The Captive Girl

by David Nees

  “We have to run now, uphill. Come with me.” He grabbed her hand again and set out up the slope. The guards might follow but they would be at a disadvantage; Dan would have the high ground and the experience in the woods.

  Chapter 16

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  T he two men waiting in their car down the road from the compound heard the loud blast of the bridge going up. They looked at one another but didn’t speak. They were patient, not wanting to get in the middle of whatever mayhem was going on. Listening more carefully, they could hear the gunfire, some of it sporadic, some of it obviously automatic fire. Still they waited.

  Before reaching the Range Rover, Dan heard the pursuit behind him. Some of the remaining guards were following and closing in on him as he struggled with the girl. She had come to the conclusion that she didn’t want to go with Dan. She started to resist and pull back. He had to drag her onward. She began to shout and scream for help. He heard the footfalls and the crack of branches close behind, soon the bullets would fly and might find his back…or hers.

  He reached a large oak tree and threw himself and the girl behind it just a burst of gunfire whistled past them. The trunk was almost three feet in diameter. Bullets now flew around the trunk on both sides. He pushed her flat to the ground. His face was set in a rage, his eyes bright with anger.

  “You see? They will kill you as easily as me. They don’t care. Shut up and stay still. You move from this tree, you are dead.”

  The girl now lay still, her eyes wide with fear. Dan turned and jiggled the brush to the right of the tree. A long burst of automatic fire followed. He switched the M4 to his left shoulder and swung it around the other side of the tree and let loose on full automatic. One guard fell back like a rag doll. The other threw himself into the bushes but Dan saw him get pitched back from a round. The .223 caliber round fired by the M4 would take out a man with a hit anywhere, even an extremity. It delivered a massive amount of energy to the target. The man might not be dead, but he was going to be out of action.

  Dan grabbed the girl and they slid back from the tree, keeping the large oak tree between them and where he saw the second guard go down. When they had gotten enough distance and could not be seen, He pulled her to her feet and they continued up the slope with Dan pulling, half-dragging the girl along.

  When they reached the SUV, Dan turned the girl to face him.

  In German he told her, “You almost got both of us killed back there. I’m trying to save you.”

  She had a more rebellious look in her eye now that the shooting seemed to be over. “I don’t want to go with you. You kidnapped me.”

  “You’re coming whether you want to or not. I’ll tie you up if I have to.”

  “I’ll scream. The police will stop us and catch you. Leave me alone.” This last she delivered almost as a plea.

  “You’re high right now. You can’t think, so I’m not going to listen to you.”

  “I can think enough to know I don’t want to go with you.” She glared at him. “What did you do back there? At the mansion? We were all having a good time. It was going to be a fun afternoon and evening, then you came.”

  Dan thought for a moment. This was not the time and certainly not the place to argue with a teenager on drugs.

  “We’ll talk later, when you’re straight. Right now you will come with me.”

  He grabbed her. She screamed again. He pulled her arms behind her back and zip tied her wrists.

  “Stop it you pervert!” She shouted.

  There was more shouting with hearty and vulgar epithets as Dan wrestled her to the passenger door and shoved her inside. After throwing his gear in the back, Dan put a fresh magazine in his M4 and placed it on the floor under his seat. He climbed in and started the engine.

  When the gunshots died down the men got restless. Finally they heard only a few ever fainter reports. The passenger nodded to the driver and they started the car. They drove up the hill carefully, watching ahead for any sign of a descending vehicle. When they got to the compound, they stopped and looked at the blown-out bridge. The driver grabbed a pair of binoculars from the dash and trained them on the bridge and then the mansion further away. The passenger reached over into the back seat and opened a bag on the floor. He pulled out an AK-47 and set it in front of him. The driver nodded and they began to drive upward.

  Further up the road they heard the sound of an engine coming from the woods. They stopped. Then the Range Rover appeared, coming out from a side trail. The passenger reached for the binoculars as the SUV reached the road and slid sideways. He called out the license number as the vehicle started up the hill in a shower of gravel. “EP865CP”.

  Dan saw the car in the rearview mirror. What’s that? He had no illusions that it was a random encounter. He pressed the accelerator and the Land Rover hurtled up the winding road. The sedan accelerated, following him.

  The car was no match for the Rover on the gravel road. Dan had the advantage of four-wheel drive. He threw the four thousand plus pound machine sideways into the corners and floored the throttle, causing the tires to claw their way ahead accelerating the machine out of each turn. The sedan driver, even while ignoring the pounding his car was taking on the bumpy surface, saw that he was losing ground. He could enter the corners faster but with only two-wheel drive the car struggled to accelerate on exiting.

  With every turn, the BMW lost more and more ground. The passenger looked over at the driver but didn’t say a word. He knew the disadvantage they had. When they got to a paved road that would be over and the powerful BMW could reel in the Range Rover. It was fast, but not as fast as the car. And he had the license plate number in his head.

  “Slow down, you’re going to wreck. You’ll kill us!” the girl shouted.

  Dan ignored her in his concentration. She threw herself against him almost causing the Land Rover to go off the road. Dan shoved an elbow at her, throwing her back into her seat. He was losing them, but he had to gain enough ground that they couldn’t see where he turned when he started north. Who are they? The car didn’t come from Feriz’s compound. And a late party arrival would not be chasing him. Partygoers had no stomach for this action. He shook his head.

  “Why are you doing this?” Evangeline asked.

  Dan glanced over at her for a moment. Her short hair was disheveled. She had a fearful look in her eyes. She needed an explanation but he had no time to give it to her and doubted she was in any condition to understand it.

  After cresting the pass, the road snaked downhill on other side as it had going uphill. It was even harder to go fast downhill than it was going uphill. You didn’t have gravity helping you brake into each corner. He worked his brakes hard but had to be careful. They could easily get burned out trying to stop the heavy machine at which point the pursuing car would catch him. The BMW now had the advantage. Dan could only hope the four-wheel drive traction would still keep him ahead. He started throwing the big SUV sideways just before entering the turn to help scrub off speed and set the car up in a rally-style drift through the corner. The Land Rover responded gallantly for such a large, tall vehicle. As long as Dan didn’t ask too much of it, he could slide into the corners. The girl had put her head down in abject fear. Going downhill frightened her more than the race uphill.

  Part of the way down from the ridge the road turned north to follow a narrow valley. It was flatter, still full of curves but with long straight sections where Dan could let the Land Rover stretch its legs. The sedan could not go as fast on the rough surface without tearing itself apart. The rough, loose gravel was still favoring the SUV. He was a half mile ahead when he came to the E71 route. It was the main road he had taken to get down into Croatia.

  He turned right onto the highway just before it went into a long tunnel. Dan slotted in with the traffic. He could not pass and had to drive in line knowing pursuit was somewhere behind him. But the pursuers also could not pass and would have to remain in place in the traffic str
eam.

  Dan’s plan was to get to Zagreb and then drive through Slovenia and into Austria if he could shake the car following him. He had rented a remote chalet in anticipation of spending a day or two there, getting his charge ready for delivery while he arranged the drop off.

  Now that they were at normal speed, the girl spoke up. “Where are you taking me?”

  “We’re going to Austria for a day or two and then on to Italy.”

  “Who are you and what do you want with me? You’re not going to hurt me, are you?”

  Dan shook his head. “Nein.” I’m going to buy you some new clothes and let you get sober.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re Evangeline. I’m taking you back to your father. He sent me to rescue you from the porno guy.”

  Dan looked sideways at her and saw the blood drain from her face. “No, no!” she almost screamed. “I won’t go back. Nie und nimmer! No, never!”

  Dan was taken aback at her ferocity. “He’s worried about you and wants you back. Can you imagine how bad he felt when you ran away?”

  “He’s a monster. I’d rather die than go back. You won’t get me to Austria let alone Italy.”

  The Land Rover had tinted windows which helped. No one looking at them as they drove along would notice that Evangeline’s hands were tied behind her.

  “My hands hurt. Will you untie them?” she asked plaintively.

  “I don’t think I can trust you. I’m sorry but I’ll have to leave you tied up until we can figure out how we’re going to make this trip together. Because we will make the trip.”

  “What about the car following us?”

  “I’m trying to figure that out. Why they would be following me and who would know I’m here?”

  Jane might know. They could be agency assets sent to keep an eye on him. If so, he’d had a driving adventure for nothing. But he had told her to keep others away. The only other person that knew about his mission was Pietro Conti. And if he sent people, Dan had to wonder why. Too many unknowns He’d have to try to give them the slip.

  After the tunnel, Dan took a chance and opened the Land Rover up. It could do one hundred and forty miles an hour. He hoped he wouldn’t have to go that fast. It would only be a matter of time before he ran into the Croatian police. It was a crap shoot. His problem was there were so few routes going north. Dan thought hard about his options.

  Chapter 17

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  H ere’s what we’re going to do,” he said to Evangeline. “I’m going to pull off where I can hide the Rover. The car following us will go past. They think we’re going back to Italy so they’ll head to Trieste while we go north to Zagreb. By the time they figure out we’re not on our way to Italy, we’ll be long gone.”

  “But you don’t know who they are, do you?”

  “There’s only two possibilities and neither choice calls for me letting them get involved. For whatever reason they’re following, I don’t want them around.”

  “Are you going to hurt me?” She asked again.

  “No. I told I wouldn’t. My job is to deliver you to your father.”

  Evangeline shuddered. “Please don’t do that. I’d rather die.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I can’t tell you. But please don’t do this.”

  “We can talk about it. We’re not going back right away, not in the condition you’re in.”

  “I’m not high now.”

  It was true. Dan noticed that she was making more sense, but he also noticed that she had begun to rapidly shake her legs, flexing them on her feet in a nervous manner.

  “Are you cold?” he asked.

  She shook her head.

  “Do you have to pee?”

  She nodded.

  “After we pull over and give the BMW the slip.”

  He drifted the Land Rover around a gentle bend at a hundred miles per hour, passing slower cars like they were standing still. A short distance up the road was a gas stop. There was a small forest of lorries parked in the back. Dan pushed hard on the brakes and swung into the lot pulling around to the back and nestling among the trucks so he wouldn’t be seen.

  He kept the engine running for a quick getaway in case the BMW pulled in after him. After ten minutes had gone by, Dan assumed they had passed.

  “Twenty-five kilometers up the road, if you’re going to Trieste you turn left on E65, along the coast. The road we’re on goes northeast to Zagreb. We have a choice. We can go to Zagreb before turning north or turn north before the city and head to Ljubljana in Slovenia. If they backtrack, they have only a fifty percent chance of going the right way.”

  “Don’t say ‘we’. I don’t have a choice in this. You’re kidnapping me and if I get a chance, I’ll see you arrested.”

  Dan didn’t answer. The girl’s mood was deteriorating. He would try to get some food and fluid in her. He looked around. There was no one about in the maze of trucks.

  Dan turned to Evangeline, “I’m going to let you pee here. If you try to scream or yell, I’ll clamp your mouth immediately and put you back in the car and you’ll pee in your pants. Verstehen Sie?”

  She nodded.

  “Don’t test me.” He gave her a hard stare until she looked away, now frightened again.

  He got out and walked around to the passenger door. After opening the door, he helped her out.

  “I’m going to pull your jeans and underpants down, you can squat her by the SUV and pee. Then I’ll get us some water and food from the back.”

  “No privacy?” she asked.

  Dan shook his head. “I don’t think you’ve been very private from what I’ve seen in your pictures.”

  “You’re a pig,” came her reply. “And a murderer.”

  He ignored her and pulled her jeans and panties down. She squatted with her back against the SUV while Dan stood over her. When she was done, he yanked her upright and pulled her underpants and jeans back up. Then he put her back in the vehicle.

  In the back he found some power bars and water bottles and brought them up front.

  “Do you want to eat something?”

  She shook her head.

  “Here, drink some water. I don’t want you to get dehydrated.”

  She shook her head again, but Dan grabbed her jaw and squeezed it until she opened her mouth. He poured some water into her and put his hand over her lips. She spluttered and coughed but swallowed the liquid.

  “One more and we can go. Want to do it voluntarily?”

  This time Evangeline nodded and Dan gently poured her a drink from the bottle.

  Two hours later the two men, on the road to Trieste, concluded the Range Rover had given them the slip. They couldn’t be sure, but aggressive speeding had not overtaken the SUV. It could also be going very fast so they may not have gained on it. But the two men did not want to spend the night in jail for excessive speeding.

  The passenger punched a number on his cell phone. When the call connected, in Swiss accented German, he spoke to the other party.

  “We may have lost him. We’ve been pushing hard but haven’t caught up yet. He has an Italian license number.” He repeated the number that he had memorized.

  The man at the other end of the call, Pietro Conti, also spoke in German. “We’ll get a track on him from the plates.”

  “It’s a Land Rover,” the man said.

  “Understood. Head to Milan. If you don’t see him, call me for further instructions.” The phone went dead.

  Pietro Conti sat back. Now it is going to get more complicated. This was what he had hoped would not happen. He had resources to call and could get a lead on the vehicle, but things were getting more complicated with each additional effort required to do what Herr Aebischer demanded.

  Dan pulled back out on the highway and proceeded towards Zagreb at a more legal speed, keeping pace with the traffic flow. It wouldn’t do to get pulled over. Evangeline would scream and get him arrested regardless of wh
at might happen to her. How was he going to get to Austria with a rebellious passenger? I could drug her and stick her in the secret compartment under the rear seat. The thought had crossed his mind a couple of times, but he was loathe to subject her to that treatment. Maybe use it as a threat to gain cooperation?

  “Here’s your choice. Are you listening?”

  Evangeline didn’t say anything.

  “Evangeline, are you listening? You have a choice to make.”

  “Yes,” she mumbled.

  “You can agree to cooperate while we drive to Austria. I’m not going to take you back right away. Or I will put you to sleep and stick you in a hidden compartment that is under the rear seat. You’ll be tied up and you’ll stay there for the rest of the trip.”

  “I’ll scream until someone hears me. They’ll lock you away for a long time. I’ll tell them you were going to rape me.”

  “No one will hear you because you’ll be gagged. Believe me it’s not pleasant.”

  Evangeline tried a different track. “Why are we going to Austria?”

  “I told you, to a chalet I’ve rented. There’ll be time for you to detoxify, get the drugs out of your system. We can talk about why you don’t want to go back. I’ll listen, but you have to cooperate now. If you don’t, I probably won’t listen and stick you back under the seat and take you to Italy where I’ll drop you off in your father’s hands.”

  She shuddered again. “Nein, nein,” she mumbled almost to herself. Looking at Dan, she pleaded, “Promise me you won’t take me back.”

  “I can’t now. But I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

  “I can’t tell you except that he’s a monster.”

  “Your father?”

  She nodded.

  “If you want me to help you, if you want me to understand, you have to work with me.”

  “I don’t think I can,” her words came softly, almost a whisper.