Riding Tall: Fencing You In Part 19

As she studied Tess, Jo said, "You're in love with him."

Tess bit her lower lip then nodded. "I don't know how it happened, but I am."

"Despite the rumors and his reputation, Gage is a good guy." Jo gave Tess a gentle smile. "I'm glad you opened your heart to him. Has he told you he loves you?"

Tess shook her head. "I don't know if he can."

Jo frowned and tilted her head to the side. "Why not?"

"Because he loved someone who hurt him probably worse than anyone could know." Tess sighed. "It's not for me to talk about, but I can understand why he's the way he is...why he doesn't let any one woman get close."

"I think it's different with you." Jo wore a serious expression. "You just need to give him more time. And maybe you need to tell him you love him."

"I thought I would after he got out of the hospital." Tess looked away for a moment before she met Jo's gaze again. "But I'm afraid."

"I can understand that." For a moment Jo had a sad look in her pretty green eyes, but then it vanished and she said, "Don't let fear hold you back or you might regret it for the rest of your life. Take the chance."

Tess ran through everything in her mind that she'd thought and felt while in the waiting room at the hospital. "You're right. I should have said it already."

"You do it the next time you see him." Jo smiled. "All right?"

Tess returned Jo's smile. "I will. I'll do it."

"Good girl." Jo turned and glanced up at Megan. "Hey, Meg."

Megan slid into one of the chairs. "What did I miss?"

"All of the good stuff." Jo glanced over at the bar. "I'll grab a couple of drinks. Chocolate martinis?"

"Of course." Tess grinned and Megan nodded. "Our traditional 'girl's night out' drink," Tess added.

With sensual grace, Jo got to her feet and went to the bar. Since she owned the place, the bartender would take care of her right away.

Megan asked Tess how Gage was and she repeated what she'd told Jo. "He's getting along pretty well," Tess went on. "Probably better than expected."

Jo returned in moments. "Chocolate martinis coming right up."

Tess was happy to change subjects as Jo told her and Megan of the new guy she was dating. "And he's not a cowboy," Jo finished.

"What's wrong with cowboys?" Megan asked. "I'm about to marry a cowboy and Tess is dating one."

"I think you found the last two good ones." Jo shrugged. "Cowboys aren't for me."

Megan laughed and Tess shook her head. Jo was impossibly picky when it came to men. Jo just said she was selective.

But Tess had a feeling there was more to it than a flat out "Cowboys aren't for me." Something must have happened in the past, but Tess didn't press her friend to find out.

A cute young man served their drinks. Tess figured she might have had a crush on the guy-if she was about twenty years younger than her thirty-seven years.

Tess asked Jo where she'd bought her dress when a commotion started across the room and a crowd began to grow in the corner.

Jo frowned. "I'm going to check out what's going on." She moved out of her chair with grace but with determination in her stride as she pushed her way through the gathering crowd.

Megan and Tess stayed in their chairs but looked in the direction of the disturbance. Tess picked up her martini and took a long sip. She had the hardest time not just sucking down chocolate martinis rather than sipping them. They were like drinking a chocolate bar. Jo-Jo's made the best.

As Megan turned back to talk to her, Tess felt sweat break out on her forehead and she felt a little light-headed and like the room was closing in on her.

"I think I'm going to go home." Tess got up from her chair, a bit unsteady on her feet. "I'm not feeling well."

Megan's brow furrowed. "Want me to walk you out to your car?"

"You might lose the table." Tess shook her head. "I'll be fine. Tell Jo I'm sorry I couldn't stay."

Tess straightened, her mind feeling cloudy and her ears like cotton was stuffed in them. Smells seemed stronger, more putrid than they had before and she felt nauseated, a sick sensation swooping through her belly. Yes. Home.

She pushed her way to the front entrance, feeling claustrophobic and needing air. She began to wonder if she was going to make it as her limbs started to feel like they were made of rubber.

Just as she reached the entrance, a guy in a hoodie b.u.mped into her and she almost fell. The man caught her by her arm. "You okay?" he said.

His voice sounded vaguely familiar, but she felt so dizzy that she couldn't place it. She wanted to ask him to turn around and take her back to her table to tell Megan she needed to be driven home, but the words wouldn't come and she leaned more heavily into the man.

With his arm around her shoulders, he guided her past people grouped at the entrance and into the night. Warm air met her face and her skin felt clammy. She stumbled in her high heels, almost b.u.mping into a group standing just outside the door.

"Is she all right?" came a male voice from behind them.

The guy in the hoodie called over his shoulder, "Yeah, just need to get her home."

Home? Home sounded good.

But how was she going to get home if she couldn't drive? She needed Megan or Jo.

Again Tess opened her mouth to say something and again words wouldn't come. It became harder and harder to just think.

"Come on, baby," the man said as everything around them got darker as they walked around the building. She was vaguely aware they had entered the parking lot and she would have tripped over the gravel-covered asphalt if the man hadn't been holding her up.

She sank deeper and deeper into his embrace as he gripped her around the shoulders.

They paused and Tess blinked, trying to hold on to consciousness. She saw a car trunk open in front of her just before she was pushed inside.

She landed hard on her shoulder but didn't feel any pain. She knew she should feel some kind of fear, that she should scream, but all she could do was look up at the man as he tore a piece of duct tape then slapped it over her mouth.

"That's a good girl," the man said and she thought she saw a grin. "Do I ever have plans for you."

He pushed her onto her side, away from him and cuffed her with hard metal cuffs before rolling her back to face him again. Her head lolled back and forth. The man was kidnapping her and there was nothing she could do about it.

Gage! she screamed in her mind. Help me!

But then her eyelids drooped and she felt herself slipping away. Just before the man slammed the trunk lid she recognized the kidnapper.

Harvey.

And then she couldn't think anymore as she faded into darkness.

Chapter 31.

Harvey smiled and tossed his keys in the air. He caught the keys and whistled to himself as he opened the door of the car he'd stolen from some old lady's home.

It made him harder than h.e.l.l to know that Tess was bound and gagged in the trunk of the car. If she liked the idea of bondage, he was going to treat her to it.

Keeping the hoodie on, he drove the car out of the parking lot. Out of his side vision he saw the nosy p.r.i.c.k who'd asked if Tess was okay. Hopefully he hadn't gotten a glimpse of Harvey's face. The guy looked directly at the car but Harvey knew his features were hidden and he turned away as he pulled the car onto the street that ran in front of Jo-Jo's.

A sense of elation made him feel almost like he was flying. He hadn't felt this high since the last time he'd snorted c.o.ke. Even then he hadn't felt this good.

Making sure no one was driving behind him, he headed out of town toward the house he'd been renting since he'd gotten out of prison and returned to Prescott.

Funny, but he'd thought the bunker below the house was as useless as used toilet paper and only for those paranoid enough to think the world was going to end in a nuclear blast. The house and bunker had been built in the sixties at the height of paranoia that there could be a World War III.

But it was going to come in plenty handy now.

For some reason the thought of paranoia made him think about the shrink he'd talked to before he went to prison.

Delusional, the psychiatrist had said.

Harvey gritted his teeth. He was not f.u.c.king delusional.

He kept the car going only a couple of miles over the speed limit in case any cops were staking out the stretch of highway he was driving along.

It didn't take long to reach the house. He backed up to it and parked. After he unloaded his precious cargo, he'd ditch the car so that the police wouldn't find any physical evidence of Tess, like hair strands, in the trunk if they came snooping around. He would take the car to the Bradshaw Mountains and run it off the road in a location where it would never be found. Even if it was, he'd wipe down all the prints before he got rid of it.

Before getting out, he used the inside lever to pop the trunk. He got out of the car, shut the door, and whistled a tuneless melody as he strode to the back.

When he saw Tess lying in the back, out cold, he smiled. She was hotter than h.e.l.l in the little red dress and high heels. It was like she'd dressed up just for him.

He scooped her up in his arms then hoisted her limp form over his shoulder so that he'd have a free hand. After slamming the trunk shut, he carried her to the house, dug the keys out of his pocket, and unlocked the front door before walking in and locking it behind him. She was so light and pet.i.te that it was like he was carrying nothing at all.

The door to the bunker was behind the couch. The door had been paneled over in the seventies with dark paneling and the seam was almost invisible.

With his hip and thigh he moved the couch aside. He touched a knot in the wood that had been hidden behind the couch and the door swung soundlessly open. He stepped out onto the landing and with one hand pulled the light couch close to the wall again. He pressed a b.u.t.ton inside and the door closed quietly into place again.

A cool, dry, concrete-like smell met his nostrils as he started down the stairs into the bunker with Tess over his shoulder. He'd already prepared the s.p.a.ce for her. It was filled with enough food and other supplies to last six months. If anything happened, he could hole up in here with her and they'd never be found.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he walked the few steps to the lone twin-sized bed. He gently laid her down and went to work.

Chapter 32.

"Tess is gone." Megan's panicked voice came over the phone, jerking Gage out of the sleep-haze he'd been in when the call woke him up.

"What?" His heart started pounding hard as he bolted straight up in bed. "What do you mean she's gone?"

"Tess was at Jo-Jo's with me and Jo." Megan spoke in a rush. "She said she wasn't feeling well and needed to go home. She said I should stay at the table while Jo was away and she'd be fine. I should never have let her go alone." Megan sounded like she was in tears.

He put the phone on speaker and set it on an end table. "How do you know she's missing? How long?" he asked as he limped toward where he'd left his jeans over a chair.

"When Jo and I left the club," Megan said, "We saw that Tess's car is still here but there's no sign of her. She left two hours ago."

His breathing quickened and ignored the pain in his arm and leg as he hurried to pull on a pair of jeans. "Could she have gotten a ride with anyone else?" Pain ground through his shoulder as he tugged on a b.u.t.ton-up shirt.

"Maybe." Megan sniffled. "I just can't imagine her doing that without telling me."

He scooped up socks he'd left on the floor. "Did you try calling her at home?"

"Yes," Megan said. "Several times. I let the phone ring forever. The ringer must be off or something or the sitter would pick it up. Jo's on her way to Tess's house to see if she's there."

"Did you contact the police?" He shoved his feet into his athletic shoes, wincing at the ache in his thigh.

"Yes," Megan said. "They should be here any moment now." Her voice was tight as she continued, "We've got to find her, Gage."

"Stay calm." He took a deep breath as he picked up his phone and took it off speaker. He held it to his ear. "She might just be home sleeping it off after getting a ride from a friend."

"Hold on," Megan said. "Jo is calling on the other line."

He ignored the crutch and strode out of his bedroom and into the living room. He s.n.a.t.c.hed his keys off the hall table as the line clicked. In a moment it clicked again. "She's not there." Megan's panic rose in her voice. "Jo said the sitter told her that Tess never came home."

"Hang tight, Megan." He headed out the front door. "I'm on my way. Call me if you hear anything or if she shows up."

His right leg throbbed as he floored it all the way into Prescott and straight to the nightclub, hoping to h.e.l.l that Tess would have shown up by the time he arrived. Gravel flew from beneath his tires as he came to a hard stop in Jo-Jo's parking lot. A police cruiser was parked near the entrance to the club and Gage recognized his cousin, John McBride, talking with Megan and Jo.

He eased out of the truck the best he could without having much use of his right arm. "Any news?" he asked as he came up to them.

Megan held a tissue to her nose as she shook her head. Jo looked pale and John had a concerned expression.

"We were just about to go in and check the security tapes," Jo said.