After taking care of business, she became curious when she returned to the hallway to find that Cody still had not returned to his post at the back door. A cold draft slithered up her spine, chilling the leather of her corset. Looking closer, she could see that the door had swung open in the cold wind. She stopped to pull the door closed. A sharp prick in the back of her shoulder startled her, and she gasped as she turned, rubbing her arm.
Shock sent a wave of chills through her body as she looked up at the man standing in front of her.
“Tyler?”
Tyler Anderson smiled widely at her, reminding her of a big alligator, the way he showed all his teeth. He stroked her arms. “Yep. It’s me, in the flesh. I thought I’d come see how you’re doing. Obviously very well.” He looked around and then eyed her closely as if he were looking for something in her eyes.
Camilla swallowed, the nausea welling up even stronger. Her throat felt funny and so did her fingertips. Her mind felt strangely muddled as she wondered why he’d come to see her. She’d made it clear when she’d visited him in the county jail after finding out what he’d done that she never wanted to see him again. Ever. “Why are you here?” Her lips felt a little tingly as she spoke.
“I came to see you, Camilla. I’ve missed you.”
She squinted at him. He was wearing a cowboy hat, which was odd for him. It was Tyler, but he looked different. Rougher around the edges. Hardened. Shifty eyed. “Tyler, what are you doing here?” Her lips wouldn’t quite cooperate. She looked beyond him and felt strangely buoyant as he put his arms around her shoulders and directed her to the door. She didn’t want to go with him but her feet followed anyway.
Tyler chuckled easily as though he were chatting with an old friend. She wasn’t his friend. Not anymore. “I knew there was no way I could get close to you while you were inside, so I had to draw you out. Letting the local television station know about your grand opening seemed like a good diversion. They jumped at the story.”
Where’s Cody?
Her heart thudded sharply in her chest as she tried to summon the strength to pull away from him and run back inside but she felt like a puppet on a string as he led her. He continued rubbing her shoulder and she realized in her stupor that he’d injected her with something. Fear for her baby gave her a sudden surge of adrenaline and she tried hard to concentrate and fight the effects of whatever he’d given her.
The parking lot lights were dancing and swirling around so strangely and they made her even dizzier as she looked up at them. The nausea threatened again and a wave of cold fear made it worse. She needed to get back inside but she couldn’t get her feet to cooperate. She didn’t know how she stayed on them as he led her toward the large rental truck parked near the end of the building, away from the cars in the parking lot. She tried to pull away from him, to dig in her heels, and he moved her along as though she weighed nothing, holding her to his side when her knees wobbled.
“Where’s Cody?”
“Busy.” Tyler chuckled good-naturedly. “Yeah, you were pretty clever hiring him. I imagine his two buddies must be inside, too. I took care of him. You sure do look beautiful tonight.” She looked up and caught him leering at her cleavage. “I’ve missed you, Cami.”
She tried to free herself from his hold but couldn’t seem to lift her arms. “What did you do to him?” It became increasingly difficult to speak clearly, and she had to overenunciate to make herself understood. “What did you do to me?” She stumbled, and he caught her, hurrying her to the passenger side door of the large truck. Her head lolled back, and she caught a glimpse of Cody, prostrate and motionless on the ground behind the truck. “Cody!” Her voice sounded pitifully weak.
“Just a little sedative. Something to make you more amenable. I need something from you. Well, two somethings from you, actually. But we need to get out of here before anyone gets curious.”
Knowing she was moments away from being abducted, Camilla did the only thing her body seemed capable of doing. She became deadweight. She wouldn’t climb up into the cab of the truck, and he wasn’t strong enough to lift her. She wondered if he’d found himself a big boyfriend in prison to protect his sorry ass. He must have. “How did you get out of pri–prison?”
“Time off for good behavior.” He glanced around nervously and struggled to get her up to the cab, but she hung limp in his arms, numb from her waist down. He opened the passenger side door and climbed up in the cab, and she slumped to the asphalt, cursing him if her nice leather outfit got ruined. He turned and looked down at her and grimaced. “Help me out here, baby.”