Seeing Red (44 page)

In frustration, she gritted her teeth and, with a growl, yanked as hard as she could against her wrist restraints.

There! She heard it. The first snap as the fabric of the tape began to give way.

Slowly. Don’t rush it.

Maybe Carr had left them in some remote place, waiting for nightfall. She could get herself loose and be long gone when he got back.

Suddenly the back doors of the SUV opened.

The tarp was pulled away.

Too soon. Too soon.

Ellis blinked against the light.

Behind Carr, all she could see were trees.

Carr said, “We might as well get on with this unpleasantness.”

That’s when she saw the knife. Wide-bladed and wicked. The top edge was serrated—a hunter’s gutting tool.

Where was his gun?

There, in his waistband.

He crawled into the SUV and hovered over her. “Believe me when I tell you, I’m not going to enjoy this. But it has to look like Hollis finally got his revenge. And then he’ll be next.”

He slid the knife between her belly and the waistband of her jeans.

She wiggled and made as much noise as her muffled mouth would allow. She felt the bite of the knife in her skin.

“Hold still! You’re just making it more painful for yourself.”

With surprisingly little pressure, she heard the fabric split.

She continued to work the tape, trying not to give herself away with excessive body movement.

If he was going to assault her to make it look like Alexander had killed her, he would have to cut her legs free. She just had to wait. Be ready.

She stared at him, emitting a muffled mewling to cover any sound the tearing tape might make.

She flexed and relaxed her leg muscles, making sure there was blood flow. There would be only one opportunity to surprise him. Her legs had to work.

Then, contrary to what she’d been expecting, Carr hovered over her again.

“Goddammit, I can’t do this with you watching me like that.” He wrapped his hands around her neck and squeezed.

Nate disconnected the call. The police would be on their way.

The Mustang’s speedometer edged over ninety. He was nearly to the turn for the road that deadended at Belle Creek Plantation. He supposed there was some perverse logic that had made Carr take Ellis there.

According to Raymond, she was on the river a mile northeast of the house. The old rice mill.

Nate would have to drive past the house, then take what wasn’t much more than a horse trail the rest of the way.

He hoped the Mustang could make it over the rough terrain.

Dear God, don’t let me be too late
.

After her initial panicked struggle, Ellis regained control of her thoughts.

Fall limp. Let him think you’ve lost consciousness
.

It took more will than she knew she possessed to stop fighting for her life.

He eased pressure almost immediately when she stopped thrashing.

She held her breath to keep from sputtering and coughing.

She felt Carr slide off to her side.

Don’t move. Not until he unties your feet.

Finally, she felt him cutting the tape that bound her ankles.

Limp. Limp. Limp.

She allowed him to move her legs, setting her feet on the rear bumper.

He cut the remaining length of her jeans.

Wait. Wait. He’ll have to put down the knife.

Her muscles vibrated with the need to spring.

He muttered, “It’ll all be over soon.”

The SUV raised slightly when he got out.

Then she heard what she’d been waiting for, the sound of his belt unfastening.

Her muscles tensed. She opened her eyes.

He was right where she needed him to be.

In one quick move, she drew her legs up, arched her back, and thrust both feet out. The blow was dead on, catching him right at the base of his breastbone, sending a shock to the solar plexus.

He fell away, out of her line of sight.

She heard him gasping.

She yanked and twisted. One hand came free.

She sat and peeled the other wrist from the tape.

Where was the gun?

She pulled the tape from her mouth, taking a good chunk of skin with it.

The gun lay on the rear bumper.

She snatched it up, her left hand supporting her right, and jumped out of the vehicle.

Carr was curled on his side, holding his middle.

“Get up.” Her voice was raspy, and her lips stuck together.

“I . . . I cacan’t.”

“Sure you can. Tough guy like you. Get up.”

“I ca—”

She fired a shot into the ground, three feet from his head. He bent deeper into himself. A spray of dirt and sand littered his head and shoulders.

“Get. Up.”

Anger tightened her grip on the gun. “Do you want to die like that, curled up like a sniveling child?” She shifted her weight from foot to foot, her energy spiking as the realization grew of her power over Carr—the man who’d taken away her cousin.

Looking up from under his brow, he said, “You . . . can’t . . . ”

At that second, she realized not only
could
she kill him, but she wanted to. She’d never wanted anything so much in her life as to see his blood on this sandy ground.

And she could do it justifiably. No one would punish her, not after what he’d done.

Nate kept his speed up as he shot off the pavement onto the dirt track that led to the old mill. It was clear another vehicle had been through here recently.

He pressed the accelerator harder.

Please let her be alive.

Close. He was so close.

He heard a gunshot.

Oh, God, Ellis!

He cleared the trees. The ruins of the mill sat on the edge of a pond.

In front of the mill sat a Suburban.

Ellis stood behind its open cargo doors, in only her panties and shirt, holding a gun pointed at Carr’s head.

Alive.
The word bounced wildly around Nate’s mind. She was alive.

Carr knelt on the ground in front of her. Her gaze didn’t leave Carr as Nate slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car.

“Stay back!” Ellis shouted.

Nate skidded to a stop.

“Ellis,” Nate said softly. He was close enough to see the tears on her cheeks.

“Don’t try to stop me.”

“I won’t. But you don’t want to do this, baby.”

Her hands trembled. “I do.”

“You don’t know what it’s like knowing you’ve taken someone’s life.” Nate inched closer.

“He killed Laura.” Her voice was raspy. “Was going to kill me.” She sniffed.

“I know. But”—he put out his hand—“you don’t have to do it.” He paused. “I will.”

Ellis’s shocked gaze skittered to him and quickly back to Carr.

Nate continued closer. “Give me the gun, baby. If you want him dead, I’ll do it.”

Her hands shook more violently; tremors ran all the way up to her shoulders. Nate noticed the red and purple marks on her neck, and he
wanted
to kill him.

“Let me do it,” he urged, inching to her side.

He reached out and slowly took the gun from her hand. He kept it pointed at Carr.

The man looked up. Snot was running from his nose, and his mouth was twisted into something between horror and relief.

Nate sent a shot whizzing past his head.

Carr squealed like a frightened toddler.

Nate could feel the fury coming off Ellis. It drew all of his body hair to attention and snapped in each of his cells; standing next to her felt very much like being close to a lightning strike. The fact that she hadn’t reacted when he fired the shot told him all he needed to know.

Still, he said, “If this is what you want—”

“No.” Her voice was rough, and she was shivering. “That’s too easy for him. I’ll take a lesson from Alexander and choose punishment that will be the most painful.”

Nate took a deep breath. The disappointment he felt frightened him; maybe he was that base human being he’d once wished he was.

He kicked Carr over.

The man lay curled on his side, his cries sounding like a tortured kitten.

“Don’t you think about moving,” Nate said through clenched teeth.

“Ununcle Greg’s in the truck.” Ellis’s voice sounded like she was beginning to unravel.

Nate went to the open doors of the SUV and pulled the tarp off and checked him. Ellis stood in place, as if she didn’t have the strength left to move.

“He’s alive,” Nate said. “The ambulance is on its way.”

He turned back to her. She looked small and pale. Her hair was matted with sweat, her mascara had blackened her eyes, and there was an angry-looking rectangle of raw skin around her mouth.

But it was her trembling that completely undid him.

His insides whirled like a gyroscope set wildly into motion. His hand once again tightened on the gun; he had the almost uncontainable urge to shoot Carr anyway. Together, he and Alexander had stripped away the last precious thing Ellis had been holding on to—her sense of control. Nothing would ever repair the damage they’d done.

With his heart swelling so much he could barely swallow, Nate moved toward her, holding out his left arm.

Ellis came to his side. “Oh, my God, you’re hurt!”

“A scratch.” He pulled her to him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

He hugged her close, reassuring himself that she was safe in body, if not completely in spirit. Hot tears of relief flooded his eyes. The wail of sirens sounded in the distance.

And for the first time in over an hour, he filled his lungs with a clear breath.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY-THREE

I
t was ten o’clock that evening when Nate finally walked out of the sheriff’s department interrogation room. His questioning had taken hours due to the shooting in Justine Adams’s basement. In the end, his arm wound, along with Charleston PD’s verification that Alexander had been armed and fired, convinced the detective that Alexander’s death was self-defense.

Nate and Ellis had been separated as soon as the police arrived at the rice mill. Before parting, he’d told her of Alexander’s death. Her initial reaction had mirrored his own—relief mixed with disappointment that he wouldn’t stand before the families of his victims and the law.

The hours away from Ellis had been interminable. Even with the danger to her passed, his need to be near her ran through him like an electric current, making him pace the little room like an agitated animal. His entire body ached to hold her close, to breathe her scent, to feel her heart beat against his own.

Ellis was probably with her family, safe. With that thought, Nate felt like the outsider he truly was. He didn’t fit in her life. She didn’t fit in his. But at this moment, none of that mattered. He would go to wherever she was and wrap her in his arms, assure himself she was all right.

He walked toward the front of the station, rolling the kinks out of his shoulders. The building was nighttime quiet. As he walked through the door that led to the station’s lobby, he dialed Ellis’s cell.

Before he put the phone to his ear, he heard her distinct ring. He looked up and saw her sitting near the front door.

She answered her phone and stood to face him. “Hey, you.”

The rest of the world became a blur, a smudge of light and color; Nate could see nothing but her face. She hurried across the lobby and hurled herself at him. He caught her and held tight.

“Oh, baby,” he said against her ear. “You’re safe. Safe forever.”

She let out a noise that was a half-laugh, half-sob.

For a long while, they just stood there holding each other tight.

Then she looked up at him, an inviting smile on her face. “Can I interest you in a long hot coed shower?”

“You’re enough to tempt the devil,” he said, and then gave her a quick kiss.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” She linked her fingers through his, and they walked out of the police station.

Once behind the condo’s closed door, Nate took Ellis in his arms and kissed her until he was the only light in her universe.

When he drew away, his eyes looked sad. “I have to leave tomorrow. And I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“I know that.”

He sighed. “I don’t want you to think I’d be going if I had a choice.”

She reached out and grabbed his face, pulling him close. Against his lips, she said, “Stop talking and make love to me.” She sucked teasingly on his lower lip. “And since you’re leaving tomorrow, you’d better make it good.”