Chapter 25
Eli awoke to water being splashed in his face. He blinked, trying to see what was around him, but it was dark. He was sitting on something and his head was pounding. He tried to move his arms but found them tied behind his back.
“Elias,” a woman said, almost as if she were calling a lover. It sent ice racing through his blood.
“Rose.”
Bile rose up in his throat. The woman who had betrayed him all those years ago; the one that he never thought to see again because she was dead. There was a click and then light flooded the space. He blinked against it and then he saw the outline of her body. She stepped closer, the sickly-sweet scent of her perfume surrounded him. Then, he could see her.
She looked no different than before. Oh, a little older, but not much. And she had the same sadistic smile on her face. Her eyes though…there was something off about them. She had been mental before, but now, craziness darkened her golden eyes.
“It’s been so long, Elias.”
Again, she sounded as if she were talking to an old love. Like this was a fucking date and not an abduction.
“What are you doing here?” he asked biting back the nausea.
“I’m sorry you don’t feel well,” she said. “Sam here used too much of the sedative.”
She frowned off to the right of Eli and he glanced over. A sharp pain exploded in his head.
“And you hit your head. I’m sorry,” she said. “I told you to be careful with him.”
“Oh well. I think St. John will survive. At least for a little while,” the younger Kaheaku said.
“Such a shame that little slut you’re living with wasn’t around,”
He studied Rose and flexed his hands. She’d had Sam Jr. bind them behind his back. He had no idea where the hell they were, but he knew they were still on the island. From the slant of the sun, it had been less than two hours.
“So, you’re back. What for, Rose?”
She leaned closer, her dark hair falling over her shoulder. At one time, it had been sexy. Now, though, having her this close to him, it took everything in him not to spit in her face.
“We have a little business to finish, you and I.”
He sighed. “That was ten fucking years ago.”
She stepped closer and he could almost feel anticipation filling her every move. It was ten years. Ten years she had to plan this. It would be long and painful. The only hope he had was that Crysta understood his message.
“How long are we going to fuck with this? Let’s kill the fuck so I can take over the ranch.”
Something changed in her expression. Annoyance? No…disgust. She had admired Eli. Admired, and she had broken him. If she was disgusted with a person, Eli really didn’t want to know what she would do to him.”
“Settle down, Sam. All in due time. I’ve been waiting a long time for this. Of course, the worst part of it is I can’t keep him alive. I really wanted to kill your new little plaything in front of you. That would give me such pleasure.”
The sick excitement in her voice had the bile rising in his throat again.
“Why do we even have to mess with the bitch? Without St. John around, it doesn’t matter if she’s dead or alive.”
Eli opened his mouth to tell Sam that killing him didn’t help him get the ranch. But Rose smacked him across the face. Normally it wouldn’t have hurt, but in his current condition, he saw stars.
He shook his head and another explosion of pain hit him. He scowled at Rose, who gave him a warning look. So, the woman knew that Sam couldn’t get the land, but didn’t want the jackass to know.
“It does matter, darling, because I deem it so,” she said moving toward Sam. The way she walked toward the younger man told Eli all he needed to know. She had once again used sex to get her way. “Plus, if you want your money, then you will do as I say.”
“No. I’ve had enough of that. I want some say in this. Kill the bastard and give me my money. You said you would kill him and pay me and then I could get the ranch back.”
“Back?” Eli asked, wondering if he had heard correctly. “It wasn’t your fucking ranch to begin with.”
“It was Kaheaku land.”
“Jesus, what the bloody hell is wrong with your lot? I think Joe was the only sane one out of all of you. It was never your land. Joe bought it, with his money.”
“I have more right to it than you do,” he bellowed. He marched closer but was stopped in his tracks by a bullet. The sound vibrated off the walls of the building. It hit Sam in the middle of his chest, blood spreading over his white shirt.
* * *
By the time Sean arrived,Crysta’s nerves were frayed to the extreme. She had watched every second tick on the clock and kept checking the security monitors.
“How long has he been gone, and why aren’t you trusting your regular men?”
“I don’t know who to trust. Danny, I can trust, but that’s it.”
Sean glanced at the younger man, who was still frowning at Sean.
“And I said I could handle it,” Danny said.
“I know you did, but we need someone who isn’t afraid to get a little dirty, and I need someone here to greet Mitch.”
The house phone rang. She recognized the number right away.
“Dillon.”
“Hey, Crysta, is Eli around?”
“No. I can’t find him. I left you a message.”
There was a beat of silence.
“We have a problem.”
“I know that. I said I can’t find him. He was supposed to be here.” She sounded hysterical and she didn’t care. Whoever had him could be hurting him. Or worse, he could be dying.
Dillon sighed. “No. The woman, the person he said would want him dead.”
“Yeah, he said she was dead.”
“She’s not. She’s alive and has been on the island for a while. She was spotted by someone a while ago.”
“What do you mean?”
Before he could answer, Sean tore the phone from her hands.
“Dillon, this is Kaheaku. Tell me what’s going on.”
She watched as his expression hardened.
“If Sam Jr. is involved, he took Eli somewhere on their land. I think I know where. There are a few little buildings left over from when his grandfather ran the place. They’ll be out there. Can you track my cell? Do it, that way you will know where I am.”
He hung up the phone. “I’m going to go out and look at some of those old buildings.”
She started after him, and he shook his head. “You stay here.”
“I think not.” There was no way she was going to stay behind.
“I think you stay here and stay safe. St. John would have my ass if I let you go with me.”
“Crysta, the note Eli left you said he wanted you to stay here,” Danny said.
“And I think he was drugged and worried I would come after him on my own. I won’t.”
“This isn’t a good idea. It would be best, in my opinion, if you stayed home,” Sean said.
“And I think I do what I want. I go with you or I follow you. Take your pick.”
She went into the locked cabinet where she knew Eli kept his guns. Crysta pulled out a handgun and some bullets.
“Come on. We can argue on the way there. Danny, make sure you field any calls. We both have our cells.” She strode past both men.
When she realized Sean wasn’t following her, she looked back over her shoulder at him. “We don’t have time to waste.”
“Fuck. St. John is going to kill me.”
But he followed her. They were in the truck and on their way out of the ranch within minutes.
“Do you know where they are?”
“If they are on Kaheaku land, yes. We’re gonna break the law here.”
“There is one thing my family needs to learn. They can say anything they want, but screw with someone I love, and I prove that blood isn’t thicker than water.”
He chuckled. “You got it.”
* * *
“He was such a pest.”
Eli shouldn’t feel sorry for the boy, but he did in a way. Junior wasn’t built for the real world, thanks to his father. Sam lay still, no longer twitching.
“I don’t know why I always seem to find men who can’t keep up with me. But you can, can’t you, Eli? That weekend was wonderful.”
He could only stare at the woman, wondering what the fuck she was talking about. He remembered a little sex and then a whole lot of pain. Of course, since she was into pain, he figured she saw it a different way. And apparently, she had built it up in her mind as something else.
He drew in a deep breath. He could smell the blood, but he could also smell hay. They were somewhere on his ranch, or, more than likely, Kaheaku land.
“So, you have me. What’s the plan now?”
She smiled and there was something in the expression that sent a chill through his blood. She had things planned he didn’t want to think about. He had to concentrate on one thing. Getting free.
“As I said, that weekend was wonderful. Until you disappeared.”
That was until a SEAL team found him. He’d been unconscious when they broke in to extract him. And the woman had vanished in the wind, although, she had been caught later.
“Wasn’t like I was going to stay around for the third act.”
“I don’t see why not. You were into a little light bondage.”
Light bondage. The woman was insane. She’d been bad at the time but now, looking into those dark eyes, he could see she wasn’t quite right. In fact…she had the look of someone who had gone completely over the edge.
And that made her more dangerous. He had to figure a way to escape without someone else looking for him. If Crysta got anywhere near Rose, she would be dead.
“So, were you the one who attacked the cow?”
She rolled her eyes and walked away. “Of course not. That was Sam. There is something wrong with that boy. Well, was wrong. I took care of that.”
She had obsessed about him for ten years, but Sam was sick. The woman was deranged.
“So, he mutilated the cow. The shots, the attack on Jerry?”
She tossed a coy smile over her shoulder at him. “A joint effort, although, I should have done the shooting. That bitch would be dead now. Sam is a horrible shot. Was.” She giggled as if she were telling a joke. She turned and watched him. “I can’t believe you went for someone so…dark.”
Rose was an exotic woman with warm features and a soft lilt of Irish to her voice. She had always enjoyed the idea that she was the most amazing woman in the room. With Crysta, he could see that she would feel threatened.
“That really wasn’t well done of you, Eli.”
“I don’t believe I asked your opinion.”
She shook her head. “My opinion is all that matters. It’s a shame I didn’t have more time to take care of her, but I am pushing the limits as it is.”
“You do anything to hurt Crysta, I will hunt you down and make you regret it.”
“Such passion. It’s one of the reasons I fell for you right off the bat. I thought I might be able to recruit you to work with me.” She picked up a bag. “I brought a few things I knew you would like.”
* * *
“What about that?Is that the building you’re looking for?” Crysta said. Her heart was beating so fast, she didn’t think she could breathe properly. The only thing keeping her from passing out was the thought that Eli was in danger.
Sean glanced over to where she was pointing. It was their last hope. Or, that was what he had told her. Sean knew the land well and knew this was one of the last buildings.
“Yeah.”
He parked a little way away and they both got out of the car. She checked to make sure the gun was ready. They saw the truck at about the same time. They shared a look. He motioned for her to stay but she shook her head. Still, she let him go first.
She followed directly behind him, watching his every move. If he needed her to retreat or move forward, she wanted to be ready.
Then, she heard voices. A murmur of a woman and a man. It was without a doubt Eli’s. Then, she heard the crack of a whip.
It took everything she had not to run to the door and rush in. That wouldn’t do any of them any good. Instead, Crysta inched closer to Sean.
“Stay here. I want to go in and assess the situation. Make sure to follow my orders,” he whispered with a frown.
“Anything to save Eli.”
He nodded and kicked open the door.
* * *
Rose was aboutto land her third lash on his back, when the door exploded.
“Ah, I see that you have friends here, Eli. Who is this naughty boy?” Rose asked. He was almost feeling better that he only saw Sean. He knew that Crysta had been smart enough to stay back at the ranch.
“Sean Kaheaku.”
“Ah, and you decided to come see your friend. You can see that your stepbrother is dead.” She glanced in the direction of Sam’s body. “He really didn’t like you.”
“No, he didn’t. He hated me. No worries because the feeling was mutual.”
Then, she raised the gun. “And while I do like a good plaything, you can see I have one.”
She pulled the trigger. Sean dove away but not before she nicked him in the shoulder.
“I think you need to drop the gun.”
The moment he heard Crysta’s voice, Eli’s heart stopped. Rose would kill her. She would make her hurt, torture her, then Rose would kill her slowly. And the bitch would do it in front of him, just like she said she would.
Rose looked at Crysta, anger and then pleasure moving over her features. “Is that so? Look Eli, the woman I hate has come to save you. Too bad she didn’t do as you instructed.”
Crysta’s gun didn’t waver. “One thing you need to know about me is that I don’t take orders from men outside of the bedroom.”
“Don’t tell me that you like when he ties you up?” Rose asked. “How very stereotypical.”
She sounded bored and Eli knew that made her dangerous. He finally worked his binding loose enough he could get up out of his chair. Seeing the way she was eyeing Crysta, it was just a matter of time before Rose struck out at her. He rose out of the chair and ran toward Rose. He rammed into her. The gun fell from her hand as they hit the ground hard. His hands were still bound, so she got away from him easily. She grabbed the gun and pointed it behind him. He knew without looking that it was Crysta. He turned, trying to think of something to save her, but he didn’t need to.
Crysta fired her gun, hitting Rose in the chest. Rose staggered back, falling, and dropping the gun.
Crysta rushed forward to him. Cupping his face, she kissed him gently.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Somewhat.”
She kissed him again and helped him up. His vision wasn’t that good and the room was starting to spin. Aftereffects of the adrenaline and drugs they had used on him.
“Where’s Sean?” she asked. She spotted him and ran over to him.
She listened to his chest for a few seconds. “He’s still breathing.”
“Of course I am, but damn woman, stop yelling,” Sean said.
She smiled down at Sean as Eli made his way over to him. “Aren’t you glad you had me come along now?” she asked.
He laughed as Eli helped him up.
“Just nicked me, but I’ll take a kiss to make it better.”
Before Eli could tell him to fuck off, there was a snick of a gun behind him. Eli felt the bullet hit him in the shoulder, throwing him forward into Crysta. She screamed as they stumbled to the ground. Another loud report of a gun filled the small room. Eli struggled to lift his head and he saw Sean, a gun in his hand as he walked forward. There on the ground was the woman from his nightmares, her eyes open…but there was no life in her.
He looked at Crysta, who had pulled his head into her lap. He wanted to say so much but as he felt his grip on reality fading, he had only one thing to say to her.
“I love you.”
Then, for the second time that day, his world dissolved around him.