Fate and Destiny

by Claire Collins

  “The truck’s right outside. I know it hurts.”

  Shadow whined softly, almost a whimper.

  “I’ll carry you out there. Relax.”

  Swaying slightly with the effort, Shadow huffed, then turned and dashed the short distance to the open truck door, leapt inside and lay on the seat, panting heavily, exhausted.

  Shaking his head, standing, Andrew shrugged.

  “Or maybe I won’t.”

  Already moving, he covered the short distance into the truck, quickly followed by Destiny. He slid across the seat, over the dog and into the driver’s seat as Destiny backed in after him, the rifle still swiveling to cover anyone appearing from around the corners of the cabin. As she locked her door, Andrew peered out the windows. Nothing moved. Andrew put the vehicle into drive, put the plow down on the ground, and drove across the clearing, leaving the cabin behind them. Destiny sat quietly in the passenger seat, warming under the heat flowing from the vents. Focused, strong and ready, Destiny held the rifle tightly, eyes studying the landscape around them until she felt Andrew watching her. She turned to him briefly, stress around her eyes, her mouth drawn in a firm line. Relaxing only a bit as she looked upon him before resuming her inspection of the scenery.

  “We’re going to get out of here Destiny. Charles is off his rocker, but he can’t stay out in the cold. He will have to get back to wherever his car is and hightail it out of here. We will drive into town and get Shadow to a veterinarian and then go to the sheriff’s station. With Charles here trying to kill us, it blows his alibis and his case against you all to hell. Matt can arrest him.”

  Andrew’s words emerged as little more than a whisper as if speaking in a normal tone would alert Charles to their location and bring him out into the open.

  “I left all of the documents in the cabin. I hope Sammy can reprint them all. If they can’t find Charles, I still need those papers.” Destiny spoke calmly, matter of factly, completely in control of herself.

  Andrew reached over, leaving the pistol in his lap and placing his hand on her shoulder, relaying his support. They were in this together.

  The truck came to the end of the driveway, and Andrew turned onto the road. Charles had not pulled up to the cabin in a vehicle because that would have alerted them to his presence. Instead, he had parked it down the road somewhere and hiked on foot to the cabin. The headlights picked out trees and the cleared but icy road. No car parked along the way. Charles had plenty of time to run from the cabin, arrive at his vehicle and escape the mountain while Andrew and Destiny went through the process of getting in the truck. Andrew settled back for the drive into town. Although they both relaxed a little, feeling more secure in the locked truck and on the road, neither of them let their guard down.

  Approaching the sharp curve where the Jeep hulked in the ditch, Andrew tapped the brakes, slowing down slightly to maintain traction on the slick road as they rounded the bend. The Jeep came into view, reflecting in the beam from the headlights, and too late, the 4x4 truck parked sideways across the road materialized. Front bumper against the Jeep, back wheels on the edge of the road, tailgate of the truck hanging over the narrow ice filled ditch on the opposite side. Tapping the brakes no longer enough, Andrew brought his foot down forcefully but smoothly, then tapping quickly, pumping the brakes to grip and release across the snow. Steering into the slide as it began, quickly adjusting as the plow fishtailed a different direction.

  A second later, the front corner and driver’s side of the plow slammed into the four by four blockade. The force of the impact sliding Shadow and Destiny across the seat and onto the floor. Andrew braced against the steering wheel, his body rigid except for the arm he thrust out to keep his unstable passengers from slamming into the windshield.

  None of them moved for the moment it took them to realize what just happened. There hadn’t even been time to scream out a warning. Breaking the spell, Shadow whimpered from the floor, unable to gather the strength to get back up in the seat. Destiny painfully extracted herself from the dash and floorboards, wishing she had thought to put her seatbelt on before they left. Blood trickling down her face from the opened gash across her forehead, her body ached from a series of bruises both old and new.

  Andrew reached out his hand to help her back into the seat. She shook under his grip.

  “You okay?”

  She nodded, control vanishing, her eyes wildly searching around them, ready for Charles to pop out of the woods and start shooting. She retrieved the gun from the floor, straightening up and donning her mask of determination. She nodded again, stronger this time.

  “I’m okay, but we have to get out of here.”

  The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, her skin prickling. He was out there. Watching.

  The key still in the on position, but the engine no longer purred with life. Silence flowed over them. Andrew flipped it off and switched it back on. Nothing happened. No lights, no heat, no power. The front quarter of the truck smashed into the side of the four by four, both trucks melding into one hideous beast of steel. Andrew reached down under the pedals to locate the pistol that flew from his lap. The silence and darkness closed in around them as they glanced at each other before averting their gazes to the dense woods.

  Destiny jumped at the sound of Andrew’s voice.

  “We have to get out of the truck. We’re sitting ducks in here.”

  “We can’t leave Shadow. He can’t fend for himself like this.”

  Hearing his name, the dog whined urgently. Charles was closing in.

  “We have to Destiny. He can stay on the floor where he is. He doesn’t have the strength to bark. Hopefully Charles will think we left him at the cabin. Shadow didn’t sense him there when we left. If Charles doesn’t know the dog is in here, he won’t bother with the truck if we aren’t in it.”

  “You stay here with him. I’m the one he wants. I’ll go out and draw him away.”

  In the dark, her voice was steel, determined.

  “You’re crazier than he is. First of all, I’m not letting you go out there alone. We have better odds if we stay together. Two against one is better than one against one.”

  Destiny started to speak, protesting Andrew’s logic. Before she could utter a complete word, Andrew cut her off.

  “Besides that, I love you and I can’t live without you. Letting you leave this truck to handle this madman on your own will kill me. When we get out of here, I’m going to marry you and protect and cherish you for the rest of my life, and I can’t do that if you go out there alone.”

  Absorbing the words, Destiny wanted to argue, protest, yell, and scream. Cry. There was no time for hope right now. No time to stop and think about tomorrow. All she could do at the moment was agree to stay together. Safety in numbers. Once the adrenaline and fear was over, she would give him time to rethink his plan. Nodding, Destiny bent down to ruffle the dog’s fur gently. Turning his head to her palm, he nuzzled her, licking softly.

  “Okay, Shadow. Baby, you lie real still and be quiet and we will come back for you with help.”

  Andrew could not make out her features in the dark, but her voice shook with unshed tears as she bid a farewell to her savior. Andrew placed his hands upon the dog as well, whispering words of encouragement as well as a prayer for the dog’s safety.

  One last glance at each other before staring into the trees. Destiny unlocked and opened the door, slipping to the ground out of the line of fire from behind, searching around in front of her for any sign of Charles.

  Keeping his back to the passenger door and his eyes to the driver’s side, Andrew crawled backwards across the seat, sliding to the ground next to Destiny before turning around and leaving their backs protected by the truck. The cabin Doug and Destiny invaded sat directly ahead of them through the trees. Cross the short opening, slide across the ditch, and use the trees as a barrier unless Charles was there waiting for them. Together, crouched over to use the trucks to block anything behind them, the
y scampered over the road and to the ditch. Hearts pounding, breath shallow, they both tensed at the last few steps across the ice, sliding, each of them landing on the ground more than once, they were almost in the safety of the trees. Landing again on her knees, Destiny was rising back to a crouch when she spotted the figure walking down the road, one arm outstretched towards them. She could only utter a warning noise to Andrew before shots echoed around them.

  Dropping to the ground, crawling on their bellies the last few feet, bullets whizzed too close. Andrew reached the trees first, standing to his full height and stretching his hand out to grab Destiny and pull her to safety with him. He held her close, breathing hard into her hair, heart skipping and thudding to have her in one piece. Hurrying now, he held her hand, pulling her behind him through the trees, running as fast as they could to the safety of the cabin.

  By Andrew’s estimations, Charles parked his truck across the road deliberately, hiked up to the cabin, and was just now coming down. The man was running on an unnatural fuel, oblivious to the strength sapping cold. Another clearing to get to the cabin, but even if Charles cut into the trees from where he was on the road, he still wouldn’t be able to arrive there before them. Also, it should be safe to assume Charles didn’t know the cabin was there while Destiny and Andrew knew exactly where it was. Arriving, they entered the cabin through the broken window.

  Dropping onto the floor, they each crouched there, the rifle and pistol pointed to the clearing surrounding the window. At least now they didn’t have to worry about watching their backs. There were no windows along the back or sides of the cabin. Neither of them spoke, both of them on edge, watching and waiting.

  In the silence, Destiny’s heavy breathing from the race to the cabin was a welcome sound to Andrew’s ears. He furtively glanced to her before seeking movement among the trees, memorizing her features in case either of them didn’t make it through the night. He didn’t need the quick look. The honey brown hair, the green eyes, the brilliant smile were already emblazoned in his mind.

  “Andrew, you’re bleeding. Oh my God. You’re shot.”

  Distracted from her post, Destiny reached up to wipe away the blood from the flesh wound at Andrew’s neck. He felt the heat of the bullet when it happened, but it hadn’t been deep enough to keep him from getting them to safety. He gently brushed her cheek with his hand.

  He whispered under his breath so only she could hear him.

  “It’s only a scrape. It will be fine. I meant it, you know. I love you. If anything happens to me, just remember that okay?”

  He prepared to die, offering her the protection she had not experienced before.

  “You say that like I’m the last person in the whole world.”

  Her soft breathy words matched the tone of his, not carrying any further than the windowsill.

  “As far as I’m concerned, you are.”

  “That’s the fear talking. Say whatever you want to. I won’t hold you to it when this is over.”

  Wanting to shake sense into her, and prove to her he meant every word. All Andrew could do was grip the gun tighter, scan the woods harder. Charles DeMont would die for taking away Destiny’s hopes and dreams of a normal life with people who loved her.

  Nothing moved, the woods keeping their secrets, hiding the killer.

  “Andrew?”

  Hoping Destiny finally came to her senses, Andrew could not stop the soft lilt in his voice.

  “Yes Destiny?”

  “I smell smoke.”

  29.

  Snapping back to defensive mode, Andrew lifted his nose, the freezing air bringing with it the unmistakable smell of wood burning.

  “Shit. Guard the window.”

  Crawling away from the window until he was out of the line of any eyes, Andrew stood, feeling for heat along the walls. The usually comforting smell of burning wood now caused his blood to stir in panic. Quickly taking his place at the window, he gave Destiny the news.

  “The back corner is hot. He snuck around the back and set a fire. We need to get out of here.”

  Before they could move out the window commando style, protecting the back of each other, a voice echoed from the trees.

  “Remind you of anything Destiny? So, were you playing with matches when you set your parents on fire?”

  Shaking next to him, startled by the loud, cheery yet ominous voice, Destiny didn’t move, frozen in place, her eyes reflecting wide-eyed fear and disconnect. She didn’t respond.

  “How horrible that must have been. There you are, safely watching from outside as your parents died. What a naughty child you were, sneaking out of the house after you set it on fire. The child welfare reports said it was smoke inhalation, but I’m sure with a fire that intense, there must have been some burning. Do you know what burned bodies smell like Destiny? Flesh on fire, skin melting. There your parents were, looking for you, and you let them die.”

  Destiny closed within the safety of her mind as Andrew watched, mortified. Bringing his lips to her ear, he whispered softly so no noise would carry to the edge of the trees.

  “Listen to me, honey. You know he’s wrong. Focus on him without him knowing he’s getting to you. Don’t respond. Don’t listen, just focus. If he moves, shoot. Keep him there.”

  Robotically, Destiny nodded, her swinging hair brushing softly against his lips. From the corner of his eye, flames licked up the corner of the cabin. Thick smoke rolled across the ceiling. Placing the pistol in his pocket, he pressed his lips to the pulse throbbing in Destiny’s neck, whispering his love in her ear before retreating across the room to the burning corner. The outside wood was wet, the smell of the gasoline used to ignite the fire mixing with the smoke. If the wood was wet enough, the melting snow may put the fire out. It was burning too hot from the fuel, quickly drying the wood around it. The snow may douse it, but only after the roof fell in. At the rate the flames were going, Andrew decided he may only have a few minutes to get them out.

  He soundlessly moved across the room to the kitchen area where his cabin contained a door to the cellar. Thankfully, this cabin didn’t have one. It was only used in the summer months, unmodified from the original plans. He quickly rummaged through the drawers and tiny utility closet. While he searched for a hammer or crowbar, Charles began his verbal assault again.

  “Destiny. I know you’re in there. It’s the closest shelter to where you and your man disappeared into the trees. You’re such a whore. What did you do with your uncle to lead the poor man on before you filled his head with lead? Did you seduce him? Strip in front of him? Were you screwing him while your aunt was alive or only after she died? How did that feel on your young body? You liked it didn’t you? Did you kill him for the money too?”

  Reaching into the back of the last drawer, Andrew’s hand closed around the wood handle of a hammer. Destiny had not pulled the trigger and the voice came from the same area as before. He remained out in the woods, waiting for Destiny and Andrew to die. Kneeling to the floorboards in the kitchen, Andrew used the hammer to pry the corner of one board up. The long straight nails came out easily, the wood popping up under the pressure of Andrew’s determined assault. Freeing two boards rapidly, he paused to study the flames spreading across the back wall. He could not see the wall in the bathroom, but the fire would be spreading there as well, weakening the supports under the weight of the snow laden roof. Destiny sat in place at the edge of the window, staring unblinking at a spot in the woods. Her face a mask, completely withdrawn into her own thoughts, concentrating completely on the trees. The voice came again as Andrew pulled more boards free.

  “What about my father, Destiny? Did you tease the old man too? Figure you could use that body to get what you wanted from him? Did he pay you for it? You were his whore, good for nothing but being used. No one will miss you when you’re gone. One less little slut running around fucking for money. Was he better than your uncle? Oh maybe that’s why you killed your daddy too. Did mommy find out or did she watch?”<
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  Five boards out, Andrew dropped waist deep into the hole, his feet landing on frozen earth. He climbed out quickly, gauging the spreading fire. The open window let out enough of the smoke so the air near the floor was clean enough to breathe. He scrambled across to Destiny.

  “He still there?”

  She nodded, tears trickling down her cheeks. It was a good sign to Andrew. She was still in there. Disconnected from reality just enough to block out Charles and not lose her mind.

  “I need you to follow me as fast as you can, okay? He won’t be able to get here as fast as we can get out. Understand?”

  Another nod and Andrew crawled back across the floor. Destiny dropped to her stomach, slithering along soundlessly behind him like a soldier, rifle extended in front of her. At the hole in the floor, Andrew dropped down, crawling to the side, careful not to bump his head on the pipes. The lake water was cleaned before traveling to most of the cabins that were not on the well line Andrew was on. The pipes to the summer cabins were shut off each fall at a chlorinating junction near the lake so they would not freeze in the winter. If he remembered correctly, the outside door to the crawlspace was at the back near the lean-to shed.

  He waited a moment, but Destiny didn’t follow him into the hole. Moving back to the opening, he stuck his head up to see what was keeping her. She lay on the floor, looking at the hole, but not attempting to drop in. “Destiny, we have to hurry now. C’mon honey.”

  He reached his hand up to touch her face, wanting to bring her back to here and now. Thankfully, Charles had not begun his tirade against Destiny’s sanity again.