The Cruel Seven
Terence Mitford
Rexor Books
Copyright © 2021 by Terence Mitford
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. All characters are fictitious and locations are either fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, alive or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.
Acknowledgments
I would like to give special thanks Terri Collins for her support, diligent attention to detail, and for assisting me with the differences in American and British terminology.
Contents
Description
Chapter 1
THE CRASH
Chapter 2
LISA
Chapter 3
MIKE
Chapter 4
LISA
Chapter 5
LISA
Chapter 6
LISA
Chapter 7
MIKE
Chapter 8
Lisa
Chapter 9
MIKE
Chapter 10
LISA
Chapter 11
LISA
Chapter 12
LISA
Chapter 13
ERICA
Chapter 14
LISA
Chapter 15
MIKE
Chapter 16
LISA
Chapter 17
LISA
Chapter 18
LISA
Chapter 19
LISA
Chapter 20
MIKE
Chapter 21
LISA
Chapter 22
LISA
Chapter 23
MIKE
Chapter 24
ERICA
Chapter 25
LISA
Chapter 26
LISA
Chapter 27
LISA
Chapter 28
LISA
Chapter 29
MIKE
Chapter 30
LISA
Chapter 31
MIKE
Chapter 32
LISA
Chapter 33
LISA
Chapter 34
LISA
Chapter 35
ERICA
Chapter 36
LISA
Chapter 37
MIKE
Chapter 38
LISA
Chapter 39
LISA
Chapter 40
ERICA
Chapter 41
LISA
Chapter 42
LISA
Chapter 43
LISA
Chapter 44
LISA
Chapter 45
LISA
Chapter 46
LISA
Chapter 47
LISA
Chapter 48
LISA
Chapter 49
LISA
Chapter 50
LISA
Chapter 51
MIKE
Chapter 52
LISA
Also by Terence Mitford
Note From Author
About the Author
THE CRUEL SEVEN
A Dark, Psychological, Suspense Thriller
Hoping to repair their faltering marriage, Lisa and Mike take a flight in a light aircraft from New York State to Quebec City for a short vacation.
When their plane crashes in the middle of the Maine forest, they are lucky to survive.
But could fate have other plans for them?
While exiting the wreck, Mike falls and injures his back, leaving Lisa no choice but to set off in search of help. When she finds a house in the woods, inhabited by a family of seven, she thinks they are safe.
But could the family have a hidden agenda, and is her real nightmare just beginning?
How far will she go to please them? How far will she go to break free?
And will you ever go down to the woods again?
The book has been written in American English.
1
THE CRASH
It was three minutes past noon when the small single-engine plane clipped the top of the first tree. Like a stone thrown across a lake’s surface, it skimmed over the tops of four more before gravity and friction slowed its momentum, and it was swallowed up beneath the green canopy.
Steel ripped, and wood splintered and snapped.
It didn’t go down without a fight, but it was an unfair match, and one it was destined to lose. Like a tired warrior tearing through the front ranks of an attacking army, the plane battered its way through the trees and paid the price. Its wings were first to go, ripped away like paper. The tail fins next, followed by sections of the fuselage. What was left slammed into the ground, groaning, creaking, and hissing, its crumpled nose buried in the dirt, its shattered tail resting over the low branches of the last tree in the battle.
Wildlife had evacuated the area as if wired into an early warning system on speed dial.
Silence followed.
2
LISA
For Lisa Walker, the day began with an uneasy feeling way down in the pit of her stomach, a consequence of the current state of her relationship with Mike.
She zipped up her suitcase and filtered through a cocktail of emotions. Although a little nervous and even skeptical about the week ahead, it could be their best chance of moving on from the last six weeks of limbo.
This vacation could help to make up her mind. It would be seven days that would either make them or break them. Either strengthen their marriage or destroy it.
She didn’t doubt that she still loved Mike, but that might not be enough. She needed to trust him and respect him and know that he felt the same way about her as she did about him. But right now, she couldn’t be sure of anything.
Mike had begged for her forgiveness and swore he would never be unfaithful to her again, and he had promised to prove how much he loved her. So she had agreed to go away with him. Just the two of them. To find out if she could forgive him, and although she was making no promises, she had agreed to give it her best shot.
But it wouldn’t be easy. After discovering his indiscretion, she had banished him to the spare room because she couldn’t bear to have him touch her. So how could she share a bed with him for the next seven nights?
Mike had chartered a small light aircraft to ferry them the five hundred miles from New York State to Quebec City. But as they arrived at the airfield and approached the single-engine plane, Lisa tensed up and drew a deep breath.
Mike held her hand in the back of the taxi and leaned close. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “Is that it?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’ve had a wasted journey, because I’m not going anywhere in that.”
“I told you it was a small, light plane and you agreed.”
“I know, but I didn’t realize how small. Now I see it up close it doesn’t look safe.”
Mike laughed. “It wouldn’t be allowed to take off if it wasn’t safe. They are checked regularly and have to pass inspections.”
“We’ve driven twenty miles in a taxi to this. It doesn’t even look like a proper airport.”
“It’s just a regional airfield, but it has a runway. You know, statistically, flying is the safest form of transport.”
“Maybe it is, but I still don’t want to fly anywhere in that. Why couldn’t you book
us on a regular flight like everyone else?”
“Because this is more intimate and romantic.”
“You think being terrified is romantic? I need to share some insights with you about what women like.”
Mike sighed. “Okay, just come on board and see how you feel. If you still don’t want to go through with it, we’ll leave, and I’ll find us a regular flight.”
Lisa took a moment to consider the situation. As much as she didn’t want to fly in this winged tin can, she didn’t want the vacation to get off on the wrong foot. And trying to find seats on a regular flight on short notice might not be easy, so she took a couple of deep breaths and agreed to take a look.
Mike shook hands with the pilot on the tarmac and introduced him to Lisa. “Lisa, Carlos, Carlos, Lisa. She’s nervous about flying in a small plane. She needs to sit inside for a few minutes to settle her nerves and to see if she’s willing to take off.” Mike winked at Carlos.
Lisa guessed he was just mocking her for being scared. She didn’t like it, but she was more concerned at the prospect of leaving the ground in a toy plane than her insensitive husband. So she made a mental note to tackle him about it later.
They followed Carlos to the mobile steps, and he loaded their suitcases onto the rear seats, then helped Lisa up to the cabin. Inside was claustrophobic and not much bigger than the taxi they had arrived in. There were six seats in three rows of two, with a tiny aisle running down the center. Lisa sat in the middle row behind the co-pilot’s seat, and Mike sat next to her. “Well, what do you think?”
Carlos climbed in and took his seat in front of them.
She glanced from the pilot to Mike. “Seriously? I hate it.”
Mike’s face dropped, and he looked at Carlos as if waiting for him to help.
Carlos turned and gave Lisa a sympathetic smile. “Don’t worry Madam. You are not the first of my passengers to be nervous and I’m sure you won’t be the last.”
She forced a smile, aware that it probably didn’t look genuine. “How did your previous nervous passengers cope?”
“They fastened their seat belts and held on tight until we landed. You can see the fingernail marks in the armrests.”
Lisa glanced down, and Mike and Carlos burst out laughing. Carlos said, “Sorry, Madam. I’m just teasing you.”
“About the nervous passengers or their nail marks?”
“The marks, of course. I have flown many nervous passengers and I’ve not lost any yet.”
Lisa felt a little silly, but her smile was genuine this time. Carlos was doing his best to relax her, and it worked, just a little.
“You know, Madam, statistically, flying is—”
She interrupted and finished his sentence. “Yes, I know. The safest form of transport. Mike’s already played that card.”
“Ah, but did he tell you that flying is safer than going to bed at night, because more people die in bed than in plane crashes?”
Lisa laughed out loud, and guessed she didn’t need to explain that almost eight billion people go to bed every night, while there’s probably only around one million in the air at anyone time, and just a fraction of those at night.
Carlos grinned, then took hold of a pendant on a chain around his neck and pulled it out for her to see. “I had this especially made just after I married my lovely wife. It is half of a heart made from pure gold. Selina, my wife, has the other half. I have Selina’s name on the back and she has mine on the back of hers.” He raised it to his lips. “I kiss this before every flight and it keeps me safe. I have to return so that our hearts can be reunited.” He winked at her. Not the creepy, I fancy you kind, but the friendly, encouraging kind. “So there’s nothing to worry about.” He turned around and started the engine.
Carlos’s little story pulled on her own heart strings and had almost brought a tear to her eye. As much as she wanted to get out and go to a major airport for a regular flight, she didn’t want to disappoint Mike or offend Carlos, so she asked for a couple of minutes to decide.
Carlos agreed but told her he needed to taxi to the runway or they may lose their take off slot.
As the plane maneuvered, Lisa’s doubts and concerns increased. The whole body of the plane seemed to creak and twist with every deviation in direction. She looked at Mike. “Are you sure about this?”
Mike wrapped his arm around her and kissed her cheek. “Do you think I would bring you on here if I wasn’t? Carlos is an experienced pilot. He makes this trip several times a month. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Mike’s attempt at reassurance had distracted her from seeing they were picking up speed. She looked out of the window. They were on the runway and barreling along at such a rate she was sure the wheels would leave the ground at any moment.
Carlos glanced over his shoulder. “In ten-seconds I have to either pull up or shut down, otherwise we will overshoot the runway and wrap ourselves around a tree or a house or the perimeter fence.”
She drew a deep breath. Carlos must have used up eight of those ten seconds with his little speech. Now she had no choice. “Okay, okay, let’s go.” She shouted, then winced. What have I done?
The words had barely left her lips when Carlos pulled back on the controls, and the plane lifted into the air within what seemed like inches from the end of the runway.
They had tricked her. They were taking off no matter what her decision had been. She didn’t need to be a pilot to know that any action other than taking off would have ended in disaster. And as for missing their take off slot. The airport was little more than a single runway and a small two-story control tower in a large field. There were only a few cars parked next to it and a few small planes dotted around, none of which were maneuvering or showing any activity close to preparation for takeoff.
She dug her elbow into Mike’s ribs. “So you think you know me that well, do you?”
Mike shrugged.
The monstrously loud drone of the single engine now drowned out the creaking of the plane’s body. As unnerved as she was, she decided to make light of it and distract herself from an experience she could have done without. She leaned closer to Mike. “What time do they serve drinks?”
Mike grinned. “This is fun, isn’t it?”
“No, but if we make it there in one piece, I might not kill you.”
“I’m glad you’re in a forgiving mood.”
She glanced at him. “Some things are easier to forgive than others.”
Mike nodded. “I know. I’m not taking anything for granted.”
“Good. Now save your vocal cords for when we get off this thing. You are going to need them. I want a full explanation of how you ended up in our neighbor’s bed.”
“But you told me you didn’t want to hear any details.”
“No, I told you I wasn’t ready to hear any details. But that was then, and this is now, and now I’m ready.”
Mike sat back in his seat. His face drained of all color.
3
MIKE
A few minutes into their shaky, noisy flight, Mike reached across the narrow isle between the seats and squeezed Lisa’s hand. He considered himself incredibly lucky to be sitting next to her en route to a vacation that might just allow him to win her forgiveness. Because he knew he didn’t deserve it. And he knew that if she stuck by him, he would never betray her again. She was disappointed with him, but he was disgusted with himself.
It had been six weeks since that fateful night, and he still hadn’t been able to make sense of his own actions. He was married to the most wonderful girl on the planet, and as far as he was concerned, the prettiest.
He glanced to his right. She still took his breath away with her delicate femininity, her amber eyes dappled with gold flecks, and her silky, honey-brown hair resting just below her shoulders. So he couldn’t use the excuse that she had let herself go in the three years since they had married. Because the opposite was true. Lisa took pride in her appearance and worked hard to maintain her slim
and shapely figure. And it was while she was out at her regular exercise class that Mike answered the door to a neighbor.
Vicki had moved next door a few months earlier and often chatted across the driveways, but Mike had thought it was just harmless flirting, and had not expected her to show up at his door in a skimpy mini dress and armed with a bottle of wine. He invited her in out of politeness and fetched two glasses from the kitchen for the same reason. Two bottles later, the one Vicki had brought, and the one he had supplied to reciprocate, and one thing led to another, until he found himself unable to stop what they had started.
Vicki had asked Mike to help move some furniture in her bedroom and naively he’d agreed. After struggling with two heavy sets of drawers, he flopped down, exhausted, onto the bed. Within seconds, Vicki had straddled him and hitched up her short dress, and his resistance had melted away due to a combination of alcohol, exhaustion, and excitement.
Afterwards, he realized he had made the biggest mistake of his life and couldn’t live with the guilt. So a few days later, he sat Lisa down and confessed. He hadn’t really thought through what her reaction would be, but believed he could convince her it had meant nothing to him and that it would never happen again. He soon found out it wouldn’t be quite that easy.
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