The TAKEN! Series - Books 13-16 (Taken! Box Set Book 4)

by Remington Kane

  She was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt that bore a popular cartoon character, while her red hair was tied back in a ponytail.

  Having come to the conclusion that she was incapable of killing Todd, she was planning to bribe him. All he had asked her for was the money from her book deal, and it now seemed unimportant to her to deny him.

  She would pledge to him every dime the book made for her, which could be a considerable amount, and then she would be free of him. She was on the verge of becoming famous, and fame brought opportunities that would make her more money.

  What she wanted most of all was to be free to do what she liked, although she wasn’t sure what that would be. Pretending to be a criminal psychologist had made a name for her, but she was tired of being a phony, and it occurred to her on the plane ride back that she was living her parents’ lives.

  She had essentially been running a con on the American public, something her father would have loved, while also taking abuse from her husband, although that abuse was verbal for the most part, and yet, on occasion, Todd had hurt her, as her father had often hurt her mother.

  Michael telling her that he liked himself made Summer realize how much she disliked her own self, and she wanted that to change.

  ***

  Todd grinned as he watched Summer exit her car and walk towards the house.

  She appeared to be alone. That surprised him, as he knew that she loved nothing better than to have others do her dirty work for her. But then, he realized that if she had someone help her in getting rid of him, that she would have just been trading one problem for another.

  The bitch thinks she can take me herself, well bring it on, Summer.

  Todd opened the door before Summer could knock, and after sending him one of her plastic smiles, she wrinkled her nose.

  “You’ve been drinking,”

  “One for the road,” Todd said, and smiled as he fingered the gun inside the pocket of his robe.

  Summer entered and closed the door behind her.

  Todd rolled over to the couch and Summer saw the empty whiskey bottle sitting on the coffee table, surrounded by empty beer cans.

  After sighing, Summer walked over and explained why she was there.

  “I’ve come to make peace.”

  Todd cocked his head as he looked at her with narrowed eyes.

  “What’s that mean?”

  “You want money from me and I’m willing to give it to you. I’ll give you every cent that I make from the book deal, but then I’ll want you to sign something saying that you won’t ask for any more money... and I’ll also want the manuscript of that book you wrote.”

  Todd laughed, and the sound was hoarse and phlegmy.

  “You could give me a million dollars and you’ll never have that book, but who do you think you’re talking to, Summer? I read about what happened in California and I know that it will help to sell a lot of books. You would never give me that much money.”

  “You’re wrong, Todd, and I lied to you the last time we talked. I did have more money, or I do now, since I sold some jewelry. It’s ten thousand, and I’ll give it to you, to show you that I mean business.”

  Todd looked at her purse, and yes, there was a lump there, or rather, a bulge. Todd smiled up at her. There was no envelope of cash, he was certain of it. That bulge was the outline of a gun.

  Summer stuck her hand in her purse to bring out the envelope and Todd reached over and grabbed her wrist, causing her to cry out in pain.

  Afterwards, he tossed the bag aside, where it landed behind the couch, out of sight, where an envelope thick with cash spilled onto the floor.

  Todd gripped Summer’s neck and pulled her down until their faces were only inches apart.

  “You stupid cunt! Do you think I’m a moron and was just going to let you shoot me?”

  Summer was in pain, and her throat was being crushed, but she managed to croak out a few words.

  “There’s money, check the purse.”

  Todd stared at her as if he were taking her in for the first time.

  “You’re such a lovely liar with such a pretty face, aren’t you?” he asked, as his grip on her neck tightened.

  Summer could no longer draw a breath, and she began clawing at his wrist, and drew blood as she gouged his flesh with her nails.

  “Such a pretty, pretty face,” Todd said through clenched teeth, as he brought out the knife.

  Summer saw the blade and her panic increased. She raked her nails across Todd’s throat and, after wincing from the pain, he just spit at her.

  “You won’t die pretty,” Todd said, and sliced open her left cheek. The right cheek was next, then, he cut her chin, ripped opened her nostrils, and carved an X across her forehead.

  Summer’s screams died before she could make them because her lungs lacked air, but her own blood caused Todd’s grip on her neck to become slick and tenuous, and she wrenched herself free and fell backwards to the carpet, where she lay gasping for air between mews of agony.

  Todd looked down on his handiwork and laughed at her.

  “See how many men will want to fuck you now, Summer. Of course, you can always wear a bag over your head.”

  Summer hadn’t heard him. Her awareness was comprised of pain, fear, and the horrific realization of what had been done to her.

  After a time, a new sensation surfaced. It was self-preservation, and it was telling her to get up and flee. She rose from the blood-soaked carpet and made it to her feet.

  Todd had been looking at the furrows Summer had gouged in his wrist and hadn’t noticed that she was moving until she had opened the door.

  He took out the gun and fired five shots. Only one hit her, and she went tumbling down the stairs headfirst, where she lay sprawled atop the driveway.

  Todd rolled himself out onto the porch and looked down at her. Summer lay on her back, unmoving, but still alive, as her chest rose and fell.

  Todd aimed the gun at the bloody mask that was her face, and was about to pull the trigger when a thought occurred to him. He then checked the gun and saw that there was only one bullet left in the cylinder.

  That’s when he began to cry in self-pity, and after gazing down at Summer once more, Todd stuck the barrel of the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

  CHAPTER 25

  Arnie Simpson went to grab one of his weapons from where he kept it in a small gun vault in the hall closet.

  After entering the three-digit combination, he removed the gun and fed a magazine into the Glock. While he did this, his wife, Nina, was telling him that he was imagining things.

  Arnie and Nina were both sixty-two and retired from teaching. However, before Arnie was a teacher, he had been a soldier, and there are some sounds that you never forget.

  “Listen, that wasn’t firecrackers. I know gunfire when I hear it, and that was damn close. I just want to take a look and see what’s going on out there.”

  “If you’re so sure it was gunfire then why not call the cops?”

  “Because I want to check it out first, that’s why.”

  Nina grabbed his phone off the coffee table and handed it to her husband.

  “Take that with you.”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Arnie said, and then he kissed Nina and went out to look around.

  It had just grown dark, and Arnie gave his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the gloom before leaving the porch.

  Once down on the sidewalk, he spotted it right away, the rectangle of light pouring forth from the open doorway of one the houses at the end of the street.

  It was a short street and there were only six houses on each side. On one side of the house with the open doorway was a home that had a For Sale sign on the lawn, while the house on the other side looked dark, and there were no cars in that driveway.

  As Arnie drew closer and his angle to the home changed, he could see the silhouette of a man sitting in a chair. The man looked to be asleep, or maybe drunk.

  Arnie t
hen recalled that he had seen a guy in a wheelchair there once or twice, and as he grew closer still, he saw the ramp at the side of the porch.

  Five more paces brought the blood spatter on the doorframe to light, and when Arnie squinted at the body slumped in the wheelchair, he saw that the left side of its head appeared misshapen.

  “Ah crap,” Arnie whispered. “The poor guy killed himself.”

  He gazed at Todd’s dead body for some time without realizing it, but then movement at the foot of the steps caught his attention.

  Arnie advanced onto the property with his gun at the ready as Summer moaned and rolled onto her side.

  Just enough light was spilling from the open doorway to reveal Todd’s handiwork, and had Arnie not seen his share of horrendous wounds while in the army, he would have vomited at the sight of Summer’s ravaged face.

  “Good God,” Arnie said, as he stared down at her, transfixed.

  When Summer moaned in agony again, Arnie broke free of the spell and took out his phone.

  “Hold on, lady, help is coming, and Jesus but I hope they get here soon.”

  The 9-1-1 operator answered the call, and Arnie began describing a living nightmare.

  CHAPTER 26

  Morning at the farm, found Dr. James White sitting on the front porch while he enjoyed a cup of coffee.

  When he saw his son-in-law coming back from a run, he gestured at the chair that sat across from him.

  “Is something on your mind, sir?” he asked.

  “Yes, you’ve been on my mind. The other day wasn’t the first time I’ve seen you run off to face danger without giving it a thought, and I know that you’ve often faced peril in the past when I wasn’t around, not to mention what that psychotic Circe Doyle did to you.”

  He looked at Dr. White, as he wondered where he was taking the conversation.

  “My brother was in danger and I had to help him. There was nothing else to consider, also, I know how to handle myself.”

  Dr. White gave a great laugh.

  “Son, I’ve never known anyone who could handle themselves better, but please, please be careful. If anything ever happened to you, Jessie would be devastated, and so would your mother. By the way, I might shed a tear as well.”

  He smiled.

  “Thank you, and yes, I’ll be careful.”

  The doctor grew quiet, and yet, he looked as if he had more to say. He sat across from him silently and waited, and the doctor spoke again.

  “I’m going to ask your mother to marry me, would you object to that?”

  He opened his mouth in surprise, but wasn’t sure why. The doctor had been dating his mother for nearly as long as she had lived with them, and he could tell that they loved each other.

  “I have no objections, although, it will be a little odd having my mother married to my father-in-law.”

  “Do you think she’ll say yes? You see, I worry about that, because her first marriage left so many deep scars.”

  “You’re nothing like my father. Billy Gant was a monster. As far as what she’ll say when you ask, I think she’ll say yes, and the timing is good since Jimmy and Reina won’t be living with you anymore.”

  “Yes, that was one factor that I considered. I’m also thinking about selling my house and moving closer to you two and my grandkids. If Amanda does agree to marry me it will be a fresh start, and a new home that we both chose will be a good way to start that new life.”

  “Does Jessica know of your plans?”

  “Not yet. I was going to tell you both at the same time, but since we were already speaking, I asked your opinion first.”

  He reached across and offered his hand. As his father-in-law took it, he looked in his eyes.

  “I hope Mother says yes. You’ve been very good for her and I know she loves you.”

  “Thank you, boy, and I love her too. Now that she’s reunited with Michael, I think Amanda seems more at peace with her past and can start fresh.”

  He had just stood to go inside for a shower when Jessica came onto the porch. Both her father and husband noticed that she appeared disturbed.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “It’s Summer Gray, and it’s horrendous news.”

  ***

  They sat Michael down in the kitchen and explained to him what had happened to Summer.

  He cried and said that he needed to be with her, but Jessica and her father explained that she likely wouldn’t be allowed to have visitors for at least several days.

  “Also, Michael,” Jessica said gently. “You’re not a relative of Summer’s, and so the hospital won’t let you see her right away.”

  “But I’m her friend.”

  “I know, but for now there’s nothing you can do for her.”

  “You said she was shot too, how badly?”

  “It wasn’t serious,” Jessica said.

  Todd’s shot had struck Summer in the right thigh but had not broken any bones. Her facial lacerations were devastating and her face currently bore a multitude of sutures.

  Given time, Summer would heal, and thanks to modern plastic surgery techniques, she could even appear fairly normal someday.

  However, that was the physical side of things, while the psychological side was something else.

  Summer’s prior exceptional beauty was the basis for much of her identity, and it was now gone forever. She would have to cope with life on new terms, and it would take tremendous inner strength to do so.

  Michael wiped at his tears and looked lost as to what to do next. His brother placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

  “If you want to be there for Summer when she leaves the hospital then we need to take care of things here first.”

  Michael sniffled and looked at him with red eyes.

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’ll finish packing everything up for moving before we leave for home, but we’ll need someone here when the movers come. Is there someone who could take care of that for you?”

  “Um, yeah, there’s Herb Riley. I’m sure that he would help me.”

  “All right, give him a call and have him drop by so Jessica and I can talk to him.”

  “There really isn’t that much to move since I’m donating most of it. Once I leave here, I guess all I’ll need is an apartment, but it has to be big enough for my workshop. Is there a place like that near you?”

  Jessica reached across the table and took Michael’s hand.

  “You’ll be coming home with us, and we have plenty of room.”

  Michael smiled.

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you; I’ve been alone since Grandma died and I don’t like it one bit, and now I won’t even have the chickens to keep me company.”

  “I don’t know if Jessica and I are as companionable as chickens, but we’d love to have you live with us, and, you’ll be close to Summer. That is, if she stays in the area.”

  “Poor Buggy,” Michael said, and then his features twisted in anger. “If that Todd Gray weren’t already dead I think I could kill him for hurting her.”

  Jessica sat back in her seat. For just an instant, Michael’s eyes had blazed as fierce as her husband’s. Michael truly loved Summer.

  Amanda kissed Michael on the cheek and stood.

  “I’ll prepare a light breakfast and then we’ll all get to work. If we don’t dawdle we’ll be back home in two days.”

  Everyone agreed and went to work.

  CHAPTER 27

  ONE WEEK LATER, 2:49 a.m.

  Summer peeked out from the doorway of her hospital room after hearing the elevator chime its arrival on her floor.

  That chime meant that the night nurse was off to the cafeteria for a snack. It also meant that no one would be at the nurse’s desk or walking the floor until the nurse returned.

  The nylon sutures that had been holding her face together had been removed only a day earlier, however, she still resembled a patchwork quilt.


  Her doctor told her that she was very fortunate not to have suffered from infection.

  Summer didn’t feel fortunate.

  She felt like she wanted to die.

  And, she had plans to make her death a reality.

  There was a black hoodie hanging on a coat rack at the nurse’s station and Summer snagged it and put it on, before heading for the stairs. It was raining, and the thunder sounded loud even inside the thick walls of the hospital.

  Summer left the building through a door at the loading dock and felt the odd sensation that the night breeze had on her damaged skin. The sky was pouring down rain and there was lightning as well, but its chaotic strobe effect and brilliant flashes paled when compared to the turmoil roiling inside Summer’s mind.

  She still limped from the bullet wound her right leg had suffered, but she ignored the slight pain and headed towards the railroad tracks.

  Although Michael had asked to see her for days, she hadn’t allowed him or anyone else to visit. It was bad enough seeing the look in the eyes of the cops that came to question her, but if she saw that same mixture of pity and revulsion in Michael’s eyes, she wouldn’t have to sit in the middle of a railroad track to end her life.

  Seeing that look in Michael’s eyes would kill her on the spot.

  He should remember her as she was, as cute as a bug’s ear, instead of the monstrosity her face had become.

  Summer also wondered when the cops would begin questioning her about what was in Todd’s manuscript. She assumed that they must have found it while looking around the home, and even if they couldn’t prove most of the things written within it, there was still enough to disgrace her and have her locked away for years.

  While Todd had perpetrated most of the violence, Summer had nearly killed a girl named Missy Collins while she was frantically trying to outdo Jessica during the search for Jeffrey and Hanna Mitchell.

  She had intended to render the girl unconscious but had hurt her badly, and then used Missy as a tool to get herself before the cameras of the Media.

  That callousness meant nothing to her at the time, but she shivered in disgust at herself for the harm she had inflicted on Missy Collins and her family.