Midnight Lies: The Wildefire Series (41 page)

Spewing curses, Clark jumped on top of Quinn, taking him to the ground, and started
pummeling in earnest. Quinn absorbed every blow as he maneuvered his body to the exact
position he needed. While Clark concentrated on brutality, Quinn used his distraction
against him. Straddling Clark’s head, Quinn twisted and rolled. Suddenly the man realized
that not only had his ability to punch been impeded, he was now at the mercy of hard,
muscular thighs. With one quick jerk, Quinn could break the bastard’s neck like a
twig.

Quinn looked up into the astonished face of the older man, apparently Carl Dayton,
Clark’s father. “You’ve got one second to untie me or your son’s neck will be shattered.”

Clark gurgled something and Quinn’s legs tightened around him.

The father pointed a shotgun at Quinn’s head. “Or I could just shoot your sorry ass
to hell. You’d be dead in seconds.”

“True, but I’m taking your son with me. The reflex of my body will cause my legs to
tighten. Clark will die instantly.” Quinn doubted his own words but the elder Dayton
didn’t know that.

Carl glared down at them, indecision in his eyes. His son’s face was beet red and
he kept his body stone-still. Apparently Clark had enough smarts and survival instinct
to believe that Quinn could easily snap his neck.

“Shit,” Carl growled, and then withdrew a knife from his pants.

Quinn watched him warily as he walked behind him. Then finally the rope around his
wrists loosened. The instant he was free, Quinn leaped to his feet and grabbed the
shotgun from Carl Dayton’s hands.

“Hell, boy, where’d you learn to fight like that?”

“Army.” Gesturing with the shotgun, he pointed at the three men on the ground. “Tie
them up and together.”

As Carl headed toward them, Quinn asked, “You got a cellphone?”

“In the truck.”

Quinn waited until Carl began tying the men up and then he walked backward to the
SUV. Peering inside, he spotted the cellphone in a pocket of the door. One hand holding
the shotgun steady on the men, he grabbed the phone with the other and pressed in
the numbers for Zach.

“Chief Tanner,” Zach answered tersely.

“It’s Braddock. Somebody’s got Sam.”

“Yeah, I know. Both my deputies were found tied up and unconscious. We figured they
got both of you.”

“No, the Daytons and a couple of his friends knocked me out and took me. I didn’t
see who got Sam but I think it’s Marshall.”

“Shit,” Zach said softly. “Where are you?”

“Hold on.” Quinn walked a few feet to where Carl Dayton was busy tying up his son
and the other men. “Where are we?”

“About three miles west of Midnight.” He nodded at the little shack in the distance.
“That’s my hunting lodge.”

Speaking to Zach again, he said, “Dayton’s hunting place. Three miles from town.”

“Where are the men who took you?”

“They’re being tied up by Carl Dayton as we speak.”

“Impressive,” Zach said. “Can you get back to town?”

“Yes, I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”

“Okay, we’re at the Wilde house. Looks like someone broke in … the security alarm
went off but nothing seems to be missing.”

“I’ll see you in a few.”

Closing the phone, he looked at Carl Dayton again as the man finished his task. “You
got any more rope?”

“In the back of the truck.”

Quinn located the rope, then said, “Put your hands behind your back.”

“Dammit, you can’t leave us like this. We’ll freeze to death.”

“You’ll be together … you can keep each other warm. I’ll send someone back for you.”

Cursing under his breath, Dayton reluctantly put his hands behind his back. Quinn
made quick work of tying the man up. Then he pulled him toward the other men, all
of whom were now awake.

Pushing Carl into the heap of men, he said, “For the record, one last time: I did
not kill your daughter, Mr. Dayton. I’m very sorry for what happened to her and I
intend to find out who did it.”

Quinn ran to the SUV, jumped in, started it, and headed back to Midnight, the lump
of sorry-assed men he’d left behind completely forgotten. Now his one and only focus
was finding Sam. He refused to consider that the same thing that had happened to Charlene
and Lindsay could be happening to Sam right now. He couldn’t lose her. He would move
heaven and earth to find her, and when he did, he was never letting her go.

The first thing she noticed was the sound of someone moaning. Where was it coming
from? She held her breath to hear better and it stopped. When she began breathing
once more, the moaning started again. A part of her brain acknowledged the sounds
were coming from her, but she couldn’t fathom why, or why she should care.

Darkness surrounded her and she was cold to the bone. Not the normal kind of cold,
but the clammy kind that came from being outside too long. Where was she and what
had happened?

She put her mind to work, forcing sanity through the cloudy haze. Like a rocket blast,
Quinn’s image came to her. He had been lying on the kitchen floor, unconscious. Was
he dead? No, she couldn’t let herself think that. He couldn’t be dead. Besides, Clark
and Carl Dayton knew they couldn’t get away with murder. They might be willing to
spend time in jail for beating someone up, but murder was a whole new ball game. They
were more the type to fight and leave the person broken and bruised. Not easy to let
herself think of Quinn being beaten, but it was a hell of a lot better scenario than
thinking him dead.

What had they said? They were going to teach him a lesson. And then what happened?
Why couldn’t she remember? She blinked, wishing for some kind of light to
give her surroundings substance. If she could get her bearings, maybe her brain would
work better.

She strained for a memory. She had been looking down at Quinn and … someone had come
up behind her. Then she had felt a sting at her neck and everything became one big
blur. She had fallen on top of Quinn and remembered nothing else after that.

“Samantha,” a singsong familiar male voice said. “Wake up, Sammie, and talk to me.
I’m lonely.”

The voice belonged to Blaine Marshall but never had it sounded so childlike or creepily
sadistic. If she continued to lie here and pretend she was unconscious, could she
perhaps take him off guard?

“I heard your breathing change … I know you’re awake.” Hard hands shook her shoulders.
“Come on, baby. Wake up and let’s play. We’re about to get to the good part.”

Pointless to pretend unconsciousness. Maybe she could get him to talk and she could
find out why the hell he had done this. As odd as it seemed, she would like to believe
he was one of Cruz’s men and had kidnapped her to get information about Lauren. Given
a choice between a hit man and a sadistic murderer, she’d take the hit man any day.
She might be able to reason with a gun for hire. Negotiating with a conscienceless
lunatic would be nearly impossible.

Her gut told her the truth. Even though it was hard to believe that the seemingly
mild-mannered Blaine Marshall could have done these terrible deeds, she didn’t see
any purpose in pretending otherwise. He had cold-bloodedly murdered Charlene Braddock
and Lindsay Milan. And she didn’t doubt for an instant that he intended to murder
her, too. That didn’t mean she would let him, though. She had resourcefulness and
training the other two women hadn’t had. She’d been in tough spots before … she would
get out of this one.

She moaned uncontrollably when his hard hands shook her again. “Come on, wake up or
I’m going to have to hurt you much sooner than I’d planned.”

“Where are we?”

“At last the sleeping beauty awakens. We’re in the woods, far away from Midnight,
far away from your precious Quinn.”

“Why are you doing this, Blaine? What did I do to you for you to treat me like this?”

“Sit up and let’s chat. We’ve got some time.”

She allowed herself to be pulled into a sitting position. She tried once more to get
her bearings, but it was still dark as pitch. Her arms were bound at the wrists and
then tied to the inside of her ankles. She felt like an animal about to be branded.

“Why is it so dark?”

“Is it? I hadn’t noticed, but then again, I’ve been in the dark for years. You might
say darkness and I are old acquaintances.”

“Could you turn on a light so I could see you?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.”

Seconds later she heard the scratch of a striking match and then watched as its small
flame lit a lantern. A soft glow surrounded them now. Samantha gazed around. As he
had said, they were in the woods, but not just any woods. This was swampland, where
creatures lived that few people ever got to see. And few people wanted to see.

“We’re in the swamp.”

“I prefer ‘woods’ but I guess ‘swamp’ will do, too. I found this little place a few
weeks ago when I was scouting for the place of execution.”

Oh God, she didn’t want to ask, but she did anyway. “Execution?”

He gave a giant belly laugh. “Oh, you thought execution as in death? Well, I suppose
that, too, but that’s not
the execution I was talking about. The execution of my plan.”

“What plan?”

“Where the truth will be revealed and Quinn will finally understand that actions have
consequences.”

“What did Quinn do to you? Why do you hate him so much?”

“Not so fast, my dear. This is a moment I’ve been waiting years for. I’m not about
to spoil the surprise for everyone.”

“How do you know he’ll even come? Dayton and his friends were going to beat him up.”

He shrugged. “He’ll get away from them. I do hope they don’t hurt him too badly.”

“How did you get Dayton to go along with your plan?”

“Are you kidding? There’s nothing easier than riling up a good old boy who’s had too
much to drink. He and his buddies were at the bar. I became a sympathetic ear and
then an instigator.”

“How will Quinn know to come here?”

“Very easy. I made sure to bring your cellphone. I turned it off until we were ready.
Besides, Quinn’s a good tracker. Did he not tell you about his army experience?”

He grinned at her as if he already knew the answer to that question. “He’s not one
to brag. Let’s just say that if he doesn’t find us, he’s not the Quinn Braddock I
know.”

“How do you know him?”

“Nuh-uh. You’re not going to get me to spill before it’s time.”

He came around to stand in front of her. In the dim light of the lantern, she could
see his face. And once again, that charming smile he always seemed to be wearing was
in place. Samantha shivered. The smile was the same, but now that she knew it was
the smile of a killer, she thought it looked way past creepy.

“Could I have a blanket or something?”

“I’ll heat you up. Don’t worry.”

She didn’t like the sound of that. He hadn’t raped Charlene but he’d had sex with
and possibly raped Lindsay. Is that what he had planned for her? Rape, then murder?
No, she would kill him before she let him touch her like that.

“Why did you kill Charlene and Lindsay?”

“There you go, trying to get me to tell you before it’s time.”

“But your plan was to frame Quinn … right?”

“I guess there’s no harm in admitting that. Yes, I had hoped it would work with killing
Charlene. But it was a hasty and ill-conceived plan. Way too many witnesses around.
When she told me he was coming over, I thought, What the hell, I’ll give it a try
and if it doesn’t work, I’ll have another chance.” He smiled and added, “As you might
have guessed, I’m a very patient man.”

“So you knew Charlene?”

“Oh yes. Intimately. She was so easy to get close to. Never seen a hornier woman in
my life. I knew screwing her would eventually pay off. Too bad it didn’t pay off enough
to get Quinn put in jail.”

“You arrived in Midnight before Quinn. How did you know he would come here?”

“I didn’t … not really. But you obviously meant something to him. After you left town,
he didn’t do a damn thing but work. I followed him for days, waiting for him to find
another woman so I could make her acquaintance. Instead, all he did was go to that
frigging hospital, run those damn marathons of his, or go to the gym. So I decided
to come here and establish myself. I was going to give him a couple more weeks, and
if he hadn’t shown up, I was going to take you and use you as an enticement.”

“I’m assuming you’re the one who tried to run me over?”

Another wicked smile lit up his face. “Gotta say, you can move fast for a girl. Not
that I wanted to kill you. If I had, you’d be worm food by now. But that would’ve
been too easy. Couple of weeks in ICU might’ve been fun, though. I could’ve played
the concerned friend. Brought you chocolates, flowers, crossword puzzles. I play that
role quite well.”

“But why kill Lindsay?”

“I admit, that was a bit self-serving. She was so hot for a good time. And the lack
of witnesses this time gave me more cover.” If possible, his grin became even eviler
as he added, “And more time.”

“You’re a sick, sadistic bastard.”

The hard slap to her face wasn’t a complete surprise. She had known insulting him
might set him off. Didn’t lessen the pain, though.

Blinking back tears from her watering eyes, she said, “You know you won’t get away
with this, don’t you? Quinn won’t come alone.”

“Oh, don’t you worry, I have everything planned.”

He stood and pulled something from his back pocket. “I anticipate Quinn will be here
within the hour or so, which means we’d better get down to it.”

First she heard a click and then she saw the gleam of the knife in the light as it
came toward her. She leaned back as far away as possible.

“Don’t flinch or move or I’ll cut you and that’s not my intent. Yet.”

“Blaine, I—”

“And don’t talk, either. This takes careful concentration.”

Within seconds she realized what that careful concentration was for as he sliced at
her clothes. Her heart thudded like a manic drum against her chest, and the convulsive
shivering of her body had more to do with horror than cold. When at last he stepped
away, her
clothes lay in shreds all around her. She was now completely nude.