“No, I didn’t.You’ve had it your way for far too long.Now we’re doing it according to my rules,” Nathan snarled, and Mårten heard a slam as the weedy guy closed the trunk with force.
Mårten kept going, at last reaching the cover of the rear of the barn, where he straightened and jogged down the side of the back wall, careful to avoid a stack of rotting wooden pallets, a tangle of fencing wire and part of an engine all stashed behind the barn.Reaching the far corner, Mårten stopped and peered around the edge.He could see the car parked up close to the side of the barn, with Nathan still standing behind it, facing away from him.In the distance, Paige remained a blurry shape in the doorway of the house.
“She’s done nothing.She’s innocent,” Paige continued.“Why don’t we just leave her tied up in the house?She won’t be able to escape, and if no one finds her in a few days, then…” Paige was clearly grasping at straws now.
“Not going to happen,” Nathan replied flatly.
Paige took a couple of steps toward Nathan, still pleading with him to let Summer go.Telling him she would make Summer promise not to tell the cops anything about them.Nathan just laughed in her face.Mårten weighed up his options, absently stroking his gun holster as he did so.
He couldn’t take on both of the kidnappers at the same time.Nathan was closest but partially obscured by the car, while Paige was over fifty meters away by the house.If he drew his weapon and took out Nathan first—and it’d have to be a bloody good shot, he wouldn’t get a second chance—that’d possibly give Paige time to escape.Or he could make himself known, bluff his way through by pretending he wasn’t alone and try to intimidate them both into giving up.Paige might be an ally; she was trying to save Summer’s life.But he couldn’t guarantee that if he stepped out into the open and declared himself, she would take his side, or at least do nothing to harm Summer.She could just as easily turn back into the house and use Summer as a shield.Hurt her or even kill her if she felt threatened.Experience told Mårten that self-preservation was a strong motivator.
Nope, he needed a plan C; he just wasn’t sure what it was yet.And he needed to do it now, while they were still preoccupied with each other.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE SOUND OF voices drifted through Summer’s consciousness.Was that her mother and father arguing again?She wished they’d stop.She just wanted to go back to sleep.Blissful sleep, so that her head didn’t hurt anymore.But the buzzing noise of those infernal voices wouldn’t let her be.She didn’t want to, but eventually she cracked one eyelid open.
Where was she?
Walls and a ceiling floated into focus.She was lying on the floor in a room somewhere.A dim glow drifted through the doorway, which was good.She couldn’t handle bright light; it hurt her eyes, hurt her head even more.
Summer tried to open her other eye, but it refused to comply.It was also hard to breathe, something was clogging her nose.But when she made an effort to open her mouth to suck in a breath, it was taped shut.Air.She needed air, but she couldn’t seem to drag enough in through the one nostril that was still working.To make matters worse, when she went to lift her hand to remove the tape, she discovered her arms tied together behind her back.As she moved, a searing pain sliced through her forearm.
Summer panicked then, rolling around on dirty floorboards, trying to scream behind the gag, wanting to rid herself of these barbaric ropes.But nothing worked.She couldn’t get free.Her heart was pounding out of her chest, and she felt like she was going to pass out from lack of air.
It all came back to her then.The abduction, her escape.Nathan tackling her to the ground and hurting her.He must’ve recaptured her and was now holding her somewhere different from the shed.Fuck, she needed to get out of here.Needed air.Needed help.In a remote part of her brain, Summer realized she also ought to calm down; that she was hyperventilating, and if she didn’t stop, she might pass out.
But Summer’s animal mind had taken over, and she scrabbled at the floorboards with her fingers, desperation driving her on as she rolled over and over on the floor.It was the pain in her head and her wrist that stopped her wild flailing in the end.The headache was the same as the pain when she’d woken up in the shed after they’d first seized her.They must’ve drugged her again.She wasn’t sure what was wrong with her arm.Could it be broken?
Summer lay still, twisting to one side to ease the ache in her shoulders and wrist, chest heaving, tears of pain and frustration running down her face.As her breathing came back to normal, she tried to tune in to her surroundings again.
The arguing voices had become louder.It was her captors quarreling, not her parents after all.Paige must be close by, Summer could hear her clearly.Nathan’s voice, however, was indistinct, more of a distant shouting.
Then she heard Paige say loudly, “You promised you wouldn’t kill her.”
Summer froze.She’d always been afraid that Nathan hadn’t meant to leave her alive.But to hear Paige utter those chilling words, to know that he was going to go through with it, made her panic rise all over again.She couldn’t discern Nathan’s response, but the scorn in his voice was clear.She needed to get out of here.Summer struggled again with the ropes around her wrists, fighting the pain slicing up her arm.At one stage she managed to push herself upright into a sitting position with her good hand, but it was still no good.With her hands tied behind her back, she couldn’t even reach the cords securing her ankles.It was hopeless.Hot tears of anger ran unchecked down her cheeks.
What she needed was help.Where was Mårten?Where were the cops?Why hadn’t they tracked her down already?That was their job, wasn’t it?Mårten had promised he’d protect her.That she would be safe with him.And she’d believed him.Summer’s tears of frustration turned to sobs of sorrow and despair.She was alone, and she was going to die.She’d been strong enough to escape once on her own.But this time she was doomed.
Wait.She could hear footsteps coming down the hallway.Stealthy footsteps.Paige and Nathan were even now arguing, Nathan’s voice getting closer now.But they were both still outside by the sounds of it.So who was walking through the house?Summer rolled over, eyes fixed on the doorway, lying completely still.A large figure loomed; she couldn’t make out his features in the murky light.But she knew who it was; she would’ve known him anywhere.Those familiar broad shoulders that filled the door, straight-backed stance, chin slightly lowered as he trained his intense crystal-blue gaze on her.
Mårten.
She would have screamed his name if she could’ve.
How could she ever have doubted him?
He was on his knees beside her before she could even blink.He picked her up and held her so tight against his chest that for one second he almost squeezed the breath from her lungs as he muttered, “Gudskelov, gudskelov.”
She was no genius, but if the relief she felt was half that of his, then she had a good idea of what he was saying.But his comfort was soon torn away as he placed her gently down on the floor.
“We haven’t got long,” he whispered urgently, turning his head to check the door.“They’re distracted outside, but we need to be quick.”His fingers fumbled at the ropes around her legs even as he spoke.“My car is parked a little way up the driveway.We’re going to try to make it back there before they realize you’re gone.Okay?”
She could only nod in agreement.All she wanted was to be held in those strong arms again.For one split-second she had felt so safe, so treasured.
When he’d finished untying her legs, she made noises from behind the tape to attract his attention.She needed this gag removed.As his gaze drifted upward from where he’d been concentrating on the knots around her ankles, he flinched.
“Oh my God, Summer, what have they done to you?”Mårten’s obvious horror when he saw her face confirmed her worst fears.When Nathan had caught her, he’d beaten her senseless.She remembered the first few blows now.After he’d knocked her to the ground in the forest, Nathan had rained punch after punch into her head and body, yelling at her that she was a bitch and she deserved everything she got.Summer must’ve blacked out at some stage because she had no idea how she’d got back to this room, or even how long she’d been here.
