The girl’s sobs only grew. Toni glanced at Shell, who shrugged and shook her head, seeming as confused as Toni. “Lindsey, can you walk?”
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
“It’s all right. I’m so happy you called me. You made the right choice.”
“No, I didn’t,” Lindsey said in a voice so low, Toni almost missed. “I’m sorry. I had no choice.”
The words had an icy chill running down Toni’s spine that had nothing to do with the intense and biting cold.
Shell walked forward until she was at Toni’s side once again. “Toni…” she whispered.
“I know.” She glanced around, seeing nothing but white and trees as unease slithered through her stomach.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Lindsey said again as she sobbed and rocked back and forth, her slight body wracked with visible shakes.
“What do you me—”
The sound of clapping had both Toni and Shell whipping their heads to the right. Crank strode into their line of site, seeming to materialize out of the falling snow.
“Two heroes, excuse me, heroines, come to save the damsel in distress. So noble of you. So very fucking noble.” He punctuated each word with a clap. As opposed to the rest of them, he had dressed appropriately for the weather with a thick leather jacket, heavy boots, and that goddammed Santa hat.
“Oh shit,” Shell whispered.
Toni couldn’t get her throat to vocalize. She stood there so stunned, she didn’t even blink. The whole time? Was this a ploy the entire time?
They were screwed. They hadn’t told Tex, and hadn’t called their men. Ton had been so focused on getting to Lindsey, she hadn’t given a single thought to her own safety.
Or Shell’s.
And now she’d gotten them into a situation that seemed impossible to survive. Her entire body trembled, and she couldn’t tell whether the terror or cold was getting to her more.
Crank walked forward, climbed up on the picnic table, and put an arm around Lindsey, who visibly recoiled from him. That had Toni wanting to lunge forward and claw his eyes out, but the cold had her muscles feeling sluggish, and he would probably swat her away like a pesky fly.
“I’m s-sorry,” Lindsey said again.
“I-it’s okay, sweetie,” Toni said. She’d have cried if the tears wouldn’t just freeze on her face. Beside her, Shell took her hand. Her cold fingers curled around Toni’s and tightened to the point of pain.
Both Toni and Shell had been in shit situations before, but this? In a deserted campground in the middle of a snowstorm with a dangerous man? She swallowed as dread filled her.
This made her blood run cold even, without the outside temperature.
“Aww,” Crank said. “Isn’t that kind of her, Linds? Even after you tricked her for weeks, she still says it’s okay. You know what we call that?”
When no one responded, he gripped the girl by the hair and yanked her head up. She let out a yelp then fell silent again. Toni began to lunge forward, but Shell grabbed her arm. “Don’t be stupid,” she said in a harsh whisper.
“I asked you a question,” Crank said, shaking Lindsey by her hair.
“N-no,” she said, her voice cracking. “I don’t know.”
“We call that a sucker.” He laughed as though he was the funniest person in the world. Suddenly, Toni no longer registered the cold. Instead, a hot rage fired through her system.
“Okay, ladies. Come have a seat here next to my friend Lindsey.” He glanced at a thick black watch on his left wrist. “We’re gonna be taking a trip in about ten minutes here.”
What should they do? Follow his orders? It was a horrible idea. Same as getting in a car with a madman. She couldn’t run and leave Lindsey. Maybe Shell could make it to the car on her own…
“Toni,” Shell whispered so low, Toni had to lean her head closer to her friend to hear.
“What?”
“Any chance you thought to let Zach know where we were going?”
“No. You?”
Shell shook her head. Any hope she’d had fled.
“I said come have a fucking seat!” Crank yelled, making them jump and Lindsey cry out again. He pulled out a gun and waved it in their general direction.
There went any hope of escape. No chance of Shell getting away now. Not with a weapon in the mix.
Toni met Shell’s gaze and saw the same hopelessness she felt. They were in serious trouble.
With a stuttered sigh, Toni squeezed Shell’s frigid hand, and the two started toward the picnic table. She looked to the sky, no longer feeling the snow as it pelted her frozen face, and sent up a little prayer that Zach or Copper would somehow know something was wrong.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ZACH
“Prez still passed out?” Zach asked Maverick as he sat at the bar sipping the morning’s second cup of coffee. The first had come from the diner. A parting gift from Toni, along with a few muffins as she’d sent him on his way after he’d dropped her off. That coffee had been rich, piping hot, and full of flavor. This java was thick, burned, and tasted like liquid tar. To make matters worse, it barely could be called lukewarm.