CHAPTER 15

Veronica walked gingerly in through the now open door. She blinked her eyes and tried to adjust to the darkness of the cabin. As she began focusing, the layout of the small room became apparent.

There was a small fireplace directly across from the door on the other side of the cabin. A cozy-looking sofa was in front of it and it had a quilt thrown over the back of it. Veronica could see two other doors leading…somewhere on the right of the sofa. On the left was a tiny kitchen that only had a stove oven and a lime green fridge that looked like it was from the sixties. The linoleum on the counters was peeling around the edges.

"Rustic" Veronica commented under her breath. Duncan nudged her further inside with his hands as she paused in the doorway. The reason she was here came back to her in a rush and she walked quickly to the sofa and sat, facing away from Duncan.

"Veronica" he said, his voice chiding. "You can't just pretend that I don't exist" He closed the door and locked it behind him.

Veronica heard the sound and turned. The door had the type of lock the needed a key on both sides. Her eyes glanced around the cabin, looking for other ways out. Her spirits sank as she realized that the windows had bars on them. That meant that she was stuck here until Duncan opened the door, or she stole the key from him.

Duncan noticed where her eyes had travelled and smile slowly at her, moving to the small kitchen. He opened the fridge door and looked inside, nodding once before closing it again. "The men who installed the bars thought I was nuts" he explained to her with the smile remaining. "Everyone knows that there aren't any bears in this area, but what the city boy pays for…he gets"

Veronica's mind spun with the implications of his words. "But that must have taken a while to do. Why…" she trailed off as she looked into his eyes; they were shining in triumph. His smile had grown into a huge grin.

"I knew what was going to happen before you did" he answered her unfinished question. "You've been acting strangely for almost a month and I suspected that you were on the brink of making a mistake. I made the decision to set this place up when I found out that you had gone to see Aaron Echoll's"

'How did you find that out?" Veronica asked incredulously.

"I had someone investigate you a while after your visit. Vincent Vanlowe is a very accommodating man" Duncan answered. He moved toward Veronica.

Veronica swore under her breath. She had known that Vanlowe was scum, but this was going too far. When she got out of this she would have his ass. "But why would you investigate me at all?" she asked, scooting back on the sofa. Her back was pressing up against the far end of the sofa to put as much space between her and Duncan. He sat on the other side, not seeming to want to pressure her too much.

"I told you Veronica, you were acting strange" he answered her calmly. The pride that he had for predicting Veronica's actions was still there though. "You stopped cuddling with me and made excuses to avoid dates. We never talked anymore" He chuckled to himself. "Or the no more sex thing may have done it"

"I stop putting out and you have me tailed?" Veronica said in disgust. She stopped thinking about the smart thing to say and just let him see how she felt. "That's insane. Pathetic" she emphasized the word by leaning slightly forward as she said it.

Duncan's eyes narrowed into slits and his hand shot out to catch her by the shirt. Veronica tried to push away from him but she couldn't do much with her hands still cuffed. Panic flooded her when she realized that she might have just set Duncan off.

"Pathetic?" Duncan said in a harsh whisper, his eyes flaming. He pushed her down on the couch and held her there with one hand. Veronica used the new position to kick at Duncan but her legs were still weak and she was easily subdued. Duncan used one hand to keep her arms up as he used the other one to rip open her shirt.

Veronica gasped as the air hit her skin and her mind froze. Only one thought went through her head.

He was going to rape her.

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"So?" Logan asked impatiently as Keith looked at a map of the area they were in and compared it to his tracking screen. The man had needed to stop so he could pinpoint where exactly Veronica was. Logan was quickly losing patience.

"Lake Arrowhead" Keith said brusquely as he started the car again and moved back onto the road.

Logan felt triumph move through him. They were getting close to her; he could feel it. And now that they knew where she was it was only a matter of time.

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Veronica thought briefly about Logan and her father. She had been so sure that they would find her, and now it was too late. They could be a mile away and still not make it in time. She would be alive and safe when she was found, but she wouldn't be whole.

Duncan grabbed at the waist of Veronica's pants and yanked at them, trying to unfasten them with brute strength. They didn't give and he cursed. Veronica tried to pull her arms out from his hold but couldn't do it.

She felt helpless and tears gathered in her eyes.

Then her phone rang.

Duncan's head shot up from where he had been focusing on her pants. The sound came from Veronica's left side, where the phone lay in her jacket pocket. Her eyes widened on Duncan's face as he realized what he had missed.

"The phone" he muttered to himself. He jerked her jacket so that he could reach the pocket easier. He pulled the phone out and looked at it with consternation.

He pushed off of her quickly and ran to the door, unlocking it quickly. He leaned halfway out of the door and looked down to the road. Veronica sat up slowly, pulling her shirt closed as much as she could. She saw Duncan throw her phone towards the lake.

"Cover yourself" Duncan said to her curtly as he moved to the fridge. He riffled through it and came out with a loaf of bread, some bottles of water and some sliced ham. He put it on the cramped counter and went back to the fridge for more food. Veronica looked longingly to the door. It was still wide open.

Veronica looked back to Duncan, who had gotten a bag and was stuffing the food inside while he muttered to himself. She got up slowly and edged around the sofa, moving toward the door. Duncan didn't turn.

She side-stepped the way slowly, almost halfway to the door. Just as she was about to make it outside a floorboard creaked underneath her feet. Veronica didn't take the time to see if Duncan had heard it, she whirled around and sped out of the cabin.

Her legs wobbled under her but she kept on going as fast as she could. She made it a few feet past where the car was parked when Duncan's body slammed into her from behind and they crashed to the ground. Veronica cried out as her hands were smashed beneath them.

Duncan rolled off of her quickly and hauled her to her feet with a snarl. "I don't have time for this" he bit out at her. He threw her over his shoulder roughly, ignoring her kicking feet. He went to the back of the car and tossed her into the backseat again.

Veronica knew that if he got her out of the area no one would ever see her again. Her phone was probably destroyed. And even if it wasn't, it wouldn't do anything to help her father find her. She started struggling more as Duncan tried to recuff her ankles. He wasn't gentle this time.