Free Under the Magnolia by Moira Rogers

come. "Then you
might as well shoot me, Stu. Because you're going to get me killed."
    His face hardened. "I just want
to make enough money to get out of here." He rolled her over and
checked the rope binding her wrists. "And then I ain't ever
coming back to Carter's Bay. Hell, I ain't ever setting foot in
Georgia again."
    She swallowed, closing her eyes.
"And how much is my life worth?"
    "Don't rightly know yet. Should
be at least twenty, maybe even twenty-five thousand."
    Addie couldn't help the short laugh
that left her. "Then someone's taking advantage of you."
    Surprisingly, he only nodded as he
pulled out another match and struck it, finally lighting his
cigarette. "Maybe so, but it's still the best deal I'm ever
gonna see in my lifetime."
    "Jesus Christ, Stu." She
couldn't sit up, but she managed to shift enough to stare up at him.
"Twenty thousand dollars is going to give you what? A few months
of living in comfort? Is that really worth having Wesley Saxon out to
get you for the rest of your life?"
    For the first time since he'd
stopped the truck, his eyes flashed, and he rubbed his chin as he
stared down at his cigarette. "Now, you do have a point there, Miss Gardner." He reached out and clumsily
brushed a lock of hair from her face.
    It was hard not to flinch back from
him, but she forced herself to stay calm. "It's not too late,"
she said, hoping her voice sounded convincing. ”This doesn't
have to happen, Stuart. We could go back, before anyone misses me." And then Wes will lock you
up for the rest of your life... if you're lucky.
    His eyes clouded over for a moment,
and then the dull, blank look was back. "We already crossed the
Florida state line, Miss Gardner, and we'll be at the dock soon."
He pulled the tarp back down over her, and she heard him add quietly,
"Don't worry. I don't think they're gonna hurt you."
    She listened to his footsteps and
waited for the sound of the door opening and closing. Once the truck
started, she inched her legs back up, determined to start in on the
knots again.
    The vision came before she had the
chance. It seized her fast and hard, bringing with it the terror
she'd come to expect. In the blackness she saw the scene unfold as if
in a dream. She was in a cheap motel, stretched out on a lumpy,
uncomfortable mattress with her hands still bound. A dark-haired man
stood against the wall, the gun in his hand trained on the door.
    She knew what was going to happen,
and her heart constricted in her chest. She tried to scream, tried to
shout a warning to the man who was coming through the door even as
her heart broke—
    In the back of a beat up old truck
somewhere in Florida, Addie screamed as she watched Wes take three
bullets to the chest.

Chapter Six

    Wes blew into the station and
immediately started firing off orders. "Howie, see if you can
get me a GPS trace on Addie's cell. Chris, call all of the teachers
at the high school and see if anyone's seen her."
    Chris stared at him, puzzled.
"What's the matter, Wes?"
    "Addie hasn't been home yet."
He yanked his cell phone out of his pocket and shoved it at Chris. "A
lot of the numbers are in there."
    Jack came out of the back storeroom,
a box of batteries in his arms. "I saw Addie this morning. Stu
Carlin was giving her a ride, I guess."
    Cold fear warred with hot fury
inside Wes. "My mother called and asked me to keep an eye out
for him. Said he didn't show up for work today."
    Howie rose and walked around the
desk. "Okay. What would Stuart Carlin want with Addie?"
    Chris gulped. "Well, there's
the obvious. She's a good-looking woman, and Stu isn't exactly a
treasure to behold."
    That earned him a derisive snort
from Jack. "Stuey Carlin may be a little creepy, but he's not
the type to go around raping women."
    Wes tamped down the urge to yell at
all of them and held up a hand. "Then we have to think of other
reasons." He was loathe to reveal Addie's secret, but he wasn't
about to let her die just to keep her confidence.
    Jack snorted