Chapter 21
Silver’s lungs pinched tighter as the anxiety swelled in her chest. She tried to drag in a breath through her nose, but the bag over her head seemed to be suffocating her.
She was going to die. If not from the stalker, then from her panic. There was no escaping it, no way to avoid the blackness, no path out of the terror.
Her body trembled, along with her hands behind her back. She felt like she was back in the closet in her bedroom, cowering on her floor, the minutes crawling by and taking hours.
Yet she couldn’t let the darkness swallow her this time and give way to the panic. She had to stay levelheaded if she hoped to find a way to escape.
Dustin’s touch had been the soothing balm she’d needed during her last panic attack, and more than anything, she wished she was wrapped up in his big arms and that he was rubbing her back again.
But even if he’d been near and available, letting him hold her was out of the question.
She couldn’t give in to her need to be with him, to have his soothing, to have his gentle touch.
No, Dustin had made it clear he wouldn’t consider having a relationship now any more than he had in the past. For whatever reason, he thought being with her made him weak.
The bumping of the SUV told her they were going slowly, probably so that they didn’t draw any attention.
Why was her life filled with so much pain? Why so many losses? Why so many heartaches?
She’d tried so hard to put the pain, loss, and heartache behind her and instead look at the positive things life had brought her.
That’s what she’d done during her last panic attack—Dustin had encouraged her to shift her thoughts away from the fears to the good things she could think of.
Along with his solid presence, the distraction of thinking about positive things had eased the anxiety. Those things had helped and were good.
But what if Tyler had been right when he’d said: Sometimes we have to walk through what happened in the past before we can leave it behind.
Had she been so busy avoiding thinking about the break-in incident all these years that she hadn’t truly worked through it?
Maybe she had to finally face it—face how it had changed her, face how hard it had been, face the feelings she’d buried.
Like the hurt of being left home alone by her daddy so often.
Or the anger that if he’d been there, maybe the thief wouldn’t have planned a break-in.
Or the feelings of abandonment by her cousins, who had a fuller life than she’d had.
There was probably more she’d stuffed away and hadn’t dealt with. Even though she’d gone to therapy, she hadn’t allowed herself to look closely at the emotions that were still lurking beneath the surface. Could she do that at some point? And if she did, would she be able to finally find peace?
She wasn’t sure, but if she survived the kidnapping, she knew she had more work to do in walking through her past.
Even just thinking a little bit about the issues, she could feel her racing heartbeat start to slow down.
Maybe it was the distraction from her fear of the dark.
Or maybe it was the hope that she could be stronger.
Whatever the case, she blinked several times and tried to focus on what was happening in the SUV.
The passenger—the man with the hairy face—seemed to be getting agitated. “Speed it up now. They’ll realize she’s gone and be looking for her in no time.”
Another man’s voice responded, this one a little softer. “We’ll be at our turnoff in a few minutes. Until then, we don’t want to attract any attention from security cameras or anyone.”
“You sure the cabin is remote enough?” came the first voice.
“It’s not on any maps. And from everything the old-timer told me, it’s so far out there, no one knows it even exists anymore.”
She managed to take in a breath, calming herself another degree. Even if she still needed more healing from her past, she didn’t have to let herself be controlled by her fears right now. She was no longer a helpless teenager cowering in her closet. She was a full-grown adult and a strong woman.
Her stalker and his accomplice were probably right that Dustin and Isaac would be looking for her soon.
But would they have enough time to catch up to the getaway vehicle?
It could be too late, especially if her abductors made it to the turnoff, which apparently led to an abandoned cabin somewhere in the wilderness.
What if Dustin and Isaac sped right past the turnoff and couldn’t find her in the miles of wilderness? Even if she somehow managed to escape from her captors once she was at the cabin, it would be dangerous for her to make her way in the mountains on her own.
Of course, she would have to try.
Or maybe she could do something before it came to that. What about finding a way to slow them down?
She couldn’t call out and make up an excuse like having to go to the bathroom. And she could hardly move with her wrists taped behind her back.
She wiggled her fingers. She could still use her hands. If she shifted enough, maybe she could reach the door handle and open it. Since they were going slowly, did she dare try to jump out of the vehicle?
If she did, she would have to pray that she didn’t hurt herself in the landing. Even though she’d never been particularly athletic, she could do this.
Her heart was still pounding, but the tempo had changed from panic to purpose. She wanted to find a way out of her predicament, needed to believe that she could.
She drew in a breath through her nose, inhaling the mustiness of the burlap. But she was breathing, and that was a small miracle.
The two men were arguing about something. That meant it was a good time for her to make her move, because maybe they wouldn’t notice her scootching around and repositioning herself so that her hands could reach the door handle.
She didn’t recognize either of their voices. They certainly weren’t employed at Hopeful Horseshoes. So did that mean Dustin and Isaac had been wrong in believing one of her ranch workers was a suspect? They also didn’t sound like former equine therapy clients.
If they weren’t connected to the ranch, then how had the two figured out where she was?
She’d only leaked the information to certain people.
Tonight, before going to the hot springs, the next in the line of suspects—two of her previous dates—had both been notified of her whereabouts: Gideon and Timmy.
That had been less than an hour ago. The ex-dates wouldn’t have had time to make the arrangements to have her abducted—not so quickly after getting their clues to her whereabouts.
The only other people who had knowledge that she was at Healing Springs Ranch were Beryl, Franklin, her ranch hands Nolan and Tobias, and her housekeeper Paula.
Had one of them tipped off the two men in the front seats?
If so, had it been on purpose or accidentally?
Even though Dustin had shared his concerns about each one, she still couldn’t believe any of her loyal employees would want to harm her like this.
Either way, time was of the essence, and she needed to make her move soon.
Carefully, so she didn’t make a sound, she inched her way backward. Her fingers fumbled against the door handle.
She would have to simultaneously open the door and jump from the SUV.
Then she would get to her feet—since she was optimistic about her fall—and start running as fast as she could away from the vehicle.
She wasn’t deluded into thinking she’d be able to outrace anyone—not with a sack around her head and her arms tied behind her.
But the longer she could delay her captors, the more chances she had of being rescued.
As she finally managed to grasp the door handle, she lifted it up, shoved into it with her shoulder. The door flew open. Without giving herself a chance to doubt what she was doing, she jumped . . .
She seemed to be in the air for an eternal second. Then her body slammed against the ground and rolled several times in the gravel on the side of the road. She landed on her side, her thigh and elbows behind her softening the blow a little.
Even so, the pain of the fall stole the breath from her lungs. For a long second, she could only lie on the side of the road, too stunned to think or move.
Ahead, she could hear the SUV screech to a halt and her abductors yelling.
She had to get up. Now.
She pushed herself up, fear and determination pulsing through her. The burlap sack had come loose, and she shook it off as she stood to her feet. Then she began to run.