J. McKenna - Wanted - Kept Woman

She grimaced, her heart in her stomach. “My ex. Sam.” She turned her fury on him. “What the hell are you doing here? Why aren’t you in prison?”

“It was jail, sweet-cheeks. You should know—you put me there.” He cocked his head. “They let me out early for good behavior.” His grin widened. “Didn’t they tell you?”

Suzanne had never felt so angry in her life. Angry and scared. “No, they didn’t. What do you want with us?”

“What’s the matter? Can’t I come in and join your little nudist colony? Maybe Armstrong and I could compare notes, hmmm? How was she in the sack, Brian ?”

So , Suzanne thought, he clearly knows who Brian is, which means he’s been following me for a while. What the hell is he up to?

“Don’t be shy, hon. Let me see all of you.” He wiggled the gun at her hand covering herself.

Reluctantly, Suzanne took it away. Sam’s eyes fell onto her little lightning bolt and burst out laughing. Suzanne flushed red from her breasts to her cheeks.

“Dammit, gal, you really put on a show! Did Armstrong make you do that? Or was that your own idea?”

Suzanne said nothing. She just stood there, tears running down her face, humiliated beyond endurance.

“Listen, asshole—” Brian took a step toward him, but Sam backed up, forcing Brian to stop in his tracks.

“Uh-huh. That’s close enough.” He turned back to Suzanne. “That’s rich. I mean to tell you. If you’d done some cute things like that for me, why, we’d probably never have gotten divorced.” He waggled the gun at them. “Now, let’s go see your little love shack.” He forced them to turn and head up the path toward the cabin, making sure he stayed well out of Brian’s reach.

Suzanne could feel Brian’s eyes on her like a great weight. Just when she had been the happiest she’d been in months, Sam had to return to snatch it away.

“Look, I didn’t know he was out,” she tried to explain, talking out of the side of her mouth, hoping Sam wouldn’t hear.

Brian held up a hand. “It’s okay.” He seemed coldly furious again and Suzanne could see his mind working, trying to figure out how to get them out of this situation. They reached the house in minutes. At the door, they turned, waiting for directions from Sam. Brian seemed tense, like a coiled spring. She thought, if Sam gets just a little too close…

Sam apparently caught his body language. “Oh, and if you’re thinking I’m going to give you a chance to jump me, forget it. I know all about what you did the other night, that Jackie Chan shit.”

Suzanne, who thought she couldn’t be more surprised, was rocked further. “You! You set those thugs on us!”

“Yeah, and it’s a good thing I did! I might’ve made a mistake getting too close to your lover here.” He waved the gun at Brian. “You’ve got some moves, don’t cha? And not just in the sack.” He winked at Suzanne. “Mister, if you want to stay alive, you’ll not come any closer to me than you are right now. I see you so much as take a step toward me, and I’ll kill you. Inside.”

Tears began to flow from Suzanne’s eyes as they entered the sliding glass door into the kitchen. Sam was ruining everything. What had happened to the man she had married so many years ago? This madman with a gun seemed a stranger.

She turned on him in sudden fury. “Why are you doing this, Sam? What the hell’s gotten into you?”

His anger flared for the first time. “You have to ask, after having me tossed into jail!”

“You stalked me! You slashed my tires! You punched me!”

“You didn’t have to file charges. You could’ve talked to me about it. I would’ve paid for the damn tires. I said I was sorry I hit you. Instead, you ruined my life.”

Suzanne let her anger boil over. “How can you say that? All I wanted was to be left alone! You did it to yourself!” She took a step toward him.

Sam waved the gun, forcing her to back off. “I lost my job, and now it’s gonna be tough to get another one—all because you chose to take the hard road. Well, honey bun, the hard road has come full circle.”

Brian couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hearing. How could this sweet, demure, wonderful woman ever have been married to this complete idiot? And how did this man follow us to the island? And, more to the point, why? Does he intend to kill us in order to get even with his ex-wife? Am I going to end up an innocent victim, a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time?

His mind raced, trying to find a way to close the gap between them. When Sam told him he had been responsible for those two thugs, his heart fell. The element of surprise was lost. He had little chance against a gun if he couldn’t close the distance between them.

If Sam wanted revenge, he could just shoot them where they stood and there was little Brian could do about it, other than to charge him and hope that the first bullet didn’t kill him. Slim chance there. Being nude didn’t help his chances, either.

“What do you want? Revenge?” he said, trying to keep his voice from betraying his intense anger.

“Revenge?” Sam nodded. “Yeah. I want some revenge. How about getting seven months of my life back?”

“Seven months? That’s all you were in jail?” Brian couldn’t believe it. “You’re risking a life sentence right now. Why not take the seven months as an object lesson and move on?”

Brian’s words seemed to hit home. “Shut up.” Then to Suzanne, “I had to pay you back somehow and I wasn’t sure how to do it. I mean, killing you would be too easy. I wanted to ruin you. But when you started dating this rich guy, I got another idea. A way you can pay me back.”

Brian sensed an opening. He thought Sam just wanted to kill them, but if it was money he wanted, perhaps they could survive this insane man.

“What do you mean, pay you back?” Suzanne asked, her face set.

“Well, the way I figure it, you owe me about a year’s salary, plus future earnings until I get another job.” His voice darkened. “Which is gonna be hard now that I have a record, thanks to you.”

“You want money? That’s what this kidnapping is about?” Brian used the word on purpose, to startle Sam and to let him know how serious the crime had become.

“Kidnapping? Hell, I’m just visiting two naked lovebirds. I haven’t kidnapped anyone.”

“Then you won’t mind if we leave,” Brian said and made to take Suzanne’s arm and turn away.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” The gun centered on his chest, forcing him to stand still. “Okay, you’re right. Now it’s kidnapping,” Sam laughed, an evil sound that echoed in the small kitchen. “Now sit down and shut up.” He pointed at the kitchen chairs.

With no alternative, they sat.

Sam dumped his bag onto the counter next to him. “Here’s the deal, folks. You cooperate, and you’ll live. You try anything and you both die.”

Suzanne and Brian exchanged worried glances and turned their attention back to Sam.

“Okay. It’s very simple. I want two hundred grand. I figure your boyfriend’s good for it and you can pay him back in trade.” He gave that creepy laugh again.

“I don’t have that kind of money here,” Brian pointed out.

His anger flared up. “I know that! You think I’m a dummy?” He took a breath, as if steadying himself. “No, this is how it’s gonna play out. My ex stays here, keeping the home fires burning, while Armstrong and I go to a bank. There’s one up the road.”

Brian tried to think of roadblocks to throw up at his plan. It sounded crazy to him. “I can’t get two hundred thousand dollars. Not unless I sell some securities and I can’t—it’s Saturday.”