Vengeance (Oak Grove Suspense Book 1) (21 page)

“Fix your hair. Am I clear?” I just nod, covering my face. “Don’t disobey me again.” He slams the door.

I lie there for a few minutes to gain control of myself. I feel foolish, scared, lonely, and sad. I want Ryan. I need him so badly. I need to find a way out of here. I eventually get up and go to the bathroom. I haven’t a clue how to fix my hair like it’s the 1950’s, so I put it up in a simple bun.

I go to the bedroom door and turn the nob. It’s unlocked, surprisingly. There’s a hallway before me. On my left is a small door, most likely a linen closet. On my right is a longer hallway leading to an opening, a foyer area. There are two open doorways off the foyer, both look like living room areas, but the larger room appears to be connected to a dining room, so I head that way. In the dining room, there’s a door to a kitchen. Mathis and Trevor sit talking at the small kitchen table.

“Ah, good. You found your way. It’s late, so I think sandwiches would be fine,” Trevor tells me. I nod and head over to the fridge to gather the supplies. “I don’t like mayonnaise. I’ll take a turkey and cheese on wheat, with lettuce, tomatoes, and onion. Mustard is fine.” He resumes talking to Mathis, but then speaks to me again, “Oh, toast the bread and I’ll take potato salad. I bought some this time, but you’ll make it from scratch the next time I want it.” I just nod my head and set to work on his sandwich. Tears fill my eyes, but I try desperately to keep them at bay.

When I’m finished, I set it on the table in front of him. As I start to pull away, he grabs my wrist, making me flinch, but he simply presses a kiss to my flesh. “Thank you, sweetheart. Now ask Jason what he’d like to eat?” I turn to Mathis, who is smiling up at me.

“Would you like something to eat?”

He stares at me for a long moment, then says, “Yes, but I can’t have what I want.” I shiver in disgust. “I’ll just have the same, but I like mayo.”

I nod and turn back to the counter to fix his food. While I’m “cooking” he calls Ryan and torments him with news of me. Trevor punches him in the arm every time he says something about how I look, but when I set the plate in front of him, he asks me to kiss him. I look at Trevor and he touches his cheek. So with tears streaming down my face, I move to kiss Mathis’ cheek, but at the last second he turns and kisses my lips. I hurry to the sink and wash my lips. Trevor punches a laughing Mathis in the face, making him drop his phone and end the call.

“I told you she’s mine! You have no right kissing her,” Trevor roars.

Mathis holds his hands up in defeat as he laughs. “Calm down, cousin. I won’t do it again. You’re just too easy to get a rise out of; I couldn’t resist.”

I’m still standing at the sink when I feel hands touch my shoulders. I jump. “Are you all right?” Trevor asks me softly. I nod, though I'm anything but all right. “He won’t hurt you.” He kisses my neck behind my ear. “You smell so good. I knew I’d love that soap.” A small sob bursts through my lips. “Shh, I won’t hurt you. I won’t do anything against your will, but I know one day you’ll love me. One day you’ll want me as much as I want you.”

“You're keeping me here against my will,” I tell him. He inhales sharply. “I'm sorry,” I add quickly, afraid he'll hit me again. My whole backside is throbbing in pain.

He rubs my arms softly. “I told you, I don't want to hurt you. I have issues with my temper, Shayla. I'm not a perfect man. My intentions are good. I don't want you unhappy. I know if you give it a chance, you'll like it here. Come, I'll show you.”

He takes my hand and directs me to the door. He hands me my coat; I cling to it like a life line. It's mine, and as crazy as it might sound, I never want to take it off. I feel shielded. He opens the door and pulls me outside. I say pull because he's not casually holding my hand, he is pulling me along like an errant child.

Outside it's dark, but the moon is so bright you can clearly see for miles. I hold back my tears. We are in the middle of nowhere. All I see is open land and trees off in the distance. I'd never make it to them if I were being chased. There's nowhere to hide, nowhere to go. I'm truly trapped here without means of escape.

“Beautiful, isn't it?” Trevor asks happily. I nod. It is beautiful. “I figured you could plant a garden in the spring if you wanted. There's even a spot for a strawberry patch. I know how much you love strawberries.” He leans towards me and I freeze. He pays me no attention as he presses a kiss to my neck again. “You miss your son?” he asks softly.

I turn to look at him. To someone who didn't know, they'd think he was a caring boyfriend. He looks at me like I'm the greatest love in his life. It's kind of sad that he couldn't have found someone who could feel the same about him. It makes no sense why a handsome, educated man couldn't find love with someone who could love him in return versus doing things because they want to avoid punishment. Believe me, I will avoid that as much as possible.

“I do,” I answer.

“Not for long,” he tells me, smiling brightly.

I look at him with wide horror filled eyes. “No, please don't bring him here.”

“Why not? You miss him. I want you happy.”

“I do miss him, but I had him for fifteen years. Ryan should have a turn.” My explanation is lame, but hopefully it will be enough.

Anger fills his eyes. Before I can blink, he backhands me so hard that I cry out and fall to my knees. “Don't you ever say his name again, do you understand me?” I nod frantically as I hold my cool palm to my cheek.

“You shouldn't have to miss your son and that man doesn't deserve him, or you. He left you when you needed him most. I'll never leave you, Shayla.” He helps me up and moves my hand from my face. He frowns as he looks at me. “I'm sorry. I didn't want to do that. You really need to watch what you say to me. It's so very hard to control my temper.” He pulls me into a hug, pressing his cheek to mine. I can't stop the tears from falling. He's going to bring Dylan here. I know he will. I wish there was some way of warning Ryan. He holds me for a lot longer than I'm comfortable with, but I don't dare move. I don't want to anger him.

“I'm tired. May I go to bed?” I ask after he pulls away. He strokes my face softly.

“Of course, sweetheart. I'll be in soon.” I must look as I feel, horrified, because his face softens. “I told you, I won't force myself on you. I want you to want me. I'll come say goodnight. Your room is yours.”

“Okay.”

I turn and walk away before he can change his mind or become angry. I hurry back into the house. No one is in the kitchen when I come through, but I see the cell phone Mathis used on the table. I grab it and call Ryan as quickly as I can. The phone rings a few times before I hear the best sound in the world.

“Hello?”

“Ryan!”

“Shayla!”

“Yes, I don't have much time. They're going to come for Dylan. Please keep him safe.”

“Who?”

“Mathis and …”

“What do you think you're doing?” Trevor growls. He grabs the phone from my hand and smashes it to the wall.

“I'm sorry.” I don't know if he can even understand me. My voice trembles with fear.

He grabs my upper arm and drags me to my room. I try to fight him off, but the more I do, the angrier he becomes and the rougher he is with me. He throws me into the room and I land on my hands and knees. He slams the door behind him. The lock clicking makes my stomach revolt and I dry heave. He pays me no attention as he grabs my arms again and throws me onto the bed. He takes his belt off.

“No, please. No. I swear I'll listen. I won't do anything else. I promise!” My pleading falls on deaf ears.

He glares at me. “You could have ruined everything! Why would you call him? He doesn't care about you. He left you for sixteen years. He left you when you needed him; when you were pregnant and alone! Did you forget that I knew you when Dylan was small? I saw the sadness, the fear you had. I’ve only ever wanted to take that away. I want to make you happy. Don't you see that?”

“Then let me go! I don't want to be here, Trevor. I want to go home. I want my family!” I yell at him.

That's a big mistake. His face grows beat red and a vein is popping out of his neck. I've seen Trevor angry plenty of times in the four months I've worked with him, but never anything close to this. He's livid.

“I'm the only family you need to worry about right now. You'll never see any of your so-called family again. Bend over the bed. You deserve this.” His voice is eerily calm. I stare at him, which seems to anger him more because he yells, “Now!”

I jump, but still do not move. I refuse to willingly comply. He stomps over to me, jerks me up, then throws me back down to the bed on my stomach. He grabs my coat and rips it from me, pulling my arms at an odd angle, making me cry out. He doesn't seem to care as he starts to wail on my back, butt, and legs. I try to move away, scream for help, but nothing helps. He hits everything he can reach as I move. It's not until he hits my face that he stops. The change is immediate. He drops his belt to the floor and scoops me up into his arms.

“Why do you insist on defying me? It makes me crazy.” He moves my fallen hair from my face, making me flinch, but he holds me tight. “I'm not going to hurt you. I want to see. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt your face. You have to be still, Shayla.” He kisses the mark on my face. Then picks me up and carries me to the bathroom, sitting me on the counter top. “I'll get some cream for your face. Go ahead and start yourself a bath. I'll be back in a few minutes.”

As soon as the door closes, I slump in relief, but I can't stand, I can't think, I can't cry. There's nothing left in me. The last thing I remember is slowly pitching forward towards the ground and hitting my head on the porcelain tub, too exhausted to even try and catch myself.  

When I wake up again, I'm in the same room, but it's light outside. I'm not tied to the bed this time, but there is an IV in my arm. I look up to see a bag of saline dripping into the line.

“You gave him quite the scare. He was late to work.”

I look over to the chair in the room and see Jason Mathis sitting there with a book on his lap. In a weird way, he seems very normal to me. Like an all-around nice guy, until I remember what he’s done to his victims and know for a fact that he’s not normal in the slightest. He’s definitely not a nice guy.

“Yeah, well that happens when I've been beaten practically to death.”

I don't even try to hide my sarcasm. For some unknown and obviously foolish reasons, I'm not afraid of Mathis anymore. I should be, but right now I'd rather see him than Trevor.

He laughs. “Oh, honey. That was not 'beat to death'. That wasn't even close. Too bad I can't show you.”

I sigh. “To bad you can't just kill me and get it over with.” This really makes him guffaw.

“There's more fun for me to keep you alive. I do love to torment your boyfriend.”

“Why can't you just leave him alone?”

He seems to think about it for a while and then says, “I like revenge. It makes me feel extremely gratified to take from others, for what they've done to me. Lucas, or Ryan, took a year of my life and almost completely dismantled my business. I'm slowly rebuilding, but there's nothing I can do about the year I spent in prison. Keeping you here is a start, but for you to reject him and willingly go to my cousin … well, that will be the revenge I'll need. I don't even feel the need to harm you and that's really saying something.”

“I'll never choose Trevor willingly.”

He smiles. “Oh, I know. But you'll choose him because you want to save Ryan or Dylan. You know your son and his friends came looking for you. They got almost to the end of town. I could have taken them then, but it was too soon.”

I gasp. My baby was looking for me. Why wasn't Ryan keeping an eye on him? The thought makes me angry. “Please don't bring him here. Just leave Dylan out of everything.”

“I could, but I won't. Your son will be here by tomorrow evening. We're setting it up now. Although, your little phone call the other day messed things up a little. Now, they have proof you were taken and who took you. Not that they’ll recognize me. I'm being hunted down like a common fox.” He laughs at his pun. “Get it, a fox. They call me The Fox.”

I roll my eyes. “Yes, Jason. I get it.”

“You know. I like you. I can see why my cousin is so gone for you. You're funny, clever, and pretty easy to talk to. I don't think I've talked to someone about much of anything since my wife died.”

I sit up a little. I figure if I can get him to talk and form a bond, he might help me. I doubt it, but it's worth a try. “What happened to her?” 

“I killed her,” he says in a matter-of-fact tone. I'm taken aback. He laughs. “You thought I had a heart, didn’t you?” he chuckles again and smiles at me. “You remind me of her.”

“Why would you kill your wife?”

“She slept with your boyfriend,” he tells me gleefully.

“No! Ryan wouldn't do that.”

“He did. I caught them in the act.” I just stare at him in shock. Why would Ryan do something like that? “If it makes you feel better, he didn't know she was married. It's the only reason I let him live. Turned out, he was a good employee and someone I used to consider a friend. Too bad he crossed me.”

I say nothing. I don't know what to think. I don't know if he's trying to turn me against Ryan, or if he's being honest. But if he's being honest, does it matter to me what Ryan did undercover? I'm not sure. It's definitely not important right now.