by Jeulia Hesse
But the image was a human being. It was Jeremy, with a look on his face of pure rage. The hairs raised on the back of her neck; her heart rate accelerated.
It was him, and he was coming for her. He would get to her before help arrived, even if she called now.
The house was not safe. He knew all its hiding places too well.
Run! A voice in her head compelled her forward. Every cell of her body leapt to attention in the flight or fight response.
She chose flight. She knew the woods better than he did, and without a car in the driveway to escape in, this path was her only choice.
She ran, quietly closing the screen door so he would not hear her exit as she ran into the woods. Running past the woodshed, she grabbed the small ax from the stump, not fully knowing if she would be able to defend herself with it. But it felt better to have something in case she needed it.
Someone grabbed her arm and wrenched her around, a vice grip clutched both her arms and imprisoned her. She stared into the unshaven face of Daniel; his ripe alcoholic breath was hot on her face. “Now where you goin’, missy?”
Her heart pounded as ice shook her belly, adrenaline rushed through her veins, and confusion clouded her senses. Where had Jeremy gone? What was Daniel doing there? Every one of her senses was flashing danger signs.
She heard the sound of running footsteps behind her and a low growl. Then everything went black as her skull exploded in pain.
“That damn dog bit me,” Jeremy rumbled as Christina came back to consciousness.
She was lying on the floor in the front room of the inn. There was a horrible howling and barking coming from her office. Apparently, the dog had been shut in the room, and she could hear him digging at the door, his nails scraping the wood. Her head throbbed. She reached up and touched the back of her head and her fingers came back bloody. She had been knocked out by the blow to her skull. Immediately, her thoughts went to Annie and what the officer had said was the apparent cause of death. A fractured skull. Christina was overcome with fear, and realized she needed to get out of there. She attempted to get to her feet, but the room spun.
“Sit down,” Jeremy commanded. “Dammit! Just stay down and do what I say!”
She froze, taking him in. He was in a state. His arm was dripping blood over the throw rugs and the shiny wooden floors. He must have killed Annie, she thought, the same way that he had just hit her over the head. Her head ached and the room was spinning, so she knew she wasn’t in good shape. Fear clutched her heart.
“Shut up!” Daniel growled entering the room, yelling at the dog. “My shotgun is in the truck, or I would ‘a shot that damn beast.”
He kicked Christina’s leg as he strode by her on the ground, as if she were a piece of dirt on the floor. He grabbed Jeremy by the collar of his shirt. “What business do you have coming here after me, you shithead moron? You need to leave this to me.”
“You don’t know what kind of trouble you are getting into! You can’t keep doing this, it doesn’t solve anything.” Jeremy screamed back at his father as they tousled and shoved each other.
“I’m gonna take care of all this, for once and for all. She don’t deserve nothing. She ain’t family. The Stone house has always been Stone’s.”
“I can’t let you do that.” Jeremy screamed, as the two men wrestled and fought.
Daniel grabbed Jeremy by the neck and started to choke him. It was apparent that the older man was stronger than his son. Jeremy’s face began to turn beet red as he struggled against his father and the two men crashed to the floor.
Christina tried to get to her feet again, but the room continued to spin. Was Jeremy trying to protect her? “Stop! You’re going to kill him!” she shouted, as the room again went black before her eyes.
She became vaguely aware that she was in a moving vehicle. She was blindfolded and her hands were bound. There was another person beside her. She could feel their warmth against her side. They were still and unmoving, as the vehicle surged forward. The road beneath them was full of ruts and holes, they bounced roughly against the steel bed as the truck charged over the ground.
Terror flooded her veins. The person next to her was unmoving. It was likely Jeremy. He was probably dead. She knew she would be dead as well, as soon as the vehicle stopped.
What was it that they had been fighting about? Her addled brain tried to piece the conversation together. She was beginning to panic. What the hell was she going to do? How could she get out of this? She had never been in a situation like this before.
The figure stirred beside her, and she felt the movement. She was relieved and further terrified of her now shared situation. Her head continued to ache and spin. She could feel that her hair was matted with dried blood. How was she going to defend herself?
She had to live. She had to get out of this alive. A sob gathered in her throat.
They traveled for what seemed like a long time. Banging over the road, the other figure bumped into her again.
“Can you hear me?” a male voiced asked beside her. It was clearly Jeremy. His voice was hoarse. “Don’t panic. We will get out of this. Just do as I say and don’t make him mad.”
“Why is he doing this?” she whispered.
Jeremy’s answer was lost as the vehicle pulled to a stop. Moments later, the creak of metal and a loud thunk allowed a gush of air into her face. The smell of pine filled her senses. “Get up, the both a’ ya.”
They shifted and scooted their way out of the bed of the truck. Her blindfold slipped from her eyes as she moved to stand before him. Daniel held a shot gun on them both in one large hand. His other hand held a shovel. He motioned them to walk a head of him to a stand of pine trees.
“Dad, come on.” Jeremy pleaded, “this is really gone far enough...”
“Shut up,” he shouted, taking a swig from a bottle in his jacket pocket. “You damn idiot.”
They approached the stand of trees. Daniel demanded they kneel and face him. Christina could not believe that this was happening. She was terrified, and her heart was pounding in her chest. Her breaths were short. Tears clouded her eyes. She was certain he was going to kill her – and possibly kill them both.
Satisfied they were effectively hackled; he leaned his shotgun against the trunk of a tree behind him and began to dig with the shovel. The blade of the tool dug into the dirt. As it scraped the rock and dirt, realization came over her. He was digging her grave before her eyes. Tears began to course down her face.
“Please, please,” she begged, “why are you doing this?”
“Shut up!” he shouted. He stopped and took another drink from the bottle he pulled from his shirt pocket.
“You have no right!”
The blade dug into the dirt as the stones pinged against the metal. She shuddered at the sound.
“You and your shit family! You have no right. That land and that house is a Stone property.”
Scrapes, pings, and scatters of dirt emphasized his words as he ranted. “My stupid brother married that whore with her brat. He makes sure that she got the house when he died. He musta knew it was comin.’”
Scrape, ping, scatter of dirt. He took another swig from the bottle. “Shoulda been mine. I shoulda been able to give it to my idiot son.” He motioned to Jeremy beside her, looking at his son with despair as he knelt in front of him. “I did this all for you. It should all be yours.”
Christina’s legs were beginning to tingle as they fell asleep, furthering her anxiety.
Surprising her, Jeremy scooted closer to her so their sides were touching. “I never meant for you to do what you did,” he said somberly.
Scrape, ping, scatter of dirt. “Yeah, I meant to scare that bitch, but I hit her too hard,” he laughed grotesquely. “Your head is a lot harder than your cousin’s. When I found out she was knocked up with that bastard’s kid, something needed to get done. We’d never get it back.”
He had killed Annie! Renewed fear surged through her body. She was ab
out to die, and her life had just begun. Her thoughts shifted to Kevin. Would she ever see him again? Would he be safe from Daniel’s unhinged rage?
Just when she thought all was lost, Jeremy’s fingers groped at her wrists startling her. A renewed surge of hope coursed through her. “You hid her in the rock wall.”
Daniel stopped shoveling and leaned on the handle. “I did.” He smiled a self-satisfied grin.
He took another swig from his bottle, resting from his efforts. She felt the ropes fall from her wrists, effectively freeing her.
Hope rose in her chest.
Jeremy shot to his feet. Christina quickly followed suit, but her legs were wobbly and her head was still swimming from the earlier blow.
“What’s this?” Daniel stumbled, shocked that his captives had broken their bonds. He stepped back to reach for his gun and stumbled.
Jeremy lunged toward Daniel, shouting back at Christina. “Run!”
She bolted. The world was swimming from her head injury. She had to live!
A gunshot rang out behind her. Certain the bullet shot past her; she ran as fast as she could. Her slippered feet were painfully cut on the rocks and roots of the forest floor as she ran.
Behind her, Jeremy lunged again at his father as he aimed at Christina’s fleeing form. Another shot rang out and Jeremy’s body fell to the ground. An other earthly scream emanated through the trees as Daniel realized he had shot his only child. Blood poured from the wound in Jeremy’s chest as he hit the ground.
Daniel went to his son, forgetting his intended target. He had just killed his only child. Everything was lost – everything he had worked for and had killed for. It was all for his son, and now it was gone.
He couldn’t bear the thought of life without him. He took his shotgun and placed it in his mouth and pulled the trigger. It was all over.
Christina heard the shots and ran as fast as she could away from them. She was sure he was being pursued by the man who had murdered her cousin. She tripped and fell on tree roots, scraping her leg badly. She hoisted herself and ran, limping through the woods. She had to keep going. He was coming after her. She had to live.
The trees and rocks all blended together as her vision swirled. She was running along a ridge, unsure of where she was. There were no trail markers and no evidence of humans anywhere. She needed to get away from Daniel, but she also needed to find help.
Suddenly, the earth beneath her feet gave way, and she slid into darkness.
Chapter 34
She felt something give way in her ankle as she landed in a heap in the deep darkness of the earth. The sodden smell of damp soil filled her nostrils, along with another odor that she couldn’t quite identify. Bears immediately came to mind.
Christina had tried to not cry out when she fell into the hole to avoid alerting her pursuer of her whereabouts. She tried to not move, hoping her eyes would adjust to the darkness and she would be able to take in her surroundings. There was absolute silence.
She strained to listen for noises above the ground, such as the sound of running feet, but could hear none. There was a distant sound in the darkness of trickling and dripping water. No other noise was evident.
Her head throbbed. The fall had not done her head injury any good, and the darkness wasn’t helping either. Her ankle ached, but it was the only other major injury she assessed as she tried to calm the pounding of her heart.
Controlling her breathing took significant effort as the adrenaline continued to course through her veins. She tried to concentrate and assess her immediate circumstances. If she were to survive, she needed to have her wits about her. The fall into the hole had to have been several feet. It had felt like diving into a pool and landing on the waterless bottom. Was those 6 or 7 feet? She had no idea.
One slipper was missing from her foot. She could not recall where or when she had lost that. What ridiculous circumstances, she thought. This morning she had been glad to have a few hours alone to catch up on paperwork in peace. When she had left her slippers on, she wasn’t thinking she would need her hiking boots to protect her feet while she tried to escape being murdered!
Slowly, her heart stopped pounding. She tried to think of what time it was. She had been unconscious for a while, so she knew her perception was off. Based on the light, it seemed like it may be later afternoon. Everyone should have started to come back to the inn by now, she thought. She wondered if they would know she was missing. They may guess that she went on a walk or a hike. They may not even know to miss her until much later in the evening.
She dropped her head into her hands in despair. It would likely be hours before anyone even suspected she was in trouble. By then, Daniel would likely locate her hiding place, and she would be dead in that shallow grave he had been digging before her eyes. And what of Jeremy? Had he become his father’s victim as well?
Her head swam from the movement and the hopelessness she felt. Clearly, she had a concussion, and she tried to recall what she should do in that situation. Stay awake and stay alive, she thought.
The late afternoon brought people back to the inn in small groups. The first to arrive were Jeff, Layla, and Kevin. Kevin watched as the couple pulled around to the barn to check in on the horses. Kevin followed them into the barn deep in conversation with Jeff about his plans for horse driven amenities. Jeff concentrated on the care of the horses, while Layla kept him company as he moved from stall to stall.
The door to the barn blew open and banged against the wall. The horses shifted nervously in their stalls. “Hey, grab that, would you, Hon?” Jeff called out to Layla. “Must be a rainstorm or something coming up.”
Layla went to the barn door to pull it closed. As she did so, the front door to the inn came into her sights. “Jeff,” she called into the barn, “you’d better come here. Something’s not right at the inn.”
At her words, Kevin felt pin pricks tingle on the back of his neck, and his stomach dropped. Jeff looked at his companion, annoyance clear on his face. There were chores to be done with the horses and with the remainder of the animals in the other barn. “Ayah, just a minute. I’ll be right there...” he called back to her.
“I’ll go see.” Kevin reassured his old friend. He had some things to do anyway and was eager to see Christina. As he exited the barn, the door to the inn blew open, as if a burst of air from inside threw it open. He exchanged a sideways glance with Layla.
“Something is very wrong.” Layla stated somberly. She joined him as they both made their way cautiously to the front door.
The inn door had been left flung open. It was still and quiet inside. “No one here?” he asked of Layla.
She shrugged her shoulders.
As they stepped into the doorway, they immediately saw the dried blood smears on the floor and across the rug of the front room. There were additional drops of blood along the floor and smeared on the smooth boards of the hall. A chair was overturned. Hearing them, the dog began to howl from behind the closed office door. A deep feeling of dread crept into his heart. “Christina!” he bellowed running through the building desperate to locate her. He knew in his soul he would not. She wasn’t there.
“Don’t touch anything,” said Kevin. He yanked out his trail radio as the Sheriff cruiser pulled into the lot with Gina in the passenger side. Layla and Jeff rushed out to meet the pair as they got out of the vehicle. Kevin joined them, dread weighing his steps, grateful to see Shawn who would know what to do. Kevin’s mind was muddied with anxiety. What had happened here, where was Christina?
Jeff quickly relayed what they had seen, Shawn curtly asked them a few brief questions, and checked his firearm. “You two stay here. Kevin, Jeff, come with me.”
They entered the house. Shawn cautiously walked around the room, taking in the details as his trained eye permitted. The dog began howling again and pawing at the door. “Can you find a leash? I think they keep it hanging back by the kitchen door. Don’t touch anything else if you can help it. I’ll want to
keep the dog out of the blood on the floor.”
He followed Jeff in through the dining room. It looked normal. There was nothing broken or out of place, just as the front of the house had been. But it was apparent that something had occurred there. He had an instinctual sense that something was off. Logically, there could have been a simple explanation, but to his naked eye, it looked like someone who was injured had been dragged out the front door. The hair on the back of his neck began to bristle. “Christina?” he bellowed, his deep authoritative voice echoing through the empty house.
No one answered.
Jeff came back with a leash. “He’s really going nuts in there. It’s going to take us both to grab him.”
Together, the men gingerly opened the office door as the dog lunged and barked at them, eager to get out of the office and frantic to help his mistress. They managed to hook the leash on the animal, and they realized he was injured. His paws were bleeding, apparently from digging at the office door and trying to get out. The sight of the attempts of the dog to get out of the office sent chills down Kevin’s spine. That dog had been at Christina’s side since they found him on the stagecoach road her first day back. The animal was frantic, and it made him further solidify that something sinister had happened.
“I’m calling Agnes,” Shawn said, reaching for the desk phone. They had all promised to let her know if anything came up in the Annie Stone case. This sure seemed like something and he would need reinforcements. “The line’s dead.”
On the side of the desk, Kevin picked up Christina’s cell phone. “She would have never left the house without her phone,” Kevin stated as his stomach dropped.
Chapter 35
Kevin sat at one of the dining room chairs with his head in his hands. The police were still gathering details in the front of the house. Christina had not been missing more than twelve hours, but the concern was coupled with the suspicions raised toward Jeremy and his father, Daniel. The police had been watching them since the discovery of Annie’s remains.