The first house appeared to be empty. Patio furniture had been stacked in the back corner beside the fence, next to the barbecue and every window covering had been drawn tightly closed to fend off the approaching winter winds. Keeping low, she moved across the back of the house until she came to the six-foot high fence separating this yard from the next, then followed the fence to the back of the property and the edge of the cliff. The owner had made his point. This fence was to keep the neighbours out as it stopped a foot short of falling off the edge of the cliff, leaving only a narrow, dangerous passageway into the next yard.
“If fences make good neighbours, then these guys should be best friends,” Summer muttered, clinging to the fence post and peering carefully over the edge of the cliff. She felt her stomach flip at the sight of the fifty-foot drop, straight down to the sandy beach below and it made her realize just how much she hated heights.
At the far side of the yard, two huge cement pillars had been sunk deep in the ground with stairs attached to the upper landing. Her eyes followed the zigzagging levels down the side of the cliff until the stairs stopped beside the small boathouse.
A shutter filled her body as she stared down into the pit of churning water below. She holstered her gun, not willing to risk dropping it, then clamped her fingers onto the fencepost, clinging to it, praying that her stomach would stop flipping. It was a long ways down and she couldn’t imagine braving those wooden steps in her life time.
The second she peered around the corner of the fence, she understood why the owner had erected such a large barrier. The house on the other side was like night and day. It looked totally rundown, beaten and battered by years of gusting wet winds coming off the lake. Of the two houses, this one screamed hideout if she’d ever seen one.
There was no mistaking that this was Percy’s place. Besides being the right address, it reeked of being disregarded for years like the utility records showed.
With her fingernails dug into the wooden fence post, Summer closed her eyes and threw one leg around the fence, straddling the post and praying that she wouldn’t slip and fall down the cliff. The sound of the waves crashing below combined with the pounding of her heart in her throat made her whole world spin like a top. It’d been years since she’d last fainted, but the way she felt right now, Summer didn’t think fainting was far off.
She clamped her eyes so tight that the tears of fear couldn’t even escape as she forced herself to move, dragging her right leg around the fence and collapsing to the ground, gasping for breath. Crawling to her knees, Summer swore she’d never do anything like that ever again in her lifetime. The fear of falling, arms flailing, to her death was too much to even comprehend. She guessed it was the feeling of no control as you sailed helplessly to your own demise, like what she’d felt with John Scott when he’d kept her hooded during the attacks. It was that same feeling of being in the dark, not knowing when death would come.
Summer wiped the tears from her face, squatted low behind the overgrown bushes next to the fence then withdrew her gun. She glanced inside every window on the back side of the house, but never saw any movement from the cracks in the drapes. If Percy was inside, he’d be busy watching for her to drive past, or at least approach from the front of the house. He would never expect her to know the exact location of his hideout, but she had outsmarted him.
The sound of a car approaching ignited fear that the backup was arriving as she waited, huddled down in the shadows. She couldn’t stand the thought of being a witness to what was going to happen. She needed to be the cause and effect of the final outcome.
As the car soared past the house, continuing down the road, Summer took advantage of the distraction that would have old Percy running to the front windows, watching for the police to arrive, and dashed along the fence until she stood with her back against the house.
Peering in the first window, she saw the room was empty except for a dusty box lying in the centre of the room, overflowing with an assortment of old toys. Everything from dinky cars right up to a broken microscope sticking out the top. The layer of grime on the floors was enough to bring a tightening to her chest. With no fresh footprints in the room, she started to believe this wasn’t his hideout after all.
Summer let her guard down and quickly moved to the next window. The old dining table was against the wall, tipped on its side and there was no indication that anybody had been here for years. The possibility of finding Sabrina here was dwindling with each second she spent gazing through the rotten old curtains.
Stepping to the back door, Summer tried the handle, but it was locked. She peered through the window and was willing to bet her life that nobody was home so she lifted her revolver and, after closing her eyes, tapped the butt of the gun on the thin glass window, shattering it into large fragments that fell noisily to the yellowed linoleum floor.
There was no screaming from inside. No footfalls racing to see what the noise was. There was nobody here. Not Percy and not Sabrina.
Reaching through the opening, Summer found the lock and quickly opened the door. Time was running out and she had to find Sabrina—and fast! She stepped quickly across the kitchen, scanning the front entrance floor for signs of visitors, but the floor was undisturbed.
Moving through the house at a dangerous speed, unconcerned about her own safety and well-being, Summer checked every room but came up empty handed. The house was vacant and it had been for a long time. Sabrina had never been here.
Maybe she was dealing with a smart man after all? He’d planned the whole kidnapping so thoroughly and seemed to be prepared for anything they threw at him, even smart enough not to use the obvious hideout. But where else would he go? He was definitely heading down to the lake front. But why would he settle for this rundown place when half the other cottages were sitting empty, packed up for the approaching winter weather? Why settle for a cold damp building with no running water? Why not find an empty cottage and invite yourself in for a little visit?
“Think like a criminal on the lam. If I had to hide out, I’d want somewhere where I could see the cops coming, and somewhere where I could see them checking my grandmother’s place, knowing that they’re getting close and knowing that it’s time to get out of the area.”
Summer cautiously stepped to the front window and glanced across the road at the empty field which stretched for miles and miles. There was no place comfortable across there. She moved back into the kitchen and glanced out the window on the end of the house.
She knew it the second she saw it. There down the road, partially hidden in a sloping valley was the ideal hideout. A large beach house sat perched on the edge of the cliff, equipped with a double car garage big enough to hide a brown Silverado and a car that would match the tire print back at the station.
Summer stepped to the side of the window, peering down at the beach house. There was movement inside the window, but from this distance she couldn’t tell if it was from a man or child. She backed away, searching through the boxes on the floor for a pair of binoculars, but there was none. Only cheap old china and dusty blue drinking glasses filled the rotten cardboard.
“Looks like even he didn’t want this shit.” Summer moved down the hall and into the first room she’d glanced into. She remembered seeing the microscope sitting atop the old box and ran inside, dumping the contents onto the floor. She heard the glass crack as the microscope hit the hardwood floor, but fumbled to grasp the rolling telescope as it tumbled over the assorted toys.
“Bingo,” Summer said, raising the kids telescope from the toys and peering quickly through the lens. “Dusty, but then again what isn’t dusty in here?”
Moving quickly through the house, careful to stay out of sight, Summer rubbed the thick dusty grime from the glass lenses. The movement in the beach house was gone, but that was good. She’d hate to stick the telescope in the window and have the kidnapper see the sun reflect off the lens.
Summer tipped the telescope toward the window. The l
andscape bounced through the viewfinder, making her dizzy in the process. Trees passed by upside down and Summer looked away from the viewfinder, peered out the window then aimed the telescope in the right direction.
When she gazed back into the viewfinder, her breath caught in her throat. It was Sabrina inside that house. She was there. Right there! Inside that room. Summer scanned the rest of the house, peering into each window as she went, but there was no sign of Percy.
“Where the hell are you, Percy? Did you take off and leave Sabrina behind?” There was a quick flash of movement and a growing shadow on the inside wall. Summer quickly stepped to the side of the window and dropped the telescope to the floor.
It was time to go. Time to make her move and get Sabrina.
Summer stepped out the back door, tucking in close to the wall and hoping for her sake that Percy wasn’t aiming binoculars in this direction. But he’ll be watching out front for me to come down the road.
The empty field between this house and the beach house down in the valley was sparse and rocky, nothing like the wooded lot where she’d left the Malibu sitting. There was no way she’d be able to cross it without being spotted, and that was exactly why Percy had chosen it. It stood all alone with a clear view of the countryside in all directions. Every direction except beyond the cliff.
Summer scanned the backyard of the beach house and saw the familiar sight of the zigzagging stairs at the very edge of the cliff. It was identical to the staircase mounted at the back of the next door neighbours yard—the one she swore she’d never step foot on.
Summer’s legs started shaking at the thought of scaling down the cliff side on that wooden deathtrap.
There has to be another way. Summer racked her brain, but knew unless she had the cloak of night, she was shit out of luck. It was either take the back way in, or take the risk of being gunned down in broad daylight.
She held her gun out, peering through the sight. She’d been one of the best shots on the force, but she knew a rifle always won for shooting distance. She had to get close. Close enough to take a clean shot at Percy’s head, because if she took a shot and missed her mark, it would cost Sabrina’s life.
“Damn it!” Summer moved quickly down the steps, hugging the back of the house as she made her way along the yard. When she met the fence, she climbed on the overturned flowerpot and jumped for the top of the high fence. Her hands ached gripping the cold wooden boards, but Summer concentrated on the task. She’d done obstacle courses in her past and nothing ever slowed her down. She could scale a fence like this at full speed and drop down before most had a chance to throw a foot over. So why was she having such a hard time now? She knew she should’ve been over it in five seconds flat, but here she was hanging onto the top board, grimacing in pain.
Summer knew her reluctance was only mental. She still had the same physical abilities as she did five months ago. Her body had healed. There was nothing wrong with it. She stared at her shaking hands clinging to the top board and wondered how deep the mental wounds had cut.
Dropping back on top of the flower pot, Summer stared at her uncooperative arms. The strength was still there, just forgotten, that’s all. She thought about Sabrina over there in the next home and tried to picture Percy.
“John Scott’s dead,” Summer muttered. “He can’t hurt you anymore. What he’s done is passed, stripped away like his life before your eyes. He can’t cause you any more harm.” She clenched her hands, flexing the tightness from her joints. “He is dead.”
Summer pictured Percy driving away in the Mercedes with Sabrina crying in the back seat. That rage of anger was returning to her body and it felt good. She concentrated hard on the look of fear in Sabrina’s beautiful eyes until her body was shaking with fury.
Summer ran, stepped on the flowerpot and jumped to the top of the fence, landing with one leg over the top board. It wasn’t her best, but it was good enough to get the job done. Dragging the other leg over, she fell to the soft ground with an awkward thud then got quickly to her feet, not letting her mind think about anything but Sabrina’s cries for help.
Safe from Percy’s sight, she ran through the backyard toward the upper landing of the wooden staircase. Once there, she clung to the railing and nervously looked over the edge. Down to her right sat a much larger boathouse, with a shorter staircase rising from the sand to the back of the beach house where Percy was holding Sabrina.
The house was beautiful. It must have cost a fortune to build something that size, and right on the edge of paradise.
Summer stepped out onto the landing, her hands still clamped to the top posts, reluctant to let go of the stable platform and trust in the craftsmanship of some stranger. Standing on the edge, she saw how large the waves were and how far up the shore they were crashing. The bottom landing of the staircase was already getting soaked from the constant spray of the crashing waves and they seemed to be growing with every second she stood there.
Drawing a huge breath and holding it, Summer let go of the post with one hand and quickly snatched the small wobbly railing along the exposed side of the cliff. She felt the whole structure sway with the shift in her weight and couldn’t believe the owners actually used this contraption to get down to the water.
One foot after the other, she felt bile rising up her throat until it nearly choked her. When she reached the first landing, she bent over the railing, holding onto it with a death grip and hurled the contents of her stomach over the side, down to the soft wet sand below.
Summer wiped her mouth on her sleeve and gazed from the landing, up to the top of the staircase. She’d only travelled down ten steps, with about forty more to go, and even though she didn’t want to navigate forty more, at least she was descending and not climbing.
Forcing herself to move, Summer turned on the landing and started down the next level of stairs. These ones seemed to be going better. Either she was becoming more comfortable with descending the wobbly stairs, or she was losing her mind and forgetting how much she hated heights. Either way it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting to the wet sand below, then safely across to where Sabrina was.
One step after another, Summer contemplated how she would get Sabrina out of the house alive, and everything came down to two options. One, she’d snatch Sabrina while Percy wasn’t looking and rush her away to safety. Or two, she’d blow his fucking brains all over the modern artwork inside the beach house.
Halfway down, a large gust of wind slammed the staircase against the cliff side, knocking some sand and rocks loose, sending then falling to the platform below. Summer held tight to the railing and as soon as the stairs stopped rocking, she hurried down the remaining flights until her feet were standing on the solid wooden platform at the base of the stairs. She glanced up the cliff to where the earth met the sky and marvelled at how she’d conquered her greatest fear.
“Holly shit!” Summer stepped off the platform and onto the wet sand. “I’m so glad that’s over.” She hurried down the beach, dodging the waves as they crashed dangerously close to the base of the cliff.
Her legs felt like rubber as she half jogged, half limped down the beach, already nervously eyeing the staircase in the distance.
Chapter 20
The wind coming off the lake dropped the temperature five degrees, bringing a chill deep inside her body and numbness to her hands and feet. Summer hurried along the stretch of beach, ignoring the fact that her right foot was getting sorer and sorer with each step she took. She could feel the cut burning, flaring up and igniting the entire depth of the wound. Normally a cut like that wouldn’t have bothered her if she’d gone home and rested it, but there was nothing normal about today. Nothing to say the least.
Once she reached the base platform for the stairs, Summer realized just how massive the boathouse was. It could easily house two twenty-footers and still have room for more. Not only that, but the front of the building was designed more like a guest house than a place to launch a boat from.
Summer turned her attention to the staircase reaching up the side of the cliff. It was built better than the last one, and the height of the cliff had dropped off considerably as they neared the valley, but the idea of climbing up it still terrified her.
“With all their money, you’d think they could afford an elevator,” Summer muttered, stepping onto the lower platform and grasping the double railing. Each step she took, she breathed a sigh of relief at how much nicer this staircase was. Maybe it was the fact she was only climbing half the distance, or maybe she was just getting better at dealing with her fear of heights, but she was making good time and would soon be at the top of the stairs, gazing into Percy’s hideout.
She paused, patting her leg and feeling the security of the pistol strapped there. It was quite a morale booster, but she knew even without it, she’d still be planning the same thing, only her chance of success would be near zero.
The wind gusts continued to grow in strength as she neared the top of the cliff. The air was crashing, surging up the side and lifting her shirt periodically, bringing an icy chill all the way up her back.
Climbing the last step to the final landing before exposing herself above the ridge of the cliff, Summer paused and withdrew her gun from the holster. She thought many times during the climb about getting her gun ready in case Percy was waiting at the top of the stairs, but in her current condition she didn’t dare trust her hands not to drop the gun down to the sandy pit beneath. Now, holding the gun in her hand, her finger gripping the trigger tightly, grateful that the safety was on, Summer slowly climbed the remaining ten stairs, scrunching down as her head protruded over the top of the cement landing.
She kept low, scouring the windows for any sign of Percy or Sabrina, but the rooms were empty. Satisfied she could get safely off the stairs and make a mad dash to the garden shed at the back corner, Summer scurried up the remaining steps and ran, limping across the lawn, diving for cover behind the shed.
Taken - Before her very Eyes Page 17