I Swear

by Sable Hunter

  “Not on your life. We couldn’t let you go. We’ve been watching you for weeks, just waiting for an opportunity.”

  “Yea, how did you like the flowers we sent you?”

  Delaney bristled. “I suspected that was you. Why would you do that?”

  “Because you’re the one who got away and we couldn’t allow that. You can identify us.” Trey brought the taser gun. “Just tell me when.” He stood to one aside, ready and waiting to give her a shock.

  “Please don’t do this,” Delaney begged as she saw blood welling up on her leg. “I’m a hemophiliac and I don’t have my medicine.”

  “Likely story,” Hoyt scoffed as he thrust her forward. “Shoot her, Sherlock. We’ve got a delivery to make.”

  Making one last ditch effort to free herself, Delaney raised her leg to kick Trey in the crotch. As her foot made contact, so did the taser. She screamed in agony and knew no more.

  * * *

  “I’ve never seen so much junk in my life. This is a total mess.” Jonah hooked the winch to the bumper of an ancient, rusted Impala. “Step back, Herman. All of these sharp edges are lock jaw waiting to happen.”

  “You’re almost through, Jonah. We’ve got three truckloads out of that damn hole.”

  “If the developer had of known all of this crap was buried just beneath the surface, he probably would’ve selected another piece of property for his subdivision.”

  “Ain’t that the truth. I’m just glad you could come on such short notice. The big boss was afraid the deal would fall through if the banker got wind of this subterranean junk yard.”

  “You’re welcome. Just be glad you’re not paying my bill. This is gonna cost ‘em.”

  “I hope so,” Herman laughed. “I hope it costs ‘em a pretty penny.”

  A half-hour later, Jonah pulled off his gloves and leaned against the side of his wrecker. “Lord have mercy, I’m bushed. I think I’ll knock off early.”

  After swigging a bottle of water, he opened the cab and reached for his phone. There were two missed calls from Delaney. Feeling a niggle of apprehension worm its way down his spine, he hit the button to call her back. The phone rang five times and then went to voice mail. “Hmmm. I hope nothing’s wrong.”

  Worried, he headed straight for home. As the wheels made their rotations on the asphalt, his mind raced. Everything was probably fine. She probably wondered why he hadn’t shown up for lunch. Trying to think positive, he imagined what they would do tonight. Eat together and laugh. Watch some television with his dad. Nothing earth-shattering. Just normal family stuff. Until they were behind closed doors. That’s when the fireworks would begin. Jonah rubbed his smirking lips as he thought of what Delaney Ellis could do to him. Sometimes the woman just wore him out. God, he wouldn’t trade her for all the gold in Fort Knox. He was one lucky man.

  When he pulled into the driveway, Jonah saw Rufus making for the truck with the kitten in hot pursuit. It was probably his imagination, but he would swear they looked worried. “What’s wrong, guys?” He no more than got the words out of his mouth before it dawned on him that both of the other vehicles were missing. Just that one fact told him something was very wrong. “Oh, fuck.” Fishing his cell from his pocket, he phoned Delaney again. Once more, the call went to voice mail. “Damn.” Slapping his hands together, he ran toward the porch. “Come on, guys. Let’s get you in the house. I’ve got to leave, and I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

  While he was inside, Jonah made one quick trip around to make sure there was no note left for him. There wasn’t one. What he did see, however, was Delaney’s purse. Immediately he thought of the life-saving medicine it contained. Whispering a prayer, he tucked it under his arm and barreled outdoors. As he returned to the wrecker, he pulled out his phone to make damn certain there was no voice mail. Finding none he climbed into the wrecker, slammed the door, and gunned it out of the driveway. With only one real destination in mind, he headed for Cletus’s trailer. “Let them be okay. Please God. Let them be okay.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  As Jonah drove the wrecker hell bent for leather, he hit the contact button for Cletus. Placing the call, he held his breath until the big man answered. “What can I do you for, Jonah Bologna?”

  He was momentarily taken aback by the use of the old name his father called him when he was a kid. “Is my Dad at your house?”

  “I don’t think so, but I’m not at home.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Heading for Palo Dura Canyon. I’m just north of Lubbock a few miles. Must’ve went through a dead-spot, I missed a call from your girl, Delaney. I tried to call her back, but she doesn’t answer.”

  “Damn, Cletus. When I went home, there was no one there and both vehicles are missing. I’m on my way to your place. I hope to high heavens they’re there.”

  “I hope so too. Do you want me to come home?”

  “No. I’ll find them.”

  “Call me when you get there.”

  “I will. I’m turning off on your road now.”

  Ending the call, he slowed down to keep from wrecking or running off the road. As he came upon Cletus’s place, he saw no vehicles and no activity. Shaking his head, he focused on the road ahead of him. In the next heartbeat, he spotted a parked truck ahead of him. His Dad’s truck. Anxious, he raced up behind the vehicle, barely managing to stop the wrecker before hitting the rear bumper.

  Throwing open the door, he jumped out of the truck. “Dad!” Jonah raced to the vehicle, throwing open the doors. There was no one inside. As his eyes darted around, he saw Delaney’s phone. “Oh, hell.” No wonder she didn’t answer. A shaft of fear shot through him so sharp he couldn’t breathe. Backing up, he began to scan the surrounding area. “Dad! Delaney!” As he turned in a circle, Jonah noticed something on the ground. “Blood! Oh, God no.” Whose it was, he couldn’t be sure. The thought of his Dad being hurt scared him – but the thought of Delaney being injured terrified him. He couldn’t be sure it was Delaney’s – but the fear and uncertainty was paralyzing. “Delaney!” he called again.

  Panicking, he ran a little farther down the road and gasped when he spotted Delaney’s Camry parked near the edge of the woods. He almost lost it. What happened became a little clearer. His father took the Camry and Delaney followed in his truck to find him. He could just imagine how frightened she’d been to find him gone. Ever since he’d disappeared the first time, she’d done her dead level best to keep it from happening again. No one knew better than Jonah how his father operated. Through no fault of Delaney’s he’d slipped off. More than likely he’d come and found Cletus gone. What if he’d just wondered off down the river? He knew that was how Delaney would read the situation and she would’ve gone looking for him. Fearing for them both, he ran toward the river calling their names over and over.

  Arriving at the water’s edge, he almost fell in when his phone rang – startling him. Thinking it might be Delaney calling from another phone, he answered quickly. “Hello? Delaney?”

  “No. Jonah, this is Officer Malloy.”

  “I got trouble, Malloy. My dad is missing and so is the woman who cares for him.” The woman Jonah cared for.

  “Delaney Ellis.”

  “Yes.” The word sounded more like a question than an affirmation.

  “We received a 9-1-1 call from her phone.”

  “What did she say?”

  “Not much. The call ended before we could talk to her.”

  “Did you get anything?”

  “Yes, she said…hold on…let me read it to be exact.”

  Jonah waited, his whole being on edge.

  “When the 9-1-1 dispatcher asked if she needed help, Miss Ellis answered, ‘Yes. Two men are’ – and that was when the call ended.”

  “Two men. Two men,” Jonah repeated the phrase. “It’s those two men, Malloy. It’s got to be.”

  “We pinged her location as Turtle Creek Road near the r
iver.”

  “Yes, Cletus Timmons’s place. I’m here right now and there’s blood.”

  “A unit is on the way over.”

  “I’m not waiting. I have to keep looking.”

  “You should wait.”

  “I can’t tell them anymore than I’ve told you.” Jonah hung up and kept looking.

  After finding no trace, he returned to where the three vehicles were parked. Coming up behind the wrecker, he spotted something on the road. Jonah bent for a closer look. Reaching down, he touched the spot. “Oil.” Wheeling around, he walked a few feet and saw more oil. Knowing full well his vehicles weren’t leaking, he concluded the Trans-am was the culprit. “Could be better than breadcrumbs.”

  Not hesitating for a moment longer, he jumped in the wrecker and started off. About a quarter mile down the road, he passed the police car, but he didn’t even slow down. Instead, he called Malloy back. “I found something. An oil leak.”

  “Tell the guys. They should be there in a second or two.”

  “You tell them. I’m not wasting another moment. I’m going after those two idiots myself.”

  * * *

  Limp and nauseated, Delaney slumped in the seat. She licked her lip where she was bleeding. Apparently, she’d bitten herself when they tased her. Struggling to sit up, she realized her hands and feet were wrapped in duct tape. “Help,” she managed to whisper.

  “Oh, yea. We’re on it, bitch. For sure,” Holt muttered from the front seat of the Trans-am.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “For money. What else?”

  Dizzy, she groaned. Looking down at her leg, her eyes widened. Blood was flowing freely from the wound. Enough to puddle at her feet. “I need my medicine.”

  “Sorry. We don’t have time for that shit,” Trey answered as he adjusted the rearview mirror. “You’ll live.”

  “I’m a hemophiliac.”

  “So you said.” Hoyt laughed. “Is that anything like a homosexual?”

  “No, Hoyt,” Trey answered. “She’s a free-bleeder, she could bleed to death is what she means.”

  “All we can do is get her to Stark. He’ll know what to do.”

  Stark? Delaney’s mouth fell open. Wasn’t that the name of the officer who’d shown up at the scene of her flat tire? Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe she was misremembering.

  “If she dies, we won’t get paid.”

  “Yea, I get that,” Hoyt cursed. “Just freaking awesome!” He hit the window with his fist. “All we’ve seen is a string of bad luck. Why should today be any different?”

  Panic made it hard for Delaney to breathe. “If you’ll let me out at a convenience store, I won’t tell the authorities anything about you.”

  “Oh, you’ve already told them enough,” Trey barked. “We heard about the descriptions you gave.”

  “How?” she asked. “How did you hear?”

  “That’s for me to know and you find out!” Hoyt sing-songed his response.

  “We have our connections,” Trey added.

  Delaney wondered if he meant Officer Stark.

  “You might as well sit tight,” Hoyt told her. “The only place you’re going is to the compound. And from there? Who the hell knows?”

  “Jonah will find me,” Delaney voiced her hope, thinking how good it felt to say his name.

  “That mechanic? I doubt it. Let him try.”

  “Yes, please let him try,” Delaney muttered as she rested her head on the seat. “And please let him hurry.”

  * * *

  Following the oil marks, Jonah traveled west on I-10. He’d passed through Kerrville and was now coming up on the exit to Mountain Home. Those black dots weren’t small or light. He wondered how long the Trans-am would be able to travel. Just guessing, but he bet they’d run over something on Cletus’s property that punctured their oil pan. For once, he was thankful John’s friend didn’t allow any maintenance on his road.

  Looking ahead, he strained to see the black car. Shaking his head, he just kept up the pace. All the cars from that distance looked dark.

  Buzz. Buzz.

  Glancing down, he saw the caller was Cletus. “Hey, sorry I didn’t call. I haven’t had any luck.”

  “I have.”

  “What?”

  “I have a stowaway. I stopped for gas, and he came crawling out of the travel trailer. He’s been asleep all this time.”

  “Thank God.” Relief swamped through him – but it was short-lived. He was too worried about Delaney to celebrate. “Is my Dad bleeding?”

  “What?”

  “Is Dad bleeding? I found blood on the ground.”

  “I don’t think so. Hold on.” A few seconds later Cletus came back on the phone. “No, he’s right as rain.”

  “Did he say anything about Delaney?”

  “Only that he’d pulled a fast one on her. Wait. Is Delaney missing?”

  “Yea. And I’m scared to death. I have reason to believe the same men who’ve been taking women off the side of the road has taken Delaney.”

  “No shit. Why do you think that?”

  Keeping his eye on the drops of oil, Jonah explained the situation to Cletus. “The day I met her she’d had a flat. These two guys were following her, and they stopped. Instead of helping her change the tire, they tried to get her in their car. Fortunately, a cop came along. Two other women weren’t so fortunate. There’s an APB out for these guys based on Delaney’s description. A couple of times, I’ve thought I spotted them. She has too. I’m afraid we were right, and they’ve had her staked out. Today, they must’ve sprung the trap. What really worries me is the blood. If they’ve hurt her, she’s in trouble. Delaney has hemophilia.”

  “Oh, Christ. Any idea where they would’ve taken her? And why?”

  “Where? God knows. I have my suspicions its some ring stealing women for…” He choked on the word. “Trafficking. Human trafficking. Sex trafficking. It’s all scary as hell.”

  “Ain’t that the truth? I hear ya. Well, keep me informed – if you get the chance. I’ll feed your father, then start home with him.”

  “I’m sorry about that Cletus, ruining your trip and all.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m retired. I’m not on a schedule. I just hope you find Delaney all right.”

  “Me too.”

  “And don’t worry about John. I’ll stay with him at your house until you get there.”

  “I won’t quit until I find her.”

  “I didn’t expect you to, friend. Good luck.”

  Jonah ended the call, his eyes still on the road. “Come on, please. Give me a break, God. Don’t let anything happen to Delaney.”

  As he focused, he couldn’t stop his mind from thinking of what might be happening to Delaney. He knew stuff like this went on. Eighty plus women had disappeared off the road known as the Highway of Tears in British Columbia. Many suspected it was something like this, they were stolen to be sold as slaves. Most of those women were Native Americans, which made it harder since the authorities seemed to turn a blind eye to such things. Closer to home, the bodies of forty-five women had been found over the years on a brief stretch of I45 just south of Houston. The marshy wetlands were known as the killing fields. The idea that something similar could happen to Delaney was unthinkable. Shaking his head, he tried to dismiss the horrible thoughts.

  A few minutes later, he felt like someone had heard his prayer. Jonah spotted the Trans-am sitting in front of a convenience store with smoke billowing out of the engine. “Gotcha.” Whipping into the parking lot, Jonah got ready to rumble.

  * * *

  “I don’t know what happened, Stark. I think the engine is on fire.” Trey frowned as he listened to his boss scream. “Yea, we’ve still got her. She’s bleeding though.”

  “Give me the phone,” Hoyt snatched the cell away, then exited the vehicle. “I don’t think a band-aid will fix her, sir. She’s got some k
ind of a blood disease.” Holding the phone away from his head, he grimaced at the tirade being launched at him. When the man on the other end of the line stopped to breathe, Hoyt spoke up again, “She doesn’t have an STD, boss. It’s that condition where your blood won’t clot.”

  …From inside the wrecker, Jonah made the call. “I’ve found them, Malloy. How far away are your boys?”

  “No far. Three miles behind you, I think. Don’t do anything foolish, Callan.”

  “Three miles is too long to wait. Radio them and let them know they can clean up after me. I’m going in.”

  Watching from the short distance away, he could tell the two men were having problems. “Good. They’re distracted.”

  Trying to act casual, Jonah strolled up to the idiot talking on the cell. He could tell whoever he was talking to was reading him the riot act. Tapping the man on the shoulder, Jonah waited until he turned his head, then he punched him right in the face – breaking his nose. When he doubled over in agony, Jonah lifted his leg hard and kneed him right in the head. The blow knocked him out, but the scream of pain he’d let out only seconds before alerted the other guy.

  Seconds later, he came around the car pointing a gun at Jonah.

  “Jonah! No!”

  Hearing Delaney’s voice made the adrenaline flow through his blood stream even faster. “Come on ahead, bastard. It’s about time you tangled with someone other than a helpless woman.”

  “Stand down, grease monkey. I’ll shoot.”

  “I bet you couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn.” Jonah just kept coming.

  “Jonah, stop! He’ll shoot!”

  As the kidnapper pulled the trigger, Jonah lunged at him. The bullet whizzed by so close, it grazed his cheek. He felt like his face had been slashed by a burning hot knife. No matter, the pain was irrelevant. Delaney was important. With the next breath, he had him. Jonah knocked the other man to the ground, then kicked his gun out of the way.

  By this time, a few people were watching from a safe distance. He heard one of them say they’d called 9-1-1. Stepping forward, he placed one booted foot on the prone man’s back. As he did, the sound of a siren could be heard as the police who’d been following him since Comfort finally arrived.