Visions Of The Past

by Elizabeth Mahood

  “Take my hand Ellie, come on its freezing.” Another shot and she saw Cade flinch. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her out. Her vision.

  “Cade, you are shot.” Ellie cried. He nodded and grabbed her hand leading her into the forest back towards the query.

  “I know and it fucking hurts but we have to move. I think I hit him but I don’t want to take any chances.” He stated pulling her forward. She wobbled. “Whoa, are you ok? What’s wrong?” He asked, stopping to look at her closer.

  “My ribs and I’m pretty sure I hit my head when I fell.” Ellie stated. “I’m fine let’s go.” Suddenly she felt herself being lifted into his arms. “Cade no. You are shot.” She said.

  “You are my first concern.” He said turning moving forward once again. They had almost made it to the clearing when something came barreling at them. Darius knocked them both to the ground and kicked out hitting Cade in the chin sending him reeling back.

  “CADE!!” She screamed. Darius moved forward and kicked Cade in the stomach right where he had been shot and Cade yelled out in pain. Ellie saw Cade’s gun laying on the ground a few feet away. Darius had seen it as well and moved towards the gun at the same time. Ellie was quicker and when she turned it on him, he stopped in his tracks and held up his hands.

  “Come on now Elinora, you don’t want to do that.” Darius said flicking his eyes to Cade who was motionless on the ground, but eyes open slightly.

  “Ellie.” He said on a whisper. Ellie looked to Cade then back to Darius.

  “I fucking hate that name.” She said as she pulled the trigger. The bullet flew into Darius, knocking him backwards in to a tree. He slouched to the ground and landed with a thud. Ellie held the gun tight in her hands, waiting for Darius to move towards her or Cade. He didn’t.

  “Ellie.” She heard Cade whisper. She turned around and went down to the ground next to Cade.

  “Cade. Oh my God baby stay with me please.” She leaned down and kissed him. She reached around him and grabbed his radio.

  “Anyone out there the Sheriff is down. We are about 100 yards into the woods behind the query. Hurry please.” Ellie said. The radio crackled back.

  “This is Agent Hardy. We are on the way. Any suspects we need to worry about?” He asked. Ellie looked to Darius.

  “No, he has been subdued.” She stated with no emotions. The radio came back on.

  “Understood.”

  Several minutes later, flashlights and voices could be heard coming their way.

  “Over here.” She said on a sob. EMT’s, agents, and part of the tact team came around them and the EMT’s immediately started working on Cade. Ellie tried to stand but wobbled. Brody caught her and she flinched.

  “Whoa, I’m not going to hurt you” Agent Brody said trying to be nice. Ellie pulled away and shoved him back.

  “Don’t fucking touch me.” Ellie said. She moved to stand behind he EMT’s as they worked on Cade. They had him stabilized and an IV had been started.

  “You need to go to the hospital.” Brody said

  “Where is my father? What about Mrs. Dingle.” Ellie said. Hardy stepped up.

  “Your father took off but the others were rounded up and are being taken to the Sheriff’s Department. The girls were loaded into a bus and will be transported to the hospital to be examined and then reunited with their families as best as possible.

  “He’s at the shed.” She said. Hardy looked at her oddly.

  “What do you mean?” Hardy asked narrowing his eyes.

  “He held girls in there, beat them into submission and if they didn’t comply, they were killed. Maybe not by him but he was doing their dirty work for them. My guess is he is going there to clean up his mess.

  “I’ll send a unit over there.” Hardy said starting to pull out his phone.

  “No, I want to go with you. I need to be there.” Ellie said. Hardy watched her.

  “Will you go to the hospital after that?” He asked. She nodded.

  “Of course, Cade will need me.” She said. He nodded and she followed he and Brody out of the woods behind the EMT’s. She waited until they loaded Cade into the ambulance and before they closed the doors, she jumped up inside, kissed him on the forehead and whispered.

  “I love you.”

  A few minutes later, Hardy pulled up in front of Ellie’s old house. They got out quietly and headed for the house.

  “I don’t have my piece on me.” She said. Brody looked at her with a raised eye brow.

  “You aren’t going to shoot me, are you?” He asked questioningly. She shook her head.

  “No, but I can’t guarantee that Cade won’t.” She said holding out her hand. He grimaced but handed her his back up piece from his ankle.

  Hardy and Brody headed for the house while Ellie moved around the corner of the house. The light was on and she heard a noise coming from the shed. A snap and a cry and she knew exactly what was happening. She moved to the shed and took a breath.

  “You will learn to obey; you are my grandchild and I will beat the visions out of your head.” He screamed. A snap and a scream had Ellie jumping and fear snaked through her.

  She reached for the door handled and flung it open. Her father stood inside; belt raised above his head ready to come down on the bare backside of a young woman tied to the bench.

  “Stop, don’t move one more muscle, you are under arrest.” Ellie said on shaky breath. The woman on the table sobbed and her back was slashed with red belt marks.

  “You have no authority here Elinora.” Her father said, spitting as he said the words.

  “Let her go. She doesn’t deserve punishment, but you do.” Ellie stated. The gun was shaking in her hands.

  “Walk away Elinora, go back to Seattle.” He said, started to raise his hand to come down on the girl.

  “No, drop the belt, I won’t let you hurt one more person and If this is who I think it is, I will stop you from hurting her.” She said moving forward. He pulled up and stared at her. She felt a pain sear through her head.

  “You will not touch me Elinora. You won’t be able to live with yourself if you shoot your father.” He said in her brain.

  “No, get out of my head.” She said squeezing her eyes shut. She heard footsteps approaching but she couldn’t focus.

  “You can’t control me Elinora. You might have my mother’s visions, but my power is stronger.” He said. She saw the belt raise above her head and in an instant, she was 12, begging for her father to stop and feeling the sting of the belt over and over. She was on the ground, shaking and crying. A loud pop sounded but Ellie couldn’t register anything but pain radiating through her head. A shadow was above her.

  “Dr. Ridley… Nora…” A voice was saying. It was Agent Brody. She moved her head to the left and a body was on the floor holding his shoulder. Her father. Had she shot him? She didn’t remember pulling the trigger.

  “What…” She tried to say.

  “Relax. We got him. He’s not dead, just injured. I don’t think you want that on your conscience. We are taking you to the hospital. If I’m guessing right, you have a concussion and who knows what else.” He said. Agent Hardy moved forward and lifted her into his arms.

  “Let’s go Doc.” He said kindly. She looked back towards her father laying on the ground, several FBI agents surrounding him and a female agent tending to the woman.

  “You can’t have my mind father. You took my childhood, but you won’t take me.” Ellie said to her father. She felt his energy.

  “I will always have you; you are my daughter.” He said back. She squeezed her eyes shut and then darkness took her.

  .

  Chapter 35

  Cade heard a door open and shut. He had awoken hours ago to beeping machines, tubes running out of his arms into bags hanging on IV poles, and a plump nurse in purple scrubs checking his vitals. She had given him some water and another nurse had come in to check on his stomach. Now he was in and out of consciousness and every time he fel
l asleep, he could hear Ellie screaming his name, gun shots and her slipping through his fingers as Darius took her away into the woods. A small hand thread through his fingers and squeezed lightly. Cade opened his eyes and Ellie stood above him. Her face looked terrible and she had stiches in her lip but he would know those green eyes and dark raven hair anywhere.

  “Hi.” She said softly. He let out a breath long breath that he felt like he had been holding for days.

  “Ellie, thank God.” He said pulling her closer. She leaned down, winced slightly and kissed his lips. She winced again and pulled back holding her ribs.

  “Cade, I thought I was going to lose you.” She said, tears streaming down her face.

  “Oh baby, don’t cry. I’m here. You can’t get rid of me that easy.” He said. She chuckled a watery laugh. “Are you ok?” He asked. She nodded.

  “Broken ribs, concussion and terrible nightmares of me shooting Darius, but other than that…” She said smiling sadly. Cade felt enraged that she had been injured by Darius Taylor and he hadn’t gotten to her in time to stop it.

  “I’m sorry Ellie, It’s my fault.” Cade stated. Ellie lowered her brows at him.

  “How is any of this your fault? I mean, there are so many suspects, where do we even begin. Mrs. Dingle? I didn’t like the woman, but I never suspected her of running a trafficking ring.” Ellie stated, pulling a chair up next to Cade’s bed and sitting down. She looked pale and exhausted.

  “Maybe I can pull some strings and get us a room together. I am the sheriff after all.” Cade stated. She laughed and took his hand again.

  “Seriously, what’s going to happen to all those people. Mrs. Beemer, Mr. Beemer, Hank Rogers, Jeff England. The list just goes on and on.” Ellie stated shaking her head. Cade wasn’t sure how the feds were going to handle it but he imagined they would be gunning for the bigger fish.

  “This was a small ring compared to some of the larger cities. There is probably going to be deals made for information in order to get the bigger rings out there.” Cade stated. He felt drowsy but he didn’t want Ellie to leave. He felt relaxed knowing she was sitting next to him.

  “Sleep Cade. I’ll be right here.” She said. He felt her kiss his hand and drifted off.

  A while later, he smelled coffee and heard voices talking. He opened his eyes to see Ellie still sitting in the same chair, holding his hand and talking to his mother who was sitting next to her. His father was standing at the window looking out but turned around when Ellie said his name.

  “Son, hey there. Your lady was just telling us about you scaring her off of her roof.” His father stated, a gleam in his eye. Cade smiled and looked to Ellie.

  “Did she also tell you she had no hot water or working oven and refused to go to the bed and breakfast?” Cade stated, winking at Ellie. She blushed.

  “I did. I also told them you threatened to arrest me if I didn’t leave my house.” She said with a chuckle. His mother stood and leaned down to kiss his forehead. She moved a piece of hair off of his face.

  “I’m so glad you are ok son. You scared the heck out of us.” She said with a small hitch in her voice.

  “I’m fine mom, I’m not going anywhere.” He stated, eyes flicking to Ellie’s. His father cleared his throat.

  “I’m needing more coffee, what do you say wife.” His father said. His mother blushed.

  “Oh, yes me too. We will be back later dear.” She winked at Ellie as they left. Ellie stood and sat on the edge of the bed.

  “How do you feel?” She asked moving that same piece of hair his mom had just moved. He reached out and pulled her down to him.

  “I’m great now that I have you in my arms. Ellie…do you want to talk about what happened at the query. I’m going to kill Brody if he hurt you.” Cade said, anger building inside him.

  “Darius ran me off the road. Apparently, Brody knew they were going to take me but he didn’t know it was going to be that violent. He put himself between me and Darius several times but once they kicked him out, I was left vulnerable.” She said, looking away from him. He touched her chin and turned her face back to him.

  “Did any of them assault you?” Cade asked with anger in his voice. She shook her head.

  “Brody had to slap me a few times to make it look real, Darius slapped me for fun and they…are you sure you want to hear this?” She asked. He didn’t, but he needed to so he could help support her if she needed therapy. He nodded. She looked at him skeptically but continued.

  “They stripped me and…touched me. Mrs. Dingle wanted them to be happy with the…merchandise.” She said, waving her hand up and down her body. Cade shuttered. He wanted to kill them all, but Mrs. Dingle was in jail with the rest of them.

  “Your father?” Cade asked. Ellie saddened and sighed.

  “In custody. He confessed to hiding Leslie Cooper’s body and hiding information from the police. He also confessed to…selling me to the traffickers to keep them away from Allison. He…he was in the shed beating my niece. He went straight from the query back to the house just so he could beat her like nothing happened. I…he said he will always have me.” Ellie stated.

  “Baby he never had you, that’s the problem. You have always been stronger than him and that thought scared him. I would imagine that your grandmother had a special connection to you and that probably enraged your father. Don’t let him get in your head.” He said. She let out a huff.

  “Too late.” She said. He took her hand.

  “Baby, he’s going to prison. Probably for life. He can’t get to you and if he tries, he will have to deal with me. I know it’s hard to accept that your father was and is a criminal but deep inside you have known it all along.” Cade stated watching her eyes turn watery.

  She looked like she had been hoping for some other explanation but the fact was, her father was a monster. Maybe he had had a moment of clarity down in that dungeon but in the end, he was responsible for Ellie and Allison’s kidnapping and falsely accusing Annawon Beartree of murder.

  “I’m sorry baby. At least you got your sister back. She’s amazing considering what she has been through.” Cade stated. Ellie nodded.

  “I can’t believe she’s been in town the whole time. My father worked for the bastards who had her the whole time, punishing the girls who got out of line. He will go to jail for a long time, won’t he?” She asked Cade. He nodded.

  “Probably for life Ellie. Can you forgive him?” Cade asked her, sliding a finger down her swollen and bruised face. Tears pooled in her eyes.

  “I have to or it will eat me up inside. He ruined our family. Even if he wasn’t the boss, he knew and did all those awful things.” He pulled her too him for a kiss. He wanted to intensify it, but with all the stitches in her lip, he didn’t want to hurt her. When she pulled back, she had desire and love written all over her face.

  “I’m sorry you had to kill someone. That is never an easy thing to live with.” Cade stated rubbing her fingers. She lifted a shoulder.

  “I would do it again. He was hurting you. I love you Cade, no one messes with my man, besides, he called me Elinora.” She said, winking at him. He started to laugh and then held his stomach.

  “Stop, I’m going to pop these damn staples.” He stated. He wanted to ask her about staying but he didn’t want to push her. “Ellie.” She put a finger to his lips.

  “I’m staying. I want to fix up my grandmother’s house though and keep it. My sister will need a place to stay and now that my father will be in jail, my mother could come home if she is well enough.” Ellie stated. Cade vaguely heard all the other things about her family but zeroed in on her first statement.

  “You are staying? I mean, I’m super happy but I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t want to do. I…I’m not really a city guy but if you wanted to stay in Seattle, I would figure out something. Maybe a smaller suburb?” He said. He would rather move to the edge of the earth than be apart from the woman he loved. She shook her head.

&nbs
p; “I love Seattle and the pacific northwest but this is home. I have family now and you. I can always visit but this is where I belong. I can talk to the ASAC and if they need me on cases, I can always travel.” Ellie stated. “If not, I am a doctor. I could open a counseling office here and actually be a doctor.” Ellie finished. Cade shook his head.

  “You love being involved way too much and you are pretty damn good at investigating. Brody told me how brave you were in there.” Cade stated proudly. She smiled at him.

  “I love you Cade.” She stated, leaning forward and kissing him. He wrapped his hand around her head and pulled her to him.

  “I love you too.” They lay together in silence just enjoying each other’s presence.

  Chapter 36

  A few weeks later, Cade had been released but was not allowed back to work so he and Ellie had decided it would be the perfect time to finish the cabin. Even though it was snowing, Ellie had done a pretty good job getting most of the cabin secured before winter. Cade was on his way out to meet her when he spotted her new car in the parking lot of the church. She was supposed to be meeting him in town to purchase light fixtures for the cabin and have lunch. The church was in an upheaval since the news about their pastor’s taste for punishment had hit the congregation. The assistant pastor had taken over and had lost several parishioners at the same time.

  Cade pulled his SUV into the lot and went inside. The door to the sanctuary was open and Cade saw Ellie sitting in the front row. He moved down the aisle and sat down next to her. She didn’t look at him but took his hand in hers. A tear slid down her cheek. Finally, she spoke.

  “I hated this place. It is supposed to be a place of peace and tranquility but it only meant fear and punishment. He will finally get the punishment he deserves, why do I not feel some sort of satisfaction in that?” She said quietly. Cade watched her wipe a tear and then turn to look at him with eyes full of sadness. He pulled his hand from hers and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him.