Excerpt

Page 9

    Adam did as he was told. “Where’s Jasmine?” His voice was calm, but his pulse was not. His arms hung in the air, disconnected, powerless. The world around him shifted into slow gear, and only his heart raced on.

“She’s fine. Get on your knees, and she’ll stay that way.”

Once Adam dropped to the mossy ground, someone with strong arms grabbed his hands and forced them behind him. He fought to keep them free, knowing this man couldn’t train the gun on him and bind his hands at the same time. His struggles earned him a crack on the side of his head with the gunstock. In a painful haze, he felt rope tightening around his wrists.

“Who are you?” He winced and hissed a breath in through his teeth. “What do you want?”

He took another blow, this one a brisk, openhanded swat across the top of his head. “Shut the fuck up. You might live till morning.”

The wrenching of his arms behind his back sent shards of pain to his shoulders. Adam tried to tune into every sound, especially for some hint that Jasmine was nearby. He only heard the heavy breathing of his assailant. Finally the man stepped around and stood in front of Adam. A fat, freckled visage with a snaky red ponytail puffed foul air into his face.

“We’ll get along just fine if you do as I say. Now get up, and let’s go for a walk.”

He pulled Adam to his feet and pushed him ahead. Adam gathered his thoughts and took a quick visual inventory of his surroundings. His hatchet and pack were in plain sight -- a thousand miles away. This guy couldn’t be working alone. Somebody else had Jasmine just like this. Or worse.

Adam knew these woods. He knew about the old logging camp ahead. Was that their destination? The clearing? The abandoned blacksmith shop was little more than a shell of rotting wood.

After a long walk with a gun jabbed into his back, Adam realized his suspicion was correct. They arrived at a small clearing in the woods where, despite the passage of years, clover and grasses still grew instead of trees. Gathering storm clouds snuffed the sunlight, and the air sagged with prestorm moisture.

His attention went to the shed, and he immediately saw Jasmine a few yards away with her red bandanna tied around her mouth. Ropes bound her tightly to a small maple tree. Jasmine’s gaze collided with his, and he felt her terror. His breath came in bursts, and his heart hammered as he watched her tug on her restraints. She hadn’t been harmed. At least she was alive and in one piece.

Adam was about to break and run, but the fat man must have sensed his intent and grabbed his arm. “Where are ya, Jethro?” he bellowed. “We’re in business. Simple as pie.”

A large, lumbering man stepped out of the doorless entry of the crumbling wooden structure that had stood since the turn of the century. “What the hell took ya so long, Red? I’m all set in there. Bring him in.” He headed toward Jasmine.

“Ah, perfect.” The fat man turned to Adam. “What’s your name, son?”

Adam didn’t answer but kept his eyes trained on Jasmine. He watched the big man push the bandanna from her lips with an oddly gentle hand.

“I don’t give a shit, to tell ya the truth. You’re just a nice little deposit in my bank account.” As he spoke, he shoved the gun into Adam’s ear and escorted him into the shed.

Once inside, Adam looked around in disbelief as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. A tripod-mounted video camera angled down toward a shiny red quilt on the grimy wooden floor. A yellowing pin-striped mattress poked out from beneath the quilt. “What the hell is this?”

His captor put his arm around Adam’s shoulder with sickening fatherly affection and shifted the gun to point under Adam’s chin. “We’re going to get some footage of you and your lovely friend gettin’ off. Then I’m going to sell it.” He motioned out a window that had long ago given up its glass. “That big idiot out there, Jethro. He’s on the run. I do the commerce.” The man stretched up into Adam’s face. “You wouldn’t believe the money folks cough up for suck-ass porn. The Internet is drippin’ with the stuff.”

Adam didn’t want to catch his eye, but it was unavoidable. “I wouldn’t know.”

He backed out of Adam’s face and sniffed with pride. “My productions always show nice-lookin’ people. You should be flattered. Makes a big difference in sales.” He gave a nod out the window again. “He lines up my movie stars. He’s been watching you two for a couple weeks. I gotta say, you’re a tough one to follow in the woods. Thanks for the orange flags.” He gave Adam a clap on the shoulder.

Jethro dragged Jasmine into the shed and threw her onto the red quilt. Adam tried to go to her, but the fat man, Red, held him with a solid grip.

“Hang on.” He huffed as he struggled with the knotted rope around Adam’s wrists while still pointing the gun at Adam’s head. “Son of a bitch. Jethro, can you give me a hand?”

Adam heard the schwick of a knife blade popping up, and his blood froze. Then he felt a seesaw on his ropes, and he was free. He stole the chance to run to Jasmine and swept her into his arms.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, Adam. Just hold me.”

“Hey, hey. Save it for the camera. You ready, Jethro? You remember how to run that thing?”

With Jasmine still in his arms, Adam cast a sideways glance at the feet pacing beside the mattress. Spiffy dime-store sneakers made the fat man appear congenial, like a weird but harmless neighbor. When his hand twitched on his gun, the weird neighbor devolved into a bastard again.

“I push the fuckin’ button, Red. I think I can handle it.”

Adam watched the big man raise his hands in disgust.

Click. A bullet slid into position. He looked up and saw Red with the gun trained on him and Jasmine.

“Give me your clothes.”

“What? You can’t be ser --” The cold gun barrel touched Adam’s cheek.

“You heard me. The sooner you get naked, the sooner you’ll get a hard-on, and the sooner I make my first thousand bucks. Get up.”

Adam slowly stood with his hands in the air. “Don’t shoot. Just -- there’s no way we can do this. You want us to -- you can’t force that kind of thing.” He shook his head in disbelief. Jasmine stood beside him and put her hands in the air too.

Red stepped even closer, now pointing the gun at Jasmine’s head. “Oh, I think I can. Seems to me the guy with the Ruger always gets his way.” He circled them with menacing, careful steps. “She’s a pretty one. Nice skin. Now let’s see more of it.” He put the barrel of the gun directly on her cheek.

“Oh God, no. Please.”

Jasmine’s voice was barely a whisper. Adam’s heart sank to the depths of his stomach.

“All right. We’re doing it. See?” Adam pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor. Then he unbuckled his pants and unzipped them. With hesitation, he motioned to his feet. “I need to get my boots off.”

“Both of ya do.” Red motioned to Jasmine to get going. “And get this damn thing off your neck.” He roughly untied the knot of her bandanna and whipped it aside.

Jasmine joined Adam and slowly took off her heavy hiking boots and socks. Then she quickly pulled her shirt over her head. “Are we really going to do this?” she whispered, but her words seemed amplified in the heavy air.

Adam looked into her eyes. Red stood just a few feet away. Could he get that gun? Could he overpower him? His thoughts came in rapid fire. He looked toward Jethro. He was unarmed. Built like a Mack truck -- but he didn’t see a gun.

“Don’t even think about it. Now get the show on the road.”

Red’s warning had no effect on Adam’s decision. With no more thought, he made a quick lunge for the gun. He had the barrel in his hand and wrestled with Red, but his efforts were short-lived. Jethro grabbed him by the hair and braced a powerful arm at his throat from behind.

Red poked the gun into his cheek. “Had enough fun?” He sucker punched him, and Adam buckled forward with an oof.

“Let him go. Don’t hurt him. We’ll do this.” Jasmine tried to pull Adam from Jethro’s grip. “We’ll do this. Just let him go.”

He did, and the two captives clung together. Adam pressed Jasmine’s head into his chest. “I won’t do this to you. I’ll let him shoot me first.”

“No. No.” Tears flowed freely as she pulled away and lifted her sports bra over her head. Without letting it go from her hand, she flung her arms around Adam’s neck and kissed him.

Adam heard the fat freak yell, “Camera on!”