Chapter 31
31
C arley ran up the stairs. She tripped a couple of times and stubbed her toes once, but she kept going. Fear propelled her faster than her legs ever could.
She reached the top of the stairs and heard a television or radio. Then she heard a chair squeak.
She froze. There was someone else up here. She hadn't counted on that. She thought there was just one person. She pressed her back against the wall and listened intently. She was in the kitchen. The sound seemed to come from the living room. Lucky for her, she remembered this house. She stepped to her left quietly and ducked around the corner to a mudroom. Beyond the mudroom was the door to the outside. She'd run down the road as fast as she could if she had to. She'd prefer a vehicle.
A voice called out, "Did she tell you anything?"
She froze. She didn't recognize the voice at all. It sounded menacing. Her heart hammered in her chest. She took some breaths and tried to hold them in to calm herself. The last thing she needed to do was to pass out from hyperventilating. She swallowed and kept herself pressed tightly against the wall. The voice said again, "Did she tell you anything?"
She heard the chair squeak and then she heard him stalk across the living room floor. He hollered down the stairs. "Did she tell you anything?"
No sound came. He swore, "Fuck." He stomped down the stairs, and that was her chance. She tried the back door, but it was locked. She fumbled with the lock and twisted the old thing. Opening it, she found the deadbolt engaged. She gripped it as tightly as she could, twisted the knob, and unlocked the deadbolt. She slipped out the door and closed it quietly behind her. Hopefully, they wouldn't know which direction she went.
There were two vehicles in the driveway. She ran to both of them. Neither one had keys in it. Of course, they wouldn't leave keys in the cars, but she knew where she was. She took off running down the road. There was another house within just half of a block. She ran as fast as she could to that house and prayed somebody would be home. She made it to the house and ran around to the back door so she wouldn't be spotted. She was grateful there was no fence to have to hop.
She climbed the two back steps and started pounding on the door. "Hello, anybody, can you help me? Can you help me? I need help. Help." She kept pounding.
Finally, a dog started barking, and she closed her eyes. At least if somebody was in there, they would hear her now. And finally, an older gentleman came shuffling to the back door. He looked out the window and saw her.
She looked into his eyes. "Please help me. Please help me."
He opened the door as quickly as he could. Not nearly quickly enough for her. And as soon as he opened the door, she pushed herself inside. "Please lock the door. Quickly."
She stood against the wall trying to catch her breath. When he'd locked the door, he turned to her.
"What do you need help with? Are you hurt?"
"I need you to call the police immediately. Please call the police. I was kidnapped. I just broke free. I was at Douglas Sanders’s house. He's not there, and he didn't kidnap me, but that's where they were holding me."
"Doug Sanders? He...he's just next door."
"Yes, please call the police. Please."
The old man shook his head. Stuck his wrinkled hand in his pants pocket and pulled his phone out. He dialed 911 and put the phone to his ear.
It felt like an eternity before someone answered, but she could hear the operator's voice over the speaker. "911, what's your emergency?"
"My name is Jonathan Roberts, and I have a girl here who said she was kidnapped and was being held at the Douglas Sanders residence. But she's here now inside and we have the door locked but we need someone to come out please."
As soon as she heard the operator say we have someone en route Carley could have cried. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall. Tears flowed immediately. Tears of joy, fear, relief. She wasn't sure which it was, but tears, nonetheless.
And then she heard Jonathan say, "Well, I'll be damned, there's two men walking through my backyard right now."
She gasped and looked out the window. "It's them they're looking for me. Oh my god. Please get the police here now."
"Okay, will do," he said. He held the phone to his ear. He said to her, "The operator said we're supposed to go deeper in the house so that we can stay hidden.” She moved with Jonathan into his house. She was grateful not to be tied to a bed. "Here, why don't you sit at the dining room table here? I'll get you a cup of tea."
"No, I don't need anything. It's okay, I just want the police to come."
Carley was so afraid to look out the window, but she was even more afraid not to. She needed to be prepared. The man sat on a chair at the table, and she moved to the window. She stood alongside it and peered out, trying to stay as hidden as possible. Jonathan still had the 911 operator on his phone. He tapped the speaker button, and the operator said, "Mr. Roberts, are you still there with me?"
"Yes, we're here. We moved away from the back door and into the dining room."
"All right, the officers tell me they're close."
The faint sound of sirens could be heard, and Carley said, "I hear them! I hear them!" She fought back a sob and peered out the window for the two men.
Jonathan told the operator, "We can hear the sirens."
"Stay on with me, sir, until we're sure that they're there and they have found you."
"Okay." Carley continued to peer out the window. She held her hand over her stomach and that's when Jonathan gasped.
"She's got a rope tied around her hand."
Carley looked down and realized how that probably looked to him. She wasn't lying when she told them she'd been kidnapped.
A knock on the front door made Carley gasp.
Jonathan got up, "It's probably the police."
"No, don't open it," Carley yelled, but it was too late.
He opened the door. "Can I help you?"
That's when the man looked past Jonathan and right into her eyes. She was frozen for a moment, then fear took hold, and she bolted to the back door. She heard a crash, and deep in her mind, she hoped Jonathan wasn't hurt, but she knew if they caught her, she likely would be.
She swung the back door open and ran around the front of the house, trying to remember if there was another house close by. She saw a truck coming down the road and nearly cried. Hopefully, they could get her out of here and to safety.
A sharp burning pain seared through her shoulder, and then the sound of a gun rang in her ears.