by Dara Girard
“Hey!” a voice called.
Emma jumped, spun around and saw the man from the diner.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said quickly, his hands held out in apology. “Thanks for the tea.”
“You’re welcome.”
“My name is Duane and I was just wondering if that listening ear was still on the menu?”
Emma’s heart lifted. He’d come back. This was her chance. “Yes. There’s a library not far from here and—”
“Emma!”
She spun around and saw her mother approaching, carrying two medium-sized boxes. “Excuse me.” She rushed over to her. “Yes?”
“I need your help.”
Emma glanced at Duane. “I’m busy.”
Vera raised her voice. “You’d choose to help some stranger over me?”
“Quiet.”
“That’s okay,” Duane said, beginning to walk away.
Her heart sank. “No, really.”
“Perhaps another time,” he said then headed for his car.
Vera handed Emma the boxes. “Good, he’s gone.”
“Mom, these boxes are empty,” Emma said, exasperated.
“I had to stop you from making a fool of yourself.”
Emma dropped the boxes. “Mother.”
“You put a little rouge on your face and then suddenly go after the first man that looks at you?”
“He just wanted to talk.”
“I told you he’s no good. There’s something fishy about him.”
“You can’t tell that just by looking at someone.”
“I can. Now help me with these boxes.”
Emma shook her head. “What am I supposed to do with them?”
“Put them back where I found them.”
Emma sighed then did what her mother said.
* * *
Duane gripped his steering wheel. He would have liked someone to talk to tonight instead of going to his room alone. He’d gotten sick of his own company and the deep recesses of his thoughts. What was he doing here? He’d been crazy to come and try to face Sheppard. He should just go home and travel some more. Revenge never helped anyone.
He glanced down when his cell phone rang. At first he hoped it was Emma saying they could talk after all, then he remembered that she didn’t have his number.
“Hello?”
“Have you seen Sheppard yet?” Dr. Brooks asked.
“No,” he said, surprised by the urgency in the doctor’s voice. “Look, I don’t—”
“I just found out some more news. He’s getting married.”
Duane felt the blood leave him as if he’d been sucked dry. “Married?”
“Yes. Soon.”
“When?”
Duane felt his heart painfully constrict when he heard the date. It was the same day Latisha had died. Her face rose up in his mind, then he remembered seeing her lying in the coffin. “No.”
“Yes, that date doesn’t mean anything to him. He’s moving on with his life. He’ll probably soon start a family. You and Latisha had wanted to start a family, right?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice weak.
“But that can never happen now. Sheppard doesn’t care about what happened, but it’s up to you to make him care. Face your fears or you’ll always feel this way,” he said, then disconnected.
Duane felt his rage build. How could Sheppard get married again? Find love? Be happy? How could he live the life he’d stolen away from him? No, he could never rest until Sheppard suffered the way he had. He’d been right to come. He would confront him and make sure his face was the last one Sheppard ever saw.
* * *
Two more pieces to the puzzle, Daniella thought as she drove back to Sykesville. Dr. Brooks knew Trenton and knew him well. She sensed he was hiding something, but what? She’d seen a slight sheen of sweat when she referred to his testimony but more so when he mentioned Sheldon and the suppressed lab work. Guilt, remorse or something else? And what was Fayola doing there? Excitement raced up her spine. Maybe this bit of information was something she could use to persuade Trenton that she could help him.
Evening was descending in a blaze of color as Daniella drove into town. She parked her car in the parking lot of the bed-and-breakfast and locked up. She was about to grab her laptop from the trunk when someone put a cover over her head. She had no chance to scream as two men bound her hands and legs. Soon she felt herself being lifted up and set into a trunk. This isn’t happening, she thought, feeling panicked. She could hear the gravel crunch beneath her as the car sped down the road. She tried to loosen her hands and feet, but nothing budged. She kicked the trunk door, hoping to knock out a taillight, but before she could succeed, the car slowed to a stop. She heard the trunk door lift and the same pairs of hands lifted her up and walked a few yards before unceremoniously dropping her on the ground. She felt the hood lift, but it didn’t help much. The two men had their faces covered, only exposing their eyes and mouth. One man put tape over her mouth, preventing her from screaming out.
“This is a warning. Go home. If you don’t, one of your sisters will suffer a very tragic accident.”
The man who spoke flashed a cold smile and turned. He had a slim build with dirty nails and a coarse-looking jacket. The other man walked toward her. She could tell he liked expensive shoes, he wore an expensive pair made of snakeskin. Fear, stark and vivid, coursed through her. She sensed what was on his mind.
When the first man didn’t sense his companion following, he turned. “What are you doing?”
The second man kneeled down and grabbed Daniella’s chin and pulled off the tape from around her mouth. “She’s a good-looking woman. I’ve always wondered what it’d be like making love to a beautiful woman.” He ran his hand over her thigh. She winced at his touch, but he didn’t care. “We could have fun with her.”
“That’s not what we’re here for.”
“She even smells good. I’d consider it a bonus.” He yanked her forward and pressed his thick, cracked lips on hers.
The other man grabbed him and roughly lifted him up. “It’s too risky. If your mask falls off we’d have to kill her.”
“So what? No one will find her out here.”
“When I kill, I don’t leave witnesses.”
The second man swore and shook his head. “What a waste,” he said. “Wait, we’re going to just leave her out here?”
“Just long enough for our message to get through.”
“Shouldn’t we at least cover her? The temperatures drop out here in the mountains and—”
“When did you become a mother hen? I’m the one in charge here. She’ll be fine when we come back to get her.”
“I won’t say anything,” Daniella said, trying to hide the fear in her voice. “If you’d just loosen my hands.”
The slender man knelt in front of her, close enough for her to see his eyes. “Lady, I want to believe you.”
“You can trust me. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
His eyes were hollow and without feeling. She knew she’d get no kindness from him. “Sorry.”
He stood and the two men left. Soon a light drizzle began to fall.
Daniella rested her head back on the dry leaves beneath her, trying to still her heart. She knew their voices at least, but that wouldn’t be enough. First she had to get out of there. She rubbed her trapped wrists against the tree desperate to get loose. Although it was the middle of spring, with relatively warm temperatures during the day, exposure to the cool wind and rain that had started falling during the night caused Daniella’s body temperature to drop quickly. And unfortunately, the clothes she was wearing were inadequate, putting her at risk of hypothermia, if she didn’t get out of there soon.
The
night before, when she was packing in anticipation of driving back to Sykesville and staying at the bed-and-breakfast for several days, she had made sure to include enough outfits in her suitcase to cover whatever situation she found herself in. She’d included several new negligees she had purchased at Bloomingdale’s, just in case she decided to take Trenton up on his offer. She hadn’t planned on doing any hiking, but on a whim, had decided to include a pair of boots, several pairs of wool socks and a lightweight jacket. But she hadn’t planned on being left out in the elements with her hands and feet bound.
She was so cold her entire body started to shiver. She lay on the ground, wondering if anyone would hear her if she cried out, and wishing she had been wearing her jacket. Unfortunately, whenever she got in her car, one of the things she always did was take off her jacket or coat.
She found wearing them and putting on a seat belt over them too stifling, and besides, she always used the car heater to keep her warm. She had traveled the entire distance wearing just a pair of jeans, a short-sleeved, silk-cashmere top, a pair of running shoes and no socks. She was freezing. She felt wet and cold. After struggling unsuccessfully to undo the duct tape, she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was go to sleep. She paused when she heard footsteps. She glanced up and saw the first man, she could tell by his build, walking toward her.
“I can’t let you see which direction we go in,” he said pulling out a gun.
“I can’t see the road,” Daniella said, panicked. “I won’t see where you go.”
He nodded. “That’s right. I’m going to make sure.” He lifted the gun in his hand. “Sweet dreams.”
Daniella felt pain explode in her head then darkness.
* * *
Nine-year-old Joel Wells and his best friend, Gary Hayford, loved the woods. There was so much to do and explore. They saw a doe with two fawns dart past and the red flash of a fox while a gray squirrel raced up a tree with leaves in its mouth.
“Hey, what’s that?” Gary said, pointing to something in the distance.
“I don’t know,” Joel said, cautiously stepping closer. “Let’s get a better look.”
Gary rushed ahead, bolder than his friend. “This is gonna be cool! My cousin once found a mountain bike that had been dumped and we fixed it up good.”
“Yeah, you can find a lot of things out here,” Joel said, gaining courage. “My aunt caught Regina and Juan out here once going at it. Boy did they get it. If it’s them again—” He abruptly halted and froze.
Gary turned to his friend, confused. “What is it? Why did you stop?”
“I know what it is. It’s a dead body.”
Chapter 9
There was an emergency. Trenton’s radio, which he always kept on, had picked up the signal. A couple of young boys hiking high in the mountains had come upon a body. They had used their cell phone to dial 911 and call for help. Trenton didn’t wait to be notified by the emergency 911 call center, which was the usual process. From the information he was able to get over the radio, he knew that his property was close to where the boys said they were. He took off in his truck to save time, instead of going to the fire station in town to get one of the town’s two emergency vehicles. This was a common practice of his. Major medical emergencies were so infrequent that Trenton kept his truck equipped to deal with anything that came along.
On his way to the scene, he called the fire station and let the fire chief, Regan Hayman, know that he was on his way and had the situation under control. As a trained medic pilot and EMT, Chief Hayman knew he had nothing to worry about. Trenton told him that once he was on the scene, he’d let him know what the situation was and whether or not he needed additional assistance. Both men agreed that although the caller said they had found a body, that it was likely just someone playing around and nothing to really worry about. They’d had several pranks like that before.
It took Trenton less than five minutes to arrive at the location. In the dying light, his headlights illuminated the two young boys wildly jumping up and down and pointing off to the side. Trenton turned to the right, and drove a short distance before spotting a body lying still on the ground. He jumped out, grabbed his emergency backpack and ran over to the victim. As he got closer, his heart began racing. He recognized the lifeless body before him. It was Daniella with her hands and feet bound. What was she doing here?
“Dear God, who did this to you?” he said, knowing there would be no reply.
He thought she had gone home. The night before she left, she had called his house to let him know that she “wasn’t going to give up that easily.” He hadn’t replied. It wasn’t the message he had been waiting for. He had been waiting for an invitation to spend the night. The next day, he’d checked the bed-and-breakfast, just to make sure she had left and the owner, Ms. Swiftlog, a nosy busybody, had given him a minute-by-minute account of everything Daniella did before driving off in her car.
When had she returned? Why had she returned? But he knew there was no time for questions, and he quickly changed gears. He assured the two boys that they could leave and he would take it from there. He called one of the boys’ parents who said they would be there to pick them up. It was getting late and darkness was settling quickly around them, despite the longer spring days. The parents had been relieved to hear from him since they’d expected the boys home by dinnertime.
However, knowing that the news of the woman in the woods would spread faster than an oil slick, Trenton assured the boys and their parents that he knew the young lady, she was a friend of his, and must have fallen and hit her head. As a result, she was only unconscious not dead. The boys nodded but Trenton knew they were eager to run off and the spread the news about the mystery woman they’d found in the woods.
Trenton could see from Daniella’s condition that she needed immediate medical attention.
He sprang into action. He had to get Daniella into his vehicle fast to prevent any further heat loss, which was critical. It didn’t appear that her hypothermia was severe, or she would have ceased shivering. Because she was unconscious, he couldn’t assess whether she had slurred speech, confusion or loss of memory, which were signs of severe hypothermia. What he needed to do now was to shield her body from any further exposure to cold. He decided against taking her to the hospital, which was about forty minutes away or calling the local doctor in town. He was a kind man, but hadn’t grown much in his profession and Trenton knew he knew more about medicine and emergency care than the doctor did anyway. He had the situation under control.
He called Chief Regan and downgraded her condition, to avoid contributing to the rumor mill. He let Regan know that she was a friend of his and he’d take care of her minor injuries. Fire Chief Regan was happy to have Trenton as part of his emergency personnel, which consisted of himself, two firefighters, an ambulance driver and Trenton, the EMT. Besides, it was a Saturday night, and he felt relieved that he didn’t have to miss his weekly card game at the local community hall.
Trenton settled Daniella inside his truck then sped down the road, only missing driving straight into his house by about a foot. Layla jumped out of the way as Trenton barged into the house carrying Daniella’s unconscious body in his arms. He leaped up the steps, three at a time, and gently placed her on his bed. He couldn’t put her in the shower, it would be hard holding her up and having her lie down in the stall wouldn’t work and he didn’t have a bathtub. The house had been built as a vacation hideaway. It had a bedroom loft, with a small bathroom that consisted of a toilet, wash bowl and a primitive shower. He went into his closet and pulled out an electric blanket and plugged it in. He set it on warm. He knew that putting a person with hyperthermia under anything hot, like hot water, could be disastrous. Before putting her under the blanket, he cut off her wet clothing, leaving her underwear on, hoping she wouldn’t sue him once she recovered. He remembered one call he had been on, wh
ere a woman had been involved in a car accident, and in order to get her out safely, they had to cut her fur jacket and pair of leather pants. They saved the woman’s life only to have her sue the fire department for damages. But loss of her clothing was of no concern to him at the moment.
He needed to warm the center of her body. He used the electric blanket, which was king-size, to wrap her snugly inside. As her body temperature started to increase, he was able to extend it to include her head and neck. He checked on her every fifteen minutes, not wanting to leave her side. Time passed by slowly. Layla watched him pace. As soon as Daniella began to regain consciousness, Trenton had her sip some warm herbal tea, grateful that he had some on hand because of Vera. He wanted to get Daniella to eat a small amount of some sweet, high carbohydrate snacks he had, to provide energy to help her keep warm, but Daniella, although no longer unconscious, was still not totally coherent and he didn’t want to risk her choking on something. He monitored her for any breathing or cardiovascular problems. There was none and there was no sign of frostbite. Thankfully she hadn’t been out in the open for too long. Again, the questions returned. Why was she there? Why or when had she returned? Who had done this to her?
Daniella began to turn, and Trenton noticed her raising her hand to her head. He gently examined her head, probing as tenderly as possible and discovered that whoever had kidnapped and tied her up, had also pistol-whipped her and left her out there to die. If the two boys hadn’t found her, in several more days she would not have been found alive.
“Ouch! That hurts.”
“Hold still, I need to clean the area.” He parted her hair and discovered a large gash that needed to be cleaned and closed with a few stitches. Damn. He didn’t have any anesthesia; he’d have to close it without numbing the area. He’d have to do it quickly. He noticed that the side of her face was beginning to swell and a nasty purplish-blue bruise was starting to show. From what he saw upon examining her, she had sustained quite a beating. Anger began to rise in him, but he fought to push it aside because he needed a cool head to perform the task he had to do. Once he’d finished stitching her up, he sat by her side as she slept.
