The old couple, Coop and Cara had breakfast with their first morning, came strolling down the path. Both of them shared a worried look as they neared. “Dear, is your wife okay? John and I were talking a stroll down the beach and admiring one of the houses for sale when we saw that hotel security guard carrying her inside. Is there anything we can do?”
Howard and Coop exchanged a look. “Which house was it? There are three that I noticed for sale.”
“The one with the yellow shutters. That’s why I liked the house, although this tightwad won’t agree to let me have it.”
Coop kissed the lady on the forehead in his excitement and was about to take off when Howard grabbed his arm.
“Be smart. You can’t go busting in there like Rambo. It will get her killed. We do this the right way and you both walk out alive.”
Chapter Fourteen
Cara kepther eyes closed and her body limp, using her senses. She lay on a hard wooden floor, the cold seeping through her clothes to chill her body. Her wrists were restrained, the bindings digging into her tender skin, but she felt nothing at her feet. The room reeked of mold and mildew, a place that obviously hadn’t been cleaned in a while. Yet she could hear the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore. She was still on the island, and even better, near the beach. She could find her way back to Coop, if she could just get out of this. All she needed was for him to make one wrong move and she’d escape.
She peeked through her eyelashes, not ready to let on that she was conscious.The room was dark. The only light was from the moonlight peeking through the windows, casting a glow on the hard floor.
“I know you’re awake.” Phillip’s voice drifted to her ears. “I can tell by your breathing.”
His heavy footsteps neared, and black combat boots appeared in her vision. Material crinkled, and she opened her eyes to find that he’d squatted in front of her. Phillip ran the cold, hard barrel of the gun down her tear-stained cheek, eliciting a shiver down her body. She struggled against her binds.
“He’s going to find you, and he’s going to kill you.” She spat the words into his face.
He swiped it away and shoved the gun into her chest. “Not before I’m finished with you.” He ripped open her shirt and ran the gun between her breasts. The metal was cold on her skin and her chest heaved.
I’m going to die.The gun lowered over her stomach, where he shoved the barrel into her belly button.
“He should have been more careful with the condom.” Phillip looked at her with cold-blooded eyes as a sneer lifted his lips. He slipped a knife from his pocket and flicked it open. Moving the knife over the exact spot the gun had just been. The sharp blade pressed against her stomach,making her afraid to move, afraid to breathe.
The sharp end pressed deeper into her skin. A trickle of blood ran over her abdomen. Anger and fear drained her hope to escape.
“Please don’t. I’m begging you,” she whispered.
His smile grew, and he licked his lips as the knife moved up her body, stopping at her chest. He leaned into her and licked a path up her cheek.
“I’m not going to kill you….yet.” He slammed the knife into the skin above her breast. She screamed. The pain seared through her like a red-hot poker. Dots claimed her vision as he pulled the knife free.
Cara’s tear-filled eyes narrowed, and she did the only thing she could. She smashed her forehead against his. The move sent him reeling onto his ass and made stars dance in her eyes. The gun he’d once held flew beneath a coffee table, the knife just out of reach. She scrambled for it and got to her feet, holding the knife in front of her bound hands, using it as a shield.
Phillip stilled on the ground, and his hands roamed the floor around him, probably in search of his gun. “You won’t get far, Cara, and when I find you, I’mgoing to fill you full of holes. You won’t live to disgust anyone else.”
Phillip dropped his gaze and frantically looked for the gun. Cara turned and ran. The door was locked and bolted into place. She glanced over her shoulder to find that Phillip was reaching for the gun.
Her heart raced as she took off for the stairs, trying to put as much distance between a bullet and herself as she could. There were only two doors at the top of the stairs, both open; one was a bathroom and the other a bedroom. She hurried into the bedroom and slammed the door closed, twisting the lock. Her gaze ran over the bedroom furniture. Under the bed would have her trapped and unable to fight back. The window was partially open. She didn’t have time to cut through her bonds and climb out the window. She was stuck with nowhere to go, and only a knife to keep her alive.
She moved into the closet and stepped inside the darkened space, easing the door shut.
“Cara,” Phillip called out. “There’s nowhere to run.”
Tears streamed down her face as her body trembled. Goosebumps covered her arms as a hand appeared from nowhere and covered her mouth. A hard, familiar body pressed against her back.
“I’ve got you,” Coop whispered in her ear and lifted his hand.
“Why were you in the closet?”
“I wanted to have the element of surprise. I heard someone running upstairs.” He took the knife and sliced through the rope around her wrists and moved her body behind him.
Relief flooded her system as Cooper aimed his gun at the closed door.
“How did you find me?” She couldn’t stop the trembles in her fingers as she held on to his hip on one side while holding the knife in her other hand.
