An Impostor in Town (Colorado Series) by Denise Moncrief Page B

go scope things out.” He smiled, wicked intent glistening from him like drops of poison. “But before I do I’m going to gag you and tie you up.” His tone implied he’d enjoy that.
    ****
    Peyton woke with a start to find Jake standing over her, staring at her in stunned silence. She blinked several times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. He removed the gag from her mouth.
    “What are you doing here?” His young voice held suspicion in its uneasy tenor.
    “Jake! Are you alone?” Panic leapt from her. She must have fallen asleep on the cot waiting for Cory to come back. Stupid. She groaned as he helped her sit up.
    He stepped back and glanced at the door behind him. “Who would be with me?”
    “Get out of here. Run back to the lodge and tell Johanna—”
    The crunch of steps on gravel stopped her. She held her breath. Jake stared at the door with an alarmed expression on his face. “What’s going on?”
    Before she could react, Cory entered the bunkhouse and glanced first at Peyton and then at Jake. He shut the door behind him with a hard bang. Cory grinned. “Looks like my plan is working better than I expected.” He took a step closer to Jake. “Do you know who I am, boy?”
    Jake pressed his back against the nearest wall. “No.”
    “I’m your daddy.”
    She swung her legs over the side of the cot. “Shut up, Cory.”
    “Come on, Paula. The boy needs to hear the truth.”
    “No, he doesn’t. Not from you anyway.”
    Cory circled Jake as if giving him a thorough examination and finding him acceptable. “I’m excited. Aren’t you, dear? We can all be together now.” He punched the word dear and made it sound loathsome. He addressed her, but kept his eyes on Jake.
    The boy made a dash for the door, but Cory was faster. He snagged Jake by the collar and dragged him away from his escape, then drew the gun from his pocket and waved it in Jake’s face. “You remember Jeff, don’t you? Jeff is dead. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
    The threat had its intended effect. Jake’s eyes widened into two gray masses. He nodded his head. Cory seemed to enjoy Jake’s reaction. She felt like choking the breath out of him. If he didn’t hold the gun—her gun on her son—and her hands weren’t tied behind her back, she’d be all over Cory, even in her battered state.
    “Then you know I know how to use a gun.” He emphasized every word for the drama of it. Jake leaned away from him.
    Peyton struggled to stand on aching legs. “For heaven’s sake, Cory. Don’t do that to him. He’s your—”
    “Boy—”
    “I have a name.” Jake squirmed out of his grasp.
    Maybe he was stunned, because Cory lowered the weapon. “What’s that?”
    “I said I have a name.”
    Pride swelled in the depths of her soul. Her son was a brave young man in the face of such danger. He obviously had managed to overcome his lousy genetics.
    Mania oozed from Cory like a sewer river. He laughed and shoved Jake hard. He stumbled and landed on the cot. “You don’t have a name, boy. You’re the bastard son of a bastard.”
    Cory pushed her onto the cot next to Jake before he slid down the wall and rested his butt on the ground, his back against the door. He laid the gun on the floor next to him and glared at Jake as if daring him to wrestle for it.
    ****
    When she awoke, Cory was missing and her hands were freed. Had Jake released her from her bonds after Cory left them? Was now the time to make their escape? She wanted to leap from the floor where she’d fallen asleep, but her limbs refused to move without effort. After dragging her weary body the few foot toward freedom, the door was jammed. Cory had obviously propped something against the other side to block their escape.
    She gazed at the boy asleep on the cot and shook her head as if to dispel a frightful image. But Jake wasn’t going away. He was right here with her. That meant this nightmare was real. Why were they still here? Where was Cory?
    She nudged