Time felt like it was going in reverse from the moment they’d left the compound. Sebastian’s mind raced with memories of Gabrielle as they sped toward the Hester house. It had been hate at first sight, the day they'd first met. He, a scrawny twelve-year-old, had stared into the defiant dark brown eyes of Ike’s eight-year-old sister, who didn’t want him anywhere around. The disagreements of their past had faded away when she’d come back to St. Felipe. He’d fallen in love with the woman she’d grown up to be, and she loved him back. Losing her wasn’t an option.
Sebastian focused on navigating S-curve twists around massive trees with low-hanging branches that slapped and struck him across his body. Rounding the last one, he slowed the ATV and turned the engine off. Lachlan, Kane, and Everett pulled up next to him, silencing their vehicles and heading over to him. An eerie silence permeated the air. In the distance, about a hundred yards away, a lone dilapidated house stood. Lights shone through one of the downstairs windows. He scanned the area for any signs of movement.
“That’s the place,” Sebastian said, then turned slightly to the left and pointed to a low shed with a slanted roof near the back of the property. “That’s where Hester kept her the last time. Underneath the shed was an underground room dug out of the dirt. He put a chain around her neck and trapped her down there.”
The thought of Gabrielle restrained like a wild animal and kept from everyone she loved for the second time had him seeing red. If Marvin was re-enacting the torment his brother had put Gabrielle through, he’d kill the bastard with his bare hands.
“I thought the house had been abandoned after the Hesters moved to Toronto.” Everett frowned as he gazed through binoculars at the main house.
Kane nodded. “Someone got the electricity turned back on in the place for a reason. Gabrielle could be in the house, or she could be in the shed.”
“We need to split up,” Lachlan said. “Two of us cover the shed, and the other two take the house.” He reached into the back of the ATV and tossed weapons and night vision goggles to each of them.
Sebastian caught the goggles and rested them on the top of his head. His original theory was that Marvin would take Gabrielle back to the shed, but now every instinct within him told him to move toward the house. It was a gamble, but he knew the three guys with him would exact the same punishment he planned for Marvin if they found Gabrielle first.
Gabrielle had been missing for over twelve hours. They didn’t know what Marvin had done to her. His only hope was that the bastard would come to his senses before …
He wouldn’t let himself complete that thought. He couldn’t. Not if he was going to keep his emotions in check long enough to find Gabrielle and save her.
Everett clamped a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “It’s your call, but we need to move quickly.”
“I’ll take the house,” Sebastian said. His hands grazed over his gear. Glock in his shoulder holster and another on his hip, within a second’s reach of his hand. Knife sheathed and scraped to his calf. Everything he needed was at his disposal. “Lachlan comes with me. You and Kane check the shed. Radio if you find her, and we’ll come running. We’ll do the same.”
Seconds later, they raced down the hill. Everett and Kane angled through the brush toward the shed. Sebastian and Lachlan crouched low.
Lachlan said, “The light could be a decoy.”
Sebastian had thought the same thing. Splitting up was risky, but he had to give them the best chance of finding Gabrielle. “You take the far side of the house, and I’ll investigate the room with the light.”
Lachlan nodded and lowered his goggles, then took a wide arc around the house to avoid being seen by anyone through the downstairs windows. Sebastian navigated a straight route toward the house. Blazing through wild flowering bushes that had grown as tall as him from years of neglect, Sebastian jumped over tangled brush and honed in on his destination. As the house grew closer, his pounding heart roared in his head. He prayed he wasn’t too late.
He spotted a door on the side of the house that opened to the kitchen. It was a typical design for Palmchat homes in the deep woods. A light shone through the window next to the door, but drapes blocked his view of the inside.
Sebastian eased toward the door, pressing his ear against the rough wood. His hand tightened around the Glock. He could barely make out sounds. Muffled words.
“Why … why … would you … do …”
Slipping a hand against the knob, he twisted.
“I’ve wanted this … for so … long …”
It was locked.
“You … won’t … stop me …”
He silently mouthed a curse and backed up, leaning down to grab his knife.
“I … can’t wait to … to be … inside … you …”
Rage roared through Sebastian, recognizing Marvin’s voice. The bastard was going to rape Gabrielle. Fear and desperation grabbed Sebastian by the throat. He was almost out of time. He had to stop Marvin.
Sebastian stabbed the steel point into the keyhole, jamming it hard and twisting until the rusted lock and knob broke into pieces that fell into the grass. He threw his weight against the door. It flew open and crashed against the wall. In a swift motion, he raised the gun and aimed.
Marvin jerked around to face Sebastian. His expression morphed from lust to hatred. He was naked from the waist up. A massive butterfly tattooed in blue ink spread across his chest. Blood oozed from an open gash on his neck. His pants were unzipped. One hand was wrapped around his erection.
The other hand held a gun pointed at … Gabrielle.
Sebastian’s heart lurched at the sight of her. She cowered in the corner, partially obscured by the kitchen table. Fully clothed, she wore yoga pants and a t-shirt. Faint signs of bruises surrounded her neck. A sheen of sweat covered her face. Panic clouded her gorgeous brown eyes as she stared down the barrel of Marvin’s gun. He couldn’t imagine what hell Marvin had put her through, but she was still alive. That was all that mattered to him.
