Jeremiah (Stud Ranch 5)

It was still just Buck, naturally. He had his fat roll of duct tape in hand, naturally. He leaned down and yanked Jeremiah’s hands behind his back, rolling him roughly onto his stomach in the process. Around and around he rolled the tape until Jeremiah’s wrists were secure behind his back. Buck did the same thing to Jeremiah’s ankles. Only once he’d used a significant amount of tape did he stand up and wipe his brow. He turned and glared at me, the only expression his face seemed capable of making.

“Don’t move a single fucking muscle. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded obediently, but that didn’t stop him from coming toward me with the duct tape roll in hand. He ripped off a piece and resecured it over my mouth before turning and walking out the door.

A little while later, I finally heard the sound of a truck starting and driving away.

Only then did I slump in my bonds and breathe out for what felt like the first time in hours.

“Ereiah,” I tried to scream Jeremiah’s name through the stupid tape on my mouth, wriggling and writhing against the bonds at my wrist and ankles. Of course he didn’t look up. Mr. Winston had been dosed several hours ago and only now had he started to stir.

Buck had tied tape around my chest and arms too, but if I could just get my wrists free… The tape was tied so tightly, I couldn’t even twist my arm in the tight loop of tape. Dammit. All the twisting just made it feel tighter. I swore into the gag at my mouth.

Over and over and over, I fought against my bindings, and swore, and fought some more… and swore some more. The whole time, I felt a ticking clock over my head. How far away would Buck go to dump out the Winstons. He’d go far if he was smart. Then again, it was Buck we were talking about.

Then again, he had managed to stay under the radar all this time. Dammit, why hadn’t I been paying attention to my creep radar when it came to Buck? I’d always felt there was something slightly… off about him. But if Reece and Jeremiah trusted him, so could I. Or so went my logic whenever my spidey senses tingled about Buck. Whenever I bothered thinking about him, which frankly, I just hadn’t bothered to do very often.

But apparently, the whole time he’d been obsessing about me.

Because, oh my God, was it him who’d been sabotaging the fences all last year before the tornado, back when I’d still been living at the ranch? And my car? The sugar in the tank? It had to be him. How long had he been planning this and what exactly was this?

That Buck didn’t intend for me to make it out alive seemed clear.

I struggled even harder against my bindings, rocking the chair back and forth on the plywood floor of the shed.

I stopped just before I knocked the chair all the way over. Fat tears sprang out of my eyes even as I was furious at them. Now was no time for crying. I had to get us the hell out of here while Buck was gone.

I had no delusions about the Winstons actually paying ransom for Jeremiah or me. I’d just wanted to get Buck the hell out of here, to stall for time so I could try to escape or for someone else to find us.

The more I tried to wriggle free, though, the more helpless the situation felt. It wasn’t as if I had something sharp like they did in the movies to cut the tape with. The more I twisted against it, the more the tape bunched up and became even more ropelike. Goddamned duct tape. I’d seen specials where people built boats out of this crap. It was impenetrable.

Oh God, oh God, what if I couldn’t get free? What if all of this had been for nothing? I’d refused to let myself think about it, but now it seemed more and more certain that Buck would drop off the Winstons, then come back and enjoy finishing off every revenge fantasy he’d cooked up over the years.

My breaths became short, huffing too fast out of my nose since my mouth was covered and I jerked in my chair, rocking it but not caring, too panicked in my need to get free. I had to get out of here. I had to get free and go for help, I had to—

Oh shit!

I’d rocked the chair too hard and I’d tipped it just like I was afraid of and then I was falling, falling over sideways, right toward Jeremiah—

I crashed into the floor with a jolting, “Oof.” And landed half on top of Jeremiah in the small space.