by Susan Stoker
Corrie stayed silent.
“Come on, sweet cheeks. You’re not going to get away from us. You’re fucking blind. You’re gonna lose. If you yell out now, I’ll kill you quickly.”
Dimitri’s voice cut through Isaac’s fake pleasant tone. “Get out here, bitch! You’re gonna fucking pay for this. No one makes a fool out of Dimitri Prandini.”
Corrie shivered at the hate and insanity in his voice. She trembled as she adjusted her grip. She held her breath as the men seemed to stop right below the tree she was hiding in. She felt exactly like she had that day so many weeks ago when she knew if she made one wrong move, or one wrong sound, she’d die.
Exactly like that.
“We don’t have time for this shit, Dimitri.”
“We aren’t leaving her. She could ruin everything.”
“They’re not going to take a blind bitch’s word that I was the one who shot those fucking people.”
“I don’t give a fuck about you taking the rap for that! I care about her getting away and being charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and you being a pussy in interrogation and fingering me for Shaun’s death as well.”
“I wouldn’t turn against you, Dimitri.”
“The fuck you wouldn’t.”
“Look, you know I want that bitch more than anyone. Not only did she manage to hide from me, but I’ll be dammed if I go to jail because of some handicapped blonde whore. I agree that we need to find her, but we can’t stay out here all night. She can’t have gone far. She’s blind, for Christ’s sake. Where else would she go out here? Let’s keep looking for a bit longer. She’s bound to trip over something and hurt herself badly enough so she can’t get up. We’ll bring her back to the house, I’ll fuck her, you’ll torture her, then we’ll kill her. I’ll be sure to dispose of her body so that no one will ever find any trace of her.”
“You fucked this up, Isaac! Leaving her in a room with a damn window. I think she’s more resourceful than you gave her credit for! Her ass needs to die. Maybe she could’ve identified you, maybe she couldn’t, but she most certainly can now. She’s heard us talk; she knows what we were planning. We can’t let her escape now. No fucking way.”
“Dammit. Fucking bitch. It’s getting dark. We’ve got those high-powered flashlights in the car…let’s go back and get them. There’s no way she’ll be able to spend the night out here alone. She’ll most likely try to make her way toward the road. If she gets there and is able to flag down a car, we’re screwed.”
Corrie heard the two men walking back toward the way they came, but she didn’t dare move. She let out her breath slowly as the men’s voices got softer as they headed back to get their lights so they could continue to search for her. She had no idea what she’d do if they found her, or how they would get her out of the tree. Corrie wasn’t planning on coming down anytime soon, they’d have to climb up and get her, or chop the tree down. She wasn’t moving. No way, no how.
As the adrenaline in her body receded, she began to shake. Soon, she couldn’t tell what was the wind, and what was her trembling muscles. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t budging. She’d stay right where she was until Quint found her, even if she had to spend the night out there. She had no doubt Quint would come for her. No doubt at all.
* * *
Quint, Dax, Hayden, TJ, Cruz, and six other officers from both the SAPD and the FBI crept through the trees toward the cabin. They’d left their vehicles about half a mile down the gravel road so as not to alert Isaac and Dimitri they were coming. There were two trucks from Station 7 firestation on stand-by as well as an ambulance.
There was a black SUV parked in front of the cabin, so hopefully that meant the men were still there. The group of law enforcement officers split up and surrounded the house. Isaac and Dimitri weren’t going to get away. No fucking way.
Quint wanted to rush the cabin and get to Corrie, but knew they had to move slowly and carefully. One wrong move could force either of the men to kill her outright before they could get to her. He wouldn’t put it past them.
“Window open on the west side,” Quint heard Cruz say in a deep voice through his earpiece.
“Front door standing open,” Hayden replied in a steady voice from the other side of the cabin.
Quint and TJ turned together when they heard voices coming from behind them. They rushed to the other side of the SUV to conceal themselves and watched incredulously as Isaac and Dimitri came walking out of the woods—as if they’d been on a nice leisurely stroll through the trees and hadn’t just kidnapped a woman and almost killed two others.
“Hurry up and get them. We need to take care of this once and for all. We’re one step ahead of the pig cops right now, and need to keep them off our asses as much as possible. After she’s disposed of, we’ll hit up some of our other clients and get the fuck out of here. We can lay low and re-group. A blind woman isn’t going to be the end of my business. No fucking way!” Dimitri bitched as he sauntered next to Isaac.
The men were almost to the SUV when TJ popped up from around the front of their car, his pistol pointed at Dimitri. “Sorry, guys, the pig cops are all over your asses.”
Quint would’ve rolled his eyes at the corny joke, but he couldn’t muster the wherewithal to do it. Where were these assholes coming from and where was Corrie?
Isaac and Dimitri turned to run back into the woods, and came face-to-face with four more officers with guns. They were completely surrounded.
Isaac, obviously the more impulsive of the two, decided to make a grand gesture and pulled a pistol out of the holster at his side.
Several shots rang out through the clearing despite Quint’s demand to hold fire. Within seconds, neither Isaac nor Dimitri would ever collect another dime from anyone again.
Quint didn’t give a fuck whose bullets actually ended the slimeballs’ lives, except for the fact that they might have been the only two people on the earth who knew where Corrie was. They’d been talking about disposing her body, and that alone almost destroyed him. He tried to stay positive and hope that they hadn’t gotten around to killing her yet.
Hayden put her pistol back into her holster. She shrugged her shoulders at Quint before they turned to run toward the house to look for Corrie. “Two less cockroaches to worry about.” She really was hard-core, right down to her bones.
Quint holstered his own smoking service pistol as he sprinted toward the open door to the cabin.
He walked briskly through the small cabin. Every room was empty. Standing in one of the small bedrooms, he turned to TJ, who’d followed him inside.
“Quint…” TJ shook his head sadly.
Quint held up his palm to his friend. “No. Fucking no. I won’t believe she’s dead until I see it with my own eyes.”
“Buddy, they were coming back from the woods.”
Suddenly Dax was there. He put his hand on TJ’s shoulder. “No. Quint’s right. Until we see her, she’s not dead. Remember Mack? I watched her die, but she’s still with me today. We continue on until there’s absolutely no hope, then we continue on some more.”
TJ nodded solemnly. “Fuck. Yeah, you’re right. Let’s re-search. There has to be something here.”
The men split up. Dax and TJ went back to the main part of the house and Quint looked around the rooms in the back. He searched the first room with no luck, but as he headed toward the second room, he took another glance at the door.
Yes! There was a brand-new knob on the door, but it was installed backwards. The lock was on the outside, not the inside of the room. He went in and looked around. How the fuck had he missed it the first time?
He’d been looking for Corrie, not clues, that’s how.
This was the room with the open window. There was a chair sitting under it. Quint scanned the room. It seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. A twin bed, a dresser, a small closet, and that chair. He looked more carefully.
A pen. There was a pen in the windowsill.
Adrenaline
coursed through Quint’s body. “Dax!” he yelled, even as he walked to the window to take a closer look. Just as Dax was striding into the room, Quint saw it.
Small dots on the wall.
She’d left him a fucking message.
“What is it?” Dax asked, coming up beside Quint.
“Braille.”
“What’s it say?”
Quint ran his fingers over the dots. They weren’t raised like Braille was, but he couldn’t stop himself from touching them. His Corrie had been there and left them for him. He tried to concentrate on the message she’d left for him.
“Well?” Dax asked impatiently.
“Give me a second. I’m new at this. O, V, T…no, wait…U. O, U, T. Out.”
“Out? Okay, with the chair sitting right there it’s obvious she went out the window. Is that it?”
“No, there’s more.” Quint tilted his head to look at the last two letters. She’d used Grade 1 Braille to spell out the letters. She probably knew he was still trying to get the hang of Grade 2 and didn’t want to risk him not understanding what she wanted to tell him.
U and…P. Up.
“Out and Up. She went out and we need to look up.”
“Did your blind girlfriend really jump out a window in the middle of a forest after being kidnapped and head off to try to find a fucking tree to climb?”
Quint smiled at Dax’s words. Hayden had been right. Women were tough as shit. It was the first time he’d allowed himself to relax since he’d heard Corrie was missing. “Yeah. I think she did.”
“Damn, I like her, Quint. Anyone who can rescue herself is totally worthy of you.”
“Yeah, I like her too. Now, can we go and find my woman and get the fuck out of here?” Quint was already on the move as he said the words. Dax was right behind him. They collected TJ, Cruz, and Hayden on their way out.
The five officers gathered next to the cabin under the open window. Quint looked around. He closed his eyes, put his arms out and started walking.
He didn’t get ten feet before he opened his eyes. He couldn’t do it. He had no idea how Corrie had found the strength and courage to walk, literally blind into the forest. He couldn’t make it past ten steps.
Hayden had been completely right in chastising him for underestimating Corrie. She wasn’t fragile, not in the way he’d been thinking. He had no doubt everything that had happened today would traumatize her, but he’d be damned if he ever disparaged her again by thinking she was weak.
He continued walking forward, alternating between looking down and looking up. He’d be the first person to tell her how proud he was of her…as soon as he found her.
Chapter 15
Corrie shivered. She didn’t think it was cold outside, but she couldn’t really tell. She couldn’t feel her feet; the thin branch she was standing on had cut off her circulation. Climbing a tree in flip-flops wasn’t the smartest thing she’d ever done, but it wasn’t as if she’d had a choice.
Her head and knee hurt where Isaac and Dimitri had hit her. She felt dizzy, but wasn’t sure if it was because of the swaying of the tree she was in, or something else. She shivered and hugged the tree tighter. The last thing she needed was to fall out before Quint found her. She just wished he’d hurry up.
She dozed off for a bit, but she woke up with a start and convulsively grabbed at the tree. She sighed in relief when she didn’t fall. She leaned her forehead against the scratchy bark and tried not to cry.
“Cooooooorrie!”
Corrie lifted her head and tilted it in the hopes of hearing better.
“Cooooooorrie. Where are you?”
Her heart started beating like a jackrabbit again. Was Isaac back already? Darn it, she hoped maybe they’d give up the idea of looking for her when they got back to their car. Maybe the batteries in the flashlights would be dead or something. She kept her mouth shut and tried to slow her breathing.
“Corrie? Are you out here?”
The voice was female. Corrie didn’t understand what was going on. Had Dimitri and Isaac come back with reinforcements? Did they kidnap another woman? She was so confused.
She could hear more voices now. They were muted so she couldn’t catch their words.
“Corrie, sweetheart…can you hear me? It’s Quint. You’re safe.”
Quint? Quint was finally here! His voice echoed around the trees and blew into the wind.
Corrie looked toward the ground. It was silly; it wasn’t as if she could see anything. She waited. The voices got closer and closer.
What if it was a trap? What if Dimitri had a gun to Quint’s head or something? He could be using Quint to flush her out.
For the first time in a really long time, Corrie wished she could see. She used to pray to God to give her sight when she was little, but now she really really wished she could see what was going on because if she got Quint killed, she would hate herself for all eternity.
She had to take a chance. Would all those people be with him if Isaac had him? She hoped not. “Quint?” Her voice came out as a croak. She tried again, stronger this time. “Quint? I’m here.”
“Corrie? Thank fucking God!”
Corrie almost laughed at the relief in his voice.
“Again, talk to me again so I can find you.”
Corrie swallowed down the tears clogging her throat. “Here. I’m up in a tree.”
“Keep talking, sweetheart. We’ll find you.”
We? She didn’t care who was with him. She couldn’t wait for him to hold her. “I’m up here. I climbed as high as I could so they couldn’t see me. I have no idea how high I am though. Can you see me yet?” The last part came out way too pathetic-sounding for her peace of mind.
Quint stopped beneath the tall tree and stared up. He could barely see Corrie. Good God. He had no idea how she’d even gotten up that high. How in the hell was he going to get her down? “I see you, sweetheart. You just keep hanging on, okay?”
“Quint? Are you okay? They’re not with you?”
He immediately understood. Figured she’d be worried about him and not herself. “No, Corrie. They’re not here. I’m here with Cruz and some of my other friends. You’re safe.”
“Did you get them? Their names are Isaac and Dimitri, they killed Shaun. They were going to kill me too, but I got away. Did you get my message?”
Quint’s heart hurt. Corrie sounded so sad and lost. He wanted nothing more than to grab hold of her and never let go. “We got them, sweetheart. They won’t hurt you or anyone else again. They were shot and killed back at the cabin. And yes, I got your message.” He tried to interject some humor into their conversation, even though he wasn’t really feeling it. “And so you know, your U looks like a V.”
“It does not,” she protested weakly. “You just need more practice.”
Quint snorted and started undoing his shirt. He’d need to take off his vest and belt in order to be able to get through the thick network of branches to get to her.
“I got this.”
He turned to see Hayden had already taken off her gear and was reading to shimmy up the tree. He put a hand on her arm. “No, she’s my responsibility, I’ll go up.”
“There’s no way you’ll fit, Quint, think about it. I grew up climbing trees like this. Besides, you weigh more than me or Corrie. You’ll possibly break the branches and she’ll be stuck up there. Trust me. I’ll bring her to you safely.”
Quint hated it with every fiber of his being, but Hayden was right, dammit. “Okay, but,” he didn’t take his eyes off of Hayden’s, “be careful. She means the world to me.”
Hayden simply nodded and demanded, “Give me a boost.”
Quint put his hands together and held them down for her to step into. She did and he hoisted her easily up to the first branch. Looking at it, Quint had no idea how Corrie had managed to haul herself up there with no help. “Help’s coming, Corrie. Hang on.”
“You’re coming up to get me?”
Quint could hea
r the hope in her voice and hated to disappoint her. “No, not me. I’m too big. But Hayden’s coming. Remember me telling you about her? She’s a sheriff’s deputy and can outshoot and outrun most of the guys in my department. And whatever you do, don’t challenge her to one-on-one combat. She’s the only woman I know who can manage to flip me.” Quint kept his words calm and soothing. He could tell Corrie was on the verge of freaking out. “Corrie?”
“Yeah, okay. I’m scared. I’ve been waiting for you, why’d you take so long?” Corrie hated the wobble in her voice, but she’d been brave for as long as she could be, and now that Quint was there, she allowed herself to fall apart…just a little. She’d added the last to try to keep herself from freaking out more.
“I know you are, but I’m so fucking proud of you. You have no idea.” Quint kept his eye on Hayden as she shimmied up the tree as if she’d been born in one. “I set off to find you and closed my eyes for about two-point-three seconds before I had to open them again. I couldn’t do it. But you did, sweetheart. You did it. You outsmarted those assholes and saved yourself. You didn’t need me to do it.”
“I—” Her voice cut off. Quint could see that Hayden had made her way to Corrie and was talking to her.
* * *
Corrie jerked away from the touch on her calf, then relaxed when she heard the female voice.
“Easy, Corrie. It’s me, Hayden Yates. I’m going to help you down. All right?”
Corrie nodded. “Okay, thank you. I had no idea how in the heck I was gonna get out of here. How high am I?”
“You did a good job, and you don’t want to know how far you climbed, but it was high enough that we almost couldn’t see you from the ground. Even if those assholes stood right under you, they probably wouldn’t have seen you.”