The Perfect Couple (Last Stand #4)(90)
Author: Brenda Novak

Colin reported it, too."

"Great. Let me talk to Tiffany, then."

"I’ll see you there."

"Whatever happens, Zoe…" He wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to say. He hated the thought of her finding Sam in Toby’s condition–or worse.

He wished she’d let him shield her. But every minute mattered; he understood that. "…I’ll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay." She sniffed and he knew she was crying. "Thanks."

He reached the freeway while he was talking to Tiffany and nearly floored the gas pedal–only to be slowed by traffic through Lincoln a few minutes later. After he hung up, he continued to drive as fast as traffic would allow. But he didn’t see Tiffany’s BMW anywhere along the interstate.

And although he followed the directions Tiffany had given him very carefully, he couldn’t find the cabin.

Chapter 34

The only thing wrong with his plan was that he didn’t have the time to implement it properly, Colin thought. He had to rush, and he was running late.

He’d sent a text to Tiffany telling her to waste half an hour and she’d responded with "HURRY!!!" But there was nothing he could do to get there any faster. He’d had to stop by Tommy’s cousin’s house before he left Sacramento to pick up keys to the rental he’d asked to use. The house, little more than a shack, was in Chester, not Tahoe or Truckee, which meant he had a long drive ahead of him after he grabbed Zoe and Sam. But it would be worth it. Using someone else’s place meant there’d be no records of any kind, and Tommy’s cousin was a distant enough contact that he probably didn’t even know Colin’s full name. Bill Bristol was lending it out for the whole week on the promise that Tommy would make it up to him by letting him use his sandrail for a summer trip. And Colin was making it up to Tommy by letting him use Tiffany for two nights this week while he was gone. He’d tried to whittle his side of the trade down to one night, but Tommy had driven a hard bargain and Colin had been too desperate not to agree.

Now he just needed to convince Tiffany to do whatever Tommy wanted. He’d promised she’d be open and completely flexible. He’d even drawn some graphic images to encourage Tommy to jump on the deal.

Hopefully, that diamond he’d bought his wife yesterday would help make her amenable. He’d get her another present, if necessary. Maybe a new car.

And he’d remind her that once this week was over, Zoe would be gone for good and so would Sam.

Because he’d been speeding, Colin checked his rearview mirror for cops, breathed easier when he didn’t see any and eased over toward the next exit. He was almost at the cabin. Once he took care of business in Tahoe and reached Chester, he’d be safe. He’d have to drive back to Sacramento and put in an appearance here and there over the next few days, just to let everyone know he hadn’t gone missing along with his father, Zoe and Sam. But he could blame the long hours he spent away from home on the fact that he was so busy searching for his father.

God, he couldn’t have set it up any better.

Sam heard her name as if from a great distance. She was swimming deep beneath the water, enjoying its shimmer and smoothness, and ignored the voice that was calling her. Somehow she could breathe, stay under as long as she wanted, which should’ve told her it wasn’t real. But she didn’t care about real. She just wanted to be comfortable.

She would’ve stayed right where she was, but her mother stood at the water’s edge, telling her she needed to talk to her immediately.

Fighting hard to obey, she struggled to lift her heavy eyelids and gazed up at the blurry image looming over her. "Mom?" she said, her voice a mere croak.

"Oh, good. I thought you were dead."

That was Colin’s voice. And he didn’t sound as if he really cared one way or another. Maybe that was why he’d abandoned her. She’d eaten the granola bars he’d left and drunk the water, then used whatever energy she had to dig at the spike that held her in place. But it had been no use. She was too weak to free herself.

For the past–she didn’t know how many hours–she’d slipped in and out of consciousness, listening to the flies buzz. They landed on her all the time, tickling her cheek, her forehead, her arms and legs, but she couldn’t even swat them away. "You’re…evil," she said.

"Sticks and stones," he responded with a laugh. "Anyway, I’ve got some good news."

"You’re dying of…cancer?" Her eyelids closed again–it was too much trouble to keep them open–but she managed a smile at her own joke. She had to be delirious to provoke him, but she was too numb to care, too numb to feel fear.

"Ha. You’re funny, you know that?

"And you’re…a…a dumb fathead."

Shoot. Couldn’t she come up with a better insult? Not in her current state. Her mouth was so dry she could hardly speak.

"Oh, yeah? If I’m such a fathead, how come I’m the one in control?

You’re in a suitcase, where you’ve been peeing on yourself."

She curled up. "I’d still…rather be me."

He laughed again. "Deathly sick? Wearing a collar? Staked to the ground? And smelling like shit?"

"At least–" she licked her cracked lips "–I’m worth loving."

"What a little bitch you are!" The tenor of his voice told her that her words had stung. It was a small victory, but with Colin a victory was a victory.

"You’d rather I was…stupid…like Tiffany?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"…thinking you’re…some…something special?"

"If you don’t shut up, I’ll kill you before your mother even gets here,"

he snapped.

At this, she dragged in her first sharp breath. "What’d you say?"

"I said you stink like a pig."

"What about my mother?"

He didn’t repeat it. He left and returned with a container of water, which he poured over her to rinse away the urine. Then he carried her to his car, put her in the passenger seat and handcuffed the end of her chain to the steering wheel.

Zoe was frantic by the time Tiffany found the cabin. It’d taken them more than two hours to reach a place they should’ve been able to get to in an hour and a half. But as they drove through the trees and the wooden A-frame appeared in front of her, fear overtook frustration.

"There’s no car," she said.

"I don’t see one," Tiffany agreed.

"Then Paddy can’t be here. No one could reach this place without transportation. It’s too remote."

Tiffany didn’t respond.

"So…what now?" She was asking herself more than Tiffany, asking herself if she could deal with the disappointment.

"We should look around, don’t you think?" Tiffany said. "See if anyone’s been here?"