And Mark couldn’t let that happen. That son of a bitch had been mean to her a final time. If Seth so much as looked at Jess with hostility, Mark would fucking kill him. And enjoy it.
So he had to get rid of Seth. And the obvious way of doing that, without killing him—and ending up in jail where Mark couldn’t be with Jess—was to kidnap Sophia for him. Once Seth had Sophia, he’d forget all about Jess. Both couples could run off separately to wherever they wanted. He didn’t know how he and Jess would find money and all of that, but he’d worry about it later.
He’d made his decision then, all trace of earlier hesitation gone. He wanted to go through with it. He now understood that what Jess hadn’t seen enough of in him before tonight was confidence. He’d sort of known it before, but with Seth undermining him and her assisting that, he’d been just too unsure of himself. Until now. He’d seen the effect of trusting himself tonight. The effect on Jess, and in turn, on himself. All it had taken was that one moment of her permission and then her responding to his touch, and the real Mark had indeed come out.
He felt so alive, so real, so powerful. For the first time in a long time, maybe ever, Mark felt absolute crystal clarity on what he had to do. It was as if the shower washed away every bit of that confusion that had kept him from acting like a man. Seth’s abuses stood out in stark relief, every bit of misleading mind games seen through and dismissed. Mark was having a moment of clarity, and it shone from his face when Jess finally opened the door and stepped inside with an equal look of resolution radiating from hers.
Chapter 14 – Misgivings
Sitting in Connor’s kitchen, and wearing his sweatpants, a button-up shirt, and nothing else, Sophia was anticipating how the best day of her life would end. Except for a lamp near the alarm, the inn’s lights were off. She sometimes liked sitting in the dark, especially when on the computer like now, though the last time she’d done this, things had gone terribly wrong. Connor’s laptop rested before her on the kitchen island as she sat on a stool. It was nearly ten p.m. and it seemed the guests weren’t coming down again after all.
Connor was upstairs setting up the bedroom for a romantic evening with candles, massage oil, chocolates, and dessert wine. She was getting horny just thinking about it, and while she didn’t want to spoil the mood, she had nothing better to do while waiting than to check her online accounts again. Seeing more comments from Seth wouldn’t exactly build the mood, but she wanted the little bastard caught and couldn’t help wanting to see if he’d done anything that would give himself away.
She pulled up her Facebook account, seeing a number of rude comments she’d supposedly made to her friends, causing them pain and outrage. A few were wise enough to suggest in the comments that her account had been hacked. Some remarked on being unable to reach her on the phone. She sighed, deciding to call a few of them tomorrow. She should’ve thought of that before.
Scrolling down through her history, she made it past the night of the attempted kidnapping. That’s when she saw a post she’d forgotten about. That girl Jess had posted something about a special surprise for her the night she came home. A tingle went down Sophia’s spine. She clicked on the girl’s icon for a closer look at her profile picture. On seeing it, she went cold, eyes wide. Suddenly the room seemed smaller, the darkness deeper, and the air colder.
A jumble of awful realizations went through her. The girl upstairs now had black hair instead of pink. She’d had pepper spray in her purse, just like the boyish attacker that could’ve been a girl. The cops couldn’t find one of Seth’s friends, also a girl. And the guy upstairs had a broken nose. Sophia remembered the crunch as she punched the taller, reluctant one in the nose, when his blood had sprayed on her. The guy upstairs seemed nervous, too. And Sheriff Ryan had been here hours ago, just feet from them, and somehow not realized it.
Chloe and Riley were gone and these two knew it. By now Seth probably did, too. And that the cop car was a ruse. And if the other two kidnappers were inside, Seth couldn’t be far behind. Maybe he was already inside right now. She and Connor were alone. And he still had no idea. She had to warn him. And get out. Just as she was about to get up, a voice spoke in front of her.
“Whatcha looking at?” Jess asked, coming out from the shadows, into which she’d blended well due to the all-black clothes she’d brought for the kidnapping; she had nothing else but the dress. Sophia’s gaze met hers, eyes widening even more, if that were possible. And that was all Jess needed to see.
“Jess,” whispered Sophia, heart in her throat. “You’re Jess, not Lacy.”
Jess sighed deep and long, knowing she was screwed and had to go through with this after all. For a moment she almost wanted to cry. “I really wish you hadn’t figured that out.”
A long silence followed. They stared at one another. Sophia finally asked, “Why are you doing this? Helping him?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is you coming quietly.” After a pause, she added, “Will you?”
“He’s going to rape me.”
“I know,” Jess replied, sounding resigned.
“And you’re still helping? Why?” Sophia saw that Jess stood in between her and the alarm with its panic button for the cops.
“Come quietly and I’ll tell you.”
“You’re lying.”
Jess nodded. “Okay, true, I wasn’t going to tell you. But I do want you to come quietly so no one gets hurt. Like Connor.”
Sophia went cold. “Does Seth know about us?”
“Yeah, and he’s not happy. He intends to hurt Connor, so you’d better come now. With you outside, he won’t bother coming in for him. You’re what he really wants.”
Sophia put one hand over her mouth and stared, unseeing. Then she rose on shaking legs to join Jess, who didn’t appear to have a weapon. Maybe if Sophia moved fast enough, she’d get away, but she didn’t know where the other two kidnappers were. That changed as the two girls exited the kitchen. Mark stood by a back door that was open, the night breeze stirring the nearby curtains. She half-expected Seth to appear, but he didn’t. Instead, Connor did.
“Hey,” Connor began cheerfully as he descended the stairs, “are you two ready to get the alarm code?”
Mark boldly replied, “That won’t be necessary.”
“Are you sure you’re not going out?”
“We’re all actually leaving right now,” said a voice from beside the stair railing, in the living room, “but you’re not.”
Also wearing all black, Seth stepped out from a deeper shadow and began swiveling one arm toward Connor. In that hand was a gun. Eyes widening at the sight, Connor planted a foot, grabbed the railing in both hands, and dove over it headfirst at Seth. The gun went off as Connor slammed into him, sending both men crashing into the living room table, which cracked under them. The gun clattered on the hardwood floor, sliding under the couch as the two men wrestled.
“Connor!” Sophia screamed and jabbed an elbow into Jess, who let out a grunt and doubled over. Running forward, Sophia intended to help Connor, but Mark roughly grabbed her arm and waved a stun gun in her face.
“Don’t make me use it,” he warned.
But she kept struggling, so he released her, put it against her back, and squeezed the trigger.
Sophia’s body stiffened against her will, bolts of pain coursing up and down her body, stars appearing behind her eyes, and spasms wracking her muscles. She stopped involuntarily, the pain ending when Mark let go of the trigger. Undeterred, Sophia took another step toward Connor. Mark did it again. This time, Sophia’s legs crumpled and she fell to the floor, disoriented and confused. Mark stepped past her, gesturing at Jess to take over as he headed for Connor, who was beating up Seth.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” Seth yelled, a surge of anger giving him the strength to push the bigger Connor off of him. He scrambled to his feet, eyes searching for another weapon. Connor rose and came after him until Mark spoke from behind.
“I’ll stun Sophia again!”
Connor turned, eyes darting to his love lying on the floor. Mark jabbed the stun gun into his chest and pulled the trigger. Connor’s sight grew dim and his legs buckled, but he took another step before Seth cracked a lamp over the back of his head. He fell to the floor unconscious and suddenly the room went quiet until a strangled cry came from Sophia, who’d regained enough sense to see the outcome of the struggle between the three men.
“Get her out of here,” snapped Seth. “Take her to the car.”
Jess hesitated before helping Mark drag Sophia to her feet and toward the front door.
“Connor!” Sophia called out, her voice strained.
“Shut her up,” Seth commanded.
“C’mon,” Jess said to Sophia. They made it to the car out front, where anyone driving by could’ve see them forcing a girl into a car, but no one came. Sophia protested all the way, calling Connor’s name repeatedly, angering Seth. He went into the kitchen and turned on the stovetop, then yanked down the curtains and threw them onto the now-lighted gas rings. The flimsy cloth quickly caught fire, so he grabbed a towel, set that aflame, and tossed it into the dining room to make sure the fire spread there, too. By then, Jess had returned.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she screamed in disbelief.
“What the fuck does it look like? Burning the fucker down!”
“You stupid asshole!”
“Shut your fucking mouth!” He shoved her back so hard that she fell but quickly got up.
“Yeah, when the smoke alarms go off, the cops will figure out real quick that something happened here. We coulda had all night to get away. Now we got hours, maybe minutes.”
Seth stopped. “Shit. Well, come on then.”
“No.” She headed for the living room as the kitchen quickly became engulfed in smoke.
“Where you going?”
“To get Connor.”
“Fuck him!”
“Fuck you! I’m not leaving him in there to burn! Mark! Get the fuck over here and help me!”
Locking Sophia in the car first, Mark ran inside. Seth grabbed him by the arm and tried to yank him back, but Mark pulled his arm free with a look of such hatred that Seth let go, startled. The key fell out of Mark’s hand and Seth snatched it up, running outside, where Sophia was pounding on the windows from inside. He got in and started the car, suddenly wanting to leave both his accomplices behind, but the betrayal might make them return the favor and tell the cops about his camp.
“Quit crying,” Seth snapped at Sophia. “You only cry for me from now on, not some fucking Kendall.”
She ignored that, staring at the door for some sign of Connor, but no one appeared. Seth was looking, too. He finally swore and started the car, aggressively driving around to the back, where Mark and Jess had dragged Connor out, far enough away to keep him from getting hurt any more. The sight of him unconscious made Sophia’s stomach churn. Seeing Jess making sure Connor had a pulse surprised her. Maybe the girl had a conscience after all.
After lifting Connor’s shirt and feeling his torso for bullet wounds, Jess grabbed Mark’s hand and ran for the car. The whole attack had happened so fast and in such unplanned chaos that they’d left a bunch of evidence behind upstairs, which was another problem Seth had just caused with the fire, since they couldn’t very well go back for their stuff now. The fire had reached the back door they’d just come through. She got in the back with Sophia, knowing her life as she’d known it was over forever, but when she looked at Mark in the front seat, she saw a grin that surprised her.
Chapter 15 – Captive
“You’re never gonna get away with this,” shouted Sophia from the back seat as Seth plowed down the narrow dirt road beside Sugarloaf Mountain. The tall trees crowded in, making the black of night seem deeper and darker, the moonlight unable to pierce it. Only the glare of the headlights shone any distance. The warm summer air blew through the rolled-down windows, out of which one of Seth’s arms hung when he wasn’t toying with his cigarette.
He had death metal playing at full volume to drown her out, though it wasn’t really working, but he didn’t care. He felt good despite a welt on his cheek from Connor’s fist, a few bruised ribs, and a pain in his back from crashing through the table, which he now thought had been kind of awesome. Though this hadn’t gone as planned, exactly—in fact, everything since the first kidnapping attempt had kind of been a disaster—this was what he’d been dreaming about for years. Too bad he hadn’t spent as long planning as he had dreaming, or the abduction might’ve gone better, but that didn’t matter. He was beginning to discover that reality and fantasy weren’t the same thing, but in a little while he’d do something he’d been fantasizing about for a long time. Living in the moment and the immediate future was all that really concerned him. Thinking further ahead had never been his strong suit. Thinking in general wasn’t. Action produced results. Thinking only gave you a headache.
Jess was right about setting the fire, but it was too late now. He’d worry about it later. Now that he had Sophia, the search for him would likely increase, but they’d never find him. He could hide out for a few days, and then when ready, he’d steal a local car and get out of here. They’d never guess he was up on the mountain, the fools.
Seth slowed and took a smaller service road that rose up the slopes a bit. It wasn’t used anymore and had become partially overgrown so that some of the trees swiped the side of the car as he went through. Up ahead, he turned again and drove off the road between two trees. He’d long ago cut out the underbrush that used to be there so that his car would fit, and there was enough room for Jess’s, too. Even if someone came up here, they’d never guess the cars were behind the low hanging, dense pines, not unless they really looked at the ground.
He parked Jess’s car behind his and turned off the stereo and car engine, looking back over his shoulder in the sudden, deafening silence. Sophia’s tears had dried and she looked frightened but calm. “You can scream all you want. No one will hear you up here.”