Page 45 of Sweeter Than Honey
A half human, half man lay stiffly curled in a fetal position on the porch. The limbs had begun to shift and stopped halfway—furry forearms and human hands. The face had a human forehead and a bear’s snout. But the eyes…
“Jett!”
His name ripped from her primal core. She’d know those eyes anywhere. They were wide open and frozen in place. Blood pooled from the side of his head, a slow trickle running from the wound onto the porch where it began to stream beneath him. She couldn’t tell if he was breathing. Why was he frozen like that, why hadn’t he fully shifted one way or the other?
“He’s dead. Shut up.”
The man holding her kicked Jett violently in the stomach as they passed by. Cara began to struggle, twisting, turning, and pulling against the man’s hold on her. She had to do something!
“You can’t leave him like this.”
“Of course, I can. Watch.” Her captor picked her up and all but jumped down the remaining stairs. Cara felt her brain shutting out everything except the sound of her voice calling Jett’s name to the backdrop of Olive’s sobbing.
“I have to admit, I didn’t think you’d come along this easily. Almost makes me regret dragging this bitch along as insurance.”
The man took her to a dark van parked in the driveway. The side door opened, and he shoved her inside. Two of the men jumped in with her. But another remained outside with Olive. The leader poked his head out of the door and addressed the man. “Dump her body out in the woods and hurry up. You’ve got five minutes.”
Cara scrambled forward. “No! No, no!”
She reached for Olive, but the man held her back. “Don’t do this. What do you want? Money? I have money.”
He snorted and pointed to her belly. “That little bastard is going to provide more than I could ever spend.”
A crack of thunder tore through the air. Dark clouds passed over the moon just as a light rain began to fall. He was about to close the door. Once that door shut, she’d never see Olive again. Feeling around on the floor behind her for anything she could use, Cara’s heart lurched when her fingers touched a length of cool, curved metal. A tire iron!
She didn’t think at all. She brought the tire iron up and cracked the man in the back of the head with it then pulled back and jabbed the sharp edge against the side of his neck. He cried out and toppled to the side, giving her just enough room to skirt out of the van. With more strength than she thought possible, she launched the tire iron at the man holding Olive. It whizzed past Olive’s face, cutting her cheek, and striking the man in the front of the throat. He released her on instinct and grabbed at his neck.
“Run!”
Cara grabbed Olive’s hand and they darted behind the house. She didn’t know the layout of the property very well, but remembered he’d mentioned there was a narrow gravel road behind the house about half a mile that snaked down the mountain and into Estes Park. It crossed Heeder’s Pass, which he’d said he avoided at all costs because of how unpredictable the side walls of the road could be. If they could make it there, they might have a chance.
Olive tried to speak, but Cara ignored her as they scrambled their way through the trees and undergrowth. She had to stay focused, but her mind kept pulling her toward Jett. Was he alive?
They needed to get to town, to find a phone. He needed help.
A sob wedged in her throat. Olive gripped her hand tighter, as if she somehow knew. The rain came down steadily stronger and it felt like they weren’t making any headway. Cara wasn’t even sure if they were headed in the right direction.
Her lungs burned, rain pelted her eyes, and blurred her vision. Slowing to a stop, Cara bent low with her hands on her thighs. Olive wrapped her in a hug, her lithe body shaking with sobs.
“You’re… you’re pregnant,” Olive said above the rain. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Cara allowed a few tears to fall. “I’m sorry. I should have told you.”
The women breathed hard together for a moment. Then Olive straightened and ran her hands over her face.
“They broke in and set off the alarm. The cameras had already been broken. They’d planned the whole thing. I didn’t have a chance to get away. I walked in on them and they, they—” Her voice faltered, and Cara took her hand.
“It’s okay. Olive, none of this is your fault. Listen, we have keep going. It’s going to get much colder and we’re wet. We’ll get hypothermia if we don’t find shelter or reach town.”
Jett.
Oh my God.Fresh tears flooded her eyes. “I have to find a phone and get him help.”
Olive nodded and headed through the woods. The back of Cara’s neck prickled. Spinning, she gasped as a huge shape galloped toward them through the darkness. Then another.
Bears!
“I see the road!” Olive shouted. She glanced back, screamed, and froze.
