Page 25 of The Seductress

The crowd, police and mall security surrounding the still running car told me all I needed to know. “Please no.” I think I screamed her name out loud but it might’ve been all in my head. I threw myself from the truck with the engine still running, and Sam hot on my heels.

I approached with my head spinning and my guts in knots. “Where is she?” There were the only words I could get past the hurt in my throat.

“Sir, who are you?” I barely looked at the uniformed officer who turned to me.

“I think my fiancée was driving this car. What happened?”

An older lady in her sixties approached.

“He just took her. It happened so fast there was nothing I could do, I…”

“Sir, what’s your name and who is the young lady?” I gave him the information and from the look on his face I knew it was her mom’s car andthat I’d just confirmed who it was that had been taken. No one knew what kind of car her abductor was driving, the lady who’d witnessed it had only seen a man forcing a woman into a truck and speeding off.

No description, no plate, no make and model. The cops were talking but all I heard was buzzing in my ears as the world went in and out of focus. He’s fucking dead, and if he touched a hair on her head his end will be harsh and swift. Sam caught my attention before I could lose my shit and pulled me aside.

“I have him, the tracker we placed under his truck is moving let’s go.” He headed back for his car and I mine. We sped out of the lot leaving the cops staring after us. They had a job to do and so did I. They probablyweren’t through questioning me but my standing around there wasn’t going to get her back and that’s all that I was interested in.

I followed Sam as he left the city and headed into Shelby County proper. We were doing ninety easy and if I got pulled over they’d probably end up shooting me because I wasn’t about to stop for anything.

I grew increasingly nervous as we passed the town and headed for the more wooded area on the outskirts. Nothing but river rats lived in these parts as far as I know, and nothing good could be waiting for us here. Sam stopped up ahead at what looked like a dead end that led into trees and brush. There was a truck parked there and I watched him get out and check the hood as I climbedout.

“Is this it?”

“Yes, it’s still warm he just stopped so they couldn’t have gone far.” Just then we heard the motor of an ATV getting deeper into the woods. I didn’t wait; just pulled the glock I’d grabbed from my safe in the office and started into the brush.

“Should I call for back-up?”

“No.”

It felt like hours had passed when we finally stopped just outside of a small clearing. I’d tossed my jacket a while ago and rolled up my sleeves. My neck and arms were scratched from the brambles but I didn’t feel a thing. All my energy was concentrated on the little woodencabin that was hidden there.

The place looked like it had seen better days, with one side of the roof hanging down under the burden of fallen branches. The air was still here, as if it had been disturbed recently and just settled again. The red ATV was parked off to the side closer to the back as if the rider had tried to hide it in the brush.

“Wait.” Sam put out a hand to stop my forward movement and I almost shot him. “Let’s go around the back this way. If we go through the front there’s a good chance he’ll see us coming.” He was right of course. My only thought was getting her away from him, but I had to use my head.

Chapter 15

Ashley

***

I looked around the room for any means of escape after he tied me to a chair. My arms and legs were cut and bleeding but that was the least of my worries. How was I going to get myself out of this? No one knew where I was and my phone was still back in mom’s car.

It was the guy from the campus, the one who’d given me the creeps. I saw now that the facial hair was indeed fake and that more than anything sent fear racing through my heart. Why would he need a disguise?It was hard not to let fear take over, and I marveled at the way the mind works, because I was trying to remember every abduction story I’d ever watched on one of those investigative shows mom is so fond of.

Even though he’d kept ranting and raving on the way here, I still had no idea who he was or what he wanted with me. If he was a stalker, he was damn good at it because I didn’t even know he existed until that day he’d approached me on campus. I couldn’t for the life of me imagine who else he could be.

I followed him around the room with my eyes as he kept repeating the same thing over and over. Something about me thinking I could stand in the way of him getting what was his due.I’d stopped asking him who he was or what this was about because he didn’t answer. So instead, I paid attention to what he was saying in the off chance that it made sense and I could talk my way out of this.

He was wild looking today. Nothing at all like the character who’d approached me before. He wondered out loud if anyone had seen him take me, and though it was my only hope, I wasn’t sure anyone had. I thought of Simon and what he’d feel as he stood over my corpse, as I was sure that’s what was going to happen to me.

The morning’s drama suddenly seemed so pointless. Had I not convinced myself that Simon would see me differently, I never would’ve got the bright idea to buy himsomething first before I spent a dime of his money on myself, and I wouldn’t have gone to the stupid mall. They probably didn’t have anything in there he’d want anyway.

Of course now that I thought of it-it was too late. I was already starting to mourn the life I could’ve had. All the beautiful things I would’ve shared with my Simon and it hurt like a knife slicing through my soul. I made a sound of anguish and he turned angry eyes on me. I wasn’t about to tell him what I was thinking though so I thought of something fast.

“My hands really hurt, could you maybe loosen this a little?” He just glared, but said nothing. My legs were beginning to tremble as he paced the room. What was he going to do? It would help if I knew what this wasabout, but nothing he said so far shed any light.

I knew that I didn’t know him-had never seen him until that day on campus. So when or how had I crossed him? He stopped suddenly in front of me and my fear factor went up a notch. I swallowed around the lump in my throat and fought not to pee myself.

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