by Melody Anne
Emily walked down the path to the now familiar barn. She went inside, which felt a bit eerie since no one was anywhere around. She laid there petting the kittens, feeling sorry for herself.
She heard a noise behind her but before she was able to turn around and see what it was, she felt a shooting pain in her head and all went black.
Mark reached the airport when his cell phone rang. He picked it up, thinking it would be Emily calling for one last goodbye.
“Hey Mark, you can cancel the trip, we got the issue solved,” the voice said.
“Are you sure?” Mark asked but he was already turning his car around to head towards home.
“Yeah we got it all fixed up. You can stay there, where I know you really want to be,” the man said with a chuckle in his voice.
“You got that right. I would much rather be with my family,” Mark said with a relieved sigh.
“What’s going on over there, you’re all falling head over heels?”
“We’ve just discovered it’s much nicer to have a beautiful woman at our side every night than to be out trying to find a new girl every weekend,” Mark said sincerely.
“I think I will go ahead and hold onto my bachelorhood,” his friend said and then hung up the phone.
Mark pulled up in front of the house and called out to Emily. He didn’t get an answer so he headed up the stairs. He smiled as he pictured her laying there in their bed. She did tend to take a few naps now and then with the pregnancy wearing her out.
He quietly opened the door and stepped inside. Emily wasn’t there either. He was still unconcerned. He searched through the house and then the pool and still couldn’t find her. He knew she had to be around because her car was sitting in the garage.
The property was far too quiet. He glanced around, then thought of the barn. She was most likely down there playing with the kittens again. He jogged down there and was relieved to see the open doors.
None of his guys would leave the door open, so she had to be in there. He stepped through and was stunned to not find her. He crept over by the kittens and his heart seemed to stop in his chest.
He dropped down to his knees and fingered the scarf he knew belonged to his wife. When he examined the drops of blood laying there in the hay, his panic was escalated. What had happened? He ran back up to the house and called the hospital. Maybe she’d injured herself and called an ambulance to pick her up.
A few minutes later Mark had zero answers. It was time to call in for some help and send out a search party. His wife never strayed far without telling someone where she was. He picked up the radio and had all his men come in immediately. He then called his father, who would call his brothers.
Mark organized the guys and they all took different sections of the ranch. He’d been gone for less than an hour, so she couldn’t have gotten too far. He quickly thanked God he hadn’t gotten on that jet. If he hadn’t come home sooner she could’ve been out there all night before someone noticed her missing.
Mark shook his head as he realized he was most likely overreacting. She was probably down by the lake, or reading a book, not far from the house. He seemed to have an irrational fear something was wrong. He couldn’t get the blood spatters from his mind. If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t be nearly as panicked.
After the men searched every inch of the property, they met back at the house. Mary and Scott had returned and made coffee, tea and sandwiches and set them out for everyone. “You all need to eat and keep up your energy to find Emily,” she demanded of the men. They all obeyed, even though no one had an appetite at all.
Every person on the ranch had fallen in love with Emily and with her missing there was huge stress among all the hands. Mark’s family arrived while they were making a new game plan and he was relieved to have his father and brothers by his side.
“I’ve called search and rescue. They are going to bring out the dogs. We’ll take them to the barn, which is the last place we suspect her being and they will track her,” Lucas said.
“I don’t understand where she could’ve possibly gone,” Mark said, with his head in his hands. “It’s been hours and she never leaves without letting someone know. Trevor will be home in a few minutes and she’s always here when he walks in the front doors.”
“We’ll find her, Brother. I promise you,” Alex said with conviction. He laid his hand on his brother’s arm in comfort.
The three brothers continued to talk about different options, as the women made call after call, trying to see if she’d been seen anywhere.
A news crew showed up and Joseph gave them a brief statement and then asked them to put her picture up. When someone disappeared, who was associated with the Anderson’s, it was front page news. Joseph hated he had to take the time away from his sons’ to give a statement, even if it was a short one.
Joseph finished and then told them to please stay back from his family. He knew he wasn’t going to get them to leave completely but he could keep them away from the house.
“Did they leave, Dad?” Mark asked when Joseph walked back in.
“Well, you know they won’t leave completely until she’s found but they’re at the end of the drive and away from the house,” Joseph reassured his son.
“We’re going to find her right, Dad?” Mark asked his father. At that moment he felt more like a child, needing his father’s comfort, than a grown man with children of his own.
“I guarantee you we will find her and she’ll be okay,” Joseph promised his son. He prayed to God he could keep that promise.
Emily woke up with a pounding head. She tried to lift her hand up, to feel what the pounding was and found she was unable to move her hands. She tried to sit up and couldn’t move her body at all. She began to panic and started pulling her arms and legs.
She opened her eyes to view her surroundings. She was in some dingy bed, in a tiny room and her arms and legs were tied down. She started to cry as terror filled her. She couldn’t understand what was happening.
“Mark,” she cried out with a pain filled voice. There was no answer. “Mark,” she yelled again louder.
She heard a noise and at first felt relief, thinking Mark had found her. The door opened and a strange man walked through it. She’d never seen him before but he scared her to her very core.
“You finally woke up, I was beginning to worry,” he said to her, as he leered from across the room.
“Where am I and why am I tied up?” she asked the man, with a trembling lip.
“You’re home,” the deranged man said. Emily didn’t know how to respond to what he’d said. She didn’t want to provoke his anger but she didn’t want him to think she wanted to stay.
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s really simple to understand,” the man sneered, as he moved closer to her. A shiver of disgust moved down her spine as the man leered over her.
“We had a connection and then you chose that stupid rich man instead of me. You accepted my flowers, you read my love letters and you still married him. Well, you’re mine now and you won’t be leaving here,” the man said.
Emily looked at him in horror. This was the person who’d been stalking her. She didn’t understand how that was possible. They’d found the pictures of her in Chris’s stuff and he’d been a convicted felon. She stared at the guy in confusion, as the reality was trying to sink in to her befuddled brain.
“I really don’t understand, because I’ve never met you before,” she said to him.
“We did meet. You helped me pick out some fruit at the supermarket when you were new in town and I told you I’d repay the favor,” he said. For the life of her she couldn’t remember the event.
“You said that would be nice and you would see me next time. I kept coming back to the store at the same time but you never showed up, so I sent you the flowers. I watched your face as you accepted them and you were smiling. I then sent you the notes and letters. I knew you wanted to be with me but Mark wasn’t
letting you leave. Then you went and married him and cheated on me so I’ve been waiting until I could get you alone,” the creepy man said.
He was now sitting on the edge of the bed and Emily was beyond terrified. She was at his complete mercy, with no way to get away. Mark would never be able to find her; she didn’t even know where she was. She was so scared she was going to lose her baby due to this cruel man. She wanted to place her hand protectively over her womb but couldn’t move her arms.
“I’m really bad with names, can you tell me yours again?” she asked him, hoping to stall the man until she could figure something out.
“It’s Joshua remember?”
“Oh yes, now I remember,” she lied to him. She still couldn’t recall him.
“See we did have a connection, I knew if I got you away from that place you’d remember me,” he said as he ran his dirty hand down the side of her face.
“I’m really uncomfortable Joshua, can you untie me?” she asked him, in what she hoped was a friendly voice.
“Not yet,” he said and started to pace. “You could be trying to fool me. My daddy taught me women lie all the time to get what they want,” he spat at her.
“Joshua I wouldn’t lie to you,” she said, hoping to gain his trust.
“Just shut up,” he yelled at her and lifted his hand in the air, like he was going to hit her. Emily cringed away but luckily he never threw the punch. She lay there silently and cried. She prayed somehow Mark would find her.
“I’m going to make us some dinner, like a real family and then I will take you outside to use the bathroom because tonight you’ll finally be mine,” he said, before stepping out of the room.
Emily immediately began twisting against her restraints, trying to get at least one limb free. If she could get one hand out, she could undo the rest and perhaps run away. When the struggle was doing nothing but wearing her out, she finally gave up and decided to save her strength. It looked like her only shot would be when he released her to go outside. She’d been a pretty good runner when in high school, so if she could just get lose from him, she may have a shot at getting away.
The biggest problem was it was already getting dark out and she had no idea what direction to run in. She didn’t care. She would run until she just couldn’t go any further and then find somewhere to hide. The darkness would at least conceal her from him too. She would wait it out until dawn if that’s what she needed to do. She wouldn’t stay there and let the man violate her.
She laid there until finally the pain and exhaustion she was feeling overtook her and she drifted off into a restless sleep.
Emily was awakened by dogs barking and men shouting. She felt her hopes start to grow. Maybe Mark had found her and this whole nightmare would be over with. She waited and then heard the sound of her name being called.
The search team arrived at the house and Mark led the men to the barn. The dogs smelled the area and then immediately started pulling at their chains to follow her scent. Mark didn’t waste any time in following them.
Lucas and Alex were right there at his side and the three of them followed the search team through the woods. Mark couldn’t figure out why she would have possibly come this way unless it was against her will.
About a mile through the woods that bordered his property, the search crew leader stopped, pulling everyone in for a talk.
“I see a cabin over the rise there and the dogs seem to be leading us straight to it. Now we don’t know if Emily got hurt and sought out refuge, or if she was kidnapped but with the blood and the direct path leading to this place, it looks more like a kidnapping to me,” the search leader said.
“Let’s go then,” Mark said with a growl. If some beast had his wife, he was going to get her back right then and rip the man to pieces.
“Mark, I know you want to immediately rush in but that’s not the smart thing to do. We need to sneak up on the property. If someone has taken your wife and he’s inside with her and knows we’re there, it will turn into a hostage situation. The best outcome for Emily is if we can catch this guy on the outside. We’re going to come at the cabin from different directions. Let’s do a radio check to make sure your ear pieces are working. No one speaks louder than a whisper,” the leader commanded.
It was obvious to all involved the guy was a former military man. Mark was grateful he was the one in charge of the operation.
They split up and slowly made their way towards the cabin. Mark was with his brothers and the search leader was coming in from the side. As they crept closer, Mark heard a commotion and the dogs started going crazy.
“I’ve got him,” Mark heard someone yell.
“Check the cabin,” another voice piped in. Mark didn’t need any more prompting than that. He sprinted the last hundred yards, calling out Emily’s name and threw open the door, not worried about his own safety.
When Mark looked in the dimly lit cabin and saw Emily lying there, tied to the bed, every instinct in him said to run back out the doors and kill the man who had done this to her. There was no way he could leave her long enough to do that, though.
“Mark, I knew you’d find me,” she sobbed, as he gently sat on the bed and touched her. He felt all over her body, to make sure nothing was broken and then bent down to gently kiss her swollen mouth.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you, baby,” he said, through clenched teeth. He began untying her and had to hold the rage in, as he saw her reddened wrists and ankles. He couldn’t believe what that monster had put her through.
“I’m okay Mark, you got here before he could hurt me,” she said to him, with tears streaming down her dirty cheeks.
Mark lifted her up onto his lap and sat there holding her close, so grateful she was safe. He continued to rub her back and run his hand over the bump on her belly. “The baby?” he asked, afraid to hear if anything was wrong.
“The baby is fine, I’ve been feeling movement but I definitely want to go get a check up right away. He hit me pretty hard in the head.”
Mark could see the dried blood on her beautiful hair and his whole body was tensed for a fight. He lifted her up and carried her out of the cabin. He couldn’t stand to have her in there for one more minute.
Soon they heard the sound of sirens, as the police and paramedics were coming down the overgrown dirt driveway. Mark held her in his arms until the ambulance came nearer. He quickly walked over to it and laid her gently down on the stretcher. The paramedic hooked her up to some machines and soon the sound of their baby’s heartbeat could be heard over the chaos all around them.
Mark breathed his first sigh of relief since discovering she was gone. He glared over at the man who was currently being loaded into the back of a police cruiser.
“Mr. Anderson we have some questions we need to ask both you and your wife,” an officer said as he approached the ambulance.
“My wife needs to go to the hospital right away; can you please follow us there?” Mark asked the man.
“We can do that. This guy is getting taken into lock-up, so he won’t be harming anyone tonight,” the officer said and then walked away.
“We’re going to jog back over to the ranch and meet you at the hospital,” Lucas said, before he turned and started running up the hill with Alex.
Mark felt better as the ambulance started making its way towards the hospital. He would feel much better when they confirmed everything was okay with both his wife and his unborn child.
Emily was rushed into the ER and soon after, seen by one of the doctors, who happened to be a personal friend of Mark’s.
“She’s going to be fine,” the doctor told them. “I want you to keep an eye on her tonight while she’s sleeping because of that bump. It looks like you got really lucky in finding her so quickly,” he finished.
“Thank you so much Jim, I appreciate you seeing her so fast,” Mark said, as he shook the man’s hand.
“You know I would do anything for you Mark,” Dr. Jim said and then l
eft.
The doctor had given her some pain pills so her head wasn’t pounding anymore but she was sore and her wrists and hands burned. She wanted nothing more than to shower the grime off her body and sink into a bubble bath.
Mark helped her dress and she had to smile at the irony. He was usually trying to get her out of her clothes, not put them on. “This is a change,” she said with a flirty smile at him.
Mark looked at her in shock as he realized she was joking with him. “I love you, Emily. I can’t even think what could’ve happened if we hadn’t gotten there when we did,” he said with a thick voice.
“Mark, you did get there in time and I simply don’t want to think about that man or place anymore. I’m one of the lucky ones who was found because I have you,” she said, as she ran her hand over his cheek.
“Okay, for you I’ll try to stop worrying,” he said with a weak smile.
“Thank you. Now let’s go home.” He took her hand and led her out to the ER waiting area. Lucas and Alex jumped up as soon as they spotted them.
“Are you okay? Is the baby okay?” they asked in unison. Emily nodded her head yes and then on impulse hugged each of the brothers.
“Thank you for caring about me. I’m glad to have you as my brothers,” she said as a tear slipped out. Both men were too choked up to say a word and instead hugged her tighter. A few minutes later they made their way outside to the car.
The men were treating her like a porcelain doll. Mark even held her head as she bent down to get in the car, worried she might bump it on the door jamb.
She sat in the backseat, snuggled up in Mark’s arms, on the short ride back to the house. When they pulled up the front door opened and the porch filled with her sisters, Joseph and Katherine, Mary and Scott and Edward.
She was once again overcome by emotion, as she looked at the amazing group of people who were her family. She walked up the steps and was engulfed in hugs and kisses and then led into the den, where she sat down, with a blanket thrown over her and a steaming mug placed in her hands.