Page 46 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge

A red corset with stockings were laid out on top of the comforter.A wooden post at the head of the bed was fitted with chains and a pair of metal handcuffs.There were whips and feathers and other adult fantasy toys scattered on top of the bed.

The barn was empty save for a dirty mattress on the ground and a couple of battery-powered lanterns that looked like torches.

“I know who you really are,” she said to him as he cuffed her.“And so does the law.”

He turned his back to her as he set a scene.

“Those aren’t candles, and I’m not here willingly.”

He didn’t budge.

Was there anything she could say to make him break down?Crack?Anger him enough to make him refuse to touch her?Or momentarily forget about the bomb on Joann?

Lawrence was short by this area’s standards, shy of five-feet-nine-inches if she had to guess.He had pockmarks on his face, mousy-brown hair, and mud-colored eyes.There wasn’t anything remarkable about him.She could walk past him on the street and not take notice, which was most likely the reason he engaged in internet entertainment for his adult needs.

“I’ve paid you too much money not to get anything out of it,” he said to her.“You can’t cut me out.I won’t allow it.”

“You have the wrong person.”

“Don’t toy with me, Simone,” he said, his voice a little hysterical as he turned on half a dozen fake candles like he was setting a mood.“I’ve waited a long time for us to be alone together.”

Ice water ran down her spine at the thought of him touching her.

“Take off your clothes,” he demanded.

“I’m not who you think I am.”Would he believe her?“You know what my body looks like.Check my foot.There’s no birthmark.”

He set the candle down.For a moment, he was completely still.“You’re playing games with me again, aren’t you?”

She was at a loss as to what her sister might have said to him in order to get him to volunteer money.Simone could have promised him the world, thinking she was safe behind her computer.What was the harm in putting up a few photos?She hadn’t shown her face.No one would recognize her if they stood in line behind her at the grocery store.The private chats had brought in more money and, again, she must have felt insulated from the person on the other side.Knowing Simone, she would’ve convinced herself that she was talking to a bored husband who then spiced it up in the bedroom with his wife instead of a psycho who would stalk her and then kidnap her to play out his strange fantasies.

Simone really was a good person who was trying to figure out a way to support her babies.

As shocked as Evie might be, she couldn’t fault her sister.

“I told you to take your clothes off.Do it now.”Lawrence’s voice became high-pitched by the end of his sentence.

“What if I don’t want to, Lawrence?”

The fact she knew his name caused him to spin around, eyes wide.

“That’s right.I know who you really are.You live with your grandmother, too, don’t you?What’s the matter?You think you’re the only one who can track someone down?”

“Leave her out of this,” he seethed.Evie had hit a sore spot.

“What’s wrong, Larry?”She needed to find more buttons to push as she slowly tried to work her hands free from the tight cuffs.

“That’s not my name.”Bingo.He didn’t like to be called Larry.She searched her brain for more ammunition.What kind of person would abduct another human being to force them into sex acts?Force them to be in complete submission without their consent?

Someone who needed to exercise power over someone else.Someone who’d been bullied as a kid.Or mistreated by a parent.Someone who was unlucky with the opposite sex, causing them to resent women.

What could she say to push him over the edge and cause him to have a mental break?How could she distract him from what he was about to do to her?

“Strip!”he demanded this time.

“What if I don’t do what you say, asshole?”

“I can force you.”His gaze narrowed, and the sheer amount of hate sent a chill down her spine.

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