Taken - Before her very Eyes

by Faubert, Wade

  Just as she was about to step into the door opening, her phone rang, scaring the shit right out of her. She fell back against the house, the gun shaking uncontrollably in her hand as she dug in her pocket to silence the alarm. Once she retrieved the phone, she heard the lock on the door being thrown and the heavy glass pane sliding slowly open.

  Summer took a step backwards and held the gun out, pointing it at the old man’s head as he looked out with huge unblinking eyes. He looked as scared as Summer felt right now. His shirt was soiled and filthy, covered with stains and his hands reeked of fish, like he’d been busy cleaning his morning catch.

  The old man grabbed the cat before it could slip out the door. “What’s going on out here?”

  “Just stay where you are!” Summer tightened her grip on the gun, careful not to squeeze the trigger and accidentally shoot the man. Suddenly she didn’t think this was the kidnapper. There was no way this was the same person who’d knifed Dean, but Summer wasn’t convinced that he wasn’t involved.

  “What?” She barked into the phone.

  “Nate said you wanted to know first. We’ve run Percy through the registry and he’s got a place he inherited from his grandmother out at the lake on Talbot Trail Road. 4479's the house number. Looks like it hasn’t been lived in for a while. No record of power or water service.”

  “Thanks Stephens.” Summer felt stupid standing there, holding her gun on an old man when the kidnapper was miles away. “I appreciate the information.”

  “No problem, but you understand I have to report it to the chief and the place will be swarming with cops in no time.”

  “I know. Thanks anyway.” Summer flipped the phone closed and lowered her gun.

  The old man let the cat lick his hands as he stepped back toward the patio door. “I don’t know what you’re looking after, but I couldn’t help but overhear. Talbot Trail is back the other way, on the main road.”

  “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.” She took a step back toward the side door on the garage and held her hand on the door knob. “Mind if I take a peek at your vehicle?”

  The old man shrugged and tossed the cat back inside the house when it began nipping at his fingers. “Go ahead. Nothing to see but my old Buick.” He grinned. “If you like it, I’d be willing to sell it for a couple grand.”

  Summer opened the door an inch and saw the old white car sitting in the middle of the garage. “Thanks, but I’ve already got a ride.” She turned and stepped between the house and the garage. “Sorry about the intrusion. It’s official police business.”

  Summer hurried back to the car, started it and raced back down the street, worried that the old man would pull out a shotgun, not believing that she was truly a cop and blow some rock salt in her ass. When she came to the main road, she turned left and raced back down the opposite direction like the old man had said, wondering just how long it’d take for the chief to get some cars out there.

  Chapter 18

  “What happened?” Dean said, scooting up in the seat and staring out into the direction where the dot had last transmitted from. “Where’s the tracking dot?”

  “Here, take the wheel.” Gavin grabbed the unit from Dean and started adjusting the controls. “It seems to be working fine. So the question is, what the fuck happened to the transmitter?”

  “You think she found it?”

  “I still don’t think that’s possible unless someone tipped her off and she went searching for it. And we’re the only ones who know about the transmitter, so it can’t be that.”

  “Then what else?”

  Gavin shrugged and handed the unit back to Dean. “Maybe she made the drop and the fucking kidnapper found it in the bag? He’d have reason to be searching for the device.”

  “And,” Dean said, suddenly aware of the consequences of Gavin’s stupidity, “if he found it then he’ll think Summer placed it there so the cops could track him down and arrest him. He’ll be pissed right off. Pissed enough at being double crossed to harm them.”

  “On second thought, this guy’s a fucking amateur,” Gavin said, shrugging his shoulders. “He won’t even know what the fuck to look for. If he was organized, then he’d be able to pick up the electronic signal coming from the bag, but I doubt he’d be carrying that kind of fucking technology with him. He appears to be the grunt. Only told enough information to get him through the day. They wouldn’t trust this guy with a fucking calculator.”

  “Since when are you such an expert on this kind of thing?”

  “What do you think they talk about in prison? It’s not all fucking licence plates and poems. They talk shop, and if you’re smart, you fucking listen.”

  Dean zoomed in on the map, concentrating on the location where they’d last seen the blinking dot. He knew they were heading in the right direction, but with the amount of dirt roads and long laneways heading to farm houses and barns, there were a million places she could be. They could drive right past her if she was parked behind a barn or down in the middle of a farmer’s field.

  They continued on in the general direction for fifteen minutes until Dean heard the wail of an ambulance in the distance. He turned the radio off and opened his window, listening for the direction that the siren was coming from. “You hear that?”

  Gavin nodded and glanced around, searching for the location. “It sounds like it’s coming from over in that direction.”

  “Turn right at the next road.” Dean pointed to the stop sign in the distance. “We haven’t found shit wandering around like this, so let’s hope Summer called the ambulance for the kidnapper.”

  Gavin nodded and turned down the next gravel roadway. It was quite a change from the smooth pavement and Dean could feel each and every pothole they hit. He propped himself off the seat with his arm, trying to ease the discomfort in his stomach and thought about popping another pain pill, but couldn’t risk being tired and unresponsive when the time came to see Summer and Sabrina. He’d have to suck up the pain and try to use it to focus his mind.

  When they were halfway to the next concession the ambulance flew past the approaching intersection, racing off into the countryside. Gavin sped up, flying down the washboard road toward the awaiting pavement ahead.

  Dean bit his lip, trying to keep from crying out for Gavin to slow down. He knew if he asked, Gavin would obey and that was the last thing Dean wanted. They needed to stay close to the ambulance. It was their last shot at finding Summer.

  Once the car was securely on the asphalt, Gavin pushed it to its limit, giving chase down the road. The siren was all but muted from the distance, but the flashing lights still beckoned from up ahead.

  “Keep on it, Gavin. I’ve seen you drive faster than this before.”

  “I’ve got it to the floor!” Gavin pounded the steering wheel as the engine revved out of control. “This piece of shit is harder to get going than an eighty-year-old nun.”

  “Come on. Come on!” Dean leaned forward as they crest the next hill, gazing into the distance, looking for the ambulance up ahead, but it was gone. Nowhere in sight. “Shit, we’ve lost it!”

  “No. Not yet.”

  Dean followed Gavin’s gaze. The ambulance had turned down the next road and was beginning to slow to a stop. It was turning off the road, pulling onto a small laneway to the side.

  Gavin slid the car around the corner, quickly following the ambulance’s path. It wasn’t until they were nearly upon the ambulance that they saw the police car in the muddy field, beside the laneway.

  “Must have been a hell of a fucking ride,” Gavin said, pulling to a stop beside the ambulance.

  Dean recognized Nate immediately and wondered if he’d followed Summer out here, or if it’d been planned from the start for him to provide the back up. He hoped for the sake of their relationship, Summer had warned Nate not to follow like she had him.

  After carefully climbing from the car, Dean stood leaning against the door, holding tight to the stitches in his stomach. He fe
lt the sticky warn liquid on his fingers and knew even before he looked down that the wound was bleeding. “Damn it! Why can’t this shit just stop?”

  “What the fuck’s wrong?” Gavin came around the car quickly and the look on his face said everything. “You really should be back at the fucking hospital.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine. You look like you might drop dead at anytime.”

  “Can I get a second opinion?”

  “Okay, you’re also ugly as fuck.”

  Dean shook his head and pushed off the car, stumbling around the front and avoiding Gavin’s outstretched hands. “I don’t need any help. It’s just a little blood. Probably from you hitting every damn pothole down that road.”

  “And I wasn’t even trying.” Gavin smirked as he followed behind. “You just wait until the ride home. I’ll drive the whole fucking way with two tires on the shoulder.”

  “I thought that’s how you normally drove.”

  “You’re hilarious when you’re bleeding. Too bad you weren’t a fucking woman. At least you’d be fun for four days a month.”

  “See.” Dean stopped at the side of the lane, watching as the paramedics struggled in the mud to get Nate out of the car and onto the stretcher. “This is what I miss. Not your smiling face, or your shiny bald head, but your sick filthy mouth. What happened to you? Ever since you came to work for me you’ve been nothing like your old self, but now it comes back with vengeance.”

  “I didn’t think you’d want me talking like that around the office.”

  “Not to customers, but it’s okay around me. This is the Gavin that I remember growing up with. This is the sick fucker who’d gross me out so much I’d puke my guts out after dinner.”

  “Well, it’s a pleasure to serve you again, master.” Gavin took a step into the mud, watching as they placed Nate onto the stretcher. “Looks like he took a bullet to the chest. Must be up high or he wouldn’t have survived for this long. The way he’s moving around, I’d say more in the shoulder area.”

  “Lucky bastard,” Dean said. “I just hope it wasn’t Summer who’d shot him.”

  “Dean,” Nate said as the paramedics trudged through the thick mud, dragging the stretcher closer to the laneway. “Summer’s gone after him.”

  “Which way?” Dean felt the surge of adrenaline coursing through his veins just knowing that Summer was still on the move, getting closer to the kidnapper and Sabrina.

  “Down toward the lake.” Nate drew a sharp breath as the stretcher bounced when they set it down on the laneway. “He’s driving a late model brown Silverado.”

  Dean turned and started back toward the car.

  “And we’ve m—matched his prints from the car keys.”

  Dean stopped dead in his tracks. He knew if they had a match of the kidnapper’s prints, then they’d also have a name for the bastard who’d stabbed him and sent his world careening out of control. And to have that name would make the kidnapper seem less powerful and more human.

  “His name’s Percy Campbell and he has some property down at the lake front. Inherited it from a grandmother, years ago. 4479 on the Talbot Trail.” Nate sat up on the stretcher against the protesting hands of the paramedics. “Summer’s g—gone there after him.” Nate paused “Dean, he’s got a rifle—and he’s a pretty good s—shot from a long distance.”

  “You’re a lucky man, Officer Long,” the paramedic said. “A few inches to the side and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  Nate glared over at the young paramedic. “Ain’t I lucky? Now, hold your tongue and give me a shot for the pain.”

  The paramedic took a step back from the stretcher, out of Nate’s reach. “You just earned yourself a double shot of morphine.”

  Dean rounded the car, holding the fender as he went. “Which way did she go?”

  Nate pointed behind the barn. “Down there, then right on the next concession. B—but she beat the hell out of my car going down there, so you’d better think about sticking to the main roads.” Nate glanced at the bloodstain on Dean’s shirt. “I’m guessing the bumps make you almost shit yourself.”

  “Something like that.” Dean slowly slid back into the reclined seat and fought to close the door before Gavin backed out of the laneway. They followed Nate’s directions down the road to the next corner, then turned left.

  Dean lifted his hand and stared at his blood covered palm. “Nate looks like he should be all right.”

  Gavin glanced over at Dean’s shirt. “Better than you.”

  Chapter 19

  “Percy Campbell,” Summer muttered. How could someone named Percy commit such terrible crimes? It just went against all the laws of logic. Percy was the name of a computer programmer, or an accountant. Not a kidnapper who’d tried to kill Dean and Nate.

  Right now Summer wished she’d grabbed a cruiser instead of Nate’s car. At least then she’d be able to pull up a photo of Percy on the computer and be able to recognize him if he drove by.

  Summer continued on past the intersection, which she’d turned onto this road, and cursed at her decision to head east down to the old man’s shack. It was a fifty-fifty chance and she’d come up empty. Nothing seemed to be going right today. Everything seemed to be falling apart, except for the prints from the keys. She couldn’t believe it actually worked. She’d only read about the technique last month while flipping through a magazine, but it’d paid off big time. They had a name and hopefully Percy’s hideout.

  When Nate mentioned that Percy had done time up at Fenbrook, her mind was so caught up in finding Sabrina that it never really sunk in.

  Fenbrook? That’s where Gavin did his time. She knew the prison was huge, but she couldn’t stop wondering if Gavin and Percy had known each other during their stay. If only she wasn’t in such a rush to catch this bastard, she’d pull in Gavin and beat the truth out of him.

  The road continued to climb higher with each mile she drove, as the trees thinned until she could see nothing but water down below the cliff. A few cars approached on the highway and Summer scanned the drivers and strained to see inside, wondering if Sabrina was hidden in the back.

  Percy could’ve switched back to his first vehicle that he had stashed at the farm—the one they have a tire print from. It would only make sense, especially after she and Nate had both seen the truck. But that would mean Percy was on the run. No, he would’ve gone back to his hideout to lay low for a few days. But where on earth could he hope to go? The borders were all clamped down, looking for anybody with a child. So what was he going to do, sit and wait it out?

  Summer glanced at the phone tucked beside her leg. Why hadn’t he called yet? Why not take a chance and get the money he so desperately needed to get away from… from who?

  “4479?” Summer said, wishing she had something to jot the number down on because she didn’t trust her memory to keep it straight. She could easily mix up the digits and end up looking in the wrong area, potentially putting more people in danger.

  She checked the number on the next mailbox as she soared past. 4563. At least she was heading in the right direction now. She was getting closer to Sabrina, she could feel it.

  Summer glanced at the pistol on the seat beside. There was no way she could put it in her ankle holster for fear that Percy would be waiting to greet her when she arrived.

  Just the thought of the gun gave her the boost she needed, and she had Nate to thank. Without him risking his job to retrieve the gun, she’d be walking into Percy’s hideout like a lamb to the slaughter, begging him to take the money and release Sabrina.

  The house numbers declined, growing close to Percy’s hideout as the cliff grew to a dizzying height of over fifty feet. The view was magnificent, but the beach access left little to desire. As the land curved around, creating a slight cove, Summer saw the massive staircases the home owners had built down to the water’s edge below. It seemed like a lot of work just to have access to the water for a quick dip, but
she supposed if you paid the price for a beach front property, you wanted it any way you could get it.

  Summer followed the curve of the road and slowed as the numbers counted closely down. She looked ahead and saw two homes on the far side of the treed lot and knew Percy’s hideout was one of them.

  Not risking being spotted driving past the house, Summer pulled across the roadway and tucked the car as far into the wooded lot as she could, praying that the rumble of the exhaust hadn’t given away her arrival. After shutting off the car, she squinted at the closest house sign and realized that Percy’s house should be on the far side of this home.

  She paused with the door half open debating whether she should wait for backup, or if she should take the initiative and get Sabrina out of there before Percy goes nuts and does something she’ll regret for the rest of her life.

  When Summer glanced in the rearview mirror, she saw no flashing lights racing down the road in her direction and realized that she was all alone. It was her, or nobody.

  She grabbed the gun and climbed from the car. There were no hiding places in the front yards. The homes were practically sitting right on the edge of the road, with a clear view of anybody approaching from either direction, so she turned and headed into the wooded lot beside.

  As Summer made her way through the cloak of woods, she realized that she’d have to cut across the properties and approach Percy’s hideout from the back, then hope to take him by surprise. When she stepped from the woods onto the manicured green grass, Summer heard the extent of the waves crashing below and hoped that it had been enough to mask the roar of the Malibu’s broken exhaust.

  She tried to put herself in Percy’s shoes and figure out what his next move would be. He hasn’t called since the botched drop off, so maybe he’d given up on getting the money, or maybe he decided to take off and disappear making ends meet another way? Or maybe he was waiting, staring through the sight of his rifle for me to come?