“Are you sure he’s dead, Sam?”
No one could survive a fall like that, Sam thought. “He hit the big boulder at the bottom of the falls, John. He looked dead, from where we stood.”
John bobbed his head. “Ay-yuh.” He turned sharply. “What’s that?” Sally’s name drifted through the trees from the other direction.
“Sounds like Jack, Elle’s brother.”
Within seconds, Jack caught up with them, the light from his flashlight bouncing up and down on the path.
“Sally!” Farther down, Elle’s voice pleaded for Sally to answer. “Sally, where are you?”
Jack bit his lip and stared in the direction of her voice. “Unbelievable,” he muttered. “It’s really her, isn’t it?”
Sam nodded. “Yes, Jack.”
Obviously shocked, but in awe, Jack seemed to shake it off, and got right to the situation at hand. “Sally!” He called into the trees, echoing his sister’s call. “Sally!”
The sound of rushing footsteps, brought Elle’s parents and Agent Thompson hurrying down the path. Thompson had a flashlight, too, and shone it off to the side, calling out the missing girl’s name.
Upon seeing Sam, Lucy rushed into his arms. Tears fell from her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re alive!” She sobbed. “Where is she?” Lucy wiped at her tears. “Where’s Elle?”
Sam pointed down the darkening path, where they could faintly hear Elle’s repeated callings. He didn’t like how much farther she’d gotten away from them. “I’m going to catch up to her.”
John nodded. “Good idea. I don’t think Snyder acted alone.”
“You’re kidding. And you’re just now telling me this?”
John pushed his hands through the air. “It’s only a hunch.”
Sam grunted and took off at a run. He didn’t get far, before the night air filled with a chilling scream.
Thirty-Six
Never Say, Never
Sam rounded the corner just as Jack fell to his knees beside his sister. Elle’s eyes were wide, and she was shaking all over. She clutched something to her chest. Sam couldn’t see it clearly, until Jack shone the flashlight against it.
It was an axe, darkly stained on its blade. Sam dropped down beside her and pried it away from her trembling hands. Touching the wet blood on the ground, Elle weaved and fell forward. Jack caught her.
She looked into his eyes. “Jack?” It came out like a whisper. “Where’s my daughter?” He helped her to stand back up.
Just then, John and Agent Thompson arrived. “We heard a scream,” John said, hurrying to them. The agent took the axe. John skootched down and looked at the bloody ground.
Thompson removed something from the blade. He examined it close. “What color was she wearing?”
Elle looked at Sam through teary eyes. “Yellow.”
Thompson shone the flashlight on the piece of blue fabric he’d taken from the axe blade.
“Yes, a yellow shirt,” Sam said, “and blue jeans.”
Elle’s eyes widened. “That’s blue.” She pointed at the piece of material.
Thompson shook his head. “Yes, but, it’s not denim.”
Jack looked over at them. “Merrick had a bloody rip in his blue shirt.”
“You think Sally did that?” Elle quivered. “If she did that to him, then . . .”
Lucy and Jack Sr. had arrived. She dropped down beside her daughter, and what should have been a happy reunion, became one filled with fear and anxiety.
“Hold on,” Thompson said, shining his flashlight on some broken ferns and flattened grass. “It looks like he might’ve dragged her through here.” He gave Elle a concerned look. “Um, Mr. and Mrs. Heard, maybe you should take your daughter back to the farm.”
He obviously had no clue who Elle was.
“Not. A. Chance.” Elle folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not going anywhere without my daughter.”
He shone the flashlight deeper into the dark forest. “Okay, then, follow me.” His words fell on deaf ears where Jack was concerned. He’d already rushed into the thick trees ahead of them.
“Sally!” Voices kept calling in her head. If she kept her eyes closed tight, she could almost pretend they were familiar sounds—like her mom and dad, and someone else from long ago.
“Sally!”
The voices came closer, and she remained quiet. The illusion was much better that way. She pictured her family gathered together, the reunion with loved ones, from a long time ago. So long ago, that it was difficult for her to remember them.
But still, she recalled the sound of her Uncle Jack’s voice the most. And it sounded like he was standing close enough to touch.
“Sally? Where are you?”
She wanted to answer, but how does one answer a dream, when one is wide awake? They open their eyes first, she thought.
Her eyes opened. She held back a scream, the form of a man stood over her. “Get away! Get away!”
The dark figure dropped to its knees. “Sally! It’s me, Uncle Jack.” He stood up. “I found her! Over here!” A flashlight bobbed toward them in the distance.
She looked up at him. “Jack?” It was dark now and hard to see his face. He bent back down and pulled at the rope tied around her.
Sam and Elle came out of nowhere, gushing tears, with shouts of pure joy. It would have been embarrassing, if she wasn’t tied to a tree in a dark forest in Maine. Tears streamed from her eyes, too. “Mom! Dad!”
A man with a flashlight came up beside them. She recognized him as the agent at the farm. He bent down and with his knife, cut the ropes that bound her. Sam pulled her up into an embrace. Elle wrapped her arms around both of them.
Soon, Sally was surrounded by others, whom she knew to be her mother’s parents from the pictures on the fireplace mantel in Ireland. But why were they not quiet? He could show up at any minute! She grabbed her Dad’s shoulders. Panic swept over her. “Shh! He’ll be back!” She whimpered, spasms of fear rippling through her.
“No, Sally,” Elle cooed, kissing her forehead. “He’s at the bottom of the falls.”
She blinked. “Dead?” she said, in a small voice.
“Dead,” echoed Sam.
She’d seen those movies where someone wasn’t really dead and came back again. She shivered. “Dead, for sure?”
Elle pointed toward the falls. “Dead, for sure.”
John sighed. “Good, but we’ll have to come back later and get his body before the coyotes do.”
Jack opened his mouth to speak, but his mother shushed him.
They made their way through the trees and onto the path. Overhead, the sound of a helicopter came near and then passed over them.
“To get the body?” Elle asked, a trace of fear still in her voice.
“Yes, ma’am,” Agent Thompson said.
As they followed the path farther down, misty lights shone from the farmhouse windows, giving the scene a surreal effect—one of peace. They were almost to the door, when Thompson’s radio came to life.
“Agent Thompson. Do you have a copy?”
He motioned for them to go on ahead.
He waited until they had all gone inside and then held the receiver to his mouth. “Copy that.”
“Um, sir, um, where exactly is the body, sir?”
His eyes shot open. “Come back?”
“There’s lots of blood, sir, but there’s no body.”
Author Bio
Author Theresa Sneed graduated cum laude with a BA in education, and loves teaching her 2nd grade students, especially about writing.
Her books are unique; each story taking you places you’ve never imagined before. She writes across five genres: mystery and suspense, fantasy, historical fiction/time travel, realistic paranormal, and nonfiction motivational. All of Theresa’s fiction books have elements of sweet romance, and while none of her books have profanity or sexually explicit scenes, each book is intriguing and white-knuckle intense—the kind you can’t put down.
He
r nonfiction books are So You Want to Write: A Guide to Writing Your First Book where Theresa has pulled together her fifteen steps to writing success; Fantastic Covers and How to Make Them, and Facing Mortality: Dreams & Other Significant Things a compilation of Theresa’s paranormal experiences that drove her to write her No Angel series and many scenes in her other works.
The No Angel series is the story about a guardian angel with an attitude, and the ever present, but misunderstood spirit world. There are four published books in the series with many more to come. Book one, formerly called No Angel, is now called Angel with an Attitude; book two, formerly called Earthbound, is now called Earthbound Angel; book three is called Destiny’s Angel; and book four is called Earth Angel.
The Sons of Elderberry series has two books out called Elias of Elderberry and The Wood Fairies of Estraelia. Harry-Potterish—with wizards, fairies, elves, pixies, yōkai shapeshifters, and dragons, this story has it all. Theresa anticipates another three to five books to finish that series.
Escape is the story of a fifteen-year-old girl abducted by a corrupt sheriff in the 70’s. He keeps her captive in his cellar for five years until she escapes with his truck and his young daughter. Escape is book one in the Escape series. You Can’t Hide is book two.
Salem Witch Haunt was intended to be a standalone book, until the shocking ending made it apparent that the characters were not finished telling their story. Hence, Return to Salem, where the second set of trials and hangings in Salem, 1692, are masterfully woven into the story. Salem Bewitched completes this series with the last of the trials and hangings and the peine forte et dure of Giles Corey.
As the ninth great-granddaughter of one of the women hanged as a witch in Salem, Theresa has a vested interest in this epic time travel. Thoroughly researched, all interactions with real people from that era are based on primary sources. In book one, the trial scene with Theresa’s great-grandmother, Susannah Martin, is taken from Reverend Samuel Parris’s handwritten transcript verbatim. An additional book, Stranger than Fiction, is being compiled on the primary sources Theresa used in her Salem Witch Haunt series.
All of Theresa Sneed’s books may be purchased through Amazon or from links on her website at www.theresasneed.com. She loves hearing from her readers and may be contacted through her website or through her email at [email protected].
Stay connected with new releases and free e book offers by signing up at her website or from her Facebook author page at www.facebook.com/TheresaMSneed/
You Can't Hide Page 24