Lost Summer: A Gripping Romantic Suspense

by M T Stone

  Greg’s silence didn’t go unnoticed by Olivia, and by mid-afternoon her heart began to skip beats as a result of her growing anxiety. She was feeling claustrophobic. The cramped accommodations of the small helicopter were closing in around her. “I think you have to let me out,” she gasped, finally admitting that she couldn’t take any more air time.

  “When we get back to the southern perimeter, I’ll drop you off at the air field,” Greg replied, placing his hand on her trembling arm. “You’ll be on the ground in ten minutes.” He radioed the police chief to see if he could send someone to pick Olivia up at the airport. She let out a relieved breath upon hearing that Ryan was coming out to get her. Like most men, he wasn’t exactly the king of romance, but he had always been there whenever she needed him. She respected him for that. That was the main reason she had never let Carson back into her life. She knew that if she had let go of her resolve and followed her desires, it would have led her back to her first love. God knows how long that would’ve lasted.

  She immediately pushed all thoughts of him out of her mind. She was grateful that he had bailed out Dylan and was helping with the investigation, but beyond that, she didn’t have any mental bandwidth left to give him.

  It had been hours since the last helicopter had passed over, but Leo continued to linger near the doorway. He had been analyzing every little sound, knowing that he faced potential threats by land, sea, and air. “I’m going out for a look around,” he muttered before heading out through the doorway.

  Summer looked up from her well established position on the chair next to the table. There was no way that she could sit inside this hovel for another day, much less for endless weeks, months, or even years. There was absolutely nothing to do except cook, eat, and sleep. With no access to media or the internet, the silence was completely mind numbing, to say the least. How can anyone live like this? It was one thing to live in silence back before the advent of modern communication, but to choose it in this day and age completely blew her mind.

  “The coast is clear,” Leo declared as he returned from outside. “I need to get this rinsed out for you,” he told her, grabbing the handle of the metal bathtub and dragging it toward the door.

  “For me?” she asked with a quiver in her voice.

  “Yeah, you made me take a bath last night, so tonight, I’m giving you one.” He paused, an evil glint stirring in his cold, dark eyes.

  “I’m perfectly capable of giving myself a bath.” She pushed her knees together and felt violated just by the implication of him touching her.

  “I’m sure you’re capable, but what would be the fun in that?” He narrowed his eyes and added a wink before continuing through the doorway.

  Her mind began to race as she watched him drag it out to the small garden, dumping the water toward the plants. His resourcefulness made it obvious that he would be able to hunker down out here for a long, long time without needing to go into town for supplies. She looked down at the clothes that she was wearing for a second day and closed her eyes in frustration. She had been stripped of everything she owned, and now he was determined to strip her of what little dignity remained. Uncontrollable tears began to stream down her cheeks as her situation began to appear hopeless. On top of everything else, she had to go to the bathroom again. She scurried over to the pail, hoping to relieve herself prior to his return.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Leo said with a chuckle as he came through the door. “You have pretty little feet and pretty little tits, but I’m ready to see the rest.” He walked over and stared down upon her as she finished and rose back to her feet. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to be with a woman like you.”

  “Probably ever since your dad gave you that sex book,” she replied defiantly, pulling up her pants and buttoning them.

  “I have spent a fair amount of time looking at it,” he said before going over to the nightstand and pulling it from the bottom drawer. “Here. I’ll let you pick out the first way we’re going to do it.”

  “It’s going to be quite a few more dates before we do anything like that,” she countered, fearing that was once again pushing up the timeline. “I’m not a girl who does those things with someone I hardly know.”

  “That’s too bad, because I’ve waited long enough.” The darkness in his eyes intensified as he scanned the length of her body. “We’ll have some dinner, then I’ll give you a bath, and after that . . . it’s your choice.” He nodded to the book and pushed it into her hands.

  A feeling of gut-wrenching horror instantly swept through her. She was too stunned to even shed a tear at this point. It felt as if he had completely knocked the wind out of her. He had basically stood there and told her to decide how she wanted to be raped. She no longer wanted to befriend him, and she no longer cared whether his father had abused him. She instantly shifted into survival mode, and her single-minded focus was to get out of that shackle and off this godforsaken island. In the perfect scenario, she would free herself, find the keys to the van, and beat him to the rowboat. He had mentioned that he couldn’t swim either, so if she got a good head start, it would be nearly impossible for him to catch her. Her plan seemed good on the surface, but in reality, she knew it wouldn’t be easy to pull off.

  “Doggie style,” she told him after skimming through the first few pages. “I’ve heard that a lot of women like that. But first, I need a good meal and a hot bath like you said. If you go get some potatoes and vegetables, I’ll start dinner while you warm up my bath water. I want to fry them in the pan on the stove with onions and butter. Trust me, you’ll love them!”

  Leo was completely taken aback by her sudden compliance and obvious enthusiasm. He fumbled for the lighter to ignite the stove before going outside to gather up the ingredients for dinner. He was nearly giddy at the thought of bathing her, and his balls began to ache at the thought of fucking her from behind and cupping those beautiful tits. It was all he could think about as he stepped on the shovel, pushed it into the ground, and turned up some potatoes and carrots. As he bent over to pick up the vegetables, he looked over at the sun, which was still fairly high in the western sky. It was the first time in ages that he was actually looking forward to the darkness. He was suddenly completely obsessed with the idea of having Summer naked in his bed.

  “I need an onion and the butter,” Summer reminded him when he returned with the vegetables and dropped them into the wash bucket. He gave her a smile before retrieving the butter dish from the cabinet on the far side of the room. That cabinet was obviously where he kept everything that he wanted to keep out of her reach, so she assumed that the keys to the van would be in there as well. There were so many uncertainties, but there were few solid choices. She knew for certain that she wasn’t going stay with him for another hour, much less another night.

  “You’ll learn to like this place,” he told her, handing over the butter dish. “You might even learn to love me.”

  She smiled back at him, relieved that his hormones seemed to be affecting his common sense. That was something that she had always noticed about boys, and Leo didn’t appear to be any different. He thought he was going to get lucky, so suddenly, he handed her the entire dish of butter without giving it a second thought. “My feet have been cold for two days, so make sure you get the bath water nice and hot,” she instructed as he turned to go back outside.

  While he had been digging up dinner, she had once again gone over her theoretical escape plan. Her heart began to pound within her chest as he turned and disappeared out through the doorway. She scooped some butter from the dish and slathered it across the top of her foot and around the sides toward the heel. She then slid the shackle as high as possible up her leg to put an extra layer on her entire foot, paying special attention to her heel. She blew out a long breath, combined with a solemn prayer. Please let this come off.

  She pushed the rusty metal piece down past her ankle, and she could see that it was within a half-inch of coming off. She
pulled it back up, grabbed another scoop of butter, and slathered it across the top of her foot. She wiped the remaining butter from her hands onto her capris, allowing her to gain the best grip possible, and then pushed as hard as she could. Like a teenage girl determined to fit into a favorite pair of childhood shoes, she knew it would go. Pop! Excruciating pain shot through the top of her foot, and she immediately knew she had broken something. On the upside, the shackle flew from her hands and clattered against the concrete floor.

  She glanced toward the door, holding her breath for a couple of seconds before deciding that she needed to quickly execute her plan. There wasn’t another second to waste. She hobbled over to the bed, piled the pillows and a spare blanket in the center of the bed, and slid the shackle beneath them. She then threw another blanket over the top of it and stepped back to take a look. It looked convincing enough. On her way to the cupboard, she stopped at the fridge and opened the small freezer compartment. She pulled two hundred-dollar bills from the envelope and stuffed them into her pocket. She wanted to have some money for gas or anything else she might need. She then hobbled over to the magic cupboard, where she managed to find two key chains, each holding an assortment of keys. She quickly tried to discern which ones were for the van but panicked and stuffed both of them into her other pocket.

  She turned back toward the table and pulled a knife from its slot. It was the one that he had told her was for skinning deer. If she got caught at any point before reaching the boat, she would take a swing directly at his throat. He had warned her that she would only get one chance, so she knew it would have to be a good one.

  Dizzy with fear and desperately trying to control her emotions, she peeked out the door and spotted Leo standing with his back to her. He was pumping the well handle, so the noise allowed her to slip out through the open door and position herself behind it. She looked toward the rowboat, hoping to see a tree or some other large object to hide behind, but there was nothing. That’s what she had expected after seeing how paranoid Leo had been about having unobstructed views of his surroundings. The squeaking sound of the pump handle ceased, and she heard him grunt as he set the second pail of water on the grate of the fire pit. She closed her eyes and pushed back against the grassy exterior of the house, knowing that the next few minutes were a matter of life or death.

  She held her breath and tightly gripped the knife as his footsteps neared the opposing side of the door. Through the crack, she saw him pass by the threshold so she softly tiptoed the first few steps. “What are you doing in bed?” he asked loudly. She could picture him moving toward the bed, so she broke into a sprint. Her ankle immediately twisted, and she had to catch herself with her free hand to keep from falling. Whatever had broken within her foot was serious, and each step felt as if that knife was being plunged into the top of it. “What the fuck?” she heard Leo’s voice thunder from inside. She assumed this would be her only chance to escape, so in spite of the crushing pain, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

  “Don’t you dare!” she heard him yell just as she reached the old rowboat. The boat was tied to a large rock, and the knots he had used to secure it were unlike any that she had ever seen. Looking up, she saw that he was already running toward her so there was little time. She held the rope tightly with one hand and began sawing it with the sharp knife. She knew that he couldn’t swim, so if she got the boat away from shore, it was her best chance for outrunning him.

  The knife quickly cut through the ropes, but when she tried to push the boat into the water, it appeared to be stuck on something. Glancing back, she saw that she was quickly running out of time. She scrambled into the boat and made her way to the back end. “There’s nowhere to go!” he sneered. She glanced back again as he reached the front of the boat. There are times when one knows their only chance for survival is by being the beneficiary of a bona fide miracle. That single thought was running through her mind as she took one last breath and leapt overboard, plunging into the unknown.

  Chapter 12

  Carson and Dylan had stopped at all the farms along the main road, and the last two people they talked to had never seen the van. According to Carson, this allowed them to confidently narrow down the search zone to a five-mile area. “This is perfect, because there’s only one more farm that is roughly in the center of that stretch. If we get lucky, whoever lives there might recognize him as a neighbor.”

  “That would be a miracle,” Dylan gushed. “But after seeing how you’ve tracked him down to this point, I’m thinking we might actually find her.”

  “We will . . . just like I told you all along,” Carson replied as he turned the car around and headed toward the last farm. “If there’s no one at this last farm, we might have to pull in the other search parties and scour the whole area.”

  “So you’ve been getting tips from all the other teams, but not sharing anything with them? That doesn’t seem right,” Dylan scoffed.

  “Like I said, if we can’t pinpoint her by visiting this last farm, I’ll share everything we’ve learned with everyone,” Carson replied with disdain. “However, I could really use that reward money.”

  “I know.” Dylan rolled his eyes as he turned away. “You already told me that.”

  They drove in silence until that last farm came into view. As Carson pulled into the driveway, he reached into his pocket for his phone. “You go up to the door and see if they recognize the guy or his van. I’m going to check with Sergeant Reed to see if he has any useful information.”

  “Okay.” Dylan took a moment to find the pictures on his phone before getting out of the SUV and walking up to the door. It was a small house that looked like it hadn’t seen a paintbrush in forty years. All the shades were pulled, and he got an eerie feeling upon knocking on the door. Part of him expected to be greeted by a loaded shotgun, but it would be worth it if they knew anything.

  “What do you want?” a gruff voice grumbled from behind the unopened door.

  “Hello, sir,” he replied, trying to sound professional. “We’re looking for a young woman who was kidnapped Friday night. We were wondering if you might recognize the white delivery van that was used in the abduction.” He stood there for a few seconds while the man muttered a string of obscenities to himself.

  The door cracked open a couple of inches before a safety chain caught. Dylan instantly flashed back to a scene from The Shining. The man had beady eyes and an incredibly bad comb-over, and looked like he hadn’t seen sunshine in months. “A white van, you say?”

  “Yes, sir.” Dylan held up the picture on his phone. “It’s an old white delivery van, and you can still kind of see where the logos used to be.”

  “And you know who was driving it?” He shot Dylan a cross-eyed glare that only added to the creepiness.

  “We don’t have a very good picture of him, but he has long, dark hair, and from the description that a witness gave us, he was average height with a stocky build and very dark eyes,” he explained to the man.

  “Yeah, that sounds like Leo Sullivan. The kid has some creepy eyes, that’s for sure.” The man paused for a second, as if he wasn’t sure whether he should give out any additional information. “You’re the second guy who’s come around looking for him.”

  “Today?” Dylan asked, thinking maybe another search team had already found her.

  “No, a few months back,” he replied with a snicker. “We don’t get many visitors out in these parts. The last guy had some war medals that belonged to his dad. His old man was whacked out as hell, but he was a POW, so I reckon that was the root of it. I never saw hide nor hair of the boy until after the old man passed on.”

  “So, does he live around here?” Dylan asked, hoping for a definitive answer.

  “About a mile over that way,” he replied, pointing a finger through the crack in the door. “There’s a small lake behind them trees. He lives out in some kinda grass hut on the island. You’ll see it if you drive down the trail a ways. I’ve never gone back t
here,” he clarified. “If he’s as psycho as his old man, he’ll probably shoot anyone who comes onto the property.”

  “All right, thank you, sir,” Dylan replied, instantly recharged by the prospect of rescuing her. He still didn’t like the idea of her being abducted by a complete psycho though. Whoever he is, he was about to experience the wrath of the Chase boys. Poor bastard. The only concern remaining in the back reaches of his mind was whether they were reaching her in time. If this guy was some type of a sick, twisted fuck, they might already be too late. He ran back to the SUV and informed his uncle that they should call for immediate backup.

  “Backup?” Carson scoffed. “I’m not splitting that million-dollar reward with anyone. I’ve got you along for backup. I’m sure we’ll be just fine.”

  “Don’t worry about giving me a cut,” Dylan reiterated, once again recoiling at the thought. “I just want to make sure we get her out of there in one piece.”

  “Yeah, you don’t need the money. You’re such a kid . . . idealistic and naïve. It’ll take another ten years or so for the world to beat that out of you.” Carson glared at him for a long second. “You could use a stint in the military. Then you’d see how the world really works.”

  “Let’s go get her,” Dylan said impatiently, ignoring his comment. “The guy said there’s a small lake right on the other side of those trees.”

  Summer let the knife drop from her hand upon hitting the water, knowing that she wouldn’t stand a chance swimming without using both hands. She could hear her mother’s words as she took the first flailing strokes away from the rowboat. “You’ll wish you had learned to swim when you get older,” she had told her after she refused to continue after the first few lessons. Until this very moment, she had never regretted the decision, as water just wasn’t her thing. Now, however, she would have given anything to be able to cover the length of a football field in record time.