Moon over Maalaea Bay

Read Moon over Maalaea Bay for Free Online Page B

Book: Read Moon over Maalaea Bay for Free Online
Authors: H. L. Wegley
Tags: Christian fiction
million-dollar baby, you look old enough to feed yourself, so I’m going to cut your hands loose…on two conditions. Rather, one condition with two penalties. The condition, you use your hands only to feed yourself. The knife stays on your spine. One wrong move and I push it.” He paused. “Oh, yes. The other penalty. We’ll take your blonde-haired princess and sell her to the people who originally ordered her. They’re still waiting for delivery.”
    Jennifer’s head involuntarily jerked around, and she glared at Mack, biting her tongue to keep from painting him slime green with a dozen or more choice words that popped into her mind. How did they know about Katie? They wouldn’t have unless they were the customers with the shopping list that, six weeks ago had Katie on it. A shopping list for people. Girls. Age, height, hair and eye colors, weight… Jennifer had to quit before she vomited.
    “I see a rebellious spirit in this one, Cookie.” He put pressure on the knife.
    Jennifer winced at the pain. She tried to stop the tears but her eyes brimmed with them. She managed to keep her mouth clamped shut. Right now, her mouth could get her in a lot of trouble, and she had just the words to incite it.
    “Do you understand the penalties?”
    Jennifer took a breath and nodded.
    “Let me hear it, baby.”
    Though it galled her, she would comply “Yes, I understand,” she whispered. “But how did you know about—”
    “Shut up!”
    She winced again from the stinging on her back when the knife pressed hard. So hard she expected it to enter her body at any moment.
    “Let’s just say we do our homework…thoroughly. Now eat, drink, and be mute.”
    Mack thinks he’s clever. Maybe he would get a little too clever and slip up.
    Mack sliced through the bands around her wrists, pulled her to her feet, and sat her in a chair. The knife returned to its place against her spine.
    Jennifer looked at her wrists. They were raw and bleeding. She massaged them gingerly, avoiding the open abrasions.
    “You keep trying that with your hands and you’ll cut’em off,” Cook said, laughing softly.
    “You’d better listen to Cookie,” Mack said. “Or I’ll cut them off for you. Now eat.”
    She had felt twinges of hunger until the last exchange with Mack. Now the bacon, eggs, and toast made her swallow hard to keep from vomiting.
    But Mack had given the order to eat and he’d threatened Katie. Jennifer couldn’t let anything happen to the precious, beautiful young lady soon to be her daughter. And Lee’s. The two men might be bluffing about Katie, but she wouldn’t take that chance.
    Jennifer took the fork, then a bite of egg, all the time fighting the urge to throw it back up. After a couple of bites of toast, the nausea eased. She took a few more bites of egg and downed a piece of bacon.
    Suddenly, she was ravenous. So hungry she felt guilty that the threat to Katie no longer made her sick. That was idiotic. She needed her strength.
    She drank the water while Cook leered at her. She couldn’t read his disgusting thoughts, but realizing he had them, her nausea returned. Jennifer locked gazes with Cook and glared at him, trying to look brave. But she prayed she would not be left alone in a room with him. Not unless her hands and feet were free.
    Mack stepped in front of the chair, snatched the plate, and handed it to Cook. The knife was at her throat now.
    “That’s enough. Can’t have our million-dollar baby losing her million-dollar figure, can we?” He sneered at her. “Hands behind your back and keep quiet.”
    Slowly she complied, dreading the raw burning the plastic restraints would soon produce. The knife moved away from her throat.
    She gasped, as pain shot through her trembling hands when Mack pulled the restraints even tighter than before. The man thrived on cruelty.
    “No more games, baby.” The knife stung as it pricked her back again. “Since you like those lips, Cookie, maybe you should be the one to

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