"I got permission."
I wandered around the house looking for Amy, before coming back into the living room. "Hey, where's Aunt Amy?"
He shrugged and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "She told me I was a big boy and that I could take care of myself."
That wasn't possible. Amy would never do that. If something was wrong, she would have called me. I looked around the room and spotted her cell phone and purse. "Where did she go?"
"She didn't say." He was still watching his show and not paying attention to how serious this was.
I think Colt could see the worry in my eyes. He turned off the television. "Son, your uncle is askin' you a question. You best get to answerin' him."
He turned around looking annoyed that we had interrupted him. "She didn't say where she was goin'. She just told me to be a big boy and wait for you or mom to come get me. Can I watch my show now?"
"No!" Colt and I both yelled.
I squatted down to his level. "Was she hurt?"
He shook his head. "She looked sad. That man made her cry, but she said she was just real happy to see him."
I stood right up and looked at Colt. "Please tell me this ain't happenin'."
"What did the man look like?" I don't know why Colt was asking that. We both knew who the man was.
"He looked regular." Typical kid answer.
"Did he hurt her?" I was more than concerned.
"Nope. At first she ran into her room, but he told her she couldn't run. That's when she was cryin'. Am I in trouble?"
I patted him in the head and started dialing John's number. "No, buddy. You're not!" After two rings John finally answered.
Hey, Conner what's up?
I need you out at the ranch as soon as possible. Amy's been taken.
Taken? To the hospital? Do I need to pick up your mother? Should we get to the hospital?
No, she's been abducted, man. That bastard found us. I don't know how. Just get here fast. We've got to find her. He's going to hurt her, John. I just know it. If he lays one hand on her, I will kill him with my bare hands.
Try to keep calm , I'm almost there now.
When we hung up, I walked back to my old room and checked the gun cabinet. I don't know if I felt more relived or worried when I discovered that her gun was missing. Sure, I was real glad she had it with her, but it didn't mean she would use it. Amy hated the damn thing.
I didn't know what to do. I felt like I needed to do something, but had no idea where to start. Amy had no phone with her. I didn't even know how long she'd been gone. Rick could have had her out of the state by now. I walked back into my hallway when I heard Colt calling Van. I know he was checking on her and Christian. I heard him telling her to come here, instead of going home.
The anger was building up inside of me. He had my woman and my unborn child. It was enough to drive me mad.
Colt came walking toward me. He grabbed my shoulder to turn me around, but I jerked away from him. "He took her, man. He fuckin' took her." I drove my fist into the wall, sending it right through to the other side. When I pulled it back out, my knuckles were already starting to bleed. I punched the wall again. "Fuck!"
Colt slammed me into the opposite wall. "You need to calm down. This ain't goin' to fix nothin'. Look, I know what you're goin' through. When Tucker took Savanna I felt like my whole world was goin' to crumble. You need to have faith. We will find her."
I put my hands on both of his shoulders. "You are neglectin' to mention that Van lost her baby. I'm glad she's all better now, but I know what you both went through. I can't do that, Colt. I ain't as strong as you."
We both heard the kitchen door opening and rushed in that direction. John met us in the living room, but I saw him looking past us at the holes in the wall. "Tell me you did that."
Colt got in front of me. "He's tryin' to calm down. Look we came in for lunch and found Noah all alone. He claims that a man came in and made Amy cry. Then she said she was fine and they left together."
"She took her gun. It's missin'." I added.
John cocked his eyebrow. "So, you think it's her ex?"
"I know it's that bastard. Please, John, you've got to help me find her. He's goin' to hurt her. I just know it."
I cocked my arm back again, but Colt grabbed it. "There ain't so sense in bleedin' anymore and wrecking up the house. You ain't goin' to be any help if you can't use your hand."
"Colt's right. Have you called Savanna and Lucy to make sure they're all both alright?"
Colt picked up his phone and dialed what I assumed was the main house. He walked into the other room.
"John, just tell me what to do."
"Does she have her purse, her phone, or anyway we can track her?" He asked.
I shook my head. "No! Don't you think I would have been callin' her?"
"Son, you need to calm down!"
"I ain't your son!" It was an uncalled for low blow. I shouldn't have said it. I know he hadn't meant anything by it. "Sorry, I'm just losin' it here. If he harms one hair on her body, I'm goin' to kill him, John. I don't give a shit if I rot in jail. I will tear him apart with my bare hands. That son of a bitch has hurt her enough. What if he's already hurt her? What if she's gone into stress induced early labor. He will let her bleed out and die. He wants her dead, man."
"Conner, you can't think like that. I know it's hard, but I need you to calm down."
My mother came running in the house. I could see from the look on her face that she already knew what was going on. "Conner." She fell into my arms and started crying. John gave up trying to calm me down after that. Once he saw my mother acting the way I had, there was no way to control the both of us. "Honey, we won't stop until we find her. I promise you that. Are you okay?" She pulled out of my arms and looked into my eyes. Since hers were full of tears, I could feel myself getting a little more emotional than I was willing to share.
"How am I supposed to be. Amy is out there somewhere and we aren't doin' anything. He could have cut her up and sliced her into pieces by now. My whole damn future is at stake here. So, no. I ain't alright at all, mom!"
"Okay, John what do you need us to do?"
He sat down on the couch. "First off, you need to know that we don't have much to go on. This guy’s been underground for months. We don't know what he drives or if he's using an alias. I got units patrolling the highways, looking for suspicious cars with out of state tags. We need to monitor the phones. Most of the time, they end of calling for a ransom."
"He ain't goin' to call. He wanted to get her alone so he could harm her. Her life is in danger. I can't just sit here and wait for you to tell me that you found her body in a ditch." I sat down and put my hands up to my face. "I can't lose them, you hear me?"
Colt came in carrying his daughter, followed by a very concerned Van. She saw the look on my face and stayed back. I didn't need anyone's pity. I needed them to get up off their asses and help me find her.
"What about the woods? We need to check the woods," I suggested.
"It's hundreds of acres." Colt looked at John after he'd said it.
"I don't give a shit. Get on the gators and start looking. Get all the farm hands on board. For all we know, he was on foot. Have the police search every road that runs alongside our property."
“I’m already having them do that, Conner. Look, the best thing you can do right now is sit tight.” John was doing his job. I got that. It just wasn’t enough.
“I can’t get Lucy to answer. There’s a chance that Rick went there first. If that’s the case, someone needs to go make sure Lucy isn’t hurt or worse.” Colt looked from me to John.
“Well, I ain’t goin’ to just sit here. Maybe she knows somethin’.” Sure, I was concerned about Lucy. I hated to think that he’d hurt even more people, but I only had one concern right now.
Amy was out there. She was scared and God only knew what he’d already done to her. I had to find her. Then when I knew she was safe, I was going to kill
him.
Chapter 27
Amy
No words could even begin to describe the way I felt when I turned that corner in my kitchen and saw Rick standing there. I didn’t know how he found me and it didn’t even matter. My first concern was keeping Noah safe. Rick had a big smile on his face as I walked up close to Noah. “Why don’t you go watch that show your uncle lets you watch. I’m just going to catch up with my friend. “
I knew the tears were falling down my face. I wasn’t able to hide my fear. I was so scared.
“Why are you cryin’?”
I patted Noah as he walked by me. “I’m fine. I’m just real happy to see my friend.” Yes, I lied to the kid. I was petrified, but I didn’t want Noah doing anything to make Rick mad. Once the child was in the living room, I made a mad dash for Conner’s old bedroom, where my gun was.
“You can run, but you can’t get away.” I heard Rick yelling to me. I grabbed the gun out of its box and stuck it behind my back, before making my way back out into the living room. Rick saw me look down at my cell phone. He raced me to it, ripping it out of my hands. “This party is just for us, baby. Tell the kid goodbye.”
I tried so hard to be calm. I looked down at Noah and smiled. “You be a big boy and wait here until your parents come. Can you do that for me?”
He nodded and then went back to watching his show. I wish I could have slipped him a message to get to Conner. Just knowing that this may be my last chance to ever tell the man that I loved him, well, it made me even sadder.
I knew that Rick had waited for this. He had laid low until he had me right where he wanted. I was vulnerable and alone. This man wanted to kill me. He’d made it clear a hundred times before. I could only imagine how much more angry he was. When we got outside I saw that he was driving a mail truck. He led me toward the back and opened it up to reveal a bound and gagged Heather. I saw the fear in her eyes and could hear her sobbing when she saw me.
Rick shoved me inside beside Heather. He climbed in and tied my hands behind my back. Before I could even think of what to say, he was sticking something in my mouth preventing me from talking.
I should have used my gun, but he had been pushing me the whole time. He walked behind me and would see me reaching for it. Now I sat next to Heather, bound and gagged, with a weapon that could end everything, out of my reach.
Heather and I looked at each other as we both sobbed beneath the gag. She and I both knew our fate. Rick had planned the ultimate revenge and now he was seeing it through. Neither of us were going to make it out of this alive. Conner would never find out. We never saw this coming. We’d let our guard down and he took advantage.
When the truck started to move, I closed my eyes and tried to envision where we were headed, but it was much easier on television shows than it was in real life. It didn’t quite matter much when we came to an abrupt stop. Mine and Heather’s body slammed together. I saw her look down at my belly. My baby was unharmed. I couldn’t imagine what Rick was thinking when he saw my big belly. He was the kind of person to take the baby from me and let me lay there bleeding to death while morning the loss of my child.
No, this was going to end horribly. The back doors opened again and I noticed that we were in one of the barns. I couldn’t tell which one, but at least we were still on the Mitchell property. Rick leaned in and grabbed Heather out first. Once she was standing, he reached in and did the same to me. I kept my body close to Heather’s. She kept putting herself in front of my belly, which made me feel a little safer.
“Move your asses. I ain’t got all day.”
He was holding a knife in his hand and leading us out of the barn. Once we were outside, I saw where we were headed. Rick was taking us in the direction of the main house. I knew Heather had never been to Kentucky before. I couldn’t tell her to run and get away. She would never make it far.
Rick led us to the back door near the kitchen. “Keep moving.”
Once inside, he pushed us into the living room, where Lucy was sitting, tied to a chair. Her eyes got big when she saw that I was with Rick. I shook my head, trying to tell her not to look at me the way she was. I think she finally realized just who this person was and she was more scared than ever. Rick lined the three of us up on the couch. I was reminded of the gun being behind my back, because it was poking me in the skin.
I prayed for one of the family members to come and find us, but with Rick’s instability, there was no telling how much danger they would be in. I felt sorry for Lucy. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Rick took the knife and pressed it against my neck. He was blurry through all the tears. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited to see you again?”
I wanted to shake my head, but with a sharp object pointed next to my jugular, I wasn’t in the position to do so. Instead, I closed my eyes and thought about all of the people that I loved. I finally felt like I had everything I ever wanted. I had my father back in my life, a great boyfriend that wanted to marry me and a perfect little baby on the way. What had I ever done to deserve this kind of ending? How was Conner going to feel when he didn’t just lose me, but our baby too? How long could a baby survive after the mother had been murdered? It was wrong for me to be thinking such horrible thoughts, but they completely filled my mind.
I was having trouble breathing after being so upset. Rick poked the knife more. “Do you know why I’m here?”
He used his other hand to take the cloth out of my mouth. “Please let them go, Rick. They have nothing to do with us.”
He slapped me in my face. “The next time I ask you a question, you answer it, or keep your mouth shut. I don’t want your pathetic advice. I never have. You are nothing but a small part of a master plan. If you wouldn’t have screwed everything up for me, this would never be happening.” He pointed toward Heather. “Same thing with this one. I thought she was going to help me finish up my plan, but instead she grew a conscious. Too bad it’s too late for that. Heather here decided to go snooping into my past. This little bitch thought it would be okay to fuck my long lost son. Did you have fun, whore?” He swung his fist into her face, sending her falling against Lucy. I know it had to hurt. I’d felt the wrath of Rick’s fists before. I cried with her.
“Please stop! Why are you doing this? Why not just move on? Why risk your freedom?” I may have been bound. This may have even been my last hour of life, but I was tired of being his victim. If he was planning on killing me, he deserved to give me answers.
He took the back of his knife and hit me right between the eyes with it. I dropped down flat on my back and let the pain overwhelm me. “You say one more thing without me asking and I will cut out your damn tongue.”
I kept my mouth shut, preferring being quiet over what it would be like to have my tongue cut out of my mouth.
“This is what’s going to happen. I am going to give you one minute to tell me where the safe is and don’t you dare tell me there isn’t one. I’m guessing this little housekeeper here knows exactly where it is.”
Lucy began to shake her head. She wanted no part of this. The poor woman had spent her whole life with the Mitchell family. I knew she didn’t want to betray them, but when your life is on the line, you will take drastic measures to save it.
I took the chance of losing my own tongue. “Lucy, just show him where it is. No money is worth your life.”
Rick cocked his eyebrow and looked down at me. He pointed his knife at me and then pointed it at Lucy. When she shook her head again, he brought the knife over to my stomach. I felt it pressing into my skin. All I could think of was my poor baby. Lucy stood up and tried to free her own mouth. Finally Rick took the knife off of me and freed her gag. “I’ll tell you, just please don’t hurt that innocent child. Please, sir.”
He started to laugh. “You think that child is innocent? That child was conceived in a dirty ass hotel room. It wasn’t made out of love. No man would ever love this little tramp. I found her roaming the stre
ets and that’s exactly where her body is going to be found once I’m done with her. Mark my word, little lady, she won’t be missed.”
I went to back away from Rick, but as I did, I heard the gun drop from out of the back of my pants. As it hit the floor, Rick was quick to reach behind me and grab it.
“Looky here. What, did you think you could get free and save everyone from me?” He pointed the pistol at my stomach. I tried to free my hands that were behind my back. They were getting looser, but not enough to get free. He pressed the gun harder into my skin. “How bad did you want to be a mother, Amy?”
I shook my head. “Please don’t do this. I will give you whatever you want. I have money. You can have all of it, just please don’t hurt my baby.”
He started laughing. “You don’t get it do you? I don’t give a shit about you or your baby. I want you dead and after I get what I want, that’s how it’s going to be.”
I backed myself up as far as I could go. If this really was my last moments on this earth, I needed to at least figure out how to save those women. I didn’t want to have to die in vain. Conner needed to know that I was brave. He needed to know that my death had purpose.
Chapter 28
Conner
Colt stayed with my mother, Van and the kids, while John and I headed to the main house. I understood how he couldn’t deal with leaving his wife vulnerable when there was a crazy person out there. That man had come too close to Noah for Colt to be calm.
John and I had a plan. We knew what we had to do. As soon as we found that Lucy was fine, we were going to head out into the woods and start looking there.
I was getting desperate. I had no idea how long that Amy had been missing and without a single phone call, I wasn’t exactly being handed a lot to go on.
Every single second that passed, left me with more concern that I wasn’t going to get to her in time. I shouldn’t have been thinking the worst, but I just couldn’t help myself. I was actually imagining the police coming to my house and telling me that they found her body, like Rick had threatened. It was difficult for me to get it out of my head. I’d never met someone that wanted a beautiful woman dead for no reason. What fueled him to be so cruel? How did someone like Amy get involved with that loser in the first place?
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