Stalked in the Night

by Carla Cassidy

  Maybe it was Harley ready for their daily check-in. God, she hoped he hadn’t found any more mutilated cattle this morning. She got up and went to the door. With the blinds pulled across the window, she couldn’t see who stood on the other side. She wasn’t about to open the door until she knew who it was. Before she opened it, she grabbed the cord and pulled up the blinds.

  She gasped in horror at the sight of a man wearing a ski mask on the other side. She stumbled backward as the man picked up an ax and slammed it into the door, shattering the glass and cracking the wood.

  For a long moment, she stood frozen in horror. When he raised the ax and hit the door once again, she screamed and sprang into action. She whirled around and raced for her room.

  The crack of wood splintering sounded again, and she knew she only had seconds before the man would be in her house. She flew down the dark hallway and into her bedroom, frantic to get to her shotgun, which was locked up in a gun case in her closet.

  The continuing sound of cracking wood let her know the man wouldn’t stop attacking the door until he got inside. Terrified tears raced down her cheeks as she fumbled to get the gun. She finally got the case open and grabbed the shotgun. Once she had it in her hands, she gripped it tightly and peeked out of her bedroom.

  Silence.

  It pressed in and made her chest tighten and her heart race so quickly she thought she might have a heart attack. The silence meant the man was now in the house.

  At the moment she didn’t care who he was—she was going to shoot first and ask questions later. He was in here to hurt her...to potentially kill her. She didn’t intend to give him the chance.

  He’d apparently been watching her house. He must have seen Jake and Andy leave and knew she’d be in here alone and vulnerable. Once again she tightened her grip on the gun. Using it to lead the way, she took a step out of her bedroom.

  She stopped and tried to listen to any noise she might hear that would indicate where the man was now. It was difficult to hear over the pounding of her heart and the frantic gasps of fear that escaped her mouth.

  Nothing. She heard nothing, and not knowing where he was made her fear ratchet up even higher. She tried to silence her own gasps and frantic breaths, knowing he would be able to track her by the sounds she made.

  She took another step and then another. She was about to peek into the bathroom when he reached out of the darkness of that room and, despite her tight grip, snatched her gun away from her. He threw the gun behind him in the bathroom as she screamed.

  “Who are you? What do you want?” she shrieked. “Why? Why are you doing this to me?”

  There was no way to run around him in the narrow hallway, and before she could turn to run back into her bedroom, he grabbed her around the neck. He pushed until her back was against the wall next to the bathroom doorway.

  His eyes were dark, glittering orbs of evil as he began to squeeze her throat. Tighter...tighter he squeezed. Her fingers scrabbled at his hands in an effort to dislodge them as her oxygen was slowly cut off.

  Stars flickered, and then her vision dimmed as no more air reached her lungs...her brain. She was going to die. Jake would come home and find her dead body. And what would happen to Andy?

  It was the thought of her son that gave her the strength for one more effort to survive. As her beloved son’s face filled her head, she drew up a knee and slammed it between his legs as hard as she could.

  Instantly he groaned, released his grip on her and fell to his knees. She ran into the living room, knowing her best option was to try to hide until Jake got back.

  A roar of rage sounded from the hallway. “I’m going to kill you, bitch,” he cried.

  The voice was unfamiliar to her. Who was the man and why was he doing this to her? Knowing the house would be a death trap to remain in, Eva flew out the front door, hoping and praying she could somehow survive until Jake got home.

  * * *

  AS JAKE DROVE toward town, evidence of storm damage from the night before was visible in the amount of tree limbs and branches that were down around the area.

  “Wow, look at that one,” Andy said and pointed to a big limb on the ground almost encroaching onto the other lane in the road. “Must have been a big storm, and I didn’t even know it was happening.”

  “It was mostly just a lot of wind and rain,” Jake replied. “Trust me, it was worth sleeping through.”

  “But you stayed awake with Mom?” he asked.

  “I did. She wanted to keep an eye on the weather so she could keep you safe and sound.”

  “We had to go to the storm cellar one time when I was seven,” Andy said. “But nothing happened and we were only down there for a little while.”

  “That’s good,” Jake replied.

  “You like my mom, don’t you, Mr. Jake?”

  Jake felt the boy’s attention riveted to him. “Of course I like your mom,” Jake replied. “What’s not to like? She’s beautiful and smart and funny.”

  “But you like like her, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I like like her.”

  “I thought so,” Andy replied with a look of self-satisfaction.

  Jake was grateful to pull up in front of the school to stop any more questions Andy might have about him and his mother’s relationship. It wasn’t his place to talk about these things with Andy.

  Jake found a parking place, and the two of them got out. He walked Andy to the school’s front door. “Have a great day, Andy.”

  “I will, and thanks for bringing me, Mr. Jake.” Andy quickly headed for the door and disappeared into the building, and Jake turned around to head back to his truck.

  Before he got there, he ran into Benny, who carried a colorful lunchbox in his hand. “Hey, Jake,” Benny greeted him. “I’m here because boy child left his lunch at home. What are you doing here?”

  “I brought Eva’s son to school,” Jake replied.

  “I heard that you were spending a lot of time with her. I’ve also heard there’s some messed-up stuff going on at her ranch.”

  “Yeah, there is,” Jake admitted.

  “We still need to plan that dinner. I’d love to have not only you, but Eva and her son as well.”

  “That would be great, and we’ll plan something soon, but right now I’ve got to get back to Eva’s.”

  “I’m definitely going to call you soon to set up a dinner at our house,” Benny said.

  “I look forward to it. I’ll talk to you later, Benny.” Jake hurried back to his truck and headed for home.

  He was eager to get back to Eva. Last night he’d felt a new emotional connection growing between them. They had talked about so many things that had nothing to do with who they had been as teenagers and everything to do with who they were as adults. He’d never felt as close to her as he did right now after the long night they had shared.

  He couldn’t believe how he’d overslept. He hadn’t slept that late since he’d been a kid. He frowned as he looked ahead. The road was blocked by a city truck removing the large tree limb that Andy had pointed out earlier.

  He came to a stop behind several other cars. There was no other route to get to Eva’s ranch, and so he was stuck. Hopefully they’d get the big branch moved quickly and he could be on his way.

  Already he was aware of the time ticking by. He told himself Eva would be fine. It was a morning filled with sunshine, surely not the time for any evil to take place.

  Sometimes bad things happen in the light of day, a little voice whispered in the back of his head. He mentally shook his head to dislodge the thought.

  There was no way anyone could have known that he and Eva would oversleep this morning and he’d end up taking Andy to school, leaving Eva alone in her house. Besides, she had good locks on the doors and windows and a gun she could get to if necessary.

  He tapped his finger
s impatiently on the steering wheel as he continued to be held up. He glanced in his rearview mirror and saw a line of cars now behind him.

  He pulled out his phone and dialed Eva’s number. He needed to tell her he was held up so she wouldn’t worry. The phone rang three times and then went to voice mail.

  He hung up without leaving a message. Maybe she was in the shower or her phone was still in the bedroom and she was in the kitchen and couldn’t hear it. He waited five minutes and then tried to call her again. Same result...the call went to voice mail.

  He tried to ignore the small bell of alarm that began to ring in his head. There could be all kinds of reasons she wasn’t answering her phone. It didn’t mean that she was in any kind of trouble.

  Still, he needed to get back to her as soon as possible, if nothing else to still the faint alarm still ringing in his head. Finally the branch was removed, and the traffic began to move again. He stepped on the gas and drove as quickly as possible.

  When he reached Eva’s place, he was relieved to see nothing amiss. He parked and then hurried to the front door. It was locked. “Eva,” he yelled and banged on the door. He waited a moment, and when she didn’t reply, he took out the key she had given him a week before and unlocked the door.

  He walked in and called her name once again. She didn’t answer. He yelled her name louder, and the alarm bell in his head rang a little louder when she still didn’t reply. The shower wasn’t running, so she wasn’t in the bathroom unable to hear him.

  He flipped on the light and stared down the hallway but stopped and froze. Just inside the doorway of the bathroom, Eva’s shotgun was on the floor. Immediately every muscle in his body tightened, and adrenaline fired through his veins. Where was Eva now? Why was her shotgun on the floor? Oh God, what had happened here while he’d been gone?

  He hurried into the kitchen and stopped short as he stared at what was left of the back door. Shattered glass littered the floor, and the wood of the door had been completely splintered apart, making a hole large enough for somebody to enter the house.

  He ran to the door and peered outside. His heart iced as he saw the ax that had apparently been used to break in. Where was Eva? At least he hadn’t found her dead body lying on the floor...at least not in the kitchen.

  With his heart in his throat, he turned back and raced toward Andy’s room. Please, please don’t let me find her dead, he prayed. He released a small sigh of relief when he didn’t find her in her son’s room. He then ran toward her room and once again prayed that he wouldn’t find her lifeless in the bed or on the floor.

  She wasn’t on the floor on this side of the king-size bed, but what about the other side? He hurried around the foot of the bed. A gasp of relief swept over him when she wasn’t there.

  Not finding her anywhere in the house, he returned to the kitchen. Stepping outside, his heart thundered a million miles a minute, and he pulled his gun from his holster. He gazed around and listened, hoping to hear something...anything that would let him know where she was and that she was still alive.

  Nothing. All he heard were birds singing in the trees and a cow mooing in the pasture. They were normal sounds, daytime noises, but the lack of any other noises scared him half to death.

  His heart squeezed so tight he could scarcely draw a breath. Was he too late? Had he taken so long to get home that Eva had been killed? Was her body right now lying someplace in a pasture? Hidden in one of the outbuildings?

  “Eva?” he yelled as loud as he could. Nothing. There was nothing to let him know whether she was dead or alive, but the silence cut deeply into his heart.

  He had to do something to find her. If she’d run from the house, then maybe she was in one of the outbuildings. Maybe she’d somehow locked herself inside and now was afraid to come out.

  With his gun still tightly gripped in his hand, he took off running toward the shed in the distance. He could only hope and pray that he would find her alive somewhere, because the alternative was too horrendous to consider.

  * * *

  EVA LEFT THE HOUSE and ran hell-bent toward the barn, hoping she could hide in there until Jake got home, hoping she could get inside before the man who was after her saw where she went.

  She raced as fast as she could, her heart beating so hard...so fast...it felt as if it might explode out of her chest. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Her nightmares were coming true, and she knew if the man caught her, he intended to kill her.

  Why? The question screamed over and over again in her brain. Why was this happening? Why was a monster breaking into her home and trying to kill her? Who was the monster behind the ski mask?

  She reached the barn, threw the door open and raced across the floor. When she came to the ladder, she climbed up as quickly as she could into the loft. She wanted to hide in the farthest corner of the building.

  She found a stack of hay with a small space between it and the wall, and she quickly crawled in. She shoved her hand in her mouth to stop the hysterical cries that escaped her. Terrified tears chased fast and furious down her cheeks.

  It was only when she was hunkered down that she realized she had put herself in a place without an exit. If he found her here, there was now positively nowhere for her to run. She could throw herself out the loft door, but the fall would probably kill her.

  Quiet as a mouse. That’s what she needed to be right now. Quiet as a mouse, she told herself over and over again. She nearly screamed as the barn door flew open. “I know you’re in here, Eva. Come on out now.” He laughed, the sound holding a maniacal glee that caused arctic chills to race up and down Eva’s back.

  She didn’t recognize the low, raspy voice and suspected he was intentionally trying to disguise it from her. Did he really know for a fact she was in here hiding, or was he bluffing?

  Once again she placed her hand over her mouth, fear welling up in the back of her throat and begging to be released on a hysterical scream.

  Quiet as a mouse, she thought again. If he wasn’t sure that she was in here, maybe if he heard nothing he’d go check out someplace else. Please, go away, she begged in her mind. Please, please just go away.

  “Come on, Eva. You might as well give it up now. I’m going to search every inch of this barn, and I will find you and then I’m going to kill you.” She heard what sounded like a stack of hay bales falling over and hitting the ground.

  Where was Jake? What was taking him so long to get back from the school? Surely he should be home by now. It felt as if he’d been gone for hours. If he didn’t get back soon, the man was going to find her, and even though she’d fight with all her heart and soul, she knew eventually he would be able to overpower her.

  Again a question shot through her mind. Not the why of what was happening, but rather what would become of Andy if she was killed.

  As it stood right now, he’d probably wind up in foster care, and the very idea of that happening was excruciating. She should have told Jake the truth. She should have told him that Andy was his son the minute he’d arrived back in Dusty Gulch. If she somehow survived this, she would tell Jake and take whatever consequences might happen.

  Of course what she hoped was, even without Jake knowing the truth, he would petition the courts to have Andy in his custody. At least she’d know Andy would be raised with Jake’s love. She no longer worried about Jake being tainted by his family’s wealth and power. Jake’s heart was as pure as it had been when he’d been a teenager, and she couldn’t imagine that ever changing. But first, she had to survive.

  “Eva, are you up here?”

  She heard him take a heavy step on the ladder leading to the loft. “You must be up here, because I saw you run into the barn and I’ve checked all around down here. The longer I have to look for you, the angrier I’m becoming.”

  Another footstep sounded on the loft stairs. Terror tensed every muscle in her body with a f
ight-or-flight adrenaline. There was no place for her to take flight to, but she intended to fight until there was no more fight left in her body.

  “You should have just left town, Eva. Things would have been so much better for you if you had just picked up and moved to another state when I first warned you.”

  She only hoped before she died, she saw the face of the monster beneath the ski mask. Maybe it would help her understand why, exactly, he wanted her dead.

  She knew when he had reached the loft, because she could now hear his excited, rapid breathing. Could he hear her? Oh God, where on earth was Jake?

  Hay bales began to topple down on the other side of the hayloft. If he was on the other side of the loft, then maybe she could get to the loft stairway before he could and she could get away. She had to do something or he would find her. Backed against the wall, there would be no way for her to get away from him.

  She drew in several silent deep breaths and then sprang up and ran for the stairs. She almost made it, but he caught her by the ends of her long hair. He spun her around and to the floor as she screamed...and screamed...and screamed.

  He was on top of her in an instant, his hands encircling her neck. “Who are you?” she gasped as his thumbs began pressing hard into her throat.

  “You’ll never know,” he replied.

  Her hands reached up in a frantic effort to dislodge his, but he was too strong. He was on top of her in a way that trapped her legs so there was no way she could bring up a knee in order to hit him where it might count.

  This was it. She was going to die in this place where she had once found love. She would never see Jake again. Worse, she would never see Andy’s smile again or hear his laughter.

  Tears wept from the sides of her eyes as her air disappeared. Her lungs began to burn. Stars exploded in her brain. Her vision dimmed.

  She was just about to lose total consciousness when she heard a distant roar and the man on top of her was suddenly gone. She rolled over to her side, gasping and coughing for air.