by Dale Mayer
He walked out.
Tanya stood on the front step, taking deep breaths.
He couldn’t blame her. There wasn’t an easy answer. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“What did I expect?” she asked. “It’s not like there’s any open arms for me.”
“No, but like you said, you’ve been gone a long time, so it’s hard to say exactly how anybody feels anymore, right?”
She nodded and walked down the stairs. “It’s still harsh,” she said.
“Just give it some time. Facing your mother wouldn’t be easy. You knew that before going in there.” He patted her shoulder, watching her eyes.
Just then a cop car drove by. She looked at it and said, “Will I always wonder if the cops I see are involved in the dogfighting ring?”
“I don’t know,” he said, his own gaze studying the vehicle. “It’s quite possible. But that’s not one of the known men involved.” He walked back to the truck and helped Top Hat up into the back seat.
“The dog is doing much better,” she said.
“He is, indeed.” Inside the truck, they sat and looked at each other. “Now where?”
She smiled. “Good question. Are we going back to your sister’s?”
He pulled out his phone and called Meg. “How’s everything there?” he asked.
“We’re exhausted, but the place is empty now. The boys are up, and I just finished making pancakes,” she said with a laugh. “From chaos to routine—life with children.”
“We just visited with Tanya’s mother, and we’re at loose ends.”
“Come on back here then,” she said. “You don’t have to stay away. Besides, I think it would be good if Top Hat had a chance to get accustomed to being here since you’ll be around a lot more now. We’ll be a second home for him, so to speak. Presuming you are keeping him, right?”
“Right,” he said, realizing he had lots of decisions to make. The bottom line was, he didn’t want to lose Top Hat or Tanya. He glanced at Tanya to see her watching him and realized she could probably hear Meg. “We’ll be there in a bit. Do you want me to pick up anything?”
“See? Right back to normalcy,” Meg said. “We’ll have steaks on the barbecue for dinner in a couple hours. Pick up stuff for Caesar salad, some soft drinks, paper towels and dessert. Something with chocolate.”
“Will do.” He ended the call. “She wants us to pick up a few things at the grocery store.”
Tanya nodded but didn’t say anything.
As he went to turn on the engine, he looked at her. “Do you need to go home? Do you have things you should do?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m okay. It’s just strange. I have to go back to work tomorrow, and it’ll feel like a completely different world again.”
“True.”
“We could go to the park with Top Hat. I’m sure he’d like to relax outside for a bit.”
They stopped at a corner store and grabbed bottles of water and a snack for Top Hat, then headed to a small park, where Lucas helped Top Hat out of the truck and let him wander around the park, his leash dragging behind him.
Lucas smiled at Tanya’s happy face. “This is how I remember you. Always smiling.”
“I haven’t really had a lot to smile about lately,” she said.
“I think we have to make reasons to smile. Make reasons to be happy. We can’t always expect others or life to give us what we need.”
“Since when did you become so philosophical?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said, “but it’s true.”
“Maybe, but it’s sad when you see your mother in the condition mine is in.”
“Don’t worry about it. One day at a time, remember?”
“I thought that was for our relationship,” she said, chuckling.
“I would think it’s about everything.”
They sat there for a long moment until finally she said, “Let’s go get the shopping done, go visit with your sister and enjoy a home-cooked meal, then I can go home and have an early night before returning to work tomorrow.”
Lucas stood and called Top Hat. He trotted over and sat down beside Lucas in case there was a treat for good behavior, when something caught his ear. He turned and started to growl. His growl went from a light warning to full-protective mode. Lucas turned and froze.
Chapter 14
Tanya’s head popped up when she heard Top Hat. She stepped back and turned to look at what was bothering him, then followed Lucas’s gaze. He stared at two men in cop uniforms, standing in front of them, guns drawn and pointed at them.
She looked between Lucas and the two men. “You’re not even cops. You’re just wearing the uniforms.”
“What are you talking about?” the men asked.
“You’re impersonating cops,” she said as she stood far enough behind Lucas that she had her cell phone out and was sending a 9-1-1 text. Then she tried to click on Meg’s name.
“Get over here,” one of the cop’s ordered, waving his gun.
She pocketed her phone and moved forward. “Sure,” she said. “Great idea to impersonate cops. But I think that’s another charge all on its own.”
“Particularly if you took those uniforms off two real cops,” Lucas said in a hard tone. “We have to consider whether you killed a cop to get that outfit.”
“We didn’t kill any cops. These are just uniforms from a cop buddy. You two don’t know jack shit,” one said. “Come on. Let’s get a move on.”
“Sure. Where are we going?” Lucas asked, stepping forward.
“Some place where you won’t be found. You’re the reason all this happened. You’re the only one who can testify against us. You and her. She will be taken care of quickly but not until we have taken care of you. She’s our bait that will keep you in line,” said one guy with a toothy smile.
She stared at him and shuddered. “Seriously? You think that’ll work?”
“Yes, it’ll work,” the guy said. “We’re in a public park. Let’s go.”
She glanced around and saw pathways all throughout the place. But they needed a diversion, something to shift the balance.
Lucas motioned to the side and using his fingers pointed at the path to the trees. Then he held out three fingers … and dropped one,… then a second one. Finally the third disappeared …
She bolted.
Gunshots were fired only to be followed by sounds of a fight. She raced down the pathway to the trees, hearing Top Hat bark.
She didn’t want to turn around but couldn’t help herself. But there was only green—bushes, trees, grass. She could only hope Lucas was either being held at gunpoint or had taken out the enemy. She couldn’t hear any footsteps running behind her either. She ran until she was out of breath and then quietly hid in the trees, her fingers busy on her phone. Top Hat was right here with her, his long leash trailing behind them. She grabbed it and took the two of them deeper into the underbrush and made as many phone calls as she could.
She wrapped her arms around the dog who stood, his gaze forward, locked on the woods outside of where she’d hidden. And she realized she should have hidden someplace where she could have seen around her, instead of being blocked out like she was.
Every sound was magnified; every bird call she heard, to her, was because the bird had taken flight due to danger. She could only trust Top Hat and his early warning system. She waited until his back went up, and he started to growl. She grabbed his jaw and whispered, “Shh.”
He went silent, but his gaze never shifted as he stared at something just outside the bush they were hiding in. Damn it. She knew she was about to get caught.
Lucas dodged, dropped, kicked out and took down the cop holding the gun on him. As he turned to look behind him, he saw Tanya and Top Hat disappear. Good. As far as he was concerned that was the best answer. Just as he swiveled back, a boot caught him on the side of his jaw, and he went down. He twisted and snagged the guy midleg, dropped him down and got into an all-out fig
ht, from jaw punches to kicks, then two fast and hard jabs—and the cop in front of him dropped and stayed dropped.
Straddling him and swearing out loud, Lucas tossed his gun to the side, rolled the man over and pulled off his belt and used it to tie him up.
Finally standing and taking deep breaths, trying to calm down, and ease his back knowing he’d pay for this later, he pulled out his phone and sent Tanya a message, saying he had one tied up and to watch out for the second.
Then he heard a scream. He picked up the weapon, reached down and gave a hard slam to the guy’s head to make sure he stayed out and raced in the direction of the scream.
He bolted down the path, running as hard and as fast as he could, when something hard and hot hit him in the shoulder. He hit the ground face-first, planting a big one and crying out at the pain lancing through his shoulder.
He rolled over, took several deep breaths and scrambled to the side to get out of sight, in case the shooter came after him. Hidden in the bushes, he tried to calm his breathing and to slow down the pain. With his hand clasped against his shoulder, he realized the bullet had gone through the muscle on the high side. That was the best result, but it would still leave a hell of a trail.
He listened to see if Tanya made any more noise. She was here somewhere, somewhere in a great deal of pain. And fear. He stood up ever-so-slowly and peered through the bush. There was no sign of anyone. Off to the side a little bit of bush shifted. He remembered Top Hat was out here somewhere. Using a high whistle, he called to the dog. Then shifted position.
If he was being tracked, he needed to make sure he got in the first shot this time. He didn’t know that he would get a second chance. That first shot had been a lucky fluke on their part, but it had also been lucky on his part as it hadn’t hit anything vital.
From his crouched position, he was momentarily startled by a black nose suddenly poking through the bush. He smiled and whispered, “Hey, Top Hat.”
The dog came closer, gently licking his face. “We’re a pair, aren’t we? Both of us shot in the shoulder. What a nightmare.” He gently hugged the dog. Top Hat could smell the wound on him, the blood flowing freely over his fingers. But as best he could, he pressed his shirt up tight against the wound to try and stop the flow. He reached out and scratched Top Hat on the head, hand under the chin. “Where is she?”
Top Hat barked once, then again. When no bullets came in his direction, Lucas slowly straightened, using the tree to get up on his feet again and peered around. He saw nothing. He called out, “Tanya?”
He heard nothing.
He hit Dial on his phone, and her number rang, so he and Top Hat started searching for any sign of her. He didn’t like what he found—blood in an area that had been well trampled. Swearing, he realized the other fake cop had taken her.
He crouched down, feeling the pain, accelerating his lightheadedness. He called Detective Madison. When he explained, the detective said, “Don’t move. I’ll be there soon. I just arrived in town. We’ve got cops looking.”
“They’ve taken her,” he whispered. “I don’t know where. Top Hat and I are here in the park. I can see the scene, but there’s no sign of her.”
“He couldn’t have taken her far,” the detective said. “We’ll see if we can find her before he takes her out of that area.”
“Okay,” Lucas replied. He ended the call. Trying to keep his head, he shifted backward, looking around for tracks. Top Hat had disappeared on him. He whistled, and Top Hat bolted back toward him, but he didn’t come all the way.
He stood and barked, waiting for Lucas to follow him. Lucas took several steps forward, and Top Hat turned to take off in one direction, looking back, as if encouraging him to follow.
Lucas picked up the pace and started to run. Top Hat didn’t quit. He kept running, and Lucas wasn’t sure how long he could keep going on, but he’d be damned if he’d give up before the dog did, who was running on an injured shoulder. They came to a small parking lot. It was empty, but, in the distance, he could see a black SUV heading down the road. He was too far away to catch a license plate or any sign of the driver.
He called the detective and yelled into the phone, “Black SUV heading south from the park’s public parking lot. I’ve traveled north probably about two miles, but I don’t know the name of the street.”
“Okay,” the detective said. “I’ve got two locals here with me. We’re a couple minutes away.”
“If you see a black SUV ripping up the pavement, stop it,” Lucas said. “I think they’ve got her in there.” He stopped and leaned over, taking a moment to regain his energy. When a vehicle came tearing around the corner, it was the detective. Lucas hopped in the back and pointed in the direction the vehicle had gone.
“Go, go, go!” With Top Hat with him, the vehicle sped down the road.
It took four blocks before they saw the vehicle. “That’s it,” Lucas said.
As if sensing it had been spotted, it took a hard left at the next corner. They followed, and it took a hard right. Lucas swore. He pulled out his phone and called Tanya. “She isn’t answering, but I think maybe we can track her via her cell phone.”
The cop beside him said, “Give me the number.”
Lucas reeled it off.
“We’ll start a trace on it right now.”
“Okay,” Lucas said.
The guy turned to look at him and said, “Looks like we need to drop you off at the hospital.”
“Not until we find her,” he said. “But if anybody’s got something I can use to staunch the blood flow, that would be helpful.”
The cop in the passenger seat handed him a thick stack of disposable napkins. He packed them against his wound. “That helps,” he said. “Thanks.”
“Need to get that bleeding stopped. Otherwise, I am dropping you off at the hospital,” the detective said.
“It’s slowing down,” Lucas said. He swore gently under his breath because the bleeding was slowing down, but the pain wasn’t. It was still as nasty and as sharp and as biting as ever.
They took several more corners looking for the vehicle, but it was gone. Up ahead was a small parking lot. The detective pulled in, and Lucas listened as they organized a roadblock over a ten-block radius around them. But he just knew they were too late.
Chapter 15
Tanya woke up in complete darkness, only to find something over her eyes, a bandage of some kind, and there was enough room for her eyelids to shift ever-so-slightly so she could see shadows below and above.
She couldn’t move her hands or her feet. They were tied up too. She groaned softly, afraid to let anyone know she was conscious. She tried to shift, but it wasn’t possible as her body was jammed into a tight space. She wiggled a bit, trying to ease the pain in her shoulders, but all it did was make it worse.
She rolled back into the position she’d been in and lay here, trying to establish what had happened. She tested her hands, trying to release them, but they were tied tight. And so were her feet. She swore softly. Although she was small, she had never tried to pull off that trick where people swung their hands tied behind them up and under their butt, then slid their legs through, all without getting stuck halfway.
She had no doubt Lucas was searching for her, and she would be rescued. She would not give up hope. Not now.
He had to know, to realize, that they’d found each other again. She might have been the one who had taken a sideways path, but it wasn’t one she was willing to stay on anymore. She wanted him in her life, and that was just the way it was. These assholes wouldn’t be allowed to stop her either. Not after everything she’d been through.
She struggled to breathe, the air stale and harsh. She figured she had to be in the back seat of a vehicle, but she didn’t know where. If she could see, maybe she could figure out how to get out of here. But again, with her hands behind her back, it was almost impossible. She twisted as she tried to shift her hands below her bum. That took maneuvering, but, by stretchi
ng herself completely flat and then bringing her knees right up to her chest, she managed it.
She groaned, feeling her shoulders tug with the movements. She gasped with the effort as she slid her hands up the backside of her legs, wondering how she was supposed to get her ankles through. She brought her knees up high, past her head and dropped her feet down. With her hands in front now, she pulled the bandage off her eyes. Immediately, she felt better.
There was nothing quite like the victim mentality when you were completely susceptible to having your senses dulled when lying in darkness, tied up, waiting for somebody to come and talk to you or do whatever it was they had plans for.
With the bandage off, she saw she was, indeed, in the back of a vehicle. It was an SUV with a hatch. She sat up slowly and peered over the back seat and saw she was in a garage. On top of that she was alone.
She rolled her way over the back seat and opened the door and half fell out onto the garage floor. She closed the door softly. She didn’t know how to get out of the garage without raising her kidnappers’ awareness. She still had her phone, and that was one hell of a thing.
She sent a text to Lucas. Got out of SUV. Don’t know where I am.
The response came back immediately with a buzz too loud, and she shut off the ringer. Crouched behind the SUV, she didn’t know what to do. But she didn’t dare open the big garage door. She crept around to the side door and opened it a hair’s breadth. Sunlight streamed in. But there were no shouts at her. She opened it a little farther and slipped out, closing it silently behind her.
She looked around for a place to hide, and, seeing trees ahead, she hobbled toward them. She wouldn’t go anywhere fast, and that was a huge problem.
She turned to look back at the garage, wondering if she’d seen anything that would loosen her bonds. She hopped back, opened the door and hopped in again, feeling like she was making so much noise that everybody a block away must hear her. There was a workbench up at the front of the garage, with gas tanks and oil and various things there. She grabbed a hand saw and sawed through the ties at her ankles and then awkwardly worked to get her wrists apart. With the bonds off, she picked up the pieces of the cable ties so her kidnappers wouldn’t know and slipped back out the side door and bolted for the trees.
