by Jo Chambliss
As I climb into the empty cargo area, I’m trying to work through different escape scenarios. Maybe Ari and I can bail when the vehicle stops if there’s another car nearby.
I think back to a news clip I saw once showing that you can reach around the driver, pull up their seatbelt, and choke them with it.
Both ideas go to hell after I get in the back of the van. First of all, there’s some sort of cage behind the front seats. Worse than that, he doesn’t put Ari in the back with me. He closes the sliding door after I get in, and Ari gets shoved through the driver door into the front passenger floorboard.
Ari reaches for me, but the man shoves her back down and drives off. “You stay there and be quiet, or I’ll hurt your mom.” Her cries turn to sniffles as she draws her knees up to curl into a ball.
I’ve got to do something. Feeling around the cargo area, I’m hoping to find something to use as a weapon. It’s dark back here; the only light I have is the occasional streetlight we pass.
“You’re wasting your time back there. It’s not like I’d accidentally leave a screwdriver or knife for you to find.”
I stop my search, and a sob escapes my throat. No Willa! You’ve got to keep it together if you’re going to get Ari out of this alive.
Think… When he makes it to his destination, he’ll have to get us out. I won’t have a chance then, because he’ll get Ari out first in order to guarantee my compliance. What else, Willa? He used a knife earlier, which means he probably doesn’t have a gun. That’s a plus. If I can temporarily incapacitate him, we’ll be able to run without fear of taking a bullet in the back.
Fortunately, he didn’t search me when he put me in here. While my keys are in my purse in my car, my kubotan is always kept in my pocket. Scoring a hit to his thigh will render him unable to run for long enough for us to get a good head start. If I can get the side of his knee, we’ll have even longer. You can do this. You have to do this.
Our ride is a surprisingly short one, but I have no clue where we ended up. While we’ve lived in this area for two years, I haven’t exactly had the time or inclination to go exploring the town’s back roads
I can’t see any lights through the van windows, but that’s not surprising. In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, there isn’t a lot of light pollution, and because of the vast number of trees, visibility is very short unless you’re looking up.
The asshole in the white mask gets out of the van, dragging Ariel with him as I had anticipated. Just as before, he holds his knife to her throat in order to control me.
My lack of options has left me no choice but to do as I’m ordered. At his word, I slide out of the van, and he directs me toward a dark cabin. Once we’re inside, he shoves Ari to me. “Take off your clothes, everything,” he orders. What?! NO!
The man goes to a closet and pulls out two white dresses. No, not dresses; they’re old-fashioned nightgowns trimmed in Battenberg lace. He tosses the nightgowns to me. “Either you do it, or I do it.”
With shaking hands, I put myself between Ari and the man as I change her into the ornate gown. Ari resists when I pull it over her head. “It’s itchy.”
“Shhh, baby. You’ll only have to wear it a little while.” I hope. At least, it’s of an old design that’s meant to cover everything from the neck down.
Still facing away from the man, I reach in my pocket and pull out the kubotan, handing it to Ari. Discreetly, I put my finger to my lips in a shushing gesture, and then begin unbuttoning my shirt.
I slip the gown over my head before removing my underwear, jeans, and shoes.
“Now, kick everything over to me.”
The man bags everything up and returns to the closet where he pulls out some rope. Next, he grabs a sturdy, wooden chair from the dining table. “Mom, you come here and have a seat.”
When I hesitate, he pulls out a gun and points it at Ari. “NO! Wait. I’ll sit. I’ll sit.”
As he ties my arms and legs to the heavy chair, I feel myself losing the battle to despair. I look over to my daughter and remind myself, I have to be strong for her.
Turning my focus back to the man, I ask, “Why are you doing this?”
“Because you left him!”
It can’t be. Jonathan is doing this to us?
“He only hit you when the house wasn’t clean or dinner wasn’t good enough. Instead of becoming a better wife, you left. Without you there, he turned his fists on me. HIS SON!”
For a moment, I’m relieved that my ex-husband isn’t behind the kidnapping, not that it helps the situation. This guy is obviously out of his mind, thinking I’m his mother, stepmother, or something similar.
“You know, he blamed me for you leaving. He said that I wasn’t man enough to keep you from sneaking out when he was gone. You’re nineteen years old. Damn well old enough to use your belt to keep order while I’m gone.”
“I yell at your useless daughter for not doing the dishes, and you grab her up and run out of there.”
The crazed man walks to the desk and opens a box. Panic wells up inside me when he pulls out a gleaming knife. “Since your little girl means so much more to you than my father and I do, you’re going to get a chance to prove it. We’re going to play a little game. Do you like hide-and-seek, Susie?” he asks Ari.
Ari looks confused, so she looks to me. I gesture a fast head nod, and thankfully, she mimics me. “Good. Your mom’s going to start counting. When she stops, I’m going to come find you.”
The man marches Ariel to the door and shoves her outside. “RUN, ARI!” I yell out. “Run as fast and as far as you can. Don’t look back! Go, baby! GO!”
I’m sobbing and jerking against my binds as the man closes the door. When he turns back around, I feel my blood chill. “As long as you count, I’ll be in here. When you stop counting, I go hunting. Let’s see just how much you’re willing to take for your daughter.”
The first slice of the knife is surreal. He’s made a shallow cut on my right forearm, about two inches long. He looks at me expectantly, and I grit my teeth. “One.” As he moves to my other side, blood blooms on the arm of the gown. The knife trails over my left shoulder, causing me to suck in a harsh breath. “Two.”
After the tenth cut, I bite my tongue hard enough to draw blood to keep from begging the man to stop. On number twenty, I fail to speak fast enough, making him look at his watch. “Twenty,” I sob.
The gown is mostly red now with cuts up and down my arms and legs, across my stomach, and sides. I’ve got to give Ari more time to get away and find help.
“Thirty-seven,” comes out as a whisper. By cut number forty-five, I’m so woozy and tired that I can hardly keep my eyes open.
Fifty-two is the last number I remember saying.
Chapter 3
Chris
Walking away from the house of horror, I begin scanning the dark woods as I pick my way to the squad cars. Where are you, asshole? You couldn’t have gone far.
What I wouldn’t give to have my team and our equipment here now. “Settle down, Fish. This isn’t your pond,” I mumble to myself.
Reaching Mike’s patrol car, I climb inside drive through the chaotic maze of emergency vehicles. When I arrive at the station, Harry meets me outside and holds out his hand for the keys.
I get out and go to the other side as he slides in behind the wheel. Before my door is even closed, Harry pleads, “Please don’t ask me any questions you know I’m not supposed to answer.”
The younger deputy hasn’t known me long but has apparently been warned. To put him at ease, I ask, “How do you like working for Mike?”
“I thought you weren’t going to ask questions I couldn’t answer,” he jokes. I scoff in reply because Mike can be a handful, but don’t really feel like laughing.
The car rolls out of the lot, and Harry asks, “How bad was it?”
I keep my eyes on the road ahead and think about the scene. “I’m not a cop, but I’ve seen a lot. That, tonight, was bad.”
>
The rest of the drive to Mike’s house is made in silence. When Harry and I get out at Mike’s house, I head for the door as Harry goes to relieve the deputy that was stationed across the street. Michele opens the door as I reach the top step. “How’s the mother?” she asks.
I offer a shrug and say, “Alive.”
There’s no point in saying anything more. “I’m glad you’re here. She wouldn’t go to sleep. Not that she’s been whiny or anything, she’s just been up waiting on you, certain you would be coming back for her.” Michele moves aside to let me in, and Ari runs and jumps into my arms. With her jaw hanging open, Michele just stands there staring. “Are you sure you don’t know this girl?”
Given that I’ve known her as long as Mike, I don’t hesitate to give her my best leave me alone look.
Putting up her hands, she backpedals. “I know, I know. It’s just that I’ve never, ever seen a child get so attached to someone so quickly. And I’ve been teaching kids for a long time.”
“I don’t know, Michele. I’m sure it’s just a post-traumatic, hero thing. She’d have reacted this way to anybody that found her.”
“You may be sure, but I’m not. Anyway, she needs some sleep. Maybe now that you’re here, she’ll stop fighting it.”
“Actually, I’m taking her to the hospital.”
“I thought Dr. Miller checked her out?”
“She did. This is more for her mother. When she wakes up, she’ll likely be too freaked out to aid in the investigation unless she can see with her own eyes that her daughter is safe.”
Looking down at the tiny girl, I see that she’s already fallen asleep on my shoulder. “See what I mean?” Michele asks with that pesky smile on her face.
Wanting to change the subject, I ask her, “Hey, do you have something else I can put her in?”
“Not really. Without a jacket or pants, that gown is better than an oversized t-shirt, which is the only thing I could offer you.”
“I’ll figure something out. We’re going to head out now. Thanks for taking care of her.”
“Forget it. She’s a sweet kid.” Her voice turns sad when she adds, “Makes me wish Mike and I could have one of our own.”
“Don’t give up, Mish. It’ll happen one day.”
Michele doesn’t respond but covers Ari with a blanket and opens the door. “Bye, Mish,” I whisper. Turning around then, I carefully walk down the stairs to the cruiser. Harry opens the front passenger door, and I slip inside, opting to let Ari sleep on me for as long as she will.
When Harry’s behind the wheel again, he looks over at me and shakes his head. Wanting to avoid any more suggestive, fatherly type comments, I ask, “Where did they take Ari’s mom?”
“UVA Culpeper.” That’s more than forty minutes away. Welcome to rural Virginia.
Thirty minutes later, we’re nearly to the hospital, and I’m sweating. Not because of nerves, but because of this little oven asleep on my chest.
Several times during the drive, I noticed that she reached up and pulled at the neck of her gown in her sleep. I don’t blame her; it’s barely touching me above my shirt collar, and it’s driving me insane. I’ll never know how people could stand to wear something so scratchy.
That gives me an idea. “Hey, Harry, isn’t there a Walmart around here?”
“Yeah. You looking to do a little shopping?”
“I just want to get the kid some normal clothes to put on. I’m sure Mike is going to want the gown.”
“You’re probably right.” The deputy gets out of the turn lane for the hospital and continues down the highway. As he pulls up to the entrance of the twenty-four-hour superstore, I nudge Ari. “Hey, kid. Ari, wake up.”
“Let her sleep, man. Just put her in the back seat.”
“Yeah, and when she wakes up in the unfamiliar car with the unfamiliar man, she can just freak the hell out, right?”
Harry just stares at me. “You do realize you’re going to look like a pedophile if you walk in there with a four-year-old on your shoulder at three am.”
“Harry… Shut up.”
I open the back door and lay her down on the seat. “Ari… Ari, wake up.” She rubs her eyes and rolls over. “Come on, Ari. Open your eyes.”
“Fish? Where’s mama?”
“I’m taking you to see her, but I need to get you some clothes. I want you to stay here with Harry while I go in the store, Ok?”
“Ok.”
I close the door and look back at Harry. “Don’t move from this spot.” The jackass offers me a salute. “Yes, sir!” I respond by giving him the finger and turn for the store.
Just before I walk in the automatic doors, a thought strikes me. I make the short trip back to the cruiser, grab a pen from the front, open the back door, and pick up Ari’s foot. Holding the heel of her foot to the heel of my hand, I use the pen to mark the length of her foot on my finger.
Now I head into the store. In the kid’s section, I realize I don’t have a damn clue what I’m doing. Thank god for Google. I pull out my phone and look up size charts for kids. With her age and approximate height and weight, I’m able to determine what’s the best size to get.
I run around, grabbing sets of PJs and everyday clothes. It feels like I’m overdoing it, but who knows how long her mother will be in the hospital. Wait… What will happen with Ari until her mother is released?
Stop it, Fish. This is not your kid, and she’s not a puppy. Do not get attached.
Shaking my head, I move to the shoe department and put my hand against a shoe chart on the floor. The mark on my hand is almost to the five, so I figure that’s good enough. I grab tennis shoes and some fuzzy looking boots that should be warm. The next aisle over has socks and underwear. It’s awkward as hell, but I grab a pack of princess panties, hoping they’ll work.
By now, my arms are overloaded, and I have no idea where I’m going to put all this shit. Remembering I’m in Walmart, I walk around till I find a girly duffle bag and add it to the ridiculously large pile.
On my way to the checkout, I pass a section with Disney blankets and stuffed animals. On a whim, I decide to stop. There’s a blue snow blanket with a weird, stuffed snowman, a Minnie Mouse blanket and plush, and then I find the winner. The blanket is an ocean scene, and the plush is an orange fish.
Unable to possibly carry anything else, I move toward the checkout stands and go straight to the self-checkout. This saves me from having to endure the suspicious looks I’d otherwise get for my strange, midnight shopping spree.
Seven minutes and more than two-hundred-dollars later, I’m on my way back outside.
“Good god, man! Did you go in there intending to buy the whole store?”
“Shut up, Harry,” I tell him for the second time tonight.
Seeing that Ari’s still asleep in the back seat, I decide to leave her there. While we’re headed back toward the hospital, I’m removing tags and stickers, folding, and placing things in the duffle bag. After Harry parks the car, I toss him some of the bags and make him help.
Once everything’s put away, I sling the strap over my shoulder as he gathers the trash. I unfold myself from the low seat and open the back door of the cruiser. Carefully, I extract the sleeping girl to keep from waking her. As soon as I’m upright, I cover her with the new fish blanket.
After tossing the trash, Harry acts as an escort, leading me through the hospital to the mother’s floor. He deposits me in a family lounge by the nurse’s desk and leaves to speak to the Culpeper officer stationed outside Willa’s room.
Ari’s been asleep through this whole trek, but as soon as my ass hits a chair, she’s awake. “I’m thirsty, and I need to go potty.”
Oh, god. A whole new kind of fear takes over me, and I jump up and run to the nurse’s desk. “Could one of you help me? I’m babysitting this little girl for her mother in the room guarded by the police. She needs to potty… and I…”
The young nurse smiles brightly at my embarrassment but sta
nds up from her seat at the desk. “Let me help with that.”
Ari makes a grumpy face. “I’m four. I can do it myself.” The nurse bites her lip to keep from laughing now. “I bet you can, sweetie, but you don’t know where the bathroom is. I’ll show…”
Some sort of alarm goes off at her station, and she looks at me apologetically. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. The people here have bigger problems than me.”
The nurse gestures with her hand to my left. “There’s a large, single bathroom right around the corner.”
“Thanks.” I carry the little girl toward the bathroom more afraid of going in there with her than I was of BUD/s training. Once inside, I look at the floor and her bare feet. “Shit. I can’t put you down on a nasty bathroom floor without shoes.”
“Shit’s a bad word, Fish.”
In a full-blown panic, I look around to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do now. The bag is strapped to my back, and there is no counter to set her down on. There! I rip out some paper towels and lay them on the floor in front of the toilet.
As soon as her toes touch the floor, I’m whirling around so I won’t see… anything. While I’m facing the wall, I pull bag around and take a knee, resting the bag across my thigh to keep it off the floor. From inside, I grab some PJs and the fuzzy fish slippers that I found next to the character blankets.
The toilet flushes, and I extend the arm holding the pajamas out behind me. “Ari, change out of that scratchy gown into these PJs.”
“I don’t have any panties,” I hear her say.
The hand holding the clothes clenches till my knuckles are white. If that bastard touched her, I’m going to rip his fucking head off. I force myself to take a deep breath and dig around for the princess panties I thankfully picked up. Pulling out a single pair, I hold my arm out backward to her again.
She takes them from me and places a tiny hand on my shoulder to steady herself. When her hand moves, I figure she’s ready for the PJs, so I hand them back. After a minute, she taps me on the shoulder. “I’m done.” I turn around, holding the slippers to put them on her before she steps off the paper towels.