“If nothing else, you could probably head up to Melody’s for the day. I’m sure she’d enjoy the company since it’s the off season right now. I don’t think she even has any guests.”
“I’m sure we’ll figure something out. Don’t worry.”
But the next day, when they still hadn’t heard from Fiona, Mason was concerned. “I need to leave in half an hour if I’m going to make it to the appointment on time. I probably shouldn’t be late to my own psych evaluation.”
Olivia frowned down at her phone. “I’m surprised Fiona didn’t get back to me. Do you think she’s okay?”
“We probably would have heard from her if she wasn’t. You said she went to stay at her friend’s house for a few days, right? They probably had too much fun and she’s hung over or something.”
“That doesn’t really sound like her style,” Olivia said, doubtfully.
“She’s a college girl. Of course it’s her style.”
She laughed. “Maybe you’re right. I’m sure there are things she’d rather I didn’t know about.”
“Which is as it should be.” He looked at the time. “We need to figure something out, though. I really need to take off. Let’s go. I can drive you up to Melody’s and head out from there.”
“That’s almost twenty minutes one way. You’ll definitely be late if you do that.” Olivia grabbed her keys. “Why don’t I just head up to Melody’s?”
“By yourself?” He gave her a stern look. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Come on, Mason. I swear I’ll go directly from here to there. No stopping in between.”
Hesitating, he looked at his watch. “No stopping, you promise?”
“I promise, and you can come pick me up later.”
He hesitated until she gave him a look of exasperation. “Really. I’ll be fine.”
Not quite convinced, but seeing no alternative, he nodded. “Okay. I really do have to go.” He gave her a kiss. “Stay safe. Lock the door behind me until you leave.”
“I will. I’m just going to grab a jacket, and then I’ll take off.”
Mason walked out to his truck and stopped, taking a quick look around. Nothing seemed out of place, no strange pile of cigarette butts or unknown people sitting in their cars. Everything looked peaceful.
He was probably overreacting, Mason thought to himself. With his captain’s words ringing in his ears, he made himself climb into his truck and pull out of the driveway. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he’d be able to get back.
Olivia watched him through the window until he took off. Then, after making sure the door was locked and the alarm was reset, she dialed her phone as she headed upstairs to get a jacket.
“Hey, Melody, it’s Olivia. Mason had to take off and I figured I’d call and let you know I’m heading your way.”
“Great! I was just about to run down to the basement and grab a box of Christmas ornaments. You can help me decorate the tree. If I don’t answer the door, just let yourself in, okay?”
“Sounds like fun. I should be there in about twenty minutes.”
“See you then.”
Olivia smiled as she hung up the phone. She was relieved that she and Melody had so much in common. Not only was she looking forward to being business partners with her, but even if things didn’t work out with Mason, she knew she had a new friend.
As happy as she was to spend the afternoon decorating with Melody, it bothered her that she still hadn’t heard from Fiona. She tried texting her again to tell her that Mason had taken off to Boston and, if she could, she was welcome to meet her and Melody at the bed and breakfast.
Wondering what was keeping Fiona, she prepared to leave for La Luna Vista.
Chapter Forty-Three
Robert looked at the rundown motel room with distaste. He’d been forced to stay there for the last few days, since coming back from the cabin. If his plan didn’t work out soon, he was going to have to come up with an alternative. As it was, he had no way of knowing how much was left on the credit card he had stolen from the car’s owner.
He felt the phone vibrate again in his pocket and looked down. Even though he hadn’t been able to crack the voicemail code, he’d been relieved to find Fiona kept her phone unlocked. The text Olivia had sent Fiona yesterday had informed him that Mason would be in Boston today.
He read the new message and he realized this was his chance to get Olivia alone. He knew exactly where La Luna Vista was, having followed her there before. If he left now, he could be waiting when she arrived.
He dashed to his car, unable to keep the grin off his face as he drove along the winding road. Finally! His plan was going to be put in action.
Robert glanced in his rearview mirror as he approached the bed and breakfast, relieved that the road behind him was clear. Carefully, he drove by the driveway and parked his car on the shoulder of the road. The bend in the road hid his vehicle enough that it was barely visible to anyone driving up to the house.
Instead of walking towards the driveway, Robert traipsed through the woods and found a spot that had a clear line of sight to the door of the house. He positioned himself just behind the line of trees near the area where he knew cars parked.
Casting his eyes about, he found a good-sized rock. He wasn’t going to underestimate her a second time. Silently, he sat in the shadow of the trees, occasionally shaking his feet or blowing on his hands to keep warm.
Just as he was beginning to grow impatient, Olivia’s car pulled into the gates and began to slowly make its way down the length of the driveway. Robert was thrilled when she pulled her car almost directly in front of him. She hadn’t even seen him sitting there.
The car chimed as she opened the door and reached across the seat to grab her bag. Seeing his opportunity, Robert rushed forward and wrenched the door the rest of the way open.
Olivia had just started to turn when he struck the back of her head. She fell limply across the seat. Dropping the rock, Robert reached in to hoist her dead weight. Grunting, he managed to get his arms around her back and under her legs and, as quickly as possible, carried her to his car on the other side of the trees.
Luckily, he’d had the foresight to have the trunk already open. Not only did it help block the view from any passers-by, but it made it a lot easier to get Olivia where he wanted her.
With a big heave, he dropped her into the dark trunk. Taking a moment, Robert raised his head and scanned his surroundings, relieved to find no one watching. Perfect.
Grabbing the roll of duct tape he’d tossed in the trunk earlier, he carefully bound her wrists and ankles. Robert knew from experience how well she could put up a fight. The last thing he needed was to have her jumping out of the trunk and attacking him.
Smiling, he stared down at her prone form lying in the shadowy confines. Reverently, he traced his finger down the soft line of her cheek, marveling at the satiny texture of her skin, and sighed.
He wished he could do more, but he knew once he got started, he wasn’t going to want to stop. Just a few more hours to get to the cabin, and then he’d have all the time in the world, he reminded himself.
They were going to have so much fun. He chuckled. Well, one of them would, anyway.
Hastily, he shut the trunk, and after shooting it one final cursory glance, climbed back into the driver’s seat of the sedan. The DJ on the radio filled the air with his jovial voice. “You’re listening to Charlie FM, where we’re playing the sounds of the holiday non-stop. Thank you for joining us for the greatest hits of the season! Which list will you be on this year? Next up, have you been a good boy or girl?”
“You better watch out…”
Robert chuckled and turned it up. Santa Claus certainly was coming to town. Suddenly, Christmas was looking a lot brighter.
He grinned as he thought about his present lying in the trunk and began humming along to the Christmas classic, turning his car north.
Chapter Forty-Four
&nb
sp; Olivia heard the dulcet tones of Bing Crosby dreaming of a White Christmas before she became aware of anything else. Gradually, other perceptions began to filter in. The low rumble of the vehicle. A voice, slightly off-key, singing along with the radio. Her body swayed gently with the rocking motion felt in a moving car.
Is that Mason singing? What a strange dream, she thought to herself.
Cramped, she shifted to see where the sound was coming from. Pain sliced through her consciousness, ripping her back into reality. The sticky and slightly sweet odor of gas fumes permeated her senses.
She raised her hands to rub her head and discovered they were bound. Horror began to slowly creep in along the edges of her consciousness.
Shivering, she opened her eyes, expecting to see something that would help explain what was going on, but all she saw was darkness. Why was it so cold?
Blinking rapidly, she tried to figure out what had happened. Think, think…the last thing she remembered was parking the car outside La Luna Vista.
There had been a man!
Struck by a sudden sense of urgency, Olivia instinctually tried to sit up and smacked her forehead on the inside of the trunk lid.
Bass drums pounded in her temples as she fell back. For a moment, everything else receded behind the agony ringing in her ears. Damn, her head felt bad.
He must have hit her on the head pretty hard to have knocked her unconscious. Unfortunately, she had a pretty good idea who he was, too.
Sucking in a breath, the full weight of her situation came into focus. Panic and pressure began to well in her chest as if her lungs had instantly forgotten how to work. Fear choked her throat, making it hard to breathe.
The dark confines of the trunk closed in on her, and for a full minute, it was all she could do to find a way to keep getting oxygen to her bloodstream. Frantic thoughts fluttered and beat on the inside of her mind, like birds caught indoors desperately trying to push their way to freedom through glass windows.
After a moment of writhing in fear, Olivia mentally forced herself to count to three on each inhale until she could breathe more normally. Pausing, she tried to calmly take stock of her situation. Judging by the motion and the smell, she’d already deduced that she must be stuck in the trunk of a vehicle.
Gingerly, she raised her bound hands until she could feel the metal contours of the lid above her. Fumbling with her fingers, she traced the edges up, over her head and along the seam. Didn’t trunks usually come with a safety release?
When she couldn’t find anything that felt like a handle up over her head, she bent at the waist as much as possible, and tried to follow the line of the trunk down towards her feet, which, she was dismayed to discover, were also bound.
Still nothing. Dammit!
There was a ball of lead in her stomach threatening to weigh her down as she determinedly fought back another wave of fear.
Okay, that would have been too easy, anyway, she consoled herself. He’d probably already prepared for that contingency. She reminded herself that she wasn’t the only woman he’d ever abducted. Awkwardly, she ran her feet along the other side of the trunk, trying to discover anything that may be helpful.
Nothing.
Frustrated, Olivia stopped and tried to think out the problem logically. Obviously, the first thing she needed to do was get her wrists and feet free. With that thought in mind, she began to gnaw on the slick, plastic edge of the tape.
Fifteen minutes later, she’d barely managed to start a small tear in the material. She wasn’t sure when the little whimpering noises had begun to escape the back of her throat, but forced herself to stop. If she was going to survive this, she needed to keep her wits about her.
Carefully casting her head to the left, she could just make out a faint red glow of the tail light through a small hole in the corner of the trunk. Maybe there was a sharp edge there she could use…
Methodically, she began searching with the tips of her fingers for anything that might help her cut through the tape faster than her teeth. She found what she was looking for in the shape of a small splinter of metal, but it was awkwardly located above her head and wedged into the corner.
Jackknifing her hips so she could get her arms at a better angle, she frantically began rubbing her wrists across the raw edge. It was an incredibly tedious process with only the barest of millimeters in each direction to maneuver.
The throbbing in her head kept time with her meager efforts, while her neck and shoulder muscles began to scream because of her awkward position. In fact, her whole body felt like a symphony of complaints.
Stubbornly, she gritted her teeth and continued on. Who knew how much time she’d have before they got to wherever he was taking her? She didn’t even know how long she’d been unconscious. Trying to visualize the metal piece in her mind’s eyes, she determinedly kept at it until she felt the first give in the tape.
Sobbing with relief, she redoubled her efforts. If she could just get her hands free, she was confident that she could liberate her feet quickly.
Another thread of tape gave way. Suddenly, Olivia realized she could shift her hands within their confines. Wincing at the ache in her arms from the uncomfortable position, she pulled them back towards her body and once again set to gnawing the tape with her teeth.
Straining with all her might, she finally - finally! - managed to get her hands free. Wincing, she took a brief moment to pause and rub her poor, chafed wrists. Sharp needles of pain stabbed her fingers as the circulation rushed back into them.
Reminding herself she was still in a bad situation, she maneuvered onto her side and tried to curl her body into a fetal position so she could reach her feet. The muscles in her neck ached from the strain, and she began to get a cramp in the back of her right calf, but she refused to give up.
With her nail, she carefully followed the surface of the tape all around her ankles until she found the end. It’s just like the scotch tape roll you use to wrap gifts, she told herself as she started to pick at the edge. Gradually, she managed to grip a corner of the tape, and began to pull it apart. The heavy duty adhesive resisted, but she kept at it until the bind was loosened enough that she could use her feet to help.
By the time she’d managed to free herself, Olivia was panting with exertion. Exhausted, she lay back for a moment and fought to catch her breath. All the while, her mind raced.
She winced as she heard the first refrains of a song, wishing her a holly, jolly Christmas. Yeah, right…
This was too surreal. Impulsively, she gently pinched herself, hoping it was some type of lucid nightmare. A hysterical giggle bubbled up at what she’d just done. If only it could be so easy.
Man, I’m really losing it. Keep it together.
How could she have been so unaware? Mason had warned her that Mendez was probably still around. She should have stayed more alert.
The deep, throbbing pain of her head threatened to make her black out again. Gingerly, she took another moment and felt along the edges of the goose egg sized bump on the back of her skull and wasn’t surprised when her fingertips were slightly sticky with blood.
He’d really hit her hard.
Gritting her teeth, she thought about what he might have planned for her. She absolutely had to get out of this trunk. With that thought in mind, her eyes automatically focused on the faint red glow again. On a TV show she’d watched, someone that was abducted and trapped in a trunk had managed to force the tail light out and wave through the hole to a car behind them. Maybe she could try that.
Once again, Olivia turned onto her side facing the trunk latch, this time trying to get her fingers through the little hole she’d found earlier in the taillight casing.
The small piece of metal that had been so helpful cutting the tape from around her wrists now sliced through the webbing of her fingers. Gasping in pain, she tried to find another way to reach the light, but to no avail. Her fingers simply weren’t long enough.
Anger and frustration had
her pounding her fists on the bottom of the trunk. Forcing herself to calm down again, she flattened her palms and took a deep breath.
Wait a minute, she thought as she felt the rough fibers of carpet along her fingertips. The bottom of this trunk was lined. Didn’t older cars have a hidden compartment for the spare tire? Eagerly, she began to pry the corner of the trunk liner up, searching for any hidden latches along the way.
Sure enough, just under her hip, was a slight indentation. Olivia scooted as far over to one side as possible and pulled the carpet up underneath her until she could reach the little handle.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough room to lift the lid fully, and it opened at an angle that left her behind the little top, but she could just manage to angle her arm in and make a light sweep through the compartment underneath.
Score! Her heart leapt as her fingers grasped the hard metal bar of a tire iron. It took some finagling, but she managed to get it out of the compartment.
Gripping the tire iron with both hands, she shoved the end of it into the hole she’d worked on earlier. The plastic gave a soft thud of protest but didn’t give way.
Again and again, Olivia tried to get enough force behind the tire iron to pop the taillight out, but she was finding it difficult to get the right angle and enough leverage in the confined space. Exasperated, she let out a sound of frustration.
“Have yourself a very merry Christmas…” The cheerful words of the Christmas carol felt even more twisted, as if it were mocking her. If the stakes hadn’t been so high, she may have been tempted to laugh at the absurdity of her situation. As it was, she doubted she’d ever be a fan of holiday music again.
Suddenly, the car stopped, causing Olivia’s spine to smack into the back of the backseat. Her hands holding the tire iron were smashed up against the edge of the trunk lid. The pain caused was nothing compared to the sense of victory she felt when she realized the momentum had provided it enough force to pop the taillight out.
As the car once again picked up in speed, she could feel the cooler air making its way through the opening. Eagerly, she cast about trying to find something to fit through the hole.
Secret Hunger (The Harper Sisters) Page 29