“Really?” Miss Kitty said. “How are you going to do that?”
“Well, Captain gave me this, just in case,” he said and pulled out a gun.
“That’s seems really unfair. I’m pretty sure that you can’t use guns in a LARP,” I said.
“This isn’t a LARP! Now tell me where you hid the treasure or I take all of you instead!” he yelled.
“No, you can take us,” Tannya said and walked towards him. She leaned over, picked up her shoes and started putting them on.
She looked over and gave us a good stare. I had no idea what she was planning, but we listened to her eyes. The rest of us got our shoes on, too.
“Okay we’re ready,” Val announced when we all had our shoes tied.
He looked annoyed, and surprised. “Let’s go then, out to the boat.”
“Wait!” I said. “Are we going to be out there for long, because I have to pee.”
“What? I don’t know!”
“Well, can I go to the bathroom first?” I asked. He thought about it for a second and then told me to show him where it was. I led him around the corner of the hall and he peeked inside. Once he saw there were no windows he said it was fine. I stepped in and shut the door behind me. I reached into my pocket and dialed Rex.
From inside the bathroom I heard Dutchman yell, “FUCK!” and then a car start. Rex didn’t pick up, so I hung up after the second or third ring. He’d see my missed call and hopefully return to my house. I set my phone to silent and stuck it in my bra. Hopefully they wouldn’t notice it there. I peeked out the door. Flying Dutchman was nowhere in sight. After I put my keys in my pocket I went to the front door and shut and locked it. I noticed that Miss Kitty’s car was gone.
Out the living room window I could see Long John and Morgan talking with Flying Dutchman. They didn’t look happy. Morgan said something to Flying Dutchman and he turned towards the house and started marching towards it. As soon as he passed the patio’s view I snuck out the patio door and called for Pepper to come with. He’d been napping by the fire and for the last half of the day didn’t even bothered to get up and sniff us.
“Pepper! Come!” I whispered and patted my leg. He tipped his head at me but didn’t look like he was going to move. Faith came bounding over, so I grabbed her and shut the door. I wondered if Dutchman had even noticed Pepper when he was in there before. I went around the back side of the house. My Jeep was parked near the front door, but I needed to make it to the Jeep without being spotted. I didn’t think that was possible. While I waited there my phone was buzzing in my bra. I pulled it out. It was Rex calling.
“Hello?” I whispered.
“Are you okay? Where are you? Miss Kitty, Tannya and Val came here to Wayde’s house and told me what happened. I’m on my way. I’ve called for back-up. Tell me where you are!”
“I’m behind the house. I was going to try to make a run for my Jeep—”
“Don’t! Stay hidden. Where are … the pirates?”
“One just went up to my house and kicked the front door in. The other two are on my pontoon,” I whispered.
“How many guns?”
“One for sure. Oh, and I think they might have kidnapped Jodi,” I told him.
Just then I felt a hard hit on the back of my head and everything went black.
23
I woke up with a headache. It took a few seconds for everything to come into focus. I was in the raft. Jodi was kicking her foot at me. Oww! My head hurt! Jodi’s face was not what I wanted to see when I came to.
I was lying on my side. I had a gag in my mouth and my hands were tied behind my back. I wiggled away from Jodi’s foot and got myself to a sitting position. I glared at her and tried to get my hands free. I could hear voices and distant yelling but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I looked around. We were up on the shore. Jodi was shivering. It was pretty cold out now that the sun was down, and it was almost dark. We could barely see the ship. Jodi kicked me and made a noise. When I looked at her, she jerked her head twice towards the tree line behind her.
We could hear rustling in the trees. I wasn’t sure who it would be. My heartrate was up. I happened to glance down and notice a puddle of blood next to me. I looked at it and then scanned my body. It had to be from my head. Jodi looked at me and shook her head hard. I knew she was trying to tell me that it was my head. My stitches must have split.
The rustling grew louder and closer. I could hear voices whispering. I recognized them. “Here she is!” whispered Tannya. She and Miss Kitty ran over to me. We all glanced towards the dock. There wasn’t anyone over there that we could see. Tannya took my gag off, and Miss Kitty tried to untie my hands.
Just then we heard more noise. Flying Dutchman was walking out of the woods. He had a gun pointed at us.
“You guys just don’t know when to quit, do you? Stand up.”
I stood with Miss Kitty and Tannya’s help. He walked over and yanked Jodi to her feet. “Walk.”
We walked through the woods while he followed close behind us.
“Where’s Rex?” I whispered to Tannya. She shrugged. “Where’s Val?”
“She was in the car with Rex.”
“Shut up!” Flying Dutchman warned.
He continued to direct us through the woods. About halfway through the woods he told us to head left. There was a somewhat beaten path they’d been using.
This was a power fight. I didn’t think he should win. It was all of us against him. We clearly had him outnumbered. My mind was racing with ideas. I figured we’d be getting to the truck and trailer soon and he’d take us somewhere or lock us in.
“Where’s your captain?” I asked.
“Let’s just say he went down with his ship.”
“So you mean he got arrested?”
“I think he’s getting questioned, but I don’t think he’s been arrested. I wasn’t going to wait around to find out. You don’t need to worry about it. Just walk.”
His tone seemed a bit more relaxed. And I thought since he was willing to talk he was probably not overly focused on his intent.
I whispered to Tannya, who was on my right, “Run when you can, bring help.”
“Where are we walking to?” I asked. I turned my head to look at him for the answer and while I did that, I slowed my pace for a couple steps so I was now next to Miss Kitty.
“Just walk! Geez, do I need to put your gag back in?”
I turned to Miss Kitty and whispered, “Run with Tannya.”
“Walk to where?” I asked Flying Dutchman again. I stopped, shot Tannya a look, and then turned around and walked towards him and Jodi. “I mean, this path doesn’t lead anywhere. This isn’t the way to my house,” I said and walked in the other direction. “If we go this way, we can end all this foolishness right now. Come on!” I quickly tromped off in the direction of my house.
“Stop!” he yelled, turning in my direction.
“No, it’s this way!” I said and head nodded that way. “Ouch! My ankle,” I yelled.
He looked at me on the ground. I was lying half on my side, because my hands were still tied.
Miss Kitty and Tannya took off on foot. The trees were thick, and so was the underbrush. So although we could hear them, we couldn’t see them anymore.
“Stop!” he yelled again in their direction. Jodi noticed and started running that way too. It was harder for her to keep up with her hands tied around her back. Dutchman ran after her and grabbed her, then went down on the ground. I quickly scampered to my knees and then feet and started running in the opposite direction.
“Damn it!” Dutchman said with frustration in his voice. “Stop or I’ll shoot!” he yelled, but the devil inside my head that had been controlling me lately was pissed off and still wanted to run. So I ran. Ran like never before. I got into the thick underbrush, took a sharp left, went a few yards and dropped to my knees. Then I went quiet.
My heart was pounding hard in my chest, making my vision blurry. It was getti
ng darker. I could see the flashing lights from Rex’s car. I sat still trying to control my breathing. And now my ankle really did hurt. I felt weak. I wondered how much blood I’d lost. The back of my shirt felt sticky and cold, so I knew it was at least that much. It probably didn’t help that I had alcohol and happy pills in my system.
I listened hard. I could hear someone running near me, but I couldn’t see anyone. I waited and listened longer. In the distance I could hear yelling. “Hey! Hey! Stop!” It was Miss Kitty and Tannya’s voices. They were probably out on the road flagging someone down.
Suddenly I heard heavy steps. It was Dutchman. Shit! He was coming right at me, gun drawn. “Get up, bitch. If you run again I’ll kill you.”
I believed him. He looked pretty serious. My evil twin stuck up my middle finger at him, but my hands were tied behind my back so fortunately he didn’t see it. I rolled my eyes and stood up. I started to wobble and everything went blurry, so I dropped back to my knees.
“Get up!” he demanded.
“Geezus! Give me a minute. I got hit in the head and my stitches from two days ago split. I’ve lost a lot of blood. I’m a little dizzy here,” I shouted. He looked surprised by my voice.
“Just get moving!” he said and grabbed my arm. He shoved me forward and marched me along for a while. We stayed on the path and passed Jodi along the way. She was tied to a tree with the belt that used to be around his waist.
When we got to the road, I recognized the pickup truck and trailer from Morning Glory. I was half relieved. I was getting cold. At this point I would rather be in the truck than the woods, except he turned and shoved me towards the trailer. I couldn’t see the adjacent road, but I knew where I was. The main road to my drive should be straight ahead. He opened the back and shoved me in. Then shut the door.
It was pitch black. Oh no, this was not happening. I was pretty sure I could feel horns growing on my head at this point. I was so pissed my face felt like it was a thousand degrees. He must be going back for Jodi, I thought. I played with the rope on my wrists. Miss Kitty had started to untie them before. Maybe she’d helped it a bit. I pulled and pushed and tugged on the pieces. A few moments later I felt the ropes loosen. I got my hands free and stood up. I took the gag off. It was a bandana. I tied it tight around my head in case I was still bleeding. I still had my cell phone in my bra! I quickly pulled it out and turned it on.
Rex or Derek? Rex or Derek? I contemplated. Ugh. I chose Rex since I knew for sure that he was nearby. I assumed that Derek was here or close by now too.
The line opened. “Hello!”
“I’m locked in a trailer off the county road south of my woods. I was in the woods between here and my house. He has Jodi, too. I assume he went back for her. When he opens the door I’m going to make a run for it, through the trees, to you.”
I could hear footsteps. “They’re coming! Shhh!” I said into the phone then locked the screen and put it back into my bra. I felt around for the door and stood ready.
As soon as the trailer latch was loose, I gave it a hard kick and jumped out. I turned left and ran back into the woods. I just kept running as fast as I could. When I’d jumped down, Dutchman was holding Jodi’s arm and was bent over at the waist with his face in his hands. I guess the door hit him in the face. I just kept running and running. I never stopped to look back and never stopped to breathe. I was on pure adrenaline. I was fast. There was no way he could keep up. I wasn’t even tired. It was close to a quarter mile to my house.
When I finally got to the tree opening on the edge of my property I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. The security light on my property dimly lit the area. I could see Derek’s Jeep, Miss Kitty, Val, and Tannya straight ahead about fifty yards. Over by the Nisswa police car, I could see Derek and Rex. They were huddled together over something. There were two heads in the back of the squad car, so at least I knew they had Captain Morgan and Long John in custody.
Upon seeing all that, the reality of what was happening and the danger behind it set in. Well, that, and my loss of blood, lack of athletic ability, fear, and exhaustion, hit me out of left field. I started breathing heavy and crying, which made me almost hyperventilate. I did my best to control it for a few breaths.
“Hey! Over here!” I bellowed and then dropped to the ground. I lay there listening to them yelling and talking and running towards me.
I closed my eyes and waited for them to get to me, concentrating on my breaths so I didn’t hyperventilate. Feeling my heart knocking on my ribs, I knew I needed to lie there until I could muster the strength to stand up.
When I opened my eyes I was staring at Tannya. She was leaning right over the top of me. “Guuurl, you are one brave bitch! I can’t believe you got away! And you saved us, too.” She was hugging me and squeezing too tight. I couldn’t believe that out of all the people standing way over there, she’d gotten to me first. “We were so worried. We were on our way to come search for you. Rex called for back-up again, but there was a barn fire on the other side of Nisswa, so the other cop is on his way but it’s going to take a bit. Rex caught the two of them and got them into his car.”
“I just got here, and I’m still getting bits and pieces of the story,” Derek said. “Are you okay?”
“My head,” I whimpered, leaning to my side so he could look. “They hit me with something hard and knocked me out. I think I lost a lot of blood. I’m not feeling great.”
“Let’s get you to the hospital,” he said. He leaned over and scooped me up. “You left the cell phone line open. We were listening to you running.”
“Oh, yeah, I did. I did that on purpose. I’d just forgotten that I did it.” I reached in my shirt and pulled out my phone and turned it off. Derek took it and put it in his jacket pocket.
We got about half way to the Jeep and I could tell I was getting heavy for him. “I can walk. I’m okay,” I told him. Derek set me down and reached into his pocket for the keys.
After he tossed the CB back in his car, Rex came towards us. “Thank God you’re okay!”
“Flying Dutchman was throwing Jodi into a trailer on the East side of County Road 12 when I ran away.”
“Okay, we’ll get him. You just go get checked out. We saw the blood in the raft. We were worried,” Rex said.
“I’ll call your mom!” Val announced.
“NO!” I said. “She’ll come down here and be freaked out and cause me more stress. I’ll get ahold of her later.”
“You’re probably right. Okay, but I’m coming with you!” Val said.
Tannya looked at me. “Miss Kitty and I will stay here and protect the house and the dog.”
“Oh, my God! I forgot about Pepper and Faith. Are they okay?”
“Yes,” Miss Kitty answered. “Pepper is, as always, still by the fireplace, and Faith was exploring the yard but is back in the house now.”
“Oh, good, will you guys feed them and make sure Pepper goes out before bed if I’m not back in time.”
“Sure thing! You don’t worry about us, just get better and keep us posted,” Tannya said.
“I will. I probably just need some more cookies and juice,” I said with a sniffle.
Derek opened the door to his Jeep and helped me up into the seat. He took a gauze wrap from Rex and stuck it under my head. “Don’t mess up my seat,” he said with a wink.
“I’m going to go look for the truck. Back-up should be here shortly. Keep in touch,” Rex said to me. Then he ran to his car and took off down the driveway.
Val jumped in the back and off we went down the road. We got to the hospital. They remembered me from earlier in the week. Before the doctor came in, I told Derek and Val to let me do the talking and not to mention the pirates.
They both grinned and agreed. The doctor didn’t ask a lot of questions, which was nice. I just told him I’d slipped on my porch steps and fell back and hit my head. He did a thorough exam because I had lost consciousness. After I passed all of that, he washed me up and pu
t a few more stitches in. They put me on an IV and gave me juice and cookies. Finally, after two bags of fluid, they let me leave.
I called Rex. He said they’d looked for the truck, but it was gone. He dropped the other two pirates off at city hall for booking and then went back out. But he hadn’t seen Flying Dutchman and Jodi yet. Dispatch was spreading the word to surrounding counties, so they’d hoped to hear something soon.
I gave Derek and Val the update as we walked out of the hospital. On the drive home, Derek ask me for details about the day. I wasn’t really sure I wanted him to know everything. So I left a lot of pieces out, like the cannon.
“Sara, you can either be straight with me or you can keep your secrets, but I can’t help you if I’m not in the loop.”
“I don’t need your help,” my evil twin snapped. Actually, I wasn’t sure now who said that. With all the time that had passed, the adrenaline, and IV fluids I’d had, I was pretty sure the drugs and alcohol were flushed out of my system by now. Maybe it was just my bitchy side.
Derek rolled his eyes at me and kept driving. When we got to my place, I settled on the couch. Tannya brought me water and sat down.
Miss Kitty told me, “The animals are fine. Pepper just went out to pee.”
“Well, I’m fine too, just tired. It’s been a busy day,” I said. “Thanks for helping me.”
“So how did you escape?” Tannya asked.
I told them what happened after they had taken off running. It turned out they ended up running back to the house, too. They made it to the road but no one would stop and help. Derek pulled in right behind them. Just as they were telling Derek about it, Rex’s phone had rang with my call.
“They still have Jodi …” Val said with apprehension.
We all nodded somberly. I hated that bitch. “Well, I’d like to feel sorry for her but she brought this on herself,” I said bluntly.
“I don’t understand, why was she here in the first place?” Derek asked.
“Because she’s been stalking Sara! She’s trying to win you back. She’s been trespassing and peeping in windows and now, well, the karma got her! This here is from karma. You don’t mess with karma!” Tannya said and shook her head. Her lips were pierced tight, and she had a finger up, too.
Destroyed and Detained Page 19
