Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(82)

“I won’t,” Everly told him, lying through her teeth. The second she had an opening, she was going to use everything she’d ever learned about self-defense and from being a police officer to take him down. But for now, she needed her hands so she could talk to Elise.

Once her hands were loose, Everly turned back to Elise. She put her hands on her sister’s cheeks and rubbed her thumbs under her eyes, wiping away her tears. Elise had a scrape on her temple, a split lip, and a black eye forming. All things considered, even though the sight of her injuries pissed her off, Everly knew she’d been lucky so far. If Tylor’d had more time between when he’d brought Elise here and when he’d had to pick up Everly, he could’ve hurt her a lot more.

“Tell her what my name is,” Tylor ordered.

“How do you spell it?” she asked.

“Why does that matter?”

Everly resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Because I have to finger spell it for her.”

Tylor spelled his name, and Everly couldn’t help the delirious thought that maybe he was so crazy because he’d had to spell out his name to every single person he’d ever come into contact with.

She knew the thought was irrational, but she couldn’t help hating every single thing about this man.

Turning to Everly, she signed, His name is T-y-l-o-r T-u-t-t-l-e . Remember that, and tell Ball and the guys when they find us.

“You sure did a lot of hand movements for just my name,” Tylor said suspiciously.

“In sign language, it takes a lot more to say the same thing in hand motions than it does verbally.” She was lying through her teeth, but this moron wouldn’t know that.

“Okay. Tell her that I’ve missed her.”

When I tell you to, you run. I mean it. Run like hell, and don’t look back.

“And that she’s beautiful and we’re going to have a wonderful life together. But she has to obey me. If she doesn’t, I’ll have to punish her.”

Everly’s skin crawled, but she nodded at Tylor and turned to her sister. We need to keep him calm until he unlocks that chain around your leg. Look up at him and nod.

Elise did as her sister asked, and Tylor beamed. “Tell her I’m sorry it took so long for us to be together. I had to take care of some things back in LA.”

Everly looked up at him. “What things?”

Without warning, his foot flew out, and he kicked Everly in the same side where he’d stun-gunned her. Wheezing in pain, she fell over, but immediately got back up on her knees. She didn’t think he’d cracked a rib, thank God. She’d had those before, and while her side hurt, she felt okay.

From the corner of her eye, Everly saw Elise jerk in fear, but she kept her gaze on Tylor.

“You think I’m going to tell you?” he asked.

Everly nodded. She knew she was pushing things, but he wouldn’t have brought it up if he didn’t want them to know.

“Tell her what I told you to.”

Everly turned to her sister. I’m okay. Don’t panic. Ball is going to come find us. We just have to be brave until then.

Elise nodded. It was easy to see that her sister was frustrated at not being able to respond.

Securing her hands behind her back was the same as gagging a speaking person.

“Now tell her that I took care of her good-for-nothing drug addict of a mother.”

Everly’s eyes went back to Tylor. “What? What’d you do?”

“I killed her. She was making my Elise sad. I couldn’t have that. So she had to die.”

His voice was monotone, and it was more than obvious he had not one iota of remorse over

killing someone. Tears pricked the back of Everly’s eyelids, but she refused to let them fall. She hadn’t cared much about Ella, but she was still her mother. Even as horrible of a mom as she’d been, she didn’t deserve to be killed by this asshole.

There was no way she was going to tell her sister right now what Tylor had done. Elise had to be thinking about escaping, and nothing else. His plan is for me to perform some bullshit marriage ceremony. Just go with it until I tell you to run. No, don’t look away, look up at him with wide eyes.

Everly couldn’t be prouder of her sister. She had to be scared to death, but she did what she’d told her to do.

Tylor preened. “That’s my good girl.” He stepped closer to them and ran his hand over her hair, petting her. He turned to Everly, but kept his hand on Elise’s head. “It’s time,” he said. “Time to join us together for life.”

Ball arrived at the entrance for the Seven Bridges Trail and parked in front of the white panel van so it couldn’t simply pull out and leave. Tuttle Plumbing. Shaking his head, he was shocked to realize he recognized it. He’d seen it the day they came here to hike with the Outdoor Club—but it hadn’t had the magnetic plumbing sign on it at the time. There had been so many vehicles in the parking lot that it hadn’t particularly stood out, and he’d had no reason to associate it with the mysterious white van that had been used in Elise’s abduction back in LA.

Peering into the back window, he saw a suitcase that he recognized as belonging to Everly.

The thought of Elise being inside it made him see red. Taking a few deep breaths to control his anger, Ball waited impatiently for his teammates to arrive. He could’ve set off by himself, but he needed to organize a search pattern with the others.