Silver Falls - Anne Stuart [73]
“I don’t waste my time with second thoughts. I do what needs to be done. Are you going to answer my questions?”
“Right. Sophie is spending the night at Kristen’s house—I asked Maggie to keep her there. It’s the only place I think is safe nowadays, thanks to you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’ve got me suspecting murder everywhere I turn. I don’t even trust my husband completely anymore. So you’ve won. You’ve taken what David wanted.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t give a shit about David, as long as you and Sophie are safe,” he said, and she almost believed him. “So if you weren’t on your way to get her, where were you going?”
She didn’t want to tell him. Wasn’t going to, except her reluctance annoyed her. “I was headed out to find the In-N-Out Burger place.”
He stared at her. “That’s way over in Monasburg.”
“I had a craving.”
For a moment she was actually able to shut him up. “Not the best actual diet,” he said after a moment.
“I get plenty of healthy food when I eat with David. Every now and then one needs a little variety. Things don’t always have to be good for you.”
“I’ve been trying to tell you the very same thing,” he said in a low, seductive voice. “Since your daughter’s out and presumably David’s not around, why don’t you come back to my place with me? I can’t feed you burgers but I can distract you with other things that aren’t good for you.”
“Give it a rest, Caleb. I’m going back inside and locking the doors and calling a tow truck. I’ll be just fine without fast food or…or you. I don’t like you. I wish you’d go away—you make everything worse.”
“And just how do I do that? My father’s delighted to see me, David professes to feel the same, your daughter adores me. How do I manage to alienate you so thoroughly when I’m just doing my best to be a good brother-in-law?”
“You’re about as good a brother-in-law as Jack the Ripper.”
“Ah, but we don’t know if Jack ever married or had siblings. It would be very interesting if he had a brother. How do you think the brother would feel, knowing he’d grown up with a monster? Do you think he tried to stop him? Or did he follow in his footsteps?”
She turned, reached in her car for her purse and then slammed the door, giving herself time to recuperate. “You know how you keep telling me to go away? Why don’t you take your own advice? Why don’t you get back in your car and drive the hell away from here? You’re nothing but trouble.”
“I’ve been told that all my life, and it hasn’t stopped me yet. I tell you what. You agree to take Sophie and leave and I’ll get out of here myself. Leave town and your husband and my father will get by on their own. Wouldn’t that make life a lot simpler?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He stared down at her, and she could sense the anger simmering beneath his dark expression. And then something seemed to snap. “Yes, you are,” he said, and before she realized what he was doing he’d scooped her up, slapping a hand over her mouth, and started dragging her toward his waiting car.
She tried to scream, but his hand muffled the sound. She bit his hand, but he didn’t even flinch as her teeth clamped down hard enough to draw blood. He managed to yank open the door of his Toyota long enough to throw her inside, then shoved in after her. “Put your seat belt on,” he growled.
She was already fumbling with the door handle. He grabbed her wrists in one hand, holding them so tightly it hurt, as he put the car in gear. “You fight me and you just might end up killing us both. I’m trying to save your fucking life.”
“Right. You do that by kidnapping people and torturing animals.”
“I never tortured any animals,” he said in a tightly controlled voice.
“Then what was Maggie talking about? She doesn’t make things like that up.” His fingers were like iron around her wrists, and she tried to bend over to bite him again, but he simply yanked her upright.
“She didn’t make