Burn

by HELEN HARDT

  My wrists suddenly appeared in front of me! I removed the duct tape quickly and then sat down and began to work on my ankles. No, it was more important to get fresh air. I stood again, and—

  Whoa. I leaned against the wall. Dizziness, and now the headache, like a jackhammer. I hadn’t noticed it when I’d been trying to free my wrists.

  Need to sink against something…anything…

  No! Need to get back to Jonah. Nothing matters but getting back to Jonah.

  I looked to the car. It was fuzzy and blue. Needed to break the driver’s window.

  I wobbled, changing my mind. It was more important to break the garage window and get some fresh air in here. I could do that faster than I could break the car window. My wrists were already bloody. I hopped to the shelving and grabbed the piece of PVC pipe that was wedged underneath. Then I hopped over to the garage door and began banging on one of the windows.

  I threw everything I had into my arms and the pipe. Finally, I threw the pipe down and crashed into the white glass with my bloody fists.

  Until I heard a crack.

  Yes! A small crack, barely visible beneath the paint. I picked up the pipe again and forced it against the glass until it finally shattered and I was able to push it outward.

  “Help! Help! Someone help me!”

  No houses were visible. Either I was in a rural area or suburban area facing a lot of green space. I stuck my head through the window and breathed heavily of the fresh air.

  But who knew how long it would take me to get help?

  I took a few more big gulps of the fresh air out the window and then went to work on unbinding my feet.

  My ankle still throbbed from where I had twisted it and the man had kicked me. I hadn’t noticed the pain so much while I was hopping around looking for an escape.

  I certainly wasn’t out of the woods yet. The man had tied a strong knot, and my hands throbbed in pain from the cuts, but I was determined. I looked to the fuzzy car again, my vision blurring. I should be breaking that window… Turning off the car… To hell with my feet.

  But my hands kept working, and within a few minutes I was free and could walk.

  I headed over to the car and started beating on the driver’s side window with the pipe and my bare hands. Eventually the window shattered, and I pushed the glass through and onto the seat. I unlocked the door, opened it, and quickly disengaged the ignition, pulling out the key.

  Then I ran back to the garage door and took several more deep breaths out the window.

  Damn, my head. Things looked fuzzy. Just grass and dirt and tumbleweeds rolling in the breeze. Even though I now had an open window and the car was turned off, the garage was still full of poisonous gas. At least no more would be added.

  I took a few more deep breaths out the window and tried to hoist myself up to go through. My hands were already full of cuts, and my ankle was sore, but I had to try. I jumped, screaming at the pain in my ankle and grabbing at the bottom of the open window. But I couldn’t keep my hold.

  I sat down, tears emerging in my eyes. All I had accomplished was to cut my hands even more.

  I looked toward the doorway in the back wall. The fuzzy blue car—was it moving now?—blocked my view.

  And then I laughed out loud.

  Chapter Five

  Jonah

  A little over an hour later, I was back at my house. Marj was sitting at the kitchen table, Lucy at her feet. My sister was visibly distraught. In front of her sat a lowball glass filled with what looked like bourbon or scotch. Marj wasn’t normally a big drinker.

  “Thank God you’re back.” She jumped up, nearly knocking her chair down, and ran into my arms.

  I rubbed her back. “Everything is okay. I’m here.”

  “The baby? Is he okay?”

  “Yes, he’s fine. If he weren’t, I would’ve heard from Bryce. I dropped him off, and I saw Evelyn holding Henry in the doorway.”

  “Thank God.” She sniffled against my shirt.

  I pushed her away from me, so I could look into her face. “What has you so upset?”

  She shook her head. “Joe, it’s just too terrible for words. I can’t even imagine…”

  “Come on.” I led her back to the table. “Sit down. Take a drink of…whatever that is.”

  “Scotch.”

  “Since when do you drink scotch?”

  “Since this whole fucking thing happened.” My sister took a big gulp.

  I sighed. This had been particularly hard on Marj. After all, the rest of us had known about what happened to Talon for twenty-five years. We’d kept the truth from her, trying to shield our baby sister, until a month or so ago, when Talon decided it was time to tell her. I often wondered if we’d made a mistake. Because the horrible ordeal had happened to Talon, Ryan and I had always taken his lead in dealing with it. Looking at my baby sister right now, I wished she were still ignorant.

  But she wasn’t. Reality had been thrust upon her, the way it had been thrust upon the rest of us decades ago. She didn’t deserve this, but neither did anyone else. Most of all Talon.

  “Take another drink.”

  She did.

  “All right. Now look at me, and tell me what happened.”

  She rubbed the back of her neck. “I went to the gym today.”

  “So you went to the gym. That’s a good thing.”

  “I’ve been meaning to get back into my aerobics. There’s a new step class over at the gym, and I wanted to try it. So I went over today, and I renewed my membership.”

  “And?”

  “I had missed the class I wanted to attend, so I decided to get on the elliptical for a while.”

  “Okay.”

  “I did forty-five minutes, worked up a good sweat…” She gulped in a breath.

  “Relax, honey. I’m here.”

  “So when I got off the elliptical, I went over to get a towel to wipe my face, and there was another guy standing there, his back to me. He had gray hair.”

  “Okay.”

  “He lifted his arm, and I saw…”

  “What did you see?”

  “A…” She choked. “A birthmark. Shaped like Texas, like what Talon described to us. Right on the underside of the arm. Just like he said.”

  My blood ran cold. “Who was it, Marjorie?”

  But I already knew.

  “It was the mayor, Joe. The mayor. Bryce’s father.”

  My heart thumped against my sternum. I had all the evidence I needed. I had been racking my brain to find a way to get Tom Simpson to tell me where his birthmark was without alerting Bryce, and my innocent baby sister had discovered it unintentionally.

  Although I hated what this was doing to her, I was glad to know.

  “Calm down, honey,” I said.

  “It’s him, Joe. And Bryce lives there…with that little baby.”

  “He’s looking for his own place. He told me. He won’t live there much longer, not if I have anything to say about it.”

  “Are you going to tell him?”

  I cleared my throat. “I haven’t told any of you this, but I’ve suspected the mayor for a while.”

  “Oh my God! Why didn’t you tell Talon? And why didn’t you tell Bryce? He’s living there with his child!”

  “Relax. Henry’s fine. I didn’t have any real evidence until now. I knew Tom had a birthmark like that, but I didn’t know where. You’ve filled in the blank for me.”

  “But even to be suspicious… We have to get that baby out of there.”

  “Bryce grew up there, and nothing happened to him. And his mother’s there. But don’t worry. I’m going to tell Bryce.”

  “And we have to tell Talon.”

  I nodded. “Marj, I have to tell Bryce first.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he’s my best friend, and he’s living there with his infant son. And this is his father.”

  “But Talon is your brother!”

  “I know. But Talon is fine and needs a br
eak. First I have to get Bryce and Henry out of there.” I sighed. “Don’t worry. I’m telling him tonight.”

  “Oh my God. You’re not going there, are you?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’ll call him and tell him to come over here, that I have something important we need to talk about.”

  Marj shivered. “Make sure he brings the baby with him.”

  “I will.”

  I just hoped my friendship with Bryce was strong enough to withstand the accusation I was about to lodge against his father.

  Chapter Six

  Melanie

  The car.

  I had a car at my disposal.

  My head was clouded and pounding, but how had this not occurred to me before now? As much as I didn’t want to even think about turning that ignition back on and flooding the garage with more carbon monoxide, the automobile was the best weapon I had.

  I opened the driver’s side door, again ignoring the pain in my ankle, and pushed the jagged glass from the broken window onto the floor. I winced as several shards cut into my right hand. I sat down in the driver’s seat and turned the car back on. Would I have a better chance of backing through the garage door? Or pummeling forward, attempting to knock the wooden back door off its hinges?

  I could no doubt get better speed going forward than in reverse, and I needed everything on my side. All I needed to do was dislodge the back door so I could escape.

  Then again…I had no idea what was back there. I could see out the front. It was a driveway, and surely I could get through an old wooden garage door.

  I just hoped I could do more damage to the door than I would undoubtedly do the back end of the car at the same time.

  No more time for thinking. I put my seat belt on.

  I pulled as far forward as I could and floored it in reverse.

  Took three times, but I finally busted through the old wooden garage door.

  I laughed like a maniac as I drove in reverse out of the driveway and onto a dirt country road with a bashed back end. I put the car in drive and stomped on the gas.

  I needed medical care. I needed a blood test to see how much carbon monoxide had gotten into my system, my ankle probably needed an X-ray, and my hands and forearms needed to be patched up.

  And I needed oxygen. I was light-headed and dizzy, my vision was blurred, with objects coming in and out of focus. But I had no choice. I had to drive out of there.

  I had no idea where I was. I glanced at the dash. A half tank of gas. I had no money and no ID, so this half tank had better get me somewhere.

  I regarded the vast prairie as I drove down the road, a drum still pounding in my head.

  And I laughed like a maniac again.

  * * *

  I’d been driving almost an hour, my mind still foggy, when I finally saw a sign. Delta, ten miles. Delta was a tiny municipality about forty miles away from Grand Junction. If I could get to Delta, I could get home. All I needed was for the gas to hold out, and it probably would.

  I drove with all the windows open—not that I had a choice on the driver’s side. I wanted only fresh air. I never wanted to inhale car fumes again. I was driving with a lead foot, and I reached Delta in less than ten minutes. Night had fallen, and Delta was a small town. Would their police station be open? Most likely, but I had no idea where it was, and I didn’t want to waste the gas looking around.

  So I hopped on US 50 to Grand Junction. I knew how to get to the police there, but that wasn’t where I was going.

  * * *

  I had almost reached Grand Junction when a siren started blaring behind me.

  Fine. I needed to talk to the police anyway.

  I stopped the car, coughing. Out of habit, I reached for the glove compartment for my registration and insurance card, even though I didn’t have any. I opened the glove compartment anyway. Maybe Gina still had her registration in there—if this was indeed her car, as the masked man had insinuated. That way I could show the officer something. But no dice. Nothing in there.

  I shut the glove compartment and turned—

  “Oh!” I coughed again.

  The barrel of a pistol pointed at me.

  My leg muscles tightened, and my clammy hands clenched around the steering wheel. Jonah. I want Jonah. God, would I never get back to him?

  “Step out of the car, ma’am.”

  “Please, you don’t need your gun.” I opened the door and stepped slowly out, still feeling slightly dizzy, landing on my sore ankle. “As you can see, I’m in need of medical attention.”

  “Are you aware that this vehicle has been reported as stolen?” the police officer said.

  “That doesn’t surprise me. I’m Dr. Melanie Carmichael—”

  “Hands on your head, ma’am.”

  I complied, wincing at the pain in my arms. “You don’t understand. I’m Dr. Melanie Carmichael. I was abducted… I don’t know when I was abducted. What day is it today anyway?”

  “I’ll do the talking, ma’am. I need to see some ID.”

  “I don’t have any. Aren’t you listening to me? I was kidnapped, knocked out, and then tied up and left in a garage with a running car.”

  “Sure you were.”

  “Look at me. Look at my hands. They were bound, and I got loose by cutting the duct tape with some sharp edges of metal shelving. See the injuries I’ve sustained on my hands and forearms?”

  “Please turn around, ma’am.”

  I shook my head and turned around slowly. Was this truly happening? Why didn’t he believe me? If only Jonah were here. He would protect me.

  The officer frisked me quickly. I was still wearing the loose gray sweats, and I was barefoot. Where would I hide anything? If he still didn’t believe me, I didn’t want to think about where he might look next.

  “You seem to be clean. You say you need medical attention? I’ll call the emergency vehicle.”

  “Why? We’re close to Grand Junction. I’m a doctor, and I have privileges at Valleycrest Hospital. Someone will be able to identify me if you just take me there. Please.”

  “I’m afraid not, ma’am. Policy is if a criminal requests medical attention—”

  “Criminal? Are you arresting me?”

  “This is a stolen car, ma’am.”

  “Oh, for the love of… Even if you arrest me, I’m innocent until proven guilty. I’m not a criminal!” My feet folded under me, and I collapsed against the wrecked car.

  “Ma’am, ma’am! Are you all right?”

  “Of course I’m not all right. I’ve been through a nightmare, and I need medical attention.” My hands fell from my head. Some of the shallower cuts had clotted up. “All right, then. Follow your procedure. Call the ambulance. I inhaled a lot of carbon monoxide, and I need a blood test. Maybe oxygen.”

  “I’ll cuff you, and you can sit in the back of my car.”

  Handcuffs? On my bloody wrists? Sounded like torture, but I had no more fight left in me. The paramedics would be here quickly as we were close to the city. He took my hands and forced them behind my back.

  “No, no, please. Not behind me like that.”

  “Ma’am—”

  “Please. The man who kidnapped me tied my hands behind my back like that. He bound my ankles too and then left me in a garage with a running car to die. Please. Just keep my hands in front of me.”

  The officer sighed. “It’s not standard procedure.”

  “Do I really look like a flight risk to you? Look at my hands.” I turned to face him. “I can barely stand on my ankle anymore.”

  His stern eyes finally softened a bit. “All right. In front.” He clasped the cuffs around my sore wrists. “So you’re telling the truth?”

  I let out a sigh of relief. “Yes, I am. I know this isn’t my car, but I didn’t steal it. The person who left me in that garage did. I just used it to escape.”

  “I’ll take your report later, when we get to the hospital.” He led me to the back seat of his car and opened the door. “Make
yourself comfortable in here for the time being.”

  Comfortable? Well, it was a sight better than a concrete floor with my hands and ankles bound, breathing in poison. Still, I couldn’t get into the car.

  “Can I stay out here? I don’t want to be…closed in. I need fresh air.”

  “I’ve already bent the rules for you, ma’am. In the car you go.”

  I trembled, my skin tightening around me. “You believe me, don’t you? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “It’s not up to me to make that assessment.”

  “Look at me, for God’s sake. I have no ID. I have…” No fight left in me. I sighed.

  “You’re in possession of a stolen car, ma’am. That’s all I know for sure at the moment. Now get on in.”

  I relented. And when I sat down in the back seat, I passed out.

  Chapter Seven

  Jonah

  “He’s getting awfully fussy,” Bryce said, rocking Henry in one of the recliners in my family room. “He’d be much happier at home in his crib. Pull the bottle out of the diaper bag, will you?”

  I took a sip of iced tea. I hadn’t opened the bar on purpose. What I had to say to Bryce needed to be said without alcohol. I fished through the diaper bag and found the bottle. “You want me to heat this up?”

  “Nah, he doesn’t mind it cold.” He pushed the nipple between Henry’s lips, and soon the little boy quieted. “He should be asleep soon.”

  “I set up a place for him in one of the spare rooms. I just arranged a few of Lucy’s old doggy gates to fence him in and put down some soft blankets. He can sleep in there.”

  “You didn’t have to go to all that trouble. But then again, why did you insist that I bring him? You knew he’d be nodding off soon.”

  “I’ll explain it all in a little while.”

  A few minutes later, Henry had fallen asleep. Bryce took him into the other room and then returned. He walked behind the bar. “Can I get you something?”

  “Nope.” I cleared my throat. “And I’d rather you not drink tonight either.”