Wild Suspicions (Romantic Suspense) (13 page)

Liddie lifted her arm and knocked the empty bottle off the table. Again, the men laughed
.

Garrett
scooped her up in his arms. As he kicked open the door to take her outside, Liddie could hear Parker’s last command.

“
Keep a light on for me.”

Garrett carried Liddie over
to one of the big water barrels that were placed around the camp to collect rainwater. He had to move fast, while she was still able to stand.

“
Work with me, Liddie.” He shook her, hoping to keep her on her feet for just a little while longer.

“
I’m so tired.”

Garrett lifted her head, but
Liddie’s eyes remained closed. Nothing he told her now would stick, so he decided not to say much. He propped her up against the barrel.

“
Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“
Clean up.” she repeated.

He pulled off the mud
-laden T-shirt and threw it to the ground. What had been a fashionable top was now nothing more than a jungle rag. Garrett ignored the beauty of her bare torso, intent on moving as fast as he could to keep her from freezing in the chilly night air.

“
Lean on me, Liddie.”

He felt her
fall against him, bringing her arms up to hold onto his shoulders.

“
That-a-girl.”

Garrett
unsnapped the dirty jeans and pushed them down to the ground. He had to lift Liddie up to get her out of them. He reminded himself to focus on the task, as the warm softness of her body sent his senses reeling toward distraction.

He
kicked the jeans aside and looked toward the office to see if Parker had found a second wind. Garrett recognized Jerry’s silhouette, watching with pornographic interest, from the cabin door. It gave him but another reason to put the creep behind bars.

There was a bucket beside the barrel, used specifically to disperse the clean water.
Garrett used it to wash the mud off Liddie. The water was cold and she reeled up for a moment, awake and able to stand. He quickly took the opportunity to run his hands up and down her body, using the water to push the mud off and reveal the creamy clean white of soft skin. A leech had managed to attach itself to her leg and he smacked at it, grateful that it fell off easily. They were a familiar hazard of jungle puddles.

He poured more water over her head
, and Liddie let out a shriek. She tried to turn and take a step, but Garrett caught her before she could fall.

“
It’s all right, Liddie,” he whispered. “You’re all right.”

Garrett ignored her
apologetic mumblings and got as much of the mud off as he could. When she was as clean as she was going to get, he picked her up in his arms and carried her into the cabin, relieved that Parker had left the light on. Garrett placed Liddie on the bed. She had just about lost all consciousness. He started to pat her down with a towel and then stopped.

The wet panties had to come off as well. She couldn
’t sleep in them for hours. Garrett took a deep breath and began to pull at the fabric. Liddie rolled to the side, kicking her legs.

Garrett reached into his back pocket and pulled out the switchblade he
’d carried with him since his very first year in the Berets. It wasn’t army issued, but it sure came in handy.

With two quick slices the panties were off. He tossed the fabric to the floor.
At this rate, he mused, all her new clothes would be in shreds soon.

Garrett ran
over to Liddie’s suitcase and pulled out a shirt and new pair of underwear. The material was thin and lacy. Why, he wondered, hadn’t she thought to buy something more practical?

Of course, he knew why
. It just pained him to think of it.

All of
Liddie’s idealistic ideas of a grand romance had disintegrated to dust, or more appropriately, mud. The corporate assistant’s whole world – her job, her boyfriend, her future – was imploding faster than she could keep up.

Garrett raised her arms
and pulled a sleeveless top over her naked shoulders. Her skin was cold and her breasts alert. He swallowed hard.

It would have been easier to leave
her in bed with no clothes on, but he thought better of it. If Liddie felt the need to run upon awakening, he wanted her to be dressed.

Garrett
hadn’t used a mix of pills, just one he’d recognized as a strong sedative. She was sleeping soundly now. The panties went on far easier than they came off. He placed Liddie under the flat sheet of the bed. Twice now, he’d tucked her in for that bastard.

He sat in
a folding chair across from the bed, struggling with his own desires. This nightmare, he determined, had to end tomorrow. For Liddie, for him, and for the sorrowful stash of creatures Parker had locked up in that barn.

The sound of Liddie
’s breathing soothed him. When he felt sufficiently recovered, Garrett left the cabin to cross the camp and check in at the office.

If he
’d done right, Parker was almost asleep as well.

When Liddie woke in the morning, it wasn’t to the sound of rain. Opening her eyes to confront a brighter day, she lay still in the bed, struggling to identify the unfamiliar calls and cackles of various birds and wildlife. Her head felt heavy and her stomach painfully empty.

Then she heard the breathing. She wasn
’t alone.

Afraid to move for fear of waking
whoever it was, Liddie focused on the rhythm. Quick and restless. It was Parker, she determined. Not Garrett.

The room was awash with light from a window Liddie hadn
’t noticed in the dark of night. A hastily cut screen was stapled into its wood frame to keep the bugs out. More light filtered through cracks in the cabin walls. It was clear now, how rickety and weatherworn the accommodations were.

She
slowly turned to look at Parker, praying that he remained asleep. If someone had told Liddie two days ago that she’d come to fear him, she would have laughed in their faces and assumed they were jealous. Parker possessed such an attractive, all-American-boy facade. How foolish she had been to not look deeper.

Never again, Liddie vowed
, would she be so readily conned by wealth and good looks.

The mattress was thin
, and the bed creaked when Liddie moved. She slowly inched over to the side of it and slid out from under the covers. After lowering herself to the floor in silence, Liddie remained crouched for a moment. She wanted to be sure Parker hadn’t been disturbed.

He
snoozed steadily, still wearing the pants he’d had on last night. The cover sheet was stained with the mud that had dried and crumbled off them. Liddie assumed that he’d stayed to drink with the men after catching her, then came back to the cabin and collapsed into bed. He might have taken a pill as well. For that, she was grateful.

She
moved to her suitcase. Someone had dressed her last night. She closed her eyes, not wanting to think about it. Grabbing a pair of shorts and bra, she moved out of the bedroom and put them on. What had happened last night, she wondered? After she drank the water?

Liddie
ran a brush through hair that had dried wild with tangles. A barrette helped tame it into place.

She looked back at Parker
with disdain. He’d wanted no trouble from her – to pretend that it was okay to drug, seduce, and sequester her at will.

Then force her to
have his baby.

Liddie
’s head reeled with revulsion. So much was out of her control. She closed her eyes as memories of last night came to her, faster than she could process.

Garrett
gave her the spiked water. Garrett took her clothes off. And Garrett put her to bed. A memory of cool water and warm hands brought goose bumps.

He
’d bathed her.

Liddie clutched her stomach. A queasy tide swirled within it.
She wasn’t in charge of her body or her life. A sob of despair threatened to choke away all strength.

Was Garrett helping her
, or just getting his share?

The thought
crashed against the boundaries of her faith. As much as she wanted to believe, she couldn’t be sure. Was Garrett playing a game? Strategically trying to capture her from Parker, or was he actually trying to help? She might be running from one monster, into the arms of another.

How could there be any chance of saving herself if she didn
’t know?

The camp looked deserted. The torches that had been lit last night were extinguished now. Liddie opened the cabin door and stepped out.

The humidity was already kick
ing in, and the sounds of the rainforest grabbed her attention again. For the first time, Liddie was able to see how dense the foliage was that surrounded the area. She studied the camp. The jungle, the cabins, and the barns.

The forest was dense
, and the buildings were shabby. This was no vacation resort. On the contrary, it looked like a rest area for hikers in the middle of nowhere. The cabins, though larger, reminded her of the makeshift shelters ice fishermen would use on the frozen lakes bordering Wisconsin. Some were hardier than others, but few were created for overnight living.

Liddie heard an animal’s cry. She
walked with determination toward the barn. Why were the animals being stored in such a way? Thoughts of a research station or veterinary camp came to mind. Was Parker funding a wildlife organization?

The mud of the camp had
dried out with the morning heat. Liddie was able to walk quickly with no danger of slipping. As she got closer to the wooded building – the one she’d ran into while panicked – the pleasant sounds of the outer jungle gave way to anguished cries.

On
reaching the door, Liddie hesitated and turned to see if anyone was watching. The animals, she was sure, were in cages. She’d heard the rattling last night, and could hear it now. The latch of the door was already lifted, so she cautiously pulled it open. If any animals were loose, she would close it quickly.

There were no windows or lanterns in the barn
. Liddie could make out cages, but since it was brighter outside than in, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. The odor was strong and disgusting, like a kennel that hadn’t been cleaned in years. She pulled a portion of her shirt up to cover her nose and mouth, then walked in slowly, letting the door close behind her.

Like the cabin, light streamed in from cracks in the
slatted walls. She stood by the door, fearful of the wild cries, but waiting for the pupils of her eyes to grow wider so she could see exactly what was there.

C
ages of animals, live animals, were piled in stacks of four and filled the room.

Liddie saw m
onkeys, various kinds of exotic birds, and two small bears. Each bear had a light patch on its chest, but neither looked well. There were animals that looked like boars, otters, and interesting squirrels.

The terrifying grumble of a loud growl had Liddie turning toward the back. She
saw a familiar striping pace back and forth behind bars.

Tigers!

The shriek of an agitated monkey ripped into her thoughts, and she jumped with fright. There were three tigers in all, each in its own cage. One lay still, watching her with lazy eyes, while the other two paced restlessly, back and forth in their small pens.

What in the hell
is Parker doing?

Liddie
tried to estimate the number of cages, then stopped. What did it matter? There were countless birds and critters of all sizes, and she wasn’t particularly pleased with their treatment.

She
’d never seen anything like it. Could this actually be part of an animal welfare mission? Liddie couldn’t understand how. No one who respected animals would store them like this. The conditions were horrible, and the animals were agitated, the tigers now growling and pawing at the bars. These poor creatures were miserable.

Liddie moved closer, praying that the
large, striped beasts were locked securely in their cages. They watched her approach, eyes angry and mouths wide. The cages, she realized, were too small for comfortable movement.

Another
of the tigers collapsed to the floor. Breathing heavily it pushed a large paw between the cage bars. Its eyes blinking with despair. Liddie moved closer. She wanted to comfort it in some way, but didn’t know how.

“
I wouldn’t get too close.”

She
whipped around to see Garrett standing behind her. She let her shirt drop away from her mouth and nose. “What’s going on here?”

“
Can you help?” asked Garrett. He held up a bucket. “These animals need water, and we haven’t got much time.”

He didn
’t have to ask twice. Liddie took the heavy bucket Garrett had already filled to the brim, and followed him toward the monkey cages. Using an empty can, he spooned water into dry saucers that sat in the corners of some cages. Other plates had been kicked out and were lying on the floor nearby. Liddie watched as he managed to place them back in the cages without the animals grabbing or biting him.