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Justine instructed the two to move the car further down the side road and wait for a signal or the rest of her team to arrive, whichever came first.
She made her way through the fields, cutting down the distance the road would require by nearly half and cursed seeing the electric fence that was up around the property. Every way she went it was there, and she couldn’t guarantee that asking Moe to get them to cut the power would get her in. They couldhave it running off a generator which wouldn’t go out with the rest of the power.
“We have a slight glitch,” she said as she studied the road heading towards the house. “The only way in seems to be from the road. They have electric fences up everywhere else.”
“Damn…I take it you don’t have any gear to get around it,” Moe guessed.
“Nope, we’re definitely not geared out so warn the others if they’re bringing backup to be prepared. I’m going to head up the road and take my chances. If they see me, I’ll just have to play it off,” she stated, dragging in several calming breaths in order to do this.
She was nearly to the driveway when her backup informed her the van was returning, and she swore under her breath. That was the last thing she needed. There was nowhere for her to hide. There were only open fields around them and while she might be short, she’d still be easily seen in her pink top, even crouching down. There was no way around it, but to hope that either a—they picked her up and took her directly where she needed to go, or b—they drove right past her.
The likelihood of b happening was nil with this type of predator. They couldn’t resist something—or someone in this case—landing in their lap.
She focused on her breathing, blanking her face when the van slowed down as it came up behind her. She was on the opposite side of the two-lane blacktop road which meant when he stopped, the driver side was closest to her, and she turned her head as the brakes of the van squalled as it stopped.
“Hey there, what’s a pretty girl like you doing walking on deserted road?” the man asked, and she said quietly to let the others know it wasn’t Harvey but Wendell before she answered him.
“Hi…just trying to get to town. My ride wimped out on going up to the city for a killer party we were invited to, leaving me stranded out here because I forgot my phone at home,” she said rolling her eyes as she shook her head, adding a little giggle on top of it and his face broke out into a full smile.
“Well, I live right up the road here. My cell broke on my job, but we still have a landline. You can try to call someone rather than walk ten miles to town. If you’re hoping to get to the city you’ll have to catch the last train up, which leaves in about an hour,” he offered and she hesitated a moment, looking over him and the van, pulling a bigger smile from him that sickened her. “Cautious are ya? I get it. People think because I drive a van I’m some broke chump but I’m a plumber. The van’s necessary to haul supplies to jobs.”
“I was always told good girls don’t get into vehicles with strangers…but I never claimed to be good,” Justine said with a little shrug that made his brow lift a bit higher. “You’re only young once right? Why not make all the dumb mistakes you can before you’ve got to grow up? If you’re sure you don’t mind me using your phone…”
“Not at all, hop in…I’m Gus, Gus Jones,” he added when she settled into the passenger seat holding her breath at the stench inside the vehicle.
“Minnie…I know, my mother was obsessed with Disney,” she said when his brow lifted. “I mean there were plenty of decent movies out seventeen years ago that she could have taken a name from but instead she went with the name of the mouse because I came out with really dark hair that was plastered to my head.”
“Not so dark anymore, is it? I like it though, it’s cute, like you,” he schmoozed before putting the van in gear taking her the drive and on behind the house. The second he put it in park the backdoor of the house flew open and an older and even moredisgusting Harvey Grimes stormed towards them, come up to her window.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he raged towards Wendell, his eyes not leaving her for a single moment.
“Calm down, big brother. Minnie here just needs to use the phone to call a ride. I found her out walking along the road heading to town. Her friend bailed on giving her a ride to a party,” Wendell added, a smirk on his lips that sent a chill through her.
“Not very smart to get into a stranger’s car but don’t worry, we’ll give you the party of your life,” Harvey stated, jerking the door open, his hand slamming over her mouth before she could begin to scream then drug her out of the van. She fought against his hold, playing the role with intensity but not putting all of her strength behind it.
“Looks like we’ll get to see how little of a good girl you are tomorrow night,” Wendell cackled as he came around, grabbing her legs and the two carried her towards the barn.
“We’ve got plans for tonight already that we can’t change. Although I’d be tempted to for a taste of you now,” Harvey added as his hand groped her breast flooding her with revulsion.
They both reached for keys letting her get halfway loose before they quickly subdued her again as they laughed at her attempt to get away. Neither of them realized she’d managed to pick Wendell’s set of keys to the padlock during the struggle. She slid the key into the pocket hidden inside the skirt as they moved her to what was once a horse stall that was now fitted out with bars. They pushed her inside it, sliding a lock into place and she slid back against the wall as they laughed at her frightened expression and pleading to let her go.
“We’ll be back for you, mouse,” Wendell stated, giving her that same smirk from earlier before the two left the barn.
“I’m in,” she said quietly, getting a slightly garbled confirmation from Moe that he copied. “Coms are spotty, but for now, hold and let me see if I can find Isabelle.”
“Copy, I’ll work…amplify…signal,” Moe said, and she hoped if it came down to it, they’d hear her distress call. She was not looking forward to whatever these creeps might try to do next.
Chapter 8
Tyler paced the length of the room as they waited for an update from the agents that’d remained when Justine left with the other two. The outfit she wore, the way she had her hair styled, her makeup…it all reminded him of when they were in high school. Well, other than the fact that her father would never have let her leave the house wearing that short of a skirt and a crop top. Hell, if he didn’t know her entirely he’d have sworn she was Hailey and Isabelle’s age herself dressed like that.
Nothing he’d learnt today had prepared him to see her come out dressed like that. The knowledge of exactly what she was prepared to do—seemingly had done in the past and the little things that’d worried him about Justine’s reactions recently came back tenfold with entirely new possibilities as to how and why they happened.
“You’re going to wear a rut in the floor if you don’t stop,” Grace said, pulling him down the hallway to the room that was once his but now served as a guest room. “So tell me, are you freaking out more about Isabelle being missing or Justine leaving here dressed like…”
“A seventeen-year-old to go find my actual seventeen-year-old little sister that appears to have been taken by some sickfuck,” he offered, scrubbing his face with his hands as he let out a groan. “I don’t know what’s worse, thinking that Justine was in a ‘bad relationship’ or that her freaking out on me has something to do with her job—which by the way, she claimed to be resigning from weeks ago.”
“You think she didn’t? That she lied about that because she came here to help out?” Grace questioned and he shrugged not knowing what to think or believe right now. “If she’s been out on vacation it’s possible that they decided to let her stay on the books until it runs out before her resignation becomes official, let her keep health insurance longer, that sort of thing.”
