Chapter 13
T aryn moaned again, as her body was slammed from one side of the van to the other. She heard the driver muttering something up ahead, sounding pissed off and angry as hell. She didn’t know what was going on in his world, but he had taken a turn off the road they were on, which might be good. However, the angrier he became, the more dangerous it would be for Taryn and Cassie. So maybe that turn was just to a more desolate part of the countryside. That was the last thing Taryn wanted. There had to be some relief coming up, but not soon enough. She didn’t trust this new guy, and she didn’t want him anywhere close to Cassie.
Taryn tried hard to pull on her inner strength. She focused on whatever she could utilize in order to get the hell out of here—as soon as the vehicle stopped, but it just wasn’t stopping.
The driver hit another rough pothole, and she bounced again, another moan coming out. She clenched her jaw tight, trying to stop the sounds that might suggest she was awake.
“God damn it to hell,” the driver muttered again. “Where the fuck are we anyway?”
That caught her attention like nothing else would and was music to her ears. If he was lost, he didn’t have this game planned out in his mind, and that meant Taryn and Cassie had a chance. Taryn didn’t quite know how to make it work, but, if their kidnapper was lost, she could potentially get them out of here, even if she had to pick up Cassie and carry her. Taryn didn’t know how far she would get though. That would depend on whether or not she could first disable this asshole somehow and get her hands and feet free of the ropes that bound her. Her weary mind spun with ways to try and get the hell out of this predicament, and she kept sending telepathic messages about rough roads and potholes. Finally Terkel’s voice slipped into her mind again.
Alex is right behind you , he said. We’re not sure how far away he is, but he saw taillights, which means hopefully he’s near your vehicle, so stay strong . And, with that, he slipped out again.
She groaned as the vehicle took yet another bounce, and her body was slammed against the side of the van again. Finally the vehicle came to a stop, and she heard the driver swearing even more from the front seat. What she didn’t know was what had stopped him. Was it the fact that they were someplace he didn’t know, or could he have seen a vehicle coming up behind him?
She didn’t want this guy to get out and run, leaving them behind. Yet that might be the best for them. What she preferred would be to have him run off on his own but where they could find him. She didn’t want him to come back and do this to some other young girl. She felt Cassie’s hand squeezing hers in terror, as the vehicle’s engine shut off.
Taryn didn’t know what to say to Cassie or how to comfort her at this point. All Taryn could do was stay quiet and wait, wait for that chance, wait for something to break, an opportunity to jump free, to knock this guy off his feet, and to make a run for it. The problem was, Taryn’s hands were still tied up, as were her feet. So, if their kidnapper came around with a bullet intended for her, Taryn couldn’t do anything. All her plans would be in the wind very quickly.
Cassie slunk deeper into the shadows around her. Finally the big door behind the driver’s seat opened up, and Taryn saw the shadow of their kidnapper.
“God damn it,” he swore. “What the hell are you doing all the way back over there?” He hopped inside the rear portion of the van to drag Cassie forward.
Taryn waited until he was off balance, then kicked out as hard as she could. Even as he stumbled back, she was trying to get to her feet and land on him, hoping to find a way to knock him out and to keep him down, so he couldn’t come up after them again.
She couldn’t run hard or far because of the ties on her, but, if help was coming, she just needed to keep this asshole down and out for a bit.
He roared as he tried to jump up, but little Cassie was there beside him, hitting him, but her efforts were frail and futile. Taryn caught sight of a rock and grabbed it with both hands and slammed him in the nose with her elbow first. Then, with both hands tied together, thankfully in front of her, Taryn smashed the rock into their kidnapper’s face. He roared and reared up, trying to get away from her. As she rolled over, she hit him as hard as she could, again and again, out of her mind with fury.
Though the blows might have jarred him, they sure as hell weren’t stopping him, and that was the bad news. He slammed Taryn to the bare floor of the van, and she felt the breath knocked out of her. Suddenly he was on top of her, slamming his fist into her, again and again and again. Just when she thought she would lose consciousness, she heard a hard thud and looked up to see Cassie, holding the rock over her head, as the kidnapper slumped to the floor beside them.
Cassie immediately dropped down beside Taryn, bawling her eyes out. Taryn wrapped her arms around the little girl, desperate to try and figure out if it was over or not.
Hushing the crying girl as much as she could, she reached up and pulled off her own gag, even while she cried out telepathically to Terkel. I need Alex. I need him fast . She struggled toward their kidnapper. We’re free for the moment, but I don’t know if this asshole’s out cold or not .
Confirm that he is , Terk stated, his voice strong. And that’s an order. This isn’t the time to be a shrinking violet .
She snorted. Didn’t think I would ever be accused of being one of those . We had a hell of a fight, and I’m still pretty groggy. Plus I’m still tied—
Grab that rock and hit him again , Terk interrupted.
She rolled over until she was on top of the kidnapper. Then she ripped off the mask that he wore. Taryn frowned and looked over at Cassie.
Cassie stared down at him in shock and muttered, “It’s Uncle Jeff.”
*
Alex drove carefully in the darkness, barely noting a dark vehicle stopped on the dirt road, with the van doors open. “Shit.” Terkel’s voice slipped into his mind.
The gals are free, and they’re okay. They’re both in shock, so I don’t know how badly injured they are or the kidnapper either. You need to check on all of them. They should be in the van still. They overpowered him and slammed a rock into his head to try and get free .
Alex was stunned to hear that, yet at the same time incredibly grateful. “I’m here now,” he muttered, as he shut off the engine, threw open the door, and raced over. He saw Taryn, collapsed on the floor of the van but heaving, trying to catch her breath.
She lifted her hands, still tied, and waved at him. “It’s been a hell of a journey,” she muttered, coughing and trying to get a full breath. “That was the longest five minutes ever.”
Swearing at that, he dropped down beside Taryn and Cassie. “Are you both okay?” Neither answered, just pointed to the battered man beside them. Alex frowned, then asked Cassie, “Your uncle Jeff did this?”
Cassie nodded, staring down at the man with loathing. “Yes, that’s Uncle Jeff.”
Taryn asked, “Who left the house in your uncle’s vehicle earlier then? You told me it was your uncle Jeff with your brothers.”
Cassie looked up at Taryn and nodded. “It was, but I don’t know if he took the truck.”
Not worrying about it right now, Alex quickly untied Taryn and Cassie. Then using their rope restraints, Alex tied up their kidnapper. He pulled out his phone and filled in Levi. “We need EMTs here now,” he declared. “Our kidnapper is suffering from injuries. They probably won’t kill him, and that’s unfortunate, but I guess we need him alive,” he muttered in a harsh tone. “Besides, Cassie is in rough shape emotionally. Taryn has taken a beating or two.”
At that moment, Cassie curled up tightly in Taryn’s arms, and Alex knew there would be no way to separate them, and he shared as much to Levi.
“There shouldn’t be any need to separate them, but both need to be checked over, especially Taryn,” Levi noted. “Plus, why the hell was Jeff driving this other vehicle? If he had the little boys in his truck, and now he is here in a dark van,” Levi began, “what the hell is going on?”
“Yeah, all good questions,” Alex agreed, “and I definitely want answers too, but we won’t get any from him at the moment. He’s out cold.”
“The gals did a good job, huh ?”
“They did a really good job,” Alex declared, pride in his tone. “Sucks that they had to do this at all though.”
“Absolutely it does, but that’s not what we’ll focus on right now,” Levi stated, his tone firm. “They did what they had to do to survive. Their lives were in imminent danger, and, even if they had killed him, that would be justified.”
“Well, I won’t share that with them,” Alex noted. “Cassie is pretty upset as it is. Any word on finding the twins?”
“No word yet on the twin boys, and my guys gave the most recent coordinates on Jeff’s brother to the nearest police station,” Levi replied. “I’ll pass along any updates. Terk will update me when he has something to share. And, of course, Cassie is now more upset, especially after finding out that her kidnapper is her uncle Jeff. Still, that’s not the most urgent issue right now. You should hear the deputies coming your way soon. I’ll hang up and send out some messages to our people. I’ll tell them we need two ambulances as well.” And, with that, Levi disconnected.
Alex looked over at Taryn to see her holding on, fighting back tears herself. “The cavalry is on its way,” he whispered.
She looked up at him, and her tears were ready to spill over. He sat down and pulled both of the gals into his arms and just held on as they cried. Once the tears began, no way they could put that genie back in a bottle, and they just flowed. The crying didn’t stop until they heard vehicles coming toward them.
Cassie stiffened, ready to bolt. He held on to her a little tighter. “It’s all right, Cassie. It’s the sheriff.”
She stared up at him. “Will they hurt me?”
“No, not at all,” he replied. “Why?”
She just stared at him.
“It’s okay. You did what you needed to do. Don’t be afraid. You won’t be in trouble.”
“Yes, I am,” she whispered. “I would be in trouble if I ever did anything like that. I was not allowed to fight or to say anything. Uncle Jeff told me that the police would come and would pick me up and that I would never get free again. I would never see my brothers again.”
“Your uncle Jeff lied,” Alex snapped, his tone harsher than he intended. When he saw Cassie wince, he sighed and gently stroked her back. “I’m sorry your uncle Jeff was so mean, but he only said things like that to control you, and it’s not right. He didn’t have your best interests at heart when he told you that.”
Cassie didn’t say anything else but stared with trepidation as two vehicles finally came to a stop. As soon as the first people jumped out, a man and a woman, Alex called out to them.
“I have the two female victims over here,” he yelled, “and the kidnapper is here too, unconscious.” They quickly approached, the man dropping beside the kidnapper, and the female deputy coming over to check on the gals.
Cassie reared back in terror, but Alex held her close. “It’s all right, Cassie. Remember what I told you? It’s okay now.”
She shook her head and buried her face against him. Alex looked up at the female deputy in front of him and shared, “She’s pretty traumatized.”
“Of course she is,” the other woman replied. “Do we have an ID on this guy?” she asked, pointing at the unconscious man.
Alex nodded. “According to Cassie here, it’s her uncle Jeff.”
The deputy stared at him in shock for a moment and then turned to look at Cassie.
Cassie nodded. “That’s my uncle Jeff.”
Confused, the woman looked back at Alex.
“I don’t know who is driving the other getaway vehicle, with Cassie’s twin brothers inside,” Alex explained. “I’m afraid at this point, it was a decoy or…” He hesitated, knowing that Cassie was hearing everything. “It’s somebody who is helping Jeff here,” he said, with emphasis on the word helping .
Cassie perked up. “Maybe he took Jack and John to the hospital.”
“Who are Jack and John, honey? Why do they need to go to the hospital?” the female deputy asked Cassie.
Cassie nodded. “They are my brothers. Uncle Jeff got mad and hit them, and Jack didn’t talk right afterward, and John was sleeping for so long.”
“When was this?”
She shrugged. “A couple days ago, I think. I don’t remember.”
“And that’s okay,” the deputy noted. “Don’t you worry about it. We’re looking for that truck right now, with your brothers in it.”
Cassie bit her lip, and she stared up at the woman in uniform. “Am I in trouble?”
The deputy crouched in front of her. “Absolutely not.”
“But I hurt him.”
“You hurt your uncle?”
“Yes. I smashed him in the head with a rock. But Uncle Jeff told me all kinds of bad things would happen to me if I didn’t listen to him,” she shared, staring over at the unconscious man, who was being attended to by two deputies at this point.
“Well, apparently he thought that would work to control you,” the female deputy said, with a note of humor, “but, honey, you have every right to defend yourself, especially if somebody is hurting you. And definitely if you’re kidnapped.” She looked around and asked, “Were you restrained?”
Cassie nodded. “Yeah, and Uncle Jeff hurt Taryn too. He shot her with something and made her fall out of the tree. She was knocked out, and he tied us both up, even though I begged him not to, but I didn’t know it was him. He had a mask on. He told me that it was my punishment for being bad and for leaving the house.”
“Well, he was wrong, and he isn’t allowed to hurt this lady here either.” The uniformed female pointed at Taryn. “None of this is your fault, sweetie.” She spoke to Cassie in such a firm but kind voice.
It was definitely the right thing to say in that moment, as Cassie slowly relaxed against Alex. He sent a thumbs-up to the deputy, who just nodded, but the anger in her expression was very clear, and he well understood it. Little girls tormented by the very family members who were supposed to look after them was difficult to deal with.
All that Cassie had been exposed to, even just tonight, was trauma she would spend the rest of her life trying to resolve. This was a cluster fuck of mass proportions, and they still didn’t know about Jack and John. All of it would leave a marked impression on this little girl’s mind and heart. Alex just cuddled the two gals closer.
The female deputy stood up and added, “We have an ambulance coming. Two of them actually. We need to take them in to get checked over.”
Cassie shook her head and wrapped her arms tightly around Alex. At the same time Taryn shook her head too.
The female deputy was firm. “You will both get checked out. Alex can come with you, but you’ll go to the hospital to be checked over.” Taryn sagged against Alex, as if realizing she wouldn’t have any choice in the matter. Once Cassie saw Taryn giving in, Cassie relaxed as well.
When the first ambulance pulled in, Alex shifted himself to his feet, bringing Taryn up on hers as well. “Can you walk?” he asked.
She nodded and took several steps. Suddenly she stopped and looked at him with an odd expression. Then her eyes rolled up in the back of her head, and she collapsed into his arms.