hoping to stay hidden from me. Ha! You underestimated me. All of you did.'
Sharae shuddered at the sinister tone in Joe's voice. It was something she had never heard before. And it scared her. How could she have lived with this man and not seen this side to him?
He went into the living room and searched through Angel's toy box, returning with a padded leather blindfold. “Lights out, babe. Don't want you seeing where we're going.'
He strapped the blindfold on and her world went dark. She could hear him moving and wondered what he was doing. She heard muffled shrieks that could only be from Megan or the other blonde. She heard doors opening and closing several times, and finally realized Joe was carrying all the girls out.
At last, he came for her. She screeched in pain as he picked her up by the rope connecting her hands to her ankles. He carried her out that way and tossed her into his vehicle. She sighed in relief when the excruciating pressure was released from her limbs.
Joe got in the van, humming. “My, my. Three beautiful women all tied up in the back of my van. How did I get so lucky?'
Wait a minute, thought Sharae. Three women? He must have missed the blonde. He didn't realize she was there. He only knew about Angel, Megan and herself. Maybe the blonde would get loose and get help. But no, that wasn't likely, knowing how securely Preston tied his girls. The poor thing would just struggle until… Sharae didn't want to think about it.
Her shoulders sagged. She was once again Joe's prisoner, headed back to his house of pain along with Angel and Megan. She shuddered to think what they faced once they got there.
Megan tried to get comfortable in the chair, but it was none too easy the way Joe had tied her. This day had already been the weirdest one in her life and it just kept getting weirder. Her brother-in-law had always been a little flaky, but she never dreamed he was so seriously disturbed.
First he finally agreed to do it with her. That was fine. Jon was away, and she'd always thought Joe was cute. But then he attacked her, then handed her over to some other lunatic with a house full of bound women. Then he bursts in, shoots the lunatic, and takes all the women to this cabin.
She twisted her head, to see if he was finished securing the other girls. He treated the other ones so rough, but he'd been very nice to her for some reason. Almost gentlemanly-not that it stopped him from tying her to this goddamn chair. At last he returned and sat down in front of her.
“Megan, I'm so sorry about all this,” he said. “Are you all right? Are you comfortable?'
“Mmmppff!” she complained. No, you idiot! I'm not comfortable.
“It'll be okay as soon as we get to Mexico. You'll see. I'll take care of you. I just hope the baby's all right. The way Preston slugged you. God!'
“Emmee ho!'
“No, I can't let you go. But… how about if I take out your gag?'
“Eff!” She nodded vigorously.
“You won't scream, will you?'
“Uh uh.'
He worked at the buckle and pried the ball from her mouth.
“What is going on???” she screamed. “Have you lost your mi-'
He clamped his hand over her mouth. “I told you not to scream,” he said loosening his grip slightly.
“Okay, okay. I won't shout. But what are you doing, Joe?'
“Well, I was going to have you sold as a-'
“Sold?'
“Yes, as a sex slave. I mean, you always acted so slutty, it only seemed natural. I figured Jon would be better off without you, and I knew Preston was in the business. But then when I realized you were pregnant, I decided-'
“Pregnant?'
“Yeah. Megan, I know about the baby. When I found out, that's when I decided to get you back and take you and the baby to Mexico. We'll bring the other girls, too. It'll be great.'
Megan's head was swimming. She didn't know where to start. He was going to have her sold? And he thought she was pregnant?
“But right now,” he continued, “I'm just worried about the baby.
I-'
“Joe!” she said firmly, trying not to shout. “Time out.” She looked him in the eye. he felt silly having this conversation with him while she was trussed up like Lois Lane, but he wasn't willing to negotiate on that point. “Let's start with the baby. I'm not pregnant-repeat-not pregnant.'
“But-but, I went through your purse. I found the shower notice.'
She couldn't help laughing. “That's for the baby we're adopting. Jon told you all about it. Or at least he said he did.'
Joe's face went blank. She could almost see him trying to process the new information.
“So, you're not pregnant?” he concluded at last.
“That's right.'
“So I shot Preston for nothing? No, wait! Not for nothing. The son of a bitch still took Sharae away from me. He deserved to die, the bastard!” Joe's face flushed with anger suddenly. “And you! You're just as bad. Making me think you were pregnant. Well, it doesn't matter now, you teasing little slut. I'll just sell you myself. Or keep you. Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll just keep all four of you teasing, lying bitches!'
“No, Joe. You have to let us go. You can't-'
“Shut the fuck up!” He slapped her and forced the ball-gag back into her mouth. “That's right. Just shut up like the other ones. Oh man, this is going to be so goddamn cool. I got four slaves for the price of two, and it's gonna be a fuck-fest every day from now on.” He eyed Megan's tightly bound form. She shrank beneath his stare. “Starting right now with you.'
CHAPTER 30
Preston didn't know how it felt to be hit by a train, but he figured he had a pretty good idea now. He also had a good notion of how lucky he was. He'd had a feeling Joe would pull some kind of stunt at Megan's and went prepared, wearing his bulletproof vest. Fortunately, he hadn't taken it off by the time Joe showed up shooting first and asking questions… well, he never did ask any questions.
Despite the pain he was in, Preston felt lucky that the first shot had taken a gouge out of his shoulder. The spattered blood from that shot helped hide the fact there was no blood from the second one.
The worst part of the entire ordeal had been playing dead, especially when Angel returned home. He had to lie there, hoping Joe wouldn't notice his occasional breaths, while he listened to his precious Angel beaten and subdued.
At the moment, though, he needed to dress his wound. He grunted in pain. Just getting to his feet was an effort. The second shot had caught him square in the chest, and the impact may have cracked a rib or two. Each breath he took was accompanied by stabbing pains.
One step at a time, he found his way to the bathroom. As he passed by one of the bedrooms, he paused to catch his breath. He heard a shuffling noise and froze, praying Joe hadn't come back and to check on his kill. No, it sounded like a woman moaning. And it came from the bedroom, where he had Suzy tied up. Why would Joe leave her behind? It didn't make sense.
Cautiously, he opened the door and peered in. Sure enough, the girl still dangled precariously in the strappado he'd left her in. He stepped into the room and she lifted her head and stared at him, a look of terror on her face. For
