The Chains That Bind [The Men of Treasure Cove 10] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Read online

  The Men of Treasure Cove 10

  The Chains That Bind

  The Masterson brothers moved to Treasure Cove to begin again. Hot on the trail of a missing woman, nothing adding up. Determined to make the best of things and to close the case, they were prepared for anything. That was until someone from their past intervenes.

  Camellia Anderson is running scared. Armed with knowledge that can change the lives of many, if brought to light, and could have dire consequences, she seeks out the only people she knows who can help her, her childhood friends. With no money for gas, she prays she can find them in time before the past catches up with her.

  Can Camellia learn to trust the brothers once more, or will her fear push them farther apart? With a raging blizzard brewing, can the Masterson brothers put all the pieces together before time runs out? Or will their past come rushing forward to destroy everything they have created?

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys

  Length: 74,011 words

  THE CHAINS THAT BIND

  The Men of Treasure Cove 10

  Rebecca Joyce

  LOVEXTREME FOREVER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: LoveXtreme Forever

  THE CHAINS THAT BIND

  Copyright © 2014 by Rebecca Joyce

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-401-2

  First E-book Publication: February 2014

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of The Chains That Bind by Rebecca Joyce from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Rebecca Joyce’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Joyce’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  To my husband…never let fear stand in the way of your dreams.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  About the Author

  THE CHAINS THAT BIND

  The Men of Treasure Cove 10

  REBECCA JOYCE

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  Three days after Christmas

  The snow billowed wildly around the car. The windshield wipers whipped frantically back and forth, trying to make the path ahead visible. The heater had stopped working thirty minutes ago, and the temperature dropped quickly. She could already see her breath. She’d never experienced a cold like this before. Her whole life she had lived in warm, sunny climates. This, this coldness was unthinkable.

  Moreover, to top everything else off, she was running low on fuel. Driving cautiously, she looked ahead in the dark night. All she could see were little white orbs of snow coming at her. It felt almost as if she was watching some Star Trek movie where the U.S.S. Enterprise warped into hyperspace. It was cool on television, but frightening in real life. She had no other choice but to continue, slowly. At one point she thought if she sped up, it would help, but when she almost skidded off the road into a ditch, she dropped her speed to fifteen miles per hour and putt-putted along. Safety was paramount. It wasn’t just her at stake.

  Glancing over at the seat next to her, her heart fell. She did this to him. She was responsible for everything. Why couldn’t she just leave well enough alone? All she had to do was walk the other way. Did she do that? No. She let her curiosity get the better of her, and now she was in the wilds of some godforsaken part of the country, freezing her ass off with her son, all because she didn’t walk away. Instead, she stood there and took pictures.

  Who does that? Who stops in the middle of a busy intersection, jumps out of their car, to snap a picture? She did. That was her job. Well, not anymore, but it had been. Now her job was running from the law and trying to survive the night.

  Yep, she definitely won the Mother of the Year award for stupidity!

  To make matters worse, she was seeking out the only people on earth she knew who could help her. In turn, she was also putting their lives in danger. She had looked high and low for them, finally finding them in Montana. How five southern boys wound up in the frozen tundra, she would never understand, but knowing them, it had to be quite a story. She only hoped they allowed her to stay long enough to tell it.

  Tugging the blanket closer around her son, she sighed and prayed she could find somewhere to spend the night. They had been in this car for three days now. Money was running low, but for one night in a soft warm bed, she would spend her last dime to let her little boy sleep peacefully.

  A small sign appeared out of nowhere. It was as if she blinked and it was there, like some beacon, guiding her. Slowing down, she read the sign. �
�Treasure Cove, Montana…twenty-five miles ahead.”

  Relief washed over her. She could finally rest for the night and think of what to do next. She had been driving for almost two weeks, and she was exhausted. With only ten dollars left to her name, she needed to find some kind of work, anything that would pay her in cash. She couldn’t keep running forever, and she was tired of eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Of course, she refused to complain. It was the best she could do given the situation she put herself in, and with no other choices, she was stuck.

  Driving along the highway, she cursed her back luck. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If she could have a do-over, she would have been at home, where she belonged, relaxing in front of the TV, instead of lurking around that abandoned stadium. She still couldn’t believe she saw what she did. She should have known better. All the signs were there. She just chose to ignore them. She was good at that. She didn’t want to upset anyone, or her happy bubble. However, bubbles burst, and when they did, they did so loudly, and everyone jumped, even her.

  Of course, she didn’t think anyone saw her. Man, was she wrong. She had barely made it home before he arrived. She could still hear his voice ringing in her ears. She had never been so scared before in her life. Though he’d never physically touched her, his power came from his voice and presence. His voice could slash through her body quick as a knife, and just one look from his deceptive baby-blues made her cringe. Sometimes, she wished he had touched her, giving her the courage she needed to flee, but nope, he made not a single scratch, ever.

  He preferred other alternatives.

  Who was he anyway, a super-villain with advanced mind reading capabilities? No matter what she did, he just knew. Shaking off the feeling that someone was watching her, she sighed and concentrated on what lay ahead for her.

  She had finally done it.

  She had left.

  She barely escaped that night. Grabbing what she could, she booked ass out of town, gathered her son, and never returned. She learned quickly not to use her credit cards. First because they were linked to him, and second when all of a sudden she found herself detained by some county cop itching to make his first arrest. He was easy to slip past, but after that, she knew he was on the hunt. However, when she left the small police station with her son, she found her car had a boot on it. What courage she had was gone.

  Yep, her luck had flown the coup and was headed south for the winter. She needed another plan, a plan that included grand theft auto and a prison sentence if she ever was ever caught. What she also needed was a change of scenery, and a chance to figure everything out, before she made her next move.

  What she really needed was a bit of luck.

  An orange glow flickered on the dash.

  So much for luck.

  The gas light was on. Looking through the snow tunnel out her windshield, she prayed the town was up ahead. She knew from experience that once the gas light came on she had two miles to get to the nearest gas station. After that, she was up a creek without a paddle.

  Traveling in silence, she listened to the howling winds as the snow continued to fall. The darkness just accentuated the fact that she was alone. She couldn’t even see the bare trees or the mountains she knew sat in the distance. Alone, scared, and unsure what to do next, she kept moving because the alternative was something she refused to think about.

  She slowly drove past another sign and literally felt like crying. The town was still over twenty miles away. Pulling the car over to the side of the road, she put it in park. That was when the engine coughed and then fell silent.

  They were out of gas.

  Taking the keys out of the ignition, she leaned her head back. For the first time since this whole mess started, she felt like crying. She couldn’t do this anymore. She wasn’t strong enough. She just wanted to go home and lay in her own bed. She was too tired of running, and she’d only been doing it for two weeks. How much more could she take? How much more could her son take? She didn’t know the answer to that, but in the dead of winter, she knew they couldn’t run much further. The weather wouldn’t allow them. For the time being, they were going to be stuck in this small town. She hoped that the residents weren’t too nosey and minded their own business, because the last thing she needed was people getting all up in her business.

  Unbuckling her seatbelt, she was just about to open the car door when she heard him.

  “Mom?” Her son’s soft voice startled her in the silence of the car.

  Smiling, she whispered, “I’m sorry, Ethan.”

  “Stop saying you’re sorry. You’re doing your best,” he replied, sitting up. How she got so lucky to have him in her life, she would never know. He was the warmth of the sun during this whole horrible ordeal, and she prayed she made the right decision. She wasn’t far from her destination, and hoped when she arrived, they would help her. It had been so long since she had seen them. Knowing only time would tell the tale, she smiled at him as he asked, “Where are we?”

  “Twenty-five miles north of Treasure Cove, Montana. According to the directions, they live around here.”

  Looking out the windshield, he said, “Wow, the snow is really coming down, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” she replied. “We’re also out of gas.”

  “So what do we do now?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  Putting on his coat and hat, he handed her the blanket she used to cover him up with, and said, “Well, we can’t stay here, Mom. You said these people would help, so sitting here isn’t getting us to them. Let’s go, and don’t forget the map.”

  Nodding, she left the keys in the ignition and wrapped herself up. With no other choice, she decided tonight, she would put themselves in God’s hands. She had never been an avid churchgoer, hell, she didn’t honestly know if she even believed, but with no other options before her, she needed to believe in something, anything that could give her the strength to keep going.

  Gathering what items they could, she found another tattered old blanket and wrapped her son in it. The snow was falling in earnest now, and she knew they would be frozen solid by the time she found shelter. She didn’t bother locking the car. It wasn’t hers anyways. Besides, the only thing in there was a small duffle with what clothes she was able to gather before they left home.

  Trudging through the calf-high snow, her feet instantly numbed thanks to the small sneakers she wore. In the chaos of leaving, she forgot to pack a pair of boots. She hadn’t felt her toes since the heater went out in the little car two days ago.

  Ignoring the pain, she never complained.

  She didn’t know how long they had been walking, nor did she care. As long as they kept moving, they were doing something. Her whole body trembled. Her legs were numb, but it was her sheer determination that kept them going. Looking at the vast landscape before her, she wondered why they would actually live out here, in this barren land. It was beautiful, that was for sure, and the mountains off in the distance made the scene look picturesque, but the harsh elements made it literally impossible to live sufficiently. Of course, what did she know? She was used to dirt floors and barely scraping by. Hell, living out here in mountains offered more protection than the hovel she came from. She could imagine a large garden with several vegetables to sustain her and her son through the winter, hunting rabbit and deer so they would have food to eat.

  Food, god she wished she hadn’t thought of food.

  Her stomach grumbled at that moment, letting her know it had been several hours since she last ate. She needed to find shelter and food quick. Determination was great in a pinch, but unless she got some rest and sustenance in her body soon, she feared the locals would find their bodies come springtime.

  “Mom, look!” her son shouted over the howling winds. Looking at where her son pointed, she smiled. Up ahead, flickering lights lit the way. Looking at the map in her hands, she grinned, knowing she had finally found them.

  “Let’s go.�
�� Her son squeezed her hand, pulling her toward the light.

  Moving forward, they crested a small ridge when she spotted the large, sprawling house off in the distance. Sighing, she headed towards it. By the time they reached the house, she was exhausted. The snow kept coming down in waves, fast then slow. She thought it would never end.

  The house was beautiful, a large ranch log cabin with a wraparound porch. She saw five chairs lined up perfectly under the roof of the porch, rocking slowly as the wind moved them. Off to the right of the house was a large barn. Four trucks, perfectly parked side by side along the length of the barn, sat silent.

  Keeping to the darkness, they peeked inside the beautiful house and smiled.

  At least someone is enjoying the holidays.

  From within the house, she saw a small fire burning in the large stone fireplace. A small Christmas tree with twinkling lights illuminated the warm room. The furniture was used, but in good condition, and other than a table with five chairs, the open space was sparse. There were no pictures on the walls, no flowers, no identification marks of who owned the property, but she knew it belonged to them. They never did care for all the fancy trimmings and such. Minimalistic, that was what she remembered the most about them. For all intents and purposes, the place looked more like a retreat lodge than a home. Nevertheless, who was she to judge? Her room was nothing more than a bed with white sheets. What used to be her house held no photos of any kind of her, nothing signaling to a visitor that a female ever lived there.

  “The doors are locked,” her son said.