Chapter 19
I’ve just gotten through with my lunges and squats and decide to take a nap to rest. There should be a delivery sometime in the next few days if my rations are correct, though I’ve been eating more lately. I’ll need all my strength if I’m going to pull this off.
I’m not sure how much time has passed, but a sound wakes me. The hatch opens, but for a few moments no one comes down the steps.
This is it. It’s time to make a move and gain my freedom.
Hopping up from the cot, I grab the LED lantern from the corner and turn it off.
My eyes have gotten good in the dark and can see the movement of the person coming down.
I can hear his breathing as he steps down on the last step.
He grabs the two five-gallon buckets that they make me use for the bathroom and hauls the sealed buckets up to empty the contents.
Every inch of my dignity has been stripped from me over the last several weeks.
They grant me wet wipes to clean myself, and if I’m lucky they might throw in a few chocolate bars or fruit.
I stand off to the side and plaster myself to the wall.
I’ve got one chance to make this work and need to make sure that I do everything in my power to get the heck out of here.
The man comes down the steps slowly with several bags in his arms. The moment he makes it to the final one, I see him squint his eyes looking around the small crypt, trying to gauge where to put the supplies in his arms.
I don’t wait another second and pounce. Swinging the lantern with all my might, I aim for the man’s head.
He doesn’t see it coming, and I nail him exactly where I was hoping in the face.
I must have more power than I ever thought or I just got lucky because he crumples to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Not wanting to waste precious time, I step over him and up the steps as quickly as I can.
The moment my head breaches the top, my eyes sting from the brightness.
The soft wind feels like needle pricks to my skin as the fresh air fills my lungs.
I put my hands up around my eyes to shield from the light, and I hear the sound of pounding.
I notice a fence and house, which means I’m in a backyard somewhere.
The sound of hammering is getting louder as I start to move towards it.
That means people are there, and hopefully one of them will help me.
“HELP!” I call out when I can finally remove my hands from my eyes. There’s a house being built and men up on ladders. “SOMEONE HELP ME!” I say again and see a few men stop hammering and look over. My mind must be playing tricks with me because I think I see Rocky amongst the guys.
“Sutton?” I hear my name being called, and I’m sure it’s him.
“Rocky! Get help. Call Havoc!” I race over toward the fence, but there’s no way to climb over the tall wooden panels. I look around and see two men come into the backyard. They zone in on me.
“Sutton? When did you get out of the hospital?” I hear Rocky ask as he steps up on the other side of the fence. I don’t understand why he asked me about being in the hospital, but maybe that’s where Beckett or Stone told him I’d gone and not kidnapped.
My time has run out as I look over my shoulder and see the man I nailed in the head make his way out of the bunker. He’s still looking out of it as the other two men start to approach me.
“Rocky call Stone or Raegan or Beckett, please,” I beg and let out a sob. “Tell them I’ve been taken. Tell Raegan I’m calling butterfly. Tell her butterfly and that I need help,” I urge as the men are almost to me.
“Okay, best friend,” he says, and I turn my back to the fence and watch the men close in on me.
“Love you, buddy,” I whisper to Rocky as the men begin yelling in Spanish, commanding me to do something. They sound just like the men from Colombia did when I was there. The accents match.
I’m grabbed by my arms and hauled through the yard as they speak amongst each other in rapid fire.
My shirt has risen up, and one of the men point down at it, showing the other two.
The man I hit goes first and looks around the corner.
I’m on the same street where Raegan and Stone live.
A white van is sitting in the driveway, and I know that if they get me in there, I’ll lose any chance of getting away.
“SOMEONE HELP ME!” I start screaming hoping someone will hear me and come out to help. “HELP! HELP!”
The men holding me start to argue. I can’t understand what they are saying as I try to yank out of their hold.
“STONE, HELP!” we hear a voice yelling and turn that way.
Rocky is next door in the front yard screaming into the phone.
My heart leaps at the thought of him getting help, and that this nightmare is finally coming to an end.
The men see Rocky with the phone to his ear, looking over at us.
They start to haul me closer to the van, and I dig my heels into the ground.
I’m not going to make this easy for them by any means.
“Sutton, come quick. I found her! I found her!” Rocky continues to whoever is on the other side of the call.
One of the men opens the backdoor, and I continue to struggle and yell for help.
They maneuver me in the back as I kick out trying to aim for one of them.
One of them stays in the back with me, holding me down as the other two hop in the front.
The van starts, and the two in the front start to yell at each other.
The van lunges forward, and I feel us go over the curb onto the street.
Their voices are getting louder as the van comes to a halt.
The passenger window comes down, and I watch in horror as he pulls a gun from his waistband and aims it out of the van.
“NOOOOO!” I scream so loud and hard my throat burns as I try to get up from the position I’m in to stop the man.
Three shots are blasted and the van takes off. There aren’t any windows in the back of the vehicle so I don’t know what happened, but the sinking feeling in my heart tells me that Rocky got hurt.
Please, God, watch over and protect him.
The van is silent for a long time until I feel the ground change and the road becomes rough to drive on. A few moments later, it stops and the side door is opened. The man holding me down lets up and climbs out of the van. I can hear voices. They start to sound all too familiar.
“What do you mean you brought her here?” I hear my father say.
“What kind of trouble?” that voice is from Jared.
I stay in the van and wait for them to come to me. There’s no reason to over exert myself if I’m about to fight another battle. I do make sure to cover my stomach the best I can.
“She’s what?” I hear my father yell.
The sound of footsteps gets closer, and I brace for the confrontation.
Papa storms over and yanks me from the vehicle, almost making me lose my balance and fall to the ground. His eyes burn a path down the entire length of my body. His eyes flare when they reach my round basketball of a stomach.
“You dirty whore! You let them defile you,” Papa spits at me. If it were possible, steam would be exiting through his ears.
I’ve never once in my entire life ever defied my parents.
I’d always played by their rules, and when he sent my mother away, I worked even harder to be the perfect daughter to him.
But now, every inch of my being wants to snap and do everything in my power to rebel against him out of spite.
I stare at him as if this man means nothing to me and that his words don’t affect me.
I have nothing to apologize for, and I won’t when the baby I’m growing comes from a loving home.
“Mr. Sanchez will be here in two days,” Papa grits his teeth together as his eyes shoot daggers at me. “Get her cleaned up and looking presentable. We won’t have this stopping us from forming an alliance.”
“I think I might know how we can make this work in our favor,” Jared steps up and quietly speaks.
Papa turns to some of the men from The Fellowship. “Take her to the wives, but make sure she doesn’t try to run this time.”
My arms are pulled, and I’m led out of the van and to the main house where I once lived.
Karen and the other wives are all standing there watching as they parade me up the steps and into the kitchen.
“Well, if it isn’t the little troublemaker,” Karen spews, wiping her hands with a dishrag.
“Shepherd Walter wants her to eat and get cleaned up,” one of the men tells the women in the room. He finally releases me as he forces me on a stool in the middle of the room. My arms ache from being hauled around by so many different people.
“I’ll make her something,” I hear Judy call out and rush around the room. The other women make no move to help but just stand there staring down at me.
“What have you done to yourself?” Karen snarls. “How could you go against not only your father but the head of our community? You’ve brought shame down on him and us for this.”
I stare her right in the eye not giving her the satisfaction of a reaction and shrug. I don’t owe any of them anything. Except maybe Judy for helping me escape all those months ago, but other than that these women can all go to hell.
The wives leave, all with the exception of Judy who’s running around the kitchen working herself up in a tizzy.
She’s made me a ham and cheese sandwich with a pickle on the side and is in the process of making me a grilled cheese sandwich on the stove.
She pulls out a fresh plate of fruit, and my mouth waters.
Once she plates the hot sandwich, she comes over and sits down beside me.
There are three men, one at each of the doorways blocking all the exits to make sure I stay in the house.
“Oh, honey, what happened to you?” Judy asks on a whisper as she tucks a tangled piece of hair behind my ear. It’s the first gentle contact I’ve had in months, and it makes me flinch.