by Marla Monroe
She finally noticed the blood and felt a little sick when she realized she’d cut them pretty badly. She turned the water on, but nothing came out. There weren’t any towels that she could find, either. Desperate, she wiped them on the hem of her shirt and hissed at the slight sting.
She set her sights on the outside door next. She needed to hurry before Jim returned. There was only one entrance and exit, so she hurried to the door and turned the handle. It didn’t open. She fiddled with the lock on the inside and finally got it open. Her blood-slickened hands didn’t help with turning the knob.
Brandy looked around and realized she was out in the middle of nowhere. There were sparse trees, but mostly scrub. She could follow the road out, but risked Jim driving up. The tears began anew as she contemplated what to do.
I refuse to die out here or let Jim use me. I’ll get out of here one way or another.
With those thoughts, she scrambled out the door and off the porch. The dry grass reached nearly to her waist as she began to run along the road. She would hide in the grass when she heard a car coming. The road was gravel, and she should hear it before she saw it.
Long minutes later, she had to slow down. She was getting tired, and she was thirsty. Her throat felt parched. She would never make it if she ran like that. She kept her pace even as she walked down one side of the gravel road. Her feet and ankles were hurting from walking on the rocks. There was nothing she could do about it except move over into the grass. She didn’t want to leave a trail, though, and trampled grass would be a sure sign she had been through there.
After nearly an hour, her head hurt, her feet hurt, and her hands were beginning to throb. They’d finally stopped bleeding, though she felt light headed. That could be from either the sun, or loss of blood, or both.
A noise ahead alerted her to a car coming up the gravel road. She carefully slipped into the tall grass and hunched down until she was hopeful she couldn’t be seen. A brown truck drove down the road and passed by her without slowing up. She couldn’t tell if it were Jim or not from her position in the grass. Now what was she going to do? He would soon be looking for her.
She had to keep moving, so she waited a good minute, then began slowly and carefully moving through the grass parallel to the road but a good five yards off from it. After about fifteen minutes, she heard the truck tear out down the road, heading her way. She stopped moving and crouched down in hopes he wouldn’t see her. If he continued to drive like a bat out of hell, he would be going by too fast anyway.
Brandy waited as the truck drew nearer then passed by at a high rate of speed. He was pissed and maybe scared if he wasn’t working alone. Someone else might be angry with him for losing her. Good.
As soon as he passed, she began slipping through the grass once again. She was so intent on not leaving a trail, she almost slipped up on the truck where it had stopped in the middle of the road. She sank back into the grass and tried to figure out what the driver was doing, and if it were Jim or not.
The man stood up from where he’d been crouched looking at something. It was Jim all right. He looked fit to be tied. But what was he doing? She edged closer and heard him mumbling to himself.
“Damn bitch. Where in the hell has she gotten to? She couldn’t have gone far on foot. I promised to keep her hidden until the end of the week, and now she’s gone missing.” He climbed back in the truck and took off once again.
She heaved out a sigh of relief. She had only gone about fifty yards or so when the truck came back up the road, going much slower now. She was scared he might have seen her when he stopped directly across from her and began walking around the edge of the road again. He stopped several times and peered out through the grass.
“She’s somewhere out there, but how far has she gotten?’ Jim climbed back into the truck and drove a little farther down the road before getting out and searching the area again.
She remained still until he moved around a bend in the road. Then she slid through the grass, begging God to let her make it home.
Chapter Ten
“Hell, if I could just remember where I’ve heard that voice before,” West complained. “We might be able to find her sooner that way.”
He refused to believe they wouldn’t find her. He was just worried about what shape she’d be in when they did. That worried him—a lot. It wouldn’t matter, they’d still love her, but it did matter that she would be hurt.
“Stop worrying about how she’ll be, and let’s concentrate on finding her. We’ll deal with the rest later.” Kyle knew West was a worrier.
“Either it’s someone from the construction site, or someone from the diner.” West rubbed his face with both hands. He hadn’t slept much, worrying about Brandy.
“Well, the sheriff said he’s doing a check on the crew and would let us know if anything popped.” Kyle poured another cup of coffee. It would be his third for the day.
“Damn it, I can’t stand to think of her out there scared and not knowing if anyone is looking for her or not.”
“She knows we are, West. We told her we loved her. She has to know we’re coming for her.”
West gave up trying to think of where he’d heard that voice before and decided to go by the sheriff’s office to see what he’d dug up so far.
“Come on, Kyle. Let’s go. I’m not sticking around here like this, or I’m going to go stark raving mad.”
“Where are we going?” Kyle followed him outside and put on his helmet.
“To check in with the sheriff. Maybe he knows something by now.”
West took off toward the sheriff’s office knowing Kyle would follow him. He needed something to do. Harassing the sheriff was all he could think of at that minute.
They pulled into the parking lot about the same time the sheriff walked outside.
“What are you boys doing here?” he asked.
“Came to see what you’ve found out.” West pulled off his helmet.
“I’m still doing background checks. You’ll be pleased to know that all of your gang checks out.”
“You’ve wasted time checking my friends? You stupid idiot. I know they are okay.”
“Calm down, West.” Kyle put his hand on West’s shoulder. “He has to rule everyone out before he can find the man we’re looking for. You know that.”
“Fuck. There has to be something we can do to find her.”
“We’re doing all we can, son. Leave this to us and let us do our jobs.” The sheriff climbed into his SUV and pulled out of the parking lot.
“That was a waste of time,” West fumed.
“Let’s go by the diner and see if anyone there has any ideas,” Kyle suggested.
“Better than sitting here.” West put on his helmet and started the bike.
They rode toward the diner and pulled into the parking lot to find that there were very few people there. West climbed off the bike and waited for Kyle to do the same, and then they walked into the building and headed straight for the counter. The waitress backed up a step. Hell, they probably had scowls on their faces. They were scaring the poor thing. He made an effort to tone it down some.
“Is the manager here?” West asked.
“Um, yeah. Just a minute.” She disappeared in the back then reappeared with a man wiping his hands on his apron.
“Yeah, I’m the manager. What can I do for you?”
“We’re friends of Brandy. We’re trying to find her and wondered if you knew of anyone hanging around the diner that wasn’t normally here other than us.” West looked the man in the eyes.
“Can’t say as I had. No one around here would hurt Brandy for anything. She’s a good girl and treats everyone like kinfolk. I can’t imagine who would kidnap her.” The manager shook his head as he continued to wipe his hands on the apron.
“Anything at all unusual happen lately?” Kyle asked.
“Well, if you don’t count the fact that Jim didn’t show up for work today, then nothing,” the man said.
West let his friend urge him outside and on the bike. He stopped by the bikes and shook his head. He was missing something. Somewhere in his head was the answer but he couldn’t quite get to it. He cursed and grabbed the helmet and slipped it on.
“Let’s go back to the house and fix something to eat. We need to be ready when we have a name or a place to go.” Kyle pulled out and West followed him.
On the way back, he worried about Brandy and how she was feeling right now. Was she scared, hungry, in pain? He ground his teeth in exasperation. There was nothing he could do to help her, and it angered him. Hell, it hurt him not to be there for her.
Once back at the house, they pulled together sandwiches and ate in silence. After cleaning up, Kyle turned on the TV and watched the news and weather. West couldn’t be still. He paced for a while, then finally sat on the couch, remembering working Brandy up into a frenzy there.
He thought back to when they’d first met her and how they’d first gotten to touch her when that guy had attacked her…
“Fuck! That’s where I’ve heard his voice before.” West jumped up.
“What? Who is it?” Kyle demanded as he too got up.
“Jim. That son of a bitch. He has her.”
“We need to contact the sheriff and find out where the bastard lives.” Kyle pulled out his phone and began dialing the sheriff’s office.
“I’ll kill that bastard if he’s hurt her.” West listened as Kyle relayed to the sheriff about Jim.
“He says they are on their way over there now. He wouldn’t give me the address, but I figure we can follow the sirens.” Kyle walked to the door and opened it.
West nearly knocked Kyle down getting to his bike. He wanted to get his hands on that bastard. If the sheriff didn’t have him in custody when he got there, all bets were off.
They raced toward the sirens and pulled up outside a dilapidated old house at the end of a street. The sheriff’s SUV and a deputy car were pulled into the drive, and they were knocking on the door.
When they pulled up behind the other vehicles, the sheriff frowned.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.
“We’re going to be here for Brandy. I don’t want strangers scaring her.” West waited for what they would do next.
“He’s not answering, and his truck isn’t at home. He drives a brown Chevrolet.”
“Where would he be if not here?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to do some checking to see if he has property anywhere else.” The sheriff walked over to his truck and got on his radio.
“What if she’s in there and he’d just not home right now?” West asked. He badly wanted in that house.
“We can’t go in without a warrant. I’m working on getting that right now as well.”
“Sheriff. We’ve got that warrant. Todd’s on his way over with it now,” one of the deputies called out.
“Good. We’ll be in there in just a minute, guys. Just hold on.”
West paced on the front porch tempted to just break in the door himself. About that time, a car came screeching up the drive, and someone jumped out with a piece of paper and ran it up to the sheriff.
He looked up and smiled. “Okay guys, we can go in now.”
* * * *
Brandy was hot, thirsty, and very tired. Her hands throbbed and her legs ached from the constant crouching she was doing to stay out of Jim’s sight. He was riding up and down the road, stopping every once in a while to check the grass around it. She made very little progress with him hovering around as if he knew she was there somewhere.
She was scared to death he’d hear her heartbeat as it pounded in her chest. Maybe he would hear her raspy breathing that sounded so loud in her ears. She cringed each time he got close to her hiding place. So far, he’d missed her.
When he got back in his truck and drove off again, she eased through the grass as fast as she dared before dropping to a crouch at the sound of his truck pulling back in her direction. She couldn’t do this all day and not eventually get caught.
Once, he tried to trick her and pulled off, but came back a few minutes later on foot. She nearly got caught that time. Thank goodness she had just sunk back down to rest when he did.
He began yelling out at her.
“You better come on out now. I’ll find you eventually, and when I do, I’ll make you wish you’d never left the cabin.”
He jumped back in the truck and rolled out of sight only to repeat the same warning a little farther ahead of her. She moved while he was ranting. When he stopped, she stopped moving and concentrated on controlling her heavy breathing.
“Brandy. You need to come on out of there. You know there are snakes and all sorts of bugs out there in that grass. I can’t help you if you get snakebitten.”
She shuddered. No doubt he was right, and there were snakes and bugs out here, but she would rather get snakebit than put up with Jim’s advances. The man was nasty, had bad breath, and generally made her sick to be around.
“If you don’t get your ass out here in the next thirty seconds, I’m going to set this place on fire and you can burn with it. Do you hear me?” he called out.
Oh, God. If he did start a fire, she might never get out of it. She knew how grass fires spread. She’d be burned to a crisp before she could even make it to the road. She started weighing her options. She had little doubt he would do it, since he was obviously crazy. He’d burn half the state up trying to get to her. Did she want to burn, or risk Jim’s rutting body over hers? Brandy honestly wasn’t sure which was worse.
Finally, she decided to stay where she was and call his bluff. If he made good on his promise, she’d try and outrun the flames and get on the gravel road to do it. She would make it. She had a reason to make it. Two reasons, actually. She had a new life ahead of her. She would get her chance at it, or die trying.
Jim kept walking up and down the road now. He cursed and called her all sorts of names. He was fast deteriorating and becoming more and more unstable. She knew if he ever caught her, he’d end up killing her.
When he took the truck and disappeared for a good twenty minutes, she made the most of it and hurried through the grass to where she hoped was a road leading to town. The long gravel drive had to end up on a road somewhere. She stilled and heard the unmistakable sound of his truck coming back. She ducked beneath the grasses and waited to see where he would stop. This time, he stopped ahead of her and ranted and raved for her to show herself and come out.
Finally, he gave up yelling at her and brought a can. She knew it would be gasoline. She panicked and began running in the opposite direction of the truck. He yelled at her to stop. She ignored him and continued running full out. Her legs pumped even though she was tired. She managed to find a little more energy to push herself to run faster.
When she tripped over her own feet, Brandy fell face-first with her hands out in front of her. She screamed when her hands hit the hard, unforgiving ground. She rolled over to her back and gasped in pain as she heard Jim’s boots hit the ground, coming for her. She bit back the pain and got up and began running again. She risked a glance behind her and wished she hadn’t. He wasn’t that far behind her.
Brandy kept pumping her legs in an effort to put some distance between them. Jim didn’t take care of himself and spent a lot of time in front of the TV. Surely she could outrun him with the adrenaline flowing in her body.
She ran closer to the road where the grass was easier for her to run though. She couldn’t afford to try the gravel road. She could fall and twist an ankle on the rocks. She would stick to the edge where the grass was shorter. Her lungs were burning, and she had a stitch in her side from running, but she didn’t slow up. Her life might depend on it.
All she could think about was that she wanted her men. She needed them. Now that she’d found someone who would love her and
take care of her, she was going to lose them. They would never want her if Jim got hold of her.
Tears nearly blinded her as she fought not to cry. She couldn’t afford to lose her balance and fall again. He was right on her. It would be a test of endurance now. If she could just outlast him, she could possibly make it to a main road and flag down someone to get her back to town.
“You, bitch! I’m going to get you. You’re not getting away from me.”
He was so close to her now that she thought she felt his breath on her neck. She knew it wasn’t possible, since he would have her if he were that close, but it spurred her on. The pounding of his shoes against the ground matched the wild beat of her heart.
Please, please, please, God, help me get away from him.
She heard him stumble and fall, grunting when he did. She let herself believe for the first time that she would make it after all. She didn’t slow up, but kept running full out. There was nothing that said he couldn’t catch back up with her. He was just as determined to catch her as she was to get away from him.
If only she could hold out until it grew dark. If she could hide again, she would have a better chance of getting away. If he couldn’t see her, he couldn’t find her. If she could just make it until then, she might be able to lose him for good.
Suddenly, she slid to a shaky stop when she came up on a deep ditch full of water. She almost lost her balance and fell in. Instead, she managed to sit down and keep from sliding on down into the murky water. She’d have to get on the road and go over the ditch on the bridge.
It took a great deal of effort to climb back to her feet and climb up the side of the bank to the road. She stumbled across the bridge and then moved back to the side of the gravel and began jogging. The pain in her side grew the more she jogged, but she refused to stop. She would make it. She refused to give up. Then she heard the truck coming up behind her.