Refuge for Flora by Deanndra Hall

Chapter 7

The list was short,and it wouldn’t take her long to get everything. Mrs. Murphy had also asked for cigarettes, which Flora had flatly refused to buy. For her age, she was in reasonably good health, and Flora saw no sense in changing that. Mrs. Murphy, however, had decided that she wasn’t going to live a lot longer anyway, so she might as well do whatever she wanted.

All the things on the list were in the cart and she was headed to the checkout when an unusual number popped up on her phone. It was an area code she’d never seen before. Probably a telemarketer for the person who had this number before, she reasoned, but she went ahead and answered it. “Hello?”

“Is this Flora Stevens?”

Yep. Telemarketer. Then she realized she hadn’t had the phone long enough for anyone to know she had it, plus it was a burner phone, and suspicion took over. “Yes?”

“Hi. My name is Misty Fogherty. I’m Marilyn Murphy’s daughter.”

She knew the first name had sounded familiar. “Oh! Yes! I’m sleeping in your room!”

“Yes. That’s what my mother said. Is she doing okay?”

“As okay as she can be at her age, I suppose.” There were a million questions Flora wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to alienate the woman. Misty might be her only source of information.

“You know she won’t have anything to do with me, right?”

“I know she doesn’t talk about you, but I don’t know anything else. She hasn’t said anything.”

“She’s angry because I remarried after my divorce and Paul needed to work on the west coast, so we moved here. It really frosted her, and she’s refused to have anything to do with me.”

“How did you get my number?”

“I called and she said, ‘Girl, if you want anything, you’ll have to ask my personal assistant, ‘cause you ain’t getting’ nothin’ from me.’ Sounds like her, right?” Misty asked with a laugh.

Flora was chuckling. “Yeah. It sure does!”

“Yep. That’s my mother. So now you’ve got my number. Feel free to call me if you need to. And if I were you, I wouldn’t say anything about us talking. She might tell you to pack your bags and get out.”

“I’m afraid you’re right, so I’ll say nothing. You can call me anytime and I’ll tell you anything I think you need to know, and probably some things you don’t. Like I’m at the store and she wanted me to buy cigarettes for her.”

“She doesn’t smoke.”

Flora snickered. “Yeah. I know. She said she’s not going to live much longer, so she wanted to try it.”

“Are you buying the―”

“God, no! I’m not buying her cigarettes! Good lord, she wants that mess, she’ll have to get somebody else to buy them because I’m sure as hell not!”

“Thank you. So I’ll let you finish your shopping, but call if you need me. Please.”

“Will do. And you do the same. It was good to talk to you.”

“You too. Take care. Bye.”

Flora stood there and stared at the phone. So Misty wasn’t a five-headed monster after all, just pissed her mom off by living her life. Yeah, she knew what that was like.

When the things were unloaded at the house, she carried a small bag into the living room where Mrs. Murphy sat. “Got you something.”

“Cigarettes?”

“No. They didn’t have the kind I thought you’d like.” That line had come to her in the car on the way home and she thought it would work pretty good. “But I got you these.” From the bag she produced a huge bundle of candy sticks in every striped color known to man. “They looked good, and they’re sticks, so you can pretend you’re smoking.”

“You gonna laugh at me if I do?”

“Hell no. I’ll probably pick out one and join you.”

“Then we can smoke together.”

Flora chuckled. “Yeah. We can smoke together. Happy now?”

“Can you unwrap one for me? I wanna get started.”

“Sure. Then I need to go down to Barrett’s for a little while, if that’s okay.”

“You gonna hump each other?”

“No. I’m going to use his computer.”

“Why can’t you use a computer here?”

“Well, first off, I don’t have one. And second, you don’t have internet, and that’s why I need to use it.”

“Can I get innernet? And a computer?”

Flora shrugged. “That’s up to you. If you want to, I can make it happen if you’ve got the money.”

“Girl, I got the money. I got all the money you need. You get whatever we need to get one o’them computers in here.”

“Well, okay. I will. But right now, I need to go down there and use his, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. But if you screw him, clean yoreself up before you come back, hear me?”

“Okay. I will. I promise. I’ll be back in just a little bit. Call me if you need me.” I need to get her one of those medical panic buttons, Flora told herself as she stepped outside and locked the door behind her.

It was a pretty day, and she didn’t mind the walk. Barrett’s house was a little less than a mile away, so it didn’t take a long time to walk down. She shot off a little text.

On my way to you.

There were flowers along the sides of the road, and she smiled at them as she passed. There was some trillium, and some wild carrot that looked like Queen Anne’s Lace, and common mullein, plus some wild phlox and violets. Of course, there were dandelions everywhere. Then her phone pinged.

I’m here. Glad you’re on your way. Don’t drive too fast. ;-)

She sent him back another one: I’m walking.

He didn’t reply, so she kept going. There were a couple of houses between his and Mrs. Murphy’s, but they were abandoned. One had a tree growing out the roof, and the other was falling down, its roof caved in and the bricks from the chimney scattered everywhere. She hadn’t gone another two hundred feet before she saw a vehicle in the distance. It occurred to her to hide off the side of the road in the trees, but as it drew closer, she recognized it.

He screeched to a halt beside her and powered down the window. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What do you―”

“I told you not to be out wandering around by yourself.”

“Barrett, I go to the store by myself. I go out in the yard by myself. I―”

“Get in the truck.” His attitude was starting to piss her off a little, but she opened the door and climbed in. As she fastened her seat belt, he drove the hundred yards or so to a pull-off that led into a field, turned around, and powered back toward his house. “I told you not to go out and about without someone with you. Remember that conversation?”

“Yeah, but I can’t just stop living.”

“Really? Well, let me show you something.” He handed her his phone. “Open it and look in the emails.”

Flora really wasn’t that familiar with a smart phone, but she found the thing that looked like an envelope, opened it up, and took a look. “What am I looking for?”

“Conor Paxton.” Second from the top, just below an email from a sporting goods company, was one from the man he mentioned. “Tap on it.”

Flora touched it with her finger and it opened, so she started reading. The subject line read “Reptiles,” and she kept reading.

Hey, Barrett. Just thought I should let you know that there was a big reptile expo here this weekend. Held twice a year. Guy there was selling caimans. Had the organizer of the expo pull him into a room and charged him with possessing and distributing illegal animals in SA and the state.

“What’s SA?”

He pulled into the driveway and parked the truck. “San Antonio. That’s where he’s from. Keep reading.”

Questioned him extensively. Says they’re coming out of western Kentucky. Tried to pin him down. Said the people have a Barlow address. I looked on the map. Looks like there are maybe three people living in Barlow? LOL I’ll give you more info when I have it. Thx.

“Barlow? Where’s that?”

Barrett pointed out her window. “That way. About twenty miles.”

The swoosh-swoosh-swoosh sound of blood whipping through her veins was almost deafening inside her head. “Shit. That’s where they are?”

“Yeah. Whoever they are, that’s where they are. Do you understand now?”

Flora nodded, but inside, she was numb. Somebody less than twenty miles away was raising and shipping caimans, and where there were caimans, there were most certainly alligators. Was it him? “How do you find out―”

“Who and where? I’m going to a meeting with my captain tomorrow morning, telling him what I know and asking for help. Whoever it is, we’ve got to stop them, but I’m afraid of who I’m going to find. Now do you understand why I said don’t go anywhere by yourself?”

“Yeah, but how am I―”

“I’ll go with you. I’ll get Zyan to go with you. Somebody will go with you but, baby, please don’t do this. I just found you. I sure as hell don’t want to lose you.” She hadn’t even realized he was gripping her hand, and he squeezed it even tighter.

She lifted their joined hands and pressed a tiny kiss on the back of his. “Okay. I get it, and I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. I just want to keep you as safe as possible, and if that’s him, he’s way too fucking close for comfort. You know how to shoot a gun, right?”

“Yeah. My dad taught me. Haven’t done it in years, but―”

“Then we’ll go to the gravel pit and you can practice. I’ve got a small handgun you can keep with you. Don’t go anywhere without it, Flora. I mean it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay. I get it. Really, Barrett, I do.” By the time the words were out of her lips, he was opening her door and helping her down. She hadn’t realized how hard she was shaking until her feet hit the ground. “Oh, god, I―”

“It’s gonna be okay. Let’s go inside and I’ll help you get on the computer. What are you checking?”

“I’ll show you.”

Five minutes later, Barrett had opened a proxy server and Flora was logging into her email account. There were the obligatory Welcome to DMail! emails, but at the very top was one from Rissa. “Oh, god, she answered me. My cousin, Rissa.” She double-clicked on it just as Janet had taught her and she began to read.

hey! where r u? went by u place last week but nobody there. u gone? chat me.

There was a link and Flora pointed to it. “What’s that?”

“It’s a direct messaging service. You can have a real-time conversation with somebody if you’re both in there. Look―I’ll show you.” Barrett opened another window and typed some stuff in. “See? Here’s where I sent Zyan a message and he was there, so we chatted back and forth.” Flora read down through it. They were arguing back and forth about the outcome of some ball game. Typical. “So you set up an account, then use her link to find her, and if she’s available, you can chat.”

“How do I do that?”

“I’ll set it up.” She watched as he navigated here and there, and she was amazed. They’d barely had computers available at their school when she was still in high school, and now they were everywhere. Even their phones were tiny computers. “Okay. There she is.” He clicked a little box at the top of the screen beside Rissa’s name and another screen, a blank one with her name at the top, popped up. “Okay, go right down here in this bar and type something to her. Then hit ENTER and it’ll go. If she’s there, she’ll answer. If she’s not, she’ll answer later, and you can come back and reply.”

Flora’s fingers trembled a little as she started to type.

Hey wavy! long time no see. doing okay?

She hit enter and waited. “How long before I know?”

“See that little picture of her face right there? That means she’s actually on here and has seen it.”

“Oh. What are those waggling dots right there?”

“That means she’s replying to you.”

“Right now?”

“Yep. Oh! There ya go!” The dots disappeared and in their place was a message straight from Rissa.

Yeah. u leave? dumbass Darryl drag u away? no cars there.

“What do I say to her?” Flora whispered.

“Just tell her you’re out of town, then see if you can find out anything from her.”

Flora started typing a reply.

Out of town. dont know when im coming back. darryls business.

The wavy dots reappeared, but the next line surprised her.

Hey Velma with u? they looking for her. she aint around. seen her?

Flora turned to glare at Barrett. “Believe me now?”

Before he could stop himself, he turned away. He hadn’t believed her. Why, he wasn’t sure. Maybe it was because the story sounded so implausible. Maybe it was because he didn’t know her that well. Maybe somewhere deep inside he didn’t want to believe anyone could be so disgustingly cruel. The heat of a blush crept across his cheeks and he was instantly sorry he hadn’t taken her word as gospel. When he turned back to her, he hoped his face showed his sincerity. “I never should’ve doubted you. I never should’ve questioned you. And I’m sorry. I really, really am. I know that had to be hard.”

“It was harder to know that you didn’t really believe me.” A single crystal tear trickled down her cheek and broke his heart. All she needed was someone who cared about her and would help her. She’d come there with nothing and no one, trying like hell to escape a horror most people couldn’t imagine, and she’d been met with doubt from one out of two of the only people she knew.

“Flora, listen to me.” He took her face in his hands and stared into her eyes. “I believe you. I believe every word. I’m sorry I doubted you for even a minute. I’m going to see to it that you’re safe and that asshole can’t touch you. I won’t let him take away anyone I want as badly as I want you. But first, I’ve got to find him and bring him down so he can never, never hurt you again. Because if he does, babe, I swear to you, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.” The scent of her shampoo and the softness of her hands on the backs of his fueled the intensity of what he felt for her as he leaned in and kissed her.

The arms that wrapped around his neck and drew him closer were like some kind of miracle to Barrett. He’d been kicked and stomped and bludgeoned emotionally, but this was his fresh start, someone who needed him as much as he needed her. While their lips were pressed together, he wasn’t thinking about Jessica, or Jesse, or anyone else. Just her. And that was all he needed.

She pulled back and looked up into his eyes, the innocence there startling for someone who’d seen as much as she had. “I believe you, Barrett. I know you’ll try to keep me safe, and I appreciate it. I really do. But promise me if it comes to me or you, you’ll let me go and keep yourself safe.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can. Please. I don’t want you to―”

“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. We’ve just got to keep you safe. Nothing else matters right now.” He kissed the tip of her nose and swept a strand of that red and gold hair out of her face.

Flora dropped her head, her forehead resting on his chest, and Barrett sighed into her hair. For someone who should be fragile and damaged, she was surprisingly resilient, and he respected that immensely. Keeping her safe wouldn’t be easy, but he’d find a way. She whispered something, but he didn’t catch it. “Sorry, babe. What?”

“I said, I could fall in love with you, you know.”

Barrett chuckled. “I certainly hope so!”

“Do you think you could ever fall in love with me?”

His arms tightened a little more around her. “Oh, I really don’t think that’s going to be a problem, precious.” The minute the words were out, he felt something, almost like she was shivering, and pressed her back to look into her face.

Slick with tears, her face was reddened and blotchy and her eyes were swollen. He hadn’t realized she was crying until she shuddered against him. Barrett just clutched her to him and held her tightly. “Baby, it’s okay. Please, don’t cry. We’ll get past all of this and everything will be fine. You’ll see. C’mon. It’s fine, really. In a few months, this will all be a distant memory, I promise.”

“All except you? All except us?”

“All except me, all except you, and all except us. Want me to come back down to Mrs. Murphy’s this evening?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay. I’ll do that. But you’ve got to finish the conversation with Rissa.”

Flora pulled back, wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands, and sniffled. “What should I tell her?”

“Hmmm … Tell her yeah, Velma’s here with you. Let’s see what happens. If she’s really concerned about you, she’ll let it drop. If she keeps pushing, that means she knows you’re lying, and she’ll get Darryl stirred up with wondering why you’d say that when you know what’s happened.”

“That’s a good idea.” She sat down in front of the computer and composed her reply.

Shes here with me. were fine. everybody else okay?

“There. That should do it.” The chair rolled back as she started to get up, but the computer pinged instantly. And it was Rissa.

Where r u? tell me where u r.

Flora sighed. “Oh, shit. What do I say now?”

“Tell her Darryl would be mad if you told her where you are.”

“Okay.” She typed a little bit and pointed at the screen. “Whaddya think?”

U know he gonna be mad if i tell you so i cant. its better if you don’t know anyway.

“Yeah. Send it.” Barrett stood there for a minute, thinking. “Flora, she knows.”

“Knows what?”

“She knows you’re not with Darryl. She’s planning to tell him that she heard from you.”

“You really think … Rissa wouldn’t do that.” She hesitated just before she asked, “Would she?”

“I think so. I don’t think you can trust her. Wait. Let me rephrase that. I’m afraid for you to trust her. If I’m right, and I hope I’m not, but if I am, telling her anything could be very dangerous.” Then, as much to himself as to her, he mumbled, “Shit, I’m glad I logged you in through that proxy server.”

“So they can’t find me, right?”

“No. They can’t. And I’d say this is probably the last time you should chat with Rissa. I don’t trust her now, and you shouldn’t either. I just have this creepy feeling … Just don’t. Please.”

“I won’t. I promise.” Something pinged and she turned back to the screen.

Just tell me where u at.

Flora typed like crazy, then leaned to the left so Barrett could see the screen.

Gotta go. darryls yelling for me and i gotta help Velma with dinner. take care of yourself. bye.

“Think that’ll work?”

Barrett laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Perfect.” The computer pinged again and he pointed at the screen. “Look.”

where you at skeeter? im worried. where you at?

really where u at? ur mom n dad kinda worried about you.

skeeter, i need to know you okay.

please, skeeter. ill come get you and bring money.

Before Barrett had a chance to say anything, Flora logged off the service and shut the lid on the computer. “Nope. That’s all she’s getting from me.”

“Good. That’s perfect. She’ll go running right back to Darryl. So now we know there’s nobody at his place, and folks know Velma’s missing.”

“And we know she’s lying because my mom and dad don’t give a shit about where I am or what’s happening to me or I wouldn’t be in this mess to start with.” Flora sighed. “Well, that’s that. My ties to Pike County are officially broken.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Eh. It is what it is.”

“So … How ‘bout I take you back to Mrs. Murphy’s and go pick up some pizza for all of us? Sound good?”

Flora smiled. “Yeah. Sounds great. I can get some laundry done and some picking up and straightening before you get back.”

“Sounds like a plan! Let’s go. The sooner we go, the sooner we can eat!”

Five minutes later, he’d dropped her off and was headed toward town, but when he got to the farm store near the mall, he whipped into the parking lot, slammed the truck into park, and pulled out his phone. The call he placed with the contact answered, “Paxton.”

“Conor. Barrett Quarles.”

“Yeah! Something up?”

“Yes. I need to tell you all of this. I didn’t want to before, but now I think you need to know. But I need you to sit on it until I can find out more and find a way to keep Flora safe.”

“Okay. I can promise you all of that.”

“Well, you might not want to when you hear it all.” Barrett started outlining the story and the longer he talked, the more alarmed he became. The whole situation had come to him in bits and pieces, but when it was all strung together that way, it sounded even worse than it had before. When he was finished, he said, “And I promised her I’d do whatever I have to so she’ll be safe.”

“That’s going to be a tall order. That sumbitch sounds like a real piece of work.”

“He is, apparently. So now she has nobody she can trust except me and Mrs. Murphy. I’m going to take her to my parents’ house so she gets to know them, and to my friend Zyan’s house too. Hey, I think you know somebody who knows him. Cruz, um …”

“Livingston? Oh! The firefighter? I know who you’re talking about! What’s his last name …”

“Martin.”

“Yeah. Has the wife who scoops dog poop! And quite successfully, from what I remember Cruz saying.”

Barrett was laughing. “Yes, very successfully! She’s quite the lady. We’re really good friends. Zyan and I went to high school together, so we go way back. He knows Mrs. Murphy too. I think they’d be people Flora could go to if something went wrong or she needed help.”

“You absolutely need to get her set up with some folks like that. This is going to be long and hard fought, and she needs people she can trust. I mean, besides you.”

“Exactly. So I’m going to start digging a little more. If I learn anything else, I’ll give you a buzz.”

“Yeah, please do. And tell Flora that I said to do what you say. I want her to live long enough for me to meet her.”

“I do too. Thanks, Conor. Talk to you soon.” Barrett ended the call and sat back in the truck seats, tapping his phone on the steering wheel. There had to be a way to draw out whoever was doing the illegal animal dealing there, if he could just figure out how to do it. Then he remembered something.

There was someone who owed him a favor. Maybe it was time he cashed it in.

* * *

“Hey, Barrett! How’s it going?”

“Good! How are you guys doing?”

“Can’t complain. Grandkids are getting big,” Albert “Bud” Griffin answered. Barrett had met the Kentucky State Police detective while on search and recovery of the daughter of his then-girlfriend-later-wife Martina. Unfortunately, her body had been located by Conor, who’d been in the area doing an educational trip for his work. They’d all pitched in to search, and Barrett had been point man for organizing volunteers over and over as they looked for Renita, even though it had been two hours from home. He’d felt strongly that he had an obligation to help look for her, and he’d made a friend for life in Bud because of it. It hadn’t ended well, but Bud and Martina had married and had a good life, even though she’d been shot during the peak of the investigation and suffered lingering health issues.

“That beautiful wife of yours doing okay?” Martina was one of the sweetest people Barrett had ever met. If you knew Martina, you knew you were loved.

“Yeah. She’s doing a good bit better. She’ll never regain the sight in that eye, but she’s not having much trouble with her balance anymore, and I think her memory’s better than it was.”

“Good therapy will do that for a person.”

“Indeed it will. But that’s not why you called me, although I have to say I’m glad to hear from you!”

“Thanks! And yeah, I need to talk to you about something you might be able to help with. Could we maybe get together over lunch and let me tell you about this?”

“Help you? Does this entail dressing up like a woman and dancing on a stage for charity?” Bud asked, and Barrett snorted. That picture of him from his junior year in high school dressed like a cheerleader and doing cheers with the other football players to raise funds for a classmate’s heart transplant had made the rounds and he knew he’d never live it down, but he didn’t care. They’d raised several hundred dollars and because of them and other members of the community who’d worked hard to help the family financially, Kevin was still alive.

“No. It does not. You don’t have the legs for it.”

“Oh, I don’t have the legs for it! I’ll remember that the next time you want to borrow my stilettos,” Bud barked back, laughing.

That made Barrett laugh too. “Got my own, man! But seriously, I really do need to talk to you.”

“You tell me your schedule and I’ll make it happen.”

“Tomorrow? Maybe in Princeton? Or Dawson Springs?”

“Mmmm, my granddaughter has a program at the school at ten o’clock that I’m supposed to attend. Let’s do Dawson Springs at noon.”

“Yeah. That’ll be good. Thanks, Bud.”

“You’re welcome. Look, man, I owe you. I can never thank you enough for all the work you put in while we were looking for Renita. Ever hear from Conor?”

“Actually, we’re in touch over the thing I want to talk to you about.”

“Say no more. If Conor’s in, so am I. See you tomorrow, my friend.”

“Looking forward to it. Thanks. Bye.” Barrett ended the call and sat there. If they could pull off the plan, it would mean they’d at least get to the bottom of who was shipping the alligators.

And there was a possibility they could find out a whole lot more.

* * *

“She asleep?”

Flora nodded. “Yep. Out like a light.”

“I don’t want to wake her up.”

“I know what she said about us making noise, but honestly, when she’s out, she’s out. It would take a freight train inside a tornado caught in an earthquake to wake her up, and I’m still not sure she’d rouse.”

Barrett snickered. “Then maybe we can make all the noise we want!”

“Let’s not and play it safe.”

“So you don’t want to―”

Flora laughed. “I didn’t say that!”

“Oh. Okay. Thought you were turning me down.”

“Not turning you down, you hunky stud muffin.” Flora curled in a little closer to him and kissed him. In seconds, he was kissing her back with gusto. His utter maleness was one of the things that turned her on most. Sweet and kind as he was, Barrett was all man, and being that close to him was like nothing she’d ever experienced. The difference between him and Darryl was like cashmere versus polyester. There was no comparison. When he held her, she felt cherished and safe. When he kissed her, she felt desirable and wild. His lips left hers and trailed down her neck. “Oh, god, Barrett …”

“Damn, girl, you turn me on. I’m so fuckin’ hard I ache.” He sucked a stiffened nipple into his lips and Flora gasped as her back arched.

His fingers tweaked her other bud and she groaned. “Barrett, please …”

His lips released her peak with a pop! and he grinned. “You’re beautiful, know that?” he whispered as he slid down the length of her body, and he let his tongue trail down her abs until he reached the softness of her belly.

“What are you …”

Barrett lifted his face and grinned, a finger to his lips. “Shhhhh. You know what will happen if you scream.”

“Barrett, I’ve never―”

“Ohhh, you never should’ve said that to me, because I’m going to make sure you do.” She didn’t get a chance to say anything else before his face disappeared.

“Jesus, Barrett! Holy shit,” she whined and twisted her hips, but he held on. “My god … Oh, oh, hell. Oh, damn.”

He stopped for a few seconds and grinned up at her. “Pull my hair if you want. That turns me on almost as much as tasting you does.” And back he went.

“Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck.” Flora pulled his hair with one hand and he nipped at her little nub. Her hands found the rungs in the headboard of the little bed and she gripped it until she was sure her knuckles were white. She was growing frantic, a clawing sensation growing in her belly and a chill sweeping over her skin. A little more … a little more …

Flora plummeted over the edge, her hips writhing and belly shaking. Forget pulling his hair―both hands gripped the headboard and her back arched impossibly high as she fought to keep quiet. She wanted to tell him to stop, but she was afraid if she opened her mouth, she’d scream, so she bit her lip instead. Every muscle in her being went rigid, and every stroke of his tongue was like the strumming of a guitar’s strings, her entire being vibrating as he played her body like the finest of Stratocasters.

When he stopped, she could feel him moving about, but she was too spent to even look. She could still feel his warmth even though he wasn’t lying against her. One peek told her he was rolling on a condom, and seconds later, he was above her, his elbows braced on either side of her, his hands on her cheeks, his lips against hers, and she breathed him in. “Want me?” he whispered against her mouth.

Her voice was a low hiss. “Yessssss.”

“Tell me.”

“I want you.”

A low moan escaped his lips as he rubbed his hardness against the inside of her thigh. “Can you tell how badly I want you?”

“Not as badly as I want you.”

“How do you want it?”

Damn, she wanted him inside her! The aching between her legs was growing unbearable, and there was only one thing that would quell it. “I want you inside me. I want you hard and slow and, oh god, please, Barrett? Please?”

His next stroke rode straight up her slit and she whimpered, her hips thrusting upward to heighten the sensation. “You really do want it, don’t you?”

“I do. Now. Please?”

She could tell she surprised him when she reached between them and stroked up his length, her fingers wrapped tightly around his hardness. “Oh, yeah. I think you do want it. Fuck, I need to be inside you.”

Flora lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, then tightened them to draw his pelvis toward her. “You want me?”

“Oh, girl, I want you more than you’ll ever know.” There wasn’t a spare moment for another word before he sank himself deep inside her.

Nothing in her life had prepared Flora for the way she craved Barrett. Nothing. His body was hard in all the right places, and his arms were strong as they wrapped around her. Instead of looming over her, he dropped his weight onto her, slid his hands down until they gripped her ass, and rocked his pelvis to stroke in and out of her softness. She could feel his lips as he whispered into her hair, “Mine. You’re mine. Is that want you want, babe?”

“Yes. Oh, god, yes. More than anything.” She loved it, his weight on her, the strength of his hands, the warmth of his skin. More than anything, she loved the way he made her feel, like she was worth something, like she was pretty and desirable. When she was with him, she felt cared for and protected. No man had ever made her feel that way. Never. She wanted to be his for as long as he’d have her.

But her thoughts gave way to the need in her body, and she could feel it all building, growing, expanding, until she groaned and clamped down on his hardness, her hips rocking toward him. In an instant, he was above her, stroking into her like a man on a mission, his breathing growing raspy and labored. “Damn, Flora. Damn, damn, damn. I’m trying so hard to … Oh, fuck,” he whispered as she felt his warmth inside her and he dropped his length onto her body.

In a few seconds, he rolled her with him until they were on their sides, facing each other, and Flora stroked a soft hand down his cheek. To her delight, he grabbed it and kissed her palm, then gave her a smile that would’ve melted her panties if he hadn’t already snatched them off. “That was pretty spectacular, Mr. Quarles,” she whispered with a giggle.

A low chuckle rumbled from his chest. “Yeah? I can’t get enough of you. You make me a better lover by being so fucking hot that I can’t help but porn out on you.”

“Porn out on me, huh?”

“Yeah. I was going for the cum shot. Didn’t quite work out the way I’d planned, but hey, I think you enjoyed it, right?” There was a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous grin on his face that she couldn’t help but adore.

“Oh, yeah. It was okay.”

“Okay? That was okay? Hell, woman, what do you want? You almost killed me, and it was just okay? Gah. I need to go to the gym and get my stamina built up. I can hear it now. ‘What happened to Barrett Quarles?’ ‘Oh, he died fucking that beautiful girlfriend of his. Had a heart attack and was just gone.’ That’s what’s going to happen to me.”

Flora’s heart twisted in her chest. “I’m your girlfriend?”

“Uh, do you not want to be my girlfriend?”

“I didn’t know I was.”

“So you don’t want to be?”

She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t say that.”

“Okay. Let’s try this again.” Barrett dropped a light kiss on her lips, then smiled at her again. “Flora, do you want to be my girlfriend?”

She snorted. “I feel like I’m in seventh grade again.”

“Well now, that would make me a perv, wouldn’t it?”

“Stop it!” she growled with a slap on his chest. “Yes. I want to be your girlfriend.”

“Okay. Then it’s official. Flora Stevens is my girlfriend. And you’d better be a good one, because I don’t have the strength for more than one at a time.”

Flora giggled. “I’ll do my best!”

“That’s all I ask of you―your best. And now, girlfriend, we need to get some sleep. Tomorrow is another day.”

“That it is.” Snuggling up against him, she waited until he rolled the condom off and threw it in the trash before she rested her arm across his chest and her face on his pec. She breathed out a sigh. “I love being here with you.”

“And I love being here with you. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be, except maybe in my bed with you. This thing was made for a five-year-old girl.”

“Are we going to be okay? I mean, with all this other stuff?”

“Yep. We’re absolutely gonna be okay, angel. I’ll make sure of it.”

In her eyes, Barrett was Superman. That was a good thing, because she was pretty sure it was going to take Superman to free her of Darryl Stevens once and for all. It might actually take even more than that.

She was afraid it was going to take a miracle.

* * *

As he left that morning,Barrett had kissed her goodbye and told her he would be meeting with someone that afternoon about a possible way to check on Darryl’s whereabouts. That scared the shit out of her, but she wanted to make sure he was nowhere around. If Barrett had an idea about how to do that, she was fine with it, as long as he was careful.

A voice broke into her thoughts. “Girl, we got any ‘maters in there?”

“No, Mrs. Murphy. We’re fresh out.”

“You goin’ to the vegetable stand to get more?”

“I can if you want.”

“I want. Get some money outta that sugar bowl and go pick up some. Cukes too.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll go to the bathroom and head on over there.” As she sat there on the toilet, she thought about what Barrett had said, how she shouldn’t go places by herself. But the vegetable stand was just a couple of miles farther out in the county, and it wouldn’t be a big deal. How many people could she run into there?

Sure enough, there was no one there when she rolled up, just the couple who owned the stand, and she was pretty sure that was their front yard it was sitting in. “Hey, young lady! You lookin’ for something in particular today?” the man called out as she climbed out of the Buick.

“Yessir, I need some tomatoes and cucumbers.”

“Well, we got plenty. Got them sweet taters from Mr. Oliver down on Briney Road and they’s lookin’ pretty good too.”

“They do look good.” The sweet potatoes were robust, and Flora picked up two. Then she thought about it and picked up a third one, smiling to herself as she did. “Mind if I leave these by the scale?”

“No, honey, you go right ahead. Help yoreself and take yore time,” the woman answered. Flora picked through the bucket of tomatoes, pulling out this one and putting back that one. She thought she was about finished when she heard the old man say something that made her stomach flip-flop.

“Asked me did I want some baby gators to sell up here. I tole him, ‘Hell naw, son. Them’s illegal here.’ He just laughed.”

“Floyd, do not bring no gators up here to sell,” his wife hissed barely under her breath.

“I ain’t, Geraldine. I’m just sayin’, he asked me.”

Hands shaking, Flora put the tomatoes she’d picked out into a bag and stepped to the scale to set them down. She needed to ask them questions, but she didn’t want them to know too much. They kept talking in hushed tones but just loudly enough that she could hear them, so she decided she’d just go for it. “Excuse me.”

“Oh! You ready?” the man asked.

“Not yet. Gotta get some cucumbers. I was just wondering if you’ve seen this guy around. I owe him some money and I’m trying to find him to pay him.” She pulled the grainy picture of Darryl from her bag and held it out.

“Nope. Can’t say that I have.”

“Oh.”

The picture slid back into her bag just as the old man said, “Hey, ain’t I seen you ‘round here somewheres?”

Shit! Shit, shit, shit. “Uh, no. I don’t think so. I’m from …” Think, Flora! What’s the name of that place? “Um, Reidland.”

“Oh! Whatcha doin’ all the way out here?”

“Just going to Missouri.” Mrs. Murphy had told her she could get there that way, so it sounded good. How could she ask them more questions? “Uh, he’s got a brother who’s tall and skinny. Got a big jagged scar down his face and―”

“Oh! Yeah! That young man was here a couple days ago. Got some claw marks up his arms too.” The old man dropped his voice to a low murmur. “No doubt where them come from knowing what he’s up to.” But his voice was barely more than a buzz in Flora’s ear.

Bradley. He’d just described Darryl’s partner in crime perfectly. “I’ll probably run into them at some point and I’ll pay him. Did he say where he lives?”

The old man nodded. “Out in Barlow somewhere.”

I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to get home. What the hell am I going to do? “Well, uh, if you see ‘em, please don’t tell ‘em I was here. I want to surprise him. He’s my cousin and he thinks I’m never gonna pay that money back. He’ll be so surprised when he sees me.” She set a bag with five cucumbers in it next to the scale, and the woman picked it up to weigh it. “I think this’ll do it.”

“Be twelve dollars,” the man told her, so she pulled out a ten and two ones. “Hey, I know now. That feller, he showed me a picture of a woman. I think it was you! Said they were lookin’ for somebody who looks like that.”

“Couldn’t have been me. I don’t think he has a picture of me, but thanks for the veggies. I’ll be back when these are gone.” The car was too far away for her comfort, and she bolted toward it, tossed the bag in, and tore out of the gravel pull-off.

By the time she got back to the house, she was a wreck. They were looking for her. How the hell had they found her in the first place? Mrs. Murphy called out to her as she darted in the door. “You get ‘em?”

“Yes, ma’am. Got some sweet potatoes too.” The bag swished as she dropped it on the kitchen table on her way by, and she kept going until she got to her room and closed the door behind her. She punched the contact and waited.

“You’ve reached Conservation Officer Barrett Quarles. Please leave your name, number, and the nature of your call, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks and have a great day.”

“No, no, no. Barrett? It’s me. They’re here, Barrett. Please, please, call me back. Please? I’m so scared. Barrett, please? Answer the phone, please?” Hysteria was taking over and she didn’t know what to do, so she tried again and listened to his outgoing message before she left another one. “Barrett, please! I need to talk to you now! I don’t know where you are. They’re here. I know Bradley’s here, and if he’s here, Darryl is too. Please call me back? Please?” It was growing harder and harder to breathe, and her heart was racing in triple time. “Please? I’m so scared. Please call me back.”

Flora dropped the phone and lay back on the bed. Beads of sweat had broken out on her forehead, and her hands were shaking. Darryl was there somewhere. Worse yet, they were looking for her. They somehow knew she was there. How? She tried to still her mind, but it was useless. The horrors she’d lived through with him cycled through her brain endlessly, and her stomach pitched until she had to grab the trash can to throw up. Mrs. Murphy was yelling something, but she didn’t care. They were coming for her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

A squeak came from her throat as her phone rang, startling her and drawing her back. She grabbed it and hit ACCEPT. “Hello?”

“Babe? What’s wrong? They’re there? Where?”

“Oh my god, Barrett … They’re looking for me. They’re here.”