“Thank you, Officer,” Cassandra said, and pulled on her gloves.
She walked Lillian back to her vehicle and held open the car door for her.
“Thank you so much, Lillian. I really do appreciate your help. Hopefully, this will be just what the police need in order to catch the man.”
“It was no problem, honey,” she said, “no problem at all. I just hope that it helped. Now you keep safe, ya hear? If ya need anything else, don’t be afraid to stop by.”
“You drive carefully,” Cassandra said, and stepped back when Lillian backed out of her parking space.
“She’s such a sweet lady,” Cassandra said, when she got back into her car.
“Yes, she is,” Shannon said. “I hope I still have a memory like hers when I reach her age. She certainly is observant of her customers.”
“Would you like to come back to my house for lunch?”
“Thanks, but I’d better get home. If I don’t get my chores done and a decent dinner cooked, you might end up with a roommate. Dan wouldn’t be too happy if he arrived home in a few hours to a messy house and a bowl of soup for dinner. Now don’t forget what the officer said. If you hear or see anything, don’t hesitate to dial nine-one-one. And don’t answer that phone if it’s an unidentified caller.”
“Yes, Mom,” Cassandra said. “If I’m good, can I stay up late tonight?”
Shannon swatted her arm playfully and stuck out her tongue.
“Don’t let that tongue catch the icy door on your way out,” Cassandra said, and laughed when she pulled away.
*
On Wednesday Cassandra decided to take her SUV over to Quick Lube for an oil change. While she waited, she had a sudden hunger for tacos. When they’d completed the work on her vehicle, she decided to head over to the Taco Shop for lunch.
When she turned into the entrance, she was relieved to see only two cars in the parking lot. Well, at least it’s not busy. Grabbing her purse, she hopped out and hit the auto-lock button on her key ring twice just to be sure that it locked.
After the employee took her order, she told him she’d be eating in, and he handed her a tray. She slid it down to the end of the counter where she stood waiting. When he placed her order on her tray, she turned to look for a place to sit. She headed toward a vacant table in the back of the restaurant and sat down, placing her purse on her lap. She latched her cell phone onto the front of her purse, where she could reach it easily if Sean just happened to call.
The tacos were delicious, just as she’d anticipated. When she finished her meal and disposed of the wrappers into the trash container, she returned to her table and sat down to relax while she drank the remainder of her milkshake. She looked down at the cold beverage, wondering why she’d chosen ice cream on such a frigid, winter day. She was taking that one last sip through her straw, when her napkin fell to the floor. She bent down to pick it up when suddenly a pair of dirty, tattered army boots appeared out of nowhere and stopped at her table. She slowly looked up.
“Hello, Cassandra,” the man said.
Chapter Forty-one
Cassandra straightened up too quickly, and bumped her head against the edge of the table. She tried to stand, when he grabbed her arm and pushed her back into her chair. He kept his voice low and threatening as he sat down next to her and took her hand.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Cassandra, dear.”
She became increasingly uneasy under the scrutiny of his dark brown eyes. When he leaned close to her face, she smelled the stench of body odor, and his clothes were dirty and ragged. He wore a stocking cap pulled down over his ears, with filthy reddish-brown hair poking out from under the bottom edge.
“Just pretend that you know me. You wouldn’t want to draw attention now, would you?” His breath had such a horrid smell, she feared she was about to gag, and she leaned over the remainder of her milkshake and pretended to take a sip, anything so she didn’t have to look into those cold eyes.
Yet with an effort, she looked up at him. “Who are you?”
Her nerves tensed. Her breath caught in her throat and spasms of alarm erupted within her chest. Her mouth went dry and her stomach churned, when she saw the tattoo on his neck, the tattoo of a shark. With her free hand, she slowly reached on her lap for her phone.
“Please don’t touch that phone, honey,” he said in a harsh whisper. “I’d be awful sorry if somethin’ happened to you. I really don’t want to hurt you.”
“Who – who are you? What do you want from me?”
With a wicked smile, he said, “Quite a bit, honey. Your husband owed me a lot of money. He promised to pay me if I found you, but he died before I got paid. I’m sure you’d never be able to come up with such a large amount of green stuff, and I've got a lot comin’ to me. So you’ll just have to pay me with your sweet little body,” he said with a nasty smirk.
She felt the blood drain from her face. She was close to fainting she was sure. Maybe that would draw attention, but a sense of determination grew in her. How dare this man think he could... Cassandra’s mouth fell open and she shivered with a sudden realization. “You’re the man who abducted me in Pinewood Hills, aren’t you?”
He gave her an ugly crooked smile. “That wouldn’t have happened if you carried more money in your wallet, girlie. But that little bit wouldn’t have made a dent in what he owed me.”
He caught her glancing uneasily over her shoulder. With his filthy hand, he grabbed her chin and pulled her face back to his. “Let’s just get up and walk out, right now. You show everyone a big smile, honey. Show them all how happy you are to see me.”
He tightly held onto her forearm as she stood and they headed toward the door. He waved goodbye to the cashier at the counter, with a smile that displayed a mouth full of yellow teeth, with one front tooth missing.
Placing his hand at the small of her back, he ushered her out the door. They paused in the entryway, which had brick walls to keep the cold air from entering the restaurant. Because of this, she was unable to see the parking lot. Cassandra prayed there would be someone out there who would help her.
“That’s a good girl,” he said. “You’re obeying very nicely, just as you should. Here, let me put my arm around you. That wind is mighty cold out there.”
When they stepped out the door and into the wind, the man reached his free hand up to his head to pull his stocking cap down over his ears. At that moment, Cassandra pretended to stumble at the curb, causing him to lose his balance. A police officer appeared from behind the wall, grabbed his arm, and wrapped his other arm around the man’s neck.
“Let her go, man! Now!”
Another officer appeared from the opposite direction with his pistol drawn.
The man’s arm dropped and Cassandra fell away from him as a third officer quickly moved forward to catch her.
When she looked up, she realized it was Officer Benjamin. He gently pulled her away from the man and helped her over to his police car. She shook with revulsion when she glanced over her shoulder and saw them put handcuffs on the man, then shoved him into a police car.
Her teeth were chattering. Officer Benjamin wrapped a blanket around her and knelt down to look into her eyes.
“Are you okay, Ms. Becker? Did he hurt you anywhere?”
She was only able to shake her head. She was trembling with reaction, but now it was over, finally over.
“You were a very lucky woman. When the man entered the restaurant, the cashier had noticed the scar on his face and the tattoo on his neck. He immediately dialed nine-one-one.”
“But how did he know about the tattoo?”
“I stopped in here yesterday and handed out copies of the sketch to the employees. I made sure that they all took a good look at it. We passed them out to every restaurant, store, and business located here in Woodland.”
“Thank you so much.” She gulped hard, and hot tears flowed down her cheeks.
He leaned over the front seat, reached for a box of tissue
s, and placed it in her hands.
She sobbed and said, “He told me that my husband owed him a lot of money, and that I had to pay him. He wanted to make me pay him back with sexual favors.” She shuddered at the thought. “And that’s not all, Officer Benjamin. He told me that he was the man who abducted me up in Pinewood Hills.”
“I’ll immediately notify the Pinewood Hills Police Department that we’ve captured him.”
Finally beginning to warm up, she let the blanket drop from her shoulders. After taking a couple of deep breaths, she looked up at Officer Benjamin.
“Thank you so much. If you hadn’t been here yesterday to hand out the flyers, I could have been raped, or even killed.”
“Are you feeling better now?” he asked. “I do have to bring you down to the station to fill out a report. Is there anyone who’d be able to come to pick you up?”
She nodded her head and attached her seat belt, then stared out the window as they drove away from the scene.
An hour later Cassandra phoned Shannon and asked her and Dan to pick her up at the police station. She told her that she’d explain everything when they arrived.
They drove over to the Taco Shop to pick up Cassandra’s SUV. Dan drove Cassandra’s vehicle home while she rode with Shannon. They gathered at Cassandra’s house and sat around her kitchen table while she explained everything that had happened.
“I just thank God you’re safe. I think we should drive over to the Taco Shop tomorrow to thank the cashier for dialing nine-one-one. He probably saved your life.”
“Yes, I know, but I’d like to hold off for a few days. I don’t think I’d be able to go back there quite so soon.
“The man also admitted that he abducted me in Pinewood Hills. That was the same person, Shannon. The Private Investigator Jeff hired to find me. He wanted the money that Jeff promised him. He was so filthy, the stink almost made me gag. He’s a very malicious person.”
“I’m just thankful that the police arrived in time, and that you were out in the public, so he wasn’t able to hurt you.”
Cassandra sat very still. Mandy stood next to her, placed her head across her lap, and stood very quietly. It appeared that Mandy knew something wasn’t right.”
“Why don’t you come over to our house for supper tonight?” Dan asked.
“Yes, honey, you can just sit with us for the evening, or even stay all night if you’d like.”
“Thank you, but I’d rather stay here with Mandy, take a long hot bath, and try to unwind before Sean gets back tomorrow. I'll be fine now, since that despicable man has been taken off the streets.”
“Well I hope it’ll be for a very long time,” Shannon said.
“You call us if you need anything,” Dan told her, then stood and looked over at Shannon. “Are you ready to go?”
They put on their jackets and gloves, and Shannon pulled up her hood. She gave Cassandra a hug. “You lock the door behind us, honey.”
“I will, and we’ll be fine. Thank you for coming to pick me up.”
“You know by now that you don’t need to thank us,” Dan said, and smiled at her as he closed the door behind them.
Mandy followed her into the master bathroom and stretched out on the floor in front of the door. Cassandra placed her cell phone next to the tub, then ran a hot bubble bath, climbed in and lowered her body into the water slowly, until the bubbles floated gently around her neck. With a tub pillow behind her head, she leaned back and relaxed, when suddenly her phone rang. She saw that it was Sean, and answered it quickly.
“Hi babe, how is everything going?” he asked, with noise from the airport terminal in the background.
“I’m lying here soaking in bath bubbles, wishing you were in here with me,” she said softly.
“I like that image, a lot... I’m just calling to let you know I’m on my way. I’m about to board the plane, and I’ll be home in about three hours. Save some bubbles for me. We can take one together when I get there. Bye Cassie, I love you.”
“I’ll leave the light on… I miss you, Sean.”
She tried to relax, and again leaned her head on the pillow. She thought back in time, so many years ago; my how her life had changed…
She now could see clearly, how her life had always been the same. Her father’s abuse, physically and mentally, and her husband, with the alcohol that led him to mentally abuse her and then led him to his death. She now completely understood the fact that Dr. Anderson had pointed out to her. She’d grown up with mental abuse and had lived to believe it was natural.
Things will be different from this day forward, she vowed. Those people are gone now. Her life is free of those who had belittled her. She can now feel good about herself.
She noticed that the water had become quite cold, and leaned over to pull the plug. The water spiraled quickly down the drain, and she watched closely as if her past swirled down the drain right along with it. It was now gone forever.
Chapter Forty-two
Cassandra waited up for Sean, and when he arrived, she told him all about the dreadful incident. He hugged her and she felt secure in his arms. They made love slowly, gently, and his tenderness eased away all fears. She was healing already. The sun was just beginning to rise when they finally dozed off.
After a few hours of sleep, Cassandra again awakened to the fresh aroma of coffee. She pulled on her robe and walked with bare feet into the kitchen.
“You know, if you keep doing this all the time, you’re going to have me so fat and ugly, you’ll be out looking for some young, sexy girl to take my place.”
“No, I won’t,” he said, and set a stack of pancakes in front of her. “I love what I have right here.” He leaned over to place a kiss on her forehead. “Now sit down and eat. You hate your food cold.”
*
When they finished eating, they sat at the table drinking coffee and discussed their vacation plans.
“Okay now, listen to the idea I’ve come up with, then you can tell me what you think. I brought some good news back with me. I was able to get three weeks off in April. I thought we could be in Colorado with the twins for Easter, and from there we could head down to Texas. Do you remember Ben and Cheryl Ackerman?”
“I think so… weren’t they the two who’d always held the Super Bowl party every year?” She poured more coffee.
“That’s them,” he said, and nodded. “They moved down to Amarillo a few years ago and purchased a ranch, a few horses, and started breeding beagles. I thought we’d stop there to say hello, and then head across to New Mexico. When my company sent me to Albuquerque, I was looking through the newspaper and saw some property for sale, and I’d like to show it to you.”
“Property? What kind of property?”
“It’s a total of thirty acres, and they’re selling it at a very good price. That’s all I’m telling you. I want it to be a surprise,” he said, with that sparkle in his eyes.
“Oh, come on, Sean, tell me more about it. Is there a house? What does the property look like? Where in New Mexico? Is it located close to Albuquerque?”
Sean just smiled and ran his thumb and forefinger along his lips, informing her that his lips were sealed.
“I want to know more about it than that!”
He just sat there and moved his head back and forth with a grin on his face. “You are so much fun to watch when you become anxious,” he said, and gave her a light swat on her rear when she stood up. “Nope,” he said, “it’s a surprise.”
She slugged his shoulder playfully and dropped her mouth into a deep animated frown, and they both laughed. “You just sulk all you want, my beautiful woman, but I’m not going to tell you. It’s a surprise.”
“What about Mandy, would we be able bring her along?”
“Sure, why not? Most motels accept pets these days. When the weather’s decent, we could camp out, if we find any nice campgrounds. We’ll take the SUV. That way, Mandy would have plenty of room to move around in the back.”
Cassandra rinsed off their breakfast dishes, and filled the sink with sudsy water. She looked out the window and watched Mandy as she circled the maple tree, looking up at a robin perched above her head. Then with her back to Sean, she asked, “Are you saying that you’d actually like to move down there?”
“Cassie, you know that I’ve always wanted to move south to retire someday.”
“What about the twins, Sean? I can’t just up and leave them behind.”
“They’re in college now, and it wouldn’t be for a while. Don’t worry about it just yet. I only want to have fun. I want to look at this property. Besides, the twins will both be getting married. Do you just want to sit home, waiting for them to come and visit? Anyway, if we did decide to move south, they’d love to have a place to get away from here… and they’d have a free place to stay,” he added.
“I don’t know… ”
“Don’t worry about it. We’re only going on vacation. We’re going to have fun, and that’s that.”
She put the last plate into the dish rack and dried her hands with a towel, then slowly turned to look at him. “This really means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”
He nodded, stood from his chair and walked toward her with that sexy look in his eyes. He planted a kiss on her mouth, as tender and light as a soft springtime breeze.
She felt her knees begin to weaken, and he lifted her off her feet and carried her down the hall. She felt as though she floated on a soft and wispy cloud. Too filled with emotion, she was unable to speak as he carried her into the bedroom, lifted one foot up behind him, and kicked the door closed.
*
“Okay Cass, everything’s packed and ready to go,” Sean said when he walked back into the house.
“We’ll miss you.” Shannon gave Cassandra a hug. “Don’t worry about the house. We’ll keep an eye on things.”
“Thanks, Shannon, and tell Dan thank you also.”
The Sunny Side of the Mountain Page 22