From the Shadows (Buckhorn, Montana #2) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,101
being taken to the basement of the hotel. But now she wasn’t so sure. At each side of the space there was a dark opening, as if they were in the middle of a tunnel. She’d taken that all in within a matter of seconds.
A jolt ran the length of her body as she sensed someone coming from out of the darkness at one end. She tried to move, only then realizing that she was duct-taped to a chair. Her arms were behind her, her wrists taped to what felt like a back slat of the chair. Had she been able to catch her breath, she might have screamed as Emery stepped into the small space. He had to bend over to keep from hitting his head on the boards shoring up the roof.
Her memory came back as her panic soared. Him finding her after her fall. The drug he used to incapacitate her. This room underground where he had her bound to a chair. Terror rocketed through her, sending her pulse hammering in her ears.
“Welcome back,” he said in a casual tone that only made her panic grow exponentially. Dragging a small wooden stool over, he sat down facing her. She had the feeling that this wasn’t the first time he’d done this very same thing, and that was like a knife to her chest.
“Don’t look so frightened,” he said, shaking his head as if amused. “You know I would never hurt you or your grandmother. You were both kind to me.”
Her mouth was dry as sand. She swallowed. “Where am I?”
“Somewhere safe.”
She didn’t believe that. “Why have you brought me here?” Her voice broke.
“To protect you.”
“Protect me?” She cleared her throat as her gaze fell on a pickax covered with dirt leaning against the opposite wall. She noticed other digging tools. Burying tools. Her heart rate galloped out of control. She strained against her restraints, the chair under her creaking.
“Calm down,” he said, as if speaking to an unruly child. “It’s your own fault that you’re here. If you’d sold the hotel to my sister, none of this would be happening right now. Vi would have kicked everyone out of the hotel, and it would be over by now.”
“I don’t understand.”
Emery sighed and leaned closer. He breathed on her, but she forced herself not to turn away even though his breath was like death warmed over. Absently, he reached toward her. She tried hard not to cringe as he began to stroke her long hair. She felt strands of her hair get caught in his calloused hand. He didn’t seem to notice.
“I remember you as a little girl,” Emery said and continued to run his hand the length of her hair while her stomach twisted into knots. Her head ached from being drugged. Her mouth was desert-dry. She tried to swallow, tried licking her lips, but she had no saliva.
“Water.” The word came out on an arid breath.
He looked surprised but jumped right up. “Sorry, I should have offered.” He turned his back on her for a moment. Casey looked around for something she could use to free herself. Behind her were more shelves filled with junk like the ones in front of her. She only had a moment to quickly search for anything that might be within reach. The room was so small, her chair had been pushed back where it was touching the nearest shelf. She leaned back, rocking the chair just enough that she could lock her fingers around a rusted blade about an inch wide from a bow saw.
It would be worthless as a weapon, but she thought she might be able to saw through the tape binding her wrists to the back of the chair when his back was turned.
She’d barely started when Emery turned with a jug of what looked like water but might have been something else entirely. He shuffled over to her, took off the cap and held the large jug up to her lips, tipping it. The liquid came gushing out. She caught a stale, chemical smell and turned her head quickly to the side. The liquid splashed down the front of her, drenching her clothing and sloshing onto the floor.
“What is that?” she managed to say as she tried to spit it back out.
“Water.” Emery chuckled. “I forgot your generation doesn’t even drink out of the hose anymore. Got to have fancy bottled water.” He shook his head as if amused by the changing world.