Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Stanton Forest
Trembling with fear, Zoe crouched behind a tree as the sound of the man got closer.
She needed to move—now. She gathered her courage and walked along a well-worn trail.
She sobbed with relief at the sound of women’s voices drifting toward her on the breeze and broke into a run.
As the trail turned into a dirt road, she could see a woman emerging from a vehicle, chatting to another standing on a porch.
As she stepped out of the forest, the women turned to look at her.
She ran toward them, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Help me. There’s a man—he wants to kill me. ”
Horror reflected in their eyes at the sight of her. One of the women put her hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in shock. “Oh, my Lord.”
“What happened to you, my dear?” A woman placed the bags she was carrying on the front stoop and turned toward her. “A man did this?”
Sobbing, Zoe nodded and pointed behind her. “Yes, and he’s coming after me. Please help me.”
“Come inside and I’ll lock the door.” The woman standing on the porch beckoned her inside and scanned the forest. “I don’t see anyone out there, but I have weapons in the house and I’ll close the shutters. No one is coming through my front door.”
Zoe stumbled inside and stood in the hallway shaking with terror while the women ran around closing the shutters at the front of the cabin.
When they returned, she followed them into a bright sunny kitchen.
The aroma of bread baking drifted toward her.
Her stomach growled appreciatively as she looked at them.
“Thank you so much. He’s been hunting me down for hours. ”
“You look pretty beat up.” One of the women frowned at her. “What’s this man’s name? I’ll call the sheriff. She doesn’t look kindly on men beating up women.”
Trembling, Zoe shook her head. “I don’t know him and he kept his face covered but he has a cabin in the forest not far from the river.” She coughed. “May I have a glass of water, please?”
“Sure. What’s your name?” The other woman guided her to the kitchen chair and eased her down. “I’m Tracy Howard and this is Cheryl Staton.”
Gulping down the water, Zoe looked from one to the other. For a few moments she couldn’t remember her name and then it slid into place. “Zoe… Zoe Carpenter.”
“What exactly happened to you?” Tracy sat down beside her. “How long have you been in the forest?”
Head swimming, Zoe just stared at her. Her memory had blanks and dark empty spaces. “I’m not sure. Everything is fuzzy. I just kept running for as long as I could and then I saw you chatting outside.”
“You should get her something to eat, Cheryl, and then maybe she can take a shower.” Tracy looked her over. “Unless you’ve been raped. It’s best not to have a shower if that’s what happened. I’ll call the sheriff and she’ll get someone out here to take care of you.”
Zoe placed the glass down on the table and tried to stand.
“No, I don’t believe I’ve been raped and I already washed in the river.
I stunk like death. Please, no sheriff, not yet.
My head is aching so bad I don’t think I could stand all the questions.
I can’t remember very much at all. I don’t know how I got into the cabin with the man.
I remember him hitting me and then waking up in a box.
I figure it must have been a meat locker. I climbed out and just ran.”
“Okay, you’re safe here but you have head injuries and we must get you medical attention.
” Cheryl cracked eggs into a bowl and beat them.
“We have a lovely doctor living close by. He also happens to be a deputy sheriff. All the law enforcement officers in Black Rock Falls are good people. Deputy Raven is just about one of the kindest men I have ever met.” She took down a pan and set it on the stove to make scrambled eggs. “I promise, you can trust him.”
Head swimming and ribs throbbing, Zoe needed to see a doctor, and if they trusted Raven, then she would.
She nodded. “Okay, he sounds nice. Will he be able to protect himself against a lunatic? The man who hit me kept telling me it was God’s will that I died.
He said he needed to punish me because all women needed to be punished. He was crazy.”
“Oh, yeah, he’ll be able to protect you.
” Tracy chuckled and exchanged knowing glances with Cheryl.
“He is a very big man and has a K-9 by the name of Ben. The dog is so smart, when Raven fell into a bear trap, he ran from the forest all the way to the sheriff’s office to get help.
” She pulled out her phone. “I’ll call him now. ”
When Cheryl slid a huge plate of scrambled eggs in front of her, followed shortly by hot buttered toast, Zoe sighed with relief. “Thank you so much.”
Her fingers trembled as she lifted the forkful of eggs to her swollen lips.
Her jaw ached and no doubt a few teeth were loose, but food never tasted so good.
She could hear low conversation from another room as Tracy made the call.
The next moment gunshots rang out followed by the voice from her nightmares.
“Send out the girl.” The deep husky voice echoed through the forest. “Do it now. Nobody needs to get hurt.”
“Get under the table.” Cheryl tossed a cushion from one of the chairs onto the floor and passed Zoe the food. “Stay there.”
Footsteps thundered along the hallway and shortly after came the unmistakable sound of someone racking the slide on a shotgun. Horrified they would all die, Zoe stared into the empty hallway and then Tracy poked her head out of a doorway and looked at her.
“Don’t move.” Tracy stared at her and stepped out with a Glock 22 gripped in both hands.
Terrified, Zoe pushed the last bite into her mouth and hoped she wouldn’t spew.
“Don’t worry. We’ve got this and Raven is minutes away. I’ve alerted him of the danger.” Tracy went to the front door and opened it a crack. “There are no girls here, just me and my friend. The cops are on the way and we’re armed.”
Shots peppered the side of the cabin.
“Empty threats.” The man growled in rage. “Send out the girl—now.”
“Are you hard of hearing? There is no girl here.” Cheryl kicked open the front door and aimed her weapon.
The shotgun boom shook the house and the smell of gunpowder burned Zoe’s nostrils. She put down the empty plate and stared at Cheryl in amazement.
“You can’t win, woman.” The man laughed. “Your feeble attempts won’t stop me. You need to be taught a lesson.” More bullets hit the side of the cabin.
“I’m not playing games with you.” Cheryl racked the shotgun again and aimed it outside. “Next time I’ll aim for your head.”
In the distance, the wail of sirens hee-hawed and Zoe wrapped her arms around her knees.
Everything had suddenly gone quiet. She looked up as footsteps came back along the hallway and Tracy came in.
She laid her Glock on the table and offered Zoe her hand.
Too frightened to move, Zoe looked at her. “Has he gone?”
“Probably.” Tracy hauled her to her feet.
“The sirens frightened him away. He’s likely hightailing it back to his cabin.
There are plenty of crazy people in the forest. Some are military men who have PTSD, some are men hunted by the cops—killers and the like.
In the forest they can hide undetected for years.
There’re some parts of Stanton Forest that haven’t been mapped yet. It’s so dense no one goes there.”
“I’ll put on a pot of coffee.” Cheryl went to the coffee machine. “I’m sure we all need one after that nonsense. Raven will want one when he arrives. He likes to spend time with his neighbors. He fixed my roof last year and wouldn’t take a dime for it.”
The fear shuddering through Zoe wouldn’t stop even with all the assurances.
Not remembering how she came to be in the forest with a maniac, and not knowing anything about herself at all, was like walking a tightrope across a ravine filled with grizzlies.
These women trusted Raven but could she trust him or any man ever again?