Page 78 of Legends Luke

She caught the sympathetic look of one of the officers, and she hastily wiped her face. The cop looked away, and so did she. She wasn’t embarrassed by her tears, but she also didn’t want her panic on display. Pushing her misery down, she looked at her hands in her lap and counted. It was a technique Lyric had her do when she felt overwhelmed. By the time she reached fifty, she felt more in control. This wasn’t over. Until they found her sister, this would never be over.

She didn’t know what made her look up. She didn’t remember hearing anything other than the shouts of the officers and their movements in and out of the cabin. The young people they’d apprehended had been handcuffed and placed in the back of patrol cars once they said the one word which stopped any interrogation: lawyer.

But her head raised, her eyes piercing a spot among the trees.Nothing caught her eye, but the fine hair on the back of her neck tingled. She started to call to Drake and ask if they were in danger of a wild animal attack but stopped herself. She felt foolish. Her ragged nerves were making her paranoid.

A lower tree limb started swinging. It was a light swing, barely moving, but it snagged her attention. She watched it, mesmerized. The wind wasn’t blowing, so something had to be there to cause it to move. Something or someone…

As the random thought flitted through her mind, a face appeared in the brush. The eyes were harsh and focused on the activity at the cabin. A rustling had the eyes turning away, and another face came into view, one she was all too familiar with.

Melody scrambled down from the SUV, ready to shout and bring everyone around her to attention. Her sudden movement startled the two in the brush. She saw Lyric’s eyes widen in fear before Blake Drummond jerked her back and out of sight.

“No!” She sprinted in their direction, passing Drake before he could stop her. “Lyric!”

Melody scrambled through the brush and trees, ignoring the low-lying limbs slapping against her as she gave chase. “Lyric! Bird! It’s me. I’m here. Stop!”

A shout from somewhere ahead of her had her shifting her steps. She heard voices and steps behind her, but she didn’t stop. She wanted the others to chase her. If she stopped and waited, Blake could slip away with her sister or kill her before Luke and the others could reach them. They would catch up to her, so allshe had to do was follow her sister and lead them right to Blake Drummond.

She wasn’t sure how far she’d run before she realized she no longer heard anything. The footsteps behind her were silent, and she hadn’t detected a shout from Lyric in the last few minutes. Slowing to a stop, she listened intently, but the only thing she heard was her heavy breathing. She was surrounded by trees, and a bird cawed somewhere in the distance. Her overstimulated imagination wondered if she’d followed the wrong trail or if Drummond and Lyric had run into the wild animals roaming the hunting ground. When she heard this property was part of a hunting club, she’d pictured a land roaming with deer, turkeys, and whatever else men in the South liked to shoot. But could there be more? She truly didn’t know how this worked.

Indecision seized her. She had to find Lyric, and all she could do was stand lost in the middle of the woods, wondering about animals she had yet to see. She had to get back to Luke. He and the police needed to search the area. Whirling around, she started walking but had only taken a few steps before she wondered if she was going back the right way. One tree looked like the next, and the path she traveled was not quite clear. There were probably subtle clues which an expert woodsman would use to find their way, but she wasn’t even an amateur woodsman. The truth was she’d gotten herself lost while following Drummond and Lyric into the woods.

The arms grabbing her were strong bands subduing her arms and dragging her. She screamed, twisting her body and kicking herlegs, hoping to throw her abductor off balance. She was roughly wrenched around. Her eyes met the cold, dead stare belonging to Blake Drummond a second before he raised a hand and struck her across the cheek. Her head whipped to the side from the force. Ringing filled her ears and spots appeared in front of her eyes, disorienting her enough for him to start dragging her forward again.

They’d only gone a short distance before he shoved her to the ground. Melody had enough presence of mind to put her hands in front of her to keep her head from hitting the terrain as hard as her body did. Her wrist bent unnaturally beneath her, and pain shot up her arm. She cried out and rolled over, clutching her injured wrist against her chest. Her body bumped against something, and she jerked in surprise. She twisted around to see her sister lying beside her, unconscious.

“Lyric!” Ignoring her aching wrist, Melody scooted over to her sister.

“Stop, you bitch! Don’t move, don’t make a sound, or I’ll kill her before I put a bullet between your eyes.”

Despite his warning, Melody cradled her sister against her before she faced down the barrel of a gun. Drummond’s hand was steady, his voice deadly as he regarded her with an evil gleam in his eye. A lock of hair fell onto his forehead, but he didn’t seem to notice as he stepped closer to them.

Melody swallowed her fear, refusing to let it show to Drummond. “You should go. Leave us here. I’m not alone. Run now, and you can get away before they catch up to us.”

He sneered. “That’s. Not. The. Plan!”

His voice rose on the last word, and Melody winced. Her head pounded, and his voice hurt her ears.

“It was the plan, wasn’t it?” She kept her voice calm, her tone neutral. She challenged him only to keep him talking long enough for Luke and the others to find them before Drummond did something drastic.

Drummond’s eyes narrowed, but Melody hastily continued.

“You had your crew flood the area with crimes to tie up law enforcement, so you had time to escape with the goods and the money you already had, which I’m guessing is a lot. You can walk away and live a comfortable life somewhere else where no one can find you. If you kill us, you’ll be hunted. You don’t want that.”

He laughed, the harsh sound sending a chill down her spine. “You’re so stupid. You think I care about the money? I don’t need the money.”

“It’s always about the money.”

Drummond’s smile and the maniacal glint in his eyes made her snap her mouth closed. “It’s about power. You should understand. You work for that bitch Erin’s mother. You both tried to control her, but you couldn’t. She is loyal to me. They all are. I gave them something to believe in. I’m their hero.”

Melody had to tread lightly. The man was unstable, which meant he was also unpredictable.

“I never wanted to control her. I only wanted to help.”

“No!”

She jerked when he shouted. He shook the gun at them, and Melody fought back the tears forming in her eyes.

“They would tell me the same thing.” His voice dipped to a mocking tone.“I only want to help you, Blake. It’s not your fault. You’re a victim.”

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