Chapter 11

The next morning, Isabelle woke to Zeke on top of her. He raped her again, and because they’d never had sex without a condom, he crowed when he was finished that now she was “filled in every hole with his come.”

He let her dress, but not shower, because he wanted her to have a “sticky reminder of what they’d shared”. He forced her to wear the long-sleeved shirt he’d brought to hide the raw wounds on her wrists from where he’d bound her. He’d planned it all, down to the last detail.

Downstairs, Isabelle feigned illness to keep Aunt Ruby from making them breakfast, and she all but forced Zeke into leaving before he was ready. His eyes promised retribution, but she didn’t care anymore what he did to her as long as Ruby was safe. Before they left the house, Ruby pulled her aside and asked if everything was okay. She’d had to really put on an act then, because all she wanted to do was crumble in Ruby’s arms and tell her everything. But, that would have gotten Ruby hurt, so Isabelle sucked it up and lied to her aunt. She told Ruby that she and Zeke had quarreled and that’s why she’d come home, but him coming for her and apologizing had her wanting to go back to Nevada with him to give things another try. She kissed her Aunt goodbye promising herself that it wouldn’t be the last time she’d see her.

In Zeke’s truck, he’d promised her she’d pay for her antics at Ruby’s, and he’d meant it. Some miles from the house, he pulled off the highway, took her out into the woods and beat her. It wasn’t like before, when he’d avoided her face. No, the first hit was a direct punch to the face, and she went down hard. She didn’t remember much after that, just a lot of pain, and then he had her bent over a felled log and was inside of her again. As he tunneled into her, he declared that things would be better once they got home, even as he fisted her hair to hold her in place as he spilled his seed inside of her again. She prayed so fucking hard that she didn’t get pregnant from this demon.

Back on the road, they found a rest area where he took her into the men’s room with him. He let her pee while he watched, and then made her clean up her face. The sight of herself in the mirror was shocking. Her eye was swollen almost closed, her lip was split and bleeding, and there was blood everywhere from her nose. She washed up as best she could, and changed into another long-sleeved shirt he’d brought along. She couldn’t do anything about her eye or her lip, and wasn’t even surprised when he handed her a pair of large women’s sunglasses. He’d come prepared.

When they passed the turnoff that led back to Chance’s cabin, Isabelle reached for the door handle, seriously considering throwing herself from the vehicle and making a run for it. But, the speed limit was seventy, which meant Zeke was going ninety, because he was a cop and they all had this buddy system where they didn’t give each other tickets. They were free to break the law whenever they wanted when everyone else had to obey. Not wanting to die all road-rashed up and broken on the side of the road, Isabelle watched the turnoff whiz past as defeat settled into her bones.

An hour later they pulled into the parking lot of what had to be the smallest diner in the world. Before they got out, Zeke threatened her within an inch of her life if she tried to cause a scene or draw attention or help. Apparently, he planned on taking her in for lunch.

“And keep those fucking glasses on, no matter what!”

She nodded numbly, climbing from the vehicle when he did.

Zeke hurried around and grabbed her arm roughly, pulling her with him to the door before plastering on a fake smile and leading her to a booth, shoving her in.

The waitress came, but didn’t even look up from her pad as she asked in a bored tone, “Anything to drink?”

Zeke answered for them both. “She’ll have water. I’ll have a beer.”

Without acknowledgment, the waitress dropped two menus on the table and walked away.

Zeke snatched up a menu but she didn’t bother, knowing he’d just order for her. Instead, she scanned the restaurant with her good eye. It was dead. No customers filled the other booths and there was only one old man sitting in the corner near the cash register with his back to her. Any chance of escape for her was nil.

“Can I use the restroom?” she asked.

Without looking up from his menu Chance said, “Nope,” letting the p pop as he continued to scan.

Fucking ugly sick twisted fuck!

The waitress returned with their water and beer and took their order. Zeke ordered himself a burger and fries and ordered her a salad with fat free dressing. She listened as she stared out the window, dismally trying to muster some fight to try and get away. This was Montana after all. Surely, there was a shotgun behind the counter…right? In the movies, when the damsel in distress cried out in a town like this, the locals came to her aid in epic fashion. But, her reflection shown back at her, and she remembered just how ‘friendly’ these folk had been when she’d been trying to hitch a ride. Worse, she was with a cop. Everyone would believe his word over hers, especially if he showed them that sick video without sound. Besides, she had no doubt that he was carrying some type of weapon of his own.

Eyes still glued to the now quietly falling snow outside, Isabelle’s thoughts skipped ahead to Nevada. Surely there’d be a way for her to escape him once he got her back home, right? Or, would things just be worse? He had friends there on the force. Friends that believed him, trusted him. Hell, he’d probably already laid the groundwork for her being the crazy psychotic one.

Beside her, Zeke’s phone buzzed and she turned to find him reading a text. He laughed. “Boys wanna know if I got my crazy old lady back.”

Her belly sank at being right. What do I do? What in the fuck am I going to do? Dread filled her so fully that she felt like she couldn’t breathe.

“I’m gonna text them back that…”

His words faded to background noise when a familiar voice hit her ears.

“Everything was great, Joyce. Thanks again.”

Looking up, her eyes landed on the figure standing at the cash register shoving change back at the waitress and directing, “Keep it.”

When he turned, Chance’s eyes locked on her and he slammed to a halt.