"You go on in," she said.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I think I'll walk up to the powder room first," she answered. "I want to make sure I'm beautiful."

"You're gorgeous," he insisted.

"You go on in," she said.

It was her intention to walk around to the dark side of the building and slip into the building from a side door. Then she could slip up the stairs unseen.

She almost changed her mind as she walked around the wide of the building. It was dark as hell. She hesitated for a moment, but then, laughed at herself. She lived in a town where there was excellent police protection and good security protection at the country club. There was nothing to be frightened of.

She walked up the steps of the side entrance and put her hand on the knob. It wouldn't turn. Someone had lacked it. Usually, there was a guard on the inside. She started to knock, but she became aware of someone breathing behind her.

She grew very still. Her heart was pounding fast. She taught about kicking off her high-heeled shoes in case she had to run.

"Who's there?" she asked nervously.

"Just a friend, baby," a man's deep voice answered.

Carol started to scream. A huge, hairy arm encircled her. A strong hand clamped down on her mouth and dragged her off the porch. She kicked and twisted and tried to bite the hand, but nothing helped. She was dragged into the woods that surrounded the country club.

Suddenly she was slammed up against a tree, and her breath was knocked out of her. A hand clamped around her throat. She could plainly see the man who had kidnapped her and she didn't know him.

"You relax, baby," he told her. "Relax, and you won't get hurt. Don't fight me and don't scream or I'll mess up your pretty looks. You wouldn't like that."

She nodded. "What do you want with me?"