Chapter 21
With the sheriff’s department and state troopers on the look out for the vehicle carrying his mother, Duke made his way back to Heather’s hospital room. Dread at telling his sister the awful news added weight to each step, slowing his progress.
Reaching the room, he stepped inside and confusion wrinkled his brow. “Where’s Suzy?”
Heather sat on the bed with her legs swung over the edge. Black lounge pants and a blue t-shirt replaced her hospital gown. “I thought she was with you.”
“Why would you think that?” His words lashed out with more force than a bull whip.
“She went out in the hall when the doctors came in to discuss my results. The deputy was out there, and she wanted to call you to see if you’d gotten word about Mom.”
Turning, he ran back out to the hall and glanced up and down the corridor for the deputy who was supposed to be standing guard.
No one but nurses and doctors hurried past.
He stalked back into the room. Terror and rage twisted his insides until he thought he’d vomit. Leaning forward, he braced his forearms on his knees and drew in deep, ragged breaths. “She’s not there.”
Lane appeared in the doorway. “Who’s not there? Any word on your mom?”
Duke crushed his eyes closed, fighting wave after wave of panic until he forced himself to straighten and face his friend. “Suzy. I don’t know where she is.”
“What?” Lane gripped his phone, and his fingers flew over the screen. He waited a few beats then said, “Her voice message picked up.”
“Shit.”
“Wait, what about Mom?” Heather asked.
“She left with Chrissy. It’s all on camera. They took off in a truck registered to the man who I put in the hospital before I came to Hillmore.”
“I don’t understand,” Heather said, tears filling her eyes. “Why would anyone want to hurt Mom? Hurt Suzy?”
“To get back at me.” A wave of guilt slammed against him so hard it almost took him out at the knees. But he couldn’t let it. “I need to let Spencer know about Suzy.”
He found his phone and dialed the number that was now a permanent part of his memory bank.
Spencer answered on the third ring.
Duke didn’t give him a chance to speak. “Suzy’s gone. Heather said the deputy standing guard was here when Suzy stepped in the hall. He’s gone, too.”
Spencer muttered a curse. “How long has he had her?”
“I just found out. Hold on.” He lowered the phone. “Lane, go check the security feed. Check if we can see where the hell she went.”
“On it.” Lane ran from the room.
“Lane’s getting that information now,” Duke told Spencer.
“Let me know as soon as he gets it, but I was just about to call you. We found your mom.”
He locked eyes with Heather afraid to ask for more information. Fear and hope clashed, turning his stomach. “Is she okay?”
“She’s banged up and scared but she’ll be okay.”
His shoulders dropped and for a second, he believed the nightmare was over.
“Chrissy dumped her on the side of the road,” Spencer continued. “Someone stopped and helped her. She’s on the way to the hospital so sit tight. You’ll see her soon. Now we can switch gears and put all our effort behind finding Suzy.”
“What’s happening?” Heather yelled. “What’s he saying?”
“Mom’s on her way here. She’s going to be fine.”
“Oh, thank God!”
He didn’t tell her she’d been dumped like trash on the side of the road. The thought of her scared and bruised boiled his blood.
Lane reappeared in the doorway.
Before Lane said a word, Duke held out the phone and activated the speaker button to reach Spencer. “Lane’s back. What’d you find?”
“The deputy took her. He walked her out a side door then we lost sight of them.”
All the blood drained from Duke’s face. “It’s got to be Carl. He must have found a uniform somehow. What vehicle did he take?”
Lane’s jaw tightened. “Cameras didn’t pick up where they went or what kind of vehicle they were in.”
“If Chrissy had his truck and the authorities are on the lookout for Chrissy’s car, he might not have a vehicle,” Duke said, praying his logic was correct. It’d be much easier to find Suzy if she hadn’t gone far. “Which direction did they head?”
“East,” Lane said.
“That’s the far end of the hospital, away from the road, right?”
“Yes,” Lane confirmed. “There’s a park a mile or so away with a few hiking trails and a lake. It used to be one of our favorites growing up.”
“Holy shit, I know where he’s taking her,” Spencer said.
“What are you talking about?” Duke tightened his grip on the phone as anxiety practically seeped from his pores.
“The woman who stopped to help your mom said she was rambling about being sky high. With the bump on her head, the woman thought your mom was just a bit incoherent and speaking nonsense. But Sky High Point is that way. Up on the cliff.”
The words hit him with the force of a grenade, knocking him off balance. He’d tried most of the trails in the area to orient himself to his new town. Sky High Point was a dangerous trail that led to a fifty foot drop off. A misstep at any mile of the trail could lead to a tragic accident.
Or at least what might look like one.
“We’ve got to go now,” Duke yelled. “If he gets her to the top, there’s no way he plans on bringing her back alive.”
“But why?” Heather demanded. “Why take Mom just to abandon her then grab Suzy? None of this makes any sense.”
Duke ground together his teeth as regret flooded over him. Chrissy’s lies had twisted him up, pushing him to the brink of madness. She might not have held his heart anymore, but when he was told she’d been assaulted, he’d snapped.
“I beat Carl up pretty bad. At the time, I thought it was justified. He was taken to the hospital, and although he recovered, his shoulder was messed up. He was forced to quit bull riding. He’d worked his whole life to make it on the circuit, and I took that all away from him because of Chrissy’s stupid lies. ”
“So why would he work with Chrissy?”
His head spun as he tried to make heads or tails of all the information.
“I don’t know. Maybe she twisted him up the same way she did me.
It took me years to understand how she works.
How she manipulates and spins things. It’s not hard to believe she did the same to him.
Used him to get to me. That’s how she’s had an alibi.
How she’s been able to get what she wants without getting her hands dirty. ”
“And what is it that she wants?” Lane asked.
“To hurt me. To inflict pain. That’s what she always wants. She knew Carl would help her because I took away something he loved, now they’ll take away something I love.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew they were true. He didn’t have a crush on Suzy, didn’t have a pile of feelings he didn’t understand. He was in love with her—had been for months.
And now he might lose her forever.
“I’ll be there in five minutes,” Spencer said, cutting in. “We’ll work out a plan when I get there.”
Duke locked eyes with Lane and knew they were on the same page. “We’re not waiting. We’re going now.”
He just prayed it wasn’t too late.
Twigs and branches scraped against Suzy’s cheeks. Her feet struggled to keep up with her forward momentum as the fake deputy dragged her along.
She’d wanted to call for help, debated making some last-ditch effort at escape before her captor forced her from the hospital. But the warning he’d delivered rang loud and clear with each step. If the threat of his gun wasn’t enough to keep her quiet, one wrong move would end Dorthy’s life.
She couldn’t risk it. So she stayed silent and focused on where they headed. A trapped breath of fear released when they’d moved toward the tree line and not the parking lot. It’d be tougher to escape from a moving vehicle.
But the forest? She knew every inch of this town. Especially a trail she’d hiked since she was a teenager.
The man held a tight grip on her elbow and yanked her deeper under the cover of trees.
The bare limbs blocked out the sunlight, making the temperature even colder.
Her teeth chattered and her mind spun. Every few steps, she dragged her foot across the ground and prayed like hell to leave some kind of discernable mark on the soft ground.
The shrill ringing of a phone echoed across the sky. A black bird cawed and flew from its nest, irritated by the intrusion.
The man yanked out his phone. “What?”
Suzy tuned her ears to try and hear what was said on the other end but couldn’t distinguish any words.
“Why would you do that? She was our insurance policy.”
Oh God, Dorthy. Nausea pitched high in Suzy’s stomach. Had they hurt Dorthy? Killed her? She fought the urge to squeeze her eyes shut and block out the world. She needed to pay attention to where they were going. Not give in to tears and fear.
“You’re going to ruin this for me. I knew I should have done this alone.” A beat of silence passed, and he stopped moving. He grabbed the gun from his waistband and pointed it at Suzy to pin her in place.
Her heart rate tripled and she stood paralyzed in terror. The barrel was pointed at her, but the man’s attention was divided between her and whoever was on the other end of the call.
He spat out a sinister laugh. “You owed me after what you did. Convinced Duke to go after me than talked me into not pressing charges after he messed me up. All this is your fault. I should have gone after you first instead of Duke. Made you both pay.”
More silence. The only sound was her pulse ringing in her ears.
“Don’t worry. I’ll clean up this mess.” Shaking his head, he lowered the gun and shifted to the side.
Now was her chance. Without a second thought, she darted behind the large tree and took off at a dead sprint.
“Sonofabitch!”
She heard the curse seconds before a gunshot rang out. Her body recoiled at the sound, but she kept moving. She needed to put as much distance between herself and her captor as possible. Maybe loop around and make it back to the hospital for help.
“You can’t escape me,” he yelled, his breaths ragged. “Might as well give up now.”
She ignored his voice, his taunts. The trail he’d picked was steep, and dead leaves and foliage scattered the ground. She moved as slow as she dared but with purpose, bracing her hands against the rough bark of the trees as she made her way down the incline.
The snap of twigs and rustle of debris behind her told her the man was close. She wished he would keep talking so she could better gauge his location. She refused to glance behind her to check. Her focus needed to remain on each footstep. Each motion.
Another blast from the gun had a bullet whizzing past her head. Ducking low, she yelped and slipped to her bottom. She slid down the hill then pushed her heels against the dirt to stop her momentum.
Crunching leaves announced her captor’s presence. She leapt to her feet and surged forward. Wind bit at her cheeks. Adrenaline pumped through her blood, shoving aside the terror and allowing her to move.
Another bullet bounced against the trunk of a nearby tree. Splinters of wood flew into the air. She held back a scream. Her lungs burned and the muscles in her legs ached. The tree line came into sight and hope blossomed in her chest.
A hard shove between her shoulder blades knocked her off balance and she fell on her face. Rocks scraped her palms and broke through the thin material of her pants.
She flipped over and stared up at the angry eyes of a madman—of a killer.
Tears streaked down her cheeks and a sob poured through her tight throat.
Images of Duke flashed in her mind. She’d wasted so much time.
Been too scared to share her feelings and try to build a future with him.
And just when she’d seen what her life could be like—what being in love with Duke felt like—she was about to lose it all.
He pointed his gun at her head.
“Please,” she cried. “Don’t shoot.”