Make Me Yours Evermore, Book 3 (31 page)

“I understand how difficult that must have been to say. Thank you for telling me.”

Then I kissed her hard, only pulling away when Andreas jogged back into the room.

He threw me the shirt and I stood to yank it on.

The fast stomp of boots on the steps forewarned us. One of Scrim’s men poked his head in the door and grinned. “Scrim says to get your ass in gear! You’re got one minute.” He chuckled. “Last guy who fucked up a shipment is six feet under, and his girlfriend paid too. She was fucking hot.”

“I’ll be there.”
Asswipe.
I stared him down until he left, then I turned back to Andreas. “Right. Gotta go. Be careful. Keep our girl safe.” I flashed Kat a dark smile.

“You too!” Andreas shouted as I hit the stairs, going down them three, four at a time. “Don’t come back with any fucking holes in you!”

The first 4WD was edging through the gate already. I jogged up to the second. When the rear side door opened and Scrim hollered, I climbed in the back.

Once inside, the driver gunned the engine and we surged forward.

“Made it, did ya.” It wasn’t a question. Scrim leaned in and put a pistol on my lap. “Beretta. Silenced so it won’t be as accurate at a distance, but beggars aren’t choosers. It’ll do the job. Like I said to the rest of these shit kickers, don’t shoot any of these girls lest you have to. They’re valuable.”

“Right.” Nice to know. Any man who tried shooting Zoe was going to need to duck fucking fast.

“And here’s the piece de resistance. Night vision glasses.”

He set to pointing out all the features. The man was efficient. Knew his job. Once he’d helped me get them on my forehead, Scrim fell silent.

Half crescent of a moon up there. Not a lot of light but some. Moonlight bathed the interior of the vehicle in light silvery greys whenever the tree cover overhead broke. Scrim’s hard-edged face turned even uglier, and the glimpses I had of the men in the front looked just as mean. This could’ve easily been a platoon of soldiers going out on night patrol.

This was where my obsession had brought me – out at night hunting women. It wasn’t something I’d ever brag to Mum about. She’d slap me into next week if she knew.

Where were we going? I needed more info and so far Scrim hadn’t coughed up much. Most importantly, who did he think was the traitor?

The man in the passenger seat up front held a smartphone with a beeping app. “Lost them somehow,” he grumbled.

“Give it here, Pieter.” Scrim leaned forward and put his hand between the seats. “You South Africans probably only just got your spears upgraded to muskets.”

“
Kak.
” Pieter smacked the phone into Scrim’s palm. Was that a South African swear word?

“Ahh. Yeah, you got the brightness turned up too fuckin high. Easily fixed.” He nudged me. “You’d think a guy who’s killed a few hundred terror-bloody-ists could use a phone.”

Was he trying to taunt Pieter?

“Look at that. It’s got satellite GPS positioning on their collars.” Obviously bragging, Scrim showed off the screen. It was multi-colored and had flashing red dots alongside what seemed a river. “All four of them are showing. They’re going between the river and the road. Sensible way to find your way to the bridge. Mating season’s gone so the crocs will be slow. What they don’t know is…” He tapped the map. “There’s a new little branch of the river that they’re running toward. We can trap them in there. No fucking worries.”

Pieter spoke without turning. “Won’t the ladies just go across the little bit of water?”

His South African accent was close to a Kiwi one but different enough to sound odd. Pieter looked bigger in here than I remembered. Incredible Hulk territory. The big ones tended to go down hard when you kicked them but this guy was ex-military from what Scrim hinted. Maybe I should’ve brought some kryptonite?

“Ladies. Fuck. Don’t think I’d call them that anymore, dude. Yeah, they might if we don’t get there in time. But there’s a couple more creeks that don’t show on the map. Last wet season ripped some new holes in the riverbank. All the maps are out of date. This’ll be like catching fish in a barrel.”

“Isn’t that shooting fish in a barrel?” piped up the guy driving. He had long blond hair that whipped back in the breeze from his open window – like some misplaced hippie.

“Whatever,” Scrim chuckled. He typed into the smartphone. “Okay, I got Matt and Red to stop at the right place and we’ll catch up and follow them into the bush. If you bag yourself a girl, use your duct tape and zip ties. Here, Chris.” He dumped a bag on the seat between us. “Take some. No bagging only this Zoe, though. You got to help us with them all.”

“Sure.” I nodded, easier to agree than argue. “Understood.”

The euphoria from Kat’s submission had drained away and been replaced by stomach-tightening apprehension. I needed to be focused anyway. Anything could happen. I fingered the click-on key chain light attached to the set of keys in my jeans pocket. Anyone wearing night vision goggles could be incapacitated by a bright flash…unless they had a cut-out filter. Worth keeping in mind.

Less than a minute later we pulled up behind the first car. No one was left inside but Scrim had been getting updates via text. When we entered the scrub off to the side, Scrim stuck with me and waved Pieter and the blond driver off to the right.

This situation was surreal. Zoe would be scared into next week. Where she found the courage to do this I couldn’t imagine. The woman had been barely able to function around Scrim as it was. She must know he might do something terrible to her if he caught her. I vowed then and there to keep her safe. I already had vowed that to Kat, in a way, but now, yeah, it was way more personal. Kat was a tough lady. I knew she could take me kidnapping her. Zoe looked as fragile as a lacewing bug.

Pieter and the driver had a second smartphone that Scrim had downloaded the app onto.

“Keep an eye out and text me if you need to,” he instructed them. After waiting for the distance between us and them to lengthen, he started talking. “Keep up with me. I want you covering my back. Pieter got into Australia illegally because of his dear little criminal past barring him from entering the country. He’s ex-military from the South African armed forces and he’s my best candidate for the man who helped them escape.”

With night vision, navigating under the trees was simple. These things weren’t some cereal packet variety – they distinguished between leaves and earth and whatever else was around extremely well. Scrim and my own body stood out like a green Christmas tree with lights. A few times I glimpsed the other men off to the right, slinking through the forest.

“What if you’re wrong? Maybe the women managed this all on their own?”

“Maybe.”

The crunch of leaves underfoot seemed loud compared to the smaller noises of the night animals and the clicking and chirruping of insects. I could almost smell the river nearby, the air was that thick with moisture.

“But I don’t think so, and Pieter is sweet on one of the girls. Jazmine. Could be one of the others but my gut says it’s him.”

“And you trust him not to do something to your driver?”

“Blondie? Hah. The man’s tougher than he looks. He’s ex-mil infantry too. Almost made it into the SAS. ’Sides, I told him to be careful around Pieter.”

The men off to the right started jogging but Scrim tagged me and pulled me to a halt.

“Quick rundown of a few things. Something as a gift first. To show you I’m on your side, okay? The lodge is wired with hidden webcams. Anything you’ve done in the living room or the bedrooms, Vetrov has recorded. I wasn’t exactly supposed to say this. It’s how I knew your girl was escaping. Vetrov messaged me. It’s also how I know your friend let the woman go.”

For a second, I forgot to inhale or exhale. Everything? Then a half second after…why did he want the photo of us with Zoe. Just another mindfuck? He knew about Andreas too?

“Shocker, hey?”

The goggles showed me his usual devious leer. The man was enjoying this. He was on my side? What crap. “Yes. Shocker. Thanks for saying.”

“My pleasure. It also means the boss is very suspicious of your friend’s involvement in this escape.”

Shit. Bad. Real Bad.

“So, you better perform unless you want to have a fatal wildlife interactive experience, as the boss likes to put it. Bottom line?” He pointed at my chest, still casual like as if he was reading a kid’s story. “You dead. Your friend dead after being mangled with something like a wood chipper. Nasty fuckin’ things. Your lady, probably shipped off after being fucked a few dozen times. Got that? I’m just being practical. Okay?”

I struggled not to punch a hole clear through his throat and kept my voice steady. “Got it.” Inside, I was wrestling my screaming and my rage down to acceptable levels.

Fuck him. How dare he threaten Andreas and Kat? But, I was outnumbered. Compared to Vetrov, I was a little man. I couldn’t stop him if he decided to have me killed and do worse to Andreas and to Kat.

“Good. I’m not your enemy. Really, I’m not. Second thing. I’m gonna test Pieter when we catch the girls. I’m going to threaten to shoot that girl he has the hots for. You keep watch. Shoot him if he tries anything.”

Scrim was asking me to commit murder. Out of the question. But the gruesome reality twisted my gut. I couldn’t say no.

“That sounds very dicey. Dangerous. Especially as my aim is better with a rock than a bullet.”

“Now you tell me? Yeah, you might be right. I’ll have another think. Come on.”

I had an urge to ask him if his boss knew he cut the girls, or Zoe at least. Maybe she’d been the only one, but I didn’t think Vetrov would like merchandise being damaged. Bad timing. I needed Scrim on my side. Later. An email would do it.

This time we set off running.

He was so sure this was Pieter that he was planning to test him. If it came down to shooting or killing Pieter, could I do it? Scrim was my channel to Vetrov, my way to get Zoe. I’d become his little helper, not a role I liked. Whoever had helped free the women was crazy about one of them, surely? I loved that sort of crazy. It was me. If Scrim told me to kill and I refused, I was probably fucked, we all were, and Zoe, my present for Kat, would be off the menu.

I kept running. A short while later, someone shouted up ahead and there was a feminine scream that cut off and merged into a low babble of voices.

“They got someone.” Scrim veered off toward them and we soon came upon the two from the first 4WD. They’d found two of the women and had them down on the ground, already zip tied.

Scrim nodded. “Good going. Get ’em back to the car then one of you catch up to us.”

We set off again. The driver and Pieter weren’t far ahead. Maybe one of them was going deliberately slow?

We loped up to a small creek and then turned to follow it toward the main river.

“Fuck. They’re just up ahead. Haven’t moved much. I wonder if they think they can hide and we’ll go past?” Scrim managed to chuckle even though we were both panting lightly from the run. The man kept fit.

Had the night grown darker and had that given them false hope? They wouldn’t know about the goggles. The screams would’ve carried to them. Maybe Zoe and Jazmine had simply been so worried that they’d made a mistake?

“Just here,” Scrim whispered as he slowed then stopped, planting his feet wide.

They were hiding. The goggles showed them crouching low. Pieter and the blond guy arrived off to our left. Somehow they’d crossed over our path. Now the women were boxed in. Us on two sides, the river and creek on the other sides.

I said a mantra to get my heart rate down and my mind functioning clearly. Now was when it could all go to crap. We advanced, slow, purposeful, no talking. They’d be hoping we’d walk straight past them. I aimed for the smaller silhouette. Had to be Zoe.

Two yards, one, Blondie was on her other side. I lunged down and grabbed her, hearing the squeak then a scream that blasted my ears. Her legs flailed until I sat on her.

It was her – I was certain. Zoe’s soft body struggled against my muscles and found no give. She sagged to the ground, sobbing in agonizing jerks that broke me a little. Poor thing.

I had to get her quiet. There could be campers, people somewhere nearby. Nothing was certain. Blondie was taking care of her legs and wrists.

I’d grabbed a ball gag from Scrim’s bag instead of duct tape. Swiftly, I fitted it to her mouth and strapped it on while I talked. “Shh. Shh. It’s fine. It’s Chris, Kat’s friend. You’re not going to be hurt, Zoe. I’ll look after you. You’re coming with me back to Kat.”

I kept up my flow of words and slowly her sobs turned to quiet crying. I stroked her hair for a few seconds then I stood.

More movement, the thrashing of leaves, and gasps that went nowhere, said they’d caught Jazmine somewhere ahead. I hoisted Zoe onto my shoulder and carried her to where they’d taken down Jazmine. If Pieter had ideas about this woman escaping and him meeting up with her, he must’ve decided to play the innocent tonight. Try again another day maybe. If I were him I’d not bother.

Wait, no, if it were Kat…yeah if Scrim tried to take Kat, I’d have no hesitation in putting him into an early grave. But Pieter didn’t seem that committed to this woman. Maybe Scrim had it all wrong too.

At least Scrim hadn’t tried to shoot her. I dragged off the goggles and wiped my forehead. Fucking muggy, once you went running. Sweat ran down my face.

As they worked on Jazmine a few yards away, I lowered Zoe to the ground. This woman was putting up more of a fight than Zoe. My eyes adjusted fast to the lack of goggles. The tree canopy was sparse here. The moonlight filtering down through the gap gave the scene a fairytale quality, if it weren’t for the muffled noises of a woman being hogtied. Somewhere high above, an owl launched, hooting softly as it glided off in search of prey.

From below in the creek bed came a splashing noise as if someone had dumped a big log in the water.

“Crap.” Scrim rose. I heard him snort back some phlegm before he spit. “Damn it woman, you gave me an appetite for lurv with all your wriggling, but that splash just took it away. That’s gotta be an old croc. We woke the bugger up. Let’s get going. You finally got her legs tied, Pieter?”