I drew in a choked gasp. No. This couldn’t be happening. My brain was still struggling to process them, here, in our safe little haven in the center of the forest. And what he was describing: no, he couldn’t be serious…. I imagined them tracking me. Chasing me. Cornering me and pinning me down—
Ralavich looked at Cal. “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you’re there to watch.”
Cal roared and started forward, but suddenly every guard had his gun up and pointing at him. I ran to him and grappled him around the waist, pulling him back. “No! Cal, no!” But he wouldn’t move. His eyes were locked on Ralavich and he looked ready to tear his throat out.
“We’ll give you a ten-minute head start,” said Ralavich. He made a big show of checking the time on a gaudy gold wristwatch.
A head start. It suddenly all became real and I was so frightened I wanted to throw up. They were going to hunt us. They were going to hunt us like animals and rape me. I looked at Ralavich, aghast. Why? He had me. Why not just take me back to the mansion?
Then I saw what was in his eyes and I understood. This was how he’d break me. He was going to toy with me like a cat with a mouse, let me run just so he could catch me, so he could show me just how powerless I really was.
“You’re wasting time,” drawled Ralavich lazily. “Closer to nine minutes, now.”
Cal lunged forward again, seething, but I grabbed his arm. “We have to go,” I told him. “Cal, we have to go!”
He was so angry, it took several seconds before I got him to look at me. Then he nodded, scowled at Ralavich one last time, and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the cabin.
Inside, he started grabbing things from shelves and throwing them into two backpacks: food, water, a first-aid kit, a tarpaulin. He pulled something small and slender from the back of a shelf: his passport. The guards watched over us to make sure we didn’t try to take any weapons.
Cal threw me one of the backpacks and we hurried outside. Rufus came with us, but Cal crouched down and ruffled the fur on his head. “You have to stay here,” he told Rufus. “It’s too dangerous for you.” Rufus whined but reluctantly sat down just outside the door, doing it as slowly as possible in the hope we’d change our minds.
“Eight minutes,” said Ralavich from the doorway.
Cal took my hand.
And we ran.
48
Ralavich
I WANDERED around the smallholding, snorting in disbelief at the pathetic life the man lived. No power, no phone, scratching a living from the earth like a peasant, living within a dozen feet of animals. What does she see in him?
There was a boom of gunfire and everyone jumped. One of the men from the mansion, a senator from Chicago, raised his hands apologetically and looked sheepish. He was carrying both a rifle and a shotgun and the shotgun had gone off accidentally while he’d been showing it to a friend. About half the men were like him, city dwellers who’d barely ever held a gun. But they didn’t have to be experts to run down a couple of unarmed civilians. And the other men were hunters, rich guys from places like Montana and Wyoming, who spent the hunting season bagging game. They’d soon find them. And when they did….
I raised my voice so they could all hear. “Shoot him if you have to, but don’t hurt her. And if he’s still alive, make him watch while you have your fun with her.”
A ripple of excitement went through the men. This was even better than what they got at the mansion. Maybe, if this went well, Cairns could turn this into a regular event and pay me a royalty for thinking of it.
I checked my watch, counting off the seconds. I could feel my own pulse racing, too. There was something primal about it, the thrill of the hunt. And the knowledge that soon, that curvy beauty would be broken and submissive to my will.
“Time’s up,” I announced. “Let’s go.”
49
Bethany
WE RAN. It was a beautiful day and the forest was still and quiet. It must have looked to someone watching like we were running from invisible demons, sprinting headlong through the trees with nothing behind us. But we knew we had to put as much distance between us and them as we could. How long had it been? Three minutes, four? How long until they came after us?
We were heading uphill, the slope gradually getting steeper. “What’s the plan?” I asked breathlessly.
“Stay ahead of them,” said Cal. “Keep heading north. Get to the border.”
It seemed impossible. The border was at least a hundred miles away.
He must have seen the doubt in my eyes because he grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I’m getting you to Canada,” he told me, his voice iron-hard. “And I’m coming with you.”