He’d be there. She had to hold onto that.
One of the guys at the table set his cards down and walked back to the door. He opened it long enough to push the button, closing the garage door again. He didn’t bother to even glance inside the garage, instead returning to his seat. “Room two is available.”
Squinty eyes grunted his acknowledgment and carried her through the kitchen and past a set of stairs that led down to the basement, then down a long hallway until he reached the bottom of another flight of stairs that led to the second floor.
His breath was getting heavier as the weight of her body seemed to be taking its toll at each step he took. At the top of the flight, he settled her against him and plodded his way to a doorway. He didn’t bother to turn on the light, just took a few steps inside and stopped, lowering her down.
A bed. It felt like a bed, the sheets cool against her back.
Only he didn’t release her immediately. Instead, his face loomed above her while his hands roamed up her leg and slithered over her hip. He massaged a breast, and she fought the urge to kick him in the groin.
“You’re going to like what I do to you, honey,” he said, his voice rough, just above a whisper. His fingers pinched her nipple, sending pain through her, but she only turned her head away from his hot fetid breath.
“Cal? We need your help here,” someone shouted from downstairs, stopping him from making good on his promise.
Whatever hope she’d had that Cal would think she was too out of it to escape dissolved when he grabbed each wrist and wrapped a scarf around them, binding them tight.
He heaved himself from the bed. “I’ll see you a little later,” he promised and left, his footsteps echoing down the hall.
Now she just had to wait.
…
Seeing the guy practically maul Meredith as he’d picked her up and carried her inside nearly killed him. But Travis knew he had to wait. Bide his time.
In the seconds it took for the cowboy to carry Meredith into the house, he’d spotted three guys at the table inside, drinks at their side. If he was lucky, they’d have consumed enough to slow any defense they might give him. Patiently he’d hid behind a workbench as Matt drove Bonnie away, and someone came out long enough to shut the garage again.
If Matt knew what was good for him, he’d skip town forever and quick. It wouldn’t take long for the guys to realize who’d been the leak, and Travis didn’t think the consequences would be light.
He waited until the light inside the garage turned off before he made his way across the cement floor and up the three stairs to press his ear to the door.
“Cal? Come on, man. Get your ass down here. We got checks to do,” someone called out. A chair squeaked as the occupant rose, and Travis made out footsteps walking farther away. Leaving two guys on the other side of the door. He waited another minute and burst into the room.
The first guy only had time to look up in shock as Travis sliced his hand through the air and into the guy’s windpipe, cutting off any scream or warning before slamming his head against the table, effectively knocking him out.
The other guy had risen to his feet and drawn a gun by the time Travis could turn his attention to him. He struck his leg out and kicked the guy in the wrist, hoping to disarm him before the gun could go off and all forces would descend on him. The move was successful, and the wrist cracked. Travis grabbed the guy’s outstretched arm and brought it down in another quick snap, breaking it. Then he pulled his own gun and brought the butt down on the guy’s head.
Both were neutralized within a minute.
Quickly, he pulled the prone bodies into the next room—a front room, from the looks of it, swathed in darkness, where they wouldn’t be easily spotted.
Meredith was upstairs. He knew that. He passed the basement stairs, where the faint sound of music could be heard, and crept down the dark hallway. At the bottom of the stairs, he paused to listen for any approaching footsteps. He still wasn’t sure where the third guy and Cal had gone.
Sure the way was clear, he went up and checked the first room. Empty, but the messy bed told him someone had been in it recently. He glanced into a bathroom that was also empty save for a roll of toilet paper, paper towels, and several used syringes lying on the counter.
He found her in the next room. Alone.
“Mer?” He slipped in and knelt next to her on the bed, loosening her restraints. “You okay?”
She nodded. “He went back downstairs.” She sat up and rubbed her wrists, no longer encumbered. “There’s a basement.”
“I’m heading there next, after I’ve checked the last two rooms up here. Just to be sure.”
Meredith swung her legs off the bed and stood. “I’m coming with you.”
No way in hell was he risking her following him to the basement, but he’d humor her for now, since as far as he could tell, the men had gone downstairs, leaving the upstairs unguarded.
He crept to the next room and looked in. This room, like the others, was dark, with tarp- covered windows. The only light a small night-light near the floor. And empty.