They were left alone on the dark country road.
They made another turn and Fiona saw a forest in front of them.
“Is that where we’re going?” Avery whispered.
The road stopped and so did the car.
Owen got out, and slammed the door shut. Fiona ducked down, and saw him on his phone again.
“Listen, when he opens that door, we have to hit him with these.” Fiona passed Avery a crutch.
“What will these do?”
“Knock him out or something.”
“Then what?”
“Then you drive us outta here.”
Avery nodded. “You think he’s taking us to Arnold?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to know. Let’s just do this.”
Avery nodded and they heard Owen open her door. Fiona braced herself, ready to do whatever it took.
Avery pulled the crutch back, and Fiona waited for her to shove it at him, but she just sat there with the crutch in her hands. Owen’s face came into view.
“Now!’ Fiona shouted, but Avery shook her head.
Fiona saw the gun pointed at her. “Put them down now. Please, don’t make me hurt you.”
Avery dropped her crutch.
“No, he’s bluffing. He won’t hurt us. Not if he’s bringing us to him.”
“Fiona.” Owen barked. “You don’t know what I’m capable of. You best not assume, or get any ideas. Just get out of the car.”
Avery scrambled out of the car, and Fiona scooted over to the open door, before it slammed in her face.
She watched Owen cuff Avery, and turned to get her crutch. She grabbed it, and when she sat up, she watched Owen’s fist collide with Avery’s head. In the moments after, she slammed her crutch against the back window. The thuds got Owen’s attention, and he opened the door.
“Don’t hurt her!”
“Get out now.”
Fiona held her crutch, and slid toward the door. Owen grabbed the crutch, and Fiona held on.
“I need it to walk.”
“You won’t be walking.”
“Please Owen.” She pulled the crutch back, and used her body to force it forward at Owen’s leg.
He jumped out of the way, and Fiona watched the other crutch come down on her head.
Chapter 60
“Noah, where are you? We’re leaving soon.”
“Thorpe and Concession Three.”
Noah approached the intersection when the call came in.
“What the hell? You said you were coming in!”
“No, I said I’m on my way there.”
There was a pause, and Noah heard commotion in the background. He realized their misunderstanding, and started to explain.
“Arnold’s in the wind.”
“What?”
Noah stopped at the intersection.
“He’s gone. Not at home where we thought he was. One officer’s dead, another in critical condition.”
He pictured Arnold coming down his driveway at them with a rifle in his hand. If that were the case, they would have had time to stop him. They should have.
“How?”
“Don’t know. Listen, we’re all on our way out. Wait for us along Thorpe. Do not go alone. You got me?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Good, and Christ, Noah, don’t try to be a hero.”
He would have laughed at the word had he not felt the guilt would rumble up his throat.
“Noah?”
“You think he’s there, don’t you? Tipper’s Point.”
Noah pictured Arnold’s vehicle parked there among the trailers and hearing the screams of his next victim.
“That, or out hunting his next vic. Get Owen on Avery and Fiona.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Get back to me when you know they’re safe. I’ve alerted the officers outside their houses along with the Kent’s and Hornby’s.”
Ethan hung up, and Noah punched the steering wheel. He told him not to be a hero, but even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t have the slightest clue where to start, besides Tipper’s Point.
Chapter 61
When Avery opened her eyes, she saw a blurry vision of the forest. Her arms were tied to a big tree along with her body, but her legs were free, and she kicked and screamed.
“Fiona!” Avery cried, and struggled against the rope. “Fiona, please!”
The ropes weren’t tied tight enough to hurt, but she couldn’t lean more than an inch or two forward, and she wriggled her body against it.
“Owen! You don’t have to do this!” Her shout held a distant echo.
Avery squinted and searched for Owen in the distance, but the fog concealed everything more than twenty feet ahead. As she tried to concentrate, her head throbbed.
“Bastard.” Avery heard the muttered words from behind her, on the other side of the tree.
“Fiona? You okay?”
“Yeah. Don’t yell, alright?”
“Owen’s gone. He dragged us in here for him. I know it.”
Fiona struggled against the rope, and Avery let out a gasp.
“Fiona, that hurts.”
“Well how do you expect us to get out of this without pulling?”
“We can’t,” Avery looked down at the rope, “but I can.”
“What?”
“If I pull, and you lean back, I think I can slip out of this.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, but it’s going to hurt…for you. Like, really hurt.”
“Just do it.”
“Okay, one, two….”
Avery pulled, and scooted her back down the tree trunk. She heard Fiona gasp, but she kept going, and pulled even harder to give herself more space.
“Ah.” Fiona gasped.
“Almost.” Avery said, and shimmied the rope over her breasts.
“Stop.” Fiona gasped.
Avery pushed her head back against the tree, and Fiona gasped for breath.
“Are you?” She panted, “Out?”
“Fiona, don’t move, you’re rubbing it against my neck.”
“You’re still not out? Come on. I could have been out after five seconds flat.”
“Yeah, but you’re not much use with your leg, so it had to be me, alright? I’m sorry.”
“Uh huh.”
“What? I am.”
“Just get it over with.” Fiona groaned.
Avery pulled the rope again, and slid her head out of the bindings.
“There!” She shouted.
“Be quiet!” Fiona hissed. “You really think we’re alone out here?”
“No. Sorry.”
Avery struggled to her feet and walked around the tree to where Fiona leaned limply against it. Avery dropped to her knees and leaned in close. The moonlight illuminated her face, and reflected off of her misty eyes.
“Your leg. Does it hurt?” Avery stopped pulling the ropes from her wrists and studied Fiona’s bloody pant leg..
“I’m fine.”
“It looks like it hurts.”
“You don’t look so good yourself. Your head’s bleeding.”
Avery touched her fingers to her forehead, and a sharp sting made her pull away. Her fingers were bright red.
“Owen knocked me out.” Avery studied the blood, “I can’t believe it.”
“He did the same to me. Believe it. Now untie me.”
“Here,” Avery scooted closer to her and their hands touched, “you’re cold. Freezing.”
“I didn’t notice.”
Avery looked around the dark woods, and heard something in front of them. A snap of a twig drew their attention to their left.
“I have to hurry.” Avery whispered. “Hold still”
“I am.”
Fiona tugged, and yanked, and Avery pressed her lips together as she worked.
“Do you know where we are?” Avery asked, and as soon as the question left her lips, she was ready for a sarcastic response.
“I couldn’t tell if we
were in Cedar Ridge anymore. After that woman saw us, I lost track.”
“Why would Owen do this? Is he working with Arnold? He’s got to be.”
“I don’t know.” Fiona pulled at the rope, “It doesn’t make sense.”
“He’s gotta be working for him. He brought us to the forest Fiona.”
“I know.”
“It’s happening….”
“There.”
Avery pulled Fiona’s arms forward and the rope fell loose.
“Hold on.” Avery collected the ropes in her hands, “I just have to pull this over your head and…”
Avery’s eyes searched her face and waited for Fiona to finish the sentence for her.
“Listen to me. This is not your forest, and it’s not my forest. The same thing’s not going to happen, okay?”
Avery nodded as she pulled the rope over her head.
They both turned to the left, where the snapping noise had come from, and heard a familiar joyful tune.
Chapter 62
Noah called Owen’s cell over and over again.
No answer.
Voice mail full.
He dialed Ethan’s cell.
“Can’t get ahold of Owen. Maybe Missy, his wife, maybe she went into labour?”
“He’d answer.” His tone was flat, and Noah listened as someone spoke to him in the background.
“We tried him too. Nothing.”
“If he was going to answer, I think he’d answer me. We’re friends.”
“Hold on.”
Noah waited as Ethan spoke, the radio crackled, and Noah couldn’t make out the words.
He pulled over to the side of the road where Ethan told him to stay. It was deserted, and had been for the past few miles. There was a rundown sign that read “T-P-INT”, and he parked the car right in front of it.
“Noah, you with me? Call just came in from a local woman out by you along Concession Three. Said she saw two females, clearly distressed in the back of a cop car. It was Owen’s plate.”
“What?”
“You know everything I do. I think Owen took the girls.”
“No, somebody must’ve stolen his car. God, he could be in trouble. What if it was Arnold?”
“He’s involved with Arnold somehow.” The same flat tone he used that said he knew Owen better than Noah. “Noah, you’re close to where they were spotted.”
“You think they were taken here, now? Tipper’s Point?”
“That’s where they were headed. No one knows you know about that place except for Darrel and me. If Arnold took his vics here before, nothing would stop him from taking them there now.”
“There’s no cars here. I would have noticed a police car.”
“We’re fifteen minutes out,” he paused “maybe twenty.”
Noah squinted and searched down the path into the old trailer park. Everything was quiet and eerie feeling gnawed at him as he tried to see through the mist.
“Can’t wait that long.”
“Yes you can, and you will. That’s an order Noah.”
“The girls are in danger, and who knows where they are. Maybe Owen too. Try to get ahold of Missy.”
“Listen, you followed the lead, and it turned out to be a good call. I can’t have you running around out there without backup. Tipper’s Point is more than ten acres.”
“I’ve got to look. This might not even be the right place.”
“You think it is though, don’t you?”
“From what Darrel said, yeah, I do.”
Ethan cleared his throat. “You’ll reply when I message you.”
“Right.”
“I want updates. If you find them, and Arnold is there, you wait for us Noah.”
Noah ended the call and set his phone to silent. He checked his gun, and drove his car into the abandoned park. The moon formed shadows around a group of trailers and trash littered the ground around him.
He made a turn, slipped in between two trailers, and parked.
He ran back out to the road, walked along beside the ditch, and searched for tire marks that lead into the park. Aside from his own tracks, he saw a few others, but couldn’t determine whether they were fresh.
Thorpe Road was deserted, and as a cloud drifted over the moon, Noah crossed the ditch. He stayed on the same side of the road as the trailer park, and jogged along the tree line, as his hand hovered over his gun.
As he waited for any sign of movement or sound, and started to wonder how Arnold got Owen’s car, and how he was able to take both the girls.
The silence along the road was maddening as he pictured Avery and Fiona being taken against their will, to meet whatever fate Arnold had planned for them.
He hoped Darrel was right about Tipper’s Point, because he couldn’t let his mind wander to the alternative.
Chapter 63
The whistling was barely audible, and if Fiona hadn’t heard it before, she might not have been able to place the sound. As it got louder, the jovial tune became clear. Avery’s fingers fumbled with the rope, as she finished untying Fiona’s wrists, and Fiona concentrated on the direction it came from.
“We have to go.” Fiona whispered.
“Come on.” Avery wasn’t as quiet, and she grunted as she pulled Fiona up by her arm. She wrapped it over her shoulder and squeezed her wrist tight. “Can you limp along?”
“Let’s go that way.” Fiona nodded in the opposite direction the whistling came from, but Avery shook her head.
“This way.” She didn’t wait for Fiona to respond, and instead, drug her along.
“Why?” Fiona whispered.
“He’ll expect us to go in the opposite direction. Just trust me.”
Fiona pushed herself along, but each time the foot of her bad leg hit the ground, it reminded her of being shot on the path.
Tree branches snapped, and leaves rustled from the direction of the whistling.
“Let me carry you.” Avery whispered in her ear.
“No way.”
Avery was taller, and her frame was thinner. They probably weighed the same, but Avery lacked the muscle Fiona had.
“Get on my back.”
“I’m fine.”
“We’re going too slow.”
Fiona knew it was true, and in the same moment, Avery stopped pulling her along, and heaved her over her back, fireman style. Fiona didn’t say anything for fear of being heard, but if she could have, she would have given her an earful.
She knew her weight might have shocked Avery, with muscle weighing more than fat, but she admired her perseverance as she hobbled along at a better pace. They made less noise as one, and the whistling was fading. The sound was replaced with Avery’s laboured breathing, and Fiona knew she couldn’t be carried much further.
“Put me down.” Fiona’s voice caught on the phlegm in her throat with each step Avery took.
“I’m taking us as far as I can.”
Fiona could picture herself uttering those words if the situation were reversed. She felt Avery shake beneath her with each uneven step and wondered which direction they were going. Less than thirty paces more and Avery stopped. Fiona slid off her back against a tree, and down the trunk.
Avery knelt beside her.
“We have to work together.” Fiona hissed.
“You have to trust me. You don’t have another choice. You couldn’t have walked that far.”
“I could…”
“Shh.” Avery looked in the direction they came from, and the whistling was clear again. “Okay, what do we do?”
“We should have gone in the other direction.”
“We don’t have time. Just tell me.”
If she knew where they were.
If she were familiar with the area.
If she knew the girl she was taken with.
If only she knew which way was north, but she couldn’t waste their time on these thoughts.
“Listen.” Avery whispered and pointed toward the whistling.
Avery shook her head and pointed. “There’s a stream. It’s got to be coming from Lake Simcoe. If we follow it, it should lead us out, right?”
“How will we know if it’s leading us out or deeper? Which way is north? We should try to listen for the road.”
“There are no cars on the road out here. It’s the best I’ve got for now.” Avery said. “Should I carry you again?”
“You’re asking me this time?” She thought better of giving her a dirty look, and took a deep breath. “Let’s just walk.”
“Fine. One condition.”
“What?”
“If he gets close,” Avery glanced toward the whistling, “I have to hide you. You won’t be able to outrun him. Maybe we should hide you now.”
She shook her head. “We aren’t splitting up. We each did this by ourselves last time, and we only survived because we got help. Those other girls he killed didn’t have help.”
Avery looked over her shoulder, and Fiona could tell she was still searching for a hiding spot. The thought of being left in the dark with the killer made her hands tremble, and she pushed them down into her legs.
“Avery, promise me you won’t leave me.” As soon as the words left her lips she dropped her gaze to the ground.
“Whatever. Come on.” She pulled Fiona to her feet, and when she stood, her hands stopped shaking.
Avery may not have exactly promised, but it was better than another argument. They took a few steps in the same direction, and as Avery walked faster, the distance between them grew.
“Maybe,” Fiona whispered when Avery looked back at her, and felt her face grow hot, as Avery tip toed back. “Maybe if you could, you could carry me again?”
Avery got into position again, and lifted Fiona across her back. The fog made Fiona dizzy, but she decided it was working to their advantage as long as the whistling continued.
“He’s close.” Avery whispered.
“Just keep going.”
Chapter 64
As Noah turned the corner, he lost sight of the park sign, and felt his cell vibrate once in his pocket. Straight ahead, there was another opening to the trailer park with a closed metal gate. He ran toward it, and saw a few tire marks coming in and out, but they looked faded. No guarantee they were from today, he thought, and then the doubts crept into his mind.
Lies Come True Page 18