Page 40 of Special Agent Isabella

Stacy checked her pedometer and added, “I need more steps. How about we take a bit of time to have a stroll before they deliver the tray?”

Having the next few moments free meant he could phone his pregnant wife. Happy now, Bruce smiled his agreement. “Good idea, I’ll set it up. Meet you back here.”

She left the room and saw her guard, an older man, rise to follow her. Putting out her hand, she stopped him. “It’s okay, Peter, I’m just going to the washroom around the corner. I’ll be right back and then Bruce and I are going to get some fresh air.”

“Sounds good to me, Governor.” He stood but didn’t follow because her normal routine was to use the exit door nearest to him, and so he knew she’d be coming back this way.

Stacy rushed to her destination, her body whimpering from her ignoring it’s blatant need for relief. Rushing inside the stall, she didn’t pay any attention to the other woman in the room.

Once she’d finished, she headed for the sink and smiled at the strong-looking woman whose masculinity showed in her form. If not for her oddly bulging chest, she might have taken her for a man.

“Hi there.” She smiled and caught the eye of the other person she took to be a custodian because of her uniform. Though her curly hair had been backcombed and obviously sprayed to stay in place, it sat rather weirdly on her head. That’s when she saw the signs of face hair. At first, confusion struck, and she had a sensation of remorse for her staring and maybe making the poor lady self-conscious. But something didn’t ring true.

Before she could react, strong arms surrounded her, and a wad of cloth was held in front of her face. Unable to breathe, she felt her consciousness slowly wane until blackness descended.

* * *

Opening her eyes, Stacy felt thirsty beyond the normal need for water. Parched, her eyes still refusing to obey her command to stay open, she groaned and spoke only one word. “Water.”

She heard the shuffling before she actually saw anything. A bottle was pressed to her lips and when she went to clutch it, she realized her hands were bound in front of her with plastic ties.

The cloying scents that filled her pinched nostrils, aftermath of a heavy smoker, almost made her gag.

Terrified, she forced her eyes open to see that she was perched up against the corner of a log cabin with a surprisingly clean blanketed mattress keeping her off the wood floor.

Glancing around slowly, she watched the back of the woman she’d last seen in the ladies room, shuffling toward the table where there were two chairs. She slowly lowered her bulk into one, making sure not to glance in Stacy’s direction.

Another mattress on the floor across from hers had a stack of pillows, blankets, and a shabby carryall. The curtained window had been boarded up to keep out the daylight, though it shone through the slats.

A few old kitchen cupboards, a sink, stove, and a fridge that might have been new in the 90’s were the only other items in the surprisingly large room. Otherwise, it looked rather stark but clean.

If the single lightbulb over the table hadn’t been on, she’d have been shocked it had electricity. The person she’d seen in the ladies’ room at the office ignored Stacy, continuing to play with a deck of cards spread in front of her.

“Please. Why did you bring me here?” After she muttered the words, she realized they made no sense. Her tongue wasn’t working properly, and she’d just babbled the same kind of nonsense a baby might use. Trying again, she watched the woman finally turn to look at her. That’s when she faced the truth.

Her monster wasn’t a woman.

ChapterThirty-Three

Tanner had never experienced such gut-gnawing frustration in his life. At any other time, dealing with gibberish from a woman too full of herself would have sent him off on a bogus FBI call.

But he had no choice other than to stick it out. When they’d arrived at the restaurant, he’d purposely pulled his phone out and put it beside him on the table. Doing so on purpose, he’d hoped she’d do the same, but she hadn’t. Instead, she’d left it in her purse on the chair next to hers.

He’d tried everything he could think of for her to leave the table long enough for him to steal it. He’d pointed out the various paintings around them, hoping she’d go for a closer look. Sadly, the silly twit had no interest in anything but keeping him wrapped up in her dumb stories.

Bor-ring!!By the time they left, he had visions of pulling her arm away from where she’d wrapped it around his and throwing her under a fast-moving car. Instead, he played along with her supposed flirtation and led her on.

Steering them to a nearby park, he directed them to a bench in front of a lake where people often came to watch the ducks swimming serenely. Many people passed by on the wide sidewalk, and the busy area gave him a cover for what he intended to do next.

Thankful that she sat with her purse in her lap, he stretched his arm around her back. With his other hand, he accidently on purpose pushed the bag to the ground and kissed her senseless, keeping her mind off the fact that she’d dropped her belongings.

When he pulled away, Leslie was so flustered with delight from his attention, that she paid no notice to anything but him. She clutched him to her and kissed him again.

Opening one eye, he saw that when her purse fell, it had opened and some of her belongings had dropped out, including her phone. Forcing his mouth from hers, he grinned sexily at her and said in a hushed tone, “I think people are staring.”

“Hmmm. Probably wishing they were me.” She moved in to resume their performance, but he pulled away and stood up. Before she could regain her senses, he reached down and picked up her phone to slide it up his sleeve. Then acting flustered, he purposely yanked her bag up by the bottom rather than the top, flinging more of the belongings around.

Two young fellows coming past at that moment stopped to help, fetching some of the articles while Leslie jumped up to find the other stuff. Between laughing at his clumsiness and thanking the helpers, they eventually retrieved everything in sight. He handed her back her purse with an apology. “Sorry. Damn clumsy.”

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