Still, she wouldnt just meekly go along with whatever his plans were. Shed fight back. Her best weapon was surpriseand tears. She hated the idea of using tears to manipulate a man, but like it or not, shed found that when she cried, men would bend over backward to do whatever it took to make her stop.
She was too terrified to actually cry right at that moment, but she could do a good job faking it. She started in with a few sniffles, a quiet sob or two; then she started bawling like a hungry calf.
Hey. Hey, stop that! Travis objected.
I d-dont w-want to d-die!
Did anyone say anything about dying?
That was good news at least. Ill do whatever you sayjust dont hurt me. She kept sniveling, though not quite as loudly as before. When he finally got to wherever he was taking her, he would expect to find a terrified, cowed, cooperative hostage. Her hand closed around the wrench. Was he in for a surprise.
* * *
ONCE TRAVIS WAS a couple of miles from Daniel Logans estate and on the freeway with a lot of other cars, he could breathe again. There were no red lights or sirens behind him.
He couldnt believe what hed just done. Had he lost his mind completely? Kidnapping was a felony. With his record, he would end up in prison for sure, and a good, long stint this time, in a state penitentiary. Not the cushy county lockup.
For a second he wavered. His brother wouldnt want...Hell, no going back now. Hed done it. Might as well make it count for something.
He wasnt sure his actions hadnt been caught on video, but his car had been parked some distance from the gate, so he might have lucked out. Of course, Daniel would know soon enough that his pretty employee had been kidnapped. But Travis wanted to orchestrate exactly when and how Daniel found out. First, he had to stash Elena someplace where she couldnt escape and where her screams for help wouldnt be heard. He couldnt take her homethat was the first place the police would look.
Travis thought about it for a few minutes until the perfect solution came to him. There was a house hed recently started work on, a foreclosed property in a five-year-old gated community just off Bissonet in swanky Bellaire. The former owners had trashed the place before vacatingout of frustration and spite, he supposed. It had to be tough, losing your home and everything you put into it. The developer had hired Travis to fix it up before they put it on the market.
The house, on picturesquely named Marigold Circle, sat on a double lot in a cul-de-sac and backed up to a creek. There were no close neighbors. The walls were thick, the windows triple-glass thermals. You could set off a bomb inside and no one would hear. Anyway, this wasnt the kind of neighborhood where people gave a crap what their neighbors did. Most people there didnt even know their neighbors names.
Another advantage of this location was that it couldnt be connected to Travis by any paper trail. He didnt write anything down. His schedule, the address of the house, everything was in his head. He hadnt yet received any written work orders. His client was logged into his phone, but so were a hundred other contacts the police would have to check out.
He only needed one day, maybe two. If this harebrained plan hadnt worked by then, it wasnt going to work at all. Either way, hed be off to jail when it was over.
Travis had a passkey to get him through the neighborhood gate. He entered the back way, where there wasnt a guard. The fewer people who saw him here, the better.
The trickiest part would be getting Elena from the truck to the house. The garage wasnt accessible; the former owners had stripped the house of everything valuable that wasnt nailed down, and some things that were, including the garage door opener. The door was too heavy to lift manually.
Travis pulled around to the back of the house. Elena had gone awfully quiet; he was worried about her. Though hed tried not to be too rough with her when hed grabbed her, hed been in an awful hurry. What if shed hit her head when he was driving so crazy, making all those sharp turns?
He got out and unlocked the hatch, then slowly opened it. Elena?
Suddenly something flew straight at his face. A crescent wrench? He tried to duck, but it whacked him on the forehead and he was stunned for a moment. Unfortunately, during that moment, his hostage rolled out of the truck, gained her feet and started running and screaming for help.
Travis was after her like a dog after a rabbit. She hadnt gone five steps before he grabbed her and clamped a hand over her mouth.
No, no, Elena, shhh!
She tried to bite his hand as he dragged her toward the back door. God, she was all sharp elbows and heels and...and breasts. Yes, as hed grappled with her, trying to get a more secure grip on her, hed accidentally copped a feel. Nice. Lets add sexual assault to the charges.
She grabbed on to the door frame as he tried to pull her inside. A brief tug-of-war ensued, but her muscles were no match for his and her grip gave way. They both tumbled into the hallway onto a damnably hard tile floor. He took the brunt of the fall.
Would you just knock it off? Youre only making things worse for yourself.
Im supposed to just let you kidnap me?
He wanted to reassure her that she was in no danger, that hed never harmed a woman in his life and he wasnt about to start with her. But he resisted the temptation. He needed to keep her scared and cooperative.
Somehow he regained his feet. Before she could wiggle out of his grasp he leaned down, placed his shoulder against her midsection and hoisted her up into a firemans hold.
She was still kicking and screaming, but her arms were flailing against his back where they couldnt do much damage, and he had a firm arm around her legs. He also had an enticing view of her rounded bottom, but he felt guilty as hell about his attraction to a woman he was using in such an ill way.
What to do with her now? He didnt want to tie her up. That seemed so unnecessarily cruel, so Snidely Whiplash. He needed to lock her up in a room with no windows, so she couldnt escape or break a window and scream for help. The walk-in pantry could work. With a chair, and maybe a pillow and blanket, she wouldnt be too uncomfortable. He carried her into the kitchen.
Damn it. One of the pantry doors was broken. Even if he latched it from the outside, Elena could probably collapse the door if she threw herself against it a few times. And what if she needed to go to the bathroom?
Then he had a thought. The master bathit was huge. Luxurious. And it had no windows except the skylights, which were far too high for her to break.
Elenas movements had all but stopped. The blood is rushing to my head. Figure out where youre going to put me and do it already.
Hmm. She didnt really sound that scared anymore. In fact, she sounded mad. Had she seen through him? Had she figured out he wouldnt hurt her?
He carried her through the living room, where red paint stained the carpet and someone had defaced the marble fireplace with a hammer and chisel.
What happened to this place? Elena didnt sound like a terrified hostage should.
He didnt answer. He didnt want to get chummy with the woman. He didnt want to get to know her. If he started to see her as a person, rather than part of the system keeping his brother in prison, he would find it impossible to mistreat her like this.
He didnt answer. He didnt want to get chummy with the woman. He didnt want to get to know her. If he started to see her as a person, rather than part of the system keeping his brother in prison, he would find it impossible to mistreat her like this.
This isnt your house, is it? she tried again. Hey, you know, this is really uncomfortable. Maybe you could let me walk. I wont try to run again. Obviously, I cant get away from you.
She was trying to lull him into a false sense of security. Hed give her creditshe wasnt stupid. He suspected the tears and hysteria had been calculated to manipulate him, too. Well, no dice. He wasnt falling for it.
The master suite was down a short hallway off the living room. This was the first room Travis had worked on, and it was pretty much finished. Hed replaced several sections of the hardwood floor, which the former owners had gouged with an ax, and installed a new light fixture. The walls had required a gallon of paint to get rid of stains left by permanent markers. Now that hed repainted it in the neutral off-white his client had requested, it didnt look half-bad.
The bathroom was in pretty good shape, except for a chunk broken out of the sink, probably with a sledgehammer. Travis was going to try his hand at porcelain repair rather than replace the whole sink. Hed heard about a new product that produced amazing results.
Hell, why was he even thinking about that? Hed never get the chance to finish this job. Hed be in jail.
Travis set Elena down. She balled up her fist and hit him in the shoulder, rightfully pissed off. But as she shook off the pain in her own handit had probably hurt her more than it had hurt himher face instantly transformed from anger to dismay.
Youre bleeding! She sounded horrified.
What?
Look at your face! She stood aside so he could go to the mirror and look, and damned if he didnt almost do it. She would have slipped out the door right behind him.
Instead, he put his hand to his forehead and felt moisture. When he drew it back, his fingers were indeed covered with blood.
Well, what do you expect when you throw a wrench at someone? He realized now that his forehead still throbbed where the wrench had hit him.
You are not making me feel one bit guilty. I would have hit you with a hundred wrenches if Id had them. She winced. Does it hurt?
What do you think? He caught his reflection in the glass shower enclosure; he did look like a horror movie victim. Revenge of the Wrench Throwers. He probably should clean the cut and patch it up. Lord only knew what sort of germs had been lurking on that wrench.
He joined Elena in the luxurious bathroom and closed the door. Then he sat down on the carpet with his back to the door. She would have to go through him to get out.
How about you see if the people who used to live here left anything behind in the way of first-aid supplies. The guy whod hired Travis said the former owners had moved out in the middle of the night, taking whatever they could haul or carry that was valuable but leaving behind some cheap furnishings. Travis had already cleared out most of the furniture and sold it to a used furniture dealer.
So maybe the former owners had left something useful.
You think Im going to play nurse? Elena huffed. Think again.
You dont have to play nurse. Just hand me the stuff. Ill do it myself. The sooner you help me, the sooner Ill leave you alone and go take care of businessthe business that will get you released.
Fine. She went to the linen cupboard first and found a clean washcloth, which she soaked with warm water and handed to him. You can use that to clean off the blood, at least.
He scrubbed his face and neck with the washcloth while she rummaged around in the cabinets and drawers. Then he gingerly dabbed at the cut. Now that his adrenaline had spent itself, he was feeling the pain. Shed really walloped him. He was lucky she hadnt knocked him unconscious.
If you find any aspirin, he said, Ill start with that.
Aspirin will make you bleed more. She handed him a bottle of Tylenol. Try that.
Thanks. He shook out a couple of the pills and swallowed them dry.
I was going to get you some water. But I dont see a glass.
Its okay. What did you find? Any first-aid cream or bandages? What he needed was stitches. The cut was still bleeding.
Found some alcohol.
Not what he was hoping for. That would burn like hellfire. But he supposed he better bite the bullet and use it if he didnt want an infection.
What else?
Youre in luck. Butterfly bandages.
Except how was he supposed to apply them to himself?
She dumped everything shed found on the floor beside him, including some cotton balls. Then she closed the lid on the toilet and sat down, her arms folded, pointedly ignoring him.
He started with the alcohol, soaking a cotton ball and swabbing the cut. He did his best to remain stoic, because his ego wouldnt allow him to cry like a baby in front of a woman. But she had to hear his sharp intake of breath. It was like being branded.
I hope it hurts terribly, she said.
It does. Thank you for your concern.
She peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. Good. But she looked worried. And as he tried to apply a butterfly bandage, squeezing the cut closed with one hand and maneuvering the bandage with the other, she frowned at his ineptitude. The cut ran close to his hairline, making it even more difficult.
She stood up and took off her jacket. Oh, for pitys sake, just let me do it.
He should have said no. Letting Elena get her hands on his injured self when she seemed to enjoy his pain wasnt a logical move. But blood was dripping down his forehead and he wondered if the injury was more serious than hed thought. And he certainly wasnt having any luck himself. Hed already wrecked two of the four available butterflies.
Elena brought a box of tissues with her and knelt beside him. She used a wad of tissues to wipe away the blood, and then quickly, efficiently closed the cut with the butterflies.
Its not too bad, only about an inch long. She sounded like a concerned nurse. Its not bleeding very much now. Im going to put this big bandage on it, but you might want to apply pressure for a little longer.
Okay.
She did as promised. She had surprisingly gentle hands. Her breasts were right at his eye level, and he studied them leisurely. Not overly large, but not small, either, they were about the size of large, ripe peaches. Her blue dress was fairly modest, not displaying much in the way of cleavage, but he could still see the outline of those luscious breasts. She smelled good, too, like cinnamon and nutmeg.
If he focused on the pleasant sights and scents of Elena, he found that his head didnt hurt too much.
I get the feeling youve patched up people before, he said, hoping to get her talking. Her voice was pleasant, tooas long as she wasnt yelling at him.
When I was younger, I had to deal with lots of injuries. My dad and older brothers would come home from the sugarcane fields with scratches and cuts, and my mother and grandmother and I would get out the iodine.
Iodine. Now that stuff hurts.
It was what we had on hand.
Was this in Mexico?