9781631051289TemptedbytheCowboySullivan (20 page)

“I did some digging after Peyton spilled her past to me. He
practices in Austin as a criminal defense attorney.”

“Figures.
Do you know his last
name and address? I’d like to look him up and punch the shit out of him.”

“Yep.
Naples i
s his last name and don’t think I won’t help you. If he
hurt her, I’ll kill him myself. I got an address from the internet.”

Jason cracked his knuckles. “You’ll be standing in line
behind me, Mandy. I’ve already got my sights set on beating him to a pulp f
or what he did to her.”

“Let’s go check out her car so we can let the police here
know what’s up. She has a restraining order against the creep, but I know that
doesn’t mean a whole lot these days.”

He followed Mandy out the door. The doctor’s office wasn’t
far like everything in Bandera. When they reached the office, sure enough,
Peyton’s car sat in the parking lot
beside
the building.
“Hmm.
I don’t like the looks
of this. I’ll call the police statio
n. I know one of
the deputies on duty tonight. Saw him checking out the patrons of the bar
earlier.” Jason dialed the non-emergency line at the sheriff’s department.

“Bandera Sherriff’s
department, Officer
Kailer
speaking.
How can I help you?”

“Hey Dillon.
It’s Jason Young.”

“What’s up, Jason?”

“My girlfriend is missing. Can you come over to—” He
rattled off the address.

“Sure. Be right there.”

Jason clicked the phone shut as they waited for the police
to arrive. There had to be something, a clue or someone
who saw her. He wandered down the block to the front door of the
doctor’s office looking along the sidewalk for anything he might find. Darkness
surrounded the area, making it difficult to see anything out of the ordinary.

The police car pulled up near th
e
curb, reflecting something silver on the ground. Jason bent down to see what it
was, instantly recognizing the silver chain with the tiny star clasped to the
end. It was Peyton’s.

“So what’s up, Jason?”

“My girlfriend has not been seen or heard from sinc
e this afternoon at about three. She had an appointment
here at the doctor’s office with her therapist. We’ve already talked to the
doctor and she hasn’t heard from her since she left. Her car is around the side
of the building and she didn’t show up for w
ork
tonight at The Dusty Boot.”

“Her name?”

“Peyton Matthews. She has a restraining order against an
old boyfriend who was abusing her.”

“Did someone see her with this old boyfriend?”

“Not that we know of.”

“She hasn’t been missing for twenty-four hours.
There isn’t much I can do.”

“This is her necklace she always wore.” Jason held it up
for the officer to see. “I found it on the sidewalk.”

“She wouldn’t be without it if her life depended on it,”
Mandy added as she stopped beside Jason. “Her mother gave he
r that when she knew she was dying of cancer and wouldn’t
be around. She never takes it off.”

“We still don’t have much to go on. It could have been
broken and she didn’t realize it. Have you called her phone?”

“Yes. It goes straight to voicemail.”

“Her ca
r hasn’t been tampered
with?”

“Not that we can tell.”

“Sorry, Jason.
There isn’t much I can
do. I’ll take a report, but until she’s been missing twenty-four hours, I can’t
file a missing persons report. She could be anywhere.”

“Thanks for your help. I wasn
’t
sure what you could do, but we thought we would try.”

“What are you going to do from here?”

“I plan to drive to Austin tonight to check out this ex’s
place to see if he’s seen her even if I have to beat it out of him. I need to
find her.”

“Be careful. Y
ou don’t want to
end up in jail.”

“Yeah, I know and the fucker is an attorney so that would
be my luck.”

He and Mandy watched the officer pull away as he wondered
what the hell to do now. “Where do we go from here?”

“Let’s talk to the motel here in town. M
aybe Charles rented a room if he was here.
Wouldn’t hurt.”

“Okay.”

They looked both ways before making their way across the
street and the two blocks up to the dingy little motel in town. It was
something out of a cockroach movie, but it was the only one i
n Bandera. If this idiot Charles stayed in town while he
tried to catch up with Peyton, he would have had to stay there.

The door on the motel stood open in the summer night air as
Jason and Mandy went inside. “Hey!
Anyone
here?”
Jason rapped on the counte
r with
his knuckles, hoping to get someone’s attention.

“I’m
comin
’. What do you want?”

“We are looking for a friend of ours. We think he might
have stayed here in town. Describe him, Mandy.”

“Um, tall.
Slender build.
Dark hair, dark eyes.
Nice looking.
P
robably
wearing a suit and tie.”

“There was a guy and a woman in the end room over yonder up
until this afternoon. I saw him carry her out to the car before he drove off
about six. When he checked in, he was wearing a suit. I noticed ‘
cause
people here don
’t wear those expensive suits like that, you know? Not like
Houston or Austin kind of highfalutin type.”

“That’s got to be him!” Jason slapped his hand on the desk.
“Which way were they headed?”

“Out of town.
He’d paid through the
end of the week. Came in a couple of days ago, but he put his suitcase in the
back of his car before he left, so I doubt he’s coming back.”

“Can we look in the room?”

“Sure, I guess. They’ve been gone a couple of hours.” The
manager
grabbed the key and walked around the
counter. “Follow me.”

Jason almost bounced on his toes. He felt they were getting
closer and closer to finding Peyton. He just hoped they would be in time before
the crazy assed bastard hurt his woman in the process.

W
hen the manager opened the door
to the room, Jason and Mandy rushed inside, hoping beyond hope to find Peyton.
Nothing.
The room had been used
from the apparent mussed bed. Jason noted the ropes tied to the headboard. This
didn’t look good for Peyton. What
had the man done to
her and what would he continue to do until they found her?

“Do you have a credit card number or anything on file in
the office?” Jason asked the manager.

“He paid with cash, but he had to fill out the form with
his name, address and p
hone number on it. I’ll go get
it.”

“Thank you.”

When the manager left, Jason inspected the ropes noting a
small smear of blood on one.

“He must have drugged her.”

“Why do you say that?”

Mandy held up a needle and syringe. “She wouldn’t go with
him willing
ly. I know that much.”

“Is this guy crazy?”

“I think so, Jason. He didn’t physically harm her before,
but that doesn’t mean he’s beyond hurting her. I’m sure he’s capable of doing
anything to her to keep her, even kill her for running away.”

The manager re
turned with the
card. “Here. There’s an address in Austin.”

“We’ll start there then,” Jason said, taking the card. “Can
I have this?”

“Yeah.
That’s a copy. I hope
you find your friend.”

“I hope so too.”

Jason and Mandy headed back across the street to retr
ieve his truck. A trip to Austin would take several hours.
He just hoped they’d find Peyton soon. No telling what the crazy bastard who’d
taken her would do.

Once they were inside his truck, he opened the glove box
and took out his .45. No telling whether
he’d need it
or not, but he wouldn’t take the chance if they found Peyton hurt.

“You really do love her, don’t you?” Mandy asked, watching
him check the clip for bullets.

“Why do you say that?”

“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be running off to Austin with
a
loaded gun to find her. Admit it Jason Young,
you’ve fallen hard for Peyton.”

He stopped for a moment as images of their time together
flitted across his mind—Peyton with her hair down around her shoulders, smiling
up at him, making love to her in the show
er, up
against the wall in his room, and across the mattress of his bed, watching her
serve customers at the bar from his spot in the corner, her smile lighting up
the room even from that distance. When her gaze caught his, the feeling of his
stomach in hi
s throat wouldn’t go away. Yeah, he
loved her. How could he not? “Yeah, I guess so.”

“The stubborn
fall
the hardest. She’s in
your blood, cowboy, and you’ll have no one else taking what’s yours.”

“Nope.
He better plan on
hiding well because if I have a cha
nce at him, he’ll
be pushing up daisies.”

“Go get ‘em, cowboy!”

They drove out of Bandera hell-bent for leather to reach
Austin before any harm could come to Peyton at the hands of her ex.

Chapter Fifteen

Peyton slowly opened her gritty eyes as she
tried to swallow. Eating dried parchment would probably
have produced more saliva. Her dried throat told her something wasn’t right,
but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what. Everything seemed fuzzy and out
of focus.

“Ah, I see you’re awake finally. Y
ou
slept for several hours.”

Charles.

“Open those pretty little eyes for me, darling, and we’ll
get started on your punishment.”

“Punishment?” she croaked as she tried to move, only to
realize she was bound at the wrists and tied to something overhead. Her
toes barely reached the floorboards. She glanced down to
see he had her completely stripped of her clothing, which now lay in tatters at
her feet. “What have I done?”

“You ran away, baby. I’ve had a terrible time finding you
over the last two years. Unfor
tunately for you, that
means my anger has grown exponentially to a rage it’s been difficult to
control. No one else could satisfy this need in me.”

“You’re crazy.”

He
laughed,
the sound reverberated
off the rafters as she glanced around. A shiver rolled do
wn her back at the maniacal sound. This wasn’t the
apartment they’d rented together.

“Do you like it?” he asked, his gaze sweeping the room.
“It’s roomier. I got it especially for you and me to get reacquainted in now
that I can release the inner beast I’
ve been holding
back. Something I can easily do since I’ve been planning this for such a long
time.”

“Inner beast?”

“Darling, darling,
darling.”
He cupped her face with his palm. “You haven’t seen
anything from me yet. I didn’t want to frighten you before
by playing with you the way I wanted to, so I spent time
with others to sate my desires, but now it’ll be all on you.”

He reached into a duffle bag sitting on the floor near her
feet. A long leather whip unfurled when he pulled it out.

“What are you going
to do with
that?”

“Mark up your pretty body so you’ll know you belong to me.
Only my mark will be forever etched into your brain.”

“Mark?”

“I’ve become quite the master at the bullwhip. I can leave
nothing more than a small red spot or I can draw blood, de
pending on your responses.”

“Listen, Charles. I’m sorry I ran, but I didn’t know what
to do. You were so distant. If you let me go, I’ll be the perfect lover for
you. I’ll do anything you want me to do. I won’t run again, I promise.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I’m so
rry, but I
don’t believe you anymore, Peyton. You’ve lied to me, ran from me, cheated on
me, and disappointed me beyond repair.” He placed his hand over his heart. “Now
you’ll pay for your misdeeds until I say you’ve had enough.”

He stepped behind her, tra
iling
the whip over her back, leaving goose bumps along her flesh.

“You know, your skin will mark nicely. I haven’t had a
woman who had skin the color of yours. Black women don’t mark so well. White
woman are beautiful to mark although I wasn’t too picky w
ith those I’ve taken.” He shrugged as he continued to trail
the whip over her skin.

“Please, Charles. Just let me go. I won’t report anything.
I won’t tell a soul.”

“Sorry. I can’t do that, Peyton. You need to be punished.”
He moved behind her, cracking th
e whip into the air.

She jumped as tears started to roll down her cheeks. He’d
never been physical before, but apparently he’d been saving that little piece
of information from her for some time. It was only the emotional abuse she’d
had to endure. Now it
would be physical too.

The first sting of the whip on her skin made her jump, but
it didn’t hurt too much, not
anymore
than the needle from a
piercing or tattoo. However, there was a difference in this pain. It wasn’t
self-inflicted. The piercings and tats helped her deal with the self-loathing,
low self-esteem and emotional distress the abuse from Charles had inflicted.
The burning slash of the whip didn’t make her feel better.

“Charles, stop!”

Having him inflict pain that had nothing to do with
pleasure, made it abuse, and she wasn’t going to tolerate this from him
anymore.

“Oh, baby. You have no idea how far I’m willing to take
you.”

The whip struck again. This time, she could feel the blood
seeping from the wound on her shoulder. He was a monster, crazy beyond anything
she’d ever dealt with before.

Before long, he was cons
tantly
taking the whip to her back as she tried to disconnect her mind from the pain.
He laughed as he stopped for a moment to touch one of the wounds. A scream tore
from her throat as the salt from his skin penetrated the wound.

The door burst open as her
head
swam. “Jason?” Her voice came out in a painful whisper.

“Back away slowly.”

“Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?”

“I’ve come for Peyton.”

“She’s mine to do with as I wish. Leave now before I have
you arrested for trespassing.”

“S
he’s not yours, she’s mine, you
bastard, and you can’t have her.”

Charles coiled the whip.

“Jason!” Peyton yelled, seconds too late as the whip struck
his wrist, pulling the pistol from his grasp and sending it skidding across the
floor. Charles struck ag
ain, landing a slice across
Jason’s cheek.

Jason dove at Charles as Peyton twisted around trying to
keep them in her sights. A set of hands worked at the knots at her wrists. “No!
I need to make sure Jason is all right. Leave me. Help him.”

“Hush. Jason c
an handle himself.”

“Mandy?”

“Easy, honey. I’ll have you down in a minute.” Mandy
grumbled under her breath about Charles being a bastard and she’d cut his balls
off should she get the chance.

The two men struggled on the floor, rolling around,
knocking o
ver furniture in their struggle to get the
upper hand. “I’ll kill you for hurting her.”

“She’s mine, cowboy, and nothing you can do to stop me.
She’s my wife.”

“Wife?”

“Yes. We were married this evening when we reached Austin.”

“Peyton?”
Mandy asked.

“I
don’t know, Mandy. It’s a blur
from when I left the doctor’s office. He was drugging me.”

Jason climbed to his feet, breathing hard from the struggle
with Charles. Unfortunately, now Charles had the gun and the bullwhip.

“Charles, please. Let them go. I’ll
do whatever you want,” she implored with her hands out as she slowly
walked toward him.

“I need to kill them, just like the others, so they can’t
point fingers at me.”

“Others?”

“The women.
The ones I used before
I found you. They had to die. All of them.
”

Mandy and Jason looked at each other and then back at
Peyton. “They won’t say anything, Charles, right Jason?”

“Are you crazy? He just admitted he killed God only knows
how many people. He needs to go to jail, Peyton.”

“But if you don’t say anything, he’
ll let you go, won’t you, Charles? It’s your word against theirs that you
said anything. You’re an attorney. You know the evidence is threadbare.”

“They have to die.”

She stepped closer, hoping she could get the gun out of his
hands or keep him from shooti
ng the two people who
meant the world to her. “They’ll go.
Right guys?
Just leave. Go back to Bandera.”

“I’m not leaving without you, Peyton.”

“Me either.”

“Stubborn asses!
Go!” She got close
enough to see the confusion in Charles’ eyes. He really was craz
y. “Give me the gun, Charles.”

“No. I have to kill them.”

“Charles, please, let them go and I’ll do whatever you
want. I’ll stay with you forever.”

Charles waved the gun toward Jason, pointing at his chest.
“I must kill them or they’ll find us again.”

He
took aim at Jason. Just as he
pulled the trigger, Peyton swung, hitting the gun in his hand as she prayed
Jason hadn’t been hit.

“You bitch!” The gun came up in her face as she stared down
the barrel of a .45 pointed between her eyes. “You’ll die with them
!”

A blur rushed into Charles’ side as Jason tackled them
both. She screamed out in pain as her back hit the wooden floor.

Jason and Charles wrestled for the gun now trapped between
their bodies. An explosion cracked the air and Peyton screamed once more.

* * * *

Jason wrestled with Charles across the floor. The gun
trapped between their bodies. This wouldn’t turn out well, one way or another,
but if it meant Peyton would be safe, then so be it. He would give his life to
keep her out of this maniac’s hand
s.

Peyton screamed as the gun went off.

Jason waited for the burn of the bullet as it penetrated
his body, but it never came.

He looked down in Charles’ wide eyes.

The other man didn’t move
,
his gaze fixed to the ceiling above them in death’s blank
stare.

“Jason!”

“I’m okay,” he said as he moved back, taking the gun from
the dead man’s hands.

Blood seeped across Charles’ chest, spreading over the
entire front of his shirt.

“Mandy, call the police,” Jason said, stepping back as
Peyton threw herself into his
arms.

“Already on it,” she replied, talking into her cell phone
as she gave them the information on where they were located.

“Are you okay?” he asked, pushing her back a little so he
could unbutton his shirt.

“You know I love to see your chest, Jason, but
really? Is now a good time?”

“Baby, you need something on.”

She glanced down at her exposed chest and crossed her arms
over her naked breasts.
“Oh yeah.”
He wrapped his shirt
around her, helping her to stuff her arms into the sleeves. She hissed as the
sh
irt touched her back.

“You’ll be going to the hospital to get those looked at.”

“I’m fine.” She grabbed him around the waist the moment he
finished buttoning up the front of the shirt. “Hold me.”

“No problem, darlin’. I’ll hold you as long as you want me
t
o.”

“Don’t ever leave. I need you.”

“Honey, you’ve got me wrapped around your little finger.
I’m not
goin
’ anywhere.”

Within several minutes, the police arrived with guns drawn.
Jason had placed his gun on the bare coffee table across the room and sat with
Peyton on the couch trying to calm her shaking as the rush
of everything hit her.

“The ambulance is here too.”

“He doesn’t need one, but she does.”

“I’m fine.”