Lost Summer: A Gripping Romantic Suspense

by M T Stone

  Trying to remember what she had learned in those few lessons, she took a deep breath, pushed her face into the water, and paddled as hard as she could. After attempting to gasp for another breath, she found herself choking on water instead. She quickly switched strategies and rolled over onto her back. It was a better position anyway, as she could keep an eye on Leo while making her agonizingly slow escape. She was less than a quarter of the way across when the boat dislodged and he jumped onboard, scrambling to take a seat. She began to panic, kicking her feet and thrusting her arms with everything she could muster. With only a few strokes of the oars, however, she saw that her efforts were in vain. It only took seconds for the old boat to catch up to her.

  She reached out and grabbed the severed anchor rope, wanting to stay in front of the boat. After a few more strokes, Leo began to realize that something was amiss. He dropped the oars and scrambled to the front of the boat, his head peering over the bow. She pushed off with both feet, narrowly escaping his grasp, and went back to thrashing her feet and arms as forcefully as she could. Leo began swearing as he returned to his seat and once again manned the oars. Summer looked down, hoping to find a sandy bottom at any moment. She knew the odds of her reaching the van and getting it started in time were now minuscule, but turning back was no longer an option.

  With the rowboat once again encroaching upon her, she lifted her feet and again was able to push off the front of it. This time, her heel grazed some seaweed that sprang up from the lake bottom when she resumed kicking her feet. She had made it to the other side! She scrambled to her feet and turned to run out of the water just as Leo’s weight came crashing down upon her. He grabbed the hair on the back of her head and forced her face into the water. Her worst fears came to pass as he held her there while she struggled not to inhale the algae-filled water. The next thirty seconds were the longest of her life as her lungs began to ache, and shortly thereafter, her throat began to spasm. She couldn’t hold her breath for another second. She relented, and everything began to go dark before he finally released her head and lifted her from the water. Her lungs immediately expelled their contents, and she began to gag and cough uncontrollably.

  Leo dragged her contorted body onto shore and threw her over his shoulder. She continued to cough violently, her burning throat and lungs struggling to right themselves. “Now you’ve done it,” he chided as he carried her toward the van. He pulled open the back door and slung her body inside. Her head bounced against the same filthy carpet where her nightmare had begun. She quickly came to her senses and kicked him in the face. She screamed in pain, instantly realizing that she had used her broken foot. She immediately kicked him with the other one, not wanting to spend another minute tied up in the back of that van.

  “Stay the fuck still!” he yelled with fire in his eyes, the furrows deepening across his forehead. He held both of her legs beneath one arm while wrapping them with zip ties around her ankles. She thought about the fact that the two sets of keys were still in her pocket. If he turned his back on her for a second, she would lock the doors, scramble into the driver’s seat, and take off in the van. “I just remembered something,” he said, pulling a pair of chrome handcuffs from a crusty old toolbox. “You’ll never get away from me again,” he sneered.

  “Leo Sullivan?” a voice yelled from outside the van just as he was about to use them to secure her wrists. Hopefully, that was the voice of someone sent to rescue her!

  “You stay put!” Carson instructed Dylan after stopping within striking distance of the white delivery van. He could see that the back door of the van was propped open, but he couldn’t tell if anyone was actually back there. He had killed the engine about twenty yards out, not wanting anyone to detect their presence. The element of surprise was crucial, since he hadn’t called for backup. He pulled his .357 from its holster and positioned himself behind the open door of the SUV. “Leo Sullivan?” he yelled, hoping to get lucky. “Come out with your hands up!”

  A startled, clean-shaven, muscular young man peered out at him from behind the van. He didn’t look anything like the man in the surveillance photos, but he had answered to the name.

  “Where’s the girl?” Carson yelled, his pistol aimed squarely at the guy’s chest.

  “She’s right here. I didn’t hurt her.” A scream emanated from behind the van, and Dylan immediately recognized that it was Summer. “Shut the hell up!” the guy yelled back at her. He then turned his attention back to the two men and came out from behind the van. His clothes were soaked, and he seemed completely unfazed by the presence of a gun-wielding stranger.

  “Hey, listen, it’s not like it looks,” the guy continued to say while walking toward them. The sun’s last rays caught the glimmer of something shiny as he raised his right hand toward Carson. “I only did what—” He was cut off in mid-sentence by the sound of three gunshots, all from Carson’s revolver. The guy dropped the shiny object, slammed his hands to his chest, and fell back against the side of the van.

  Dylan watched in a near state of shock as Carson rushed over to the guy, lowering him to the ground next to the van’s rear wheel. Words were exchanged, but he couldn’t hear what either of them was saying. After a moment of hesitation, Dylan jumped out of the SUV, keeping one eye on the guy while making his way to the back of the van. He could tell by the look on the guy’s face that he had already delivered his dying words. The only ass he was going to be able to kick was one of a dead corpse. He actually found himself a bit disappointed by how it had all gone down. He then heard Summer’s cries coming from inside the van, so he immediately refocused on getting her out of there.

  “My God . . . Summer!” he grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her to him. He wrapped his arms around her cold, wet, trembling body and held her tightly. Not knowing if there was any further danger, he cautiously guided her out from behind the van. He saw the shiny object flash in the sunlight and bent over to retrieve it. “It’s just a set of handcuffs.” He held them up to show Carson. “Do you want them?”

  “No. You keep them as a souvenir,” he replied with a hint of sarcasm. “This guy is going to town in a body bag.”

  Dylan shoved the handcuffs into his pocket and lifted Summer in his arms, carrying her over to Carson’s SUV. “Are you okay?” he asked, setting her down in the passenger seat.

  “No,” she whispered. “No . . . I’m definitely not okay.” She had a broken foot, a lump on the side of her head, a cut beneath her chin, she had nearly drowned in the murky lake, and she had been cold and terrified for two full days. Even though she was elated to see her rescuers, it was going to take some time before she would be okay.

  Chapter 13

  Olivia sat in front of police chief, Chuck Sander’s, desk in silence. Ryan and Chuck were going over everything that was coming in from the ground and air search leaders. Officers had followed up on every lead and suggestion that had come in, but each of them had ended up being a dead end. She looked up at the clock—it read three minutes past seven. Within the hour, it would be getting dark, and a few hours after that, the forty-eight-hour window would close without a trace of Summer. Her stomach began to churn at the thought of her daughter spending another night at the mercy of her captor.

  “The last helicopter just landed at the airport,” a voice announced over the two-way radio that sat just to the right of the chief on his desk.

  “Okay, thank you,” Chuck replied. “Sergeant Reed . . . tell the ground crews to finish up at their present locations and return to the station. I don’t want anyone out there after dark. We don’t need anyone else getting hurt.”

  This is completely hopeless. We’re never going to find her. Olivia abruptly rejected the negative thoughts the second they entered her consciousness. She thought back to several books she had read about the untapped power of the human mind. She began to picture her beautiful daughter sitting out on the front steps, laughing and talking on her phone. She had always loved the sound of Summer’s laugh, and she would o
ften stand just inside the screen door watching her. She always looked so happy and carefree. Olivia wanted nothing more than to see her that way again. She closed her eyes and continued to focus on seeing Summer in her favorite spot, laughing with a big smile on her face. God, please bring my little girl home.

  Ryan came around the side of the desk and positioned himself behind her. He began rubbing her shoulders and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. He wanted to comfort her, but there were no words that could soothe the utter despair they were both feeling. He glanced across at Chuck, whose own eyes had turned glassy from watching the two of them. The next minute seemed like an eternity as he and Ryan locked eyes with one another. They both knew the other would do anything they could to find her, but with nightfall at hand, they were out of time for another day.

  Carson’s voice suddenly came across the two-way radio that sat on Chuck’s desk, shattering the silence. “We’ve got her!”

  “Oh, my God!” Olivia screamed, springing from her chair and grazing her husband’s chin in the process.

  “She has a broken foot and has inhaled her share of lake water, but other than that and a few bumps and bruises, she’s fine,” Carson added while Chuck fumbled to get ahold of the microphone.

  “Carson?” Chuck asked once he finally got the mic under control.

  “Yeah, Dylan and I found her out at a small lake about ten miles north and a few miles east of Trucker’s Junction,” he elaborated.

  “I know where that is!” Olivia gasped, turning to Ryan. “We flew right over it this morning. We’ll be right there!”

  Hearing this, Carson added, “I’m going to let Dylan take my SUV and they’ll meet you at the hospital. She’s coughing quite a bit, so she needs to get checked out.”

  “Well, I at least need to talk to her,” Olivia replied, pulling the mic from Chuck’s hand. “Are you there, honey?”

  Summer’s voice came over the radio. “I’m okay, Mom. I love you.”

  “I love you too, baby girl.” Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “Carson, where is the guy who kidnapped her?” Olivia asked, still fearing for her safety.

  “He’s dead,” Carson replied bluntly. “I thought he had a gun in his hand so I shot him. I’ll wait here until backup arrives.”

  “Okay, I’ll get someone out there asap,” Chuck replied, taking the mic back from Olivia. “Reed, do you know where they are?”

  “Yes, I know the area,” Sergeant Reed replied. “Thomas and I are probably about fifteen minutes out.”

  “Okay, I’m going to sign off so Dylan can use my truck to take Summer to the hospital,” Carson reiterated. “Olivia, I’ll give you guys a call on your cell with more details.”

  “Okay . . . thanks, Carson. I don’t know how we’ll repay you for this.” She stepped back from Chuck’s desk and looked at her husband. “I can’t believe it. This nightmare is over!”

  “I can’t believe it either,” Ryan replied with tears of joy still wetting the corners of his eyes. “To think that just a few minutes ago, things looked absolutely hopeless. Thank God they found her.”

  They both gave Chuck a big hug before making their way out to the car and heading toward the hospital. As Ryan pulled onto the street, Olivia retrieved the phone from her purse to check for a missed call from Carson. He hadn’t called yet, so she scrolled through the recent calls and clicked his number. After seven or eight rings, it went to voicemail. “That’s weird. He didn’t answer.”

  “The cell service is probably a little sketchy out there,” Ryan reasoned. “God, I can’t believe they found her. I still have goosebumps just thinking about it.”

  “So do I.” Olivia reached over and placed her hand on his forearm. “For a few seconds, I actually gave up and thought we might never see her alive again. Then I started focusing on her sitting out on the steps, smiling and talking on her phone. A few minutes later, we got the call from Carson.”

  “I didn’t know what I was going to say to you before that call came in. I kept thinking about how life as we know it would be over.” Ryan lifted his arm and kissed the top of her hand. “I don’t think things could’ve ever been the same.”

  “Probably not.” Olivia looked over at him, pondering what would’ve happened if Summer had truly disappeared. Summer was the glue that held the family together. Olivia had already been dreading the fact that she was starting college in the fall and wanted to go to CU in Denver instead of the local community college. She had been thinking about going back to work, at least part-time, to keep herself occupied. There was always a shortage of counselors at the school. Besides, if oil prices stayed low, they were going to need the extra money.

  “What are you thinking about?” Ryan gave her hand a squeeze.

  “Oh, nothing. I can’t believe our little girl is turning eighteen in less than a week. It seems like yesterday that she was that little girl with a ponytail, chasing after butterflies.”

  “I know.” Ryan raised his eyebrows and tossed her a smile. “I’m just glad she will be turning eighteen.”

  Dylan flipped up the center console and helped Summer move into the spot next to him. She was shivering and still coughing sporadically, so he grabbed a jacket from the back seat and wrapped it around her. He started up the SUV, and they both took one last look at the slumped-over body of her abductor.

  “I can’t believe he’s dead,” Summer sighed before having another coughing fit.

  “I’m just glad it’s him and not you.” Dylan gave her a kiss before throwing the vehicle in gear and turning back toward the road. He then slipped his arm around her and pulled her as close as possible.

  “How did you find me?” Summer asked him as they began the drive back toward town.

  “My uncle was the one who tracked you down. I was just along for the ride.” Dylan explained how he had used the traffic cameras to narrow down the search area and then used common sense to choose which road to focus on. After that, it was just a matter of talking to everyone they could find and putting together all the bits of information.

  “I’m surprised that anyone knew him. He never had a single friend growing up,” she replied with a sorrowful look in her eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “There’s a crazy-ass guy who lives about a mile away from the lake. He recognized the van and told us that Leo lived on an island in the middle of that lake,” he added, pointing back toward the farmhouse where they had struck pay dirt.

  “I’m glad you guys got there when you did. He was really pissed that I had tried to escape.” She coughed hard several times, nearly losing her breath. “That lake was fucking gross!”

  “Did he try to drown you or something?” Dylan asked, feeling a surge of anger rising from deep within him.

  “Yeah, I was trying to make it to shore when he jumped out of the boat and tackled me,” she replied as tears began to stream down her face. “He held my head under water. I thought for sure I was dead.”

  “You’re safe now,” he replied, squeezing her into him and rubbing her arm with his hand. “We’ll get you to the hospital and make sure everything is okay.”

  They drove in silence for several minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Dylan had an overwhelming sense of relief that she was fine. He never would’ve forgiven himself if things had turned out badly. He looked over at her sweet, innocent face and gave her another squeeze.

  “I’m really sorry that it took me so long to go out with you,” Summer said in a noticeably raspy voice. “It’s just my dad . . .”

  “I know. You don’t have to explain. Carson and your dad have been rivals for years,” Dylan informed her. “He said that’s why your dad hates me.”

  “I think Dad will forgive both of you after today,” she replied, her voice trailing off toward the end of her sentence.

  As they drove, Summer began to come out of the near state of shock she had been living in for the past forty-plus hours. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face as
she thought about how terrified she had been throughout the whole ordeal. She honestly couldn’t comprehend how she had held things together. Now, however, the strength that she had been feeling was beginning to fade and being replaced by sheer anxiety. How would she put this behind her? Would she be constantly looking over her shoulder? The feelings that came rushing to the surface were overwhelming her.

  “What’s wrong?” Dylan asked, breaking the silence that hung between them.

  “I don’t know . . . I can’t really explain it,” she murmured, leaning her head against his shoulder. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust people again.”

  “Sure you will, but it might take some time.” He turned to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Just stay away from the crazy looking homeless guys.”

  “That’s not funny,” she whispered in an annoyed tone. “Most of them can’t help it. Leo was messed up by an abusive father. I don’t know why so many abusive people want to raise kids.”

  “I’ve always wondered that myself.” Dylan reached over and turned on the heat in an effort to curb her trembling.

  “That’s okay,” she told him. “I’m not shaking because I’m cold. I think I’m just shaking because of everything I’ve gone through.” She placed her hand on his thigh, leaned against him, and closed her eyes.

  “You don’t have to worry about anything,” he assured her. “From now on, I’m going to protect you.”

  Summer cracked her eyelids open and turned her head to give him a subtle smile before closing them again. They were only about forty-five minutes from the hospital, but she felt so exhausted that she couldn’t keep them open any longer. After all, she had only slept a few hours in the past two nights combined. She knew there would be an endless stream of tests, pokes, prods, and questions to answer once they arrived at the hospital. All she needed was a little nap.