Amnesia

Chapter Six – Liam

CHAPTER SIX

Liam

Bubba and I rode to the east side of the ranch, where one of the original barns was still standing.

It hadn’t been used in years. Not since my father had taken over and built the main barn and corrals, where we took care of all the cattle’s needs.

The main barn was by Billy’s house, which used to be my parents’ house, the place where I grew up.

“Creepy as shit,” Bubba said as he got off his horse and threw the reins over her neck so she could graze.

I took in the old barn and slowly shook my head. It was tilting to the left and looked like it might collapse at any minute.

“Who’s going to go in first?” Bubba asked with a grin.

Shooting him a dirty look, I started for the barn. The door had been removed or blown off, so we could see directly inside. Something scurried along the floor, and Bubba jumped.

“Was that a mouse? I can’t deal with mice, Liam, you know that!”

Looking back at him over my shoulder, I rolled my eyes. “Just stay close to me and try to step where I step.”

We slowly made our way into the old barn. Small trees were growing in some of the old stalls, and leaves and dirt covered the warped wooden floor. Each step caused the barn to let out a moan of displeasure as we moved farther inside.

I glanced up and saw some holes in the roof. That would definitely allow for some sunlight. My stomach knotted up.

“Whose idea was this to check this place out?” Bubba whispered.

“Yours.”

He scoffed. “Since when did you start listening to me?”

Old tack hung from one of the walls, and they made strange sounds when they bumped together with every strong gust of wind blowing through the structure.

I looked up to the loft and noticed the floor was about to fall from rot.

Besides the tack, nothing else seemed to be in the old barn.

My mind wondered why no one had ever removed the tack, instead just leaving it here to decay.

Bubba poked my back. “You know, in the horror movies, when people yell out not to go in there? This is exactly one of those moments.”

“Turn around and leave if you’re scared, Bub.”

“I didn’t say I was scared,” he argued—then jumped and moved closer to me when one of the window hatches blew shut and slammed. “That scared the piss out of me! Like legit, I think I just pissed my pants.”

Laughing, I wanted to turn and yell boo, but was worried the noise might make the whole barn come down.

My smile faded when I saw the door to the root cellar. It was a large metal square. It would’ve had to have been left open for Mallory to have escaped. I highly doubted she would have been able to lift it. But she did say her kidnapper would leave it open each time he came in.

“Mallory said there was a door to the basement where she was being held. Do you remember any doors down there?” I asked Bubba.

He thought for a moment. “No, the steps lead straight into the cellar.”

Reaching down, I pulled on the door, unable to get it to even budge. “It feels like this door hasn’t been opened in years.”

“Here, let me try.”

After Bubba attempted to open it, we both tried at the same time. The door finally opened with a loud creak.

“Who’s going down the dark stairway first?” Bubba whispered.

I pulled a small flashlight out of my back pocket and shined it through the door. He was right; the steps led straight down into the root cellar. “I remember playing in here now. It’s not a very big room, and it was filled with jars of food.”

When he nudged me forward, I looked over my shoulder and glared at my friend. “Would you like to go first since you seem to be in such a hurry?”

“Sorry. This place is just giving me major creeps.”

I drew in a deep breath and aimed the light at the rickety steps, hoping they’d hold us as we walked down. When I stepped onto the first one, I let out the breath I’d been holding when it felt solid. Taking it slow, I continued down the steps, Bubba not far behind.

Once we reached the bottom, I moved the flashlight across the room. There was nothing down here except shelves with old jars of food, some broken, some intact.

“This isn’t the place,” I said softly, a rush of relief nearly causing my body to drop to the floor. “She wasn’t here.”

Bubba sighed. “Not gonna lie, I’m glad we checked it out. The thought of women being held captive here on the ranch made me sick to my stomach.”

“Me too. Let’s get out of here.”

##

I stood in the kitchen and looked down at Piper lying in Mallory’s lap as she slept. The dog barely moved, almost like she knew Mallory needed the sleep and didn’t want to disturb her.

Bending down, I lightly shook her on the shoulder. “Mallory?”

Her eyes fluttered open, and she let out a moan. “My neck…”

“How in the world did you fall asleep on the kitchen floor?” I asked.

A long breath escaped from between her lips as she rotated her head. Piper crawled out of Mallory’s lap and headed to the back door to be let out.

“Someone was at the front door, and I panicked,” she said as she stood. She watched Piper run around the backyard through the window.

“You didn’t answer it, did you?” I asked.

“No,” she said with a humorless laugh. “No, I had an anxiety attack and dropped to the floor, and I crawled to where you found me. Piper got on my lap and…I guess I fell asleep.”

“Let me check my security cameras and see who it was,” I said as I pulled out my phone and opened the app.

Mallory rubbed her hands together nervously while I checked.

“It was Billy. He’s the foreman of the ranch and my best friend. He most likely saw my truck still here and thought I was home. He called a few times, and I didn’t answer as I wasn’t sure what to tell him.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Bubba mentioned an old root cellar across the ranch. It was one of the first barns on the property, and my grandparents had a small cabin built there after they first bought the ranch. I needed to make sure that wasn’t where you were kept.”

Gasping, her hand flew to her mouth.

“It wasn’t,” I said quickly. “I trust every single guy working on this ranch with my life. It’s remote, so I wasn’t sure if someone else had stumbled upon it and thought it would make a good place to hide women.”

“What was in the cellar?”

“There are shelves with jars of food. A giant metal door in the ground opens up, and the steps lead directly into the cellar.”

Mallory hugged herself and shook her head.

“No, I was in a room that was like a basement. The floor was dirt, and the walls were bricks. When I ran through the door, I could only go to the left, which led to a staircase up to a barn. To be honest with you, I’d never been in a barn before.

” She paused. “Well, if I have, I don’t remember it.

Once I got to the top of the steps I ran as fast as possible through the barn and out another door. ”

“What did you see when you got out?”

“Forest. Everywhere. There was a road, but I went the opposite way. I didn’t see anything or anyone.

Not even a car or truck. There were no houses or any other roads, nothing but forest and mountains.

I climbed up steep hills, I remember that.

By the way, do you happen to have any ointment I can put on my feet? ”

The way she went from subject to subject caused my head to spin.

She turned her back to me and lifted one of her feet. She pulled the fuzzy sock off, and I gasped.

“Mallory, your feet are torn up!” How had I not noticed her feet?

I took her hand and led her down the hall to my bedroom, where we entered the en suite.

“Wow! This bathroom is even nicer than the one upstairs.”

“Sit up on the counter.”

She did as I asked while I searched through my cabinets and found some Neosporin and bandages. “Let’s clean your feet before we put all this on. You have fuzz stuck in the cuts from the socks.”

Nodding, she pulled the sweatpants up to her knees. I filled the sink beside her with warm water and motioned for her to put her feet in, and she pivoted on the counter to do so.

“Does it burn?” I asked.

“No, not really,” Mallory said softly. “It did when I took a shower this morning, though.”

I lifted her right foot and used soap to very gently clean all the scratches and deeper wounds. This girl had to be pretty damn tough to run through the forest and elements without shoes.

After repeating the process with her left foot, I drained the water and rinsed her feet. Using a towel, I carefully patted each foot dry, trying not to look at her face. She was biting down on her lip, and it killed me knowing she was in pain.

“Okay, the worst part is over.”

She exhaled. “They hurt more than I wanted to admit.”

I looked up at her and winked. “I have some slippers you can wear until we get you some shoes.”

As I put on the ointment, Mallory said, “I don’t even know what size shoe I wear…when my birthday is…how old I am. Whether I like chocolate ice cream or vanilla, whether I can even eat ice cream. What if I’m vegan.”

I chuckled. “Then you won’t like tonight’s dinner.”

Mallory smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

After wrapping the last of the gauze around her feet, I straightened. “I can’t imagine how you feel right now. The fact that you were kidnapped, held prisoner, escaped, and can’t figure out who you are…it has to be taking a toll on your mental state.”

She nodded. “I hope you don’t mind, but I used your laptop. I tried to search my name for any missing persons. Nothing came up. He called me Mallory, but I’m not sure that’s even my name.”

“Does it feel like it could be your name?”

Looking at the ceiling, she closed her eyes briefly, then snapped them open. “I think I just had a memory! It was an older woman standing in a kitchen, wearing an apron and smiling at me. She called me Mallory!”

“That’s wonderful! Do you remember details about the kitchen? Pictures on the walls, anything?”

Squeezing her eyes shut again, she eventually shook her head. “I just see her. I wonder who she is?”

“I don’t know, but I think we can safely say your name is Mallory. Whoever took you must have known you.”

Tilting her head, she said, “Then that means I’m from around here?”

“Not necessarily. Maybe this person just owns a place here. Something in the middle of nowhere, just for this purpose. You said he mentioned taking other women, so he has to have a place where he takes them. At least that’s what I’m thinking.”

Nodding, she whispered, “The monster.” Her eyes lifted to meet mine. “I’m sorry I found her necklace, Liam. I hope that Emily’s still out there somewhere.”

I tried to speak but nothing came out. After a moment, I finally said, “I want to believe that. But my heart is telling me something different. It’s just so much time has passed since she disappeared…”

Reaching for my hand, Mallory laced her fingers with mine. “And I want all of this be a nightmare. I want to wake up and not be terrified.”

I swallowed hard. “Mallory…I have a cousin who works for the Lewistown Police Department.”

She started to speak, but I pulled my hand free from hers and held it up.

“Let me just say this. I trust him with my life and wouldn’t suggest talking to him if I didn’t think we could use his help.

I know you don’t want to go to the police for fear this lunatic will know you’re alive or staying here.

But I think Randy can help. He has resources we need.

At the very least, he can run your fingerprints and maybe find out who you are. ”

Her brows rose. “You think he could?”

“I know he could, if your prints are in the system for any reason. I know you haven’t known me long at all…but I think you’re learning that you can trust me.”

“I do,” she said as she nodded. “I don’t know why, but my gut tells me I can trust you.”

Smiling, I said, “Good. Are you okay with me inviting him over here to talk to you? I don’t think you should be going into town. Lewistown is the next biggest town over from Grass Range, but I still think you need to lie low.”

“I agree. One thing, though, how will we get me shoes if I don’t know my size?”

I thought about it for a few moments. “We can go online and find a chart to print out for your shoe size.”

She smiled, then it slipped away. “I would say I’d cook to repay you for all your help, but I don’t know if I actually can.”

I laughed, and almost kissed her on the forehead for such a sweet thought, but caught myself in time. “We’ll figure it all out, don’t worry.”

Reaching for her waist, I lifted her and helped her off the counter. When her feet touched the floor, she hissed in pain and stumbled slightly, and her hands flew to my chest to steady herself. We both froze, and Mallory blushed.

It took a few moments for us to move before I finally made my feet take a few steps back. “How about some lunch?”

She nodded. “Lunch sounds good.”

“Let me get you those slippers.”

I motioned for her to head out of the bathroom first, and I took a minute to figure out why in the hell my heart had jumped at the feel of her touch.