“Bauer. And you?”
“CCM.”
“Uh-oh.” She smiled. “That could lead to our first argument.”
“I used to wear Bauer. I made the switch a few years ago when I tried on the U-Lites.”
“What about sticks?”
“Actually, I use Bauer sticks, so you can see I’m not adverse to the brand. Let me guess, you use CCM sticks?” He laughed.
“Nope, I use Reebok.”
“Umm…you do know that CCM and Reebok are basically the same company now.”
“They are?”
“Yup, have been for a while. They teamed up back when Reebok Hockey first started up. It was the same time Nike teamed up with Bauer, but that relationship ended when Nike wanted to get out of hockey.”
“Boy, you really are a well of useless knowledge.”
“Ha, admit it—you’re impressed.”
“Only because I’m a hockey bunny.”
They came to a clearing and shared a look of surprise when they saw what stood at the edge of a field. “What is that?” Emily asked.
Zack pursed his lips. “Looks like an old millhouse.”
They ran in a slow jog until they reached the gray wood-slat house near a sizeable stream. A tall concrete wall bordered the stream. There was a large broken-down red wheel in the water connected to the house. They walked around the building. It looked abandoned long ago, but it was hard to imagine that it was that far away from a town or something.
Zack looked up to the sky. “I don’t know about you, but maybe we should go inside and see if we can wait out this rain. If need be, we can hole up here for the night.”
Emily nodded. “It would be a good vantage point to see him coming.”
Zack went up to the side door near the river, and with his shoulder, was able to push it inward. They entered the large open room with a catwalk that spanned all the way around the place. There was a grain elevator, which led up to the second floor.
The house was tired and weathered, but it was dry and seemed to be in standing order. There was a freestanding rack on the middle of the room and Emily thought it would be the perfect place to let her clothes hang to get dry, so she shimmied out of her jean shorts and T-shirt and hung them up. Her bathing suit would be dry in no time while she wore it, so it worked.
Zack turned and looked at her. His eyes grew wide.
“What?” she said. “You never saw a girl in a bikini before?”
He nodded. “I’ve seen it. I just didn’t expect it when I turned around.”
“Well, I need to dry out.”
“Don’t let me stop you.”
“Why would you stop me?”
He shrugged. “Dunno. Most girls are a little hesitant to disrobe in front of other people. Especially ones they might not really know…that well.”
Emily smiled. “I think I know you well enough by now. Besides, I’m comfortable with my body. I work hard on it, and I’m not bashful about showing it off.” She put her hands on her hips and struck a goofy pose.
“Good for you. That’s a refreshing outlook, really it is.”
“I know…confidence is sexy,” she joked in a sultry voice.
Zack laughed. “Yeah, it is. But most people don’t know how to balance that line between confidence and conceit.”
“I’m just that good.” Emily had to lighten the mood for a moment. It had been such a grueling emotional ride these last few days it felt good to have a moment of levity. She walked around the large room, looking through the dirty windows and inspecting the wooden ladders that led up to the catwalk. It wasn’t that hard to imagine a time when this place was bustling.
She walked back over towards Zack. “If this place is here, there has to be something close by, right? I mean, you wouldn’t stick this place in the middle of nowhere. You’d put it close to a store or farm.”
Zack unzipped his jacket and hung it up. “You’d think so.” He then untied his bloodstained T-shirt from around his waist.
Emily looked away for a second, as she didn’t want to appear to be staring at his surprisingly muscular physique. She had no idea he was hiding that underneath those baggy clothes. Shaking that off, she went over to inspect his bullet wound. “Let me see it.”
“How’s it look?”
“It’s a little raw, we should dress it.” She went over to the backpack and removed the first-aid kit. “Here, come over into the light more.” They moved over to the large window where Emily did her best to clean the wound. She then used a large piece of gauze and some duct-tape-like white tape to seal it up tight.
“Thanks,” Zack said. “Your turn.” She turned around to let him inspect the gash on her back, pulling her hair over the opposite shoulder. It didn’t hurt that much now. It was sore, but so was her knee. And her neck didn’t feel great, either. Zack re-dressed the wound and taped it back up. “There. Now we’re all fixed up.”
“For now,” she quipped.
The storm outside returned for another heavy downpour. Zack looked out the window and sighed. “I wish we had a weather report.”
“Like it matters?”
“I guess not.” Zack started to undo his jeans. He stopped, looked at her. “Don’t get the wrong idea. But I’d like to get these a bit dry, too.” He took off his hiking boots and hung them on the rack, then threw his jeans on the top after ringing them out with his hands.
Emily was thankful his dark gray boxers were not too revealing. She still felt a little funny being half-naked with a guy, all alone, in some remote farmhouse. Considering they could be dead soon, she had to fight the desire to jump him.
She took off her Reeboks and hung them up to dry. At least the rain had cleaned them somewhat. Sliding out the insoles to twist them dry, she saw something in the shoe. “What the heck?”
Zack turned to her. “What is it?”
Emily scrunched her nose up and inspected the sneaker closer. “What is that?” There was a small plastic thing that looked like a computer chip inside the sneaker. She tried to pry it up with her finger but it was stuck there. Something told her it wasn’t a component Reebok put into the shoe. She showed the sneaker to Zack.
He looked at the shoe, tried to pry up the chip with his finger, but couldn’t. There was an old piece of metal on the floor near their feet. Zack bent and picked it up, stuck it into the shoe and pried out the mystery object. “Is this what I think it is?”
Emily shook her head. “I don’t know what it is.”
“I think this is some sort of tracker.” He looked at Emily. “Maybe he’s not such a great outdoorsman.” Zack took the piece of metal and the chip over to an old workbench and started breaking it in pieces. When he was done it was in three small pieces and hopefully useless.
Emily felt violated. If he’d done this while she was unconscious, what else did he do to her? She never felt her shoe come off. What else didn’t she feel? Her hand involuntarily moved over her mouth and a few tears bubbled up in her eyes.
As if he knew what she was thinking, Zack put his hand on her shoulder and said, “Hey, don’t even go there in your head. If something like that happened, you’d know. I mean, most girls know.”
She nodded, but still couldn’t stop the thoughts from flowing. He might not have done that, but he no doubt had looked at her and maybe taken pictures or something else. Zack slid his arm around her, and she sank into him, wrapping her arms around him. It was an innocent hug, but it felt good, it grounded her thoughts. It felt good to have his arms around her, it felt safe and secure. He’s right: she’d know.
Chapter 23
Zack climbed into his mostly dry jeans. He also put his blood-stained T-shirt back on and made a face when the coppery smell invaded his nose. It was muted when he zipped up his jacket.
Slyly watching Emily walk around in her blue bikini, he was amazed how freaking hot she was. She wasn’t kidding when she said she worked hard on her body. It was blatantly obvious how toned and strong it was. Legs were one th
ing, but you didn’t get a stomach like that without doing some work in the gym. He was in good shape, but looking at her, he felt inadequate in terms of fitness. The crazy thing was that she still had great curves in all the right places. He never really thought of a girl so fit having such perfect curves. The impression of them being too manly for some reason always stuck in his head. But there was nothing manly about this girl whatsoever. Historically she’d never been his type, but he was starting to rethink that.
After Emily slid back into her denim-shorts, he said, “Maybe we shouldn’t spend any more time here. We should move on. This trail is smooth and flat—we can probably walk it well into dark without too much danger.”
She nodded. “I agree. Especially if that chip in my sneaker leads him to this area, he’ll see this place and know exactly where we are.”
That actually gave Zack an idea. It would be very risky though. “You know, those GPS trackers, they’re not really accurate down to the foot. It only gives him an approximate area.”
Emily’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, no way.”
“How do you know what I’m going to say?”
She put her hands on her hips. “I know exactly what you’re going to say. And no way. It’s better to keep moving until we find help.”
“But—”
“No way, Zack, forget it. It’s way too dangerous.”
“I could get the jump on him if I could find a weapon in here.”
“Are you nuts? The guy has guns…several.”
Just then the dusk room grew a little brighter as the ambient glow of approaching lights lit the windows at the front of the house.
Zack stepped over to the dirty window and looked out. He saw the familiar lights of an ATV approaching slowly. “Son of a bitch.”
“How could he find us? We destroyed the chip.”
“He must have gotten a fix on us before we trashed it. And just like you said, this place is obvious.” Zack looked around. “But for all he knows, we moved on.”
“What do we do?”
Zack thought about going up and hiding in the balcony, but that might be a death sentence. He looked out the window again, and the ATV stopped. The engine shut off. The lights remained on and pointed directly at the house. It was dead silent.
He watched Harry climb off the machine and walk towards the house. He pointed a bright handheld flashlight at the front and scanned the windows, Zack ducked down as the light hit the glass.
He scurried over to Emily and shoved her towards the back door of the house. Trying to push the rear door open, he couldn’t get it to budge. With another burst of power from his legs he tried again, but wasn’t getting anywhere. Making too much noise would be a bad idea and would give away their position.
Emily tried to help him. They both put their shoulders into the door and pushed as hard as they could, but whatever was blocking it on the other side wouldn’t move. They heard Harry yank on the front door.
Zack looked for a ladder to the second floor—it was across the way. They’d never make it in time as they were around a corner behind some equipment. He was so pissed at himself for getting them cornered. There was no way out of this that he could see. They were going to die here.
There was only one hope, and that was that this man really did care for Emily enough not to kill her. He’d stuffed this into the back of his head earlier just for this worst case scenario. If it were either him or Emily, it would be him.
Although, he saw something on the floor, that gave him another idea, which was only slightly less suicidal. It was a bad idea, really. He’d seen it in a movie once and it worked, but that wasn’t real. It was a comedy, and this was a tragedy.
The flashlight beam scanned around the house. It hadn’t reached them yet but it was probably only a matter of time. He started his plan in motion. Emily saw what he was doing and she must have figured it out quickly. She grabbed his arm and mouthed the word “No,” and pleaded with him. Those expressive eyes were impossible to ignore but he pressed on, not in spite of her, but for her.
Harry stepped into the center of the room, looking up and around the catwalk with the light. He was just a few steps from their hiding place when he faced them. The flashlight was at his side.
Finally, with a deep breath, Zack took the step out into the open and came face-to-face with him. “Promise me you won’t kill her,” Zack said.
Harry snapped the light onto Zack and tilted his head. “Where is she?”
Zack ignored the question. “I know you love her. But she’s afraid. You have to play your cards right, you can’t bully her. She deserves better. She’s just a kid, she needs time.”
Harry nodded. “No shit she needs time. And you’ve wasted enough of mine.” He raised the gun and shot Zack twice in the chest.
***
Emily screamed, “No!” when she saw Zack go flying backwards, hitting the floor with a thud and groan. She jumped out of her hiding place and ran to him, bending to look into his eyes, but they were closed. She only had a brief second before Harry took hold of her arm and yanked her out of the house. The rain had finally stopped.
He faced her, gripping her arm and pulling her close. “You will not run away from me ever again!” He backhanded her across the face. She tried to hit him back and missed his face, but got his neck. Twisting her arm, he wrestled her to the ground.
With as much force as she could muster, she kicked him in the knee. He yelped in pain, but dropped on her with all his weight, crushing the air out of her. He pressed his forearm into her neck. “Are you done yet?”
Emily sucked in air, it burned her throat, but he let up the pressure and she was able to suck in a fresh breath.
He pulled her up to her knees. “Get up.”
Emily staggered to her feet. He dragged her over to the ATV and pushed her onto the machine, strapping her hands to the back rack with thick plastic zip-ties. “I’ll make sure you don’t run away again.” He slapped her in the face, and then grabbed her neck. “You need to learn to respect me, little girl. You’re going to learn. We can learn the easy way, or we can learn the hard way, but make no mistake, you are going to learn your place in this household.”
He started the machine and drove away. Emily nearly twisted her wrist trying to get into a position to hold on where it wasn’t hurting. She looked up to the sky and felt like crying, but maybe she had no tears left. A few lingering raindrops returned, fell on her face, and ran down her cheeks like tears.
It was almost impossible to believe how everything had gone bad so quickly. Just a few minutes ago, life seemed almost normal. It was almost like she was just hanging out with a guy she liked, as if it was the start of something good. Now that was all over, and this was her new reality.
Chapter 24
Zack rolled to his side and reached up to his chest. He didn’t feel any blood. The bullets hadn’t penetrated the steel plate, but it damn sure hurt like crazy. It knocked the wind right out of him and that made it even harder to play dead.
At least part of the plan worked. He wasn’t dead, and that was good. He was very excited at not being dead. But Emily was gone and he didn’t know if she was alive. He had to bank on his hunch that she was. After catching his breath, he ran outside, giving chase. But the ATV was already far away and outpaced him quickly. He could see the red taillights disappear out of sight.
Zack kept chasing the sound, and following the fresh tire tracks. He didn’t know for sure where Harry was taking her, but he was fairly certain they’d go back to the cabin. But he had to stop them from getting into that car. If they got on the road, he’d never see Emily again.
The trail opened up a bit and turned into a smooth open driveway type path. It made it a lot easier for him to run, so he picked up the pace. Before long, he was at his fastest longer distance speed. He didn’t know how many miles he could stick at this pace. He’d once run a half marathon a few years ago, but that was only thirteen miles, and he didn’t even come close to winning. Nor
did he make it the whole way without walking a few times. But he knew if he could run and walk, mix it up when he needed a break, he could probably go pretty far and get back to that cabin.
After a long while, Zack stopped running; his lungs were burning and he was tired. He’d run out in such a hurry he’d forgotten the backpack and he had no water. Luckily, they’d just eaten before Harry arrived. But he sure would like a sip of water right about now.
After a breather, he started his run again until he came to a fork in the road and stopped. He looked to the left, then right. It was too dark to see which way the ATV had gone. Squatting down, he touched the dirt, feeling for the tracks. He touched them hand over hand until he was able to determine which way the quad had gone. They’d gone right. He followed.
***
Emily shuddered at the sight of the cabin coming into view. The rain started again. Harry pulled out a large knife and cut the zip-ties. He yanked her off the ATV and dragged her around the backside of the cabin. “Until you learn how to behave like a lady, I’m going to treat you like a dog.”
Harry ripped open the steel doors that led to a basement. She hesitated, but he was way too strong and pulled her. She nearly fell down the steps, but he lifted her by the arm and swung her over to a small cot, where he shackled her to a heavy steel chain that went on her ankle and fastened to a large hoop in the floor.
On the other side of the room, he turned on an oil lamp, and then went back to her. He slapped her face again. “You will learn!” He took hold of her chin, stared into her eyes. “Did you like running away with that guy? Huh? What did you do with him? Did you have sex with him? Did you play the little whore and try to impress him?”
Emily tried to stop the tears but they flowed. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Let me hear you say you’re sorry.”
Refusal would get her nowhere, but for some reason she couldn’t say it.
He squeezed her chin so hard it hurt her jaw. “Say it!”
Out of Place Page 13