by Marla Monroe
“You do something stupid like that again and I’ll teach you to mind me. I can already foresee a lot of punishment for you. Maybe I’ll take a picture of you after one of your punishments and send it to the Crowleys. Let them know that you aren’t theirs anymore.”
Haley couldn’t say anything. Her face hurt too badly to speak without crying. She just glared up at him. He looked crazy. Why hadn’t she noticed that to begin with and steered clear of him?
This time when he turned to leave, she lay still. Once he was gone, she would try to figure out a way out of the cabin. There had to be something she could use to get out. The door shut across the room, leaving her in darkness once again. This time, the light of the moon shone down through the window to her right. She rolled to her knees and scooted the best she could to the wall. Then she leaned against it and pushed up until she could stand. She hopped over to where the window was. It was nose level, but she could see out enough to realize that she was indeed in the middle of the woods.
A solitary tear trailed down her face as she felt the hopelessness of her situation. How would they ever find her in the endless trees surrounding the town? If what Matt said was true and there was no way to trace the cabin to him, she was screwed. At that thought she fought back more tears. Instead, she searched the room for something with which she could cut the tape off her hands. Jumping was awkward, but she managed.
She finally located a nail sticking out of the doorway of a closet where the door had been removed. She backed up to it and began trying to saw the tape over the pointed end of the nail. It wasn’t working. She cursed and started sawing harder. She lost her balance and fell back against the nail. It punched a hole into the tape, scraping her wrist when it did. She yelped as tears built in her eyes again. When she pulled off the nail, the idea came to her to punch holes in the tape until it grew weak enough that she could tear it off her wrists.
With renewed determination, Haley began poking holes in the tape over and over. More often than not, she managed to scrape and poke her hands and wrists, too. It wasn’t long before she felt the sticky trail of blood filling her hands.
God, don’t let me hit a vein or artery.
She didn’t know how long she worked at poking holes into the tape, but finally, she was able to pull one arm out of the tape. She cried out when she tried to pull her arms around in front of her. They’d been taped behind her back for so long the circulation had been cut off. Now they ached as she tore the residual tape from her wrists. She could barely see the cuts and pokes in her skin, but there was plenty of blood. It made pulling the tape off difficult because the blood left it slick.
Now she just had to get her legs free. She lowered herself to the floor and began tearing at the tape. It was slow going, but she managed. She had to rest after that. She felt weak and slightly light headed. She wasn’t sure if it was from blood loss or just from being slapped around.
Once she felt as if she had recovered enough, Haley stood up and carefully walked across the room to the only window. It was nailed shut. She wanted to cry in frustration, but she refused to cry anymore. Dear God, if she ever got out of this, she would tell Joshua and Jayson that she loved them. She did love them and had been fighting it. They were the most important people in her life, and she’d fought them all the way.
She wiped her bloody hands on her jeans and walked back over to the mattress on the floor and sank down to sit. She didn’t see any way out of the room. Her only hope was to overpower Matt and escape. She couldn’t expect anyone to find her. She would have to save herself.
Haley wasn’t sure how long she sat on the mattress before daylight began to brighten the room. She figured that it was close to seven by now. Matt was probably gone and would be back at some point during the day. She couldn’t imagine him leaving her alone for very long.
Thirst began to attack her throat and she spent several minutes coughing and gagging until she finally managed to get past it. Her stomach growled, but she had nothing to fill it. Did she dare eat anything he might bring back to her? What if he drugged it? She wouldn’t take a chance. She could go hungry for a long time. Thirst would be her downfall.
She tried to measure time by the movement of the sun through the window. She figured it had been three or four hours since the sun had peeked through the window when she heard what sounded like a car. A few seconds later, she heard the unmistakable sound of a door slamming. He was back.
The cabin door slammed and several scraping noises reached her ears before the door to her room began to open. Matt smiled at her.
“Resourceful, aren’t you. It won’t do you any good. You can’t get away from here. Even if you managed to get loose, you’d be lost in these woods till you die of thirst, unless the bears or the wolves get to you first.”
“You’re sick, Matt. How can you do this to me?”
“You’re mine, Haley. You never should have taken up with those perverts. They’ve contaminated you.”
“Let me go, Matt. You don’t want me. I’m in love with them. Not you.”
“Liar! You’ll never love them. You’re going to love me. I’ll make you love me.” He walked further into the room with a wild gleam in his eyes.
She knew he was going to hurt her. She stood up and braced herself. She’d fight him. He wouldn’t get her easily.
When he grew close enough she could reach out and touch him, she took a step toward him and rammed the heel of her hand into his nose before he realized what she was going to do. Then while he held his face, she ran for the other room.
He tackled her just as she reached the outside door. They both hit the floor hard. It knocked the air from her lungs. She fought to drag breath back into her body as Matt got up on his hands and knees and swung at her. The blow glanced off her cheek, but it was hard enough she saw stars. Then he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to her feet with him. He pushed her against the wall, covering her with his body as he tried to kiss her.
“No!”
She bit at him when he got close. He roared when her teeth grazed his already sore, bloody nose. He pulled back, and she managed to knee him in the groin. He went down to his knees, holding his crotch.
Haley took advantage of his temporary incapacitation by stumbling to the door. She opened it and ran for the car. She jumped in and tried to find the keys. Damn, he hadn’t left them in the car. She couldn’t hotwire the thing, so she climbed out and began to run down the gravel road. She heard the car roar to life behind her. She lost her footing and fell in the gravel, scraping her hands and knees. Then she scrambled off into the trees through the brush and lay down to hide.
The car flew past her down the road. Then the brake lights lit up and Matt jumped out of the car looking around. He screamed into the air, thumping his fists on the top of the car.
“I’ll find you. When I do, you will wish you were dead.” He backed the car back up the drive. Then he got out and began searching the area.
She carefully eased deeper into the woods through the brush. She knew that her only hope was to follow the road, but she couldn’t as long as he was out there looking for her. She had to hide. It sounded easier than it was, though. The bushes began to thin out, leaving her far more exposed than she wanted to be.
She continued to crawl in the leaves and brush until she slid off a small cliff and ended up in a gully. She was covered with leaves. She decided it would be the best form of camouflage she would be able to find while Matt was still searching the area for her. She covered her body with the leaves and prayed that he wouldn’t be able to see her from up above.
Then she prayed that Joshua and Jayson would look for her. Had she totally screwed herself out of their lives? Would they even still want her? If they didn’t search for her, no one would. The thought of dying out here in the woods all alone sent a fresh round of tears that almost choked her.
A foot planted itself not far from her head. She didn’t dare move to look up. It had to be Matt.
Chap
ter Eighteen
Saturday night, Joshua and Jayson pulled into Haley’s drive behind her Pathfinder. They had tried to call her to let her know they were going to be running late, but she hadn’t answered her phone. They figured she’d been in the shower.
Joshua knocked on her door. They waited and waited, but no one opened the door. They exchanged worried glances. Then Jayson beat on the door with his fist.
“Haley? Are you in there? Open the door, Haley.”
Joshua had a bad feeling about it. Something was wrong. He went back and looked in her car. Nothing unusual other than the engine was defiantly cold by the feel of the hood. If she’d been out in it recently, it would have been warm to the touch.
“Where is she, Joshua?”
“I think something is wrong. Hold on.” He scrolled through his phone and made a call.
“Yes, did Haley pick up her dry cleaning today?” He looked at Jayson. “Uh-huh. Okay, thanks.”
“I called Candy. She’s a clerk at the cleaners now. She said Haley didn’t show up today.”
“Fuck! Where is she? Something’s wrong. It has to be Matt.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions, Jayson. We don’t know what’s going on yet.”
“It’s Matt. She wouldn’t have skipped getting her laundry, Joshua. Those are her work clothes.” Jayson turned, looking around.
“We’ve got a key. Let’s go inside and see if there’s anything to tell us where she is.”
Joshua unlocked the door and they walked inside to look around. The house smelled a bit musty to him, almost like it had been closed up for a while. Jayson hurried to her bedroom.
“Joshua, her suitcase is still here and all of her bathroom things.”
“I don’t see her purse, Jayson. Her purse is gone, but her car is still here. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Jayson walked back into the living room as Joshua walked into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and noticed that the milk was out of date and there wasn’t any fruit. Haley always bought fresh fruit for the week on Saturday.
“She made it home Friday night, but she didn’t go to the grocery store or pick up her laundry.”
“She also didn’t wash clothes. Her laundry basket is full,” Jayson pointed out.
“So she went missing between coming home and Saturday morning when she would have started her errands and chores.
“Hell! She didn’t ride Sugar Cube and we didn’t think anything of it. She always rides that horse.”
“I really thought she was backing away from us and didn’t want to see us is why she didn’t ride this morning. Hell, Jayson. I expected her to tell us tonight that she didn’t want to see us anymore.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you say something?”
“Because I knew you would probably race over here and confront her. I didn’t think that was such a good idea. Now I wish I had told you and you had come over. We would have known she was missing sooner rather than later.” Joshua ran a hand through his hair and before rubbing the back of his neck. “We need to go talk to the sheriff about this.”
“You know they aren’t going to want to do anything until she’s been missing for twenty-four hours.”
“The sheriff knows that Matt has been a problem with her. He might speed things up since we know she’s been missing since last night.”
They locked up the house behind them and jumped in the truck to head toward town. When they pulled into the sheriff’s office, Jayson was out of the truck before Joshua had even put it in park. He huffed out a breath and hurried after his brother. He would cause a problem for sure.
“I need to see him, Haley is missing.” Jayson was arguing with a deputy.
“He’s busy right now.”
“This is important. She’s been missing since last night.”
The deputy looked over at Joshua. “That true?”
“Yes. She made it home, but never got in the house that we can tell.”
“It’s Matt that has her. We need to go search his place.” Jayson’s voice had risen.
“Easy, Jayson. Let’s tell them what is going on first. They can’t do anything without knowing the entire story.”
“Come on in here.” The deputy opened the little swinging gate and admitted them to the office. “I’ll go see if I can interrupt the sheriff.” He disappeared down a hall in the back.
“You’ve got to settle down, Jayson. If we act like we’re going off half cocked, they won’t take us seriously.”
“Fine. You talk.”
Joshua sighed. It was better than nothing. If Jayson would be quiet, they might get somewhere.
The sheriff walked in the room looking a little disgruntled.
“What’s going on, Joshua?”
“Haley is missing. She’s been missing since yesterday after work. We checked and she didn’t pick up her dry cleaning yesterday and her car is still in the drive. She didn’t come out to the ranch and ride her horse this morning either.”
“Damn it. Why are you just now reporting her missing?”
“We didn’t realize it until we came to pick her up to take her out to eat.” Evidently, Jayson couldn’t be quiet for long.
Joshua sighed. “We have a strong suspicion that Matt is behind it. He’s been harassing her a lot lately.”
“I wouldn’t be a bit surprised, but there’s no evidence he did it yet. I’ll go out and look around her house and see if there’s anything to point in the right direction. You two stay and fill out an official missing person report so if we need help with this I have the record.”
Jayson started to say something, but Joshua cut him off. “Thanks, Sheriff. We have a key to Haley’s house if you need to get inside.”
“Let me have it. I’ll give it back to you later.”
Joshua pulled out his keys and took one off the ring, handing it over to the sheriff. Then he ushered Jayson over to the deputy’s desk.
“We need to get this over with so we can start looking for her.”
“It’s a fucking waste of time, Joshua. She’s alone out there somewhere, scared and hurting.”
“It’s necessary, Jayson.”
They spent the next thirty minutes giving their statements on Matt’s harassment and filling out the missing person report. Then they left with Jayson almost running for the truck. He was already buckled in by the time that Joshua made it to the truck. He had no idea where to begin looking for her, but he knew where they absolutely couldn’t go—Matt’s place.
“You know where to go, Joshua.”
“We can’t just go over and attack him, Jayson.”
“Why the hell not? He has Haley. You know he does.”
“Let the sheriff handle him. We’ll look everywhere we can think of. He isn’t going to have her at his house, Jayson. Think! He’ll have her hidden away somewhere.”
“Where the fuck are we supposed to look, Joshua? Do you have any idea?”
“No! I don’t. But we can’t bust down his door and search the place either, Jayson. Besides it screwing up any case they might have against him, you could put Haley in danger.”
“I can’t just sit around twiddling my fingers.”
“Let’s start out by going around to everyone and seeing when and where she was last seen and if anyone was seen hanging around her. That will let people know she’s missing and tell us if someone other than Matt might have been following her. The sheriff is going to check into Matt.”
“It’s bullshit, Joshua.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I just know I want her back alive.”
Joshua headed for the diner. That was the best place to start. Everything that went on in town was discussed there in one form or another.
He pulled the truck into the parking lot and climbed out of the cab. Jayson slammed the door when he got out. He didn’t blame him one bit. He was pissed and scared all at the same time. Haley meant everything to him. Losing her wasn’t an option.
There were half a dozen tables occupied when
they walked in. He planned to talk to each and every one of them.
“Hey, Joshua. Hey, Jayson.” Carol Ann walked out from behind the counter. “What can I get you two?”
“Haley is missing, Carol Ann. Something has happened to her. Have you heard anything or seen her lately?”
“Haley? You’re kidding me. Missing?” She stopped wiping her hands on the cloth she held.
“She’s been missing since yesterday after work.” Jayson spoke up this time.
“No. I haven’t seen her in several days. She didn’t come by the diner for lunch today or yesterday. Hell, Joshua.”
“Do you mind if we ask around?”
“I’ll do you one better than that.” She walked over to the front of the diner and whistled.
“Everyone. Haley is missing. Has anyone seen her in the last two days?”
Everyone spoke at once so that Joshua couldn’t hear anything clearly. He raised his hands and everyone settled down.
“She made it home from work sometime yesterday, but she never made it inside her house. Did anyone see her at all yesterday?”
“Her SUV was still at the office at six last night when I drove by on my way home,” one man said.
“You know, I didn’t see her at the grocery store today like I always do.” Gladys Walker shook her head.
“Hey, Dad, what about that car with the stuff falling out its butt?”
“Not now, son.”
“I saw her Thursday.”
“Joshua, this is a waste of time. No one here knows where she is.” Jayson ran his hand over his face, clearly frustrated.
“Just give it a chance, Jayson. Someone might have seen something and not realize it was important.”
“I haven’t seen her in several days.”
“But, Dad. Maybe she was stuck inside and trying to get out.”
“Hush, Bobby.”
“Have you talked to the sheriff yet?”
“We went to him first. He’s looking for her, too.” Joshua sighed.
