Authors: Kelly Abell
“
Almost lost it for a second there,” Jack said mildly. “The roads are getting more icy. We need to stop.”
“
Good idea,” Caroline replied in a shaky voice.
A smile tugged at the corners of Jack’s mouth but he kept his voice stern. “There’s a Motel 8 and that is where we will stop for the rest of the night.” He glanced at the dashboard clock. “What’s left of it.” He looked at Caroline. “It’s not the Ritz Carlton, but I’m sure we’ll make do.”
He drove another half mile, then pulled the car into the parking lot of the small motel. He turned to Caroline, “Stay put, I’ll be right back.”
Caroline rattled the cuffs that trapped her hands to the door handle. “Sure, I’ll do that,” she said wryly.
Caroline watched as he walked over to the motel office. The sleet was coming down so hard, she could barely keep track of him. She saw him go into the tiny room and speak to the clerk on duty. God only knew what he was telling him. He was probably saying they were married and she didn’t even have the slightest clue who he was. She was positively terrified of going into a locked motel room with him, but what choice did she have? She was handcuffed to the door and he was extremely strong. She knew that from when he tackled her in the hallway of her house. Her face blushed beet red when she remembered what else she felt while he was on top of her.
She desperately wanted to know his name. If she had some idea of who he was then she wouldn’t be quite as vulnerable. If she could get away then she would be able to tell the authorities his name and give them a very good description of what he looked like. She would say he is a handsome man, tall with a shaved head, Native American features, and a deep tan. Yes sir, a description would be no problem at all, right down to his…
Caroline shook her head. She couldn’t believe how her mind had just betrayed her. For all she knew, he would kill her at any minute and here she was fantasizing about his crotch. Caroline rolled her eyes. Lord, give me strength, she prayed.
Her eyes settled on the glove box of the Pathfinder. Maybe there was a clue in there as to who her captor was. Sliding the cuffs as far as they would go on the door handle, Caroline reached for the button on the glove box. Not close enough. She strained until the cuffs nearly cut into her flesh but she just couldn’t reach the button. Looking down at her feet, she slipped one shoe off and raised her foot up to the tiny silver button. She glanced nervously out the window to see if he was coming, but his back was turned to her and he was still talking to the clerk.
Pushing her toe against the button, the door popped open and several items fell out of the glove box onto the floorboard. “Shit,” Caroline muttered as she tried to use her feet to pick up the items. She had something between one sock covered foot and one sneaker and she lifted her knees so she could reach the item with her hands. She really hoped no one was watching because she looked like a contortionist in the circus. “Just a little further,” she groaned. “Got it!”
The item she held in her hand was his wallet. She fumbled with it until she got it open. She read the name on the driver’s license inserted into the clear plastic sleeve in the front of the wallet. Jack Weaver. Why did that name sound familiar? Suddenly her hands jerked with recognition and she gasped aloud. The wallet flew from her hands and landed back on the floorboard of the car. Jack Weaver was the name Sarah mentioned when she told her about Kent Larson. He killed Kent Larson. He was the renegade agent that everyone was searching for. A trained assassin was holding her hostage.
She looked out the window and saw him open the glass door and begin heading back across the parking lot. She scrambled with her feet to pick up the items that had fallen out of the glove box. She managed to grab the wallet and made a futile effort to toss it back where it came from. It fell to the floor. “Shit,” she exclaimed. She made another attempt at grabbing an item with her feet, all the while watching his approach to the vehicle. Sweat began to bead on her forehead and she was breathing rapidly. If he caught her snooping, oh God, what would he do?
He was less than a few feet away now. There was no way she would get the items back into the glove box before he got into the car. Thinking fast, she shoved the wallet and the other items under the seat with her foot. Then she took the sock covered foot and pushed the glove box closed. It fell open again. “Shit, shit, shit,” Caroline muttered, looking out the window again. He was almost at the door. With one hard push her foot slammed the glove box closed again just as he opened the driver’s side door. She held her foot on the glove box in case it decided not to stay shut.
Jack slipped into the car and shut the door. His bald head was slick with melting sleet and a few of the icy drops clung to his dark eyebrows and eyelashes. He looked at her and held up a key card. “We’re in luck. One room left.”
Caroline said nothing and sat very still. She was terrified if she moved the glove box door would fall open and he would know she’d been snooping. She watched him as his gaze roved over her and then settled back on her face. He narrowed his eyes in concentration. He looked down at her sock covered foot pressed up against the glove box. “What happened to your shoe?”
Caroline’s gaze dropped to her foot and then looked back at Jack. “It was bothering me so I slipped it off for a minute.” She wanted to put her shoe back on, but if she moved that foot she wasn’t sure the damn glove box would stay closed.
Caroline saw his brow lift and hoped he wouldn’t ask any more about her foot. He simply nodded and said, “I’ll come around and get you out. We will walk straight to the room and go in. Don’t even think about running. That parking lot is a sheet of ice and you’ll be flat on your face before you take two steps.” He pulled aside his jacket to make sure she saw the butt of the gun protruding from his waistband. “You really don’t want me to use this, I’m sure, so let’s take it nice and slow.”
Jack got out of the car and while he made his way around the hood of the car, Caroline shoved her foot back into her sneaker. It didn’t go all the way in but it would stay on her foot long enough to get to the room. He opened her door and quickly unlocked the cuffs. Grasping her elbow firmly he shoved the barrel of the gun into the small of her back. “Let’s go,” he said.
It was a treacherous trek across the icy lot but they managed to make it without both of them ending up in a heap. Jack unlocked the room and shoved Caroline inside. He closed the door and pulled the metal bolt. He gestured toward the bathroom. “You go first.”
Caroline went into the bathroom and closed the door. She hadn’t realized how bad she needed to go until she was standing there wrestling with the button on her jeans. This was all so surreal. There was a killer standing on the other side of this door listening to her pee and she had absolutely no idea how much longer she would live. Her mind raced through her options. She looked around the bathroom for a window but there was none. She looked for a weapon of some sort, but the best she could come up with was breaking the medicine cabinet mirror and using a shard of glass. That wouldn’t work because he would shoot her before she got close enough to use it. It was hopeless.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she stood to flush. She went to the sink to wash her hands and stared at her reflection in the mirror. One eye and cheek was still swollen from Warren’s blows. She could see the dark marks of his fingers where they had grabbed her throat. Her hair was escaping from its elastic band and curling in tendrils around her face. She was a mess and she was in total despair. Maybe she should just rush head long out that door and let him shoot her. It would certainly solve her myriad of problems. The only thing she could be thankful for was she didn’t have to face Warren when he came home. A fresh wave of fear suddenly washed over her. She hadn’t thought about what Warren would do when he discovered her missing. He would be furious. He would make every effort to have her found. Would he think that she ran away with this man? Would he know that she was taken against her will?
Her hands flew up to cover her mouth and stifle the sob. If this man didn’t kill her then Warren surely would. It was then she remembered the note Jack Weaver had left on the refrigerator. What had it said? She was too far away to read it, but surely it been some type of ransom note, hadn’t it? She needed to know what he had written on that white board. If it was a ransom note then Warren would know she was taken against her will, but if he had tried to be funny and written something else… Oh God, it didn’t bear thinking about. She reached for one of the towels on the rack and dabbed gingerly at her swollen eye. It was very difficult to stop the flow of tears but she had to get herself together. Showing weakness would not help her here. She must remain strong.
She jumped when he knocked on the door. “Everything all right in there?”
She swiped at her face one more time with the towel and opened the door. Looking down she swept passed him and sat on the edge of the bed. He stood before her, the handcuffs swinging from his forefinger. He motioned her to move to the head of the bed. “Lie down,” he commanded.
Caroline did as she was told and he cuffed one wrist to the bedpost. He went into the bathroom and she could hear him doing what she had just done moments before. She was so tired. Maybe she would wake up and this horrible day would all be a dream. She was asleep before Jack came out of the bathroom.
Chapter 16
Caroline woke to the smell of chili and French fries. She rolled over onto her side but was stopped abruptly when the handcuffs jerked her wrist painfully back against the bedpost. She turned her head to see Jack Weaver bent over a laptop computer typing with one finger of one hand and stuffing Wendy’s fries into his mouth with the other. He turned and looked at her, swallowed, and walked over to the bed.
“
I assume you are hungry. There is a salad on the table for you, or if you prefer a burger I’ve got one of those too.” He approached the bed and Caroline involuntarily cringed. She was not so tired that she had forgotten who or what he was. She drew her legs up and tried to position herself so she could kick out at him if he tried anything, but he didn’t. He just leaned over her and unlocked the handcuffs.
He was so close Caroline could breathe in the freshly showered scent of him. She tried not to notice, but he smelled warm and deeply male. She raised her eyes to meet his and she froze. His eyes were so dark she could see her own reflection. They were the cold dark eyes of a killer. She needed to remember that.
It did strike her as somewhat odd that he was so thoughtful and cared about what she wanted to eat. She hadn’t expected to be fed at all, much less have a choice of something to eat. She certainly didn’t get any choices with Warren. When he was in the house no one consulted her about anything. He planned everything, right down to the bread selection. It was actually refreshing to have a choice, even if it was only between a Wendy’s salad and burger.
Caroline brought her stiff arms down slowly and shrugged her shoulders in an effort to get the blood moving again. Needle sharp pricks of pain ran down the length of her arms, all the way to the tips of her fingers. She was stiff everywhere. Her injuries from her recent battle with Warren ached fiercely as she sat up slowly on the side of the bed. Absently, she rubbed her wrists where the cuffs were. She jumped when her fingers rubbed across a painful bump on the back of her right wrist. She looked down at it and was surprised to see an angry red sore forming there. She touched it gingerly. The cuffs must have rubbed it raw while she slept.
Moving at a snail's pace Caroline made her way to the table. Fast food was not something she normally allowed herself to indulge in but these were not normal times. She was hungry and not knowing when or even if she would get another meal, she sat down at the table. She reached in the white paper bag and pulled out a burger and fries. She felt Jack’s eyes on her as she began to eat. He stared at her for a few minutes but she refused to meet his gaze. That last look into those dark pools was frightening. She didn’t need to repeat that experience if she could help it. Better not provoke him in any way, she thought. Finally, he looked back at the laptop and resumed his one finger typing.
Without looking up from the computer screen, Jack said, “Better get a shower when you’re done there. These hotel stops will be rare. I’ve got a lot of ground to cover before we can slow down.”
Caroline looked up and nodded. She was nearly finished with her burger and was starting on her fries. She couldn’t remember a time when she had eaten so much so fast. It was extremely unladylike to wolf down your food, and she was surprised at herself. For the first time in a long time, she didn’t care. She just wanted to eat and enjoy the sensation of being full.
“
What time is it?” She asked quietly.
He didn’t answer at first. She thought he hadn’t heard her when all of sudden he looked up. “What? Did you say something?”
“
I asked you what time it was.”
“
Oh.” He glanced at his watch. “About 3:30 in the afternoon. We slept half the day away.”
She was surprised by the time. She looked out the window and drew in her breath at the sight of all the ice. It had turned this sleepy little town into a crystal menagerie. She was surprised the hotel still had power. It was very late when they had checked in and it was sleeting hard then. It must have continued through the night and into the morning. “Wow,” she commented aloud, not expecting a response.