Chapter 18
As Webster exited the house, he caught a glimpse of someone entering the barn. Obviously, this was going to be easier than I thought, he sneered as he witnessed the way the small figure stumbled through the doorway.
Purposefully, he started across the yard ignoring the goats that began to mingle about, probably expecting food. Webster didn't care what they wanted as he batted them away. His focus was on the pretty F.B.I. agent who had escaped his grasp.
As he entered the barn, Webster had to pause a moment before his eyes adjusted to the darkness inside. Finally, he saw his prey leaning heavily against one of the wooden stall doors.
"Well, well, well," he started, causing her to jump. "What have we got here, my sweet?" Webster smirked, noticing the way she held her injured arm to her side even with the sling.
Tara was breathing heavily, the exertion from her trip through the woods and back taking its toll. She'd thought she could find somewhere to rest while she waited for Danni, but as soon as the goats got out she knew she'd better hide and the barn provided the best location. However, she wasn't expecting to be found so quickly.
"You won't get away with this, Deputy," Tara gasped when she saw the gun he had trained on her. "We're F.B.I. and if something happens to us, they will do an investigation," she declared not sure if she was telling him or assuring herself.
"Oh, they can do all the investigating they want, my dear," Webster grinned as he slowly approached her, his stride decisive. "In the mountains, we have ways of burying the bodies so no one finds them, but before we do that, I thought we could have a little fun."
A wave of fear washed over her as realization set in. Even with all of her training at Quantico, Tara didn't know how she would physically get out of this situation. If he touched her, her injuries would prevent her from effectively fighting back.
Backing farther into the barn, Tara's eyes searched around her for some kind of weapon to use against him. To her left, she saw a pitchfork leaning against the wall and wondered if she'd be able to get it before he grabbed her.
"Don't make this hard on yourself," Webster warned, seeing her looking towards the pitchfork. "I wouldn't want to hurt you more than you already are."
"You're going to have to kill me before I willing let you put your filthy hands on me," Tara challenged defiantly, her eyes locked with his menacing stare. She slowly saw an evil grin spread across his face, and despite herself, she felt a shiver run up her spine.
Suddenly, a figure crashed out of the shadows landing on the deputy, sending him to the ground his gun flying. A startled yelp was all he could get out before his assailant brought the butt of her rifle down on his head, knocking him unconscious.
"Nice work, Danni!" Tara exclaimed, proud of the younger woman's actions. "I really didn't think it was going to work," she admitted as Danni grabbed some rope from a nearby stall to tie the deputy's hands together.
"I've been around this creep long enough to know the thing he likes best is to prey on someone who's down," Danni confessed, expertly tying the object of their conversation up as if she was at a calf roping contest. "So what do we do now?" she asked, coming back to stand beside Tara.
"I don't know," Tara declared, thankful the darkness concealed the fear in her eyes. Myles and the others were still inside with another gunman, and she didn't know how much longer she had until Webster awoke.