Chapter Twenty-Three
Sarah couldn’t stop staring at Victor Granger’s hand on her knee.
He’d placed it there the moment she had been pulled into his car, making it clear to her that there was no way she was going anywhere.
As if she didn’t know that already. She felt like she was going to throw up.
Her entire body was wracked with tension and fear as she continued to stare at his hand.
She glanced out of the window and realized they were on the connector road to the lodge.
At the rate of speed the man behind the wheel was driving, they’d be there in a few minutes.
She’d be able to see Lawson. A part of her was relieved that she would be able to see him again.
But another part of her was terrified at what Granger would do to her as soon as he had her in front of Lawson once more.
“I can’t wait to see the look on his face,” the man in the front seat said as he smirked in amusement. “That ex-CIA bastard, he’s going to see what he gets when he messes with us—”
“Shut your mouth, Lyle,” Granger told him bluntly. It was clear he was not in the mood to listen to the younger man’s gloating. “I’ll do the talking. Keep your thoughts to yourself.”
The man’s face fell, and he turned back to look out the windshield, concentrating on the road in front of him. The man beside him in the driver’s seat, who looked just like him, let out a snort of amusement.
“Shut up, Nelson,” Lyle mumbled to his look-alike, then punched him on the shoulder.
Sarah gripped the door handle tightly, wondering if she could throw open the door and jump out and escape. But she knew the car was going too fast and she wouldn’t survive.
Even if Granger and these other men were going to flaunt her capture in front of Lawson before they decided what to do with her, at least she’d be able to see the man she loved again.
Sarah knew the women would have driven down to Blue Ridge by now to alert the sheriff, but she had no idea if the cavalry would make it back up to the lodge in time to save her or help end the attack. She just wanted all of this to be over.
She wished everything could go back as it was before they were aware of the kidnappings and Granger’s arrival in the area. Everything had been so chaotic lately, Sarah couldn’t even recall what a normal day was supposed to be like for her now. It all just felt so hopeless.
For a moment, Sarah even thought about trying to reason with the man beside her.
She could tell him that Lawson was a good man, and that he just wanted Granger and his operation out of the area. That Lawson would look the other way, leave him to his business, if he just left the lodge and its people alone. No harm, no foul.
She could try to feed him all those lies, but she knew she wouldn’t be very convincing.
And he’d never believe her, if she tried.
He’d probably laugh in her face. Lawson never would have looked the other way when it came to what Granger was up to, not in a million years.
He wanted to see the man behind bars, maybe even dead.
If that was what it took to get him out of the picture.
Sarah shut down those thoughts at once. She couldn’t believe she was actually considering bargaining with the evil man sitting beside her.
Granger grinned at the side of her face, but Sarah refused to so much as glance in his direction. Instead, she kept her eyes trained out the front windshield. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had gotten under her skin in any way. She was sure that was part of his plan.
He might be used to getting everything he wanted, but that didn’t mean she was going to hand it to him without a fight. She clenched her jaw in determination as they drew closer to the lodge, praying that Lawson was ready for whatever was about to happen.
“He’s going to be ready for you,” she told them, the first thing she’d said since she had been bundled into the back of this car.
The confidence in her voice caught even her off guard, and she finally looked at Granger, who seemed slightly thrown by the way she spoke to him.
Apparently, he seemed to expect her to be scared and cowering away from him instead of speaking her mind.
“I hope he is,” he replied, quickly gathering himself again. “I want to see the look on his face when he sees that I’ve got his girlfriend, and when he hears the plans I’ve got in store for you.”
“You’re going to make us a pretty penny, Sarah,” Lyle told her, grinning at her. There was something lecherous about the way he looked at her, and she couldn’t help but shiver. She tried not to let her mind stray too far down that path. She didn’t want them to see how afraid she really was.
“Us?” She couldn’t help but ask the question. Were the two look-alikes related to Granger?
“Oh, forgive my rudeness,” Granger replied cordially. “These are my sons, Lyle and Nelson. They help with certain areas of my operation.”
“A family business. What a wonderful role model,” she muttered under her breath.
Granger’s grip tightened on her knee, causing her to wince. “You’ve got a smart mouth. You should watch your words before they get you into more trouble.”
“You’re not going to make a cent from me,” she told them, ignoring the man’s threat. “You should turn around now. Get out of here while you still can. Hand yourselves over to the cops and hope they take it easy on you.”
Lyle and Nelson laughed, but their father, for a moment, was quiet. Had she struck a nerve? She stole a glance at him out of the corner of her eye, but he wasn’t giving anything away. He just watched her with his dark, soulless eyes.
Finally, they reached the entrance to the lodge.
Sarah couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her lips at the sight before her.
Smoke still lingered in the air like a thick fog and the ground was littered with bodies.
She clenched her hands into fists and her stomach dropped.
Please, please, let those be Granger’s men.
As the car slowed down more, and some of the fog began to clear, she could see what looked like a dozen men on the ground around them—some of them dead, unmoving, others dragging themselves along the ground to safety.
Granger cursed under his breath, then rolled down his window and yelled to them. “Hold your positions!”
His voice was cold, hard, but she could hear the hint of uncertainty behind his words, as though he hadn’t been prepared for this sight to greet him when he arrived.
Suddenly, hope rose in her chest. They really were doing it.
Lawson and the others were really defending the lodge and taking down Granger’s men.
The proof was right before their eyes. She hated that she’d had any doubt, but with the army of men they’d been facing against their mere four, she couldn’t help but feel the initial helplessness of it all.
But now, maybe, just maybe, the guys could end this.
“Stop here,” he ordered Nelson, and the vehicle jerked to a hard stop. Sarah clung to the handle of the door, praying that this would be over soon. If she could just find a way to get away from this evil man and his sons…
Granger reached over her and pushed open the door, then shoved her out onto the gravel. She gasped and tumbled to the ground, unprepared, putting her hands out to catch her fall. Gravel bit into her palms as she landed, tearing her skin.
Granger climbed out of the vehicle behind her and grabbed her arm, yanking her to her feet, and held her in front of him like a shield. He must have known Lawson would be quick to take the shot if given the chance, but with Sarah standing in front of the man, he was probably more cautious to do so.
“Lawson Davies!” Granger yelled, his voice booming in her ears.
She winced and squeezed her eyes shut at the sound.
She wanted to wrench herself away from him, but he had too tight of a hold on her for her to move.
She was going to have to bide her time and look for an opening she could use to get away.
“Davies, can you hear me? I’ve got your woman out here!
” he continued, clearly enjoying the power he held in that moment.
“You better show yourself unless you want something to happen to her.” Granger paused, lifting some of her hair and running his fingers through it.
“Nice and silky, and she smells good, too. I bet I could make good money off her. I’ve got plenty of clients who’d pay well for a chance to take her to bed. ”
Sarah shuddered at the thought, fear and anger coursing through her. This was what he had done to so many other unsuspecting young women and girls they’d grabbed off the highways. Forced them to work for him, using their bodies and selling their souls to survive.
She looked around, searching for something…anything that might help her escape. A gun dropped by one of his fallen men, a knife, even a big rock. But there was nothing. She knew Lawson and the others were within hearing distance, knew he was biding his time and making a plan.
She just had to hope that he wouldn’t do anything that would end up getting her or both of them hurt in the process.