* * * *
It had been nearly an hour since Eric had last seen Stacy. He felt so sick to his stomach with fear, and his anger was getting the better of him. He gathered around the group of men. There were his cousins, Charlie, Wyatt, and Ben as well as Chuck, Charles, and Louis from the Triple C. They had begun to organize search parties after someone found Stacy’s earring near the fields behind Francine’s restaurant.
Everyone was on the lookout for Stacy and for Barry Weiner. Just as they were about to get on the four-wheel ATVs and search the miles of fields around them, Wyatt’s cell phone rang. He saw that it was Investigator Pellot.
“Wait a minute. I got the agent on the line. He was headed to the hotel Barry Weiner checked into.
“Hello,” Wyatt answered the phone as Max and Eric watched him closely. He covered his mouth, and his eyes darted to Max and then to Eric.
“What? What is it?” Eric yelled.
“Oh my God. That’s crazy,” Wyatt stated then continued speaking to Pellot. Max and Eric were antsy, and so were the others now. “Hold on one second, let me tell the guys,” he stated into the phone.
“Barry Weiner’s wife just killed him. She walked into the hotel room he was staying in and apparently found him having sex with a dead body. It was some redhead, not Stacy, thank God, but she was murdered. It’s a freaking major crime scene over there,” Wyatt stated then went back to talking on the phone.
“If Barry didn’t take her, then where the hell is she?” Eric asked.
“Who else would try to hurt her or take her away from you two?’ Charlie asked, and everyone was silent a moment. Then Eric and Max looked at each other and said at the same time, “Gutry.”
“Motherfucker, that asshole was after her since day one,” Max stated.
“And he hates our family. He’s probably pissed off that we fired him and that no one else would hire him around Pearl,” Charlie exclaimed.
“Could he be the one who committed the robberies and broke into Stacy’s cottage?” Eric asked.
* * * *
They were silent a moment as Max thought about the information they had so far and now Gutry’s involvement.
“He was on the list, but he disappeared and no one had seen him in a couple of weeks,” Max exclaimed, feeling like a fool for focusing on Barry Weiner so much. He allowed his personal feeling to affect his professional judgment.
“Well, he’s our number one suspect,” Kenny stated as he joined the conversation, dragging Smith Petry along with him.
“Tell them what you just told me, Smith,” Kenny stated as he held the man by his collar. Max knew that Smith Petry hung around with Gutry and that he was a loser. Max had personally arrested him for harassing a woman in town a month ago.
Smith looked dirty and mean. Max wasn’t sure he would trust anything the guy said.
“What’s in it for me? I don’t even like cops,” he stated, and before Max could do anything, Eric grabbed a hold of Smith by his throat and threw him on the ground. He held his knee against Smith’s chest as he yelled in his face.
“If you don’t tell me where my woman is, I’m going to kill you right here,” Eric stated.
“You can’t do that. There’s police all around you,” Smith stated in between coughing as Eric gripped his throat a little tighter.
“What cops?” Eric stated as Max, Wyatt, and Kenny turned their backs and looked the other way.
“He’ll kill me if I talk,” Smith yelled.
“I’ll kill ya if you don’t talk,” Eric replied then pressed his knee a little harder into Smith’s chest.
“I don’t know where he might be,” Smith cried out.
“Tell him what you told me about the robberies and the break-ins,” Kenny stated over his shoulder.
“It was Gutry who broke into your woman’s cottage. He’s been watching her for weeks. He’s been planning this since that day he saw her at the hardware store. It was all he’s been talking about,” Smith stated.
“Where is he staying? No one’s seen Gutry for a while,” Max asked.
“He has a few spots he hides out in. Hey, that hurts!” Smith yelled as Eric dug his knee deeper and gripped his neck tighter.
“Start fucking telling us the locations now. She’s been missing for an hour.” Eric growled, and Smith started naming a few places.
“You bring him to the jail and lock him up. We’ll deal with him later,” Wyatt told Kenny as he, Charlie, Ben, Max, and Eric jumped on the ATVs. They decided to look at one of the places while the others split up to look at the other places.
“Call us on the radio as soon as you check out the locations,” Wyatt said. Then the sound of motors roaring and the ATVs taking off into the night echoed through the air.
* * * *
Stacy struggled with the ropes around her wrists as she smelt a fire burning. Gutry kept the burlap sack around her head, and she had no idea where she was. The smell of the burlap and dirt filled her nostrils, and now the smoke from the fire was impeding her ability to take regular breaths. The moron was going to suffocate her to death. She was scared, but she was also pretty angry. Initially she thought her captor was Barry. He had been the one harassing her and threatening her, but now that Gutry revealed himself, things made sense. Barry hadn’t been in Texas and couldn’t have broken into her cottage or taken her garments. It was Gutry, and she was certain that he was responsible for the other robberies around town as well. She felt his hand on her ankle, and she jerked away from him.
“Get off of me,” she yelled at him. Immediately he pulled the sack from around her head with such force, causing her to bang it against the rock she leaned against. She cried out in pain and felt the stinging sensation next to her temple. Damn, that hurt.
He locked gazes with her, and she could see the anger and craziness in his dark eyes. He was out of control. He pulled her by her shoulders and shook her hard.
“You belong to me now! Don’t fight me, Stacy, or I swear I will hurt you,” he yelled at her.
“Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?” she cried out, feeling terrified.
He didn’t respond. Instead he looked down at her thighs, which were now bare from the abrupt movement earlier. Her skirt lifted, and the upper part of her blouse hung lower, revealing some of her breast to his eyes.
He licked his lips then began to straddle her. He was heavy and reeked of smoke and sweat. “Please get off of me. Please don’t do this to me,” she cried. Then he began to pull her blouse from her shoulder, making her breast pop out. She struggled with the ropes that bound her hands together. She leaned back and shook her body, trying to get him off of her, but instead he grabbed her breast and groped the skin.
“Oh God, please stop! Stop it!” she screamed in terror, never seeing his forearm shoot up until it was too late and made contact with her face. Her head flung to the side, and she could have sworn that she saw darkness for a second. The move had her sliding lower as Gutry unzipped his pants. He lifted up and kneeled over her then reached into his underwear. “No!” she screamed then lifted her knee hard, nailing him in the balls.
He hollered, and she pulled herself up, her knees scratching against the dirt and pebbles around her. He tried to get up, and she threw all of her weight into him, using her elbow to nail him again in the balls.
“Fucking bitch!” he roared as he swung his arms at her with less strength than full force but enough to hurt her. She rolled across the ground, her cheekbone slamming against more rocks and dirt stinging her, but she continued to fight. She saw the moonlight coming from the cave entrance as she used her stomach muscles to try and get to her knees. With her wrists tied together tight behind her back, it was difficult to move around without losing her balance. She got to her knees, her vision blurred, her cheek and head hurt like hell, but she had to get out of there. She wouldn’t give up. She began to rise when she felt the blow to her back and Gutry grab her ankle, pulling her back toward him. She screamed then kicked him hard, not sure what she made contact with because she couldn’t turn to look with her hands tied. He yelled again, and she continued to kick until she heard his grunts and felt him release her ankles. She was hysterical now as she struggled to make her wobbly legs work. She shook so badly as she collided with the wall before running free from the cave.
The sound of some kind of engine roared just yards from where she stood.
“Help!” she screamed as the headlights of multiple vehicles illuminated the woods.
“You stupid bitch!” Gutry yelled then tackled her to the ground, knocking the breath from her. She gasped for air as he ripped her dress and pressed his forearm over her throat. She was never so scared in her entire life. Then suddenly lights and the sound of an engine passed by her head just as a body flew through the air, rolling Gutry off of her. Her chest heaved forward as she attempted to breathe while choking for air.
* * * *
Max was stunned as he drove the ATV over the hill and saw Stacy stumbling then Gutry tackle her. His arm lay across her throat as he hit her and ripped her dress. Max saw red and didn’t think twice as he revved the engine and dove off the ATV while it was still in motion. He tackled Gutry to the ground and beat him until someone grabbed his hands to stop him.
“That’s enough, Max, or you’re going to kill him!” Wyatt yelled, and Max was so upset and so enraged he felt himself gasping for air and practically drooling. He never wanted to kill anyone in his life, but when he saw Gutry on top of Stacy, he lost all self-control.
He swung his head around to see Eric, Charlie, and Ben surrounding Stacy.
“Lay still, honey. Let Charlie check your injuries over,” Eric told her, his voice sounding as if it rattled. Max approached and fell to his knees between Charlie and Ben on her other side.
“Is she okay?” Max asked as he saw her ripped dress, her bloody and bruised cheeks and body. She was a mess. Plus, she was having difficulty breathing as she cried hysterically.
“Is she okay?” Max asked again.
“I can’t tell with it being this dark. Let’s take it slowly and get her out of here,” Charlie stated. Both Max and Eric reached for her.
“You pick her up and I’ll drive,” Eric stated, but Max shook his head as he reached for her.
“I’ll drive and you carry her. I’m just too wound up right now,” Max added.
Stacy moaned as they moved her.
“You’re gonna be okay, baby. Everything is going to be just fine,” Eric whispered then kissed her forehead.
* * * *
It was a long, slow ride back to the Triple C. But they didn’t want to move too quickly as Stacy kept moaning with every bump. They wanted to bring her to the hospital, but she refused to go, and instead they radioed into town to Deputy Kenny Jones so he could get his father, Dr. Jones, to meet them at the house.
They arrived at the ranch to find it surrounded by unmarked police cruisers, K-9 units, and state police vehicles. Wyatt and the agents from New York had everyone out looking for Gutry and Stacy. Max could see the relieved expressions on his fellow officers’ faces as he nodded and thanked them for all their help. Wyatt remained back in the fields where Gutry lay seriously injured, and Ben would lead the rest of the investigators to the cave.
Eric laid Stacy carefully down on the bed in the guest room as she scolded him for even thinking about placing her dirty, blood-stricken body on their new comforter set.
“Yes, ma’am,” Eric stated as he laid her on the quilt.
Max stood beside Eric as Doc Jones began to ask her what hurt the most and where her injuries were. From Max’s view, she looked pretty beat up and there was a lot of blood. He was mostly concerned about her temple and the large lump near there as well as her cheeks and knees.
“I think she may need some stitches on that one cut by her knee. I’ll need to clean it out first. Can you two get me some supplies?” Doc Jones asked then gave them orders as to what he needed. Charlie entered the room and smiled.
“I brought a bunch of things with me if you wanted to stitch her up here instead of at your office,” he offered.
“Do I really need stitches?” Stacy asked as her voice shook.
Dr. Jones patted her hand.
“You won’t feel a thing. I’m going to clean it out and see how it looks. Tell me about what happened and how you got that bump on your head,” he asked as Max and Eric returned carrying a tub of clean water, some soft cloth, and soap.
“Charlie, you start on that knee and I’ll check over her head before we work on her other knee,” Doc Jones said then looked at Stacy, waiting for her to explain what happened.
* * * *
With every detail, Max and Eric appeared to grow more and more upset. However, Stacy was a rock. She didn’t cry or carry on. She just explained exactly how Gutry abducted her and what he tried to do to her. She wanted to appear brave.
A good two hours later and after giving her statement to Wyatt and the investigators from New York, Doc Jones said Stacy could take a quick shower, being sure not to get her stitches wet.
She sat on the edge of the bed and felt exhausted but she was in need of a shower. Glancing down, she watched as Eric covered her stitches and entire knee with plastic then taped it. When she looked up Max smiled at her.
“This should work. We’ll be sure to make it a quick shower,” Eric stated.
She closed her eyes and absorbed the feel of his hands on her skin. Thoughts of how harsh and disgusting Gutry’s fingers felt against her flesh flashed through her mind. Max began to stand up, and she stopped both of them. She looked them in the eyes and whispered as the tears filled them.
“Touch me,” she stated.
They both raised their eyebrows as she took their hands and placed them under her dress and over her inner thighs, one hand on each.
“Right there please,” she whispered then closed her eyes. The feel of their thumbs slowly moving back and forth against her sensitive skin brought happiness to her heart.
“Stacy, honey, are you okay?” Max asked, and she nodded her head. She was afraid to speak and to open her mouth. She knew she would start to cry. Both men continued to caress her inner thighs then move over her mound. When they both touched a finger to the damp panties covering her pussy, a sob escaped her mouth.
“Aw, baby, you’re breakin’ my heart,” Eric whispered then leaned forward and kissed her lips. They began to pull their hands away, and she frantically grabbed them to keep them in place.
“No. Don’t stop. Please…I need to feel your touch. I need to.” The tears rolled down her cheeks, and both men held her to their shoulders.
“Baby, it’s okay. You’re safe now and he can’t hurt you,” Eric whispered against her ear.
“Touch me. Make me come please. I want to feel your fingers inside of me,” she pleaded, and although they hesitated, she felt them pull back then lay her gently on the bed. Her legs hung over the edge, and slowly, carefully they removed her panties then spread her thighs. Then Stacy inhaled and exhaled as she held on to the quilt.
Their fingers were warm, thick, and hard as they glided against her delicate flesh until they each met her wet pussy. The moment their fingers each pressed against her pussy lips, she tightened up and grabbed their heads. “You both feel so good,” she stated, and they began to draw tiny imaginary circles around and over the delicate flesh. Max pressed a finger into her then pulled out. Then Eric pressed a finger into her wet pussy then pulled out. Her pussy throbbed and leaked more fluid, lubricating her.
She felt the sensations as her body continued to elevate higher and higher, and she anticipated the eruption she craved and so badly needed.
“Please,” she barely whispered when Max leaned down and licked her pussy.
She moaned and thrust her hips as she exploded against his mouth. The sound of fireworks echoed around her. She never felt anything so amazing in her life.
“Oh God, I hear explosions and everything.”
Eric leaned over her and kissed her lips before he spoke to her.
“Those are the fireworks, baby. The town council held off until you were found safe and sound.”
Max leaned next to her, licked her lower lip, then kissed her softly.
“But I promise more fireworks once you’re fully healed.”
She smiled then wrapped her arms around each of their shoulders and hugged them to her breasts.
“I love you both so much.”
“We love you, too,” they both responded, and she smiled.
“Let’s help you take a shower and get cleaned up. Then we’ll hold you in our arms all night long and touch you anywhere you want us to,” Max told her then lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bathroom.