Page 6

A z woke with a start , instantly awake and searching for the source of whatever had awakened him. The silence was deafening, the Whippoorwills’ calls absent in the night air. Glancing at the lighted dial on his watch, he realized it was almost 11:00 p.m. He must have fallen asleep.

Some stakeout expert he was.

With a wry grimace, his eyes automatically searched the shoreline, his senses on alert.

Finally, he spotted a movement off to his left, near the top end of the lake on the opposite side. Getting his binoculars out of the glove box, he trained them in on the movement until he realized that it was a man rolling something off the back of a pickup truck. He swore under his breath when he realized it was a barrel. It had to be weighted because it sank immediately when it hit the water. Another one soon followed.

He watched as the man lifted the back gate of the pick-up so he could read the license plate. Unfortunately, there was no back license plate, and he huffed in frustration. He watched until it pulled away, then got out of his truck.

Working his way along the edge of the woods beside the road, he made his way to the spot where the lanes on either side of the lake converged into Possum Lake Road. Whoever it was would have to come past here to leave the lake area; there was no other way out. He waited in the shadows, his ears straining to hear the sound of an approaching truck engine, but it didn’t come.

“What the hell is going on?” he muttered to himself. He glanced at his watch again. It was almost midnight. The dumper should have been here by now—if he was coming.

Tired of waiting, Az began hiking along the forest edge and up the other side of the lake. It took him about thirty minutes on foot, but he finally reached the upper side of the lake where the truck had been dumping.

Cautiously, he looked around but didn’t see the mysterious truck. Walking to the water’s edge, he stared down into the dark, murky water, but saw nothing. Whatever the man had dumped, it must have been heavy. According to the ranger services, this area was over forty feet down, and the bank was steep. You would need to be a good swimmer to dive in at this point. Needless to say, it was discouraged with warning signs.

Puzzled, he followed the tracks of the truck around and back towards the picnic area, carefully keeping in the shadows. How had he missed them? Even if they’d gone on around the lake and past his truck, he would still have seen them when they came onto Possum Lake Road. Another twenty feet and the answers were staring him in the face. “The old logging road. I’d forgotten about that,” he muttered.

That road hadn’t been used for years, except for kids doing off-roading in their four-wheel drives. Some of the more enterprising kids would even go over the mountain and down into the other side of Mockingbird Hollow, but it was a rough ride. Not too many wanted to risk tearing up their trucks for a lark.

Looking at his watch again, he decided to head back to his truck and get the sheriff first thing in the morning. There wasn’t much he could do now. Whoever had been here was long gone.

He was taking the shortcut across the dam catwalk when he heard the sound of an engine coming up Possum Lake Road. He stopped and watched, his heartbeat quickening. Who would be coming up here at this time of night? Especially if the dumpers were using the logging road?

When Mandy’s red pick-up crawled out of the woods, his breath came out in a whoosh. A fierce surge of anger and disbelief pulsated through his body. What in the name of Hades did she think she was doing? Especially after the scare she and Beverly had today?

His booted feet clanked on the metal catwalk as his long strides took him across the dam. By the time he reached the other side and opened the gate, Mandy had parked beside his pickup and was walking down to the beach with Mags.

He could hardly believe his eyes.

After what he had told her earlier, she had the nerve to walk on the beach? Alone? And at 12:30 in the morning?

Furious, he slammed the metal gate shut behind him and stalked towards her. He realized he’d scared her when he saw her hand fly to her throat. Good. She’d better be scared, because when he got through with her, she wouldn’t be sitting for a week.

***

M ANDY’S HEART LEAPED in her breast at the sight of Az coming towards her in the moonlight. Pissed was a milk toast kind of phrase to describe the look on his face, and she recoiled in dread.

It was almost a pagan dance in the moonlight on the deserted beach as he stalked her like a hunter. In accompaniment to his dance step, she retreated, an unconscious plea in her eyes for the beast not to devour her. She wished she were back in her bed, even though she hadn’t been able to sleep.

Her troubled conscious had sent her to the Golden G, wanting to make the wrong she had done him right somehow, but he hadn’t been there. Recalling that he often went to the lake when they were kids to think, she had driven up here, not intending to stay if she didn’t see him. Surely, nothing could happen to her in the safety of her truck and with Mags along to protect her. But when she’d seen his truck parked and empty, she’d decided to look for him.

But holy crap!

Who was going to protect her from the pagan advancing on her? His features appeared carved from burnished mahogany in the moonlight, and the look on those features would have convinced a sacrificial victim that all hope was gone.

Backing up, Mandy didn’t see the piece of driftwood that lay in her path. She stumbled awkwardly over it and went sprawling on her backside. In a flash, Az was standing over her, his fists on his hips. She instinctively put her hand up to protect herself, to stave off the inevitable.

“Az—no.”

“No, what, Mandy?”

The voice was low and deadly, and Mandy began to shiver. “D-don’t,” she quavered. “P-please, Az.”

She had somehow awakened a fierce warrior bent on punishment, and she knew exactly what he was going to do. Without a doubt she was about to get her butt spanked like she’d never been spanked before.

Mags whined and licked her face, then set off toward the water to investigate. Her dog was going to be no help at all.

Traitor!

***

A Z STARED STERNLY DOWN at his woman. For she was his woman, there was no denying it any longer, and his woman was in sore need of chastisement. With a growl that would have made his ancestors' hearts swell with pride, he reached down and pulled her to her feet. From there, it was an easy step to tuck her beneath his long arm, her body bent, and place her cringing buttocks at a convenient angle.

With a ruthless swipe of his right hand, her cotton shorts went down her thighs, dragging her dusty rose panties with them. He didn’t even hesitate to appreciate the sight of the pale globes glimmering in the moonlight, he just began to paddle the errant backside laid open to his view.

The sound of the spanking echoed, ricocheting across the lake and back again as the slaps on bare skin resounded over and over. He took no pity on the shrieking girl as his hard palm worked up and down both thighs and across the rounded bottom like a master painter at work.

Disobeying him once when he’d warned her off was bad enough, but twice? Especially with the full knowledge of the danger the second time around? Putting herself in danger on purpose was completely unacceptable. His fear for her made him implacable, and he was determined to see that she thought twice before disobeying him again when it came to her safety.

***

“I ’M SORRY, AZ! I’M sorry—I’m sorry,” Mandy yelped, helpless as his long arm held her firmly in place and bent over. She danced and yelled louder as the pain and burning built to an unbearable level, and she was afraid he was never going to stop. Mags barked and ran around them both until she finally lay on the ground near the bench and placed her paws over her eyes.

“Az—please stop!” Her pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears, and she finally burst into tears, unable to take any more without crying.

Az stopped, but only for a moment. He scolded her as he marched her over to the wooden bench by the trash bin. “I am your keeper, little girl. I always have been—I always will be. You might as well get that through your stubborn little head. You belong to me.” Sitting down, he pulled her across his left thigh and hooked his long right leg over hers.

Mags whined and moved out of the way as Az invaded her bench, but she didn’t growl at him.

“No, Az!” Mandy struggled wildly, but her struggles were useless against his superior strength. She put both her hands back to cover her buttocks, and surprisingly enough, he didn’t move them.

“Why did you come up here, Mandy? Especially after I told you to stay away from here?” He rested his hand on her upturned palms.

“I was looking for you,” she sobbed. “I felt bad about standing you up tonight, and I wanted to apologize. When I didn’t see your truck in your driveway, I thought you might have come here. Like when we were kids.”

She talked fast, hoping to stave off any more spanking of her flaming cheeks. They ached and throbbed terribly, and she was in a compromising position at the moment.

“Did you know where I was before you got out of your truck?” The question was snapped out.

“Well...no,” she confessed. “I figured you were here somewhere, though.

He began spanking her thighs just beneath her buttocks, lecturing as he spoke. “And I might have been lying dead here somewhere, or at the mercy of someone. You might have walked into a trap, or any number of things.”

“But you’re not dead,” Mandy screamed, her hands flailing in a vain effort to reach the area he was ruthlessly paddling. That sensitive area where the buttock meets the thigh was particularly painful. She tried to throw herself sideways back and forth to alleviate the steady slaps, but it was useless. It occurred to her that she might wish he were dead at that moment—anything to stop this blistering assault on her bottom.

“Yes, lucky for you,” he replied, finally pausing.

Still, he didn’t let her up, and Mandy sobbed wildly, praying he was finished. She was shocked when he began to rub her hot flesh, his palm now feeling soothing as he ran it up and down the backs of her thighs and over her tender nates.

“There was someone here earlier dumping barrels in the lake, Mandy. I tried to figure out who it was, but I forgot about the old logging road that runs over the other side of the mountain. By the time I walked over there, he was long gone.”

He continued to gently caress her buttocks and thighs while Mandy listened, not daring to speak. She caught on immediately about the barrels and shivered at the implications of the danger Az would have been in. No wonder he didn’t want her up here.

“When I was coming back across the dam and saw your truck come out at the head of the road, it hit home in an instant what could happen to you if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It also occurred to me that I’ve been stupid for a long time now.”

Mandy felt herself pulled up and turned to face Az, her buttocks aching and stinging as they came in contact with his denim jeans. She stared at him in the moonlight, her chest softly heaving. At least he’d lost that predatory, threatening look finally. Hopefully, he was done spanking her. The skin on her bottom felt blistered and sore. “What...what do you mean?”

Az paused when the sound of an engine assailed their ears, and he swiftly turned to look at the head of the road. “Someone’s coming,” he hissed, standing her up and yanking her shorts and panties up.

“Ouch,” she cried as the elastic from her garments scraped across her sore flesh.

“Come on, we have to get to the trucks, or the edge of the woods, and out of sight.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her across the parking lot toward the trucks.

“Damn, we would have to park so far away,” he muttered.

“We aren’t going to make it, Az,” Mandy cried as they looked around for any sign of shelter to be out of view from whoever was coming. There was nothing.

“Come on, Mandy, run,” he urged, pulling her hand harder.

Mandy tried to run, but her shorts were crooked and she was trying to adjust them. “I’m coming,” she gasped. Mags was running ahead of them, a low growl telling her that Mags recognized their panic.

“Will you stop playing with your clothes?” he growled.

The black car cleared the head of the road and began to glide silently towards them as if it were looking for prey. To Mandy, it looked like a smooth-skinned shark, gleaming and deadly, seemingly intent on cutting off their escape. She felt terror welling up in her throat. She choked back the desire to scream as she ran, desperately trying to keep up with Az’s long legs. He was half dragging her as it was, with her hand grasped firmly in his.

“We aren’t going to make it,” Az growled as the black car pulled ahead and cut in front of them, stopping between them and their trucks. Az stood still and pushed Mandy behind him as two men stepped out of the car and stared at them.

Mags stood at attention, her gaze on the newcomers. A warning growl rumbled in her chest.

“Evening, folks,” the shorter, stout driver called. He approached them as he watched Mags cautiously.

“Evening,” Az replied calmly.

“Does your dog bite?”

“Not normally.”

The driver looked relieved, and he grinned at Mags. “Can we be friends, doggie?” He cautiously held out his hand for Mags to sniff, but she ignored him. He quickly withdrew.

“Stay, Mags,” Mandy ordered quietly, and Mags sat down, but she didn’t take her gaze off the two men.

“Do you know where we are supposed to go?” This question was from the taller of the two men.

Mandy could see that both men appeared rough and were dressed in clothes that had seen better days long ago. Upon close inspection, even the black car had rust around the bottom edges and what appeared to be hail damage that had never been repaired.

Mandy stepped up beside Az, her heart in her throat.

Az’s eyes narrowed slightly. “That all depends on where you are going,” he replied carefully.

The short man guffawed and slapped his leg. “Ain’t you funny,” he chuckled. “Hell, to get the meat that Murphy...”

“Shut up, Pete,” the taller man ordered as he stepped forward, his dark eyes gleaming in the moonlight. He was thin, almost gaunt, with a haunted look about his eyes. The sleeves of his plaid shirt didn’t even come to his wrists, and the material was worn thin in many places. He had several broken teeth, but seemed clean and tidy, and Mandy wondered who they were. She didn’t recognize either of the men as being from Mockingbird Hollow.

Pete looked as hard-up as his counterpart. The knees of his jeans sported a few patches, and his red t-shirt had some holes in it.

Tall and thin stared suspiciously at Az and Mandy. “Just who are you? I don’t recognize you from our neck of the woods.”

Mandy could feel panic rising in her throat. She knew the reference to meat meant these two were somehow involved in the rustling. Had all the reasons Az had told her to stay away from the lake happened for real? If she’d only listened to him. If she had, then they wouldn’t be in danger now.

Then an idea popped into her head.

***

T ALL AND THIN’S QUESTION had Az thinking fast. There was no doubt in his mind that the ‘ meat’ he was referring to had to be the rustled cattle. Since someone had been dumping tonight, it stood to reason that person had stolen a cow earlier and cut it up.

He squeezed Mandy’s trembling hand in silent warning and replied, “We don’t know you either, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know Murphy. He promised us some of the meat too.”

Tall and thin looked dubious. “You don’t look poor to me. Besides, Murphy never told us anyone else was in on it.” He stepped closer to Az. “You look more like a cop than anything else.”

Az was surprised when Mandy suddenly spoke up.

“We’re newlyweds and we have no money and not much family to support us. My husband just lost his job at Genetico, and Murphy offered us some beef,” she piped up bravely.

Az mentally groaned but immediately nodded and wrapped his long arm around her in support. “My wife’s right,” he added, playing the loving husband.

“Genetico! You worked at that no-good place, too?” Pete spat on the ground. “That’s where Murph lost his job. Of course, you know all about that, or you wouldn’t be here.”

Az nodded again. “Well, Murphy didn’t tell us everything, but he did offer to help us. For that, we are grateful.”

Pete stepped forward and offered to shake Az’s hand. “I’m Pete, and this tall drink of water is Harley. He looks mean, but his bark is worse than his bite.” He chuckled. “Since you all were here first, have you seen Murphy? He told us to meet him here at 1:00 a.m. What time did he tell you all?”

Az shook hands with Pete and then looked at his watch. It was 12:57 a.m. “He told us 1:00 a.m. too, but I haven’t seen him yet,” he lied glibly. He was sure it was ‘ Murph’ that had been dumping across the lake. He had to find a way to get Mandy out of here before Murphy returned.

T he distant purr of a truck engine told him it was already too late.

Desperately, he tried to think fast. Pushing Mandy gently before him, he started to circle the two men. “Did you leave a Coke for me, honey? I’m getting thirsty waiting for Murphy.”

“I think there are more in the cooler,” Mandy replied breathlessly as she followed his lead. He knew she could hear the vehicle coming too, and they would be trapped shortly.

Pete and Harley didn’t look too dangerous, but he didn’t know about Murphy. That man had gone to a lot of trouble to set Genetico up; he would not take kindly to his plans being interfered with.

Their best bet was his truck. He had a hunting rifle hanging behind the seat. He always carried it when he was home because he liked to hunt whenever the opportunity arose.

“You two just stay put,” warned the ever-suspicious Harley. “Your story doesn’t quite ring true to me. I always had a nose for liars.”

He stepped between Az and the trucks, a handgun appearing out of nowhere, its deadly nose pointed right at them.

Az and Mandy froze in their tracks.

“He has a gun,” she squeaked in alarm.

Quickly, Az stepped in front of her again. “There’s no need for that—put it away before someone gets hurt.”

By now, the truck that had cleared the head of the road was coming towards them. It pulled up and stopped, and the driver opened the door to get out.

Az looked around for inspiration. He knew they couldn’t outrun a gun. He might have stood a chance if he had been alone, but he had Mandy to protect.

“Howdy, Murph.” Pete hailed the man emerging from the truck. “We were wondering what happened to you.”

“Don’t go getting any ideas,” Harley warned, keeping an eye on Az. “You just stay still until Murphy identifies you. Then, if you’re legit, I’ll apologize. If not...” He didn’t finish the sentence—there was no need.

Az could feel Mandy shaking, and his arm tightened around her. As the man called Murphy approached, he whispered in her ear, “On my signal—run.” He studied the man approaching them, his muscles tensed for action.

Mandy squeezed his hand in silent assent.

Murphy appeared to be in his forties with salt and pepper hair, an untrimmed mustache, and a hangdog look about his features, as if life had played a cruel trick on him. He was a big man, slightly overweight and heavy around the jowls. Az thought he might have seen him around town at one point, but he couldn’t be sure.

He returned Az’s stare, his eyes assessing them both. “Who the hell are you?” he asked bluntly. When Az didn’t answer, he turned to Harley. “I take it they aren’t friends of yours?”

“They told us they were your friends,” Pete replied, looking bewildered.

“I don’t know ‘em.”

“Alright, that settles that,” Harley replied, scowling. “Now the question is, what do we do with them?”

“Bring them with us,” Murphy ordered curtly. “I have a cow in the back that’s going to wake up soon, and I don’t want to shoot it here. I pride myself on leaving no traces to be found. Let’s get it to the cutting shed, and then you boys can take the meat for distribution to your people, and then go on home. I’ll figure out what to do with these two nosy people later.”

“You aren’t going to kill them, are you?” Pete gasped, looking worried. “I don’t want to be mixed up in nothing that smacks of murder.”

“Shut up, Pete,” Harley snarled. “You’re in this now, no matter what happens.”

He turned to Az and Mandy. “You two get in the back of the car. And no funny tricks.”

Mags tried to jump into the car when Az grimly bundled Mandy into the backseat of the beat-up sedan.

“Stay, Mags,” Mandy ordered her dog.

Pete and Harley got into the front seat. Harley kept the gun pointed at them as they followed Murphy’s blue pick-up around the lake.

Mags wasn’t the least bit happy. She started barking and following the car when they left, but the dog was too old to keep up. Soon she was trailing further behind.

Mandy’s eyes filled with tears at the sight of her loyal companion panting with her tongue hanging out after she finally stopped to watch the car disappear. Mags,” she whispered, her heart breaking for her faithful friend who wouldn’t understand what was happening. Would she ever see her again?

“It’s all right, honey, Mags will be just fine,” Az whispered in her ear as he pulled her in close to him. He squeezed her hand tightly, trying to reassure her. He just wished he could be as sure about them.

“Dang it, Harley. I don’t know if this car will make it in and out of this place. I hope the road doesn’t get any rougher,” Pete complained once they reached the logging road.

“Just shut up and drive, Pete,” Harley ordered.

They were bouncing all over the place as the sedan traversed the rugged terrain. Murphy’s truck was having a much better time of it. The logging road was not the place for a car.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Murphy took over. “Put those two in that shed behind the barn. I’ll deal with them later.”

The old shed and barn were dilapidated buildings left from the logging camp where lumber had been cut out of the hills. There wasn’t even a window in the shed to let in light, and Mandy huddled into Az, her body shaking. Probably afraid of what might be in the dark that she couldn’t see. He wasn’t too comfortable himself, and he held her protectively in his arms.

“What are they going to do, Az? I’m scared,” she whispered to him in the inky blackness.

“We’re going to watch for an opportunity to escape,” he told her, hoping he sounded more optimistic than he felt at the moment.

“This is all my fault, I’m so sorry, Az,” Mandy cried. “I should have listened to you when you said to stay away.”

Az couldn’t let her take all the blame, especially when she was coming to apologize to him for running from him. “It’s not all your fault, Mandy,” he replied gently. “I should have gotten us out of here immediately instead of spanking your little butt. That could have been taken care of later.” He huffed when she punched him in the shoulder.

“Or never,” she sassed.

“I should have put the clues together faster regarding the dumping Skeeter Davis was seeing, and the stray barrel that didn’t stay dumped.”

“Just remember that the next time you want to spank me,” she jibed. “If we survive this, you owe me one.”

When a chainsaw suddenly jumped to life, Mandy shrieked in fear, but Az knew this was their chance. “Now is the best time to try and get out of here, Mandy. They are cutting up the steer, and there is so much noise they won’t hear us.”

With his eyes starting to filter a little in the blackness, he moved Mandy aside and kicked at the door, trying to break it down. The sound of the chainsaw filled him with a grim sense of horror. The image of them being stuffed in pieces into a barrel like the leftover cows lent strength to his kicks. The idea of the darkness at the bottom of the lake held its own horror, he didn’t like deep water. That wasn’t going to be his final resting place if he could help it.

“It’s not working, Az,” Mandy cried, the terror in her voice giving him impetus to launch his shoulder against a rotten spot near the doorframe. It gave a little, but not nearly enough to race a chainsaw to completion of the work at hand.

Az didn’t intend to give up, though. He kept at it, trying to make a hole big enough to slip his hand through so he could reach the door latch on the outside. He was almost there when the chainsaw suddenly stopped. His blood froze.