The Ranch Ch. 10

"Yeah, nice try," Mark smiled perceptively. Katie tried to keep a straight face, and failed.

"But you're hard, for me!" she complained, looking at his obvious erection with indignant outrage.

"Yes," he confirmed with aggravating expectation, as though she pointed out the obvious but had yet to make a valid point. "Katie, I won't be a sexual outlet."

"Isn't it ironic, though," she began, and Mark knew right away from her tone that she hadn't given up. "The things done to me unwillingly...and then when I want them, I can't have them? How is that logical?"

"Not a bad take on the 'victim card', Katie. I'm impressed. But the answer is still 'no'. It's not forever, be patient." Mark paused, then tentatively changed topic. "How did you get away from Dom the first time?"

Katie pulled a face. "It wasn't the first time I ran."

"If you don't want to talk about it-"

"No, it's fine. It seems so long ago now," she sighed, eyes clouding over as her mind retrieved troubling memories. "I could never succeed, because I was always watched. If it wasn't him, it was Greg. It was like they were always one step ahead."

"Do you have family?"

Katie hesitated. "My mum died a long time ago. My dad is in a home. The last time I could visit, he didn't know me."

"I'm sorry."

"Dom never knew. It was clear from the beginning that it would be unwise to tell him."

"So how did you succeed?"

"I prostituted myself for freedoms," Katie said bitterly. At Mark's startled expression, she quickly reassured him.

"I mean, I seduced Dom. Every time I kissed him willingly, a part of me died. But he was pleased, and I earned more autonomy. You know, to buy lingerie that he would like, to visit places on my own. Dom always knew where I was. I had to account for every minute of absence."

Katie smiled thinly. "Then I began to slowly move money, my money that he never knew about, into a business account. Dom thought I was a poor student on a scholarship, he didn't know my parents were wealthy. He wasn't interested in digging deeper, once he had me. Greg almost caught me once, in the library. I logged off a banking site literally minutes before he sneaked up behind me."

"How long did it take?"

"Too long. Greg never bought it. But he found it amusing, which scared me. He often set convincing traps, daring me to try it."

"He wanted to be the one to catch you."

"Yes. When I escaped, I made sure Greg was busy. I was so afraid of him. Dom came home once and caught him cornering me in the kitchen. He said if he touched me again, Greg would be 'fired' from the force. The way he said it, I knew he meant something else. Greg took the threat very seriously. Of course, I didn't know about George..." Katie's voice broke and Mark pulled her into his arms.

"You're the strongest woman I've ever known," he murmured. "And the most beautiful."

"Then kiss me."

"Katie, please!" Mark implored, holding her steady when she tried to straddle him again.

"I need you," she breathed, eagerly sliding her hands up his chest. The dismay on his face was apparent and she knew it was cruel, but she wasn't backing down. "Please, Mark. I don't want to have sex. Just touch me."

"Jesus, Katie! No." Fighting his urges, he dragged himself from the bed. Knowing it would be too much for his repressed desires to stay any longer, he went to the door.

"Mark!" Katie pleaded as he opened it. Mark turned back, his expression sceptical but affectionate.

"Stay," Katie persisted. Vulnerability flickered across her features, but was quickly buried beneath a suggestive smile. An ordinarily preceptive person would have missed it, but not Mark.

"You need time alone, Katie," he said softly. It was a half-truth; he felt she did need company, but not his. He wanted to stay, but he knew it would be a mistake. And so Mark quickly left before she could voice another objection, feeling guilty about the despondent grief on Katie's face. On the other side of the door, he covered his face with his hands and took deep, measured breaths. Both impressed and stunned by his willpower, he wondered if love was meant to be this painful, and whether he had been better off without it.

**********

"What's Mark doing?" Alex murmured, reaching for an apple and rolling it between his hands.

Cory shrugged, reading Mark's paper. "Probably wooing Katie."

"That doesn't bother you?" Alex asked incredulously.

"Nope," Cory promptly answered, turning a page. He hesitated as a thought struck him. "I might have cared if I thought she had to choose one of us."

"Doesn't she?" Alex exclaimed, feeling extremely confused. Screwing up his face, he tried to imagine sharing Sandy with another man, without murdering him, and failed. "But-"

"Mark and I grew up together. We're comfortable with each other. We have no qualms about sharing, as you know," Cory dryly interrupted, finally looking up at his cousin. "And for the record, and I know this is several years late - I will never agree with what you did. But I'll admit you saved our hides."

"Apology and gratitude accepted," Alex smoothly replied, placing the apple back in the brightly decorative fruit-bowl. "So how the fuck is this going to work?"

"However it feels right," Cory shrugged again. "If Katie is ok with it, that's all that matters."

"Katie is...?" Alex trailed off, shocked. "This is what she wants?"

"Apparently. Hopefully. It's too early to know if she's serious, or still high from the escape."

"And if it doesn't work out?"

"Then it doesn't work out. I don't understand why you're so up in arms about it."

"Well," Alex began, his chest swelled indignantly. "Well, it's just...well..."

"Well?" Cory prompted, in a falsely helpful tone.

"Oh, shut up. First, you both fall in love with her." Alex held up a resigned palm. "You, I get. I'm not surprised at all. But Mark..."

Cory watched Alex with polite interest. "Mark?"

"Well, it makes no sense at all!" he spluttered with disbelief. "That smug, commitment-phobe, deviously charismatic, womanising-"

"Womanising, Alex?"

"Oh, ok, fine! I have a history," Alex snapped irritably, conceding the point. "But I've been happy with Sandy for years now, and I know that's not going to change."

"And you can't accept Mark could change?"

"Alright, I'll admit Katie is some kind of genetic freak. But love is more than looks."

"I agree."

"So," Alex persisted. "Why her?"

"I love Katie, because of the way she makes me feel, and the way I felt when she was gone," Cory said slowly, tapping a finger on the bench. "If her happiness meant me walking away from her, I would do it. I can't answer for Mark, but I have my theory."

Alex leaned closer. "Go on."

"She has qualities that he admires, beyond her looks," Cory continued, wary of what he disclosed. "But I think what really cements it is... there are things, similarities, relating to his childhood that differentiates her from any other love interest. Oh," Cory smiled widely as a memory surfaced. "And she didn't fall at his feet. That was a real eye-opener for him."

"Really?" Alex was genuinely interested. "What happened?"

Cory chuckled. "He came on too strong, after rubbing her up the wrong way. His flirting failed abysmally. So he tried to jump her, and she thwacked him, deservedly. And then I thwacked him for something else." Cory sobered as he remembered it wasn't exactly a laughing matter when he mistakenly suspected Mark had violently assaulted Katie.

"You know," Alex said suddenly. "I believe Mark does love her. But I think he loves you more."

"Well, you know, we were planning to tie the knot sooner or later."

"I always suspected."

"Oh, shut up. Anyway, Katie's somehow emerged from all this with her sanity intact," Cory concluded.

"Do we know what they did to her?" Alex asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"She might be pregnant, that says enough," Cory said bluntly, not wanting to dwell on it. He decided to change topics.

"So...how are you?" he asked, fixing Alex with a hawklike stare.

Alex shrugged. "Feel like shit. What else can I say?"

Cory nodded his understanding.

"I'll tell you what, though." Alex thoughtfully pressed his index finger into the table. "I feel like something is off."

"That's hardly surprising."

"No," Alex shook his head, and slapped a palm to his stomach. "I feel it. Like it's something I should know."

"Ahmm...?" Cory's gold-brown eyes moved left and right, then back to Alex. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I thought it was because I left Rosa's photo the scene."

"You what?" As Cory's eyes widened with alarm, Alex hastily continued.

"It's not a problem. She would just be another lost girl. I was annoyed with myself, but it's not traceable. They can't track us using a photo."

Cory shook his head and started reading the paper again. He didn't see Alex's pondering expression melt to completely deadpan.

"Track us," he repeated mechanically, turning white. "Track us."

"I heard you, Alex," Cory drawled, disinterestedly peering at the paper.

"I didn't-! Cory, that's what I-" Alex spluttered distractedly, habitually reaching back to tighten his ponytail.

Cory noticed he was distraught. "What's going on?"

"I didn't check her. I didn't check her," Alex said, almost robotically. "I didn't- where's Katie?"

"Is this something we need to worry about?"

"Yes. No... Maybe..." Alex uttered, trying to maintain composure as his mind flooded with dread. "I'm just paranoid, but that's what's pestered me all...fuck..."

"You're freaking me out. What's going on?"

"I-I didn't check her for tr...bugs," Alex stuttered.

"But she's changed out of her clothes," Cory said stupidly, still confused.

"Where are her clothes?" Alex ferociously demanded, almost shouting.

Bemused, Cory pointed down the hall.

"Don't go busting into-" Cory insisted, slamming his palm on the counter as Alex went for Katie's room. "Fuck," he muttered, going after him and hoping it was all a big mistake. But he'd never seen Alex in a blind panic before.

Alex collided with Mark in the hall, and Mark gripped his shoulders to stop them toppling over together.

"Whoa, easy! I hacked into your chocolate. I confess," Mark grinned, but it quickly faded as he took in Alex's distress. "What's happened?"

"Katie," Alex swallowed convulsively. "Where are her clothes?"

"Huh?"

"He thinks Katie may have been bugged," Cory spoke from behind Alex. Mark immediately turned back the way he came.

Katie looked quite apprehensive as the three men suddenly piled into her room. About to speak, her mouth hung open stupidly as Alex went for her clothes neatly piled in a corner. She'd meant to throw them away that morning, but the news of Marco's death swiped the day's plans from her mind.

"Is this everything, Katie?" Alex asked urgently, staring at the clothes as though they could explode at any second.

Katie nodded and watched Alex immediately lift each item, briskly running his hands over the surface and up inside the linings.

Katie looked to Mark and Cory for an explanation, but their faces were so grim as they watched Alex, she was afraid to ask.

"Cory, get Rosa. Mark, go and start the car," Alex said tersely, ripping something from the inside hem of Katie's shirt. He dropped it, and Katie glimpsed something smooth and circular, like a tiny, malleable disc, before it was crushed beneath Alex's heel.

Cory and Mark disappeared without comment to do his bidding. Alone with Katie, Alex quickly sat beside her on the bed.

"Did they do anything to your body?" he asked. When Katie looked bewildered, he continued. "Did they implant anything? Can you remember?"

Petrified, Katie shook her head. Alex looked away, frustrated.

"Was it George, or Dominique?" he asked, turning back to fix a piercing stare on her face.

Katie initially presumed his eyes were a mix of blue-green, but she saw flecks of gold, similar to Cory's, burning around his pupils as they constricted with anxiety.

"I-I don't know," Katie replied, trying not to shake. "Does it make...?"

"It makes every difference," Alex said bitterly, running a hand over his face. "If it's George's, we have less time."

They both froze as all the lights went out, plunging them into startled shadow. Moonlight brightened the room through the windows so they could still see around them.

"Don't move," Alex whispered, laying a firm hand on Katie's shoulder.

"What do we do?" Katie whispered back, not sure she could move if she wanted to.

"Run, or hide. But I don't know, yet, " he breathed, listening.

Someone entered the room and Alex leapt to his feet, but it was only Mark.

"What the-!" Alex hissed, pulling up abruptly after launching himself forward.

"I cut the lights," Mark confessed, making a hopeless gesture.

"Why? You scared the fuck out of us!" Alex snarled, still keeping his voice at a whisper.

"The tyres are slashed," Mark replied, and Katie suddenly felt faint. "I cut the lights before they could. And so they can't see us from outside."

Alex nodded, his jaw flexing as his face tightened with foreboding.

They all jumped when Cory burst into the room.

"The lights!"

"We know. It was Mark." Alex said quickly. "Our transport has been deliberately fucked, and-" he stopped. "Cory, what is it?"

Cory looked desperate, his entire face shining with nervous sweat in the moonlight.

"I can't find Rosa anywhere."

There was a terrible silence as everyone absorbed the implications of Rosa's absence. Mark was uncharacteristically speechless, his eyes were wide with shocked disbelief as though he couldn't believe his bad luck.

"Maybe she went with Gerard," Alex finally muttered, but it was clear he didn't credit it.

"S-she said he was taking her h-home in the morning," Katie chattered, shaking with panic.

"It's true. Gerard said he'd be back tomorrow," Cory numbly pitched in.

"We're wasting time," Alex impatiently gestured them out the door. "Back way. Left exit."

"To where?" Cory whispered. "The woods?"

"That's a last resort. There are a lot of hiding places here. But this is not one of them. Everybody, move."

"But - Rosa!" Mark hissed furiously as they quickly passed down the corridor. She was his responsibility, he'd promised her mother. Ready to tear his hair out, he wanted to punch something as the nightmare he'd dreaded began to theatrically unfold in his mind.

Alex gently eased the back door open, and peered out into the darkness. Without speaking, he gestured Cory to make for the shed at the rear of the property. It was the closest point of cover. With his arm around Katie, they streaked into the night. Alex turned to Mark, knowing he was upset to a point of blind recklessness. He needed Mark to stay calm and keep his wits about him.

"Look," Alex hurriedly reasoned, his voice so below a whisper he was mouthing. "She's either dead, or hostage. If she's dead, there's nothing we can do. If she's a hostage, we'll get her back. Let's go."

Mark looked fierce, clearly disagreeing. "I can't leave without her. I'm going back." He jerked his thumb the direction they came, and turned to leave.

Before Mark could retreat, Alex seized his arm in a brutal grip, and mouthed the only thing he could think of to stop him.

"Katie needs you."

Mark glared, but had no retort. It took less than a second to recall the crippling guilt Cory suffered for leaving Katie on the track. Deep down, Mark knew he would suffer worse if Katie was harmed after he abandoned her now. He reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Together, they rapidly made their way to the shed. Reaching it, they jumped as a loud smash echoed across the property. The vicious sound tainted the peaceful quiet and caused a good deal of upset in the surrounds, the sudden disruption startling the local wildlife. Someone had broken through the front door of the house they'd just vacated.