She reached out and grabbed the wheel and the car swerved wildly. Rafe cursed as he brought it back under control, along with his temper. 'You and I are going to Vermont. Now you can either waste the next three hours shouting at me or trying to kill us both, or you can enjoy the ride. I'd prefer to enjoy the ride.' He reached out and pushed a CD into the player. The sound of classical music filled the car.
Just as quickly, Keely reached out and shut it off. 'What do you think you're going to accomplish with this?'
'I don't know yet.'
'You can talk at me all you want and it's not going to change my mind. I'm still not going to believe my father capable of murder. Or do you think you'll gain an advantage by kidnapping me, that my family will somehow suffer because of it?'
Rafe glanced her way, then chuckled. 'Your family doesn't know you exist. It might be hard to collect a ransom on a daughter Seamus Quinn doesn't even know he has. Besides, I'm not after ransom. I have plenty of money.'
'Then what?'
'Time,' Rafe said. He reached over and turned up the volume on the CD player.
But Keely was far from done with him. She pressed the Eject button on the CD player and when the CD popped out, she tossed it into the back seat. 'I'm not going to let you get away with this. The first time this car stops, I'm going to jump out. And then I'm going to call the police and have you arrested.'
He glanced over his shoulder as he changed lanes, the car accelerating smoothly. 'The one thing I required when I decided on vacation property was that it had to be quick to get to. You'll find it interesting that there isn't a single stop sign between here and my place on Aspen Lake. Really quite amazing, don't you think?'
Keely gritted her teeth and then growled in frustration. He had an answer for everything. God, why hadn't she noticed before what a smug bastard he really was? She eyed the car phone and wondered if she might dial 911 before he had a chance to take it from her.
But Rafe saw what she was looking at and grabbed the phone. He unhooked the cord with one hand, then rolled down the window and tossed it out. 'You can add littering to that charge of kidnapping,' he said.
Keely slouched down in the seat. She wasn't going to win this round. But she had three hours to plot her escape. Once she did that, she'd capitalize on the first opportunity that presented itself. And in the process, she'd make Rafe Kendrick pay for everything he'd done to her. For those long, deep kisses and those earth-shattering orgasms. For those quiet conversations over dinner and for the fun and games in the shower. For making her doubt her loyalty to the Quinns. For everything he made her…feel.
But as she thought about her own revenge, Keely wondered if she'd be the one paying the greatest price. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she had fallen in love with Rafe Kendrick. And that could be the most costly mistake she'd ever made.
BY THE TIME they reached the cabin, Rafe was ready to unlock the doors and let Keely jump out of the speeding car of her own free will. She'd been nothing but a shrew and a harpy and a royal pain in the ass the entire way to Aspen Lake and he seriously wondered at his decision to bring her to his weekend getaway. But all her demands for an explanation and threats of retribution didn't seem to quell his desire to strip her naked and make wild, uninhibited love to her.
In truth, the reason he hadn't answered her questions was that he didn't have answers yet. He wasn't sure why he'd decided to kidnap her, only that he was certain if he let her out of his sight again, something disastrous might happen. And trying to keep Keely locked in his apartment until he pleaded his case with her would be damn near impossible. At Aspen Lake they'd have the peace and quiet to sort everything out. And when he was satisfied that she understood his side of the story, they'd return to Boston.
The driveway into the cabin was difficult to find during the summer months, but in the dark of a winter night, it was nearly impossible. He slowed the car as they were getting close then spotted the wooden sign tacked up on a tree. 'Kendrick' was all it said. Rafe carefully maneuvered the car between the snowbanks, then down a long hill to the cabin, which was set on the shore of the lake.
He glanced over at Keely to find her studying the surroundings carefully-no doubt planning her escape. But Kencor owned all the property around the lake as well as the lake itself. 'The nearest neighbors are at least two miles away,' he said. 'And they're summer residents. You've got a four-mile walk into town, if you can find your way.'
The cabin hadn't been opened since Labor Day. Snow crusted the roof and icicles hung from the eaves, but the caretaker had managed to plow the drive and shovel the porch since Rafe's call. The porch light beamed brightly, welcoming them and reflecting the snowflakes that had begun to fall.
Rafe parked the car, then reached over and opened the glove compartment. He pulled out a flashlight. 'We're here.' He pushed open his door and stepped outside.
Keely refused to get out of the car, stubbornly staring straight ahead, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Rafe circled to her side, opened the door, then dragged her out. 'Come with me. I have something to show you.' She trudged along beside him, eyeing the dark woods on either side of the path and struggling through deep snow.
'Where are we going now? Are you going to tie me to a tree so I can't escape?'
He stopped and considered her suggestion with a dramatic pause. 'Not a bad idea. But the wolves and grizzlys would get you within the hour. I have a much better way to keep you here.' They walked up the snow-covered path to a small shack with a crescent moon cut in the door. 'This is the outhouse.' Rafe pulled open the door. 'And these are my car keys,' he added, dangling them in front of her nose. 'If you have any notion of driving yourself out of here, let me assure you, that's not going to happen.' With precise aim, he tossed the keys through the hole and listened as they landed ten feet below with a slight jangle. 'We leave when I say we leave.'
Keely's eyes went wide. 'How are we going to get out of here?' She took a step over to the hole and peered down into the darkness. Rafe handed her the flashlight and she shined it downward until she was convinced that the keys were irretrievable. 'You're crazy,' she murmured. 'You throw away the phone, you throw away the keys. What if there's an emergency?'
Rafe snatched the flashlight from her hands. 'There's always smoke signals.' He started back down the path and was pleased when Keely followed close at his heels, obviously afraid of the wolves and the grizzlys, animals that hadn't been seen in this area of Vermont for years.
As he'd requested, the cabin had been stocked with firewood and a fire blazed in the large fieldstone fireplace. Though he had the luxury of electricity and running water inside the cabin, he hadn't gotten around to putting in a septic system. For a single guy, the outhouse hadn't posed a major problem, but Keely, his first female guest at Aspen Lake, might feel differently.
'Go ahead,' he said. 'Look around. The kitchen is back there. There are two bedrooms.' He pointed to the doors on either side of the fireplace. 'Take your pick.'
Rafe sat down on the sofa in front of the fire and warmed his feet as he watched Keely wander through the cabin. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, trying to fight off a yawn. All he needed was just a few moments of silence and he'd be all right. But the sound of the backdoor opening brought him to his feet.
She was already out the door by the time he reached the kitchen. Rafe sprinted out into the darkness, slipping on the snow-covered steps and bumping down the last two on his ass. He stood up and tried to regain his balance, but twisted his ankle in the process, going down hard for a second time and hitting his head on the railing for the steps.
'Sonofabitch!' he shouted as he struggled to his feet, his voice echoing in the silent woods. He tested the ankle and decided it wasn't broken. But there was no way he'd catch Keely now. Rafe cursed himself for even letting her out of his sight. With the cold and the snow and the dark, she was sure to lose herself in the woods. And when she was found frozen to death tomorrow morning, he'd be to blame.
Rafe felt something warm on his forehead and he reached up and came away with damp fingertips. By the light from the open door, he saw blood. 'Sonofabitch!' he repeated. He sat down on the step and pressed his palm to the cut on his forehead.
'Are you all right?'
The voice came from behind a nearby tree. 'Keely?'
'Well, are you?'
'No,' Rafe lied. 'I think I broke my ankle. And I have a bad cut on my head. I'm bleeding, for chrissakes.'
