Another update is up, thanks for reading and the feedback!
He watched her go into the stable from inside the sedan, the woman that for an all too brief period had belonged to him. That night when she had been at his mercy, lying on the bed had filled him with pleasure, her pleading with him to stop inconsequential in him getting what he had wanted for so long. She had been beautiful, her hair spread around her head on the mattress, her body perfect, the only thing that marred it had been that he had looked into her eyes and they had looked past him.
His attempts to cut out of L.A. had taken longer than planned. It was easier now that he didn't have an accomplice to be found who could sing on him but while he had all the money he needed, he realized that he had to take great care not to try to make his escape while the dragnet out there waited for him to do just that and make a mistake. That left him with some spare time to hit a couple of bars and indulge in some of his pastimes like drinking hard whisky and tossing money on the table to gamble and winning even more in return. There hadn't been enough fighting for his tastes to test his body that had been honed to a fine edge by spending hours getting physically fit and building his skills for the day he'd hit the fence.
His contact had gone awfully silent since he had sent the attachment on that email to the intermediary who would then make sure the man who paid him would see it and know that the job had been done. The job he had been unable to do locked up in maximum security for the rest of his life. Dallas only knew bits and pieces of the story of why his benefactor had targeted this woman for repayment for some betrayal enacted against him. He wasn't one to pry and besides, he had his own reasons for opting to take on the job. He had gotten what he wanted and freedom plus plenty of funds to boot, so far it had been a win-win for him.
As for Clyde, not so much but he hadn't opted for Clyde to help him for his smarts but because of his shared history with C.J. and his willingness to do what he was told without being asked twice. Clyde hadn't suffered too much for his death and he had gone, after fulfilling his purpose and before he became too much of a liability.
He got out of the car and followed the path of the woman towards the stable. It had been his second day he had been here, watching. Not much else for him to do until his ticket had been punched to leave this city and the country behind for an all-expenses paid trip to Argentina, where it would be difficult to find him and even more so to bring him back for prosecution. He would be a free man and with his bank roll, a power player soon enough in his new country.
He would just watch, not touch her but as he watched her walk in her faded jeans and her red sweater, he remembered when his hands had marveled at the smoothness of her skin beneath. The sweet tear of her shirt under the blade of his knife and the softness of her body once she realized struggling was useless. Her skin had smelled nice, her hair like honeysuckle when he had pressed her against the bed.
He crept up to just outside the stable row because she had gone inside and wouldn't see him there. She'd spend an hour or so just preparing the mare before bringing her outside into the morning sun. If he didn't make a sound, she would never know he stood just feet away from her.
The sense of power at that realization rushed through him, because once again he was in control even if she didn't know it.
C.J. stroked the mare softly as the horse nuzzled her shoulder. She had fed her some of her favorite bran mash and the mare had eagerly eaten it up with some whinnies tossed in between each bite. She had eyed the confirmation of the mare critically and had noticed that no leg bore more or less weight than another, which meant she no longer favored the injured one. Good news, meaning that the likelihood of her foundering at this stage had dropped considerably,
She got the lead shank and had taken her out of her stall and in the spacious area in front of the entrance. Grabbing a curry comb, she ran it through her mane and tail, and then rubbed her body with a brush. The mane and tail were a darker brown than most of her body except the area a blanket might cover which was spotted.
"Come on, let's go get us some sunshine girl," C.J. said, gently tugging on the rope.
The mare didn't need much encouragement as she neighed and stepped out of the barn in to the area in front of the paddock. C.J. looked around her noticing that there hadn't been many of the other workers around this morning. Some of them had driven up to a horse sale yesterday and wouldn't return for a couple of days. She didn't mind much being nearly by herself as she started walking the mare around in a circle to warm her up before they would start off with a gentle job with C.J. alongside her out towards their favorite area of the spread.
She planned to just sit out under her favorite tree and relax, to not think about anything or anyone except the trees that were around her and the waist high grass in the nearby meadow. The mare no doubt would occupy her time by nibbling on some of the newer growth. As they both jogged out on a dirt path which would merge seamlessly into downy grass, she thought about what Miranda had been saying to her about shifting her focus towards Matt and his dangerous search for Dallas rather than on dealing with what had happened to her. She had been cross at the counselor for a few moments until she saw truth in her words. Worrying about Matt and his safety came naturally to her because she had done it often enough because of the risks associated with his work. It almost felt familiar to her and because of that, she felt assured focusing on it.
Better that than in the dreams that still woke her up at night and when she opened her eyes, for a split second, seeing the outline in the darkness of a man standing over her bed. Quite a few screams had died in her throat when she realized it had just been her imagination and then her heart would gradually stop pounding inside her chest, the flow of her blood racing like waves crashing in her ears. She had no idea where Dallas had gone in his escape or where he was now but she felt him still around her. She expected him to jump out and startle her into silence and she saw him on when strange men approached her.
At least she had stopped seeing him in Matt. She felt like to do so hurt him but he hadn't seemed offended at all by her scared reaction to him in the beginning, he just did whatever he felt he needed to do to help her feel better.
She continued down the path with the mare not knowing that the man who still haunted her followed just behind.
Matt drove his car to the stables after finishing some business meetings, figuring he might catch C.J. there. At least he hoped he would find her there with the horse and that she would be happy to see him. He had talked with Hoyt who told him that they were trying to determine any ties between the site that had been used to harass C.J. and Dallas and just as importantly whether either of these elements tied back to any individual who might have a grudge against C.J.
It would have to be an awfully big grudge, Matt figured because who out there would do such an evil act? It was bad enough if lowlifes like Dallas and Clyde had gone after C.J. like they did out of their own feelings of revenge but acting on behalf of another person who remained in the background pulling the strings?
Almost unimaginable.
But it could be a cruel world sometimes and all kinds of bad things could happen in it. Matt knew that from his own experiences and knew that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't prevent them all…not the ones that impacted the lives of his loved ones including C.J. She might spend the rest of her life recovering from what had been done to her.
But Hoyt said that if the site could be used to find any third party involved in what happened, then finding and arresting Dallas wouldn't be enough to end it. But they could use leverage against him to get him to spill on who had hired him to carry out some act of revenge and then got him and Clyde out of a maximum security prison. The Department of Corrections had been doing an inquiry of its own into the escape and had already discovered two guards who might have been involved in aiding and abetting the breakout. Both of them had suddenly come into quite a bit of money and one had booked a cruise to Mexico in the past week. When confronted by their bosses, both guards had quickly clammed shut and hired lawyers to do their talking for them.
Matt had gone through a roster of anyone who might hate his best friend enough to hurt her like this and there were quite a few names because of the success of their investigative firm. Hoyt had flagged some names for investigators already like the con artist Jonathan Renfield who had hired hit men to kill her and her sorority sisters to cover up a prior murder he committed along with Carter, the disgraced DEA agent who had been in collusion with a Chinese gang in selling drugs and in a string of murders which nearly included C.J.
But then Matt thought of the pictures which had shown up on the site and wondered how either men or anyone of their ilk would have gotten hold of them. That didn't make sense. It had to be someone directly or indirectly related to someone she had been personally with at some time.
He turned into the stable and parked near the barn where the mare stayed. He saw C.J.'s car and one other parked nearby. He got out and walked to the barn hoping he would find her there but it was empty.
Dallas moved closer to where C.J. sat beneath the tree looking so damn pretty. Her face appeared devoid of the bruises he had left on it. That had been her fault for giving him a hard time when he had grabbed her. If she had just done what he had wanted…her skin would have remained unmarred but she had fought him at first. He had hoped showing her the knife would be enough but it hadn't deterred her.
He crept even closer and then he put his foot down and a twig crackled beneath it and he saw that she heard it. Her head had gone up, her brow furrowed and her body tensed.
She thought she was out here alone and that noise had been caused by a small animal but she was wrong. He smiled at that and then stepped from out of the brush.
"Hello C.J…"
The voice, so familiar caused her heart to skip a beat even before she recognized it. She looked up and saw him standing there and she waited for him to vanish just as he had when she'd woken up or at least he would be someone else.
But nothing changed, there he stood looking straight at her and she knew that it was him.
She tried to get up on her feet but remained crouched low to the ground as she eyed him.
"Why are you here?"
He chuckled then.
"You know why,.."
The blood turned ice cold inside her at his words and the smugness that served as their undercurrent.
"Stay right there…don't come closer," she said, reaching for her gun.
She never went without it these days although she didn't think she would need it here. But he ignored her and took a few steps closer to her.
"You know I couldn't stop thinking about you and that night we just spent together," he said, "I had to see you again before I left."
She felt like vomiting as the nausea uncoiled inside her.
"Get away from me," she said, "or I'll…"
He kept moving closer to her, a cruel smile curling on his lips.
"You'll what…I'll tell you what…you'll do what I want you to do and you'll be better at it this time."
She took one step backward, carefully, reaching behind her and then she pulled out her gun and pointed at him. If he appeared shocked, he didn't let on.
"The only thing that will happen is you'll be dead this time," she said, "like your buddy Clyde."
His eyes widened a bit and he stopped moving.
"Now you don't mean that honey," he said, "We had such a good time together…So worth waiting for…why would you want to ruin that?"
Her aim remained steady. No way would he be getting any closer to her, she decided. She clicked the safety off and prepared to shoot if he took one more step.
Matt saw that the barn had been empty and thought he knew where she and the mare had gone, where they had gone every day at around this time, to the grove of trees which C.J. favored.
So he headed off in that direction, looking forward to seeing her. But when he reached the trees, his eyes widened at the sight in front of him, and he stopped in his tracks.
Not what he had been expecting at all.