by Claire Shaw
“Couldn’t find any camera’s but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have something within the woods,” answers Wire.
“It’s going to take me an hour or so to go over everything here and form a plan of attack.”
Tank is thorough and won’t risk brother’s lives.
“Okay, Tank you come up with a plan, everyone else rest and make sure your weapons are ready to go in two hours. I’ll get the prospects to gas up the vans.
Meet back here in two hours.” BJ makes the plan and we all leave to get ready.
In my room I make sure Beau is okay and then get to cleaning my guns and making sure I have enough ammo. I also go out to the shed and sharpen my knives. You can never be too careful.
Once I’m all set to go, I spend some time with Beau. We play Xbox; he loves the Lego Batman game. He’s really got into his Lego so at least I know what to get him for his birthday and Christmas now.
Before long it’s time. Putting Beau to bed I read him a story or two until he’s asleep. Kissing his forehead, I make my way into my room to get changed. Pip is going to keep an eye on him for me, so I find her in the kitchen and give her the monitor. I know he’s old enough where he doesn’t need a baby monitor but the clubhouse is big and we don’t want him wandering around on his own during the night.
Heading into church, I take my place and wait for everyone else. Soon all the brothers are here. Tank takes to floor.
“We’re splitting into four teams. Each team will take a side and we will approach and survey first. On my signal we will approach, if you’re on the sides stay outside and look for movement. Team one will go in the front and team four will go in the back. Reck, Wrench, Angel and Rafe will be in team one. Bull, Joker, BJ, and I will be in team four. Striker and Sarg I need you both in sniper positions in the trees, a corner each so you can see a side and the front, a side, and the back. Trader, Jackal and Young blood will be team two, with Dog, Anchor and Marvel in team three. Get your ear pieces from Wire on the way out, you wait for my signal. You all know what to do.”
Getting into our teams, we all jump in the waiting vans and head towards the location. It doesn’t take us too long to get there and we park within the woods so the van is hidden but also so we can make a quick getaway if needed. Leaving the vans, we slowly make our way through the woods to the edge of the property. The moon is the only light, making it difficult to see through the woods. We get into position and wait. I hate fucking waiting. Striker and Sarg confirm they are in position and have eyes on the house.
“You see anything in your scopes?” asks Tank.
Both are in excellent vantage points to see movement within the house.
“Nope, looks deserted,” replies Sarg.
“Same here, no movement and no lights on,” says Striker.
“Okay, proceed with caution, watch your backs,” warns Tank.
We start to make our way to the front of the house while Reck’s team make their way to the back of the house. We hover near the door waiting for the signal from Reck.
“In position, on my count, three, two, one, enter.”
On his enter, we kick the front door down with guns drawn and enter the house. The place is eerily quiet, clearing the living room and heading into the kitchen. Meeting Reck and his team, he nods to say it’s clear and we head upstairs and the team one clear the basement. I find a room that has a few kids’ bits in it and also some female clothes. Seems this could have been Carrie and Beau’s room. There is a lock on the outside of the door, which ignites the rage that has been slowly simmering all day. The sicko locked my girl and son in this crappy room. Mould is growing up the walls and it seems the window is locked. There is only one bed with just a cheap old sheets. As if they lived like this, the images running through my head of Carrie and Beau curled up on lumpy ratty mattress; huddled together to keep warm is breaking my heart. No wonder Beau loves his bed and starfishes out on it when he sleeps.
Moving out of the room, I head down the hallway, Tank is in another bedroom which looks much the same as the other but this has no lock however you can see where one once was. The room has again female bits in it so this must be Agnes’ room. Her room is no better than Carries expect at some point the lock has been removed. Stepping out I try the room across the hall. This one is much different from the others. It had a large comfy bed with bedding on it, plus a large television. It’s clean and miles better than the other rooms. This must be his room. Sick fucker let them live like animals while he had full luxury. All the rooms upstairs are clear. Back downstairs we all meet in the kitchen.
“Place is clear, found a room in the basement where the videos were filmed. Fuck seeing it in person it’s even more sickening,” Bull confirms my fears.
“There is no-one here,” Tank says as Wolf shouts us all down in the basement.
“Found a door, with a tunnel.”
Following Wolf, he leads us to what looks like a cupboard but on closer inspection, has a false back that leads into an underground tunnel. Wolf, Tank, and I follow the tunnel, while the others go back up to see if they find anything in the outbuildings. We seem to walk for a while before coming to the basement of another building. Creeping up the stairs, we find ourselves in an abandoned barn on the outskirts of the property. Clear tyre marks that are fresh can be seen.
For the love of god, fuck!! Losing my shit, a little I kick a bucket close to me sending it flying across the barn.
“He knew we were here and made an escape,” Tank groans with frustration in his voice.
Fuck we were in the right place but too late or something tipped him off we were here. Feeling dejected we make our way back to the others.
“Tunnel leads to barn on the edge of the property, fresh tyre marks too. He knew we were here or were coming,” Tank informs the others.
Everyone is feeling it as we trudge back to the vans and drive back to the clubhouse in silence. I can’t believe he is one step ahead of us every goddamn time. How does he know?
Getting back to the compound, I need some time on my own so I head for the back of the compound and through the trail which is barely noticeable between the trees. I walk through the trail for a while until I come to the clearing at the lake. Carrie and me use to love hanging here as kids, messing around in the water. I feel close to her here.
Sitting on the ground with my back against a tree base, I rest my head back with my eyes closed. Taking deep breaths, I take a few minutes to sort my emotions out which are running wild at the moment. I honestly don’t know how to feel anymore. We are so close to finding her and yet we seem so far away too. I just want to find her and make sure she’s okay. Especially after watching them videos. My hands fist at my sides as the pain and anger at seeing Carrie like that runs through my veins. Opening my eyes, I watch the moon reflect on the lake.
“Knew you’d be here,” Tank says as he drops down beside me and rests back against the tree.
“Remember all the fun we used to have out here as kids?”
“Fuck Yeah, had my first time out here,” I reply.
“No way! Who with?” says Tank.
“I don’t kiss and tell.”
“What happened to having no secrets?” scoffed Tank.
“Everyone has secrets,” I declare.
At that bombshell, we sit in silence watching the ripples on the lake. Both of us deep in thought and processing what happened tonight. Smacking Tank on the knee, I start to get up.
“Come on brother, my ass is going numb and I need to get back to my boy.”
“Yeah, we need to bring Beau out here,” says Tank.
“Good idea, we can make an afternoon of it. Food and get some inflatables for him.”
“Need to teach him to swim,” reminds Tank.
We walk back to the clubhouse in silence and head to our own rooms. After a quick shower, I slip into some board shorts and check on Beau. He’s sleeping soundly.
I lean against
the door jam and watch him sleep for a while. He looks so peaceful and like any normal kid. I need to find a Psychologist for him so we can work on getting him ready for school and teaching him how to deal with what life has thrown at him in his short life already.
Leaving the door slightly open, I climb into bed and let my body relax into the mattress. This only makes my mind drift back to the mattress I saw in that room. It churns my guts to think Carrie and my boy slept on that piece of shit for fuck knows how many years. With those images I drift off to sleep.
The sound of giggling and something tickling me nose, opening my eyes, I find Beau on the bed next to me giggling.
“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” I ask him as I reach for him.
He moves out of the way and starts to jump on the bed. Leaning up I snag him round the waist and pull him to me, tickling him as we fall onto the bed. His giggle is the most beautiful sound. Sitting us on the edge of the bed I ask “Breakfast you little monkey?”
“I’m starving,” is always the answer he replies whenever food is mentioned.
“Hop on,” I reply.
Jumping on my back I use my legs to make sure we don’t fall off the bed with the force of him throwing himself onto my back.
I piggy back him into the kitchen with him laughing all the way. I set him down on the side while I get his breakfast ready. The guys start to filter in, all stopping to ruffle his hair or tickle him a little. He loves the attention and I love that the guys aren’t annoyed by him. It's not like we're use to kids running around.
After breakfast I decide to spend a little time with him while we wait for Wire to find new leads. I know he’s working as hard as he can to find her.
Chapter Eleven
Carrie
I’m curled up in the chair by the window watching the darkness of the woods that surround the house. Squinting to look a little closer I’m sure I saw movement. Watching the area more closely I can’t see anything more. It was probably a deer or some other animal. Relaxing back in the chair, I let my head fall against the arm rest and close my eyes for a moment.
With that my bedroom door flies open and he comes running in.
“Grab a bag now,” he demands.
He’s frantic, throwing the bag at me.
“PACK!” he shouts.
Jumping to my feet I quickly throw some clothes into the bag and also the last of the items that mean anything to be, a photo of my dad and me, a photo of Johnny, Jason, Scott, and me and also the few baby items and photos Agnes was able to take of Beau and me.
Racing from the room, I meet him in the hallway. Grabbing my wrist, he pulls me down the hallway and down the back stairs towards the basement. In the basement, he moves a wall which seems to lead down to a secret tunnel.
Just as he’s closing the door, I can hear footsteps about me and shouts.
Everything gets still as we listen to them moving around upstairs. It is definitely more than one person from the footsteps. The basement door opens which seems to knock Him out of his trance. He quickly secures the hidden door and we rush through the tunnel. He’s pulling on my wrist and I know it’s going to leave a bruise.
We seem to be in the tunnel for ages before coming to another door leading into a barn. A car is sitting in the middle. He swings around so quickly and grabs hold of my hair.
“Don’t even try anything. You know what will happen if you do.”
There is a threatening edge to his voice. Nodding so he knows I understand, he throws our bags in the car.
“Get in and do everything I say.”
Getting into the passenger side of the car, he gets in. We drive down an old track with the lights off, until we hit the main road.
Turning onto the main road, he starts to drive sticking to the back roads.
“I’m guessing your boy has been reunited with his father.”
My eyes widen. Agnes found Jason and he came for me. The thrill that runs through me has me feeling the smallest amount of hope. Hope I can get out of this and have something to go back to. I know getting away is not going to be easy but I'm determined to make it back to my son.
We seem to be driving for hours and my eyes start to drop.
“Sleep, it will be a few hours yet.”
I do as I'm told, I lean my head against the window and watch the scenery go by lulling me to sleep.
The slamming of a car door wakes me. Taking a moment to stretch and look around, we seem to be in the middle of the woods at some weird cabin.
My door opens and he pulls me out. Keeping a hold of my other wrist so hard I know I will have matching bruises. Getting the bags, he pulls me behind him into the cabin. Looking around, it smells musty and has been empty for some time. Heading into the kitchen, he turns to me.
“Get this place cleaned up.”
Not wanting to increase his mood any further, I head for the sink. Rinsing it out, I fill it with hot water and look under the sink for cleaning products and cloths. Finding some wash liquid and a few cloths, I get started on wiping down all the surfaces. I open a few windows to let some air in and wipe the glass down. I find a broom in a cupboard and sweep the whole downstairs. Finding a bucket in the same cupboard, I head upstairs and air out the bedroom and clean the bathroom.
By the time I’m finished I’m covered in sweat and grim but the place looks so much better.
I’m in the kitchen finishing the last of cleaning when he comes back.
“You have done a good job my pet, you will be rewarded.”
He places his bag on the counter and I notice a few guns on the top. While he is outside at the car, I take a closer look and find a gun in the bottom, under the lining as if forgotten. Quickly taking the gun, I rushed to the room I’ve claimed as mine and hide it. You never know when it may come in handy. Making my way back down stairs as if nothing is happening, I find him unloading a few groceries.
“You should be able to make something edible with this lot,” he says.
Guess we are staying here for a while. Moving over to help, we quietly unpack the groceries.
“I have some business to attend to my pet; you will be busy preparing our meal.”
With that he heads off down the hall. Deciding for now I’m going to play along, he needs to believe he has broken me even if it’s just a little as the more he believes this, the more freedom he gives me. I busy myself making a quick pasta and tomato dish. Once this is ready, I make my way down the hall and knock on the office door.
“Come,” he replies through the closed door.
Slowly pushing the door open I say, “The food is ready.”
Standing in the doorway, he watches me for a few moments.
“Thank you pet, I will be along in moment,” he replies.
Nodding my head, I close the door and head back to the kitchen. I plate up two meals and then sit at the table waiting for him to join me. Once he is seated and starts to eat, he nods his head and I start my food.
“My pet, we will have visitors this evening. Please ensure you are presentable and ready for when they arrive.”
My stomach drops. No longer feeling hungry I push my plate away.
Eyeing me from across the table he states, “Eat up my pet; you will need your strength.”
Pulling the plate back towards me, I slowly start to eat again. I feel sick with every mouth full. He smiles and continues to finish his meal.
I honestly thought that with us being here the abuse would stop. Wishful thinking, I guess. I really should have known better as this is not the first time, he's moved us and the abuse continued. He doesn’t see it as abuse. The awful things he’s done to me and the other girls, yes sadly over the years there have been others, really do turn him on and he thinks is him showing us affection. Freud would say it was because he wasn’t hugged enough as a child, maybe that's true. Finishing as much of the meal as I can, I sit quietly and wait for him to finish.
“T
hat was delicious my pet. Now clean this up and get ready for our guests.”
A violent shiver goes through me. Guests… as in more than one! That is never a good sign. Quickly cleaning the pots and wiping the kitchen down, I make my way to my room. Laid out on the bed are a matching bra and panties set, black with lace and a silk robe to wear over the top. Guess this is what he wishes me to wear.
The forbidding feeling in the pit of my stomach is telling me to run. With shaking hands, I clean up in the bathroom and then dress in the clothes provided. Slipping on the pair of black heels he had also left; I sit on the edge of the bed and wait for him to come get me. I twist my hands together in my lap, all sorts running through my head. The bedroom door opens and he appears.
“It is time my pet.”
Taking a deep breath, I get up from the bed and make my way towards him. Following him down the hall, thinking we are heading for the lounge area but he stops and opens a door off the hall. The door leads to some stairs down. Great a basement, nothing good happens in a basement. Following him down, I find the basement has been set up like his room at the house. His pleasure/torture tools are laid out to the side and a massive bed like bench is in the middle of the room. I can see several cameras set up around the room. There are also four men waiting, their faces covered in masks. Turning to face him, I see he is also now wearing a mask.
“This is a great honour I am giving you. My pet is well trained. You all know the rules.”
The men in the room nod. He guides me towards the bed and sits me on the edge.
“We shall begin,” he starts.
He removes the remote from his pocket and all the cameras come to life as he switches them on to record. Moving over to me, he strokes his hand along my cheek.
“My pet has been very well behaved and has greatly pleased me. She will now be rewarded.”
Pulling me to stand, he tugs on the cord holding the robe together, removing the robe from shoulders. Turning me to face the other men, he trails his fingers over my collar bone and down between my breasts.