Betrayed: Days of the Rogue (41 page)

Reno wrapped an arm around her
shoulders and gave her a hug. He was equally happy to see his old
partner again and, just then, that feeling outweighed his other
concerns.

Skidding to a stop in front of him,
Rafe shifted into human form first, with Damien following suit a
moment later. The slight delay had Reno narrowing his eyes and
studying his old partner. He could have sworn Damien had had to
struggle to wrench control back from his wolf. Hmm… He tucked the
tidbit of information away for the future and instead focussed on a
more immediate concern.

“What’s going on?” Reno asked the
question before the either of the two men had a chance to
speak.

“The attempt was made on Eve. We
have the would-be murderer and three Trackers drugged and trussed
up like turkeys at Rafe’s place.” Damien was leaning forward, his
hands braced on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

Rafe was breathing equally hard but
had enough energy to let his displeasure be known. He stalked up to
Reno and shoved him backwards. “And because of this asinine plan
you concocted, Eve is missing. How the hell you ever thought using
a civilian as bait was acceptable, I’ll never fathom. It goes
against every moral and ethical standard Lycan Link is supposed to
have!”

Taken off guard, Reno quickly
recovered and bristled at the accusations flung at him. Flaring his
nostrils, he inhaled deeply about to give a scathing rebuttal when
Brandi jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. As he turned to give
her an indignant glare and reprimand, she cut him off before he
could speak.

“We saw the blood on the car but
didn’t know if it was hers or not. What happened?”

Damien quickly recounted the recent
events while Rafe prowled around the area making no attempt to hide
his ire. When Eve’s cell phone began to ring, he was already beside
her car and snatched it from the front seat.

“McRae here … No, Eve isn’t
available. Who’s this? … Mike Privet? … She called for a tow truck?
No, there isn’t one here … All right, if we see him, we’ll tell him
to call you.” He disconnected the call and turned to look at those
gathered around. “Eve called for a tow truck almost two hours ago.
One was sent out—driven by his automotive apprentice, Gordie—but
the fellow hasn’t returned yet.”

“No tow truck showed up here,”
Damien stated. “I was watching her for a good half hour.”

“We passed a tow truck on our way,”
Brandi glanced at Reno. “I think I saw a passenger in the cab. A
blonde woman, perhaps? Though, I didn’t get a really good
look.”

“Damned driver nearly ran us off
the road.” Reno added, deciding to ignore Rafe’s earlier outburst.
“What was the name on the truck again? Privet Towing?” He looked at
Brandi for confirmation.

She nodded in agreement. “If we
assume Eve ran off while you were fighting, she might have met up
with the tow truck driver and he could have given her a lift.”

“But wouldn’t he have driven her
into town?” Reno questioned. “You said the wolf mauled her. She’d
need medical care.”

“The local clinic is closed today.”
Rafe paced back and forth, raking his fingers through his hair. “To
the best of my knowledge, the nearest medical assistance would be
in the next town over, about twenty miles to the west.”

“Maybe that’s where they were
going?” Damien suggested.

Reno shook his head. “No, the tow
truck we passed was headed east.”

A growl rumbled in Rafe’s chest. “I
don’t like the sound of this.” He focussed on the truck. “Reno, can
I use your rental? I’m going to start heading east and see if I can
catch up with them.”

“Sure thing.” Reno tossed the keys
to him. “We’ll stay here and see what we can find out about this
Gordie person. Do you know his last name?”

“No, but I think he’s relatively
new to the area. I seem to recall someone mentioning he moved here
to do his apprenticeship.” Rafe tossed the information over his
shoulder as he headed towards the truck. “Call Privet’s Towing and
see what you can find out, then forward the information to me.”

“I’m going with you.” Damien
said.

“We need you here,” Reno pointed
out. “You said you have the assassin and the others up at Rafe’s
place.”

“You can handle it. McRae pumped
them full of tranquillizers. They won’t be going anywhere.” Damien
rounded the truck and grabbed the passenger door.

“Cell phone? Either of you got
one?” Brandi called out the question.

Rafe patted his pockets and then
swore.

“Never mind, here’s mine. We’ll use
Reno’s.” She tossed it to them and Damien neatly caught it. With
that the two men climbed in the truck and quickly turned the
vehicle around before heading towards the highway.

Reno rubbed his neck and gave a
small smile. “Time was Damien and I were a team. Seems sort of
strange to have him heading off with someone else.”

Brandi gave his arm a squeeze.
“He’s not the same man he was eighteen months ago. You know that.
You said as much when you found him in that alley.”

“I know. Guess I’m just feeling a
bit nostalgic.” He sighed and pulled out his phone. “We best get
busy. Maybe we can find out where Gordie lives.”

Chapter 43

Eve moaned as consciousness slowly
returned and her body began to report in. Her arm throbbed, her
head felt heavy and various aches and pains let their presence be
known on her back, her hips, her legs… She gave up trying to
identify each location and instead focussed on her
surroundings.

It felt as if she was on some sort
of mattress, her head on a pillow. The material beneath her cheek
was rough and had an unfamiliar scent. Faint sounds could be heard
in the distance; a drawer opening and closing, footsteps, water
running. Cautiously, she cracked her eyes open, blinking to clear
her blurry vision.

The room she was in was dimly lit
and not at all familiar. An old dresser stood near the doorway,
blue curtains covered the window and a calendar featuring
street-rods hung on the wall. Not her place or Rafe’s, that was for
sure. She considered sitting up, but her stomach was feeling queasy
so she gave up on that idea. Resting her head on the pillow, she
tried to figure out what was going on.

She’d been attacked by something… A
wolf, that was it. And someone—Gordie, from the gas station—had
been taking her to the clinic. Hmm…this didn’t look like any clinic
she’d ever been in. Yet if she wasn’t at the clinic then
where…?

Her thinking was sluggish and the
dots didn’t seem to want to connect. A soft sigh escaped her lips
and she gave up, content to drift in a half awake state.

How long she lay there she wasn’t
sure, but eventually the door opened and a man popped his head
inside the room.

“You finally woke up!” Gordie
stepped into the room and walked over to the bed, a friendly smile
pinned on his face. He had a small metal bowl and a towel with
him.

“Gordie?” Her voice came out in a
hoarse whisper as she scrunched up her face, having expected a
nurse or perhaps even a doctor.

“That’s me.” He sat down beside
her. The mattress dipped to the side under his weight and she slid
sideways a bit until her thigh rested against his. “I’m going to
wipe off your face, okay?” Without waiting for her agreement, he
took a washcloth from the bowl and began his task.

Eve murmured contentedly as the
warm, damp cloth slid over her skin. It felt good to have the dirt
and stickiness removed. “Thanks.”

“No problem. I said I’d take care
of you.” His voice was as soft and gentle as the cloth he was
using. When the task was finished, he set the bowl down on the
floor. “I cleaned and bandaged your arm while you were sleeping and
wrapped your wrist, too. It’s sprained, or at least I’m pretty
certain it is. We’d need x-rays to know for sure that there isn’t a
hairline fracture.” He shrugged apologetically. “I have a nice
assortment of medical instruments, but an x-ray machine isn’t part
of the collection.”

Eve looked down at her arm, vaguely
wondering why she hadn’t thought to do that when she’d first awoke.
The area of her bicep was covered in gauze while the lower portion
of her arm and much of her hand were wrapped with an elasticized
bandage. Gordie certainly gave the impression of knowing what he
was doing. She tried to speak, but her throat was dry and her
tongue felt thick in her mouth. She swallowed and winced.

“I’ll get you a drink.” Gordie
hurried off and returned with a can of soda and glass of water with
straw. He held the glass for her and she gratefully sipped the cool
liquid.

“Thanks.” She gave a small huff of
laughter. “That seems to be all I say to you, isn’t it?”

“I don’t mind.” He set the glass
down then reached out and brushed her hair from her forehead.

His touch felt strange and
instinctively she tried to jerk back, her whole body
stiffening.

Gordie looked at her with a hurt
expression. “Don’t be like that, Eve.”

“I…I’m sorry, Gordie. You…er…took
me by surprise.”

He stared at her for a moment and
then nodded. Opening the can of soda that he’d brought for himself,
he took a drink. “All right. No doubt some of the sedative is still
in your system so you aren’t thinking as clearly as you should.”
His expression brightened. “In an hour or so you won’t be feeling
the effects anymore.”

“Sedative?” She frowned. Her memory
of recent events was returning. “I thought you gave me a pain
killer.”

“It produces the same basic result.
The pain went away. You just had a little nap as well.” Gordie
answered unconcernedly and drank some more soda before gathering
the bowl and towel. “You needed the rest; you were upset and in
pain. Besides, it was easier to treat your injuries if you were
unconscious.” He smiled down at her and almost reached out to touch
her again, but then seemed to think better of it. “I’ll be back in
a little bit and then we can talk.”

“But…” Before Eve could decide what
she wanted to say, Gordie left the room.

Muttering under her breath, she
began to roll onto her side with the intention of getting up and
following him. Strangely enough, something tugged at her right
wrist and ankle, holding her back. She levered herself up as best
she could and felt her eyes widen in surprise. A Zip tie encircled
one wrist while a second was around her ankle. Each tie was
attached to a separate rope, the other end of which was tied to the
bed posts. Gordie had her tethered to the bed and she was wearing
what must be one his t-shirts. The creep had undressed her!

Panic filled her. Horror stories of
the fate of abducted women filled her mind and blocked rational
thought. Her heart started to pound and her breathing quickened. An
atavistic fear of being restrained had her tugging wildly at the
ties, frantic to escape. It had no effect, of course, except to
redden her wrist and ankle. When she tried to stretch down towards
her ankle to untie it, she discovered Gordie had made the rope
attached to the zip tie on her wrist short enough that she couldn’t
reach that far. Using her left arm was equally pointless since the
tightly wrapped tensor extended down to her finger tips rendering
her hand almost useless.

Oh God! What was going on? She
thought to yell and scream and demand that Gordie release her, but
some remnant of common sense told her that was a waste of time. The
man had tied her to the bed; he wasn’t going to let her go simply
because she kicked up a fuss and asked! Crap, she’d thought her
biggest problem was wolves, but at the moment that paled in
comparison. Gordie must be some kind of psycho stalker and who knew
what he had in mind for her. All those times she’d felt like she
was being watched; had it really been a wolf or had it been Gordie?
Or maybe both of them? A hysterical laugh bubbled inside her. How
lucky could a girl get, having two stalkers at once?

Realizing she was verging on
hysteria, she forced herself to take deep, calming breaths. She had
to keep her wits about her, to think her way out of this. Come on,
think, think, think… What she needed was a handbook for what to do
if you’re ever kidnapped. Should she resist or play along with him?
Wait… Hadn’t there been a program on TV about abductions a few
months back? It had been vaguely interesting at the time, but not
something she’d ever thought she’d need to use.

Stay calm. Yep, that had been one
of the tips. And cooperate. Okay, it was coming back to her now.
Get the kidnappers to like you, lull them into a sense of security.
Watch for weaknesses and patterns. Try to learn what you can about
your captors without being too obvious. She exhaled slowly, feeling
somewhat better now that she had some guidelines to follow.

She tried to think of a reason to
get Gordie back in the room. Not that she really wanted to spend
time with a creepy stalker, but she needed a reason to talk to him
so she could find out what his plans were. An idea came to her and
it wasn’t even a fabrication.

“Gordie?” She called out his name,
trying to sound confident and unconcerned as if being tied to
someone’s bed was absolutely normal. When he didn’t immediately
respond, she tried again. “Gordie?”

There was a soft shuffling sound as
if he were setting down some papers and then he appeared. “What can
I do for you, Eve?” He spoke calmly, no trace of nervousness about
him, as if holding a woman captive was an everyday occurrence like
brushing one’s teeth.

“I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh. All right.” He gave her a
pleasant smile and walked to the bed. For one exciting moment, Eve
thought he was going to release her and she stiffened her muscles
prepared to make a dash for freedom. Instead, he grabbed the
headboard and began pushing the bed. It rolled across the floor to
a door at the far end of the room.