“You’re bleeding.” She touched a finger to the dark patch on Dean’s jacket. “You… need help.”
“Sabrina needs your help. Go! I’ll be fine.”
“But—”
“Go!” Dean’s voice broke. His chocolate-brown eyes were pleading. “He’s getting away.”
“But, I can’t. Not after what happened. I just can’t!” Her stomach twisted into knots just thinking about the time with John Scott. How she’d emerged from his care with fears she never imagined possible before. Her chest heaved and a shuttered cry escaped her trembling lips.
Pulling himself to his feet, Dean placed his weight on Summer and, stumbling like a drunk, forced her back to the car door. “Don’t tell me you can’t. You have to. If you don’t, then nobody will save our little girl.”
Summer staggered at the door, fighting against Dean’s weight until he shoved her roughly inside.
“The police—”
“Please, Summer, let the past go. You can’t change what happened, but you can change what will happen.” Dean reached through the window and touched her shoulder. She realized this was the first time in a long time that his touch hadn’t caused her to jerk away. Summer chalked it up to shock and drew a deep breath. The smell of blood filled her nostrils. His blood. The same blood that coursed through Sabrina’s body.
Down at the far end of the street, the tail lights of the Mercedes were fading. Either her sense of time was failing her or the attacker was waiting for her to follow.
“Summer… please…” She glanced at Dean and saw tears in his eyes—real tears. He’d never shed a tear as long as she’d know him. “Go… save our baby.”
Chapter 2
Summer watched as the tears trailed down Dean’s sweat covered face. His chocolate eyes were melting and it broke her heart to see the pain within them. He’d only come close to tears when Sabrina was born. The moment the doctor placed the small bundle in his arms he turned and blinked away the emotions. It wasn’t like him to admit that he was only human, but as he stood on the sidewalk in the cold rain, bleeding from the knife wound, she was sure that hiding his emotions was the last thing on his mind.
Drawing a deep breath, Summer forced herself to look away. The taillights of the Mercedes were now only faint dots in the darkness. Relax. Settle down, she thought. Sabrina’s watching out the back window, waiting for me—Summer glanced at her jittery fingers and almost laughed—to rescue her.
She reached down and shifted the car into gear then tightened her trembling hands on the steering wheel until her knuckles were bright white.
Seeing Dean stagger back from the car, she slowly pulled from the curb, cutting across the empty lane and gradually accelerating down the road. The Mercedes’ taillights winked once then disappeared out of sight, around the corner.
The raindrops doubled in size, landing through the open window like a hundred cold, wet slaps against her face. After fumbling with the button, the window sliced through the assault, streaking Dean’s blood down the entire window as it rose. She turned her head, trying not to look as the rain washed it quickly away. High speed pursuits had always been so easy, but now it was more than she could bear. Add in the factors of rain—and finding the fucking switch for the wiper blades—and this was downright impossible.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to lash out and strike something—anything! When she approached the corner, she knew she’d have to trust her instincts. There was no time to slow down and cautiously manoeuvre around it like an old person with failing eyesight. Instead she’d need to push herself—challenge her years of training to overcome the emotionally crippling disease John Scott had planted in her mind.
Summer held her breath and turned the corner at a high speed. She nervously waited, praying that her hands would obey and prevent the car from crashing into the buildings across the road. The tires slipped and the car began going into a full out slide. Her heart pounded so hard she was amazed it didn’t burst.
She let up slightly on the gas until the slide was under control, then punched the accelerator halfway to the floor and released her breath. A smile crept onto her face, but she quickly replaced it with a determined stiff lip. There was a time to celebrate her returning confidence, but not now. Not with Sabrina held captive in the car ahead.
After rounding the corner, she spotted the taillights a quarter mile down the street. He should be farther away than that. Could he be waiting for her to catch up? She shook her head. But why would he do that? No, maybe he decided to park the car and climb in the backseat to…
“No!” Summer shook her head, refusing to let the notion enter her mind. Maybe he stopped to let Sabrina go?
She’d heard of cases like that. A guy hops into a running car, thinking he’ll make a quick buck at the chop shop, then looks in the back seat and realizes that he’d just become a kidnapper instead of a car thief. So what does he do? He stops and abandons the kid on the nearest corner.
Yeah, that’s it, Summer thought, but she had a hard time convincing herself. After all, he could’ve approached her and taken the Volvo, but no, he waited until Dean showed up with Sabrina. The realization hit her like a punch to the gut. The timing was perfect. The motive so simple. She should’ve seen it coming. How stupid could she be? Why wasn’t she more careful? She’s the only one who can ID John Scott. She’s the only one who’d seen his face, even if it was only for a second and it had been covered with blood.
Summer knew she’d never forget the look on John Scott’s face that day. That evil grin as he stuck the needle into her arm was burned into her memory forever.
The taillights grew closer. She’d cut the distance in half.
Drawing a cleansing breath, she pushed the pedal harder and the car raced down the empty street, while her eyes narrowed on the driver’s door.
Ram it at full speed and he’ll be knocked out cold, but… The earlier image of Sabrina in the back window flooded her mind.
“Why the hell isn’t she wearing her seatbelt?” Summer calculated the injuries Sabrina would sustain from the impact. The difference between stopping the kidnapper and chasing him, all came down to a simple little belt. She’d done it many times before, used the cruiser to disable a vehicle and apprehend the felons. Normally it was only a nudge off the road, but tonight she’d have to sacrifice this car—Dean’s precious Volvo—for good. A full speed impact into the driver’s door would buy her the time to extract Sabrina, but at what cost?
“Damn!” The option disappeared before she had the opportunity to commit either way. Just when Summer closed the gap, the car took off like lightning. The Mercedes easily matched her speed, then quickly began pulling away.
Summer glared at the back window, begging to see Sabrina one more time. She was amazed at how strong her body felt. How alive it really seemed. Although her white knuckles were glued to the wheel, there wasn’t any hint of the trembles.
Water sprayed from the wheels of the Mercedes, fanning up in the Volvo’s headlights before cascading down on the abandoned sidewalk. In a flash of bright red, the car took a hard left turn, rounding the corner with little slippage. Summer had to admit the Mercedes handled much better than her car.
He was heading out of the city toward the 401, the main artery of Southern Ontario. Summer had expected this. She knew it was easier to hide away in the countryside then in the heart of the city. And if he decided to hop on the 401 with that powerful engine, he’d be long gone before they could organize a response.
Summer cut the corner short, jumping over the inside curb. The car landed in a skid, sliding sideways. Her hands panicked, cranking the wheel against the slide as the Volvo’s worn tires continued fighting to grip the waterlogged pavement. Summer removed her foot from the pedal and hit the brakes. The anti-lock system kicked in, but not before the Volvo slammed sideways into a parked car. The whole side of the body crumbled, exploding the side windows and showering her with tiny fragments of glass.
“Shit!” Summe
r shook off the crash and stomped the pedal all the way to the floor. The tires spun and a moment later the car took off with a gut wrenching squeal of metal on metal. The Mercedes seemed to have slowed, but remained at a safe distance. He was playing with her—like John Scott had played that night.
Realizing she’d never be able to catch him in this car, she decided to call for help. Taking advantage of the straightaway, Summer dug in the console until she found her cell phone. After flipping it open, she quickly punched in 9,1, then her finger froze. Before she could depress the last button and summon help, the phone vibrated, then the classic ring tone played. The car slowed as she glanced at the display. It was Dean’s phone—the same one Sabrina had called from only minutes ago.
“Sabrina?” Summer’s voice threatened to give way. She swallowed a lump. When only silence answered, she stomped the accelerator hard. “Can you hear me? Is that bad man scaring you?” She leaned forward and peered at the car ahead, praying to catch sight of Sabrina as they raced down Richmond Street with the engine whining in protest.
There was a muffled response and Summer sighed, picturing Sabrina huddled in the back seat, concealing the phone in her arms. She was so proud of her little girl for using her head.
“Don’t worry, Mommy’s right behind you. Look out the back window.” Summer had no idea if Sabrina was obeying, or even if she was capable of obeying, but she allowed her a second. “See, that’s me in the car behind. Put on your seatbelt, baby. This might get a little rough.”
When a deep throaty laugh filled the line, Summer felt her stomach drop. The sound of his voice crushed all her hope. That’s why he’d stopped. To get the phone from Sabrina. She wondered if Sabrina had given it to him willingly, or if she’d been too terrified and clung onto it for dear life until he’d ripped it from her small hands.
The trembling spasms started gripping her stomach and spread throughout her body. “No!” Summer yelled, clenching her muscles tight, battling to control the shakes. The last thing she needed right now was to have her car weaving back and forth across the centre line like a drunk.
“Who… is this?” Summer demanded. She felt her anger searing up.
“Who is this?” His deep voice rattled through her mind as she concentrated on each and every word spoken. She tried to place that voice to anybody from her past. Anybody she’d pissed off. “Come on Officer Demure. Now, that hurts. I think you know exactly who this is. We’ve spent so much time together. I’m shocked that you don’t know.”
“Please, stop the car. Give me back my baby.”
“Maybe I should’ve taken you again, but then that would’ve complicated matters.”
“Stop the car. Let Sabrina go. I’ll do anything you want.”
The phone beeped a low battery warning again. She had known it was getting low and should’ve plugged it in this morning, but Summer remembered exactly why she hadn’t. She’d been too distracted with the news of John Scott’s arrest to do anything more than lie on the couch and cry.
There was nothing but silence on the line.
Had the phone finally run out of power and disconnected? Had her tie to her daughter been severed by her lack of planning? Summer clenched her eyes tight for a second and refused to pull the phone from her ear just to glance at the display. When she opened them again, she swore she heard Sabrina snuffling back a sob.
“Officer Demure,” he said in a professional tone. “John Scott was an innocent pawn that night. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Bullshit!”
“I was there with you the entire time. Hell, I was right there inside you half the night. Remember how much you liked it.” He laughed. “Remember how you begged me for more.”
Summer remembered all right. She remembered the claustrophobic feeling she had when she’d come to that night. The black sack on her head made the assault unbearable. The darkness combined with not knowing where she was as he beat and raped her repeatedly was the worst. She could’ve handled the pain if only she could’ve seen whose hands were doing the damage. That unknown was what seemed to break her nerves and send her into this unstable condition.
The last thing she remembered was seeing John Scott’s face as she searched for the source of the bleeding after the accident. No, not an accident. It’d all been a set up. The whole thing.
Could there have been a second assailant that night? Someone she never saw. Could she be wrong about John Scott being her attacker, or was the kidnapper just messing with her mind?
“Let me make this clear. If you stop your vehicle and return home, I can guarantee your daughter’s safety. But if you call the cops, or try to be a hero and stop me—well I can’t say how this might turn out.”
Summer knew she had to keep him talking and let him think he’s in control.
“I’m… sorry,” she struggled to keep herself calm, “but I can’t let you take her.”
“Correction, I’ve already taken her and I could’ve been long gone by now, but I thought you might want to play. You do like to play, don’t you?”
Play? The word rambled throughout her mind. She’d heard that word many times during her captivity. It was all a sick game to John Scott, but to her it was nothing short of torture.
Summer shook her head. But that was John Scott’s line. This bastard was only copying him, or was he? She refused to give it another thought. She’d spent so many nights trying to forget the entire ordeal, and now it was back threatening to rip her mind in two.
“Fuck you!” Summer screamed, her white knuckles gripping the wheel too tightly. She realized this wasn’t the way to negotiate with a kidnapper, and was precisely why you can’t get personally involved. “Release the hostage and—”
The kidnapper’s deep throaty laugh ate away at her sanity. “Awe, there we go. There’s a hint of the old Summer Demure. Feisty, full of spunk. And what happened? Oh, right, you got a taste of your own medicine?”
Summer heard another low battery warning and knew her time was running out, but she couldn’t hang up. She couldn’t lose connection with her daughter. She had to keep the line open. “What are you talking about?”
“Your Medicine!” he screamed, bringing a startled cry from Sabrina. “Locked away. Helpless, but to serve your captor. Like the prisoners you lock away in jail.”
“Scum like you deserve to be locked away.”
“Scum like me,” he mocked. “Scum like me can control shit like you! You like to think you’re untouchable, but you’re not. I’ve touched you today in a way you never expected. I’ve hit you so hard that you’re still reeling from the blow. You talk tough, but I know you’re full of shit. I’ve been watching you for the last five months. I know about your shrink visits. I know all your fears. Hell, I even know about your doctor visits. You haven’t even told your husband yet, but I know.”
Summer felt violated. How on earth did this stranger know every intimate detail of her life? How did he know the reason she’d been to the doctor? How could he possibly know about that? She felt her stomach churn.
“Put…” Summer cleared her throat and forced down the bile that was bubbling up. “Sabrina on the phone.”
“Why, so you can tell her how much you love her?” He turned the corner fast, straight through the stoplight and the tires squealed as the Mercedes headed toward the highway. “Tell her that you’re gonna stop me and get her back.” He laughed. “I don’t think so.”
Summer hit the corner at full speed, fighting hard to keep the Volvo from sliding into the ditch. The moment she was out of the slide, she gave it everything it had. Wind whipped through the smashed windows making it hard to hear as the car started to close the distance. She was definitely making up some ground, but the highway entrance was coming up. She needed to be close behind in case he decided to take the off ramp and run against the flow of traffic.
“If you have anything to say to her, tell me and I’ll—” A phone rang, cutting him off. The line crackled then she hear
d his muffled voice talking. “Yes, just as planned. She’s fine… Actually, the mother’s on the other phone right now. But… yes, I understand. I was just having a little fun. Yes, I know this is business.”
There was a muffled silence, then the irregular whooping noise of a vacuum.
Did he open the window?
Summer continued to close the gap as the whooping noise increased. A second later, she saw it coming—heading straight for her head. The phone smashed into the windshield, sending a spider crack out in every direction.
“Shit!” Summer jumped and the car swerved. Suddenly she knew what he’d been ordered to do. She regained her composure, forced down her nerves and concentrated on catching the bastard.
Quickly she dialled 911.
Veering from the highway entrance, he cut sharply onto an adjoining dirt road. Summer dropped the phone to the passenger seat as she gripped the wheel with both hands, fighting to make the sharp corner. She heard the operator’s voice answer. Not daring to drive one handed on the loose gravel roadway, she chose to shout and hope the operator could make out her call.
“This is Officer Demure, of the Chatham Police. I’m in pursuit of a red 2010 Mercedes S series—” The phone beeped one last time then shut down. “Fuck!” Summer slammed the wheel. It was just her luck. Everything was going to hell. It didn’t matter what she did lately it always seemed to turn out wrong.
The Mercedes continued following the dirt road up the hill, toward the bridge. Summer felt a twinge of excitement as he passed the laneway on the right. She knew the dirt road he was following would curve after the bridge and circle back, meeting up with the laneway on the other side of the creek. She could take the narrow shortcut and hope the creek hadn’t washed out the roadway, then block the road and stop them.
Watching the Mercedes disappear down the country road, she slowed the car and cautiously made the turn onto the narrow lane. The road was sunken down as if they’d cut a path straight through the rising hills of the countryside. The earth rose up on both sides, towering over the hood of the car. There was only one way in and no room to turn around, except for the small clearing at the bottom of the ravine.
Taken - Before her very Eyes Page 3