Payton (Dreamcatchers Romantic Suspense Series Book 3) Read online

  Payton

  Dreamcatchers Book 3

  Jamie Garrett

  Wild Owl Press

  Contents

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Also by Jamie Garrett

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by Jamie Garrett

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. All requests should be forwarded to [email protected].

  Editing by Jennifer Harshman, Harshman Services.

  Connect with me on Facebook: http://facebook.com/JamieGarrettBooks

  Newsletter: Click here to get an email when the next book is released, plus advance sales notice and freebies.

  1

  The last clear memory Payton had was of the man throwing her to the ground and pulling her hands behind her back. She blacked out even as he wrenched one arm behind her back, but it had been clear even then that he knew how to kill her. That, and he’d enjoy it. With his pinched face and over-muscled body, it didn’t look like much could stop him from doing what he wanted to do.

  It had happened so fast. One minute she was standing on the sidewalk and the next there was nothing. Now, she was in a dark room, splayed out on the floor. How much time had passed? She had no idea.

  Her eyes darted around the room, squinting to focus in the dim light. There was a man examining her closely, but she couldn’t make out what he looked like through the darkness. Another tall form sat crouched in the shadows. The figure moved and when it stepped into the light, blonde hair and model-like features began to take form. She was a woman, and she was gorgeous.

  The man examining her looked over at the woman and grinned, before returning his focus to her. Shit! They knew each other.

  “Who are you? Let me go!” She thrashed around wildly, struggling to lift her feet off the ground, only to stumble and fall down again, thick rope holding her ankles bound.

  The man already had a knife in his hand. “Shh. It’s okay.” He leaned toward her with the knife and she struggled to get away from him, punching out at his face. She flinched away even as her fist made contact, tensing herself against the retaliation that was sure to come. Instead, the man slipped the knife under her bindings and pulled firmly, slicing the blade through the rope. “We’re not going to hurt you.” Her legs free, Payton pushed to her feet and fled to the corner of the room, as far away from the pair as she could get.

  “Stop. We’re here to help you. Please listen to us.” What the fuck? The woman was pleading with her.

  She shook her head, trying to dispel the lingering wooziness and confusion. “How did I get here, and who the hell are you?”

  The woman stayed silent for a moment before stepping closer. “I tried calling out to you. I had a vision of you here. I saw you trapped.”

  “Bullshit.” Payton tried to push her away but she missed, her hand swiping harmlessly through the air. “Like I’d believe that. The fuck is wrong with you people? I’ve never met you before in my life, and you expect me to believe that you just happened to find out I’d been kidnapped?”

  “I know it’s hard to bel—”

  “It’s bullshit.” She had to get away. Every instinct was screaming at her to get away, to run, but her legs wouldn’t cooperate, still half numb beneath her. The man standing over her moved to look out the window and then returned, tugging at the other woman’s arm.

  “We have to go, Keila, someone’s bound to call the cops, if they haven’t already. Psycho-woman left just before, practically flanked by a small army, and we weren’t exactly quiet. We can’t be found at the scene. Zero’s dead and we’re covered in blood.”

  His words swirled around Payton’s head even as the sound of sirens filled the air. Keila? Zero? She couldn’t make sense of any of it.

  “Please, you have to come with us,” the woman above Payton pleaded.

  She had to get out of there. But not with them. Payton didn’t trust either of the people standing in front of her, even as they begged her to go with them. She had to get away, but how the hell was she going to do that when she could barely walk? Panic began to well up inside her, and something else along with it. Her eyes fluttered closed and she almost felt like she was falling. No! She couldn’t lose consciousness again, not now. She would be utterly helpless.

  “We have to go. If she won’t come with us, then we’ll come back for her.” The man turned to her. “I promise we’ll come back for you.”

  The pressure inside Payton’s head increased and she clamped her hands over her face to try to hold it back. She had to get away from these people before she gave in to the blackness again. “Get out! Get the fuck out!”

  Something rose within her again, something so strong it was trying to push through to the world from within her. A blinding light flashed behind her closed eyes and although she could no longer see, Payton knew the couple had gone. One moment they were staring down at her and the next they were running out the door. Whatever was building within her reached the surface, driven by the unbearable need to wash everything away—the panic of her abduction, the pain and fear she still felt through the haze, and now the strangers surrounding her as she awoke—there was no containing it. It flooded out of her as the sound of police sirens filled the air. She heard a rattling and then the sound of someone felling the front door.

  Panic came close to drowning her, but something pushed at her to run, to hide. Payton was the quiet one, the one who always stuck to the shadows, the one who avoided any trouble and ran at the first sight of it. Growing up, it had been a mother addicted to crack, and then a crazy ex-boyfriend. She’d never been able to fight back, but she’d been able to disappear. Now trouble had found her again, and this time she was spattered in blood that she was becoming more and more sure wasn’t hers. She couldn’t be found there and she knew what she needed to do, even as footsteps echoed down the hall toward her. She would do what she always did: forget anything ever happened and run. Forcing her legs to bear her weight, Payton pushed to her feet, stumbled into the next room, and then slipped out the back door.

  2

  Payton half ran, half stumbled, moving as fast as she could, for about three blocks before she realized no one was chasing after her.

  It didn’t matter. They managed to sneak up on her before. They could still catch up with her at any ti
me.

  This shit didn’t have anything to do with her. She was a nobody, just a random person pulled off the street. The blonde woman, from before. She was the real catalyst for all of this. Keila, the man had called her. Payton rolled the name around in her mind, determined to remember it. The way Keila had looked at her—like she wanted something. There had been something in her eyes that Payton couldn’t quite place, but the woman was psychotic. She had to be, bringing Payton there, tying her up, and then pretending to be all sympathetic when Payton came to and the jig was up. She’d seemed so sincere, too. That had totally creeped her out.

  Payton’s feet kept her moving, almost automatically, even as the thoughts swirled in her head. The night brushed cool air against her face as she jogged down an alleyway, out of the suburbs, past dilapidated buildings and then corporate high-rises. Had she been moving for minutes or hours? She’d lost track, but she couldn’t stop. Any hesitation, even for a second, to rest could prove fatal.

  The street where Payton lived was a quiet cluster of two-story residential buildings. It felt strange, coming back to such a familiar place after everything that had happened. She bolted up the steps outside, taking them two at a time, and then stepped quickly through the building to her two-bedroom. Her roommate Lori worked late nights as a dancer, so she wouldn’t be back until after 2 a.m., drunk, with money flying out of every strap of her teeny-tiny costume. Payton doubted Lori would have even been coherent enough to notice Payton was missing for long enough to call the cops. Lori usually arrived home at least tipsy and crashed without noticing whether Payton was home or not, something she was glad of tonight. Lori wouldn’t be with it enough to realize that all Payton’s stuff was gone until the next day. There’d be no one to follow her trail before it had time to cool.

  She grabbed a bag and started shoving in belongings and clothes, whatever she could lay her hands on first, then lifted a creaky floorboard to reveal her hidden stash. She’d worked at a diner just a few blocks away for just over a year, longer than she usually stayed in one place, but she’d managed to avoid any major problems. Until now that was. The fates must have decided she was overdue.

  She didn’t trust banks, and after moving every couple of months growing up, Payton felt more comfortable having her cash on hand, ready when she needed it. She’d managed to save a tidy sum over the last year. Sure, wages were lousy, but her tips had been alright, and she never spent much of it. Except for the little that went to Lori for rent, Payton’s entire paycheck was stashed beneath the floor. The cook at work was an old grandfatherly type who insisted on feeding her every chance he got, and everything else she either already had or didn’t need. Besides, it was safer that way—living without ties to anyone or anything. It was easier to hide in the shadows and be ready to move on anytime than to live your life worrying about the trivial pursuit of mundane drama and reckless attachments. That’s why she ran. She wasn’t strong enough to fight, to stand up for herself; she never had been. Running was easier, and she could keep living the way she wanted to.

  Payton shoved the last of her clothes into the bag, leaving behind most of her possessions. She had nothing of value there, or anything worth saving. After stashing her bag by the front door, she ran into Lori’s room, tossing aside a small mountain of clothing, hunting for her roommate’s laptop. Better to use Lori’s computer rather than her cell and leave any kind of electronic trail. Payton had no idea who those people back at the house had been, but she wasn’t leaving anything to chance. She’d gotten comfortable here, signed up to social media for the first time. Maybe that had something to do with how they found her. A whisper of a memory echoed in her head. The blonde-haired woman had been looking for her. She was special, the woman had said. Had they been stalking her first? She would make sure to disappear properly this time. The only question was where to go.

  Payton’s thoughts returned to her childhood as the computer started up, and she clicked to open the browser. There hadn’t exactly been many happy memories in her childhood, and she wasn’t welcoming this particular trip down memory lane. But, there had been one memory, one place, that felt comforting. When she was a little girl, she used to beg her mother to take her to the San Diego Zoo. She’d found a brochure somewhere and kept it for years, until it ended up rumpled and torn from over handling. She’d never gone, of course, but the place had sparked an interest when she was a child and it had never been fulfilled.

  She was older now and had moved past childhood dreams, but still—San Diego. Could it work? It was as good a place as any, and big enough that if she kept her head down, she could pass unnoticed. Plus the idea of being near the ocean felt good, freeing somehow.

  She clicked through and found a cheap flight. It would mean paying cash at the airport and probably going through ridiculous security hassles, but it would get her out of town as fast as possible. She could only hope the powers that be wouldn’t find a small woman like her that threatening. There was no way she could stand being trapped on a train or bus for days on end.

  Decision made, Payton grabbed her bag and walked out the apartment door, sliding her key back under the gap. Chicago was cold and dreary, a place where depression came easily. There was nothing for her there anymore, and now Payton had decided on her destination, she could practically feel the California sun on her face. It would help her relax. She needed to clear her mind and forget everything that had happened the last couple of days. The freaky bald man was still haunting her thoughts, even though Payton was pretty sure the other man had killed him. What had they argued about?

  No, it wasn’t worth thinking about. She’d escaped that room and now it was time to escape the city as well. After finding a pay phone, she called a cab and waited at a nearby convenience store.

  “Where to?” The cab driver was a large Italian man with a thick east-coast accent.

  “O’Hare.” Payton climbed in the back of the cab and folded herself against the door. She’d never liked how vulnerable a girl like she could be around strong male figures. They liked her baby-doll face and petite frame.

  “You taking a flight out?”

  “Yeah.” She stared out the window to dissuade him from further conversation.

  “Where you goin’?”

  “I’m gonna go see my grandmother in Atlanta.”

  “Ah. You be careful out there. Girl like you,”—Payton shivered at the way he looked at her in the rearview mirror—“you gotta protect yourself.”

  Payton was silent the rest of the trip, nibbling her fingernails until she couldn’t stand it any longer. They were three blocks away, so she reached into her pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. “Thanks, pull over here. I gotta catch my plane.” She threw close to the right amount of cash at the driver and then ran out onto the busy sidewalk.

  Her bag bumped on her hip and Payton remembered she was still carrying her cellphone. She’d used it to chat online more than once. A chill to match the weather ran through her, and barely pausing her stride, she fished it from her bag and dumped it in a trash can. May as well make someone else’s day better than hers. There was no way she was using it again. Being out in the open was making her increasingly anxious, and so she hastened her steps and made a beeline for the ticket counter. Her purchase complete, she settled down to wait for her flight.

  3

  After boarding the plane, Payton closed her eyes. The adrenaline rush of the day was fading and so was her ability to stay awake. But every time her eyes drifted closed, a vision of the man chasing her filled her head. Her eyes burst open and she resisted the urge to stand up and check around the plane, settling instead for continually moving her gaze around the cabin. Was she safe even now? Could they have followed her? People capable of kidnapping a stranger could be capable of anything. Crap! She hated feeling like this. After she’d grown enough to finally leave her mother to her own misery, she’d sworn no one would ever hurt her again. And yet here she was, vulnerable and frightened, and easily caught off guard by some
one who knew what they were doing.

  Who was she kidding? It was totally pathetic.

  She’d run her whole life, the woman who never stuck around for trouble. She hadn’t been able to defend herself against her mother, nor any of the crazies who had found her on the streets when she’d rather be out in the cold than at home, but she was grown now and she was sick of it. She was always shifting, from one job to another and one place to another. Never setting up a base, a home, where she could be herself. She’d done it all to keep herself safe, because she’d sworn that she’d never be a victim again. Well, look how well that had worked out.

  It was time to distance herself from that scared little girl who cowered in the corner. It was miserable, really, to live life with no friends, no attachments, leaving anyone she knew behind. Anyone who ever gave a damn about her. Payton lived ready to run for so many years that it was second nature, but she’d finally had enough. It was time for permanence, stability, and determination. There was no need for her to live like this—constantly looking over her shoulder. Running was the only defense mechanism that was effective and had made sense, but the look she’d seen in the blonde’s eyes had scared her. It was like the other woman had seen right inside her, right down to her soul. No, this time there would be no running. It wouldn’t work.

  It was time to learn to fight.

  Whoever the hell they were, they’d managed to get the drop on her in the middle of downtown Chicago. And if they’d found her in a town that size, maybe San Diego wouldn’t pose a challenge. The worst mistake she could make was underestimating what they were capable of.

  Plan made, it was time to stay off their radar. She had to stay hidden for just a while longer, until she was ready. Sinking back into her seat, Payton slumped low for the rest of the flight, forcing her rising anxiety level to stay down. At least until she made it off the plane.