COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Copyright © 2015 by Arlette Lees.
All rights reserved.
Published by Wildside Press LLC.
www.wildsidebooks.com
ALSO BY ARLETTE LEES
Angel Doll
Code of Silence
Cold Bullets and Hot Babes
Hollywood Heat
Midnight Rain
DEDICATION
This book is for Judy Liese
and her dog Fargo.
CHAPTER 1
When the lights of town vanish from the rear view mirror and he turns onto the two lane highway headed away from their usual destination, the picture-pretty girl in the passenger seat has the feeling something isn’t quite right. He’s been awfully quiet since she got in the car, no longer the carefree, outgoing guy he was a few short months ago. With every mile she feels the gulf widen between them. The woods are deep and dark on both sides of the road, the moon cut into puzzle pieces by the twisted branches of trees.
In the beginning they were carefree lovers meeting in secret, every sense tuned to a fever pitch. Music was more moving than before, colors brighter, flowers more fragrant. It was like nothing could come between them. That’s the way love is supposed to be, isn’t it? Then came a shift, a subtle cooling, like when the summer goes and your tan fades and the last of the sun slips through a crack in the season.
“Is something wrong?” A stupid question, but she asks it anyway.
“What could possibly be wrong?” he says, with a tight smile that isn’t much of a smile at all. The earth wobbles slightly on its axis and she feels an uncomfortable twist in the pit of her stomach. It’s as if she’s climbed into the car with a stranger.
“You’re going the wrong way? We’re going to the cabin, remember?”
“We can’t,” he says. “The old bat in 5 told my dad that someone’s been using the place.”
“But, she doesn’t know it’s us… does she?”
“I don’t know, but we’re pushing our luck. Dad’s no idiot.”
She sits quietly watching the dark trees blur by. “That leaves the motel in Weyauwega. No one will recognize us there.”
“Not tonight.”
“Then where are we going?”
His head whips toward her. “Would you shut up! Can’t you see how annoying you are?” The muscles in his jaw flex and a pulse throbs in his temple. “Just stop talking,” he says, more quietly. “I’m driving to settle my nerves.”
She’s stunned into silence, but only for a moment.
“If you didn’t want to see me you should have cancelled,” she says. “I could be studying for class instead of wasting my time.”
“I am cancelling. After tonight I won’t be seeing you anymore.”
“You don’t mean you’re dumping me?” Her big, blue eyes study his face in the semi-darkness of the car.
He snorts a laugh. “You had no problem dumping Cody.”
“How can you say that? I left him for you.”
“I guess what goes around comes around. Besides, you knew this relationship had a limited shelf life. If you pretended it was anything more than a fling you’re delusional.”
She unconsciously touches her mid-section. The gesture doesn’t go unnoticed. “You can’t turn your back on me now.”
“Oh, I heard the rumor.”
She gasps. “That’s impossible!”
“Is it? If you think so, you have something to learn about small towns.”
“You came on to me, remember? You’re in this as deep as I am.”
“Not quite.”
“You think I’m going to let you walk away like nothing happened?”
“Oh, something happened all right.” He takes in her soft tangle of golden hair, those long toned legs and slender torso. “What healthy male wouldn’t want some of that?”
“You took advantage of me,” she says. “You’re a fraud.”
“What, you’re going to play the martyr now? Don’t try to tell me this was your first rodeo. From what I’ve heard, you’re quite the little cowgirl.”
“You made promises. You lied to me.”
He gives her an icy glance. “Guys lie to get girls in the sack and girls pretend to believe them. Besides, you got what I got in equal measure and came back for more. I never said I loved you. Not once. I couldn’t resist you. There’s a big difference.”
There’s a break in the trees and moonlight flashes across the hood of the car. His teeth clench, the skin pulled tight across his cheekbones. Gloves peek from his jacket pocket, but in the dim light from the dash they don’t look at all like his pigskin driving gloves. The forest thickens and the moon goes into hiding.
“There’s no sense driving in this direction if we’re not going anyplace. You’re just wasting gas,” she says. “I want to go back.”
“There is no going back.” The finality in his tone frightens her. He steps on the gas and launches the car deeper into the night.
“If you don’t take me back to town I’m telling my father when I get home and I’m going to see Sheriff Brooker in the morning. I don’t allow people to treat me like this.” When the car hits 60 it begins to vibrate. “Slow down. You’re scaring me.”
He pushes the vehicle further over the speed limit, his eyes riveted on the road ahead.
She suddenly rips the gloves from his pocket and feels the surgical rubber between her fingers. With a shrill cry she explodes and lands a barrage of adrenaline-fueled blows to his head. He cringes from the surprising power of her fists. She jerks the steering wheel and sets the car zigzagging recklessly across the center line. An oncoming driver leans on the horn and swerves to avoid a head on collision. He slams her back against the seat with a stiff forearm, steps on the brake and struggles to regain control of the car.
“Stop the car! Stop the goddamn car!” she says, yanking the door handle.
The door flies open, the wind nearly tearing it from its hinges. They skid to a stop on the gravel shoulder and teeter on the edge of the ditch. By the time he clears the driver’s seat the girl is running along the road with strong athletic strides, her shrieks and sobs swallowed by the wind that sweeps the isolated woods. There’s no time to think. He wrestles the gloves on his hands and pounds down the highway after her.
* * * *
Cody Kipke lies awake in the garden cottage behind the main house. It has a bed, a small bath, a couple wicker chairs and a space heater, every amenity a high school senior could hope for. It’s past midnight, wind thrashing the treetops and a shower of leaves spinning across the roof. His cell phone rings and he rolls over with a sleepy moan.
“Sterling?” he says.
“No, it’s me, Madison.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t sound so enthusiastic.”
“Do you know what time it is?”
“I had to wait until my parents were asleep,” she says.
“Why? What’s going on?” He sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed, his face reflected in the window across from him. This features are chiseled and classic, his blonde hair stylishly short on the sides and long on top like a California surfer.
“Have you heard from Sterling?” she