is back, huh? Brother dear?"

Finally Will snapped, launching himself at Gus, who managed to give Emma one final shove to get her out of the way of the oncoming mass of fury.

But Emma had been prepared. Figuring out what Gus was playing at, she was waiting for something; anything to happen. She needed to get her hands on that remote. She had kept her eyes on the crusher as soon as the roof of the car had started pressing down and the windows had popped. There was still time. As soon as Gus gave her a shove got tangled up with Will, Emma went for it. She tried to get her bearings and looked around for the controls. Finally spotting them half underneath the pile of pounding and punching limbs and body parts belonging to Gus and Will. She had no time to concern herself with that now. One focus and one only, and that was stopping that godawful machine crushing the car holding her daughter and likely Arlene. On hands and knees, she inched closer to where she could try and snatch it, if the two men rolled the other way. Seeing her opportunity, she dove under the two struggling bodies. While her hand was trying to grab hold of the control unit, she felt something connect with her jaw. Before she even had a chance to push the button - for the third time in as many weeks - her world went black.

❖ One Day Earlier ❖

A
rlene

Frickin' Seb. Swear that man was going be the death of her. Hovering and fussing, being all up in her face about where she was going and when she would be back. She was gonna trip balls all over his ass if he didn't give her some room to breathe.

Ever since he had found out she had taken off after Emma in her truck with Caleb, he had been berating her for jumping in without thinking. Risking her life without using any common sense. Well. Her common sense told her loud and clear that she didn't need another controlling arsehole up her business. And certainly not one who was on her bloody payroll. Who the hell did he think he was anyway? Fine, she might at some point have felt a bit of attraction to the dangerous looking inked up ex-con who walked in looking for work. And it's possible that had a little something to do with why she gave him a chance to prove himself in her kitchen. She had to admit that there had been nights, where she fantasized about all the incredible things his skilled hands might be able to do to her body. But that sure as hell didn't give him the right to try and bully his way into her life.

Pulling up to Emma's porch, she can see Gus sitting on the porch, his head in his hands, looking dejected. Perfect subject for some of Arlene's early morning special.

"What'd you do? You get kicked out?" She had to laugh, it was so much fun to try and get a rise out of the big unflappable man.

"Ha. No, more like I escaped. Kara caught us in a... Let's say, compromising position this morning and it didn't go over too well."

Oh... this was too perfect for words. She would file this away for future torture of her bestie. But finding out Kara had gotten really upset and was crying, sobered Arlene a bit. Not enough to let Gus off the hook though, so she needled him a bit more before heading in to collect Kara, who she was supposed to take to the airport this morning.

*****

"S
o how are you doing, honey?" She looked over at Kara, who was still sniffling a little beside her. She had walked in on a complete meltdown earlier and had marveled at the way Emma had managed to settle her daughter. And then again when she peeked out the window when Kara went outside to talk to Gus. The man had risen a few marks in her book right then. His calm acceptance of her slightly embarrassed apology obvious, when he wrapped his big arms around the girl. She doubted she would ever have had the patience to deal with kids. But she would never have to find out now, would she.

"I'm okay, thanks, Arlene." Kara met her eyes with a little smile brightening her face. "Just a little messed up in the head is all."

A snort escaped before Arlene could suck it back.

"Sorry babe - those have got to be the words of the century. And welcome to the club." She said with a wink to Kara.  "Gus is a good guy. And your mom is a smart cookie. And when she isn't and if he fucks up, know that I'm here to kick his behind and set her straight. I'll be looking out for her by proxy - how's that? And you can call me anytime you think she isn't being straight with you, cause I am nothing if not straight. Alright?"

Kara giggled a bit at that and nodded.

Next thing she knew, her body jerked and her hands flew off the steering wheel. At the same time a crunching sound came from behind her. Her eyes flew to the rearview mirror as her hands were groping to regain purchase on the wheel. She could see a tow truck backing away from her tail end. Pulling on the wheel to get her off to the side of the road, she could see the other truck pulling off on the shoulder as well.

"What the fuck was that?" Turning to Kara, she scanned the girl top to bottom, to make sure she was still in one piece. "You hurt doll?"

"I'm good. What happened?"

"Some idiot just ran up the back of my truck. Hang on, I'm gonna see what's up with my back end."

No sooner had she opened the driver's side door, or it was slammed right shut again, almost pinning the foot she was about to drop down.

"Hey! What ...?" But before she managed to finish the expletive that was lodged in her throat, the door was yanked open again and the big body of a man squeezed in the opening, a gun leading the way. Kara screamed in the seat beside her, but Arlene reacted and hauled back her fist, aiming for his groin. Unfortunately, without any real punch behind it and from an awkward angle, the hit missed its intended target. It did nothing more than glance over a fucking sharp belt buckle straight into a set of pretty hard abs. The only result a grunt from him, sore knuckles and a knock over the head with the gun for her. Damn.

*****

A
pounding headache kept her from opening her eyes. Even breathing friggin’ hurt. But she could hear Kara softly crying.

"Shhhh." She tried, sending a dagger through her own head. Jesus F. Christ! He'd done a number on her. Breathing in deeply she tried again. "Kara, come here."

"I can't."

"Why not."

"I'm chained to the backseat and you're in front of me, handcuffed to the steering column."

Well damn. She hadn't even noticed that. Couldn't sense anything but the intense hammering in her head. Carefully pulling open one eyelid, the fading sunlight told her it was probably late afternoon or early evening.

"Christ, how long have I been out of it?"

"Most of the day. He held me at gunpoint after knocking you out, and had me sit here behind you and shackled me down. Hooked us up in the truck on the tow and pulled us to some kind of junk yard and onto this massive contraption. He hasn't said a word, simply unhooked us from the tow truck and left us here. That was hours ago. I think."  She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "This is gonna sound crazy, but Arlene, he looked just like Gus. Same build, same coloring same eyes, except this guy's eyes are hard and angry, and the lines in his face aren't kind-looking but mean. He also looks quite a bit older. It was creepy."

With her brain not functioning too well, Arlene wasn't able to process that information to satisfaction. Looking like Gus? Father? Brother? For all she knew he had no family, but then again, what did she really know about him? Not one to sit back and wait for things to happen, this time Arlene really had not much of a choice. She was seriously incapacitated by the knock on her head and immobilized with handcuffs. So she simply closed her eyes again and waited.

*****

"A
rlene, are you awake? Wake up!" The whispering hadn't really registered until after the kicking of her chair had woken her up.

"Awake now." Was her curt reply.

"Hush, I hear something, I think he's coming back."

Sure enough, the sound of boots hitting dirt and gravel was coming closer.

"Okay, let me do the talking." She said over her shoulder, which made Kara snort.  "What's so funny?"

"Like I could stop you - besides I'm about scared dumb. Just please don't piss him off, Arlene. Okay?"

"Smartass. Not gonna piss him off, I'll be as sweet as one of your momma's pies." Earning her another incredulous snort from the back seat. Well! All her outward brawn didn't take away the creepy fear that swirled in the pit of her stomach, when she finally saw the man approaching. It was dark outside now and only the watery light from a few light posts over by the gate reached this far. The rest of what she could see was pitch black. No moon in her field of vision, but it was hard to tell with the high peak of Mesa Verde right there.

"You need to make a phone call," he said as he climbed up the machine on which her truck was sitting to door level. "Not sure which one of you should make it for maximum effect." He seemed to ponder the question for a bit, not able to make up his mind.

"You leave her alone and pick someone your own age, you miserable piece of shit." Arlene spit out, not able to hold her tongue. "Just leave her out of your little games."

She was hoping to get him riled up so his focus would be on her and not on Kara, who had started to sniffle again in the backseat. But with a knowing smirk on his face, he turned to the cowering girl, pulled open the cab door and tossed her a key while holding the gun trained on her head.

"Here, unlock yourself and hand me back the key."

Fuck. It would've been easier for Arlene to try and fight him for the gun if Kara was left in the truck. Now it looked like she would be left behind. But he surprised her when handing Kara another key as soon as she had herself unlocked and out of the cab.

"Now you can unlock her hands, but no funny stuff, I'm keeping the gun to your head at all times. So one wrong move from either of you and you, little one, will bear the consequences."

Swallowing down her rage, Arlene sat perfectly still, while Kara fumbled with shaking hands, trying to get the much smaller key to fit the handcuffs. Finally free, she rubbed her wrists, scraped raw by the hard metal and started to climb out of the cab after Kara.

"You wait." The man instructed her. "Wait until the two of us are down, I'll tell you when you can get out. Don't forget who's gonna suffer if you fuck up." His voice was almost without emotion, just a hard biting edge intended to instil fear. And dammit, she hated to admit it did.

After a minute or two she was told to come down. Saw him standing with one arm wrapped around Kara's throat, and the other holding his gun against her head, a knowing smirk on his face. The girl despite her decent height was still a good head shorter. But Arlene had a few inches on Kara yet. And a decent number of pounds too. Although nothing near to matching the behemoth of a man they were facing, she figured she had better odds than most, given her size. But first she had to make sure Kara was out of the line of fire.

On the way across the yard she tried to get some answers.

"What is it you want from us?" Which didn't get a response. Then as they got the dirty little house, she tried again. "Why don't you let her go - you don't need both of us."

And again. Nothing. Getting frustrated, she pushed a little harder.

"Look, I don't know what sick depraved plan you have, but I can promise I won't make it easy on you unless you set her free."

"Bitch, shut the fuck up."

Okay. That was a response. Of sorts. Not a helpful one, but a reaction. And he seemed to have loosened his grip on Kara's neck a little. Maybe if she could piss him off enough, he would point that thing at her instead of Kara. But that was too risky.

"I'll shut up if I can use the bathroom. Been shut in that truck all day, I've gotta pee like a race horse."

"No."

"Fine, I'll pee right here then, in the house, and stink up the place for ya. Jesus, let me use the bathroom, will ya. What am I gonna do? You really think I'm going to risk you harming a hair on her head? Besides, I'm sure she needs to go too."

"You need to shut your mouth or I'll do it for you"

Enraged, he let go of Kara and stalked toward her pointing the gun at her now. Just one more little push and hopefully Kara could get away.

"Better men than you have tried, without success I might add." Watching his approach she focused on his gun hand and when he was almost close enough to put his hands on her, she ducked low and charged into his midsection, surprising him. But not enough for him to drop the gun. A shot goes off luckily missing her by a hair. She kept trying to muscle him backward trying to force him to the ground, but it was no use, the man was fucking rooted like one of those big giant sequoia trees. So she yelled at Kara to run, to get out and run as fast as she could. All the while trying to fight with hands and feet, even biting wherever she could. Anything to distract him long enough for Kara to get away. Last thing she remembered was one of his big hands around her throat, slamming her head repeatedly into the floor.