Badlands (19 page)

“Damn it,” she muttered, trying to shove it back into place.

While she was busy under the hood, a truck passed by, slowing down to rubberneck. During the day, she’d have welcomed help from a stranger. At three o’clock in the morning, she prayed the driver would move on.

He didn’t.

The man pulled over and got out. While his car door was open, the interior lights illuminated his face, just for a second. It was the tattooed man from Ace Demolition. She froze, considering the implications of his presence.

This was not a coincidence.

He hadn’t come inside for a lap dance, but he’d followed her from the club. He’d
sabotaged her vehicle
and followed her from the club.

Janelle didn’t shut her open car door, slam the hood or pause to grab her purse from the passenger seat. She just took off running, her cowboy boots kicking up gravel. She hadn’t gone far, maybe twenty feet, when a searing jolt struck the back of her thigh. Her muscles stiffened, and her entire body convulsed.

She collapsed on the asphalt, twitching.

“Sorry,” he said, scooping her into his arms. He carried her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. After depositing her in the front seat of his truck, he tied her wrists and ankles with the swift ease of a cattle roper. She couldn’t move, could only weep. He locked up her car and retrieved her purse before climbing behind the wheel.

She realized he’d shot her with some kind of stun gun. Her thigh burned from the sting, as if a swarm of wasps had descended on her. When he reached across her body, she flinched, expecting the worst. But he merely locked her door and secured her seat belt. Starting the engine, he drove away.

Janelle had heard somewhere that the majority of abductions turned into murders, not just sexual assaults. She was as good as dead. Her instincts had warned her about this brooding pervert. He was going to rape her and cut her into little pieces.

Thoughts of Jamie filled her head, making her eyes well with fresh tears. She didn’t want to leave him.

“My—my son,” she stammered.

“What about him?”

“He’s all I’ve got.” She’d said that wrong; she’d meant the opposite. Jamie couldn’t count on Shane to stay out of prison, let alone take care of him. If this man killed her, her son would have no parents. “I’m all
he’s
got.”

Maybe it was true both ways.

Her captor offered a nod of acknowledgment, driving on in silence. Her mind must have been playing tricks on her, stretching minutes into hours, because it was still dark when they arrived in Bombay Beach, a coastal ghost town just thirty miles down the highway. After traveling down the dark, empty streets, they passed by what appeared to be an abandoned motel. He circled around the block and parked in a secluded area.

Then he lit up a cigarette and sipped from a mug. Coffee, she suspected, her nose detecting no alcohol. His body language suggested they weren’t leaving soon. She followed his gaze to the motel parking lot. The only occupant was a dusty Jeep.

“What are you going to do with me?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“Are we going inside?”

“No.”

This waiting scared her more than any action could have. Her tension and anxiety grew until she felt as if her mind might snap. She was thirteen again, staring at the knob on her bedroom door.

Why did he have to
smoke?

“Do you—do you want me to blow you?” she asked, remembering his dissatisfaction with the lap dance. If she could please him, maybe he’d go away. It had worked with her stepfather.

He studied her, considering. His gaze traveled along her bare legs, from the tops of her boots to the frayed hem of her jean shorts. “Do you want to blow me?”

“Yes,” she said immediately.

He laughed without humor, glancing away.

She smothered a sob of desperation. He didn’t like her scared face, was that it? She tried to guess what he preferred, based on his actions the previous night. “I’ll do it for free,” she said. “You don’t have to pay.”

He gave her an impatient look. This wasn’t a selling point; she was at his mercy.

“It would pass the time,” she blurted.

“That it would,” he said, making no move to unzip his pants.

Why was she begging to give this guy oral sex? His dick wasn’t a cigarette. She squirmed with a mixture of fear, discomfort and embarrassment. The back of her thigh ached where he’d struck her.

“Why don’t you tell me what you really want,” he said.

“Besides my freedom?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll take one of your Marlboros.”

His brows rose with surprise. Shuffling another smoke from the pack, he lit the end and passed it to her.

She tucked her knees to her chest and bent her elbows, bringing her bound hands closer to her face. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and wallowed in the nicotine’s effect. It swam in her head and stirred her blood. “Thank you.”

“Don’t.”

Don’t thank him? She found it ironic that he’d laugh at her blow-job offer and take offense to her gratitude, but whatever. This guy was weird. Weird and cold and dangerous. She shrugged and kept smoking, resting her chin on her knee.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

O
WEN
TIGHTENED
HIS
ARM
around Penny as he woke, disoriented.

They were naked on the bathroom floor, a pile of blankets underneath them and a thin sheet over the top. Penny was asleep on his shoulder, which felt numb from the hard ground. Her eyes were closed, her dark hair spread across his chest. A disturbance outside warned him that Shane was about to come in.

Sure enough, his brother opened the door partway and stuck his head inside. Penny roused at the sound, blinking in confusion. When Shane saw her bare shoulders, he smirked. “Rise and shine, kids.”

“Can you unlock these?” Owen asked in a roughened voice, raising their cuffed wrists. “We can’t get dressed like this.”

Shane took the key out of his pocket and released Penny’s cuff, which was closer to him. Owen couldn’t stand up without exposing them both, so he stayed on the floor, waiting for Shane to shut the door again.

“Two minutes,” Shane said.

Owen kissed Penny’s forehead and rose, tugging on underwear. She watched, clutching the sheet to her breasts. Although her gaze wasn’t sexual, his body responded to it, unsatisfied by the fleeting pleasure of the previous night.

He grabbed his clothes, which were hanging over the shower door, and pulled them on. Not bothering to zip up his pants, he turned his back to her and lifted the toilet seat. Attempting to piss while half-hard was a familiar chore, made slightly more challenging by the handcuff dangling from his right wrist.

When he was finished, he flushed and washed his hands. She stood up, her body still wrapped in the sheet. With her tangled hair, lush mouth and honeyed skin, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

He was so in love with her, he could die.

The realization stunned him, even though it shouldn’t have. Something had shifted inside him the first moment he’d seen her. That feeling had grown over the years, but he hadn’t recognized it for what it was.

Last night, all of his fears had come true. He’d had a flashback and embarrassed himself. A lifetime’s worth of pent-up emotions had flooded out of him, unleashing tears and passion and a soul-deep love for Penny. He’d held it inside, buried with everything else.

Shane popped back in before Owen had a chance to say anything. He wasn’t ready to declare his affections, anyway. If the exchange went well, he could tell her afterward. If it didn’t...the less said, the better.

“Cuff your free hand,” Shane said. “Let’s go.”

Owen snapped it into place and followed his brother out the door, giving Penny some privacy. Shane had several snack items from their mother’s pantry on the bed. He sat down, tossing Owen a small bag of chips. Owen ripped open the bag and took a seat in the armchair across from Shane.

“What’s the plan?”

“We need another boat for Sandoval,” Shane said. “I know a guy who’ll rent me one.”

“You want to do the exchange on the water?”

“Yeah.”

It was smart. The Salton Sea was forty miles wide and offered infinite escape routes. “What was the original location?”

“Red Mountain Mine. I was going to grab the cash, enter the mine shaft, and get to the Jeep waiting on the side.”

Owen wasn’t sure why he’d decided against the mine idea. His crew was gone, and he hadn’t called for reinforcements. Maybe he didn’t want whoever was in charge to know how much of a disaster this kidnapping had become. But they’d find out soon enough and make Shane pay the ultimate price for his mistakes.

“Who’s your contact with the AB?” Owen asked.

“Don’t worry about it. He’s just a middleman.”

“Does he know I was in the gang?”

“No.”

“They’ll kill you after you deliver the money.”

Shane didn’t argue that.

“Why don’t you run now, while you have a chance?”

“I already told you. They’ll go after Jamie.”

“Since when do you care about Jamie?”

“Fuck you,” Shane said tiredly. Grabbing the empty bottle of whiskey by his pillow, he chucked it at the trash can—and missed. “I’ve always cared.”

Owen ate a handful of chips, skeptical.

“You think you’re some kind of role model father, is that it? Getting a tattoo of a kid’s name because you want a piece of the mother’s ass doesn’t make you a parent, dude.”

Owen’s temper flared. “I never said it did.”

“Then who are you to criticize?”

“I’ve been there for Jamie, more than you have. I’ve seen him more often. You weren’t even in his life before you went to prison.”

Shane rubbed his jaw, mouth twisting.

“You didn’t call or send letters from the joint, either.”

“Janelle wouldn’t take my calls.”

“For good reason.” Shane had been verbally abusive throughout their relationship. They’d argued constantly.

“I sent letters. Birthday cards, too.”

“He never got any.”

“I sent them,” he repeated.

Owen was surprised to hear this. Maybe Janelle had kept the cards or thrown them away in an attempt to protect Jamie from Shane’s negative influence. “You put him in danger when you agreed to this plot.”

“You put everyone in danger by playing hero,” he said, his voice rising. Typical Shane. He’d never taken responsibility for his actions when he was younger, either.

“Did you really expect me to go along with it?”

“Yes! You could have pretended to go along with it, like you did in prison. Instead you took on a group like Rambo.”

“What were you planning to do if I didn’t cooperate?”

“Not this,” he said.

“Obviously.”

“You were going to let Dirk kill me.”

“No. I said I’d do it myself, but I wouldn’t have. I didn’t care if you ratted on me. I’d planned on making a run for the border anyway.”

Owen massaged his eye sockets, saddened by his brother’s life choices. Shane was better off behind bars, where he couldn’t hurt anyone, including himself. He wouldn’t be able to stay out of trouble in Mexico.

“I should have known it would end up like this,” Shane said, bitter. “You’re such a fucking White Knight.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re the good one, the smart one, the noble one. Mom’s favorite. Dad’s favorite.”

“
Dad’s
favorite? Are you high?”

“He was proud of you.”

“For what, getting sent to prison?”

“For playing the hero during the earthquake, and again at that nature park.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“He was excited for you. The last time we spoke on the phone, he kept blabbing about how you were going to be a firefighter and save people.”

Owen shook his head, unable to fathom it. He couldn’t remember a single compliment his father had given him, other than a pat on the back after he’d rebuilt that Chevy. But the insults still rang in Owen’s ears. “He called me a faggot every day of my childhood. And a pussy.”

Shane laughed under his breath. “Guess he was wrong on both counts.”

“You were the strong one. He liked you.”

“He liked to hit me,” Shane corrected. “You got yelled at. I got beat up.”

“You made him mad on purpose.”

His brother fell silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“Why did you do that?” Owen asked.

“Why do you think?”

Owen had never questioned his brother’s motives for violence before. Shane just reacted, often without thinking. He was argumentative and impulsive. It hadn’t occurred to him that Shane might have provoked their father for altruistic reasons.

“You couldn’t handle the beatings,” Shane said. “You were too sensitive. So I took most of them for you.”

“No,” Owen said, his stomach clenching.

“When I was big enough, I stepped in for Mom, too. And when I was big enough to win, he stopped beating all of us.”

That was the truth. After Shane busted their father’s lip in an epic, bloody battle, the abuse had ended. Until both brothers went to prison. With them out of the way, Christian had picked up where he’d left off, and their mother had used drugs to escape.

Owen finished his bag of chips, disturbed by the revelation. Shane might have protected him from some of their father’s abuse, but he’d also bullied Owen relentlessly. Their boyish scuffles hadn’t felt like abuse, though. They were just kids.

Shane passed Owen a soda, which he accepted with gratitude. Penny stayed in the bathroom, maybe brushing her teeth or trying to untangle her hair.

“How was she?” Shane asked.

“Shut up,” Owen said, flushing.

“I don’t know what a girl that good-looking sees in you.”

“I don’t, either.”

“Looks like you’ve been working out,” Shane said. “If you wear a bag over your head she might keep you around.”

Owen didn’t laugh at the lame joke. Pressure built behind his eyes, and he had to will the tears away. His brother hadn’t kidded around with him like this in almost a decade. Owen had a bad feeling that they wouldn’t do it again for ten more years.

Maybe never.

Penny came out of the bathroom a moment later, carrying his shoes. His mother’s faded dress looked nice on her. She’d tied her hair back with a strip of cloth. With a nervous glance at Shane, she handed Owen his shoes. Fresh socks were tucked inside.

“Thanks,” he said, wanting to kiss her. A real kiss, like he’d done last night.

“Have some breakfast,” Shane said.

She selected a snack bag and sat at the edge of the bed. Although she must have been starving, she nibbled slowly, as if each bite of junk food was a spoonful of medicine she had to force down.

“Your chef doesn’t serve chili-cheese chips, princess?”

“They’re stale.”

“Let me see.” Shane grabbed the chips away from her and shoved a few into his mouth. Grimacing, he reached for another bag. “Try these.”

She seemed to find the second snack edible.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Knock it off,” Owen said.

“I’m just making conversation.”

“You’re trying to embarrass her.”

His brows rose with mock surprise. “Does she have something to be embarrassed about?”

“I slept fine,” Penny said, ignoring Shane’s innuendo. “Knowing Cruz was safe helped. Thank you for that.”

Shane scowled at her polite response. After she finished the snack, they left the motel room. Owen took the passenger seat while Penny sat behind him in the back of the Jeep. They headed a few miles north, to the Salton Sea State Recreation Area. The maintained shoreline was a little cleaner and less bizarre looking than the ruins of Bombay Beach, but it was no crown jewel. Oxygen-deprived fish and diseased birds died here, just like everywhere else.

Shane met an old man at the boat launch facility, paying him a couple of twenties for the use of a small powerboat. As soon as the owner drove away, Shane left one of the walkie-talkies on the nearest the picnic table and called Sandoval.

“Tell him to come here alone with the money,” he ordered Penny.

She spoke into the receiver, giving the terse instructions. Shane hung up and flung the phone far out into the sea before turning to Owen. “Find a hiding place down the shore,” he said, handing him another walkie-talkie. “Watch him from a distance and make sure he follows my instructions.”

“Then what?”

“Then run like hell to Bombay Beach. How long will it take you?”

Owen figured it was about two miles as the crow flies. “Ten minutes.”

“We’ll be waiting for you.”

Owen didn’t want to leave Penny with Shane, but he had no choice. Shane unlocked the handcuffs, aware that he could control Owen through Penny. Owen shoved the radio into his pocket, glancing over his shoulder at her. She looked scared.

“Why don’t you kiss your girl goodbye?”

Owen tore his gaze away, his heart pounding. He refused to put on a show for his brother’s entertainment. “If you hurt her I’ll fucking kill you.”

Shane inclined his head, accepting those terms.

There was nothing he could say to change Shane’s mind. Owen felt powerless over the situation. With each second that ticked by, he became more convinced that everything would fall apart. He couldn’t stop the impending disaster. Shane was going to shoot someone or get shot. This plan had been doomed from the start.

With a sound of frustration, Owen opened the passenger door and exited the vehicle.

“Owen!”

He stared at Penny, his brother’s prisoner. She didn’t deserve to be traumatized this way. No woman did.

“Be careful,” she said, her eyes swimming with tears.

His throat closed up, so he just nodded. Shane stepped on the gas, leaving a cloud of pulverized fish bones in his wake. Owen had to walk down the shore for half a mile, searching for cover. Tilapia skulls from recent die-offs crunched beneath his shoes with every step. There were a few lonely palm trees along this stretch of the Salton Sea, but nothing else. No convenient hills or boulders to duck behind. The water was blue, and the shore was bleached white. Everything flat and still, as far as the eye could see.