The Girl Who Cried Wolf (9 page)

* * * * *

Kat let out a cry of frustration as she struggled against her bonds. The ropes were even tighter than they were before. The tears she’d been fighting so hard to keep at bay spilled onto her cheeks.

Dammit! She wished she’d never gone outside to put her bag in Reese’s SUV.

She wanted to believe Reese and Dylan would find her in time, but she knew that was unrealistic. They didn’t know where Sherman had taken her. Even if by some miracle they pieced together enough information to figure out that Sherman had a sister who’d had a cabin, it would likely take days. By then it would be too late.

Kat looked out the kitchen window. Sherman had put one of those utility lights they used at construction sites out in the backyard, so she could see everything he was doing. Right now, he was still digging. The pile of dirt beside the hole—she refused to use the word
grave
—was big, though, which meant he was probably almost done. As if to prove her right, Sherman tossed the shovel on the ground and wiped his forehead on his sleeve.

Her heart pounded harder as he moved out of her line of vision. Was he coming in to get her?

No. There he was. He was dragging something toward the hole. Her eyes went wide. Was that a
coffin
?

Oh, God.

Kat pulled against the ropes, twisting her wrists one way, then the other. She was rubbing her skin raw, but she didn’t care. She had to get away from Sherman before he…

The door opened, and she jerked her head up to see Sherman coming toward her.

She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “Carl, please don’t do this.”

Her words fell on deaf ears. Sherman took a pen knife from his belt and sliced through the ropes around her wrists. Kat immediately jumped up to run for the door, but he caught her around the waist, his big arms pinning hers to her sides as he picked her up and carried her out the back door. She screamed and kicked her legs, but Sherman’s grip never loosened as he walked toward the hole. When he got to the edge, he set her down on her feet just long enough to spin her around before giving her a shove that sent her flying backward.

Kat hit the padded lining of the casket with a thud that made her wince. She righted herself quickly, but it wasn’t fast enough. Sherman had already slammed the lid shut, and everything went black.

The fear she’d felt up until this point was nothing compared to the panic that gripped her now. She couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe. She shoved the lid, desperately trying to push it open, but it wouldn’t budge.

Something thudded against the top of the coffin. Once, twice, then again and again.

Dirt.

Sherman was shoveling dirt on her.

* * * * *

There was no way in hell were they going in the right direction.

Reese’s hands tightened on the wheel as he followed Dylan’s Mustang along the curvy mountain roads outside the town of Cleone. He and Dylan weren’t using their sirens, but they’d turned on the lights, and the red and blue glow flashed alternately against the trees on either side of his SUV.

If Rodney Carmichael had given them a bogus address, he was going back to that bar and beating the living shit out of that little weasel, so help him God.

Sherman had grabbed Kat over five hours ago. That was more than enough time to do what he had planned. What kind of sick asshole buried a woman alive anyway?

Up ahead, Dylan slowed and turned right. Reese followed. Gravel crunched underneath the tires. Carmichael had said something about an unpaved road, hadn’t he? Okay, so maybe they were going the right way.

Dylan switched off his grill lights. Reese immediately did the same. That had to mean they were close.

Reese leaned forward, straining to see in the darkness. He saw the glow of a light through the trees. Was that a cabin? He’d be damned. It was a cabin.

Dylan slowed to a stop about a hundred yards shy of the place. Reese pulled up alongside him and cut the engine, then got out. When Dylan glanced his way, he gave his partner a nod. They’d done this so many times that neither of them needed to say anything.

Reese kept his gun low as they approached the cabin. A beat-up sedan was parked out front, and Dylan took a quick glance inside as they silently made their way up the front steps. The light was on in the house, but Reese didn’t see Kat or Sherman anywhere. He met Dylan’s gaze for a moment, then took a step back to kick in the door. A noise coming from the back of the cabin made him freeze. Reese didn’t look to see if Dylan had heard it, too, but just took off at a run.

Sherman was standing with his back to them, staring down at freshly turned dirt, a shovel in his hand. There was no sign of Kat.

Shit
.

Reese stopped and leveled his weapon at the man. “Drop the shovel and get your hands in the air!”

Sherman spun around. At the sight of Dylan, his eyes narrowed and his hands tightened on the shovel.

“I said drop it, asshole!” Reese ordered.

Sherman relaxed his grip on the shovel like he was going to comply, but in the next moment, he hurled the thing in Reese’s direction and took off into the woods. By the time Reese deflected the flying shovel, Dylan was in pursuit.

“Find Kat!” he yelled.

Reese didn’t need his partner to tell him that. He didn’t need to ask Sherman where she was, either. That much was obvious. Shoving his gun in his holster, he picked up the shovel and stared digging as if his life depended on it. Which it did. If anything happened to Kat…

He thrust the thought away and dug faster.

How deep had Sherman buried her? What if this was a decoy grave of some kind and she wasn’t even here? What if she was somewhere hours from here? What if Sherman killed her before he’d buried her?

Reese’s heart clenched in his chest at the thought.

“Kat!” he yelled as he pushed the shovel into the dirt again.

Please God, let her be alive.

* * * * *

Kat’s ragged breathing was the only sound she could hear now. Her hands hurt from banging on the lid of the casket and her throat was hoarse from screaming. She knew she should conserve her energy, ration her air supply, but what would be the point? It would only delay the inevitable. She was going to die anyway. If she didn’t go insane first.

Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes and she squeezed them shut. She was never going to see Reese or Dylan or even her annoying neighbor Mrs. Collins again. Yes, she would see them again, dammit. Reese and Dylan were going to find her. She had to keep it together, had to stay alive long enough.

“Kat!”

Her eyes shot open. It couldn’t be. Could it?

“Reese!”

She held her breath, straining to hear over her thudding heart.

“Kat!”

His voice sounded louder this time. Closer.

She pounded on the lid of the coffin. “Reese! I’m here!”

Silence.

Kat beat her fists against the cushioned lid more frantically, shouting his name over and over. Something abruptly scraped along the outside of the coffin and then the lid opened. Dirt spilled into the casket, getting into her hair and all over her clothes, but she barely noticed anything but Reese’s strong arms around her. He lifted her up and out of the coffin, cradling her on his lap on the edge of what would have been her grave.

She shuddered and pressed her face against his chest with a muffled sob, terrified that if she didn’t hold on tight, she’d find out he wasn’t real at all and she was still back in that tiny box.

Reese smoothed her hair with his hand. “Shh. I’m here now. It’s okay. You’re safe, baby.”

Kat wanted to ask where Sherman was, but she didn’t care. He wouldn’t be able to hurt her now that she was with Reese.

They stayed there on the ground like that until the sound of muffled voices and footsteps interrupted them. She lifted her head from Reese’s shoulder to see Dylan leading Sherman out of the darkened woods. Sherman’s hands were cuffed behind his back and there was a bruise on the side of his face. Like he’d fallen. Or gotten punched in the face. She hoped it was the second one.

Dylan met her gaze, before looking at Reese. Then, with a nod, her brother shoved Sherman forward and around to the front of the cabin leaving them alone.

Reese shifted under her, lifting her in his arms as he got to his feet. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”

They didn’t further than the front of the cabin because Reese wanted her to get checked out by the EMTs, who’d just pulled up along with several patrol cars. Kat tried to tell him she was fine, but Reese insisted. He even hovered while the paramedic examined her.

“Told you I was fine,” she said to him when the woman was done. Physically fine, at least. She was going to have nightmares for weeks on end about being buried alive.

He brushed her hair back. A few bits of dirt fell onto her shirt. God, she needed a shower. “I just wanted to be sure.”

Reese looked as if he was going to say more, but the sound of footsteps interrupted him. Kat looked up to see her brother standing there.

“Can you give us a minute?” he asked Reese.

“Sure.”

Reese squeezed her hand, then gave her a quick kiss on the lips before walking over to talk to a group of uniformed officers.

Dylan regarded her with a frown. “You okay?”

She nodded. “The EMT said I was good to go.”

He swore under his breath. “This was all my fault, Kat. If I’d never arrested Sherman…”

“A lot of innocent people would probably be dead,” she said. “This wasn’t your fault, Dylan. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I should never have gone outside alone.”

“I’m your brother. It’s my job to protect you.” He shook his head. “But I guess you’re not my little sister anymore, are you? And I can’t protect you from everything, can I?”

The pain in his voice brought tears to Kat’s eyes. She jumped off the back of the ambulance to throw her arms around him.

“I’ll always be your little sister,” she said softly. “And you’ll always be my big brother.”

Dylan hugged her close, and for a minute she was back in grade school again and he’d just run off the class bully who’d called her a string bean with legs. She smiled at the memory.

“However,” she said as she pulled away, “there’s one thing I don’t need protecting from, and that’s Reese.”

Her brother’s mouth tightened.

“I love him, Dylan, and he loves me.” She sighed. “Can’t you just be happy for us? Please.”

“I want to be. Just give me some time, okay?”

That was as much as she could hope for, she supposed. She nodded. “Okay.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Jellybean.”

Kat watched him walk over to where Reese was standing, tensing when he stopped to talk to her boyfriend. But all they did was talk. Then Dylan got in his car and left.

Reese came over to her. “Ready to go home?”

She went up on tiptoe to kiss him. “If you mean your place, then definitely.”

She wanted to ask him what Dylan said, but didn’t think Reese would tell her if she did. They hadn’t come to blows again, and that was good enough for her.

“We’re going to need to stop by my apartment so I can grab my bag,” she said. “Assuming it’s still sitting on the sidewalk.”

“It’s already in my truck.” He put his arm around her and guided her toward his SUV. “I heard what you said to your brother.”

“Which part?”

“Pretty much all of it.” He turned her to face him when they reached his truck. “But the part I’m talking about is where you said you shouldn’t have gone outside alone. That was beyond foolish, Kat.”

She gave him a sheepish look. “I know that now.”

He brushed her hair back. “And do you remember what I said I was going to do if you put yourself in danger again?”

She started to shake her head, but then blinked, suddenly remembering. “You’re not serious.”

“You’d better believe I’m serious. In fact, I’m going to put you over my knee every night for a week to make sure you never do it again.”

Kat opened her mouth to protest, but Reese silenced her with a possessive kiss. He could make her forget her own name when he did that, but a spanking every night for a week? She’d be lucky if she could sit down after that.

“Maybe we need to talk about this spanking thing,” she said as he opened the door of the SUV for her. “How about you give me one every other day for a week?”

His mouth quirked. “Are you trying to negotiate with me?”

“Is it working?”

“Make it every other night for two weeks and you’ve got a deal.”

Kat chewed on her lip. That meant more spankings, but at least she’d get a break in between. “Deal.”

Reese kissed her. “Let’s go home. I’ve got a hairbrush that’ll be perfect for warming your ass.”

Hairbrush? She never agreed to that. It looked as if she was going to have to negotiate that point as well. Luckily, it was a long drive back to San Francisco.