A Fresh Start

by Grace, Trisha

  “I didn’t catch the name.”

  “Where did you meet him?”

  “I went down to Cheyenne for some drinks. He came up to me and offered me some quick cash. I won’t have taken it if you’ve just given me some.”

  “Don’t try to pin this on me. You would’ve taken it even if I gave you all the money you wanted. You’ll do anything to get another drink.” He controlled his breathing through his nose and continued. “How did he find you?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

  “How does he contact you?”

  “He calls me.”

  Justin let go of his mom and wrestled her handbag from her. Taking out her cell phone, he threw her bag onto the bed.

  “Where are you taking my phone?”

  He took out his wallet from his pocket and pulled out five hundred dollars. He flung the money onto the bed. “Get a new one. And listen, you’re not my mom anymore; you gave up that right many years ago. Don’t call me again, and don’t show up in front of me ever again.”

  He left the house even as his mom continued screaming who-knows-what at him. He was only interested in the phone he was holding. He went to the call list and tried dialing the last call received, but the phone was switched off.

  Driving back home, he was surprise to find the Seymours and Jane in his house. They all turned to him, staring at him as if he’d fall apart anytime.

  Clearly, they had all been updated.

  He told them what just happened and saw Jane’s brows drawing closer. “Do you know something?”

  “Before your mom came back, she was creating quite a stir in Cheyenne. Quite a lot of Pine folks hang out in the bar. Apparently she went back and was complaining about how you turned her away.”

  “Who did you hear this from?”

  “Keith.”

  Justin nodded. “That explains.”

  “Have you told Shawn to run the number?” Andrew asked.

  “Yeah. It’s a burner cell with the last signal bouncing off Pine Bluffs. He thinks the phone’s been discarded, but he’ll keep track of it. He’ll let us know if the signal comes back on.”

  “And the license plate?”

  “A rented car registered to Cole’s name. The rental company said the tracking system on the car isn’t working.”

  Dead ends, dead ends, and more dead ends.

  Justin took in a deep breath, running his tongue under his teeth. “Do you have a picture of Cole?”

  “Facebook. Paige had a facebook account, she didn’t delete it. I have her old laptop back at her house.”

  Justin nodded and headed out the door. “I’ll talk to Keith, see if he recognizes Cole.”

  The talk with Keith didn’t yield much results either. Keith did see someone speaking with his mom, but he didn’t think much of it and didn’t pay attention to him.

  All Keith remembered of the guy was that he looked nerdy.

  There wasn’t much Justin could do but wait. He didn’t know how Andrew did it; how he remained so calm instead of going berserk.

  When he got back to his house, Andrew and Mr. Seymour weren’t in the living room. Only Mrs. Seymour and Jane sat quietly on the couch.

  Mrs. Seymour pointed to the sandwich on the coffee table. “You need to eat something.”

  “Where’s Andrew and Mr. Seymour?”

  “Basement,” Jane answered.

  That was where he kept all his tools for work. “What are they doing down there?”

  “Trying to get Andrew’s prosthetic back in shape.” Mrs. Seymour pushed the sandwich across the table. “Eat something. You’ll need your energy to find her.”

  The battle of reason and feelings began again.

  While Paige was worrying over this exact situation, he’d told her that she could handle it. If she played her cards right, she could have him eating off her hand.

  And he was sure she could. He didn’t doubt her ability to do that.

  But all that reasoning couldn’t stop the worst case scenarios playing out in his mind.

  He closed his eyes, but the thoughts continued to torture him.

  “She’ll find a way, she always does,” Andrew stated matter-of-factly as he came hobbling over, still slightly unbalanced. “We concentrate on what we can do. She’ll do her part. We just have to leave the rest to God and trust that He’ll bring her back to us safe and sound.”

  Blaming God probably wasn’t going to help the situation, but he did.

  Why did He even allow her to be taken in the first place?

  “It’s not God’s fault that she was taken, but He will bring her back,” Mrs. Seymour said to him.

  He blinked and wondered if he’d spoken his thoughts aloud.

  “You’ll see,” she assured.

  Justin didn’t bother replying. He picked up the sandwich and took a bite.

  God wasn’t responsible for the evil things in the world, and He would always take care of his children.

  Justin had heard all that during those Sunday school lessons that Mrs. Seymour had made him attend. He could believe that God wasn’t responsible for Paige’s stalker. But if He wanted to help, couldn’t He have stopped the stalker from meeting Paige in the first place? Couldn’t He have somehow prevented her from being taken?

  He swallowed hard and reminded himself. She can do this. She is strong enough.

  Where were you heading when you left?

  Stuffing down another bite, he cleared his throat. “When I left, I didn’t know where I was going. I only know I want to get as far away from here as possible,” he answered that thought out loud. “He’s taking her away, as far from here as possible.”

  “Justin, you need to stop—”

  “I didn’t know where I was going,” he interrupted Mrs. Seymour. “So I just drove up the interstate; it was the fastest way out of here and on to somewhere else.”

  He looked up and saw the sudden spark of attention in Andrew’s eyes.

  “The interstate 80 runs through town,” Jane said.

  Justin turned to Andrew. “Pick a side.”

  Chapter Twenty Three

  The light from the sun was slowly fading and the lamps by the side of the roads flickered to life. The orange lights from the street lamps flapped like candlelights under assault. The lights swayed and blended together, swirling about, making it exhausting to keep her eyes on them.

  She closed her eyes briefly before pushing her heavy lids up from obstructing her view.

  The sky grew darker, causing the crazy lights to burn brighter. Despite the lights, she couldn’t see much of anything else; she couldn’t focus.

  She had been awake for a while now. There was a low, constant whirl by her ears as shafts of the evening sun danced across face.

  Paige! She heard her father’s voice call out to her. Paige!

  She squinted through the tears in her eyes and grinned when she saw her father running toward her.

  She glanced down at her feet, her toes had sunk halfway into the fine, grainy sand.

  She could see the sand, see the tiny grains falling off her feet as she lifted her leg, but she couldn’t feel them. Her head tilted to the side as she wriggled her toes, trying to capture some of the sand between her toes.

  Paige! Her father lifted her into his arms. But again, she couldn’t feel anything. It was as if she was watching a scene in the movies.

  Was she dreaming? Hallucinating?

  She tightened her arms over her father’s neck.

  Memories of that day had faded somewhat. She remembered being down at the beach with Drew and her parents, she remembered she had somehow wondered off and got lost. She couldn’t remember what had distracted her, but she remembered finding herself away from her family and with throngs of strangers around her.

  She tried searching for them, moving along the beach, but she didn’t even know which direction to begin.

  She wasn’t sure how long she searched for them before she started crying.

  Wh
ere were you? her father asked.

  She couldn’t answer him; she was still sobbing, relieved that she had been found.

  Remember to keep your eyes out whenever you’re outside.

  Those words echoed through her mind as the beach faded away along with everyone on it. She tried clinging on to her father, to keep her arms over his neck, but it was pointless. As with the surroundings, her father slowly disappeared.

  For I know the plans I have for you…

  The new voice in her head surfaced, stopping the repetition of her father’s voice.

  Everything happened for a reason. She was certain of it. God had foreseen this moment, but He had prepared her for it.

  She could do this.

  She blinked and tried to focus, to see through the fog in her head.

  Her confidence did nothing to help her befuddled brain. All shapes and colors spun and twisted themselves into unrecognizable blobs as the car zoomed by. Her eyes were assaulted with too many things that her brain, still clouded, couldn’t process.

  It was tempting to get into a panic attack, to scream for help.

  But unless she was willing to risk jumping out of a speeding car and breaking her neck, insanity wouldn’t help.

  Besides, all her limps felt heavy. She wasn’t sure if she could even move them.

  She closed her eyes and regulated her shallow breathing, fighting the urge to succumb to the screams of fear in her head.

  Her mind couldn’t process everything, so she needed to focus. A street name, a store name.

  Opening her eyes, she scanned the blurry images and spotted a familiar green. She squinted and zoomed in on the green portion despite the pounding headache. Walmart.

  That was a good start. Not an exceptionally helpful start, but it was better than nothing.

  You can do this, Paige, she told herself.

  She gave her eyes a break before opening them again.

  Her previous effort seemed to have stirred up her sluggish brain. Focusing, she caught another light pink signboard with the word Scoops written across it. She squinted and made out the faint image of a colorful ice cream right beside the word.

  Then she felt the car turn, her body tilting slightly toward the left.

  Walmart. Scoops ice cream with pink signboard. Right turn.

  Staring out again, she tried to catch another sign.

  But besides the green boards with words she couldn’t make out, there weren’t any other signs or shops. They were on a highway.

  Walmart. Pink Scoops ice cream. Right turn. Highway.

  She couldn’t catch any of the signs without turning her head to look out the windshield. She was intending to pretend to be asleep until she could think of something.

  She closed her eyes again, this time, running through a series of scenarios in her head, thinking of the questions that could be posted to her and how best to answer them.

  You’ve been letting him control your life. Truth is, you control his. Justin’s words played clearly in her head, another memory that was clearer than the surreal situation she was in.

  Thinking about Justin calmed the raging waves of fear she was struggling to control.

  He was right. The power was hers.

  As long as she played her cards right, she didn’t have to worry. She just had to be observant and find the right answers, and she was extremely good at giving the right answers.

  After running through the scenarios in her head, she took in a deep breath and turned her head, acting as if she’d just woken up.

  “Awake?”

  His voice was soft and gentle.

  She nodded, and as she did, the images before her eyes spun and she felt herself falling. She reached out, resting her hand on the dashboard, trying to get some sense of stability. “I don’t feel well,” she murmured, drawing in a deep breath through her nose.

  “It’s all right. Here, have some water.”

  She remembered drinking something when she got into the car and was probably still suffering the effects of it. She pushed the hand away, but quickly added, “I can’t. I feel like throwing up.” She dragged her heavy hand over to her chest, rubbing it. “I can’t breathe…”

  Though she was exaggerating, she did need some fresh air.

  Her head was still groggy, and there was a weight or congestion of some sort on her chest. Maybe it was simply the result of fear and anxiety, and nothing to do with the after-effect of whatever she drank.

  Whatever it was, some fresh air would do her good.

  She felt a hand on her shoulder, nudging her back against the chair.

  “Here.”

  A wave of the cool night air rushed into the car. As the breeze swished passed her, she took in a deep breath and leaned her head back on the headrest.

  “Better?”

  She concentrated on her breathing, inhaling and exhaling deeply. “Yeah, much better. Thanks.”

  “You shouldn’t have left New York like that. I’d our future all planned out. I even bought us a house.”

  She didn’t want to do this now. She swallowed and breathed out slowly through her mouth, taking a moment to make sure she wasn’t going to throw up when she started talking. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t do that again. Tell me about the house,” she said with a small smile.

  A pair of skeptical eyes stared back at her.

  She resisted the urge to shiver and kept her smile even as a chill crept across her skin. How could someone she thought was nice and mellow, have something so unsound hidden within?

  “Did you know how upset I was that you didn’t accept my proposal? That you simply left?”

  Paige frowned, lost in what he was saying. But there wasn’t time for that, she needed the right answer now. She picked the best answer she had and watched his expression carefully as she said, “I’m really sorry.”

  “It’s not going to happen again. You’re not leaving me again.”

  The soft, gentle voice was gone. He spoke like a wound up clock, his words rushed and spoken harshly.

  Paige could see him tightening his hands around the steering wheel before shaking it as if he was trying to jerk it out of place.

  She quickly reached over and placed her hand gently over his arm. “It’s not going to happen again, I promise.” She watched as whatever emotion that had him worked up faded from his eyes. “Tell me about the house, I want to know more about it.”

  “You’ll find out later; it’s a surprise.”

  “How much longer before we reach there?” she asked, feigning some enthusiasm. “I can’t wait to see it.”

  “A few more hours,” he answered with a grin.

  Paige mimicked his grin. She glanced at her watch and repeated, “A few more hours.” She needed one more answer. “Have you been driving since this morning? Are you tired?”

  “There’s no time to rest. Your brother will be trying to get you back, won’t he?”

  That was a bad question to ask. His eyes grew wide open, and the same hysterical look returned. This time, she couldn’t help swallowing hard.

  “But he won’t find you. I won’t allow it.” He stared ahead with his clenched jaws, his knuckles turning white around the steering wheel.

  There was a sudden coldness and tingling sensation on her cheeks. She sucked in her cheeks between her teeth and chewed on them. After a second, she forced a smile. “I don’t want that either.”

  Approximately six plus hours of driving. Walmart. Pink Scoops ice cream. Right turn. Highway.

  “Get some rest.”

  She looked right ahead, subtly looking out at the directional signs.

  “Get some rest,” he repeated. Except this time, it wasn’t a suggestion; it sounded like a command. Perhaps he’d noticed what she was staring at.

  Paige didn’t want to risk agitating him, so she nodded and closed her eyes, turning her face away from him.

  While her eyes remained shut, she forced herself to take note of every turn made. It was difficult to gauge the ti
ming, and she didn’t dare to steal a glance at her watch. Neither did she dare to move around, worried that she would be forced to drink more of whatever she had drunk to keep her unconscious.

  A large map spread out in front of Justin, another in front of Andrew.

  Cole already had a head start. It was pointless of them to head out after him.

  So Justin went out and bought the most detailed and largest map he could get.

  With two maps, Justin and Andrew each took a side of the interstate exit through town and searched for possible areas that Cole could head for.

  “It’ll be some place quiet. The houses will be far apart from each other,” Justin said. Cole wouldn’t risk having any neighbors nearby for Paige to seek help from. “He won’t stop driving until they are there. And where ever ‘there’ is, it’ll be far from here.”

  “So let’s assume he’s still driving. He won’t want to risk getting pulled over, so the maximum speed limit for,” Andrew checked the time on his watch, “three and a half hours.”

  They did the calculations and plotted along the map.

  From the plotted point, Justin’s finger traced along the interstate 80 route. His finger took the various exits while his hand with the marker crossed out the towns that didn’t fit his criteria.

  “It won’t be close to the main road. He has photos of Paige jogging.”

  Andrew’s hands stopped moving, and he looked up from the map. “Do you think he knows how far she runs each day?”

  Justin lifted his marker off the map.

  There were photos of her jogging, then leaving for work. If Cole was detailed enough to know how she arranged her cosmetics and diabolical enough to know making adjustments to the things on her dressing table would get her notice, he probably knew her running statistics. “I believe so.”

  “She runs 5 miles a day,”

  “Then wherever the house is, it’ll have at least a five-mile radius to any other human being.”

  He turned back to the map, crossing out more areas.

  An hour in, Justin’s phone rang. “Justin Doyle,” he said, clipping the phone between his ear and neck, then continued to work on the map.

  “Mr. Doyle, this is Detective Linden. I’ve been informed that you and a Miss Watson have been searching for Mr. Cole Crowen?”