A scream tore at Jason’s throat, and his voice cracked when he managed to choke it down and speak. “Just let her go, please. I’m begging you.” He was ready to drop to his trembling knees if that’s what it took. Maggie cried, and he ached to have her in his arms again.
But Brown yanked Maggie closer to him. “I do have to be going now, and I’m afraid the little lady’s taking a trip. The po-lice ain’t gonna shoot in her vicinity.”
“No!” Bile rose in Jason’s throat, terror clawing him open from the inside, stripping him bare and useless. Can’t be happening. Not real. Please let me wake up.
Ben gritted out, “Leave her alone, you fucking bastard.”
The man’s nostrils flared, the tendons in his thick neck standing out. “I’m trying to be reasonable here. I could kill you both right now, so stop with the name-calling.”
“No, please!” Maggie whimpered. “Don’t.”
“As long as no one does anything stupid, they’ll be just fine, and so will you, honeypie.” He backed up. “I don’t have no quarrel with a little girl.”
Jason’s heart was going to explode through his chest. “We won’t tell anyone, I swear!”
“I wish I could believe that. But my momma didn’t raise no fool.”
“Take me instead,” Jason begged. “I won’t give you any trouble. Take me. Please.”
“Daddy!” Maggie struggled in the man’s grip, and he put his forearm across her throat, pressing hard.
“Now, now. Daddy, you tell her to mind me. Or you ain’t never gonna see her again. I hate to make this unpleasant.”
“What are you going to do with her? Where are you taking her?” Jason choked down another scream. He was flying apart, knives in his gut and fishhooks tearing his skin. “Don’t you touch her. If you hurt her, I swear to God…”
Brown’s spine went rigid, his chin lifting. “What kind of man do you think I am? I don’t interfere with little girls.” He spat on the ground. “I helped give that pervert over in Lupfer a good beatdown before the fucking useless cops came. That sick son of a bitch was lucky. That shit ain’t right, messing with kids. I’ll forgive the ugly accusation since I know you’re a little out of sorts right now. But watch your mouth, boy. In fact, I think you owe me an apology.”
The syllables were glass shards on his tongue, but Jason gritted out, “Sorry.”
“Okay now. Let’s be civilized about this. Everyone do as I say, and I’ll treat her real good and let her go when I don’t need her any more. I’m being fair as can be. Don’t make me kill you.”
“Harlan, let’s talk about this.” Ben held out his hands.
The man’s beady gaze narrowed. “Shut your trap, Ranger Bob. We ain’t friends.” He spat again, refocusing on Jason. “Boy, take off your bag and throw it this way real gentle-like.”
Heart roaring, Jason slipped off the pack, gripping the straps with his left hand. As he pulled his arm back and tossed, he dug in his right pocket, slick fingers tightening on the metal canister. Getting his shaking finger on the nozzle, he made sure it pointed the right way.
He couldn’t let Maggie go. If this man took her now, Jason would never see her again. A reporter’s voice from a Dateline episode echoed through his mind.
Never go to a second location. Odds of survival drop drastically.
“Pick that up and put it on.” Brown kept the gun pointed directly at Maggie’s head, stepping forward with her as she bent and slung the pack over her trembling, narrow shoulders. “Tighten the straps,” he ordered.
She lowered her head, doing as she was told, and Jason leapt forward, spraying the bear repellent with a hoarse shout.
Brown roared and gunshots blasted, thunder cracking through the air. Jason instinctively dropped to the muddy ground, and as he reached out and grabbed Maggie’s ankle, she was torn away, hauled under the monster’s meaty arm with a scream that reverberated through Jason’s bones.
In a heartbeat, Maggie and Harlan Brown vanished around the next bend in the path. Jason scrambled up, slipping in the mud and crashing down again, blinking against the residual bear spray in the air, his eyes watering as he clawed at the ground and shoved to his feet.
Barreling forward, Jason chased after his baby.
CHAPTER FIVE
Fuck!
Pepper burning his eyes as the wind changed, Ben scuttled backward around the curve in the winding trail, his heart about to hurtle from his chest. He’d tossed his pack into the trees when he’d heard a stranger’s voice and instinct told him it was Harlan Brown. Now he still had the radio, at least.
He crawled into the bush, gasping and rummaging through wet leaves, pain searing every pore. He was allergic to peppers, and he tried to hold his breath, squinting into the gloom. If he didn’t wash his eyes out immediately, they could swell shut and he’d be helpless to help Maggie and Jason. Useless.