HOSTAGE (To Love A Killer) Read online

  “She’s smarter than that.”

  “I don’t think so. I think that whatever’s driving her has clouded her thinking,” said Ash.

  “So you think we can just ask her to coffee, explain that the farmhouse is a front for a massive child pornography ring, and as a result she’s going to simply waltz in there with her handgun and deal with the matter herself?” asked Hunter, growing even more furious that she was being put in the position of having to shoot down this terrible idea. “She’s a cop, Ash. The bigger this thing is to her, the more paperwork she’s going to have to do. If we tell her that, then she’s going to want a team, she’s going to need a warrant. She’s not even from this state. She’ll have to get the Feds involved. There are a million things she’s going to have to do, and in the meantime, Blair is going to get tortured to death. To death, Ash. We don’t have time to put our faith in a stranger just because you think it’s an asset that she has a ‘screw loose’.”

  She paused, waiting for Ash to respond, but he fell silent.

  “As far as I’m concerned,” Hunter went on. “Sarah Voss is on our list of people to kill. I just need to make sure everyone at the farmhouse is dead before I deal with her.”

  “Let’s try that motel,” said Ash, pointing to a Motel 6 just up ahead on the left.

  Hunter slowed down and made the turn into the motel parking lot.

  “Here’s what I want to know,” she said before killing the engine. “If Grizzly okayed us driving this car, that means he’s communicating with the police, so how do we know Sarah Voss isn’t working with him as well? What if the detective is working for my dad and she doesn’t even know it?”

  * * *

  The girls hadn’t eaten in days and were losing track of how long they’d been there, what time of day it was. They were being held in some kind of basement, or so Devon thought. She sensed it. She could feel that they were deep in the earth. There was something about the coolness, the humidity, damp and rich with the scent of dirt that told her they were underground.

  At least they hadn’t been harmed.

  Each on their own bed, the girls sat upon their sunken mattresses with their wrists shackled to the rickety bed frames. Every so often a man had entered, terrifying all of them with his presence, though he had done nothing to hurt them, only gave them water.

  Devon had reached a point of delirium from hunger. At one point, she had even thought they were drugging her, all of them, with crushed sedatives in the water, but that turned out not to be true. Margot had assured her from the neighboring bed. For some reason Margot had been holding up better than any of them. She had become the voice of reason, the heart and soul of their survival.

  At least all the girls were together. Margot was past Jenna, and on the other side of Devon was Andy. The only thing that terrified them at this point was that they didn’t know what would happen next. No one had spoken with them about why they were being held in the small room. The men wanted to keep them afraid in the dark, in a perpetual state of dread, and the girls were.

  Margot kept reminding all of them that they were too old to be of any real interest to the men, Grizzly included. That had seemed to quell their panic for the most part, though no one felt comfortable enough to sleep. Margot had suggested they sleep in shifts, but the attempt had failed. Everyone had been too scared to fall asleep. Even now, the girls lay awake, their eyes wide open, their ears keenly trained, listening to the steps and creaks of the floorboards overhead, holding their breath that the footsteps wouldn’t travel down the stairs and to their door.

  Devon jumped at the sound of the door opening and pulled herself towards the headboard of her bed, tucking her knees under her chin, turning herself into a tight ball. She hadn’t heard footsteps coming down the stairs. How was it possible that someone was now at the door?

  The door slowly opened, filling the room with the grating squeal of metal against wood, the sound of sticky hinges. Devon stared at the doorway where she had expected to see a man. Instead, a girl stood there. She seemed young, petite. Though it was hard to see her in the low light, Devon could tell she was wearing a white nightgown. Her long blond hair fell in airy wisps over her shoulders. She was holding a pitcher of water.

  After a long moment, she stepped into the room. Devon figured that was how long it took for someone’s eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room.

  “Who’s there?” asked Margot in a whisper.

  “I was told to bring you water,” said the girl, as she picked up Andy’s glass and filled it.

  “What’s your name?” asked Margot, again whispering.

  The girl hesitated to answer.

  “I’m Margot,” she said. “We used to live here, all of us, but we escaped last year. They brought us back. How long have you been here?”

  The girl held strong to her silence.

  “Do you remember us? That’s Andy, and Devon, and down here is Jenna. Step into the light so we can see you,” said Margot.

  The girl didn’t move.

  “What’s going on upstairs? Have you heard anything?” asked Margot, knowing she probably wouldn’t get an answer.

  “Does anyone have to go to the bathroom?” asked the girl.

  “We all do,” said Margot, who suddenly fell silent as shame seized her. “We’ve just been going here.” She said finally, to which Jenna whimpered from the back, confirming that Margot was being truthful. They had been urinating into their mattresses.

  “I can take you one at a time,” said the girl.

  “Did you get permission?” asked Margot. “We don’t want any trouble. We won’t go with you unless you were given permission.”

  Margot hadn’t lived here in well over a year, but had already fallen back in line with the abusive protocol of the farmhouse. The punishment for acting without permission had always been far worse than the shame and discomfort of living a certain way. She didn’t want any of her girls getting whipped, beaten, or worse simply for using the toilet.

  “Answer me,” demanded Margot. “Did you get permission?”

  “I’m worried about you guys,” said the girl.

  “Worry about yourself,” said Margot. “If you don’t get permission, they’re going to kill you for overstepping your bounds.”

  Without warning, a man stepped in through the doorway behind the girl. It was Grizzly. Devon would recognize him anywhere, no matter how dim the light.

  The girl seemed to shrink, cowering in an instant the second she sensed a man behind her.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Grizzly, as he grasped hold of the girl’s shoulder.

  As soon as the little girl cringed at his touch, Devon realized who she was. It was Blair.

  Grizzly pulled Blair back away from the beds, through the doorway, and just as he was slamming the door closed behind them, Devon called out, “Hunter’s coming! Stay strong, Blair!”

  “That was Blair?” asked Margot. “Are you sure?”

  “That was her,” said Devon, as her brow began to furrow with consideration. “She’s allowed to walk around. Why would that be?”

  * * *

  Grizzly held the barn door open and Blair walked through, entering the darkness of the empty barn before her father.

  Once inside, Grizzly slid the door back, closing it and affording himself privacy with his daughter.

  She walked to the far side of the barn where a thick hay bale lay square as a box. She sat on it, staring back at Grizzly.

  “It stinks in here,” she said.

  “It’ll air out,” he said. “It’s just bleach.”

  “You should feed them,” she said, referring to the girls in the basement. “They’re too weak. Water isn’t enough.”

  “I want them weak,” said Grizzly.

  “I don’t,” she stated. “There’s no fun in killing something that’s half dead to begin with.”

  “You won’t be killing anyone unless Hunter’s taken care of,” said Grizzly.

  “Well h
ave you come to a decision on that?” asked Blair point-blank. “I still don’t know if you want me to kill her or spare her.”

  “It depends. You know that,” he said.

  “She didn’t kill Ash,” said Blair. “Her killing days are over.”

  “You don’t know that,” he said. “She offed Thomas, Travis and Dale.”

  “She’s not a killer, Dad. She doesn’t like it. She doesn’t do it for what it is. She does it when she can justify it. She’ll never be of use to you. Not like I am,” said Blair, as an edge of darkness cut through her tone.

  “Hunter used to kill the girls,” he said. “That’s all I need her to do now.”

  Blair narrowed her gaze onto her father. “You think you’ll be able to tell just by looking at her if she still has that in her? You won’t.”

  “She’s forgotten who she is. She just needs to be reminded,” he said.

  “Well, don’t get your hopes up,” said Blair.

  “I won’t. The plan stands. When she comes to rescue you, wait until she gets close, and attack her. It will be up to her if she wants to live, and if she does, her old job is waiting for her.”

  Blair’s eyes grew dark. Grizzly didn’t trust her. He knew Blair would follow through with the kill, ignoring his instructions. He also knew that Hunter was a far more effective killer. He would never tell Blair, but the fact of the matter was that he was counting on Hunter to try to kill her younger sister. The act alone would remind her of who she truly is, who she was always meant to be. It was perfect that Blair’s jealousy would get the better of her, cause her to disobey, kill. Hunter would need to see the evil in her sister’s eyes to remind her that some of these girls in fact needed to be taken from this Earth. It would help Hunter justify for herself what needed to be done.

  * * *

  Ash stood at the Motel 6 counter while the receptionist scrolled through the vacancy options listed on her computer screen. As she did, Ash glanced over his shoulder looking at the dark sedan that was parked outside. Hunter was behind the wheel, twisting back, talking with Twitch.

  Ash needed to hurry this transaction up. He began absentmindedly tapping his thumb against the counter. He hadn’t even noticed he was doing it until the receptionist glanced up from the screen, glaring at him with an expression that implied he was being obnoxious.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Just in a hurry over here.”

  “It’s my second day,” she said, as though he might care. “I’m still getting used to the computer.”

  Ash reached into his back pocket and extracted a debit card. It hadn’t been easy getting it. Hunter had kept her purse tucked closely between her leg and the driver’s side door. Ash had thought he’d never get the chance, but when Hunter had pulled over to pee in the woods, unable to wait for a rest stop, she had left her purse in the car.

  He needed her debit card. He needed to use it, getting them back on the grid, back on Sarah Voss’ radar. He needed to talk with her. He knew Hunter was dead set against it. She had made herself clear. But Hunter was new at this. She didn’t know when she was walking blindly into defeat. They needed help, and he had a feeling Sarah Voss could provide that.

  “Okay, here we go,” said the receptionist. “I can take the card now.”

  Ash handed her the debit card, which the woman ran through the machine and gave back to him all within the blink of an eye. Ash buried the card deep into his pocket, finally exhaling a sigh of relief.

  “Hunter,” said the receptionist. “That’s a nice name.”

  “Thanks,” he said turning away from the counter towards the door.

  Hunter was walking towards Ash. She was only a few feet away from the door.

  “Sir!” said the receptionist. “You need to sign the slip!”

  Ash froze. He could not let Hunter see him signing anything or else she’d know he had gone against her wishes. She would count this as a betrayal. They had come so far in their relationship. She finally trusted him. He couldn’t let this set them back, but he couldn’t walk away from the slip.

  Quickly, he turned, approached the counter, and ran a pen over the paper slip in a squiggling motion. He could feel Hunter was reaching for the door. He slid the slip towards the receptionist so fast it flew off the counter, fluttering to the ground out of view.

  “I don’t need a copy,” he said softly under his breath, but certain she had heard. “Good night.”

  Ash caught Hunter in the doorway, scooping her up, guiding her out the way she had come. “Got the key,” he said. “This way.”

  He walked Hunter along the first floor of the motel until they reached room #101, then inserted the key into the lock and entered.

  “What’s with Twitch always sleeping in the car?” he asked.

  Hunter smiled. “What do you mean?”

  “He fell asleep back there again?” Ash asked.

  “Not this time,” said Hunter in a sultry tone.

  “What do you mean?”

  “This time I asked him to stay there,” she said. “I wanted to be alone with you.”

  Ash closed the door behind them as a wry smile spread across his face. It was that easy to forget Sarah Voss would be on her way, and that any minute she would show up banging on their door.

  “How are you?” she asked Ash, wrapping her arms around his waist.

  “How am I?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve asked you. It’s like we’ve been with each other, next to each other all day, but a million miles apart,” she said.

  “Worried,” he said. “I’ve been in a lot of situations where expecting the unexpected wasn’t enough, and I made it through. But this...” he trailed off, sinking deeply into his thoughts and fears. “This is going to be hard, Hunter. I know how to clean up after so that the cops can’t link me to anything, but I’ve never had to deal with cops on my tail, watching my every move going into a kill.”

  Hunter nodded, gazing deeply into his eyes. They seemed darker than usual, no longer steel blue, but edging toward green.

  “That’s why I want to go alone,” said Hunter.

  “What?” he asked utterly shocked. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I know the layout of the farm. I know every room in the farmhouse. I know every corner of the bard, its internal sheds, everything. I can get in there much more easily than you.”

  “We were going to go in together,” he said.

  “Yes, but realistically we would have to split up. And as soon as you’re alone you’ll be vulnerable because you don’t know the layout. This isn’t the type of thing where there’s one mark and you take the guy out, Ash. There are God knows how many men up there. If you got cornered, they’d have you. It would be all over.”

  “And what makes you think that won’t happen to you?” he asked.

  “It could,” she said. “I guess it’s just a feeling in my gut. I need to go alone.”

  “Well that’s not happening. End of story,” said Ash.

  Hunter held her breath. There was so much more she wanted to say, but she realized nothing would convince him. The problem was that she didn’t know how to keep him safe. Part of her felt like she could die, she could accept her own death, she could even accept becoming enslaved to the farm again, all of that, all the horrors that came with that, were preferable to losing Ash.

  Hunter brushed her fingertip lightly over his bottom lip, studying the curve of his mouth, feeling its pillowy firmness. She hadn’t realized she was smiling until she saw him smile back. It was subtle, nothing more than the slight upward curl at the side of his mouth.

  He leaned in, lowering his face to hers, and allowed Hunter to press her soft lips against his, kissing him. He grabbed her, scooping her up into his arms and holding her tightly to his body, as he kissed her stronger and deeper than ever before. If only he could control her, he could protect her fully. But he couldn’t, and knowing that caused Ash to tighten his embrace, as though one had anything to do with the other.
r />   Hunter ran her fingers through his hair, feeling the silky smoothness of his shaggy locks. As they kissed, she inhaled deeply, breathing in his scent. He smelled like sweat, sweetness, and the tinge of cigarettes. The sensation of his sharp teeth against the tip of her tongue, his smooth lips folding and gliding over hers, and his warm body on hers sent Hunter reeling with excitement. The last time they had been alone Ash brought her a world of pleasure she hadn’t known was possible. The possibilities of what could occur between them now made Hunter grow wet with anticipation.

  Her hands reached down, searching under his tee for his waist line, feeling for his belt buckle, and unfastening it, as she continued to kiss and play with Ash’s mouth, only opening her eyes to steal glances at his smirking face, the sight of which added to her arousal.

  “I want you,” she whispered into his ear when her lips came free of his.

  With his belt undone, Hunter yanked at his zipper, gently opening his jeans. She hadn’t yet felt him, not other than his shape under his pants, the times he had pressed his bulge into her. She wanted to feel him in her hand, to discover how smooth and hard he was for her.

  The second Hunter’s hand reached down Ash’s pants, and her warm hand wrapped around him, Ash grew hard, straining against her grip, expanding in her grasp.

  He gazed down at her, looking in her large brown eyes. She was beautiful, yet he could see the fear in her eyes. Whether it was a fear for what could happen between them or of what lay ahead beyond these walls, was unclear to him. All he knew was that there was something intense lurking behind those eyes. He found it alluring, mysterious, even dangerous. Maybe it was the killer inside, waking up, daring to assert herself. Fear wasn’t a bad thing. Fear was what kept you alive.

  Ash pulled Hunter’s tee up over her head and took in the sight. Her pale white skin under her lacy bra, the way her nipples hardened with each breath she took, was so incredibly sexy. He pulled the lace down, exposing her bare breasts, and licked the nipples, one then the other, flicking them gently.

  The sensation sent a wave of heat coursing through Hunter’s body. The heat gathered between her legs, giving rise to a surge of desire. She didn’t want to be standing any longer. She didn’t want to be in her jeans.