by Laurie Ames
“You got it, babe,” Juanita said playfully. “And make sure you wear your necklace, my Angel.”
Juanita winked at Alli before she got out of the SUV and headed to her apartment building. Alli turned back and waved at Juanita one last time before unlocking the front door and heading inside.
***
Allison showered and put on an asymmetrical, form-fitting long-sleeve blouse and a pair of flashy leggings. Thinking of Juanita made her want to dress feminine and sexy, she felt a need to keep up with her trendy fashion sense. She slid on a pair of sleek, 3-inch heel ankle boots to complete her outfit, then grabbed her purse and headed to the car.
She was driving carefully down a snow-covered side street, heading toward the main road that would take her downtown and to the store. Allison had two moods, just two. Today her dial was set to "good." That meant nothing could go wrong, everyone is lovely and only the most optimistic forecasts would do. Her head swayed back and forth, as smooth jazz played inside the car.
Suddenly she saw a large box truck or possibly a big van, heading toward her at a very high rate of speed—especially for the snowy roads of the past few days. She pumped her brakes as she wondered if the truck would slow down. She considered an avoidance manoeuvre as the truck kept coming straight at her, but then it was too late. She barely had time to scream before hearing the loud horrific crunch of impact. Her body flung forward, her face slamming hard into the air bag. The car rolled, and lights swirled around her as the noise of metal grinding against concrete became deafening. The car tumbled onto its side before coming to an absolute stop.
Allison just sat there completely immobile. Then there was a deadening silence that terrified Allison almost more than the crash. The seatbelt tugged on her skin and the air bag was deflating. She was fleetingly aware of a bloody taste in her mouth, but she couldn't figure out what it was. At times her eyelids fluttered, and she thought she must be at home in bed because it was so dark. Allison felt a strong sharp penetrating pain. All she could do was hope for the best as she said one last prayer... just before everything went black.
***
Juanita dialed Allison’s cell phone number as she walked down her driveway toward her SUV. She was surprised when she didn’t get an answer. The call rang and rang until eventually, the voice mail came on the line.
“Hmm, that’s strange,” Juanita said aloud, as she pulled out onto the street.
Maybe she’s in the shower or something. I’m sure she’ll call right back when she sees my message, Juanita thought to herself. She sent a quick text to Allison and then continued on her way to the store. She was feeling excited because it would be the first time setting foot in her own store since the accident.
Hey Alli, OMW to the store now. Tried to call you, got your VM. Meet me down there when you can. :smiley face:
***
The windows were smashed, and the car was lying on its side, stuck in a ditch on the side of the back road. The piercing winter wind was blowing snowflakes into the car and blanketing Allison’s face.
Suddenly Allison opened her eyes and immediately felt the frigid air blowing onto her face. She sucked in a deep breath of cool fresh air, but it felt like her lungs were caving in. She saw spots in the corners of her vision. Her head felt full of static. At first, she didn’t realize what had happened. She was disorientated from drifting in and out of consciousness. She felt a dull, aching pain in her head and a radiating pain in her midsection.
As she looked around, she recalled the large vehicle that had struck her and forced her off the road. She tried to move, but the intense pain she was feeling only worsened with even the slightest movement. Her vision was slightly blurred, and she suspected that she may have suffered a slight concussion. Her seatbelt was still strapped around her and fastened in place. She struggled to free herself only to be rewarded with more pain. She pulled hard on it—groaning from the pain that shot up her arm—in order to see if it would give way, and she knew immediately that it was still very much intact.
It was eerily quiet, and it was obvious she was all alone. The faint sound of traffic traveling on the nearby roads seemed very far away from where she was.
Where is my cell phone? She wondered, silently, trying to remember where it had been just before the crash. If she could just get to it, she could call for help and contact Juanita to let her know what had happened. Craning her neck to expand her area of vision, her eyes searched frantically around the car, until she finally saw it lying face down on the floor of the car, near the passenger side door.
“Shit!” Allison uttered. She sighed in frustration, realizing that she was going to have to endure great pain in order to get to it. She wondered why she couldn’t see the large vehicle that had struck her.
As she reached down to unbuckle her seatbelt, she thought she heard a noise just outside of her car. She groaned loudly from the throbbing agony she was pushing through, as she finally freed the belt from its lock. She leaned her head back against the seat and drew in a deep breath, pausing for a moment to brace herself for the excruciating agony she knew she was about to experience, in order to try and reach her cell phone.
Just as she was about to reach for the passenger seat, her driver side door swung open. Allison turned her head to see who had opened the door and her mouth dropped open as her eyes simultaneously widened in shock. It was Walt Fanning.
Allison wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved or scared. It had certainly seemed like whoever struck her car had done so on purpose.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, looking at her inquisitively. “I was driving by and saw your car was overturned in the ditch.”
Allison exhaled in relief. She hadn’t even realized that she’d been holding her breath.
“My car was hit by a big truck or van of some sort,” Allison explained. “I was trying to get to my phone so I could call for help, but I’m hurt pretty bad. It hurts to move.” She winced in pain as she extended her right arm to show him how difficult it was for her to move.
“Whoa, that looks pretty bad,” he noted. “Is there anyone else in there with you? Are they hurt?”
“No, it’s just me,” she replied.
“Well, let’s get you out of here,” he said. “My cell phone’s in my car. I’ll get you out of here and we can go call for help.”
“My cell phone is right there,” she pointed to where her phone was lying face down on the passenger side floor.
“Are you sure it’s not damaged?” he asked.
The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. What if it was damaged? She couldn’t see the screen. For all she knew, it could be cracked or shattered beyond usage or repair.
“I—I’m not sure,” was all she could say.
Allison knew she should try get out of the wrecked vehicle and receive medical attention as soon as possible. Being a nurse, she suspected that she had likely suffered at least a mild concussion and possibly a few fractures, breaks or internal injuries.
“You’re bleeding there on the side of your head,” Walt informed her.
“Shit, I didn’t even realize it,” she told him.
“Come on, let’s get you out of there,” Walt replied. “I know it’ll probably be a bit painful for you, so we’ll go on the count of three, okay?”
He reached inside the car and wrapped his arms around Allison’s upper body.
“You ready?” he asked. Allison nodded.
Chapter 8: A Surprising Turn of Events
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“Ok, one…two…three!” On three, he pulled her up out of the car with all his might and the two of them fell backwards onto the cold, snowy ground. Allison yelled out in agony as she landed on top of him in the snow.
“I’m so sorry, she said, wincing from discomfort as she rolled her body over onto the cold ground beside him.
“No worries,” Walt replied, standing himself up.
As he reached down to help Allison up, she looked around
and glanced up toward the road, trying to get a better view of what had transpired, and an idea of where she was. To her surprise, she couldn’t see the road at all. She was in a low ditch, and her view of the road was blocked by the snow-covered ravine. She also noticed that her car was the only vehicle in the ditch. The large truck or van that had hit it was nowhere in sight.
“Thank you,” she told him, appreciatively, wincing again as he finally got her to her feet. She couldn’t stand up alone and held onto Walt for support. He didn’t seem to mind. “So, where’s your car?”
Suddenly, Allison realized there was no way that Walt could have seen her car overturned in a ditch from all the way up on the road. The ditch was so deep that no one passing by could have possibly noticed a vehicle lying on its side, unless of course, they had either personally witnessed the accident or had been directly involved in it…
Allison’s pulse immediately sped up as the realization came over her. What should I do? Should I continue to play along? I’m in no condition to run away from him. Think, dammit! Her silent thoughts raced through her mind as she contemplated her next move. She was still leaning on Walt, and he was turning toward the direction of the road.
“I—I really think I should get my phone, first. Maybe it isn’t damaged, and we could use it to call for help. Besides, I—I don’t think I could make it all the way up that snowy hill. I—I’d feel bad about you having to basically drag me up there all by yourself.” She hoped that her stammering hadn’t been enough to tip Walt off about her sudden realization. She was trying to buy herself some time to decide on her next move.
She tried to let go of Walt and lunge her body back toward her overturned car, but just at that moment, a sly smile spread across his face. She fell to the ground and started dragging herself through the snow, gritting her teeth and grunting through the pain and agony of each movement. She was pretty sure that at least one of her bones were fractured in her leg, and possibly in one of her arms.
Walt stood where he was for a moment, watching her curiously, with his head cocked to one side, grinning sinisterly. She continued to drag herself toward her car, using all of the strength that she could muster up, refusing to look back at Walt and hoping against hope that she would somehow be able to get to her cell phone before he realized she was on to him—unless he already had.
Suddenly, Allison felt an arm violently jerk her backwards and start dragging her in the opposite direction.
“Walt, please! What are you…?” She saw Walt’s arm come up behind her head.
And then everything went black again.
Walt dragged Allison’s limp bruised body up the ravine, wheezing and panting as he made his way up the hill. When he finally reached the damaged van that had hit Allison’s car, he opened the back and lifted her inside. She was still unconscious for the moment, so he took the opportunity to tie her hands and feet with a rope. He then gagged her mouth to make sure she kept quiet. He carefully closed the back doors of the van, then looked cautiously around to his left and right before heading around to the front.
“Elaine’s going to be so proud of me,” he mused, as he climbed up into the driver’s seat of the van and started the engine.
***
“SURPRISE!!!” - The employees of Crawford Clothing all shouted in unison as Juanita walked in. They all cheered while clapping their hands and applauding.
Juanita’s mouth dropped open in surprise and her face lit up with delight. “Oh my Gosh!” she exclaimed happily. “I can’t believe you guys did this!”
One by one, they all came up and gave her friendly hugs, commenting on how great it was to finally have her back. Juanita was almost in tears with emotion.
“You guys are the best!” she declared cheerfully.
One of the girls pulled out a cake box and set it up on the front counter. She motioned for Juanita to come over to see it. Juanita smiled with gratitude and appreciation when she saw what was written on it: To the Best boss in the whole world! We love you!
She placed her hands to her cheeks and thanked her employees again for such a wonderful and thoughtful endeavor. She was over the moon with joy. The only thing that would have made the event even more enjoyable, would have been if Allison was there.
Allison! Where is she? Juanita wondered. This is so unlike her. She pulled her phone out of her purse and checked to see if she had any calls, texts or messages, but there were none. It was strange for Allison to not reply at all. Juanita began to wonder if she should be concerned.
***
“What the hell did you do?” Elaine bellowed furiously, glaring at Walt with fire in her angry eyes.
“Well, I had to do something!” Walt retorted in annoyance.
Allison came to and realized that she was in the dark. Squinting her eyes, she noticed a small sliver of light coming through a crack between the two doors on her left. That’s when she realized she was in the back of a truck or van of some type. She suspected it was the one Walt had used to ram her car.
She could hear muffled voices outside of the van, and even though she was tied up, she rolled her body slowly toward the crack in the doors and put her ear as close as she could, wincing from the pain of the injuries she had suffered in the accident.
“Now what the fuck are we supposed to do?” a woman’s voice asked. The woman sounded very irritated.
“This is perfect, Elaine, don’t you see? Juanita is in love with that girl! We can use her to force Juanita to sign the store over to us,” Walt replied, enthusiastically.
Us? …Since when were Elaine and Walt partners of some sort? Allison wondered.
“That nosey little bitch was snooping around the store the other week while I was waiting for you to disable the security system! She saw my car in front of the store and had the nerve to sit there and watch me! That’s why I had to leave you there, that night.”
“And that’s why we had to come up with a Plan B,” Walt noted.
“I had no idea that kidnapping Juanita’s new little bitch was your idea of a Plan B!” Elaine snapped.
“Well, your hit and run plan didn’t quite work out the way we expected it to, now did it?” Walt retorted. “If she would have died like she was supposed to, we wouldn’t be in this situation! Good thing we used the car that was in that Andrew Gusslin’s name.”
“OK, say this little plan of yours actually works out. How can we ensure that they won’t go to the authorities?” Elaine asked.
“We make a little insurance plan.” He said, maliciously. “Juanita is intimidated by you, Elaine. If we scare her badly enough, she’ll keep quiet. We’ll just send one of our guys to threaten her little girlfriend’s life. She’ll convince that little blonde to keep quiet. Besides, she has no idea that we are in on this together.”
Elaine sighed.
“Well, I guess we have no choice now, do we?” she muttered. “Let’s just hurry up and get this over with.”
***
Juanita checked the time on her phone again. It had been more than hour since she’d arrived at the store, and she still hadn’t heard from Allison. She was more than flattered by the thoughtfulness of her wonderful employees, but she was becoming more and more worried about Allison with every passing moment.
Just then, her cell phone rang. The number was blocked, but she answered it anyway, just in case it was Allison calling from a different number.
“Hello?” she answered; her voice shaky with anxiety.
“If you ever want to see your precious Allison again, you’ll do what we tell you,” a deep, raspy voice said on the other end.
Juanita’s heart dropped down into her stomach. She was scared out of her mind, but she didn’t want her employees to know, so she hurriedly stepped outside to take the call.
“Who is this?” she demanded, nervously.
“Someone who has your Allison bound and gagged. She’s okay for the moment, but if you want her to remain that way, you will do exactly as I tell you.”
Juanita placed her hand to her face, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to pour out of her eyes and run down her cheeks.
Chapter 9: Isn’t It Ironic?
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Juanita ran over to where Allison was sitting on the cold hard floor of the abandoned warehouse and hugged her. Allison was happy to see her, but also very miserable, due to the amount of pain and discomfort that she had endured. She winced and groaned when Juanita hugged her, yet still managed to force a relieved smile.
“Oh my God, Alli! I’m so sorry!” Juanita sobbed into Allison’s sore shoulder.
“It’s okay,” Allison whispered, exasperatedly.
“No, it’s not! It’s not okay! And I’m gonna fix it, I promise!” Juniata replied; her voice filled with deep emotion. “But right now, I need to get you to the hospital.”