Neither one of them wanted to say it aloud but this would only help them if that was in fact where Jake had taken Jo.
Floyd seemed to be doing a lot of thinking. So Gil sat quietly and prayed while they waited. He was getting more concerned for Jo’s welfare by the minute. He didn’t even want to think about what that maniac might be doing to her.
When the phone on Floyd’s desk rang, Gil almost leaped out of his seat.
Floyd just snorted and picked up the receiver. He didn’t say much as he listened but pulled a pad over and wrote something down on it.
When he hung the phone up, he looked at Gil and said, “They found it.” He tore off the top sheet from the pad and waved it in the air. “This is the exact coordinates of the still. With this, we can go in from the other side of where Jake usually goes in and surprise him.
Gil wanted to shout but waited to see what else the big sheriff would say. He seemed to be thinking.
Finally, it appeared that Floyd had made a decision. He looked Gil in the eye and said, “I may regret this, but I think I may need you when we find Jo.” He snorted again. “She may need you.”
Gil stood and said, “Thank you Floyd. I’ll go anywhere and do anything for her.”
Floyd slammed his hat on his head, stood and headed for the door talking as he went. “Good answer Gil.”
As they climbed into Floyd’s Tahoe, he chuckled and said, “If you get your dang head blown off out there, the voters will probably take it out on me at the next election.”
Floyd laughed at Gil’s reaction. He knew that he had to have turned several shades paler.
Floyd’s face grew serious and he said, “So, all kidding aside, I want you to stay back and otherwise do everything I tell you to do when I tell you to do it. You got that?”
“Yes, Floyd I do and thank you again for bringing me. You won’t be sorry.”
Floyd mumbled something under his breath that sounded like, “I already am.”
Neither said anything else until Floyd pointed out a dirt road on the left as they passed it. There was another sheriff’s car sitting at the entrance.
“That’s the regular road out to Jake’s place.” He motioned to the other unit. “They’ll go in after we get close to the still just in case we only flush him out.”
We’re going on out to the next road that goes the same direction this one does and cut across country a couple of miles to where the state boys said the small clearing was that they think has the still in it. They said they could make out two small structures. They didn’t want to go in too low, afraid they might tip off anybody down there. But they think it looks good and that’s good enough for me. We don’t have anything else right now.”
Shortly, Gil noticed another patrol car apparently waiting for them at the entrance to the next dirt road on the left. Gil could see two deputies in the vehicle as they pulled in behind Floyd’s.
He turned to Gil and snorted. “Have you thought about the fact that one of the leaders of your church might be a moonshiner, a murderer, and maybe even a kidnapper at the least?”
Gil shook his head. “Except for worrying about Jo, that’s all I can think about.”
Floyd looked down at his odometer and said, “This is exactly three miles in like the flyboys said. We’re on foot from here on over.”
Floyd grabbed his Assault Rifle from the rack between them and jumped out. Gil rushed around the front of the vehicle to join him.
He was glad now that he had gone home earlier and changed into jeans and a t-shirt. He took one look at Floyd’s boots and wished he had some of those, but his running shoes would have to do. At least he no longer had on his dress shoes.
They met up with the two deputies who also had Assault Rifles. Floyd said, “You two flank me on each side. Gil, you stay behind us at least fifty feet, okay?”
“Yes, Floyd, I understand.”
Floyd looked him in the eye and said, “You ever shoot a handgun?”
“No, I never have.”
Floyd shook his head, reached into his car and turned around with a pump shotgun in his hands. He held it out to Gil. When Gil took it, Floyd pointed and said, “That is the safety. If you’re going to shoot the gun, push it that way. Then just aim it and pull the trigger. You got that?”
Gil nodded and said, “I have shot a shotgun a few times before.”
“Good. Just don’t shoot it unless you’re cut off and somebody’s about to shoot you. Keep it pointed down to the ground the rest of the time. You understand?”
“Yes.”
With that, they started through the woods with Gil staying back as Floyd had instructed. The going was rather rough as the terrain was hilly with trees close together and bushes covering most of the area in between the trees.
Gil was not about to fall farther behind. He was proud of the fact that Floyd was letting him come along and didn’t want to mess things up.
It seemed to Gil that they had traveled at least two miles when the others stopped ahead of him. Floyd looked down at his GPS then back at Gil and motioned for him to stay right where he was. Then the two deputies began making their way off to each side about fifty feet from Floyd.
Once they were both in place, they signaled to Floyd then he waved his arm forward and they all started walking forward slowly in a crouch.
Gil started praying again. Not only did he pray for Jo’s safety as he had for the last sixteen hours, but also for Floyd and the deputies both with him and on the other side of the still.
* * *
Jo had been awake for several hours now, ever since the sun came up. And of course, she hadn’t slept well when she had. The mattress Jake had left for her, being for a baby bed, was almost two feet too short even for her short frame. She’d had to alternate between letting her legs hang off and scrunching up in the fetal position. Neither was a normal or comfortable sleeping position for her.
She couldn’t see her watch so she didn’t know for sure but she thought it must be about eight o’clock by then. She knew it would only be a matter of minutes before Jake came back and she had vivid memories . . . no, nightmares of what he would do to her when he did. After all, he’d done it once before hadn’t he? She tried to wipe out any thought of that other time. She was frightened enough as it was.
Then the dreaded sound of a quad approaching came to her through the woods. He was coming! And she was helpless to stop him from doing whatever he wanted to do to her.
When the sound of the quad stopped, Jo expected the door to fly open at any second but it didn’t. She could hear him moving around out there but couldn’t tell what he was doing. Then she heard a strange squeaking sound like her outside water faucet at the bar made when she turned it on.
What could he be doing? Then she heard some metal screeching and then what sounded like a metal door closing. That was it! He was firing up his still. That should keep him busy for a little while.
Then she remembered that no one knew where she was, so any kind of rescue was probably not going to happen any time soon.
After probably thirty minutes, she heard the padlock on the door pop open then the door flew open letting bright sunlight in to blind her briefly.
Jake came in and shut the door behind him. There was enough indirect sunlight for her to see him clearly. There was a gleam in his eye as he leaned his rifle against the wall like last time.
She had to remain calm and not fight him until she could possibly get into a position to go for one of the ‘kill points’ that Floyd had called them when he had shown them to her after the last attack.
Jake just stood there looking down at her for a long time with a smile on his face, which was almost a snarl. She knew he was anticipating what he was planning to do to her.
After almost five minutes, he reached into a pocket of his overalls and produced a large pocketknife. He flipped the blade open and stepped toward her.
She was cringing inside, and had to force herself to keep from crying out at the sigh
t of that big knife coming at her.
He stopped and stood over her. Then he reached down with his left hand and pulled her t-shirt out of her jeans. Then with a grin, he started to cut the shirt.
She was wondering if it was time to try to kick him between the legs when she heard a sound like a twig snapping outside.
Jake heard it too. He jumped up, closed the knife, dropped it in a pocket, and grabbed the rifle. Then he opened the door a crack to look out.
She began praying again that it really was someone out there to rescue her and that they wouldn’t get hurt trying.
Jake stood at the cracked door for a couple more minutes and when he didn’t hear anything, he turned back around to face her.
She knew she had no defense against him until he came close. She’d just have to wait until he put the gun down and came back at her to make her move.
This time, after propping the gun against the wall, Jake dropped to his knees in front of Jo. He stayed that way as if admiring her for a minute then he reached down to unfastened the snap on her jeans.
When she still did not resist in any way, Jake stopped and looked up at her face. “Why aren’t you fighting me?”
She didn’t want to answer him, but he repeated the question with a deep growl this time.
“It wouldn’t do any good.”
He laughed coarsely and reached for her zipper.
Another sound came to them making him stop again. He leaped back up, grabbed the gun, and this time he opened it just enough to slide through.
She didn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or not. He’d just be back in again soon anyway.
She had fairly well resigned herself to that fate when she heard four or five gunshots from just outside the shed. Then she heard many more shots in rapid succession from farther away, and then it was quiet again.
It was so quiet that she began to wonder if she had actually imagined the gunshots. Then she heard several muffled voices. What was going on out there? The door flew open and Floyd stood in the opening.
She was so relieved to see her big cousin that she would have kissed him if her hands had been free.
He said, “You okay Little Bit?”
When she could only nod, he smiled at her and stepped away from the door. That was strange. Why didn’t he come in and cut her free?
She heard Floyd talking just outside the door. She only caught the last of what he said, “Here, you’ll need this.” And that didn’t make sense to her at first.
Then someone else was coming through the door. It was Gil! And he was fumbling with something in his hands. He finally got the pocketknife open and dropped to his knees beside her to cut the ropes off her wrists.
When she was free, he dropped the knife, and pulled her into his arms. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him for all she was worth.
After a few minutes, she heard Floyd’s voice from the doorway again. “You two gonna stay lip-locked the rest of the day or what. We gotta get out of here sometime today. I’m gonna have a ton of paperwork to do on this.”
Gil stood and pulled her to her feet then led her out of the shed.
Once outside, she looked to the left and let out a soft cry. Jake lay in a heap on the ground covered with blood. But it was like a huge burden had suddenly been lifted off of her. Right then, she knew that after seven long years, she really was finally free from the man who had attacked her.
Floyd was suddenly in front of them and she looked up at him and said, “It was him Floyd.”
Floyd didn’t even ask her what she meant. He just nodded his head and said, “That’s what I was beginning to think too.”
Gil apparently didn’t know what they were talking about for he said, “What do you mean Jo?”
She looked into the eyes of the man she loved and said, “Jake was the one who attacked me seven years ago, and now I’m free from him and all the rest of it.”
Gil pulled her into another tight hug and she knew that everything was going to be all right now.
* * *
Jo had insisted that she was okay and finally convinced Gil and Floyd that she didn’t need to go to the emergency room. So Floyd was taking them back to the parsonage where Gil knew Carla, Eunice, and his mother were anxiously awaiting their return.
No one said anything on the drive back but Gil kept his arm around Jo all the way, as they sat in the back seat of Floyd’s patrol car. He was glad that it didn’t have a prisoner cage in it like all the other units did.
Once the three of them entered the kitchen, they were overwhelmed by hugs and kisses from all those who had been waiting for word from them. Sue Ann had even rushed over when she heard.
Coffee was poured and distributed all around the big table while Jo told the others of her overnight ordeal.
Once she finished, and all the questions had ceased, Gil turned his chair to face Jo and said, “Jo, it might have been better some other way, but I don’t want to wait until we can be alone. He smiled over his shoulder at the others.”
As he paused for breath, he almost laughed at the puzzled look on her face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eunice elbow his mother and wink at her.
“Jo, I love you.” He let that settle for a second and was surprised when she spoke.
“And I love you Gil.”
He was grinning now. He reached out and took her hand in both of his. “Mary Jo Early will you marry me?”
* * *
Jo’s first thought was that she should be shocked, but then she wasn’t. She knew she loved him and she also knew that she wanted to marry this wonderful man.
She looked deep into his eyes and said, “Yes, Gilbert Wayne Turner, I will marry you.”
Everyone in the room burst out with shouts and cheers.
Carla looked across the table at her sister and said, “Does this mean that the room we’re in now will be mine?”
Jo looked at Gil who was still grinning at her. He laughed then and said, “Yes, Carla it will be your room to do with as you please, but not until Jo moves out of it though.
Everyone laughed at that. Well, everyone except her best friend and her favorite cousin. They were glaring at each other across the table.
Oh my, it looked like she was going to have to do something about those two.
Her attention was pulled away from Sue Ann and Floyd when Eunice produced a camera and began taking pictures of her and Gil. That was when she realized she was still in his arms. Then she smiled inwardly at the thought that that was exactly where she wanted to stay.
About the Author
T. E. Killian has been an Army Medic, high school English teacher, pastor, hospital chaplain, crisis counselor, police chaplain, and pastoral counselor.
All of these occupations have helped him to understand how men and women build and keep relationships. He also knows how they repair or destroy those relationships. He has also observed how people interact in all kinds of situations.
They also give him firsthand knowledge of how people live and act within each of those types of situations.
Therefore, his characters take on the characteristics and personalities of people who work in all of the occupations he knows so well.
Having been in many crisis situations over the past thirty plus years, he can write about them realistically.
He and his wife, Ann, live in Cottonwood, Arizona, where he writes fulltime and still serves as a police chaplain.
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Please take the time to give this book a review on Amazon.com. Other readers can only know about it if you tell them. Thank you very much and may God bless you.
* * *
He would love to hear from his readers. Each of his novels has a Christian message in it. If you have any questions or comments on those messages, he would love to discuss these with you via email.
If you would like to contact him or if you would like to be added to his mailing list which is only used to announce the publication of each new book, pl
ease send him an email at: tekillianbooks@hotmailcom.
Also please check out his webpage at: www.tekillian.com
Look for all the uplifting Christian novels
By
T. E. Killian
The Sycamore P.D. Series
Lost Memories
Accepted Memories
Resolved Memories
Crowley County Series
No Easy Solution
A Better Solution
The Only Solution
Another Solution
Clear Creek Series
Ryan’s Ruin
Chase’s Return
Hunter’s Revenge
Walking Together Series
Walking Straight
Walking Away
Walking the Line
No Easy Solution (Crowley County Series Book 1) Page 24