In Seconds
- Автор: Новак Бренда
- Серия: Bulletproof #2
- Год: 2011
- Язык: французский
- Жанр: Остросюжетные любовные романы
Электронная книга - «In Seconds». Краткое содержание книги:
Laurel Hodges has changed her identity twice. She's been on the run for the past four years, trying to outdistance the gang members who blame her for the death of one of their own. She's finally found peace and stability in the small town of Pineview, Montana. But just when Laurel thinks she and her children are safe...the nightmare starts all over again.
The Crew, a ruthless prison gang with ties to Laurel's brother, will never forget and they'll never forgive. And now that they've finally tracked her down, they'll stop at nothing.
Sheriff Myles King, who happens to live next door with his thirteen-year-old daughter, appoints himself Laurel's personal guardian. His growing attraction to her could change his life—Myles is beginning to picture marriage and family. But it could also end his life. If he can't save her, everything he's built, everything he wants, could be destroyed. In seconds...
Ink wasn’t going back to prison. He’d put a bullet in his own brain first. So what did he care about any kids? They were nothing to him. Less than nothing. It was the parents he was thinking about. Adults could be so unpredictable, especially when they were trying to protect their children. “I just want to be sure her husband’s not home. Our only other choice is to take on a bunch of hunters, and I promise this middle-aged bitch will be easier. You don’t want to get shot, do you?”
“No, but I don’t want to get caught, either.” L.J.’s scowl darkened as he stared across the clearing. “If this woman has a husband, we’re going to have to kill him, too. We’ll have to do it now if he’s home. Later if he’s not. And if either one of ’em goes missing, someone’s bound to come looking. That’ll lead the sheriff right to us. And that’s not smart, not if we plan on sticking around for a while.”
They were sticking around, all right. Ink wasn’t going anywhere until he found Laurel Hodges or whatever she called herself these days. But he hated to pass up an opportunity for immediate gratification. “This woman’s home alone.” He couldn’t get beyond that.
“For now!”
L.J. had a point. Part or all of a local family would be missed far sooner than a group of hunters who were visiting from out of state and weren’t expected home for a week or two. And hunters would be just as likely to have a vehicle and groceries. If they didn’t have enough food, a little shoplifting could fill in the gaps. Ink had already stolen a couple hundred bucks’ worth of snacks from the gas stations they’d visited since they escaped the California Men’s Colony, not to mention all that fishing and camping stuff. They’d even held up a liquor store in New Mexico and walked away with two hundred and eighty-four dollars in cash.
“What about that last cabin we came across?” Ink asked.
“What are you talking about?” L.J. was no longer following the conversation. A girl had come out onto the deck, proving that the woman inside wasn’t as alone as they’d thought. Her daughter was home, too. And what a daughter she was. With long dark hair, porn-star boobs and a tiny waist, she was curvy and cute, and she was wearing a skimpy bikini while talking on a cordless phone.
Just seeing her up close, within reach, made Ink crave much more than food. He was so sex-starved he could smell her from behind the screen of trees, and he could tell L.J. was equally affected. He was standing there like a statue, no longer trying to drag Ink away.
“Maybe I spoke too soon,” L.J. murmured. “I vote we get a piece of that before we do anything else.”
Ink wanted her, too. He’d never seen tits that could compare to those. His injury meant he couldn’t get an erection anymore, but that hadn’t diminished his desire. He’d find some way to satisfy the craving, even if it was only by watching L.J. ride her. The sight of her made him feel young and strong again, more like himself than he’d felt in a long, long time.
But he had to think this through, figure it out. Could they drag her into the woods without her mother hearing? And if they succeeded, then what?
“I don’t know…” he said.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” L.J.’s voice was tight with desire. “We could take turns. Maybe keep her for a while.”
“And then what?”
“Let her go when we get outta here.”
“No. We can’t. You’re not thinking straight.”
L.J. whirled on him. “What? You gotta throw me a bone. I helped you bust out. You wouldn’t be here without me.”
Ink didn’t like acknowledging that, so he didn’t. “But if we rape her, we’ll have to kill her. Otherwise, she’ll be able to testify against us.”
“Maybe not. Maybe—”
“No maybes. Leaving her alive would be stupid. And, like you said, these people are people who’ll be missed. If she disappears, the sheriff will come knocking on every door up here. Hell, the whole damn community will start combing the area.”
L.J. didn’t respond. His attention had swung back to the girl with the razorlike focus of a mountain lion who’d spotted his first meal after a long famine. A moment before, he’d been so reluctant to harm this family. But the sight of Betty Big Boobs had thrown some sort of switch in his brain, given him fresh incentive to take what he wanted, and nothing else seemed to matter anymore. Not even the kids. That concerned Ink. If L.J. raped this girl, there’d be consequences. They’d have no choice but to run. And he hadn’t found Laurel.
Ink nudged him. “You listening to me?”
“We don’t have to kill her if we cover her head.” He groaned as she bent over to arrange a towel on the chaise. “Her other end is all I care about. Look at that tight, sweet ass.”
There was too much testosterone flooding through him. Ink sensed that he was losing control of his companion. “You think she’s just going to spread her legs and let you have your fun? That she won’t report what happened? Rape will bring the sheriff out here as fast as murder. We gotta let her be.”
“It won’t be rape. She wants it. I can tell. Look at the way she’s teasing us. I bet she knows we’re here. And it won’t take long. It’ll work out, you’ll see.”
This was crazy. Pulling the gun from his waistband, Ink pressed the tip of the barrel to the younger man’s head. “You’d better talk yourself down, little brother.”
“What the hell?” L.J. jerked away.
At his raised voice, the girl looked up, but if she’d heard him she was too engrossed in her telephone conversation to investigate. If Ink had his guess, she’d never had to fear anything in her life, didn’t know she had reason to be scared now.
“I said we’re going to leave her alone!” Ink whispered.
A sulky expression claimed L.J.’s face. “And do what instead?”
“Head back to the last cabin we passed.”
“But we counted the bags in that place! There are three or four guys staying there.”
“Yeah, well, with any luck, some of ’em won’t be guys, right?”
L.J.’s hand covered his heart, as if what he felt was more than lust. “If there’s a woman in the bunch, there’s no way she’s going to look like that!”
“Sometimes you have to take what you can get.”
“When you’re old and lame, maybe,” he muttered, and Ink nearly hit him with the gun. He would have, if he didn’t have to worry about noise.
“I’m going to forget you said that. For now.”
The threat in those last two words finally seemed to give him some leverage. “Oh, come on,” L.J. said. “It was a joke. You can take a joke, can’t you? I’m not going to take any risks.”
“You better not.”
“I won’t! But I don’t know if breaking into that other cabin is any smarter. It’s bad odds. Two against four. Or worse.”
“We’ll have the element of surprise on our side. No one gets back after a long day of hunting expecting an ambush.”
13
A motorcycle sat parked against the side of Vivian’s house. Myles spotted it as soon as he started over with Jake and Mia. While the kids ran in to talk to their mother, he stood outside wondering where the hell that bike had come from. It’d obviously seen a lot of miles. And it was far too big for a woman…?.
Before long, Jake appeared at the door to the little antechamber that led to Vivian’s kitchen. “Hey, you coming?”
“Looks like you have company.” Myles motioned to the bike.
He grinned. “My uncle Rex. You gotta meet him.”
Myles had heard about an uncle Virgil. Just this morning. Now there was an uncle Rex? Vivian had more family than he’d thought. Yet she’d gone two years without an out-of-town visitor. Why hadn’t either of these brothers come to see her?