She hated how easy it had been for him to get close to her, to the other women, and it made her sick to think of how much danger they had been in without even knowing it. At least she had been the one he’d chosen. If it had been River, Hannah wasn’t sure she would have been able to handle it, after everything else she had been through.
But could Hannah handle it? She had no idea. There was a part of her that wanted to take a chance and try to run to the woods and disappear. She wanted as far away from these vile men as she could get. But she knew she wouldn’t get far, if any length at all, with her hands still bound and with the gun Jed now had pressed against her hip.
Her brain told her to wait it out, bide her time and see how things went down. It was really the only smart option in her current situation.
The man finished up his call, and then turned back to Jed. “Dutch’ll be here soon. Get ready.”
“Who’s Dutch?” Hannah blurted before she could stop herself.
Finally, the other man turned in her direction, locking eyes with hers. The feel of his weighted gaze made her insides twist with dread, and she wished that she had kept her mouth shut.
The man reached out for her, and she tried to shrink away at once, but he grabbed her chin, forcing her to turn and face him. “He’s the man you can blame for you being here in the first place,” he replied. “He’s the one who put you in this position. Wrong place, wrong time… Just bad luck, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me that,” she retorted defiantly.
But the man just smiled. “Oh, a bit of attitude, huh? I can see why Dutchy likes you. But it’s not going to be enough to save you.”
“Don’t worry, not long now until you and Xavier will be together again,” Jed told her, his voice mocking.
Xavier? That was who they were waiting for? Dutch was Xavier? Hannah was totally confused. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from asking any more questions. She didn’t want this man’s attention on her any longer than necessary.
“You’ll be all cozy like that deer in the back of the van,” the other man added, stroking a hand down her hair. “Wrapped up in a tarp together. How about we bury you with one another? You’d like that, huh?”
Hannah’s eyes shifted around to the box again and noticed a heavy blue tarp rolled up behind it against the back doors of the van. Her vision turned hazy, and she felt like she couldn’t get enough oxygen. Xavier was walking into this thinking he was going to save her, but these evil men had always planned to kill them both no matter what. The nausea was starting to rise again. No…she couldn’t lose him…
She was torn. She wanted him here with her, wanted him to be the last person she saw before she died, but not at the expenseof himself. Not after he’d been working so hard to reclaim his life and his happiness. He didn’t deserve that.
But at the same time, she wondered if he knew he was walking in to a trap. He’d have to know, though, right? The man was using her as bait to draw Xavier here, and he had to know that. She also knew that’d he’d come anyway; he’d try his damnedest to rescue her from these men. To end this nightmare for them once and for all. He’d do whatever it took to keep her safe.
Regret rolled through Hannah at the thought of losing Xavier before she’d had a chance to tell him how she felt. That she loved him. A sudden image popped into her head of Xavier in the same position as the deer, eyes glassy and blank and still as a board. She couldn’t stop the bile from rising up her throat again.
She leaned over the edge of the van and threw up between her feet.
Jed jumped back in disgust, muttering a curse at her.
Her whole body shook violently and she was covered in sweat, but she was still frozen to the core at the thought of what these men were planning to do to them. It felt like such a sick, cruel joke. The two of them had come so far and finally had a chance at true happiness. For it to suddenly end like this, it just wasn’t fair.
“Disgusting,” the man tsked. “Keep an eye on her. I’m going to watch the road for Dutch.”
Jed shot her a foul look. “You better not cause any more trouble, or I’ll end you now,” he snarled at her.
There was such hatred in his voice, she wondered for a moment how he could have hidden it behind a friendly façade for so many days. He was obviously a great actor to have been able to trick them all. Even if something felt off about him to the women, he hadn’t raised any red flags around the men. It wasclear from the way he looked at her that he had nothing but total and utter contempt for her.
Her mind was racing with questions—there were so many things she wanted to ask. But she knew to keep her mouth shut. She’d have a better chance of surviving this if she sat quietly and stayed alert to anything that might give her an advantage to escape.
Xavier was coming for her. She knew that now. He would never leave her out here alone with no help. Probably her brother, too. Lawson had always been overprotective of his baby sister, probably even more so now if she survived this. And he ran that tactical team out of the lodge, so the rest of the guys would be with them, too. These two men would be outnumbered and outmatched. They’d all show up to take them down.
As hard as it was for Hannah, she just had to be patient and wait. They’d already be on the way to find her. According to the other man, Xavier was en route. She just prayed they’d be safe, that no harm would come to any of her friends coming to rescue her. She couldn’t bear the thought of them getting hurt because of her or having to face her girlfriends knowing she was the cause of their men being injured. She didn’t want another mark of guilt on her conscience. It would take a while for the one for Jed to go away. If she’d just mentioned him earlier to Xavier or her brother…
She closed her eyes, drawing her knees up to her chest protectively. She didn’t have any answers, only more questions that made her heart hurt. She supposed she was going to find out the answers soon enough, when Xavier and the others arrived.
They’d have a plan. They’d rescue her and take out the bad guys and everything would be good again. She couldn’t let her mind go to darker places; she had to stay positive. They’d all make it out in one piece.
But as she sat there in the van in the middle of nowhere, she really didn’t know for sure. And that scared her more than anything in the world.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Xavier palmed the wheel, his phone propped up on the dashboard. Lawson’s voice came through the speaker. Aside from feeling guilty about not listening to Hannah when she’d shared her concerns about Jed, Xavier also felt bad because he’d never shared any details with Lawson about Sampson before.
