by Anna Scott
My wedding dress had been purchased and was with the seamstress being altered. Bridesmaid dresses were chosen and ordered and would arrive within days. Our simple, elegant ceremony would be held in the church where my parents were married all those long years ago, and our reception would be held at Chestnut Village. It was a quirky, but cool spot with very old historic buildings. The area had been restored to its original splendor and would give guests a lot to look at and explore on our special day. I loved the hometown feel of our nuptials, both of us being native Texans. I liked things like that, and the pair of pure white Tony Lama boots covered in rhinestones that I received just two days before were perfect. I didn't wear cowboy boots very often, but when I saw those, I knew they were just what I wanted, bringing that little piece of unexpected to the day.
With Aurora's illness and the craziness, Trent was dealing with at work, we opted to head down to Antigua for a week. We would forgo the month long honeymoon in Scotland that Trent wanted, deciding that we could take that trip in a few months, after the holidays, and things here had settled down.
Slipping into the skin tight Scarlet Witch costume, I selected, much to Trent's grumbling protests, I wondered if I could get the damn thing up and over my breasts.
"Jesus, Amber, you cannot wear that thing today. Don't you have a sweater or something?" Trent had asked, eyeing the ample cleavage visible thanks to the deep V in the red leather bodice. His gaze was a mix of lustful and disapproving.
"I do," I reassured but didn't point out that the tiny matching red leather bolero style jacket would only cover my shoulders and arms as the evening wore on and the air grew cooler. Thankfully, late October in Texas wasn't too cold. We were actually experiencing warmer weather than usual.
Trent grunted and reached down to adjust his hardening cock behind the zipper of his perfectly worn Levis. The faded denim did lovely things to his thick thighs, and I knew from experience that the soft cotton would be molded perfectly to his tight ass.
"What the fuck are those?"
Looking down at the boots I had just zipped up, I glanced back to see that Trent's scowl had moved from somewhat disapproving, to fully annoyed. Yes - they were hot. Honestly, the thigh high red leather boots with four-inch spiked heels were fuck hot, and they went perfectly with my costume. I knew that he wouldn't like the costume, but at least this one had pants. Sure, they were skin tight leggings, but the leather bodice flared out at the waist and hung to the top of my thighs.
"Can't you wear your red Converse?" He persisted, ridiculously. "I think those will hurt your feet," he called, walking into the closet. He pulled the shoes he suggested out and thrust them at me almost commanding, that I take them just in case.
Stretching up onto my toes, I kissed his soft lips and smiled as he growled sexily into my eager mouth. "I'm going to rip this thing off you later."
"Promise?"
"Mmmm"
Wrapping his arms around me, he latched on to my ass and lifted me, deepening the kiss.
"I can't wait until you're my wife."
"Just two more weeks."
"Thank God."
"Whew, that's awesome!" Aurora shouted as I walked through the door into Indulgence. Her tiny baby bump wasn't obvious yet, but in the black unforgiving Bat Girl costume she was wearing, I could see it more clearly.
"You look perfect. I can't believe Luke let you out of the house in that."
"He didn't, I changed here." She smiled that slightly annoyed and still secretly thrilled smile she had perfected over the last few weeks. Luke's protectiveness was actually rivaling Jake's, which I didn't think was possible.
After filling both plastic Jack-O-Lanterns with an assortment of candy for the kids and preparing the special treats for the parents, we switched the sound system from the current Matchbox Twenty playlist to the Halloween music Aurora had put together the day before. I flipped off the bright overhead lights and plugged in the orange, green and purple lights crisscrossing the store, giving off a festive glow.
Within minutes, the smallest of trick or treaters began to trickle in. This was the part I loved most, interacting with the children and laughing with their parents. Most of the shops decorated for the night, but we really went all out. The parents seemed to enjoy it, hanging around longer than necessary to talk before moving on to the next store.
Since Aurora and I had both lived in McKinney all our lives, we knew a lot of people. It was also a good time to catch up with old friends and newcomers to the area, alike.
"Trick or Treat!" Hope called as she, Jake and little Dylan came in. Dylan was dressed as Captain America and each of his parents sported matching Captain America tees. They were adorably perfect. Jake held the black messenger style diaper bag Hope had bought, especially for him. Apparently, she had promised that he would never have to carry a blue bag with little duckies or teddy bears on it.
The pride that showed on his face as he passed Dylan from his arms to mine was obvious, and it warmed my heart. Jake had made a serious transformation from the gruff, sometimes angry man he'd been just a year before.
Once our friends left the store, Dylan, securely back in his father's capable arms, things were quiet. I decided to slip out to grab and some takeout for Aurora and myself. Luke, Gavin, and Trent were all at work. The police departments would be busy with the Halloween craziness, so no one would be dropping by to bring us food.
"You sure you want the wet burrito?" I confirmed, before grabbing my purse and walking out. She'd been so nauseated . Lately, I had no idea how she would handle the spicy sauce.
"Yep, that's what this little one wants today." Aurora's smile was bright enough to light the entire store. I knew that she and Luke were exceptionally happy about their growing family, and I couldn't wait to have that same joy myself one day in the not-so-distant future.
The sidewalks were crowded with families and hoards of teenagers out enjoying the mild weather and festive decorations of the shops. Since the streets were closed to traffic, I opted to walk the five blocks to the nearby Mexican restaurant, which was a challenge in my costume.
My focus was trained on a tiny little girl in a Goldilocks costume. Her long blond ringlets bounced as she skipped along holding on tight to her daddy's hand, so I didn't notice the man standing close behind me until I felt the sharp prick on my arm. In shock, I turned my head just in time to see his evil face. Then everything around me went dark.
Chapter 12
Aurora
Glancing at the clock for the fifth time in twenty minutes, I began to seriously worry about Amber. She had been gone for just over an hour. Doing my best to shake it off, I decided that she must have run into someone she knew and was chatting out on the street somewhere.
"Indulgence, this is Aurora," I answered just a few moments later when the store line rang.
"Hey, can I talk to Amber."
"Sorry, Trent, she ran out to get us some food. She isn't back yet."
"Huh, okay. When did she leave?"
"Um, an hour ago, I think. It's really crowded out on the street, she probably ran into someone." I didn't know what made me try and convince him, but I found myself rushing to assure him, though he hadn't yet expressed any worry.
"Do you know if she took her phone?"
"I think so, let me check." Looking around on the counter, and the drawer underneath where we often kept our personal items, I came up empty and told him so. We hung up after I assured him I would have her call as soon as she got back.
Thirty minutes passed before the phone rang again and I had to tell Trent that Amber still wasn't back. Unfortunately, I also had to tell him that I just hung up with Marisco's, and Amber never showed up to get our food.
"Fucking shit!" He roared into the phone, the panic that was evident in his voice chilled my blood, and I knew, I just knew that something was seriously wrong.
"What should I do?" I asked, having no idea how I could help.
"Nothing, I want you to close the doors.
Lock everything up and stay inside. I don't know what's going on, but you need to stay safe. I'll call Jake, I think they're down there. When he comes, let him in, okay?"
After agreeing, he disconnected, and I rushed around the store. I made sure everything was locked tight, and the alarm was set. The last thing I needed to do was to make the guys' night any more difficult. I knew with all certainty the hell was about to break loose.
It wasn't ten minutes before I heard Jake's voice calling from outside the front door. I checked to be sure it was him, then disarmed the system and opened the door for the three of them to join me inside once more.
Jake had it locked and rearmed within seconds. Considering it wasn't his store, he knew the system better than I did. He settled his family in a chair in the middle of the room, adjusted the pull-down blinds on the windows to ensure no one could see inside and walked around the counter to my computer.
"Sign me onto this, please. I need to get into the security system." He requested, with more calm than I felt.
With just a few keystrokes Jake took over, and I watched in a daze as his fingers moved rapidly. He pulled up images from the security cameras. He made and received several phone calls, some I knew were from Gavin, Reed, and Luke. He gave what little information he had, which in light of whatever was going on, seemed like nothing.
Trent
"Where the fuck could she be?" I shouted at Gavin for the millionth time. My heart raced with the knowledge that Amber, my love, my life, soon to be my wife, was missing.
"I don't know. we'll find her - okay?" His words didn't soothe me. He didn't know where she was, and we didn't know what was happening to her.
We had started to check her phone's GPS location just a few minutes before, but the area, it was showing was heavily populated and just a few blocks from the store. Somehow, I knew the phone had been dumped.
It being Halloween, I couldn't pull every officer within a fifty-mile radius off their current assignments to look for her. I did call in every favor I could, though. After hearing the news, a lot of officers, deputies, agents and detectives had come in on their day off to aid in the search. So far, that had given us not one damn thing to go on.
"Reed," I barked into my phone, praying that he had something.
"Okay, I found a witness that saw her on the street." His hesitation told me to brace, and I knew I wasn't going to like what was about to come out of his mouth.
"Fucking say it!"
"She was waiting to cross Tennessee when a couple stated that a woman matching Amber's description passed out. The man with her caught her and lifted her. When someone else asked if the woman was all right, the older man said that he was her father-in-law and was going to take her to rest. The man explained that she hadn't been feeling well but would be fine. The couple I talked to said that he seemed nice enough and believable."
"Father-in-law?" I confirmed I'd fucking known it would be my father behind this bullshit.
"Yeah, an older man, late fifties, over six feet, graying hair, fit."
"Jesus, you know-"I muttered before Reed cut me off.
"Yeah, and just far enough from the store that the cameras wouldn't see him." Reed voiced what I'd been thinking. He had been lying in wait for her, planning to pounce and I hadn't been there to protect her.
With absolutely nothing to go on, we searched. We gathered any surveillance video from other local businesses that we could and had only been able to see him carrying a lifeless Amber back toward the parking lot where she normally parked. Considering the crowds and packed lot, it had been impossible to see which car he got into.
Six hours - six long ass hours passed, filled with rushed calls, hurried statements, concern and out and out panic. All the girls had been taken to Jake and Hope's house. Dan Dupree arranged for a squad car to sit vigil out front. The last thing we needed was for something else to happen.
"Fishing cabin?" My ears perked up when I heard Gavin on the phone again. He was hurriedly writing something down and nodding his head to whatever the person on the other end of that line was saying.
Everything we could do had been done. APB's, notifications to the harbor patrol where the yacht the Harper Oil stilled owned was docked, a call to the TSA and an all out man hunt for my father, all of which had gotten us zilch.
"Put it out to local - yeah?" Gavin seemed agitated. In my own state of sheer crippling fear, I wasn't sure if his was good or bad. "See you there."
"What is it?"
"Not sure if it's anything, but Jake found an old cabin about forty-five minutes north that your father still pays the property taxes on. From the satellite images, it doesn't look like much, but it's about all we've got to go on."
Nodding, I rushed to my truck and was about to jump in when I felt Gavin's hand on my shoulder.
"Ride with me, in your state, you'll never get there in one piece."
With the minuscule amount of reason, I had left, I nodded my agreement and climbed into the passenger seat of his truck. For the next thirty minutes, I prayed he would just go faster. When I told him that, he glanced over with a look of sympathy and reminded me that he was going as faster than he should be already.
I was so nervous, not knowing what we'd find that I couldn't hold still. My legs bounced, my hands tapped the dashboard, my eyes darted from side to side. I was looking for anything, a clue, a fucking breadcrumb. Turning off the main road, Gavin slowed on the single lane dirt road and killed the lights as we approached the myriad of vehicles clustered. Everyone appeared poised and ready to go in.
"Anything?" I asked as Gavin and I joined the group of officers, agents, deputies and detectives standing in clusters and speaking softly. If I were in my right mind at the time, I would have taken in the impressive crowd of people who gathered in my time of need. Some were people I had worked with over the years, some were close friends, and some were complete strangers. Every one of them was out there to help me find my girl. Somehow, I would find a way to thank every single one of them after it was all over.
"Not yet, we found a black town car about half a mile farther down hidden in a grove of trees." One of the officers I didn't know responded, pulling my focus back to the situation at hand. He was an older man, obviously in charge of the scene. An air of authority surrounded him. He wasn't arrogant or artificially puffed up like so many I had run across over the years. His was a quiet strength, something I respected immediately. I didn't feel any better about the situation, but I was able to allow this man the lead since I was in no position to take it. I didn't know the area, hadn't done the recon and was too emotional to make sound decisions.
"What's the plan?" Reed asked, coming up behind me.
The same officer, who eventually introduced himself as Greg Fuller explained. His team, along with the rest of us would move silently toward the cabin and surround it. We would all stay out of sight until the situation could be assessed. I wanted to rush in and find my girl but knew that wasn't the safest plan.
It had been over seven hours, and all I could think about was finding Amber and getting her back into my arms where she was safe.
I prayed. Over and over again, for hours. I had prayed more in those hours than I had in my entire life combined.
Amber
Something warm and wet splashed against my skin. It coaxed me from the overwhelming darkness, rousing me enough to be somewhat lucid but not fully awake. My limbs felt heavy, and everything hurt. I couldn't open my eyes. As I tried to move, I realized that my body wasn't ready to comply with my mind's demands.
Something brushed against my stomach, and I flinched. I felt so strange, asleep, yet not. I was trying to wake, but couldn't. Was I naked? My skin was cold and felt sticky, what the hell?
Fighting the haze, I finally got my head to move and heard an ominous chuckle from somewhere in the darkness. Instant chills covered me and panic set in. I was finally able to open my eyes, but couldn't make anything out. It was dark, and my vision was blurred. I was lying
on something hard, but when I tried to pull my arm into my chest, I realized it was tied down. Testing my other arm and legs, I found them all restrained. An odd stench hung in the air. A mixture of dirt, fish and sweat. Where the hell was I?
Something was lodged into my mouth, preventing me from screaming, which was exactly what I tried to do. When my eyes adjusted to the darkness enough to see that I was indeed naked, at least the parts of my body I could see. Standing at my side was Trent's father.
His hair was messy, the glint in his eyes was sinister. If I hadn't already been freaked way the hell out, I would have been when I realized that he only wore a long T-shirt. I couldn't see it clearly, but I knew exactly what he was doing with his hand. He was stroking himself. His arm flexed, and the fabric of the shirt moved with each stroke. My body began to tremble uncontrollably as he moved forward and brushed my skin with his free hand.
"Glad you're finally awake, now we can really play."
Oh, god, had he raped me? Was he about to? Yanking on the bindings that held me captive, I knew there was no way I would get out of this nightmare unscathed. My entire body hurt and I had no idea what had happened to me.
Taking a quick glance around the dimly lit room, I realized we were in some kind of shed or cabin. The rustic wood walls weren't painted. I could see a small stainless steel counter with a sink and an old fashioned stove in one corner and a bed in the other. Two doors led from the room, going where I didn't know. One of them had to lead to freedom.
"Trent should have listened. You know, this is his fault. If he did as I demanded, you wouldn't need to be punished."
Shaking my head violently, I pled with my eyes, praying that some semblance of sanity would return to the crazy guy before he went any farther. That hope was dashed when he narrowed his eyes and smiled wickedly.