“I think I know where Charity is being held.”
“What’s your plan?”
Joshua gripped the steering wheel. “I don’t have one except to find her.”
Ron reached into his belt and pulled out a gun. “I’ll be there to back you up.”
“That gun is not a good idea.”
Ron scowled. “I was with the police here for ten years. I know how to handle this.”
“Have you had anything to drink?” Joshua asked.
“Nothing. I’ve been doing better. Just like I said I would.”
Joshua slowed as he neared Larry’s property. He didn’t want to announce their arrival. The safest bet would be to stay in the woods and see what they could find. Joshua prayed that his moves would be the right ones and that Ron would be a help instead of a hindrance. There was too much at stake to mess this up.
Joshua pulled off into a patch of gravel, trying to conceal the car. Before he cut the ignition, his phone rang. It was the chief.
“Where are you?” she demanded.
“I’m headed out to Larry’s. Isaac is watching over the scene at the station.”
“Don’t make any moves without backup. Do you understand? You don’t know what kind of situation you’re in. I’m not going to lose one of my officers. It hasn’t happened yet, and it’s not going to happen today.”
“I have backup, Chief.”
“Who? You said Isaac was at the station.”
“Ron Whitaker.”
“He’s not a police officer anymore.”
“But he’s backup.”
“Joshua . . .”
“We don’t have time here, Chief. Charity’s going to die if I don’t find her soon. I can’t let that happen. Not on my watch.”
***
As people in desperate situations were prone to do, Charity began making a mental list of everything she would do if she ever got out of this prison.
The first thing: she’d truly stop letting her fears hold her back. Her fears about love. About hate. About the future.
If she took away those anxieties, she’d have no reason not to move back to Hertford. She’d have no reason to be away from Joshua. She could start again, find a new job in this area, and give life here in North Carolina another chance.
The question remained, however: Would she ever have a chance to do those things?
She didn’t know the answer.
Her ankle was sore from the cuff she had around it. A thunderstorm brewed in the distance. A chilly wind had already picked up. Charity’s legs were so welted with bug bites that there was hardly one smooth surface of skin there.
Lord, I believe You are a compassionate God. Please help. If You can’t change my circumstances, change my heart and give me understanding and comfort. Please.
Just then she caught sight of someone coming toward her in the distance. She straightened, moving toward the fence. Who was it? Claudia? Larry?
But, as she watched, she squinted. It was neither. A woman she’d never seen before came toward her.
She wore khaki pants and a cotton top, and her salt-and-pepper hair was pulled back in a braid. A bruise covered her left eye, and her lip was crusty as if it had been busted.
The woman didn’t say anything. She moved quickly and unlocked the gate. Then she rushed inside. Her fingers trembled as she released the cuff from around Charity’s ankle.
“Run,” the woman whispered.
This was the woman who’d called Charity. But who was she? Why was she helping her?
Charity stared a moment, wanting to say something.
“Run,” the woman whispered again.
Finally, Charity nodded. “Thank you.”
Without wasting any more time, she took off in the opposite direction from the one she’d seen Claudia and Larry approach from. She ran without stopping, without looking, without giving herself time to fear. She knew she just had to get as far away as possible.
CHAPTER 44
Joshua surveyed a house in the distance. He remained behind a tree, watching the place carefully for any sign of life.
A few minutes later, Larry Davis stepped out and stood on the porch. He stared into the distance, unmoving.
What was he doing? Did the man know he’d been discovered?
Ron remained beside him, acting surprisingly competent. Joshua still didn’t know if it was the best idea for Ron to be with him, but it was too late to go back now.
Larry let out a cackle. It started as a low rumble and hung in the air, growing with time. The sound turned Joshua’s stomach. A moment later, the man stepped back inside his house.
“You think he knows?” Ron asked.
Joshua shook his head. “I have no idea. But look at the truck in the driveway. It matches the kind we’re looking for, based on the tracks we found where Charity was abducted.”
Just then, someone else stepped from around the back of the house. A woman with a Dalmatian.
“Andrea . . .” Ron muttered.
“It’s not Andrea, Ron. It’s someone who looks like her. They found Andrea’s body, remember?”
“How can she look so much like her?” Ron studied her, grief watering his eyes.
“Maybe she shares part of her DNA,” Joshua suggested. “Part of your DNA.”
Ron cut him a sharp glance. “You mean . . . ?”
“You’re not the poster boy for faithfulness. How do you know this woman isn’t your daughter?”
Ron let out a small grunt. “What if Andrea’s abduction was all my fault, someone getting revenge on me for my mistakes?”
“You can’t think like that, Ron. Especially not now. I need you here with me and in the right mind-set. Let’s not have another tragedy.”
Ron grimaced and shook his head. “I treated Charity so poorly, Joshua. It wasn’t fair.”
“You’re going to have the chance to tell her that. Hopefully soon.” Joshua looked away from Ron for long enough to check on the girl. She watered some plants outside, the Dalmatian walking along beside her.
Interesting. So that was how Buddy Griffin was set up. These people must have, at some point, bought a Dalmatian from him. In that process, they’d figured out he’d be a good scapegoat. These people were master planners, able to frame more than one person in order to take suspicions off themselves.
“Everyone else should be here soon,” Joshua said. “I think we should check out the rest of the property.”
“I’ve got your back.”
Just as Joshua looked up and spotted a camera located high in a tree, a gunshot rang out.
Joshua looked at the house again and saw Larry standing on the porch, a rifle in his hands. Things were about to get even more dangerous than before.
***
Charity heard the gunfire. Was someone shooting at her?
It sounded far away. As long as she kept moving away from the sound, she hoped she’d be okay. That was the only thought on her mind: keep moving.
She knew her feet and legs were bleeding, but she didn’t stop. Not this time. She knew her life depended on escaping right now. Otherwise, that cage would be her death.
She’d rather take her chances out here in the woods.
If Joshua had been correct, this property was located between Edenton and Hertford. The total distance was probably fifteen miles. Certainly she’d run into something in between. She had to believe she had a chance.
Another gunshot rang out. What was going on?
Who was that woman who’d let her escape? What had happened to her? What would happen to her now when Father Larry realized she’d been the one to let Charity out?
A fence appeared in front of Charity, halting her in her tracks. A fence? Did it surround the entire property?
The structure was probably seven feet high and had barbed wire at the top. She’d never get over it. She had to find a gate, some way around it.
Her heart pounded in her ears, both from the exertion of her run and from the adrenaline that
burst through her. She’d been so close to getting away.
Of course these people had thought ahead. They’d planned everything, hadn’t they?
Which way should she go, to the left or the right?
In her mind, the right would lead to the road—or possibly back closer to her human kennel. The left would lead to the river. Were there any openings? Was climbing this even a possibility?
There was nothing to grab onto to get to the top. And, even if she did, the barbed wire would slice through her skin.
In a split-second decision, she followed the fence to the left, praying there was a break somewhere.
Movement in the distance caught her ear. Was someone following her?
Tension pinched at her spine. Was that a wild animal? Or was it Father Larry? Claudia?
She moved faster. But as she traveled farther, she still didn’t see any openings. Was she just looping back around to where she started? Was there any way out of here?
Tears threatened to push their way out.
She heard another gunshot. This time, it was closer.
People yelled, but she couldn’t make out any words.
Anxiety tried to squeeze at her throat. What was going on?
“You’ll never get out, you know,” someone said.
Charity paused and turned around. Claudia stood there, that psychotically carefree expression on her face.
“You found me,” Charity said, her voice trembling as every other part of her froze.
She took a step closer. “I’m sorry Jasmine let you out. She shouldn’t have. Father will make sure she’s disciplined for her actions.”
“Who’s Jasmine?” Charity continued to inch along the fence, trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and Claudia.
“She’s my mother.”
“Why don’t you call her Mother, then?”
“Father said Jasmine is a better name for her.”
How messed up were these people? She’d never willingly become a part of their clan. Never. “Claudia, I don’t want to go back.”
“But you must. You’re a part of the plan.”
“You leave sometimes. I saw you in the woods and in Edenton.” She glanced around, looking for something to defend herself with. A stick or a rock . . . anything.
“Father trusts me. But Edenton was an accident. I didn’t know you’d be there. I only approached you from the woods.”
“How’d you know about puddle jumping?” Charity tried to keep her talking as she searched for a weapon.
“Andrea told me.”
Charity saw a stick. It was three feet away, probably. She had to somehow grab it. “She told you she liked Dalmatians also?”
“Of course. She told me everything. Anyway, Father gave me a task.”
“To lure me here?”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
“Does Jasmine ever get out?”
“Only to do Father’s will.” She reached out her hand. “Come back with me. Let’s make this easy.”
“No. I don’t want to go back.”
Something changed in her gaze. “Then we’ll have to do this the hard way.”
***
“Come out or Jasmine dies,” Larry said.
Joshua watched in horror as the man dragged Jasmine onto the porch. Larry had been coercing her into his dirty work all along, hadn’t he? She was probably talking about herself when she came into the station, but also trying to warn him about Charity. He felt certain about it.
“Jasmine . . .” Ron muttered.
“You know her?”
“You could say that.” Ron shook his head. “Everything is starting to make sense now. We had a . . . fling. I really messed things up, didn’t I?”
Joshua turned his attention back to the situation at hand. He didn’t have time to counsel Ron at the moment.
“Don’t hurt her,” Joshua called.
Larry glared. “Come out, then.”
Joshua glanced at Ron. The best case scenario was that Larry didn’t realize Joshua had back up.
“I’m coming out now,” Joshua said.
He stepped out of the woods and onto the patch of land between the trees and the house.
“Put your gun down,” Larry ordered.
Slowly, Joshua lowered his weapon to the ground.
“You’ll never get Charity back, you know. She’s mine,” Larry said. “You should have just left it alone. No one else would have gotten hurt.”
“I can’t do that. Charity is important to me.”
A bullet whizzed through the air. Before Joshua realized what was happening, Larry grabbed his shoulder, his face twisting with pain. A spot of blood appeared there.
Before Larry could harm Jasmine, Joshua lunged toward them. He pulled Jasmine out of the way and grabbed Larry’s gun.
Moving quickly, he cuffed Larry, despite his protests and cries of pain.
“Are you okay?” he asked Jasmine.
She nodded, tears streaming down her face.
“Where’s Charity?”
“I told her to run,” she whispered.
“Run where?”
“She’s back there somewhere. But Claudia went to find her. I’m sorry.”
“Ron, take care of him. Can I trust you to do that?” The man was with the person who’d killed his wife and daughter. The situation wasn’t ideal, to say the least.
“Yes, you can. I give you my word.” Ron stepped toward Jasmine and put a hand on her elbow. The woman seemed to melt toward him.
“I have to go find Charity.” Joshua took off into the woods. A quarter of a mile back, he found what looked like a cage. His heart slammed into his chest. Was this where Charity had been kept? What had they done to her?
Voices in the background made him pause. Someone was coming.
He ducked behind a tree and waited. A moment later, Charity came into sight. The woman who looked like Andrea—was Claudia her name?—clenched her arm.
“You could have avoided all of this,” the girl said, almost in a singsong voice, one that made Joshua wonder if she was in her right mind.
Charity was wearing a strange cotton outfit. There were scratches on her arms and legs and dirt on her face. Her hair looked tangled, and her skin was pale.
Anger surged through him.
“I’m going to have to put you back in here until Father decides what to do with you,” the woman said.
“No, you can just let me go. You don’t have to do this, Claudia. There are other ways.”
The dog walking beside Claudia suddenly barked—right in the direction of Joshua.
Claudia looked around, suspicion clouding her gaze. “I don’t like the sound of that. We need to move fast.”
As they reached the cage, Joshua stepped out. “Don’t do it.”
Charity used his unexpected appearance to her advantage. She pushed Claudia into the cage instead and slammed the door, clicking the padlock in place.
“What are you doing?” the woman demanded. She grabbed the rungs of the fence and pressed her face against them. “I don’t belong here.”
“No one does,” Charity said.
The next instant she was in Joshua’s arms. She collapsed, just as Chief Rollins appeared in the distance.
***
Three days later, Charity was released from the hospital. Joshua had been by her side as often as possible, but the two of them still hadn’t spoken of anything beyond the investigation. Charity had been weak and had to have an IV and antibiotics for an infection that had set in around her wounds. Otherwise, she was okay.
She was exceedingly happy to be leaving the hospital. Joshua had offered to drive her back to Daleigh’s place. Tomorrow, she needed to leave and head home to Tennessee.
The ride to Hertford was quiet, and they chitchatted about the weather and things of no consequence. Charity hated feeling the awkwardness between them.
At the porch, Joshua finally turned toward her. “Can we talk?”
She smoothed a wayward hair back. “I’d love to.”
They walked to the pier and sat in the Adirondack chairs there. She waited for Joshua to start.
“I’m sorry, Charity—”
“Don’t be.” She stopped him before he got too far. “You were just doing your job. I felt betrayed, but that didn’t mean you’d actually betrayed me. Emotions can be funny things. I talk about them for a living, but sometimes when my own are right in front of me, I can’t recognize them.”
“I’d venture to say most people are like that.”
Charity swallowed, feeling like there was a brick on her chest. So much had happened and they had so little time to talk about it all.
After a moment of silence fell, she asked, “Did anyone ever find Mr. Johansson, by the way? I never heard an update.”
Joshua nodded. “He came out of hiding. He was camping in the mountains, apparently. He thought for sure he was going to be arrested for abducting Andrea. All these years he’d feared he was on the police watch list, mostly because of threats Ron Whitaker made toward him.”
“Ron Whitaker . . . I guess I can’t talk poorly about him, since he did risk his life to save me.” She frowned, realizing some relationships were beyond repair.
“He’s misguided, and he has a lot of faults. But he has some goodness inside, too. I’m hoping he’ll tap into that.”
“What about Claudia and Jasmine?”
“They’re both getting help. I don’t think they’ll face charges, but both of the women are going to need counseling and help reintegrating into life away from that compound. They’d been programmed to believe a lot of lies.”
“With some help, I believe they can change.” Look at me. I overcame the odds too.
“Get this: Ron Whitaker is going to help pay for their therapy. He’s actually been in contact with both of the women quite a bit. I think he’s trying to make things right.”
Maybe there was hope for the man.
“Did the coroner ever say how Andrea died?”
“Pneumonia. Without proper medical treatment, her body shut down. Otherwise, she appeared unharmed.”
“That’s a relief, I guess. I just hate that she had to suffer.”
Charity realized they were avoiding talking about the giant invisible boulder between them.
Gone by Dark (Carolina Moon Book 2) Page 25