by Jody Pardo
I couldn’t imagine how that would play out. He already got rid of all my stuff in Dallas. I was so confused.
“I just want to go home.” I surrendered to the soft hay bedding and laid my head down. The butt end of the gun slamming against my temple and the kick to my side brought me back to reality.
“Get up. Lazy bitch. All you want to do is sleep.”
“What do you want me to do? I’m tied up,” I yelled back at him. Crap, that was the wrong thing to say. I knew better than to talk back to Bill. It was a knee-jerk reaction though. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t know what he wanted. It was not like I could fix him something to eat or even stand. I was tied down. I realized no answer was the right one but that didn’t stop him from kicking me again and again. I prayed he was drunk enough not to kick very hard because of his swaying gait but lucid enough not to fall down because that would be my fault too.
I prayed for the darkness to take me. I prayed Bill would pass out. I prayed every foxhole prayer. Every wholehearted prayer that I would get out of that stall one way or another. I prayed for the pain to end. I prayed for Max.
Max
The sheriff’s deputy showed up and took statements from all of us. I was not much help being that Suzie hadn't spoken to me in weeks. Aunt Kelli and Suzie’s phone supported the timeline of her being missing, but the deputies were still reluctant to start a search.
“You see, she is an adult and not a child. She has the right to take off and not tell anyone. It hasn’t been forty-eight hours yet. We can take a statement, but I don’t see any evidence of foul play here. Nothing seems to be missing or broken. I can take the report, but until she is reported gone for forty-eight hours or there is something more, there really isn’t a whole lot that I can do.”
“You see, Mike, we should have made her go file a report. What if that monster did this?” Kelli cried into my uncle’s arms.
“What monster, ma’am?” Suddenly, the deputy seemed concerned.
“A few weeks ago, she went to Dallas to get her stuff from her ex’s house. She came home empty-handed but had bruises all up and down her arms. He did this. I know he did.”
“Who is he, ma’am?” the deputy questioned.
“That monster. Her ex-fiancé. Who else would hurt that sweet girl?”
My heart broke as her pained face seared my vision from the day she returned from Dallas. That asshole hurt her. Suzie’s hurt face flashed in my mind after the incident with Jenny on the street. I hurt her too. That would be this asshole. There had to be something we could do.
“So we are supposed to just sit around and watch the clock until we hit forty-eight hours? This is bullshit. We will find her ourselves.”
“I’m sorry. I just can’t go hunting down someone who may not wanna be found. Call me tomorrow after two if you don’t hear from her.” He put on his hat, tipping it at Aunt Kelli. “Have a good day, ma’am,” he said as he exited the house.
“Uncle Mike, we gotta do something,” I urged my uncle.
“Hold on, son. Don’t go off all half-cocked. Let me get the guys rounded up and we will do this the right way. She can’t be far without her car. Maybe she went for a walk. We might be blowing this all out of proportion like the deputy said.”
“Honey, I am with Max on this. It doesn’t feel right. Does it feel right to you?” she looked up at him, pleading.
“Let me get the guys. Stay here and make some coffee.” He got up slowly and gave her a nudge toward the kitchen. She brushed her hand down my arm and started pulling mugs out and dumping the old coffee grinds out of the coffee maker.
“You coming?” Uncle Mike called back to me from the front door. With my heart in my stomach, I followed Uncle Mike to the barn as he pulled out his cell and began dialing numbers.
Max
Rob, his wife, Nicole, Carlos, Danny, and four other ranch hands lined the driveway with their trucks ready to start the search. Rob, Danny, and Carlos were the most experienced on the ranch and had been with Uncle Mike and Aunt Kelli for as long as I could remember. They knew the land better than anyone. Since Suzie was on foot, we started our search on the property. With acres to cover and multiple buildings and barns spread out across the pastures, we spread out into pairs and set off in opposite directions, each pair with a walkie-talkie.
“Check every nook and cranny. Leave nothing unchecked. Danny, Carlos, start on the north side and follow the creek. Rob, take the rest of the guys and walk the middle pastures in a chain. The grass is high there. We haven’t mowed, so be careful. Max let's go down the south side toward your property. Radio back if you find anything,” Uncle Mike’s voice boomed across the driveway.
“Hey, Big Mike, how do we even know what we are looking for? Do we know who took her?” Carlos piped up.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a picture of the man we suspect is responsible, but I have pictures of Suzie. Suzie is family. Let’s bring her home.”
Nicole kissed Rob and joined Aunt Kelli on the porch. She held her hand as we set off on foot to find Suzie. She rubbed her small baby bump and waved before taking Aunt Kelli inside.
Uncle Mike and I walked silently side by side at arm’s length listening as we walked and scanned the land. There was a lot of ground to cover and only so many hours of daylight. Kelli stayed behind at the house just in case she called or came back to the house. Although an official report would not be possible until she was missing officially forty-eight hours, the police department in our small town would be keeping their eyes open.
My mind raced and heart pounded with each footstep on the terrain. Every displaced blade of grass, every crackle or snap of a twig had me on edge as we slowly paced in search of any signs of Suzie. When was the last time anyone had seen her? I pored my brain and volleyed back and forth with Mike trying to piece together a timeline to pinpoint exactly when she might have gone missing.
Suzie had been mad at me for weeks and the revolving door of traffic at the ranch left us both baffled. We all had our independent schedules and were at a loss. I tried to think of anything that would give us a clue. All her stuff was in the house, including her phone. It looked like she had just gotten home because her mail was on the counter and on the floor. On the floor.
“Mike, we gotta go back to the house.”
“Why? What are you thinking?”
“Suzie’s mail was on the floor. I saw a yellow forwarding sticker on it. Didn’t she live with her ex?”
“Yes, in Dallas.”
“That’s how he found her. And that’s how we are going to find him. Come on.”
We doubled back to the house to look for the clues that would point us in the right direction. I doubted Suzie would just run off, especially without her purse and phone. She was definitely missing, and if the bruises that had marked her arms so deeply when she returned from Dallas were any indication, her ex was not one of the nice guys.
Back at the house, Kelli sat at the counter patiently with the phone on one side of her and a cup of coffee on the other. She wrung a dish towel in her hand alternatively wiping the same spot on the counter before returning to wringing the towel in her fists. She jumped up off the stool and ran to Uncle Mike when we walked through the door.
“Did you find her?” she pleaded.
“No, not yet. Where is Suzie’s mail?”
“Right here on the counter. I straightened up a bit but Sheriff said not to clean anything because they would be back.”
“Oh, like the herds of people running through here haven’t muddled any possibilities of evidence already. Let me see the stuff.”
Aunt Kelli retrieved the short stack of mail she had laid next to Suzie’s purse on the counter. The two pieces that caught my attention as Mike flipped through the envelopes were one from the post office and one with a yellow forwarding sticker.
“Look at this.” I plucked the USPS envelope from the mix and pointed to the address. “This is not the house address. This says Dallas, TX.”
“How di
d it get here?”
“He must have gotten this confirmation notice in the mail. That’s how he found her.” Shaking my head, I paced trying to think of next step.
“Do you know what her ex’s name is?” I don’t think she ever mentioned it to me. When she came home all bruised, she wouldn’t even look at me never mind be forthcoming with information. I felt my blood begin to boil, and it was clouding my thoughts. I needed to keep my shit together and focus.
“She never said his name to me,” Kelli said quietly. “She refused to talk about it. She just said it was over.”
I exploded, “This is not over! He is here. Nothing about this is over but I’m going to end him.”
“Max, calm down. There has to be something. Maybe in her phone?” Kelli pulled Suzie's phone out from her purse and slid it to unlock it. The numbered keypad for the passcode lock mocked us.
“Anybody got any ideas as to what it could be?”
Birthday? I fished through her wallet in search of possible answers before entering the numbers. Nope.
Last four of her social? That would be stupid. Nope.
1,2,3,4. Couldn’t be that easy, huh?
Last four of her phone number? Grrrr
After countless permutations, I just started hitting numbers and her phone didn’t like it and started countdown to make me wait to enter more numbers. 2,2,2,2,3,3,3,3,4,4,4,4,5,5,5,5,6,6,6,6,7,7,7,7,8,8,8,8,9,9,9,9,00. UNLOCKED. We were in.
“Check the contacts, Max,” Kelli said
“She has like 200 contacts in here.”
“Maybe check her text messages first.”
I scrolled through her list of texts while Kelli and Mike looked on. Kelli, Mike, Kristi, Carlos the ranch hand, Linda, Theresa, Me—even though we hadn’t talked in a minute—all the people she talked to regularly and mostly women then Bill from almost a month ago. I opened it.
Bill: Where are you?
Bill: Answer me bitch.
Bill: You’re gonna pay for this.
Bill: Answer your phone.
The one-sided conversation went on and on and the last message said:
Bill: I will find you. This isn’t over.
It had to be him. I pulled up the contact, and his picture was there. Ugly, mean looking fucker. Not that I was Fabio, but I just couldn’t see Suzie with someone like that guy.
“There he is.” I showed the picture to my aunt and uncle and texted myself the photo in a screenshot so I could forward it to the police.
“Now we know who we are looking for,” Mike said. “Send me that picture I’m going to forward it to the guys.”
“Send it to me too, Max, so I can call the sheriff and tell Kristi just in case this guy pulls any shenanigans at the auction house,” Kelli added.
That had to be the guy, because unlike other contacts she had all the information fields filled out, birthdate, social security, blood type, and some medical insurance information. Her detailed contact info would make it take much easier for the police to track him down, but until they started, we had to pound the dirt and keep looking.
Suzie
I wasn’t sure what day it was anymore, but certainly someone had to notice I was gone. Maybe not. I didn’t have a set schedule; I came and went as I pleased. I mainly worked on the weekends at the auction house or when Kristi had a delivery coming in and needed some extra help. Most of the time I just went there to hang out and get out of the house.
It had to be the weekend already. How many days have I been here? Only slivers of light at any given time peeked in-between the wooden cracks of the barn or building I was in. The barns all had lampposts outside of them to run electric, so even the light was misleading.
I tried to sit up, and my face scraped against the rough bristly hay that lined the floor. My left eye was swollen shut, and I tried to prop myself up on my arm so I could look out my right one to gain my bearings, but the restraints binding my hands behind my back were too tight. I couldn’t get enough leverage.
However long time had passed since Bill kidnapped me, I woke up to him pouring water or whiskey down my throat or another blow from his hand or foot. Usually, it was water; why should he waste his good whiskey on me? I didn’t care for whiskey much, but it helped dull the pain somewhat with the couple of mouthfuls that made it down my throat.
I was parched, and Bill was nowhere that I could see or hear him. Just the rustling of the breeze and crunch of the hay beneath my body weight echoed in the barn. I spied a water spigot across the aisle between the stalls and lurched like an inchworm along the floor to reach it. My feet were bound, my arms tied behind my back, and I was stuck on my right side. My belly hurt from the night before’s kicks, and I was afraid to know what my face looked like, or anything else, for that matter. The crunch motion contracted my abdomen to a state of agony, and my shoulders were sore from the immobile position and squirming along the barn floor. Hay poked through my clothes and scratched my face and neck, poking me in the eye.
When I reached the spigot, I rested my face in the puddle of damp hay at its base and rested. The cool hay felt wonderful on my face, and I rubbed my cheek into it in an attempt to wash some of the crud and mud off of it. My lips were chapped, and my lower one was busted open from Bill’s anger. My scratchy throat screamed for relief. I inched as close as I could to the wall leaning against it. In a fetal position, I rocked back and forth until I was able to get enough momentum to sit upright against the wall.
I prayed the spigot was not tightened like it would never be opened again. Since the hay was damp, I knew there had to be water and it was used recently. I nudged the bar lever with my cheek and leaned against it to open the flow. Using my body weight, I lurched forward, and the lever moved to the parallel position. My chin banged as it met the resistance of the stopping point, undoubtedly adding to my bruise collection. Slow flowing cool water ran out of the spout and into the hay. Still leaning against the spout, I attempted to slide down and lap at the water.
My cheek slid off the spout, and I face-planted into the hay. Rolling over, I landed in the wet puddle soaking my clothes but the coolness kissed my skin. I inched down and let the cool water pour down over my face. Taking big gulps and turning my head to the side to swallow and not get water up my nose, I drank my fill, quenching my thirst and refreshing my skin.
The reserve of energy now spent, I pushed away from the wall just out of reach from the water and rested. Thank goodness for small favors; my abrupt landing off the spout gave my right shoulder a break as I rested on my left side. I needed to get out of here but couldn’t find my voice to cry out for help. I didn’t know if anyone would even hear me since I didn’t know where I was to begin with.
I heard creaking and slamming, and it roused me from my dream state. Playing possum, I held my breath while I tried to focus on the sound.
“This wasn’t like this when we cleared the back field.”
“Damn, I hope we don’t have some hay thieves on our hands. We are going to need this rich stuff for the winter.”
“No, nothing looks missing. Maybe kids just messing around.”
“They definitely were. There are at least three empty bottles of whiskey here.”
The clink of the glass bottles startled me, but I tried to stay still. I didn’t know who the guys were or when Bill was coming back.
“Little bastards left the water on.” I heard the footsteps near, and I braced myself for a kick or a hit.
“Carlos! Come here! She’s here!” I tried to move, but my body would not obey. One swollen lid wouldn’t open, and I couldn’t see clearly through the slit and my other was buried in the wet hay. “Suzie, is that you?”
I feared the mess I must have looked like, and all I could muster was a weak nod. My voice was hoarse and came out like a balloon squeaking air. It was all the affirmation I could give.
“Quick, Carlos. Call Mike. She needs to get to the hospital.” He touched my shoulder, and I cried out in pain. Everything hurt, and if I just laid
still I could forget. “Suzie, it’s Danny. I will be right back. Let me go grab a blanket.”
I drifted in and out of consciousness as the flurry of activity ensued. Someone cut the binding from my arms and legs. The pain of my stiff shoulders was blinding and too much to bear. I faded in and out of consciousness. I heard Mike’s raspy smoke riddled bass, and it soothed my mind.
“We got you. You’re going be all right. We got you.”
Max
Looking down at Suzie, my heart broke. She was battered and bruised from head to toe. Imprints marred her back, and the outlines of shoe heels were clearly visible. Her eyes were various shades of blue and purple and swollen shut. The doctors said one of her eye sockets was cracked and two of her ribs were broken, but otherwise, she was a mass of bumps, cuts and bruises. It didn’t matter—she looked broken.
The beeps of the machines droned on, and I waited patiently for Suzie to wake up. The doctors told me it would be a while since they sedated her, but I refused to leave. I was afraid if I left I wouldn’t be allowed back in. We weren’t kin and not married, so by rights they didn’t have to allow me in her room, so I stayed put until she could tell them otherwise.
I hoped she wouldn’t, but Suzie and I hadn’t spoken in weeks. When Danny and Carlos brought her back to the house before Mike and I drove to the hospital, I thought the worst. There wasn’t a visible unbruised length of skin on her. Whoever Bill was, he was an animal. The guys were still looking for him, and since Suzie had been found, it was now a criminal investigation so the police and the sheriff's department had to respond. I couldn’t even imagine what shape Suzie would have been had we sat around and waited for the police to begin their search.
When darkness fell and the guys stopped their search for the night, Mike and Kelli came up to the hospital. Mike clicked his tongue, gaining my attention, and nodded his head toward the doorway he stood in drawing me out into the hall.
“Any change?” he asked.
