Something had woken her.

She went around to the back door and turned on the light. A shadowy shape huddled on the ground out at the farthest reaches of the light. She couldn’t tell what it was. Looking around, she unlatched the door and stepped out onto the porch, taking a few steps out.

It was Peter. The buckskin was lying down. That didn’t make sense, because she’d latched the stall doors before they went out to dinner.

She called to the horse, not getting a response. Her breath frosted in front of her and that’s when she realized the gelding wasn’t breathing.

Forgetting caution, she rushed forward, her bare feet hitting something damp. When she looked down she saw the ground was covered in blood. Fighting her nausea she approached the horse and saw his head lay at a grotesque, unnatural angle to his neck.

Because its throat was cut, the head nearly completely severed from its neck.

She opened her mouth to scream and felt hands grab her shoulders, shaking her.

That’s when she sat up and realized she was still on the floor in front of the fire and Rob was trying to break the nightmare’s spell. Outside glowed the soft twilight of a Montana summer dawn.

Relief washed over her and she collapsed, sobbing in his arms. He finally got her to tell him about the dream and he made a point of checking on the horses. They were fine, the dogs were fine, everything was fine.

They moved into the bedroom and she tried to go back to sleep. Just when she didn’t think sleep would be possible she woke up to Rob kissing the back of her neck and whispering breakfast was ready. The nightmare faded into memory and she made the decision to forget it and enjoy the day.

But before she could eat breakfast, he rolled her onto her stomach and examined her ass, stroking her with one hand while pinning her down at the neck with the other.

She instantly felt wet.

He laughed. “Okay, baby girl. You wanted maintenance spankings to resume, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Sir,” she mumbled into the mattress.

He gave her five fast, only slightly stingy swats, across her ass. “You’ve got some nice welts, baby girl. I’m going to take it easy on you until those heal up. But I promised you maintenance spankings.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

He rolled her over and kissed her. “Breakfast.” He grinned and left the room before she could protest that now she wanted a hard fucking instead of eggs and bacon.

After a quick stop by the bathroom, and running her hand over her flesh in the mirror and smiling over the now-purple welts marking her flesh, she headed to the kitchen to join him.

Rob wanted to go riding after breakfast. So after he kept her horny while making her give him a blow job in the shower, they set out over the hills on the horses, taking a lunch with them.

Riding proved an added sweet torture, her ass reminding her with every step of the cane strokes.

But happiness and peace filled her. She was his. Utterly, completely.

And he’d more than proved it the night before.

Rob caught her up on events at the shop in person better than he could through email or over the phone. They talked about their past, she asked him about things she remembered. Several times she looked over and stared at the gold band on his left ring finger, and the wedding band now surrounding her engagement ring and felt a warm thrill run through her.

He wasn’t only her Master. Finally, he was her husband.

They had to file the marriage certificate Monday morning, but except for that they were legal. Instead of a ceremony like they originally planned at home, they would show the video and throw a reception party. She played with the rings on her hand, getting used to the pleasantly different feel.

One of the many memories still missing was the day they’d picked them out.

They lunched at her overlook and even watched a bald eagle swoop down and pluck a salmon out of the stream below.

“Wow, that’s awesome.” Rob said.

Laura nodded. “I love this place. I think this is the only thing that’s helped me keep my sanity this entire time.”

He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry about sending you off, baby girl. It was for your own good.”

She nodded. “I know, Sir. I don’t like it, but I understand. I just can’t wait to get home.”

“I think I can.” He leaned over and nuzzled her neck, sending shivers through her.

They would have gone further except Maurie walked over and stuck his nose in their faces, sniffing them.

“Thanks, Maurie,” Laura laughed, gently pushing the gelding away.

Rob groaned, falling back on the ground. “First Doogie, now him. What is it with animals insisting on interrupting my love life?”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Monday morning, after Rob gave her a quick maintenance spanking, Rob, Laura, and Bill went out to eat breakfast before they filed the marriage certificate.

“So when do you want me back in Florida?” Bill asked with a smile. “I don’t want to miss the reception.”

“Anytime you want, for as long as you want,” Rob said. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all you’ve done for us.”

“Hey, family’s family. I tell you what, when they catch that psycho, you and me are going to save the State of Florida the cost of a trial.”

Rob stuck out his hand. “Agreed, brother.”

Laura looked at her “boys.” “Well ain’t the testosterone thick this morning?” It was gratifying they cared that much about her, even though she knew most of it was bravado.

She hoped. She didn’t want either of them in jail.

And truth be told, she wanted the first shot at MedicineMan.

After breakfast, Laura and Rob filed their certificate and spent the morning touring the town. Laura enjoyed playing guide and they finally made their way back to the house for lunch in the afternoon. Rob fixed them some sandwiches while Laura checked her email.

She spotted it sitting in her inbox and called out to Rob. He reached out and clicked on it to read it.


Apparently your boyfriend’s disappeared, too. Come out, come out, wherever you are. Let’s play hide and seek. I’m It.

You can’t hide forever.

I’ll still be waiting.

* * *

Rob handled the call to Thomas. Thomas put Rob on hold while he contacted Hutchinson.

When Thomas returned to the line, Rob asked, “Where the hell are these emails coming from?”

“We haven’t been able to track this guy. He’s masking his MAC address in addition to his IP.”

“I don’t understand what that means. What about the email account he’s using? You can’t track it?”

“He’s using a free server but gave totally false information when he opened it. The server offered to block the account, but he’ll just open another one under another name. This way at least it’s easier to track him down. He has to know we’re trying to track him and thinks we can’t.”

“Easier? You don’t even know who he is yet.”

“It’s easier to keep track of one persona versus four or five.”

Laura felt her confidence slip as she listened in on the speaker call. Maybe Montana wasn’t such a bad place after all. Talking tough was one thing. The constant worry was almost too much for her to take. The hypervigilance she would need upon returning to Florida intimidated her, to say the least. All it would take was one wrong move, one minute of inattention, and she could die.

Maybe her decision the night before hadn’t been the right one. She didn’t think it was the right time of the month for her to get pregnant, but anything was possible. Perhaps it would be best to take precautions.

Then again, it was her life. If she could figure out what she did with the other journals, maybe something in them would solve this whole problem.

If they even existed. Unfortunately, she was beginning to doubt they did.

Laura found it hard to believe some random psycho managed to target her in Englewood. It was a sleepy retirement town filled mostly with snowbirds and fishermen. While it was true the population was growing quickly and new people were moving into the area, it still wasn’t the kind of place that spawned stalkers.

She hoped.

While on the phone with Rob, Thomas told him they had an FBI profiler working on the case since he was linked to the other killings. Hopefully that would give them a lead to work with, or at least a way to eliminate people from the suspect list.

Not that they had any suspects to begin with.

Once Rob was off the phone, she spoke up. “I want to leave tomorrow, Sir,” Laura said. “I can’t live like this anymore. I want it over with, one way or another. Either this son of a bitch is going to come after me or he’s full of hot air and gets off by sending me messages. I don’t care anymore. I want it settled. Please, Sir?”

“We could be talking your life here.” He looked at her belly and laid his hand on it. “Or more.”

“Sir, I promise, I’ll carry that gun twenty-four-seven. If he’s stupid enough to try something, I won’t hesitate to blow his friggin’ head off. You know I can do it, too.” While in Montana, she’d started practicing with Bill’s guns.

She’d gotten good. Damn good.

They spent the afternoon packing. Laura took one last short ride on the horses while Rob changed the oil in the Explorer.

She hoped she’d be around to visit next summer. It was very chilly now, totally unlike what she was used to in Florida. At home she would still be in shorts and tank tops and sweating to death in the humidity. The AC would be running full blast, with no relief in sight for at least a month.

But she loved it. And she would remember how much she loved it while Bill regaled her of stories over the winter of Montana’s frigid temperatures.

* * *

Tuesday morning, Bill had breakfast ready for them by the time they’d finished their shower. After eating, they loaded up the last of their belongings and Doogie.

Laura hated saying good-bye and watched Bill disappear in the distance through the rear window.

Rob reached over and patted her on the thigh. “It’s okay. He’ll be back down in a few weeks.”

“I know.” She watched the landscape pass outside the window. “I want to go home. I just wish they’d catch him.”

No need to clarify.

They took their time. Rob had vacation time to spare and felt no rush to return to Florida. Neither did Laura. With maintenance spankings every morning, they took a leisurely route and made a point of stopping at places of interest along the way.

Two days later, Laura’s period started, effectively deciding that concern.

Rob hugged her. “You know, when it happens, it happens.”

The trip wasn’t difficult physically. Mentally was a different matter. The closer they got to Florida the larger the knot in her stomach grew. Traveling made her feel vulnerable even though she knew there was no way MedicineMan could possibly know where they were.

This ought to be the easy part. Still, she found it difficult to relax.

She did, however, enjoy their hours together. They talked and she even read to him from the journals while he drove. More memories returned, mostly from several years prior. Every day drew her closer to Rob, and despite her missing memories she knew deep inside her decision to marry him was the right one.

The decision to give herself to him as his slave even more so.

They stopped one last time, their ninth day, in the Florida Panhandle, near Apalachicola. Laura had amassed a bag full of postcards and refrigerator magnets from stops along the way. Even Doogie sensed how close they were to home. It could have been the smell of the Gulf or just a feel in the air, but the Lab acted tense and on alert most of the evening.

Steve called them later the next day when they were just north of Tampa. “You planning on coming home any time soon?”

“We should be home in a few hours.” The sun sank low in the west. She wasn’t sure what time it really was because she hadn’t reset her watch. Her body tried to stay on Montana time, but her brain was wide awake.

“We’ll have the troops waiting.”

Laura wondered if he was kidding.

There were two unfamiliar trucks parked in Rob’s driveway when they arrived. Laura tensed until Steve emerged from behind the house, waving. She laughed and jumped out, running into his arms and letting him swing her around like she was ten again.