Fighting For Their Mate (6 page)

Ford had to make her see reason. “Here are the facts. Ty and I have been assigned to drive you two hours to another clinic. What happens when we drop you off is anyone’s guess, but from the scant information we were given, they want to test your blood. I suspect they’ll be taking a lot of your blood for a very long time. Personally, I don’t see you ever leaving.” He hated that she clenched her fists and her face paled. The truth seemed to be the only way to satisfy her though. “Your best hope of getting your life back is to tell us what happened. I can’t imagine you could say anything that would make your situation worse. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain.”

“Do you know anything about my sister?” she asked.

Ford nearly swerved off the road. “Sister?”

Forgot to mention it, bro. Sorry.

“Yes. Two men drugged Tatum and me. The next thing I knew, I was here, tied down, and…”

God. Ford glanced over at her and his heart nearly broke. Her head was in her hands and silent sobs wracked her body. He wanted to reach out and rub her back but he sucked at consoling women. “It’ll be okay.”

Way to lie.
Ford lifted his middle finger. He didn’t need Ty adding to his guilt.

“No, it won’t.” Bailey sniffled, sat up, and looked around. “If you want to help me, tell me where we are.”

“Canada.” He figured it was safe to tell her that much.

“Canada? For real?” She bolted upright in her seat. “I thought I was in North Carolina.”

That confirmed what his dad had told them—that women were being abducted then transported to this facility.

Ty handed her a clean handkerchief, but she waved it away. She twisted toward the window and stared out. It seemed liked ten minutes before she turned back to him. “My sister graduated from college last week and begged me to do the Appalachian Trail with her.”

That was a start. He said nothing, not wanting to stop the flow of information. He’d let her tell them in her own way. She turned her head away from him as if she couldn’t stand to look at him. That hurt. When she remained silent, he tried to urge her on. “Sounds nice.” That was a stupid comment, but it was all he could come up with. Her scent was driving him crazy.

“I love the outdoors, but I’m not really the peeing and pooping in the woods type of girl, if you know what I mean.”

He did understand, though her willingness to tackle something as strenuous as the AT spoke volumes about her love for her sister. “Go on.”

She sniffled. “We were about four days into our three-week journey when I stopped to photograph this animal. I’m a photographer—mostly nature and landscape shots.”

“Nice,” Ty chimed from the back seat.

Ford had checked the directions to the facility. Given the two-lane road they were on, this would take a while to get there. “Then what?”

She told them about the wolf sighting and the gunshot that came out of nowhere. “A second man appeared a moment later. I have to admit that if they hadn’t come by at that moment, the wolf might have attacked me. I might have died.”

He wondered if the second man hadn’t been the wolf. Telling her about werewolves wouldn’t be smart. “Did you catch their names?”

“Brad and Tom. I really can’t remember their last names.”

You know of a Brad and Tom who hang out together?
Ford looked in the rearview mirror at his brother.

No
, Ty answered.

“What did they look like?” Ford asked Bailey.

“Tall, dark hair. You know, the typical male in his late twenties.” She slapped her thigh. “I took a picture of them with Tatum.”

“You did?” If he could identify these men, he might just have to take them out himself.

“Yes, but I don’t know where my camera is. Or any of my stuff.” She glanced away and slumped against the seat.

When Ty reached over the back seat and placed a hand on her shoulder, she flinched. Damn. Both he and Ty were mentally and physically in turmoil when they were around her, and here she was afraid of them. Understandable, he supposed. The last two men she’d met had drugged and kidnapped her and her sister.

“What happened then?” Ford really wanted to understand how the Colters were able to transport her and her sister to Canada without the authorities discovering them. If he learned the answers to that question, it might help others from being exploited.

She explained how these two men dropped them off at a hotel then returned a few hours later. “I saw the needle, felt the stab, and then woke up where Tyson found me.” She twisted around to look at him.

“I’m sorry,” Ty said.

“You wouldn’t consider letting me call my dad, would you? Just to tell him Tatum and I are okay?”

“No can do, darlin’,” Ford interjected. Knowing his brother, he might agree.

“Pretty please?”

D
amn stubborn men. Bailey slid down in her seat. Getting angry wouldn’t do her any good since these men didn’t seem like the type to change their minds. Her father always said that if you run into a brick wall, move to another spot and try again.

If she couldn’t coax them into letting her make contact, she’d have to think of another way to escape. She had no money and no identification, but all she needed was to find one person who would let her make that call. The most important thing right now was to figure out exactly where the hell she was. Canada was a big country.

She kept her eyes peeled on the roadway, searching for a sign with the name of a town on it, but all she saw were tiny dirt pathways with names like Red Bow Road, Deer Ridge, and Tree Hawk Drive. What happened to the good old Interstate?

“What part of Canada did you say we’re in?” She twisted around and looked at Ty. He seemed like the nicer of the two.

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Jerk. She faced the driver again. “I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name. Are you and Tyson brothers?” They looked a lot alike. Both were big, built, and good-looking.

The odd thing was that when she’d first met Tyson, she actually thought she saw long nails and hairy hands. Now, all that strangeness was gone. Drugs definitely had messed with her brain.

“Name’s Ford. Like the car. And yes, we’re brothers—fraternal twins, in fact.”

Interesting. She might be able to use that against them. She turned back to Tyson. “I bet you’re thankful they didn’t name you Edsel or Diesel.” Bailey thought that if she tried to connect on a personal level, they might give into her demands.

He laughed—the sound rather nice but also unexpected. “Wouldn’t have minded Dodge. Or better yet—Mustang.”

Cute.

Stop it. Don’t like them
. These are evil men.

She studied the driver. When—not if—she escaped, she wanted to be able to give a good description to the cops. He had a slightly crooked nose along with a scar under his left eye, but those markings didn’t affect his good looks. He needed a shave for sure. The five o’clock shadow made him appear dangerous, but maybe that was the look he was aiming for. Still, Bailey couldn’t deny he was handsome, but she’d trade him in a heartbeat for a beta man. Him, she might be able to persuade to drive her to safety. With these two, she didn’t dare suggest they go to the police. They’d just laugh at her.

Think
. There must be another way to get them to cooperate, to see reason.

As if she’d dreamt it, a large sign stood high above the next curve that announced the last gas and food before Zeppelin. Now, that was a name she could remember.

Bailey did a mental fist pump. “Do you think we could stop so I could take a pee? I really, really have to go.” She stopped short of whining.

Ford glanced in the rearview mirror. While Tyson didn’t say anything, he must have nodded because a few seconds later Ford pulled into the lot of the little grocery store and service station. Three cars sat in front.

Phone call, here we come!

Tyson opened the passenger side door and helped her out. There was something strange about these two men. They were overly polite. Then again, Brad and Tom seemed nice at first, too. Tyson clasped his hand around her arm, acting as if he believed she’d try to run away. She wasn’t that stupid. She had a better idea in mind.

Once inside the store, she scoped out the place, first studying the clerk. She was an older woman who moved slower than the rising tide. She didn’t seem interested in anything other than biding her time until closing, and then collecting her paycheck. The second customer was some man in a plaid shirt and dirty overalls who was paying for gas and some cigarettes. The last person was a girl about her own age. Bailey was tempted to warn her to stay clear of the two men she’d come in with, but she thought it unwise to attract attention.

If Bailey thought it would do any good, she would have yelled for someone to call 911. The problem was she couldn’t be sure they had that kind of service up here. They weren’t near any big city that she’d seen.

Tyson nodded in the direction of the snacks. “Bathrooms are in the back.”

“Thank you.” If she acted meek, he might be fooled into thinking she wasn’t a flight risk. Unfortunately, he followed her. Damn. That would mess up her plan.

The door to the only bathroom stood open, and it was one of those unisex toilets. While it looked gross, she stepped in and closed the door, praying he wouldn’t wait right outside. Bailey didn’t have to go, but she had to spend some time inside to make it believable. She finally got a look in the mirror and almost gasped. Her blonde hair was matted and snarled, and her eyes looked sunken. Yuk. Not that she planned to seduce either of the men, but if she did, neither one would look twice at her.

Bailey waited a full minute, then eased open the door, praying they weren’t standing there. Score! Both men were huddled close to the front of the store.

Time to go!

The small bathroom had been windowless, but she’d noticed light streaming in the supply closet at the end of the dirty hallway. If she could get the window open, she could crawl out and escape. Where she’d go, she didn’t know, but someone had to be kind enough to help a kidnapped victim.

Glancing once more into the store, she watched as the men stepped outside, presumably to wait for her to finish her business. Well, they’d be waiting a real long time.

*     *     *

“We can’t just drop her off at the clinic,” Ty said, frustration building at his brother’s stubbornness.

Ford had wanted to step outside so they could talk without being overheard. If they only used mental telepathy people would think they were engaging in a giant staring match.

“What do you propose?” Ford shifted his gaze toward the bathroom then back at him.

Ty wanted to drive her home to North Carolina, but he was well aware that they had an obligation to the other women. Before he made his suggestion, he wanted to be sure that Bailey was Ford’s mate, too. “I could tell you felt a pull toward her.”

His jaw tightened. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before. My stomach churned while my dick turned rock hard. I can’t think straight when I’m around her.”

Good. Ty needed Ford to be on his side. “Can we stash her in a hotel room near Falling Pines instead of taking her to the clinic?”

“And go to work like always? What would we tell Statler? That we let her get away? He’d kill us for sure.”

His logical brother was right. Before Ty could come up with another plan, a horn blared from the side of the building, followed by a door slamming then someone yelling. While the responding voice came out soft, he recognized it as Bailey’s. What the fuck? He took a quick look inside and spotted the young girl who’d been in the store enter the bathroom. Crap. They’d been tricked.

Ford must have recognized her voice, too, because he took off toward the side. Ty followed.

When they rounded the corner, he couldn’t believe it. There she was, staring blankly at the man yelling at her. How in the hell had Bailey escaped? Only then did he spot the open window. Christ, but she was clever.

He raced to her side. “Are you okay, honey?” He didn’t want the man to suspect she was an escapee.

The driver appeared a bit stunned. He was a large man who seemed to get off on intimidating women. “I almost hit her,” the man blustered. “She needs to watch where she’s going.”

The asshole must have peeled around the corner, engaging in something he probably shouldn’t have been doing around the back.

Ty wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she watches where she’s going next time, sir.”

Touching her and inhaling her sweet scent made his vision distort, not to mention his cock do a dance in his pants.

The man curled his lip, and jumped back in his car. He slammed his door shut, but Ty was sure he heard some name-calling as he took off.

Decision time. Ty should yell at her for crawling out a window, but what would be the use? Anyone who’d been kidnapped and drugged would have tried to escape. They had to be more careful the next time, that’s all. “Let’s get you back to the car.”

Her shoulders sagged for a moment, and then she tugged on his arm. “Please, you have to let me go. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”