Braden was on his way to the bank. Evan stayed home with Vicky, waiting and listening. Kane took the farm phone and kept Evan on the line. He knew she was calling before it rang.
“Peyton?” He wanted her to know he expected to hear her on the other end of the phone.
“Kane. He wants me to tell you to meet him at the overlook five miles down the road from the Picturesque Inn. He says he’ll call you with further instructions or meet you there in one hour.”
“Baby, I’ll be there. Peyton?”
“I love you, Kane.”
The line went dead. He didn’t get to tell her he loved her enough to die for her He didn’t get to tell her he’d die before he’d let anything happen to her.
He tossed the phone on the seat beside him and gunned it. He flew past a cop running radar and never even saw him there. “Damn! Damn! Damn!” He held the other phone to his ear and told Evan. “I’ve got company.”
“Pull over and tell him what’s going on but warn we have to play things our way. Who is it?”
“Dunno. It looks like it might be that guy you went to school with.”
“Pete?”
“Yeah, him.”
Kane pulled over and sure enough, Pete got out of the car.
“Kane, where the hell are you going like a bat out of hell?”
“Pete, we got some trouble. Here’s Evan. He’s gonna explain things to you.”
Pete took Kane’s phone and began shaking his head. “I know Evan but we can handle this. You have to understand, every cop in the county is looking for him. What him and his daddy did to all those people and the volleyball coach. Yeah. I understand. I just can’t let him handle it on his own. Yeah, well, this is a matter for the police. I know. I-”
Kane didn’t even have to ask. Evan was paying him hush money. By the expression on Pete’s face, a lot of it. He’d guess Pete just became a millionaire or close to it.
“Five hundred thousand is plenty enough. More than generous.”
Close to it worked for him.
Pete handed him the phone back. “I’m riding over with you. Give me one second.” Pete went back to his vehicle, grabbed a few things, including his gun and jumped in Kane’s truck.
“What do you know?” He pulled back on the road and hit the speaker function so Pete stayed abreast of what they had so far.
Evan filled them in again. “As soon as the call disconnected, Peyton took a slap for telling you she loved you. Then he told her they were going to the Picturesque Inn. Vicky used to work there. She says there are fifty rooms, all of them offer an adjoining room feature. They usually have about a fifty percent occupancy rate which means for what Stephen has in mind, we need luck on our side to get in the room next to theirs.”
Pete started dialing. “I happen to know the gals up there. I can get us what we need.”
“Leave Vicky there. Tell her to lock the doors. Get up here now, Evan.”
“Kane, listen. He’s going to leave the windows open and fuck her while you watch.”
“You mean rape her?”
“Yeah. He’s going to call you and tell you to meet them there instead of the overlook. He plans to have her tied to the bed by the time you get there. He’s going to ask you to leave the money in her car, and he’s still sketchy on the rest. This could go bad. Real bad.”
“Not if we’re in the room next to him,” Pete said.
“Did you hear that?” Kane asked.
“Yeah. It doesn’t matter. Kane… no mistakes.”
“Don’t worry little brother. Those picture windows allow for an incredible view but I won’t be on the outside looking in. I’ll promise you.”
Braden had the money, in case they needed it. They wouldn’t. The front desk called about the time Evan slipped into the room. Pete and Kane were armed and ready.
The girls at the desk managed to get housekeeping in the room they assigned just in time to unlock the door. If by chance Stephen noticed the lock wasn’t bolted, they had the master key to get in there. Either way, Stephen’s plans were now shot to hell.
They heard the door bang against the wall and realized right away, plans were going better than expected. The older hotel had thin walls, and every peep made in the rooms was shared between the two.
Kane realized it placed them at a disadvantage too and quickly put his cell on silent but he held it in his palm waiting for the call. Realizing the second the call was made, Peyton faced immediate danger.
“I don’t like this,” Evan said. “He may rape her before he makes the call. Sick bastard might-”
“Keep your ear to the wall,” Kane said. “She’s not going to get raped today.” Hell, she might later tonight. ‘Course Kane realized where she was concerned it would be the willing who raped the willing.
Kane heard them talking back and forth. “What are they saying?” “Peyton is provoking him,” Braden said. “What the fuck is she doing?” “I don’t know, but it’s not good,” Pete chimed in, and Evan gripped his gun tighter. Evan frowned. “If she doesn’t watch herself, the only cock we’re going to need to worry about is the one heard from a gun.”
Chapter 28
“You push men for sport, huh?” Stephen stared at her.
“I don’t push anyone. I live my life and mind my own business. You might try it sometime. You know, breathe and let breathe. Something your daddy must’ve misunderstood.”
“You want to die today, don’t ‘cha?”
“Not particularly but I’d die before I’d watch you put a bullet in the man I love.” Peyton already realized somewhere along the way, Stephen’s plans were already blown to kingdom come.
She saw Braden’s truck when they pulled into the hotel. Kane’s had been abandoned a mile down the road. Evan pulled in right behind them and then drove right by them unnoticed.
“I’d actually like to help you, if you’d let me,” Peyton said with a soft voice.
“Then help by sucking my cock,” he said. “It’s the only thing a gal like you can do.”
“You probably can’t even get it hard,” she said as she looked at her fingernails. She didn’t know why but she had a sudden need to provoke him. She wanted to get this over with, and the sooner he dialed Kane’s number, the sooner she could start putting all of this behind her regardless of the outcome.
She glanced at the door to the adjoining room and noticed it was unlocked. In an instant, she realized the imminent end. Her captor didn’t know what kind of men he was messing with or what extremes they went to in order to keep her safe. With only one gun visible, the one he laid down on the bathroom vanity, Peyton saw her chance and took it.
Everything happened so fast once Peyton realized the adjoining room was unlocked. She saw it as her best opportunity to get Stephen pre-occupied enough for the Cartwells to come through the door and evade an exchange of gunfire.
“Help! Help!” She flung herself against the front hotel room door and took him by surprise. He quickly jumped up and pressed her against it before he struck her to the floor. Three men attacked him and wrestled him to the floor. Peyton cried out in agony as he grabbed her ankle still trying to hold onto her as Kane, Evan, and Braden held him down.
