Page 72 of Preying Heart
“Can’t do it. She has no cell phone.” He winces as Guy’s kick lands on his back.
“She’ll see you in the news. There will be a manhunt, and you will be charged with sex crimes against children. She knows who to call.”
“And in case you’re too stupid to get that,” Guy adds. “It’s Gavin who can get those charges dropped, because if you go to the state pen, you’re toast.”
“How are you going to frame me? I’ve never touched a child in my life.”
“You’re going to, and we’re going to make you.” I peel a roll of cash from my pocket and slap it into Guy’s beefy palm.
“You can’t make me. Not for a million dollars.”
“Then tell me where Remi’s hidden. I’m sure you pulled that stunt and sent in that lowlife as her bodyguard.”
“I don’t know anything,” Slade says. “All I know is you guys framed me for kidnapping her. Well, it ain’t working because you had the cops following me around, and I don’t know where she is. I haven’t heard from her. I haven’t seen her. I know nothing.”
“Yes, you do.” I aim a kick at his gut. “Because you’re entirely too smug. If you didn’t know she was safe, you’d be screaming at me and Guy, worried sick about what we might have done to her.”
He squeezes his eyelids and grimaces, realizing too late how I’ve outsmarted him again.
“Tie him up and move him to the farm. Then create the evidence.” I turn around without acknowledging either man. “No screwups.”
ChapterTwenty-Six
Remi
“Nothing’s changed,” Heath says as he stops his truck at the turnoff where he’d piled a stack of dead trees.
I watch as he drags the debris aside, exposing a locked box wired to the booby traps he’s prepared on the switchbacks leading to his place. I always worry if there’s a malfunction, but Heath seems to be confident that they are truly disarmed.
He returns to the truck and says, “Nothing was triggered. Looks like Big Dude might be a bluff.”
“Or he’s biding his time. Did you check your post office box in town?”
“I’ll do that after I’m sure you’re secure.” He doesn’t look me in the eye because the last night we were in Wyoming, he drove by a bus station. He didn’t say anything, and I didn’t ask to be let go.
I’m flush with cash and crypto. My Loud Lioness League is sold out, and investors are starting to nibble on the more expensive Fast Fantasy Fashion, or triple F, skin and accessory kits to kite out their avatars. I’m even adding weapons for a bonus, and those who’ve bought and flipped for big profits are creating a buzz for me.
Still, I don’t have a reason to leave. I have a home with Heath. I own my crypto and my artwork. I have a computer to use, and he’s even entrusting me with the security system and network access once I showed him how careful and paranoid I can be. I’m no longer his prisoner or his ward. I’m an equal partner and his lover.
“I am secure right now. It’s so beautiful here and peaceful.” I admire the fall colors that have descended to our elevation. “I can’t wait to see the Fortress and relax in the game room.”
“I can’t wait to move you into my bedroom,” he says. “But first, I’ll have to donate all of the clothes to the women’s shelter and declutter.”
I put my hand on his and shake my head. “Don’t donate them all at once. People might get suspicious or start nosing around. We can pack them and send them to different places.”
“I like the way you think. Did I tell you again how much I love you?”
I smile because he’s not angling for me to say it back to him. He knows I’m still learning what love really means.
“You’re a good man, Heath Ruger.” I turn around and pat Glock who’s hanging out in the extended cab section with his nose out the window. “And you’re a good dog, Glock.”
The three of us enjoy our homecoming with a hike while Heath checks his perimeter fencing, traps, and cameras. And then, when night falls, we roast the elk meat we bought from the hunters. I grill the vegetables we collected from the farmers’ markets. We bought enough canned and preserved food to survive a winter, including strips of elk we’ll dry up for jerky.
I can definitely get used to this as I luxuriate in the warm tingly feeling around Heath. This. This definitely feels like a home should be.
Heath
I should have headed into town earlier, but I couldn’t leave Remi until every trap was secured and checked, and I’ve repaired my fences and oiled my gates. All it takes is a broken wire or one chewed through by rodents to compromise my security system, and I had to be sure no one had been snooping around.
