Page 50 of Forgiveness
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Maggie
Later that day
“That was agood run, but next time try reining in sooner and into the opposite side of where you think your horse is heading, that way he’s anticipating one thing, but you’re feeding him something else. It’ll re-train him and let you do what you want with him in the ring. Does that make sense?” Maggie asked the dusty woman, who was slightly younger than her twenty-five years, as they hung out at the fence’s edge after the younger woman’s ride. “You’re fierce, but you have to know when to give them the right feedback.”
The woman nodded. “Thanks for taking the time to help me out.”
Maggie smiled at the newcomer in the barrel racing event. It was nice to be appreciated for all her hard work, and Maggie was more than happy to mentor anyone in the sport. There needed to be other women out there vying for the big leagues too. She couldn’t create a movement of women barrel riders breaking barriers like herself, if she alone kept all the good information and didn’t spread the love around.
“You’re welcome. Just remember—you’re the one in control at all times. You’re good out there and that’s half the battle.”
The woman smiled. “Thanks, that means a lot to me. I’ll try that in practice next—”
“Excuse me, I hate to interrupt.” A man she hadn’t seen before tapped the younger woman on the shoulder and looked at Maggie with a sheepish smile. “The a couple of sponsors want to see you backstage. They have a few questions and want to run some new ideas by you.”
Maggie sighed then smiled at her protégé. “You know where I’ll be after the show if you think of anything else you want to ask me.”
“Yes. Thanks.” The woman grinned, tipped her hat, and limped away.
Maggie glanced at the man and made a gesture for him to lead the way, and she followed close behind him.
It wasn’t unusual for sponsors to take in a rodeo show from the stands and then restructure their branding and marketing plans once they saw how their audience responded to various stimuli. Over the years, Maggie had gone to a few of those meetings. The last one had been a debate on which hat color she should wear in the ring. While it seemed ridiculous to her most of the time, the sponsors wanted to use every bit of her to stick their product in people’s brains so they would remember to buy it. The fact that sponsorships were financially lucrative didn’t hurt either. So, if it involved wearing a pale pink hat, which was the color of their clothing line, versus the fawn-color she normally wore, then so be it. The money she received went a long way in sustaining her riding career because a life on the rodeo circuit was filled with expenses.
“Just back here, miss. Thank you.” The man led her past the hookup hallways, the ones where she’d witnessed Chet make his drug deal, and took a sharp right into a part of the building she hadn’t been in before now. “They wanted to pick a more discreet room today because the competition is also here; their ongoing battle with one another has gotten worse since you last spoke to them.”
Maggie nodded even though his words didn’t make sense to her, but before she could analyze them, he opened the door and used his hand on her lower back to guide her into the room before shutting the door. Her lip curled at the odd touch still lingering at the small of her back. The room was weirdly dark and cavernous.
“Hello? Where is everyone?” Maggie called out, wiping her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans. Her stomach tightened with a niggle of fear. She licked her lips, vainly searching through the blackness before someone hit a light switch somewhere, and a bright light flooded the space.
Maggie winced and blinked as she tried to adjust to the abrupt lighting. In the far corner of the room, a figure stood still, clinging to the shadows. All her senses went on high alert and she tensed, gingerly fumbling her way backward toward the door. Her hand searched behind her for the knob, knowing it could make or break the moment for getting out of this screwed up situation.
Maggie knew that the “meeting” sure as hell had nothing to do with sponsorships or promotions—she’d been duped. Then Chet stepped out of the shadows just as her hand gripped the cool doorknob. Maggie wrenched it with all her might, and half-turned to swing it open so she could get the hell out of there, but the damn thing was locked. Her mind whirled.Fuck … this isn’t good. What the hell am I going to do?Maggie spun around and kept her back against the door’s fake wood grain. Her brain scrambled for a way out, while the rest of her body switched from panic to anger to shock, which left her numb and tingling at the same time.
“Chet, what the fuck’s this about? What’re you doing? I’m sick of playing your stupid mind games, and if you don’t let me out of here, I’ll scream bloody murder until security busts down the damn door.”
Truth be told, Maggie had no idea if security even went this far back into the building.I was an idiot to follow a stranger back here. Okay, stop. Now isn’t the time to beat myself up. I’ve got to stay vigilant and on my game.The situation reeked of danger and she didn’t have anything close to a weapon nearby. Maggie had to get out of there, but she knew if she made one mistake, Chet would be on her like a targeted bull. There was no room for error.
“Honeycakes, you saw something you weren’t supposed to, and I know you’re not going to forget it. So, that puts us in a little predicament that needs to be solved quickly and without a whole lot of fuss.”
Maggie swallowed and felt all the blood drain from her face. “Let me out of this room, Chet.” She threatened, low and fierce, allowing all her anger to show past the fear that was making her insides quiver.
A cruel smile curled up on his lips. “No can do,honeycakes. I’ve got to keep you here until some of my associates show up. But as long as we’re alone together, waiting, and bored … we might as well have some fun, right?”
“Chet, this is insane. You’re being a jackass.”
Maggie rattled the doorknob again in vain, hoping that she might be able to break it, but it wasn’t budging even an inch. A small whimper built in her chest and she squashed it down, unwilling to let Chet sense her fear as he moved through the shadows at the corner of the room and into the full light.
“Chet, you need to think of the consequences here. You’re doing this on rodeo property, if someone found you or found out …” Her voice died away as her throat grew tight with panic. “I won’t tell anyone about what I saw. It doesn’t even have anything to do with me. Let me leave and I’ll take it to my grave, okay?”
“No, you little biker whore, it’s not okay. Everything is very fucked up, and the way I see it, the root of everything going wrong in my life starts and ends with you. So, what we’re going to do here is teach you a nice little lesson and that way you won’t disgust me quite as much once I’m done with you.”
She curled up into herself while Chet cornered her against the door and threw his hat on the floor.
“I thought you were too good for me before, but I didn’t get it back then. Now, I do—I’mtoo fucking good foryou.What you really need is to be used like the dirty slut you are. You just spread your legs for that asshole, didn’t you? And you played all proper and shit with me. Well, not anymore,honeycakes. I’m going to treat you just like he does—like a fuck toy. That’s what you want, isn’t it? Then you’ll want to be with me. Isn’t that how it works for tramps like you?”
“Shut the hell up, you bastard,” Maggie seethed, ripping her arm out of the way as he fought to grab her wrist. “Don’t you fucking touch me!”
