“How can it be fate if you’ve never even met me? You don’t know anything about me.” The anger had dissipated and now she was whispering. Martin loved the sound of her delicate voice; it was like the breeze rustling the tree branches outside his window at night.
“I know I can’t live without you. I knew that the moment I laid eyes on you—it was fate. I knew that second how special you are.”
Carli shook her head, tears running silently down her face and dripping onto her t-shirt, but holding her head a bit higher. “That’s bull,” she said. “I know what this is really all about. I’m not stupid. My dad saved that other girl from you and now you’re trying to get even with him.”
A flash of anger bubbled inside Martin’s chest and he grabbed her t-shirt at the neck, pulling her toward him. She resisted, and he slapped the side of her face, hard.
The insolent little brat cried out and touched her cheek, opening her mouth as if to respond before thinking better of it.
How dare she question his motives! Who the hell did she think she was talking to? He shoved her against the passenger side door and sat perfectly still, breathing slowly in and out through his mouth until he managed to get his emotions under control. The little bitch was going to have to learn to keep her insolent mouth shut. But there was time for that.
He thought for a moment about how he wanted to answer her. She may have angered him, but her assumption was a reasonable one. He kept his hands at his sides and finally said, “Yes, I was angry with your father for interfering in a situation that was none of his business, for sticking his nose where he had no good reason to put it. I’m not going to lie to you, my angel—I will never lie to you—yes, I hope this hits him right in the gut and teaches him a lesson about minding his own business. That’s something he really should have learned by now, and, I have to tell you, I don’t mind being the one to teach it to him.
“But that is an entirely separate issue from you and me. In fact, if anything, I should probably thank him. He stopped me from making a very big mistake. Because, if he hadn’t interfered, I would never have looked into his background and I would never have learned of your existence. So don’t tell me what my motives may or may not be, Carli Ferguson, because you have no idea.
“Anyway, my point is this: removing you from that school bus this afternoon combines my main goal—to enjoy your company —with a very pleasant secondary goal, which is to teach your father an important and obviously long-overdue lesson. Do you understand?”
Carli’s shoulders were shaking and he knew she had graduated from sobbing to crying, although she still refused to face him. “Anyway,” he said, opening the driver’s side door of the stolen vehicle, “let’s go inside and get out of this heat.” He left the car parked nose-in to the closed door of the single-stall garage which was already hiding his box truck, the vehicle the police would be searching for. Leaving the Toyota in plain sight was risky, but there were no neighbors within a mile in any direction, and this end of the long, winding driveway could not be seen clearly from the road, so Martin was confident it would not pose a problem.
“We are destined to be together, my angel, you’ll see.” He opened Carli’s door like a gallant suitor trying to impress his girl on their first date. She stepped out of the car slowly, reluctantly, and Martin wrapped an arm around her waist. He could feel her entire slim frame shaking like a leaf, and she continued to cry quietly. Martin walked his angel up the front steps and into her temporary home.
CHAPTER 31
CARLI FELT AS IF her heart was about to explode in her chest. Her face throbbed where her kidnapper had slapped it, and she was having trouble catching her breath as she tried to stop sobbing and get control of herself. Ahead, the house loomed, creaky and silent. Siding rotted away in places, and long strips of peeling white paint hung from the window frames. The creepy guy’s arm slithered around her waist like some disgusting snake as he led her up the steps to his front door. She wished someone would drive past on the country road just around the corner at the end of the driveway. If she heard a car she would wrench away from her captor and scream her head off and sprint toward the road and she would be saved and—
And the man turned a key in a lock, pushed the front door open, and then shoved her inside immediately after. He stepped through right behind her and slammed the door closed with his foot, then turned and inserted another key in an interior lock on the door. A deadbolt slid into place. And just like that, it didn’t matter if anyone drove by.
He grabbed her again, his hand resting on her butt for just a second before sliding back to its previous location at the small of her back. She tried to be strong but allowed a whimper to escape as the man led her down a dark hallway. He didn’t seem to notice.
“Here we are, my angel,” he said breezily. “Your new home, at least for the time being. You may not be here long, but I will do my best to make your stay as comfortable as possible as you begin the process of learning to please a man.” Carli hoped he wasn’t waiting for a response, because she didn’t think she could form a single word without breaking down.
At the end of a hallway was a kitchen, which resembled her mother’s only in that it contained a sink, stove, table and refrigerator. Her mom’s kitchen was bright and airy, with a floor so clean you could practically see your reflection in it. This one was dark like the hallway, with dirty dishes everywhere and a grimy floor.