“What in the world…?” Mrs. Donovan scooped her up and looked at her paws with concern. “Are you bleeding, precious?” She took a good look at each of her paws before walking a few steps more, peering around the corner into the galley kitchen. The entire space was covered in blood. It was pooled on the linoleum floor and splattered across the white kitchen cabinets, walls, and countertops. A giant butcher knife lay in the middle of the carnage. Her eyes widened and she covered her hand over her mouth taking in the gruesome scene.
“Sweet Jesus,” she whispered under her breath and quickly ran back to her apartment to call the police.
Chapter Fifteen
They lingered over buttermilk pancakes and plump sausages Sam cooked in a real cast iron skillet left from his grandmother. Gwyneth licked the sticky maple syrup off each of her tiny fingers one by one as if savoring the sweetness, and Dylan asked for yet another short stack on his plate, wiped clean from his tongue.
“Coming right up little man.” Sam was playful, plopping three more hotcakes onto his plate with a spatula. Dylan seemed to enjoy the hearty meal, and grabbed the last sausage off a paper towel sitting on a plate in the middle of the table. “I’m glad you’re eating a good breakfast because we got a little drumming to do before we head over to old man Duke's place.”
With the sausage in his fingers halfway to his mouth, Dylan stopped eating. “Really?” he asked excitedly.
Sam poured himself another cup of coffee and sat in the chair next to Casey across from the children. “You betcha. You’re going to get a lesson and then we’ll take little G here over to the Duke farm to pet some horses. Sound good?”
Gwyneth mimicked Dylan’s reaction and clapped her hands excitedly. Casey grinned and sipped from her mug as she watched Sam banter with the kids about the upcoming day’s activities. They’d all slept remarkably well after the storm passed and even slept in, which was very unusual for Casey and her niece. The whole weekend felt like a vacation, with nothing expected of her and nothing pending to be done. She was glad Sam was going to spend some one on one time with his nephew, who obviously adored him. This would give her some time to be with GG and have a little girl fun.
Downing the last bit of coffee, she started to gather up the dirty dishes off the table before Sam interrupted, pulling her onto his lap and kissing her shoulder. Dylan and GG were oblivious, talking animatedly about horses.
“Sound like a plan?” he asked.
“For sure. Sounds like a great plan.” She kissed him lightly on the lips before resuming her cleanup efforts. “Miss GG you need to finish up and then we’ll go get ready while the boys have their lesson, okay?”
“Okay!” The little girl hopped off her chair and carried her plate over to the sink area where Casey had started rinsing. Sam finished his coffee and brought a stack of dishes over to her.
“You can leave these for later,” he said, setting his empty mug on the counter.
“Nonsense. You did the cooking, which was delicious by the way, so I’ll clean up. It’s the least I can do.” She kissed him on the cheek, her hands submerged in a sink full of bubbles smelling of lavender.
The boys headed out the back door with the screen banging behind them. GG pulled a chair up to the sink to help and chatted the whole time about horsies and doggies. Bleu hung out with the girls, stretched out on the floor with his paws crossed in front of him, making him look very sophisticated. Once the kitchen was spotless, Casey and GG headed upstairs to get dressed for their outing. There was a bit of a chill in the morning air, so Casey though it’d be best to wear layers. She knew the Southern day would eventually warm up and they’d get hot. Sitting on the twin bed in the guest room with GG in between her legs, she pulled her silky baby hair into her trademark pigtails.
“Are you having fun GG?” she asked.
“Mmmhumm.” There was a hint of hesitation in her tiny voice.
“What is it, sweet girl?” Turning GG to face her, she tipped her chin up so they were eye to eye.
“Can we live here with Sam and Dylan?” Her wide-eyed innocence made Casey’s throat catch. Pulling her in for a hug, she inhaled her scent of maple syrup and baby skin.
“That sure would be fun.” She tried to explain the situation in a way GG would understand. “But Dylan has a mommy and daddy he already lives with and we’re guests of Sam’s. You know he said we could come anytime we want.”
GG pulled back from her. “Anytime?”
She nodded. “That’s what he said.”
“Then I want to come every day!” she squealed, erupting in a bout of giggles. Casey tickled her armpits, ecstatic that her niece was so happy. Lifting her up into the air, she twirled her in a circle, her heart about to burst with joy. They ended up collapsing on the bed in a heap of flailing arms and legs. She turned her head and they were nose to nose.
“You ready to meet the horses?” she asked breathlessly.
GG’s face radiated excitement. “Yes!”
The closer they got to the barn, the louder the drums resonated. Casey held GG’s hand and helped her up the back staircase into the Red Barn Studio with Bleu bringing up the rear. When they entered the studio space, GG immediately put her hands over her ears, not used to the loud beat of the drums and the crashing of the cymbals. She stayed close to Casey and watched Dylan do his thing on the drum kit.
The young boy was definitely in his element. His tiny tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth while he concentrated, the look on his face of pure determination. When he noticed the pair in the doorway, he finished the drum loop dramatically, his blond hair flying back and forth till the last crash. They clapped for him and his cheeks glowed pink with embarrassment.
“Wow, Dylan! That was great!” Casey said, pushing her niece forward into the room.
Handing the drumsticks to his uncle, he came from around the kit into the open area of the room. “Thanks,” he said bashfully.
“She’s right you know. Great job, buddy. We’ll revisit this again later this afternoon. Deal?”
His face lit up and he nodded eagerly.
“It’s time to go visit some horses. What do you say we head on over to Mr. Duke’s place? He’s expecting us.” Sam continued.
“Yay! Horsies!” GG yelled into the air making everyone laugh. She put her small hand into Sam’s and pulled him excitedly toward the doorway. When he looked over his shoulder at Casey, she winked at him, and shut the door before they clambered down the wooden stairs.
They continued through the chilly barn into the brilliant sunny morning and started down the path to John Duke’s property, Bleu taking the lead. John was expecting them and was saddling up a couple of his horses for the entourage to ride. Sam couldn’t wait to see GG’s reaction.
They had just made it to the fence line when Casey remembered she’d left her cell phone on the kitchen counter to charge. She wasn’t about to have her niece ride a horse and not take any pictures.
“Sam, you keep going. I’m going to run back and get my phone. I’ve got to get some pictures of this for Laura.”
“Okay, darlin’.” He swung GG up onto his shoulders as she squealed with delight.
Casey ruffled Dylan’s hair. “I’ll be right behind you.” He grinned at her before he tossed a big stick ahead of them. Bleu immediately picked it up with his mouth, trotting happily ahead.
Casey walked briskly back to the house, squinting in the morning light. She decided to get her sunglasses while she was at it. When she was just about to open the screen door of the mudroom, something moved out of the corner of her eye in the shadows of the barn entrance. With her hand paused on the metal handle of the door, her eyes fixated on the barn. Nothing. The old doors were wide open on the track system, the inside of the building dark. Shrugging her shoulders, she made her way into the house, the lingering smell of cooked sausage hanging in the air. She quickly grabbed her phone from the charger on the kitchen counter and shoved it in her pocket. Taking the stairs two at a time, she enter
ed the master bedroom and picked up her sunglasses off the dresser, placing them over her ears and pushing them up on top of her head to hold her hair back. The thought of GG’s reaction to the horses made her smile and she didn’t want to miss a moment of it. She jogged back down the stairs and through the house letting the screen door slap behind her. As she rounded the corner, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye again in the shadows of the barn interior. She abruptly stopped, tilting her head to listen for any odd sounds. Nothing.
Sighing, she looked down the path toward the Duke’s farm and then back at the barn opening. She decided to close the barn doors in case some kind of critter was getting in and snooping around. Her shoes crunched on the gravel as she approached the mammoth doors. As she pulled on the right side, she was glad it wasn’t as heavy as she thought it would be, the door gliding effortlessly along the metal track system. She started to pull on the left side, peering into the dark interior and noticed the hall light in the stairwell to the studio, casting a beam of light across the back wall. Sam must have forgotten to turn the light off in his effort to take her excited niece to see the horses. Quickly, she jogged to the staircase and was about to flip the switch, but was caught off guard when she noticed the door at the top of the stairs wide open.
“That’s strange,” she mumbled. She remembered closing the studio door herself. Sprinting up to the top, she peeked inside the studio to make sure the other lights were off. Everything was how they’d left it minus one peculiar exception—the door to the mini-fridge halfway across the room was wide open casting a small patch of light onto the wooden floor. Puzzled, she crossed the expansive loft and quickly bent over the fridge to shut the door.
When she stood upright and turned to exit, her blood ran cold and she froze. Leaning against the door frame was Donny Tanner, casually sipping on a beer.
Chapter Sixteen
Donny leaned wearily on the doorframe and tipped the bottle of beer up to his lips. “Surprise,” he growled.
Casey could feel her heart accelerate. “What the hell are you doing here?” she gasped, watching him slowly move to the nearest chair and gingerly sit down. He looked like he’d aged about a million years since she last saw him. When he brought the bottle up to his lips again, she observed a noticeable shake in his hand. He swallowed and his eyes were like lasers beams focused on her.
“I need to see my daughter, Casey.”
She laughed nervously. “Oh, you do? I don’t think so.” Folding her arms across her chest, she tried hard to maintain her composure. Her heart was pounding so badly, she was sure he could see the front of her shirt pulsing to the rhythm. She was terrified but wasn’t about to let him know it. “You need to leave or I’m going to have to call the police.” She confidently pulled her phone out of her pocket.
“No ma’am,” he snapped, setting the bottle on the floor. When he stood up, he pulled a small revolver out of the back of his pants and deliberately pointed it at her. “You need to slide that phone over to me, ya hear?” He gestured with the gun across the floor and it was then she noticed his jeans covered in dark brown stains, and his fingertips looked like he’d been working under the hood of a car.
Hesitating, Casey knew he was no match for her and reluctantly obeyed his command sliding the phone across the floor to him. He picked it up and shoved it into his back pocket.
“How did you find us?” she whispered. “Does Laura know you’re here?”
Donny closed his eyes and pressed his lips together in a grimace. His hand holding the gun shook violently as he brought it down to his side. He ran his other dirty hand under his nose and sniffled. “Come on now, Casey. You take me to my little girl. I just need to see her one last time and then I’ll be gone forever.”
Casey shook her head taking a few steps back, her foot landing on the rug covering the trap door in the loft floor. She knew there was no way she could get around Donny to escape down the back stairs, but the trap door in the loft was a definite plan B. Without hesitation, she quickly dropped to her knees and shoved the rug aside, grasping the iron ring and opening up the floor to access the wooden ladder below. It took a moment for Donny to realize what she was doing and she was halfway through the opening when he lunged at her, shoving the gun in his pants.
“You stupid bitch!” he screamed. He grabbed one of her hands before she could get down the ladder.
“Let go, Donny! Please! Let go!” His hand was a vice grip on hers, and felt like it was crushing her bones. In her struggle to get out of his grasp, she lost her footing and was suddenly dangling in the opening of the trap door, holding on to Donny with one hand, her legs flailing in mid-air. She looked up at him in a panic and could see specks of brown across his ugly face, splatter marks of some kind peppering the bridge of his nose. His penetrating stare was heated and for a moment as she swung haphazardly high above the ground, she thought this might be the end. With brute strength, he started to pull her up through the square opening, but his foot slipped on the rug and he lost his grip. Their fingertips disengaged and she fell in slow motion from the second story. Donny’s face contorted as he dove forward to try to catch her.
“Fuck!” he screamed.
Casey landed on her left ankle and side, the ancient, hard dirt floor a punishing surface that did nothing to cushion her fall. The searing, excruciating pain was immediate, and she screamed at the top of her lungs holding her left leg, writhing in the dirt. Donny hurried down the ladder and jumped off the last few rungs ending up right next to her.
“Just tell me where she is dammit!” he screamed. He was clearly enraged.
Sobbing, Casey couldn’t form words as Donny paced back and forth in front of her. When he pointed the gun directly at her to get her undivided attention, she could hear him click the chamber. Looking up at him through a haze of tears, she trembled with fright trying to catch her breath. His image was blurry, and she felt like she might pass out from the excruciating pain in her ankle.
“Where is she? Where is my daughter?” he screamed, standing over her.
Cowering underneath him, Casey knew she couldn’t get away. When she didn’t answer, he fired the gun.
***
“Be real still and they won’t run away,” Sam whispered to Dylan and Gwyneth. He was kneeling on the ground in between the two children, hiding in the tall grass along the fence line. They were watching a mother deer and her fawn graze several feet in front of them.
“That’s so cool,” Dylan said softly. GG was wide-eyed and gripped Sam’s hand tightly.
A sudden gunshot rang out making them jump. Birds flew out of the trees, and the mother deer and her baby bolted into the thick woods. Sam stood and watched the flock fly north before looking back toward his property from where the shot came from.
“Was that a gun?” Dylan asked, concern etched on his young face.
Sam placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I’m not sure, buddy.” He’d been enjoying himself so much he’d completely blocked out Casey’s family drama going on. A chill ran down his spine, and in an instant, he knew Casey was in danger. He knelt quickly to the ground, eye level with the children. They were in danger too.
“Dylan, I want you to listen real close, okay?” The boy nodded. “I need to go check on something back at the barn. I need you to take GG and Bleu to the old fort just across the stream and wait there for us.” He was trying desperately not to scare them.
“And then we can see the horsies?” GG asked innocently.
“Yes, sweetheart. And then we can see the horsies.” He brushed his finger across her little cheek, offering her a reassuring smile. “Dylan, you and GG stay in the fort. Don’t come out until we come and get you, okay?” The look he gave his nephew conveyed the seriousness of the situation.
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s my boy. I’ll be right back.” As he started to jog down the trail, he noticed Bleu at his heels. He stopped in his tracks. “No, Bleu! Dylan, call Bleu back to you. He needs to s
tay with you. I’ll be right back!”
“Bleu! Come on boy!” Dylan yelled and clapped his hands. Bleu wagged his tail and looked at the children and then back at Sam.
“Go, Bleu,” Sam ordered firmly. The big dog hesitated before he obeyed and trotted back to the kids. Sam took off down the path, running at full speed.
***
The barn wood splintered high above Casey’s head where Donny had pointed the gun and shot, debris and dust raining down on her. She choked in the cloud as dirty tears smeared her face. Donny paced back and forth, panic on his face. “You don’t understand. I just want to see her one last time. Just one last time. Please, Casey. You can make that happen,” he pleaded with her and flailed his hands in the air while he clutched the weapon.
Casey started to crawl slowly to the open barn doors, her fingernails making scratch marks in the compacted dirt floor. Her ankle was throbbing and starting to swell.
Donny ran his hand through his hair before he dropped to his knees right in front of her blocking her escape. Casey abruptly stopped and hung her head low into submission, careful not to make eye contact.
“I loved your sister. I still love her! You gotta believe me!” He choked back a sob as tears streamed down his face, smearing the splatter.
With hooded eyes, Casey stared at the gun in his hands within arm’s reach. She watched Donny lean back on his knees, hunched over as if contemplating his next move. Fingering the gun in his lap, he wept uncontrollably, snot running down his face. Suddenly, he stood up and kicked the stall door behind her. She turned away clenching her eyes shut, all her muscles tensed and ready to brace herself for some sort of attack.
“P…p…please, Donny. Please don’t hurt me. I need a doctor. My ankle… I think it might be broken,” she whimpered.
Love Song: A friends-to-lovers rock & roll romantic suspense Page 12