Playing for Satisfaction [Satisfaction Texas 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “We don’t want you to go!” Bram sounded like a spoiled and grumpy little boy.

  “Tough!” She laughed. “I’ll be home in less than a week. Be good and I’ll bring you a present.”

  “We don’t need a present. We just need you back in our bed where you belong!” Ren got right to the point. “Drive safely and call us when you arrive so we won’t worry.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Couple of old ladies.”

  “What about food? Snacks for the road? Water?”

  “Like I said, couple of old ladies. Hell, all the men of Satisfaction fuss more than old ladies. Trace made a fuss, too. I’ll be fine. I have driven to El Paso before. And I’ve already arranged for snacks. Preordered, in fact. I’m picking them up from the Candy’s Diner on my way. Anything else, Mom?”

  * * * *

  She finally got going around two and made it to Candy’s a few minutes later. Nothing was really all that far in Satisfaction. Her tank was full. Bram had taken care of that the night before. He really made the most adorable mother hen. The conference was on the outskirts of El Paso, maybe ninety minutes from Satisfaction.

  She checked her phone as she walked into Candy’s. Three texts from Toby. He was not happy that she wasn’t going to be tutoring him anymore.

  Trace had been having lunch at Candy’s when she’d arrived. In fact, he had her picnic basket already packed and sitting beside her on the table where he was just finishing up a late lunch. He noticed her frown as she entered and she admitted Toby was being a bother.

  “Just delete the texts. I’ll have another talk with him. Obviously the first one didn’t sink in.”

  Trace was such a great guy, always looking out for her. In fact, he’d pulled a thermos out of the cooler and ordered her to drink.

  “Energy drink. I don’t want you falling asleep on the drive.”

  “Yes, Mom.” Then he let her know about an accident on her route. He recommended she use the south service road to bypass the snarled traffic. She smiled. He was always looking out for her. He was a good friend.

  The drive went smoothly at first as her truck ate up the miles, but only five miles out of Satisfaction, she started feeling unwell. No, that wasn’t right. She just felt tired, oh so tired. In fact, her head was spinning and she had to pull over for a moment. She hadn’t seen another car since she’d turned on to the service road. Maybe the service road wasn’t a good idea? Luckily she had her cell phone. She’d call the guys. They’d say they told her so, but she was just so damned tired.

  Maybe if she just took a nap, she’d feel better soon. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too late to the conference. She should call, but she was just so damned sleepy. It was odd, really. Maybe she should call Ren and Bram. They’d be worried. She looked down at her phone, the numbers blurring in front of her eyes. Maybe she’d call them after her nap.

  She heard a sound. It puzzled her at first, and then she realized that truck was coming. It was the first vehicle she’d seen in ten minutes. It pulled off the road behind her. Probably a Good Samaritan looking to help. That was the nice thing about this part of the world. Neighbors looked after neighbors. Maybe they could help her dial her cell phone. She seemed to be having trouble concentrating on the numbers.

  She’d get the stranger to make the call, but she would stay in her truck. You couldn’t be too careful, even in a safe place like Satisfaction.

  She couldn’t quite see who was walking toward her with the setting sun in her eyes but she got the impression of size and could just make out the Stetson on his head. She squinted.

  “Thanks, I don’t seem to be feeling very well. Maybe you can call…” She frowned. For the first time, she could get a good look at him. Smiling, she opened her truck door to hop out. “What are you doing here? You are always here for me.”

  Then she slid into unconsciousness, slumping down in her seat.

  * * * *

  Bram was at Ren’s. He checked out of his motel right after Ellie had left and moved his things over to Ren’s. It was going to be a surprise for when she returned. They had decided that it made sense for him to stay there until he finished the purchase of the Baldwin place. Then he’d build a house for the three of them to share, build it from the ground up with everything they could ever need including rooms for children and guests and a kick-ass playroom for adults, as well as one for their theoretical children.

  Naturally, the two playrooms would be on opposite sides of the house. He and Ren had been sketching out some ideas to surprise Ellie with when she returned. Part of him wanted to just get it built and present it to her completely finished with a big red bow wrapped around it. He knew that Ren was right. She was an equal partner in their relationship outside the playroom, and since she was going to live there, she should have input. In fact, it might be fun. They could make a game of it. If she wanted to make a change, she had to earn it. Maybe three swats with a paddle for the carpets or a blow job to change the marble he had picked out for the island in the kitchen. He smiled. This could be fun.

  They were also planning on moving her things in, too. Ren had a key and they were going to head over tonight and pack up some of her things, clothes and bathroom lotions and potions and stuff like that, and surprise her on her return. Ren had been hesitant at first, but Bram had convinced him that it was the right thing to do. “You know, Ren. She’ll come around and love the idea. And if she’s upset at first, we can let her punish us. You know, a few swats on the ass before we tie her to the bed and have our way with her.” In the end, Ren had not only agreed, but he’d headed out to the store to pick up some boxes and packing materials.

  Right now, he was distracted from working on the plans.

  He frowned at the phone. He looked up when he heard Ren walk in.

  “I’ve got the boxes.”

  “Did you hear from Ellie yet?”

  “For the tenth time, no. If I hear from her first, I’ll tell you. Do you really think I’d talk to her and not tell you?”

  “I don’t know. You might think it was funny.”

  “No, that’s something you’d do.”

  Bram nodded. “You’re right. You’re the Boy Scout and I’m definitely not. But she did promise to call by now.”

  “She’s probably just running a bit late. Maybe traffic was bad and she had to go straight into the session?”

  “She still could have texted. She knew we’d be worried.”

  Ren paused and Bram could tell he was thinking hard.

  “I hate to admit it, but I’m a tiny bit worried, too.”

  “Let’s go to El Paso and find her.”

  “Bram! Don’t be ridiculous. Just call her.”

  Bram dialed. He left a message. Then he texted. No answer. They sat there, staring at the phone, willing it to ring, but after five minutes, he realized it was stupid. She was probably just too busy to answer.

  “Look, we know someone who is at the conference. Let’s just contact Darcy and he can find Ellie. Maybe her phone just broke or the battery died or something.”

  “She could have used a pay phone.”

  “Think about it. She has our numbers in her phone. If the phone died, how would she be able to look them up?”

  “Damn. Fine. I’ll call Darcy. Now are you ready? I’ve got the boxes in the SUV.”

  * * * *

  Fifteen minutes later they stood in Ellie’s living room, the boxes stacked neatly to one side. Ren noticed the flowers on every available surface.

  “Dude, you have to dial it back. How many bouquets did you send her?”

  “What are you talking about? I thought it was you who had bought out the flower shop.” He walked over to the easy chair and picked up the large stuffed animal perched there, “And only you would buy something this tacky. A bear with a heart. I mean, really, Ren?”

  Ren felt a stab of unease. “I didn’t get her the bear. I thought it was you.”

  He looked over at Bram who looked as worried as Ren felt. “I told you something was wrong. She told me she’s been getting these for the last week. She thought it was me and when I told her it wasn’t, we both figured it must be you.”

  “I asked her about the flowers, too. We decided it must be you. Dammit. She probably thought we were both lying, playing some kind of game. It is the kind of competitive thing we’d do, Bram. Shit. This isn’t good.” He felt a vibration in his pocket.

  “Bram, it’s Darcy.” He read the text and felt the blood drain from his face. “She never showed up, never checked into the hotel or the conference.”

  Chapter 14

  “What’s going on?” Ellie felt odd. Her brain felt sluggish? Yes, sluggish, that was the word. And she felt like she had a mouth full of cotton wool. She needed a drink. She tried to struggle into a sitting position, but found she couldn’t move.

  Was this some kind of game? She didn’t remember. Where were Ren and Bram? They had to let her up. She’d be late for the conference. She’d paddle their asses if she was.

  “Ren? Bram? Guys? This isn’t funny. Let me up. I need to get to El Paso! Guys?” Her voice was weak and had wobbled on the last word. This really wasn’t like them. She looked down and realized that she was fully dressed. She frowned. They would never let her be dressed in bed. She looked around. This wasn’t her place or Ren’s place and it definitely wasn’t Bram’s motel.

  How had she gotten here?

  She started struggling, but she was weak and fell back against the pillow. She had to think. If only she had something to drink. She took a deep breath and looked around slowly from left to right. The first think she saw was a tube hanging down near her face. She frowned and realized that there was a note hanging from it.

  “Water.”

  Was it some kind of trick? She was so th
irsty she decided she didn’t care. If whoever brought her here wanted to keep her unconscious, they could have just given her more of whatever they’d given her or they could have forced a pill in her mouth or hit her on the head or a thousand other things.

  She stretched her neck up and was able to get the tube into her mouth. She’d used one of these before. It was used by runners. She bit down and the water started flowing. She was tempted to guzzle it, but she didn’t know how long she’d be alone and she had to make it last.

  Besides, her stomach heaved, whatever she’d been given was still working its way out of her system and the last thing she wanted to do was throw up while she was helpless on her back.

  The water did make her feel better and helped to clear her brain. She thought back. She could remember packing. She could remember Ren and Bram kissing her good-bye and Bram fretting like a mother hen, insisting that she call or text the moment she arrived.

  Then she’d driven out of town. She remembered that Trace had told her about some accident and he’d recommended that she use the south service road instead of the main one to get to the highway. He’d also given her the picnic basket and—

  She remembered a truck had arrived shortly after she’d stopped. That had surprised her. The service road generally didn’t have much traffic. She’d had her cell phone but it hadn’t worked. She was in a dead zone. She remembered the truck pulling up behind her. She’d been going to ask the driver to call for help…then, she’d rolled down her window. She’d seen a face, but it was fuzzy and indistinct in her mind.

  She heard a noise. The door swung open.

  Trace.

  * * * *

  Ren dragged his fingers through his hair. Their Angel was missing.

  “I told you, I told you so!”

  “Bram, you aren’t helping.”

  “What do we do?”

  “Retrace her steps. Maybe she had an accident. Ran out of gas. Decided not to go.”

  “Wouldn’t we have heard by now if she had an accident? She had a full tank of gas. I took care of it myself. And she’d already be back here if she decided not to go. Unless she went to your place, Ren…”

  Together they ran for the door. It would have been funny, both of them trying to exit at the same time, if they weren’t so worried. They got to Ren’s in record time, but no Angel.

  Ren picked up the phone and called Sheriff Dace Lowe at home.

  “Dace, Angel’s missing!”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Angel. I mean Ellie Maine. She was going to El Paso to a teacher’s conference but she never arrived.”

  “When did she leave?”

  “Three hours ago. The drive only takes ninety minutes.”

  “Maybe she took a detour or decided to stop for dinner or changed her mind.”

  Ren frowned as Bram got tired of listening and tried to grab the phone from his hand. He slapped his friend’s hands away.

  “Dace, I’m putting you on speaker so Bram can hear.”

  “Oh, great. There are two of you to drive me crazy. Ren, be sensible. I expect this kind of thing from Bram…”

  “Thanks a lot, Dace.”

  “But, I expect better from you, Ren. She’s only been gone a couple of h…”

  “We’re formally reporting her missing!” Bram shouted into the phone.

  “She hasn’t been gone long enough for an official investigation.”

  “But Dace!”

  “Have you tried her phone?”

  “Do you think we are stupid? Of course we did. We also called our cousin Darcy. He’s at the conference. She never checked in, and she’s due to speak to two hundred people in”—Ren checked his watch—“fifteen minutes. She wouldn’t skip out on that. And if she’d had car trouble, she’d have called or texted or something.”

  He could hear Dace sigh. When he started speaking again, there was a touch of worry in Dace’s tone, too.

  “That isn’t good. And unlike the two of you, Ellie is immensely level headed. If she’d just wanted to dump both your asses, she’d have done it outright, not make up some excuse to leave town. And you say Darcy’s there, so the conference is real.”

  “Of course it’s real!” Ren found himself shouting. “Our angel wouldn’t lie to us. She’d slap us upside the head and order her out of her bed, but she wouldn’t lie or run away.”

  “You are right. I’ll make a few calls. Text me the make and model of her vehicle and the plate number. Sit tight and stay close to the phone. She may still call.”

  Dace hung up and Ren looked over at Bram.

  “You planning on sitting tight?”

  “Hell no.”

  * * * *

  “Trace, thank goodness. Untie me!” For the first time since she woke up, she felt a surge of hope. Trace would rescue her. But he didn’t. Instead, he picked up a chair and set it down beside her bed and sat in it.

  She frowned. “Trace?”

  “Oh, Ellie.” He smiled and smoothed her hair back from her forehead. “Did you have enough to drink? Are you hungry? I can get you some dry toast. Your stomach is probably still a bit upset from the sedative.”

  “Sedative? I don’t understand. You…you knocked me out?”

  Ellie’s mouth dropped open at the dawning horror. She’d been so sleepy. It had been too early in the day for her to really be tired, but it hadn’t occurred to her that she’d been…“Drugged. You drugged me, you asshole!”

  “Now that’s not a nice way to talk. I’m rescuing you, sweetheart.”

  “From who?”

  “From Bram and Ren, of course.” He tone sounded so reasonable yet his words were outrageous. “They weren’t any better for you than that young college idiot. I was able to run him off, but I don’t think I can get rid of those annoying cousins so easily, so I did the next best thing. I took you.”

  “Trace, you can’t just take a woman. Besides, I love them.”

  He looked sadly at her, shaking his head. “Ellie, I know the whole story, remember? You told me all about how Bram broke your heart and left you four years ago, how he sent you annulment papers. You were so devastated. I saw you cry. I comforted you.”

  “You did. But that’s in the past. We found out that it was all a big misunderstanding. He thought I sent him back the rings. I didn’t. It was Darcy. And that asshole Tobias put him up to it. Bram loves me. Ren, too.”

  “Yes, our esteemed mayor.” His tone was derisive. “You hate his politics. I’ve heard you complain how about he’s always on the wrong side of issues. You hate his stance on just about everything.”

  “His stance, yes, but not him. Trace, I love him, too, and given enough time, I’m sure I can get him to see reason when it comes to most issues. Hell, I changed his mind about the dog issue.”

  “Yes.” Trace’s mouth was tight. “That surprised me. That was the night you two first came into the Whips and Spurs together. Are you sure he just didn’t pretend to change in order to get close to you? After all, before that, you wouldn’t have anything to do with him. I think he tricked you into spending time with him.”

  She saw Trace nod, convinced he’d figured things out. And, she thought, one thing about Trace, once he made his mind up, it was made up and he rarely changed it. He either liked you or he didn’t. And if he didn’t, you had better watch out. He was fearless and ferocious in defending what he believed in. It made him a good bartender and bouncer at the saloon and a dangerous enemy. She had to tread carefully.

  “Trace. Thank you so much for trying to help me, but I’m okay, really. I have never been happier. Bram and Ren love me and I love them.”

  She watched as he shook his head.

  “Poor Ellie. They’ve tricked you and brainwashed you into thinking that. I’ve seen them at work. Hell, it’s only been a week and you are already living with them.”

  “I’m not living with them. Sure I stay over at Ren’s with them a lot, but I still have my own place.”

  “Then why did Ren pick up boxes this morning? I saw him. He looked all cheerful and when I asked, he confided that they were moving you in with him while you were away. It was going to be a surprise, he said.” Trace looked serious. “They are taking over your life. I’ve already seen then take you into the club and work you over as a team. Hell, you couldn’t even walk when they finished with you, let alone think. I have to deprogram you from their influence. Don’t worry, Ellie. I’ll take care of you. In no time, you’ll realize that what you felt for them was all an illusion.”