Chapter 25
Terry
E very now and then I peeked through the bedroom blinds, drawn shut over the glass windows which were also locked tight. A car alarm went off earlier and I jumped out of my skin, thinking it might have been a siren. It was only a matter of time until they came looking for me. I wasn't sure what was worse, being found by Lily's guard dogs or law enforcement. I'm an old man, I won't last in prison. My body was still wailing from the beating I got; they'd kill me with one punch to an already damaged organ.
Throwing a bunch of clothes in a garbage bag, I tapped my feet as I waited for my partner to answer my call. My stomach churned and twisted as I watched the news, waiting to hear if they had caught him after Lily was captured. There had been no updates about that and I was hoping I was in the clear. The call rang out without an answer. I couldn't stick around to find out if he'd said anything to the cops.
Bursting through the bedroom door I had kept my girlfriend – now ex – locked out of all night, I stormed past her on the couch.
She jumped awake. "Where the hell are you going?"
"None of your business. You said I should leave. I'm leaving." I searched for the keys.
She huffed and pulled her body up. "You look terrible. It's 3 in the morning."
"And?" I asked, my heartbeat rioting as I flipped over shit. "Where the hell are the damn keys?"
She hissed and pushed past me. "I'm just saying you should probably stop at a hospital first."
Finding the keys, she marched to the door. "If you think I'm going to try to stop you, I won't." She mumbled and sniffed. Was the bitch crying?
I wouldn't stay even if she begged me. I wasn't with her because I was attracted to her and fell flat on my ass in love. She served a purpose. She owned her house, didn't have kids and she was vulnerable. It was easy to fuck her and move in, and I couldn't spend one more day with my wife Petal, because she was driving me insane.
"Yeah, go! I hope they catch you, Terry Thornbread!" She yelled after my back as I barreled through the door. She yelled a bunch of shit about Lily loud enough for the neighbors' lights to come on.
"Are you fucking insane?!" I whispered, my blood percolating as I marched back toward her to lamp her one for the last time. She beat me to it, though, slamming the door in my face.
Eyes wide like a madman, blood boiling, I contemplated breaking down the door and going back inside to beat the shit out of her for exposing me like that. Stalking around the house, I spotted her through the window, on the phone. She wouldn't be calling the police on me, would she?
"Bitch!" I yelled, running toward the car. There, I realized she still had the car keys. "Fuck!" I spat, making a run for it. The taste of metal settled on my tongue as I panted, unsure where the hell I was going and whether I'd make it very far.
Tyler
Thinking like a predator sniffing out its prey, I stalked through the forest. Following the news reports, I had found the car that belonged to Lily's captor, and for a moment, I considered that he might run back to it. It was an obvious choice, but hiding in plain sight had served to be a useful tactic. However, the military and the police had the same idea, and I didn't want to be questioned about why I was lurking near the suspect's car.
Since they already had that perimeter covered, I assumed Lily's captor had also noticed that, and I figured he'd be running in the opposite direction, toward the next exit. Or if he was good at hiding, laying low until the search was over.
It had been hours since Lily had been rescued, but the forest was still cautioned off with tape and flooded with law enforcement. I was left wondering why I was here. She'd been rescued. My wife was sure to be relieved. Yet, I wasn't by her side, celebrating with her. Celebrating not only Lily's safe rescue, but also not having to get my own hands dirty, or risk implicating my wife as an accomplice.
See, I did want to get my hands dirty. I was hungry for the hunt, for the catch...for the kill. I had been lying to myself. I didn't get involved in this search because I loved my wife. I do love my wife. And I swam in guilt each time I looked at my vibrating phone to see her calling. But, I shut my eyes and locked the phone off, telling myself it was because I didn't want to be distracted.
Distracted from what? Law enforcement could handle it. I no longer had a need to be here. However, I was here. And I was here for no other reason than I wanted to be. Silently and subconsciously, I had been counting down the days to let my inner animal loose. Now, it was over because Lily was rescued?
Not on my watch.
I'd go back to being a devoted, unproblematic, and safe husband tomorrow, but I wanted to play one last time. Unlike my other hunting buddies, I wasn't calling out into the woods, asking the unknown kidnapper to surrender. I wasn't flashing lights and stomping through the trees and leaves. I was also playing hide and seek with their lights, and I moved as light as air.
If I were running from capture—Well, let's face it. I have done that. That's part of why this was so thrilling for me.
Sure, there were law enforcement officers who used to be under my payroll—who still were, even after I quit 'the business'—who would keep me from ending up behind bars for all the havoc I caused. I was pretty sure they wouldn't blow the whistle on me, my new life and my new businesses, as long as I kept fattening their pockets. But I couldn't even be one hundred percent certain of that, because there was no threat hanging over their heads to keep them in line. Then, there were the people in law enforcement who would sell their lungs to see me brought to justice.
Knowing that, and running around in the forest amongst their kind was exciting.
In black, I did my best to blend into the shadows, anticipating their moves and going in the opposite direction. Holding my breath, I watched as officers walked past the tree I was pressed into. I rotated my body in the opposite direction of their lights and tightened my arms into my side. Even my asshole was so tight, it was non-existent. My heart raced, pumping out adrenaline. I dipped from tree to tree until they gave up. Allowing myself to exhale with my whole being, I was getting ready to move again when a pile of leaves shuffled. Interesting. Could be rodents. Or I could be lucky.
Looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone behind me, I walked over to the leaves and kicked into them. The front of my boot hit something solid. Bingo. If it was an animal, it would growl, hiss or roar at the least. At the most, it would take off running or jump out. It would make itself known, as opposed to playing dead. I assumed. And I knew it wasn't a dead animal because the bushes had just rumbled. It wasn't a log either. It was solid but not unyielding.
"Probably an animal," I murmured to myself, stepped back and waited.
I knew he had a gun, from the gunshots fired earlier. So did I, but I couldn't use it and I wanted to make sure he wasn't stupid enough to use his. He didn't show himself and I didn't speak.
Instead, I started to crunch leaves. He was expecting law enforcement to capture him, not someone who enjoyed playing games. Assuming I had left, he popped his head out like a scared little animal, darting it from side to side, eyes wild and seeking. I stepped into the shadows.
As he took off running, I trailed him. I didn't run, but I kept up enough speed to maintain sight of him. Following him for as long as I did gave me the sense of not being here. It was like watching a movie and each time I remembered I wasn't, that I was the real villain...or in this case, the hero? ... I got a thrill.
Studying his movements, I was surprised he was managing to evade capture for so long. He had no strategy. The man was falling apart. I could hear his heartbeat from here. I imagined his throat was tightening. He was breathing heavily. He wasn't a professional, and from the looks of it, he was working on his own. There was no one coming to rescue him. From the outskirts, I hadn't noticed anybody suspicious hanging around, waiting to collect him. He was alone. A fool's idea to make a quick buck with Lily's halfwit father was all this was.
Cringing now from his lack of professionalism, I decided to call time on the game. It was exciting up to a few seconds ago. But well, it wasn't getting any better, was it? The officers were fast approaching him and I could already tell he was about to be cornered.
"Psst." I called from behind him.
He jumped and spun around, wielding his gun, but he still couldn't see me. I loved how beady his eyes were.
"I assume you're running from the cops. I'm running from the cops. Let's help each other out..."
I stayed hidden, watching him fight himself. But as the cops moved closer, I waited.
"Who the fuck are you?" He whispered back.
"Do you really want to have a conversation now? I have a car parked nearby. I didn't expect the forest to be this fucking crowded tonight. You know what I mean?" I hissed.
His gun wobbled, but he straightened up, looked toward the lights in the trees and back at the shadows. Once he tucked the gun in his waist, I stepped out.
"Okay, fine." He panicked, shifting from foot to foot.
"Follow me!" I whispered, pulling him next to me. He shrugged me off, defensive. "Best if we stay close. I keep an eye out, you keep an eye out, get me?"
"Yeah. Yeah! Keep moving!" He shoved me forward.
I was aware that he could flip this around and hang me up on a string for the cops, framing me for taking Lily to buy himself enough time to make an escape. But I was banking on him having a little bit of sense. If he did that, he'd have to reveal himself which was a hell of a risk. If he managed to convince them, it wouldn't buy him enough time to make an escape, because well, he'd be surrounded. He'd have to take a few more risks: take off running, have them question why he was running, get caught— or don't run, stick around to give a statement, tell them he didn't want his face shown on the news and have them question why while I asked the cops to solve the case in a single phone call to Lily, to identify him as her kidnapper.
So, I made him walk ahead of me, hand on my gun if he decided to try anything stupid.
The Pink Panther theme song played in my head as I kept my focus on the sounds around me, the lights and him. He kept asking where we were going like that one movie with the kids in the car asking if they'd arrived yet. I contemplated whether it would be easier to knock him out with my gun and carry him over my shoulder. That would slow me down, so I gritted my teeth and kept up the charade.
GPS in my earphones, I sighed when we approached my car that was hiding in the bushes near the scanty highway. I'd parked here earlier after driving around the area a few times, looking for a place the officers hadn't marked off.
He let out a breath when his wild eyes landed on my black rental car. "Man, I owe you one." He hurried toward it.
In long steps, I approached him from behind. "Ah, don't worry about it. I'm the one who should be thanking you," I said, right before knocking him in the back of the head with my handgun, popping my trunk and shoving him inside.
My skin tingled with the shocks racing through my body and I jumped in my car. However, before I could get far, my rearview mirror alerted me to the officers' lights as they raced toward me. Fuck.