The Place I Belong

by Inez Kelley

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Let me go. I mean nothing to Webb Hawkins. There’s no way he’s going to do anything you want to save me.”

  He wagged his finger at her. “That’s where you’re wrong. First, he’s already stopped the tree cutting in the Canyon as of this morning. Second, he won’t let his company name be attached to the hideous death of a beautiful woman, not when he has the power to stop it and the media know it.”

  The words “hideous death” curdled her stomach. She swallowed the rush of sourness that surged from her belly. “The media? You broadcasted that you’re going to kill me? There goes any chance of a plea bargain for you.”

  His laugh was loud. “Plea bargain. That’s good. None of that for me. See, I’m already dying. There is absolutely nothing anyone can do to stop me because I don’t give a fuck what they think they’re going to punish me with. Can’t penalize the dead.”

  “Dying?” Her eyes raked across his bony frame. Things clicked into place in her mind.

  “Cancer. From a chemical spill. Fucking company cut too many corners and I’m paying for it. But that’s okay. I’ve made my peace with that. But I won’t let another greedy-assed business kill something as timeless as the mountains. Human life is meaningless, cheap and disposable. Nature lasts.”

  He lowered himself into a matching wobbly chair. “You understood that. Or at least I thought you did. How could you screw around with him, Zury? He’s the enemy, a capitalistic drone with an iPhone and a retirement plan. Do you know what they’re planning to do?”

  Her fingers had gone numb and she wiggled them, desperate to get the feeling to return. “No.”

  Jonah’s tablet lay on the one bed. Eric hopped up and grabbed it, touching several icons. “Asshole is so arrogant that his password was mustang. No creativity whatsoever. Here, this is from an email exchange with the sales department. They want him to push cherry in his next interview since they have over thirty-thousand board feet in the dry kilns. Thirty thousand feet, Zury. Do you realize how many trees had to die for that? Just so silver-spooned pissants can have hardwood floors. And here, this is the projected value from the first crop harvested from section A-3 in the Black Cherry Canyon. Cherry, hickory, oak, birch, chestnut, ash...over a hundred thousand dollars off a few dozen acres.”

  He tossed the computer on the table with a scoff. The livid glare when he faced her burned her exposed skin. “And you’re just going to let them because you like Alcott’s dick.”

  “It’s not like that.” Denial scoured through her. “They only take the mature trees, the ones that have reached their maximum growth. Once they harvest those, the younger trees grow healthier and stronger. Younger growth forests improve the atmosphere, take in more carbon dioxide, and produce more oxygen.”

  She blinked in disbelief. When had she become Hawkins Hardwood’s defender?

  Eric shook his head. “He brainwashed you. You talked about the mountains like they were alive but you’ve turned your back on them. Well, I’m not going to. I’ll burn this entire fucking canyon before I let them violate the Earth any more than they already have.”

  “That’s arson.”

  A long laugh rang though the cabin. “Once you’ve hit murder, arson is nothing, sweetheart.”

  A rock lodged in her throat and she forced it down with a gulp.

  “Relax,” he said. “I’m not going to kill you today. Unless you piss me off. Now, do you want something to eat or not?”

  As if anything would stay down. Still, he might free her hand to let her eat. She nodded. “Please.”

  The grocery sack contained cartons of berries, fruits, some grains, a loaf of organic 12-grain bread, and a bottle of peach preserves. Several bunches of asparagus, a few loose apples and a couple squash rounded out his bounty. He spread the preserves on a slice of bread and poured some of the berries into a bowl. Scooping up a raspberry with a spoon, he held it out to her.

  “Can’t I feed myself?”

  He furrowed his forehead but put the bowl back on the table. He walked behind her. The rattle of a chain jerked her shoulders straight. The collar around her neck tightened for a moment then pulled down heavily in the back. She moved her head and a chain clanked. Humiliation scalded through her. As if she were his pet, he’d put her in a dog collar and now had her leashed.

  The kitchen shears sliced through the ties at her ankles. Chest heaving in anticipation, she held perfectly still as he cut through the ties at her wrists. When the last bit of plastic fell away, she leaped, shoving him aside and heading for the door. She almost made it. First, the chain at her neck yanked her backward, then electric shocks lanced through her body. Her muscles convulsed as pain twisted every limb. She fell to the rough wood floor with a thump.

  “See? I knew you’d try to run. But you can’t.” Eric grunted with the effort to pull himself from the floor. “The chain is unbreakable, and you get anywhere near that door and I’ll shock your ass, then empty my ammo clip into your back.”

  Residual pain sizzled along her bones. Zury lay naked on the cabin floor and cried.

  Hours passed. Eric fixed himself a meal, eating while barely glancing at her. He lit and smoked several marijuana cigarettes, blowing the skunk-like smoke out the window. Zury forced her knees under her but refused to crawl. She waited until her thighs could support her then stood.

  “Can I have an apple?”

  Smoke streamed from his lips. “Sure. Help yourself.”

  She snagged the fruit and made herself sit at the table, ignoring her nudity and him. She ate the crisp fruit, making sure she tasted every bite, from the firm skin to the tart meat and sweet juice. The bowl of berries he’d offered her still sat on the table and she ate every spoonful. Once they were gone, she rose and tossed the core into the now-cold fireplace. She traced her fingers over her upper lip.

  Her purse lay in the corner, lopsided, as if he’d just tossed it aside. He knew she didn’t have her phone, had made her drop that along with her keys back at her house.

  “I’d like to get some lip balm out of my purse.”

  Eric smirked. “Whatever. Can’t say I’m treating you too badly, can you?”

  Other than shooting her boyfriend, kidnapping her, stripping her naked and shocking the shit out of her, he’d been a gracious host. She kept her face blank as she crossed to the corner. The chain hooked to her collar scraped along the floor like dry bones.

  She opened the bag and drew out her lip balm. Slicking it across her mouth, she looked at him. “I have some gum. Do you want a piece?”

  “I don’t chew chemicals.” A wry snort shook his shoulders. “I just bathed in them, by accident, of course.”

  “What happened?”

  Eric started talking, his voice buzzing like a bee in her consciousness. Her fingers curled around comforting steel. She’d been afraid to hope, afraid he’d gone through her purse and found her only chance at escape. He was lost in his story when she pulled the 9mm from her purse, aimed, and fired.

  Blood shot high into the air and splattered back as his calf exploded. She’d hit off center and the bullet tore through the fattest part of his lower leg. He howled, dropping to the ground and clutching his leg. There was enough slack in the chain to let her kick his fallen gun out of his reach. His bloody hand stretched toward her and she curled her toes and kicked him in the face with her heel. His nose crunched.

  Memories of him hitting Jonah whipped through her mind and she brought the butt of her gun down hard on the top of his head. His body went slack. She stood, lungs furiously trying to suck in air until she was sure he was unconscious. Then she went through his pockets. She found the key to her collar and spent a few precious moments fumbling, unable to see the lock she was trying to hit. Finally, the key clicked and the collar fell away.

  His pack sat on the coverless bed. S
he ripped it open, grabbed the first shirt she saw and ran out of the cabin with it and both guns. It wasn’t quite dusk but the sun was setting fast and she knew she had to put as much distance as she could between the cabin and her. Ignoring the rocks and sticks jamming into her bare feet, she took off at a dead run, pulling the T-shirt over her head as she went. It didn’t cover her lower body but it was the best she could do for now.

  The guns grew sweaty in her hands as she ran, but she didn’t slow until a stitch in her side forced her to stop and gulp air. She held her breath as a noise sounded to her left. Traffic. She was near a road. Invigorated by hope, she charged toward it.

  About half a mile later, she saw headlights. She screamed, calling for help as she barreled toward the road. A dirty blue pickup slammed to a stop as she tore out of the woods. She crashed into the side door, the guns smacking the metal with a clack.

  “Help me, please.”

  Inside the truck, a bearded man with a Texaco ball cap stared. He powered down the windows. “Honey, you ain’t got no pants on.”

  “A man...he kidnapped me, burned my clothes. I escaped. Please, I need the police.”

  The man’s untamed brows knotted. “Get in. I got a phone. And a jacket you can put over your lap.”

  He called 911 before she’d even climbed into his truck. He handed her his phone and a stained denim jacket at the same time. She was grateful for both. With his help, she told the dispatcher where she was and what had happened. They agreed to wait in the truck for the police, and the driver pulled to the side of the road.

  The truck driver’s name was Brian Maine and he was a bear of a man. He adopted Zury as his cub and took one of the guns from her, glaring at the spot she’d emerged from. “That sum’bitch comes outta the woods, I’m plugging him right ‘tween his eyes. Ain’t right doing that shit to a lady.”

  Zury could have kissed him. Instead, she dialed Jonah’s number and prayed.

  * * *

  Lorena and DeWayne Reynolds kept a silent vigil at Zury’s house. Their son Kenny paced, restlessness twitching along every limb. Jonah clutched a throw pillow to his aching gut. He hadn’t expected to find Zury’s surrogate family in residence but the state police had notified her next of kin. They’d been nothing but kind, fussing over him in her stead. Once he assured them he was fine, if slightly drugged, they all simply waited for the phone to ring.

  In Zury’s kitchen, two state troopers waited with Webb for the same thing. Kenny’s wife had called once and every person in the house jumped. Bob came and went, carrying news from the outside to those camping out inside. Several news vans sat outside the house, vultures hanging in wait for some scrap of morbid news. It was a public relations nightmare but Jonah didn’t give a fuck. He made no move to address the throng, hadn’t even thought about it. His mind was consumed with worry.

  The dogs had lost her scent a few yards from his car. Redbear had to have had a second vehicle waiting. The trail went cold. Jonah glanced at the clock, cursing time for going too slowly and yet speeding by too fast. Midnight wasn’t that far away, a few hours at best. The sun had nearly set.

  His phone buzzed and every eye flew to him. The kitchen dwellers stepped into the room, their bodies tensed for news. Lorena’s terrified expression stiffened as he leaned over and grabbed his phone. He didn’t recognize the number.

  “Alcott.” He shot straight out of the chair despite the searing pain. “Zury! Where are you? Are you okay?”

  Everyone crowded around him. A state trooper tried feeding him lines to say but Jonah tuned him out, every ounce of his concentration pinpointed to the tiny speaker next to his ear.

  “I’m fine. Yeah, but it just grazed me. Are you okay?” All the tension drained out of his shoulders. He was so busy thanking God that he nearly missed her next words. His head snapped up. “You shot him?” His stunned gaze met Webb’s. “Is he dead?”

  He shook his head at her denial and Webb blew out a deep breath. Jonah didn’t care whether it was in relief or frustration, his only concern was getting Zury somewhere safe. “Stay right there, I’m coming to get you.”

  She rattled off a phone number. He made frantic motions with his hand and Kenny shoved a pen in his hand as the trooper handed him a small tablet of paper. He scribbled furiously. “No, I think you should get checked out.” If Redbear had left one scratch on her, Jonah was going to hunt the bastard down. “Are those sirens? All right, you do what you have to. We’ll be waiting. Bye.”

  He thumbed the phone off with a grin so big it hurt his cheeks.

  “She’s okay.” He summarized their brief conversation. “She’s off Route 50 somewhere. A passerby stopped to help her, here’s his number.” He handed the tablet back to the officer then turned to Lorena. “Can you get her a change of clothes? She’s going to the hospital to get checked out, but she’s okay. She’s alive.”

  It was that phrase that kept him on his feet and moving forward. It took a while to get away from the news media, but the police were giving updates and Webb and Bob leaped into separate vehicles, tearing away from the house at shocking speed. Some of the more persistent news crews took the bait and followed them.

  Kenny drove, apologizing for every sharp turn that ripped a grunt from Jonah’s mouth. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head on the passenger window. He liked Zury’s foster family. The African-American family were down-to-earth people with strong bonds and good hearts. He just wished he’d met them under different circumstances.

  The hospital was a nightmare. Word had leaked out about Zury’s escape, and all Bob and Webb’s diversion was for naught. The parking lot was jammed with news crews and vans. Luckily, they were restricted to the parking lot. Inside, Jonah paced alongside the Reynolds, afraid if he sat down, he’d never get up again. At some point, Bob showed up. She kept him silent company as they all waited.

  The nurse took the clothes bag from Lorena and everyone took that as a sign Zury’d be discharged soon. Their pacing increased. Just when he thought his nerves were stretched as thin as they could go, he heard her voice. He turned and his chest clenched. There was hardly a bruise in sight but her feet were bandaged and she rode in a wheelchair. Had she lied? Was she hurt worse than she’d said?

  Lorena and DeWayne descended first and the tears flew fast and loud. Zury clung to her foster mom and gripped DeWayne’s hand like a lifeline. Kenny hung back until it was his turn Then he scolded her, calling her Frogface and threatening to whup her butt if she ever scared him like this again. Jonah heard the love in his gruff voice as loud as Zury did. She hugged her foster brother for a long time.

  Finally, it was his turn. He stepped forward with a smile. “Hey darlin’, got a spare hug for me?”

  “Jonah.” His name on her lips, in that breathless, awe-filled voice, ricocheted through him with more power than that bullet had. Zury launched out of the chair before he could go to her and threw herself into his arms. He couldn’t stop the involuntary gasp that burst out and she froze, pulling back. “You are hurt.”

  “A scratch,” he lied, unwilling to let anything tarnish this moment. “What about you? What’s wrong with your feet?”

  “Too many sharp little rocks and thorns, that’s all. Redbear cut off all my clothes and burned them along with my shoes. I ran out of the cabin practically naked.”

  Horror festered in his stitched belly. “Cut off your... Did he rape you?”

  “No.” A shudder gripped her shoulders. “He touched me some but not that.”

  “Fuck, I’m so sorry.” He drew her close, wrapping his arms around her and burying his nose in her hair. Sweet Jesus, she felt good. The Reynolds drifted away, giving them some privacy, and he was grateful. He was damn close to tears again and he’d cried enough in the past week. “I’ve been out of my mind worrying about you.”

  She buried her nose into his chest and clung to his s
hirt. “He wasn’t at the cabin. He got away.”

  “They’ll find him.”

  “I shot him. I actually shot another person. I hit him in the leg. Blood went everywhere.”

  “Shh, it’s okay. We’ll work on your aim.”

  Against his shirt, she snorted. It grew until she was laughing, holding him tighter with every sound. True pain radiated through his torso but he refused to let go of her. He couldn’t, not yet. He needed to feel her heartbeat, to know that she was safe.

  When her lips grazed his neck, something deep in his chest twanged. He tipped her chin up and took her mouth. Too many emotions were packed into that single kiss to leave room for finesse. She seemed as desperate as he was, drilling her tongue into his mouth and sweeping it frantically. Hauling her up, he drank from her lips until he grew lightheaded from oxygen deprivation. Even then, he only released her lips long enough to suck in a breath, then slanted his mouth across hers again.

  Zury nipped at his bottom lip twice before pulling back but she kept her hands locked around his neck. “I promised myself something. Every step I ran, I swore if I saw you again, I was going to tell you.”

  A swallow made the slender lines in her neck jump.

  “I love you.”

  Those words slammed into him with the force of a freight train. They silenced him, squeezed his heart and stuttered his brain. He blinked, the only movement he could muster. Something crumpled on her face.

  The long line of her neck caught the artificial light as she bowed her head, then she looked up and his stomach bottomed out. Her eyes were round, huge and dark with a pain that screamed to him. A slight quiver in her bottom lip twisted something vital in his chest. She took a single step back.

  Blinking rapidly, she wiped her nose on her wrist then pulled her shoulders back. “Do you love me?”