Secrets of Thunder Valley- The Locket

by Shelly Von West

  Leading her to the pantry he opens the door with a slight squeak, then shutting it quickly behind them, they stand in pitch black silence for what seems like an eternity versus mere seconds.

  “Dad!” She whispers again, “What is going on? Why are we in the pantry and why are the lights off and where is mom?”

  “Shhhh!” He hushes her again then he whispers, “A couple hours after the deputy left we went upstairs to our room to watch television.” He listens then continues, “After showering, I was just getting into bed when I heard a loud thump down here. It was so big that I knew it was not just the wind.” He takes a moment to stop again and listens, then blurts, “Mom is upstairs in the closet while I’m down here. I didn’t expect you coming home so early.” He pants.

  “But Dad, where do you think the noise came from?”

  “I know where it came from. Didn’t you see the text messages I sent you?”

  “No.” She whispers.

  “Ok. I sent a text to your uncle, and he too was about to hit the rack but he’s on his way.” He pauses then continues after an eerie moment of silence, “The noise came from down here, but I haven’t been able to find any signs of any intruders, I’m sure that your arrival scared them away.” He whispers.

  She starts to respond but instead has a sharp intake of breath when suddenly bright beams of light show through the louvered pantry door. Trembling, she backs toward her dad who is now moving past her toward the door. Peering through the slats of wood he too sucks in his breath.

  All is quiet but for the sounds of the heavy footsteps pausing just outside the pantry. The anticipation and fear are palpable as the shadows moving on the, confirm that someone is standing just on the other side of the door.

  As the door opens with painstaking slowness, she’s feels panicked like a trapped animal. Bracing herself for what might come next, she finally exhales, ready to fight or find a way to take flight.

  Time seems to stand still as Tim lurches forward just as the door opens. The figure standing before them is dressed in dark fatigues with a full ski mask, leaving only eyes laced with malice exposed.

  As Tim swings at the intruder with a closed fist, the other man has the upper hand grabbing him around the neck into a choke hold which causes her to scream so loud and shrill enough it should break glass.

  Without thinking she is pounding her fists on the back of the man who is choking her dad.

  “Stop! Let go of him… let go!” She continues to scream as her mind races to keep up with her fists.

  Gagging sounds coming from Tim, she kicks him with her boot clad feet.

  The man does not let up but continues with his hold around her dad’s neck. In one crazy movement, he twists his body then before she realizes what’s happening, he kicks her in the chest causing her to fall back into the wall while he’s still holding her dad in a death grip.

  Reeling, she lays helpless in a heap on the floor, gasping for the air that’s literally been kicked out of her, while he’s choking the life out her dad right before her eyes. The way the attacker moves is that of someone with combat training, this is no amateur.

  Her eyes darting around the kitchen she moves quickly grabbing the first thing in her path, a wrought iron door stop in the shape of an old-fashioned clothes iron. Without hesitation, she lunges toward the intruder with the iron in hand and slams the heavy thing against his head. He instantly releases his grip around Tim’s neck and slumps to the ground. Rushing to her dad’s side, she wraps her arm around the back of him to support him as he makes gurgling noises trying to capture a breath!

  “Dad! Can you breathe? Dad?” She yells as he is struggling.

  No longer able to hold up his weight she eases him onto the floor while he continues to gasp. His face still purple she realizes he is not okay he is in distress. “Crap! I don’t know what to do!!” She gasps under her breath. Reaching in her pocket she pulls out her phone then calls emergency. Just as the operator answers out of the corner of her eyes she sees movement and once again, the intruder is lunging toward them with murder in his eyes.

  Dropping the phone, she places herself between the man and her dad who is still gasping on the floor. “Just leave us alone!” She shrieks.

  He answers her demands by lunging toward her seizing her by the left arm then yanking her toward him. “Let go!” She yells through clenched teeth as she flails her body around trying to break loose of the hold he has on her.

  Tightening his hold of her arm, he lets out a sickening laugh that is nothing short of evil just as he yanks her arm behind her so hard that she feels a sharp pop and snap come from the socket. Searing pain follows, which she knows instinctually that her arm has been popped from the joint.

  She sinks to the floor from the debilitating pain. The room spins, as the intruder drags her across the floor, she hears a loud voice yell, “Stop—put your hands up. We have you surrounded.”

  Releasing a loud guttural growl, the intruder yanks Ellen onto her feet, holding her in front of him with one arm wrapped around her torso and the other holding a handgun. She lets out a loud squeal of protest, but the assailant only tightens his hold as her left arm dangles limp at her side.

  Tears spring out of her eyes as she fights against succumbing to the horrific pain. He jerks her so close to him she can feel his hot breath on the back of her neck blowing against her hair. The ragged sounds of his breathing are all she can hear as everyone waits for his next move.

  The terror she feels is churning and brewing in the pit of her stomach, she is literally this man’s human shield. Nobody can advance on him without fear of her safety.

  Tim has not moved. Lying on the floor in an unconscious heap, Ellen is praying he is okay while not allowing herself to fear the worst. Assessing the situation, she feels even more panicked… how can she possibly escape the clutches of this monster?

  In small and painfully slow movements, he has managed to move them to the back door through the mudroom. His continued hot and heavy breathing against the back of her head sickens her as he has her pressed against the door straining to see out the glass to the pitch-black grounds. Clouds having moved over the moon give perfect cover for the criminal to make his escape.

  “Open the door!” He growls in her ear.

  She winces as he tightens his hold around her body, causing an increase in the pain radiating from her arm.

  Slowly, she reaches her hand toward the door then turning the knob he jerks her, “Do it… now!” He shouts!

  “I am!” She snaps back.

  As the door opens, she feels immense trepidation hoping that if the place is surrounded that one of the new hires doesn’t get over zealous and open fire. Her heart is pounding. This is not one of her movies, this is real. Too real.

  Urging her through the door, he pushes her toward the stairs that lead to the yard and out to the lake. Stumbling down the steps the wind is whipping them around with so much force it seems to whistle an eerie tune making it feel as if this were straight out of a movie. She’s about to take another step when suddenly she hears men’s voices shouting followed by a flood of light illuminating the dark abyss. The light is so bright and blinding the man releases his hold of Ellen to shield his eyes. She takes this as a chance to escape his grasp. As she bolts down the rest of the stairs, he lunges toward her grabbing whatever he can get his hands on. Her head snaps back in a sharp whipping motion as he has her by a fistful of her hair.

  She screams then reeling backward she loses her footing falling onto the stairs with such force she takes the man down with her. They tumble down the flight of stairs bouncing off the wood planks like rugs fallen out of the bed of a truck.

  At the foot of the bannister, she hits her head on a planter with a final swift blow; passing out instantly.

  Chapter Five

  The leaves have fallen off the trees in piles around the foot of the trees lining the street. Ellen watches out the window as the landscaping crew of six ascends on the piles with ra
kes and blowers. The flurry of activity is entertaining and a welcome distraction from her boredom.

  “Ah, you are awake!” A cheery voice chirps from her hospital room door.

  Pulling her eyes away from the workers she transfers her lazy gaze to Amber as she bounds in the room with a bouquet bigger than her small frame.

  “Amber, how sweet of you though you shouldn’t have!” Ellen musters enough energy to wiggle into a sitting position while grimacing from the discomfort and the dull pulsing pain emulating from her left shoulder.

  “Of course, I should have. My gosh, what you have been through! I just keep thinking if only you had stayed a little longer, you may not have taken that tumble!”

  Ellen scoffs, “Or it may have been worse, the attacker might have done even more damage to my parents. As it is, my dad is as bad off as I am.”

  “I know, I just came from dropping off a crossword puzzle book and a box of chocolates to his room. I originally came here first, but you were fast asleep.”

  “How is dad doing?”

  “He’s in good spirits though he’s worried about you and about your mom alone in the house.”

  “Why is he worried about her alone in the house? They got the guy in custody.”

  Amber’s eyes dart around the room as if to avoid contact with Ellen.

  “Amber! What are you not telling me?”

  “Well, I doubt I should be the one to tell you but when they were transferring him to the lockup at the county, they slid on a patch of wet leaves. Losing complete control of the cruiser, the car turned over and somehow, he escaped. The deputy driving is in critical condition, but they expect him to make it,” She says while carefully assessing Ellen’s reaction.

  Her good hand flies to cover her mouth as her eyes grow large with her fear emulating, “Oh my gosh, do they have any idea where he is?”

  Shaking her blonde head rapidly, “No, they have a manhunt in progress and a bulletin for all the residents of Thunder Valley to be on alert. Honestly, we are all freaked out. Scott got out his shotgun and has been preparing it. I have been keeping the front door to the boutique locked. I put up a sign to knock.” She snorts, “Can you imagine being under lockdown? You are lucky to be in here with armed guards outside your rooms.”

  Ellen scoffs, “I guess that depends on how you define lucky. Being here in the hospital with a torn rotator cuff, a broken arm, concussion, three cracked ribs and enough facial contusions I am certain some plastic surgery is in my near future is hardly lucky.” She says solemnly.

  She tilts her head assessing Ellen’s face, “Yes, you got your share of injuries, between you and your dad it’s so unbelievable one man could inflict so much damage in such a short time.”

  “Well, he did the arm damage, but the rest is all from tumbling down those damned stairs with a two-hundred-pound man pinning me at the bottom.” She pauses, “Dad has every right to have concern for mom, that man is dangerous. Just when did he escape? She visited me yesterday afternoon and my uncle was here yesterday too, nobody said a single word.” She snarls with disgust.

  “Well that’s because it happened late yesterday around dinner time. They sent out an alert last night. We got the call just as we were sitting down to watch The Office reruns.”

  “Are they still using the phone tree?” Ellen smirks.

  Amber grins, “Yes, before you say it, the phone tree works. I hardly think anyone views it as old fashioned as you do.”

  “I know, I haven’t figured out why this village is so reluctant to embrace a little modern technology. Why not an email blast?”

  “Oh Ellie, you are too big city for us, that’s all.”

  Ellen’s face turns somber again, “I should call mom. I think she needs to go stay with someone, she shouldn’t be home by herself with this crazed attacker on the loose.”

  “Yes, that’s correct.” A deep voice responds from the door.

  “Dad! You’re up!” Ellen exclaims.

  “Yes, no thanks to that scumbag!” Tim says in a hoarse voice then clicks his tongue, “He sure didn’t spare your face.” He says as he walks gingerly to the free chair next to Amber.

  “Way to be delicate Tim.” Amber scolds, “She’s been through enough of a trauma, you should know worrying about her face will not help her recovery. All she will do now is concern herself with finding a plastic surgeon!”

  Looking sheepish, “Sorry, I am just taken at the amount of damage, I’m just relieved that Kathy didn’t get hurt too!”

  “I know, me too! Sorry, I know how selfish this sounds but is my face really that bad? Can you find me a mirror?” Ellen asks Amber as she gropes at the bandages on her face.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Give it a few more days to heal, then panic.” Tim advises.

  “You are the one who is making a fuss over my face, you can’t blame me for freaking out!” Ellen whimpers.

  “Sorry, I should never have said a word.” His eyes dart from Ellen to Amber then shifts in his seat while grimacing, “I’m starving, I swear the food here is forcing me to lose weight. I’m told that I will leave here tomorrow. What have they told you?”

  “Same. I should expect to be out of here in the morning providing everything checks out. I wish we could go home today. Speaking of which, don’t you think mom should stay with someone until we are home?”

  “Absolutely. That’s why I insisted that she go stay with Aunt Connie. I wanted to talk to you about something though.”

  With a raise of her brow, she nods, “I wonder if you should go back to LA? I’m thinking things will be unsafe for you here, or for any of us until this locket mystery is solved or forgotten. Either way, I might take Kathy away for a few weeks.”

  She releases a heavy sigh, “I don’t want to go back to LA right now. I just got here.” She looks at Tim’s face scrunched into a scowl. “I doubt that creep is still in town, he’s probably hundreds of miles away by now.”

  “That’s probably true, but we don’t know what he was after. And, we don’t know if he was acting alone or if he was sent here to do someone’s dirty work.”

  “Do they have any idea who he is?”

  “They know his identity but nothing else. He would not breathe a word without his attorney, so they know nothing except he’s ex-military, not that it matters since he got away last night while they were transporting him.”

  She scoffs, “I heard, Amber told me. I knew he must be a trained assassin or something! The way he wrangled you and kicked me at the same time is not a skill an average thug possesses.” Her eyes wide while she ponders. “So, he had an attorney, that means they didn’t get a thing out of him.”

  “Apparently.” He stretches and yawns, “Look, I’m getting tired, so I think I will shuffle back to my room for a nap. You should do the same, your uncle will be by later today or tomorrow to talk more about what happened. He’s hoping we’ll remember something that will help this investigation. Seriously, the blows to the head we both received is sure an impediment.”

  He carefully leans over and kisses her cheek.

  “Get rest Dad, maybe we can eat Jell-O together later.” She says quietly with a sardonic grin.

  “Okay. I think that is my cue to leave.” Amber says cheerfully as she jumps to her feet. “Let me know what flavor you get, personally I prefer the green.” She giggles.

  Ellen winces, “Eww, I much prefer none, but my jaw hurts so much I can hardly chew. Pudding and gelatin are some of the few things I can get down.”

  “I can only imagine.” She says with a scrunch of her nose. “Call me when you get home and I will bring some of my famous chicken noodle soup. It won’t be hard to eat, and it heals anything that ails you.”

  “Sounds wonderful! Hey, thanks for coming and for the flowers. You are so sweet to think of me.”

  She waves her hand, “Don’t mention it, I’m just glad you and Tim are okay. This could have been a lot worse. I shudder to think of how much.”

  “Bel
ieve me, I know.” Ellen sighs fighting the tears threatening at the corners of her eyes.

  Just as she is about to exit the room she pauses, “With all the craziness from that night, I keep forgetting to ask you something.”

  “Which is?”

  “Did you have any stomach troubles when you left our place?”

  Ellen shakes her head, “No, why?”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing but Scott and I both had terrible stomach pains that night and into the morning. We threw out all of the leftovers including the pie, just in case, but with all of the chaos it slipped my mind. Scott started feeling puny right as you were leaving but he didn’t want to say anything in front of you in case it was a personal problem.” She giggles.

  “Hmm. Now that you mention it, the pie tasted a little off, but I figured that was my guilty conscience.”

  Amber shrugs, “Hmm. It couldn’t be from Auntie Claire’s baked goods, no way! I know I should feel guilty about eating too many treats, but I seldom do. I guess the mystery continues. Feel better and I’ll see you soon.”

  “I’ll be in touch when I am back on my feet and thanks again for visiting.” She calls after her perky friend.

  Now that her visitors have cleared the room, she shuts her eyes against the fading light of the stark room and relives the whole nightmare—again.

  Waking with a start, the room is dark but for a sliver of light coming from the hallway outside her room. She turns her head carefully toward the nightstand next to her bed to see the time. Fumbling with the cord to turn the light on over her head, she knocks an object onto the floor.

  “Oh crud!” She blurts to herself as she flips on the light.

  She peers over the bed railing while grunting against the pain wracking her body as she is writhing to see what dropped.

  A gasp escapes her lips as her groggy eyes try to focus on the fallen object.

  She frantically pushes the nurse call button but no answer. Not surprising as it’s a small-town hospital. It’s likely that there are probably only two nurses on duty at night.