34. Grace
34
GRACE
F ran and I flew down the porch steps, both of us huffing and puffing.
We dodged a For Sale sign as we circled the porch then leaned against the house to duck out of sight. I held my hand over my heart, breathing in and out, as Fran squeezed my hand.
“If we get out of this,” she said between breaths, “I’ll never trust another human being again.”
I knew that feeling so well.
I searched as far as I could—through the trees, rain, and darkness. The weather wasn’t our friend, and neither was the night. It was darker than the inside of a closed wooden box. I should know. John had used one for the girls who disobeyed him. I won that luxury a time or two.
The box was six feet by three feet. No light filtered in from the dank cellar, just air through the small holes in the wood. John would leave me in there for better than a day, with only splinters, darkness, and the sound of my own breathing for company.
My chest constricted. The rain-soaked forest blurred, replaced by wooden walls closing in. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Girls had been trapped then. Girls were trapped now, and then there was me, always trapped, always failing to save?—
Thunder cracked, the sound jolting me like an electric current.
Rain dripped down my face. Trees swayed in the wind. Open space. I could move. I could breathe.
“Listen to me, Fran. I want you to go for help. Follow the directions Sabine gave us.”
“I can’t leave you.” She flicked rain from her face.
“You can. You will. You’re strong. You are your father’s daughter. You have fight in you. Find a phone then call the authorities. I need to free the girls in the barn.”
Since I knew Josh was like his father, he would do something drastic to the girls to punish me.
“Grace, you can’t do this alone,” Fran said. “Where will you get the keys? There are ten girls in there.”
I peered around the corner of the house. With the rain coming down and the wind blowing, it was hard to see much, but the coast was clear. No human figures were in sight, and I heard no breathing or voices.
“Fran, I will do my best to free them. If I can’t, I’ll be right behind you.”
I could hear Brian’s raspy voice in my head —“you’re strong and resilient.” I latched on to those words as the encouragement I needed to push forward.
“Grace, I won’t lie,” Fran said. “I’m scared.”
I turned around to face her. “I know.” I kissed her on the forehead. “I am, too, but we have to do this.”
Out in these woods, we had so many odds against us. Men were about to hunt us. Sex-starved men who were far more dangerous than the storm and the darkness.
“Go, please, Fran. It won’t be long before Josh learns we’re not in that room.”
The barn was down a path east of the house, and Fran had to head north. She hugged me tightly, finally giving in to my demand. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Tell your dad I’m sorry.”
“About?”
A gunshot went off inside the house.
“Go,” I said
She ran in one direction, and I bolted in the other.
“Grace,” Josh’s voice blasted through the thunder. “I’m coming for you.”
The barn lay east down a gravel path, marked by landscape lights. I hugged the tree line along the outer edge, using the lights to orient myself while staying in the shadows. The main house’s spotlight cast a weak glow behind me, helping me to gauge how far I’d come.
My feet pounded against the rain-soaked earth as I ran for my life. The storm had transformed the forest into a maze of shadows and sounds, making it difficult to hear anyone’s footsteps or breathing behind me.
I ducked beneath a low-hanging branch, the scent of pine heavy in the air, praying that Fran would find a phone and call for help.
A twig snapped somewhere to my left. I froze, pressing myself against rough bark, barely breathing. I counted to ten before continuing.
The lights along the path had disappeared. I must’ve veered off. Lightning split the sky, illuminating the forest for a fraction of a second, and a narrow path cut between two lines of trees.
I sprinted forward, branches whipping my face. The pain registered for a slight moment, but I pressed on. Behind me, a flashlight beam swept across the forest floor. I dove behind a fallen log as it passed overhead. Mud soaked my clothes, but I didn’t dare move.
“Come out, Grace,” Josh’s voice carried on the wind. He was closer than I’d thought he was. “We both know how this ends.”
The light moved on.
I counted to ten before rising, my shoes squelching in the mud. The barn had to be close. I sprinted, trying to dodge errant branches sticking out. One hit my face. I labored for breath. The steady percussion of the rain against the leaves kept time with my rapidly beating pulse.
Where was the barn? I had a feeling I wasn’t going in the right direction.
I dug deep and hoped for a miracle, clearing rain from my face. Each breath came in ragged gasps, my sodden sweater clinging to my skin as I ducked under a branch I barely could make out. I ran maybe ten feet when my foot caught on a branch or exposed root.
I pitched forward, catching myself on my palms, only for them to slide forward so that my face planted in the mud and leaves. Catching my breath, I climbed to my feet and ran and ran and ran.
The rustling of the trees, the thunder, and the howling of the wind made it hard to hear.
A shape ahead looked to be a building. The barn. I must’ve circled around the backside of it. My heart leapt with hope until someone’s laughter burst free, and my veins turned to ice. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining the deep laughter or if it was the thunder mocking me.
I ran ten feet more—and a strong arm snaked around my waist.
“My sweet Grace.” Josh pressed his mouth to my ear. “You can’t run from me.”
I thrashed against his grip, blinking away the rain. I was so close to the barn yet so far. I couldn’t fail. Thunder rolled loud and proud overhead, and in that moment, clarity struck before lightning cracked.
I went limp in his arms, as if I were giving up.
“I’m done,” I said to no one.
“That’s a good girl?—”
I snapped my head back, feeling the crunch of my skull with his nose. His grip loosened enough for me to break free. I darted forward until the bastard grabbed my wet hair.
I spun around and charged him, tackling him to the ground. The asshole was wearing thermal imaging night goggles. Of course he was. That was how he’d found me.
He tore off his goggles and smirked. “Well, what’s your next move?”
I pressed my knee into his groin. He stiffened.
“I’d always wanted to cut your father’s dick off.” I searched his side for a gun or knife, but he didn’t have any.
“Do you honestly think I’m stupid enough to carry a weapon around you after you shot my father?”
I had to give him props for that. I was running out of options to stop this deranged man.
He wore a permanent grin. “I can see your wheels turning. You’ll never save those girls.”
I gritted my teeth, and my next move was the only one I could think of. I went to headbutt him until he moved slightly and rolled us. Now, he was on top, pinning my hands above my head.
“I’m rather enjoying this quite a lot,” he said.
I bucked beneath him, trying to throw him off. His weight shifted to the right, and I took my shot. I wrenched my left hand free and clawed at the mud beside me, searching for a rock, anything to use as a weapon.
The storm raged on as my heart followed suit.
My hand found a fallen stick—solid enough to do the job.
I went to swing, but he stopped me. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, Grace. After you stuck the key in my neck, do you think I would make a mistake again?”
I held out my arms as if I were about to make a snow angel. “You win.”
I was praying hard that Fran was okay and had found that road Sabine mentioned.
He traced the stick over my face. “You truly will be worth my wait.”
As quickly as I could, I grabbed the end of the stick, wrenched it from him, and jammed it upward.
“What the fuck?” He fell off me.
I clumsily climbed to my feet, the mud slowing me down.
He pulled the stick from his eye then rose to his feet. “You’ll pay for this, Grace.”
Instantly, that memory of Thea gouging out John’s eyes hit me. Oh, the irony of what I was witnessing was all too satisfying. But I couldn’t bask in glory yet.
My self-defense training kicked in. As he lunged forward, I slipped to the side and drove my knee up into his ribs.
He staggered but caught my shoulder. “I can still see.”
“Barely.” I twisted, breaking his grip, and snapped a front kick to his knee.
The mud made my movements sloppy, but he grunted in pain. Then he swung wildly, his damaged eye throwing off his depth perception. I ducked under the blow and straightened with an uppercut to his jaw, followed by a sharp elbow strike to his temple.
Each hit was punctuated by thunder, as if nature itself were counting the blows.
He tried to grapple with me, but his movements were becoming erratic. I spun away from his grasp and delivered a kick to his stomach. His feet came out from under him, and he groaned and opened his mouth to shout, but he went down, and his head hit something hard.
Then nothing.
I kicked him. He didn’t move. I pressed my fingers to his carotid artery and growled. He still had a pulse. I searched his pockets for keys to the cages and found something so much better that I almost cried—his cell.
Damn thing was locked.
I opened his eyelids, hoping that his cell was set up to unlock with face recognition. His right eye was filled with blood, but the good one was enough to open his phone. I sighed, punching in 911.
“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?” the lady asked.
“My name is Grace Hart. I’m being held hostage along with about ten other girls at a farm in the Freetown Forest. I don’t know more than that.” I rifled through Josh’s pockets again, looking for keys.
Nothing.
Fuck.
I waited for the operator to respond, but when I checked the phone, the signal was gone. I jogged toward the barn cautiously, not seeing anyone. Because of the rain, the guard was probably inside.
I found a spot behind a tree and looked through the contacts on Josh’s phone—no one I knew. Then I remembered that Janet Welby had called Josh before she showed up at Brian’s condo. So that would have been between eight and eleven p.m. last night. I brought up recent calls and found the only number that fell within that time frame.
No signal.
I held up the phone toward the sky. One bar popped up. I tapped on the number.
“Hello,” Janet said. “Josh?”
I almost cried. “Janet, it’s Grace.”
She shuddered. “Oh, my. Where are you?”
“Can you patch Brian through?”
“He’s on his way to Freetown. He and your brother decided to search for you while BPD tries to pinpoint a few locations.”
“They’re coming?” I cried.
“Hold on. I’ll call Brian and conference him in.”
I quickly peered around the tree. Still no one outside. But I didn’t have much time.
Come on, Janet .
I glanced at where I’d left Josh, but I couldn’t see that far.
“Grace.” Brian’s voice sounded like butter, melting my damn soul.
After everything—the fear, the running, the fighting—just hearing him say my name brought tears to my eyes. He was my anchor in the storm, my safe place.
“I don’t have time to explain. You need to find us. I called 911, but I lost the signal. I might lose you too.” My voice cracked.
“Whoa!” he said. “Slow down. Where’s Fran? Is she okay? Please tell me she’s fine.”
I squeezed my eyes closed, his concern for his daughter making my chest ache.
“She went for help at a farm maybe two miles from this one. We’re in the Freetown Forest. Horse farm. Not sure where. I did see a For Sale sign outside the house. I’m sorry I don’t know more than that.”
“Baby girl, stay strong.” The tenderness in his voice nearly broke me. Even now, with everything going wrong, he still believed in me.
“I’m on Josh’s phone.” I fought to keep my voice steady. “Maybe the authorities can ping his cell.”
“I have his number,” Janet chimed in.
“Sis, you’re on speaker. I’m here with Brian,” Duke said. “Ted tried that already, and it didn’t work. It might be because of the storm. Or Josh could’ve had his phone off. Ted is working on finding farms for sale, but you said there’s a farm two miles from where you are.”
“Duke.” Hearing my brother’s voice added another level of relief. “That’s right. Weeping… I don’t remember now. I have to save the others.” My throat closed up. “Brian, I love you, and I’m so sorry.”
The silence that followed felt like a knife to the heart. The signal was gone, taking with it my last connection to the man who’d shown me what real love was—something pure and strong and worth fighting for.
I banged my head on the tree. I was slowly losing my fight, but I couldn’t let the fear and grief overwhelm me.
Brian’s words echoed in my mind. “Baby girl, stay strong.”
I couldn’t fail him. I couldn’t fail the girls in the barn either.
I closed my eyes, blowing out a breath, thinking of Fran. “Please be okay.”
“Are you talking about me?” Josh’s labored breathing stole the air from my lungs.